"Tell me, what has happened since my departure?" Legolas asked, as he and Avaleina wound their way through the tree's. Even from her slight distance his elven ears easily picked up the change in her breathing pattern, a sharp intake of breath, and a slow exhale. She did not answer him, instead she twirled around a patch of flowers and then leaped into the air to pluck an acorn from a nearby tree. The tree from which she took it ruffled its leaves with joy, and added its voice to the subtle harmony that had once again filtered through the forest.
Wordlessly, she turned back to her prince and held out her hand to him. Legolas obediently followed suit and held out his own hand, and easily caught the acorn she dropped into his palm. He closed his hand around it, bringing it close to his face to catch its sweet scent. For many years leading up to his quest, the tree's no longer dropped nor grew their seeds. Subconsciously mimicking their elven guardians hesitation to bring their own children into a world so full of darkness.
Next she crouched effortlessly onto the forest floor, plucking several flowers of different colors from the ground. Brushing her fingers across the leaves of the plant it came from, greeting and thanking it, she stood once more. Legolas had stopped walking, and stood within a particularly bright patch of sunlight that filtered down from the skies, his blue eyes tracking her movements. He gave her a slightly puzzled expression, but she continued to ignore his questions, both verbal and nonverbal.
At the edges of his senses, Legolas was vaguely aware of the others continuing their way forward down the path. Elladan and Elrohir now becoming the guide through the forest, to allow Legolas his moments of peace.
She approached him, footsteps making no noise as if the earth absorbed every ounce of proof of their presence here. When she came to stand before him she offered a smile, but made no effort to hide the grief that light her eyes like stars. Her delicate hands reached forwards, and began to weave the flowers she had collected into his hair, adding several to each braid and tucking the last behind his ear.
Even if he had not seen which flowers she had chosen, he would have been able to discern them by their smell, even as they mixed together in the air about his head. Omithoalum, a white flower with a sweet scent which always brought a ting of sadness to his heart, for it grew over the graves of those who had fallen. It had not been intentional at first, the flowers had come to be there by themselves. Yet now with every new grave dug, an Omithoalum plant was placed over it. To mark the fallen, and encourage its souls return to the forest which it loved.
Ranunculu was another flower that added its scent. Thought this one was a vibrant purple, and smelled strongly of spices. The fireflys which Legolas had loved to watch as a child were particularly drawn to these flowers, and as such, Thranduil had ordered many of them planted in the queen's garden. Where Legolas could watch the lights dance at night, like stars that had fallen to the earth, even from his bedroom window.
Later, this particular plant would become invaluable to him and his people, for it was used to combat the poison which the great spiders carried within them. Countless times had these vibrant beauties saved the prince's life, and those of his friends. On the long sleepless nights on patrol they had even written a few laments about the plants. Some depicting them as the strongest warriors of the forest, while others spent the song attempting to rhyme the name with as many other words as possible. It had helped to pass the time, and lift their spirits.
The final flower was the Limonium, always the first to bloom in the spring. For the first few weeks following winter, one could travel about the forest and see nothing but endless fields of the bright yellow buds. Always a promise that life was returning once more, without fail. It had become a game, amongst his people, to go searching for the flowers every year. The first one to find the buds would bring them back to his father, who would weave it into his crown, and call for the spring celebration.
Her soft hands left his hair, brushing his cheek lovingly before coming to rest at her side once more. "We will speak of it later."
Dark green eyes stared into light blue ones, as the Prince took another deep whiff of the plants, to see if he understood what she was trying to tell him. Poison, death and grief had been wrought following his departure, and though he wished to be surprised of such a fact he was not. Legolas had known that the battle still raged on in his home, all the bit as fierce and desperate as the ones he faced at the gates of Mordor.
Yet, there was happiness at the end of this tale. While death and grief had been suffered in unbearable amounts, there was also hope and new life. The tree's had begun to seed once more, and both the forest and his people began to bloom once more. Life was returning.
He knew, in time, she would tell him more of what had occurred. He would hear the tales of the long battles, and see the list of names no longer gracing the earth. And he, in turn, would share his grief with her and the nightmares which still flashed when he closed his eyes.
But now was the time to forget such things, to enjoy the return of life, joy and light. Until the shadows were more of a painful memory, rather than a recent tragedy.
Crouching down, he plucked some flowers of his own. More Limonium but also Heliconica, for he knew the latter of the two was Avaleina's favorite. She often joked how the blue hue of the petals were the same color as his eyes. Swiftly, his fingers weaved the plants together to form a beautiful crown, which he placed on her head, having many long years of practice at the task. He tucked the last Heliconica behind her ear, and gave her a smile.
He understood what she wanted to tell him.
A moment hung in the air between them, as neither moved a muscle nor averted their gaze from one another.
Legolas looked her up and down with a critical eye, taking a deeper and longer look than he had before. She was thinner than when he had left, but he was certain he was as well. Dark circles hung under her eyes, and he was nearly certain he saw the faint traces of a new scar by her hair line. He was endlessly pleased to find her eyes were the same, the fundamental warmth still glowed brightly from within.
He wondered idly how he appeared to her, as she committed her own appraising. He knew that he was thinner than she had ever seen him. One could not sprint the distance of Rohan with little to no food, and continue on from there with no rest and remain the same. No one could, not even Elves.
But could she see the sadness that he felt deep in his soul, but tried valiantly to ignore? Or perhaps she saw the faint shadow of the deep cut by his neck, gifted to him by a particularly determined Uruk-Hai. Gimli had griped for weeks about the fright he had given his dwarven companion that day, when he had found him lying in the grass in his own blood. The Uruk-Hia laying near him, Gimli's axe still deeply embedded in its skull. He had only grumbled louder when he remembered that the Elf's first reaction was to laugh.
Legolas very much expected her to be aware of all these things, and quite probably more than he even yet knew himself.
She gave him another small smile and reached for his hand, her eyes aflame with the warmth he loved so much, "Come, we should not let the others get too far ahead, for the tree's are still a labyrinth."
His spirit began to burn warmer within his chest. For Elves could form a type of bond with those they most cared for, and at times could even sense them about in the world even if they're eyes could not see them, nor ears hear them. And his spirit was pleased to be around another soul which it had grown most accustomed to.
As they drew closer yet to his father's stronghold, he soon could make out the faintest traces of his father as well, his bond almost physically pulling him forwards and towards the great Elven King.
While his own bond could sense his father at quite a distance, he knew his father had sensed him the moment he had approached their home. A ripple had been sent through the tree's, sensitive to the changes of their kings emotions, knowing of his desire to see his son once more. Even now, a few tree's continued to silently baid their prince to hurry along, to go to his father.
Yet, as Legolas drew nearer to the only parent he had ever really known, the nerves in his stomach seemed to only become stronger, and not lessen.
Avaleina sensed his conflict, and turned back to him with concerned eyes, "What is troubling you?"
"I am worried to see Ada again" He looked away from her, and then to where he could see the peak of the mountain the lived beneath peaking over the tops of the tree's. "I am worried of what he will say. I not only disobeyed him as a son, but as a Captain against his King. I also worry about his reaction to Gimli. His view of dwarves is no secret."
"Legolas" Avaleina breathed sympathetically, letting go of his hand so she could place both of them gently on his face, "Your father will say nothing except for how glad he is that you are home, and safe. His love for you is like no other, he just wants his Greenleaf back"
Legolas nodded mutely, he knew she was right. His father had a temper it was true, yet in all his years of life it had rarely turned on his son. With his mother gone, and his grandfather long since passed, Thranduil was the only family Legolas had. And vice versa.
All the love, comfort, and lessons of his life had come from his father. It was his father which he ran to when he was scared, his advice that he sought out in times of trouble, his arms he cried into. He could not even count the number of times he had wished for his father during the war of the ring, just as Aragorn had wished for his brothers.
Yet his nerves seemed to ignore his logic, and continued to twist within himself like trapped serpents.
"As for the dwarf," She continued, "Perhaps we could sneak him in. So you could warn Thranduil of his presence, before he see's him."
Legolas snorted, starting to walk forwards once more, catching her hand in his as he went, "We could not so much as get Gimli to the front door without Adar knowing of him. We especially could not sneak him through the halls"
"We could sneak him under them, though"
He turned back to her to witness the sly smile on her lips, and a loud barked laugh flew from his lips, "Oh, Gimli is not going to like this"
Together with matching grins the two elves raced through the tree's as fast as possible, heading back towards his friends. It did not take them long to catch up, their intimate knowledge of the forest and its path allowing them to make shortcuts the other would not have thought of.
As the pair of them crashed back onto the path, Gimli's eyes narrowed at his blonde friend in open suspicion, "No. Whatever it is that you want, the answer is no."
"I have yet to speak of what I want!" Legolas laughed, still gazing at the dwarf with brotherly affection, even as the dwarf gazed back with suspicion and slight disdain.
"I do not care, Elf. I have seen that look before, and I did not like the outcome then, and I will not like the outcome now" His words were punctuated with a huffed grunt, and crossed arms.
"Well," Avaleana butted in before the prince could speak, "If you wish to meet the king at the gates, while everybody watches, and he is caught off guard, and will certainly react in anger. Or, you could allow us to sneak you inside so Legolas can warn him of your presence first. The choice is yours, Master Dwarf"
Legolas bit his lip to keep his smile from growing, as he watched the resolve slowly begin to melt from Gimli's face. His father's unfavorable reputation certainly had its advantages at times.
"Fine. What is it you want, then?"
"We want to take you down the river, beneath the stronghold and up through the cellar" Legolas said the words as if he had merely asked Gimli to accompany him on a short walk. Gimli could hardly believe his ears at the relaxed nature of the sentence, as he glanced over to the river beside them. Which moved incredibly swiftly, twisted and turned dramatically and flowed over several large rocks. Not to mention the drop it must make it order to flow so deeply underneath the mountain
"If thirteen dwarves can sneak out of it, I see no reason why we could not sneak one dwarf in." The Elleth shrugged.
…
I hope you all enjoyed it, and i'll see you again soon for the next chapter!
