A/N: The assumption in this fan fiction is that whenever elven characters converse with no outsiders present, the conversation happens in Sindarin or Silvan elvish.

Pacing his throne room back and forth, Thranduil was drenched in thought. Through all the dealings with the human host, there was but a thorn in his back, a situation which he thought would come to no good given the right amount of time. The king knew his son well, and did not look gladly upon his friendship and growing fondness of the mortal lord's betrothed. A human, no less he thought with no small amount of distaste.

Along the weeks that the human host had been in his kingdom, the king noticed his son and heir seeking and spending time with the lady Nienor, all too much as far as Thranduil was concerned. He did not want to risk complicating an already frail alliance with the humans of these kingdoms. All would need to be united before the evil that was stirring. Reaching a decision, a few more days passed before he finally summoned his son.

'Tomorrow at dawn, you are to take whatever number of guards you need and take a part of the human host, including the lord's betrothed, away to Aegas'Annan for safety. Lord Ereldur has conceded and agreed it would be safer for them there. Return swiftly, you are needed here.'

He saw the composure of his son nearly crack to reveal a strange sort of distress, and no reply came from the prince until after a few moments. So it is as I feared the king thought grimly.

The young ellon then spoke, his voice level. The king found it commendable indeed. 'Our kingdom roads are anything but safe at the moment, you know this father. Such a journey would be perilous, even more so since there have been reports of goblins coming down through the mountain paths lately, attacking and ambushing travelers at random.'

The king looked unfazed. 'As I also know that the fortress of Aegas'Annan is the safest place to be, at the moment. I trust there will be no hardship for you to pass through, and I know you will see through to the task, after all you are my best military lead.'

'She-, and her host, are safer here,' the prince answered coldly, stressing every word through gritted teeth. Why did the thought of the mortal leaving do this to him? His father had taken notice of his feelings even before he did. Legolas sighed inwardly at having been so outwardly careless with his own heart.

'She is safer away from you. Will you question me now? Does what I say lack reason, my son?'

Legolas had grown to know his father, surely. Thousands of years had made Thranduil as objective and unrelenting as the wind. His father had the right of it, he knew. Thus he said nothing, bowed and turned on his way down the vast halls to pursue his orders. His countenance as grave as a prisoner's to the gallows. The ellon felt as he had only himself to blame for this turn of events.

Her thoughts were clouded and she could not bring herself to sleep. The girl had avoided most company for the past few days. Her lips still burned in remembrance, her eyes closing as she replayed the short lived kiss for what must have been the hundredth time. The connection which had filled her with a surge of feelings she never knew she had.

Her thoughts full of him, the girl was about to drift into sleep when she heard a steady knock on the door of her chamber. She stilled when she opened the door and saw the object of her thoughts standing before her, a stiff countenance about him. His pale and troubled expression, his eyes staring right through her could mean nothing good. Her embarrassment at the events of earlier faded in front of the worry she now felt.

The elf stared at her strangely for a moment longer before speaking. 'Tomorrow I am to take you to our hidden fortress within Eryn Lasgalen,' he said with no preamble, 'it was decided for your safety,' he added, and with this turned to leave.

'My lord? Legolas?' her words came in disbelief. He stopped, but did not turn to face her. He looked over his shoulder at her.

'Why?...'

Nothing. His silence worrying her, she tried again. 'Do you want to stay? For a while?'

It felt as if the wind was the only living breath in those halls. He would not turn to face her. What had passed?

'Please rest and be ready. We leave at dawn.' And with that he walked away, thinking this was going to be the hardest task he would ever see through.

Left alone, Nienor threw the door closed, turning around as if smitten. Should she pursue the elf, press the details out of him? Was Ereldur behind this? It would have made no difference to her where they turned to before. But now? Now, what? her mind mocked. Nienor, do not be a craven. Remember yourself. Your duty.

A few long hours passed. Nienor could take no more and left her chamber, pacing through the elven halls, searching for any sign of her friend. She found no one. Disappointed, she returned to her quarters. She let herself fall onto the canopy bed exhausted. Would she have to be thrown to and fro all of her life? She missed the fields of her childhood, the careless whispers of the wind through her hair. But as often happened when her thoughts flew astray, she chided herself. The first task once this is over will be to get yourself a spine, Nienor.

After more time spent with nothing but her grueling thoughts, she knew not when or why, but a sudden quaint feeling came over her, as if a presence made itself known. For a reason unbeknownst, she rose from her bed and rushed to the door. As she opened it Nienor saw her elf there, a look of utter defeat marring his features. He was about to call on her, it seemed.

'I could not stay away,' she heard. The words were bitter, almost regretful.

Surprisingly relieved, she silently pushed herself against the chamber door, allowing him entrance. He followed into the darkened abode with hesitating steps and she closed the door behind him. Then barred it.

'Please, have a seat.' She was restless. She had wanted to see the elf, but now realized she did not know what she would tell him. How does one go about telling an immortal being of the enormous pull one felt towards them? 'Would you like a cup of limpë?', she continued, her voice strangled. Nay, this bland pretense was beyond them. She felt his presence differently now, and the strange tension rising between them was palpable.

Still standing and with a furtive glance her way, he slowly paced through the room, his head bowed, until he reached the window she had left open. 'I want you to know, I would never have done anything to tarnish your honor. I do not know what came over me. Or why.' Liar. 'But I... do value our friendship very much.' Yet I am afraid to tell you the truth of what I feel. He spoke softly, cursing his lack of courage as he regarded the night sky visible through the wide opening.

Nienor remained silent behind him.

If she would say something, anything, he thought.

The girl swallowed her words a few times before she finally managed to speak. 'Will I see you again?' she swiftly asked, fearing her voice would fail her. The realization had just dawned on her. A few moments passed in continued silence.

'The intent is not to,' he said blankly.

The finality of the words made her head swoon. He now turned to face her, still keeping some distance between them. His piercing stare she had gotten used to, but his stiff, uneasy bearing and this pained look on his features were an altogether new sight. A long pause followed before she realized they were mostly in the dark. She went and lit another candle and its light was soon brushing their figures in slow caresses.

'I am at fault,' he continued, breaking their gaze. 'I have acted... foolish around you.' He seemed to hesitate. 'Even coming to you now was foolish.'

A few agonizingly slow moments passed, with neither of them having the courage to break the silence.

This is pointless. He shook his head. 'I must leave. Forgive me,' he said finally as he was pacing swiftly towards the door.

But he never reached it.

Nienor rushed towards him, and next he knew he felt her warm body against him, arms reaching and wrapping around his neck before even she realized what she was doing. She felt the swarm of feelings she had smothered brimming to the surface, ruling over her.

Legolas found he could not let himself move further with her so close. Those cursed pangs of longing were harder and harder to suppress, even more so when he regarded her face and saw his feelings mirrored her own.

'Please, stay,' she said barely audible in the quiet of the night. Her eyes were wide open in a plea, an honest plea if he ever saw one. He felt her chest rise and fall against him, unknowingly straining his most resolute restraint. He took hold of both her wrists in a failed attempt to remove her from himself, to stop her from gripping him tighter, from drawing herself closer into him.

'Nienor have a care, do you want this to worsen? There are higher matters to reckon with than what we think...,' he paused, swallowing to help the dryness which choked his words, '...what we think we found within each other.' At least all was revealed. It was strangely releasing. His expression was grave yet his gaze did not leave her and unbidden, his face drew closer to hers.

'I ran away from you then, as I was afraid.'

'I know, young one.'

'Afraid of what I saw you to be. Of what you came to mean to me.'

He had not noticed when his arms wrapped around her waist, trapping her as she hung to him. 'And what do I mean to you, Nienor of Garolin?' he asked, despite knowing her answer would spell his doom.

Her small hand reached to touch his face. He closed his eyes, feeling slender fingers sliding upward to barely trail along the tip of his ear. 'Everything.'

He sighed deeply, causing her hold on him to tighten. All this be damned he thought. Yet he did not expect it when he felt her lips against his, lingering, finally tasting, enjoying his warmth. She felt ablaze. This time, she did not turn away.

It was late into the night, or better said in the small hours of the morning when they finally allowed rest to come.

Now, awake and staring at the dwindling flame, the ellon was musing over the beautifully exhausting moments they had shared. Everything had been completely new to them both. But slowly, tenderly, they discovered and learned much about each other, and it had been a wonderful lesson. The first of many to come, he thought. She had turned him into a youth anew, besotted, shy and careful. A thousand years fallen away into the dust, useless. The warmth of her made him shiver even now in remembrance as he watched her figure; her arm protectively placed over his chest, her head resting on his shoulder. He looked over her disheveled beauty which had left him gasping for air. And not only for her body, which he now realized he direly needed, but the emotions only she had been able to awaken within him.

By the Valar, I am completely taken with a mortal he thought to himself as his hand caressed her sleeping form. It was unnerving, distressing. But it all made sense now. Why he had sought her company so often, his concern over her well being, why her closeness had all the unusual effects on him.

One supposes it was only the natural way of things, for love comes irrespective of time, space or individual fates it unites. She was unaware of their elven customs. She did not know what this would mean for him. He loved her, and she loved him. He had willingly bonded himself to her, which meant that now he would have no other. The ellon pondered how to reveal this to his beloved without frightening her. The elf would never presume to impose anything onto her if she chose otherwise, but he knew it was meant to be this way for him.

And then, she was mortal. He grimaced. A long road, and wrought with sorrow at the end. Something for later to consider. Not now, with her in his arms. Not before long it would be time to depart following the crass orders of his father. Nothing had ever caused him to question or disobey Thranduil in the past. He was father and king, his elder and most valuable teacher. It had never occurred to him, even when trying to be objective, but for this one time. This one time he could not obey.

Yet could he be so selfish? His innate sense of justice seemed to prevail over him now. He was not the one alone, away from his home, away from his people. It might be for the best, for her. But he could not part from her either. There must be a way. He held her even tighter and she stirred, half opening her eyes, searching for his.

'You are worried,' she said softly, his concern reflecting her own in sleep filled eyes.

'Aye,' he admitted, but now his eyes were on her lips.

She lazily removed a stray strand of silvery hair from his face, smiling, before leaning close. It was a warm and lingering touch, and before they knew it everything was more feverish, more earnest. He tilted her head gently to trail his kiss down her swan like neck, wringing a soft moan. A sound still new to him, and he found that he very much enjoyed hearing it from her. Her fingers tangled through fair hair and she could not resist pressing herself into him, reveling in the scent of his skin.

He wanted to right any wrongs, he wanted to undo what was done, or to take her away, all contradicting and foolish thoughts. He had never felt anything akin to this, in all his long years. This sense of one's entire being merged with another. An extension of one, a bond forming stubbornly against everything.

'Nienor,' he whispered breathlessly, his fingers wrapped protectively around her nape.

She met his eyes, her own glazed with the need his closeness brought.

'I am yours. Are you mine?' came the words, grey pools melting into earthy brown.

'Aye,' came the swift and timid answer, her hands still in his hair.

His heart thundered out of his chest at her words of consent. He brought her to him again and they lay in silence for a while longer, his hands soothingly caressing her back, dreading the coming day and the separation it meant. As they grudgingly parted, they stood both unknowing of what their now entangled fates would be or what this would lead to. But small steps would do.

'I will see you down before departure,' the ellon looked down to her with a smile as she was helping with the fastenings of his tunic, her hands on his chest, a gesture she did only to touch him a little longer. When they finished donning their clothes he held her to him for one last time before heading to make the final preparations for their journey. The corridors were empty, and he slid through undetected.

Pacing down the wide halls towards the throne room, he tried to think. Was this desperation? It appeared it was not reserved only to children of men after all.

'Legolas.' The son bowed shortly to his father, now in the midst of the soldiers who would accompany the gathering on the road. When Thranduil looked over his son now, the elf could feel his gaze scouring through his entire being. He thought he saw the curling of his father's lip in controlled distaste. Could he...sense the bond? Then he heard it. The king's voice in his head.

'What you have done is a most terrible slight I would not have thought you capable of. I tried to prevent it from getting this far, now I must take bolder measures.' The king saw his son grow pale. Thranduil was indeed disappointed, albeit not surprised. Then, uttering words so that everyone could hear, he said, in what the prince perceived to be his most sardonic tone, lost on the others:

'My son, you look tired.' His words were almost hissed, and hit his son like a bludgeoning axe. Not without noticing this, the king went on.

'Captain Sonruil will take your stead in escorting the company to their destination. I need you to rest, for you will command the second division hunters through our western borders two days hence, where I have word that those wretched spiders and other foul things have come farther into our land.'

'Father...' Legolas felt lost, and saw the grinning faces of fate rushing to repay the deeds of the night before. And then he felt anger pouring through him. Bright and mystifying. It took all his restraint not to confront his father, which he realized would be an even more ill turn to an already hopeless situation. So he said nothing and removed himself from the king's sight, embroidered in thoughts dark and thick as the mists of Angband. He had to get to her somehow, he would not leave her. Could not.

In front of the tall kingdom gates the gathering was waiting for all to arrive. Ereldur approached her horse and smiled at his wife to be.

'Fare thee well, my lady,' he grinned. 'We will not see each other for quite a while. I am sure it saddens you as much as it does me.' Nienor decided to ignore his sarcasm, all the while dreading the new feeling of guilt making itself known due to her recent actions.

'Fare thee well,' she answered coldly. With this, the man huffed and turned to depart. Her eyes were seeking another, one that had not come.

Soon, she told herself in reassurance, lovingly tracing the lines of his face in memory. When would she feel him close again? It was as if they had decided together to find a way through everything.

When Sonruil arrived giving the start and the horses proceeded to move in a slow trot, she wanted to yell at them to stop their advance, to put a halt to the convoy. In her confusion she rode up to the captain, who informed her of the latest changes but could not give her the answers that her eyes were pleading for.

It cannot be. She felt as if all dimmed around her, eyes full and heavy as she could not help but keep looking back, trying to determine any presence, any figure that might be heading to join them. She had to grip the reins tight so as to not fall off her horse.