Legolas, since he was an elf and elves do not actually sleep, was up before anyone else one morning a few days after coronation. As usual, he had to wait until the others were ready to have breakfast, so he decided that he would take his horse out for an early morning run. He loved riding through the glades and watching the creatures of Middle-earth come alive at the start of the day. When he arrived at the stables he was surprised to find Caunwen there. She was dressed in her dark clothing once again, saddling her horse, her wolf standing nearby, as if ready to travel at his master's slightest command. She greeted him a "good morning" when she noticed him.
"Good Morning," he replied, "Going for an early morning ride?" He tried not to sound apprehensive, but she knew too well. "Actually," she said, "I am going home. I suppose it would be useless to try to tell everyone not to worry, so I am not going to tell you not to." He asked the only questions he could think of, "Why today? Why not rest a few more days?" "Because, I cannot wait," she replied. "Why can't you?" he challenged, he knew he was going to upset her, but he needed to be around her, and she was leave for no reason without knowing that he loved her. She had turned to stroke her horse's mane, her back to him as she said, "Because the longer I stay, the more difficult it will be to leave. No matter how much I will want to leave, I will end up staying because I will think that I am needed, or because I let myself believe that you…" she stopped, not willing to and willing to look at him.
"Believe that I what?" Legolas asked, silently stepping closer to her. "Nothing," she shook her head, whether to rouse herself or reset her emotions, he was unsure; she was half-human after all, prone to needing actual sleep. He was thinking of how beautiful her hair looked in the early morning light, when she continued, "I will just never find the strength to leave, and things will go back to how they were when I lived in Rivendell. I will be left to wander the city alone, or sit around reading, waiting to be called upon, never to be called. Singing to the darkness, never to be answered. Passing out of the remembrance of present life, always looking behind with regret, or to the future with apprehension. A bird locked in a cage that sings a pretty song, but one that would sing an even more beautiful song were it to be set free."
She turned then, not knowing how close he was, and he was very close indeed. She found herself trapped in between him and her horse, his hands resting on the horse on either side of her, ensuring no escape. Their faces were close, but not so close that she felt he was in her face. She was trying to decide what her reaction should be when she lifted her eyes to his, and that's all the further she got. Slowly, his head lowered until his lips met hers with a gentle, short kiss, like one a boy might give a girl he likes. He drew away, but only long enough to look her in the eyes to see if he found objection there, and he did not. His arms lowered to hold her, and before she could open her mouth to protest, he had started kissing her again. This kiss held within it all his longing, his desire, his love, all that he was. He had dreamed, or imagined, of this day everyday since she had gone missing. Everyone else had told him that she was dead, he had even believed it himself in his head, but somehow his heart would never let him forget her or grieve for her. Foolish some had called him, even his own Father had at times said he was, but it had not mattered. None of that mattered. She mattered. The kiss finally ended, and he had pulled back to look at her when he noticed that there was still a shadow of uncertainty in her eyes, such vulnerability.
"Caunwen, may I love you forever?" he asked. She looked him in the eye, pleading, "Would you listen to me if I told you that you really did not want to love me, that your guilt was just playing tricks on you?" He shook his head, "I have loved you since before I abandoned you… I had not understood at the time, but the real reason I found it so easy was because I was more afraid of admitting to myself what my Father had known when he gave me that bit of advice, that I was very much in love with you already." "If I told you that you may not love me forever, that what we had is passed, that you should move on… Would you listen to me then?" She asked this, she was trying to find some doubt in his resolve. "No, I am sorry. I would not listen to you," he caressed her face with his hand, "I will love you forever, no matter what."
She seemed to nod in resignation, "Then yes, you may, on one condition…" "And that would be?" he asked. She smiled at him, "On the condition that I may also love you forever." "I find your condition acceptable," he replied, then said the words she had longed all her life to hear, "I love you, Caunwen." "I love you, Legolas," his love answered.
As this story ends, Caunwen and Legolas got married in Rivendell, but the grandest adventure of their lives had just begun. They travelled often, sometimes Gimli even joined them on their trails. Like Frodo, though, Caunwen's wound from the Nazgul's poisonous blade never fully healed in the years they lived in Middle-earth. So, eventually, they also set sail for Valinor, and once there they lived happily ever after. Forever.
Thank you to everyone who has read this story to its conclusion.
Alámenë
