To my readers, again thank you for reading and sticking with me! I have changed the category on you guys, sorry if it causes any confusion. I felt that putting this under LOTR instead of the Hobbit was a bit more fitting. If you have any objections, go ahead and let me know. I just thought maybe it would be easier to find since it's not really a Hobbit story. I mean, I wrote it after seeing the Hobbit movie, but it doesn't have much to do with the Hobbit movie. The chapters coming up will hopefully be really good ones, I sure like them and I have some great ideas that will be coming soon. Hope you all keep enjoying! I love reading your reviews 3

Coming back from battle with orcs, most everyone in the infirmary was easy enough to care for. The only difficulty was dealing with a poisonous orc arrow, which required quick attention, which Harn had dealt with very well.

The next day, I was busy making sure the orc poison was dealt with as well as a new challenge. A broken leg had befallen an elfling and so I had to work quickly, healing and setting the bones without causing her too much pain. It was a procedure I was much accustomed to, but still none too easy to perform, especially on young elves. It could be very painful if even the smallest and sometimes unavoidable mistakes were made.

I had Harn assist me. First I rubbed a healing ointment on the young girl's leg. Then, Harn and I pressed the bones together, working while the girl cried out. When it was finally done, I let out a sigh and headed to mix some more things for helping to keep her bones strong while they healed.

Bent over my work, I heard a knock at the door and turned to Thranduil standing in the frame.

"My Lord." I bent my head in acknowledgement.

He returned a small smile. "I came earlier, but Harn said you were quite busy."

"Busy enough."

"I had hoped that you would be able to make time for this evening."

I had not placed much thought into the night's festivities, as Thranduil had asked. There was nothing of the sort in my mind and so I could not purpose a well thought out answer to what I knew he was asking without saying. I merely had to decided, or leave it for later.

"I…I suppose I could do so."

Thranduil smiled. "I am glad to hear that. I will come by your chambers tonight. I would like to attend together, properly." He gave another nod and started out, but I could not let things rest in that way.

"Thranduil," I called to him.

"Yes?" He turned back, looking over his shoulder at me.

"Just because I have agreed to go with you this evening, does not mean I have agreed to anything else."

The smile that had seemed to be craved forever on his face that day faltered. "Yes," he said. "Of course." Then he whisked away, his cloak trailing behind him.

After seeing to my patients, making sure everyone was as good as they could be, I headed back to my halls, the small room which I lived in, and prepared for the evening.

I washed up, scrubbing my skin clean and making sure I smelt as pleasant as I could, with lavender oil dabbed on my wrists and neck. Then I pulled my damp hair back, into tiny pin curls against my head, so that when my hair dried, it would have more to it than being long and straight. While my hair dried, I got dressed into a white and silver gown, the hem brushing over the floor as I walked. I dabbed potted rouge onto the apples of my cheeks and then pulled my hair from the pins, shaking it lose into long waves. I ran a brush through it, making sure my hair was still soft and smooth. I was just getting a small tangle out when there was a knock at my door. I brushed through the tangle quickly and then checked my reflection before opening the door to see Thranduil standing behind it.

My breath caught inside my throat when I saw him. Instead of his usual green and silver tunic, he wore one of the colors of the changing leaves of autumn. Red, yellow and orange melted together over his shoulders, down his chest and over his legs. His skin was as alabaster as ever, but somehow looked more luminous, especially where the robe he wore opened, just slightly, at the hollow of his neck. His long, light gold hair was perfectly silky under his crown. The contrast of the colors he wore, if anything, made his eyes look all the more green as he looked my frame up and down, his eyes large, his mouth opened slightly.

"You look," he began.

"You look very fine yourself," I said, stepping out and closing the door behind me, standing very near Thranduil. I could smell something on his skin as well as my own lavender scent. I couldn't tell exactly what it was, but the way it mixed with my own perfume made my head feel light and my eyes slightly heavy.

"You look absolutely gorgeous," he managed to say quietly.

"Flattery will only get you so far." I started off and Thranduil walked at my side, holding out his arm for me to loop mine through. I did, feeling his strong arm beneath the fabric of our formal attire.

"It is a lovely evening for the festivities," Thranduil said. "I could not have asked for a better night. The stars are beautiful."

"Do you prefer the weather cooler like this? Or summer?"

"I feel that I can find joy in any season. It is the beauty of each one, and the uniqueness, that pleases me."

"I do agree, but there is nothing quite like when the leaves are new and green."

"The clean and pleasant newness of the forest is something to behold."

We then were at the large hall where music was playing, elves were dancing and large amount of food lined tables against the walls. I did not know if I had ever seen so many woodland elves in one place like I had then. Heads of mostly light gold, some brown or more red, bobbed about, in groups off to the side of the hall, talking and laughing, or dancing in the very centre of the large room.

The room itself was decorated in the same sort of style of Thranduil's robes. Red, orange, and yellow leaves, streams of them, decorated the halls, hanging from the ceiling and adorning the walls along with golden streams that shone like the stars would shine above the forest.

I must have been staring for a long time because Thranduil gently put a hand on my shoulder, pulling me back to him, taking my eyes away from the hall.

"Do you like it?" he asked.

"Are they all like this?"

"When we celebrate, it is always extravagant. I find the fall colors to be the most beautiful."

The music went into a lull and the King entered the room. The elves stopped, looking to their king, their faces warm, welcoming, caring. It made me feel proud to be able to say that I knew him, and not just as our king, but as more to it than that. As Thranduil, with all his insecurities and worry, as well as that pride which glowed from him as he greeted the elves of his kingdom.

I did not hold to his arm, or stand against his side. I felt uneasy being on the arm of his body for all to see. So I stayed back, hovered around inside the edges of the room, always near Thranduil as he greeted everyone, but not really with him. After his rounds, he connected with me again, standing near a heaping table of food.

"You do not wish to speak with anyone?" he asked me. He was holding a small glass of wine between his fingers.

"I do not know many people outside my area," I confessed, my eyes still on the elves dancing and twirling about as the music started back up.

"Would you like a drink?" Thranduil offered.

I looked at the wine inside the glass in his hand. "Perhaps just a little, to wash down some food."

The wine was sweeter than I expected, and went well with the small plate of food that I had made myself. When I had finished, all the while watching the other elves dance. The way they turned about and moved together was so beautiful to see.

"Would you like to dance?" Thranduil stood next to me and took my empty plate from my hands, setting it down on one of the decorated tables.

"I'm not very good," I admitted. Dancing was something all elves could do, and do well. Compared to any man or dwarf I could dance very well, but compared to other elves, my dancing skills were not exactly good.

Thranduil took my hand and my waist nonetheless. "It is for fun," he said with a smile, whisking me into the middle of the floor.

I tried to protest, but I found that I could not. The music started into a new song, and Thranduil began to move, pulling me across the floor with him. My legs felt heavy and my feet had difficulty keeping up with him. I felt like I was scooting across the floor, instead of moving with grace and poise like Thranduil.

He must have noticed. "Just relax. Let the music control your movement."

"I do not think it's that easy."

"You mustn't worry as you are."

"Everyone is watching us."

"So let us give them a show."

"Thranduil-"

But he did not heed my concern, instead, as the music quickened, his movements quickened along with it. He pulled me over the floor, my feet feeling like they were barely touching the ground. I felt slightly dizzy, a bit light headed, and yet, it felt good. I felt that I was actually enjoying myself, moving with Thranduil, even though my feet felt dizzyingly quick. But I managed to keep up, as the music quickened more still. I felt my feet fly across the ground, so quickly, I started to laugh. Thranduil's face broke into a grin as well, smiling down at me.

"That's it!" he chuckled over the music. "You can dance well!"

I laughed back. "It isn't easy!"

Thranduil spun me around, one last time, my feet literally above the ground. I laughed again. Then the music died down. My feet went back to the ground.

The king and I stood in the middle of a large circle of elves. I had not realized at the time, but while we had been dancing, they had parted, leaving the floor to only Thranduil and myself, allowing us the space to dance, and watching us. They clapped then, and cheered, happy to see their king dance with this she elf, who most of them likely did not even know. I felt my spine quiver under the gaze of so many pairs of eyes, watching me dance, with their king, and cheering to me. In a way, I wanted to rush out of sight, hide my face, but yet it also felt…suitable, to be standing there, even if my knees felt uneasy.

"Thank you," Thranduil said in a loud, booming voice that I had heard before. It was the voice he used to address everyone, the entire kingdom of people under his power. "Now, let us celebrate the beauty of the season, for it is not just I who can enjoy the change and beauty that comes with the cooler air from the north."

The elves cheered again and then, to my great relief, they broke apart, taking their eyes from me and going back to each other.

With the privacy now of everyone looking elsewhere, Thranduil turned to me. "Will you come with me?" he asked simply.

"Come with you?"

"Away from here for a moment?"

"I-"

Before I could saying he had already taken my hand and was leading me away from everyone else.