A/N: My dear readers, thank you for taking this journey with me. But unfortunately all stories must come to an end... A farewell chapter, leading to a short epilogue. Enjoy!

Thanks to my amazing reviewers: Asteria25, Lawrian, Restrained. Freedom, World Travelling Chibitaku, and Arathia7

No ending author's note, so thanks in advance for reading and reviews are welcome!

And remember: "The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams." ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Second Chances

The TARDIS landed with a shudder. "Welcome home," said the Doctor with a bittersweet smile.

Legolas couldn't believe it. After thousands and thousands of years he would finally step foot on his homeland once again. See his friends, his father. Oh, how he had missed Middle Earth. "Thank you, Doctor. Truly. I have no words to express my gratitude."

"Your time with me has been good enough, my Eldar friend. The stars do get lonely. I'm only glad that one of us has found our way back home."

Legolas smiled sadly at the Doctor. "Your time will come, of this I am certain. With such hearts as yours, some good will come to you. And one day you too shall set foot on a place so rooted in your heart that you call home."

The Doctor nodded before extending his arms open, beckoning for a hug. "I'm not one for hugs. I've always said: never trust a hug, it's just a way to hide your face, but I believe one is in order. We've travelled for such a long time together, I suppose it is only right."

Legolas embraced his longtime friend. "I shall miss you dearly, mellon nin."

"And I you, my pointy-eared, stuck up, elf," chuckled the Doctor. "Well then," said the Doctor as he parted and opened the TARDIS doors. "Shall we?" The Doctor bowed and motioned to the lush wood outside of the police box.

Legolas grinned. "I think I'm quite ready for another adventure." And so the two stepped outside.

Legolas walked not two steps before a burning sensation started in his chest. The elf stopped, a hurt and confused look passed over his features. His breath felt labored as the fire slowly spread. "Doctor?" he asked in a whisper.

The Doctor simply took Legolas' hand in his and gave a reassuring squeeze. He knew the inevitable chain of events that was going to happen and wished very dearly at that moment he could save his friend from them. "Your two selves cannot exist in the same timeline. Not in this universe. The TARDIS is trying to cope. Sending you back in time so she can... combine the two you's into one."

"This me I've become, I won't remember it? No Earth? No... Doctor?"

"I wish it could be different, but I can't control the properties of space-time." The Doctor smiled sadly.

The elf's knees buckled as the fire in his chest intensified. He leaned against a tree to stabilize himself. His eyes locked onto the Doctor's. "If I am to forget, do not let me make the same foolish mistake. Make me sail. As much joy as I have experienced in our travels, I was never meant to live this long." The fire spread to his mind and Legolas faintly recognized a pained shout exiting his lips. Flashes of memories flew across his mind's eyes, burning up like shooting stars. The elf vainly tried to hold onto them, not wanting to lose them all, but he was left with only ashes.

Legolas, so lost in his mind, had not noticed his change in position. His head now rested in the Doctor's lap, who was gently rubbing circles into the elf's palm. "Doctor, I do not want to forget you. The adventures. We have forged a great friendship." Legolas gasped as the fire flared. "Doctor, unto the stilling of my heart I will remember you. This I swear."

"You cannot make a promise like that. There are rules even rule-breakers like us have to follow."

Legolas let out a stuttered laugh. "You forget how stubborn I can be."

The Doctor smiled, but it was quickly wiped away as Legolas entered another fit of pain. "Breathe. Just breathe," murmured the Doctor. "You're going to be okay." He watched as the elf tried to do as he bade with little success.

The Doctor continued, "Breathe and remember that you've been in this place before. You've been this uncomfortable and anxious and scared, and you've survived. Breathe and know that you can survive this too. Eventually it will pass. It feels unbearable right now, but keep breathing, again and again. This will pass. I promise it will pass," murmured the Doctor.

Legolas finally gained control of his body and gathered one large breath after another. His eyes flew open and, for the last time, rested again on the Doctor's. "Farewell," he uttered, his voice little over a whisper, before releasing himself and letting the fires consume him.

Legolas awoke with a start, almost falling out of the tree he was perched in. The captain laughed as he watched the prince cling to the branch to stop a downward decent. "Having troubles, my prince?"

Legolas righted himself with the grace of the Firstborn and glared at his captain. "I am quite fine, thank you."

"Well if you are done with your nap, the sun has been up for quite some time. We should finish our last trek to the castle. I'm sure your father wishes to hear our report."

Legolas nodded curtly, and made his way easily down to the forest floor. Something odd struck at his heart. Though he knew he had just been asleep for the night, it felt he had been absent from the elves of the patrol for much longer. And at the mention of his father, he wished only in that moment to embrace him and never let go. It was a strange feeling of loss. The patrol had only been out for three weeks at most. He had participated in tours much longer and never had such a strong desire for home.

The prince spent the remainder of the day in an odd haze. Muddling through a mind that did not feel his own. Words would be spoken that would strike a feeling in his heart or a flash of memory in his mind, of which he had never seen before.

When he returned home, the stirrings had died down, though every moment with his friends and father seemed to burrow deep within his heart, filling a hole he never knew existed.

And so the prince went about his days and his adventures, the odd feelings he felt back in the woods that one day on patrol were long forgotten and faded to nothing but a shadow in the back of his mind. An occasional dream would invade his nighttime repose, but the prince would brush off the strange feelings as stress. He knew the shadow was stirring, the incidents in the South of Mirkwood grew more frequent. All felt an evil stir within Dol Guldur.

Then the feelings struck again, with such intensity. It was the end of the Battle of the Five Armies. He knew he could not return home. His heart broke for Tauriel as she suffered her loss, yet something deeper within him broke also. He believed it was the fact he was watching someone he loved as closely as family hurt so badly and could do nothing about it. Yet, as his father spoke of Strider, something stirred within him. A recollection of a star, pulsing brightly next to him. Of talk of estel and days gone by. Legolas shook himself. Yes, he could not stay.

Many years passed and his friendship blossomed with the young ranger he came to know as Aragorn. He suffered no other odd feelings or memories and departed on many adventures, and returned with many wounds to show.

Legolas had nearly forgotten about the strange memories and feelings he used to experience since that day on patrol, save for one day during his time in the Fellowship.

"What've you got there, Sam?" asked Pippin, the curious hobbit peered over Sam's shoulder at what was in his hand.

"Peppermint candies. Mister Butterbur was nice enough to give me a handful when we were in Bree. I thought with the lousy food we've been having, it would raise everybody's spirits to enjoy a small treat."

"Grand idea, master hobbit!" exclaimed Gimli as he caught a sweet in his hands.

"You carried these all this way?" inquired Legolas as he looked at the drop of sugar in his hand. Sam nodded. Legolas smiled. "Oh, Sam, the hearts of hobbits never cease to amaze me," said the prince with a wry grin as he tossed the treat into his mouth. Then a flash of something stopped his movements entirely. A white dome. Peppermint. An arena. Doctor. I'm sorry. More dangerous. Less wise. Peppermint. Doctor. Doctor. The elf shook himself. What was that? He questioned himself. A concerned Aragorn look his way, but he dismissed the man's worry with a look.

Doctor, who was this man he remembered? Wondered Legolas. Doctor… he let the name roll around in his mind. But who?

Legolas awoke with a mixture of sadness and joy in his heart. Today we would sail to Valinor. The call of the sea was great and he would follow, of this he was certain. He was not this full of conviction the day before, but through troubled dreams he made his decision. And so he bade farewell to his friends and made for the white shores.

With a sad heart, Legolas watched as the ship pushed away from the harbor. He stayed leaning against the prow of the ship, watching as their unseen destination in the horizon grew nearer with every gust of wind. He knew not how long he stood there, but a mechanical wheezing, groaning sound awoke him from his stupor. A wind, not from the sea buffeted his back and the prince turned, and beheld a curious blue box.

The elf cocked his head to the side in curiosity. He had seen this box before, he was sure, but yet it was still alien to him. A man dressed in strange clothes and holding a satchel stepped out with a grin.

"Ah, it's been a while. I didn't think I'd hit the time coordinates just right, but I guess I did. I mean, I did all those other times you got in scuffles and needed a hand out. You told me to make you sail, and I intended to make sure you lived that long. But my girl, my beautiful TARDIS, can't stay in this universe much longer. So, well I suppose I should give you this now," said the stranger, holding out the bag.

Did this man always speak this much? Wondered Legolas as he took in the absurd scene playing out before him. Then without warning, a memory surfaced, and his lips moved on their own accord. "D...Doctor?" asked the elf.

"Hello," said the Doctor with a wink and a smile. "I've come to say goodbye."

The Doctor handed Legolas the satchel and smiled. "Have a wonderful life, Legolas. Perhaps there is a Valinor for time lords and we will see each other again." He grasped the elf's shoulder in a final brotherly embrace before smiling. "Now off I go to save a universe." The Doctor winked and stepped into the TARDIS. The same wind not from the sea buffeted Legolas and a mechanical, wheezing, groaning sound filled his ears, striking a chord within the elf's heart.

Legolas stared dumbly at the satchel in his hands. This... Doctor. He felt he knew him so well. The elf opened the bag and emptied the contents onto the deck. Large amounts of pages fluttered down. Letters, paintings, and pictures littered the floor. They moved sluggishly in the sea breeze. Legolas recognized some of the paintings as his own. And more surprisingly, some of the scenes echoed that of the strange dreams he had been having.

A myriad of emotions swelled in him. Then, without warning, a sea gull cry pierced the air. With it, came a pain that sent him to his knees. Though it wasn't because of the sea longing, but a sudden remembrance passed through him. They were not just odd dreams. They were memories. His memories. The sea breeze picked up, swirling the numerous pages around, a sketch of a women, hair tied back looking over a stack of books. Two beings perched on a blue box in the midst of the most beautiful stars he'd seen. Legolas' lips seamed to move on his own accord, naming all he knew. His eyes were fixed upon the pages, glassed over, lost in his mind.

The breeze settled and the pages floated back onto the deck. Legolas bent down and picked up a pencil drawing of a man with tussled hair and a large smile on his face. The elf let a smile of his own grace his lips. "Doctor," he whispered. This time it was not said curiously and with a cold strangeness, but with love borne from many years of friendship.

His smile grew and Legolas directed his gaze outward. The elf breathed in deeply, a sweet fragrance mingled with the briny sea water reached his senses and he heard the sound of singing that come over the water. The elf watched in awe as the grey rain-curtain turned all to silver glass and was rolled back. Legolas felt liberated as the warm pulses of his forgotten memories washed over him. He let out a laugh of such purity he had not had in many years. And he beheld white shores and beyond them a far green country under a swift sunrise. Legolas was free of all troubles and greeted his new home with glee, because now, he remembered.