Well here is another update. Again I apologize for taking so long between updates but thank you all for still sticking with me and the story. Enjoy!
The city of Ithilien grew quickly and prosperously in the next year. Faramir and Eowyn ruled over the land with grace and dignity and the elven settlement within the land was known for what were soon to become very beautiful gardens. By this point in time the providence of Ithilien was very well inhabited and had minimal disturbances from orc's and other remnants of the war.
Alanna and Legolas lived in a modest sized cottage with their two children in the elvish settlement. Alanna loved it because their yard was basically a part of the gardens and they were still very close to the main city. The twins were growing up well. They both had many features that made them look very elvish and Neuron had inherited Legolas's intense blue eyes while Anariel had Alanna's dark green ones. Anariel's hair was also not as pale as her father's or Neuron but was more or a honey colored hue making her appearance slightly more human. They also often played with Aragorn's son Eldarion or Eowyn's son Elboron. People often joked that Anariel took after her mother far too much because she mostly spend her time with a bunch of men and seemed to have no trouble pestering any of them.
Most of the time however it was not just the four of them, and they were keep very busy with the twins and guest from the old days that often came to visit. Legolas often blamed Alanna for the children's general unrestrained curiosity for whenever they looked away for but a moment they children usually got into some kind of trouble. Currently Alanna was attempting to watch the children while she cooked dinner in the kitchen at the moment the Galad-Nell were occupying them as the twins sat on the floor trying to catch the small orbs of light. Legolas had gone into town on business to discuss some dispute between one of the elves in the settlement and a human man living in the same vicinity over where who's property began and the other's ended. She felt sorry for her husband at times because he always had to be the middle man when it came to these sorts of disputes and they were beginning to learn just how ignorant some people were about other races in Middle Earth.
It was for this reason that Alanna had gone to Aragorn a few months ago and discussed with him the idea of building a University to help enlighten the peoples of Middle Earth, it would be a school for all to attend. However building something of such large scale meant it would probably not be done until she was very old but she did not mind for she felt it would be her contribution to this world. She had been thinking about what the university might look like when something Anariel said interrupted her thoughts.
"Duhf." She said looking over at the doorway. Anariel and Neurion had started to talk already but most of their words made no sense. Alanna however knew that 'duhf' meant Gimli and she was right in her suspicions when she saw the dwarf standing in the doorway. He had been staying with them this past month to visit with all his old friends.
"Duhf." Said Neurion as well looking happy to see the dwarf.
"And why again am I duhf?" Said Gimli with a laugh addressing Alanna.
"It's because when Legolas teases you he always calls you dwarf so I think they think duhf is your name." said Alanna smiling down at the children as they walked shakily over to Gimli so that they could grab onto his legs.
"Ah so that bad habit was his fault then?" He said with a laugh before turning his attention to the children. "No my name is Gimli not duhf, Gim-li."
"No." Said Anariel looking at Gimli with confusion. No was actually the first word she ever spoke which was no surprise for she heard it a lot because she was quite the little trouble maker.
"Duhf." Said Neurion agreeing with his sister. The two of them got along really well and hardly fought. Alanna let out a laugh at her children's persistence.
"They are very stubborn I see."
"They get that from their father, not me." She said with a laugh.
"Are you sure about that? I recall a certain someone being pretty set in her ways as well." Said the dwarf with a wry smile. Alanna however did not have time to retaliate because she heard a knock on the door. She asked Gimli to watch both the stew and the children so that she may answer the door. When she answered it she was rather surprised to see who was standing there. It was an elven woman and man whom she did not recognize and she knew just about everyone who lived in these parts.
"We were told this was the residents of a Legolas Greenleaf, is this true?" Asked the elven woman in elvish. She was slightly taller than Alanna and had long blonde hair and pale blue eyes that seemed to hold great kindness and wisdom in them. Alanna also noticed she carried herself with an heir of importance. The elven man also carried himself with a similar heir and but his eyes held a great intensity to them and he almost looked a little harsh.
"It is but I am afraid he is in town at the moment dealing with some business. I am his wife is there anything I can help with?" Said Alanna also replying in elvish.
"I am King Thranduil of the woodland realm and this is my wife Queen Mirima, we wondered if you may invite us into your home for we have much to discuss with you."
"Yes of course." Said Alanna switching back to her native language in shock and stepping aside to let them in. She showed them to the sitting room and excused herself to check on how Gimli was doing looking after everything when the front door opened once again and Legolas came home.
When he saw Alanna on her way to the kitchen he stopped her so that he could greet her and after giving her a kiss he said with a sigh. "You would not believe the day I am having."
"It's about to get better. Your parents are in the sitting room."
"What!" Said Legolas looking slightly angry.
"I have to go and check the stew." Said Alanna heading into the kitchen while Legolas went into the sitting room where his parents were now located. His mother was sitting calmly in one of the chairs in the room while his father looked at a tapestry hanging on the wall that depicted a great battle.
"I wonder what battle this is?" he said to his wife but Legolas was the one to answer.
"It's Helm's Deep, both Alanna and I fought in it." He said looking sternly over at both his parents, more so his father than his mother. "But you did not come here to look at my tapestries. Nendir stopped by over a year ago to tell me of my, well I guess the best word to describe it would be exile."
"You seem to be doing quite well for yourself regardless." Said Thranduil not wanting to argue with his son. "Just because you have made some choices I do not particularly agree with does not mean I want to be on poor terms with you, my son. I had to do what was best for the Kingdom and although some of your choices angered me greatly your mother and I sail for the undying lands soon and I wish to make amends before then."
"Alright." Said Legolas his expression unreadable. Legolas noticed his mother was looking and something behind him and saw Alanna heading towards the sitting room, holding Anariel with one arm and holding Neurion's hand in the other in an effort to steady him walking over to where everyone was. She had put Gimli in charge of the stew which meant it was probably not going to turn out well, but then again she never had been a very good cook in the first place.
"Mother, Father I realize you never took the time to meet my wife Alanna." Said Legolas a bit of a bite to his tone.
"Yes, regrettably I am afraid. We have heard great things of you." Said Mirima with a kind smile. Thranduil just seemed to nod in agreement but it became quickly obvious to Alanna that he was not the type to really show what he was thinking. "Are these my grandchildren then?" She said looking over at the two children who now sat on the floor in the middle of everything.
"Yes, these are Neurion and Anariel." Said Alanna with a smile watching as Anariel sort of walk/crawled over to where Thranduil now sat and looked up as him with a puzzled expression as though deciding what to do. She eventually opted for reaching her arms up in a gesture that suggested she wanted to be held. Legolas who was a first angered by his parent's sudden appearance decided to take the rest of his family's lead and just accept the past was behind them. If he parents wanted to make amends he would accept them.
He couldn't help but smile when his father gingerly picked up Anariel who now sat in his lap calmly but he knew it was only a matter of time before she would pull his hair or try and take something from him.
"Your eldest brother will be ruling over Mirkwood and he has asked me to invite the two of you there so that he may meet you." Said Thranduil struggling with Anariel for possession of the amulet he wore around his neck.
"Anariel, stop that." Said Alanna in a scolding tone.
"No." Said Anariel with a laugh before stopping.
"Duhf." Said Neurion who had gone over to stand by his father's legs. He was right in announcing the presence of the dwarf for Gimli had just come out from the kitchen looking annoyed.
"You know if I recall I am a guest in this house, just because I'm a dwarf I am not your servant." He said in his usually gruff tone causing the twins to laugh at his anger.
"Honestly you brag about how many orcs you killed at Helm's Deep all the time but god forbid if you have to tend a pot of stew for a few minutes." Said Alanna with a laugh rolling her eyes and heading into the kitchen.
"Mother, Father, this is my friend Gimli, he was a member of the Fellowship as well."
"It is good to meet you master dwarf." Said Mirima. Thranduil said nothing just nodded his head in respect.
"And you as well." Said Gimli returning the pleasantry.
"So I take it if Aradan is inviting me to Mirkwood I am no longer exiled then?" Said Legolas turning the conversation back to what they were discussing earlier.
"Yes, and I believe Nendir owes you an apology as well sometimes his pride gets the better of him. Said Mirima.
They continued to talk in the sitting room; well mostly Mirima asked how Legolas and his family were doing while everyone else just listened. Alanna would pop in to join them from time to time but was mostly busy in the kitchen and it was times like these that she missed technology from her time period which would have made cooking much easier.
Currently Alanna was in the kitchen once again this time checking on how the bread was cooking when someone knocked on the back door to the kitchen. Alanna went to answer it and saw it was Eowyn who often came to visit when she had time to spare.
"Faramir, is watching Elboron so that I may have a break from him for a little while." She explained coming into the kitchen.
"So you thought to come to the house with even more chaos for a moment's peace?" Said Alanna with a laugh.
"It's very entertaining, there is always something going on here or someone visiting it's nice to see so many of us in one place it reminds me of the old days. As does this stew." Said Eowyn trying a bit of it and scrunching her face at the taste.
"That was Gimli's doing not mine, it was decent before I had him help. And you are right about something always going on, Legolas parents are here."
"His parents?" Said Eowyn with interest.
"They seem to have come for a friendly visit which I suppose is nice, they say they wanted to make amends before they sail for the undying lands."
"How long are they staying for?"
"I have no idea."
"Alanna, they wish to speak with you some more do you think you care spare a moment?" Said Legolas coming into the kitchen to check on Alanna, he did not at all seem surprise to see Eowyn there because there was usually always someone visiting Alanna while she cooked most of the time it was Haldir or Bellethiel both of whom lived just down the road from them. Alanna at one point in time had tried to set something up between the two of them but it seemed they were meant to only be friends.
"The bread should be done any minute and then I have to peel the potatoes and carrots to add to the stew."
"I can do it, go talk with your in-laws." Said Eowyn pulling her hair back so it was not in the way when she cooked.
"Are you sure?" Said Alanna thankful for the gesture.
"Yes, it's fine. I will attempt to save the stew." Said Eowyn with a laugh
Alanna and Legolas went back into the sitting room where now only his parents and the children where. Gimli had decided to go and visit Haldir so they could have some family time.
Legolas's mother seemed very interested in Alanna and was eager to learn more about her. Legolas's father seemed to be a man of few words but when he did speech in was in a respectful tone that suggested that although he did not agree with all the choices in life his son had made he was glad his son had found happiness. Anariel and Neurion also seemed to be able to soften his rather tough exterior. Legolas's parents stayed for only a few days for they did not want to intrude too much on the family and promised to come and visit at least once more before they left Middle Earth for good.
Legolas noticed Alanna seemed very happy that his family had at least accepted her and he knew for a fact his parents had liked her. Although Alanna enjoyed the company she was glad when all the guest were finally gone and Legolas and her could have a moment of peace to themselves after Eowyn and Faramir had offered to watch the children so that Elboron could have someone to play with. Currently they were both lying in bed, Alanna resting her head on Legolas's chest and he had an arm draped around her waist holding her close to him.
"Do you hear that?" He said.
"Most likely not, I do not have you elvin hearing." She said looking over him with a smile.
"What you should hear is nothing. I'm trying to recall a time when the house has been this quiet." He said with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"You can't recall it because it had never been this quite." She said with a laugh speaking in a whisper.
"Why are you whispering?" He said also whispering.
"I don't want to ruin the silence."
"You still make noise when you whisper." He said with a teasing smirk and Alanna hit him playfully on the arm. The two of them lay in silence once again but it was short lived when Alanna spoke once again.
"I'm not sure I like it being this quiet."
"No, it is certainly not the same without the children here." Said Legolas agreeing with her.
"I don't think I could have ever been this happy had I gone to my homeland." Said Alanna thinking of something she had not thought of in a long time.
"I would not be if you had. You, Neurion and Anariel mean the world to me; it is difficult to imagine a life without you all." He said not even realizing he had reached a hand up to run his fingers through her auburn hair.
"Well someday you are going to have to have a life without the children; for you will have to share them with someone else they will mean the world to. I feel very sorry for the man who becomes interested in Anariel."
"And why is that?" Said Legolas puzzled.
"Because you are so protective over her as is Neurion and he is only one. Not to mention Aragorn, Faramir, Gimli and Haldir have all decided to look out for her as well. That poor boy is going to have to pass judgment from practically the whole Fellowship before he is allowed to even look at her."
"At least we know he will be worthy of her. But like said they are only one, I have a long time before I even have to think about such things."
"They grow up faster than you think, Legolas. It already seems like just yesterday I was holding them in my arms for the first time."
"Yes, our time with them as children is short but I have a feeling it will be some of the happiest time we spend here."
"I couldn't agree more." Said Alanna with a smile, this time raising her children would be some of the happiest times in her life and she was happy she was spending them with Legolas at her side.
Well don't forget to review. I also decided this story is going to be about 30 chapters so there is still a lot to do before the story ends. Thanks for reading.