A/N: Sorry this has taken so long! I've been bogged down with school work already! I have two large term papers due in December and I've already begun some intense research for them...

Anyway, fantastic news: This story has reached over 700 reviews and I honestly cannot thank you all enough. I never dreamed this story would get such a following, but I'm glad so many of you are enjoying it.

Thank you to Guest, Manwathiel16, Katmoose1347, Guest, Guest, SavannahMaethilwen, Poison1234, Sandy-wmd, LegolasGreenleafLove, Morwen80, bntjammer, Uchiha no Kaori, lotrjesusfreak, Guest, ForbiddenShadow0, SparklesAreMyLife, annafan, RowanRamirez, horseyyay, Fellowship of Avengers, CaribbeanTrinidadian, CordeliaWho, Larisya, Brigid the Fae and KDSkywalker for reviewing the last chapter :)

Katmoose1357: Don't worry, Eryn is half-elven, so he can choose to live forever if he wants.

So this chapter doesn't have as much going on as the last couple chapters but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless.

Note: italic conversations are in Sindarin

Worlds Apart: Chapter 36

Eryn lay sleeping in Maya's arms as the movement of the coach on the road continued to rock them. She was still in incredible pain from the birth but despite Legolas' insistence that she take more time to recover, she was anxious to get to Ithilien. There was still so much to do between baby proofing their talan and setting up his nursery and so when their little son was two days old, they continued on their journey home.

Since the birth, Belwen had been an incredible help and though she would never admit it to her directly, Maya was glad to have the elleth at her side to help with the baby.

Outside the coach, Mithrin began to bark with excitement and as she looked out to see what was going on, the unmistakeable façade of the Ephel Dúath mountain range came into view and she knew they were nearly home. Eryn stirred in her arms, the wolf's barking having woken him, and starred up at her.

"Hey little guy," Maya cooed, laughing as the baby closed his hand around her index finger, "We'll be home soon and then we can set up your room."

"Do not let his innocence fool you, he is going to be quite the troublemaker tonight when he realizes that he is no longer able to sleep in the bed with his ada and nana," said Belwen, smirking as she watched the Princess dote on the little Prince.

Maya groaned, "Oh don't I know it. I can kiss my days of plentiful sleep goodbye."

'Thankfully, Legolas doesn't sleep much to begin with,' she thought.

She looked out the window again and watched as the walls of Emyn Arnen came into view, followed by the first of the talans in the tall trees across the river. Maya felt a sense of peace and relief come over her as they followed the familiar route back to the colony; now they were able to raise Eryn in a place where being curious about the world around him wouldn't put him in danger.

They continued through the grasslands of Ithilien for some time yet and when they finally came to a halt, the baby began to whimper, feeling the absence of the swaying motion of the coach. Maya began to rock him and Belwen helped her out of the coach.

When her feet touched the ground, she looked around at the place she'd left all those months ago. It was time for them to start building their life together, for real this time. No more patrols to get in the way of her time with Legolas – though he was going to be called on business occasionally – and now living in their talan, they no longer had to feel like guests inside someone else's dwelling. This was truly home, sweet home.

Up ahead of the procession, Legolas dismounted his horse and spoke a few words to one of the guards before walking back towards Maya and Belwen. He smiled sadly as he realized how exhausted she looked, he wished she'd allowed herself at least one more day of rest, but Maya was stubborn.

Legolas kissed her cheek and then placed a loving kiss her lips.

"How are you feeling?"

Maya smiled reassuringly as she registered the look of concern on his face. "I'm still sore, but that can't be helped."

"Perhaps you should rest," began the Prince, but Maya simply shook her head.

"I promise, I'll be fine," she said, her lips turning up in a small smile, but Legolas wasn't convinced.

Maya shifted her gaze from the uncertain face of her husband to Erynion, who seemed to have become fascinated with his surroundings.

"Do you wanna see ada?" she asked before handing the baby over to Legolas. The Prince kissed the crown of little Eryn's head and stroked his cheek as he continued with the rocking motion Belwen had taught him. Before long, the baby was asleep in his arms, his little chest softly rising and falling.

"I will admit, it is good to be home," he said finally.

"I thought the ride would never end," Maya teased, "The little one was good, he slept most of the way."

"You will need to ensure that he is tired tonight so that he can learn to sleep on his own," instructed Belwen, "I would not be surprised if he spent most of the night wailing, as most infants do."

Legolas was about to reply that they should get the nursery settled as quickly as possible when he heard excited shouting.

"Uncle Legolas!"

He turned to see Silivren and Eleniel running towards him. Tauriel and Veryan followed behind them as they walked hand in hand.

After the friends embraced and congratulations were given to the new parents, Legolas and his friends exchanged amused looks as the two elflings observed the tiny bundle in his arms.

"Nana said you were an ada now," said Eleniel, "Does that mean you won't play with us anymore?"

"Of course not. You never have to worry about that, my little doves," reassured the Prince, "Would you like to see him?"

Tauriel watched as he gently knelt down for them to see Eryn and Eleniel wrinkled her nose and said something about not liking babies.

"They're boring," she said unimpressed, looking to her twin sister for her agreement but Silivren simply continued to observe Eryn. She reached out to touch him and was surprised when his tiny hand instinctively curled around her fingers.

"I think he's sweet," she said finally, "When will he be old enough to play?"

"Not for a few months at least, darling," interjected Tauriel. She turned to Legolas and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Erynion. I should have known that you would pick a name that reminded you of the forest. He is truly beautiful Las."

"I see he inherited the green of your eyes," Veryan said as came to stand beside Maya.

"But he's a spitting image of Legolas," she said, giving a small laugh, "If his childhood stories are anything to go by, we're going to have our hands full."

"I was not that unruly!" objected the Prince, though Maya could see the corners of his lips turning up mischievously.

Veryan smirked. "Yes and I suppose falling out of a tree in your good tunic or stealing your father's sword do not count as 'unruly'"

'Don't listen to him' the prince mouthed to his wife and Veryan laughed. He watched as Tauriel continued to fawn over the little one, taking Eryn in her arms.

"I hope my wife doesn't get any ideas. We have our work cut out for us already," he whispered to Maya.

She giggled. "Oh come on, I'm sure if she wanted another you'd be more than happy to oblige."

"With my luck, we would get twins or even triplets," Veryan teased, earning him a look from Tauriel, "Now I imagine that the three of you are quite exhausted from your journey. Shall we help to move your belongings?"

Legolas nodded, handing the baby back to Maya so that he could help carry some of their bags and the party proceeded towards the talans.

As they climbed the stairs into the high branches of the tree, Eleniel and Silivren ran ahead to chase Mithrin and though the wolf could easily outrun them, he decided to let the little elflings catch him more than once. Belwen, of course, only shook her head in disapproval as the girls pulled the poor animal's tail and ears.

With every step, Maya had to focus both on not looking down at the ground below them and ignoring the pain in her lower body.

Tauriel caught Maya wincing as she walked and hung back, falling into step with her.

"It will pass," she reassured, "Until then, make some tea with the leaves of the athelas plant. It worked well for me after I had the girls."

Maya smiled gratefully "Thanks. I'll try that."

When they finally reached the talan on the highest branches of the tree, all of their things were placed inside and Maya walked around with Erynion in her arms. The baby looked around him with big, curious eyes as he took everything in.

Maya giggled when she felt her husband's lips on the nape of her neck, his breath tickling her skin. "That tickles!"

"Does it?" he asked, moving his lips over the sensitive skin. Maya continued to giggle and hunched her shoulders in an effort to keep his attacks at bay.

"Yes it does! I would swat you if I didn't have your son in my arms."

"Would you?" he arched an eyebrow and his voice was laden with amusement.

"I might."

Legolas watched the corners of her lips turn up in a sly smile and he smiled right back, unable to keep his heart from fluttering. Never could he have imagined that he would be so happy. Never could he have imagined that the strange woman he met on his first night in another world, who'd cleaned the wound on his forehead despite knowing nothing about him, would be the love of his life.

"Come here," he whispered, gently pulling her into his arms and Maya didn't object as he brought his lips to hers in a deep kiss. She responded eagerly, relishing in the warmth of his embrace.

As they kissed, Legolas angled himself so as not to crush little Eryn who was staring at his parents with intrigue. Maya smiled against Legolas' lips and they managed to sneak in a few more kisses before pulling away.

"I love you so much," she said, resting her forehead against his.

"I love you too, Maya."

Together they walked to the baby's nursery to get a sense of what had to be done but when they entered the room, both were astonished to find that everything was already set up for the baby's arrival. Legolas' eyes fell first on the small cherry wood bassinet in the corner of the room and then on the dresser with all of the baby's clothing and toys.

Maya remained frozen in the doorway and brought her hand to her mouth, unable to make a sound in her astonishment. Standing behind her, the Prince brought his hands to her shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. He was just as speechless as she was, and together they ventured into the little room, admiring all of the little details their friends had put into the nursery.

Inside the bassinet was beautiful little baby blanket and a little wooden rattle. Legolas picked up the toy and showed it to Eryn who'd begun to fuss in his mother's arms. As soon as he heard the rattle, the baby seemed to settle down, mesmerized by the sound.

"Do you like it?" Tauriel asked as her friends looked about the room.

"It's perfect," said Maya, blinking back tears, "Thank you."

"But when did you do this?" asked Legolas.

Veryan came up behind his wife and they shared a smile. "We began just after the wedding because we thought you might not be back in Ithilien in time to prepare the room. We'd only finished a small part of the nursery when we received your message the other day about the birth and so we hurried to finish the rest of the preparations in order to surprise you when you arrived."

"Mission accomplished," said Maya, still feeling moved that their friends had gone through all that trouble for them, "I can't thank you both enough for this. It's just the way I imagined it would be."

"We are glad," said Tauriel, "We were very happy to do it and I hope the little one enjoys it just as much."

Silivren walked over to the dresser and reached for a small horse figurine carved out of wood.

"This was my toy," she said presenting the toy to Maya, "I wanted the baby to have it so I gave it to nana for his room."

"Aw, that's so sweet. Look little monster," said Maya, looking down at Eryn, "Someone's got a present for you."

The little girl brought the toy up to him but the moment she got close the baby started to cry and Silivren recoiled, frowning.

"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, feeling crushed, "Does he not like it?"

Silivren lowered her gazed to the ground as Eryn continued to cry.

"No, little one," Legolas reassured, lifting her chin with his fingers, "You did nothing wrong. Everything is new for him and he's had a long day so I think he is simply telling us he's had enough."

Silivren nodded and watched as Maya attempted to calm the baby.

"Alright my little goblins," said Veryan to his daughters, "I think we ought to let Maya and Legolas catch their bearings. The first one back to the talan will get extra dessert after dinner."

He barely had the time to get the word dessert out of his mouth before babies and toys were forgotten and the twins raced out of the room. Veryan said a very quick goodbye before rushing off after them.

Tauriel shook her head in amusment. "This is what you have to look forward to when he gets older. Good luck tonight and once again…welcome home."

With that she was gone after her husband and children and all that could be heard were shouts of 'Girls don't run!' followed by the sound of racing footsteps, pounding the floor in defiance. After all, the promise of extra dessert trumped all parental authority.

... ...

"Oh my god." Jen panicked as the horse began to move and she could feel the beast's back swaying under the saddle, "Get me off this thing, I'm going to fall."

"No you won't, just stop freaking out. You've barely moved two feet," Justin was sitting on the stone ledge in the courtyard observing as the Citadel's stable-hand attempted to teach her.

He had to bite his lip to keep from laughing as the horse refused to stop walking no matter how frantically Jen pulled on the reigns. It reminded him of a Yosemite Sam cartoon with the camel who wouldn't stop running when he was told to. Suddenly the image of Jen yelling "When I say woah, I mean woah!" and smacking the horse over the head like a cowboy with anger-management issues was far too difficult to ignore and Justin bit down harder on his lip.

Of course, he would be so dead if she knew he were even thinking this.

"He senses that you are anxious, my lady," said the stable-hand, a young man in his teens, "You must relax."

"I can't relax! I want to get off," said Jen.

Justin shook his head, "I thought you wanted to learn to ride a horse. You made that big speech in the dungeons about it."

"That was when I thought we were going to rot in those cells," countered Jen, letting out a scream as the horse sped up to a small trot.

The stable-hand bolted after the horse and managed to run grab onto the reins, slowing the mount to a halt. Jen was trying not to hyperventilate and she took a deep breath.

All of her fears were suddenly forgotten when she saw Justin dying of laughter on his perch. She narrowed her eyes, fixing him with a death glare and the laughter came to an abrupt stop.

"It's not funny!"

"Okay, okay," he said putting his hands up in surrender, "But Jen, how do you want to get to Ithilien if you can't even ride a horse?"

The King and Queen were planning to take them to the colony the next day for a surprise visit but Jen couldn't even go two feet on a horse without screaming. This was going to be fun...

"I'll just...I'll walk!" she cried stubbornly, crossing her arms.

Justin rolled his eyes. Yep...this was going to be fun indeed. They'd only been here three days and Jen was already complaining about frizzy hair and the lack of Charmin toilet paper. Now they could add horses onto the list of things about Middle Earth that Jen abhorred, that along with 'smelly guys in armour' – as she liked to refer to the guards. Apparently getting Jen into the whole Middle Earth way of life was going to take far more time than either of them had realized.

Justin on the other hand was adapting nicely. He was already learning how to use a sword and he really liked the way people dressed here. He and Aragorn were getting on well and they'd had a nice chat about Assassin's Creed and Call of Duty one night over dinner. The King had seemed so enthused by the whole thing that he never noticed the face-melting glare that Arwen was shooting him from across the table.

"Come on," Justin said, getting up from the ledge and taking the reigns from the stable-hand so that his wife could safely get off the horse, "Let's go finish packing. Not that we have much to take with us, our old clothing isn't going to be much use anymore."

"I'm not leaving my Jimmy Choos behind," stated Jen. She didn't care if she couldn't wear them here, they'd set her back a fortune and she loved them! Even if they ended up in a glass case somewhere, there was no way she was leaving them.

"Jimmy who?"

"Jimmy Choo." Jen gave him a look.

"What?" Justin said, laughing as she rolled her eyes, "I know fashion...sort of."

Jen looked him up and down from the dark brown of his boots to the leggings and green tunic he wore fastened with a leather belt. "This coming from a guy who looks like Robin Hood. All you're missing is the hat and feather."

Justin smirked and began to pepper her face with kisses, sending her into a fit of laughter. "That may be, but a very sexy Robin Hood."

"Alright Prince of Thieves," teased Jen as she dragged him out of the courtyard, "Let's get everything ready, I can't wait to see Maya and that massive baby bump! The look on her face is going to be priceless."

... ...

Maya lay in bed exhausted. It had been a particularly long night with Erynion crying because he wanted to be fed every couple of hours or simply because he wanted to be held. When she was on the verge of falling asleep, the baby's whimpers would wake her and she found herself walking over into the next room to check on him.

Now her eyes were burning from the lack of sleep and her body was so sore that Maya felt as though she'd fallen down six flights of stairs. She pulled the blankets up over her head to hide from the light of morning as it shone into the bedroom and bathed her features.

Soon she heard footsteps coming into the room and moments later a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her. Legolas pulled the comforter away from Maya's head and nuzzled her neck.

"Hey," she said softly, snuggling into him, "How is he?"

"I managed to put him to sleep again."

Maya looked into his blue eyes and kissed him softly. "Thank you for everything. You've been so wonderful and I feel kind of bad that you had to get up so much."

Legolas placed a finger to her lips and shook his head. "You need your rest."

"Why are you so perfect?" Maya asked and the Prince simply chuckled.

"The last time you called me perfect you were drunk."

Maya furrowed her eyebrows. What?!

Legolas smirked as the memory came back to him. "The night you introduced me to Tristan at the bar. I believe it was those...tequila shots that didn't agree with you."

Maya gasped."Oh my god! You said I didn't do anything embarrassing when I asked you the next morning! That's mortifying," she groaned, "I don't even want to know what you thought of me after that."

"I was thinking," Legolas pulled her in for a kiss, "That you were adorable. You have no reason to be embarrassed, Maya. you are my wife, we have a son and I love you both very much. Perhaps your drunken slurring was what set it all in motion."

Maya was about to reply when she was interrupted by the sound of crying in the next room. She moved to get out of bed but Legolas held her back.

"I will go," he said, kissing her one last time, his lips lingering on hers, before he walked out to check on the baby.

Maya slowly rolled out of bed and walked to the armoire to find a dress for the day. She peeled off her nightgown and cringed at the image staring back at her in the mirror. She'd said goodbye to her slim figure nine months ago and the weight gain had all been for the good of the baby so she hadn't minded too much, but now the sight was shocking and all she saw were the small stretch marks and the flabby skin around her tummy.

Maya never remembered feeling so insecure about her body before. Logically she knew that most of this would eventually go away and she might get back to a semblance of her former figure but still, she was embarrassed and there was no way in freezing hell that she would let Legolas see her like this.

Maybe she could just wear a shirt when they made love, that would keep all the unwanted sights covered up. After one last look, she tore her eyes from the mirror, quickly pulled on her dress and went off in search of her family.

... ...

The next day, Veryan and some other members of the guard were surveying the forest when they caught sight of the King and Queen of Gondor and their procession making straight for the colony.

"Send word to Legolas that King Elessar and his party have arrived," he said to one of the guards and as soon as the he was gone, Veryan dropped down from the trees and walked towards where Aragorn had slowed his steed to a halt. The rest of the elven guard dropped down from the branches as well and formed a small perimeter around the company, startling Jen and Justin who hadn't seen them up in the treetops.

"Your majesties," Veryan greeted them, "We had no word of your arrival."

"It was meant to be so," said Arwen, pulling her mount up beside Aragorn's, "Word reached us in Minas Tirith that Maya and Legolas had arrived and we wished to surprise them."

As Arwen and Aragorn conversed with Veryan, Justin reached behind him to hold Jen's hand. After that fiasco in the courtyard, they'd given up altogether on the idea of her riding her own horse and so she'd ridden on the back of Justin's steed. Though this did not come without its fair share of drawbacks. When he kicked the horse into a trot, Justin nearly lost circulation as Jen tightened her hold around his waist and from there it had been an endless journey filled with squealing and crushed torsos.

When the King and Queen descended from their mounts, Jen's breathing quickened and she eagerly grasped onto her husband's hand.

"Everything's going to be fine," he whispered, "There's nothing to be nervous about."

"I can't help it, I haven't seen her in over a year. I've been waiting for this moment for so long now and it's finally here," Jen replied, "I hope I don't cry."

Justin smirked, "Oh you're so gonna cry. Both of you are."

Moments later, the breath caught in both their throats as they caught sight of two heads of long hair followed by a beast of a wolf.

"I guess they don't have golden retrievers around here," mused Justin.

He dismounted the horse and helped his wife down, both unable to say a word as they realized that this was the moment they'd been anticipating for days now.

"She had the baby already?" Jen asked as she caught sight of the small bundle in Maya's arms.

Justin simply shrugged, "I guess so. I still can't get over the wolf."

As they made their way towards the party, Maya and Legolas exchanged puzzled looks. They had no idea that Aragorn and Arwen were going to visit so soon and the news had caught them off-guard, but nonetheless they were anxious to show little Eryn to their friends.

"Gimli is going to be deeply disturbed by the news that there are now two of you, Legolas" teased Aragorn. He clasped his hand on the elf's shoulder and pulled him in for an embrace.

"Gimli is merely afraid," Legolas began, smirking, "that this means he will forever be bested in combat."

As the two friends continued to jest, Arwen clasped her hands together and rushed over to see the baby.

"He is beautiful, Maya," said the Queen as she fawned over the little one. She was anxious to have children of her own when the affairs of the realm settled down, "What is his name?"

"Erynion, but we call him Eryn," Maya replied looking down at her little son.

"Son of the forest. How very fitting," the Queen replied. She noticed the dark circles under Maya's eyes and smiled sympathetically.

Maya attempted a smile of her own. "We had no idea you were coming," she said, "If we'd known we would have been better prepared to receive you."

The King put his hand up and shook his head, "Nonsense. This is an informal visit among friends, and we would not have it any other way."

Aragorn smiled when he saw little Eryn staring up at him. "May I?"

"Of course."

Maya handed her son over to the King and was amazed to see that Aragorn appeared at ease when he held the little bundle. He was going to be a natural when they finally had Eldarion.

"There is another reason we came to visit," said Arwen as she watched her husband with the baby, "Something of a more personal nature."

Maya furrowed her eyebrows and Legolas simply tilted his head. "Is something wrong?"

The King and Queen shook their heads and Maya watched as the wall of guards behind them parted to reveal two faces she never thought she'd see again. Her eyes widened and her breath caught in her throat as she watched the two figures approaching, looking every bit as emotional as she was.

"Maya."

The sound of that voice was enough to break something within her and before she could help herself, Maya threw her arms around Jen and Justin. Their presence defied all logic and reason but for those few moments, she simply didn't care. The friends wrapped their arms around each other and exactly as Justin had predicted, Jen began to cry.

... ...

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this one. I'll admit there isn't as much going on as in other chapters but I really didn't want to ignore the fact that having a baby is hard work and your self-esteem can really take a beating after the birth. I used the experience of a friend of mine as inspiration for a couple of these scenes. Maya is going to struggle with her body image for a little while as many new mothers do.

I know that some of my readers are mothers themselves so if you have any suggestions they are very much appreciated!

Please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter! They really make my day and it keeps me motivated to update, especially now that I'm getting so bogged down with school work. The support of my readers means everything, so thank you to those of you who are reviewing.

As a side note: If you want to get a good sense of what I'm referring to when Jen attempts to ride a horse, go on youtube and check out Yosemite Sam's misadventures with a camel. It's pretty funny.

Don't forget to check out some of my favourite stories: Reflections: Beginnings and Reflections: Family by KDSkywalker and Wanderlust by Raider-K