Two years in middle earth had passed quicker than anyone realized. Legolas and Ithilwen continued to remain in Greenwood, but would often travel to Lorien. Ithilwen had found it hard to say goodbye to her parents when they departed, but she knew that she needed to maintain a presence in the Woodland realm so that the people could get to know their newest princess. Haldir didn't make things any easier when he whispered to her about how proud he was to see what she had become, because moments after she became a mess of tears. He hadn't meant to make her cry, it was just something she wasn't used to hearing from him. Meanwhile, those of the kingdom that had come to witness the departure of the visitors could only watch on bewildered as the new princess openly showed her emotions. It was practically unheard of for elves to react so strongly in public, and even in Greenwood any reactions were drunken joy during the feasts.

A year prior, a letter had come from the Shire, and Ithilwen was ecstatic to learn that Sam had not only sought to court Rosie Cotton, he had married her as well! She had written back on behalf of her and Legolas to congratulate him, including a small gift for the bride. It wasn't much, it was a braided bracelet she had learned to make during one of Legolas' absences into the woods, but she had gotten some assistance with the smiths in crafting some charms to attach to it as a representation of Thranduil's kingdom. Months after she sent the letter, another had come for her, addressed from Rosie herself. Their duties kept them busy at times, but they set aside time to write every few months since.

Ithilwen also came to know many of the Greenwood guard during the two years. While this was meant for noble reasons, it quickly turned into a game of who could tell her the most embarrassing stories about her husband as possible. Legolas was less than amused when he caught wind of this, but Ithilwen assured him that she had the mother-load of blackmail material on him compared to their stories. When Legolas wasn't guiding her around the kingdom, it was either Galion or her handmaiden, who had come to be more of a public relations assistant than a servant. Galion could provide her with information on the workings of Greenwood, but it was her handmaiden that could bridge the gap between her and the people that worked there. That part wasn't hard, at least when they were convinced that she was sincere in telling them to speak freely with her. Once that obstacle was passed, it was like one couldn't get them to shut up. Overall, the better part of the first year was the ice breaker challenge, because most of the kingdom was still wary of her heritage, and that kept clouding their feelings towards her until they came to associate her with her personality.

Plans were also in the making to reseed the lands of Ithilien, which was in dire need of repair, but to do that would require a colony of elves to live there and maintain the land. In an interesting family meeting, Tauriel had outright petitioned for Legolas to lead the colony, since she felt he could do a better job of it than herself. It had been discussed even back in the modern world that Legolas would be traveling to Ithilien, so he had no issue with heading the project - it was Ithilwen that he was concerned about. It would put her further away from her family, and she had expressed fears in the first year at Greenwood about the people not liking her. When he brought this up, Thranduil came to her defense - much to her surprise - and told Legolas of how well she had integrated with the elves during his absences. Not once had she the slightest idea that Galion was playing the role of double-agent and reporting back to the king. But then the discussion had been sidetracked when Miraear got excited and said that when their home in Ithilien was finished, they could finally start a family and give their parents the grandchildren they desperately wanted. Aside from plans for the formal agreement to be written up, not much else came out of that meeting.

Besides keeping correspondence with Rosie in the Shire, Ithilwen had also been writing to Eowyn. They had settled into their palace as the Lord and Lady of Emyn Arnen, also holding the titles of Prince and Princess of Ithilien, granted by King Elessar. Ithilwen had to be careful in her letters to the shieldmaiden, because often she would be reprimanded for addressing Aragorn as Estel, Elessar, or his ranger name in the same paragraph. Not only had it confused her, but it had confused poor Fiona to no end as well.

Fiona and Bernard were still in Lothlorien with Haldir and Morwen. Fiona's letters would often talk about what Elladan would write to her about, and mostly about how unfair it was to have to wait another eight years before they could even formally court. "I've got boobs, dammit! That should count for something!" she had written once. If one were to ignore the millennial-age gap between her and Elladan, it almost sounded like a normal conversation the sisters would have had back in Burgess. Bernard had kept up with Melda after they had returned to Lindon, and despite her pestering in the letters, he continued to say that they remained simply friends. As it were, Melda was still attending to her duties of assisting Silima, which would take up most of her time until the day that she and Glorfindel were to marry. He often talked about the progress Fiona and he were making in their Sindarin lessons, but while Fiona was picking up speaking it better, he had more skill with the ink and parchment. Aside from that, he had begun to study the works of the crafters in the capitol, learning the tools and methods so that he could later formulate how he would continue North's legacy. Bernard had also complained that the uncoupled ellith in the golden wood continued to coo over his hair, finding how curly it was simply fascinating. As if the dark locks weren't a stand out already, his shorter, curlier hair was garnering a lot of attention. Between the two of her siblings, many in Greenwood were witness to her sporadic cackling as she read the letters to herself.

Another that she found herself laughing about was the letters they had received from Eomer back in Rohan. Though these were less frequent, they were lengthy and very detailed. It was during the second year that she found her assumptions right when he told of his marriage to Faramir's cousin, Lothiriel of Dol Amroth. The modern mannerisms had rubbed off on him it seemed, for the paragraph that announced this news started with "I already know what you're going to say, Ithilwen...". Despite her desire to do so, she didn't begin her congratulations with "I told you so". From the way he talked about Lothiriel, she was a wild spirit, and he knew the day she refused to back down in a heated argument that she was meant to be his wife. It wasn't always about butting heads between them, but there were times he almost wondered if Eowyn wasn't channeling some of her steadfastness into the princess. The one defining factor that set them apart was that while she had no desire to go to the battlefront, she wasn't about to let her opinions be set aside on such matters if the need called for her to protect her home. In his last letter to Greenwood, Eomer had begun to personally train her with a sword, something her father would never allow her to do in Dol Amroth.

Really, the one that didn't surprise her was the announcement of Glorfindel and Silima's wedding. Sadly, they were unable to attend this joyous event, because two months prior she and Legolas had set out with Gimli to visit Fangorn Forest and the Glittering caves. A small collection of warriors had been sent as an escort at Thranduil's request, even though Legolas swore up and down that he and Gimli could handle any situation alone. Still, this opportunity gave them a fresh set of eyes as they passed by Ithilien. Having more opinions on the matter of restoring the land could only help them, Ithilwen reasoned, even if she did feel silly being surrounded by warriors as they traveled.

In Fangorn, Ithilwen got to meet Treebeard, as well as watch Gimli twitch. It was funny as hell, but unlike Legolas, she tried not to laugh outright. Before they had left, Legolas had nearly convinced the ent to surprise-scoop Gimli until Ithilwen caught wind of it anyway. The warriors that traveled with them got great enjoyment out of seeing their prince get hit in the arm by his wife as she scolded him with a "Don't you dare", because she found it hard to keep her voice serious when he continued to grin mischievously. They then stayed for a week in the weakened forests of Ithilien to rest and make notes of where to begin work before they continued on to the Glittering Caves. Ithilwen had been on cave tours before with Fiona during school trips, but this was unlike anything she had ever seen before. The caverns were enormous, and what light that filtered through would make the area sparkle faintly. To her, it reminded her a lot of the Slipslide Ride level of the Gorilla Glacier area in Donkey Kong Country. Gimli was already making plans to start a colony within the caves, as per Eowyn's suggestion years before, and having recalled watching that particular game he told Ithilwen that he would have both blue and red-dyed ropes hanging somewhere in the vicinity when she next visited.

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A/N: A short chapter, but I'm working on the next one now. This one just didn't want to flesh out like I thought it would, so it really is a 'transition' chapter. :/ I'm really sorry about not having this done by Tuesday, but I haven't been feeling my best. I did have an alright birthday though! The weather sucked and I couldn't get out of skipping class, but it was nice to not think about schoolwork (much). Tomorrow I'm back to work on everything, and I know some of you are likely in the same boat I'm about to be in with final projects and exams. Hang in there guys, you can do it! :) Next chapter will be all over the place, but it'll be another Fiona spotlight! I know some of you enjoyed that last one about her so I'm really happy you're so taken with her!