Chapter 5: Remember Me
Aire sat beneath the large old oak tree in her backyard, she fiddled with a stick, drawing pictures in the dirt. The sun was setting, but there was still a lot of blue left in the sky. She wiped the dirt off of her jeans, and examined the stitching on her red T-shirt. She was deep in thought and did not notice her mother standing over her.
"Aire?" she said softly.
Aire startled and dropped the stick she was holding, she looked up at her mother, but she said nothing.
"Aire, are you feeling okay?" her mother asked, putting her hand on Aire's forehead.
"I'm fine mom" said Aire, a little irritated, she moved her mother's hand from her head.
"Aren't you going to come inside and eat dinner?" her mother asked, looking concerned.
"Yeah, in a bit, I'm just enjoying being by myself now." Aire noticed perhaps for the first time how different she was from her parents.
Aire was adopted, she knew that, her parents had made no effort to keep that from her. Though they did not know who her birth mother was, for she was found by a women wrapped in a blanket by a street. The woman took her to the orphan home. But Aire knew who her mother was, her adopted parents saw her and immediately wanted her, her mother had always wanted a blond haired blue eyed girl. They could not have their own children, so adoption was their only choice, besides Aire, they adopted Scott, her brother, and Samantha, her sister. They looked more like their parents than she did; they all had brown hair and eyes, except for her and Scott, who had blue eyes. Her mother said that she loved how she stood out in their family, she said that Aire had always had some odd thing about her that made her different, but that it was this difference in her that attracted her to Aire, and that is why she chose her.
Aire looked out at the sky again, a colidascope of colors filled the evening, it seemed surreal, like a painting. Her mother went to sit down beside her.
"Aire, what's wrong?"
Aire glanced at her mother, how could she tell her? 'She'd think I'm nuts if I told her who I really was.' How do I explain?
"Nothings wrong mom, I'm just tired. And I was just thinking." Said Aire
"About what?" her mom asked.
Aire thought, her mom was very open minded, but this might be a little too far fetched for even her. Mystical things fascinated her mother. The house was decorated with mystical things, unicorn tapestries, small statues of wizards and dragons, paintings of fairies and even elves. Maybe she would understand.
"Do you believe in all those mystical creatures that we have around our house?" Aire asked.
Her mother looked at her oddly. Why did you ask that question?"
"Well, I just.." ' Oh great Aire! Now that was really smooth!' she thought to herself.
Her mother smiled, she looked at the sky, now a deep red. "Well, I believe that at one time they did exist."
' Okay' Aire thought. ' Maybe now she won't think I'm a complete nutcase, well I have to take that chance. I need to tell her.' Aire looked at her mother very seriously.
" Mom, I'm-" she was cut off by a voice from the house.
"Mom! Dad said dinner's ready!" came the voice of Scott; he stood in the doorway. Her mom looked up.
"Okay, well be right there!" Her mother stood up, Aire sighed. 'Well that went well, thanks a lot Scott.' She thought.
She followed her mom into the house and ate quietly while her family discussed the day's events. When dinner was over with and Samantha and Scott had been sent to bed, as they were younger than Aire, Aire stayed up to help her mom and dad clean up.
"Aire it's 10:00, shouldn't you be going to bed?" her dad looked at her from the sink.
"No, I don't have school tomorrow, there's a teacher's meeting." Aire tossed him a dry towel to clean his hands with.
"Alright then, well your mother and I are going to bed, you can stay up but try not to be too loud, we don't want Samantha or Scott to wake up, because they have school tomorrow. And don't stay up too late okay?" her dad said as he playfully rubbed her head.
They kissed Aire goodnight and headed off to their bedroom. Aire finished wiping down the counters. She stared for a while at the counter, not really looking at it, but staring beyond it. Thinking, thinking about her past, things she remembered, and always they kept coming back to Legolas.
Aire looked out at the old oak tree in the back yard, it's thick branches twisting up into the night sky, as if reaching out to touch the moon. The night seemed to call to her, calling her out. And she accepted the call; she opened the back door and let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She closed the door slowly and as quietly as possible trying not to wake anyone. She walked across the grass, feeling it's cool touch upon her feet, she made her way too the oak tree; she touched its trunk with a hand, and stared up at it. She turned and leaned against it sighing, staring up at the stars.
"Legolas" she whispered.
At that same moment, Legolas sat in his room in Mirkwood palace; he read a book for a while and then shut it, tossing it aside. He couldn't concentrate on it. He looked to the balcony, the long thick heavy curtains were drawn back, allowing light from the moon to spill in upon the floor. He got up from his chair and walked out onto the balcony, he leaned on the rail and stared up at the sky, the stars glittered and the moon shined. He sighed.
"Aireromen" he whispered.
There they stood, the two of them, each staring up into the night, each thinking of the other, and each having the same memory.
(Aire and Legolas's memory combined.)
The autumn night air was crisp and cool, and it made the forests of Lorien even more mystical. Aire walked silently along the trees of the fair elvish city of Lothlorien, a few elves were about but most were at a council meeting with her father Celeborn. She wore a light green rennasaunce looking dress, at the very bottom and around the breast were green beads sewn into the fabric. And the sleeves belled out over her arms. She walked down to the river that flowed right next to Lothlorien, she stared out at the waters, and the consistent flow was so relaxing to her ears. She closed her eyes and breathed in, and it was then that a hand came out from behind her and covered her mouth. Her hands shot to her face and she pulled the strange hand away, she turned and saw Legolas standing behind her looking down at her. He wore a silverish blue Elven cloak from Lothorien. (Like the one in the movie when they visit Lothorien)
"Legolas! Why are you not at the council held by my father?" Aire asked, secretly very happy that Legolas was here with her.
"My father does not need me, he represents the Elves of Mirkwood, not I. At least not for a while." Legolas looked back up to the buildings then back to Aireromen. "I saw you coming down here and I just thought I'd come and say hello." He smiled.
"Oh? Is that all?" asked Aireromen. She gave Legolas a look that said she knew that he was not telling the whole truth.
Legolas returned this look with his own look of complete false innocence. "Well, there was another reason." He said.
"And what is that?" Aireromen asked raising an eyebrow and smiling.
"This." Said Legolas. He grabbed Aireromen's arms and pulled her to him closely, he bent his head and kissed her deeply. He then slowly pushed her away from him so that he could see her face clearly; he smiled bigger than before.
"Smooth one Legolas." Aireromen laughed, teasing Legolas.
Legolas looked at Aireromen, a playful look in his eyes. "Shall we walk?" he asked holding his arm out for her to take.
She smiled at him and took the arm gladly; they walked down further along the bank.
"What is the council about Legolas?" Arieromen asked as they walked.
"Oh, some of the Elves wish to leave middle earth and cross over the sea to the Grey havens, where most of the elves have been going these past years. I suppose they are not happy here, they do not trust men and feel that things will only get worse if we stay." Legolas kissed her hand.
" Will the Elves of Mirkwood go?" asked Aireromen.
Legolas shook his head. "No, not all, my father wishes to go to the havens, but he feels he should not leave yet. But when I take the throne I imagine then he will leave."
"When you take the throne?" Aire looked at him "I thought your eldest brother would be the heir."
"No." said Legolas. "He wishes to go over the sea, there are more than a few Elves of Mirkwood who wish to leave. But I cannot leave; I love the forests of middle earth too greatly, and there are so many woods here that I have not yet explored. I wish to see them all, and there are other reasons that I cannot leave." He stopped and looked into Aireromen's eyes.
"What?" asked Aireromen.
"You." Replied Legolas. He smiled, is eyes softened and he kissed her forehead.
Aireromen smiled, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the lips. He returned the kiss with a deeper one, his hands on each side of her face.
"I love you Aireromen, I will love you all my life." He looked into her face, with a seriousness about it. "It is a great pleasure for me to know that I shall not rule Mirkwood alone, you will be there with me. I think that is the best thing about the whole arrangement of the throne, I would not wish to rule without you, nay I would have no other but you."
"And I could not imagine immortality with out you Legolas, I too love you, you and no other." Aireromen smiled.
He kissed her again and she leaned into him. Their lips parted and for a long moment the simply stared at each other, memorizing every line, every detail of their faces. Aireromen sighed and wrapped her arms around Legolas's back and rested her head upon his chest, listening to his heart beating and the soothing rhythm of his breathing. Legolas wrapped his arms protectively around her waist and rested his head on hers, he closed his eyes and breathed in, her hair smelled like wild flowers, and was soft as silk. They stood like this for a very long time, enveloped in the moonlight, saying nothing to each other, and yet saying everything that they needed to say. Aireromen felt so safe in his arms, so protected, sheltered from the things and the world around her. And Legolas too felt safe, holding his love, as they listened to the peaceful woods about them, and the running water from the river behind them.
(End of Aireromen and Legolas's memory)
Legolas came out of the daze from the memory, he looked around him, and from inside he could barley make out the voices of Aragorn and his father, laughing and talking in the hall as they passed his door. He listened for a while until the voices passed and he could no longer hear them, then he gave the sky one last look and breathed in.
"Good night Aireromen, my love." He whispered he turned and stepped inside and pulled the long heavy drapes shut he then blew out the candles in his room and opened his door, stepping out and heading down the hall to find Aragorn and his father.
Aire stared in a trance at the sky for a while before realizing the vision had passed. She shook her head and looked towards the house. How long had she been standing there? What time was it? She moved out from under the shelter of the tree and walked across the yard to the house. She turned and looked out again at the yard. When would Gandalf come again to speak to her? She opened the door slowly; trying to dull out the creak it made. She closed it in much the same fashion. And shut the lights off in the house as she went to her room. She changed into her boxers and T-shirt before crawling into bed, with one final look out the window at the velvet black sky she whispered:
"Goodnight Legolas, my love." She then closed her eyes and slept.
Aire sat beneath the large old oak tree in her backyard, she fiddled with a stick, drawing pictures in the dirt. The sun was setting, but there was still a lot of blue left in the sky. She wiped the dirt off of her jeans, and examined the stitching on her red T-shirt. She was deep in thought and did not notice her mother standing over her.
"Aire?" she said softly.
Aire startled and dropped the stick she was holding, she looked up at her mother, but she said nothing.
"Aire, are you feeling okay?" her mother asked, putting her hand on Aire's forehead.
"I'm fine mom" said Aire, a little irritated, she moved her mother's hand from her head.
"Aren't you going to come inside and eat dinner?" her mother asked, looking concerned.
"Yeah, in a bit, I'm just enjoying being by myself now." Aire noticed perhaps for the first time how different she was from her parents.
Aire was adopted, she knew that, her parents had made no effort to keep that from her. Though they did not know who her birth mother was, for she was found by a women wrapped in a blanket by a street. The woman took her to the orphan home. But Aire knew who her mother was, her adopted parents saw her and immediately wanted her, her mother had always wanted a blond haired blue eyed girl. They could not have their own children, so adoption was their only choice, besides Aire, they adopted Scott, her brother, and Samantha, her sister. They looked more like their parents than she did; they all had brown hair and eyes, except for her and Scott, who had blue eyes. Her mother said that she loved how she stood out in their family, she said that Aire had always had some odd thing about her that made her different, but that it was this difference in her that attracted her to Aire, and that is why she chose her.
Aire looked out at the sky again, a colidascope of colors filled the evening, it seemed surreal, like a painting. Her mother went to sit down beside her.
"Aire, what's wrong?"
Aire glanced at her mother, how could she tell her? 'She'd think I'm nuts if I told her who I really was.' How do I explain?
"Nothings wrong mom, I'm just tired. And I was just thinking." Said Aire
"About what?" her mom asked.
Aire thought, her mom was very open minded, but this might be a little too far fetched for even her. Mystical things fascinated her mother. The house was decorated with mystical things, unicorn tapestries, small statues of wizards and dragons, paintings of fairies and even elves. Maybe she would understand.
"Do you believe in all those mystical creatures that we have around our house?" Aire asked.
Her mother looked at her oddly. Why did you ask that question?"
"Well, I just.." ' Oh great Aire! Now that was really smooth!' she thought to herself.
Her mother smiled, she looked at the sky, now a deep red. "Well, I believe that at one time they did exist."
' Okay' Aire thought. ' Maybe now she won't think I'm a complete nutcase, well I have to take that chance. I need to tell her.' Aire looked at her mother very seriously.
" Mom, I'm-" she was cut off by a voice from the house.
"Mom! Dad said dinner's ready!" came the voice of Scott; he stood in the doorway. Her mom looked up.
"Okay, well be right there!" Her mother stood up, Aire sighed. 'Well that went well, thanks a lot Scott.' She thought.
She followed her mom into the house and ate quietly while her family discussed the day's events. When dinner was over with and Samantha and Scott had been sent to bed, as they were younger than Aire, Aire stayed up to help her mom and dad clean up.
"Aire it's 10:00, shouldn't you be going to bed?" her dad looked at her from the sink.
"No, I don't have school tomorrow, there's a teacher's meeting." Aire tossed him a dry towel to clean his hands with.
"Alright then, well your mother and I are going to bed, you can stay up but try not to be too loud, we don't want Samantha or Scott to wake up, because they have school tomorrow. And don't stay up too late okay?" her dad said as he playfully rubbed her head.
They kissed Aire goodnight and headed off to their bedroom. Aire finished wiping down the counters. She stared for a while at the counter, not really looking at it, but staring beyond it. Thinking, thinking about her past, things she remembered, and always they kept coming back to Legolas.
Aire looked out at the old oak tree in the back yard, it's thick branches twisting up into the night sky, as if reaching out to touch the moon. The night seemed to call to her, calling her out. And she accepted the call; she opened the back door and let her eyes adjust to the darkness. She closed the door slowly and as quietly as possible trying not to wake anyone. She walked across the grass, feeling it's cool touch upon her feet, she made her way too the oak tree; she touched its trunk with a hand, and stared up at it. She turned and leaned against it sighing, staring up at the stars.
"Legolas" she whispered.
At that same moment, Legolas sat in his room in Mirkwood palace; he read a book for a while and then shut it, tossing it aside. He couldn't concentrate on it. He looked to the balcony, the long thick heavy curtains were drawn back, allowing light from the moon to spill in upon the floor. He got up from his chair and walked out onto the balcony, he leaned on the rail and stared up at the sky, the stars glittered and the moon shined. He sighed.
"Aireromen" he whispered.
There they stood, the two of them, each staring up into the night, each thinking of the other, and each having the same memory.
(Aire and Legolas's memory combined.)
The autumn night air was crisp and cool, and it made the forests of Lorien even more mystical. Aire walked silently along the trees of the fair elvish city of Lothlorien, a few elves were about but most were at a council meeting with her father Celeborn. She wore a light green rennasaunce looking dress, at the very bottom and around the breast were green beads sewn into the fabric. And the sleeves belled out over her arms. She walked down to the river that flowed right next to Lothlorien, she stared out at the waters, and the consistent flow was so relaxing to her ears. She closed her eyes and breathed in, and it was then that a hand came out from behind her and covered her mouth. Her hands shot to her face and she pulled the strange hand away, she turned and saw Legolas standing behind her looking down at her. He wore a silverish blue Elven cloak from Lothorien. (Like the one in the movie when they visit Lothorien)
"Legolas! Why are you not at the council held by my father?" Aire asked, secretly very happy that Legolas was here with her.
"My father does not need me, he represents the Elves of Mirkwood, not I. At least not for a while." Legolas looked back up to the buildings then back to Aireromen. "I saw you coming down here and I just thought I'd come and say hello." He smiled.
"Oh? Is that all?" asked Aireromen. She gave Legolas a look that said she knew that he was not telling the whole truth.
Legolas returned this look with his own look of complete false innocence. "Well, there was another reason." He said.
"And what is that?" Aireromen asked raising an eyebrow and smiling.
"This." Said Legolas. He grabbed Aireromen's arms and pulled her to him closely, he bent his head and kissed her deeply. He then slowly pushed her away from him so that he could see her face clearly; he smiled bigger than before.
"Smooth one Legolas." Aireromen laughed, teasing Legolas.
Legolas looked at Aireromen, a playful look in his eyes. "Shall we walk?" he asked holding his arm out for her to take.
She smiled at him and took the arm gladly; they walked down further along the bank.
"What is the council about Legolas?" Arieromen asked as they walked.
"Oh, some of the Elves wish to leave middle earth and cross over the sea to the Grey havens, where most of the elves have been going these past years. I suppose they are not happy here, they do not trust men and feel that things will only get worse if we stay." Legolas kissed her hand.
" Will the Elves of Mirkwood go?" asked Aireromen.
Legolas shook his head. "No, not all, my father wishes to go to the havens, but he feels he should not leave yet. But when I take the throne I imagine then he will leave."
"When you take the throne?" Aire looked at him "I thought your eldest brother would be the heir."
"No." said Legolas. "He wishes to go over the sea, there are more than a few Elves of Mirkwood who wish to leave. But I cannot leave; I love the forests of middle earth too greatly, and there are so many woods here that I have not yet explored. I wish to see them all, and there are other reasons that I cannot leave." He stopped and looked into Aireromen's eyes.
"What?" asked Aireromen.
"You." Replied Legolas. He smiled, is eyes softened and he kissed her forehead.
Aireromen smiled, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lightly on the lips. He returned the kiss with a deeper one, his hands on each side of her face.
"I love you Aireromen, I will love you all my life." He looked into her face, with a seriousness about it. "It is a great pleasure for me to know that I shall not rule Mirkwood alone, you will be there with me. I think that is the best thing about the whole arrangement of the throne, I would not wish to rule without you, nay I would have no other but you."
"And I could not imagine immortality with out you Legolas, I too love you, you and no other." Aireromen smiled.
He kissed her again and she leaned into him. Their lips parted and for a long moment the simply stared at each other, memorizing every line, every detail of their faces. Aireromen sighed and wrapped her arms around Legolas's back and rested her head upon his chest, listening to his heart beating and the soothing rhythm of his breathing. Legolas wrapped his arms protectively around her waist and rested his head on hers, he closed his eyes and breathed in, her hair smelled like wild flowers, and was soft as silk. They stood like this for a very long time, enveloped in the moonlight, saying nothing to each other, and yet saying everything that they needed to say. Aireromen felt so safe in his arms, so protected, sheltered from the things and the world around her. And Legolas too felt safe, holding his love, as they listened to the peaceful woods about them, and the running water from the river behind them.
(End of Aireromen and Legolas's memory)
Legolas came out of the daze from the memory, he looked around him, and from inside he could barley make out the voices of Aragorn and his father, laughing and talking in the hall as they passed his door. He listened for a while until the voices passed and he could no longer hear them, then he gave the sky one last look and breathed in.
"Good night Aireromen, my love." He whispered he turned and stepped inside and pulled the long heavy drapes shut he then blew out the candles in his room and opened his door, stepping out and heading down the hall to find Aragorn and his father.
Aire stared in a trance at the sky for a while before realizing the vision had passed. She shook her head and looked towards the house. How long had she been standing there? What time was it? She moved out from under the shelter of the tree and walked across the yard to the house. She turned and looked out again at the yard. When would Gandalf come again to speak to her? She opened the door slowly; trying to dull out the creak it made. She closed it in much the same fashion. And shut the lights off in the house as she went to her room. She changed into her boxers and T-shirt before crawling into bed, with one final look out the window at the velvet black sky she whispered:
"Goodnight Legolas, my love." She then closed her eyes and slept.