Disclaimer: Gee, still no idea who the heck Legolas Greenleaf is, or Gimli, for that matter. And if I don't know who they are, no one can sue me on this, eh? Borrowed them from somewhere…I forget where :-D

Thanks to the 3 reviewers! I did type out the chapter with proper spacing in Word, but somehow it came out as that strange and unreadable version. Let's hope this one will come out the way it should be! No, this isn't my first fanfic, please check out my other 2 pieces and leave reviews, so that I'll be encouraged to post and write more of them. And more reviews for this, pretty please?

Chapter 2: Trapped At Home

Guilt washed over Legolas. He knew that his father had never fully recovered from the grief of losing his mother(whom he did not remember, and had never known), who apparently had been captured and tortured to death by orcs. In fact, his mother had been carrying him, as a baby then, while attempting to escape, and had left him in the forest in a bid to save him. He had then been adopted by some gorillas, and had matured into an adult ere he had been found and returned to the elven realm. His apparent disappearance and subsequent re-appearance had also caused much emotional turmoil to the family.

"Forgive me, Father, but I still insist on leaving."

"Very well. I imagine you will not take a liking to the dungeons, so you are given access to the palace grounds, and no further. Gimli, perhaps you will like to have a meal and some rest ere you leave on the morrow."

Gimli looked at his friend. "I think I will stay with Legolas, if it is no trouble."

"As you wish. But you are free to leave, alone, when you please, of course."

Legolas and Gimli walked silently side by side in the corridor, until they came upon Legolas's chamber. The elf threw himself onto his bed and stared at the ceiling.

"Are you truly so anxious to go, Legolas?" Gimli finally broke the silence.

The elf bit his lip and nodded firmly.

"Why?"

"I feel…stifled here. I need a change of environment. I love my home, but I no longer find peace under these very trees that bore me. The longing for the sea never sleeps, Gimli."

Legolas sounded so sad and lost that Gimli wanted to reach out and hug his friend, but it seemed awkward and inappropriate. Gimli could see his friend's troubled eyes, and he felt truly sorry.

"Perhaps in a new place where I can be occupied, the longing will not haunt me so." Legolas continued. Gimli realized that it must have taken a lot for the elf-prince to bare his heart to him. Though the two were quite close friends as it was, there was still a distance between them, because they were so different.

"I will not leave hither without you then, but will keep you company."

Legolas looked shocked at his dwarven friend. "Do you know what you are speaking of, Gimli? Do not be foolish. It will mean that you will have to stay here with me, and be trapped here like a bird in a cage. There is no way out of this place save the gates. Nobody will help us." Legolas sprang up from the bed and paced his room, then peered out of the window. Finally with a frustrated sigh he stomped out and went out onto the gardens. For the rest of the afternoon he paced up and down the green lawns, roaming like a lost spirit that was trapped somewhere, with Gimli trailing after him.

"Well, I could hardly leave you here, not when you are unhappy," Gimli said. "That is not how a friend would behave."

Legolas stared solemnly at his friend. "I have met some dull-witted dwarves, but you must be the most dull-witted of all, to desire to stay here with me."

"I? Dull-witted?" Gimli huffed, a little miffed.

"But I am grateful for that. You are a most faithful friend." Legolas continued. "I was merely jesting, my friend. Look how bothered you are." A smile stole onto the elf's face.

Gimli thumped Legolas on the head with his hood. "I will never appreciate elf-humour."

The two friends sat under a beech tree and reminisced about the days of the War of the Rings.

Before they realized it, the noon was gone and it was time for the evening meal. They went indoors to have it.

"Are you certain that you want to stay hither, Gimli?" Legolas asked as he picked at the main course. Gimli smiled to see that his friend seemed much happier with his company. Elviondel, one of the elf-warriors of Eryn Lasgalen and a close friend of Legolas, was sitting with them and keeping a watch on the prince as requested by the lord, to ensure that the prince went no further than the palace grounds. Not that Legolas could have gone anywhere, for even after the Enemy had been overthrown, habit caused the wood-elves to still be cautious and post guards around the palace and in their realm, night and day. The walls were high and the gates were impassable without knowing the procedure of opening them. Thranduil had actually devised a way to keep the gates shut that was not easily discovered by others. There was no other way out.

That night Gimli was given a guest chamber right beside Legolas's, and that night they sat up late talking.

"Is there really no other way out?" Gimli asked in a low voice.

"None, as I know it. Of course, I know my own home very well. There is no other way out."

Gimli sighed.

Legolas was deep in thought. "Maybe I could disguise myself as one of the others when my folk go out hunting."

Gimli snorted. "They might recognize you immediately. Besides, I am so different in looks from you. Suspicion would be aroused when they see an 'elf' that is round and short."

Legolas tittered. Then silence.