The eldest marched in, paced around the room for a moment and then dropped down onto the bed. She let out a growl of frustration before crossing her arms over her chest, looking so much like a ticked child I couldn't help but lift a brow at her.

"Father!" she spat in answer. "He won't allow me to attend the dance since I still come to hear your stories."

"No adult elf does," I counseled softly.

She frowned. "But I can't leave in the middle of a group of stories!" she protested. "Especially about Legolas," her eyes flashed with determination.

I sighed softly. "The story is almost finished, young one. And you will have an eternity to enjoy the dances. Youth you will not always have."

She sighed softly, recalling something she had heard from her mother, probably. "True, nana. Still, I am near enough to age, why must he make me remain in the sidelines?"

"Because you are still a child, no matter your age. He was a child for a long while as well." So he knew better than most when someone was still too childish… although I had to admit he was a bit overprotective of his daughters.

"Mother wasn't."

"No, but your mother was an unusual she-elf from very early in her life. I knew that even as she sat wide eyed before me, always in the same place, at the foot of the bed." Of course, I didn't mention she had done that because of the other elf I told stories to at the time… He was a bit of a brat, and always insisted on taking the bed for himself.

She sighed and laid down as her siblings entered, both steering clear of her even though the light of anger was draining from her eyes. "Let us continue the story, nana," she murmured at long last.

"As I said, there is not much left to tell…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Salan avoided Legolas for nearly a month after the scene in his room, which hurt him deeply enough he did not look for her, letting her avoid him as she wished, staying mostly in his room as he had during their punishment many long years before.

She was utterly miserable!

You see, she had loved Legolas from early in her life, loved him as a female only loves her match, and was wise enough to know that simple truth. She had seen him dance with the ladies, and knew it was the right thing for him to do, but it had hurt her foolish heart anyway. From the day she realized she loved him she had known she could never have him, and had sworn she would never settle for any other elf, even though she was sure that was as good as making herself eternally single.

Caring only for his happiness, she said and did nothing that she felt would let him know, for she was only truly alive and happy when she was with him, when he would smile at her with the warmth of a friend in his eyes. Anything she could do to help him, to make him smile, she would do, though it got her in trouble on occasion, and most of the time it was at the cost of another wound to her already battered heart.

Legolas had never seen her as anything but a friend, though he often denied she was a mere wood-elf. Though his indifference hurt, she had never let herself think of being anything more than his friend, helping minimize the pain of being forever so close to something so desired, but forever held apart.

Watching as he began to change, the kingly parts within him slowly forming together as the time passed, she felt honored to be one of a select few to see it. Her love for him allowed her to see into him more clearly than anyone else, which was why she alone was not surprised when he truly 'grew up.'

All of that was why she was so miserable. She had loved him so hopelessly for so long that his words had in the same moment given her impossible hope, yet had mocked her with that very emotion, for she was not strong enough in it to trust his heart would any more align itself with hers than it had with any of the more appropriate ladies he had met, charmed, and often seduced. The look in his eyes had thrilled and terrified her, for she knew the fear of having it go out. She had never once considered seeing it burn forever.

Bluntly put, she was afraid to let him know of her feelings, for fear he would awaken in her all the dreams and hopes she had ruthlessly suppressed for so many years. If that happened and then he turned away from her as he had all the others, it would destroy her. Her heart would be broken, and she would fade into nothingness. So although Legolas had grappled with the concept of death, she had long ago mastered the idea, for her torturous heart had kept her on the edge of mortality, the grim specter Death hovering in the corners around her, just waiting for her to slip up and think of things she could never have.

A sharp rap sounded on her door, and she called "Enter," with a heavy sigh.

Harlyn entered, his eyes hard and angry as he studied her. "When did you decide you hate your king?" he asked, his tone harsher than she had ever heard it.

"What?" she asked, bolting upright in bed.

"You are killing Legolas, which is wounding all of the family in turn. Why do you seek to destroy us?"

"I am doing nothing to Legolas," she protested, laying back down, disinterested as she sought to fall back into her own misery.

"I think, Salan, that that is the problem." Without any further warning than that he picked her up, blanket and all, and strode quickly down the hall, passing Legolas's room to enter using the secret path, setting her inside before shoving the door closed behind her, the lock being quickly secured.

She wrestled loose of the blankets and then tried the handle for a moment, then let out a breath of annoyance and marched across the room, her hand jerking free of the handle with the force she tried to use on it, but it was already locked.

"Salan?"

She whirled around at the soft voice, watched as some steam rolled off his bare shoulders from his bath, his hair hanging in damp strings over his shoulders, a few sticking to his chest. She sighed in exasperation as her stupid heart began beating faster. "Harlyn locked me in here."

Legolas frowned and went to the door, first one, then the other. "So it seems," he agreed, still frowning. "Why?"

She could see why. The fierce light was fading from his eyes once more, though it glowed brightly when he gazed upon her. There was no denying he wanted her then, at least, though she was still not fool enough to call the look anything more than lust.

At the same time Salan noted that, Legolas was studying her, seeing that she was perhaps worse off than he felt, for he still had his family, while hers had traveled to the havens. He sighed softly and moved to her, firmly cupping her face in his hands. "You love me," he declared fiercely, tired of allowing her the chance to kill them both.

She shuddered and closed her eyes, but she had not been able to lie to him for many years. "Yes," she sighed softly, opening her eyes slowly after the admission.

The sorrowful look in his eyes stunned her, his words even more so. "You fear I will grow tired of you, will cast you aside as I have others." She didn't need to reply in words, for the lowering of her gaze was enough. His hands gentled on her cheeks, his thumbs lightly brushing the tips of her lashes as he pondered the right words for a few heartbeats. "It would be easier and far less painful for me to rip off every inch of my own skin. You are my night and my day, Salan. When I can live without water and air, not even then do I think I could survive without you."

Legolas kissed her forehead, felt her trembling softly beneath his hands. "Will you trust me with your heart?" he asked softly, watching her eyes, seeing so many conflicting thoughts and feelings written where usually all was hidden.

She closed her eyes, knowing that she could not deny him. Right then, at least, he wanted her, and she could not ignore the dying light in his eyes for wanting her. She shivered a little more, her choice already made even as she gathered the strength to declare it. "It is already yours," she managed in a ragged whisper before Legolas's eyes blazed and his mouth descended to hers.

As the morning became afternoon, Salan's eyes blinked clear of sleep, finding smiling silver-sharded blue ones waiting for her with a soft kiss. She watched him for a moment, considered the position she was in. They were still entwined, something she had expected would change through time as they slept.

"The doors are still locked, then?" she asked at last.

Legolas lowered his eyes from hers with a frown. "No. Harlyn has been in twice. The second time he brought lunch." He motioned at the tray on his dresser with a tilt of his head.

"Then why are you still here?"

He sighed softly and kissed her forehead, knowing what she had expected to find upon waking. "I love you, Salan." He kissed her nose before moving to her lips and then her cheek, angling to her ear. "The one she-elf who didn't try to ensnare me is the one who has captured me entirely. Do but command me, my love, and I shall do what you wish, what ever it may be."

"All I wish," she breathed after a long while, "is to live. Can you manage that?"

"It is already done," he murmured with a smile, looking down at her. "Salan, my love, I could never leave you. It would be destroying myself." He cradled her face in his hands for a long moment, gazing into her eyes, seeing both uncertainty and fear there. "You have known me so much better than most for so long, do you let your eyes be blinded now?"

She swallowed and met his gaze, seeing in his bright eyes the flame of undying love, which she knew at that moment she could have seen at any time in the last month. Slowly the blockades she had built through the years, trying to keep him from seeing how she loved him, were swept away, never to be resurrected again. She reached up and cupped his face with her palms, smiling slightly as she brushed the tips of her thumbs over his ears, making him shudder before returning to claim her as his once more.

When they emerged from his room in the evening it was with a light-heartedness neither one had felt since Thranduil began pushing Legolas to marry. Before they entered the dining hall, Legolas drew her aside, pulling her tightly against him. "Will you stay with me forever?" he asked softly, his breath hot against her ear.

"Was that a marriage proposal, Legolas?"

"It was indeed, my love."

She smiled at his intent expression, wrapping her arms around his neck. "How could I refuse my king?" After accepting a tender kiss, she loosened her grip, ignoring the looks they were getting from passing elves. "Thinking of which, when do you wish to travel to Fangorn?"

Delight mingled with the joy in his eyes as he linked their hands together. "I had not thought on it, actually." He kissed her hand even as they walked into the hall. "Before or after? Which do you think?"

"If it is after, your father and family would have to travel to see Fangorn, and Aragorn and Gimli could be present. However, it is unlikely you could convince the hobbits to travel there again."

He chuckled softly and pushed her chair in for her, ignoring his parents and siblings for the first time since coming back. "Gimli would travel anywhere, even to a realm of elves if I give him time enough to do so. Aragorn would have trouble getting away at all, this soon after taking the throne and getting married. The hobbits I cannot speak for, for they have heard stories of Mirkwood and its spiders since they were mere lads."

"Then it is a tossup. I leave it to your judgment, since it is only your family who shall be able to attend."

"Ahem," Thranduil drew their attention away from each other. "Might I ask what you two are discussing with such complete disregard to the presence of others?"

Legolas chuckled softly, but it was Salan who answered. "Merely the wedding of your eldest son, Thranduil."

The king blinked and looked from her to Legolas. He saw the revived light in his son's eyes, and then noticed the grip he held upon Salan's hand. He chuckled softly. "Well, that is a definite reason for me to have refused her as my ward, is it not?"

It would not be right for an official ward and a child to marry. Legolas blinked in startled surprise, looking from Salan to his father. "You suspected this then?"

"I had suspicions." Thranduil's mouth twitched up into a smile as he turned to Salan. "As did your father, in fact, though your mother seemed to be utterly certain." Salan's eyes dropped as a slight blush colored the tips of her ears, knowing her mother had probably seen her love for Legolas before she had been aware of it herself. "You have their blessing, by the way, though they had hoped it would happen sooner than it has if they were right. In fact, I had pretty much forgotten your mother's certainty, it's taken Legolas so long to figure things out."

"I still moved faster than did you, Father," Legolas reminded him, smiling as he squeezed Salan's hand, silently reminding her that her fears about his father disapproving had been unfounded after all.

"Perhaps, perhaps. But what is all this of Fangorn, and a dwarf?"

With a laugh Legolas told his father his desire to inhabit the wood for a time, taking with him whoever wished to go before they traveled to the grey havens. Though Thranduil was uncertain about accepting a dwarf into his halls again, especially when he heard it was the son of one of those which had so mysteriously disappeared nearly seventy years before, he accepted the proposed move with enthusiasm tempered only by the thought of loosing his eldest son to such distance. Still, the complete removal to the undying lands would not take long at all in the immortal scheme of things, so he would soon have them back near him.

That is how it came to be that Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood and elven King of Fangorn, was married in the halls of his father's realm with several hobbits, a wizard, and a dwarf in attendance. Gimli and Gandalf argued over who would get to step in for Salan's father, so she chose Sam, who blushed through the entire thing, shifting nervously from foot to foot as long as he was required.

The move to Fangorn was put off for a while, and when they finally departed Gimli traveled with them, his title of elf friend securely attached to him now.

In Salan Legolas had found the love he had been blindly searching for, and a queen to stand beside the king he had become. Wise, understanding and possessing an over the top sense of true justice, along with a better grounding in the normal punishments for transgressions than he could claim for himself, she was the perfect counterpart, keeping him grounded while at the same time reminding him to dream on the stars.

Not long after Aragorn, whom they had visited frequently, had passed away, they prepared for their own passing. Their passing, was of course, not to death, but the undying lands. Gimli went with them, leaving behind the wonders and riches of the caves he loved for another glimpse of the Lady Galadriel, who had helped secure his unusual passage.

It was not until they came to the havens that Salan became pregnant with their first child, a girl who had her mother's eyes but her father's impatience for youth, annoyed by it while taking a long time to completely shed it. The next child was also a she-elf, her eyes glittering like turquoise as she began acquiring her mother's wisdom at nearly an equally early age, though she was playfully childish still, much like her mother continues to be. The third child was a boy, who is still too young to do much more than complain when their nana does not finish a story when he wishes it to be finished.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They all sent me droll looks, but soft applause came from behind me. "I suppose you aren't really going to make them guess, after all that, are you?"

I chuckled softly and shook my head, sending the children off to bed with a look they knew well. The all said their good nights to me before moving to their parents, who had entered via the door connecting my room to the study that was also connected to their room. It had been set up that way so they could hear where their children were, and could monitor their bedtime. It also allowed them to listen to my tales whenever they liked, without seeming to do so. "What did you two think of it?"

Legolas chuckled softly, burying his nose in Nalassen's coppery blond hair. "I don't know. What did you think, 'Salan'?" he teased.

She tilted her head back, her bright green eyes flashing in the firelight. "You never have learned to share," she teased back, one hand lifting to stroke his cheek, a finger trailing up tauntingly close to his ear. Then she dropped her hand back to where her other one rested over his, which were linked at her waist. "I think I shall never cease to be amazed by what she knows," she continued softly. Then her eyes sparkled, a self-satisfied smile crossing her lips. "But what will she tell our next child, since she has already told them our story?"

I smiled slightly at what I saw as unfounded optimism. "Three children is the most any in Legolas's line has ever had. Your family tends to stop at two, Nalassen."

"Maybe that is true, but I am not about to protest," she murmured, leaning her head back so her nose was against Legolas's throat. "Are you?" she asked, her voice a soft purr, her words angled to him, though not soft enough she had meant it to be a secret.

"Nala? Are you with child?" he demanded, turning her in his arms so he could see her face, a concentrated frown appearing between his brows. At her soft chuckle and broad smile he let out a whoop of joy before spinning her around in the air. He set her feet on the ground only so he could kiss her, his mouth trailing across her cheek to her ear as the mood shifted from delight to pure, tender love.

"You two have a room of your own, you know," I reminded them, getting two crooked smiles for my efforts before another gentle kiss was shared. Then they turned towards me at the same instant, offering their goodnights as they so often had as bickering children before they walked silently back to their room, hand in hand as the flames succumbed to the light of the stars.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, that's all there is… unless I should decide to go ahead and figure out Harlyn's Tale. I have an idea, it's just the whole do I want to mess with it thing.

So, Kaylee, does this work? So, I didn't kill him… though he admittedly came close. So did she.

I know the whole endng was a bit sudden, but try as I might I couldn't come up with anything to drag the story out with at this point. Guess I'm not as cruel as nana, after all.

Just to let you all know, another chapter will be up eventually—just an author's note and answering any questions that may be raised. It won't be an addition to the story… unless someone comes up with a fabulous way to make the ending a bit more drawn out… but if so, I'll change the summary.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it's been great getting feedback from the same readers, helps me figure out what's up and what you guys want.

Okay, off to update The Worry Stone.

Nea