A little before dusk Gimli woke up. He was not surprised to see Legolas still sitting by his side.
"Was I just dreaming or did the Lady really come into this cavern to see me?" he said.
"She was here," said Legolas.
"And I fell asleep! What a terrible host I have been," muttered Gimli. "But she has given me such strength and comfort that I almost feel as though I am newly born again," said Gimli.
And he did look much better and stronger. He sat up and looked at Legolas.
"I should like to go riding with you again," he said. "It has been a long time since I came out and watched the sun set."
"Then I will ask for a carriage…"
"No!" said Gimli quite vehemently. "Not on a carriage. On a horse. I should like to ride with you again, Legolas. The way we did when we were looking for those Halflings. The way we did when we went to Helm's Deep. And when we followed Aragorn along the Path of the Dead."
Legolas shivered. But he stood up. "Very well," he said, and left.
Soon he came back. He took Gimli's gear with him, his mail shirt, his helmet and even his axe. Patiently he helped Gimli dress in all his battle raiment. Then, half leaning on his axe and half supported by Legolas, Gimli staggered out into the afternoon sunlight. He breathed in deeply and smiled.
"A fine day for riding," he said. "I really feel much younger and stronger, so powerful is the Lady's presence, I think. If only we have a couple of Orcs to chase, this is going to be a perfect day indeed."
Legolas laughed. He helped Gimli to sit on an elven horse, named Arod in memory of their Rohan steed. It was a fine, snow-white horse, with long, silky mane and a very gentle disposition. Legolas sat up front and they started to ride.
They raced through the billowing grass of the vast Eressean meadow, through the shadowy woods and along the swift flowing streams. Finally they could see the deep blue and endless sea beyond. Legolas stopped and dismounted. Together they stared at the sun, melting slowly on the horizon.
"I remember Lothlorien," said Gimli as if in a dream. "And those visits you made me do with your elven kinsmen there. I never thought you would sing all those praises for me."
"You deserve every single one of them, Gimli," said Legolas. "You put up a valiant fight in Moria. Whatever my kindred in Lothlorien might think of dwarves, they could not but admire your courage and loyalty to the Ring-bearer in Moria."
"Well, since you were the one who told them, I really could see no reason how they could distrust you. If it were I who spoke to them of our deeds in Moria, who knows what scorn they would heap on me."
"I had no hand in that, Gimli," said Legolas, smiling. "If Lady Galadriel herself was deeply touched and impressed with your valour and courtesy, lesser elves could do nothing less than to admire and befriend you."
Gimli laughed. "A fine friend you are, Master Legolas," he said. "Had you had a little beard and been just a tiny bit shorter and stouter, I would have esteemed you even more greatly as a mighty dwarf."
"You have beard enough for the both of us, Gimli," smiled Legolas. He looked up at Gimli. "And were I a dwarf, I would rejoice even more than you do. For then I would not be immortal."
Gimli looked down at Legolas's fair face.
"Let us go home," said the dwarf simply. "The wind is getting too bitter here."
They rode back in silence, past the gathering twilight, through the murmuring forest, and the darkening prairie. Legolas could feel the trusting grip of Gimli's hands around his waist, and he could remember even more vividly the days when the two of them fought side by side, casting all their differences aside, coming to each other's defence.
When they arrived in Gimli's cavern, Legolas alighted, and to his horror he saw Gimli swayed forward. Legolas quickly took the dwarf in his arms and carried him inside. The small crystal ball fell from Gimli's hand and rolled in the grass, the golden hair gleaming softly in the deepening gloom.