Those You Love

Love is for Fools

By Celebrian

The stars were like jewels twinkling on the black velvet canvas of the sky. The air was cool and crisp with a light breeze that blew from the North. Lorien was no longer of forest of gold but now of silver. The leaves seemed to change color once the sun went down. The silver leaves made the forest seem much colder than it really was. Just as in the daytime the forest seemed warmer than it really was because of the golden leaves. Silver lamps hung high in the trees casting just enough light for the Elves to see as they wandered around Lothlorien.

"It's beautiful here in the evening. I think I might actually like the silver leaves more than I enjoy the gold ones..." Lutheriel said as she walked slowly with her escort.

Haldir gave a short laugh. "The leaves don't actually change color. It's just the moonlight and starlight reflecting off of them..." He said in a cold tone of voice that made the forest drop a few more degrees.

Lutheriel bit her lower lip. She knew that...she didn't mean to sound like that she had really thought the leaves changed color. "He takes everything so literal..." She looked up at him. "Really March Warden?" She asked.

Haldir nodded still looking straight. "I would assume that you don't know much about Lorien and the Galadrim, do you?"

Lutheriel smiled to herself. Maybe he would tell her about all she was curious to know. "No I do not." She paused, wondering if she should ask or not. "...Would you care to tell me about them?"

"No. I don't feel much like speaking anymore. I will show you your flet and let you be. If you'd like I could have someone bring you some texts." Haldir said bluntly. "Perhaps I should talk to her...just a little.... I could boast on how wonderful Lorien is compared to Mirkwood..." He thought. "No, that would mean I'd have to answer her questions."

"Texts would be nice. Could you have them sent to me in the morning?" She asked.

"Would you like them tied together with a satin ribbon as well?" He asked sarcastically.

Lutheriel laughed in her head. She decided she'd have some fun with the March Warden. "Actually that would be quite lovely. I'd like the ribbon to be light pink, to match the one in my hair." Of course she didn't mean any of that. She just wanted to see what Haldir had to say about that.

Haldir took a quick glance at Lutheriel's ribbon in her hair and rolled his eyes. "You'd be lucky enough if I tied them together with a strand of warg hair." "Pink to match the one in her hair...Who does she think she is? I don't care if she is a princess...no one orders me around like that.... Of course *I* did ask if she wanted me to have them tied together with satin.... How can she be so dense though! Could she not see that I had said that to be sardonic?" Haldir thought to himself, grinding his teeth.

Haldir led Lutheriel passed Galadriel's glade and into the garden. The moon shone through the trees and the pale stars twinkled around it. Haldir looked up and gazed into the sky. He'd much rather be sitting in the garden alone, laying back on the cool grass, letting his mind go clear from stress and worry, but he was leading Princess Lutheriel to her flet. Haldir stopped and looked from side to side. Left of right. Which was the way to her flet, he had forgotten. "Damn it...." He muttered under his breath.

"What is it, March Warden?" Lutheriel asked her guide. She guessed that Haldir had forgotten where her flet was by the look on his face. She smiled inwardly, even though his face was clearly angered, she couldn't help to think it was kind of cute. "He looks so cute when he's mad..." She giggled in her mind.

Haldir seethed to himself and looked at Lutheriel with narrowed eyes. He really didn't feel like admitting that he had forgotten where her flet was. What would that say for his image? But he figured she'd probably figure it out on her own while they walked around Lothlorien for hours. "I can't remember where the flet is." He confessed. He let go of Lutheriel's arm and crossed his own.

"Well, how about we sit here for a few minutes and look at the stars, maybe then you'll remember." She smiled as she sat down on the grass. Haldir didn't move and stood there glaring at her. Lutheriel laughed and patted the ground next to her. "Sit!"

Haldir sighed and sat on the ground next to Lutheriel, but not to close to her. He looked up at the stars as they twinkled about. It was truly a beautiful night, the most beautiful he had seen in a long time.

"It's so beautiful out...I've never seen a night like this, have you?" Lutheriel asked, glancing over at Haldir.

"Never. Not in all my years. The stars to seem to have a faint violet tint to them..." He observed. "Remarkable...."

Lutheriel didn't know what to say; she just kept watching Haldir as he looked up towards the heavens. If she didn't know him at all, she'd probably mistake him for a poet or artist by the way he sat and watched the sky, but he was a mean and arrogant military Elf. Still Lutheriel could sense a soft side with in him. She wanted so badly just to get a glimpse of it. "Don't do it...don't you dare fall in love with him, Lutheriel! You are going to regret it. Don't do it!" She warned herself.

"Why is that silly maiden still staring at me?" Haldir thought, fidgeting to get comfortable as he sat on the dewy grass. "We shouldn't be here...What if we are seen? What will people think?" He worried. What would become of his image if he were sharing a night like this with a maiden? What if RĂºmil saw him...he'd never hear the end of it. Haldir began to get up. "We should go...I have remembered..."

Lutheriel looked at him and pouted her lip. "Already? Can't we just stay here and watch the stars a bit longer. Who knows when it'll be before we see another night like this? It could be thousands of years..."

True. Haldir had been living for over three thousand years already and he had never seen they sky as beautiful as it was tonight. He sat back down on the grass, a little closer to Lutheriel than he had before. He leaned back putting his hands on the ground behind him and felt his fingers brush up against hers. His eyes went wide and he moved his hand away quickly. "Sorry.." He muttered. He was a bit shaky after that. Lutheriel didn't say anything about it and continued to look up at the sky. Haldir took a quick glance at her, noticing how she looked in the moonlight. The more he looked at her, the less he could take his eyes off of her. "She's ugly." He told himself. "...No...She's not. She is average...nothing to get excited about.... No, she is beautiful. Probably the prettiest maiden I have ever laid eyes on. What am I saying!? I have no time for this! I knew this is what would happen! Love makes you act like a fool!" He hadn't realized that he said it but he did. He had said that he was in love. It was subtle, but it was there. He had been fighting it since the first time he had seen her and now it was defeating him.

Lutheriel's body still tingled from when Haldir's hand brushed against hers. She had felt his strong calloused fingers upon hers. Too bad it didn't last more than a second and it would probably never happen again. She looked over at him out of the corner of her eyes. He seemed nervous about something. "Haldir?" She asked.

"Yes?" He said looking over at her.

"Will you teach me one phrase in Westron?" She asked.

"If I do will you stop asking me about it and never speak of it again?"

"I promise." She smiled. "I want to know how to say Amin mela lle."

Of all the phrases she could have asked for she picked that one. He'd much rather teach her Westron curse words than that. "Well...it's I love you." He said slowly, making sure he got all the accents in the right place. He also hoped that that was the right translation. He had never said those words in Elvish, let alone Westron. He arched his eyebrow. "Why did you want to know how to say that?" He asked, sounding snooty.

Lutheriel smiled. "I wanted to speak those words in Westron to my lover. I think it'd be romantic."

Haldir got a sharp pain his chest. "Her lover?...She has a lover?...." He didn't know how to take that. Was it a good thing or was it a bad thing? By the pain in his chest he knew it to be bad. "This is stupid...why do I even care!" Haldir stood up. "Come on! We need to leave now..." He said as he began to storm out of the gardens.

Lutheriel sat on the ground with a confused look on her face, before she sprang up and began to dash after the March Warden. "Haldir! Wait up!" She called, trying to figure out why he just stormed out like that. By the time she caught up with him, he didn't have such a gentle look on his face anymore. "Is something the matter?" She asked, touching his forearm.

Haldir jerked away slightly. "Your flet is over here." He pointed, looking at Lutheriel, but trying not to make to much eye contact with her.

"Thank you for escorting me.... and thank you for spending time in the gar-"

Haldir shook his head. "Have a good night Princess. I don't suppose I'll run into you again. Enjoy your stay in Lorien." He gave her a nod and then quickly turned away and began to walk away.

Lutheriel stood watching him until she lost sight of him. "I... love ...you.." She thought in her head, trying to remember the words he taught her. She stood there a moment more and walked inside her flet, with the feeling of sadness in her.

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Author's Notes: Whew! I hoped you liked that chapter. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing, it's been inspiring me to write more :-) Please read and review this chapter if you have the time!