TITLE: UNITED AS ONE
AUTHOR: Araisilwen
A/N: And here is the second to last chapter of United As One. I hope you are enjoying reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
CHAPTER 7: Unite As One
The chill autumn air rustled the red and orange leaves of Mirkwood and fiddled with the same colored leaves of Ardenwood. These two countries were very close together, with just a small plain in between. But this plain was not empty as it usually was, the army of Ardenwood stood on the boundaries of their home land, staring off into the opposite country in the not so far distance.
All was silent except for the rustle of leaves and the soft jingling of metal coming off of the approaching army from Mirkwood. The king sat at the head of the army, dressed in mithril armor, Ethalias by his side. "And so it begins."
Legolas and Faira rode as hard and as fast as they could through the dense forest. They were not too far away from the war, they could hear the footfalls of an army. The must make it. They had too. 'Please don't let us be too late.'
The armies stopped a few feet from each other. Thranduil, king of Mirkwood and Raindul, king of Ardenwood sat upon their mighty steeds and faced each other, their swords in front of their faces in an honorary solute and the first row of archers in each army drew back their bow strings and anchored, preparing to fire.
Raindul was just about to shout fire when the voice of his daughter, the voice he had longed to hear for a long time shouted from a distance, "FATHER! Wait! Stop! Do not fire!" Then he saw her and another elf emerge from Mirkwood on sweat soaked horses.
Faira and Legolas did not even wait for their horses to stop before they were on the ground, running between the two armies, each telling their fathers to stand down. They stopped, back to back, in the middle of the two armies, each facing their father.
"Ada, please, stop this war at once." Faira said, tears in her eyes at the first sight of her father in over a month. This was not the reunion she was hoping for.
Raindul was so happy to see her that he would do anything to make her forgive him at the moment, well, stopping the war was not included among these things.
"Father, tell your men to stand down. This war is pointless." Legolas reasoned with his father.
Thranduil glared at his only son. "Legolas? Fiarwen? What are you two doing?"
Faira ignored that question. "Why are you fighting? What is so important that you are willing to extinguish immortal flames over? All this" she waved her had around at the armies, "over an assumption that I was kidnapped? "
"Well, yes, daughter...." She cut her father off.
"I understand you were worried about me father, but you should receive all of the facts before jumping to conclusions. Did it ever occur to you that I might be there of my own free will?"
Thranduil and Raindul glared at their children. "This war is for honor, and to destroy that which is too different to be elven." Thranduil explained impatiently. Raindul inclined his head in agreement.
"Honor? Is there honor in killing your neighbors?," Faira said, addressing all of the elves present, "Is there honor in destroying another's home over petty physical appearances? We are all of the same kin! Why can you not see that? These small differences have caused countless innocents in both countries to die for no reason. You were all about to join that number. Is that what you really want?"
"Look around you," Legolas said, "We are all elves, all Iluvatars creations. We are all the same people. Can you not look beyond what is different to see how alike we are?" He looked at Faira. "Faira and I did. We were the best of friends in a very short time. And I...I love her." There was a collective gasp from all that were present, the biggest being from Faira. "If we, the heirs to the thrones of each country could do it, then so can you. If we can unite, and become one, then so can you. And if we can learn to look past each other's flaws, and not blame one another for others mistakes, then and only then, can we live in true harmony. Is not that what you want? Do you not want peaceful lives? I know I do."
"And so do I." Faira said, smiling at Legolas. "It has been many long centuries of war. Let us lay down our weapons and embrace the new era, one where love and friendship conquers all. Let us finally unite as one, as one people, as one heart. This is what I crave."
Raindul, a little shaken up by this speech looked at Thranduil, who looked just as shaken has he did. Maybe they were right. Maybe all of this time we had been making excuses to fight each other, killing innocent elves, when what we really needed to be doing was uniting one another. Hesitantly, he lowered his sword and dismounted, as Thranduil did the same. They walked up to each other and grasped each others forearms in the traditional elvish way as both armies cheered for their new found peace.
This, was the start of a glorious alliance, which helped them through many perils and trials. Thranduil and Raindul became the greatest of friends, just like their children had. But this is only the end of the war, not the end of the story.