@Lucy : Yes. Sadly, it's a true story from Thranduil. Sobs.
@Lisseyelen aka Lady V : You might get Thranduil's angst in my coming fic 'Turbulent Vengeance'. ;)
@Lady Lenna : I love you too, mellon.
@Bengal Tigress : I can't kill Zuïlean because I don't know how to kill a goddess! LOL!
@bunny luver : Sorry to make you cry in 'Take My Heart Away'….Err, actually I'm not sorry at all. He! He!
@namarie2legolas : Thranduil will join his sons' fun…errr…torment in the next fic, just as you asked. ^_^
@Karina : It rarely gets cold here in Malaysia, except when it's raining (Which is doing exactly that right now! And so heavily, with all the thunderstorm and such!) I studied Accounting in Malay-base lecture classes, but all my textbooks and study journals were in English. Quite hard to decipher what the previous CPAs were talking about in there! So many confusing jargons and even more confusing formulas! Thank God I've left campus several years ago! So, you take Accounting too? Have fun calculating the EPS!
@Queen of Shadows : Thank you for liking Thranduil's good-loving-father character. He is so like my own father in one way or another, including all that temper and gentleness.
@Sparrow Greenleaf : I've told you to put on your seat belt.
@Alvingiel : No. It's not a lie.
@Young Storyteller : Sure. You can have them. But only for one night!
@Gerri : THANK YOU! That little something you sent me is so awesome! Thanks again, mellon! I won't complain if you give me more of that! (hint) And yes, I know how you feel as being the eldest. I'm an eldest child myself. I also wish I had a brother like Kel!
Last chapter, everyone!
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"Father, no!" both princes cried out the protest, shocked and dismayed at the king's announcement.
Legolas feebly raised his hand, reaching for Thranduil. "Father…Don't do this,"
Kneeling by his sons' side, Thranduil gathered them both into his arms. "I've made a mistake. I would not let either one of you pay for it. My crime is my own."
"But taking a fruit from a tree is not a crime!" The levelheaded Keldarion finally lost his temper. He glared at Zuïlean. "This is just her excuse to fulfill her heart's desire!"
Strangely though, Zuïlean did not reply to that.
"Kel, an oath is still an oath, no matter how painful it is," Thranduil gently rebuked, touching the elder prince's face.
Keldarion turned to his brother. The two princes looked deeply into each other's eyes, relaying secret messages only they could understand. But Thranduil had a clear idea of what would happen next. Then, just as he had suspected, both his sons declared to the goddess, "You have to take us along, my lady!"
Zuïlean looked incredibly thunderstruck. "W…what?"
"What are you two doing?" Thranduil was alarmed.
Ignoring his father, Keldarion stared directly at the goddess. "How about it, lady? Is there any place for two more 'prisoners'?"
"Kel!" Thranduil shouted. "This is madness! The both of you have nothing to do with this!"
"Either we go along with you…or you let one of us go with her," Legolas said softly, clutching strongly at his father's tunic despite the pain he was in. "Which…will it be?"
Thranduil's mouth dropped open. Again, he had to make a choice. And what a peculiar one at that! He stared, dumbfounded, at his two sons. Both princes were staring back at him with full determination. They would not retreat from their stand.
Stubborn creatures, both of them! Thranduil was shaking his head. Where on earth did they get such hardheadedness?! As he opened his mouth to speak, Zuïlean beat him to it. "None of you is coming with me," the goddess said softly.
The three Mirkwood royalties were stunned. "What?!"
Zuïlean smiled, almost amused. "Why so surprised? Surely this is what you want?"
Thranduil frowned in suspicion. "Why this sudden change, my lady? What do you have hidden up your sleeve?"
At this, she laughed with joy. "Look around you!" she exclaimed, sweeping her arms to encompass their surrounding. "Can't you see? The curse is broken!"
The three looked up…and gaped. The pomegranate tree stood not far from them, surrounded by several others, and every one of them was heavy with ripe reddened fruits. But what shocked them the most were the elves that had appeared out of nowhere; the lost Greenwood elves of thousands of years ago.
Wide eyes, they took note that the elves looked dazed and disoriented, as if they had suddenly broken out of a long-time shell.
"What curse?" Kelarion asked in behalf of his father and brother. "We do not understand any of this!"
Still smiling, Zuïlean proceeded to tell her story. "I was once one of the four goddesses that shaped this Middle-earth. My three sisters are goddesses of Summer, Spring and Autumn, while I was the goddess of Winter. Unlike them, I didn't take my duty seriously. I had let raging snowstorms pummel the earth, while I took pleasure somewhere else.
"Our father, the great Udeus, was angry with me when many lives had perished. He banished me from the sky and cast me to Middle-earth. I was also given a task, which was to harvest as much pomegranates in winter as I can, which at first had seemed impossible, as pomegranates never bear fruit during cold season." She smiled sadly. "The task was to teach me a lesson, Udeus had said. He wanted to me to learn the hardship of the people of Middle-earth and the consequences of my negligence. I'm not to return until I completed the task, but for that I had to make sure that no one took any of the fruit. Those who did had to become my prisoners and I had to take responsibility over them." At this, Zuïlean shrugged. "My father has an odd way to discipline his offspring.
"Anyway, it all worked out, but not as easily as it looked. I am still bound to this place until my father releases me from my task. Still, there's one thing that will free me from all this; Udeus pledged that he will let me return if any people of Middle-earth volunteer to be my prisoner willingly…just like the three of you have just done."
The small family of Thranduil looked at one another in amazement. They had never thought it would come to this. The entire episode was so unusual that they had trouble believing it actually happened.
The thick silence was shattered when Legolas suddenly coughed heavily, spitting blood from his mouth.
"Legolas!" Both Thranduil and Keldarion were instantly alarmed. In all the excitement of finding out the real story from Zuïlean, they had completely forgotten that Legolas was not far from death.
With one arm wrapped around Legolas' trembling form, Keldarion looked up and glared at the goddess. "Still, does my brother have to pay in the end? Look at him! Look at what you've done!"
Zuïlean had the grace to look guilty. "I'm sorry, truly. I didn't mean for either one of you to be hurt. The avalanche was unintentional. I couldn't help it when my appearance caused tremor to the earth."
She turned to pluck several fruits from the closest pomegranate tree. "Here," she said, offering the fruits to Thranduil. "Give these to your son to eat. The juice of the red seeds inside is good in healing internal injuries. It will help, trust me."
The Mirkwood king took the fruits from her hands, nodding slightly. "We will not meet again?" Thranduil was not merely asking a question. He was actually seeking complete agreement from the goddess in a subtle way.
Zuïlean smiled, knowing the double meaning of Thranduil's query. "No, we will not. That I can assure you." Gazing at the two princes, she continued, "There's one other thing I've learned from all this. Love is greater than anything in this universe. No wonder the people of Middle-earth survived all the catastrophes that I had caused. You have one another for strength and fortitude."
Sending them her last smile, Zuïlean then gracefully spun…and disappeared into thin air, never to be seen again.
The pomegranate trees also vanished a few seconds later…
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Even before Thranduil pushed open the door to Legolas' chamber, he could hear his sons' laughter from within.
"Well, I'm glad to see you feeling better now, Legolas. What are you two laughing about?" the king asked as he walked in. The two princes looked up at his entrance. Legolas was sitting up, leaning against the mound of pillows that Keldarion had propped behind him while the elder prince was perching at the foot of the bed. Both of them were devouring a pomegranate each.
"Oh, nothing much. We were just talking about the expression on Linden's face and the rest of the warriors when they saw us coming with the long lost Greenwood elves!" Keldarion explained.
"But of course I can not remember any of them because I was too busy sleeping," said Legolas, as he plopped more pomegranate seeds into his mouth. "I wish I could see Linden's face myself!"
The king chuckled as he recalled the scene a couple of days before. Linden and the Mirkwood warriors had been struck dumb with shock and disbelief when Thranduil and his sons appeared with Zuïlean's former 'prisoners'. Linden's mouth had dropped open and his eyes almost bulged out of their sockets but, as efficient as he was, the commander immediately recovered. He took over to see to the needs and comfort of the newly returned elves. They were not harmed in any way, only confused and disoriented as they saw the changes in the realm during the thousands of years of their absence.
Taking his seat beside Legolas on the bed, Thranduil pulled the prince against his side. "I'm glad everything turned out fine after all. When the both of you did not return…" He sighed and shook his head. "I never felt so scared in my whole life."
Keldarion reached over and patted his father's hand. "No need to fret anymore, father. We are here now, in one piece." He glanced at his bedridden brother and grinned. "Well, almost."
Legolas glared at his brother for that rib before saying, "Don't worry, father. We will avoid any avalanches and strange looking trees from now on." He looked down at the half eaten fruit in his hand and offered it to the king. "Err…pomegranate?"
Thranduil laughed out loud. "Thank you, but no! I still need my sanity! Why this sudden hunger for the blasted fruit?"
"Why not?" Legolas raised his eyebrows at his father. "True to what the goddess had said, it helps heal me from within. Besides, it's incredibly delicious!"
"But I thought you said you don't like pomegranates anymore?" Keldarion voiced out.
Legolas grinned like a contented cat. "Well, I've changed my mind! We have just released a goddess from a curse and a bunch of Greenwood elves from their time-freeze prison, didn't we? That would not have happened if I didn't try to take the fruit."
"Right, brat. And you might have not busted all your ribs in that fall!" Keldarion interjected.
"Aw, come on! It's not that bad!"
"Not that bad? Brat, you almost died out there!"
"But I didn't!"
"But you nearly did!"
"Why are you so angry?"
"Who says I'm angry?"
"The corner of your eye is twitching!"
"What? No it's not!"
"Yes, it is! Look! It's doing it again!"
Thranduil's lips were twitching in amusement as he witnessed the exchange between his two sons. He couldn't help but feel relief that both of them found something to joke about after their recent experience. Thank the Valar everything is back to normal, he thought. But knowing them both, especially Legolas, they would eventually involve in many more escapades in the coming future…
"What the…" Thranduil was startled when something hit his cheek, then another, and another. He stared at his sons. Both were throwing pomegranates seeds at each other, laughing hysterically.
With a mischievous glint in his eyes, Thranduil also joined in the fray.
Outside, the snow and ice began to thaw. The coldest season was about to be over. Spring would come and Mirkwood would be graced with colors once more.
THE END
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Well, that's it. Too easy ending. I hope you enjoy that one even though the ending was quite corny to me. Ha! Ha! Ha!
Anyway, I thank you all for reading it and here's the faithful reviewers in alphabetical order ; Alkvingiel; angelbird12241; Aredhel1314; Aranel of Mirkwood; Bengal tigress; bunny luver; CrazyStar314; Deana; Ebony Falcon; feanen; FFE Rocks My Socks; Gerri; Gwyn; HalandLeg4ever; Jamie; Kayo; Karina; Kit Cloudkicker; Kristina; kurafoxgirl; Lady Lenna; layla146; l'elfe de Mirkwood; Leggylulu; Lisseyelen aka Lady V; Lomiothiel; Lucy; Manders1953; Menthol; MorotheWolfGod; Mystical Wood Elf; namarie2legolas; Nikki1; purplesmackers; Queen of Shadows; RuByMoOn17; Sailor Elf; Sparrow Greenleaf; szhismine; tbiris; The Fire Breathing Ferret; The Wanderer4; Volcanic Plug; Young Storyteller; Roper (I hope no one is left out!)
THANK YOU for never giving up on me!!
And Meagan, my beta, Thank You so much! You're my angel!
Coming attractions: I don't know which one I'll post next. I have three fics in process, which include Turbulent Vengeance, Token Of Love (both are prequels) and Trouble In Telcontar (post LOTR). But like I've told one reader, TIT can only be posted in late November due to some technicalities. That leaves the prequels. So, wait and see!
Meanwhile, keep on smiling! And whenever you see a pomegranate, remember this story! A psycho goddess might be lurking somewhere…