Disclaimer: I don't own any of this. Not even the quotes.

********

"We learn only from those we love." – Goethe

*******

He awoke soon after the sun rose above the horizon and turned to locate Annowe.

She was lying on her back staring up at the sky, half submerged in the water with her head resting on her arms. As he watched, she turned her head to him and smiled brightly.

"Put your clothes on," he scolded and made a show of turning his head so that he could no longer see her.

"Sorry. You know I normally don't wear clothes if I don't have to," she replied as she stood up and slipped into her tunic and leggings.

"Yes, I know. I remember when you'd run naked through Mirkwood to the Long Lake just to annoy my father," he said.

She laughed at the memory. "I was young and foolish then and it amused me."

"That was only two winters ago," he playfully reminded her and both of them laughed.

*******

They continued south, zigzagging from the mountains across the Great River to the edge of Mirkwood. Other than the initial contact with the Orcs, they saw no other signs of the Enemy or his minions and for this she was grateful. However, Legolas seemed to find it more disturbing than comforting.

"It is not like them to be this silent," he would mutter and cast his dark eyes about.

"Normally, no, I would agree with you. But if The Ring has been found, don't you think that they would be planning and scouting just like we are?" She asked him.

He did not find her line of thought comforting and disagreed. "No, Sauron would want to strike as quickly as possible to recover it. Assuming that it has been found."

"Legs, my friend, the Dark Lord is much more crafty than you give him credit for. Why would he take it by force when he could grab it by stealth? He has used that ploy before," she reminded him.

He frowned at her mention of Sauron's initial creation of the Rings of Power. He did not like being reminded that it was the elves that had made the rings in the first place.

"Now don't go scowling like that. I'm just pointing out the facts. Not blaming elves and you know better than to start that with me," she scolded mildly.

"I know," he sighed. "It just bothers me. None of this would have happened if the rings had never been made," he brooded.

Sometimes she just wanted to strangle him for being so thick headed. "A lot of other things wouldn't have happened, either. Like Rivendell or Lothlorien," she snapped at him, frustrated by his melancholia.

She had a point but he was not about to concede it to her. He felt terribly guilty at times knowing that his people had made the rings, and felt responsible for the destruction and misery that had followed.

*****

They continued on in silence until well into the night when they stopped at the edge of Mirkwood to rest.

"Legs," she said softly as she spread out her blanket and sat down on it. "I wish you wouldn't hold your people accountable for the rings. If it hadn't been rings, it would have been something else."

He sat down next to her. "Do you really believe that?" he asked.

"Yes, I do. You know the Dark Lord hated the Firstborn and would have done anything to subjugate you," she patted him comfortingly on the back.

He sighed heavily and gently rested his head against hers as he ruminated on her words. She certainly knew how to put things into perspective that much was certain. He knew she spoke the truth – the Dark Lord had always tried to establish dominion over the elves and he would not so easily be thwarted. He wondered if this would ever end and peace return to his people and Middle Earth.

*****