ChildofGod-4ever - Um, OF COURSE I want you to keep reviewing! Lol like duh! About your problem…everyone is different, but when I have a hard time, (I can't believe I'm saying this) I take a break from reading fan fiction of other ppl's. I don't know why, but reading fic all the time totally kills my inspiration. And throughout the day, I just pick up little snip its of dialogue that I want to include, and I write my story around that. I don't know if that really helped any .. Lol… but I tried!

Vampire Feuer - The thing about Legolas is, the way I see him, I modeled his 'anger mechanism' after my father. He just gets real quiet and kind of gives me the cold shoulder. Ugh, that is the worst! I feel totally like crap. So, in a way, that's worse than him getting all huffy and red faced, you know? But thanks for the review!

TPfan333 - : ) thanks bunches!
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Chapter 6 - Welcome
"A Doomed Meeting"

They entered the forest in midday a few days after descending the mountain.. Before long, they came upon their old camp. There, their supplies and Legolas's weapons lay still untouched. They rejoiced at having some meat and lembas to eat again, instead of those terrible roots that had become sparse of late.

Surprisingly to Lianna, the forest was not as wicked as she remembered. It may have been Belegorn's malice that infected the forest with such nastiness she felt on their first visit here. She shared these thought with Legolas, who seemed delighted at her change of heart toward his home.

Their journey through the forest seemed to go by quicker than expected. Lianna didn't have to ask how long it would take for them to reach their destination. The closer they got, the more antsy and anxious he became.

"How are you going to tell him?" Lianna asked Legolas one day, as they were walking. She did not have to specify who or what, he knew what she was talking about.

"I don't know. He has never been that understanding of anything I do. And this…this is going to be hard for him to take."

Lianna thought a moment. "You told me once that he never told you he loved you. I wonder how he'll accept this. Expecting Katarina to come, and he gets me, the Elf who is responsible for the deaths of her and her father." Lianna chuckled morbidly at the thought, "That'll be a shock to him."

"No matter what he thinks, I will always love you." Legolas smiled at her and took her hand in his, entwining their fingers as they walked.

"But I feel I must prepare you for meeting him. He's not the most trusting Elf. I can't say what he'll do when I tell him the truth, but I'm sure it won't be pleasant. After he cools off, though, he'll be willing to talk."

Lianna furrowed her brow, thinking of the unpleasant experience to come.

Legolas stopped her and placed his hands on either side of her face. "It'll be fine, mellamin. We've made it through too much to be stopped now. You taught me that." She smiled and placed her hands upon his.

"How far would you go for me?" She asked quietly, needing to be reassured after his questioning of their love on the mountain.

"To the ends of Middle-Earth. Further even, and all the way back again. I'd catch the stars, I'd bottle the sea, I'd fight Sauron himself if I thought it'd catch your fancy. Anything I could do to make you happy, I'd do it."

Lianna smiled. "I am happy. I don't need the stars nor the sea. I don't need a hero. All I need is you. Plain old simple you. I've been happy since the moment you said you loved me. Some moments happier than others, granted, but…every second that I know I have your love is bliss."

She was surprised to feel a hot tear dribble from her eyes and over Legolas's hand. He wiped it away and took her hand again, leading her toward his home. Toward their future.

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"King Thranduil, your highness. Your son approaches." A servant told the King as he stared out his window. The King waved a hand, and the servant bowed out. Thranduil sighed and made his way to greet his son.

It had taken an immense amount of understanding on his part to accept his son's actions. The last messenger had arrived three weeks ago and told of Legolas's engagement. This alone was enough to make Thranduil's blood boil. His son agreeing to marry without his approval. But that was not all. Oh no, this elleth was a civilian. Thranduil always had dreams of his son marrying the Princess of a neighboring Elven village, and ruling an empire greater even than in his time.

So, with thoughts of the years it would take to refine this pauper into Princess-material, Thranduil stepped into the sun and awaited his son and soon to be daughter.

Legolas and Lianna, accompanied by a troop of guards that had met them a while back in the woods, stepped into the palace courtyard. A crowd had gathered upon hearing of their Prince and new Princess's long awaited return, and threw a large cheer as they saw their Prince's trademark blonder than blonde hair glittering in the sun.

The elleth they saw walking next to him had an uncertain look on her face, only slightly lessened as she saw the elves' immense love and respect for the prince. Yes, the Prince. He was positively glowing. A large, sincere smile on his face, he carried himself proudly. Only the most open and perceptive could see the underlying apprehension in his eyes.

Through the crowd, Legolas greeted and touched many of his Elves who held their hands out to him. Lianna was surprised to hear calls of 'Princess!' from the throng. They extended their hands to her, and touched the hem of her dress, seemingly enchanted.

One Elf threw herself onto her knees as Lianna approached. She heard the old elleth muttering 'My Princess, my dear princess!' from the ground. Lianna crouched near her and touched her shoulder. The elleth looked up at her with kind, wise eyes.

"Do not bow, my good Elf." The elleths rose, and Lianna took the other's hand in her own.

"Thank you for welcoming me." Lianna said sincerely, and the old elleth kissed her hand, letting Lianna be gently pulled away by Legolas.

Lianna was still moved and a little dazed by the old elleth's love as the couple approached Thranduil. She felt Legolas visibly tense at her side, and she looked to see a very stern looking Elf tower before them. His white robes and long bright hair gave him an aura of unreality. Lianna would've thought him absolutely heavenly, if it weren't for his eyes. Just like everything else about him, his eyes resembled Legolas's.

Blue. So very blue. But a different sort. Legolas's were crystal and sparkling with life. This Elf's were steely and frigid. They looked hard upon Legolas and Lianna as they stopped before him. He smiled what seemed like a forced smile and embraced Legolas, but only as a formality.

"My son, where are your horses?" Thranduil questioned.

Legolas smiled and looked briefly to Lianna. "That is part of a long tale that I am much too weary to tell at the moment." Thranduil was less than pleased by this answer. But, he decided not to make a spectacle of it, as there was still a throng of Elves around listening to them.

"Very well then. This must be your fiancé, Katarina! So nice to meet you." Thranduil directed his attention to Lianna, less than enthusiastically. The pair of Elves before him noticeably flinched at the mention of the name, and Thranduil looked questioningly on them.

Lianna looked to Legolas to explain, but he just looked down at her with the most helpless and apologetic expression on his face.

"Katarina dear, how do you like the forest? It is different from Rivendell I know, but holds a charm of its own, don't you think?" Thranduil attempted to make a bit of light conversation before letting them retire, as show for the Elves still present. But when Lianna simply looked back to Legolas and did not respond, he questioned. "Katarina? Legolas? What's wrong?"

Legolas finally spoke quickly, in a hush, "Nothing's wrong, father. Let us talk inside."

Lianna's jaw dropped. How could he let his father keep thinking she was Katarina? Just before Thranduil protested, Lianna jumped in.

"Everything is wrong, King Thranduil. Your son cannot find the courage to tell you, but I am not as afraid of you as he is." She shot an angry and disgusted look toward Legolas before she continued.

"My name is not Katarina. She is dead. I am Lianna, Legolas's best friend, I'm sure he's told you about me. And I am his fiancé." Lianna spared no volume of her voice in saying this, and every Elf in the audience gasped.

Legolas looked exasperatedly at Lianna, in disbelief. Her gaze was still angry.

"She is dead? But how?" Thranduil questioned.

It was too late to take the conversation inside now, Legolas thought he'd just explain it all to everyone so he'd not have to go through it again.

"When I asked Katarina to marry me, I didn't realize I still loved Lianna, and she loved me. When I found out, I could not deny my heart true love and happiness. But Katarina found out before I could straighten things out with her myself, and she went mad. She tried to kill Lianna, but stabbed me instead, nearly taking my life. Lianna went to talk to Katarina, and Katarina killed herself. They blamed the death on Lianna, and we had to flee or else she'd have been punished with death for a crime she did not commit."

Legolas finished and looked shyly to his father for a reaction. Thranduil's jaw was dropped, and he blinked a few times before saying angrily.

"You fled in shame!" His face reddened and his fists clamped at his sides.

Legolas tried to reason with him before he completely lost it. "Lianna is innocent of the crime. Lord Elrond let us go himself, away from public eye. They'd never have understood."

"No!" Thranduil boomed, making Lianna jump. "I cannot have this girl in my house. She is a felon and a fugitive."

"Father, please listen-"

"I will not accept her into this house!" With that, Thranduil turned on his heel and returned to the palace, leaving a disheartened Legolas and a very frightened Lianna behind. A moment of silence passed before the crowd of Elves erupted into whispers and chatters. Lianna could already imagine the gossip being thrown around about her.

Maybe she was wrong to have blurted it out like that, in front of everyone. But she was definitely wrong to not have been as afraid of Thranduil as Legolas. She had no idea the chain of events she had just set in motion.

Legolas finally thawed his limbs enough to lead Lianna inside to his room. There, he sat on the edge of his bed and stared at the floor.

"I'm sorry." Lianna whispered as she sat next to him.

Legolas looked to her, and a tear streaked down his cheek. The despair in his eyes made her want to cry as well. The corners of his mouth twitched in fighting a smile, and he said with mock anger, "I thought you were supposed to charm him!"

Lianna burst into an unexpected fit of laughter. She took him in her arms and he wrapped his arms around her waist, laying his forehead on her shoulder. She heard his laughter turn to sobs, and felt his warm tears through her tunic. Lianna stroked his fair hair and whispered soothing things in his ear through her own tears.

When his cries had been subdued, she heard him say quietly, cryptically, and almost ashamed,

"Welcome to Mirkwood."

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A/N.. well, what do you think? I finally got their meeting with Thranduil out of the way. He's real mean in this story. He just doesn't accept anything Legolas does. They're two very different people…or Elves, rather. Thranduil is all about business and proper things, while Legolas follows his heart and searches for his own happiness.

I'm not sure if Elves punished criminals with death, but I'm just gonna say they do, kay?

L.Terranova - did you see? I used your suggestion!

Suggestions, as always. And review!!

Austin B.