A/N: Wow, I'm really close to 100 reviews; that's about 95 more than I ever thought I would get. I'm not a review whore, or anything, but I still feel good about that. *ahem* Story. Yes. Read on!
Chapter 43-Coming to Grips
Tracie stepped into the dawn-streaked war-zone. The army had suddenly, inexplicably surrendered. But Awaren was not here to see it. She looked towards where the survivors were laying out their dead fellows. Linka stood at the head of one of the still forms, head bowed, but still composed. Her husband had been struck down in the attempt to escape his burning home.
Tracie looked to the next figure...then immediately looked away. She hadn't wanted to believe it, when Legolas had brought her limp body out from the forest, but she couldn't deny it anymore; her best friend was dead. The clencher was that she looked so peaceful, and relatively uhurt, albeit bruised. Only a scratch on her throat. Legolas had disappeared afterwards. She had found him earlier, in the tree she thought he didn't know about, the one she and Rosellyn used to play in. He was in the large spreading branches, crying. She didn't disturb him, and hadn't seen him since.
Not everything she saw was grief-striken, however. Across the lake, she could see Damita, Meira, and Ellie having a tearful, joyous reunion. Did Damita know her foster daughter was dead? Somehow, Tracie didn't think so.
Benvenue came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. She rested her head on it and they stood there, in silence, watching the enemy troops being put away, and more bodies of Elves she had known and grown up around being laid to rest by the minute.
"I saw Rosellyn," he said quietly. Those words caused her to dissolve into sudden tears. Even she was surprised by it. Benvenue wrapped his arms around her, and she sobbed into his shoulder. It was a minute or two before she had calmed enough to speak.
"I know," she said hoarsely. "I had hoped there had been some mistake, but it could only be her. She lost her knives."
"Knives?" he said, puzzled, but she continued on.
"She would rather die than be parted with those knives, but when Legolas brought her out, they were nowhere in sight. Neither was her bow, or her quiver. Why was she unarmed? I don't understand, Benvenue, I don't understand."
"All will be well in the end, Tracie. She died defending her people, saving them. She killed the Warlord. She ended the war. She would have wanted to die this way, rather than any other."
"She wouldn't have wanted to die at all!" she said angrily. "She loved life, she loved living..."
"She loved master Legolas, as well, but we do not always attain that which we love." Tracie stared at him. Things were slowly clicking into place.
"He loved her, too. I knew it, I knew it all along and I never did anything. Now...I feel like this is all my fault, somehow."
"Never, Tracie, do not blame yourself. Rosellyn and Legolas did not find love until it was too late. I would not like to make the same mistake." She looked up at him, startled. He knelt down in front of her, obviously searching for the right words. "Tracie, Traceheart, miss Forestwood, I love you. I pray that you can find it in you to love me, as well. I dedicate my life to you, paltry though it is, from this day forward, if you will take me." Tracie stood for a moment, allowing his words to sink in. Then she knelt down in front of him, looking him in the eye. He took her hands in his own, and she felt hers begin to shake. She mentally tried to still them, but to no avail.
"Benvenue..." she stopped, looking over at Rosellyn. Rose would have wanted her to do this, she felt sure. She heard her friend's voice, that night in her room: "It's foolish to pledge love in the middle of a seige..." But the seige, the war, it was all over. And she couldn't deny how she felt.
"Benvenue, I--I love you, too. I'll marry you, I'll give up my immortality, whatever you ask." He bridged the distance between them and kissed her delicately.
"Your parents...your brother...Legolas..."
"Yes?" They turned around. Legolas was standing beside them, eyes red but dry. He beckoned to Benvenue. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to master Haltier." Benvenue stood and walked with Legolas. Tracie stubbornly followed.
"I would like to apologize for every wrong I have done you," he said, when Tracie made it clear she wasn't going to move. "I thought you to be without honor, but I was...mistaken. Every Elf in your company tonight boasted of your bravery and skill. I would like to mend my error, and extend my hand in comraderie. Your kin and mine will be forever friends." He held out his hand. Benvenue clasped it without hesitation.
"It was never my wish to sow enmity between us, Legolas. It will be as you say. Besides," he said, a small smile on his face, "it would be awkward if I were not on speaking terms with my fiancée's closest friend." To Tracie's surprise, Legolas's face bloomed into a smile.
"I wish you many long, happy years together. It is good to see that there can still be happiness amidst so much loss." At the word loss, he seemed to become withdrawn, and his smile, though still in place, turned fake. He bowed and walked to Rose's body, leaving them alone. Tracie watched him; his head bowed over, and she could see more tears blooming in his eyes. He took his sheathed knife, the black steel one, and slipped it under her arm. That was noble of him; she wouldn't be buried weaponless. His lips moved.
"I will never carry black steel again." Did that mean he would switch to white steel?
Tracie looked over at Benvenue. Her future husband. A shiver of anticipation and happiness ran through her, but it battled the devestation she felt. As soon as the happiness came, it left, leaving guilt. What kind of friend was she? Her best friend was barely cold, and here she was, planning her wedding.
Benvenue saw the conflict of emotions playing out on her face.
"Tracie? What's wrong?" She sighed, and felt tears coming again. She would be crying much more, she knew.
"I can't do it. I can't marry you, yet. I will, someday, but...it's too soon, too soon after the battle, too soon after everything."
"I understand. Rosellyn's death saddens us all. I will wait however long you require, I promise."
She looked around once more. Forest was coming up to Legolas, but there was no grief in his face, only numbness. It would take awhile, she knew, for her twin to accept what had happened. Who would tell Damita? Poor Meira, and Ellie. And...
"Benvenue? Could you go to Lorién?" He looked surprised.
"Well, I suppose I could. Why?" She gestured to Rose's body.
"Rosellyn, and her family. Her father and her brother and her sister live there. They need to know what happened." He frowned.
"She asked me, before the seige, to carry a message when I left. I suppose I must do that now. I will ride to Lorién as soon as all is put to rest here."
"We'll get married when you come back." Benvenue nodded.
"Will Linka rule in her husband's stead?" Tracie shook her head.
"Didn't you hear? She's stepping down. Legolas's father, Thranduil, he's assuming leadership of Mirkwood. King Thranduil. Prince Legolas. How strange."
"Strange indeed. It is settled then; once your king is in place, I will ride for Lorién and bring tidings to Rosellyn's family."
Coming towards them, Damita saw Rosellyn's body.
A/N: Please don't hurt me! She had to be dead, and stay that way, for this story to be canonoically correct. Tolkien never said that Legolas had a surviving significant other (I suppose, though, that you could take that to mean that he never said he DIDN'T. I don't play like that, though). So, Rose is dead, and she will forever be dead. Sorry to break anyone's streak of predictions. Hope you didn't bet on it.
But now... what DID happen to Della?
Chapter 43-Coming to Grips
Tracie stepped into the dawn-streaked war-zone. The army had suddenly, inexplicably surrendered. But Awaren was not here to see it. She looked towards where the survivors were laying out their dead fellows. Linka stood at the head of one of the still forms, head bowed, but still composed. Her husband had been struck down in the attempt to escape his burning home.
Tracie looked to the next figure...then immediately looked away. She hadn't wanted to believe it, when Legolas had brought her limp body out from the forest, but she couldn't deny it anymore; her best friend was dead. The clencher was that she looked so peaceful, and relatively uhurt, albeit bruised. Only a scratch on her throat. Legolas had disappeared afterwards. She had found him earlier, in the tree she thought he didn't know about, the one she and Rosellyn used to play in. He was in the large spreading branches, crying. She didn't disturb him, and hadn't seen him since.
Not everything she saw was grief-striken, however. Across the lake, she could see Damita, Meira, and Ellie having a tearful, joyous reunion. Did Damita know her foster daughter was dead? Somehow, Tracie didn't think so.
Benvenue came up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder. She rested her head on it and they stood there, in silence, watching the enemy troops being put away, and more bodies of Elves she had known and grown up around being laid to rest by the minute.
"I saw Rosellyn," he said quietly. Those words caused her to dissolve into sudden tears. Even she was surprised by it. Benvenue wrapped his arms around her, and she sobbed into his shoulder. It was a minute or two before she had calmed enough to speak.
"I know," she said hoarsely. "I had hoped there had been some mistake, but it could only be her. She lost her knives."
"Knives?" he said, puzzled, but she continued on.
"She would rather die than be parted with those knives, but when Legolas brought her out, they were nowhere in sight. Neither was her bow, or her quiver. Why was she unarmed? I don't understand, Benvenue, I don't understand."
"All will be well in the end, Tracie. She died defending her people, saving them. She killed the Warlord. She ended the war. She would have wanted to die this way, rather than any other."
"She wouldn't have wanted to die at all!" she said angrily. "She loved life, she loved living..."
"She loved master Legolas, as well, but we do not always attain that which we love." Tracie stared at him. Things were slowly clicking into place.
"He loved her, too. I knew it, I knew it all along and I never did anything. Now...I feel like this is all my fault, somehow."
"Never, Tracie, do not blame yourself. Rosellyn and Legolas did not find love until it was too late. I would not like to make the same mistake." She looked up at him, startled. He knelt down in front of her, obviously searching for the right words. "Tracie, Traceheart, miss Forestwood, I love you. I pray that you can find it in you to love me, as well. I dedicate my life to you, paltry though it is, from this day forward, if you will take me." Tracie stood for a moment, allowing his words to sink in. Then she knelt down in front of him, looking him in the eye. He took her hands in his own, and she felt hers begin to shake. She mentally tried to still them, but to no avail.
"Benvenue..." she stopped, looking over at Rosellyn. Rose would have wanted her to do this, she felt sure. She heard her friend's voice, that night in her room: "It's foolish to pledge love in the middle of a seige..." But the seige, the war, it was all over. And she couldn't deny how she felt.
"Benvenue, I--I love you, too. I'll marry you, I'll give up my immortality, whatever you ask." He bridged the distance between them and kissed her delicately.
"Your parents...your brother...Legolas..."
"Yes?" They turned around. Legolas was standing beside them, eyes red but dry. He beckoned to Benvenue. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to talk to master Haltier." Benvenue stood and walked with Legolas. Tracie stubbornly followed.
"I would like to apologize for every wrong I have done you," he said, when Tracie made it clear she wasn't going to move. "I thought you to be without honor, but I was...mistaken. Every Elf in your company tonight boasted of your bravery and skill. I would like to mend my error, and extend my hand in comraderie. Your kin and mine will be forever friends." He held out his hand. Benvenue clasped it without hesitation.
"It was never my wish to sow enmity between us, Legolas. It will be as you say. Besides," he said, a small smile on his face, "it would be awkward if I were not on speaking terms with my fiancée's closest friend." To Tracie's surprise, Legolas's face bloomed into a smile.
"I wish you many long, happy years together. It is good to see that there can still be happiness amidst so much loss." At the word loss, he seemed to become withdrawn, and his smile, though still in place, turned fake. He bowed and walked to Rose's body, leaving them alone. Tracie watched him; his head bowed over, and she could see more tears blooming in his eyes. He took his sheathed knife, the black steel one, and slipped it under her arm. That was noble of him; she wouldn't be buried weaponless. His lips moved.
"I will never carry black steel again." Did that mean he would switch to white steel?
Tracie looked over at Benvenue. Her future husband. A shiver of anticipation and happiness ran through her, but it battled the devestation she felt. As soon as the happiness came, it left, leaving guilt. What kind of friend was she? Her best friend was barely cold, and here she was, planning her wedding.
Benvenue saw the conflict of emotions playing out on her face.
"Tracie? What's wrong?" She sighed, and felt tears coming again. She would be crying much more, she knew.
"I can't do it. I can't marry you, yet. I will, someday, but...it's too soon, too soon after the battle, too soon after everything."
"I understand. Rosellyn's death saddens us all. I will wait however long you require, I promise."
She looked around once more. Forest was coming up to Legolas, but there was no grief in his face, only numbness. It would take awhile, she knew, for her twin to accept what had happened. Who would tell Damita? Poor Meira, and Ellie. And...
"Benvenue? Could you go to Lorién?" He looked surprised.
"Well, I suppose I could. Why?" She gestured to Rose's body.
"Rosellyn, and her family. Her father and her brother and her sister live there. They need to know what happened." He frowned.
"She asked me, before the seige, to carry a message when I left. I suppose I must do that now. I will ride to Lorién as soon as all is put to rest here."
"We'll get married when you come back." Benvenue nodded.
"Will Linka rule in her husband's stead?" Tracie shook her head.
"Didn't you hear? She's stepping down. Legolas's father, Thranduil, he's assuming leadership of Mirkwood. King Thranduil. Prince Legolas. How strange."
"Strange indeed. It is settled then; once your king is in place, I will ride for Lorién and bring tidings to Rosellyn's family."
Coming towards them, Damita saw Rosellyn's body.
A/N: Please don't hurt me! She had to be dead, and stay that way, for this story to be canonoically correct. Tolkien never said that Legolas had a surviving significant other (I suppose, though, that you could take that to mean that he never said he DIDN'T. I don't play like that, though). So, Rose is dead, and she will forever be dead. Sorry to break anyone's streak of predictions. Hope you didn't bet on it.
But now... what DID happen to Della?