DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN LORD OF THE RINGS

Legolas's P.O.V.

I sighed. Two years. Two long years. How had it come to this? How did it end here?

I sighed again.

We elves find that the passage of time flows very quickly. Two years should have passed in the blink of an eye. Yet these two years, the two that had passed since Fay had run away, seemed to drag endlessly. I feared allowing myself to slip into Elven reverie each night, as it only brought another day that much quicker. Another day with Fay missing.

"Your highness?" A soft voice called, questioning.

I looked up.

"Oh. Andra. It is you."

"Prince Legolas, are you alright? What are you doing out here in the garden?" She questioned worriedly.

I looked around, realizing she was right. I was in the garden. I had been for several hours.

"Andra...do you know what today is?" I asked her quietly.

She set herself down next to me, a large basket of laundry in her lap. "I have a feeling I know what you are referring to." She admitted glumly, her eyes on her feet.

"Today is the day, two years ago, that she left."

"Yes. I had hoped that such a day would never come."

"But it has." I observed, staring once more at the flowers. They waved so gently in the breeze...as though everything in the world was carefree and beautiful as they. Or were they taunting me?

"Aye. It has." She replied, also heaving a sigh.

There was a long stretch of silence.

"I think," She said, after some time. "That the only thing we may do is move on, Legolas. If she is still out there in the world, it is not likely that she is coming back. If she has so forgotten us, then we may as well forget her." She murmured, a touch of anger in her voice.

I understood her ire. She and Fay had been such good friends through so many little trials. Andra felt betrayed that Fay could just leave that way without so much as a goodbye.

"I don't think she ever cared, Legolas." Andra added, her face growing heavier with each dark thought.

I bristled slightly. "We do not know that," I admonished softly. "For all we know she may not even be ali..."

I stopped. I did not want to follow that train of thought. If Fay were no longer living, the guilt I would feel for having caused her to run off would be crushing.

Andra snorted. "No, I doubt that." She snickered. "That lass is too spirited to let herself be trampled so. No. If I know her, she has found another far-too generous family to leech off of. I am willing to bet you that she is living comfortably as a queen."

I looked at Andra. I did not know what to say. Except, "I am sorry you believe such."

More silence.

"Well, I have work to be finishing. My advice, your highness, is still that you try to get on with your life. Elves may be immortal, but it does not do to tarry in dreams and forget to live."

With that, Andra made her way down the trail, leaving me in the garden with more questions that I'd had before.

Some time later, I made my way back into the castle.

"O, your highness! There you are!" A servant exclaimed.

I turned to him. "Yes? What is it?"

"Your father requests your presence immediately in his study. He says it is of great importance." The servant relayed.

"I see. Thank you. You are dismissed."

With a bow, the servant scurried off down the hall.

I turned and started for my father's study. An urgent matter? I hoped that nothing was wrong.

I walked briskly and quickly arrived in front of the large wooden doors. I knocked once and waited patiently.

"Come in!" My father called.

Grabbing up the sturdy, metal handle, I entered the room and pulled the door closed behind me.

"Ah! Legolas! Finally! I thought for sure that if you took any longer I would have to send a search party out for you!"

"I am sorry, Father. I was about in the gardens and did not receive the message until..."

"The gardens? Again? Honestly, Legolas, you spend far too much time with your head in the clouds."

"I am sorry."

"Yes, I know. Now, I wanted to see you because someone is arriving today and I felt it very important that you know so that you may brace yourself."

My eyebrow rose in confusion, and I had to stop the smile forming on my face. Brace myself?

"It's not Sauron, is it?" I asked, chuckling slightly.

"Do not make light of this, Legolas. It is a very solemn matter!" My father admonished, and I quickly wiped the smirk from my face. Do you remember, several centuries ago, an elf that was banished? A certain Lord Morier?"

Instantly, my body tensed, on the defensive. "Yes. What of him?" I questioned through a clenched jaw.

"He was only banished for a limited amount of time. His sentence has expired and he is returning."

I had to sit in one of the chairs in my father's study to prevent myself from collapsing.

Taking long, deep breaths, I tried to clear my mind and speak rationally.

"Are you sure? There is nothing you can do?"

"Yes. It is, unfortunately, true. However, being king does not make me exempt from the laws that apply to all. The law clearly states that for a crime such as his, only a timed banishment is proper, and after the time is through, he may return and claim again all land that was his. I am afraid that this is beyond my reach."

I sat silently, trying to digest what I had heard. "Nothing?" I asked again, hoping the answer would be different this time.

"Nothing." My father repeated gravely.

"When does he arrive?"

"After dinner this evening."

I took another moment to continue my thought processes.

"Oh, one other thing," My father remembered suddenly. "He is bringing a woman with him. His new wife."

Ah. Ok. I know, I know. Short. A cliffhanger. Terribly mean of me. I am an awful person. I should update more. But alas, I cannot. School, work, and extracurriculars all detain me! I will try my hardest on vacations, though! So I hope you enjoyed this, and please review

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