My dearly devoted readers and reviewers: I am very sad to say that this is the last real chapter to The World Forgotten. However, I am very glad to announce that a sequel is in the works and will be up soon. Thank you all for your continued support and guidance through the good times (when I updated every other day) and the bad (when I didn't update for a month - oops!). I hope you all have enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it. It truly is my baby and I am very sad to let it go. HOWEVER, if you are having a hard time seeing the end of this work, let me know, and I might put in an epilogue. MIGHT. Ok, probably. As I said before, thanks bunches, and I hope everyone enjoys this last chappie!

P.S. - please don't kill me for waiting so long before posting. i was having a rough time getting this chappie out the right way. even now, i'm not completely happy with it. i had a horrible case of writer's block. thanks!

Disclaimer: see previous chapters

Chapter 43

The Greenwood had quickly fallen back into its normal routine after the recuperation of its prince and princess. Maids were down by the river washing out the clothes. Galion and the guards were down in the cellars, relaying barrels of butter and wine. Thranduil was barking out orders at his troops forming lines. All of this was apparent from Elenayave's vantage point at the kitchen window. She could feel the vibrations beneath her feet as barrels were rolled around, several stories below her.

The sweet scent of the outdoors drifted in the window, mingling with the smell of potatoes cooking before her. She'd made it a point to rise before her husband this morning, wishing to get a head start to the kitchens to work on her surprise. After all he'd been through, Legolas really needed something to help cheer him up. He'd been in a foul disposition all week, unable to spend any valuable time with her. Every chance he'd had to even think about getting frisky, someone would interrupt and call for him on the borders, or in the throne room, or in the study. He was at his wits end and was getting no where fast with his frustration levels. He'd even gone off at his father, cursing and swearing in several languages when he'd been caught with one hand under her skirts and the other unlacing her dress in the laundry room.

Of course, Thranduil found the whole thing hilariously amusing. He would flash Elenayave a charming, knowing smile, and then slowly calm his son down before requesting his presence at a meeting or what not. It wasn't as if Legolas could refuse. He was a prince, after all. It was his job. He'd been sent out yesterday for a brief hunting trip and come back, grumbling and complaining later than night. Fortunately, it appeared to have worn him out, as he was still sleeping quite soundly in their bedchambers.

As she changed the oil in the pan for a fresh batch, she smiled, thinking of Legolas. He slept like a baby most of the time. A very possessive baby, at that. Even in his deepest sleep, he'd always have at least one arm around her, and he usually spooned up behind her, allowing her a comfortable position, but little available movement. When she tried to change positions, he'd tighten his grip on her and mumble "mine" in his sleep and burrow his nose into her hair. Shaking her head, she sighed. It was no joke how much that Elf loved her – this was serious stuff. And she planned to keep it that way for a very long time.

Finally coming to terms with her violent displacement from Earth, she was just now accepting the fact that she was very much Elven. She was immortal. She had all the time in the world to be with this man…Elf, and that was exactly what she wanted. Never would she have ever imagined this happening to her, but, the more she thought, the more she realized she remembered less and less of her previous home. I'll have to write this recipe down, she thought. I'll never remember it otherwise.

"Is that breakfast?" a muffled voice said from the other side of the room.

Turning, she saw him standing there, looking very unprincely. His hair was tousled and mussed and his eyes seemed slightly bleary. He was bare-chested (a definite plus for her) and his sleeping knickers were riding low on his waist.

"Why didn't you get dressed?" she asked, appearing indifferent and turning back to her food.

"Do I need to?" he retorted. "This is my home, isn't it?" He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him, back to chest.

"Yes," she replied slowly, trying to remain unaffected by his proximity. Valar, it had been so long…a week, Elenayave, she reminded herself. Only a week.

"Are you jealous?" he inquired, a smug grin on his face.

"Of whom?" she said, raising an elegant eyebrow in question.

"The giggling maids in the hall who got to see me in all my glory this fine morn, of course."

"In all your glory?" Elenayave questioned. "What did you do? Walk out of the room naked?"

Legolas quirked his brows suggestively and shrugged. "I didn't know it would have such an effect."

"Oh! You did not, you silly fool!" she cried, smacking him with a hand towel that had been lying on the counter.

"And what if I did? Would you be jealous?" He wrapped his arms around her tighter and rested his chin on her shoulder.

She scrunched up her nose in thought. "Maybe."

"Maybe?"

"No," she decided firmly.

Legolas gave her a pointed look and placed his hand on her bottom, spinning her round to face him. "Are you sure?"

"No," she said again, a smile breaking across her features.

"Can I convince you?" he asked, pressing her back into the counter.

"Perhaps," she whispered before his lips landed roughly on hers, his tongue delving deep into her mouth. A soft whimper escaped her throat at the intimate contact and she realized that a week was far too long to have been waiting. Legolas apparently agreed, as he was eagerly grinding his hips against hers, letting her feel how ready he was. When he finally broke from her, she gasped for breath.

"Who sprinkled horny dust on you this morning?"

"Pardon? Horny?" he asked, a quizzical expression on his face.

Quickly, she explained to him the meaning of the word that had caused him so much confusion. Grinning, he replied, "No one. I simply woke up this way after a most wonderful dream. However, I must admit, I like this word, 'horny'."

"Of course you do," she retorted, regretting the fact that she'd even brought it up.

Legolas was about to dive in for another round of kissing, when the pan behind her started spitting bubbles of hot grease all over the place.

Spinning around, she removed the pan from the burner and put out the fire underneath it. Legolas looked at the pan's contents skeptically.

"What is that?"

"That, my heart, is a pan of French fries."

"French fries?"

"French fries. Remember that night Alaninwen ruined my dress and I said that I wanted French fries?"

Legolas nodded, a faint smile on his lips.

"Well, I decided to make some. Try one." She plucked one out of the hot pan and offered it to him.

Legolas gazed at it momentarily, then gingerly took it in his own hand and sniffed at it.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, it's not going to kill you!" she huffed.

With a sly grin, Legolas took a tiny bite out of the fry between his fingers. A slight look of surprise breezed across his face before returning to his stoic expression. "It's all right," he bluffed.

"You little liar. You liked it, I know it."

"Do you?"

"Yes. I do." She crossed her arms and glared at him for a moment. "Don't you?" she asked, quieter this time.

"It's wonderful actually," he replied, holding it up to scrutinize it again. "I've never tasted anything like it before. Ada must have one. What are they made of again?"

"Potatoes."

"Ah. Yes. Potatoes."

"Legolas! Come here!" she hissed, motioning frantically to her husband from across the room.

The tall blond prince hurriedly excused himself from his friends and made his way over to his wife.

"What is it, melethnin?"

"Look down there," she said, pointing to the lower balcony out in the terrace. "Is that Nilfalath? With an elleth?"

Legolas peered in the direction his wife had pointed out and his eyes widened. "By the Valar, I think it is."

Behind them, the people of the Greenwood were enjoying a hearty meal, preparing for the winter months to begin their trek across the country. But the festivities had been eclipsed by this discovery in the courtyard outside the ballroom.

Nilfalath seemed to have an elleth (a willing one at that) pinned up against a tree, kissing her senseless. She was beautiful, no doubts there. Long dark hair spilled over her shoulders and aquamarine eyes sparkled brightly in the moonlight.

"When did that happen?" Elenayave asked.

"I don't know, but she's not from around here," he replied.

"What do you mean?"

"She's not from Mirkwood," Legolas explained. "Perhaps she's from Rivendell. She might be visiting."

Elenayave narrowed her eyes. "Something tells me this is why he was acting so weird while we were in Imladris. He found an elleth to occupy his time."

"Perhaps so, melleth."

Giggling, Elenayave made her way up the stairs, followed closely be Legolas. A little too much Dorwinion had made her slightly unbalanced, if not tipsy, and very much amused at everything.

"Finally. Now we have some time to ourselves," she stated, leaning back against Legolas's frame when they reached their quarters.

"I agree," he replied, ushering her into the bedroom and locking the door behind him. Before he even had the chance to turn around, she was behind him, her arms around him, working on removing his high-collared shirt. Not able to see his front, she couldn't eliminate the garment, and soon grew frustrated.

"Turn around!" she demanded, stomping her foot behind him.

"My, my. Aren't we impatient?" he chided teasingly.

"Don't push me, Legolas. You," she said, pointing as she did so. "Naked. Now."

Legolas complied, then helped her out of her dress and into the bed. Allowing her a few minutes to cuddle against him, he breathed in her scent before deciding to launch an attack on her neck with his lips. She giggled quietly, letting him traverse down her neck to her collarbone.

"Oh, Nilfalath."

"What!" Legolas exclaimed, pulling back in shock and horror.

Elenayave's eyes widened. "I didn't say that," she whispered. "It wasn't me, I swear it."

Legolas tensed above her and pressed a slender finger to her lips. Narrowing his eyes, he strained to listen to what was going on around him. The soft moan came again, and this time, he was certain it wasn't from his wife. It was another elleth. In a different room. An adjoining room. Nilfalath's room.

"No," Elenayave whispered in surprise. "It couldn't be."

Legolas found himself calming and eager to return to his previous doings. But Elenayave appeared to be in a state of shock.

"Let it go, Lena. It had to happen sometime."

"I suppose you're right," she mumbled against his lips as they descended onto her mouth. Legolas ran his hand along her side down to her hip, then around the back to cup her rear and lift her hips up towards him. Sighing in pleasure, she relaxed with his gentle touch and readied herself for his entry. Just as he thrust forward, a loud cry split the quiet and he missed, ramming into her thigh instead.

"OW!" she hissed. "What are you doing?"

The sounds continued from the next room over and Legolas moaned in defeat. "Can't you hear that? I can't work under these conditions!"

"Is that what we sound like?" she asked in slight horror. "I hope not."

"You're not that loud," Legolas snickered.

She slapped his shoulder hard and was rewarded when he mumbled in pain. "Try again, Elf."

She pulled his head down to hers and locked her lips on his mouth. She felt him positioning himself atop her once again, and she raised her knees to keep him in place. His mouth left hers and moved to her neck, suckling hard on the soft skin there, bruising it.

"Nilfalath!"

Both Elves froze.

"Legolas."

"Hmm."

"This isn't working, love."

"I noticed."

Legolas crawled out of bed and tugged his breeches on over his hips. He opened the door leading out to the hallway and edged out of the room. Knocking on the door to the next room over, he yelled, "Keep it down in there, would you? I'm trying to make love to my wife!"

Elenayave groaned and pulled the covers over her head before bursting into giggles once again.

this is linilya elf, signing off!