To aga_xris: Plot points will not be revealed… ;}

Hope you all enjoy!

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Lunian smiled and pushed her hood back to let the sun fall on her hair. Being in forested areas so often, it never had a chance to lighten. Maybe it had something to do with being around platinum elves, but she had always preferred a lighter shade to the dark gold of her hair.

She shrugged the thought away and looked around, soaking up the landscape. A glance to her left reminded her of the woods she had never seen. That forest's prince was riding a little ahead of her, so she urged her horse to slide up beside him. She was about to speak, when she saw his eyes scanning the lands to the south. "What is it?"

He blinked and turned to her. "Habit." He shrugged and relaxed slightly. Then he looked at her, smiling as he saw how she rode. "I must say I am surprised by your method of riding."

"I have always been among the elves," she reminded him absently. "The things men use to control their horses still seem so odd." The idea of forcing the horse using metal and leather was as foreign to her as Gondor was. She had never been there.

Actually, she had never been outside of Rivendell, as far as she knew, except for a few small explorations with Elrohir and Elladan, which lasted a night or so in the mountains. What Elrohir had told her about her birth fit in with that, since she had been born within the bounds of Elrond's domain. So, this was exciting! She was going to Lothlorien, would probably get to meet Galadriel herself before the Lady went to the undying lands.

But she still hadn't been to Mirkwood… which was why she'd pulled alongside Legolas in the first place. "Would you tell me of Mirkwood?"

"What do you wish to know, Milady?"

She smiled, partially at the term, partially in anticipation of what she would learn. "Everything. I want to know everything."

"That could take a very long time indeed."

"It is the study of many lifetimes, to truly know of the elves. I have but one. Tell me what you can before my time runs out."

Legolas blinked at her, took in the soft gold melted through her green eyes, the faint hint of blue around the outer edges. "As you wish," he murmured finally, before falling silent as he thought of the best place to start.

He told her how the forests had once been, bright and cheerful, then of how darkness had crept in, slowly drawing evil like a shroud of silence about the trees, seeming to suffocate the life out of any who passed beneath. He spoke of the way the darkness could be pierced by the elves, and often was, for feasts and celebrations, festivals and forest circles. Then he told her of the village, and finally of the palace.

"And the stars? Do they look different when you see them in Mirkwood?"

He smiled, recalling again the child who held little interest in the light above her. That had obviously passed, for whenever he saw her after night had fallen her head was tipped to the sky, finding the stars she knew, greeting them as old friends before she moved on, if she did indeed move on. "They do, of course." As she waited with rapt attention, he slowly explained what he knew of the stars, the differences in the view in each elven kingdom.

"What when the season changes? Do the trees lose their leaves, or keep them? Have you any of the blue snow-flowers there? Does the snow fall thickly on the woods, or even at all?"

Legolas inclined his head with a slight smile. After having spent the last several days speaking of Mirkwood to the point he was sure there could be nothing left, she proved him wrong. The others had long since drawn out of hearing distance, tired of the subject. With a shake of his head he continued, hoping his voice would last to Lothlorien. Then she would fall silent, and find some unknowing guide to tell her all there was to know, at first glance, at least, of the Golden Woods.

Lunian let his voice wash over her again, conjuring up pictures of a place she had never seen. She closed her eyes when he got going, knowing he wouldn't stop until he could think of no more on the questions she had asked. That was fine with her. She would be seeing Lothlorien, and if she could not see Mirkwood, hearing all about it from one who loved it would have to do.

There was no doubt he loved it, though she knew…

She forced her mind away from that, not wishing to dwell on it.

But hours later, when the sun began to descend in the sky once more, her mind returned to the forbidden subject as he slowly fell silent.

"What troubles you, Milady?"

"You hear the call of the sea."

She turned her head when he stared at her in shock. He closed his mouth and swallowed. "How did you…."

She shrugged. "It's obvious, really. You speak with a great love for your home, you enjoy Rivendell, yet there is a haunted look in your eyes. There has been since we met again. I don't know that I would have recognized it before." She frowned, wondering. Then she mentally shook herself back to the present.

Legolas was still at a loss for words. He reached up and pushed the hood from his head, absently brushing some hair out of his face. Finally he let out a breath. "There is no point in denying it, I suppose. I have felt the desire to cross since I stood on the shores with Gimli."

"I would say what elf wouldn't want to cross when given the choice between that and the company of a dwarf, but I've heard rumors, perpetuated by a blond elf of royal blood, that a great friendship grew between the son of Thranduil and the son of Gloin."

He smiled weakly. "Yes. Odd though it may seem, Gimli is a dear friend."

"Elrond wishes to cross, but he does not have the need for it you do. For him, it is merely the desire to see his wife, to give up the troubles that have been laid upon him by the beings of this world. Elladan and Elrohir will cross with him, along with much of Rivendell. What little is left…" she trailed off, her heart clenching at the thought. "What will become of them?"

"They will go to Mirkwood, or remain on their own," Legolas murmured, touching her shoulder lightly in consolation.

"You do not plan to leave Middle-Earth?"

"Not as long as Aragorn lives. Perhaps I shall say the same for Gimli. As long as any member of the fellowship remains on Middle-earth, so shall I."

"As long as you're here, a member of the fellowship will be here."

He smiled faintly. "True."

She drew a shaky breath, thinking again about the passing of the elves. Elrond would go soon, rather than watch his daughter fade later, unable to cross. The need for him had passed, and he wished to see his wife. Galadriel was going to depart too.

Elrohir had told her that not long ago. She didn't like to think of their passing, much less talk about it, but they had, for a moment, merely to say Elrond was going to make it sooner than later. She couldn't imagine watching them step into the boats, to sail away and never again set foot in Middle-Earth.

She couldn't imagine never again seeing Elrohir, or Elladan, or Elrond.

Maybe she would, one day.

But that was by no means a certainty.

Besides, soon for an elf could be well past the end of her mortal life, so why should she worry about it? Still, the stone rolled absently through her fingers.

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