He had taught Kari everything he could about archery.

This idea came to Legolas a few weeks after the archery competition, but he refused to fully comprehend the consequences for another three months. But during those three months, he noticed that he did not teach Kari anything new, but rather refined techniques that he had already taught her. The exercises could grow to be even more complex, Kari's agility could be pushed to even further limits, but that was simply making the same thing more advanced. He had taught Kari all the techniques, the tricks, the strategies - everything that he himself knew. This did not mean that Kari was as good as Legolas in archery, but she had the same knowledge base he did.

So what did this mean? Was his duty now over? Was he to return to Mirkwood? He decided to discuss the matter with Lord Elrond.

"It seems that your task is done," Lord Elrond said after Legolas explained the situation.

Legolas thought about Elrond's statement. "Should I tell Kari that I am leaving?" Legolas asked after a long silence.

"If that is what you want. You are welcome to stay here longer, as long as you like. But what you came here to do has been accomplished. And I am grateful to you," Lord Elrond said.

Legolas nodded and was about to exit the study when Lord Elrond said, "She is quite attached to you." Legolas nodded once again. "Your presence has deeply influenced the person she has become. I do not know if she would be as strong as she is now if it were not for you," Lord Elrond praised.

Legolas bowed his head in appreciation. "Somehow I feel she would be just as strong if I had not come," he replied, a bit of amusement in his eyes.

Lord Elrond smiled. "Perhaps."

Legolas left Lord Elrond's presence and walked down the corridors of Rivendell that he had come to love. They could not replace the wild beauty of the trees of Mirkwood, but the memories that filled the corridors were some of the most vivid in his mind. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, most of those memories involved Kari. But soon he would leave these corridors and all he would have left would be memories.

But he would need to tell Kari. That was the worse part about this whole situation. How could he tell her? She would be so upset, perhaps resentful. Would she feel abandoned? Perhaps most importantly, would he ever see her again? Did he want to? Should he treat Kari as just a memory and nothing more? Should he treat her as a friend he would want to see again?

It was hard for him to imagine severing all ties after spending such a long time with her. He smiled at the realization that he thought nine years was a long time. Nine years was a long time in the life of a mortal, but it was just a moment in the life of an elf. If he had not been in Kari's presence, Legolas doubted he would have been so aware of time. But her mortality made him appreciate every day that he was in Rivendell because that was how Kari lived.

But it was also hard for him to imagine seeing her after being away. She would be different and he would not know why. Would he see her every year? Ten years? What happened between the times of his visits? Ten years of life could not be described in a visit. The relationship would change from a bond Legolas did not even have a proper name for to a superficial relationship. Would that be fair for Kari? Would that be fair for him? Was it better to make Kari just a memory in his long life and not come back to see her?

Every question he posed to himself was followed by more questions until he was overwhelmed. He decided to meditate regarding his situation. He hadn't realized his heart was so deeply entrenched in Rivendell until now.

He decided he would tell her at the end of practice. It seemed like this was the most appropriate time. The field was where they forged their relationship and the field would be where he ended it.

"Kari," he started out as they sat on the field drinking some water and watching the sun lower behind one of the cliffs that surrounded Rivendell, "I have taught you everything I can in archery."

Kari gulped her sip of water slowly as she processed this information. She bowed her head and stared at the grass. "Oh," she said. This was the conversation she had been dreading, but it had come earlier than she had expected. Did she really know everything Legolas knew? At times she felt competitive with him and at other times she felt like a novice.

"I have talked with Lord Elrond and he had told me my duty is over," Legolas explained slowly. If he focused on the words he was saying, perhaps it would not hurt so much.

Duty. She had forgotten what she was. Legolas came to Rivendell to teach her archery. He taught her archery – his duty complete.

"Oh," she said again, softer this time. If she focused on making the appropriate responses, perhaps it would not hurt so much.

"I leave here tomorrow," Legolas said.

That snapped Kari out of the daze his words were putting her in. "Tomorrow? Legolas, you can't! It's too soon, it's not…" She didn't have the heart to go further. She looked at his face and saw the conflict in his eyes. Part of him didn't want to leave. Ranting to him would just make him feel worse about this, and Kari did not want that. She calmed her thoughts as best at she could and inhaled deeply. "I understand," she said levelly, trying to sound as composed as possible. She wanted to make this easier for him, even if that meant making it harder for herself.

Watching her give up the fight to make him stay so easily nearly broke him. He hadn't realized it, but part of him wanted her to lash out and tell him to stay. Selfishly, he wanted to know how much he meant to her. Internally he laughed at himself for wanting to know what a fifteen-and-a-half year old girl was thinking.

"Will I see you again?" she asked, rubbing her hands on her pants. He knew she did this when she was uncomfortable or nervous.

"No," he said. "I do not think so."

"Why not?" she asked quietly.

"I just think it would be better if I do not return," he said, almost matching her quietness.

"For you, Legolas? Because it will not be for me," she said, a bit of anger seeping into her previously calm voice.

"Kari…"

"No. You will not just forget about me," Kari stated assertively. She understood him leaving, but she did not understand him not visiting.

"I will not forget you, ever. But I do not think I can see you again after I leave. It would be too…hard."

"Too hard?" Kari scoffed. "I never knew you were so selfish. Just because something is hard does not mean it should not be done. You taught me that."

"This is different than an exercise in archery, Kari," Legolas said. Kari calling Legolas selfish stung deeply.

"No, it is not."

"You will grow up, become a Healer of Rivendell, someone worthy will come along and you will fall in love. Perhaps there will be children. Perhaps grandchildren. You will have a very full life," Legolas explained.

"You have a nice imagination, Legolas," she said. She would not fall in love with someone in the future when it had already happened. There would be no children or grandchildren.

"I will not be there for the things in between. It would be too hard to be there only occasionally when I have been here everyday before," Legolas continued.

"Then why leave?" Kari asked, frustrated.

He looked at her squarely, the conflict in his eyes still there. Her heart did the customary quickening and she wondered if that would fade with time and space.

She realized he would not respond. She quickly got up and left him sitting on the field. Her calm exterior had dissolved by the time she reached her room. She flopped on her bed and cried.

He stared after her for a while, thinking about what she had said. He was being selfish, he knew that, but he was doing it for her own good too. Was it not better to leave the past in the past? They were from two different worlds that just so happened to intersect for nearly a decade. He shook his head with frustration and got up off the field. He gave it one final look – the apple trees, the targets they used for practice, everything.

Dinner was a quiet event that night. Arwen dined with Kari and Legolas, and when Legolas told Arwen the news of his departure, she protested but knew he had made up his mind. Kari was silent and nibbled at her food. Legolas tried to get her attention and start some sort of conversation, but Kari refused to look at him. She would only look at her plate. When Arwen asked Legolas what he would do upon his return to Mirkwood, Kari quickly excused herself from the table and clumsily gathered her skirts to leave. Legolas asked her to stay but she just shook her head and left. After some awkwardness, Arwen had repeated her question about what Legolas would do once in Mirkwood, but Legolas had no reply. He honestly had not thought about it.

When it became late at night, Legolas began packing up. He took out his traveling bag and began organizing his things to take back to Mirkwood – home. It was home, was it not? Of course it was. The trees, the darkness, the energy of Mirkwood was home. Rivendell was simply a place he stayed that he happened to like more than he suspected. He came across the pair of pants Kari had made him a couple years ago when she had been taking a break from her healing studies. She had made everyone a pair – even Lord Elrond, although he had never worn his pair. Kari made Legolas wear the pair she made him, but he did not mind because it had fit quite well. Legolas remembered that Aragon's had been a little too short, but Aragorn had worn them anyway because Kari wanted him to so badly. Legolas folded up the pants carefully and placed them in his bag. They were a memory now.

He kept on going over the reasons for leaving. He needed to know if he was truly over Virania. He needed to be the prince of Mirkwood rather than continually wander around. He needed to face things rather than run away from them. They were all good reasons, but he could not shake the feeling that they were just excuses. Excuses for what? He did not know.

The sun was nearly rising by the time he had finished packing. His horse would be ready to take him away at sunrise. It was nearly time to leave. The feeling that he was making the wrong decision was getting stronger. But he continued to tell himself his reasons for leaving which seemed to make him feel a bit better.

He slung his bow and quiver on his back and grabbed his two short swords. As he stared at the swords, he reasons for leaving seemed so silly. Wasn't the fact that he had not thought about Virania at all recently indication enough that he was over her? His father had no intention of relinquishing the thrown anytime soon and had encouraged him to stay at Rivendell. And he was not facing the problems by leaving but running away. He was not ready to leave, yet he was rationalizing his departure.

He was not ready to leave.

The reasons why he was not ready were still a bit unclear in his mind, but he knew he was not ready. He would deal with the reasons later.

Legolas left his room quickly and took his memorized route to Kari's room. He knocked on the door while wondering if she was up.

"Come in," he heard.

She was sitting on the bench by her window in a dressing gown. It looked as though she hadn't slept at all. Her face was pale, her hair was a bit tangled, and she looked terribly distant. Her face was full of dread when she looked at him. She quickly turned her head back to the window.

"I thought you would be asleep," Legolas said.

Kari scoffed. "You expect me to sleep the night you give me such news?" she said bitterly, still refusing to look at him.

The sound of metal again metal on her bed made her turn around. She looked on her bed to see Legolas' two short swords there.

"A going away present?" she asked coldly.

Legolas frowned deeply, knowing it was his stupidity that caused Kari to act so angrily.

"Short swords. We begin lessons tomorrow," he said.

Kari looked at him strangely, as though he were speaking Dwarfish. "You mean…"

"Yes."

Kari looked at the short swords and then at Legolas. Her eyes grew brighter and she smiled. "Good."

Legolas laughed. "Get some sleep. You shall need it." He closed the door softly behind him and went back to his room to unpack.

Author's Note: Thanks for all the support and encouragement. I was feeling down, but reading the reviews made me happy. This chapter, I think, is the turning point because now Legolas is in Rivendell because he wants to be rather than because his is supposed to me. Thanks for the patience as well, I'm having a lot of fun in Maui doing research, but updates will be slow because it's hard to get internet.

Oh! And to Laebeth, it's fine to translate my story for your kids, it's an honor that you asked. And if anyone wants to link my story to other websites (so long as it's not a bashing website) it's fine. Just ask me. Thanks!