A/N: Years ago I was reading an interview in a magazine where the interviewee said this: "Change is the scariest word in the human vocabulary." I don't remember who it was or what magazine it was in (it might have been a soap opera magazine; that was probably during my soap opera phase), but that quote has stuck with me ever since.

On that note, n'ataya is actually the translation I found for "different" but I couldn't for the life of me find an elvish translation for change.

While the twins and Arwen were offering up bits of reasoning and made-up evidence to convince a resistant Gimli that there had been an affair going on between Legolas and the deceased King Theoden, the elf in question was setting Arod at a brisk pace to catch up with Eomer and his commanders at the head of the processional. He was mildly curious as to what those three and Aragorn needed to speak to the dwarf about in private but not really all that disturbed by the possibilities. Had he still been in Minas Tirith he would have been totally panic-stricken; now that the city was pretty far behind him he could tell himself rationally that if they'd have figured out his secret they wouldn't have been shy about confronting him. After weeks of misery followed by a period of almost all-encompassing paranoia it felt a little strange to feel so free again.

Confident that his baby was and would remain secret and safe, Legolas slowed his horse slightly as they came up behind the leaders of the processional. "Good day, your majesty," he said with a curt nod. "Master Gamling, Master Elfhelm. Please excuse my interruption."

Eomer gently pulled on his steed's reins, causing him to slow enough to fall back beside the prince. Gamling and Elfhelm hastily followed suit. "Good day to you as well," greeted Eomer in a light tone, smiling at the elf in a friendly manner. "No need to ask for pardon. You were not intruding, though I find that I must remind you once more to call me Eomer, Legolas."

"I meant no offense," replied Legolas breezily. It was such a nice change of pace to speak with someone who hadn't spent almost all of the last two months worrying about (or judging) him! Before his depression after losing Aragorn it had been a long time since anyone had treated him like a fragile piece of glass or ill child; he certainly hadn't appreciated it. Maybe something positive had come from Elladan's bizarre request after all.

"And I can assure you that none was taken, though it might be in the future," returned Eomer, sounding almost jovial during the solemn occasion.

The faint frowns from both commanders told Legolas that they privately thought that the king's tone was a bit too good-humored. He was duly impressed at how well Eomer ignored them – it was a sign of a good monarch that he didn't let the approval of others dictate his actions. "What can we do for you, Legolas?" the Man continued on. "I'm not vain enough to think that you just wanted to chat with me solely for the sake of conversation and I'm sure that no mere chance has brought you up here."

"No, it hasn't," confirmed Legolas politely, feeling a little bad that he hadn't thought of just speaking to Eomer with no other agenda. The king of Rohan seemed nice enough, after all, and it must have been hard to have to deal with losing a beloved family member with no one around to comfort him except Gamling and Elfhelm. "I have a question for you, if you don't mind my asking."

Legolas could have sworn that he saw a grateful glint light up the Rohirrim's eyes. "Not at all," Eomer declared a little too eagerly to just be a host trying to make an honored guest feel more comfortable. "I'm sure this is a confidential matter of great importance. Gamling, Elfhelm," he ordered his men, "I need you two to fall back in the processional. One must check in on the troops while the other sees to it that nothing has happened to my uncle's casket; I don't care which one does which task as long as they are done. And do not come back until I send word that I'm ready for you to rejoin me – Legolas and I must have some privacy."

The two commanders nodded in lieu of bowing and trotted off before Legolas could get a word in edgewise to correct him. "That wasn't necessary, Eomer," he told the king, watching them as Gamling fell into step next to Théoden's casket while Elfhelm vanished into the ranks. "What I have to say is no big secret: I simply wanted to ask when the time of our next stop will be."

"Honestly, it doesn't matter," confessed Eomer unrepentant, rolling his eyes. "You could have been coming here to ask me how old I am or what my hair color is and I still would have sent them away."

"I hope you haven't been having any problems," said Legolas.

Eomer shook his head. "Nothing that threatens my realm or anything nearly that serious," he replied with a shake of his head. "They mean well and I know that they only want what's best for my family and Rohan, but really! Perhaps I'm just too used to commanding my eored around the plains and I need to get used to having so many people giving me so much advice, but I tell you those two are driving me insane! I had no idea just how much of it I'd have to put up with when I became king."

"Welcome to the wonderful world of courtly politics," chuckled Legolas emphatically, recalling his own years stuck dealing with the ins and outs of his father's court in Mirkwood. "You were fortunate enough to be able to escape most of it for the majority of your life, but that's over now. I'm afraid that you'll have people telling you their problems and offering up their unsolicited opinions for the rest of your life – unless you can manage to convince them that one wrong word would lead to dire consequences, of course."

"That won't happen; I have no desire to become a tyrant, even if it means that I will never have another day of peace for the rest of my life," Eomer sighed in a long-suffering voice. Not wanting to think about it anymore, he sought to shift the conversation off of him. "You seem to be speaking from experience. How is it that you have this type of knowledge about royal courts?"

Slightly taken aback, Legolas gave him a hard, appraising look before answering. "I am a prince in my own right," he explained. "I am the son of King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood. I know that wasn't introduced to you as such, but I'm surprised that you didn't know. Didn't you notice the circlet I was wearing at the – at the coronation?"

Ai Elbereth, why did he have to remind himself of that horrible day now when he was finally feeling good again? One moment he was having a perfectly amiable conversation with a friend – or at least someone would have had great potential to become a friend if the circumstances were different – and the next his heart was like stone in his chest at the memory of watching Aragorn marry someone else. The rest of him had reconciled himself to letting the Man go; would his heart ever do the same or was he doomed being in love with a married Man forever? 'I won't let this overpower me,' he told himself. 'Even if I have to always love him the love I have for this baby is stronger than that. I will be fine as long as this baby is with me.'

Thankfully Eomer either didn't notice anything was wrong or else was too polite to mention the way his voice caught. "I did see it," the king said with a great deal of embarrassment. Legolas cocked an eyebrow and Eomer flushed in a very un-kingly and non-warrior manner. "But, well, I thought – I suppose I thought that it was just an ornament that you put in your hair on special occasions."

"Like those things that wealthy women wear to show off their family's wealth?" demanded Legolas, a little insulted. Before the Quest he'd spent almost no time in the company of Men (Aragorn excluded). Rohan had been the first place that he'd been totally immersed in a Mannish culture and he'd been surprised to learn, among other things, how much males of that race valued their beards. It seemed that the strange and sometimes unattractive fur that they grew on their faces was considered to be a sort of basic sign of masculinity and virility. The elf had been less than thrilled to also discover that his lack of any, along with his finer elven features, made most Men assume that he was very young or else very feminine. Well, yes, he was young in the world of elves but Men were mere babies when their years were compared to his. As for the ridiculous notion of being overly feminine for a male, he'd have thought that seeing all of the warrior elves at Helm's Deep would have corrected that.

'Then again,' thought Legolas sadly, 'the other elves had fallen by the time Eomer got there.'

"It didn't look like a crown to me," offered Eomer weakly, knowing that adding that at least it didn't resemble a male's crown would only make the situation worse.

Burying all of that melancholy for a more appropriate setting, Legolas focused on another strong emotion he was having and sucked in a miffed sniff. "We elves generally don't like to wear things that are overtly ornate," he explained stiffly. "Most of my people find the crowns of the kings of Men to be too extravagant for our tastes. However, my father is rather fond of gems and has a circlet that might be a little more to your liking."

Eomer shifted uncomfortably in his saddle as he tried to come up with some way to fix this. He'd been on the receiving end of Legolas' anger once and had no desire to be there again. "I beg your pardon," he apologized. "I didn't mean to offend you, just as you didn't mean to offend me by not calling me 'Eomer'. They ways of elves are still new to me and I would gladly take your corrections if it means expanding my knowledge of your race."

"Think nothing of it," Legolas told him, suddenly ashamed for how short he'd just been. It wasn't Eomer's fault that he'd started thinking about Aragorn and the loss of so many of his race at Helm's Deep. "Perhaps I was simply looking for someone to snap at. I'm sure you've heard that I've been in an odd mood for awhile now."

"Oh." Eomer could think of nothing more to say, no matter how desperately he tried. It was a shame that their breezy, enjoyable conversation had been disrupted like that; for a moment there he was actually feeling almost normal again. It felt like his world had been turned upside-down ever since he found Theodred clinging to life by the river Isen. Banishment, death, war, and more death had followed; being thrust into the role of king at the same time that his sister announced to him that she wanted to marry a Man of Gondor had succeeded in keeping him off-balance for weeks after the other things had ended. "I can understand that."

"I'm glad."

"Yeah," nodded Eomer. What a wonderful contribution to the conversation; Legolas knew that he wasn't prejudice but now he would think that he was an idiot. Luckily there was still one more thing that they could talk about. "I – um – I – you, you wanted to know when our next stop is going to be," he said lamely. "How specific do you need me to be?"

"However much you want to be," responded Legolas dismissively. "I really don't care either way."

Eomer furrowed his brow. "You rode all the way up here to ask me a question that's not at all important to you?" he asked incredulously. Maybe elves weren't as bizarre as many Men thought but Legolas was definitely strange. "Why would you do that?"

Legolas shook his head and ticked his head to gesture behind him. The Man looked in the direction of his nod and saw the party of elves and Aragorn. The dwarf Gimli was with them too, perched on the back of one of the Rivendell twins' (he didn't know which one; he would need more time with them before he could tell them apart) horse. Both twins and Queen Arwen Evenstar appeared to be talking at him at once and whatever they were saying was leaving him dumbfounded. Their father, the legendary Lord Elrond, watched all of this with an unreadable expression on his face. He only looked away every once in awhile to glance at Aragorn. As for the new king of Gondor, he seemed to be too intent on following the conversation before him to meet his foster father's eyes.

Only once did Aragorn tear his gaze away and that was to look ahead toward Eomer and Legolas. The elf must have felt those eyes burning into his back but he refused to turn around; Eomer, however, accidentally caught the other king's stare and their eyes locked. What he saw there was as unexpected and oddly awesome as it was troubling: Aragorn looked to be lost, in love, trapped, hopeful, angry, and harboring a burning jealousy too. Why on Middle-earth would a Man who'd just married the female of his dreams, the one that he'd loved and waited for decades to marry, feel so many dark emotions? It wasn't something that Eomer understood or felt ready to try to comprehend and he looked away quickly.

"They want you to ask me something so that you could report it back to them?" he asked Legolas, still feeling Aragorn's eyes boring into him. "Aren't they all a little too old to be acting like teenagers?"

"One would think so," replied Legolas.

"Yes," drawled Eomer thoughtfully. "But at least we're up here and away from all of that. It looks like poor Gimli is getting the brunt of it. Why is he with them, anyway? Wasn't he on your horse?"

"He was, but the royal party of Gondor needed to speak to him in secret," said Legolas blithely. He didn't want to chance losing control of his emotions so soon after almost slipping back into a melancholy mood, but he could only imagine what they were talking about given Eomer's reaction to what he saw. "And I'm not supposed to know this, so Elladan sent me to speak to you."

"Odd," remarked Eomer, though he really didn't think it was that way anymore. Legolas and the children of Elrond seemed to have a similar relationship that he, Eowyn, and Theodred had once had. He let his mouth quirk into a small smile. "Your hair was quite the topic of conversation when we were in Gondor; perhaps they weren't through discussing it yet."

Legolas snorted. "I'm sure that it has something to do with that," he replied guardedly. More likely they were gossiping in a concerned way about his out-of-character behavior.

"But why?" blurted out Eomer. He was instantly sorry that he asked, considering how well things had gone the last time they'd strayed to the topic of the elf's hair. Still, the question was now out there and Eomer knew that he couldn't take it back without implying to Legolas that he thought he was overly sensitive. Oh well; he was curious about it anyway. "Forgive my ignorance about your culture, but why does it matter if you wear your hair loose or in braids? Is there some sort of significance to either style?"

Legolas reached back and twisted his largest braid around his fingers. "These braids are the markings of a warrior in my culture," he explained. "After an elf has achieved a certain level of skill in their weapons training they are permitted to wear their hair in braids. They mark someone as being able – and expected – to defend their people. It's practical in that it keeps it out of one's way while fighting as well as being very symbolic. After you're allowed to have the braids you only wear it loose during times of absolute peace or when you're under the protection of a stronger force."

"I take it that no one's seen out without braids in a long time," guessed Eomer kindly.

"No," confirmed Legolas. "In places like, say, Rivendell it was possible for the warriors to take their hair down during times of rest. However, I'm from Mirkwood and there we were under constant threat from the darkness dwelling in the southern part of the forest. I've been so used wearing it up that I never took it down, even when I was visiting Rivendell." He nodded once again in the direction of Elladan, Elrohir, Arwen, and Aragorn. "They just weren't used to seeing me wearing my hair in any other way."

"I see," said Eomer slowly. "You wear braids during times of strife and have your hair loose when things are peaceful." He was silent for a moment. "Who are you planning on meeting in battle now?"

Everyone and everything there was – as far as Legolas was concerned it was him and his baby against the world. "You never know," he said aloud casually. "Not all of the orcs were destroyed when Sauron fell; I know from firsthand experience that many dwell in Moria and various caves in the mountains. It will be years before we're finally rid of their malice and filth once and for all. It stands to reason that it would be wise for us to always be prepared."

"Good," smiled Eomer in relief. When Legolas gave him an odd look he blushed slightly. "Not about the orcs and all of that, of course. I was just a little worried that you were expecting to have some sort of conflict with me."

"And why would I expect that?"

"Because of our first meeting," answered Eomer, feeling a bit foolish. There had been no reason why he should have thought that Legolas would nurse a grudge toward him. They'd even gotten along fairly well at the celebration following their return from Isengard during the war. "I didn't not behave in a hospitable manner when we first met, insulting Gimli and insinuating that you were a spy for Saruman. I made my peace with Gimli, but I never apologized to you; please allow me to do that now."

"No," replied Legolas. Eomer's face fell and the elf gave him a reassuring smile. "It's not necessary; think nothing more of it, Eomer. Times were dark then and many evil things were moving about. It was your duty to protect your people first and play the polite host to uninvited guests second. Believe me when I say that had our positions been reversed and you'd have entered Mirkwood without permission you would have ended up in my father's dungeons. Honestly, I would've been distrustful and disappointed if we'd gotten any other greeting from you; it would have meant that you were far too trusting or else leading us into a trap. You have a great strength in you, Eomer, and now I see that you are quite gracious too. Rohan is fortunate to have you for its king. I can tell that you have the ability to handle just about anything," he added, hoping that he'd have the same gift when he needed it.

"I hope so," murmured Eomer as Edoras came into view before them as they turned the final corner in the processional's path. "I have a feeling that I'll need all my strength and abilities once we get to the Golden Hall."

Legolas suddenly remembered the sober reason for their journey from Gondor to Rohan. "Are you concerned about getting through King Theoden's burial?" he questioned Eomer compassionately. "I understand that he was like a father to you."

Eomer shook his head. "No," he said. "I unfortunately have attended many funerals of people that I care about, including both of my parents'." He waved his hand when he saw the prince about to speak up. "It was a long time ago. This won't be easy but I know I'll get through it all right. What I'm nervous about is announcing Eowyn's betrothal to Faramir; I've faced death many times but I've never had to let my sister go before. Meduseld is going to be very empty – I'm going to be the only member of my family left dwelling there."

"You could always get married," suggested Legolas.

"Very funny."

"You'll have to do it eventually," the elf pointed out, and shook his head when Eomer grimaced. "You'll see. But perhaps you're protesting simply because you fear change."

The Man let out a knowing sigh. "What is the elvish word for 'change', Legolas?" he asked.

"N'ataya is the closest translation," Legolas told him, giving him a questioning look.

"When my mother died, Eowyn and I went to live with my uncle in Meduseld," said Eomer, smiling sadly at the memory. "I wasn't handling losing her very well and he knew it. One day he pulled me onto my lap and told me that it was all right if I missed her and was scared about what was going to happen to me because 'change' is the most frightening word in any race's vocabulary. Now I see that's true, even when it's spoken in such a fair tongue. Yet it comes anyway, no matter how much you fight it. All we can do is find a way to adjust."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The funeral went as well as could be expected. Many cried, though Eomer and Eowyn stood tall the entire time and did not let their despair rule them. Merry lingered after the final song had ended to give Theoden a more personal goodbye before suffering himself to be led away by a sympathetic Pippin. It was a sorrowful occasion; yet it was a proud one too, for no other king of Rohan had such an impressive collection of honorable mourners from all the races of the free folk. The people of the Mark were satisfied in knowing that it had been a proper tribute to their fallen king.

That evening, as tradition dictated, there was a feast to drive away the sorrow of losing King Theoden by celebrating his life as well as the years that were to come. Legolas didn't feel much like celebrating but found that he couldn't tear himself away from the Great Hall. He'd planned on having one last adventure with Gimli but this was probably going to be the last chance he'd have to spend time with the hobbits and Gandalf like this. How he was going to miss the little ones' cheery, simple dispositions and the old wizard's kind gruffness! Besides, he felt the need to be there to support Eomer. It was a shame that he'd only gotten to know the Man right before he had to go away; but what was done was done and there was no use in lamenting the loss of a friendship that would never be.

Finally, Eomer stood before the crowd and raised up a hand to quiet them. "Thank you," he said as they fell silent. "As you know, this feast is to honor the memory of our great King Theoden. I doubt, though, that he would object to me making this announcement now, as it concerns my sister who was like a daughter to him. Eowyn is as valiant as any rider of Rohan, fairest of our realm's maidens, and held very dear in my heart. Needless to say, only the most honorable of Men could ever hope to gain my approval to marry her and she has found one who fulfills those stringent requirements. It is my pleasure to tell you all tonight about the betrothal of my sister, Lady Eowyn of Rohan, to the Lord Faramir of Gondor and Ithilien."

The hall erupted in applause and shouts of congratulations as Eowyn and Faramir stepped forward to stand beside Eomer, their hands lovingly clasped together. Aragorn, Legolas, Merry, and Pippin all made their way through the crowd to join them. "You are very generous, Eomer," noted Aragorn. "Not many kings would be able to part with the fairest thing in their realm."

Eomer merely nodded but Eowyn looked Aragorn in the eye. "Wish me joy," she requested.

"I have wished you joy since I first saw you," Aragorn told her warmly. "I find peace in knowing that you're happy."

Everyone there who knew of her love for Aragorn knew what she was doing: she was ready to move on with her life and finally possessed the contentment to bid the past goodbye. It was a comfort to Aragorn, who'd felt so guilty about not being able to return her love. Legolas, however, was envious. She was letting go of the Man because she'd found love with someone else while he was letting him go to flee even while he was still in love with him. Watching Eowyn and Faramir exchange adoring stares he wondered bleakly if he'd ever know the same peace that she was feeling right now.

To be continued…