Thanks to all reviewers including: Taylor, Goldfire, FunkyChunkyMunky, kayla, shieldmaidenofmithrilhall, angela (who is now Luthien Ancalime87), Austin B, Redneck Horse lover, Magicgirl810, Tinkerbell033, and alexian-goddess. Enjoy!

An Invitation

"His Royal Highness, Prince Legolas of Mirkwood, and his betrothed, the Lady Fiondra of Mirkwood, invite you to join them in celebrating their wedding, which will take place on May Twenty-sixth of the year Three Thousand and Twenty-one," Fiondra read aloud to Arien and Aglarsîr. "How does that sound?" she asked them as they sat at her table eating the potato soup that she had made that night.

Aglarsîr looked up at the anxious elleth and shrugged. "Good enough for me." He turned to his goblet of wine and gulped some down.

Annoyed, Arien slapped at his arm. "You're not helping," she chided him in an undertone. In a louder voice, Arien placated Fiondra. "It's perfect. No one will be able to refuse an invitation such as that to your wedding."

Fiondra still looked worried. "Are you sure?" she asked, glancing at her delicate writing on the piece of white parchment.

"Yes," Arien replied firmly. "And I'm sure Legolas would agree with me."

"Yeah, if he were here," Aglarsîr muttered.

At his unkind words, Fiondra's eyes filled with tears and she twisted away, a fist pressed to her mouth to stifle her sobs.

Arien glared at Aglarsîr and grabbing his arm, pulled him out of the room. "What is wrong with you?" she asked him angrily. "Can you not see how Fiondra suffers without him!"

"It's September; Legolas hasn't been gone that long!" Aglarsîr replied heatedly.

"Wouldn't you suffer if I were gone that long? It's long enough for anyone to feel pain," Arien retorted, distress creeping into her voice.

Aglarsîr looked at the liquid welling in her eyes and immediately felt remorse. The ellon gathered Arien into his arms and held her close. "Forgive me meleth nin," he murmured into her dark hair. "I was jealous that he got to explore Middle Earth while I stay here lounging around."

Arien looked up at him and laughed through her tears. With a twinkle in her blue eyes, she teased him. "Surely you're not suggesting that you'd want to leave me!" At the ellon's trapped expression, she giggled again and wiped away at the streaks on her face.

"Of course not, sweet Arien," Aglarsîr slowly said, his intense, green eyes never leaving her face. He kissed the smaller elf and she responded willingly. Aglarsîr finished the kiss and told Arien, "Let us go back to Fiondra and see if we can help her by either writing out the invitations or addressing them."

"And you can apologize to her," Arien told him seriously. He agreed, and hand in hand, they headed back to the lonely elleth.

X X X X X

Frodo Baggins scanned the invitation. So Legolas was getting married. Well, good for him, the hobbit thought wearily.

The day was October 6th, the anniversary of the day when Frodo had been stabbed with a Morgul blade at Weathertop. The invitation had just arrived with a messenger a few minutes before and Frodo had to admit that he was feeling a bit put out with the world as he read the simple note.

Yet he could also not deny that he was happy for the elf. Legolas deserved someone who would love him and that he would love back. Hopefully that someone was this Lady Fiondra.

Frodo sighed and reached for a piece of parchment and some ink. Just as he started to pen a response, Samwise Gamgee burst into the room.

"Mister Frodo, did you hear?" the stocky hobbit cried ecstatically.

"Yes Sam, I've been invited to Legolas' wedding as well," Frodo replied with a slight smile.

Sam shook his tawny head. "Not that, Mister Frodo sir, although that is good news."

Puzzled, Frodo asked, "Then what is it Sam?"

Unable to contain himself any longer, Sam proudly stated, "Rosie is expecting a babe in the spring."

Frodo jumped up and clapped his beaming friend on the back. "That's wonderful, Sam! I'm truly glad for you and Rosie. Please extend my congratulations to her."

Sam nodded, and still glowing, he left the room. Frodo smiled and turned back to his parchment. Two bits of good news in one day. It almost made the anniversary seem less dreary. Pushing unwelcome thoughts out of his head, Frodo began to write.

Dear Legolas & Lady Fiondra,

First, let me congratulate you both on your proposal. I am pleased to say that I will be able to attend your wedding on May 26th. I look forward to seeing Legolas again, along with all of our old Fellowship friends. I also look forward to meeting Lady Fiondra. Again, you have my felicitations.

Best wishes,

Frodo Baggins

X X X X X

King Elessar of Gondor looked up from the invitation to his wife. Arwen cocked a thin eyebrow at him. "What does it say?" she asked calmly.

Aragorn could not suppress a wide grin. "I don't believe it!" he said incredulously, glancing back at the note.

"What is it?" Arwen entreated again, a trifle impatient this time.

Disbelieving, Aragorn shook his head. He was chuckling as he handed his wife the parchment. "Legolas is getting married!" he told the elleth.

Arwen quickly read the invitation and gazed at her husband. "Why is that so hard to give credence to?" she asked seriously. "After all, Legolas is a very attractive elf."

Aragorn pouted, "Even better-looking than me?"

Arwen laughed softly. She went over to Aragorn and placed a gentle kiss upon his lips. "No meleth nin," she whispered, looking up into his silver eyes. "No one is more handsome than you are."

They kissed again, this time more passionately. Arwen eventually broke away to add, "But you have to admit, Legolas is very attractive for an elf."

Aragorn laughed and hugged his wife tightly. "What would I do without you?" he murmured imperceptibly. As Arwen nuzzled closer into him, Aragorn said, "Even if Legolas is good-looking, I thought he wasn't going to marry anyone."

"Why not?" Arwen inquired. "We elves do marry and have children you know."

Aragorn smiled lopsidedly. "Believe me, I know." Then he explained, "I also know that Legolas experienced a sour romance years ago. He was still bitter about it when he told me roughly what happened. That led me to think that he would never change his mind about females."

"Well, obviously he has," Arwen said matter-of-factly. "Now, has he ever mentioned his fiancée's name to you before?"

Aragorn gave her a puzzled frown. "Not that I remember... I thought perhaps that you had met her before."

Arwen shook her head. "I would not forget her name. Would you like me to write to say that we'll attend?"

"Of course." Aragorn grinned. "I wouldn't miss it for the Ring."

X X X X X

Legolas leaned back against the rigid bark of the tree trunk. Fiondra's face floated in front of him, amidst the cloud-covered blue sky. He saw her smile at him for the first time. Then he watched her features lay peaceful in a deep sleep before he woke her to tell her it was time to leave her cottage. Next he saw her laughing as he chased her down a silent street. Finally he watched her cry as he left her behind to wait, as a soldier's wife waits for her husband to return from war.

The elf sighed. The elleth haunted his every thought, both conscious and unconscious. Not that Legolas minded. It pained him though to think of how long he had been apart from Fiondra. And how much longer until they could be together again.

The golden-haired ellon absently twisted the ring his betrothed had given him. Gimli had taunted him that it was "womanish", but Legolas had ignored. Fiondra had given to him as a symbol of their love. Forget-me-nots for true love. If that did not symbolize either elf's feelings for the other, then Legolas did not know what did.

A loud bellow from below broke Legolas' thoughts. "Where are you, you cursed elf!"

Legolas hastily hurried down from his lofty seat. He dropped down in front of Gimli and offered an apology. "Sorry Gimli. I needed some time to myself."

The ruddy-faced dwarf grumbled, "You could have at least told me where you were disappearing to." Gimli's face softened. "You weren't thinking about Lady Fiondra again, were you?"

Legolas walked a pace away, but couldn't keep the emotion from his voice. "How can I not? I've left her to deal with the wedding plans on her own and there might be problems she cannot handle and she might change her mind about marrying me and – ."

Gimli interrupted the frantic elf. "First lad, Fiondra has Lady Arien and that Aglarsîr fellow to help her if there's problems. Secondly, females are always the ones who handle wedding matters. All you have to do is show up to marry the lass. And lastly, do you really believe that she'll change her mind about marrying you?"

Legolas grinned sheepishly. "No, not really."

The dwarf nodded smugly. "That's what I thought. Now are we going to stay in this blasted forest forever?"

"No," Legolas replied. "We can head off to whatever caves you want to visit now."

With that, they packed up their belongings, and left Fangorn Forest on Arod.

X X X X X

Three months later, Fiondra glanced at the guest list for her wedding. Thranduil, Arien, Aglarsîr, and most of the Mirkwood elves would be there. Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel would attend along with some other elves from Lothlorien. Lord Elrond and a scattering of elves left in Rivendell had also written to say they'd come. And then there were the members of the Fellowship and their families, and other people Legolas had encountered in his travels.

Fiondra sighed. She looked forward to meeting them all, but there was only one name on the list whose owner she wanted to see. That name was Legolas. And Fiondra could not send him an invitation as easily as she had the others.

Yet winter was coming on fast. After winter came spring, and with it would come Legolas. Fiondra would have to be patient. After all, it was only a matter of time.

X X X X X

Elleth – female elf

Ellon – male elf

Meleth nin – my love

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed it. Anybody have any requests for the wedding? I'll try to see if I can take care of them; just let me know. And even if you don't, drop me a line by way of review. I have no idea when the next chapter will be up, but hopefully it will be in the near future. Have a great day mellon nin!