A/N: This is my first Fanfic, so reviews would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know what you think, and what I could work on. I have other chapter stories I'm working on also, so I'll post them if this story turns out okay. I've seen all three LOTR movies a few times, but I'm in the process of reading the books. If I mess something up completely let me know, becuase I most likely didn't do it on purpose. On that note, I've written this story how I see Legolas's character acting, so I'm taking creative license on that account.
He sat atop the tallest tree in all of Mirkwood, gazing out across the expansive forest in front of him. He watched the crystal blue water of the river run its course through the land and disappear into the horizon. To his other side, he looked over a small valley on the outskirts of the forest, there, tucked into a remote corner of the land, was a small village called Breckinridge. It was the last refuge for harmonious life between elves and men. The only place, to his knowledge, where men and elves resided together peacefully.
He himself had traveled to Breckinridge many times, under a pseudonym, and covered by a cloak, as to hide his true elven identity. Elves were accepted in Breckinridge, but if word got out who he really was, he would not be as warmly welcomed. He usually traveled there only when the people of his own dominion become stuffy and annoying. He loved freedom and openness. He didn't like being trapped behind a title, and restricted by rules. In Breckinridge he was able to compete in his true passion, archery, as a stranger.
That was what Breckinridge became for him, a place to practice archery under a cloak of mystery, a safe haven from responsibility and expectations.
He never thought Breckinridge would lead him to the one thing he could not have forever.
It was in this remote village that he first laid eyes on a young woman who intrigued him so much. He had, at that point, established himself as the best archer ever to pick up a bow in the small village. Everyone wanted to compete against him, to try a hand at defeating him. He welcomed competition and challenge, and relished in victory. One by one they opposed him, and one by one he defeated them. It was on that fateful day, five years ago that he met his only match.
A young woman, no older than 18, was walking through the village common when a large crowd began forming at the archery range. The large group intrigued her, so she abandoned her walk home and proceeded to the large queue of people. Once she had managed to push her way through to the front, she saw before her a man she had never laid eyes on before. He was standing confidently in the center ring, though she noticed that he held himself differently than any man she knew, and without much effort he won match after match against some of the best archers of the village.
After some time had elapsed, it seemed that everyone had given up hope of defeating this stranger. She was a confident girl, and held pride her skills with a bow. She decided to have a go at the stranger from a distant land. She walked into the center opening, and presented her challenge to the man. He readily accepted, but he doubted a woman had the ability to defeat him. After many rounds of dead-even ties, the woman defeated him when her arrow hit his dead center, splitting it in half.
She smiled ever so slightly as he turned and bowed to his opponent. As he straightened, he finally got a good look at the woman who challenged him. She stood no taller than 5'4", but her presence was unmistakable. Her chocolate brown hair cascaded down her back in soft waves, and she had bangs that framed her porcelain face. Her lips were red as cherry and her smile glowed with joy. It was when he looked into her eyes that he realized her enchantment. She had eyes the color of emeralds and jade. They were full of life and excitement, but deep inside he saw hurt and pain. From that day on, he could read her emotions from her eyes.
When he looked into her eyes for a few seconds he realized that she knew he was an elf, and she wasn't going to unmask him. She merely smiled at him, returned his bow, and walked out of the ring and made her way home.
He returned to the village of Breckinridge every week for the next three months before he saw the woman again. When he did, he walked up to her and told her she intrigued him. She laughed at his brashness, told him she thought that the out-going move was out of character for him, and invited him to walk with her. She brought him to a secluded grove of trees by the banks of the river. She told him that this was her secret spot where she came to think. He watched her thoughtfully as she looked out upon the river. They sat on the bank for hours, just talking about anything. It was at this first conversation that he revealed who he really was, and she just smiled and continued looking across the river.
They enjoyed each other's company so much, that they made their meetings weekly, and met each time in the grove of trees. Sometimes they just sat there and talked, other times they journeyed into the village and enjoyed the pleasures of archery. No matter what they did, she treated him no different than she treated anyone else, and she spoke some of the wisest words he had ever heard.
Over time, their relationship grew and they spent more time together. He had not wanted to fall in love with her, but he could not have stopped it even if he realized it was happening. He slowly began to cherish this woman, and the time they spent together. She was unlike any woman or she-elf he had ever met, and she was the only female who did not treat him differently because of his status. He had become so entranced by her beauty and grace that he had not realized his heart had fallen for her.
Two years after their first meeting among the trees she pledged her love for him. She told him that she couldn't live her life without him, she needed him by her side. He smiled and brought his lips down to meet her own. For three years they kept their relationship hidden from public view, meeting only in their secluded spot, and never showing intimate feelings towards each other when together in public.
It was through these measures he tried to hold his heart back. He tried to suppress the love in his heart, the passion, and the desire. But his heart had a mind of its own, and did not comply.
Feelings of love and fear riddled his soul as he sat atop the tallest tree. He had come here to think about the woman who had stolen his heart. He had never admitted it to himself, but he was scared. She was a mortal, and one-day she would die. He toyed everyday with the idea of leaving her, but every time he saw her, those ideas rushed out of his head with a wind of passion and desire.
Elves developed relationships slowly, they never rushed into a courtship, and they let it grow for hundreds of years before deciding on marriage. With a mortal, he did not have hundreds of years. He would be lucky if he even got a hundred years. He did not know if he could give his heart fully to someone he only knew for five years.
"What are you doing up there," she called to him from the ground.
"Thinking," he replied as he gracefully dismounted from the tree.
She looked at him carefully. She looked into his sapphire orbs as he stood in front of her.
"What has you so worried," she finally said as she broke away from her gaze.
"Nothing," he replied cautiously, "It's nothing at all."
She didn't buy it, and he knew it. They sat in silence for a couple minutes, only the chirping birds resonating in their ears. Finally she broke the silence; "You are worried about us. You do not know what to make of our relationship, a mortal and an elf."
He knew she would figure it out. He just let his head drop, and looked solemnly at the ground. What could he tell her without hurting her feelings? He didn't know how to explain his situation to her, she was not an elf, and she wouldn't understand.
"You can tell me," she said as she put a hand on his shoulder, "I may not understand, but you can tell me anything. You can help me understand."
He wrestled with the idea in his head a few more minutes before resigning to tell her everything. "I am an elf."
"I'm aware of that."
"You are a mortal."
She just nodded her head, a playful smile toying on her cherry lips.
"How are we supposed to love each other when our lives have been so different? I have always been taught to cultivate a relationship over hundreds of years. We do not have the time to do that. How am I to give you my heart when I'm not used to mortality? I want to love you like I would if you were a she-elf, I think I already do. However, I always have this pestering voice in the back of my mind telling me that your time on earth is not infinite, it will end. I do not want to give you all of my heart because I don't want to lose you."
She saw the single tear roll down his cheek as he finally raised his head to look her in the eyes. She wiped it away.
She smiled knowingly at him, she was very much aware of how hard it was for a warrior, like him, to admit fear and be emotional.
"Love cannot be measured in days or time. It can only be measured in the kisses you share together, and the tears you cry when you are apart."
She didn't have to say anything else, her wisdom displayed in two sentences. He wrapped his arms around her, and finally the voice left his head.
Time did not matter anymore.