Disclaimer: See the first chapter

A/N: Okay I know I'm not the most faithful with getting chapter up quickly. I'm sorry. I've been so busy and I was having a hard time with chapter 3. I will try to get the next ones up sooner. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Reviews are welcome.

Chapter 2

Wedding Plans

Elrohir smiled as Linriel ran into the meeting room. Thranduil looked up.

"I was beginning to think we would have to plan your wedding without you." Thranduil joked.

Linriel smiled slightly. "Sorry." She took her seat and Thranduil began.

"Before we get to the most important matter, there are a few things we need to discuss." He turned to who was sitting beside him. "Mithrandir, can you please tell us what you reported to me?"

The wizard nodded.

As he began speaking, Aragorn looked over at Legolas. "Who is he?" He whispered.

Legolas raised an eyebrow as if to ask the question 'you don't know?' Aragorn just shrugged. "One of the Istar." Legolas said simply.

Aragorn gave Legolas a surprised look, but stayed quiet, listing to what the wizard was saying.

"The Nazgul have retreated for now but they still hold Dol Guldur in their grasp. Great evil has possessed that tower and though for now it is contained, evil will soon continue its spread through the Mirkwood realm. Your magic will protect you for now, but one day a great war will have to take place to defeat the evil the broods there."

"Sauron will have to be defeated first for that to take place." Celeborn stated.

Gandalf nodded. "Yes, which still may be some time before that happens." He replied rather grimly. Then he perked up and smiled. "But until then, we will have to enjoy the time that is given to us." He winked at Linriel.

Thranduil smiled. "Yes, we shall. And speaking of that, Linriel, please tell us your plans for the wedding and how we can accommodate you."

Linriel nodded. "I have made a list of everything that needs to be done before the wedding. Elwin, Idril, and Viliasia will be in charge of how everything is set up."

Everyone nodded.

"I think everything will work out fine if we all work together. But I need all the help I can get right now."

"Just let us know what we can do, Linriel." Legolas said as he smiled at his sister.

Linriel nodded. "However, there are two problems. First, when is Arwen expected to arrive?"

Thranduil looked uncomfortable for a second, but that quickly disappeared. "I believe Elrond said she will be here in six days." He looked over at the elf lord who nodded his head.

"Yes, Lady Galadriel and her have all ready left. They will be here in time."

Linriel nodded. She was about to further question Elrond, but she decided to save it for another time. Then she sighed. "The other problem is a flower girl and a Ring Bearer. What am I to do about finding someone?"

Every one considered this for a moment.

"There are no children that we could use." Legolas said, stating the obvious.

"You could just forget the flower girl and ring bearer or just have some one else do the job." Thranduil suggested.

Linriel sighed, but made no other reply.

"I have an idea." Aragorn spoke up. All eyes turned to him. "What if we invited the people of Lake-town to come to the wedding?"

Everyone stared at him like he was crazy. "Why would we invite humans to an wedding?" Kalen was the first to speak.

Aragorn raised an eyebrow at him. Kalen opened his mouth to say more, but closed it and looked at the king.

Thranduil stared at Aragorn for a moment. "What would be the point?"

"Well, you use to have an old treaty with them after The Battle of Five Armies. Perhaps now would be a good time to honor that treaty. Invite them to the wedding and let them know you still hold to their allegiance. And I'm sure there would be plenty of children there that would be willing to participate in your wedding." Aragorn replied.

Thranduil seemed to consider it a moment. "Six months ago, I would never agree to have humans enter Mirkwood, much less participate in my daughter's wedding. But now, you may be right. What better way is there to reestablish a treaty? It has been ten years since we have had any contact with them. Even if we don't associate much with them, we can still honor that treaty." Thranduil looked at his daughter. "The choice is yours of course."

Linriel thought for a moment, but a smile was on her face. "I think it is a wonderful idea, Estel." She said after some time. "It has been a while since we have talked with them and I believe it is time to do so again. The wedding will make for a wonderful meeting."

Thranduil nodded, approving his daughter's decision.

Kalen, however, was not pleased and bravely spoke his thoughts. "But how do we know we can trust them? What if they are no longer loyal?"

"There is no way to be sure without trying first." Aragorn spoke up. "I know you do not trust humans, and you have every right not to, but give them a chance. You never know how a treaty with someone could prove useful in the end."

Kalen's face still held bitterness, but he lowered his eyes and spoke nothing more.

"We will travel out to their town tomorrow." Elrohir said. "Linriel and I will personally invite them to our wedding."

Linriel nodded. "Estel, I would be honored if you would accompany us. It would be good to have a human along."

Aragorn nodded. "The honor would be mine."

Thranduil looked at his daughter for a moment as if for a minute rethinking inviting the humans. His face changed instantly, however, and he nodded his approval. "Be careful."

Linriel nodded. "I believe that's all for now. We have a lot of work to do. Elwin all ready knows what needs to be done and how I need everything planned so I will leave her in charge of everything while I am traveling to Lake-town."

Her best friend nodded. "Don't worry about a thing."

Linriel smiled and looked at her father. Thranduil nodded his head. "Okay, meeting adjourned."

Aragorn stood and walked toward Kalen to speak with him. The elf quickly left the room, however. Aragorn followed him, calling out to him.

"Kalen." The elf ignored the ranger so Aragorn ran to catch up with him. "Kalen!"

Aragorn came up beside him. The elf only gave him a side glance, his annoyance showing clearly.

"I wanted to apologize for what happened at the meeting, but I think this is for the best for everyone."

"The best for everyone?" Kalen looked the man in the eyes. "No! This is clearly not the best for everyone. This is supposed to be a joyous time for Linriel and Elrohir and now you have to go and ruin everything by inviting humans."

"With all due respect, this is not your wedding. Lady Linriel seemed open to the idea. Why do you have to be so closed minded?"

"Is that what you call me? I am not close minded, Edan. I am a realist. Men are a greedy, power-driven, corrupted race. Elves and men do not belong together."

"Elves and humans have a history of working together. We both have a common purpose of defeating the evil that is in this world. Why should we fight amongst ourselves?" Aragorn responded calmly.

"You may think you know everything about elves, Estel, and you may think you understand everything about Mirkwood elves, but you don't. You don't have a clue about us or what we have been through." Kalen's voice was raised and he practically spat the words in the man's face.

"I know more that you think, and I'm sorry about what has happened in your past, but there comes a point to move on."

Kalen glared daggers at the man. "There is a difference between moving on and trusting people who will betray and fail you."

Aragorn looked at him for a minute, trying to remain calm. "You know I think I have figured it out."

Kalen rolled his eyes. "And what, human, have you figured out?"

"You don't just hate humans because of the things they did to the people you love. You hate them because you fear them."

"That's ridiculous, Estel. I would never fear something as weak as humans." Kalen's voice was near raging now.

"You fear what they can do to you; what they have done. You fear humiliation in front of them and you fear them being superior to you."

"Humans will never be superior to elves in anything." Kalen's voice was bitter and seething.

"But you fear it. Your fear of humans is so great that you have a burning hatred towards them." Aragorn continued.

"Leave me, human. You know nothing of what you speak."

Aragorn bowed his head slightly. "I will leave you, but I will leave you with one last word. You must face your own demons, Kalen. Face the demons of your past or your enemies will use it against you."

With that Aragorn walked down the hall and went into his own bedroom.

Legolas sat in his room looking over some paperwork. He was trying to help his father catch up some. Thranduil was so stressed out over the wedding and all the work that he had to do, that Legolas had suggested doing some of the work. Thranduil knew what an unusual offer it was for his son to help out. The prince hated paperwork and for him to offer was like snow falling in Mirkwood the middle of summer.

Now Legolas was beginning to regret ever offering. He had worked on it for hours before the meeting and now returning to it, he felt like he had accomplished very little. It was frustrating to say the least.

Suddenly the door to his room flew open and Kalen walked -or more like stomped- into the room.

"That human friend of yours is nothing but a bigheaded, insufferable, repulsive maggot."

Legolas looked at his friend with a raised eyebrow. He stood from his desk. "Bigheaded, yes. Insufferable, sometimes, but repulsive maggot, that's a little low. What happened?"

Kalen began to pace the room. "He knows nothing about what the Mirkwood people have been through in the past century. And yet he has the audacity to suggest that I am closed minded. He told me I need to stop fearing humans."

Legolas raised his eyebrow again and sat down on the edge of his desk. "And do you fear them?"

"NO! Of course I don't fear humans. I despise them, but they do not frighten me."

Legolas face showed that he clearly did not believe him. "Kalen, even I fear humans, at least to some extent. I cannot deny the horrible things they have done to me and people I love. It scares me what they are capable of and what level they will stoop to to obtain what they want."

Kalen nodded in understanding. He sighed. "Then perhaps the human is right in that matter. I do fear that, but how could I not?"

"I believe Estel was telling you to overcome your fears. Don't let your fears control your actions or cloud your mind. If there is something he has taught me in the past year, it is that not all humans will degrade you. You can't just shun the human race. We are fighting for the same cause and we can learn to work together." Kalen was about to say something, but Legolas held up his hands to silence the elf. "I know what you are going to say. I know that in the past working together has cost us much. But it has also been to our benefit as well."

Kalen sighed. He was silent for a few moments considering what his friend had said. "The human had no right to say anything." He said after sometime.

Legolas smiled slightly. "He only had good intentions in mind. He can be a bit annoying at times, but he does say something intelligent every once in a blue moon."

Kalen smiled slightly despite himself. "I never thought you, of all people, would have such a close relationship with a human. To be honest, the idea still sickens me, but I do respect that he has helped us. I swear though, if he ever crosses the line and hurts you or Linriel, I will hunt him down."

Legolas chuckled. "And he would do the same if you ever did something against one of us."

Kalen nodded his head. "I would expect so. I still think he crossed the line."

"I will talk with him if you would like, but give him a chance. He isn't like any other human I have met."

Kalen rolled his eyes. "I'll pass. I would rather keep my distance from him."

Legolas shrugged, then grinned. "Fine, be a sis."

Kalen glared at him. "Don't even go there."

Legolas laughed as Kalen walked towards the door. He opened the door, but then turned back.

"Thanks for letting me vent."

"Anytime, my friend." Legolas said as he sat back down at his desk. By now his mind was far from the papers before him. He sighed, deciding that the paper could wait for the morning.