"Isildur's heir has come at the bidding of Mithrandir to...'collect on a favor'. He brings a strange foul creature with him which was unconscious when I left him."
Legolas stood before his father's throne with his head bowed and his fingers at his temple in the customary elvish salute to royalty. There was a contemplative silence for a few moments before the king replied.
"Bring him before us. And make sure that the creature remains unconscious while it is within sight of our walls."
Legolas backed out of the throne room and just before he turned to leave, looked up at his father and allowed a small smile to flicker across his face as he saw the approval and pride in his father's eyes.
...
As he approached the man, Legolas felt the knot in his stomach tighten. The man, Aragorn, was just as striking as he remembered. Hearing Aragorn's voice and seeing those dark argent eyes looking down at him filled him with that same anticipation that had caused him to run off all those years ago. Legolas paused just outside of the others' sight as the sudden urge to laugh at his younger self threatened to take him. He had been such an incredibly sheltered and naive elf! Many years had passed since their kiss and Legolas had since enjoyed the company of a few choice bedfellows both male and female. He now recognized and understood very well the feelings that the man elicited in him. However, Aragorn seemed capable of throwing him off and drawing him in with an intensity no other could match. Legolas shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts as he walked into their line of sight. At least the years and experience that spanned between the present and that past encounter enabled him to pretend that he was unaffected.
"The king will see you now. Le-pentuulya na imle men."
The two elves nodded and melted back into the woods. Legolas started off in the direction that he came from without so much as a backwards glance, clearly expecting the ranger to follow.
...
Aragorn stared ahead at the long fall of white-blonde hair as it swayed in time to the elf's steps. Legolas had a decidedly quiet authority. When he spoke it was as soft and sweet as the whisper of spring mist yet it had the power and efficacy of a mighty thunderclap. His gentle and mild-mannered demeanor belied the power evident in the grace of his slight frame.
While the elf's beauty remained the same, his demeanor had changed. Aragorn mused that this was most likely a result of the elf's apparent change in status. When he'd first met him all those years ago the elf had seemed a simple hunter. Now he was wearing light armor with twin swords across his back and he was commanding other elves. Aragorn was curious.
"I believe Legolas was your name?" Aragorn asked in an attempt to start a conversation.
"Your memory is good, Aragorn." The elf responded in a simple and unaffected tone.
A subtle tension filled the air between them as they realized that they both remembered each other from their first meeting. Their kiss hung between them like an invisible knife that they both knew was there and yet could not verbally acknowledge.
So, they walked on in silence. The elf's back a straight rigid line and the ranger trying to look anywhere but the eye-catching sway of the elf's hair and hips. Until the awkwardness got to be too much for Aragorn to bear and he decided to try to shake things up.
"So, was I good?"
The elf started and almost stumbled at the man's blunt question.
"Excuse me?" Legolas was incredulous. Could the man really be asking what he thought he was asking?
"Well, you were so flustered after I kissed you that I figured I must have been either really good or really bad."
Legolas laughed, the happy sound ringing out with the clear pleasant quality of silver bells. Aragorn smiled to hear it and his heart jumped at the knowledge that he'd caused it.
"You are bold", Legolas chuckled through a smile that seemed to outshine the sun.
"Was that a yes or a no?" Aragorn pursued, encouraged by the elf's positive reaction to his forwardness.
Legolas contemplated him for a moment, his head tilted at a slight angle just like it did all those years ago. The effect was just as...adorable as before.
"Maybe I don't remember." The elf threw a playful smirk over his shoulder as he suddenly picked up the pace and walked past the man.
Aragorn could have sworn he felt a jolt of lightening run down his spine when Legolas had smirked at him. He had not been expecting such an openly playful response from an elf who had flipped his lid over a simple kiss mere decades ago. And by the Valar! The elf was incredibly beautiful. It was as if all of the light of the sun shone from his face. The only other that could match him was the Evenstar.
Suddenly, his mind was filled with images of his betrothed: the thick, glossy waves of her hair and her bright eyes which seemed to shine with all the light of the stars. Her full red lips as she whispered words of love and devotion. Ah! He would break the world apart and rebuild it a thousand times to make it perfect for her to abide in. She who would be his wife, Arwen.
"We are here." A soft voice broke him from his reverie.
