Author note: I'm just as surprised as you all to discover that I'm getting another chapter up so quickly! This is what happens when you don't have to work much over Christmas ;) Also it's another Keren and Legolas moment, and tbh they just write themselves when they're together so I got it done very quickly :) Sometimes I read a page back and go, 'I have no memory of creating that sentence' haha!

Thanks to Castiel's Lady, Mesi-miko, alter321, clsflames, , ForeverTeamEdward13, canadianshorebird and golden-priestess for the follows and favs :)

Rachetg - Yay for Palen and Dannor being reunited. These two will weave in and out of the story, there was no way I was going to kill him off ;) And as for Keren and Legolas, this chapter does not feature anyone else, just the two of them (and a tree).

jshaw0624 - Thanks for sticking with the story despite all the recent delays! I really hope this chapter doesn't disappoint. Its not exactly action packed, but its more character development for these two :)

Guest - Thank you so much, oh mysterious guest! I hope you enjoy where the story goes.

ForeverTeamEdward13 - Thanks, I should be updating regularly now. However, just like Keren I've learnt that you never know what might happen in life haha so I don't give myself deadlines anymore!

Zip001 - Your latest review really made me smile as it summed up exactly what I was aiming to put across, so thanks for letting me know I got that right! I feel Beregond is overlooked, and is a great character from the books, so he features quite prominently in Keren's life. Her relationship with her father will come to the fore later on in the story, and you will find out just why they are so horribly distant. But for now, here is a welcome distraction for Keren from her Faramir-related swirl of grim-ness, in the shape of... you know who.

Happy new year! x

PS. the song featured is of course Tolkien's.

Chapter Twelve – The oak tree

Legolas had left his friends as they had gone to their beds. He had no real need of sleep, and had allowed his long legs to lead him towards the Anduin, where he stood for a short while on the shore, all the time singing of his home and his uncertain future across the sea.

After a time he felt called to venture back up the hill, past the tents in the field, and further into the forests of Ithilien. He had already decided, despite spending such a short time there, that this land would suit his people well, and that he would be the one to start a new life for them, for as long as he was to remain on Middle Earth. Ithilien felt like his home, but closer to the sea, and further from his father.

He found himself singing again as the trees began to close in around him, feeling as though they welcomed him, as if they knew of his plans. Nowhere was he happier as amongst the trees – for as long as he could remember they had cleared his thoughts and eased his troubles. This was the reason he was so frustrated with his obsession with the sea, for it did not bring him happiness or comfort like the forests did, but he knew it was something that came to all of his kind eventually, some quicker than others. His father certainly showed no sign of wishing to depart for Valinor.

He repeated his earlier song, the words taking on a different meaning now he was alone without the river, ever searching down to the sea, to distract him.

To the Sea, to the Sea! The white gulls are crying,

The wind is blowing, and the white foam is flying.

West, west away, the round sun is falling.

Grey ship, grey ship…

He stopped in his tracks as a familiar but entirely unexpected figure came into view. Sat nestled between two large roots of an ancient oak tree was the strange girl from the Houses of Healing. Keren, he remembered. Her head was resting back against the gnarled trunk, eyes closed, her knees pulled up to her chest, and her arms hugging her legs. She looked very small, and yet entirely at home, although he noticed she was still in her healers' uniform.

He had oddly enjoyed their last meeting. Something intrigued him about this very ordinary human who nevertheless had a strange quality about her – the power of crystals for one, and her closeness to his people which she was either genuinely ignorant of, or was determined to deny.

She looked peaceful yet sad, and he was loath to disturb her thoughts. And yet a small spark of mischief reared up in his soul, without him being aware, and he found himself singing once more, and not attempting to sing quietly either.

…do you hear them calling,

The voices of my people that have gone before me?

I will leave, I will leave the woods that bore me;

For our days are ending and our years failing.

He watched as her eyes slowly opened and she became aware of his voice. He did not wish to scare her of course, but he felt a strange comfort that someone could hear him, and perhaps could hear the sadness in his voice. He was still hidden from her sight, deep within the trees, and yet his feet were taking him closer and closer, and he knew then that once more would they speak, and no doubt once more he would answer a dozen of her questions about his people. He continued with his song.

I will pass the wide waters lonely sailing.

Long are the waves on the Last Shore falling,

Sweet are the voices in the Lost Isle calling…

She unnervingly turned her head and looked in his exact direction, and if she had had elven eyes she would have seen him, but he could tell that her stare was blank, and she saw only shadows. Then something strange happened – she turned her head away and smiled, seemingly totally unconcerned that she was no longer alone. This was a change to the girl who ran from him in the gardens, not even a month ago. She looked entirely at peace and at home, and he again felt unsure as to whether he should disturb her. But so sweet was the expression on her face that he ascertained that she drew pleasure from his song, and perhaps on some hidden level, from his presence, so he sang the final few lines as he made his way through the last of the trees around the clearing, until he stood at the edge of the glade.

…In Eressëa, in Elvenhome that no man can discover,

Where the leaves fall not: land of my people for ever!

Still she did not see him as she had her head turned up to the moon which shone over the field of Cormallen, but she let out a deep sigh, both relaxed and yet, it seemed to him, terribly sad. Just like at their first meeting he felt a need to let her know that he was witness to her feelings, so he spoke up, knowing that she would recognise his voice.

"Well met Keren daughter of Maleron," he said softly.

Her head spun quickly round at the sound of her name, as he had expected, but he hoped that she would recognise him and feel at ease rather than be wary of his presence now she knew who it was who had been singing.

Keren did immediately recognise him, but she was not entirely at ease.

"Well met," she managed to say after what felt like too long.

Legolas immediately regretted making his presence known, as the girl, apparently unbeknownst to her, had wet eyes and cheeks.

"I have disturbed you, my apologies," he said. "I will leave you to your thoughts."

He gave a slight bow of his head and made to return to the camp, but to his surprise the girl sat up, and for one odd moment looked as if she wanted to run to him.

"No, don't go!" Keren said quickly. The last thing she wanted was for her thoughts to take over again. She was only just becoming aware of the tears she had shed, and she did not wish to be left alone with only them for company. She had shocked herself with her sudden reply however, and she attempted to appear unbothered. "I mean, do not feel you have to go."

But then she realised she had just practically begged a stranger, and a decidedly strange stranger at that, to stay with her in this deserted spot.

"Although of course, go if you wish," she ended lamely.

Legolas smiled. She was as awkward as he remembered.

"I shall stay a little while, with your permission", he said, respectfully keeping his distance, as he remembered her running from his close proximity to her before.

Keren nodded and shifted a little to make herself comfortable. Legolas noticed her bare feet which were now crossed beneath her. He hid a smile at how this girl claimed she had no connection with the elves, and yet here she was sat communicating with the earth and the trees without even realising.

"Much has changed since our last meeting," Legolas said, and Keren regarded the elf with surprise. How did he know what had happened to her? Was he reading her mind?

But then she felt an overwhelming urge to roll her eyes at her stupidity, for of course he was not speaking of her unrequited love for Faramir and subsequent upheaval, he was speaking of the far more important event of the destruction of Sauron and subsequent saving of Middle Earth.

Idiot, she thought, and almost laughed, which took her by surprise. She instead gave a wry smile and spoke true.

"I feel as if the whole world has changed."

Legolas was again confused by the sadness in her voice. Surely she was rejoicing, as all were, at the downfall of such great evil. He could see however, how overwhelming life must be for humans – such a short time did they have to adapt to all the many twists and turns.

"The world is always changing," he said, "and we must do our best to keep up with it, or risk being lost."

Keren was silent again as she took in his words, which echoed her thoughts of late.

Legolas sensed that something of great import must have befallen her as he watched her face grow solemn and sad. Tears threatened to spill over and run down her cheeks once more, and she hastily looked down in embarrassment, brushing at her eyes almost angrily. He felt the need to say something to comfort her, although he knew his advice would be vague as he did not know her circumstances, and he was not about to ask her.

"Sometimes," he began softly, "when we feel as if we are so lost that we can never be found, that is when we can give ourselves the time to learn who we truly are, so we can find our way to what we truly want."

Keren looked up at him. His soft voice spoke with the wisdom of the ages – just how old was he? She was reminded just how ancient and powerful the race of elves was. Why they even had their own kind of magic, she had read, with some able to read minds and tell the trees to do their bidding. She wondered for the second time if the prince was reading her thoughts now, as he seemed to give her the exact reassurance that she needed. She was too frightened of his answer to ask however.

She did not wish to tell him of all that had occurred, and tried, as she had been doing constantly since her departure from Minas Tirith, to hide her sadness deep within. She decided to change the subject.

"What were you singing of?" she asked, and immediately regretted her choice of question, as she realised it may not be something he wished to share with her. It was his turn for his face to become grave, but he answered fairly enough.

"Do you remember at our first meeting, I told you that I knew I was destined to sail away from the shores of Middle Earth? It is a song of that journey, of my own making. But I do not yet know when that time will come – I feel there is much I can aid my friends here with before I depart."

He did not give any further details, which sparked Keren's curiosity. But something did not make sense to her.

"You sound as if you would leave tomorrow if you could," she said, and the thought of him sailing away, of all the elves leaving for distant shores, made her strangely sad. The elf remained silent.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I do not mean to pry."

He smiled weakly and shook his head.

"Nay, do not apologise. It is a strange circumstance I am in. The desire to leave these shores is very strong, and yet I know within my soul that it is not my time yet, there is still something for me to accomplish here. I will know, when there is nothing left for me here, that that is when I must depart."

"So for now you will just depress yourself with sad songs?" Keren heard herself say, with no thought as to why she had chosen to say that, for had she not been dwelling on her own sadness, which made her just as bad?

"Departing is not necessarily a sadness," Legolas replied.

"Do you not find it sad that you cannot change your fate?" Keren asked.

Legolas considered her question carefully, and took, to Keren, a maddeningly long time to answer.

"Sad?" he said quietly, as if trying to feel what that word truly meant to him. "No. And who is to say that it will not change? Do you believe it can?"

Keren did not know how to reply. As far as her own fate was concerned she could not believe that her prophecy would fail to come to pass, but really, how was she on the right path now? She felt like somewhere she must have taken a wrong step, and kept desperately trying to pinpoint how and when. Something she had said to Faramir, or done? Or not done? She had been torturing herself with questions. She had come to the conclusion that she was powerless over her own life, and it was that devastating realisation that she told the elf.

"Fate seems to have ideas for me that I had not considered," she began. "I feel… I feel like I am a little boat on a rough sea, and all my life I have been aiming for one particular shore. But now that shore has crumbled into the waters, so I have no destination, I know not where I am heading, and that frightens me. How do I know what step to take next if I don't know where I'm aiming for?"

All her worries and fears came tumbling out to the elf, a near stranger, but she could not help it. She had spoken to no one of this – her total doubt over her future, her sadness over the potential future stolen from her. She had not even realised how concerned she was about it all until it had just at that moment been said.

She looked at the prince, mortified that she had spilled her soul to him.

He was studying her with a calm and thoughtful look. Still he did not ask her what had happened. Finally he spoke.

"I do think that things are ordained, are planned for us," he said, "but that is not to say we cannot change what is planned. I have lived many years, and some things in my life I have expected, and some I have not. Some have had the strange feeling of fate about them, but most have not. Some things I have chosen to happen, and some I have not. But I have learnt that it is not about making the right choice, as no such thing exists. There are just choices, opportunities given to us that we can either take or ignore. But neither decision, yes or no, is the right one. We must just be grateful that we have the ability to choose."

"But I did not choose for him to – " Keren began, then stopped short. She was not sure how much more she wanted to tell the elf.

She realised how strange their conversation was – how after just a few minutes, and without asking anything of her troubles, he had given her words of encouragement that she felt she had needed to hear.

Legolas did not press her as to what she meant by her unfinished sentence, but instead went on with his advice.

"Sometimes not choosing, not making any decisions at all, is the right path. Sometimes we must just allow the flow of life to take over, and trust it knows what is best for us. Some of the lessons it brings us may be hard ones, but we are here to learn and to grow. Sometimes this brings great change, and whenever any great change occurs we need time and space to process and to think, to react. In such times nature is my great friend, and it seems is yours too, although perhaps you do not realise that yet."

Keren looked up at the tree branches sheltering her, hearing the gentle wind from the river blow through the new spring leaves. It was true, she realised – she had turned to nature lately whenever she had felt the need to be alone, and it had begun after her first meeting with the elf. And now here the two of them were underneath the trees again, and she was upset, again, and confused at his words, again.

She had somehow known, when she saw his pale face lit by the moon once more, that they were about to have another intense conversation – and indeed so far he was delivering on that count. So deep and mysterious was his advice that she almost felt more lost than before.

She had not moved from her spot underneath the oak tree, although she noticed she had turned her body to face the elf without realising, her shoulder leaning on the trunk.

Legolas had noticed this and had gradually moved closer to her as he spoke, feeling her relax a little in his presence. He studied her fëa surreptitiously now that he was closer. It still had that strange glow about it that showed her love for crystals, and theirs for her, was still strong. The feeling of fear and uncertainty emanating from it at their last meeting, however, had not lessened, despite the obvious cause of terror coming from Mordor being destroyed. It was not stronger than before, but was different, accompanied by a deep sadness. What had happened to her in these past few weeks? Something that had changed her whole view on life? She had not responded to his comment about her closeness with the natural world, so he imagined she would not take well to his asking whether she was any nearer to understanding why she was also close to elves. Now was not the time. He felt a little awkward standing over her, but did not want to sit right beside her. Memories of them so close underneath the willow tree in the gardens of the Houses troubled him – he had not known that he could be so threatening to anyone that he did not intend to find him so.

"May I join you?" he asked, and was clear to indicate the bough of the tree above her head as his intended resting place.

She seemed surprised at his request, but smiled gently and nodded.

In one swift move he climbed the short distance to the lowest branch, old and gnarled, but sturdy. He whispered a quick greeting to the tree, which Keren did not catch, and would not have understood even if she had, and settled into the bough, his back to the trunk. He took up his usual position of one leg stretched along the branch, the other bent, his arm resting on it. He could feel the rough, knotted wood with the soles of his bare feet, his boots lying abandoned at the edge of the forest. It had not been practical for him to sit thus on his journey with his companions for any great length of time, nor to remove his shoes so that he could better feel the earth and its power. Now he was revelling in the freedom of being able to do as he pleased, and was not at all self-conscious that there just happened to be a human sharing this reflective moment with him. She appeared to be having a similar moment herself.

Keren was surprised how comfortable she felt in the elf's presence this time around. She decided that it was his eyes that had unnerved her that night in the gardens, as she could not see their colour, only their depth and their intensity. All the while she avoided his gaze she felt strangely at ease, and now there was no chance of meeting it, for he sat just above her. She could, in fact, see nothing of him, and if it was not for the fact that she had seen him climb up, she would not have known he was there, so silent was he.

They sat in silence for some time, neither wishing to ask the other what had brought them to the forest, what thoughts echoed in their brain. Keren had a myriad of questions running through her head however. She longed to ask him how old he was, what he had seen, where he had journeyed. She wanted to ask him of his home, his family, his history. And she wished to know more of his journey here, the hobbits, the King, the wizard, and what they had encountered. But there, in that quiet time in the tree, it did not feel like the right time to ask, despite the fact that she knew she may not see him again.

"I am curious." His soft voice brought her out of her reverie. "The last time you were alone in my company you fled, and yet now you are content to sit here with me, when there is no one nearby. What has changed?"

Keren thought awhile before answering.

Because last time your face was barely three inches from my own and your eyes bored into me as if you could see my soul.

She was fairly sure that would not be an appropriate response. She settled on another honest reply however.

"So much has happened to me, so many strange things since last we met. I cannot predict from one day to the next what will happen. And I suppose you are not so strange this time. Or rather I know what to expect."

He chuckled.

"You expect my strange-ness?"

"Although you are behaving rather normally this time. I cannot say it is strange that you seek solitude, nor roam barefoot, for am I not doing the same? I draw the line at talking to trees though," she said with a smile.

"Give it time," he said, and she felt she could hear him smiling back.

"I thought much on what you said to me before," she admitted. "About my affinity with your people."

Legolas was silent in order to let her continue unhurried. He was greatly surprised that she had brought it up.

"The night we met, your last words frightened me, as you know," she went on. "And I still do not understand what you meant, although my thoughts have been… a little distracted of late."

In truth she had not given a single thought to his words since that night, for Faramir had taken over both her heart and her mind.

"It will be up to you to decide when to learn more about it." His voice carried to her from above her head, giving her the strange impression that the tree itself was speaking. "But know that I did not mention it just to confuse or frighten you. There is certainly something for you to learn, and I admit I am intrigued as to what you will discover."

Keren frowned to herself – she was in no mood to discover anything about herself, other than what on earth to do next with her life.

"But I will not press you as I did at our first meeting," the elf went on. "Although you are still a mystery to me, and no doubt would be to any of my kind that met you."

"I feel as if I am a mystery to myself most of the time," Keren admitted. "And as for trying to understand other people… I have given up."

Legolas noticed the sad strain in her voice had returned. He had initially thought she had suffered great grief at someone's passing, but now he felt he was beginning to understand the heart of the matter. He remembered when they had met in the gardens she had stuttered over a man's name, her eyes betraying her emotions. The new steward of Gondor, Boromir's brother. Could separation from him be the cause of her earlier tears?

"You for example," she continued unexpectedly. "There is much about you that is unfamiliar and unknown to me, and yet something oddly recognisable too. You are almost like a human sometimes. I did not expect an elf to – "

She faltered, as if just realising that she was speaking aloud.

"Go on," he said, intrigued by her perception of him.

"Well you are strange, there is no denying that. I admit I was…unsettled after our meeting, for one moment we were talking quite normally, even companionably, given that we were – are – strangers. And then the next you were intense and rather more like the description you gave of yourself, so I ran. But this time you appear to have done the reverse. I was startled just now when I first saw you, and found your advice hard to even understand, but rather quickly I have found your company to be… tolerable."

The elf was quiet for what felt a long while, and Keren was worried that she had offended him. But then finally he spoke.

"My description of myself – you mean of my kind, the woodelves?"

"Wild and dangerous you told me. The wild I am starting to understand," she said, turning for the first time to look up at him. She did not have to indicate what she meant, for Legolas knew he looked almost a part of the tree, dressed in green and brown, feet bare and long hair falling past his shoulders. "The dangerous, of that I am not sure."

"Ah, remember I am only Silvan when I choose to be," he said, raising an eyebrow. "When I myself face danger, that is when I let that side of me show. And you are most certainly not dangerous."

There was a pause, and Keren actually dared to meet his eye and hold his gaze. She may not be dangerous, but she was at that moment feeling rather brave.

"And yet you said yourself I am a mystery to you," she said. "And is not the unknown dangerous?"

Keren gasped as suddenly the elf was crouched at her feet, having jumped silently down from the bough as soon as she had finished speaking.

"The unknown can also be the unexpected, which can of course take us by surprise," he said, ending with a chuckle. "So yes, it can be dangerous. But if we keep our wits about us, the unknown can be full of wonder."

Keren could only blink.

"And with that, I shall bid you farewell," he said, and stood gracefully, towering over Keren as she still sat hunched between the roots of the tree. "I must retrieve my shoes."

He bowed low to her and swiftly turned to walk away into the trees.

"Wait!" Keren found herself crying. She wanted to part on better terms this time.

Legolas turned back, and saw the girl had stood to say goodbye.

"Thank you," she said, "for your advice, and your company."

"My tolerable company?" he said with a smile. "Do not think I did not notice you had called it so."

"Believe me, I have found company of any kind… difficult recently," she replied. "It is a compliment."

The silence grew between them once more. Both knew that this would no doubt be their last conversation. Brief though their time together had been, they had shared much at both their meetings, and Legolas was oddly saddened that he would probably never know her secrets. He hoped that she would find them out for herself one day.

Keren felt the sounds of the forest start to creep in as the silence became, in her mind, uncomfortable. She was, this time, loath to end their time together, for here was another rare opportunity to find out more about elf-kind. But he had made it plain that he wished to leave.

"Farewell," she said awkwardly as they stood facing each other, this time, in Keren's mind, a more socially acceptable distance away.

"Cuio vê, Keren," he said seriously, for jests aside he had judged her earlier thanks to be in earnest. "No gelin idh raid lîn."

He knew not why he had chosen to speak in his tongue rather than hers, but it was done now, and she did not ask what he meant. He liked to think she understood, although of course that was foolish. Such a strange girl. He bowed his head slightly once more, then turned to walk below the trees, silently wishing her well. She was so very young, but he was wise enough to know that the young did not necessarily get over heartbreak quickly. He hoped her short life would bring her more joy than pain.

Keren stood completely still, with, she would be mortified to realise, her mouth slightly open with shock. She had absolutely no idea what the elf had just said to her, but the strange words transported her to somewhere entirely new and unfamiliar. She wished she could call him back and ask him what he meant, or even just to repeat it, so beautiful was the sound, but he had disappeared as quickly as he had arrived.

She sighed. The elf – that mysterious, confusing, frightening, distracting figure – was lost to her, and she was once more alone with her thoughts. The moon still shone down through the branches, the breeze still blew up the field from the river – all was as it had been before, as if he had never existed.

As if their meeting had been nothing more than a dream.

"Farewell," she whispered to the trees.

Author note: I am soooo tempted to give you the translation of what he said to her, but I would quite like to echo the curiosity that Keren is feeling by leaving you in the dark. Of course there is always Google haha, but if you would rather wait - a little teaser - one day she will find out what he meant, *and* be able to reply. But how, why, where?! Hee hee.