Thranduil handed all the letters but one to Galion, all sealed tightly, "Discreetly please, Galion. Even from Legolas."
"Especially from Legolas." Avaliena corrected without glancing up.
Galion narrowed his eyes, "What are you two sneaking around doing?" Then, after a moment's thought added, "Actually, if you are keeping it from Legolas, I probably do not want to know."
"Fair enough," Ava said from where she was still hastily copying a cheatsheet from an incredibly thick book on Thranduil's desk, long hair messily tucked atop her head held in place with a branch, as she had a terrible habit of dipping the ends of it in the ink.
"I really do not want to know," without a goodbye Galion left to arrange for the deliveries.
Thranduil turned his attention back to her, "Almost done? We are to be meeting Legolas soon, we can practice on the way."
She made sure the ink was dry before folding the pages into an envelope and then into a bag by her side, "Whatever I don't know now, I won't learn by the time I get there."
"True, but maybe your accent will be better."
"Fine. Even though they are going to laugh at me either way." He held the door open for her as she slipped out and into the hallway, Thranduil pulled the branch from her hair as she went.
They walked in silence for a moment as she plotted the sentence in her head, so few of her people even knew it to begin with and those who did, did not practice often. The words were hard to form, "What are we telling him again?"
"Again." Thranduil corrected. " We are telling him that you are going to renew our trading with them; as the agreement of our borders with others has recently changed."
"Again." Ava frowned when the words still did not come out right, "Again."
"A - g - ain"
"Again."
"Better. Now let's go over the greeting again."
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Gimli hadn't expected the borderline from where Legolas' side of the forest had been and the side that was ruled by darkness to be so obvious. Where the elves side seemed stuffed to the brim and beyond in every manner, with hugs roots and branches twisting and overlapping one another, covered with fresh and green moss, vines, flower or leaves.
There was hardly an empty space anywhere, not even on the path the elks so carefully tread upon.
But the other side hardly looked like a forest at all. More like a poor imitation of one. Or perhaps a ghost. As if the very soil they had been living in had rotted them, the tree's were stained dark and what little vines they had were thick but limp.
The elks turned sharply to the right without any command and began walking alongside it. "They will not cross the line, even if we had asked them too," Legolas told the others.
The one carrying Aragorn and Pippin snorted, "Not that I would ever, or have ever, asked you too." Legolas added, "You know that." He looked back across the empty and haunted forest, "It has been quite some time since I have crossed the line, either."
Elladan and Elrohir exchanged a look, Gimli had no idea which one was which though or which one was talking, "Last time, if I remember correctly, you were dragged across the line very unwillingly.
"Was it not Ava and Farlen that came to retrieve you?" The other twin asked
"Dragged?" Gimli asked with slight horror. How improbable it seemed sometimes that Legolas had lived long enough to be his best friend.
Legolas ignored him, "Well I wasn't going to get dragged to Dol Guldur willingly, now was I? And yes, I was furious with them for it."
He wondered how close Legolas had come to saying the word that would have released the poison to kill him. How long would he have waited to be saved? How long did he fight fruitlessly against his captors?
The poor thing.
From his spot behind Legolas on the elk, Gimli could both feel and see his breath quicken. "Lad?"
Legolas jumped slightly, "Fine." Neither of them believed that, but he would not press it here. "Ada and the others are waiting for us in a field nearby."
Those from the fellowship had spent a bit more than half the day exploring the forest with an incredibly enthusiastic guide, waiting for him to get a message from his father that the others had left the mountain.
They were busy people, Gimli had been informed. Every last one of them
As they drew closer the sound of many laughing voices began to drift through the tree's, "What are they doing?" Pippin asked Aragorn, shifting on the elk like he might be able to see through the tree's
"Playing a game, I would expect." He answered his little companion.
True enough, as came upon the clearing all of the elves, including King Thranduil, were swept up in a game that Gimli had seen Legolas and Elrond's twins playing several times. He had been told the object of the game was to kick a ball across a field and up into the tree's branches to knock down small targets of the opposing teams. Without the use of one's hands.
The entire thing seemed ridiculous to him, but Legolas seemed to enjoy it.
"Who's winning?" One of the twin's asked.
"The king," Farlen answered, as he attempted to knock out a target and failed, "But that is because he is cheating!"
"That is a dangerous accusation to make," King Thranduil warned and Gimli couldn't help but be surprised by the lack of response from the others.
He, personally, could not think of a single dwarf that would dare accuse King Dáin of cheating.
"Don't cheat and then we will not accuse you!" Another he had not yet been introduced to added, as King Thranduil managed to knock down one of their targets; two out of three now gone.
Avaleina tried but failed to knock down the kings target, even though he could have sworn she hit one.
Gimli had never thought he would see a sight like this, that was for certain.
Legolas hopped off their elk with a wicked grin and raced for the clearing, effectively stealing the ball from his father and kicking it high into the branches.
Three targets fell to the ground with a thud, including one that had been nowhere near the ball.
The captains cheered, while King Thranduil yelled, "Now that's cheating."
But Legolas just laughed, and the tree above waved its branches about like it was laughing too, "You're just mad that there's somebody else in the forest again that the tree's like as much, or more, than you."
The King looked scandalized, "More than me? First my warriors and now my tree's?"
The various elves began to collect their belongings that they had piled under a nearby tree, Farlen approached the Fellowship and the twins, holding out simple sacks.
Three normal sized, one a bit smaller, and then two smaller still. Gimli opened his immediately and was a bit surprised to find nothing but different kinds of tiny seeds. "Spread them as we walk, if you could."
"Of course." Aragorn and his brothers said together, helping the hobbits and Gimli off of the elks before accepting their own bag. Legolas wandered back to his friends as the elves got themselves sorted.
Pippin and Merry peered into the sacks as well, and Pippin reached a hand in to feel a few of them, "Why are they warm?"
"Ada's magic." Legolas answered, tossing his own bag into the air lightly. "It will help them grow better, faster, and help soak up the layers of darkness."
Curious, Gimli peered inside and then held a few in his hands. The sensation was hard to explain, but it was exactly the feeling he got from Legols sometimes. Not all of the time, but sometimes.
Sometimes when he was talking to the tree's, sometimes when he was healing a friend, sometimes nearby in battle. The thought had never occurred to him that Legolas would ever have magic of his own.
But the feeling coming out of the seeds seemed more electric, more like it was trapped, and wanted out.
Apparently ready to depart, a few of the elves raced ahead and across the line scattering seeds as far and wide as they were able. With grins of anticipation, the hobbits soon followed.
O0o0o0o0o0o
Legolas had not actually seen Dul Guldur in several hundred years; but it looked nearly the same as the last time. Aside from fresh scorch marks and a few blood stains, admittedly though, Legolas was some distance away.
He knew the markings of his people well enough to see where every barricade and tent had been constructed, every campfire that had burned, since the graves the fallen had been planted in. It looked like several weeks of habitation. Maybe a few months.
Ahead of him, Ava had stopped in her stacks on the top of the hill and Legolas came to stand behind her, moving his right arm across her shoulders and holding her securely against his chest. Her heart fluttered like a hummingbird against his arm.
She leaned back, eyes closed to the memories before her and leaned her head against him.
He kissed her cheek, tugged on her left ring finger and whispered, "Will you marry me?" in her ear.
She smiled before her eyes even opened as the others joined them at the top.
This was quite possibly the three thousandth time he had asked her that question, but he never got tired of asking, or of hearing her reply.
"Yes." And that familiar and welcome burn traveled through his veins, before settling back into place.
Around him, the captain's shifted closer to their king, and each other, instinctually. Several joined hands or linked arms, his father placed a gentle hand on Farlen's back. Right over where a arrow had torn right through him - almost through his heart - knowing that it still pained him sometimes.
All of them caught up in their own memories of their time endured here.
Elladan asked nobody in particular, "How long was the siege?"
Ava went rigid again, "I do not know, you will have to ask the King, but please refrain from doing so until I cannot hear." And then she was moving forward, away, willing to let go of his hand if he wanted to stay.
He didn't, not if she wasn't going to.
He didn't know if his father ever actually answered the question or not because both he and Ava were out of earshot.
Once he was sure they were also out of eyesight of most of those accompanying them Legolas moved her behind a particularly large tree, pulling her strongly against him and holding her there with tightly squeezed arms.
Her hands fisted in his shirt, and she accepted the comfort readily, pushing her face into the spot where his shoulder and chest met.
Legolas kissed her head and laid his stop it, "Breath, and feel that there's nothing here. There is nothing but our people, the trees and whatever woodland creatures are around. What you're feeling is just an echo of the hate. An echo of what you saw."
"It was horrible. Every minute I was convinced that it couldn't get any worse and every minute, somehow, it did. My legs shook with the effort of just keeping me upright, I have never been so tired. And that was only day three."
Legolas' own heart, lungs and legs ached at the thought; "I'm sorry I wasn't here to help."
Ava pulled away with a frown, and he reluctantly loosened his grip to allow it, "No. Do not say things like that. Do not be sorry, if it was not for you and your friends none of us would have survived at all."
"But I might have helped -"
"Or you might have gotten yourself killed. You could not have changed the course of our future had you stayed, you would have just suffered alongside us."
She kissed him, it was a strangely exhilarating feeling to not have to fear their love. To not fear someone would see who was not meant to, "I know you do not believe me, but I will remind you again later."
He kissed her again,just because he could, "If you say so."
"I do."
On the other side of the tree, somebody cleared their throat loudly, and then Farlen poked his head around, "Are you okay?"
"Which one of us are you asking?"
He stepped fully around the tree, "Either of you, but I'll probably ignore whatever you tell me princeling because I know you're not fine."
"We're fine," Ava answered for the both of them, "And you?"
He shrugged, "No worse than you."
"Come on, let's go get this done."
0o0o0o0o0o0o
Thranduil waited for Legolas, Ava and at least half of the others to disappear from view and earshot before he even turned to look at Elladan, "Three and a half months of a continuous siege, here. Though, almost all of the warriors had not been home for more than a week at a time for the past three years. Your answer depends on how picky you choose to be with the definition of your question."
Elladan nodded grimly, "I am sorry that happened."
Thranduil turned his head forward again, reaching an arm out instinctually for Eloissa who had begun to shed silent tears, "Apologies do not erase memories or bring back the dead."
Aragorn noticed how quiet everyone had gotten since the top of the hill, even the hobbits had fallen silent. They all felt it, the strange empty air around them that one felt when standing in a grand empty room, or after a particularly tense air had suddenly left.
Or, after centuries of habitation, the worst evil in the world was finally destroyed.
Eloissa hiccuped into Thranduil's side and he smoothed her hair without loosening his grip with the other arm. Aragorn also noticed how covertly shocked Gimli seemed to be about everything. "But thank you, for the sentiment. I think we're all sorry it happened."
Wiping a discreet tear of his own Farlen began to walk down the hill, "I am going to go and check on Legolas and Ava."
Thranduil nodded absendly in recognition of the words, his attention still taken up by the thoroughly upset elf in his arms. He spoke to her more than anybody else now, "But it is over now, and we'll never have to do it again. Or anything like it."
"I know." Eloissa said, but still didn't move, and Thranduil did not seem troubled by it.
As if by some silent command the elves began walking forward once more, towards what was once their home, centuries ago.
The rest of the journey was made in silence, the newcomers gazing around them in wonder as they grew closer and closer to the city. The elves for the most part kept their gazes on the forest floor, or one another.
Aragorn did not need a woodelf's senses to know that there was no plant light anywhere near them that still lived. He wondered idly if they would ever be able to get the darkness and rot from the soil enough to bring all of their forest back to its former glory.
Perhapes Yavanna would help.
They reached the base of a staircase and the elves easily began to scale their way, Legolas lingered at the bottom with the fellowship, Ava still securely by his side.
"Legolas?" Pippin asked.
"Yes?"
"Why did you come all this way to lift the magic? Could you not have done it at home?"
"We could have, but we didn't want something so deadly anywhere near our home again. Plus, my people believe in the circular motion of life. We are ending this where it began, so long ago. Careful now, my little friends, the stairs are very steep and shallow."
To their credit, the hobbits only needed help a few times before they were in what Aragorn imagined had once been a grand entrance hall.
There was not much left other than the floor, and a few mostly crumbled walls and half collapsed staircases that led to parts of the castle that had long since fallen away. Even from what was left of it, Aragorn could tell how beautiful it would have been before its fall.
Legolas wandered slowly to a doorway leading to nowhere on the left, "I remember our rooms used to be down here. Mine was at the very end of the hall to the right, it had the biggest windows so that I could watch the forest."
Thranduil came to stand beside him, "Yes, it was. You used to push your bed under the window so you could look at the stars instead of sleep, everytime we pushed it back into place, we would find it back under the window the next morning."
To the right, Ava pointed up a set of pathetic looking stairs, "And the Library was up this way."
"So was your office, Ada." Legolas added.
Farlen laughed, clear and happy. He stood near the middle of the room, "This is where I broke your arm, Ava, do you remember?"
She laughed too, "Yes. And then Legolas knocked out two of your teeth."
"Oh, I remember that too." Thranduil added, rubbing one of his temples, "Legolas broke his hand on your front tooth."
Holding his hand out for Gimli and Aragorn inspection Legolas pointed to a spot between two of his knuckles, "Still have the scar from where it got impaled, too."
"And right here," another elf who's name Aragorn had shamefully forgotten said, standing right next to where the front door would have once been, "Was that huge fern that grew that we used to hide behind when we were supposed to be in bed when visitors came."
Swept up on their memories, they all began to point more things out.
"Here is where we used to start out races to the garden."
"And here is where it would echo best."
"Here, is where the rainbow used to shine through in the summertime."
Thranduil was watching them flutter around fondly.
"Do you remember the grape vines that used to grow over here? Everybody was always telling us not to climb them"
"Here is where that ledge was, way up high that we loved so much. I cannot believe nine of us ever fell off of it."
"These were the stairs towards the kitchen."
"Do you remember the little tables they used to keep in there for us, so that we could help prepare things?"
"Oh! And over here is where that robin nested for five summers!"
"Down this way the ballroom. I remember that the ceilings seems to touch the clouds!"
"I remember playing with the echo when it was empty."
Ava touched Legolas gently on the arm, "Do you remember our first dance lessons there?"
"I think I bit Legolas that day." Eloissa laughed, "I don't remember why."
"You did." Thranduil answered, "You never told us why."
"I probably didn't even know why."
"I think I dared you to," Farlen said, "I was angry with him that he had been spending more time with Ava than with me."
"Well, you handled it with the utmost maturity, and tact." Legolas said, flatly.
"Thank you."
They all gazed around again, and then Thranduil wandered to the center of the room. "Alright you all, bring the carvings to me."
Obediently they swarmed their king, and Merry and Pippin wandered closer to get a better look at what was happening.
One by one a captain would hold their carving out by the leather straps they were bound to in front of Thranduil.
Elven magic, unlike many would thing, is a very subtle thing. So while it appeared that Thranduil merrily stared at the wold until it cried a purple poison; Aragorn knew that there was much more happening.
It took a string elf indeed to keep welding magic without so much at uttering a word. But then, Thranduil's magic had always been particularly well taking to wood.
In hardly half an hour, the carvings were no longer a weapon of death, but truly just a token for memory.
The poison dripped off the side in a hole where a wall had once been, falling into the darkness below.
Yet another foul thing removed from the world, forever.
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