As the sun sat four hours' past midday in the west and its rays filtered gloriously through the trees, Aerlaer awoke to the golden tones and, remembering where she was, smiled happily. From now until the sun set, the golden wood would be at its most beautiful. She propped herself up and turned to see Legolas was still very much fast asleep. She looked ruefully at his peaceful face and did not want to wake him, but she knew he would be terribly saddened if he should miss the woods in all their splendor.
"Legolas." She spoke his name quietly but he did not stir. She tried again a little louder. "Legolas, wake up." Still nothing. She did not want to speak louder and wake up the sleeping Hobbit's so, she moved the couple feet closer to the other Elf to speak into his ear. "Legolas, wake up." She gently shook his shoulder, watching him intently. His breathing changed and he stirred a little, opening his eyes to hazily blink up at her.
"Am, am I dreaming?" He murmured, almost incoherently and she peered down at him in confusion.
"No." She whispered and his eyes suddenly focused and widened and he sat up so swiftly, she leaned back and away from him so not to be knocked over.
"Manwë, you uh, startled me." He muttered quietly, casting about nervously.
"Are you well?" She frowned, wondering if perhaps she should not have awoken him.
"Yes, I'm well. I'm well." He repeated, sounding not all that certain as he drew his knees up to his chest. She chose to ignore it. She had obviously awoken him from some dream or other and he was confused.
"I am glad. I am sorry I woke you, but you need to see the woods lit up in all their glory." She hoped up, smoothing out her dress. "I'm heading to the bathing shallows now and you should too. Then you can watch the sun set through the woods afterwards." She explained before glancing around to the others who all slept. "Oh, it seems I'm not the only one who sometimes sleeps like that." She laughed quietly upon seeing Merry and Pippin, before flashing Legolas a grin and dashing out from under the tree; not wishing to waste any more time.
…
Legolas remained a moment where Aerlaer had left him, feeling bewildered from being woken by the elleth and, in such proximity. He felt… well he was not entirely sure. He certainly did not feel right in himself. He pushed it aside and got to his feet, stretching. Aragorn was eyeing him curiously, now also awake.
"You look like you've seen both the dragon and the treasure." The Ranger chuckled. Legolas, not understanding, shot him a confused glare and, taking out a clean change of garments, stalked away from the campsite, towards the river.
Half of an hour later, Legolas sat, back now turned from the river, upon a bench, feeling clean and dressed in clean garments. He waited patiently for the last of the moisture to dry from his hair to re-braid it when, he heard the voices of ellons as they entered the bathing area, beneath the tree. He did not wish to turn around, afraid he would be recognized and gushed over as the Elf who guarded the entrance had and, the one who had taken his garments to wash and return to where he and the Fellowship camped.
There was the sound of shifting material and then splashing as the other Elves entered the water. They were both speaking to one another in Quenya and he did not pay much attention to their conversation until one name caught his instant attention.
"Aerlaer? I did not know she was on this quest."
"Nor did I until we met them in the woods last night." Legolas's back stiffened slightly at that voice. It was Orophin.
"Is she senseless? Princesses should not be running around, attempting to save the world. She should be here, it is her home too. Especially now, it is her only home." He heard the other Elf mutter.
"I don't think she is taking the responsibility she has seriously. I intend to speak with her." Orophin replied with a tone of self-righteousness which instantly put Legolas's nerves on edge.
"Do you think she will give you the answers you wish to hear?"
"I am certain she will. We have known each other a long time." Orophin assured the other Elf.
"Is she as we remember her?" the strange Elf asked
"No," Orophin replied with real feeling that Legolas could not help but detect. "She is even more beautiful, if that is even possible and, her eyes are wiser but still full of life and youth."
"I saw her leaving the elleth shallows on our way here, a pity the shallows must be separate." The strange Elf replied, laughing.
"Indeed, she would be a sight to behold." Orophin snickered.
Legolas, not impressed at all with the way the conversation about his friend had turned, abandoned braiding his hair and quietly left the shallows; unnoticed by the two Elves who were facing towards the other bank. He stalked back along the riverbank towards the camp and slowly calmed as he saw why Aerlaer had woken him up.
The sunlight had lit the leaves up to a glowing gold and the silver trunks were tarnished, in the golden rays. It was breathtaking and as he reached the part of the small river, where a low, intricate bridge crossed to the other side, he momentarily stopped breathing.
Her hair was glowing and fiery in the setting sun, her skin touched with a golden light. She wore a light flowing dress which rippled in the gentle breeze and seemed made of the light of the sunset itself as the rays hit it, making the white and pink material look ethereal. His earlier bewilderment returned tenfold and he forced himself to breathe again.
"Legolas, what do you think?" she turned and gestured to the woods surrounding them. "Isn't it beautiful?
"Yes." He tried not to fall over the simple word, his mouth gone slightly dry. What in Eru's name was his problem? She smiled and it was possibly more radiant than the sun setting around them.
"Follow me." she dashed off across the bridge, not waiting for him and feeling as if he had stepped into some dream, he followed her across the river and into the trees on the other side.
…
Aerlaer led the other Elf beneath the golden trees as sunlight lit up the elven realm. It was magical this time of day, in Lórien, when the sun lit up the entire world and scared all darkness away. She resisted the urge to shift to horse form and race off swiftly through the trees and instead ran just a few meters ahead of Legolas. Steadily, she led him up a gradual rise, away from the river and when she reached the top, ran along its tree covered ridge until she came to a tree with a rope ladder hanging from it. Only then did she stop and, turning to Legolas, gestured to the ladder.
"Wood-Elves can climb, yes? She asked teasingly.
"The question remains to be answered, can an Elfhorse climb? He answered her with his own question, grinning impishly.
She laughed and easily climbed up the ladder to the bough of the tree, and peered down at the other Elf. "Come on, or you'll miss it!" Quickly, Aerlaer proceeded to athletically climb up through the branches, glancing down to see Legolas, shaking his head in amusement. She felt so alive, all her energy seemingly returned tenfold since she had entered Lothlórien with the Fellowship. Legolas finally scaled the ladder and easily swung and climbed his way up the tree and she continued towards the high canopy, still many feet further up.
…
When Legolas reached the high, wide branch and walked out along it, he finally caught sight of just why Aerlaer had brought him there. "Incredible." He breathed in awe, sitting down, making sure to leave a respectful, two-foot gap between them. Below them lay Caras Galadhon and, behind it, Cerin Amroth. The Anduin River ran to their right and, to the left, the sun was setting; the colours in the sky a beautiful mixture of reds, golds, pinks, purples and blues.
"Look at the tree tops." Aerlaer instructed and he looked out before him and realized, with wonder, they had taken on the colours of the sunset.
"Wow." He said for the second time that day as the leaves changed colour; mirroring the changes in the western sky as the sun sank lower onto the horizon.
They sat silently, gazing out over the trees until the sun was but a slip on the horizon and the sky began to grey. Aerlaer was the first to speak.
"We should be getting back for the feast and celebration for Gandalf."
"We better, the others are possibly wondering where we are." He murmured, not particularly wanting to leave. It had been weeks since he had simply enjoyed sitting in a tree.
"I told the Hobbits, before I left, I was dragging you off to climb a very high tree."
He reflected the grin she was giving him. "I am glad you did. Thank you for bringing me up here."
"It is my pleasure." Her grin faltered and fell from her face and he saw a wistful look in her eyes. "My mother planted this tree, when she was a small elfling." A small smile found its way onto her lips again. "Nanath and I were the only ones who knew which tree it is. Well, you do now too." She glanced briefly into his eyes and then back down to the branches below and then back to him curiously. He was completely floored she had shared this special tree with him and her next question took him completely by surprise.
"Your hair is not braided for once?" she cocked her head to one side questioningly.
"Oh, I had completely forgotten I had not attended to that." He replied, feeling suddenly embarrassed and made to fix it; shoving the thought of exactly why he had not braided it firmly from his mind.
"Here let me, it will be much quicker." Before he could protest she had wriggled closer to him on the branch and reached up and taken his hair, gently pulling the top half back into two separate sections and deftly braiding them down the middle. Silently he took the leather band from his wrist and handed it to her.
The gentle touch of her hands on his head and through his hair felt, dare he think it; nice, really nice. It made him want to pull away from her, for the light feeling he suddenly felt in his stomach and the jittery feeling of his heart but at the same time, he did not wish her to cease. She did and he decided it was probably a good thing she had.
"There, all done." She said, sounding content with her handy work. She didn't move away, but looked away, making to roughly braid the length of her own hair. He grasped her wrist, stopping her.
"Don't, I mean, it does not need anything, it is lovely as it is." He rushed the last bit of his sentence, not meeting her eyes. What in Arda is wrong with me this evening?
"Oh, okay, thanks. I prefer it loose, anyway." She replied, flashing him a small smile which nearly made his foolishness worth it. She stood up suddenly and gazed down at him, the small smile turning into an outright smirk.
…
"I'll race you to the bottom and then we will see who is the better climber down; an Elf of the woods or an Elfhorse." With that, she stepped off the branch and landed neatly on the one below and leapt to another low branch. Legolas landed on the branch she had just jumped to; having leapt from the topmost branch they had been sitting on.
She stopped momentarily in surprise and he merely chuckled and leapt down to the next branch; swinging to the next below that. Aerlaer tried to keep with his descent but by the time she reached the ground, he was leaning against a nearby tree with his arms crossed and a bored look plastered onto his face.
"You took your time." He drawled out casually but the corner of his mouth quirked up into a grin giving away his delight in besting her. "I've wanted to better you at something for weeks now and now I have." He grinned fully at her, brown eyes dancing. She was far from impressed.
"Hmm yes well it appears you win." She bit out and Legolas laughed at her, the sound joyful.
"You never know, one day you might best me at climbing down, but I will never best you at running fleetly." He pointed out and she nodded, satisfied with his reasoning.
"Speaking of being fleet, it is rather dark now and we best be getting fleetly to the feast." Deciding not to seek her revenge for being bested and risk losing him in the trees; she ran slowly so he could follow her easily back though the now shadowy woods.