"Come in," I responded aloofly to the knock on my door. I was busy flipping through pages of the latest book I had picked up and was completely disinterested with whoever might have been knocking. I waited for a moment after I heard the door open to look up. Guess who it was.

"Legolas," I said shortly before looking back to my book. I could tell he was waiting on me to say something more, being as I had not talked to him nor seen him since a fortnight ago, when he was still in his hospital bed. I noticed from my quick glance that he looked much better—the scratches on his face had healed and he was no longer limping—a disability I heard of from random Elves around the halls. I had been avoiding him. An awkward silence ensued, but I had gotten tired of it enough to stop being stubborn. "I see you're out of the healers' care," I added nonchalantly.

"Yes," Legolas replied a bit too quickly. I looked up at him again, arching my eyebrow and clearly asking why in Varda's name he was in my room. He cleared his throat, evading eye contact and looking about nervously. Ridiculous. As if I had not known the Elf for five hundred years plus. "I uh, I just wanted to say…" His voice trailed off as he stared at his feet.

"Leaf, you needn't be jumpy around me, of all Elves," I encouraged, patting the bed beside me. It had been much too long since our fight for me not to have gotten over it. "What is it that you wanted to say?"

Legolas calmed a bit, deciding after a hesitant moment to accept my invitation and sit down beside me on the bed. "I just wanted to say…" he began again, taking a deep breath. This must have been one hard thing to say. "I just wanted to say…you were right." He stopped there, not bothering to explain.

"About…what, may I ask?"

"About…about Kaethe," he admitted, hanging his head a bit. In that moment I had a very strange urge to hug him, but I resisted and let him continue. "She never did love me and I was just too blinded by my infatuation to see it. I want to get over her," he said rather resolutely. I nodded a bit incredulously.

"Well, that's a good start," I replied, grinning slightly. "So, why tell me this?"

"I need your help," Legolas said under his breath. It took all the strength I could muster not to laugh in his face; I knew he was serious.

"You want me to help you find someone?" I asked a bit sheepishly. Legolas looked at me, his honey browns pathetic and lonely. I shook my head in disbelief. "Alright," I agreed. A smile played on his thin lips.

"Thank you, Laina. I knew you would understand," he said, grinning like an Elfling who was just told a tale by the fire. I shook my head again.

"I'll keep an eye out then," I said, and Legolas nearly skipped out of my room, only turning to wink playfully at me. It was good to have my Leaf back.

Well, I had kept my eye out, and after Selnín, Yadeth, Sumihel, and Fílys, Legolas had begun to give up on ever finding a she-Elf he could bear to be around. With time, the search for a female Elf for Prince Legolas had circulated, and everyone around the wood was dressed in their very best and introducing themselves everywhere I went—apparently it had also gotten out that I was his "chief advisor" of some sort. I had she-Elves nearly falling on their knees in front of me, begging me to introduce them to the Prince. Most of them were tittering fools, and all of them were in it for the fame around the wood and the lavish gifts Legolas would be able to secure them; I had to also admit that he was not hard on the eyes, and despite his title and his wealth, I supposed females would have been fawning over him nonetheless. So far, none of them had been good enough. The ones I had even agreed to introduce turned out to be morons in disguise. I was getting sick of the quest and began toting around my quiver full of arrows on my back and my bow in my hand just so I could excuse myself because I heard something "rustling in the trees." Of course, every now and then that would be true and the she-Elf who had just methodically placed herself within my line of vision would squeal and run away. They were not supposed to be too far from the halls anyway, but the braver ones would approach me in the middle of the wood just to get a good word in with the Prince.

Legolas and I had taken to patrolling together, and at the end of our shift we were walking back, talking about the most recent "ladies."

"Daëruil was an absolute horror," Legolas said, shaking his head in disgust.

"Well, you have to admit her eyes were very intriguing, and she seemed to have some brains between those pointed ears," I suggested, wiping my forehead with my sleeve.

"That's just it," Legolas said, stopping suddenly as if he had had an epiphany. "I…I guess I'm not attracted to very…effeminate girls," he admitted, looking straight ahead into the darkness, keeping his eyes moving in case an Orc decided to sneak up on us.

"What about Kae—" I began, but Legolas cut me off with a raised hand. I immediately wondered why Kaethe was a sore subject yet again, but I realized soon that Legolas was silencing me for another reason. Faster than I could see, I heard an arrow zooming from beside me and hitting its target; the target fell with a small thump to the ground. Legolas smiled. "Anyway," I continued, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened—and nothing had, actually. Orcs were anything but scarce at that point, and Legolas never missed. "What about Kaethe? She was extremely effeminate," I pointed out.

"And we see how well that worked out," Legolas mumbled as we entered the clearing where the halls were located. We walked up the few stone steps that led into the castle.

"I suppose you're right," I consented. "Well, I don't know any particular non-effeminate women who are trying to win a place in Princey-boy's heart," I teased. Legolas rolled his eyes at me before taking my hand and pulling me in the direction of his room. "And where are you taking me?"

"I just want some company," Legolas said with a cheeky grin on his face.

"You pervert," I admonished, hitting him playfully in the arm.

We reached his room and as Legolas cleaned himself up, I threw myself onto his bed, dirt and all.

"Know any non-effeminate she-Elves in Mirkwood?" I asked loudly enough for Legolas to hear over the water he was splashing on his face from a basin in his washing room that connected to his bedroom.

"Only you, as far as I'm aware," Legolas called back. If Legolas were a target, he would have been full of arrows from the look I was shooting him.

"I don't count," I mentioned, taking my eyes off him and staring at the ceiling.

"Why not?" Legolas wondered, stepping back into his bedroom while drying his face with a cloth.

"Honestly," I replied, throwing him a skeptical glance. Legolas finished drying his face and pulling his hair back into a more acceptable pleat behind his head before jumping onto his bed beside me and lying down, body facing me with his head propped up on his hand.

"Maybe I should stop looking and she'll just come to me," Legolas sighed, eyeing me. I reached out and pinched his cheek, smiling.

"That's probably best…quit looking at me like that," I asserted.

"Like what?" Feigned-innocent eyes. What kind of a dolt did he take me for?
"Did you leave your courtesy in the basin in your washroom?" I asked, grinning slightly. I saw the smile playing on his lips and in his eyes.

"What courtesy?" Legolas asked before squeezing my side mischievously. I slapped the offending hand weakly.

"You idiot of a Prince," I said, shaking my head before closing my eyes out of exhaustion from our patrol. The last thing I remember was feeling Legolas put his head down on the same pillow mine was resting on, and I felt his steady breath on my face before sleep took me.