"Nothing ever ge's infected 'round Elves, right?" Gimli was a bit nervous. It was quite understandable. In all his time spent traveling with Legolas, he'd never once seen the Elf trip, fall or get wounded. Now, all three had happened to Legolas.

Legolas shrugged and stood up fluidly. "Not usually. But, there is a first time for everything, as the saying goes." His wound was wrapped tightly and he leaned on that leg, putting all of his weight on it. He winced slightly, his face showing a bit of shock. "Of course, before this, I have never really gotten hurt."

The two looked around them, ensuring no orcs were still around. There weren't any, so they started walking. The going was slow, due to their exhaustion and Legolas's wound. As much as he tried to say otherwise, Gimli still kept the pace slow. "I really don' want ta find out if Elf wounds can get infected," were his only words on the matter and the pair dropped the topic.

...

Mirkwood was sighted, from the top of a hill. Legolas looked towards it, with a hint of longing in his eyes. "It would be good to go home, even for a short time."

"Do ya want to, laddie?" Gimli didn't exactly want to see the Elven Kingdom of Mirkwood, but he would certainly appreciate a soft bed for a night or three. "Where do we go from 'ere?"

The Elf Prince sighed. "We could go and see Erebor, and your father. That might be interesting."

Gimli pondered that for a moment. "It wouldn' be right ta see my family withou' seeing yours. Let's go ta Mirkwood."

They began walking again, Legolas taking slow, long strides and Gimli taking quicker, short strides. Traveling together for so long had made them used to keeping pace with each other. It was always nice to have a friend when walking through unknown lands. The travel went that much faster.

Mirkwood loomed before them a short while later. It was much greener and happier since the days of Smaug and Sauron, but not entirely recovered. The Elves were working on getting it to its original state, of wildness and peacefulness.

Elven Guards met them at the entrance to the fair land, and encouraged them to move quickly through the path. They knew with the arrival of Thranduil's son, there would be a feast to be remembered. Or not, depending how much was drunk.

Gimli sighed at the loss of the cool spring breeze they were leaving behind. "Let's not stay long, lad. We have places ta go."

A half smile was on Legolas's face, as he greeted his friends. "We won't. Just for the feast, that will presumably start as soon as I enter the palace. I know you would like to go home."

He looked around, at the familar walls, buildings, faces and gardens, searching for one. The smile dropped from his face, as he remembered why he was not seeing her. She was buried with the Dwarven folk, Durin's heirs. A sigh escaped his lips and he turned to Gimli. "Let us go quickly. I would like to get this feast over with."

Gimli stepped faster. "Aye. I'm starvin'." A honor guard met them at the palace gate and escorted them in, where a feast lay. It was an enormous feast, with far more food than the two had seen for quite a while.

"Welcome, my son and Gimli, son of Gloin. Welcome." Thranduil spoke commandingly, bringing all conversation to a halt. "Now, let us feast." Conversation again broke out as the Elves and one Dwarf began to eat.

I'm never going to get a one shot, am I? Thank you, Goldie, for your lovely review! Thank you all of you! Gimli just has a bit of an accent to make Legolas's speech all the more refined. Thank you all for your reviews! Is the intro any better? I don't own LOTR. There. Just to make you people happy. I have a disclaimer on my profile, and it's probably quite obvious I'm not going to be making any profit off my work. If anyone can guess who Legolas misses, kudos to you! You get an internet cookie! (#)
The next one will be longer, I promise.