Chapter 23:

"Make it go away," Aria moaned as she curled up in a ball on the bed.

Legolas pulled the sheet up around her and gently rubbed her back. "If I could meleth nin, I would. You know that."

It had been several weeks since Aria had found out that she was pregnant and she was still suffering from bouts of morning sickness. Some days were worse than others. Legolas just hoped that it ended soon. He hated to see Aria feeling so miserable and he could even feel it through their bond. She had tried to block it from time to time from him, but since she was so weak from morning sickness it was hard to always do. Those were the times that he would be mindful of what he said and did around her, since he could feel the misery that she was going through to a bring their child into the world. And he loved her so much more for doing it.

He did know that pregnancies were hard on women – and pregnancies between elves and humans were even harder. As soon as they had learned that Aria was carrying his child, he made sure to find out all that he could about their unique situation, since Aria for all intents and purposes was still human even though she had chosen to be counted among the elves. And because of that, Legolas felt that anything, which was not absolutely necessary to do, Aria was not allowed to do it. Frankly it was not a very pleasant situation at times – and she had only been pregnant for a few weeks. Aria was cranky one moment, happy the next, and then crying for no reason at all. Elrond assured Legolas that it was simply the surge in hormones in her body that were causing all these changes and that eventually once her body adjusted to carrying the baby, that she should be better. Legolas sure hoped so.

Until then, the only thing he could do was comfort his wife. "You need to rest now," he gently said, continuing to rub her back. "You didn't get much sleep last night. Dreams plagued your sleep. As they have the last several nights."

The mention of her recent dreams only made her curl tighter against herself. Legolas gently weaved his arms around her and moved his body around hers on the bed so that he formed a protective barrier around her. He could tell by the mental barriers that she was putting up that she did not want to talk about her dreams. But he was going to make her. "What are they about meleth nin?" he gently probed. "Please tell me."

"All I see is an attack of some kind. Not the one that has plagued my dreams for years but a new one. After that I fell an immense grief before being surrounded by vibrant colors. Then I wake up," she softly whispered without looking at him.

Legolas slowly turned his wife over to look at him as he brushed the hair out of her face. He knew that she dwelled too much on the future at times. He needed to bring her mind back to the present. "Where do you see yourself in the future?" he asked in an attempt to take her mind off her dream.

"With you, of course, and our children."

"As do I. But it does not do well to dwell on your visions. Nor does it do it any good for this little one," he said placing a hand gently against her stomach. "I fear that you are making yourself sick with worry. Do I need to go to your Ada and tell him about your sleepless nights?"

"No."

"Then please focus on the present and worry about what is going on now. I understand that having the gift of foresight can both be a gift and a burden, but sometimes you dwell on certain visions too long. I have heard your Ada tell you that the future is always changing time and time again."

"But I do not have the dreams all the time…"

"I know, but you are now," he argued. "I do not know if it has something to do with the pregnancy, but I am worried that is all. For both you and the baby."

"I am too," she gently said yawning a bit.

"I suggest that you rest a while since you did not get a lot a sleep last night," he suggested, gently stroking the side of her face.

"Will you lay with me?" she asked, leaning up towards him more

"Of course," he said kissing her lips softly before letting her move away from him.

Aria moved around on the bed so that she was situated comfortably and snuggled into her pillow. Legolas pulled the covers and a blanket up around her before lying on top of the coverings and curling his body once again around hers. He gently placed a kiss against her cheek.

Normally he would lay with her under the covers during a nap and stay the entire time, but this time he was not going to stay with the entire time. He just was not going to tell her that. He knew that Aria was to the point of exhaustion and that she would be asleep in no time, so once she was fast asleep.

And just like he had suspected, within minutes Aria was fast asleep. He quickly and quietly slipped out of bed and out of their quarters without waking her.

He mindlessly walked the corridors until he found himself standing outside staring out across the valley where the river flowed into the distance. He sighed as his thoughts turned back to his wife. How could he make Aria focus more on the present and not so much on the future?

"Something troubles you, young one."

Legolas turned to see Erestor walk up next to him. The tall, dark haired elf rarely spoke to anyone besides Lord Elrond, perhaps Glorfindel a time or two that Legolas had seen, but typical he had seen him keep to himself. "It's about Aria. I worry about her."

"And the child?"

"Of course. Yet Aria is dwelling on her dreams too much and I feel that it is causing her too much stress."

"Elin has always had this problem. She's always kept too much to herself as a child. As her foresight abilities developed faster than her brother's, she kept things from everyone. I believe she did not want to be seen as different since she already felt different growing up around elves. She even felt inferior to Estel since he had the twins to look up to and she really did not have a sisterly figure since Arwen was not around often. Yes her mother was there, but when it came to something like foresight, Elin felt isolated. Glorfindel tried to help her as did I, but even then we both knew that Elin was always keeping things from us. Even Elrond knew this."

"But how did you help focus on the present?"

"Remind her that the future is always changing."

"I have done that."

"Then find a way to help her relax. You know her better than anyone else does," Erestor said, gently placing a hand on Legolas' shoulder and squeezing it softly before walking away. Legolas sighed as he turned around and headed back towards the quarters were Aria was hopefully still sleeping soundly.

He quietly slipped backing into the room and saw that Aria was still sleeping. He lay back down on the bed and gently traced a finger along the side of her face as he thought about the words that Erestor told him.

'Think of a way to help her relax…'

He knew several ways to help his wife relax. And he knew that they could be intimate with each other even though she was pregnant. They had made sure of that in a conversation with Elrond right after they had found out that Aria was pregnant in what to expect during her pregnancy. They had yet to be intimate with each other due to Aria's bouts with morning sickness, but maybe it was about time to.


"Where are we going?" Aria asked as Legolas helped her up onto Argo.

"A surprise," he said as he led Argo down along the river towards the clearing where they had often sat over the years that they had been together. Aria noticed that a blanket and a basket a food lay out. Legolas stopped Argo and helped his wife down from her horse.

"What is this all about?" she asked.

"We have not gotten out of Imladris in the weeks since you have been sick and we found out that we were going to have our little one," Legolas said helping her towards the picnic that he had set up for them. He sat down first, and then helped her down so that she leaned against him. "We needed a change of pace. I thought a night to ourselves would be a perfect way to do that."

"But it is still early afternoon," she countered as she turned to look at him.

"Who says that this is the only thing that I have planned, meleth nin," he replied leaning closer to her face before capturing her in a deep kiss. As he pulled away from her after their kiss, he pulled the basket that he had previously set up for them closer towards the two of them. He pulled out several pieces of lembas bread and small jar of honey, which Aria had recently been craving, along with several apples. "Lunch," he said with a smile.

Then he pulled out a flask of cool water along with a tattered book from the basket. He handed Aria the book before starting to prepare their small lunch. She looked at the book and smiled. He had found her favorite book from Ada's library – a book of elvish tales about the first and second age. She had read these stories countless times as a child.

"I thought that we could spend a few hours out here and we could take turns reading," Legolas said handing her a piece of lembas with honey spread across it. She smiled as she took the offering from her husband and ate it before all the honey dripped off of it. Afterwards she gave him a sticky kiss.

"I think that's a wonderful idea," she answered then licked the honey residue from his cheek.

Legolas lay on his side on the blanket as Aria sat against him at an angle with her legs stretched out. She propped the book up against her legs and began to read as Legolas wrapped an arm around her. As she read for a while, he would absent-mindedly play with a strand of her hair or place a kiss against her forehead or cheek every so often. He loved hearing her voice. It had such a calming effect on him.

After a while he took up reading. Even Argo wanted in on the stories, and had come and laid down near to where they were currently sitting under some trees once she had finished grazing on some grass.

As the sun dipped lower in the sky, Legolas figured that it was time to pack up their picnic and head back to Imladris. They had almost finished the book too. "I enjoyed this," Aria said, stealing a kiss from her husband, before he helped her back onto Argo.

"The night is still not done."


"How?" she asked as they entered their quarters.

"Erestor, Glorfindel and Tauriel helped," Legolas said leading his wife into the room. She couldn't help but smile. All around the room, hundreds of tiny candles flickered, giving off a lowered light – a more romantic light.

"So is this the reason why you kept me out all afternoon?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Partly. Plus I did want some alone time with you."

"Amin liy llie," she said as she leaned up to kiss him.

"Amin liy llie, meleth nin," he said pulling her flush against him.

Legolas' hands slowly began to travel down his wife's body as he pushed her dress and undergarments from her as Aria began to fumble with the buttons of his tunic – eventually adding it to the pile of clothing on the floor. Once most of the clothing had been removed, Legolas swept Aria from her feet and carried her to the bed where her gently laid her down. He kicked off his boots and removed his leggings before crawling onto the bed with her.

He gently ran a hand along her naked body, taking in the changes her noticed – fuller breasts, stomach beginning to show ever so slightly and even her face beginning to fill out a bit – all of it was beautiful in his eyes. "You are glowing, meleth nin. You are the most beautiful creature I have seen."

Aria's cheeks blushed at the comment as Legolas captured her in a passionate kiss, as his hands began to explore her body - stroking her nipples, along her stomach and eventually her inner core. She moaned and squirmed under his ministrations. Legolas continued to stroke his wife as he began to kiss down her body – stopping at her collarbone and paying extra attention to her extremely sensitive nipples. Slowly Legolas made his way down towards where his hands were and Aria was lost in a state of bliss.

"Seas, Legolas," she whimpered. "I need to feel you."

"As you wish, meleth nin," he said kissing back up her body as she felt him slip in between her legs as a familiar tightness slowly entered her. She moaned as her husband slowly moved in and out of her, building up his speed. It did not take them long before they both reached their climax and as soon as Aria was sent over the edge, Legolas was not far behind her. He collapsed in her arms as a thin sheet of sweat glistened on their bodies.

"Look at the mess we made of ourselves." Aria said once they had caught their breath. "I think we both need a nice long bath."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Legolas said getting up out of bed then picking his wife up and carrying her to the bathroom.


Over the next few days, Legolas noticed a change in Aria. She had not been as sick, she was sleeping through the nights and she had begun eating a few more things.

Good.

A soft sigh brought Legolas out of his train of thought as he looked down at Aria who lay curled up against his chest, soundly sleeping. Hopefully things were beginning to get back to normal.

And Hopefully they would stay that way.