The King kept looking in the mirror, his eyes hooked on his flawless reflection. His hand rose to feel the softness of his cheek and take comfort in the strength of the illusion. The mask staring back at him sought to convince him that the past can be forgotten.

Only a few times in the last millennia had he looked upon his true face and each time it brought him even greater pain than the last. The ruined flesh stood as a constant reminder of his failure to save his father and the rest of his people at Dagorlad. He had blamed the inability to heal his disfigurement on the magic of the shadow, but lately he found himself wondering if it wasn't his own scarred heart that which prevented him from evading the horror of his face.

His mind drifted to dark places as he sat there, staring at himself. Very few were those who knew of his pain and even fewer those who dared speak about the past.

He hated that face. Flesh voided of feeling, marked by shadow and flame, scarred forever.

The mirror shattered to fine pieces as his fist made its way through the glass, allowing his anger freedom.

He was parted from her for two weeks now. The King could sense the nightmares returning to haunt his lonely nights. It bothered him how he was unable to chase them away and he felt selfish in his desire for her, each time the darkness drew him under.

How ironic, he thought to himself, that he could never really see the value of a mortal life in the ages past and now he was staying behind in Middle Earth for them, to offer council and support, all this against his dread of being constantly surrounded by death and ephemeral things. And how fitting that the only one able to take his pains away would be mortal.

He pondered for hours, trying to understand how this human could so easily bring peace to his wasted heart and though it was a simple question, the elf found it difficult to answer. She was plagued by nightmares, they both were, and yet in their time together all the hurt was melting away.

Day after day, Thranduil thought of her, dreaming of the stars in her eyes and longing for her warmth next to him. The affairs of Dale have kept him away longer that he had planned. The King felt restless on the way back.

He rushed up the stairs towards the library without stopping to greet the many elves that approached him in the hallways. Sonja turned and dropped the book, hard on the floor, at the sight of him.

-'You're back! '

She had been crying, her tired eyes betrayed her. But still, the elf could see them shining and thought them deeper and more beautiful than ever before. At first, Thranduil almost didn't recognize her with her hair flowing around her in dark, elegant braids, contrasting with the white dress trimmed with silver lace and the ghostly pale skin of her bare shoulders. Merfinnil had surely kept busy all this time, he told himself.

He quietly shut the door behind him and moved across the room towards her. She turned from him and tried to wipe her tears away with the back of her hand in one last attempt to shield her grief, but Thranduil grabbed her wrist gently and pulled her back.

-'Sonja... ' he whispered her name and felt her burying her face into him. 'Shshh... It's alright. You are alright', he reassured her and his arms tighten around her thin body.

-'Take it away', she asked him, hot tears welling in her eyes and damping the fine fabric of his tunic. 'Your magic is powerful. I don't want to feel this sorrow anymore. I can't.'

Her voice was weak and broken, her words mere whispers of her troubled spirit.

-'I am afraid there is no magic strong enough to lift the burdens of the heart. Valar know I've tried. '

Thranduil sighed and laid a soothing kiss on the top of her head, before resting his chin in the very same spot. Eventually he spoke again.

-'There are many nights when sleep eludes me still, haunting me with reminders of the ones I too have lost, bodies lying broken and bloodied together, prying open old wounds not yet healed. But I find comfort in knowing that we all have our place in the music of Eru, even in death. '

Sonja slowly turned her face until her ear came to rest upon his stony chest. The King's heart was beating strong and steady. She inhaled deeply, allowing herself some time for the ache in her own to settle. The scent of his skin invaded her nostrils and it almost made her forget herself.

Thranduil drew his fingers through her long, dark strands and pulled her gently so he could look upon her face. His beautiful blue eyes met hers before moving down to linger on her lips. She felt his thumb brushing across her jaw spreading a cold shiver down her spine. Sonja's heart sank a little and she closed her eyes in anticipation. With every touch of his lips, her sadness drifted away until all she could feel was him.

She stood watch as her love tumbled away to his death. She wanted to die with him. With them. She thought the wounds in her abdomen would bleed her dry. Sudden silence fell around her for what it felt like an eternity. But then she opened her eyes again. And she lived. She lived. And now she unexpectedly found herself consumed with need, with want for another. She reached up to pull him even closer and melted against him as he claimed her mouth in hunger, evoking sensations she had never known she was capable of feeling.

When their lips eventually parted, she could still feel her heart racing, her breathing uneven as if she had been running for the past hour. Deep down she was running, from her grief, from her fear and from everything that hurt. She was well aware of that, yet all she wanted to do was run even faster.

- 'Give me your hand', he asked her, raising his own in waiting.

Sonja hesitated for a moment, still lost in her own thoughts.

-'Trust me ' - Two small words that suddenly felt like the world to her and she placed her hand in his, warm fingers brushing against his wrist, before the expression on her face turned grave.

-'You're injured! ' she remarked, pulling away from him and looking at his bandaged palm.

-'Only my pride', the elf laughed, wanting to hide the truth of what really happened from her. 'Do not worry; it will be just a memory by dawn. Now, give me your hand, Sonja', he added and then reached for her without waiting for her to react.

Thranduil's touch felt like ice and her eyes widened when the scar on her hand vanished in favor of smooth, new born skin.

-'It is only an illusion', he explained and when he released her hand, the spell lifted revealing the small scar again. 'I could take the marks away forever, if you wanted me to. '

She kept looking in awe at the back of her palm, twisting her mind into accepting what had just occurred before her eyes. She traced the outline of the scar, her thin fingers brushing the strange skin and eventually her eyes closed in acceptance.

-'They are a part of me now, as is my pain, and hiding them would not be able to change that. I have wished them away so many times, but now I know they are there so I may never forget. '

-'I thought you wanted to forget', he told her, clearly surprised by her words. 'And yet you would have your body bare the reminders of your pain to look upon each day. '

In that moment, it was beyond him to imagine how someone could possibly want that. He could not even begin to conceive how it would be like to have to stare at his ruined face in the mirror for the rest of his unending life.

-'Pain is not the only thing they stand for. The scars remind us that the past is real, that the ones we loved were real…' Sonja replied.

Her face turned dark for a few moments and Thranduil thought that she might crumble again. But she simply stood in silence for a long time, her mind seeming to have drifted far away.

-'I have missed you', he admitted watching her snap out of her state.

-'Did you really? ' she pressed, gazing intently into his eyes and causing the elf to smirk back at her.

-'Are you attempting to read into my mind? This is a gift that no mortal possesses. Even among the remaining Eldar, me and my son alone can still reach the minds of our choosing. '

-'I do not need magic to tell truth from lies. '

-'Is that so? ' the Elvenking asked, intrigued by her statement. 'Then tell me what am I thinking of now. '

He tucked a few errant strands of Sonja's hair behind her ear and watched her smile and blush as she averted her gaze from him.

-'Surely not in the library! Thranduil Oropherion, have you no shame? '