The first thing I see when Arwen has gone is my things piled in the corner of the room waiting for me to unpack them. But I do not want to. The thought of Legolas disappearing on another one of his travels has made me miserable.

Instead I head out onto the balcony where I can sit in the afternoon sun, and watch the city below me. People move through the street like ants on a path and it is fascinating to watch them. I do not like this city, I am not at home here but it is new and different and challenging. That is not a bad thing, it is not! This is what I wished for my whole life. To travel beyond the forest and see the world. And now, thanks to Legolas, I am. We will leave this place one day, never to return, and I should soak it all up to hold close as a cherished memory in the future.

I am still sitting there, watching, thinking, as the setting sun spreads red rays of fire across the streets when Legolas arrives.

He bursts into the room like a whirlwind. The door slams back against the wall as he enters at speed and I hear him pause. I can imagine him in my minds eye, bouncing on the balls of his feet as his eyes search the room. His energy swirls around me even where I sit in an exhilarating tornado of emotion. He is happy.

"Maewen?"

He says my name, barely above a whisper, as if he almost dares to hope I am there.

"Here!" I call out to him and I find I am suddenly impatient to see him.

He is alight. His eyes dance with merriment, his hair is a tangle of gold, he is windswept and tousled. He is joy, he is . . . Young.

I have not seen him like this for, oh so long.

And his face when he sees me is radiant.

"What are you doing?" He smiles.

"Watching them." I wave my hand towards the tiny dots of people crawling through the streets.

"It is beautiful, is it not?" He says as he kneels beside me, "In the sunset the stone glows."

And I sigh,

"No, it will never be beautiful. Not like the wood. But it is interesting."

"I am sorry I was not here when you arrived." Suddenly he changes the subject, the words tumble out of his mouth in a torrent, "I know I should have been, but Eldarion. . . I had promised him, you remember? He was insistent. . ."

And I realise he is anxious about this. He fears my reaction to his absense. My years of rejection have scarred him—have scarred us.

"It is alright, Legolas." I reach for his hands which fidget in his anxiety and hold them still. "I am pleased you went with Eldarion. How is he?"

"He is. . . " He pauses to think and it makes me smile to watch him, to see the light in his eyes as he talks of the boy. " He is Eldarion. He makes me happy. He is so joyful, Maewen. He sees the world differently, he almost sees it as I do! "

His eyes slide away then, out to the city.

"How did my father take it? The fact I was not here." I am not the only one whose reactions make him nervous then.

"He was taken aback." I laugh out loud then as I remember. "You should have seen his face when Elessar told him he had let you take his child to the woods. Honestly, Legolas he thought Elessar had lost his mind!"

A frown creases Legolas' face.

"He thinks me irresponsible."

"He does not Legolas! He gifted the lives of his people to your care. But he knows in the trees you are not always focused when you do not need to be."

"And when Eldarion is with me I need to be!"

"But he does not know you know that!" I lean myself up against Legolas and bask in his warmth. "Your father. . . He is not looking forward to leaving you. He asked me if we could visit the Greenwood, if I would bring you there for him."

And Legolas withdraws, takes his hand from mine and wraps his arms about himself tightly.

"I cannot go there. It is too hard, Maewen. I know he misses me as I miss him and I am all he has left but I cannot spend any time there." He curls up on himself in a defensive ball as he speaks and it breaks my heart to watch. His light, that glorious light he greeted me with is all but extinguished.

"Perhaps it will be better now, Legolas, now that Laerion does not lie unsaid between you? If we work together. . . We can find a way." I pull his hands back towards me. I will not let him retreat like this—not any more.

"It is not Laerion. The problem has never been Laerion there. It is the sea." He turns to me and his face is anguished. "It does not feel like home anymore Maewen...it was my home and I have fought for it. I love it. But I can never be at peace there and it hurts."

It is the cruelest of all the burdens he bears I think, this sundering from the forest he loves. I still believe I can find a way to make it work—just a short visit—if I only understood his sea better. But I have spent all these years running from that and he says he does not wish to share it with me. He wants to keep us separate so he has something the sea cannot touch. I understand his reasoning but I am not sure that will work.

I decide I will ask the dwarf. He knows far more of Legolas' sealonging than I. More even than Elessar I think. It is he who is best at holding it at bay. I will ask his advice, send a letter via Faramir. I will be sending mail to Legolas while he is there after all!

But thinking of Legolas leaving me to visit the Glittering Caves brings back a rush of misery. I do not want him to go.

He feels it of course.

We have discovered ourselves again and so we are entwined. Our fea's dance around each other in a sensual harmony. We used to be like this, years ago. And now we are back, melded, blended, and I can hide nothing from him any longer. He feels my misery as if it is his own, as I felt his happiness when he arrived here.

"What is wrong?" I can feel his tension as he asks it. "Something is wrong. Tell me!"

And I hesitate. My first instinct is to lie, to find a reason for this he will accept...that I am uncomfortable here perhaps? But I have promised myself I will not hide things from him any longer.

"Arwen told me you intend to visit Gimli when your Father leaves."

His words come out in a rush, as they did before. Once again he is anxious and I do not like the fact he is so concerned, so worried, so tangled up inside with fear he will offend me. What can I do to mend this? I am so diverted, so distracted by it that at first I do not realise what it is he says.

"I am sorry, Maewen. I should not have mentioned it before I spoke with you I know. I thought some time together. . . An adventure of our own. Some time on the road, just the two of us would do us good. We do not have to stay with Gimli. We could go to Edoras and see Eomer too. There is so much there I wish to show you, places I have been. But it is too much. . . I understand, the dwarves are strange. If you do not want to go, it is alright, Maewen. I understand."

He does not intend to leave me. He wishes me to go with him!

"No! I do want to go with you Legolas. I do! I thought you meant to leave me here."

And he frowns with confusion.

"Why would I do that? Why would you think that?"

"Because you have left me before. . . I just assumed. . ."

He stares at me for a moment, as if he cannot believe my words and then all of sudden, out of nowhere, he leaps to his feet. It is so Legolas. So like the old Legolas, to change his train of thought like this.

"We must hurry" he cries, "I completely forgot. They present us tonight. Us, and my father. We must get ready and I have something for you."

Present us? To the public? As a couple? The thought is terrifying.

"Legolas, I cannot!"

"You can." He smiles and he grabs my hand and pulls me to my feet. "Come look, It is a surprise!"

He drags me to stand in front of the closet as he throws the doors wide and rummages inside.

"Here!" And he holds out to me the most beautiful dress I have ever seen. It is intricate and delicate, adorned with beads and jewels, the most perfect colour to show off my hair and my eyes. It will make me shine. It is a dress for a princess.

"Ohh!" I cannot help but exclaim over it. I have never seen anything so exquisite.

"I had it made. It should fit . . . I hope. . . Though I must admit Arwen did provide some help, just a little."

"Oh Legolas!" I cannot believe it is mine, that he has done this for me.

"You will look like a princess." He says, "like the princess you are and they will all envy me." He reaches out then to tuck my hair behind my ears, out of my eyes, so he can see my face.

"Come now," he holds the dress out to me. "Put it on! We cannot keep my Father waiting."

And so I do, and it is gorgeous. I do feel like a princess in this dress.

"I feel beautiful." I murmer as it spins around me in a cloud of loveliness.

"You are beautiful." He whispers in my ear.

As we walk to the dining room I am walking on air. I should be nervous. I should be terrified. This is exactly the kind of thing I hate, being on show in front of others for I know they will think I am not enough for Legolas. . .how can I ever be enough for Legolas.

But tonight I feel as if I could match anyone. I feel as if I could stand next to Arwen Undómiel and hold my own! And Legolas walks beside me, his hand in mine. We are together and together we can face anything.

We meet Thranduil outside the hall. I thought Legolas was magnificent this evening but Thranduil is another level of magnificence entirely. Legolas laughs when he sees him.

"Father! You put me to shame. They will look at me and think you have bought some peasant Silvan from the forest along with you!"

"They will look at you and wonder at how lucky I am to have such a son." Thranduil replies and he is serious, deadly serious, and I know Legolas needs to hear it, no matter how much he makes jokes at his own expense.

"Daughter," Thranduil turns to me and takes my hand, bestowing it with a kiss. "You do the Forest proud this evening. As you have always done. "

He has never called me that before and I am undone. It is all I can do to mumble his name in reply as I curtesy.

"Come," Legolas encircles me with his arm and leads me forward. "Let us do this, beloved. I am eager to show you off." He dips his head towards mine, his mouth by my ear as he whispers, "I have waited so long to do this. To stand here with you and have everyone know of us."

I hear them announce our names as we enter. I hear them call me Lady of Ithilien and I hear the crowd gasp when they see us.

It is as if I am in a dream, as we walk towards Elessar and Arwen who wait in the distance. But Legolas holds me up, Legolas moves me on, Legolas keeps me close and holds me tight.

Legolas is my love and I am his.

And nothing else matters.

The End.

And so so we leave Legolas and Maewen. I will miss writing them I think!

but at least they are in a better place than we found them in. Not perfect...but better!

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, especially guest reviewers who I haven't been able to answer. I hope you have enjoyed this. :-)

There is a sequel to this story published here by Cheekybeak called " Fire Dancing Upon Our Souls."