I think you all have suffered enough, so here is Chapter 33. It may be quite a while before I update again, now that I'm back at school and actually need to work on my thesis. Enjoy!

"What happened?" Arwen asked, looking down at Tinwe, who lay unconcious on the bed, covered in her own blood.

"We were attacked by Orcs as we were heading north," Legolas said, taking in the extent of the damage for the first time. He held his wife's hand as Arwen began cleaning blood away to survey the damage.

"It's pretty bad," Arwen said, her own voice full of concern. "I do wish my father were here."

"Can you send word to Mirkwood and Lothlorien? Her mother and brother are healers."

"By the time they got here, I think it would be too late," Arwen said as she worked. "I will do what I can. I know you don't want to leave her, Legolas, but you will only be in the way if you stay here."

Legolas was quiet for a moment, staring down at Tinwe's face. "She is pregnant," he said finally. Arwen looked up at him.

"I will see what I can do," Arwen said again softly. Legolas rose as Gondor's healers arrived to assist the queen. He walked outside and leaned against the wall next to the door. He slid down it, sitting on the cold stone, his legs out in front of him as he held his face in his hands.

It was not long before he heard footsteps coming down the hallway.

"How is she?" Aragorn asked, standing beside Legolas.

"Not good," Legolas said, keeping his eyes closed. "She is still unconscious and Arwen says that it looks bad."

"Tinwe will be fine, Legolas. She is strong." Legolas sighed, finally looking up at his friend.

"She is pregnant, Aragorn. That is why we were headed back north." He could see the realization in the king's eyes as he put his hand on Legolas's shoulder.

"Perhaps it is not as bad as it looks," Aragorn said, though his tone betrayed his uncertainty. "Try and be optimistic."

"You haven't seen the damage. I am afraid to be optimistic."

"What exactly happened?"

"There are Orcs in Gondor. They ambushed us to the south. We left the east when we found out Tinwe was pregnant, so we could be home when the baby was born. We should have stayed in the desert."

"There is no point thinking that way, Legolas. This is my fault. We have been having trouble with Orcs in the south and east for a couple years now. Despite our efforts, they have still caused problems in the towns there. There must be enough in Mordor still that they come over the mountains near our borders and cause trouble. Rest assured, we will hunt down those that attacked you. In fact, I will go send out rangers now."

"Normally I'd ask to go with, but I can't leave until I know how Tinwe is. Thank you, Aragorn."

"Of course."

It was many hours later that Arwen emerged. Legolas stood up abruptly, looking at her expectantly.

"Tinwe is still unconscious. She lost a lot of blood, but we have patched her up and she should be walking around in a week or so." Here Arwen paused, tears in her eyes. "I am sorry, but it was too late for the child."

Legolas felt the tiny ray of hope he had been clinging to vanish. His breathing was shallow, and he could feel tears coming to his own eyes. He was heartbroken to hear this news, but thinking about how Tinwe would take it when she found out was far worse.

"You can go in now," Arwen said softly, standing out of his way. Legolas walked past her, entering the room to see his wife lying on the bed in a gray gown, looking peaceful. He wished that it was all a dream, and she was just sleeping. But he saw the bloody rags next to her bed, and the torn and bloody tunic she had been wearing lying on the back of a chair. He picked up the tunic and sat on the chair, feeling the tears in his eyes start to fall. He broke down completely, bending over, his elbows on his knees as he sobbed.

Tinwe woke up, blinking in the sunlight, feeling increadibly weak as she turned her head to gaze at her surroundings. She tried sitting up, but felt an unbearable wave of pain course through her torso. She lay back down, closing her eyes against the pain.

"Tinwe?" She opened her eyes again and saw Legolas looking over her. He had her hand in his and he squeezed it gently.

"Where are we?" she asked groggily, looking around her at her blurry surroundings. Her vision was coming back slowly, and she could see the outline of windows and doors.

"We are in Minas Tirith, melamin," he said softly. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Not really. I remember Orcs, but that's about it. I guess they got me this time." Tinwe noticed tears welling up in Legolas's eyes as she said this, and his grip on her hand tightened. "Legolas, what's wrong?"

"You were cut pretty badly and lost a lot of blood. It was all they could do to keep you alive and stop the infection."

"Okay, but I am alive," she said slowly. "What is wrong?"

"You got cut in your stomach," he said softly, his voice breaking. Tinwe felt the weight of what he said hit her slowly. No, it couldn't be… "We lost the baby."

Tinwe couldn't bring herself to say anything. She felt tears pouring down her cheeks as she looked up at Legolas. He squeezed her hand tighter as she closed her eyes, and brought her free hand up to her mouth. She felt a new wave of pain as a sob shook her body. But she couldn't stop it. She kept sobbing, her grief more painful than her physical wound.

Legolas knelt down beside her, pulling her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him, crying into his shoulder. They had lost their baby. She felt like she had never felt pain before this. This was true pain. And it was her fault.

"Eat something, Tinwe," Arwen urged her, gesturing at the tray of food on Tinwe's lap. Tinwe was silent, and just stared down at the food. "You need to eat. Starving yourself is not the answer."

"But it's my fault," Tinwe said finally, tears in her eyes again.

"It isn't your fault! Stop saying that. Legolas doesn't blame you, and you shouldn't either. If you need to blame someone, blame Aragorn for not killing the Orcs earlier. He said it was his fault, and he has men out after them now. Hate him forever if you need to. Just don't blame yourself."

"But it is my fault. If I hadn't wanted to go off on some damn adventure…"

"You can't help being who you are Tinwe."

"If I wasn't so stubborn, this wouldn't have happened. The king warned me this would happen…" Her voice broke as she said this, putting her face in her hands. Arwen looked at her sympathetically and took one of her hands.

"No one could have predicted this happening. I know you need to grieve, but there is no point blaming yourself for what happened."

At that point, Legolas walked in. Arwen stood up and walked over to him.

"See if you can convince her to eat something. She is still convinced it is her fault. I'm going to try and get her mind off of this. I will be back soon." As Arwen disappeared, Legolas sat down on the edge of the bed, taking Tinwe's hand.

"Melamin, please eat something. You need food to help you get your strength back so you can heal."

"I can't. I feel sick eating. I just-" She started crying again, and Legolas bent forward and kissed her forehead. They sat in silence for awhile, Tinwe unable to hold back the tears.

"Tinwe, there is someone here who wants to see you." Legolas looked up as Arwen walked back into the room. She held open the door as a young man stuck his head in the door nervously.

"My lady?" he said softly. Tinwe looked up.

"Hindil?" she asked softly, blinking away her tears. The boy smiled, coming into the room fully. Legolas stood up and moved out of the way as Hindil came forward, holding a silver tray.

"I brought you something, my lady," he said, pulling off the tray cover. It was a small cake, topped with pink frosting and strawberries. For the first time since she had woken, Tinwe smiled through her tears.

"Oh Hindil," she said, gesturing for him to come closer. He did so, and Tinwe took the tray from him and put it on her lap so she could reach up and hug him. Hindil was surprised, but hugged her back. Legolas felt his heart melt. He was so grateful to Hindil, he almost hugged the boy himself, but he refrained, watching his wife as she sat back and looked at the cake.

"I'm Brith's full apprentice now," Hindil said with a smile. "He says he has never seen anyone so enthusiastic about flour." This actually made Tinwe laugh lightly.

"Well I am glad you found your calling. I bet after all these years, this cake tastes even better."

Legolas slipped out of the room, beckoning for Arwen to follow him. She did, closing the door quietly behind her.

"Thank you," Legolas said looking down at her, unable to say anything else. Arwen just smiled and took Legolas's hand in hers.

"I am happy to help. I think that Tinwe could use some more friends right now."

"Of course," Legolas said, nodding his understanding. He had a lot of work to do.

Despite her joy at seeing Hindil again, his presence wasn't enough to banish Tinwe's depression. As soon as he left, she would fall back into an unhappy silence. Once she was well enough to walk around, she would wander the citadel seeking solitude. Arwen did her best to find things to occupy Tinwe's time, but it was not enough to keep her from her despair.

At one point, Legolas told her he was going to be gone for a few days. After having been less than successful at cheering up his wife, he had become strangely absent from her side. When he told Tinwe this, she became angry.

"Where are you going?" she asked, feeling betrayed.

"You will see, melamin," he said, kissing her forehead and just smiling against her wrath. "I will be back very soon. I love you very much, limimaer." This didn't stop Tinwe from glaring at him as he departed. She was getting tired of the the secrets he was keeping from her.

By the time he returned, she was downright livid. She refused to talk to him when he found her sitting in her room, staring out the window. Sighing, he knelt down next to her.

"Tinwe, I know you are angry with me," he said softly, taking her hands. "But I have a surprise for you. Please come with me? You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to."

After a moment of silence, Tinwe sighed, standing up and letting him lead her out of her room. She was surprised when their walk led her to the stables.

"Where are we going?" she asked, her curiosity making her forget her deterimination not to talk to him.

"We are going for a ride in the Ithilien, melamin," he said with a smile, leading her around the corner to find Alagos and Arod fully saddled. Tinwe followed Legolas out of the stable and down to the gates. She looked out across Pelennor Fields as they rode towards the Ithilien. It looked very different than she remembered. Last time, there had still been the wreckage of a war strewn across the grassland. Now, there were fields being prepared for planting. It was strange, seeing how time had passed. Seeing Hindil had been shocking, but seeing how the city itself had changed was remarkable.

The elves rode in silence as they crossed the Fields and into the Ithilien. Tinwe felt slightly better, out and about instead of brooding in solitude in some dark corner of the city. But the gloom still followed her, and she rode heavily in the saddle. She felt her mind drifting back to her misery. She was just about to call ahead to Legolas and tell him that she wanted to turn around when she heard the sound of voices ahead of them. Puzzled, she continued after Legolas until she saw houses in the trees ahead of her.

"What is this, Legolas?" she asked as the voices grew louder. She could see the outlines of people ahead of her by now, moving around in colorful clothing.

"Our new home," he said with a smile, slowing down so she could ride beside him. "This is what I was working on with my father before we left."

"You were building a new settlement?"

"Yes. After the devastation of the war, I wanted to help rebuild. I sent a few elves here not long after we returned to Mirkwood to get started. So now we have a small village here as we regrow the forest."

"So this was your plan all along?"

"Essentially yes. But a few changes occurred recently."

"What do you mean?"

"I invited some friends to join us."

"Tinwe!" Tinwe looked up in surprise as she saw her brother Angsul standing on a balcony above her. He hurried down the stairs as Tinwe dismounted. She felt tears in her eyes as Angsul picked her up and hugged her tightly.

"I can't believe you're here," she said, smiling through her tears. "Did you bring your family or are you just visiting?"

"They are all here," he said happily. "Now I can stay and keep you out of trouble."

"You always were my favorite brother," Tinwe said, kissing his cheek.

"I think Glorothond would be heartbroken to hear that," he said cheerfully. "But you don't want to stand here listening to me. Everyone is waiting for you."

"Everyone?" Tinwe said, confused. "What do you mean everyone?"

"Come and see!" he said, putting her arm through his and leading her away. Legolas smiled as he rode Arod after them, Alagos trotting along at the rear.

Tinwe looked up in amazement as they came upon the center of the settlement. There was a particularly large structure that occupied half a dozen trees. It was supported by great marble columns and had ornate steps leading up to beautiful wooden doors.

"This is us," Legolas said as they stopped in front of it.

"Really?" Tinwe said, looking up at it. "It beautiful, but why so big?"

"Since this is my pet project, I have to have the space to govern from," Legolas said, taking Tinwe's free arm. "Don't worry, you will have space away from the mundane daily work of running a village."

They walked up the stairs, Tinwe marveling at all that had been accomplished since the war. She couldn't fathom the amount of work that had gone into the contruction of the settlement. If she hadn't known better, she would have thought it had been built over centuries, not in under a decade.

When they reached the top of the stairs, Legolas and Angsul each opened a door, leading her inside. Tinwe stopped dead.

"Tinwe!" She was suddenly surrounded by a crowd of people she had not seen in years. The first person she noticed was Icaria. She felt a smile spread across her face as Icaria ran forward, hugging her tightly.

"You don't know how happy I am to see you right now," Tinwe said softly in her friend's ear. "I am shocked to see you here though."

"Legolas asked Thorontur and me if we would come here shortly before you both left. I couldn't very well leave you here alone now could I?"

"No, you couldn't," Tinwe said, happy tears in her eyes again. But she was quickly distracted when she felt a pair of lips on each check. Looking up, she saw Elladan and Elohir looking down at her smiling.

"What are you doing here?"

"We knew about Legolas's plan early on," Elladan said with a smile. "We couldn't stay in Rivendell by ourselves, and here we are closer to Arwen."

"Besides," Elohir added with a grin, holding up his hand so she could see the ring on it. "Aranosse wanted to be with her family."

"Congratulations!" Tinwe said, giving him a hug. "I'm sorry I missed the wedding."

"Not a problem. It was just a small event. Nothing like yours."

"How are you doin', missy?"

"Incredibly shocked to see you here, Gimli. How have you been?"

"Working. Some of this marble work is thanks to me and my kin, I'll have you know."

"Well you did a wonderful job, mellonamin. Thank you very much."

Tinwe continued greeting her many friends, hardly believing that all of them were there. She almost forgot her sorrow, she was so happy to see them.

"Thank you Legolas," she said when she had a moment and found him off to the side watching. "You don't know what this means to me."

"Well I have one more surprise for you," he said, taking her hand and leading her towards a side door. It was quiet outside on the balcony, and Tinwe looked around, confused, until she saw a figure standing alone, leaning on the railing facing away from her.

"Faelon?" she said softly. He turned around and looked at her, smiling widely.

"Mae govannen, Tinwe." She ran forwad, hugging him tightly. The fact that Legolas had invited him here, and saved him for a special surprise, meant a great deal to Tinwe. She hadn't realized how much she missed him. She had missed her other friends, but there was something about Faelon's steady nature that she desperately needed at that moment.

"I am so glad to see you," she said softly, hugging him tightly. "I have missed you."

"I have missed you, too," he said as she let go and looked up at him. "Right before you left, your husband approached me and asked if I would come down and lead the organization of the village in his stead. I couldn't very well say no, when I knew you would soon be back and needed a place to live."

Tinwe was so happy to have Legolas and Faelon with her at that moment and getting along that she started crying again. Faelon excused himself, promising to talk to her later. He smiled at Legolas as he returned Tinwe to him before retreating into the building. Tinwe buried her face in Legolas's chest as he ran his fingers through her hair, waiting for her to stop crying again.

"Thank you so much for this," Tinwe repeated, her voice muffled as she spoke into his chest. She turned her head so he could hear her better and sniffed. "I can't believe you brought Faelon here."

"I knew how much it meant to you to have him here. And I had to butter you up before I gave you some other news."

"I don't like the sound of that," Tinwe said, looking up at him. "What news?"

"I sent word to Mirkwood and your parents will be here tomorrow, but my father will also be with them."

"What?" Tinwe said, looking up at him in horror. "I can't face him Legolas, I just can't." Legolas felt guilty at the tears in her eyes. "He told me this would happen. I can't..." She buried her face in his chest again, shaking her head.

"I know this is hard for you Tinwe, but he is not coming to reprimand you. He is worried about you, too."

"After we were getting along too, and now…"

"Stop it Tinwe. It will be alright. Please, just give him a chance." Tinwe took a deep, shuddering breath as she clung to Legolas's tunic. She should have known that Legolas could not keep what happened from his father. But to see him so soon afterwards…She wasn't sure she could do it.

"Please?" Legolas repeated when she didn't say anything. Unable to reply, Tinwe just nodded, not looking up at him. "Thank you. I am sure you want to talk to your friends now. Go, and try not to think about tomorrow."

Tinwe did not sleep well that night. She tossed and turned, more than once waking Legolas.

"Are you alright, melamin?" he said after the third or fourth time this happened. "You are very restless."

"No, I'm not alright. I can't stop thinking about your father coming tomorrow. And what happened," she said, her voice betraying the tears that were about to fall again.

"Come here," Legolas said, sitting up and leaning against the headboard. Tinwe moved closer to him, resting her head on his bare chest as he wrapped his arms around her. "It will be alright. When I got the letter from my father saying he was coming, he was only concerned about how you were. He does care about you, Tinwe. Very much."

Tinwe was silent, wanting to believe his words, but she remembered too vividly Thranduil's judgemental gaze. Sighing, knowing that she was still not convinced, Legolas kissed her forehead before he began to sing softly. Tinwe wasn't listening to the words, but just the sound of his voice was soothing. Before she drifted off to sleep, she sighed, her voice soft as she spoke, not moving from her position.

"I know what to name him."

"Hmm?" Legolas asked, pausing in his song, not quite sure what she meant.

"Our son."

Legolas was silent, listening to Tinwe breathing softly. He waited patiently for her to continue. After a while, she did.

"I want to remember him as Amanhen." Legolas smiled down at his wife, kissing the top of her forehead.

"I love it," he whispered, before he began to sing softly once more. Soon Tinwe drifted off, the bad thoughts that had plagued her banished by the sweet singing of her husband and the closure she gained through naming the child that they would never have.