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Chapter Sixteen


Legolas sighed, passing his right hand through his unbraided hair. He was sitting alone on his bed now, the withdrawing sun showering his room with its last heat. The room was empty now—at least, emptier than it had ever been in his stay. The few things he had placed on the table were kept away. Only his weapons lay on the bed, tilting, as the mattress pressed from his weight. All his arrows were laid out, and also his two daggers. He took each arrow and carefully placed it back in the quiver. Many of them were of different colour from the dominating green ones—they were gifts from various friends he had met in Rivendell. One in particular, was more elaborately designed than the rest.

It was given to him by Kylis, just after he had announced that their departure was soon to take place. He had taken it amiably, but there was a certain glint in her eyes as she gave them that had made him nervous. It was not unusual for hosts to give gifts, but it was unusual if the elf in question had no familiarity with the receiver whatsoever. What made it worse was that the arrows were not simply forged, they were not meant for battle. They were meant as a gift.

"A token for what?" he whispered to himself, before tucking the jewelled arrow into the quiver.

There was a knock on his door as he set aside the last of his weapons. He walked quickly to it. He was eager to see the familiar shade of red hair, but he did not know how he would react, after what he and Aegnir had talked about earlier.

Yet when he opened it, it was Kylis who stood outside his door. Her hands were clasped by her stomach, and she was garbed in a white dress. "Kylis?" he asked in surprise.

"Legolas," she replied, undeterred by his reaction. Her eyes quickly scanned the room behind him before she settled her gaze on him. She smiled when she spoke, "I see that you have yet to dress for the feast."

"I'm sorry," he said, apologizing more for his greeting than for the way he was dressed. "Ah," he commented quickly glancing at her dress. "I'm afraid the fuss of having to pack has distracted me from the feast this evening. But you look lovely in your dress, my lady," he said. He found it difficult to keep the smile on his face, especially because her presence outside his door all the more increased his suspicions that the arrows he had just kept were more than just an act of good will.

"Thank you," her eyes seemed to sparkle in the glow of the golden light. "Well I just came here to ask if you could spend some time with me tonight, at the feast. I feel that although you had spent days here, we had not had a chance to get to know each other."

He could not hide his surprise at her offer. He blinked at her, but she seemed unfazed and continued to smile expectantly at him. He cleared his throat before speaking again, "Of course, my lady. It would be my honour," he inclined his head.

Her smile grew all the more pronounced with his reply.

"But I have to ask," he considered how to express his next concern. "The arrows... and now this... is there—is there anything I should know about, my lady?"

The smile disappeared and she covered her mouth as she gasped. But even then, there seemed to be a pleased expression on her face. "Have they not told you yet?" she asked.

He did not bother to keep in his frown this time. "Told me what, my lady?"

She giggled as she reached out to take his hand. He stiffened at her touch, but did not pull back. He had seen this very same tactic from so many she-elves before, and always, he knew what they were after. But he had not expected this from Kylis. There was something suspicious about the way she was conducting herself. "You'll find out soon enough," she whispered, before releasing his hand and walking down the corridor to his right.

He stared incredulously after her for what seemed like minutes before he finally thought to go back into his room. The complexity of her words and actions haunted him even as he prepared himself and changed into a green robe. He knew that she was a friendly and amiable elf, but he also knew that there were more to her intentions than cordiality. More than that, there was something she knew that he apparently did not.

What was he going to find out?

Only when he finally heard the music playing from inside the great hall did he relax. He sighed as he pushed the image of Kylis back. He owed it to Rivendell at least to enjoy his last night here.

The doors to the banquet swung open and he could see plates of food waiting for them on the long table. Further back inside were the band and their instruments. On the wide platform in front of them were couples dancing. Elves were rushing in and out, laughing and enjoying the occasion. Every now and then, they would wave to him or shout to him in greeting.

Only when he had been seated at the table did he finally see Tauriel again. When his eyes found her, he was forced to pause. He had been used to seeing her in her training garb. Only once had he seen her dressed, and it had been so long before. He wondered if it was because of that that the sight of her now seemed to take him in more than it should. Although he had always known her to be fair, the green dress that enveloped her highlighted the emeralds of her eyes. He found it difficult to look away and was only forced to when she had caught him staring.

His face warmed as he averted his eyes, and he instead busied himself with the plate of food before him. The conversation he had with Aegnir burned his thoughts, and for yet another time that day, he was left wondering whether there was any truth in his friend's suspicions. When he looked back at her, she was already busy conversing with Arwen. They were speaking in hushed tones, and a glow was on Tauriel's face. Legolas frowned. The cousins had always been warm towards each other, but there was a new rush to the way they spoke now. It was as if something new had happened.

His gaze found Elrond, who was seated at the end of the table again. Again, he wondered about what kind of news the Lord of Rivendell had called her for earlier.

His curiosity begged him to inquire about it then and there, but he knew the time was not right and in the middle of finishing the feast, would be disrespectful. He settled himself in his chair and got into conversation with the elves around him, deciding that he would ask her about it later.

The rest of the dinner had gone uneventfully, except for the fact that Kylis had approached him once and invited him to a dance, which he had respectfully declined. He knew she had been offended, but he had never accepted a dance before, and his heart was not in it in the moment. Instead, he found his attention constantly flickering to the direction of Tauriel. Their gazes had met, more times than he could count, but he was only able to speak with her when most of the elves had already left the table and were dancing and singing at the other side of the hall.

He was sipping from his goblet when he heard her voice from his left.

"Are you not enjoying the festivities?" she asked as she took the empty seat at his side.

"What makes you say so?" he asked, turning his attention on her. Only when he had faced her did he see her entire form. The dress she wore glittered in the lights, and fell just above the floor. It cut from her shoulders, showing her white skin. The cloth seemed to flow with her movement. And her hair was held in a loose tie by her back, the red of her curls screamed against the fabric."You look stunning," he told her before he could stop himself. He cleared his throat at his sudden sentiment, and added hastily, "Green suits you well."

She raised a brow, but he noticed the tint of pink on her cheeks. "Stunning is a word I would hardly use to describe myself," she shook her head at him. "But green suits you as well," she smiled at the robe he wore. "It reminds me that you are in fact a prince, in case I might be forgetting."

He thanked her but sighed at her reaction. Sometimes he wondered if she knew how breathtaking of an image she was. "Well then, would you walk with this prince?" he jested, offering her hand.

"It seems a shame to pass up the opportunity," she went along with him, laughing as she placed her hand on his.

They pulled away from the table. Simultaneously, they walked together and moved towards a door at the far side of the hall. They emerged at a pavilion that was lit by yellow lanterns. It was an area usually filled with elves, but it seemed that they were all joining the celebration, as he could see that they were the only ones in the area.

"Do your hands still hurt?" he asked, voice softening now that the music was muffled by the walls.

She shook her head, "Not anymore. It seems your bandaging actually worked," she smiled at him, then clenched his hand. "Thank you."

The look on her face warmed his chest, and then again, the thumping in his heart returned. "I told you: you do not need to thank me for everything. I wanted to help," he told her. "I did not want to see you hurt."

There was an almost unnoticeable tensing in her body, but she relaxed as soon as it had come. "I don't think I will ever stop being grateful to you," she said softly, her eyes avoiding his.

Somehow, he knew that he needed to say something, but instead he answered by pressing her hand, feeling the warmth of her skin. He wondered how hands that had so much passion for offense could be so soft.

"It is still difficult for me to fathom that you are leaving tomorrow," she said, her voice clear and serene in the silence of the night.

"For me, also," he said. "Time is deceiving. It seems that some days pass too slow, and the others too fast."

"When do you think I'll see you again?"

He smiled ruefully. "Can anyone really ever tell? Soon, I hope. But we never know what the days will bring. Sometimes all we can do is follow the path set before us."

"But we still have the power to choose where we go, do we not?" she looked at him. "I cannot believe that everything I do and will do is already set in stone—unchangeable. Even Lord Elrond cannot know for sure whether the visions he has will indeed come to pass. Does that not tell us that the future is not really as fixed as it sometimes seems? They we have a choice?"

"Maybe so," he nodded. They stopped, both looking over the dimly lit pavilion. "But choices are never easy. Unless you are sure of what you want, then the consequences would not matter. But most of the time, things are never that easy. Life is a confounding mystery of questions weaved together."

She watched him closely. "Is that why you looked bothered during the feast?"

He grimaced, inwardly laughing at himself. If only she knew that she was the reason for his discomfort.

"What happened?"

He sighed. "Many things," he ran a hand through his brow. "I spoke with Aegnir earlier today. And...he told me things about myself—," he glanced at her. "That even I have yet to find the truth to."

"Yes," she smiled. "Aegnir often notices things before I do, as well. But I trust his sight. Too often I am blinded. He is a friend that points out the things that I am too stubborn to admit. And always when I reflect on his insights later, I know in my heart that they are true."

Legolas could not take it to smile along with her. For if Aegnir was indeed correct, then how could he bear to leave to leave Imladris tomorrow?

"What do you think of Aegnir, Tauriel?" he asked the question he had longed to ask her since he had known of Aegnir's feelings.

She took a moment to answer. She looked taken aback by his question. "Well, he is a friend close to my heart, much like you. He is my confidant, and I would trust him with my life," then she gazed at the lights, frowning. "But lately, he seems troubled. He tries to hide it, but whenever we are together there is sadness in the way he speaks. It is as if he has lost something."

Legolas paused. He could only hope that whatever was causing Aegnir's sorrow was something other than what they had discussed earlier. It was painful enough to know that Aegnir thought he shared the same feelings with Tauriel. He did not reply, and she did not deem it proper to broach on the subject further.

They stopped in front of a wide tree, its branches stretching out, casting shadows from the moon's light. She loosened herself from him, and held a hand out to the tree's trunk, closing her eyes as she did so. When she opened them, she locked gazes with him. In the glow of the yellow lanterns, her eyes seemed to shine, mirroring the way her dress did in the dining hall.

When she spoke, she spoke in a whisper. "You'll visit soon, of course?"

The look of sorrow in her face made him regret ever speak about leaving. If only she could tell her, how much he did not want to leave her behind. Again, the unfamiliar feeling bubbled up in his chest and he took a step towards her, closing the distance between them. She looked at him unsurely, but she did not step away. He reached out his hand and cupped her cheeks. She tensed visibly, but as he passed a thumb through her skin, relaxed. Her skin was so smooth he felt that it would break under his touch. He tried to hold on to it as lightly as he could. "Of course I will," he answered, and her eyes softened. Then he put down his hand, his fingers tingling from the sudden emptiness. "But you know the—," he began, but stopped as soon as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around his waist.

It seemed to him centuries before finally she spoke. "I'll miss you," she mumbled, against his chest. Legolas froze for a moment, trying to comprehend the fact that Tauriel was embracing him. He wondered whether she could feel the thundering noise in his chest, but more than that, he struggled to accept that she was doing this. Aegnir had told him that he was often cold and nonchalant, but Tauriel was not that different. In fact, in all the time that he had known her, this was the first time she had ever yielded to emotion. He had always been the one holding her hand, or expressing his concerns. She, on the other side, had always been more closed and distant. But now here she was.

He sighed as he wrapped his arms around her, smelling the scent of flowers and morning in her hair. "And I, you," he whispered.

It didn't last long before Tauriel was pulling away. She turned away in embarrassment, but the flush on her face made him feel impossibly warmer. He struggled to say something, but he was left speechless. Finally, it was Tauriel who broke the silence. "I forgot to tell you—I have something to look forward to, while you're gone," she said, a blush still on her cheeks. "When Lord Elrond talked to me earlier—,"

Although he had waited for her to tell him what they had conferred with Lord Elrond earlier, he was not able to let her finish her story. The words tumbled out from his lips unbidden. When he reflected on it later, Legolas supposed it was the way she looked at that moment—and the realization that he would not see that look for how long he did not know, that made him say it. And also because he found in his heart then and there, that Aegnir was right. She had become more than a friend to him, and he could not let that go. "Come back with us, Tauriel. Come to Mirkwood."

END OF CHAPTER


Because we all know Legolas was the first to fall ;)

A/N: We haven't reached fifteen views at the poll yet, but I love you guys so I decided to update. :D Still, it would really really help a lot of everyone votes. For those who don't know how, just click my username and vote at the poll at the top of my account. And for the guest reviewers who commented their votes, I'm counting those too, so thanks!

Anyway, BOFA time! Gagh. I listened to The Last Goodbye and just broke down. What more when I get to the actual movie theater (which by the way, is less than a month from now aigusdbaosbjd)?

The next chapter may or may not be the last of this story. I'm still debating on whether I'm creating a new story for the next arc or just compile them all here.

Please review!

Love,

Vee