Author's note: Here's a short(ish) one. I have been waiting for a long time to bring Legolas back - bring on the drama!

Disclaimer: The Hobbit and any of its characters do not belong to me.

Chapter XX

"Legolas."

Tauriel stood frozen in place, her green eyes fixed on the blue ones of her oldest friend in complete shock. It was not as if he had changed – as if he could have changed - since she last saw him. His face was the same - youthful, beautiful and noble - and yet there was something about his eyes, about the tension in his jaw, that lend a previously unknown hardness to his features. As if he had aged without growing a day older.

As he stood there in the doorway, a strange little twitch went through Legolas' body, and Tauriel wondered for a split second whether her friend would embrace her – he had done so, after all, when they had parted back in Mirkwood, even though such an intimate gesture was not characteristic for him. But then the Elven prince appeared to check himself and relaxed his stance, casually leaning against the wall beside him.

"Tauriel," he returned, his voice carefully neutral. Legolas had always been hard to read, but after centuries of fighting at his side, Tauriel had eventually come to understand how he thought and what emotions his facial expressions belied. The few months during which she had not seen him, seemed however have sufficed to disrupt this ability, essentially turning him into a stranger. Was he glad to see her? Surprised? Angered? She was unable to tell. What she did know, was that she was glad for Sigrid's present to her, which she still held against her chest because it covered the evidence of what she was not sure she wanted Legolas to find out about just yet – hers and Kíli's child.

"You are a long way from home, mellon-iaur" she said carefully, still trying to gauge his mood.

He inclined his head, the faint smile on his lips not escaping her attention. "So are you," he said softly. "I was surprised to discover you were here – especially since the Lord Elrond seemed hesitant to part with this information."

Tauriel sighed. "As for Elrond – he is aware of enough of my history to know that there are some who might wish me ill," she said, stalling her explanation of her current whereabouts. "Our reasons for being here are a little … complicated, I'm afraid," was what she finally settled for, not sure yet how much she should tell Legolas about the past few months.

A frown had appeared on her old friend's face before she had finished her reply. "Our reasons?" he asked a little harshly. "The dwarf is here as well?"

Now it was Tauriel's turn to frown. "Kíli is here, yes. You seem surprised by that."

Legolas pursed his lips and hesitated before speaking again. "When I learned that you were at Imladris, I thought you might have parted ways."

After a brief moment of complete speechlessness at Legolas' rushed assumption, Tauriel gave a small, bitter laugh. "I am afraid I have to disappoint you in that regard. He and I did part ways for a brief period of time, but not at all by choice."

"I did not mean to imply…" Legolas began, but did not finish his sentence.

"Did you not?" Tauriel shot back, unable to keep her voice entirely free of the hurt she felt. Even after all this time, even after he had actively aided in her escape from Mirkwood so that she could follow her heart, Legolas clearly still judged her for falling in love with Kíli.

The Elven prince did not reply, but advanced into the room to gaze out of one of the windows. Now that he stood closer to her, Tauriel could see that the hardness she had observed in his features was to some extent owed to a certain wariness in his eyes. As if they had seen too many things Legolas rather would not have had to face. As if he were tired.

"I did not come find you to argue with you," he said, his voice low.

She gave a low sigh and stepped a little closer to him while still keeping a careful distance. "I missed you," she offered, willing the hurt and anger that had bubbled up inside her to ebb away.

For her effort she was rewarded with a small smile. "The Greenwood has not been the same without you," Legolas said.

She inclined her head, knowing that this would be as close as she would get to Legolas admitting that he had missed her, too.

"Your father – he is well?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. She did not really know why she felt the need to ask this question, given the fact that Thranduil was probably one of her greatest enemies right now. And yet something inside her longed for a glimpse into the life of the king she had loved and admired for so many years.

For a split second she thought Legolas would become angry at her inquiry, but then his gaze softened. "He is well. Unchanged," he said, leaving Tauriel to wonder whether that was a good thing or a bad one. Legolas sighed. "I tried to convince him to travel to Imladris with me. But he prefers to remain in his kingdom, surrounded by what he knows best and cherishes the most. But, knowing what I know now, it is probably for the better that this should be so."

Tauriel closed her eyes and exhaled. "Because it is better if he does not find me here," she specified, pained.

Legolas glanced at her. "Frankly, I do not even presume to know what he would do if he were here now. He does not speak of you, not even to me. It is as if you never existed."

Which is how he deals with loss, Tauriel thought to herself, breathing evenly to cover up how deeply Legolas' words cut her. Even after all this time and all the wonderful things she now had in her life, her former king's coldness still managed to hurt her.

Trying to leave those thoughts and feelings behind for now, Tauriel changed the topic of their conversation. "Why are you here then?" she asked, slowly finding her way back into a more easygoing conversation with her former prince.

"To accompany a party of distant relations from Lórien, mostly. They had visited us in the Greenwood and when I learned of where they were planning to go, I asked to go with them." He paused. "Also I longed to escape some of the memories the woods of our homeland hold." He looked at her. "But that appears not to be so easy."

Tauriel pressed her lips together and evaded his gaze. It seemed that the broken fragments of their friendship still cut them wherever they stepped. She wished she could clear the air between them, make it right, but doubted that there were words in either language she spoke that would suit the purpose.

When she remained silent, Legolas sighed again. "Do you plan to stay here permanently?" he asked, reverting once again to a more neutral topic.

Tauriel looked out of the window where afternoon was beginning to fade, bathing Rivendell in a golden light. "For a little while," she said, vaguely. Feeling that she needed to give him a little more than that, she added, "We did not come here by choice, not entirely. Elrond and his people helped us out in a … difficult situation. He brought us here afterwards and, graciously, invited us to stay."

Legolas frowned. "A 'difficult situation'? What happened, Tauriel?"

She rolled her eyes, the former soldier in her feeling a little sheepish at having to admit that she had been overpowered by creatures as mean as the ones that had kidnapped and held her for several days. "I was taken prisoner," she stated subduedly, "by some Orcs and their master."

Legolas' eyes became uncharacteristically wide. "Could that be the Orc fortress Elrond mentioned when we spoke? Because if it is, you might have been in grave danger. Were you hurt?"

He reached out to her, but Tauriel stepped back reflexively, holding her little blanket a little tighter against her chest. "I am fine," she said feeling her voice grow a little colder, a little more distant. "Kíli and some others got to me in time." She paused, unsure whether she really wanted to speak the words that burned on her tongue. Finally she gave into the impulse. "Others were however not as lucky as I was."

Legolas froze, confused. "What are you saying…"

"Nimwen," Tauriel blurted out. "She was there, too. She gave her life to save mine."

"Nim- what?" For once her old friend seemed to be caught off his guard entirely. "I do not understand…"

"She is dead!" Tauriel exclaimed a little more loudly than necessary, feeling tears burn in the corners of her eyes, the memories still fresh in her mind. And then, a little more composedly, "She died in our struggle to escape. There was nothing I could do to save her."

Looking back up at Legolas, she saw a brief flutter of emotions wash over his face. He ran a hand across his face and sighed, but when he returned her gaze, his features did not betray whatever feelings those news might have stirred in him. "I am sorry to hear this. I know that she became a good friend to you before you left us."

Tauriel stared at him. "You are 'sorry to hear this'?" she asked incredulously. "How can you be so cold? Legolas, you are the reason why she felt the need to leave her home in the first place. She never harmed a soul in her life and died a miserable death in a dark, dank hole. I believe she deserves a little more than you feeling sorry for her."

Legolas shook his head. "Tauriel, you are being unreasonable. I never knew her that well. And I never gave her any hope…"

"But you knew how she felt about you," Tauriel interrupted him, her voice trembling, her grief over Nimwen's death making her want to find someone responsible for her friend's suffering. Someone ti vent her frustration on. "And still you continued to pretend you did not notice, as if her feelings mattered less than yours."

When Legolas did not reply, but merely clenched his jaw at her words, Tauriel delivered the final blow which she knew would provoke a reaction from him. "You really are just like your father," she spat. "Cold and heartless."

As she had expected, Legolas whirled around at that comment, his normally stoic face one of hot anger. "Do not tell me that I am cold," he growled, "not when my heart and soul have been burning with pain ever since your cursed dwarf set foot into the Greenwood."

Stepping closer to her yet, he grasped both of her hands. "It has been so hard to pretend that I do not know or care where you have gone, to act as if I did not hurt when the members of the guard inquired after you, to pretend I did not worry when I half expect to stumble over your dead body behind every corner I turn. And from what you have just told me that worry is well justified!"

Tauriel swallowed as she looked up at him, standing so close to her. Her face burned, partly from his words, but more so because when he had taken her hands, the blanket held against her stomach had slipped away and revealed the secret she kept underneath.

They continued to stare at each other, each of them frozen in place for their own reasons, and Tauriel felt her face grow even hotter when, after a few seconds, she saw her friend's gaze travel lower, his eyes narrowing and then widening when he saw the small bump she had been hiding.

He dropped her hands as if he had been burned and took a step back, breathing heavily. "Tauriel, no," he gasped. "Tell me that this is not true, tell me that my eyes are deceiving me."

Tauriel took a deep breath and raised a shaky hand to gently cover her stomach. "Your eyes work quite fine," she said once she felt confident that her voice would not betray the turmoil within her. "It is true – I am with child. But this is not for you to worry about."

For a moment she thought that Legolas eyes would drop out of their sockets. "Not for me to worry about!" he exclaimed, taking a few steps into the middle of her room. Turning around he looked at her, his expression one of utter devastation. "Tauriel, what have you done?"

She shook her head. "I have nothing to be sorry for," she said, half to Legolas and half to herself. She would not allow herself to be broken by his reaction to what just been revealed, but would stand up for herself, for Kíli, and for their unborn child. "I have followed my heart and I have found happiness," she added. "It does scare me sometimes, I will admit that. But I will not apologize for the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to me."

Legolas would not look at her. "Some things should never be," he said, his voice low, threatening. "He has spoiled you forever."

The anger which Tauriel had just thought she had gotten under control flared up again with new force. "Spoiled me?" she hissed.

In her rational mind she knew that Legolas' words had most likely been provoked by the part of him that might have thought that, one day, Kíli would be gone from her life – if he waited for long enough. Now that was not a nice thing to think, but, having lived among Elves for more than six hundred years, Tauriel could understand this way of viewing the world at least a little bit. Right now, however, she did not want to be rational. She wanted to be angry. And she wanted to throw something.

Reaching for the next object within her reach, she wrapped her hand around a small vase on the bedside table and, before she could think about it and probably change her mind, hauled it at Legolas. "Get out!" she yelled, allowing her anger to take over completely.

His reflexes being what they were, Legolas, his expression one of shock, dodged the small object. Tauriel regretted her action the moment that the vase hit the wall behind her old friend and shattered into lots and lots of small pieces. And yet, when the Elven prince looked at her with surprise and hurt reflected in his eyes, she remained unmoved. "Get out," she repeated more calmly.

For a moment Legolas hesitated, opening his mouth and then closing it again, clearly searching for words. But when Tauriel shot him a deadly look, he turned around on his heel and marched out of the room, stopping only once he reached the doorway. "I'm sorry," he said over his shoulder before disappearing through the door, leaving Tauriel behind to figure out what exactly it was that he was sorry for.

After taking a few calming breaths, Tauriel went to pick up the blanket she had dropped earlier. Folding it neatly, she carefully placed it at the foot of hers and Kíli's bed. Straightening up, she looked down at the blanket thoughtfully before turning around to stare at the small pile of broken glass where Legolas had just stood a moment before. A tear rolled down her cheek, but she wiped it away angrily and set about cleaning up the mess she had made.

Kíli ran up the stairs, taking two at a time, his heart beating fast in his chest. He knew that there were a dozen explanations for something as ordinary as the sound of shattering glass like he had heard it only seconds before, but, given his and Tauriel's history with bad luck, he could not help but presume the worst.

His brother was only a few steps behind him, and, when Kíli reached the terrace at the top of the stairs and stopped abruptly, barreled right into him.

"Wha-" Fíli began, but Kíli held up a hand to silence him.

They heard Tauriel's voice drift outside from within the room she and Kíli shared. "Get out."

Then, seconds later, Kíli heard a familiar voice answer her. "I'm sorry," it said.

Behind him, Fíli sucked in a breath and, before they knew it, they stood face to face with Legolas, who looked rather distraught. Upon seeing the two dwarves, his face darkened even more.

"Kíli," he said morosely and then, his eyes briefly flickering to Fíli, "Do not tell me your whole clan is here as well."

Kíli tensed at the hostility in Legolas' tone, but refrained from reacting too harshly. For now at least. "Some of them, yes," he returned casually. "Is yours?"

The question was asked lightly, but its undercurrent was of course more serious. What Kíli really wanted to know was whether Legolas' sudden appearance meant that he and Tauriel had better pack up their things and leave. Kíli might have been reckless, but he was too wise to risk confronting Thranduil.

Legolas glared at him for a moment longer, but then sighed. "No. I am on my own."

Kíli let go of a breath he had been holding. "Good."

An uncomfortable silence fell between them that was broken after a few seconds by Fíli clearing his throat. "I'll be off then," he grunted, but hesitated.

Kíli looked over his shoulder to let him know it was alright – he already had a good idea of what Legolas was so upset about and knew that this was something he would have to deal with without Fíli's support. "I'll come find you later," he said to his ever loyal brother.

Fíli nodded and, with a weary glance at the sullen Elven prince, retreated back down the stairs.

Once he was gone, Kíli turned back around to face Legolas. "You seem even less delighted to see me than the last time we spoke," he remarked, recalling the day when he had last seen the Elf back in the kingdom of Erebor.

Legolas shot him a deadly look that almost made Kíli freeze with one foot on the last step of the stairs. "Well, can you blame me?"

Kíli took his time to reply, slowly walking past the angry Elf until he was able to casually position himself between Legolas and the entrance to Tauriel's room. He did not think that Legolas would ever be a serious threat, but he wasn't taking any chances. "I am not sure what you want to hear from me," he finally said.

"What I want to hear?" Legolas seemed more than a little exasperated. "I want to hear that what I have just discovered is not true, that you have not been that foolish. But that is not going to happen, is it?"

Kíli stared back at him. "No. Also, I am not going to apologize for the best thing that has ever happened to me in my whole life."

Legolas laughed humorlessly. "That is almost exactly what Tauriel just told me."

Kíli hoped that his face did not show how his heart seared with pride at hearing this. Not too long ago a confrontation such as the one Tauriel had clearly just had with that blasted Elven prince had been her most paralyzing fear. It was unfortunate that Kíli had not been at her side when it had finally happened, but it seemed that she had handled herself quite well nevertheless. Just like him, she had refused to back down. Just like him she had taken a stand for their child.

He could not help a longing glance over his shoulder towards the room he shared with this fire-headed warrior.

"Go on then," said Legolas a little sourly, "go to her. Maybe she won't throw the room's furnishings at your head."

Now Kíli could not stop a grin from spreading on his face. "She threw something at you?" So that was the sound he had heard. "Did she hit her mark?"

Legolas merely glared at him in reply and turned around to head down the stairs. Kíli was tempted to let him go and maybe, just maybe, have him out of their life for good. But then again, he knew that whatever had passed between the two Elves minutes before, Tauriel would not forgive herself if she parted with her dearest friend on such terms.

He sighed. How was it that nowadays it always seemed to be him who had to be the levelheaded one? "Legolas," he called out, causing the elf to look back at him. "Whatever she threw at you – both verbally or physically" – he smirked – "I am sure she did not mean it. Even if you probably deserved it. She has been through a lot lately – do not make this harder for her than it has to be."

The Elf stared back at him, his face as hard as stone. After a few moments, however, Kíli watched the hardened mask crumble ever so slightly. Legolas gave a curt, non-committal nod, but Kíli knew that, eventually, he would learn to accept the course that Tauriel's life had taken. Because that was what friends did, wasn't it?

While Legolas slowly walked down the steps, Kíli glanced over his shoulder at his and Tauriel's quarters. He straightened up and squared his shoulders, preparing for whatever situation he was about to walk into once he entered that apartment. "One down, one to go," he muttered to himself as he crossed the small terrace.

That turned out a little different than planned... I'm not done with Legolas just yet, so please don't hate him too much after this chapter :)

Back to our favourite couple in the next one - promise!