Can You Thaw This Heart Of Mine?

Chapter 4

In the next few days, the captain and the prince became close to each other. Tauriel could still see that coldness on his face, but there was some radiance to shed some of it.

"Alright elves!" said the general one day as he trained the elves. "I am going to have to pair you with someone to help you with this training session."

The elves didn't say a word. So far, the general was in authority to tell them what to do...even Legolas; upon orders of the king.

Once settled,Legolas was paired up with an elleth with dark chestnut hair. As for Tauriel, he was paired with a handsome ellon with the same hue Legolas' partner.

Tauriel and her partner sat down and discussed ways of improving battle strategies. The ellon was the exact opposite of Legolas- he smiles alot,his eyes gleam with child like joy and he was cheerful...but no less skilled with the blade and the bow. The two battled with their knives, and with a special move, the ellon was able to wrap Tauriel around his arms, his hands on her wrists and her back pressed against his chest.

Legolas didn't seem amused. He eyed the two and scowled lightly. What was causing him to do this? He knew it had something about Tauriel...he knew it had something to do with her partner as well; but it felt weird- it was as if he wanted to prove that he was better...not to the other elves-but only to Tauriel.

"I'd like to see him try to beat the best archer in this realm." he mused, referring to himself. Just then,he felt a tap on his forearm. He turned and saw his partner looking at him.

"Ernil-nin..." he said and the prince flashed her a smile.

Tauriel looked blankly at the two and muted the ellon that is now talking to her. For some reason, she felt an uncomfortable sensation in her throat...soon, she began to drown herself in thoughts. These thoughts later turned to questions.

"That smile...that smile that I have been trying to get out of him for some time now...and that smile that I love to see.". She then sat down, but her gaze never left them. "It is now on his face, and yet I don't understand- what did that elleth do to make him smile that fast? What did she have to give?"

These questions quickly evaporated into a single thought: "Is she better than me?"

As he eyed the two of them, Legolas tried to smile it off...clearly having no intention of showing his jealousy. "Am I really jealous?" he asked himself. The prince then looked at them one more time and realized what he has to do.

He has to keep his princely grace or in our language...his cool.

Although they didn't want to admit it, the two were trying to make the other jealous. Several attempts were stupid, several were pretty smart. Legolas once trained with his partner and almost pressed his body against hers as he reached her how to have a better aim with his bow. As for Tauriel, she prevented to know nothing about pinning her enemy down, so her partner showed her. It got Legolas almost fuming to see him almost pinning her down against the wall.

Finally, the session ended and the two elves had to say farewell to their partners. The prince hurriedly went to the captain and eyed her.

"I see you having fun with that ellon." he said, his eyes staring deep into hers.

"I see you do the same with that elleth." she replied, having the same tone as his. Then, her eyes softened. "...do you like that elleth?" she asked nonchalantly.

He stepped forward. "Do you really want to know?"