The Horizon

When I woke up, I was no longer on a horse. I had received a distinct update: A warm bed, so wonderfully soft that I sank into it. It was dark outside, but the light of the moon illuminated the room I was in, and I heard the sounds of the forest. It sounded soothing, and just for a moment I let myself drift in the oblivion that surrounded me in a protective way.

Then I remembered what had happened: our escape. The darkness. And the shadowy figure. Had I made it all up in my head?

With a shudder, I sat up. Something slipped from my blanket. I frowned, looked to my right, and had to bite my lip to suppress a smile. It had been a hand, and it belonged to an elf I knew all too well. He was sitting on a chair close to my bed, his head leaning against the wall, his eyes tightly closed. So he had not lied, he needed sleep. The only question was: why was he doing this next to my bed?

To see him so vulnerable was unusual. Normally Legolas surrounded himself with a wall as high as I imagined the trees of the Greenwood. Only rarely had he let me look behind it. His face was so peaceful that he seemed even more youthful than he already was. Yet, of course, I knew he was many hundreds, if not thousands, of years old. But now, at this moment, all the demeanor he normally carried in front of him like a shield was gone. I couldn't take my eyes off him, memorizing every line, every hair. He was gorgeous, and I wish I could have told him that. But that would never happen.

At that moment, he opened his eyes. We stared at each other for a heartbeat, then I lowered my gaze as quickly as if he had caught me doing something sinister. My cheeks burned and I knew he saw it. Fuck. Why did he have to have such good eyes?

I heard him sit up, but before he could say anything that would have made the situation worse, I managed to say, "Where am I?"

He was clearing his throat, I still didn't look at him, then he replied, "We were able to reach Lothlorien, you're safe."

Was I? Or was it just a delay? I couldn't shake the feeling that this was just catching my breath before the storm. "What happened?"

"That's what I have to ask you. You fainted, but the healers told me it had nothing to do with you being sick. Did you see something, a vision?"

Briefly, I pondered. A vision? Could the apparition I had seen be called that? But finally I nodded. "Perhaps, yes." Pause. "I don't know what it was, but it might have been one."

"Tell me everything," he said, leaning forward. And I did, even though it wasn't much. When I finished, I stretched. My legs felt like I hadn't used them in ages, plus I was insanely thirsty. Other than that, I was fine, better than I had been on Arod. But our arrival couldn't have been very long ago. Or could it? "How long have I been lying here?", I asked out of my thoughts.

"For six days."

"What?" My answer was more vehement than I expected. "But... " I broke off, my mind racing. Six days? It hadn't felt that long. Quite the opposite. How had I not died of thirst in that time?

As if Legolas had sensed my question, he said, "You were half conscious a few times. The healers used this time to give you water, soup, and potions in small amounts. But I... we were very worried about you. A few more days and there would have been little we could do for you."

That was the downside of times when there had been no IV nutrition, I thought, silently thanking my body for choosing to let me wake up. And even the fact that Legolas had fallen asleep next to me was explained by the sheer length of time I had been lying here. Six days seemed too much even for an elf. Still... one thing didn't make sense: "I feel fine," I said. "Not weak or shaky." Surprised by my own words, I ran my fingers over my forearms and looked at my hands. No, they didn't seem jittery, and except for the audible rumbling of my stomach, I felt as if I'd had a very restful sleep.

"That's the effect of the potions," Legolas said, but he didn't seem completely convinced either. "You should eat something."

"And drink."

He nodded and stood up. "I will have something brought to you."

"No," I flipped back the covers and swung my legs out of bed.

"I want to move around. It feels like I've been lying down long enough."

Legolas had frozen in mid-motion and turned his head away. "You should...get dressed," he said, pressed.

"What?" I looked down at myself, but couldn't see anything offensive that would have justified his reaction. I was wearing a nightgown with sleeves. A long, opaque nightgown. But he was right: to walk around outside in it, was probably not very appropriate. "Of course. Where are my clothes?"

"Over there. I'll wait outside." He gave me a quick glance, then hurriedly left the room.

I remained seated for a moment, rubbing my forehead, then stood up. What had just happened was yet another moment that had shown almost too well how different we were. Something I gave absolutely no importance to caused him discomfort. Not only were we from different worlds, we also were like fire and water. If it already came to situations like this with the throwing back of a blanket, how should it be with others? No, Legolas had been right when he stormed out of my room in Minas Tirith. There was no way this could ever work out. At least, that's what the head-driven part of my brain said.

Hastily, I slipped into my clothes: a pair of fabric pants and a tunic, which I secured with a leather belt. These were not women's clothes, but I hadn't cared when I had bought them in Minas Tirith. Then I brushed through my long hair once with my plastic comb, which up until now had indestructibly survived everything.

As I left the room, I automatically held my breath. The chamber had been plain, and in the light of the moon I had not been able to see much more than the bed in which I lay, a dresser on which stood a bowl of water, and the chair on which the elf had been sitting. But out here... My eyes grew wide as I realized where I was - up in a tree. Up. In. A. Bloody. Tree. "This is... wow," I mumbled. We were standing on a fairly high platform. Around us, I saw many more that had been mounted at different levels around the trees. They were connected by staircases made of wood that nestled on the outside of the tree trunks. Everything was illuminated by a multitude of lights, but I didn't recognize any lamps or cables anywhere. How the elves managed to immerse their forest kingdom in a glittering glow was a mystery to me.

"I can still remember what it was like when I first saw this view," Legolas said from beside me, and I raised an eyebrow. "That must have been some time ago."

"Not as long as you might think. Come," he offered me his arm, probably because he wanted to make sure I didn't collapse and fall, "let's go."

At first I wanted to refuse him gratefully, but eventually I linked arms with him. Together we went down one floor, then crossed over a suspension bridge to another tree. I wondered how the elves had solved the sanitary question, but it seemed inappropriate to ask. When we finally reached the bottom, Legolas didn't lead me to a hall or a room where I expected to find the kitchen, but to a row of benches a bit off to the side. Already waiting there was what looked like soup, a basket of bread, and... "Gimli!"

The dwarf stood up when he saw me flying towards him, and when I squeezed him tightly, his whole body rumbled with a deep laugh. "Not so hasty, lass. After six days of bed rest, you should take it easy." I noticed he was no longer using the polite formal form when speaking to me, and it gave me a warm feeling of home. Even though I didn't want to admit it, Dwarf and Elf had grown pretty darn fond on me.

The three of us sat down and I ate as hungry as a wolf. Heavens, the six days were showing. It wasn't until I leaned against the tree at my back with a groan that Gimli nodded in satisfaction. "I think she's full, and that's even before the elves had to empty their larder."

I gave the dwarf a sour glance, but couldn't defend myself. My belly was just too stuffed. Legolas chimed in instead, "They already had to do that for you, mellon."

"A vile implication." Gimli leaned back as well, his hands resting on his stomach. "Which has no foundation whatsoever."

"The chamberlain disagrees." A grin played around Legolas' mouth, and his eyes flashed so mischievously that they were contagious.

Together we spent the evening without talking about what lay ahead. There was plenty of time for that tomorrow.

After stifling a small yawn, the elf said, "We should go and rest. In the morning hours, Lord Celeborn wishes to speak to you, Aspen."

"With me... privately?", I asked, feeling the unease gnawing at me.

"With all of us," Legolas replied, reassuring me. Therefore, without further words, I stood up and said goodbye to Gimli. Legolas had offered to escort me back to my room - I probably wouldn't have found my way alone.

As we climbed the stairs again, I was too busy admiring the treescape for Legolas and I to talk much. Anyway, I was under the impression that he didn't want to talk after we had spent the night joking around a lot. In that respect we were more alike than I had thought, two introverts in an extroverted world.

"Here we are," I said as we stopped at the door of my chamber. Now that we had arrived, I didn't feel like going inside, but I knew I needed sleep. Even though I felt good, the six days had drained my energy. I had noticed that at dinner. To my surprise, Legolas did not agree with me, but said, "I would like to show you something."

"What?" I looked at him carefully, but he didn't let anything slip. Instead, he pointed his chin in the direction of the stairs. "Further up?"

"Aye."

He let me go ahead, on and on, until we reached the top platform. "This is as far as we can go. Now what?"

"Who says that?" There was that mischievous grin again, which I wasn't at all used to. "That way."

I followed his finger pointing and saw some wooden planks driven into the tree, leading even further up. Climbing it was. Good thing my fear of heights was in check.

Two more minutes later, I pulled myself up onto a branch fork just wide enough to provide room for both of us. I reached for Legolas' outstretched hand and he led me up one of the last large branches that would still support us. At its end, the elf motioned me to sit down, and as I followed his request, I saw why: from up here, I was able to overlook a good portion of Lothlorien, over the treetops, with the grassy plain we had come across in the distance. It looked quite peaceful. But looks were deceiving. "How do you know this place?"

He let my question hang in the air for a moment before answering, "When we first came here, the Fellowship and I, after Gandalf's death, I was looking for a place to think."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't be. As you know, Gandalf came back and ultimately not only stood by us at the Battle of Helm's Deep, but also made sure that the War of the Ring took the direction that defeated evil."

Instead of an answer, I looked out again at the sea of trees, their leaves swaying gently in the evening breeze. And even though I hadn't wanted to bring it up today, I couldn't help asking, "What was that, Legolas? That black shadow...I've never seen anything like it."

"Neither have I," he said, "and that's why it's good that we're here."

"Don't you even have a suspicion?"

The elf ran his index finger over his thumb, then said, "If I were to make a guess, what you saw was the shadow that has its fingers out for the Greenwood as well."

"The one that made you want the source from the library?"

"Yes."

I fell silent. Something inside me knew that this was all connected in some way. But how? The stones, the shadow, the forest. "Is it Sauron?", I asked abruptly, but Legolas shook his head. "No, his power was destroyed with the Ring."

"His power or himself?"

"Both."

But what was it then? A new darkness? I ran my hands over my face. I would not find the answer to that today.

"It's late," the elf said, and I knew he wanted to leave. Therefore, I nodded. "Thank you for showing me this place. If you don't mind, I would like to stay here for a little longer."

"Then we shall stay together," he said with a small smile.

My eyes wandered back to the grassy plain, but I didn't want to think about what had happened to us there. And what it might mean. Still, I felt the fear. It clung around my heart, and I had a hunch that this was just the beginning. "I am afraid," I finally said so low that a human would not have been able to understand me. But the elf's ears were better. Why I was saying this at that very moment, I couldn't tell. But it was the truth.

"It would be worse if you weren't," he replied just as quietly, and then, without warning, he put his arm around me. I realized only now how much I had missed his physical touch - against all good wills or beliefs. On Arod it had been necessary, now it was freely chosen. By both of us.

Carefully I put my head on his shoulder and we sat like that, watching the night go by, until the sun climbed over the horizon.