Hope ↠ LOTR

V. Memory

Athena had been overjoyed when she found that Frodo was awake and well, she had told him to head to a certain area in Rivendell but didn't tell him why as she didn't want to ruin the surprise of him being able to see his uncle again. Once they had spoken she had taken the book from a very curious Frodo before leaving the two of them to speak on their own accord.

She had holed herself up in her room to read what Bilbo had written, being visited briefly by Aragorn who relayed to her the story of Gandalf's disappearance and how he had been trapped on the top of Orthanc by Saruman, being rescued from the tower by Gwaihir—the Lord of the Great Eagles.

Night had now fallen in Rivendell, the moon casting a silvery glow on the usually sun-kissed streets of the Elven town. She had managed to read a lot of the book but was by no means finished with it. Athena knew that she needed to get some sleep in order to be prepared for the council that was to be held tomorrow to discuss the fate of the Ring that Frodo carried, so with a yawn escaping her she closed the book and pushed herself from the chair she had been sitting in, stretching out her back.

She stepped out of her room and made her way down the passages in Rivendell, her bare feet pattering against the stones beneath her while she walked. Bilbo would not want to be parted from his beloved story for too long so she felt it best to sneak back and place it on the table so that he would have it in the morning and not worry if anything unpleasant had befallen it.

Her journey came to an abrupt halt when she felt herself collide against someone, stumbling backwards before rushing out an apology, the person that she had bumped into doing the exact same thing. Her words were cut off when she laid eyes on the familiar Elf before her, finding herself smiling a little at the white-blonde hair that hung from his head with thin braids woven within it.

"Legolas,"

"Athena,"

They both greeted at the same time, chuckling a little to themselves. She couldn't help but notice how he had changed since she had last met him. Though they didn't have the time to speak to one another properly when they had met in Mirkwood and later Dale, he greeted her as if she were an old friend and she did the same with him. There was a certain softness about him that he must have gained on his travels away from Mirkwood.

"You have not aged a day," he remarked, his eyebrows slightly furrowing in confusion.

"Neither have you."

"But I'm an Elf."

"Okay, that's a valid point," she responded with a soft chuckle, "I'm one of the Dúnedain. Honestly, it's a miracle I haven't aged by now."

"I take it you're here for the council as well?" He asked once he had accepted her answer and allowed it to sink in.

"Yes. But I also live here from time to time."

Legolas thought for a moment before a realisation came to him. "You are a descendant of Isildur."

"Correct. Older sister to Aragorn. After reclaiming Erebor I came back here and I've stuck with him ever since."

"But I did not see you when Gollum was brought to Mirkwood."

"Ah yes, well, you see, I left him briefly for that part because I had other things to attend to," she 'effortlessly' lied, not wanting to tell him that she had actively avoided Mirkwood due to her hatred for the King there, who also happened to be his father. It was also on account of the paralysing fear that she had of the spiders that lurked there.

The Elf nodded a little with a gentle smile crossing his features before noticing the red book that was still clutched in her hands, "I'll leave you to your business for the night, but it was a pleasure to see you again."