Hope ↠ LOTR

Epilogue

Legolas wasn't entirely sure what he had expected to happen at the end of his life. He knew of course that once they died Elves would go to the Halls of Mandos until they were offered the choice of reincarnation but he hadn't expected the Halls to be golden in nature, in fact he rather expected the opposite. There was nobody in sight either, which he also found rather peculiar.

Slowly he forced his bare feet to move forwards, looking up at the high-stretching ceiling that towered above him, adorned with many chandeliers which added to the ethereal golden glow that shimmered on the amber walls. For a moment he thought that he could hear the faint crackling of a fire, but then his ears picked up on voices.

"That is not how it happened!"

"That's exactly how it happened! You stole the bow which is what made her leave them and why we were forced to face trolls!"

His eyebrows furrowed at the vaguely familiar voices but then his eyes widened when he heard booming laughter ringing through the air and he was able to make out the very specific laughter that he had grown to love. The same harmonious sound that he had adored to hear every day and had missed dearly when it was taken from him. He rounded a corner and his eyes fell on a group of people gathered in front of a fire, some of them sitting on the floor and others sat on elegant sofas made from the finest red materials that he could see.

"Wait wait, so you took her bow?!"

"Are you deaf Pip?"

His eyes never left the figure of the woman that he had fallen in love with, another round of laughter bursting through the room. He saw her seated on a sofa with one of her arms wrapped around a blonde Dwarf with braids in his moustache and her other arm wrapped around a brunette Dwarf with only a little stubble on his chin. She looked as beautiful as she had always done to him, but she was youthful unlike the last time he saw her. Her eyes were a brilliant blue that shone everytime the light hit them, her hair flowing and silky, and her face was glowing with happiness with not a wrinkle in sight.

Silence fell when everybody looked to see the new person that had stepped into the room and Athena was the first to shoot up onto her two feet, their eyes meeting and filling with tears. She wasted no time in moving forwards, breaking out into a run before she reached him and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck while his arms went tightly around her waist, his nose buried in her hair and breathing in the familiar calming scent that he had become accustomed to.

"This cannot be real," he whispered to himself.

"This is real," she whispered back, pulling away and resting her forehead against his.

She reached out to take his hand in hers and placed it on her chest. He felt the rhythmic beating of her heart underneath his palm, a smile breaking out onto his face before he spurred himself forwards and crashed his lips onto hers, desperate to feel the warmth of her love that he had been deprived of for so long. And she did not disappoint. Her lips moved with his, her hands weaving their way into his hair while his moved up to cup her face in his hands, his thumbs gently stroking the smooth skin underneath them. They became lost in the kiss, forgetting everything that was around them until somebody loudly cleared their throat and they pulled back from each other.

"I'm here too you know!" Gimli called out grumpily and Legolas' smile widened as the Dwarf made his way over towards him and the two of them shared a quick and unusual hug.

"We've been waiting for you." His head turned to see Aragorn walking towards him soon after he let go of Gimli, and the two men embraced each other tightly.

"No more apples!" A yell came from by the fire and the four of them turned their heads to see Dwalin taking an apple from the hands of Merry who was standing beside Pippin, Fili, and Kili.

"But he's only hungry!" Kili hurried to defend the Hobbit.

"The last time the four of you were seen with an apple Thorin was unconscious for three days," Balin interrupted with his calm voice.

"In our defence we didn't know that he was going to walk past at that exact moment," Fili added on.

"He doesn't have the best eyesight either, he should have been able to dodge it really," Pippin remarked.

"You shouldn't have been throwing apples in the first place!" Thorin barked out from where he sat in front of one of the sofas.

"Can I please finish my story without any more interruptions?!" A Hobbit cried out desperately, perched on the top of a table with a head of burnt orange curls.

"You've grown grumpy, uncle," Frodo teased from where he was seated with Sam beside him.

Athena laughed and held onto both of Legolas' hands with her own. "Come on, he was just at the end of his tale," she excitedly told him, pecking his lips one more time before leading him over to one of the sofas where they sat down and she curled up into his side.

Thus a new afterlife was born. Nobody questioned why or how and nobody knew why or how, but perhaps Eru himself had been touched by their unlikely companionship and wished for none of them to part. In time the numbers grew and all their friends were gathered in the new section within the Halls of Mandos, and their friends joined, and their friends joined, and so forth.

"Right, so back to the story," Bilbo cleared his throat and shifted around to become more comfortable.

Though the book that he had written remained in Middle-earth and was trusted to Sam's children, Bilbo had remembered his entire tale. They all sat there and listened intently to the rest of the story. Ori was perched by the fire with knitting needles in his hand and Dori sat beside him wearing a scarf that he had created. Bifur, Bombur, and Bofur were huddled together with a plate of meat in front of them. Balin and Dwalin took their seats either side of Thorin who was sitting on the floor and listening intently to the retelling of their journey. Glóin sat with Óin and was trying to fix the hearing trumpet for his brother. Nori was searching for more wool that his cousin could use to finish the blanket he was knitting. Boromir, Faramir, Éowyn, and Éomer were perched together on their own sofa, smiling at the Hobbit that was speaking. Aragorn and Arwen took their places on cushions on the ground, hands locked together. Gimli took his place and sat beside Legolas while Merry and Pippin made their way to Athena and the both of them found a way to curl up against her side. Fili and Kili found their place on the ground in front of them, their backs leaning against the sofa that held the woman, Elf, Dwarf, and two Hobbits.

Bilbo reached the end of the tale and smiled as the final words of the story left him.

"And he lived happily ever after to the end of his days."