Ithildin - Legolas x OC

Chapter 33: Bliss

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After Gandalf and Merry left for Minas Tirith on Shadowfax, I stand outside Theoden's hall at sunset, watching the colours dance across the sky.

I turn my head when someone leaves the hall, facing them completely when I see it is Eomer. He falters when he notices me, averting his gaze.

"My Lady." He nods, but I call to him before he walks away.

"We did not dance." I tell him, feeling a little guilt.

He glances to me. "You were...otherwise occupied."

I nod, then slowly smile. "For the best I think. I fear you would not have been able to keep up with me."

He looks at me then, his lips pulling up into a smile of his own. "You seem so sure of it. We Men do our fair share of dancing."

"Yes." I lean back against the pillar behind me and fold my arms. "I saw your people dancing." I incline my head. "It was...interesting."

"Interesting?" He repeats, walking closer. "The Elf I first met would not have chosen such a complimentary word."

I raise an eyebrow. "No? Tell me, what would she have said?"

He purses his lips as he thinks and tilts his head. "Something along the lines of; you mortals call that dancing? I have seen trees dance in a prettier fashion than this." He pulls a face and takes a sharpness to his voice, trying to mimic me.

I laugh. "Yes, that does sound like something I would say." He smiles at me as I nod. "And you're right. I have seen trees move more naturally than the atrocity I witnessed last night."

He smiles and leans against the pillar closest to him, pausing before he says, "Yourself and Lord Aragorn, you are...close."

"We are." I nod.

"It is odd, I have never thought a Man to speak the Elvish tongue so eloquently." He frowns at me. "And the pair of you, you argue and then jest as if you are siblings." He glances to the hall. "I should know, Eowyn and I are the same."

I nod again, "We are siblings, in a way. Aragorn grew up in Rivendell and my father raised him—I raised him, in some parts." I shake my head and look out to the hills. "Time has not passed for me the way it has for him...and I sometimes forget that he has grown from a boy to a man before my very eyes, whereas I have always looked the same to him." I smile then. "My time spent with him has passed so quickly, yet it feels like he has always been there. Lurking...as he tends to."

"And now you journey with him across the earth, battling beside him."

"Despite his reluctancy, yes."

Eomer frowns. "Reluctancy? I have seen you with my very eyes, you are an incredible soldier. He cannot fear for your lack of skill."

I smile at him softly. "My kin sail away from these lands, and I know that deep in his mind, Aragorn wishes for me to join them."

"Yet...you do not wish to?"

"Not yet." I say honestly with a sigh. "One day I may go, and I can reunite with my mother there, but...I do not feel ready to leave yet."

"We will go together." Legolas says as he slowly approaches us from the walkway behind the hall, a faint smile on his face. "When the time is right for us both."

Eomer's gaze moves to Legolas briefly, then turns away.

I turn my head as Legolas stands close to me, and smile at him. "Yes. I would like that."

He smiles down at me, then lifts his head to look at Eomer, his eyes hardening slightly.

Eomer straightens, holding his gaze for a moment before turning to me and smiling a little. "Thank you, for your conversation. Goodnight to you."

He nods his head to me, which I return, then he continues down the stairs and onto the path below.

"He watches you." Legolas says quietly once Eomer is gone, his voice slightly sharp. "He forgets himself."

"He is a mortal Man," I smile. "I'm practically a Goddess to his eyes." Legolas looks to me and I turn to him and smirk, "Are you jealous, Legolas?"

"He is a Lord amongst Men, and I am an Elven Prince." He raises an eyebrow at me. "What would I have to be jealous of?"

I laugh, shaking my head at him. Legolas smiles and places his hands on my waist to turn my body towards him.

"Besides, I can do this," he ducks his head close to my face and whispers, "and he cannot."

He kisses me then, and I practically melt in his arms, my hand moving up his chest to hold the back of his neck as our lips move in sync with one another. Legolas pulls our bodies flush together, his hands firm on my waist and I feel him smile as we kiss.

Bliss—never ending bliss is what his kiss feels like, his lips soft against mine...and I cannot quite believe that it is real, that we are here and finally true to one another.

We part, our faces touching as we smile at one another, but Gimli's deep laugh has us turning our heads.

"Ah ha!" He chuckles, pointing at us from across the veranda. "Ohh, you two. I knew it! You cannot keep secrets from me, we Dwarves have a natural skill. Eyes of an eagle and ears of a fox, I tell you!"

"Go away, Gimli." Legolas smirks, turning back to me. "I will not stop on your account."

He kisses me again as I chuckle, the sound trapped in my throat.

"Just you wait until Aragorn finds out!" Gimli laughs. "Oh, you should count your days, Master Elf, he would not like to see you pawing at Amariel in such a way."

I pull away to look at Gimli, Legolas moving his lips to trail light kisses along my jaw and down my neck. "He knows, Gimli," I smile, butterflies erupting in my stomach.

"Oh, does he now?" Gimli grins, before he turns and runs away.

I laugh lightly, my eyes closing again as I sigh, Legolas continuing to kiss my neck—until he abruptly pulls away. Concern and a little fear fill his face as he turns to where Gimli once stood.

He looks back to me, frowning, "You do not think he will actually tell Aragorn—"

"Legolas!" Aragorn's deep voice rings out from inside the hall. Our heads both turn to the sound.

I watch as Legolas' eyes go wide, his eyebrow raising as he turns back to me.

"Or, maybe he will."

"What—" I start, but he gives me one more quick kiss, before jumping off the wall beside us and to the ground.

No human could make that jump without injury.

I look down as he pushes his back flush against the wall, but when I hear Aragorn's rushed footsteps I look up to the direction Legolas first appeared from in the hopes of drawing Aragorn away.

"Legolas!" Aragorn calls, his face set in a stern expression as he storms over to me. "Where is he? Hm?" He points to me, "I may be content with your happiness, Amariel, but I will not allow him to besmirch your honour in such a way!"

My eyes fly wide, "Gimli!" I turn to the Dwarf with a hiss, "What did you say to him?"

Aragorn turns the corner past me, to where I was previously looking before he arrived, and continues down the stone veranda.

"Legolas! Nin ú-bedin na!"
(You cannot hide from me!)

I watch as Aragorn turns another corner, his head turning in each direction as Gimli follows behind him, laughing,

"Oh, this I have got to see!"

I sigh as Legolas climbs back up the wall and to his feet beside me. He looks to where Aragorn ran to, then inclines his head at me, saying with a serious expression,

"Maybe sailing West is a good idea after all."

I laugh, then grab his hand and run down the steps, away from Aragorn.

~*~