Legolas and Tauriel: What I Did For Love

3: Invitation

A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. But I may or may not make up for it by posting another one later today. Anyway I just wanted to say that though some of the elements of this story may be similar to a lot of the other Legolas/Tauriel fanfic out there it was made up long before I read any of it. I started this right after The Desolation of Smaug came out. I didn't write it down for whatever reason but I remembered it all, thankfully. :)

2 months later....

[Legolas POV]

I ran through the halls and tried to catch up to Tauriel as she threaded her way across the palace on the root pathways. I could see her three levels below me headed toward the 2nd courtyard. I wanted to catch her before she got there.

I stopped for a moment and searched for the quickest way to intercept her. Then I ran forward a few steps and  jumped off the pathway. Above me, I heard a gasp from a girl who had been walking towards me on the same path. I landed in a crouch on a root that was a level below the one I had jumped from.

I ran and caught on of the giant roots that ran almost straight down from the top to the bottom of the cavern. I used the twisted carvngs on the root as hand holds and climbed down three levels. Tauriel had gone down two levels since I had first seen her and was nearing the 2nd courtyard. She as now only a level below me and I searched for an area where the path I was on came above hers. Nothing. I would have to take the long way. I ran as fast as I could to the twisting staircase that joined our paths.

In my haste I amost fell down the stairs.

"Tauriel!" I shouted. But she had just entered the hall that led towards the courtyard.

I sprinted over the remaining path and through the archway Tauriel had just entered. There was one turn between me and the door into the courtyard and Tauriel was nowhere to be seen between me and the turn.

I rounded the bend and saw her just about to enter the courtyard. I shouted her name again and she turned to look at me.

"Hey," I said, breathless.

"How far have you been running?" she asked.

"Uhhh...I don't know. I was five levels up. But I jumped a few levels."

"You shouldn't do that, Legolas. It's dangerous."

"You do it too."

"So? Doesn't mean you should. Besides, if that's all you did you need to run more. You're getting out of shape."

"Hey!"

She smirked. "Try it. You'll be amazed at the results. If you're not careful I may beat you in a race."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah right."

"All right, fine. Good luck with your illusions of superiority."

"What?!"

Tauriel smiled again. "What did you run all the way down here for?"

"I wanted to know if you wanted to go for a walk with me in the forest later."

"You do know it's the beginning of January, right?"

"So?"

Tauriel rolled her eyes at me. "So, it's cold."

"We can wear winter cloaks."

"I sent mine to the launderer. It got covered in spider guts yesterday."

"You can borrow one of mine. Ada has me keep like ten around 'in case I need them.'" I really wanted her to go on this walk with me.

"Fine, then. What time?"

I grinned "Meet me at the lower door by your room at four."

"Right. See you there." And she opened the door and walked into the courtyard.

I smiled to myself as I walked away. Now all I had to do was make sure my father didn't hear about this. He would consider it as a step in the wrong direction. A step towards showing that I like Tauriel as more than a friend. And I was pretty sure he would be right.