Legolas and Tauriel: What I Did For Love

5: Spies and Weird Conversations

A/N: Wow was this chapter fun to write. Oh and btw, in this story, Elves grow at the same rate as humans. I know some people say otherwise but I have yet to find any place in Tolkien's writing's where it says that they age differently. That's not to say there isn't a place that says that but I haven't seen it yet and I have read pretty extensively in Tolkien's books. Oh and I'm assuming that, to reach the level of excellency that they achieve, Elves train for up to 500 years. They often fight before then but they aren't considered 'fully trained' until then. I'm pretty sure that Tolkien doesn't say that anywhere but I figure that since they're so good they probably work a lot longer than humans do (and they're elves so they're naturally a lot better) and since they're immortal, they have a lot more time to work on it. So I just chose 500 years. Yeah that's a long time for us but not for an elf. Anyway, I just wanted to explain that. :) Thanks so much for reading!!

[Thranduil POV]

The next day, I found out from my personal servant what time Legolas and Tauriel usually went out. Then, dressed in the greens and browns that the soldiers usually wore to blend in, I waited in the forest near the door near Tauriel's room. I figured that would be where they started from. Sure enough, they soon walked out the door and began walking into the forest. I panicked for a moment. They walked right underneath the tree I was sitting in. Luckily, they were too preoccupied with eachother, otherwise they would have noticed me. It wouldn't look good for the king of Mirkwood to be lurking around in the forest for no apparent reason.

I trailed them through the trees, far enough behind that I could easily hide if they happened to look back but close enough that I wouldn't easily lose track of them. I knew they would have known I was there had they hadn't been preoccupied, but since they were, it was safe.

[Tauriel POV]

Throughout our conversation on the way to the clearing, I couldn't help but notice that Legolas kept looking at me. Not the normal way, though. The way he had looked at me when he first asked me to take a walk with him. It was strange, but I couldn't help but like it. Even though I could feel my cheeks redden every time I noticed it.

I wanted to ask him about it but decided it would be awkward and weird.

When we reached our clearing, we sat down and began talking as usual. Eventually, the conversation turned toward our childhood together. Or teenagerhood. I don't know what to call it.

"You remember that time we got locked in one of the cells in the dungeon?" I asked.

Legolas chuckled. "How could I forget? We were fifteen and terrified."

I laughed too. "It was your fault. You were chasing me around."

"Because you took my boot."

"What'd you leave it on the ground for?"

"I was fixing the lace on both of my boots. I had finished with that one and was trying to pull the other one off."

"And hopping around like a chicken with its head cut off."

"Have you ever tried taking your boot off from a standing position?" he asked. "It's nearly impossible to do it without almost falling over."

"Almost impossible, but not quite." I stood up and gracefully removed one of my boots. "See?"

"Ok, so you can do it. As a long-legged fifteen-year-old, I couldn't," he said as I put my boot back on and sat down again.

"So you could do it now?" I asked.

"Of course!"

"Show me."

"Now?"

"No, next year. Of course now!"