Legolas and Tauriel: What I Did For Love

7: Perfection

[Tauriel POV]

Five days after I had woken, Legolas took me outside to the forest. As much as I protested, he still wouldn't let me walk and I had yet to stand. The most strenuous thing Legolas had let me do was sit up. He carried me out to the woods. Before, he had always hid from the guards to a certain extent when we were together, but now, he strode boldly out the door with me in his arms.

As soon as we reached our clearing, he put me down at the base of a tree. After making sure I was wrapped securely in my cloak, he sat down next to me and we began to chat.

I figured that now would be an excellent time to ask him what had really happened here last week. Even after the effects of the poison had mostly worn off, I still remembered it exactly the same. Was that how it really happened?

"Legolas?" I started.

He looked at me in answer.

"Last week.... what happened?" Well that was blunt.

He looked at me with that little half smile he had. "What do you remember happening?"

Why did he have to ask me that? It would be awful if I was remembering something totally different than what happened. Up until then, Legolas had never shown any serious signs of love. What if my memory was still distorted by the poison?

"I-I don't know if I remember it correctly." My face grew hot and I looked away.

He turned my face back to him. "Does this help?" And he kissed me. Kissed me!

I was stiff with shock at first but then I melted into it. We pulled back and I looked into his eyes. His soft and mine wide.

"Did it help?" he asked.

I smiled. "Yes. Yes, it did." I pulled him back into another kiss, this time wrapping my hands around his neck.

"I need to ask you something," Legolas said when we broke the kiss.

"What?" I asked.

He moved from his sitting position to one knee. Then, he pulled a small, wooden box out of his tunic. I recognized it immediately.

"Legolas..." I said.

"Tauriel, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife and excepting this as a token of our love?" he asked, pulling his mother's necklace out of its box.

I sat there for a moment, staring at the necklace, stunned.

"But... your father," I protested.

"I don't care about my father's objections. Under normal circumstances, I would, but this is more important to me."

His eyes were so hopeful I hated to say no. But could I tear him apart from his father just to ensure my happiness? I knew I loved him and he loved me but was that love worth breaking apart the last fragment of family he had left? And then I knew the answer. He would be more happy with me than without me. He would still have family. I would be his family.

"Yes," I said, a smile breaking out on my face.

His smile matched mine and he pulled me toward him for another kiss.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you too," I whispered back.

"May I?" he asked, holding out the necklace.

I nodded and brushed my hair to the side. Legolas moved behind me and fastened the necklace around my neck.

"There. Now no one can say you aren't my princess," he said and kissed my cheek from behind.

"I'm not a princess, Legolas."

[Legolas POV]

"You are to me and soon you will be to the whole world," I answered.

Tauriel had always been a princess to me. She had never been less. Maybe I had loved the princess more as a sister when I was younger, but that feeling hadn't lasted long.

"Suite yourself." Tauriel shrugged. "But I don't really want to be a princess. I just want to marry you and that happens to come with the package."

I smiled. "Well, you deserve the position."

"And now you lie."

"No, I don't."

"You do. But let's not argue about it now," said Tauriel.

"I agree," I said. Then I kissed her again.

I carried her back to her room soon after and laid her on the bed.

"Legolas?" she asked. "When can I get out of bed?"

"Not today. You still need rest."

"Legolas, it's been almost a week already! How much rest do I need?"

"Enough to fully recover. I don't want you to suffer a set-back."

"But I feel perfectly fine. I could get up and swing through the trees right now and feel just the same as I normally would."

"You won't. You will stay here, and rest."

"I hate that word," she mumbled.

I sighed. "Listen, maybe you can tomorrow. I said maybe," I added when I saw the look of elation on her face.

"Ok, ok. Maybe," she mocked.

"Well this is a really great start to our engagment. It's only been an hour and we're already fighting," I murmered.

"Sorry, it's just....," Tauriel looked down at her hands.

"I know." I reached out and stroked her cheek. "I need to go. Promise me you'll not get out of bed while I'm gone."

She nodded. I kissed her again and left. Now, all was perfect, but soon it wouldn't be. I still had to tell my father.