Legolas and Tauriel: What I Did For Love

16:Leaving

[Legolas]

It started out as a leisurely stroll through the woods, but it ended in a fight. A fight that had drastic consequences.

It was early September, at sunset. I was walking in the woods at the bottom of the valley, along the river. Then, I came to a portion of the river where it was shallow along the bank for quite a ways and several large rocks jutted out of the water. Tauriel stood in the water, far enough in that it reached to her knees. She wore a green linen dress and it and her hair, which reached to her calves, floated around her. The golden sunlight kissed her hair.

She was breathtaking.

I don't know how long I stood there watching her wade slowly around, but eventually, she noticed me.

"How long are you going to stare?"

I blinked and walked closer. "Sorry."

She laughed and splashed water on me.

"Hey!" I pulled off my boots and joined her in the water, doing my best to douse her in the process, but really, only getting sopping wet myself. We paused for a moment to catch our breath. Tauriel looked me up and down and laughed at my drenched tunic.

"That isn't nice!" I pretended to scold.

She stuck her tongue out at me. With a grin, I started towards her. She backed away. Then all of the sudden she was sitting in the water. I snickered.

"Be a gentleman and help a girl up," she grumbled, holding out a hand. I took it and helped her to her feet.

"You should do that more often," I said, plopping down one of the rocks. This one was low and virtually flat topped.

She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You look pretty with your hair wet."

She slapped my shoulder and sat down next to me on the rock, then changed her mind and lay down with her head in my lap and her hair trailing into the water.

We stayed that way for some time as the sun finished setting and the twilight deepened around us.

"When are you going to see your father?" Tauriel murmured.

I looked down at her, startled. "My father?"

"You can't stay away forever. You have to go home sometime."

"I'm not going anytime soon."

She sat up. "Legolas, you need to forgive him. You can't hold a grudge against your father."

"I'll forgive him when he makes right what he did wrong." I couldn't just forgive him out of the blue.

Her eyes flared and I could almost imagine the fires inside them matching her hair. "You can't tear apart your family because of me!"

"The king already tore it apart!" I snapped. "There's nothing left for me to ruin."

"No. It's cracked, but it's not broken. And you have the power to mend it." She looked me in the eye, pleadingly. "You don't realize what a precious thing your family is." And she turned and ran.

[Tauriel]

I glanced over my shoulder, making sure nobody was watching, then, I slipped through the armoury door. People were bustling around, some getting their weapons sharpened, some polishing armour, and others were doing a whole host of different things. I headed for the sharpeners. Normally, I sharpened my own knives, but this time, I wanted to make sure they were done extra well.

I handed in my knives and turned to leave, almost bumping into Tanna.

"Oh, heh, hi!"

Tanna raised an eyebrow and answered my greeting. She fell into step beside me as I continued walking.

"What were you doing there?" she asked after we had exited.

"Getting my knives sharpened. Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. But you always sharpened your own knives."

Quickening my pace a bit, I continued to look strait ahead. "I decided not to today."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her smirk. "I heard that Lord Elrond's sons, Elladin and Elrohir, are leaving tomorrow."

"Where are they going?"

"North. To the Dunedain."

I spite of myself, I almost stopped walking. "I see," I said, keeping my voice controlled.

Tanna laughed. "I also heard that they might be willing to let a few people accompany them."

I glanced at her suspiciously. "Why are you telling me this?"

A sly smile played across her lips. "I thought perhaps you'd be interested in joining them."

This time I did stop. "What would make you think that?"

The smile dissapeared and she assumed an expression of total innocence. "Nothing. Nothing at all."

I glared at her.

Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "Fine! You are horrible at being sneaky. You obviously plan on leaving."

"I'm not planning on going anywhere," I snapped. She didn't follow as a stalked away.

In truth, I was slightly shaken. If Tanna, who had only known me for a few short months, had been able to read me that well, it was very possible that Legoals had sniffed out my plan long before her. Yes, I was leaving and no, I didn't have any idea where I was going. Until now. The Tanna encounter may have been unnerving, but it had certainly been helpful.

But now I had to be even more cautious that Legolas didn't find out.

I spent the remainder of the day collecting supplies, making sure none of my weapons, tack, and clothing needed repairs, and talking with Elladan and Elrohir. They counciled me against leaving, but I refused. In the end, they gave me permission ot accompany them. I waited to ask them until late in the evening so that there was little chance of Legolas finding out before it was too late. However, as an extra precaution I asked them to promise to tell no one I was going.

Early the next morning, I met them at the edge of the valley as we had arranged the night before. To my utter astonishment, Tanna was waiting as well.

She laughed when she saw my face. "Did you think I had found out that information purely to tell you?"

So Tanna accompanied us. As Elladan gave the order to move out, I took one last glance into the Valley of Rivendell. I was leaving yet another home, only this time I left no letter, only a memory.

A/N: HEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I know, it's been FOREVER since I updated. But in my defense, I've been horribly busy this past month. But anyway, let me know what you think of this new plot twist!

And in the last chapter, I asked several questions BUT NOBODY ANSWERED!!!!!! PLEASE ANSWER THEM! I was kinda depending on the feedback.