Collection of One-Shots

》 ci velethril nîn

You and he had both known that the dreadful day would come. It would be many years in the future, but it would come nonetheless. The few precious drops of Númenórean blood would give you a handful of extra years to be together, but even that could not stall the day from coming.

And indeed it came on a cool autumn day. The halls of the Woodland Real were alight with candles and lanterns, the earthen walls and deep wooden furnishings of the room had taken on a warmth like you had never seen before. The trees were painted with golds and oranges, no longer did spiders or evil dwell in Mirkwood. Thranduil and Legolas had restored the forest and secured the borders, it could almost be called Greenwood the Great once again.

Your elf-prince paces at the foot of your shared bed, worried. He had been pacing a lot as of late, it was a wonder that he had not worn a rut into the floor. He still looked as tall and handsome as the day you had first laid eyes on him at the Council of Elrond, though, age had not been able to touch him, but it had taken its toll on you. "Havo dad, Legolas." Your voice was no more than a faint whisper, wispy and fading. He stops in his tracks and looks up at you.

Legolas takes his place on the bed next to you and holds your wrinkled and withering hands. Once you had worried that he would not love you as he did when you were young and beautiful, but such thoughts were ridiculous. Even as your hair greyed and the wrinkles came, Legolas never stopped praising your beauty. He kisses your knuckles. "Do you remember the day we met?" You ask, smiling.

"I do not think I could ever forget it," he responds.

︽︽︽

Aragorn had been there when the village was raided, had seen the slaughter of innocents but there was one he managed to save. A young girl no more than ten, scared and orphaned. Thinking of your first encounter of Estel brought back equal parts elation and pain. He had taken you to Rivendell, the only place he knew was safe from the carnage. The burns and cuts were treated and in time you were trained with sword and bow, growing into a warrior that did not lack for grace.

The council had been called when you were one-and-twenty, at the peak of your recklessness as Aragorn called it. Legolas had pointed you out to Elrond when he heard something moving in the tree above, listening in on the secret meeting. For the first week, you were not fond of the elf at all, it was the hobbits and Boromir you spent most of the days with. The five of you were kindred spirits.

It had taken some time for you to grow accustomed to Legolas. While in the Mines of Moria he never lacked for an excuse to wrap an arm around your waist, keeping you close and safe. At first, it infuriated you to no end, yet by the time you had reached Fangorn Forest it no longer bothered you. It had been before the Battle of Helms Deep that he finally confessed his concern for your wellbeing after you refused to join the women in the Glittering Caves.

︽︽︽

"And then there were Boromir and Gimli's schemes," you say. Boromir and Gimli had been consistent in their schemes of playing matchmaker. They had noticed something between the two of you that at first, you were blind too. You think back to Lothlórien and the way Legolas had comforted you after Gandalf's fall, yet with all his good intentions you know what was beginning to happen. Aragorn had told you, Boromir and Gimli thought it obvious, and even the hobbits seemed to realize it before you had. It was in the realm of Galadriel that you had tried to turn Legolas away, knowing well that whatever relationship came out of the journey would not end happily.

"I tried to make you hate me," you admit, thinking back to the cruel words that had been exchanged but were far from the truth. It was to protect both of you, the thought of him fading was too much to bear.

"I could never," Legolas whispers, leaning forward to kiss your brow. He was weeping, despite how hard he tried to not to. You raise your hand to his ageless cheek, "Don't cry, nín hûn."

The halls darken and you know night has fallen over the land, this would be the last night you would live to see. You could feel the end in your bones and after your long years, it was no longer something to be feared as all the aches and hurts would soon cease. "Will you take me to the stars?" With few spoken words, Legolas lifts you into his arms and carries you through the halls. Some of the elves stop in their tracks, lowering their heads in the presence of their prince and princess. Already a strange sort of sadness had fallen over the realm. Thranduil watched from afar, fearing for his son's heart.

The elven prince held you in his arms atop the cavernous halls of his father. He was oddly quiet and it did not take much for you to realize that he was thinking of other times, darker times.

"I do not wish to dwell on dark days and times," you speak softly and his gaze is drawn back to you, a sad smile playing on his lips. The night sky is clear and every star in the sky shone down on the both of you. "Think of our wedding, nín hûn. Of our times on the road back from Minas Tirith. Of the days we have spent walking through the woods and visiting Gimli."

Legolas presses his nose into your hair as you silently begin counting the stars and that is when you begin to feel a strange numbness in your feet and hands. You quickly take your prince's hand and kiss his palm, holding it to your chest. "We shall see each other again when the world is renewed," you promise. His kiss is soft, sweet, lingering, and tastes like the salt of his tears.

When the silence becomes too much he begins reciting the visible constellations, "Look there is Durin's Crown and Menelmacar," Legolas points to the groupings of stars and you close your tired eyes with a smile. He continues to name the stars, unaware that you can no longer hear or see them. Next to the star he had decided was his mother's as a boy is what looks to be a new star, shining brighter than all the others, smiling down on him.

Ci velethril nîn - you are my love

Havo dad - sit down

Nín hûn - my heart

I would like to apologize to @The_Unsub101 and @Queen_Oreo_Peasant for taking so long to write another Legolas story, I hope you have enjoyed it despite the long wait!