30: Decisions

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by izzygreenleaf

by izzygreenleaf

[Tauriel POV]

Life went on without me.

It didn't care whether I suffered or not. The patrols still went out, the one thousand extra men still marched to Mirkwood, Melain's pregnancy still progressed.

If hope existed, it never visited me.

I longed for something to shake off the impenetrable gloom that had fallen on me. I considered rejoining the Dunedain and several times, I even made up my mind to do it, but each time, something pulled me back. My heart was waiting for something decisive to happen, but what? Legolas would never return to me. What else was there to wait for?

Melain's baby boy, Fealin, was born in September and, checking the date, I found that it had been exactly one year since Legolas and I had quarrelled at the riverside. The next day would mark one year since I had left Rivendell for the North and the Dunedain. And so, I spent what should have been a happy occasion in tears.

This continued on until one day, when the baby was six months old, I was enjoying a rather lovely spring day bouncing Fealin on my knee on the balcony outside Taurwe and Melain's suite of rooms. I glanced east, to the mountains.

News had come since the day, a year ago, when Legolas and Thranduil had marched away. They had successfully rid the forest of the bulk of the orcs but many still remained. The forest was an even more dangerous place than it had been when I had left.

Taurwe came out and handed me a letter. "This just came," he said.

Wondering, I passed him the baby and ripped open the envelope. I bit my lip as I read the signature at the bottom.

Dear Tauriel,

I hope this letter finds you well. Things here are as well as can be expected, considering the events of the past year. But they could be better. Since you left, the trouble with the spiders has grown. They have multiplied nearly double their previous number.

The current Captian of the guard is doing his best, but he is inexperienced and is finding this more than he can handle. He's threatened to resign.

I understand why this might be impossible for you to consider, but I implore you to come. You could have your position back and in return do great service to your country. But as I said, I understand if you must decline.

Yours,

Thranduil

My first inclination was to throw the letter into the fire. Go back to Mirkwood? Impossible! How could I bear it? A year had not sufficed to take away the pain. It had dulled from that first, stabbing bitterness but it was always there.

But then something caught my eye. The words "your country" seemed to leap out at me. It was true. He had reinstated my citizenship. Mirkwood was my home. And to home you have a duty.

Taurwe and Melain stood, both watching me, waiting to hear the contents of my letter. I turned to them.

"I'm going back to Mirkwood."

[A/N:] Hellloooo for the second time today!! It's chapter 30 and to celebrate, I thought I'd post twice in one day.

It's a relatively short chapter (only 519 words to my usual average of 1500), but you'll have to excuse it on the grounds of a double post. And I liked that ending. :D

So tell me what you think about her going back to Mirkwood! And what is going to happen there? Will Legolas regain his memory? Or will he simply learn to love her all over again? Or will he ever love her again?