Playing with Fire [Legolas/Tauriel]

7: A Princess's Advice

Chapter 7

Tauriel rose from her bed after no sleep the previous night. She had spent the time thinking about what Princess Kelda might have to say to her. After all, the young princess was not like her brother. She gave much importance to her role in the kingdom, and to status and titles.

She started ascending the steps, her feet moving slowly, as if she was trudging through mud. On her way, she couldn't help but think back to when her mother had died. Even then, Legolas had never cared about her status.

[Flashback]

"Tauriel?" Even though she could hear him, she didn't respond. Her voice would have been drowned in the rain anyway, so why bother?

"Tauriel, I-" Legolas stopped in front of her, and his smile faded.

She sat cross-legged to hide her injury, with her head down, her shoulders shaking. She didn't care if he saw her cry. There was no point, no point to any of it...

Legolas bent down in front of her and watched her carefully, before saying, "I am sorry to hear about Feya."

She looked up at his handsome face; it had grown handsome over the last hundred years. His blue eyes were gentle, soft with his concern, but she didn't want it.

"It doesn't matter." She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I couldn't save her, that's all that matters."

Legolas took a deep breath, and sat down next to her. She felt his hand rubbing her back. "Tauriel, what happened?"

She laughed, but it sounded hollow. "I was helping my mother find herbs, but it started to rain. She and I got separated at some point. I couldn't see her, Legolas!"

He offered her a handkerchief from his tunic. "And then the Orcs came?"

She nodded, and felt herself lose control again before she could even speak. The sobbing returned, and this time, she couldn't stop. She brought her knees up to her head and cried into them, letting the tears soak into her forest green dress.

As for Legolas...he had never seen her this distressed before. Feya was her mother, her primary guardian and her best friend. He tried to imagine what his life would be like without his father.

He took the younger elleth in his arms and continued rubbing her back, feeling her shaking sobs through her dress. "Hush, Tauriel. It will be all right. Everything will be fine," he tried to keep his voice steady, but could feel it wavering. A single tear escaped his eye and fell into Tauriel's flaming hair.

"Why do you care so much?" She spoke into his shoulder. "I am so much lower than you, and yet you spend so much-too much time with me. Why? Why am I so important?"

"Because you are my friend," he said simply.

She pulled away from him in shock. The sun's rays had started to make their way through the branches of the wood, and she could see him smiling.

"You are my best friend," he repeated. "We have been through so much together and I could not imagine my life without your friendship in it.

He sighed. "To be truthful, Tauriel, I have never cared for the social stratification in Greenwood. All elves are equal to me. I fight alongside my kin, and that is enough."

She smiled softly. "You are a true rarity in this world, Legolas Greenleaf."

He returned her smile with a wink. "That's what I've been told." He offered her his hand. "Can you stand?"

She shook her head, remembering that she has twisted her ankle in the fight. When she told him this, Legolas simply offered her his arms, so that she may jump into them.