Within Dreams [A Legolas love story]

Luminesce

 "Mum," I laughed, "Stop giving me cake! I shall bloat into a whale!" 

My mother disregarded this and cut me another slice, which I promptly devoured. Licking the chocolate off my fingers, I grinned, probably revealing chocolatey teeth as well. My dad took a picture and beamed proudly.

"Oh, baby," he said. "Look at you, seventeen years old."

That night, I unattractively fell into my clearing without a sound. Falling all the time was really not cool. But hey, at least I was back. I hadn't appeared consistently even two days in a row for about a year. Assuming Legolas and Faewyn were at the palace, I made my way there, flickering through the trees as fast as I could. We were to meet at the palace library, and although there was no way to know when I could show up, Legolas told me the guards would notify him.

Somehow, as soon as I showed up, Legolas and Faewyn were there. They seemed to have been talking about something important, but disregarded it as I walked towards them. Faewyn was looking at me, grey eyes widening in shock. Although I followed her gaze, I couldn't see what she was looking at. 

"What?" I asked, unperturbed. 

Mutely, she steered me over to a conveniently placed mirror on the wall. As I peered into it, I saw three small, silvery stars just below my collarbone.

"W-what is this..." I asked, trailing off.

"That is the mark of Lorien, Lord of Dreams," she said in a hushed tone. "Gianna, what is going on?!"

I set my jaw as I remembered the silver stag's words.

"We must go to Orodruin," I looked down at the floor, trying to focus on an inauspicious curling gold thread on the rug.

"Thanks for answering my question," Faewyn rolled her eyes.

"Gia..." Legolas started in a small voice.

"Hmm?" I asked, not meeting his eyes. He still didn't want me to go..

"I don't think-", he began, but, I did it, I interrupted the Prince.

"No." I said flatly. "Legolas, I'm not a child! I know how dangerous and arduous that trip is, alright?" 

He looked at me, hurt sparking briefly in his eyes before he nodded mutely and turned to look out towards the arched windows.

"But...how will this work?" Faewyn asked timidly. The tension in the room was palatable.

"You mean the fading thing?" I asked heavily. She nodded.

"I have three stars, so... Since Lórien is the Lord of Dreams, maybe...I don't know. I suppose the only way to divine their true purpose is to...see, I suppose."

Legolas turned to face me again. "If you wish it, we shall go. But it is likely we shall not make it."

"Wow, ever the optimist, aren't we?" I said sarcastically. Faewyn and I winced simultaneously. 

Ouch, that was cold. 

Legolas's expression hardened.

"There is a line between optimism and blind hope," he said politely.

"Legolas..." I pleaded, putting a hand cautiously on his arm. His breath caught in his throat and he looked away.

"Don't." he said forcefully, nimbly sidestepping us. "We'll talk later. Boe i 'waen. (Goodbye)"

Without looking back, he disappeared from the room, shadow briefly flickering in the torchlight until not even that was left.

"Ai! I am the absolute worst!" I moaned, burying my face in my hands.

"No you aren't," Faewyn reassured me bemusedly.

"Faewyn...I am so fortunate to have friends like you both--if Legolas is even that--and I likely just ruined any chance we had of getting him to come with us!" I said, my words tumbling over themselves.

"But why wouldn't Legolas consider you a friend?" she asked, frowning. "He seems to hold you in high esteem."

"No, he doesn't," I scowled at the tapestry of Beren and Luthien hanging on the opposite wall.

"What?" Faewyn said with a small laugh.

"I'm convinced he thinks me imbecile, ingenue. Why would he befriend me, especially after it's clear how obnoxious I am?"

I know, I was being dramatic, but I meant it. Ever since I met him, I just felt as if he regarded me cooly, below him, because, technically, my 17 years were nothing on his 2,000+.

"Gianna," Faewyn sighed. "Don't be ridiculous. He thinks of you as his equal."

"And you know this how, again?" I asked skeptically.

"Obvious," she shrugged. "Very well, why must we go to Orodruin again?"

With a hesitant look, I told her about the stag.

"You saw the Silver Stag?" Faewyn confirmed, somewhat dazedly.

"Yes, but I bet it is a common occurrence." I answered nonchalantly.

"You bet wrong," Faewyn said fervently.

I was really still not sure what I was doing, but I was standing outside of Legolas's bedroom, trying to win the inner debate about whether or not I should knock. Faewyn had somehow managed to convince me that Legolas needed to know about the stag, so here I was, probably about to make a fool of myself yet again. Fantastic. The door flew open. Legolas stood there, all elegance and good looks, with forlorn me loitering on his doorstep.

"Uh...hello..." I said, confused. I hadn't even knocked.

"Hello," he said gravely, making to walk past me.

"No...Legolas!" I answered hopelessly. "Please, Legolas, listen to me."

Although I was trying to be mature, it managed to sound like a whine. He turned, catching me in his blue gaze again.

"Gianna..." he started. "I don't want..."

"Yeah, I know, you don't want me to go to the ruins," I said, rather irritably.

"No, that is not what I meant," he said. "I don't want to make things worse."

Worse? 

How could he possibly make anything worse? He was the Prince, the perfectly perfect Prince of Mirkwood.

"How could you possibly make things worse?" I said aloud, staring at him in confusion.

"I...forgive me for disparaging you like that, I did not mean to withhold you from your opinions. You can make your own decisions," he replied, looking at me cautiously.

"I didn't come to ask of you an apology, Legolas," I said with a sigh. "Though I forgive you. I only hope you can forgive me in the same way."

"Sarcasm is not always a bad thing," he said thoughtfully.

"Oh, you won't be saying that later," I said darkly, internally wilting at my ferocious ability to concoct comebacks.

"Why are there stars on your skin?" he asked, after a brief pause.

"What sta--Oh, those stars. Um, Faewyn said it has to do with Lorien," I said. "No idea why, though."

"Well, they're glowing," he said matter-of-factly, as if one commonly came across people tattooed with luminescent shapes.

"Great," I said, rolling my eyes. "I probably have to go complete a quest now or something."

Suddenly, something yanked me backwards and all I heard was Legolas exclaim a brief word in Elvish.