Silhouettes

Chapter 3

20 YEARS LATER
"Oh come along Thran!" Sophia called down to Thranduil.
"I got over my fear of heights all for you to be a mature little chicken!" She laughed at him.
"Aren't we a little bit too old to be climbing trees and running around? My father is teaching me how to run a kingdom! I don't have time for this!"
He yelled back at her.
"Too old! What happened to the Thranduil that indulged in cake and came home with mud all over his clothes?"
Sophia climbed down; a lot more gracefully than Thranduil ever did; so they could talk properly without yelling through the thicket of branches and green leaves.
"Thranduil, you have to make the most of the time you have as an adolescent. Soon your father will want you to marry, and he will pass into the Grey Havens, and you'll have to take over. That means no more tree climbing or adventures!"
Sophia sounded genuinely concerned because this is what they had grown up doing, and she was in no hurry to stop that.

Sophia and Thranduil made their way down to the creek were so many of their childhood memories had been made.
They laid down on the banks among the ferns; that had grown dramatically in the past 20 years.
"We used to have adventures. Do you remember?"
Sophia softly asked.
"I remember."
They turned to face each other, Sophia looking into Thranduil's bright blue eyes, and Thranduil looking into Sophia's soft grey eyes. Butterflies flew around them in the clovers and dandelions, and the sun filtered through the green leaves of tall oaks against a picture perfect blue sky, but at that precise moment, the colourful butterflies were left unnoticed, and the bright sun was just added beauty to young elves appearances. They had been taught about love, heard stories from Thranduil's mother, but they always laughed at the idea of falling in love. But the feeling in their stomachs, the sense of joy that was felt whenever they were together, the two elves realised that the stories could be true.