Riding With the Elves // Legolas x OC

Epilogue

~ Legolas, Wynne and Gimli sail west. ~

Epilogue

Belegaer Ocean, Fourth Age 120

Legolas strained his eyes to see better. Was there not a hint of land? That purple line on the horizon. "I see it," he cheerfully exclaimed.

"I shall trust your word for it." His wife crept under his arm. She didn't even try to look where he pointed, having never been able to compete with his eyesight. "What if they won't let me ashore?" A hint of worry was in her voice.

"You know Círdan would not have helped us build the ship if he thought they would refuse you. And he is friends with the Vala of the Sea so he should know. Besides, I am a Fellowship Hero, remember? There must be some perks after all the heroic deeds I performed." He grinned.

"Well, you did get a plaque... a small one, but still."

Legolas laughed and hugged her, appreciating how wiry and hale her body was even after over a hundred years. Probably because of that Dúnedain heritage of hers, or maybe it was all the horseback riding?

Looking back at their time together so far, Legolas felt blessed. They had accomplished much in Ithilien; seen it grow from a desolate war-marred land to an attractive country of vast, lush forests and orchards, famous for its breed of beautiful and intelligent horses.

Even the cities were green with an abundance of parks and hanging gardens. Over the years, Osgiliath had become almost a second capital of Gondor, very different from the ancient Minas Tirith with her beautiful architecture and renowned university that attracted scholars and students from all over Arda. Osgiliath was young and cocky, a commercial city bustling with energy, a hub for young, talented people of all races. Here humans, dwarves, hobbits, orcs and uruk-hai worked together, joined by their ambition to prosper and grow, but always in harmony with the surrounding nature.

Living close to nature had been what Legolas needed, what had made him grow and become the ellon he was today. Thranduil had once called Wynne a woman of the lands, but what he had failed to see then was that his son was an elf of the lands. Whenever they had visited his adar that had been obvious. Legolas and his wife could endure fine clothes, elegant dinners and civil manners for a few days, but it was always a relief to come back home afterwards.

Yes, Legolas figured he couldn't have chosen a better life, nor a better wife.

He smiled down at her small frame, admiring her almost white curls surrounding her face in an unruly halo. He bent to kiss her wrinkled cheek and then her lovely lips, the taste of which he could never get enough of.

She responded eagerly; it had been a long journey and not much privacy aboard their vessel.

"Get a room, ye two." Gimli's braided hair and beard were iron gray but apart from that the dwarf had hardly changed at all during the many decades Legolas had known him. There was excitement in his features; he would get to see Galadriel again, the love of his life, if only to admire at a distance.

Because of her, Gimli had never married, only cohabited with his girlfriend until her death the previous year, but somehow that arrangement had worked for them. It was perhaps not perfect but they had been happy in their own way.

Legolas was happy too. Soon he would meet his naneth for the first time. He looked forward to introducing Wynne and Gimli to her, and to see her be reunited with Thranduil – who was not far behind, sailing with Celeborn on Círdan the Shipwright's last ship.

They would all be together. Like a family.

He put his arm around his friend's shoulders. "Soon we shall feast with the Valar, Master Dwarf, and walk in their halls. That will be something to beat those Glittering Caves of yours."

"Let's hope they dinnae serve ye anything stronger than fruit juice then." His laugh rumbled as heartily as ever. "But I wonder what we'll eat, I'm getting tired of fish."

"Well, I know the answer to that." Legolas winked at his wife.

"Lembas." Wynne nodded solemnly. "There shall be lembas. Elves eat nothing else."

The End

A/N:

I'm leaving it open for the reader to decide whether Wynne was granted immortality like Tuor (perhaps as a reward for Legolas' war heroism? lol), or whether she will end her days in Aman eventually. But even if she does, Legolas will have his parents around to comfort him and many happy memories. :)

And now it is time for this story to end its days as well. And what a journey it has been! I have never enjoyed writing anything as much as I did this. I will miss you all, your kind and funny comments, reading your thoughts about the chapters. Maybe we shall meet again, in another story.

Until then, farewell, and I'll end with a quote by Shakespeare (A Midsummer Night's Dream): 

"Good night unto you all. / Give me your hands, if we be friends."

PS. Even if you read this a long time after it was finished, don't be shy to leave a comment. It's never too late. :) Many hugs and kisses to everyone who already did, none mentioned, none forgotten!

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Since writing this, I've written several more fics. If you like Legolas romances, you can try my completed long fic Cat of the Fellowship or my two short stories An Informative Book and Sent to Middle-earth.

Or why not my new WiP where both Legolas and Thranduil find love, called Matched From Birth?

I've also written two Thranduil romances, the shorter The Librarian and the Elvenking and my multi-chapter fic Thranduil's Shadow about his early life and complicated relationship with Legolas' mother.