Bluestar | Legolas x OC

Chapter 28: A Ghost of Lavender

January 17th TA 3019

The Fellowship settled under the roots of a great mallorn tree. Grey cloth shaded them from the soft glow of the lanterns as they draped over the silver wood. Their travelling clothes had been given to the Elves to mend, but they remained with the layers underneath. Legolas held a silver pitcher as he approached a stone fountain, now only clad in his grey tunic and pants.

"A lament for Gandalf... in Quenya," he spoke, hearing the Elves singing in the unfamiliar Elvish tongue in the distance, catching the Wizard's name. Their soft voices echoed through the woods. Aragorn sharpened his sword while Gimli slept in a cot beside him. "What do they say about him?" Merry asked whilst Sam ruffled his pillows. "I have not the skill to tell you, nor the heart to try." Legolas turned to face him, a quiet sorrow in his eyes. "For me, the grief is still too near."

Merry faced Aragorn with a question. "Who knows Quenya here?" The Ranger honed his sword again, the metal clanging with his swipe. "Eluin does." "How many languages does she know?" the Hobbit asked. "Three. Sindarin, Quenya and Westron," Aragorn patiently replied.

Speak of the devil, and she shall appear. Eluin quietly stepped down from the stairs that wrapped around the tree. Her blue jerkin was gone, and she abandoned her fingerless gloves. The Elves had taken her torn tunic, so now she donned one that revealed her arms, grey and threaded with silver, like her previous. The linen around her arm had been replaced, poison gone from her body.

The Galadhrim's singing tugged at her heart like the weight of the dagger kept in her boot. A Olórin, i yáresse... mentaner i Númenherui... tírien i Rómenóri, Maiaron i oiosaila, manan elye etevanne nórie i melanelye? (Gandalf, who once was... sent by the Lords of the West... to guard the lands of the East, wisest of all Maiar, what drove you to leave that which you loved?)

The next part of the song was sung in Sindarin, which Legolas, Aragorn and Frodo understood. Mithrandir, Mithrandir, a Randir Vithren. Ú-reniathach i amar galen. I reniad lín ne mór, nuithannen. In gwidh ristennin, i fae narchannen, i lach Anor ed ardhon gwannen. Caled veleg... ethuiannen. (Gandalf, Gandalf o Pilgrim Grey. No more will you wander the green fields of Middle Earth. Your journey has ended in darkness. The bonds cut, the spirit broken, the Flame of Anor has left this World. A great light... extinguished.) They lowered their heads.

"Bet they don't mention his fireworks. There should be a verse about them," Sam said to Merry as he made his bed. The Hobbit then stood up, looking upon the Fellowship.

"The finest rockets ever seen," Sam started, causing the companions to look at him as he continued, "They burst in stars of blue and green," Gimli was snoring beside Aragorn as the Ranger turned, annoyed. "Or after thunder... silver showers..." Aragorn smacks the Dwarf's pillow to stop him from interrupting Sam. Gimli grunted in response, still asleep. "Came falling like a... rain of flowers- oh, that doesn't do them justice by the long road," Sam cut himself off before sitting back down. Nonetheless, the Fellowship smiled at his attempt to honour Gandalf.

Eluin couldn't take it anymore. She needed to be alone. The elleth slipped off into the forest, her footsteps non-existent. Yet Legolas noticed and followed after setting the pitcher down on the grass. He followed her as she took a quiet path through the city and out, back into the heart of the Golden Wood. Leaves crunched under their boots as he called, "Eluin, where are you going?"

"Somewhere alone," Eluin muttered without looking back. She wanted solitude, especially from him. "Let me come with you," Legolas said as he walked behind her like a shadow, though she was several feet away. "No, I said 'alone'." Her footsteps quickened. Legolas persisted, determined not to leave. "Stop following me, Legolas." Her warning cut through the silver light.

"You don't need to bear your grief alone. Why do you distance yourself from us? The Fellowship-" Eluin suddenly whipped around, cutting him off, "It's not them I'm distancing myself from, Legolas. This is about more than just Mithrandir. It's you." The ellon stopped walking, surprise settling in his features. "And every time, you keep coming back. Stop." Eluin's tone was stern, a husk of her usual silvery voice, sapphire eyes veiled with shadows.

"We're friends, Eluin. Friends look out for each other-" Legolas tried to brush off. "Don't lie to yourself. We both know friendship isn't what drives you." The Prince blinked at her words. A soft wind rocked them, bringing Legolas's musk of earthy oak to Eluin. A recognition flashed in her head at that being the scent of what the Athelas herb smelled like to her. She refocused. "I can't give you what you want." Eluin tried to mask the tremble in her voice as Legolas remained quiet. The chirps of nightingales filled the silence but brought no solace. His silence was enough to confirm that it wasn't just mere camaraderie between them that kept bringing him back.

After a brief moment, he spoke, "It won't change the fact that I care for you." "Legolas, no-" Eluin tried to stop him, but he ignored it and continued to confess, "I care for you, Eluin. Ever since I first saw you at my coming-of-age ceremony in Greenwood." This caused her silence.

Legolas went on, eager to finally let her know. "That was the first time I saw you. I remember it as if it was just a moon ago. You weren't drinking; you couldn't. Eight years later, you could have, but not then." His silky voice wavered, unlike his feelings, the memory fresh in his mind.

"Stop-" Eluin retried, but the ellon wouldn't yield. "I can recall exactly how you looked, every detail... because that's what drew me to you. Your dress was silver... as if woven from the light of the moon and stars themselves, yet it was eclipsed by the radiance of your beauty. You stood beside your sister and brothers all night, but forgive me on their behalf because I only saw you. Nothing has changed. Still, I only see you." Even if Legolas wanted to stop, he couldn't.

Eluin's voice trembled, "Listen to me-" That very moment flashed in her mind. The House of Elrond had been in the royal gardens of Greenwood, attending the Prince of the Woodland Realm's coming-of-age ceremony when he turned 100. Eluin had been 92, so she couldn't drink like the others. A memory of when she had refused the wine from the staff played vividly. Their first introduction to each other was then. Now, they stood before each other, ages almost 2700.

"And lavender..." Legolas uttered as he stepped closer. "The very scent that lingers around you always, even now. Like a ghost, you have been haunting me. For all my immortal life, you have inhabited my mind and now tangled yourself in my heart." Another step. "Even in these times of darkness, when nothing makes sense, your eyes hold the same starlight that captivated me in Greenwood. It's always been you. Still, you are so close... yet so far." His fingers twitched.

Eluin was overwhelmed. Her grief for Gandalf, her fear of letting Legolas in, his declaration, and the burden of the Fellowship's journey all riddled together as they ravenously tore at her mind. She couldn't let this happen. She can't accept his affection. Two sides, one that longed for him and the one scared to death of it, fought furiously in her head, with no clear victor in sight.

"If you just tell me you don't feel the same-" Legolas began, yearning for a sign of anything from her. Overcome with emotions, Eluin broke as she stepped back, "Legolas, leave me alone!" A flicker of regret passed through her eyes, seeing Legolas flinch back, a flash of hurt in his.

"Just... let me be... please," Eluin pleaded, breathing heavily as Legolas watched her turn away. She walked swiftly on the stone, and as she turned the corner, she broke off into a sprint.

Legolas stood rooted to the path, his green eyes fixed on where Eluin had just been before looking down at the ground. The lavender lingered, its sweetness juxtaposed with the bitterness he felt. Like a ghost, Eluin haunted him. But every time he tried to reach for her, she was intangible, unable to grasp or hold. And like a ghost, she'd disappear without a trace.

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Elleth - Elf-woman

Ellon - Elf-man