Legolas and Tauriel the dream

Unexpected advice

[Legolas POV]

Legolas helped the Rangers break camp to leave for another location. The Rangers didn't have much, he noticed, just enough to fit into one knapsack per Ranger.

"We do not stay in one place long, my friend." Halbarad explained to Legolas. "Such is the life of a Ranger. We have no home but the wild."

Legolas watched as all the Rangers saddled their horses. "No home?" He asked. "But why is that?"

"We are the last of the Numenorians. Our kingdom fell long ago." Halbarad told him.

They all set out for Rohan. Legolas was once again riding beside Aragorn. The boy looked exhausted. He had to be. After all, he had been exercising a great deal more than he was used to. Legolas had watched Aragorn train. He had a long way to go before he was as good as half of the other Dunedain. 

Legolas remembered his own training. Elrias, his brother had taught him. It had not been easy to learn how to fire a bow with accuracy, and Elrias had not gone easy on his younger brother. Legolas had complained of this to King Thranduil. Their father had said that Elrias had only been hard on him because that was how to learn quickly and accurately. Legolas had been pleased when the next day, he hit the center of the target before Elrias even fired his own bow. Of course, Tauriel had done exactly the same. For quite a while, this had caused the two of them to be rivals.

"She must have been a close friend." Aragorn said, breaking into Legolas' thoughts.

Legolas nodded. "From childhood. My brother trained both of us in archery. But she preferred the daggers. We played together and fought together. Until I had other responsibilities and she became a guard. Until she became Captain we saw each other only at feasts." Legolas explained. He looked straight ahead to the front of the group.

"Was it love?" Aragorn asked him. Legolas looked at him. Perhaps the boy was in love with someone as well.

"I thought it might have been. Until I saw her with the dwarf. And now I do not know." Legolas replied.

"What does your heart say?" Aragorn asked. 

Legolas shook his head. "My heart? How do I know what it says?" he asked.

"You listen. Like you do when you hear something coming that no human ear can hear. And surely, you know your own heart." Aragorn said. For one so young, there seemed to be a great deal of wisdom in him.

Legolas was silent, lost in thought. He stared straight ahead. What if Aragorn was right? Legolas had never thought from his heart before. After the death of his mother, Thranduil had given up on dreaming and all that nonsense. Legolas and Elrias had grown up with a reflection of their father's hatred and bitterness toward the world. Yet, Thranduil had taken Tauriel in, given her a home, a job, treated her like his own daughter. She had brought new light into their lives. But Legolas couldn't have her, no matter what his heart told him.

Legolas suddenly found his heart in that moment. He knew what he had to do. "I must find her. Wherever she went." He said to Aragorn.

Halbarad turned around. "Legolas, I need you here. To teach the young ones archery. You can leave in five years." He said to Legolas.

Five years would be but a blink. Legolas could find her after that. Tauriel could stay where she was for the time being, he thought hesitantly. Legolas sighed. "Very well. I will stay for as long as I am needed." He said to Halbarad. There was no way Legolas could get out of this, unless he got called back to Mirkwood. He didn't think that was likely. After all, Thranduil understood that he needed time to be alone.