Unreturned

Epilogue

Anodien sat on the white bench in Faellond, a few decades after the wedding. She had kept up the facade of ignorance all those years, pretending to herself that her husband truly loved her. 

On that particular sunny day, Legolas was fencing back and forth with their daughter Anorwen, while Anodien nursed their newborn son Legon. Faint whimpers escaped the tiny baby's mouth.

"Ha! Got you, ada!" Anorwen laughed joyfully, tackling Legolas and bowling him over. "Emel! Emel, see? I beat daddy!" Anodien gave her daughter a small smile.

"Good job, baby! I couldn't even beat daddy!" Anorwen's mouth stretched into a shocked O.

"I beat daddy, and you didn't?!" she gasped.

"That's right, little one!" Legolas chuckled. 

It had been nearly a century after the wedding. Anodien no longer flinched at the sound of Legolas' voice, but it still brought her pain. Still, she ignored it, and always pretended that when his warm arms enveloped her, it was real, and that he truly loved her. 

"Anodien? Are you alright?" Anodien shook herself out of her thoughts to see her husband and daughter looking at her with concern. Legon began to wail, giving Anodien a much-needed distraction. She bounced him on her knee, cooing to him softly. Sending a fake smile her husband's way, she slowly rocked her son to sleep.

...

"What are you talking about?!" Anodien screamed.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about, harpy!" Legolas shouted in response, spittle flying from his mouth. "Our children mean nothing to you, do they?!" Anodien took a step back in response, shocked.

"Why the hell would you ever think that, you worthless slug?!"

"Too lazy to take care of them, leaving on trips nobody knows when you'll return from--"

"I'm too lazy to take care of them?! What about you? Not once have I seen you change Legon's diaper, and any time he cries, all you do is shout at him! I don't know what kind of pipe-weed you've taken in, but out of the two of us, you're the awful parent, not me!"

"That's a lie, and you know it, you careless--"

"Muhmuh?" Both Elves turned their heads at the tiny frightened voice. "Whas 'rong?" Legon clutched his toy elk as he stared at his feuding parents, his lip curled into a fearful frown. Anodien knelt down and opened her arms, comforting her son.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Anodien soothed her baby. "Daddy and I were just talking."

"Loud," Legon complained. "Voice loud..."

"Yeah, we were loud," Anodien agreed, picking her son up. "Let's get you back to bed, little one."

"Here," Legolas offered quietly, holding out his arms. "I'll take him."

"Thanks," his wife murmured in reply, handing off Legon. Legolas strode away, speaking softly to his son. Anodien watched them go, finally beginning to cry when her husband closed the door.

...

That was far from the first time the two had fought, and it wasn't the last. Their arguments grew worse and worse with time. It was centuries after their children had grown and left, and it was only them in Faellond. With no more common cares, their arguments grew in frequency and magnitude until the dam broke.

"I can't believe I married you!" Legolas snapped at his wife, who was preparing her next verbal arrow to shoot.

"You didn't have to, you know!" Anodien shrieked, smacking at a glass vase on a table. It flew into the wall and shattered into a thousand pieces. "Don't forget, you were the one who decided to propose, the idiot that you were!"

"Oh, so I'm the idiot? Who's the one who threw a massive temper tantrum because you didn't think I loved you at all?"

"That was centuries ago, Legolas! Let it go already!"

"Me, let it go? You're the one holding on to all of my mistakes!"

"I do not!"

"Yes, you do!"

"You shut the hell up, bastard-Elf!"

"Witch!"

"Ogre!"

"Spawn of Morgorth!"

"Take that back, you son of a tyrant!"

"Never!" 

The two continued to quarrel until everything was released into the open.

"You know what, you witch?" Legolas screeched, his voice hoarse from the constant shouting. "I never loved you anyways!"

"I know." Anodien's quiet voice was a sharp contrast to the shouting that had filled the air not seconds before. It took her husband a moment to register what she'd said.

"Wait, what?"

"On our wedding day," she revealed, "I heard you speaking with Nanuet. But you know what? I'd held out hope that you might one day love me, that I could still find happiness. I found nothing but scorn from you, Legolas." Anodien brushed past him, wiping a tear from her porcelain skin. "I hope you find happiness. As much as you've hurt me, I still wish you the best." 

"Anodien, hold on--"

"No, Legolas. You've made it abundantly clear that you don't want me here. You know what?" Anodien wrapped a shawl around herself and prepared to leave. "That's fine. Whatever you want. I'll go." A strong hand grasped her wrist.

"Anodien, please don't leave," Legolas pleaded.

"You beg for me to stay, when less than five minutes ago, you screamed at me and insulted me. What capricious moods you have," Anodien snarled. Legolas held onto her tighter.

"One more night, Anodien," he begged. "Give me a chance to make it up to you. I didn't mean to say any of that, I didn't want--"

"Me to know the truth?" Anodien finished. Legolas nodded fearfully. Anodien shut her eyes. "One night, Legolas. One night."

...

That night, after Legolas had fallen asleep, Anodien quietly crept out of the bed. She left everything behind, simply opened the door and walked out. She gave her husband a last glance before she left.

"I do this for you," she whispered, "and I do it for me." Anodien closed the door and vanished into the wilderness.

...

"Anodien..." Legolas mumbled, reaching out for his wife. His hand hit empty mattress, and his eyes shot open. "Anodien!" The Faeling was long gone, and her trail was cold. Legolas ordered the guards to search for Anodien. They would not find her, nor would anyone else in the land. Anodien had vanished for good, the lie in her life driving her far, far away. Anodien was gone, never to return.

Love based on a lie is better off denied.