TOLKIEN; imagines

60: Piece of Heaven - Thranduil

FOR @Lady-of-perfection : 24. "I'd gather the stars for you, darling," 25. "You can be my little slice of heaven in this hell," and 28. "Do you think there's something wrong with me?"

A/N: hey, so I'm officially on vacation. I'll post writing as often as I can. Also, forgive the spacing. I'm on my phone and so I'll properly format everything when I get back. Enjoy.

ABBREVIATIONS: e/c: eye color.

WARNINGS: none

WORDS: ~1400

Thranduil's limbs were heavy and his head throbbed painfully with each step he took. The war had begun to take its toll on the elf with its losses, late nights and early mornings, roaring councils and, worst of all, the time it took away from being in Y/N's presence. The war kept him away from his queen and love of his life for far too long far too often. It had kept him from returning to their bed at a decent hour and from enjoying even a moment of pink morning sunlight with the one he loved most.

Being the selfless angel she was, she would always nullify his apologies with understanding and kind words. She would always tell him that it was okay and that she would wait for eternities while the war would not wait a second for him. Thranduil always thanked her with a quick kiss to the forehead and lips, but he knew that she was becoming lonely in his absence, a thought which ached his heart terribly.

And because of Thranduil's bleeding heart, he suggested the council adjourned early, arguing that they could all use a good rest. The war was at a calm point, and the council needed a break from the constant arguments they took part in. The suggestion had only earned Thranduil insults and jabs at his pride and all that he had a right to: his kingdom, his throne and crown... his queen. No insult hurt more than the ones that suggested he was unfit to fend for her heart, to have her hand and to share her bed.

And so another night he endured. Thranduil did not leave the throne room till the moon was at its zenith in the dark sky and the stars twinkled in the inky sky beyond. Guilt crashed over him in unrelenting waves as he trudged his way through the halls and to his chambers.

Muted silver light spilled in from the hallway as Thranduil reached the oak doors of his chambers and opened them, revealing a thin figure within. Her back was hunched and her face lay buried in her elegant hands.

"Y/N?" Thranduil questioned softly, " why are you still up at this hour, love?"

He slipped his tall boots off and walked over to kneel before her, long fingers retrieving her beautiful face from her grasp.

"I couldn't sleep," she stated simply. Thranduil ripped his gaze from her's unwillingly, the tides of guilt swirling in strong currents around him and burying new arrows of pain in his heart.

"I know you've been hurting," Thranduil said, his long fingers falling from the curve of Y/N's cheek and finding a new home mingled amongst her own fingers. "I tried to come home early today, darling. I really did try, but the council forbade me."

Ever the selfless, Y/N's gaze met his frantically, "Thranduil!" She exclaimed in a hushed tone, "I'm so sorry I was a distraction. I-"

Thranduil silenced her unnecessary apologies with a quick but sweet kiss. His heart warmed to see the blush and the radiance of a small smile spread over her rosy features as he pulled out of the gesture.

"You always know how to shut me up," she hummed happily.

"I wouldn't do so if I didn't already know that those apologies have no purpose here," he cooed in between placing kisses to her fingertips and palms. "You are not a distraction. You're an angel sent to me by the valar themselves to love, to hold, and to cherish. You're not some pesky thought. You're my wife. You're my little slice of heaven in this hell; a small piece of absolute perfection that I have been held from for far too long."

Thranduil saw the tears gathering in her eyes and, while he knew they were tears of joy and that he should have been content with making her happy, he couldn't help thinking of the insults and the derogatory comments thrown at him by his council.

You don't deserve the crown, much less her, he recalled unhappily.

His expression must have dropped because picked up on the deeply hidden melancholy and called it to the surface with, "Thranduil, love, what ever is the matter?"

He was about to reassure her that he was fine, that everything was fine, but with her hands wrapped delicately around his, there was no way he could ever see himself lying to her, even over something so small as this.

"Do you think there's something wrong with me?" He asked finally, his deep, honey-filled voice softening and verging on breaking.

"What do you mean?" She asked, a clueless eyebrow quirking itself higher up on her lovely forehead.

"I mean, do you think I am unfit to rule?" Thranduil asked, trying his best to explain his worries. "Am I... fit enough to be your husband? Is there something wrong with me that makes me unworthy of your hand?"

"Oh, Thranduil, no! Of course not," Y/N lamented, her delicate brows drawing together and her hands flying like opalescent birds fleeing their cages to the sides of his smooth face. "I married you because I knew that you were more than worthy of me! And what's more, I loved you then, and I love you a trillion times more know, even though the prospect of containing more love than the infinite amount I already had for you seemed impossible. Whatever made you think this? I didn't do something to bring this on, did I?"

"No," Thranduil replied half-heartedly, "it's not you. The council said so. My own council, sent to me by every other elven stronghold in all of Arda, believes I am the worst of all the kings that have ever walked these halls. They don't think I can pull us through this war alive. I'm just... not good enough."

Y/N's face grew somber with a calm anger, the kind that sets one on edge with the sheer sense of danger it possessed. "Thranduil," Y/N stated, her hands wrapped tightly around Thranduil's, grounding him to the moment, to her. "You're the best king this kingdom and this land has ever seen. You care for your people and you'd give your life to them willingly to make sure they all lived and thrived in this beautiful environment you've created. Thranduil, my dear, you are the blood in the veins of this kingdom. You're its heart and your reach brings liveliness and light to even the darkest corners of Mirkwood."

"And what's more," she continued, her E/C eyes locked with his, "you love me. You're the liveliness in my soul, the love that keeps my heart beating. Thranduil, you're the best thing this kingdom's ever had. And you and your love are the greatest gifts my life, my heart and my soul have ever been given."

By the end of her rant, her voice had tapered to a soft mumble and tears had welled in her eyes as the ones in Thranduil's spilled over.

"I love you, Thranduil," she concluded, voice barely above a whisper. "And I'd gather the stars for you, darling."

Y/N hung her head in an attempt to hide her the tears she tried to wipe away, but Thranduil would not stand for it. He swooped in to claim her lips with his own, stars budding on the pillowy surfaces of them as tears of pure moonlight rolled from both their eyes.

"And I'd collect the whole universe for you, my sweetheart."

And with that utterance of pure redamancy, Thranduil joined his wife on the bed and cuddled her into his side, kissing any exposed skin on her neck and face that he could find. Her laughter and his content hums and whispered affections rose into the cool midnight air that kissed their skin as they laughed until the drifted off to sleep, happy to have the other in their arms.