Forest Sister

on the boat to Gondor

 Like I said before, there were a lot of boats on the river. We stood by the shore, waiting for them to be able to hear us. I was standing on the right side of Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli on the left. The ships approached closer and closer. There were lot of men on the ships, working to make it go faster.

"You may go no further," Aragorn announced with firm voice. The man who seemed to be the captain stood up.

"You will not enter Gondor," Aragorn said once more. There were rush of loud voices among the crews.

"Who are you to deny our passage?!" the captain shouted, and I suddenly felt a strong urge to drown their ship. Does he realize that he was talking to the King of Gondor? I may not like Gondor very much, but I liked Aragorn, or cared enough to defend him.

"Legolas shoot the guy or I will," I said in a low voice. The boys looked at me in confusion, but Gimli had a devilish grin on his face.

"Or a warning shot, at least," I added, hoping he would do that at least. And he did.

"Mind your aim," Gimli advised, at the same time pushing his boy with his axe accidentally. So the man standing beside the captain died with an arrow stuck at his chest.

"Oh!" Gimli exclaimed, and I felt a small surprised grin coming up my face.

"Alright, we warned you! Prepare to be boarded!" Gimli yelled. The pirate laughed. Not a nice one, if you ask me.

"By you and what army?" the captain asked. Oh, they better keep their promises, I thought.

"By this army," Aragorn said. And the deads came running right through us and on to the ship, taking over it. Cool. Soon all the ships were occupied by green ghosts and 2 elves, a dwarf and a man, heading for Gondor.

I was looking at the river that seemed to be going on forever and ever. Aragorn came to stood beside me.

"Can't we go faster?" I asked, hoping for an yes, but deep down I knew the answer.

"We pulling all we have, Taurieth. We'll be on time. Don't worry." Aragorn said and left, to mind his business.

Legolas POV

I saw Aragorn talk to Taurieth. Ever since she came back from our little deal with Saruman, her ice seemed a little melted. But still she didn't let me in. Maybe it was a time I give it another try. After Aragorn left, I went to her, hoping she won't be so harsh.

"What brings you here, Greenleaf?" She asked. It was a flat voice, but it didn't have any hatred in it that I could sense.

"Can't I stand beside my friend?" I said as I stared into the river. She stiffened a bit at the word 'friend' but relaxed soon enough. So I tried to make conversation with her.

"Why did you came back? From Fangorn to Rohan? You had no reason to," I asked. She remained silent for a while, then answered to my surprise.

"To make sure none of you do something stupid. Alone," she added 'alone' a little after, smiling. We both chuckled silently, then fade away to silence.

"Why are you so nice to me?" she suddenly asked. How should I answer to this question? Because I think I'm falling in love with you? Because I want to make sure you're happy? Because I care for you more than I thought I would? Millions of possible answers popped out in my head, but I instead I said,

"Why did you ask that question?"

"Because you have no reason to be nice to me. I tried to kill you when I first saw you, and I've never been so kind to you from the beginning. Yet you saved my life more than once, and you called me your friend. So what's the reason?" she asked again. I couldn't just say that I love her right? Even though we had come more closer than I thought we would, I would still get an arrow between my eyes if I said the L word.

"Would you like to come to Mirkwood with me after the war?" I changed the subject, asking her a question.

"What?"

"You know, Mirkwood. Where you used to live? Maybe you can start again there. I'm sure father would be happy to hear you're coming," I suggested, and she listened without any sounds.

"It's where my whole family died. You want me to go back there?" she said, her voice a little trembling.

"Maybe you can have a new family," I said as I turned to look at her.

***Taurieth POV***

I couldn't believe my ears. The very same ears that served me well for more than a thousand years. Legolas Thranduilion, the elf I blamed for my parents and my sister's death, the elf who I tried to kill, who I WANTED to kill, was asking me to come to Mirkwood with him, and start a new life? With who?

"What do you mean, a new family?" I asked. He shifted uncomfortably, and that only made me more curious than ever. He didn't answer, so I decided that he was ignoring the question. Fine with me.

"Maybe you can find someone to start again with," he said, turning his body to look at me. Our faces were close, and I was staring right into his eyes. I never really 'observed' them before. Now that I see, his eyes were beautiful. Blue eyes. Light blue eyes. Icy light blue eyes. Sparkling icy light blue eyes. Beautiful sparkling icy light blu eyes. Dear god above. What was wrong with my head?

"Who would want to start their life with me? In Mirkwood, do you live with someone who tried to kill the prince and insulted their king over and over again?" I asked, turning away. Legolas sighed.

"I'm just saying, that, you have a home if you want to. In Mirkwood. Wether you start a new life or not," Legolas answered. That was good. A home. Now the problem was, would I accept it or not? Would I stay in Fangorn, with Treebeard and other fellow trees, until the sea called for me, or would I go to Mirkwood, where my family died, where my long time haters are, where this Legolas Greenleaf was offering me?

"Why are you saying this? I mean, what's the whole point of this conversation, Legolas?" I said. And yes, I called his name for the first time we've seen each other.

"I don't know," he answered a little afterwards.

***Legolas POV***

I said 'i don't know'. Why did I say that? I could have said something else, right? I looked at her. She was staring into the distance, looking so beautiful. Was I really in LOVE with her? With HER? The last person on Middle Earth that I thought I would end up with? What was happening to me? I wondered with my father had felt like this too when he met my mother. Was this a normal thing? I hope it was. She seemed to be thinking, so I had nothing to do. I looked at her, and realized how beautiful she was, one more time. Her brown hair was being floated by the wind, revealing her face. Her skin was pale, but that was a common thing for an elf. Her eyes were green. A bright green. A bright forest green. A calming bright forest green that made you feel like you were at a forest by just looking at it. What was the matter with me?

***Taurieth POV***

"I don't know,"

Ok then. It was just a moment of hormones causing his brain to NOT work properly, I concluded. No reason to take it seriously, right? But at the same time, I knew what I really wanted was this. To have a proper home with a chance for another life. To leave behind all the miseries and tragic memories behind and just start a whole new life at somewhere with someone I love and care about. And Legolas was giving me that chance. Wether I would find that someone in Mirkwood, no one knew. But I wouldn't care even if there weren't that particular someone. A new place to call home was enough for me.

"So would you like to come?" Legolas asked, snapping me out of my thoughts. We were close to Gondor now, since I could faintly see the village. Almost there, Taurieth, I said to myself. Almost there. Legolas was looking at me, waiting for my answer. ok. I'll give this chance a chance.

"That would be lovely," I answered turning my body to him so we were facing each other. He had a small smile on his face, a happy smile, and I was sure I had one on my face too.

We were so close once more. We were looking into each other's eyes, me into the icy blue and him into the forest green. My god, this was weird, but at the same time, it felt right. The whole thing felt right. Without warning, the Prince of Mirkwood held my face in his hands, then lowered his body. The next thing I know is that his lips were gently on mine, and I didn't refuse him.