FIC: OEAM Big Bang: Under the Oak and the Beech, Ch 16-19, PG-13, Thranduil
Title: Under the Oak and the Beech
Author: alexcat
Fandom: Tolkien
Characters: Thranduil, Oropher, Celeborns, Legolas, OCs
Beta: luin77
Artist: talullahred
Rating: PG-13
Notes and warnings: See Notes at Ao3
Summary: This is the story of Thranduil of the Greenwood from his childhood until the fourth age.
~~~
Chapter Sixteen - Eryn Lasgalen
Legolas did not return home after the council but the other elves who had accompanied him did and made their report to Thranduil.
“He what?” Thranduil’s face was red with anger and his voice rang through the hall. No one had seen him this angry in many years.
“He joined the Fellowship to carry the One Ring to Mount Doom and throw it in.”
“Is he crazy? What on earth would make him do such a thing?” Thranduil ranted and raved and yelled and cursed until no one would even go into the same room with him.
Finally the cook, who had been with him since he was a child, went to him in his throne room. Thranduil sat on his throne on its dais and stared out at nothing. Cook walked right up to him with her hands on her hips.
“Sire?”
He ignored her.
“King?”
Nothing.
“Thranduil!”
He wheeled around at her and started to shout but closed his mouth.
“You cannot sit here and mope forever.”
“I am the king. I can do whatever I want to do.”
Cook cocked her head to one side.
“You sound like a toddler.”
“Watch how you talk to the king, Cook.”
“I feed you. Watch how you talk to me.”
Thranduil looked straight at her. “What do you want?”
“I want you to stop acting silly and be the king. Your people need you. Orcs are coming closer every day and they’re scared.”
“Why did my son leave?”
“He did what he thought was the right thing to do. He knows that destroying that Ring is the thing someone has to do. You raised him to do what should be done. It’s your own fault, you know.”
“Mount Doom is a most horrible place. I have been there and I know.”
“Why did you go?”
“You know the answer to that. We had to fight Sauron. We had no choice.”
Cook smiled. “There you have your answer then, don’t you?”
Thranduil wasn’t any happier but he did stop moping as much. He hoped his son didn’t take up with any bad sorts - like the Noldor or worse, dwarves.
*
While Legolas was journeying all across Middle Earth, the woods became darker and darker. Orcs increased in number and travel became almost too hazardous for any but the bravest or most foolhardy.
Thranduil knew that war was coming here in the North as well as down in the southern lands of Gondor and Rohan. The orcs and men who served the Dark Lord would have to be defeated in all parts of Middle Earth, including here in Mirkwood and as far as Loríen.
He called his captains to him and bade them kill any who wandered into the woods from the outside, be they man or orc. Elves caught trespassing he asked to be brought before him. Orc incursions increased tenfold and the spiders and other animals became bolder in their attacks as well.
News came that Strider, who was really the heir of Isildur, led an Army to the Black Gates. Thranduil knew his son was there with Strider and the others, even a dwarf. He had been to those Black Gates himself. He wasn’t sure anyone could win there and win decisively. The War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men had simply put off the inevitable when Isildur refused to destroy the One Ring.
Thranduil did a lot of pacing in those weeks.
One evening, Celeborn was shown into his underground fortress.
“Why have you come?” Thranduil asked with little preamble.
“I have news. We have driven the Orcs from Loríen and the war is won. The Ring is undone and Aragorn is to be crowned King in Gondor. My wife will sail soon and I propose we join the two lands of Loríen and Mirkwood into one forest. We can protect it better that way… at least until Sauron’s minions are all killed and gone for good.”
“My son? What of my son?” At that moment, Thranduil did not care at all for the fate of Middle Earth. All he wanted to know was how Legolas faired.
“He is well, still with Aragorn, though I hear that he and dwarf will go to the Glittering Caves and Fangorn Forest.”
“Legolas is traveling with a dwarf?” Thranduil shouted.
“Gimli is the son of Gloin, one of the dwarves who came with Thorin to the Lonely Mountain.”
“That does not make me feel better, Celeborn.”
“Legolas and Gimli have become fast friends. They fought side by side for many months.”
Thranduil finally said, “Well, at least he has not taken up with a Noldor.”
Celeborn laughed.
“I brought a bottle of wine from Rohan. They do more than breed horses. This wine is quite tasty. Would you like to share it with me?”
Thranduil had never been one to turn down a glass of wine and he didn’t this time either. He found a couple of goblets in a cabinet and Celeborn poured the wine. They sat at the table, two old friends, and drank. When that bottle was done, Thranduil motioned for Celeborn to follow him to the wine cellar. They chose a few more bottles and sat down right there in the cellar with their goblets and drank some more.
They toasted and drank and talked for hours and hours until they both simply fell asleep with their heads on the wooden table in front of them. Cook had her kitchen staff move them to bedrooms and she removed their shoes and covered them with blankets, silently thanking Celeborn for coming to visit. She remembered him from so many years before at Menegroth. He had always been a good friend to Thranduil, despite their differences over the years.
Both elves were a little worse for wear come daybreak. Cook made them some strong tea and added her secret remedy for too much drink to each cup. She added simple bread and butter to their trays and went to serve each elf breakfast in his respective bed.
By midmorning, both elves were up and about and not complaining as much as they had earlier.
“Celeborn, I think joining the two woods might be a good idea. I know that Galadriel’s ring protected Loríen for many years and that when she leaves, it will still need protection. Perhaps we could rename this wood though. Mirkwood is such an ugly name.”
“What about Eryn Lasgalen? Wood of Greenleaves… for your father and your son.”
Thranduil nodded.
Eryn Lasgalen it would be.
~~~~
Chapter Seventeen - Homecoming
After Celeborn left, Thranduil wondered if he would ever see his son again. He did not believe that his son would leave Gondor while the new King Elessar lived. He learned that his son was living in Ithilien, near the White City. The son of the Steward of Gondor had been named prince there as well. The dwarf had taken up residence in the Glittering Caves with his people and word had it that Legolas visited often.
One day, Thranduil was reading a missive delivered to him from Celeborn, who was living in Rivendell with his grandsons. Celeborn told of the withering of the woods all over Middle Earth and how few elves there were anymore.
He was only half paying attention to his surroundings when he heard someone clear his throat. He held up a hand for him to wait until he was done with his letter.
“Father.”
One word. That voice! He thought he would never hear it again. He dropped the letter to the floor and stood.
Legolas stood before him, looking much as he has the last time Thranduil had seen him.
For the first time since Legolas was a baby, his father ran to him and lifted him off of his feet, kissing his solidly on one cheek then the other.
“I thought that I might never see you again,” he finally managed.
Legolas smiled. “It has been too long. I feared I would never see you again either.”
“Come! Sit! Tell me everything.”
“I am not sure there is enough time in the world for that. I have missed you and missed this place.”
Thranduil sent for food and drink. The two sat at the table all day and talked, Legolas telling of his adventures with the Fellowship and of the small hobbit who carried the One Ring all the way to Mount Doom. He told his father of the fate of Gollum, the pitiful creature that they’d imprisoned for Aragorn before the War.
“I hear that you have taken a dwarf for your boon companion.”
Legolas smiled again. “His name is Gimli, son of Gloin, and he is finest person I have known besides you and King Elessar. After the War of the Ring was done, we explored Fangorn Forest and the Glittering Caves. He brought his people to live in the caves after that.”
“Is he the son of one of the dwarves who we caught in the forest?”
Legolas grinned. “He is and he says he forgives us.”
Thranduil harrumphed but there was no anger in the sound. “A dwarf?”
“A dwarf.”
They talked of the new King of Gondor and his wife, the granddaughter of Celeborn and Galadriel. This line of talk led to Thranduil telling his son of growing up in Menegroth with Celeborn, a story Legolas had not known of, and of his courtship of Lúthwen in that once enchanted kingdom.
Day passed and night fell and still the two talked, a lifetime of words passed between them in one day. Legolas found the father he had never known and Thranduil became the father he had never been.
All too soon, Thranduil knew his son would go. “How long will you stay?”
“I shall stay but a few days. I wanted to ask if there are any elven folk here who might want to live in Ithilien. I would like to have some of my own people about me in the south and I am sure their healing craft and herbal lore would be appreciated by the other folk of the city.”
Thranduil nodded. “People have begun leaving this wood in the last few months. I think many would love to join you in a city with other people. We will speak with them tomorrow. I should like to have a banquet in honor of your homecoming even if it is only temporary.”
“I would like that too, Father. It’ll be nice to see everyone again.”
Thranduil was in the kitchen before sunrise the next morning. Cook was already making pastries and heating water for tea.
“My son is here.”
“Yes, he is. He looks well. I peeped in at the two of you last night. It is good to see him again. He reminds me of his mother, you know.” Cook had never stood on ceremony with him and wasn’t about to start now.
“I would like to have a banquet before he goes back.”
She nodded. “He’s a good son. You raised a good son, Sire.”
Thranduil smiled sadly at his old friend. “I expect you have more to do with how he turned out than I have. Thank you for everything. I don’t know that this land would have run so well all these years without your help.”
She smiled. “I’ve been telling you that for years. Good night, sire.”
“Sleep well, dear friend,” he told her as she bowed and exited the room.
*
The royal banquet was the finest that Thranduil had ever thrown. He pulled out all the stops and spared no expense, even inviting the men of the surrounding towns and the few dwarves who still lived nearby.
All who were invited came. It was if they all knew that an era was ending and they would never see the likes of this again in their lives or in any days to come.
Legolas sat with his father at the head table. They laughed and talked and drank many a toast. Course after course of food was hauled to the large banquet tables and guests ate all they could and some even secretly tucked away a few morsels in their pockets and bags to take away with them. They told themselves they didn’t want anything to go to waste but the truth was, the food really was that good. Cook had produced the best both elves and men had to offer in meats and vegetables, breads and cheeses, and desserts tasty enough to make the most devoted food lover weep with joy.
Thranduil never wanted the night to end because he knew it would bring him one day closer to losing his son again. No, not losing him this time. This time it was simply that Legolas would move to a new home. He would never lose him again.
~~~~
Chapter Eighteen - Departures
Legolas went back to Gondor and a rather large group of Silvan elves followed him to his and their new home. Thranduil was saddened that his people were leaving but happy that they found a place to live with other elves. He had no doubt they might mingle with the men until finally the two became the same people.
Thranduil began to travel a bit after that, riding from one place to another all over Middle Earth, traveling as a stranger from town to town, from inn to inn. He visited Celeborn and the sons of Elrond as often as he could, enjoying his old friend’s company.
He traveled to Gondor and to Ithilien, visiting Legolas and seeing the elves who had moved here among men. All seemed happy with their new lives. He even met Gimli on one trip and sat down to break bread at a dwarven table, surrounded by Gimli and his various progeny and as always, Legolas was there as well.
Time passed, quickly for elves and even more quickly for men, who do not have years unnumbered as elves do.
Aragorn had sons, grew old and decided to let the bonds of life go. Arwen died soon after from a broken heart. Thranduil heard these things with a heavy heart. He remembered the young Strider, who boldly strode into his kingdom to leave him with Gollum as prisoner. He remembered once seeing the beautiful young granddaughter of Celeborn, who was said to be as beautiful as Lúthien herself. He knew this to be true, for he had known Lúthien as well.
Legolas came to him after Arwen was buried by her brothers.
“Father, I said I would stay until Elessar passed into the place where mortal men rest and he has. It is time for me to build my ship and sail.”
“Will you not travel the roads with me a few years?” He asked the question but already knew the answer.
Legolas’ smile was sad. “I - I have fought the longing for too many years. I want to go beyond the sea, to see what lies ahead.”
Thranduil felt tears burn his eyes. “I will not see you again, my son.”
“We will await your arrival…”
“I will stay here in this land until this world passes as well. I have been guardian to elven realms for all of my life and I shall stand guard here as long as I can.”
“Gimli will sail with me. He said he wishes to lay eyes on Galadriel one more time.”
Thranduil laughed. “He and Celeborn are both fools for her. Celeborn was lost the first time he laid eyes on her.”
Legolas chucked, remembering Gimli seeing her in Loríen for the first time, remembering the hair she gave him as his gift. “Gimli too. He was hers from that very first moment.”
“Your city is nice, busy and prosperous. Is this land good to our folk as well as men?”
“Yes, there are many elves here and they’re happy I think. I am happy to have elves around me as well. I will be sad to leave them as well as you, Father.”
He did not go to the Havens to watch Legolas and Gimli depart. There were some things he simply could not do.
After Legolas left, there were still a few elves left here and there. A small colony lived near the Havens. They seemed to be waiting for the right time to go to the West as well. Thranduil wondered what held them back.
Without the protection of the elves, the forests began to grow smaller and the cities grew bigger as the number of men increased and then increased some more. The dark lands were cleared and water was rerouted by damns and manmade tributaries to make dead lands live again. Cities and villages began to pop up all over and woods became smaller and less dense. It was hard to hide in the woods now.
Thranduil found himself spending more and more time with Celeborn. The elf lord still lived in what was left of Rivendell with his grandsons but even Rivendell was beginning to fade. One day, Celeborn had news for him.
“My grandsons and I are about to sail into the West. Círdan is in the harbor and we will go with him. I think it will be his last journey. It may be the last journey anyone can make from here to the West. Will you come with us?”
Thranduil looked at Celeborn for a long time, saying nothing. Then he shook his head slowly. “I will stay here until this world is no more. I have been here all my life and have felt no desire to ever live elsewhere. I feel no such sea longing as most do. Perhaps it is my job to stay, to make sure that elves and the free peoples of Middle Earth are not forgotten in the passage of time.”
Celeborn nodded sadly. He would miss his oldest friend.
~~~~
Epilogue - Strange New World
“I tell you, I saw an elf!” The young girl told her grandmother one day as they walked through the old forest, looking for mushrooms to put in their dinner.
“Child, how many times have I told you that elves are made up? They aren’t real.” The old woman picked up her basket and headed toward the worn path they would take home.
“How do you know?”
“I have never seen one and I lived here all my life.”
“Grandpa says he’s seen them.” The little girl was adamant.
“Your grandfather swears that he found the money for your new dress in a pot of gold, too, but I expect he won it at The Prancing Pony playing darts with his mates.”
He stood in the shadows and smiled to himself. She had seen him. She’d seen him several times, as a matter of fact. He often slipped into her grandmother’s house when all were abed and dropped a few extra coins in the old woman’s purse. He’d even put a pot of gold near the road on the path the old man took to his pub so he could buy the little girl a new dress.
He watched the two of them until they were out of sight.
It was hard to think he had once commanded armies and ruled a land with thousands of subjects. He’d seen unspeakable evil, too, as well as bravery so profound it still brought him to tears. He had lived in a world ripe with magic and wonder.
This world had little of those things. It was hard and cold, this new world. Men did not believe in magic anymore, so they seldom saw anything miraculous. To them, elves and dwarves and fairy princesses were simply bedtime stories for little ones like Maddy. They read the stories of old but never understood what it was they read. They did not see how the world gave back what it got. Love and kindness gave back the same. They hurt the world with their chemicals and machines and ignored the signs, the signs he’d seen before.
Just as the little girl and her grandmother started around the bend that would take them out of sight, she turned and looked back, right at him. Thranduil smiled and gave her a little wave. The look of joy on her face made feel better. Her world was still safe. For now.
~end~
Author: alexcat
Fandom: Tolkien
Characters: Thranduil, Oropher, Celeborns, Legolas, OCs
Beta: luin77
Artist: talullahred
Rating: PG-13
Notes and warnings: See Notes at Ao3
Summary: This is the story of Thranduil of the Greenwood from his childhood until the fourth age.
~~~
Chapter Sixteen - Eryn Lasgalen
Legolas did not return home after the council but the other elves who had accompanied him did and made their report to Thranduil.
“He what?” Thranduil’s face was red with anger and his voice rang through the hall. No one had seen him this angry in many years.
“He joined the Fellowship to carry the One Ring to Mount Doom and throw it in.”
“Is he crazy? What on earth would make him do such a thing?” Thranduil ranted and raved and yelled and cursed until no one would even go into the same room with him.
Finally the cook, who had been with him since he was a child, went to him in his throne room. Thranduil sat on his throne on its dais and stared out at nothing. Cook walked right up to him with her hands on her hips.
“Sire?”
He ignored her.
“King?”
Nothing.
“Thranduil!”
He wheeled around at her and started to shout but closed his mouth.
“You cannot sit here and mope forever.”
“I am the king. I can do whatever I want to do.”
Cook cocked her head to one side.
“You sound like a toddler.”
“Watch how you talk to the king, Cook.”
“I feed you. Watch how you talk to me.”
Thranduil looked straight at her. “What do you want?”
“I want you to stop acting silly and be the king. Your people need you. Orcs are coming closer every day and they’re scared.”
“Why did my son leave?”
“He did what he thought was the right thing to do. He knows that destroying that Ring is the thing someone has to do. You raised him to do what should be done. It’s your own fault, you know.”
“Mount Doom is a most horrible place. I have been there and I know.”
“Why did you go?”
“You know the answer to that. We had to fight Sauron. We had no choice.”
Cook smiled. “There you have your answer then, don’t you?”
Thranduil wasn’t any happier but he did stop moping as much. He hoped his son didn’t take up with any bad sorts - like the Noldor or worse, dwarves.
*
While Legolas was journeying all across Middle Earth, the woods became darker and darker. Orcs increased in number and travel became almost too hazardous for any but the bravest or most foolhardy.
Thranduil knew that war was coming here in the North as well as down in the southern lands of Gondor and Rohan. The orcs and men who served the Dark Lord would have to be defeated in all parts of Middle Earth, including here in Mirkwood and as far as Loríen.
He called his captains to him and bade them kill any who wandered into the woods from the outside, be they man or orc. Elves caught trespassing he asked to be brought before him. Orc incursions increased tenfold and the spiders and other animals became bolder in their attacks as well.
News came that Strider, who was really the heir of Isildur, led an Army to the Black Gates. Thranduil knew his son was there with Strider and the others, even a dwarf. He had been to those Black Gates himself. He wasn’t sure anyone could win there and win decisively. The War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men had simply put off the inevitable when Isildur refused to destroy the One Ring.
Thranduil did a lot of pacing in those weeks.
One evening, Celeborn was shown into his underground fortress.
“Why have you come?” Thranduil asked with little preamble.
“I have news. We have driven the Orcs from Loríen and the war is won. The Ring is undone and Aragorn is to be crowned King in Gondor. My wife will sail soon and I propose we join the two lands of Loríen and Mirkwood into one forest. We can protect it better that way… at least until Sauron’s minions are all killed and gone for good.”
“My son? What of my son?” At that moment, Thranduil did not care at all for the fate of Middle Earth. All he wanted to know was how Legolas faired.
“He is well, still with Aragorn, though I hear that he and dwarf will go to the Glittering Caves and Fangorn Forest.”
“Legolas is traveling with a dwarf?” Thranduil shouted.
“Gimli is the son of Gloin, one of the dwarves who came with Thorin to the Lonely Mountain.”
“That does not make me feel better, Celeborn.”
“Legolas and Gimli have become fast friends. They fought side by side for many months.”
Thranduil finally said, “Well, at least he has not taken up with a Noldor.”
Celeborn laughed.
“I brought a bottle of wine from Rohan. They do more than breed horses. This wine is quite tasty. Would you like to share it with me?”
Thranduil had never been one to turn down a glass of wine and he didn’t this time either. He found a couple of goblets in a cabinet and Celeborn poured the wine. They sat at the table, two old friends, and drank. When that bottle was done, Thranduil motioned for Celeborn to follow him to the wine cellar. They chose a few more bottles and sat down right there in the cellar with their goblets and drank some more.
They toasted and drank and talked for hours and hours until they both simply fell asleep with their heads on the wooden table in front of them. Cook had her kitchen staff move them to bedrooms and she removed their shoes and covered them with blankets, silently thanking Celeborn for coming to visit. She remembered him from so many years before at Menegroth. He had always been a good friend to Thranduil, despite their differences over the years.
Both elves were a little worse for wear come daybreak. Cook made them some strong tea and added her secret remedy for too much drink to each cup. She added simple bread and butter to their trays and went to serve each elf breakfast in his respective bed.
By midmorning, both elves were up and about and not complaining as much as they had earlier.
“Celeborn, I think joining the two woods might be a good idea. I know that Galadriel’s ring protected Loríen for many years and that when she leaves, it will still need protection. Perhaps we could rename this wood though. Mirkwood is such an ugly name.”
“What about Eryn Lasgalen? Wood of Greenleaves… for your father and your son.”
Thranduil nodded.
Eryn Lasgalen it would be.
~~~~
Chapter Seventeen - Homecoming
After Celeborn left, Thranduil wondered if he would ever see his son again. He did not believe that his son would leave Gondor while the new King Elessar lived. He learned that his son was living in Ithilien, near the White City. The son of the Steward of Gondor had been named prince there as well. The dwarf had taken up residence in the Glittering Caves with his people and word had it that Legolas visited often.
One day, Thranduil was reading a missive delivered to him from Celeborn, who was living in Rivendell with his grandsons. Celeborn told of the withering of the woods all over Middle Earth and how few elves there were anymore.
He was only half paying attention to his surroundings when he heard someone clear his throat. He held up a hand for him to wait until he was done with his letter.
“Father.”
One word. That voice! He thought he would never hear it again. He dropped the letter to the floor and stood.
Legolas stood before him, looking much as he has the last time Thranduil had seen him.
For the first time since Legolas was a baby, his father ran to him and lifted him off of his feet, kissing his solidly on one cheek then the other.
“I thought that I might never see you again,” he finally managed.
Legolas smiled. “It has been too long. I feared I would never see you again either.”
“Come! Sit! Tell me everything.”
“I am not sure there is enough time in the world for that. I have missed you and missed this place.”
Thranduil sent for food and drink. The two sat at the table all day and talked, Legolas telling of his adventures with the Fellowship and of the small hobbit who carried the One Ring all the way to Mount Doom. He told his father of the fate of Gollum, the pitiful creature that they’d imprisoned for Aragorn before the War.
“I hear that you have taken a dwarf for your boon companion.”
Legolas smiled again. “His name is Gimli, son of Gloin, and he is finest person I have known besides you and King Elessar. After the War of the Ring was done, we explored Fangorn Forest and the Glittering Caves. He brought his people to live in the caves after that.”
“Is he the son of one of the dwarves who we caught in the forest?”
Legolas grinned. “He is and he says he forgives us.”
Thranduil harrumphed but there was no anger in the sound. “A dwarf?”
“A dwarf.”
They talked of the new King of Gondor and his wife, the granddaughter of Celeborn and Galadriel. This line of talk led to Thranduil telling his son of growing up in Menegroth with Celeborn, a story Legolas had not known of, and of his courtship of Lúthwen in that once enchanted kingdom.
Day passed and night fell and still the two talked, a lifetime of words passed between them in one day. Legolas found the father he had never known and Thranduil became the father he had never been.
All too soon, Thranduil knew his son would go. “How long will you stay?”
“I shall stay but a few days. I wanted to ask if there are any elven folk here who might want to live in Ithilien. I would like to have some of my own people about me in the south and I am sure their healing craft and herbal lore would be appreciated by the other folk of the city.”
Thranduil nodded. “People have begun leaving this wood in the last few months. I think many would love to join you in a city with other people. We will speak with them tomorrow. I should like to have a banquet in honor of your homecoming even if it is only temporary.”
“I would like that too, Father. It’ll be nice to see everyone again.”
Thranduil was in the kitchen before sunrise the next morning. Cook was already making pastries and heating water for tea.
“My son is here.”
“Yes, he is. He looks well. I peeped in at the two of you last night. It is good to see him again. He reminds me of his mother, you know.” Cook had never stood on ceremony with him and wasn’t about to start now.
“I would like to have a banquet before he goes back.”
She nodded. “He’s a good son. You raised a good son, Sire.”
Thranduil smiled sadly at his old friend. “I expect you have more to do with how he turned out than I have. Thank you for everything. I don’t know that this land would have run so well all these years without your help.”
She smiled. “I’ve been telling you that for years. Good night, sire.”
“Sleep well, dear friend,” he told her as she bowed and exited the room.
*
The royal banquet was the finest that Thranduil had ever thrown. He pulled out all the stops and spared no expense, even inviting the men of the surrounding towns and the few dwarves who still lived nearby.
All who were invited came. It was if they all knew that an era was ending and they would never see the likes of this again in their lives or in any days to come.
Legolas sat with his father at the head table. They laughed and talked and drank many a toast. Course after course of food was hauled to the large banquet tables and guests ate all they could and some even secretly tucked away a few morsels in their pockets and bags to take away with them. They told themselves they didn’t want anything to go to waste but the truth was, the food really was that good. Cook had produced the best both elves and men had to offer in meats and vegetables, breads and cheeses, and desserts tasty enough to make the most devoted food lover weep with joy.
Thranduil never wanted the night to end because he knew it would bring him one day closer to losing his son again. No, not losing him this time. This time it was simply that Legolas would move to a new home. He would never lose him again.
~~~~
Chapter Eighteen - Departures
Legolas went back to Gondor and a rather large group of Silvan elves followed him to his and their new home. Thranduil was saddened that his people were leaving but happy that they found a place to live with other elves. He had no doubt they might mingle with the men until finally the two became the same people.
Thranduil began to travel a bit after that, riding from one place to another all over Middle Earth, traveling as a stranger from town to town, from inn to inn. He visited Celeborn and the sons of Elrond as often as he could, enjoying his old friend’s company.
He traveled to Gondor and to Ithilien, visiting Legolas and seeing the elves who had moved here among men. All seemed happy with their new lives. He even met Gimli on one trip and sat down to break bread at a dwarven table, surrounded by Gimli and his various progeny and as always, Legolas was there as well.
Time passed, quickly for elves and even more quickly for men, who do not have years unnumbered as elves do.
Aragorn had sons, grew old and decided to let the bonds of life go. Arwen died soon after from a broken heart. Thranduil heard these things with a heavy heart. He remembered the young Strider, who boldly strode into his kingdom to leave him with Gollum as prisoner. He remembered once seeing the beautiful young granddaughter of Celeborn, who was said to be as beautiful as Lúthien herself. He knew this to be true, for he had known Lúthien as well.
Legolas came to him after Arwen was buried by her brothers.
“Father, I said I would stay until Elessar passed into the place where mortal men rest and he has. It is time for me to build my ship and sail.”
“Will you not travel the roads with me a few years?” He asked the question but already knew the answer.
Legolas’ smile was sad. “I - I have fought the longing for too many years. I want to go beyond the sea, to see what lies ahead.”
Thranduil felt tears burn his eyes. “I will not see you again, my son.”
“We will await your arrival…”
“I will stay here in this land until this world passes as well. I have been guardian to elven realms for all of my life and I shall stand guard here as long as I can.”
“Gimli will sail with me. He said he wishes to lay eyes on Galadriel one more time.”
Thranduil laughed. “He and Celeborn are both fools for her. Celeborn was lost the first time he laid eyes on her.”
Legolas chucked, remembering Gimli seeing her in Loríen for the first time, remembering the hair she gave him as his gift. “Gimli too. He was hers from that very first moment.”
“Your city is nice, busy and prosperous. Is this land good to our folk as well as men?”
“Yes, there are many elves here and they’re happy I think. I am happy to have elves around me as well. I will be sad to leave them as well as you, Father.”
He did not go to the Havens to watch Legolas and Gimli depart. There were some things he simply could not do.
After Legolas left, there were still a few elves left here and there. A small colony lived near the Havens. They seemed to be waiting for the right time to go to the West as well. Thranduil wondered what held them back.
Without the protection of the elves, the forests began to grow smaller and the cities grew bigger as the number of men increased and then increased some more. The dark lands were cleared and water was rerouted by damns and manmade tributaries to make dead lands live again. Cities and villages began to pop up all over and woods became smaller and less dense. It was hard to hide in the woods now.
Thranduil found himself spending more and more time with Celeborn. The elf lord still lived in what was left of Rivendell with his grandsons but even Rivendell was beginning to fade. One day, Celeborn had news for him.
“My grandsons and I are about to sail into the West. Círdan is in the harbor and we will go with him. I think it will be his last journey. It may be the last journey anyone can make from here to the West. Will you come with us?”
Thranduil looked at Celeborn for a long time, saying nothing. Then he shook his head slowly. “I will stay here until this world is no more. I have been here all my life and have felt no desire to ever live elsewhere. I feel no such sea longing as most do. Perhaps it is my job to stay, to make sure that elves and the free peoples of Middle Earth are not forgotten in the passage of time.”
Celeborn nodded sadly. He would miss his oldest friend.
~~~~
Epilogue - Strange New World
“I tell you, I saw an elf!” The young girl told her grandmother one day as they walked through the old forest, looking for mushrooms to put in their dinner.
“Child, how many times have I told you that elves are made up? They aren’t real.” The old woman picked up her basket and headed toward the worn path they would take home.
“How do you know?”
“I have never seen one and I lived here all my life.”
“Grandpa says he’s seen them.” The little girl was adamant.
“Your grandfather swears that he found the money for your new dress in a pot of gold, too, but I expect he won it at The Prancing Pony playing darts with his mates.”
He stood in the shadows and smiled to himself. She had seen him. She’d seen him several times, as a matter of fact. He often slipped into her grandmother’s house when all were abed and dropped a few extra coins in the old woman’s purse. He’d even put a pot of gold near the road on the path the old man took to his pub so he could buy the little girl a new dress.
He watched the two of them until they were out of sight.
It was hard to think he had once commanded armies and ruled a land with thousands of subjects. He’d seen unspeakable evil, too, as well as bravery so profound it still brought him to tears. He had lived in a world ripe with magic and wonder.
This world had little of those things. It was hard and cold, this new world. Men did not believe in magic anymore, so they seldom saw anything miraculous. To them, elves and dwarves and fairy princesses were simply bedtime stories for little ones like Maddy. They read the stories of old but never understood what it was they read. They did not see how the world gave back what it got. Love and kindness gave back the same. They hurt the world with their chemicals and machines and ignored the signs, the signs he’d seen before.
Just as the little girl and her grandmother started around the bend that would take them out of sight, she turned and looked back, right at him. Thranduil smiled and gave her a little wave. The look of joy on her face made feel better. Her world was still safe. For now.
~end~