Chapter Text
The smooth fabric slipped through her slender fingers. Thranduil was having another one of his parties, usually she didn’t dress up much but this time she had a something, well someone, she felt like she needed to impress.
The dress she had chosen to wear was made of a forest green silk in which reminded her of her childhood where Mirkwood was a wonderland of marvellous shades of green. Delicate golden embroidery lined the hems and slowly began to climb up the skirt of the dress in intricate patterns of leaves and vines. Overall, in her opinion, the dress was much too beautiful for a simple elf like Tauriel.
Either way, Tauriel pulled on the dress. It fit her tall and slim figure perfectly with it hugging her arms and body then the skirt pooling around her feet. Looking at herself in the mirror was...Unusual. Instead of the grubby and usually messy captain of the guard was a clean young elf whose hair fell around her face in a waterfall of red. Small braids formed a crown of hair on her head, holding back any hairs which may escape, but unlike the nobler of elves she did not have a circlet.
With a deep and slightly shaky breath Tauriel headed to the door and left her rooms. After only a minute she was left standing in the entrance to the party and looking upon the elves who danced and drank their wine happily. She had no idea how to interact with these people, usually her job was just to watch to make sure there was no trouble but this time she was pulled into the festivities. In nervousness she began picking at the hems of her sleeves as an attempt to calm herself.
“You’re not going to ruin such a lovely dress already are you, Tauriel?”
The sudden voice made her jump and almost stumble as she spun around to see the smiling face of Legolas. Her heart immediately sped up as she saw him, he was truly remarkable. He wore a silver tunic which went perfectly with his pale skin and golden hair which hung around his shoulders. And finally, unlike her, he had a circlet of pure silver balanced upon his head.
Tauriel bowed her head slightly as she attempted to hide her blushing cheeks, “You are well aware of how little I actually wear dresses, Legolas.”
A soft chuckle left his lips, “That is true.” The chuckle soon turned into a warm smile as he offered his arm to her, “Will you give me the honour of walking you in or are you going to stay out here?”
Tauriel glanced up to his face with a cheeky grin, “Well, I don’t think I could let you go in unprotected now, can I?” With that, she linked her arm with his before they made their way into the party.
All around them there were elves having fun. Some were happily drinking wine out of beautiful glasses. Some had taken over the centre of the room as the danced to the music with grins from pointed ear to pointed ear. Some also lined the walls and corners of the room as they had more private conversations. All of them knew what they were doing, unlike Tauriel who stood awkwardly as she glanced around.
A tap on her shoulder surprised her and she turned to see Legolas’ bright blue eyes looking down at her, “I must talk with ada but I will be back.” A fond expression took over his face, “Do try not to cause any trouble while I am gone.” She smiled and nodded then she lost the feeling of his solid arm linked around his as he slipped away and headed towards his father.
Even at these wonderful parties, there was always something distant about Legolas’ father, Thranduil. He clearly preferred to observe what happened rather than join in himself. At that moment he stood near the steps to his throne with a wine glass in hand, looking right at her with his icy blue eyes. It seemed as if he was trying to figure her out by looking right into her soul. Only when Legolas approached him did his gaze move away from her to his son.
She watched as they spoke, she had no idea what they spoke about but even from the distance she was from them she could see there was some sort of hushed argument going on between them. After a few minutes it seemed as if Thranduil had lost or given up as he silently sipped his wine and Legolas walked back over to her with a truly triumphant look on his face.
Tauriel rose an eyebrow at him in question, “Care to tell me what that was about?”
“I will tell you later but first,” he bowed slightly and offered a hand to her, “Will you give me the honour of a dance?”
She hesitated with a glance towards Thranduil, “Wouldn’t he disapprove?”
Legolas seemed to follow her gaze but shrugged his shoulders, “That does not concern me anymore. Now, a dance?”
Tauriel was confused, Legolas would never do something that would disappoint his father but she ignored the fact and took his hand, “I warn you now, I cannot dance.”
He chuckled warmly once again and led her into the area of dancing elves, “I am sure you will get the hang of it.”
She resisted the urge to roll her eyes as she followed him with her hand clasped around his firmly. The music was very upbeat and happy so Legolas immediately pulled her into action as they began dancing. Tauriel was having trouble trying to keep up, she really wasn’t a dancer but Legolas chuckled as he guided her in what to do and pretty soon they gained speed, finally in time with the music.
They twisted and turned to the music without a care. Tauriel had stepped on Legolas’ foot a few times but that didn’t seem to bother him as he simply quickly corrected her, with a smile on his face. This was truly some of the most fun Tauriel has ever had; being so relaxed like this with Legolas was nice for her.
They danced until the music ended and wandered to the side so they could catch their breaths. Leaning against each other, they laughed joyfully before Legolas leant in to her ear, “I want to tell you something.”
Tauriel nodded for him to continue, “Go on then.”
“I would prefer to tell you in private.” And with that he grabbed her hand and pulled her out of the party and out onto a quiet balcony in which no one could see or hear them but they could see the wide sky with glimmering stars in the distance. From this spot Tauriel could see as far as the edge of Mirkwood, the home she had lived for so long.
Finally, Tauriel turned to Legolas with her head tilted in curiosity, “What was it you wanted to tell me, mellonamin?”
She watched as he took a breath before he replied, “Do you still wish to explore the stars, Tauriel?”
“I think you already know my answer to that, but my duty lies here with you.” She had no idea where he was going with this, why was he asking?
“What if I said you could go, we could go, and explore the stars. With no duties, no rules, no one against us; Would you go?”
Tauriel sighed and took one of his hands in both of hers, rubbing circles in the palm of his hand with her thumb, “But it’s not that simple. What of Thranduil?”
“What my ada’s opinions are posses no interest to me. We have come to expectable terms. As long as I try to stick to the expectations that are thought of for an elven prince I am free to do as I choose.” Legolas slowly lifted her hands to his lips and kissed her knuckles softly.
“You do so much for me, Legolas. Why?” She moved a hand away from his and moved it to stroke his cheek with feather soft touches.
“As I said on the day we spent the night in the forest because we travelled too far, my heart belongs with you. Where you go, I will follow.” He brushed her hair softly with his free hand and a smile spread across her lips.
She couldn’t believe the words he was saying, was he truly going to leave his home to go with her? He was so high in life, the prince of Mirkwood, and she was only a sylvan elf. Usually something such as this was never even in consideration as a possibility. The beautiful elf prince had his duties and father there but he was willing to leave it to go with her. She had absolutely no idea how she was supposed to react to this.
Tauriel opened her mouth to try to say something but found herself leaning forward instead and kissed Legolas. Winding her arms around his neck, she pulled him down closer to her. She could feel his arm slide around her waist as he pulled her close against his larger body. The kiss itself only lasted a few seconds but it felt like she had given him as much passion as she could possibly ever give. Finally, she rested her forehead against his. The words were a hushed whisper as she looked up into his blue orbs of eyes, “When shall we leave?”
“Whenever you wish to, Tauriel” He leant down and planted a quick kiss on her cheek, “We can go whenever you are ready to see the stars.”
“As long as I am with you I don’t think it would really matter to me.” She grinned happily and Legolas chuckled softly. Tauriel stole a quick kiss before they ran back to the party, hand clasped in hand.