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Chapter Text

There is a song whispering in the back of the elven prince's mind. The brush as the foaming sea kisses the sand, a slow melody beckoning him to the land behind the ocean. 

Rising with the dawn, Legolas was sure of two things. The sky growled and thundered, a sign of troubled times, and his song had stopped. 

Ada had told him, if he was lucky, one day, the song would stop. It would mean he had found his One. The person he would love until he died, for a broken heart would unravel him.

The realization was quite overwhelming, for an elf, Legolas was still young, and it was rare such fate-changing events happened in the youth of his kind. 

He was lucky, he'd reckon. But the truth is, Legolas didn't feel any joy, he was terrified. For the sea called him no more, but the other half of his soul did, and he jolted at the bang of his voice. 

"That's why you never trust an elf! No need to stop at an inn, he said, I'll simply build a little house, made of little trees, he said. Now I'm soaking wet, Aragorn!"

Legolas frowned, indeed, after a closer look at the hideout he had built the night before, its roof had crumbled. 

He would have given anything in that moment to think the song had to be wrong. Not him. Anyone but him. 

And yet as Gimli shook himself out of a very damp and clingy shirt, baring his hairy, muscular chest and chubby hips, Legolas felt petrified. 

He was unable to look away and he had not quite expected how hard it would be for him to focus on anyone else but the dwarf pestering him right now. 

A dwarf. Oh, oh, Ada would kill him for sure. The simple thought of bringing a dwarf to Thranduil, and him, his only heir, claiming said dwarf as his lover. 

Not just a lover, his One. A Love so strong it will kill you if you lost it. Legolas flinched. Not if, Gimli was a dwarf . . .when.

It was wrong. As simple as that, the song had to be wrong. Legolas just had hit his head or wasn't focusing enough, that's why he couldn't hear his old song. 

As for the new one. He tried to listen to it and all that came was a screech. Definitely wrong.

After more complaining from Gimli, him and Aragorn began packing up again. 

Legolas, on his own, was tending to Arod and trying to not think about the dwarf, which proved difficult. 

Gimli was battling his hair in a knot as he stood on his poney. 

"Can't very well see if I'm wet as a dog." He said " You could use a comb too, Legolas. You have a single hair misbehaving."

It was cynical, meant to jab at him and start one of their usual snapping at each other. 

But Legolas shivered when Gimli used his name, he would willingly throw himself in dirt and mud if it meant the dwarf would wash and comb his hair. 

Heat rose to Legolas' cheeks as he even considered asking Gimli to braid his hair. The elven prince slapped himself mentally. Thinking about braids! In the middle of a quest. How obscene of him!

With one last look at Gimli's enormous hands, roughened by hammering and fighting, Legolas at last mounted his horse. 

Being circled by rohirrims did not improve Legolas' day. He almost voiced an undignified

" Do you know who my father is?"

But Aragorn beat him to the game by presenting him without mentioning his father. How dared the human forget Thranduil's name when Legolas memorized half his family tree?!

And then a spear had lowered toward Gimli, the rohirrim had muttered a threat. Faster than he could think, Legolas found himself ready to shoot his arrow right between the man's eyes. 

" You would die before your stroke fell." 

Gimli spun around and nodded thankfully to him, and somehow, seeing that the dwarf was alright made everything alright. 

But what Legolas had even less expected than being protective over Gimli, was being jealous. 

And oh, how jealous he was. 

Some handsome rohirrim rider and a splendid servant had sat on each side of Gimli and drunk his every words, long fingers brushing his hair and beard, his chest. 

Legolas clenched his fist hard enough that his fork broke with a distinct pop, just as Gimli and the humans wrapped over him exploded in laughter at another not-funny joke of the dwarf. 

Gandalf, who sat facing Legolas threw a look to Aragorn and when this one kept talking with Eowyn about swords, gave him a kick under the table and the ranger nudged Legolas gently. 

"Tell me my friend what terrible offense this wooden fork has done to you, so that I may avenge you."

Legolas looked at Aragorn, at his dirty hair, his tanned skin from days under the sun and the blue of his eyes. The radical opposite of Gimli. 

He grabbed the king of Gondor by the cloak and kissed him, Aragorn kissed back just a second before reminding himself where he was. 

Legolas could not help but glance at Gimli, had he seen? He hoped he had seen.

"This isn't about me…" said Aragorn, unbothered by Eowyn and the jaw she dropped to the floor when the elf had kissed him. " It's about him."

Legolas got up and left, lying in the hay next to Arod, far from the feast inside the House of Theoden. 

The horse was awake but laid in the hay, nodding off with his mouth full. It was quiet, but not utter silence either. 

The song went on, harder than before, annoying as an insect trying to bite him. Legolas curled himself against Arod and took deep breaths. 

The song had to be wrong. It had to. Legolas had heard this song before, he thinks, the words were uncertain but he was convinced he had heard the song before. 

He would simply have to think about it, but it could wait tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Legolas resigned. He had dreamed all night about rough hands on his chest, on his waist, on his thighs.

He dreamed of lips pressed on his own, of a beard scratching his chin in a heated kiss. 

He was never letting Gimli get away with this. Part of him tried to reason that the dwarf had no say in Legolas' wicked thoughts, but he didn't listen to that voice.

Surprisingly, after leaving the stables, he expected to find the dwarf collapsed under a table in the main house.

But Gimli was peaceful smoking a pipe, sitting on the stairs, talking with Lady Eowyn. 

When he saw him, the dwarf rose to his feet. 

"Aah! Legolas, I was telling Lady Eowyn of the wonder of Lorien and the beauty of Galadriel, but I would just not do it justice like you do."

At the mention of Lorien, Legolas remembered their long nights, walking together beneath the stars, just Gimli and him.

Clenching his fist as if it would crush his thoughts, Legolas tried to calm himself. 

Gimli's eyes shone with laughter and his curls roamed free of his braid, discarded to the wind.

He looked like everything elves were supposed to find unattractive smashed together would look like. He was the most beautiful dwarf Legolas had ever seen. 

Feeling like the acceptable time to answer was running out, Legolas blinked slowly and smiled at the young woman. 

" Is there any way to pay justice to such beauty? If not to live it, I shall bring you to Lorien myself one day, when all this evil is dealt with."

A heartbeat passed, Legolas felt Gimli's approving stare and it made him uncomfortably warm all over. 

"You should come too, Master Gimli! Can't he?" Asked Eowyn.

Legolas opened his mouth but the dwarf shook his head in defeat.

"Why would one embarrass themselves with such an unpleasant company?" 

Unpleasant company? Legolas felt the world crumble beneath his feet. And so he turned and left. 

So troubled by his own feelings for Gimli, convinced the dwarf was his One, Legolas had not stopped a second to think Gimli might not feel the same.

The song was no longer pleasant, it might never become so. 

Legolas did not know where he was going, but he left the city. He walked long hours in the fields, knowing they would only leave the next day for Helm's Deep. 

When he came back, still distressed and confused, he was glad to meet his friend Aragorn again. 

"I never thought you would be the type to give up so easily."

Legolas' brows raised in confusion.

"What exactly are you talking about?"

"Please, Legolas. I have known you long enough to see when you're troubled. And it seems the source of your struggles since we left Lorien has been our friend, Gimli."

The elf frowned, he had no intention of speaking of this with anyone, let alone Aragorn, who knew him well enough that he would not be fooled if Legolas pretended everything was fine. 

He was still shaken by his discovery that Gimli was his One, but even more so by the realization that he might not be Gimli's.

Aragorn put a comforting hand over his shoulder and leaned in. 

"Legolas, if I may. Life, even to the long-lived, is too short. If you do not show him your heart now, you may never get the chance. . .And the regrets never leave, mellon nin."

The prince had no doubt Aragorn was talking about Boromir and not him.

But the simple thought that he could lose Gimli, that losing him would kill him, only added to the dread in Legolas' stomach. 

"Should he fall, so will I. Regardless of my confession or not. So why bother?"

Aragorn seemed disappointed by that answer and shrugged. 

"I simply thought you might want a chance at happiness. We're not all so lucky as to have that choice."

Oh. Legolas had been terribly offensive. But before he could apologize, Aragorn was leaving. 

So Legolas decided to at least spend some time with Gimli. They had grown much fonder of each other after their stop in Lorien. 

They had spent nights together there, just walking among trees and stonepath, talking in low voices to one another, comparing beauties of forests with golden leaves to the ones of caves filled with gems.

And frankly, Legolas ought to know back then it meant more. He had been blind, too enthralled by Gimli to even notice he was falling in love. 

His heart missed a beat in his chest. Gimli must have thought Legolas was putting distance between them.

Though it was exactly what he had been doing these past few days, it was not at all what he intended to do. 

But if he was honest with himself, Legolas no longer trusted his thoughts now that he knew his very life depended on Gimli returning his feelings. 

Whatever it implied was still foggy for him. He had no idea how to approach the dwarf about it. 

However, he knew he could trust his song, and so he did. He listened to it and it was not a screech anymore, it was a low, deep murmur. 

It reminded Legolas of Gimli's song in Moria. The Song of Durin, somehow, the melody had stuck to him, like waves coming and going, calling to him.

He followed the song through the rohirrim's settlement and found Gimli sharpening his ax on a whetstone.

He was focused entirely on his work, his serious stare brushing every inch of the weapon, making sure it was sharp and well cared for. 

If he was surprised by Legolas' appearance, he showed no sign of it. 

"Well, sit down, my friend, let us talk, I haven't heard from you in too long."

Legolas smiled at the gentle scolding and dropped to the stairs quietly, sitting just at Gimli's level. 

"I wondered where you were gone, but Aragorn said you simply missed the song of trees. I myself miss the song of the stone, I hope it brought you joy."

The elven prince simply smiled, touched by Gimli's kind words. So far from the hatred other dwarves had shown him.

Legolas chuckled as he recalled Gimli's own father had a seventy years old grudge against him. 

"It only brought me quiet and time to think, but I reckon your presence would have made the whole thing more enjoyable."

Gimli let out an amused huff. 

" Just say you enjoy making me run after you."

" I would have waited for you."

The dwarf finally looked at Legolas, taking his sweet time looking at him. The elven prince felt his cheeks and ears heat. 

" I know. . ."

Legolas looked away, to some crow far away, circling above a wheat field. Gimli put away the ax and the whetstone, a warm hand reaching for Legolas's cheek. 

"One of your braids is undone. . ."

The elf felt his whole being shiver, the intimacy of Gimli being so close to a braid was too much. 

"Among my people, braids have a meaning. Each one is different. If I'm not mistaken, it is the same for you, right?"

Legolas nodded, swallowing hard. 

"So this one?"

Gimli ran a finger against the entire length of the braid, fingertips brushing Legolas' ear. 

" This one, it means you're royal." 

He did the same to another braid, closer to Legolas' neck. 

"This one means you are of age and a tried warrior."

He then let his hand trail against Legolas' jaw, then crawled up to his other temple and brushed his last braid. 

"This one means you're yet to be promised to anyone."

Legolas almost swooned at the words whispered so low against his ear. All this talk of traditions made the thought of his One burn in his mind. 

He wanted Gimli. He wanted him. 

He was out of words and found nothing to say until the dwarf himself spoke. He crouched into Legolas' space and just above a whisper asked him. 

"Would you allow me, in the name of our close friendship, of what it could become, to court you?" 

Legolas felt like he had turned to glass and was about to break, for Gimli had just cracked his whole defense. 

"Yes. I. . .  I would love nothing more."

Chapter Text

Legolas ran through the caravane to Helm's Deep, reaching Aragorn and shoving him in the back. The human tripped and turned at once.

"What-"

"You told him!"

Aragorn blinked as he took in Legolas and his enraged pout. His skin had taken a dark red shade and his hair stuck in all places. 

He frowned at the new braid Legolas now bore. . . It was a dwarven pattern. 

"Legolas, I. . .I didn't.  . . I didn't say anything."

But the elf was not having it, he grabbed Aragorn by the cloak and shook him like a misbehaving kid. 

"HOW would he know ? If not you then HOW?"

Aragorn was now upset at being treated like this and he pushed Legolas back, firmly but not violently.

The elf was heaving deep breaths and his blue eyes were filled with tears of rage.

"Legolas. . .Please, tell me what has gotten to you."

The elven prince grabbed his new braid and brushed it with his thumbs, then raised it for Aragorn to see. 

"Gimli. . . He's now officially courting me."

Aragorn couldn't help but smile tenderly at the sight of his closest friend.

"Well is that not good news?"

Legolas blushed, not of anger this time and glanced at the back of the caravane. 

"It is but. . . If he does not know my life is bound to his. . . .then why would he court me at all?"

Aragorn felt his jaw drop.

" You can't be serious right ? It's obvious, Legolas. He likes you."

He likes you.

Legolas repeated the words over and over and over in his mind as he walked in silence toward the fortress, his fingers brushing the braid with a dwarven clip of iron. 

It was carved by Gimli himself, 

he had done it out of the point of an arrow Legolas had broken while hunting when they left Imladris.

How the dwarf had managed to curve it and carve it, he did not know. Maybe in Moria, though it did not seem likely. 

It was beautiful. Between two rows of runes was a single leaf, the runes meant 

Amralizu Umral

That much, Legolas had managed to read. He had, however, no idea what it meant. 

He also liked the way Gimli had brushed his fingers against Legolas' neck.

How he had taken three strands of hair and not two to braid. How once the iron clip was in place, he had kissed Legolas' knuckles and bowed to him before leaving. 

" Well I'm glad you like it." 

Legolas dropped his braid and stared at Gimli. He was on Arod and so he was above Legolas, who suddenly had no idea what to do with his hands. 

"Yes. I'm very fond of it." 

The dwarf stood a little straighter and stared far in the horizon. 

" I wanted to talk to you further about this courtship, if it's alright with you?"

Legolas' smile fell and his joy dismissed with it. 

" Do you no longer wish to court me?"

Gimli huffed and let a hand brush Legolas' cheek. 

"If anything, I intend to court you most ardently."

Legolas blushed but still leaned into his touch. 

"Well, I'm all ears, Gimli."

The dwarf smiled and Legolas felt warmth blossom in his stomach. 

"I wanted to ask what boundaries you required, what would make you uncomfortable, what you would feel comfortable with. . . I wanted to know what you felt about all of this."

Legolas' eyes widened at that. He had not thought of sharing his feelings with Gimli.

To be fair he only shared his thoughts with Ada or Tauriel, but no one else. Not even Aragorn. 

"I. . . "

No. He could not tell Gimli he was his One. So he decided to reach into how Gimli made him feel.

" You brighten even my darker days. You amuse me, you captivate me, you are Gimli, a very peculiar rock in my boots. One I didn't expect, but your presence is always with me and when you're gone, I only feel your absence."

Gimli blushed. Legolas had not thought his words would touch the dwarf but he reached for his hand and pressed a kiss in his palm, soft beard tingling his skin.

"Oh how you speak, each word an arrow to my heart, making me succumb to your charms just so."

Legolas stood taller, proud of the effect of his words. 

" As for I, Legolas, you are an evidence, my heart burned when I met you and I just knew. It is you the flame keeping my forge alit."

Legolas chuckled at the mention of a forge, then raised a brow, curious.

" You said I should tell you of my boundaries. I do not think I have any, I only wish you to be yourself, to be with me."

" That I can do, Umral. But let me know if ever my courtship makes you uncomfortable. "

Legolas frowned and looked at Gimli.

" I have not braided your hair. . .Does it mean I haven't returned your intentions?"

Gimli became as red as his beard.

"Oh, for us dwarves, only family and spouses can braid our hair. If you did so, it would be a proposal. . .you would be asking for my hand."

Legolas blushed too, then, looking at the fortress as they reached it. 

"Is that not what courting me means toow though?"

Gimli then leaped off Arod and starred in Legolas' eyes. 

"If I had asked for your hand, Amralime, you would know."

Legolas felt his cheeks heat even though the exact rules of the dwarven proposal were entirely unknown to him.

Chapter Text

Legolas was in utter distress, running through the remparts, eyes seeking his dwarf among the fallen bodies. Instead he found Aragorn wrapped over a body. 

The ranger was brushing the long blonde hair gently, as if the elf was simply asleep. Then Legolas realized who it was. 

Haldir. 

The elven prince knelt beside them and Aragorn simply shook his head, face lined with tears and cake in grim and blood.

"I'm sorry. . . I know what he means to you."

Aragorn blinked slowly, chasing the tears from his eyes. 

" Go, Legolas. Find him. Find him and do not let him go."

He rose and kept running. There was nothing but corpses, orcs, humans and elves all fallen. 

And then he saw it, a gloved hand, clutching an ax. It was buried under fallen orcs and ice crept in Legolas' blood. 

"No. No. NO."

He yanked the bodies away and dug out Gimli. The dwarf laid unmoving, eyes closed and face flecked with blood.

Legolas dropped to his knees, tears burning his cheeks. 

" Oh no.. . .no. . .Gimli ? Gimli? Come back to me. . . Please. . ."

But the dwarf did not move. 

He pulled Gimli out of the pile and held him in his arms, hand brushing away the hair and the beard, his thumb stroking a round cheek. 

"Do not leave me now. . ."

A tear fell on Gimli's face, Legolas did not care. The dwarf frowned. 

He groaned and blinked and when he opened his eyes at last, his hand reached for Legolas' own cheek. 

"Amralizu Umral. . . "

Legolas' sight blurred with more tears, but he smiled. His One was alive. 

"Gimli, Are you hurt, Nin Meleth? 

The dwarf let out a deep breath and sat up. 

"No, I am unharmed, if only a bit shaken."

They stared at each other for a while and leaned in. Legolas did not know who kissed who first, but he did not care. 

Where he was rough and demanding, kissing like it was a battle to conquer, Gimli was gentle and sweet, pressing kisses on his lips. 

His hand tangled in Gimli's hair and the dwarf kept his own hands to Legolas' cheeks, thumbs soothing him by rubbing small circles on his cheekbones. 

They stayed so for hours, clinging to one another like an anchor. 

When Aragorn found them later on, they were getting checked for minor injuries. Mostly blisters and scratches on their hands. 

"It warms my heart to see you standing, Gimli. As for you, Legolas. . . "

He stared at the elven prince and Legolas felt his cheeks heat up. He was painfully aware of the bruises Gimli had kissed in his neck.

It was also very obvious it was made so, and not in battle. But Aragorn said nothing. 

" Orcs. Tried to strangle me. Died fast."

Aragorn cleared his throat and nodded. 

"Of course. Glad you got out of it." 

But when he left them to check on Theoden and his nephews, he was shaking his head in laughter. 

Gimli got up and Legolas followed him to the main hall, where warm broth was served with bread and cheese. 

They both sat away from the crowd of rohirrims and villagers, tucked against a wall, eating in a comfortable silence. 

" I want to apologize, Kûrdun, for in these times, fighting evil, I fail to provide you with the suitable gifts for a courtship."

Legolas frowned and put a hand over Gimli's arm. 

"Nin Meleth, there is no greater gift for me that you lived. And if you really need to give me anything, then I'd like it to be your presence by my side."

Gimli still seemed embarrassed as he sipped his broth. 

"This is not proper. How am I to be a respectable husband if I cannot provide you with my work ? A bead out of an arrow, this is all I gave you?

Naye. I am most ashamed, Legolas, that I can not offer you the gems and gold you deserve. If only I had met you at another time, I would not need to embarrass myself just so."

Legolas felt every word and tried not to tear up, seeing how pained Gimli was about the situation. 

"Then let us court as long as needed, Gimli. And when evil is defeated, I will gladly accept your gifts. But I can't help but feel too spoiled by you already, and in order to be fair, it is I, that will court you until then.

My gifts would have been the same at another time, for us elves use songs and nature to show our love. So when evil is defeated, you will court me Gimli. Until then, you are mine to seduce."

The dwarf looked at him with wet eyes and a kind smile, kissing his knuckles once more.

"Amralizu Umral, what would become of me without you?"

Legolas pressed his fingers against Gimli's lips and whispered.

" If you knew what I would be without you …"

Chapter Text

There were many ways an elf could court another elf by finding very elvish presents to their significant elvish one. But Gimli was no elf. 

And so Legolas found himself very distraught at finding what he could actually gift his beloved. 

He could have carved a bow, but where elves had centuries to spare to hone their presents, Legolas had not.

First of all, because he was presently fighting an Oliphant. Second, because his beloved would not live that long. Third, because if he wasn't careful none of them would survive this battle. 

" TWENTY - NINE!"

Legolas appeased, he lived. He stabbed one of the Oliphant's leg and threw himself on the beast's saddle, cutting it to propel himself on its back. 

He felled the giant and when it crashed to the ground, Legolas slid down its trump and landed elegantly on solid ground. 

" THIS ONE COUNTS FOR TWO!"

Gimli's upset grumble reached him and Legolas realized that in the middle of the battle, his song was now loud and vibrant.

He could hear the song, each word whispered against his mind like a lover against a pillow. 

It meant one thing, and one thing only. His One loved him. 

At once he looked for Gimli and found the dwarf staring at him. 

" Come here! Legolas, come to me, this instant!" 

And Legolas did, he ran and slid through the orcs like a sword through water. He landed right in front of Gimli, still slashing and shooting in every direction. 

Then the dwarf knelt. And out of his armor he pulled a necklace, with a pendant key of stone. 

"Gimli ! Is this really the moment ?"

The dwarf swung his ax and shoved the necklace in Legolas' hand. 

"With this key, I give you my trust and the way through my heart."

Twist, shoot, swing, more blood. 

"With this key, I ask you to live with me, as my family. As my spouse, as benn nin, as yûsthun. I want you, Legolas, to become a part of me. I pray Mahal you'll accept me, Gimli Gloinûl, as your husband. What say you ?"

Gimli was right, Legolas would forever remember this proposal. Around them, not a single orc stood. The battle was over. 

Legolas stared at Gimli, and when it was certain they had won, he yanked the dwarf's helmet. He knelt and threaded his fingers in Gimli's hair. 

Feeling the dwarf's tense stare on his lips, he kissed him. A hard press of mouths, a vow sealed. 

He then stared back at the hair in his hand, and ever so gently, he started separating the strands and twisted them. 

When at last the braid was done, Legolas used one of his own elven clip to close it. 

" I do."

Legolas smiled and kissed Gimli once more. 

The dwarf held his clothes and whispered against his lips.

"Tell me, amralizu yûshthun, how do we marry according to your customs? I can no longer wait to call you mine."

Legolas suddenly turned crimson. 

" That's for after dark."

Gimli frowned.

"Does it require the moon ? Or stars?"

The elven prince burst out in laughter and shook his head. 

" No. It does require a bed, meleth nin."

Gimli stood there, taking in the information before crushing Legolas against his lips. 

"Aye. I can do with a bed."