Beneath the Stars
A lone figure sat under the shadows of the trees, her hair blending in with the night heaven. She leaned against the tree behind her and dug her hands into the earth below. Thankful she was for the life of the forest; it was always her source of comfort after she learned that her best friend joined a suicide mission. A single tear made its way down her skin as she recalled the first time they had met ten years ago…
It was twilight. The sky was clear and perfect for star watching in the Mirkwood forest. An elleth snuck away from her home and roamed carefully through the woods until she came to her secret haven. It was safe from the nightly dangers that lurked. There was a small lake that was surrounded by tall, intimidating trees forming a sort of fortress. The moon and stars reflected their light off of the water causing it to become luminescent. She approached the shining pool and glided her fingers through the water creating ripples on the surface. She giggled as they slithered across the reflection of the moon making it seem as if it was dancing with the stars.
As the unknown world swayed, two azure eyes were watching her intently. She stood up and began to climb the tree where her spectator rested. When she reached up to a higher branch, she felt smooth, silky skin not rough, harsh bark. She gasped and looked up in surprise seeing an ellon with an amused smile plastered on his face.
“I am sorry,” she quickly apologized. “I did not know you were there. I will let you be.” She started to make her way down when she felt the same soft skin covering her hand, so she looked up to see the ellon looking down at her. “No, it is okay. I would not mind some company.” She hesitantly began the climb back up and rested on the same branch that he was. An awkward silence passed between the two while they gazed up at the stars. It immediately shattered when he spoke.
“My name is Legolas Greenleaf.” The elleths mouth went dry as she stammered and searched for an apology in her mind, but he beat her to it. “Please,” he said, “I do not desire to be treated any differently than I am now.” After some hesitation, she replied, “Mae govannen. Mine is Lilath Silimaure.”
They sat together that night watching the stars, and when the moonlight wove its way through the leaves, he was marveled by her uniqueness. Her raven hair hid in the night sky, and her plain brown eyes shone brighter than before. Her skin stood out against the darkness like a blood red rose in a field of bright, yellow daises.
When she felt his gaze on her, she turned and faced him. Legolas quickly turned his head away and turned his attention to the beauties shining above him instead of the beauty next to him. Lilath allowed a little smirk to grow, but it quickly dissolved. She seized this moment to in turn study him. He had the same color eyes and the same silky, golden hair as the other elves did. She let her gaze wander to the lake below them and compare it to his eyes, the same dark, mysterious blue anyone could drown in. “I have seldom seen an elf with that shade of color for eyes. How did you inherit them?” Legolas questioned after a few moments of silence, for he too was wondering about her’s.
“It happened centuries ago,” she lowered her head down as she spoke, “when it didn’t matter what race you were. All that mattered was the amount of unconditional love deep inside your heart that you held for someone else.” Lilath paused silently, wondering why she was telling the Prince of Mirkwood this. She always kept to herself, so why the sudden change?
He urged her on by saying, “Please continue.”
Lilath hesitantly began. “My ancestors were both human and elvin. I remember a story about the two that began all of this. It’s basically the clichéd story of a girl and her knight in shinning armor, but with a quite different ending. Well in this case it would be an elf and her knight in rags.” She gave off a low, almost mocking chuckle.
“Everyone disapproved of their love not because of race but of social status. He was poor and she was wealthy. The opinions of others…it did not matter to them. Their love was so unreserved that they were envied by many other couples, even the ones that disliked them. It’s a sad thing when people don’t get their happy endings. When he found out one day that she was pregnant, he lost it. He left and never came back. Nobody knows why. Some say he was forced to do it, yet others believe he only wanted her for her wealth and lied each and every time he said the words, ‘I love you.’ She died in childbirth with a broken heart. The child was half human and thus started my shameful ancestry line.”
Tears pricked at her eyes, and a few escaped their confinement. Leoglas tenderly cupped her chin in a friendly gesture, bringing her face up to meet his. He brushed away the stray tears with his thumb as he spoke. “There is nothing wrong with being yourself…”
She thought back to the days when they are inseparable until his royal duty kicked in every once in a while. She remembered how an unknown feeling would rise in the pit of her stomach when another elleth flirted with him. She remembered how she would always dress her best when she was around him, or how she would feel butterflies swarming in her stomach after he complimented her. More tears rained down her face when she recalled the many attempted chances that she tried to tell him how she felt, but they all failed. She regretted that she was never able to speak her heart to him before he left.
Sobs shook her body restraining any sounds from reaching her Elvin ears. Grief consumed her; a shadow trapping her heart. Her head jerked up when a hand gently squeezed her shoulder. She quickly stood up and whirled around ready to face her attacker. She gasped in remembrance while looking at the attacker’s smile that graced his face, a smile that she had gained in one night and lost in another. More tears formed, but these were created out of sheer joy. She jumped into his arms which such force that she knocked them both to the ground. Both were soon laughing and rolling on the floor like children. They soon stopped breathless and stared at each other.
Legolas was bending over Lilath with a hand next to each side of her face, and a knee on each side of her thigh. Her arms were draped loosely around his neck. They both were grinning like the fools they are. She tightened her grip on his neck and hugged him as he placed on hand on the small of her back. No words were spoken for the reason that none were needed. The simple embrace did it for them.
When she released his neck, the realization of their position jumped in. She tried to move, but Legolas placed a hand on her waist and held her still. She looked up to meet his eyes, and saw him staring intently at her. She shifted nervously as he continued to gaze at her. “What are you doing?” she asked quietly.
“I am looking,” he simply stated.
“At what?”
He whispered as he unconsciously traced her lips and jaw, “Your eyes… your hair… your lips.” She turned her head away from him, and the grass around her became a very interesting subject. “You are so beautiful,” he murmured into her ear as he traced her cheekbone and stroked her neck. Every inch of bare skin that he caressed felt like it was burning. She shivered involuntarily when his warm breath embraced her ear. “Lilath, please look at me.” When she didn’t budge, he took his hand that was rubbing her neck, cupped her cheek, and turned her face to his. He took his thumb and brushed the corner of her eye. Russet eyes met sapphire.
She looked into his soul and saw longing, passion, and… love. Everything that she had wanted, everything that she wished for was finally happening, and she was at lost for words. She felt like she was going to burn from the fiery passion that was swarming in his eyes, so she averted her gaze to anywhere but his face. He rested his forehead against hers, noses touching and their lips barely inches apart.
“Do you know how much I missed you?” he spoke as his breath brushed over her lips. “All I thought about was you, and how I regretted not saying ‘Goodbye.’ Then I realized something.” At those words, she locked eyes with him and waited for him to continue. He rubbed her cheek, and his voice laced with passion began, “I realized that you mean the world to me. You mean more to me than anyone else. When I fought I not only fought for Middle Earth to have a future but for you to have a future. And I thought that maybe you would be willing to share that future with me because I am more that willing to share it with you. I guess what I am trying to say is… Lilath, I love you.” He whispered those last, three, life-changing words so softly that she would have missed them if it weren’t for her elven hearing.
She exhaled slowly, parting her lips and summoned up the courage to respond softly while still holding his gaze. “Do you remember all those times that I told you that I needed to talk to you about something important, and in all those times we got interrupted?” He nodded his head slightly against hers as he continued to leave scorching stokes across her cheek making it hard for her to concentrate. “Every time I tried to tell you how I felt about you…about how I wanted to be more than friends. Whenever I saw you with another elleth I felt something, but I didn’t know what it was until I really thought about it. It was jealously. Once I figured that out, everything fell into place. I realized I loved you and I still do. I would love to spend that future with you.” She averted his gaze and sighed. He felt her shoulders trembling and saw more tears flow down her face.
Legolas lifted his forehead off of hers and looked at her with concern. He thought that this wasn’t such a comfortable position for her, so he got off of her, put one arm under her legs, the other arm around her back as she wrapped her arms around his neck, and picked her up. He walked over to the large tree that they met each other in and sat down along the trunk while placing Lilath in his lap. She kept her arms around him and cried into the crook of his neck as he made soothing circles on her lower back. He moved one of his hands to the back of her neck and moved her face to his. “Lilath?” he whispered as he wiped away the tears. “What is wrong?” Lilath began babbling like a child without a care of what she was saying, rushing the words so that Legolas could hardly understand them.
“I don’t know. It’s just that I am part human, and half the people in the kingdom loathe me. The other half that doesn’t loathe me doesn’t really care or know I exist. I have no friends, and no one ever talks to me except to insult me. They all think I am a freak. I have no self-confidence. If you were seen with me, it would hurt your image since I am not gorgeous or pretty like-” She was silenced as he placed a finger over her mouth, and he spoke with such fervor that she was slightly frightened.
“It does not matter to me if you are part human, or if the kingdom does not like you. All that matters to me is I love you, and I want to make you a part of my life. It does not matter what the kingdom wants; it is what I want. I do not care about my image. I can be myself around you and that is all that counts. Please do not say that you not gorgeous or pretty because in my eyes you are that and more. You have a great, fun-loving personality, and you have a smart wit that is useful every once in a while.” He moved his hand from her neck and cupped her cheek. He watched her as she leaned into his touch, and her eyes closed. He placed his forehead on hers and whispered, “I love you so much, and I am never going to regret that.” He closed his eyes mimicking her and kissed her forehead. He kissed her right eyelid and then her left cheek. His mouth hovered over hers until he lightly brushed his lips against hers.
She felt a jolt run through her as she felt his lips lightly press against hers. A hot, tingling sensation formed, and she loved every second of it. She felt the warm presence leave, but it lingered. She opened her eyes and found his; she found the only eyes that she could ever burn in.
She closed her eyes as he placed his mouth over hers and began to massage her lips using his own. She tightened her grip on his neck as the familiar tingling sensation returned, and she pressed harder against his mouth. He slid both hands down her neck, over her shoulders, down her sides, and rested them on her hips. He removed his mouth for a short breath of air and then resumed kissing her. He glided a hand up her back to her neck and tilted her head. She entwined her fingers into his hair and scooted closer to him. Fire erupted from inside of her as he slid his tongue across her bottom lip, pleading for entrance. She granted it by opening her mouth a little way. He slowly entered her mouth and left no corner unburned. The shadow released her heart and emotions burst as their tongues danced a fiery battle.
They reluctantly broke apart, both panting for air. Legolas began to leave scorching kisses along her jaw, to her ear, and down her neck. He stopped at the crook of her neck and gently bit. She sighed with pleasure and released her fingers from his hair and loosely gripped his neck. He rested his forehead against hers and kissed her shortly on the lips. She wore a small smile on the outside, but inside sparks were shooting everywhere. “I love you,” she whispered to him.
“I love you too.” Lilath turned around and lay against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on top of her head. She relaxed her hands on top of his, and together they sat watching the stars twinkle under the tree in which a beginning started and ended. Now a new beginning starts.
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