#sigriel

--

“Which ones?” Sigrid looked up at her sister, feeling more lost than had in a long time as she sat on the floor of her bedroom, neat and tidy rows of freshly picked flowers surrounding her. They were all done up in cute little bundles, the ends of their stems snipped and wrapped in damp cloth before being brought up to Sigrid’s chambers.

She was still trying to get used to being a lord’s daughter after all of these years - the simple ease of having requested a small bundle of flowers from the florist had turned into a day’s long fiasco of sifting through nearly every bloom variety that was available in and around Dale and it was ridiculous .  

“For the fifty- thousandth time , I don’t know,” Tilda groaned, rolling her eyes. Not that she would say it aloud, but Tilda did distinctly remember telling Sigrid that perhaps doing more research or even just asking Tauriel about elven courting rituals before ordering the flowers would be the best course of action. Yet, here they were. Hundreds of flowers. No clue as to which flowers were the right flowers.

And it wasn’t like there were any other elves around that they could ask. Tilda and Bain had already gotten just about everything they could out of Legolas the last time he and his father had visited Dale - and in the end, it hadn’t even resulted in that much information.

“You should just ask Tauriel. At this rate you run the risk of insulting her if you go about picking random ones,” Tilda said. Sigrid ran a hand down her face and looked over the flowers surrounding her. Carefully, she picked up one of the bundles and twisted it between her fingers.

“Poppies,” Tilda said, flopping down on Sigrid’s bed and propping her head up on her hands, “Da always says that bad omens come with poppies.” Sigrid huffed and placed them to the side.

Sigrid sighed as she moved on to pick up another - a bundle of white roses this time.

“Roses are romantic?” Sigrid said, though it sounded more like a question than an answer.

Tilda hummed in affirmation. There was a knock at the door and she moved to answer it. Sigrid put her head in her hands and set the roses to the side.

Bain shuffled in, looking a bit frazzled, with a rather thin and old book in his hands.

“I found it!” He grinned at Sigrid. Her eyes lit up, hoping for an end to this madness.

Bain turned the book in his hands, rubbing his thumb over the front of the cover, “I knew there was a book on elves somewhere in the library, it just took me a while to find it. Hopefully this’ll shed some light on your predicament.” Bain grinned again and cracked open the book, leafing through the pages.

“Elves, elven culture, elven agriculture, elven languages, and elven bonds.” Bain’s face scrunched up as he turned the last page, flipping back through the book and going through it again, “Give me a moment.”

Sigrid sighed and picked up another bundle, this one of yellow roses. Next to it, there was a bundle of deep blue roses. She picked those up as well and put them together, the yellow reminding her of Tauriel and the blue reminding her of herself. Perhaps that would work? Roses were probably a safe bet, right?

“Here!” Bain shouted excitedly and Tilda shushed him.

“Quiet, we don’t need Da busting in here and finding out about Sigrid’s intentions to court Tauriel yet.” Tilda huffed and then gestured for Bain to continue.

“It says that elves give special meanings to different flowers - which we already knew - and it also says that the giving of certain flowers usually represents the beginning of a courtship - just like Legolas mentioned the last time he was here. Roses,” Bain grinned down at Sigrid and the roses in her hands, “Roses, tulips, daffodils, and daisies are typically given to begin elven courtship!”

Sigrid let out a long breath, “Thank the stars,” Sigrid stood and took the book from Bain’s hands, laying it gently on her bedside table.

“Thank the stars all you want, but I was the one who found the book.” Bain said, grinning. Sigrid chuckled and tugged him into a long, crushing bear hug that only ended when he started squirming to be let go.

Tilda and Bain left shortly after, taking the flowers that Sigrid had not chosen with them. What they planned on doing with them, she knew not, and she knew better than to ask at this point.

------

The next morning, Sigrid woke just as the sun rose, her heart already fluttering away in her chest as she set about getting ready for her day. She was to meet Tauriel in the meadow just outside of the outskirts of Dale - a monthly tradition they'd picked up about a year and a half ago now. They would each bring snacks and blankets, lie back against a nice, old oak tree, and they would talk for hours. Sigrid anxiously looked forward to it every month, this month even more so, as she had finally, finally decided to rule up all of her courage to present Tauriel with a courting gift.

Sigrid took a deep breath as she wrapped the ends of her little makeshift bouquet and bundled it up in clean white cloth. She tied a nice blue ribbon around the cloth and tucked it gently into her picnic basket before heading off toward the meadow.

It was always a pleasant walk, but this time Sigrid couldn't help her nerves getting to her. By the time she'd reached the city's edge and the tall oak tree came into view in the distance, her heart was already in her throat and she was seriously debating running back to her chambers and forgetting the entire thing. But she carried on, step by step getting closer until she could make out Tauriel - already sitting cross-legged under the oak tree, her fiery hair pulled back in a long braid. She looked beautiful , Sigrid thought, fingers tensing around the handle of her basket.

“Sigrid,” Tauriel called out as she got closer, and Sigrid's heart jumped at just how fond Tauriel sounded as she said her name. “I'm glad you made it safely, mellon nín.”

Tauriel smiled at her, soft and warm, and Sigrid returned it with a tittering nervousness that she knew Tauriel could see, but her friend was kind enough not to point it out. Now or never, Sigrid’s brain supplied, and she settled herself down on the blanket.

“I wanted to give you these,” Sigrid said as she carefully took the bundle out of her basket and handed it over. Tauriel’s eyes widened.

“Sigrid,” Tauriel breathed as she unwrapped the cloth, “You did not have to--” Tauriel cut herself off as she saw the flowers, breath catching in her throat, and Sigrid’s heart was pounding now. She swore she’d never been this nervous in her life, really. She studied Tauriel’s face for what seemed like an eternity - watching for any small sign to give her hope that the elf returned her feelings.

Tauriel’s mouth twisted into something unreadable and then a small smile crossed her face. She looked up at Sigrid and brought the bundle close to her chest.

“Thank you,” Tauriel said, her voice a bit too uneven for Sigrid’s liking. She sounded upset, and that had definitely not been the goal of this.

Sigrid bit the inside of her cheek and took in a deep breath.

"Do you not like them?" Sigrid asked, and when Tauriel didn't immediately reply, she stammered on, "Are they not...are they not right? We - I - tried to figure out which ones were the right ones and the book said roses were the right choice for courting but I guess I don't-"

Tauriel placed a gentle hand on Sigrid's thigh and she stopped suddenly, rambling halted at the warmth of Tauriel's fingers splayed over her skirt. She looked curiously at Sigrid, her head cocked to the side as her eyes searched Sigrid's face. And then something seemed to click in Tauriel's mind, her eyes sparkling for a brief moment before her mouth turned up in a grin.

"Roses indeed." Tauriel chuckled, shifting closer. Sigrid held her breath as Tauriel's hand found her own, her thumb brushing over Sigrid's knuckles as she came to rest their foreheads together. She was so close. Sigrid could feel the warmth of her breath ghosting over her lips as Tauriel twined their fingers together.

" Sigrid, " Tauriel breathed, but Sigrid wasn't really registering what she was saying at that point. She closed the short distance between them, brushing her lips over Tauriel's in a soft kiss.

When they pulled back from each other, Tauriel was still smiling, and Sigrid took that as perhaps a good sign that she had not entirely messed this up.