#winterforest

O N E

(a/n: let’s say their ages are somewhere between 5 and 9, in human years)

When Lord Elrond had meetings and duties to attend to, which was quite often, [Y/N] knew better than to disturb her father, or any of his esteemed guests. However, that meant hours upon hours of alone time, which could be quite monotonous for an elven child who was just bursting with energy.

Her sister Arwen was a much more peaceful girl, while [Y/N] was always looking for an adventure to engage in. Of course she did enjoy spending time with her sister as well, but she craved someone with more of a wild streak to keep up with her. Thankfully, a very tall elf with very long blond hair, who often had meetings with her Ada, had a son around her age, so she did not have to die of boredom. Or almost die from some unsupervised activity she recklessly chose for the day.

“Your Ada allows you to have a bow?” she gasped as Legolas, the son of the very tall intimidating guest of her father’s revealed his secret weapon. “I am still not allowed into our armory… because of a little accident,” her voice dropped conspiratorially, immediately catching all of Legolas’ attention. She was extremely interesting to him, albeit just a little odd. Legolas liked odd.

“I may own one, but it is a very small bow. The arrows are not even, sharp, look” Legolas proclaimed as he pulled out an arrow to show to [Y/N]. Her mouth was agape in wonder as she carefully touched the tip with her small finger. “What was your armory accident about?” now Legolas was the one whispering, as if afraid of their little secrets being discovered.

“I really like it,” the elven girl admitted, “I wish I had one. Now, why should I share my secret with you?” she teased, sticking her tongue out.

“I don’t know, maybe I know someone who could provide you with a bow, just like this, for you,” Legolas smirked, feeling all high and mighty. [Y/N] all but gasped in surprise and unexpected joy. Her expressiveness and energy drew Legolas to want to be around her all the time. The ideas she had were always fun, and time passed by much faster when they spent it together while their fathers had their boring meetings. Her hair was never tame like his, and she talked loudly sometimes, but she was just… warm.

“I’m afraid my Ada would find that bow really quickly, sadly,” she sighed, her small shoulders slumping in newly felt defeat. “He always finds out everything,” she muttered. Legolas nodded in understanding. “However… I was wondering,” she continued hesitantly, weighing her words for a moment, “if you could show me how to use your bow?”

[Y/N] was swinging her legs over the edge of a little wooden bridge they were sitting on, to calm her nerves, but she gathered the courage to look up into Legolas’ eyes.

She smells pretty, he thought. Like a forest in winter.

“If you’d like, I can show you my collection of really pretty rocks,” she offered in return, attempting her best charming smile, “you can even pick one as a gift. I think they are all very unique.”

“Really?” Legolas grinned, not even needing a moment to consider the counter-offer. As a little elven-prince, he greatly enjoyed pretty things from nature. Especially tokens from girls who smell pretty and have enchanting laughter.

“Of course,” she nodded excitedly, a lock of hair falling over her eyes. She giggled, got up as quickly as possible, eager to start her very first archery lesson with a rather charming and interesting elvish prince. She outstretched her hand towards the blond elf to get him up too – she was in a bit of a hurry, after all.

At that moment, Legolas decided he trusted her.

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T W O

(a/n: here they’re a bit older children, but still children. would be around 10-13 years in human years)

“Have you ever kissed anybody?” [Y/N] inquired with ever-present curiosity in her eyes. Legolas almost stopped dead in his tracks. The two were wandering around the gardens of Thranduil’s palace, looking for the tallest tree to climb. As time passed, they grew practically inseparable - it was difficult to tell which one of them lived in Rivendell and which in Mirkwood; both of them spent a lot of time in both places.

“Uh- I- where did you get that?” Legolas stuttered, slightly afraid of meeting her eyes. “And no, I have not.”

“Me neither, [Y/N] exhaled seemingly in relief. “And to answer your question, I have been reading about it in a novel I borrowed from Arwen.”

“Borrowed, or stole?” Legolas chuckled, having grown accustomed to [Y/N]’s ways and occasionally impulsive decisions. Many times she did not seem to be very alike to anyone in her family.

“Borrowed” [Y/N] gasped in mock hurt. “I much prefer stories of great adventures and majestic kingdoms, than of damsels that wait around for a prince to save them. If I had to wait around for someone, I would simply wither away over time.”

“Maybe sometimes it can be the prince who is saved at the end,” Legolas suggested, “or they both go on adventures together and end up saving each other. And the kingdom.”

“That would be grand, would it not?” [Y/N] allowed a soft smile to grace her features and her eyes met Legolas’ for just a moment. “An adventure, turned into a love story that defeats all the odds, and is a sign of hope in turbulent times.”

Sometimes, though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone, Legolas thought about exploring Middle-earth with [Y/N], discovering all the beauties as well as dangers. Having each other’s back through it all. Hopefully, he thought, soon they would both be grown enough and skilled enough to go off on their own. Maybe a small part of him wanted her just for himself someday. Without their fathers, tutors, and any other elf getting in the way.

“So, what do you think?” [Y/N]’s voice brought him back to reality.

“I was... I apologize, my mind was elsewhere. You asked me something?” the blond elf confessed, simultaneously hoping that [Y/N] could and could not read his mind.

“Do you think this tree is good enough? Shall we go and climb and see the view?”

“As you wish,” Legolas concluded and then inhaled sharply in a moment of unbelievable courage. “Do you want me to kiss you?” As soon as he blurted it out, he couldn’t believe his own ears.

Now it was [Y/N]’s turn to be taken aback, but within a heartbeat the soft smile on her face only widened.

“I suppose we could see what it is like.”

Legolas fidgeted with his hands, completely unsure where to go with them as [Y/N] began to lean closer into his face, her comforting scent enveloping him completely. He was just about to fully close his eyes when the girl gently bit the tip of his nose and burst into fits of laughter before taking off running towards the enormous tree that she had spotted earlier. Legolas felt his cheeks burning as he touched his nose with his fingertips, but a smile curved on his lips nevertheless. He ran off after [Y/N] in order to try and catch up with her, and somehow pay her back for her little trick. Her joyful laughter still rang in his ears – he enjoyed all sorts of elvish music, yet he found himself preferring that happy sound over anything in Middle-earth.

And not only that; he couldn’t stop thinking of how she had basically clouded his senses just by being in such a close proximity. She is really something else, Legolas thought to himself. A grand adventure.

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T H R E E

(a/n: late teenage years, perhaps? completely up to your own interpretation!)

[Y/N] winced as she fell to the ground with a thud, her right ankle twisting in an uncomfortable way. The horse she had been riding was running away swiftly, from dangers unknown to her. She heard no alarming noises, nor did she see anything threatening nearby, so she started slowly dusting herself off, still sitting on the ground, a bit scared to get up since a sharp pain started developing in her ankle. An attempt to get up was followed by another wince of pain, but she managed to get back on her feet, leaning all her weight on the healthy leg. Just as she was about to try and put some weight on the injured leg, the silence was cut through by an all too familiar voice.

“[Y/N]?! what happened?” Legolas approached her from behind, his steps hurried, but quiet. He swiftly offered her his shoulder as support, and the girl gratefully leaned against him.

“I took Eretor for a little ride,” she explained with seemingly no concern. Feigning nonchalance was probably the best way to go and not concern Legolas too much; she was well-aware of his protectiveness over her.

“The wildest, possibly most dangerous horse in the realm?”  Legolas continued inquiring, blue eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief and worry.

“He was just...calling out to me,” the girl muttered.

“Well, that is so surprising,” Legolas chuckled, trying to conceal his concern over [Y/N]’s obvious injury. “I wonder if anything normal is ever going to call out to you, not just things that are deadly.”

[Y/N] wanted to glare at him, but she was interrupted by searing pain that sliced through her ankle, causing the blond elf to immediately stop pretending he wasn’t also putting on a careless façade.

“Are you alright? Can you walk?” he asked, looking her up and down. Before she managed to answer, she was easily picked up into his embrace, her arm still slung across his shoulders. When it came to this particular girl, he was overprotective to the bone, while, for [Y/N], breathing in the familiar scent seemed to soothe some of the pain right away as she allowed herself to relax a little bit.

“Lucky me, being carried all the way back by the prince,” [Y/N] joked, drawing out a smile from Legolas’ soft lips. “Any elven lady would kill to be in my position right now.”

He quirked an eyebrow at her, “Yet you seem to be the only one always getting my warmest affections.” It was completely true. Wherever [Y/N] went, Legolas followed, and the other way round, and they had been looking out for each other ever since they were barely able to walk and hold a simple conversation.

“Your horse adventure could have ended in a much worse manner, you are aware of that?” Legolas asked, his demeanor becoming slightly more serious once again.

“But it did not, I am alright,” she looked down at her already swollen ankle, but squeezed Legolas’ shoulder to reassure him. “It is nothing but a minor injury. It will heal practically overnight, and you appeared just at the perfect time.”

“If you say so,” Legolas exhaled. His mind couldn’t stop replaying all the possible bad scenarios, but on the other hand he found it enjoyable to carry [Y/N] and have her pressed flush against his body.

It made him feel like her protector, and he realized that her safety was one of his priorities. Of course, he was more than aware she could look after herself, but it made him feel better if he could contribute to it in any capacity. Silence fell on the two elves, as Legolas inhaled [Y/N]’s comforting scent - like a forest in winter, he always described it to himself. It made him crack a small smile when he looked down at the girl curled up against him and surprisingly peaceful, for a change. Maybe, just maybe, the comfort he found in her, she also found in him. He allowed himself to think so, as he tried to memorize the feeling of warmth and the shape of [Y/N]’s frame against him. It was so real.

“Next time,” Legolas began, after some moments of silence, “please choose another horse. Or at least a decent horse-riding partner.”

“Perhaps you?” [Y/N] quipped, looking up at him with a little smirk on her playful face. She swore she could see a light blush creep up on his usually pale cheeks. “I know that is what you meant.”

“Well,” he feigned perfect composure as his mind swarmed with possibilities, “that would not be the first time we did something questionable together. One of these days, Lord Elrond will make me pay for all the times I could have looked out for you more carefully.”

“He would not! I am nobody’s responsibility but my own… and sometimes, perhaps, I am my father’s problem,” she tried making a mock-upset grimace, but it ended up in a smile.

“One might say that you have become my problem as well, over time,” Legolas raised his eyebrows teasingly at the girl in his arms. She could never be anything even slightly inconvenient to him.

“And you, mine,,” she poked fun at him in return, “yet I wouldn’t have it any other way.“

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F O U R

(a/n: young adults just before the fellowship)

[Y/N] was strolling through Mirkwood halls in order to return some things to the library, when Legolas practically stormed by her and disappeared in his chambers. She could sense the attitude even from behind closed doors, and she had a couple guesses what might have upset the elvish prince. Deciding to venture to the library later, she softly knocked on his door.

“Mellon-nin, it is I. May I come in?” she inquired carefully. Before she even had time to continue persuading Legolas to open the door, he already did it; a frown twisted on his face and his hair slightly disheveled, probably after he’d run his hands through it in frustration multiple times. So, [Y/N] found herself in Legolas’ personal quarters.

“What seems to be the matter?” she asked in a soft voice. Despite Legolas’ occasional stubbornness, she always knew how to get his guard down. Most often she was the only person able to do it at all.

“I have had a… rather unpleasant conversation with my father,” he huffed, plopping down on the huge bed. [Y/N] followed to sit beside him. “I would actually rather call it a lecture, than a conversation.”

“Continue, I am listening,” she urged him, but in a comforting voice, and proceeded to move a strand of perfectly blond hair out of his face and behind his ear.

“I am aware that I have royal duties and matters to attend to, but he just does not seem to grasp – we are not the same! I have this need to go out into nature, to venture onto unknown paths, find myself in unpredictable and exciting situations. That is who I am, not whom he wants me to be” he rambled on as [Y/N] listened and watched attentively. Wasn’t the first time she heard such complaints from the young and energetic elf.

“It would be vastly better if he’d just,” he sighed “just let me follow my own path, and then I would be more agreeable if I had not been feeling confined here, in this life, sometimes.”

“You know I understand you perfectly,” [Y/N] reassured him, “and I share many of those desires myself, but I also do have an understanding of your father’s ways. He just wants to look out for you as much as he can.”

“Whose side are you on?” Legolas quipped, feeling the tiniest sting of betrayal.

“Yours, my friend,” [Y/N] placed a hand on his shoulder, and the tension almost magically left his body. “your side is the only side I have ever been on, it seems to me,” she chuckled, attempting to lighten the mood. Her effort wasn’t in vain – Legolas smiled warmly at her in return.

“Of course, forgive me,” he removed her hand from his shoulder and squeezed it in his for a moment. “I do not think there is need for me to explain the affinity I have for you as well.”

“Sit down on the floor in front of me,” [Y/N] nudged him, suddenly getting an idea. Without much questioning, Legolas obliged, and he was settled with his back leaning against [Y/N]’s legs. Wasting no time, she began brushing through his, still a bit tousled, hair, and Legolas’ breathing almost immediately grew calmer and deeper. There was no way he’d allow anybody else to do that – especially with him sitting on the ground – but [Y/N] always had and was always going to have special privileges. She felt like home and like comfort, but simultaneously an adventure. Like a winter forest – usually a familiar setting, but during the colder season slightly more unpredictable and challenging. But so wonderfully magical. Legolas got completely wrapped up in her presence and in his thoughts, as she quietly hummed an elvish tune from their earliest childhoods.

It seemed like it was just yesterday – the two of them chasing each other through forests and gardens of either Rivendell or Mirkwood, collecting stones, practicing any skill – from archery, to tracking, climbing trees… climbing together, falling together. There was no telling apart anymore where one of them ended and the other began – they seemed to forever be a package deal. Time flew by – responsibilities seemed to sneak up on them so suddenly, but both [Y/N] and Legolas were still rather young and restless (to dismay of both of their fathers), and neither of them was willing to give up spontaneous adventurous undertaking, still hoping for a great, unforgettable quest they would undertake together at some point.

[Y/N]’s gentle fingers were now busy weaving intricate braids in Legolas’ hair, and he allowed himself to close his eyes. His guard was down and he just wanted to enjoy this moment with [Y/N]; only that he feared if he spoke out about it, or gave a name to what he was feeling, the magic would dissipate.

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“My life is nothing but room for you,” I said. “It could never be filled by anyone but you.” (Kurt Vonnegut, “Mother Night”)

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“You are sunlight through a window, which I stand in, warmed.” (Jessie Burton)