Epilogue

The courtyard atop Minas Tirith was completely filled with people to witness the coronation of the king of men. Legolas stood in clothing in he was still trying to get used to. The fine fabric was softer then the cloths he had always wore before and the silver crown circlet on top of his head was something he didn't think he would ever get used to. However, the one thing that annoyed him the most was the overprotective elves that came with him…that he was forced to take with him. They seemed to be in the belief that he would run for it the first chance he got. He, admittedly, knew he might be looking too deep into it, but he couldn't help it. He wasn't used to people relying on him or being the center of attention, but today he wasn't the center of attention, Aragorn was.

He turned back to the front of courtyard where Gandalf was placing a crown on the new king's head. "Now come the days of the king," the Istar announced. "May they be blessed." He stepped back to where Gimli stood with the pillow the crown had sat upon.

Aragorn stood and turned to face the crowd. He looked strong with his head held up high, ready for his royal duty. He glanced at the silent crowd before speaking. "This day does not belong to one man but to all. Let us together rebuild this world; that we may share in the days of peace."

The crowd burst into applause and Legolas eagerly joined in, clapping his hands politely and smiling at his friend. They both had come so far since they first met and they both discovered their roles and accepted them.

Aragorn closed his eyes and began to sing, quieting the crowd, "Et Eärello Endorenna utúlien. Sinome maruvan ar Hildinyar tenn' Ambar-metta." (Out of the Great Sea to Middle-Earth I am come. In this place will I abide, and my heirs, unto the ending of the world.)

Aragorn stepped down to greet his friends. Faramir and Èowyn stepped forward with the new king of Rohan, King Éomer. Aragorn smiled and nodded at them in greeting before continuing on.

Legolas stepped forward, feeling the twinge of irritation when the group of elves followed him.

Aragorn smiled widely. They placed their hands on each other's shoulders in greeting. "Hannon le," Aragorn said. (Thank you). "I am glad you were able to come."

"I would not have missed it, mellonamin," Legolas said before stepping aside and glancing behind him with a smirk. (my friend)

As Lord Elrond stepped forward Legolas saw pain and grief shoot across his friend's eyes without really understanding why until the elf lord stepped aside and a flag bearer stepped forward with a graceful step. As the standard moved Legolas saw the grief turn to amazement and elation as Aragorn stepped forward. Legolas had heard rumors of the love between the edain and the elf maid but to see it before him then brought tears to his eyes and a chuckle as Aragorn wasted no time in surging forward for a kiss. The she-elf must be Lady Arwen. Aragorn had spoken of her before.

Legolas looked away with a pleased smile to give them some amount of privacy as the crowd cheered. When he glanced back up Aragorn had continued walking, with Arwen by his side.

Legolas stepped forward so he could continue to watch Aragorn walk until he stopped in front of the four hobbits. The four of them bowed awkwardly. Legolas grinned at them, amused that they were not sure what to do. He was once in their position, just a few months ago.

"My friends!" Aragorn said. "You bow to no one." Aragorn then bowed before them with Arwen bowing with him. Since the king was bowing, everyone else followed soon behind him. Legolas got to his knees as well and bowed his head.

Later that evening, Legolas stood by the window of the Merethrond, or the Hall of Feasts, with a drink in his hand, watching the merry celebration. He chuckled at the obviously drunk dwarf who was trying to impress several little children with tales of the adventures of the Fellowship. He over exaggerated some of the stories and outright lied about some, just to get some giggles. He had a circle of interested children sitting around him, some of them were taller than him, but they were all leaning in eagerly to hear his words, gasping and laughing at all the right parts.

He moved his eyes to the dance floor and he quickly found Merry and Pippin doing some sort of jig in the middle. A circle of people around the, clapping with the beat and laughing. Gandalf was sitting at one of the tables at the edge of the dance floor, smoking a pipe and shaking his head at the 'foolishness' the hobbits, but Legolas could see the sparkle in his eye, letting him know that Gandalf was just as amused as everyone else. Frodo and Sam was sitting at the table with Gandalf, laughing.

Closer to the musicians, Faramir and Èowyn was dancing. They both a spark in their eye as they stared at each other. Éomer was eating at a table with a bunch of other Rohirrim soldiers. They were talking loudly and would once and a while burst out with a bear-like laughter.

Elves were scattered around the hall, more reserved in their enjoyment. The Lady Arwen was dancing with her father. And Aragorn…Legolas turned just as Aragorn walked up to him. He stared around the merry crowd and smiled. "This will no longer be such a rare sight."

Legolas returned the smile and shook his head. "No, it will not," he agreed.

"I see everything went well in Mirkwood," Aragorn commented as he leaned against the windowsill.

Legolas leaned beside him and nodded. "I'm still trying to adjust to it, but I am glad to have found my father. Thank you for your advice. I do not think I would have returned so soon had you not given me those words of wisdom."

"Then I am glad I said them. You deserve a family. Tell me how the announcement went."

Legolas groaned. "Awkwardly." He chuckled in remembrance. "I did not know what to do or to say. Adar wanted me to give some sort of speech, but no words came to me. I just said I was glad to be back home. Then he crowned me prince of the realm. Now I have all these elves following me. They did seem very glad to see me, though." (father)

Aragorn chuckled and nodded. "Yes, not the best thing that comes with being royal." Legolas chuckled. "You called King Thranduil adar. You seemed to have warmed up quite a bit to him."

Legolas glanced down at the floor, almost bashfully. "I haven't called him that in front of him." He glanced up at the merry celebration and took a sip of his drink.

Aragorn crossed his arms in thought. "Why not?"

Legolas glanced down at his almost empty mug and shrugged. "I do not know. Maybe because I know things would change once I do."

"It would only deepen your relationship, Legolas. It cannot damage it. Don't you want a close relationship with your father?"

Legolas sighed, but nodded. "Yes, I suppose I'm not ready for the change. I'm still adjusting and I don't want things to move too fast." He shook his head. "I don't know."

"It's been several months. When do you think you'll be ready?"

"I don't know."

Aragorn raised an eye brow. "You've been saying that quite a bit in our conversation. I think it is time for you to discover the answers for yourself. Advice from a friend could only do you so much good, but I can't live your life for you. There are things only you could do."

Legolas nodded in understanding. "Your words have once again proved to be helpful. It is no wonder you were graced with the king's crown this day, my friend. You do it justly."

Aragorn chuckled and placed his hand on his shoulders. "Then heed my words again, friend. Let us mingle."

Legolas let out a laugh and nodded. "Yes, wise words."

Two months later, found Legolas and his company arriving back in Mirkwood. His father was not there to greet them, busy in his office or in a meeting. Legolas entered his bedchambers and unpacked his pack. He paused and glanced around the room. It used to be his old bedchambers when he was young, but now the toys had been removed and the childish drawings taken down. He changed the colorful setting to something more to his suiting, which was shades of brown and green.

He set down his weapons on the chair by the bed before putting away everything. He was in the process of putting away his last article of clothing in the large dresser when there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was a servant to take away his dirty clothes, he told them to enter without turning around. He heard the door open and close as he finished hanging up his tunic. He closed the door and turned around. He blinked in surprised when he saw it wasn't a servant standing there. "King Thranduil," he greeted, trying to keep back his surprise.

The stern looking king nodded in greeting as he walked closer. "I came to hear how your journey went and to apologize for not being there to greet you on your return. I was stuck in a meeting."

Legolas glanced over in interest. "What was the meeting about, if you don't mind me asking?"

"We are debating if we should take down the dome, now that we haven't seen a single spider or orc in this forest for nearly three months."

"It would be nice to feel the natural sun on my face," Legolas said.

King Thranduil nodded in agreement. "Yes, it would be nice."

"The journey went well, sire," Legolas finally answered.

"So Lord Aragorn is now…"

"King Elessar Telcontar, yes," Legolas finished. "It was a gay celebration."

The king sat down on the bed and invited Legolas to join him. Legolas hesitated only for a quick moment before sitting down next to him.

"Legolas, I have something of yours that should be returned to you." The king reached back into his belt and pulled out a dagger.

Legolas eyes widened as he carefully took the familiar dagger from his father. "My dagger. I thought I lost this during the Battle at the Black Gate." He pulled out the matching dagger from his boot and held them side-by-side as if they were precious jewels. He glanced at the other elf. "How…?"

"Your friend, Aragorn, found it and gave it to me to return to you." The king looked down at the dagger with soft eyes. "I remember giving those to you." He grinned. "Your mother was not thrilled. She thought they were too dangerous for such a young elf. She may have been right, but you were such a smart little elfing. You were careful with them. I can't remember a single time where you hurt yourself with them. You loved those daggers even then. You liked to follow Captain Erynion around as if you were a member of the guard."

Legolas kept his eyes on his daggers as his father spoke. He couldn't remember that time, but hearing about it was wonderful. It helped him feel like he belonged somewhere. Somewhere that had people who knew him when he was young and could tell stories. He never had that before. He never knew how he came to own the daggers and there seemed to be something precious in learning their origins. His father gave them to him.

"There was something I wanted to discuss with you," the king said in a serious tone.

Legolas eyed him, waiting. He didn't know if he liked the serious tone his father used. He carefully set his daggers down on the bed behind him and gave him his full attention.

"My reign of Mirkwood is nearing its end," the older elf said solemnly.

Legolas felt his heart skip a beat and his eyes widened. "You're going to cross the sea, sire?" he asked hesitantly. His father couldn't leave, not now. Not when they had just found each other again, not when Legolas knew nothing of being a king. He couldn't do this to him.

King Thranduil glanced away and nodded. "Someday soon, I will, Legolas. Truthfully, most of us will. The time of the elves are ending. It may take several decades before the elves are completely out of Middle Earth, but, to an elf, the years will be like a blink of an eye.

"When I leave, I'll be taking a lot of Mirkwood's population with me. However, some would stay for a few years more, if you wish to stay with them when the time comes, it will be you they look towards for leadership. I do not wish to give that responsibility to you unprepared. I was hoping you would be ready to take on the full responsibilities of a prince and be at my side so I can teach you how to lead the elves of Mirkwood."

Legolas was barely listening. His mind kept thinking on the concept of his father leaving so soon. "Don't go," he begged quietly. He slowly moved his eyes up to connect them with his father's eyes. "Don't leave me, ada. Not yet." (dad)

The only hint that Legolas had surprised him, was the slight widening of his eyes. For a moment, no one said anything as they stared at each other. Legolas didn't know if it was just his imagination, but his father's eyes looked brighter with a hint of tears. His father reached up and Legolas allowed him to pull him into an embrace. Legolas buried his head into his father's shoulders, allowing the warmth from the older elf to calm him. He felt his father's hand on his back of his head and his father's chin resting on top of his head. His father moved to kiss the top of his head and said quietly, "I won't. I won't go until you are ready. I promise, ion nîn. I promise." (my son)

They stayed in that position for a while before Legolas lifted up his head and sat up. He looked at his father and nodded. "I think I'm ready, ada, to take on my full responsibilities," he said more calmly then he felt.

His father placed a hand on Legolas' cheek affectionately and nodded. "I would be proud to have you by my side, ion nîn. So very proud."

Legolas smiled at the warm feeling inside him, which he could now identify as love. "And I am proud to be by your side." He took a breath and his heart began pounding as he said what was needed to be said. "I love you, ada."

His father smiled widely back at him, his eyes were sure sparkling now. "I love you too, ion nîn. I always have and always will."

"I'm truly home now," Legolas said to his father with his own eyes sparkling in happiness.

The End

I hope you all enjoyed the story! Thank you for all of your support and reviews. And thank you, JediVana, for being my beta.