Hey! Just a few notes before I start the story so I don’t have to interrupt the flow of things. To start with, DO NOT READ THE EPILOGUE IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE THIRD BOOK!!!! It will completely spoil the plot and it won’t even be fun. The epilogue is mostly just blunt, and not very poetic or well written anyway, so everyone may just want to skip the epilogue altogether.
Secondly, I would like you to know that I have no experience in the way of romantic love (except for maybe Eron – thus the name eronlover – but he’s just a fictional character in other stories that I like writing.). Some of you may have been in circumstances similar to Legolas, and you’re probably all thinking Legolas is a wimp and that it’s not THAT hard (although it could also be alot harder than I have written. I have no idea.), However, Elves are beings that are supposed to be able to experience more joy than humans, and more sorrow than humans as well. Is it really a stretch to say that they also experience far more love than humans as well?
Also, I hope you can all forgive my switching back and forth between the book and the movie. Since the movie doesn’t really deal with anything in detail before Bilbo leaves the Shire, I decided to make it conform to the book as closely as possible. However, after the council of Elrond (I don’t mention it, but Glorfindel takes Frodo to Rivendell in this version, just like in the book) there were things in the movie that I thought would be very good for this story. I’m saying this, because a lot of people have already reviewed and told me that they think it’s great that I’m keeping so close to the book. IT WILL NOT LAST! After all, I did post this in LOTR movie fanfiction. (And by the way, Newra, is Arwen really that much older than Legolas? I was always under the impression that Arwen was called the Evenstar because she was like the last-born of her people, and that there was even a Legolas, which might have been the Mirkwood Legolas, around in the first age. I guess I was wrong though. For this story, though, I’m going so say Legolas was born late in the second age, about three hundred years before Arwen.)
I’m sorry that this story also turned into one of those ‘Who cares about Gimli, I’d much rather have Aragorn and Legolas be friends’ stories, except that there is very good reason to focus more on Aragorn than Gimli. Last I checked Gimli had nothing to do with Arwen, besides being in love with her grandmother, which is just creepy now that I’m looking at what I typed. (I can’t believe I’m postingANOTHER of the many, many stories about Legolas. Can’t ANYONE tear their minds off Legolas long enough to write a story about, say, Aragorn?)
Please forgive my messy, hasty and confusing writing in the fourth chapter. In the fourth chapter, I’m basically switching the focus a little bit from Arwen to Aragorn and the quest, but since this story is basically about Arwen and Legolas, I try to get back to Arwen as quickly as possible, and thus the fourth chapter has turned out terrible. I’m very sorry, and I tried to fix it, but unless you want the fourth chapter to take forever, it’s about as good as you will get.
Thank you so much, everyone who has read this story, and especially everyone who has reviewed it. If you haven’t reviewed it already please do so. Feel free to tell me if you think it was absolutely terrible. If you like it (as I sincerely hope you all will) and review, please tell me what you didn’t like as well, because I really want to be able to go back and fix whatever I can. (Thanks Annunvingiel for reviewing and telling me about the ‘there/their’ mistakes.)
So, without further to do, thank you very much for reading, and I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

-Eronlover

P.S. At least one of Will Turner’s lines snuck into this story. This was coincidental, at first, but when I noticed that it was there, I thought it was a good touch. It’s not plagiarism either, because the one line is used all the time, in all sorts of movies and books, and can be used anywhere. I only noticed one line, though I suppose there might be others, because Legolas in this story is very much like Will Turner, for obvious reasons – Legolas in love is practically the same as Will Turner, as far as personality. If there are any other lines of Will Turner’s, I know that they also are perfectly alright as well. Just thought I should mention that.
Oh, one more thing. In the third chapter, I use a quote from the song that Aragorn sings about Luthien. Just to make sure people don’t count it as plagiarism (though I have to interrupt the story a little), I put something at the bottom of the page, and made a note of it up here. The only thing is, I’m not completely sure the year is right, because the page at the beginning of the book is confusing, but I’m pretty confident it is. I’M NOT PLAGIARIZING.

Chapter 1
I stand here, far from home, holding one of the most beautiful and precious things in the world, belonging to the most beautiful woman in all Middle-Earth, and standing in front of the man whom she loves. He would want it back, but I do not know if I can let it go, if I can at last truly let her go. Even she would want me to. Can I return it for her sake?
My mind races through the years, searching for the strength.
We grew up together. I, Legolas son of Thranduil, Sindarin prince of the Mirkwood elves, and Arwen daughter of Elrond, granddaughter of Galadriel and Eärendil, descended from Melian the Maia, and born in the likeness of the fairest of all elf-kind, Lúthien Tinúviel, often chased each other beneath the shadows of the trees at Rivendell.
Arwen never seemed to mind that I was far less noble than her, or even that I was considerably older than her. In fact there were times she seemed almost older than me. She posessed grace and beauty I had never imagined, and that struck me each time I saw her, and a wisdom I could not comprehend. Yet often we would be seen running through the many paths and under the many arches of Rivendell, while shocked elves practically leaped out of our way and shot us looks of mock indignance as we passed. But we could see the laughter behind their eyes. Soon after we would collapse in a fit of laughter, laughing until we almost cried.
Even as we got older Arwen and I still found ourselves playing childish games together. But one thing I never could stand was that she always ran faster than me. No matter how hard I tried, or how much of a head start I had, she always would catch up. Even on horseback, she would ride faster than me. It was another source of endless amusement for us.
But what I lacked in speed I made up for in archery. I always beat her with a bow and arrow. I was good at hiding and stealth too. Often I would hide from Arwen in the rooms or in the gardens or the forests surrounding Rivendell. The first time I hid it surprised her, but over time she came to expect it. Soon she was able to find me almost right away.
Yet of all those times together, and all the moments we shared, one memory will always stand out.
I was hiding again, in the westernmost garden of Rivendell. The horizon was red with the rays of light from the setting sun. I could hear Arwen’s soft footsteps on the paths. She knew where I was. She had gotten far too good at finding me. But then suddenly she leaped into my hiding spot, and knocked me onto my back, out onto the main path. We both laughed all the way. I couldn’t help but laugh at her innocent mischief.
“Legolas, look at the sunset!” She exclaimed all of a sudden. Indeed the view was gorgeous. The sun was so bright and beautiful, one could believe it was setting just beyond the farthest petal. The clouds rested above the sun like a multi-colored halo as it cast its rays towards the world, gilding every leaf and petal in its reach.
Yet my eyes were drawn to Arwen. Her long face and dark curved lips were so perfect. Her skin was fair and flawless. Her long dark hair shone auburn in the rays of the sun. But what drew me the most were her eyes. Her bright, deep, blue eyes shone with delight, and though her face looked serene and peaceful, and beautiful beyond anything that I had or would ever see, her eyes had a mischievious twinkle.
It was then that I realized I had fallen in love with her.
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
The truth was that though when Arwen and I were both in Rivendell we spent most of the time together, it was rare we were both in Rivendell. I was in Mirkwood with my family most of the time, and Arwen spent a lot of time with her granparents in Lothlórien. Needless to say it was a few years before I saw her again.
Yet when I did finally see her again, I couldn’t summon the courage to tell her how I felt, or ask what I needed to ask her. We still spent most of the time together, but she must have noticed I was more quiet than usual.
“It’s so strange,” Arwen said as we were riding through the woods surrounding Rivendell one evening, the evening before she would leave for Lothlórien again. “When I’m at Rivendell, I miss Galadriel and Celeborn greatly, yet when I’m in Lothlórien I miss my family, that is when they don’t come with me. I miss you too, Legolas.” She said. My heart leaped at the sound of her fair voice speaking my name.
“And then of course I never knew Eärendil or Elwing, and yet I’ve heard the stories so many times I feel like I know them. The same with Elros too, and Gil-Galad. So no matter where I go, no matter how many journeys I take, not everyone I love is with me. Someone’s always missing. A piece of my heart will always be somewhere else.”
“I feel the same way.” I said. “I miss my family terribly right now, and yet, yours is almost as dear as mine.” We rode on in silence. Our horses neighed restlessly. Only one thought went through my mind. I knew I had to tell her that night.
Finally I turned to face her. “Arwen,” I said softly. She turned to look at me, and I opened my mouth to speak, but the words wouldn’t come. All the same her eyes lit up and she smiled.
“You needn’t say anything, Legolas. Your eyes speak for you far better than words ever could.” She said, smiling. I couldn’t say a word. All I could do was smile back.
“I love you too, Legolas, but I can’t marry you.” She said.
“Why not?” I asked, finally finding my voice. “Is it because of your father?” I asked. We both knew he could be a little over-protective sometimes.
“No, he’s been hoping for a long time that you would propose. But deep down, in the core of my being, I know you’re not the one I’m meant to be with.” She said.
“How do you know?” I asked.
“I just do, Legolas.” She said.
At that point we turned our horses around and raced back. Arwen won, of course. I suppose I must have laughed with her as usual, but inside my heart practically broke.