Return to Mirkwood COMPLETE

Return to Mirkwood
Chapter Thirteen
Author: Sarah
Pairing: Legolas/Gimli
Rating: PG this chapter.
Disclaimer: I love them and thank Tolkien for them. They are not mine. I claim only the original ideas and characters. The Gimli and Legolas I write belong solely to Tolkien. They are not related to the movie characters.
Archive: Axe and Bow. Cuddle Slash. Others please ask.
Feedback: Please. saraharizonaanne@hotpop.com
Author notes: I titled this story Return to Mirkwood because that is the name Legolas' home is most known by. I will gradually be phasing that name out of the story itself in favour of the names it was changed to: Eryn Lasgalen or Greenwood. Thank you to everyone who gave me fb. The encouragement helps me very much.
Thank you to erobey for all the help you’ve given me.
Thank you to Marigold for the super great beta work. I am glad for your touch on my work. Any mistakes left are mine.
Thank you to Sivan, Brazgirl, Angelbird, Nina, and Keri for the reviews and letting me know what you like. I appreciate it.


Gimli had perceived the contract they were to sign in practical terms, a formalisation of what already was, and a way to give Legolas' father the assurance that his son was loved. He was under the impression it was an uncomplicated act, over soon. Something that could not cause trouble. He soon discovered he was wrong.

There was no hint that everything might not go smoothly as they got ready to leave for breakfast the next morning. Legolas had said, "Gimli, I wish to show you some of Eryn Lasgalen today."

Gimli had agreed. He had looked forward to seeing more of Legolas' home.


The first sign that the contract might not be a simply done affair came at breakfast.

They were in the middle of what Gimli considered to be an exceptionally fine meal when one of the elves questioned him. Gimli had no memory of this elf's name but he reckoned she was one of Tasar and Lisse's due to the incredibly dark hair.

"Gimli," the lady asked, "You and Legolas will not be having a private ceremony? This is our first opportunity to see a union between a dwarf and an elf. Everyone loves Legolas and will want to attend."


Nods from the other elves at the table confirmed this statement. "I imagine most of Eryn Lasgalen would like to be there. It is after all an historic event."


Gimli ceased eating and tried to digest this piece of news instead. *Ceremony? Aye it was, but historic event? That seems a bit of an overstatement but, I will allow for that, too. Having the entire population of Mirkwood, no, it was Eryn Lasgalen, staring at them...* He looked up at Legolas for guidance on this new occurrence.


Legolas replied. "We have yet to decide about this, Istil."


Gimli glanced gratefully at Legolas. Not only had Legolas got him out of this situation but he had given the elf a name, too.


After breakfast, Legolas led Gimli through the caverns of his home. There were many paintings and tapestries adorning the walls. One of the halls had a tapestry of a dark night and stars that was one of the most majestic things Gimli had ever seen.

Gimli was always trailing behind because many of the doors to the chambers caused him to stop. There were quite a few entrances that were decorated. Flowers around the doors were common but so were carvings of fruit, leaves, or birds carved into the doors or around them. He even saw a rainbow, clouds, and the sun.


Gimli traced one of the delicate flower carvings, this one done in relief, and pondered it. "Legolas, when I first arrived here, I concluded I was wrong in thinking my race built this place. There was no sign that my people helped with the construction of your home. This, however... Notice how some of the art is done onto the doors, others into the walls of the cavern itself. This looks dwarven made. What is done into the wood itself does not appear to be the work of my race. That..." he gestured toward an etching of flowers on a nearby door, "for instance is done in a fashion that speaks of elves. Am I seeing work from two different times? Is some of this done by dwarves?"


Legolas shook his head. "I cannot tell you. It has been that way as long as I can remember. During my lifetime only a few changes have been made. Perhaps an elf as talented as Celebrimbor did part of it. I have heard mention that an elf named Aren did some of the decoration but how much I do not know. He left for the Undying Lands before I was born."


Gimli deliberated over it as they went past many entrances. There was an entry that had artwork in the likeness of a bird that was carved as though it was a wreath upon the door. Gimli studied this craft for a few minutes. The bird was a pheasant and was very realistically done. It was extremely obvious that it was elven work.

The whole place smelled of forest to Gimli despite being within a network of caves. It was quiet except for the greetings from the elves they occasionally passed. Twice they were paused by elflings. Once it was due to a game of marbles being played in the corridor and the other time Legolas halted at an intersection to allow a ball and the child chasing it to pass.

Gimli did not give any indication that he had never seen an elfling before but, in truth, he found them startling. Quite unlike a sturdy dwarf child. They were small and delicate in appearance with hair that fell around the shoulders. They were slender with pale skin. None of the ones he saw were as tall as him and the little one running after the ball was so small that Gimli found it difficult to imagine the lad being the same height as Legolas one day.

Legolas stopped long enough to allow Gimli to gaze at each new item. He was keeping to one course Gimli realised and they were slowly going deeper into the cavern. Eventually, they passed chambers with no decorations and Gimli noticed first fewer elves and then finally none.


They reached what appeared to be a huge end chamber. It held a few crates and nothing else. There were torches in the wall but they were not lit and the area was dark with only the dim light from the hall to cast shadows into the chamber.


"What do you think, Gimli?"


Gimli glanced around. What was he missing? "My elf, I perceive nothing here of interest?"


"We will sign the contract here shall we not?"

"In this place? I shouldn't think so. You want to bring a bunch of elves back where they might be nervous, make servants set up a room that is clearly unused? Not to mention causing your Lord to believe I'm trying to bring his people to the very depths of Mir...Eryn Lasgalen?"

"Yes, I do. This is our home. We aren't nervous about any part of it. They need to accept you are a dwarf and this room is most appropriate for such a purpose."

"I don't see it that way. Your people have been very kind to me. How about we move it outside under the trees you are so fond of? I can live with this solution as long as you don't invite the spiders."

"I do not have a habit of consorting with spiders."


Haughtiness had crept into Legolas' voice and Gimli grinned. He hadn't been addressed with that tone for quite a while. The very thing that infuriated him when they first met, he discovered he missed. He cleared his throat. "Legolas, from what I have heard, half of Eryn Lasgalen wants to attend. This will not accommodate many elves."


Legolas ignored this statement. "I will show you more of Eryn Lasgalen and we will talk about it along the way."

The discourse had continued on and off throughout the entire tour. The last stop was the library, which Gimli found fascinating. He spent some time walking around the place. The way the walls were carved from what once must have been a huge central cavern reminded Gimli sharply of his own people's work. Everything else, however, spoke of Legolas' race.


An elf sat at a desk in the front and Gimli observed a drawing of apple trees behind him. There were long aisles of books with tables in the middle of each row. One elf was making a detailed map with a goose quill.


An elaborate and delicate hanging sculpture of stars and the moon hung from the ceiling in the centre of the room. The walls held row upon row of niches with scrolls in them. There were elven symbols above each shelf.


A large chamber to the left held a small elfling working on a puzzle and two in a corner playing with animal puppets. Another small table had three elflings playing with some type of maze game. They informed Gimli that it was called, 'Find Your Way Through the Trees'. The first one to make it through a path of trees to the cave at the end won. There were several obstacles including a huge spider and if one's token landed there, the entire board with its little wooden trees was shifted and the course to the cave would change. A dice determined how many notches the board would be moved. Gimli watched this for several minutes. The children told him that there was an adult game much like theirs, "Only very much harder. Lots of spiders." Their casual attitude toward the forest's giant spiders was an amazement to Gimli.

The little ones themselves had hair that was even thinner than Legolas'. *More like gossamer than the silk of Legolas' tresses,* Gimli reflected. He could not give any of them an age. Their voices were clear and high. One of the boys kept running his hands in his blonde hair so despite the fact that it fell nicely back into place, the lad had a tousled look.


There was an elven female seated at a desk watching over the children. Gimli knew this elf's name as she had talked to him at the party. Her name was Saitacel and she had after arriving next to him that night said shyly, "Do you converse with females?" She had sounded young but Gimli still had not discerned a way to tell whether an elf was young or old. Now she smiled at him and Gimli nodded.


Another sculpture, this one of odd shapes was suspended from the ceiling in the elflings' room. It appeared to be a too round moon, a very fluffy cloud, and to Gimli's confusion a shape that looked like an axe blade that had a big section removed. *A ship, perhaps,* Gimli concluded. There was a drawing that seemed to be a bunch of random shapes grouped together. Gimli reckoned both were art done by the children. The elflings' chamber, also, held a painting of a grassy hill surrounded by trees on a summer day.


Legolas paid special attention to the two little girls playing with the puppets. They hugged him fiercely and whispered excitedly of events in their lives that he had missed while gone. "These are two from Tasar's line," Legolas told Gimli softly. "They are cousins. This is Ravasal and Lire."

Lire and Ravasal with their black hair and dark eyes resembled Lisse. Lire's eyes were alight with happiness and her tiny hands moved as she talked. Her words were more sung than spoken. Ravasal was far more serious, although Gimli saw that when she did smile, her whole face shone with joy.

There was a room to the right of the main chamber that held several desks. An elf there was copying pages from a book onto a scroll. This area had a painting of stars on the ceiling. Gimli already knew of Legolas' fondness of the stars and discerned that this was a love shared by all his people.


Maps were hung in every room including the elflings' chamber. There were quiet elves throughout the area reading. Legolas followed Gimli around, occasionally putting his hand on his dwarf's shoulder when Gimli paused to study something.


The noon bell rang and they headed to their chambers to have their meal in private.

Legolas teased Gimli on the way there,” You are lucky that Saitacel did not grab you to teach the little ones. She is quite young. 'This, elflings, is a dwarf.' And that might be the extent of her knowledge leaving you to fill in the rest. Worse, she might decide to ask me and I would have trouble indeed."


"Why? You know more of dwarves than any other elf."


"I can see myself telling small children, 'This is Gimli. He has the most delightful beard and there are many advantages to having a beard. In fact'..."


"I see your reasoning," Gimli hastily said. "You had best leave any such teaching to me."


When they arrived at their chamber, Gimli halted. "Why does your door have no art?"


Legolas replied, "Only the chambers that date from the beginning have decoration. The rooms that have been made less than one thousand years ago have none."


Gimli decided that when he and Legolas settled, his elf would have any carving he desired. Gimli would make sure of it. A design that would rival any here.

The conversation of where to have the signing began again during the meal with Legolas maintaining that they could figure out the details. He seemed to think that if not that cavern than another one at the end of Eryn Lasgalen should be the place. He appeared to believe that Gimli would be happiest at the deepest part of the caves and feel more at home there.

"Having it under the trees and outside is unfair to you. It's too elvish."

Gimli paused in his enjoyment of the meal, "Elvish?" he asked grinning.

"Yes and unfair. This involves both of us. The far chamber is more dwarvish."

"Dwarvish." Gimli wanted to laugh but Legolas was very solemn.

"Yes, and it's not right to have the ceremony be so clearly something elves would do." Legolas yearned to have some reminder that Gimli was a dwarf as part of the ceremony. "I want them to understand that I love everything about you including the differences between us that make you a dwarf. You will not have any of your own here and there should be something that is of your people."


Gimli did not view it that way. He saw the inconveniences and the chambers Legolas kept referring to were not really that similar to the rooms in Erebor. He repeatedly asserted that the meeting hall or out under the trees were more suitable places. He saw them as two individuals and while he understood what Legolas was stating he felt no need to demonstrate the obvious. The whole ceremony was something only elves did anyway. His race did not require two males to perform any public display of their love.


Gimli was treated several times to Legolas' haughty tone and was hard pressed not to smile at each occurrence of it. He concentrated on his food instead. Gimli didn't want Legolas to feel he wasn't being taken seriously.


The disagreement started to go in circles and Legolas was clearly experiencing frustration. He tugged on his braids, leaned forward as if to get closer and then suddenly sat back. He pushed his hair off his ears and shoved it over them again. He was tapping his fingers on the table when Gimli came out of his trance. He had never seen Legolas express frustration before and found it endearing. He could see that his sentiments were not, however, helping Legolas.


Gimli, having had enough of the discussion himself said, "Blasted elf just do whatever gives you joy. If you are really happy going through the problems of moving everyone to the farthest cavern of Eryn Lasgalen do so then. I care not as long as it gets done with no more discord betwixt us." His words were gruff but his tone was affectionate.

Legolas studied him from across the table. He grew thoughtful at Gimli's words.

Gimli thoroughly enjoyed the quiet and the food. He guessed the agitation was over but it was not.

Less than a quarter of an hour passed before Legolas said, "It depends. What time is it to be done? Night or day? Afternoon or morning?"

Gimli groaned and put down his fork. "Not morning. I absolutely refuse so if you have some notion of signing at the stroke of dawn abandon it. We keep each other awake most of the night. Not that I have complaints. Why not early evening? Maybe after the evening meal? And, my elf, we can endorse it outside under the stars you love so much." Gimli said triumphantly.

Legolas grinned. "Convinced you've won? Not until I give my conditions you don't."

"You realise that you can hardly declare you've lost a battle if you get everything you desire?" Gimli teased.

"I am graciously conceding to go out under the stars..."

"Which is what you currently want to do..."

"Don't interrupt, Gimli. It's impolite." Legolas moved his chair from the other side of the table to sit beside Gimli. His arm went around Gimli's back, fingers stroking as he continued, "I will, with love, allow you to have the signing outdoors as the first stars come out. I know of a fair meadow that would be the perfect place. I will show it to you this afternoon and more of Eryn Lasgalen. My Lord should agree. We often have parties there so we won't be requesting that the servants do any work that isn't done often and..."

Gimli began to laugh heartily.

"Gimli, what is so funny?"

Gimli fought for control and answered, "How you lose battles. I'd hate to see the way you win."

"Do the plans now meet with your approval?"

"They do. Very much so." He turned in the chair and put his head against Legolas' shoulder.

"Because it makes me happy?" Legolas caressed Gimli's chin and ran his fingers through his dwarf's hair, tenderly touching the elven braids Gimli wore.

"Mostly. I have good memories of sitting with you under the stars in Lothlorien. What day do you wish?"


"We could have it on the anniversary of the Council. The day draws near."


Gimli frowned. His memories of that day were clear but he hardly had fondness for them. Legolas had been distressed to have to confess Gollum's escape once he had comprehended the full importance of what he had to report. Gimli had had no good opinions about this elf from Mirkwood. An elf, who had managed to confirm that Wood Elves were incapable of holding on to prisoners.


He had, also, been far too captivated with Legolas' hair and had felt annoyance at himself for his interest in it. This was something Gimli still did not understand: why out of all the golden haired elves there, it had only been Legolas' that had earned his focus.


And then there was the memory of Frodo declaring he would take the Ring. His hobbit voice had been so clear. Gimli had trouble dwelling on how much Frodo had suffered in order for him and Legolas to have the happiness they presently shared.


Legolas smiled at him and said, "I can tell from your frown that you didn't enjoy that Council, either."


Gimli suddenly saw a means to, perhaps, give Legolas what he desired as far as having something from Gimli's people. It would, also, let them have their own special day untainted with less than happy memories. "Legolas, our New Year will arrive shortly. The year commences at the last moon of autumn. It starts as soon as the new crescent moon can be seen."


Legolas said excitedly, "Gimli, if we do the signing as Ithil appears that night I will have my wish to have a reminder of your race as part of it."


"I like the idea myself."


Legolas leaned down and moving sideways in his chair, put his head over his dwarf's. "Gimli, why do you find a certain tone of my voice pleasurable?"


Gimli didn't know whether to laugh or feel chagrined. He had believed that he had hidden his reaction to Legolas' haughtiness well.


"Maybe I'm as crazed as you." Gimli joked. "It pleases because it reminds me of how far we've travelled together. It used to irritate me greatly to be spoken to in that tone of yours. I know you love me and I tend to believe that you are perfect in everything you say and do. What do you think?" Gimli gazed up at Legolas, "Am I crazed or perhaps touched by elven magic?"


"I don't view myself as being the one who is perfect. Do you feel..." he paused and ran his fingers lovingly over Gimli's chest, "caressed by elven magic?"


"Often." Gimli said firmly and was rewarded with elven laughter and blue eyes that sparkled with joy.


"Only one more decision to make, meldir." Legolas' fingers were lightly wandering across Gimli's shoulders.


Gimli sighed. "Aye. You mean whether or not to allow half of Eryn Lasgalen attend?"


"Yes, I'd prefer a private ceremony but who would I not invite? Do I say only my brothers and their bonded ones should be there? Maybe their children as well? I don't feel either is acceptable. You are acquainted with only a few who dwell here but I'm not comfortable refusing someone that I have known my entire life and who wishes to attend."


Gimli started to say that he definitely wanted a private ceremony but he was halted by a stray thought.


*Elvellon.*


Legolas called him that. The Lady Galadriel referred to him by that term. Even Lord Elrond had used it once in conversation with him. The twins had, sometimes, treated it as his name. There had been an elf from Lord Elrond's party that had said it in greeting to him as they passed in a corridor at Minas Tirith.

*Probably they noticed the bond,* Gimli reflected. *Just what does the title entail? It doesn't signify I am Legolas' friend solely. No, it states more than that but what are the boundaries? A friend, a true friend, putting the other first. This ceremony is important to the elves here.*


"Legolas, if we have it outdoors, why not let anyone come who wants to?"


Legolas was giving his fingers freedom through Gimli's beard. "You would find that acceptable?"


"If you do."


"Truthfully, I would not feel right to do otherwise."


Gimli traced a nipple through Legolas' clothes hearing his elf’s breathing increase. "Care to explore that nice bed first before we leave? I find that I am still...hungry."


A soft sigh of pleasure and a swift nod was his answer.

TBC