Of Sands and Time

Legolas watched the soft swaying motions of his son’s backs as they sat on their horses all the while engaged in a quiet conversation. He still wasn’t sure what his sons were up to and threw a careful look at his husband. But Haldir had his eyes closed, obviously lost in his own world of sounds and feelings. His body matched the moves of the horse perfectly and the view made Legolas smile. Maybe Haldir was thinking of last night?

He was lost in thought, that he nearly bumped into his son’s horses, for they had stopped and had turned around to their parents. Haldir looked somewhat confused and Legolas quickly had to gather his wits not to appear too lost.

“This is, where we make camp.” Thaurdae announced and elegantly jumped off his horse. “You two will do nothing but sit and relax. After we get everything sat up and have a nice fire going, Amanhír will prepare dinner and I will entertain you. And not to worry, we already have decided that we will set up our own camp a few meters away from yours, so don’t hesitate to engage into anything unspeakable.”

Haldir threw his son a warning glance. The twins just giggled and went about the tasks they had given themselves.

Legolas sighed and got off his horse and studied the surroundings. They had left the wood a long time ago and the landscape had changed to a softer area, very few small rocks were scattered about, smooth grass and moss was covering the ground and only the slightest hints of flat hills. Years ago, Legolas would have been concerned to camp in area like this. Hardly any chance to take cover and a fire would have been detected from miles away. With a heavy sigh he scolded himself for his thoughts and let his horse free and graze at its own will.

The times that he had to be careful and observant were long gone and he should have been able to enjoy this kind of freedom to the fullest. But somewhere deep inside of him he was restless. Never in his whole life had he felt so out of place, so inadequate. Knowing that Haldir and his sons were only trying to cheer him up and cope with his temper, he put a smile on his face and sat down beside his husband watching his grown children busying themselves with the preparations for the evening.

Amanhír had successfully hunted down two pheasants and now crouched beside the fire, while Thaurdae had settled against a smaller rock, cradling his harp on his leg and was playing a few old pieces from Mirkwood. It had grown dark by now and the stars brightened the sky with their sparkling presence.

Haldir rested his head against Legolas strong shoulder and let one hand wander to Legolas’ clasped ones. Gently he disentangled the long fingers and held them lovingly in his. He could feel the constant tension, the ever present insecurity and frustration. Even at an evening like this, Legolas was hardly able to give in to the calming atmosphere.

Haldir had been growing more and more worried over the last few months. At first when they had come to Valinor, Legolas had been so full of joy and enthusiasm. He had looked after the twins, taught them to read and write, had taken them to their first archery lessons and had even, much to Amanhír’s dismay, taught them how to dance.

Often they would visit the family and after at long last Thranduil had also arrived at the fair havens, life seemed to be perfect and full of bliss. But the euphoria had not lasted. As Thaurdae and Amanhír had grown older and had developed their own interests and had been in the house less and less, Legolas had begun to become restless.

Haldir did not know what to do about it. The surprise trip the twins had planned for surely was a wonderful idea, but he wasn’t so sure that they had really thought it through. Making Legolas sit still and enjoy was the last thing the blond prince wanted.

Knowing full well, that he would find his husband standing guard throughout the night, made Haldir sad. Maybe he could try and seduce him again. Maybe it would take his mind off the lack of activity. So he kept on caressing his husband’s fingers as if he wanted to stroke the tension out of them.

Gimli had a hard time not breathing to loud a he tried to silently follow Elrond and Galadriel. His heart was hammering in his chest, partly because of the strain and partly because of what he had heard.

Lady Galadriel’s words still rang in his ears. They wanted to do something about Legolas. He was linked to Middle earth? What did they have in mind? Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks. Elrond had halted his steps and slowly turned in his direction.

“Master dwarf. I know you are trying your best, but why don’t you cease this pitiful attempt of silent pursuit and simply join us.” The former Lord of Imladris looked directly at Gimli’s hiding spot and smiled.

Gimli muttered a frustrated curse and scrambled out of the bushes, he had used as a cover. With annoyed movements Gimli brushed leaves and earth off his trousers and gave Elrond a lopsided grin.

“My Lady, Lord Elrond.” The dwarf greeted the two tall figures that stood before him. Galadriel smiled sweetly at the dwarf and motioned him over to her.

“Come Gimli, my friend. Come to our meeting and there you can listen and observe. I know you are worried about your friend, but something has to be done. I believe you have noticed his behaviour and constantly sour mood. A lot of other elves have already come to me about this problem and I feel declined to do something about it. I am sorry.” She explained to the dwarf.

“What?” Gimli lost it “So he no more than a problem for you? A problem you want to get rid off. How can you be so heartless and calculating? He is my friend and if he has a problem, we have to help him to overcome it.”

Galadriel looked at him, confusion written across her features. Then it dawned her. “Gimli, dear Gimli. No, I think you have gotten this whole thing wrong. I don’t plan to ban him. True we want to send Legolas away, but not as a punishment or anything of that kind. Something has worried me for quite some time and now is the time to do something about it. Middle earth might be in danger again and the counsel will decide if we will interfere or not. Elrond and I were pondering the idea of sending Legolas to investigate. To give him something to do.”


Gimli seated himself on one of the wooden armchairs on the small clearing near Galadriel’s home. It amazed him just how much the chairs had been fitted into the nature that surrounded him. All of the wooden furniture seemed to have grown right of the ground. He counted ten chairs in all, large chandeliers lined the edge of the clearing and small tables were placed near the chairs.

Not knowing what to expect, Gimli waited, his legs dangling over the edge of the seat. The air was warm and pleasant and the dwarf let his thoughts wander back to Legolas and his problems here in Valinor. To be honest he just didn’t understand why his best friend had so much difficulty adapting to the life here. Gimli enjoyed it immensely, knowing that his life wouldn’t run out soon and planning all the things he still wanted to do.

Suddenly he heard people moving into the clearing and saw several elves talking quietly moving to the chairs. Some of them looked at Gimli with surprise but said nothing. Galadriel was the last to step out from between the trees and turned to the dwarf.

“Gimli, I believe you know Elrond, Celeborn and nduinduil.” She turned to the rest of the elves and introduced them one by one. “Here we have Erestor, Lindir, Tuór, Finair and Finduilan. I would like to ask you to sit and listen and please don’t interrupt us. Later on there will much time to join the talking. I have asked the here present to hold these talks in Westron, so you will understand everything. I know your elvish is quite good by now, but I fear that when emotionally upset, it will be more difficult to follow us. Just know this. This counsel here is not alone about Legolas’ fate. The main cause of our meeting are the troubles stirring in Middle earth. We still feel somewhat responsible for it, and I wish we could do something about it. Yet, it remains to be seen if the Valar will grant me my wish. So, you can see nothing is decided so far.”

Gimli had nodded to each introduced elf and now settled back into his chair hoping he could restrain himself from interfering. Everyone settled down and shortly after two younger elves entered the clearing carrying trays with food and drink. It was obviously expected that it would last longer than Gimli had thought.

Galadriel was the first to speak. She told the present elves about the images she had seen in her new mirror. Images of terror and despair. Seas of sand and dead trees and plants. Dry heat and a shortage of water. Drying up lakes, whole oceans and the starvation of men and animals. The images had been muddled and unclear, but still a threat.

At first she had not paid too much attention to it, but the images were coming more often and slowly they clarified. Now it was certain that evil had returned to Middle earth. The source was unknown, but it was important to stop it. Gimli felt himself slowly slipping away into a slight slumber. With a grunt of annoyance the dwarf shook himself awake again and he strained to hear everything the elves were discussing.

“Man?” suddenly Thranduil boomed, slipping into the elven tongue.

“Thranduil!” Galadriel tried to calm the Elven King.

“You want to send my son back to Middle earth to find out what’ going on? Are you out of your mind. He has a family here, he was a part of the Ring war and now he is supposed to risk his life again? That is preposterous. No!” Thranduil glared at the Lady.


t.b.c


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