A/N: If you're reading this after reading "Call Me Maybe", please remember this is not a sequel! It's got the same cast, but it's a whole other story; just wanted to make sure I didn't confuse anyone. ;)

-x-x-x-x-x-

The world was no more.

Not what the elves that knew of it was, anyway. The lands of middle earth that held any trace of elven inhabitance had long since passed to foliage and animal life as the dominion of men came to rule at the turn of the Fourth Age. As the last ship sailed the west road to Valinor, change was already taking place.

In Valinor itself, much was happening. Families of elves were reuniting and making new homes in colonies across the peaceful lands, starting new lives and finding new loves. Others that had found their loves before sailing were taking the opportunity to start the families that they wanted, but held back for fear of the worst during the War of the Ring.

The former lords and ladies of the Greenwood and Lorien kingdoms were united by the bonding of their youngest heirs, Legolas Thranduilion, and Ithilwen Haldiriel, the second granddaughter of the Lady Galadriel. The bonding ceremony took place in middle earth, where friends mortal and immortal would bear witness to the exchange of vows and rings, as the pair had requested. Now that they were beginning to settle into their lives in Valinor, among the high talans so reminiscent of Lorien and Ithilien, the young couple were in talks of having their first child.

As it happens in peaceful times, there is always that one ripple that can rock the foundation to its very core. It's never something that is intended to happen.

Ithilwen was tending to some of the village's youngest elflings one afternoon. They were very animated for that time of day, when usually they would have been preparing to rest. She had taken on the task so that their parents could travel into town for the day's errands without stress because she felt like it would be a means of practice when she and Legolas decided to start their own family.

She could smell the onset of the rain before the dark clouds rolled in, but she paid it no mind. If it were a sprinkle, they would enjoy the cooling effect and continue play. However, with any particularly hot summer day comes the likelihood of severe weather, and the afternoon's bright skies were ripe with possibilities.

The rumble that followed shortly after the first sprinkles had the elleth corralling the younglings together. Some had wandered off from their group, and Ithilwen had to collect them while the eldest of the group led those with them to the nearest shelter. The children had been playing a game of seek and find, and the very youngest misjudged how far they had drifted. When Ithilwen found the little ellon, he was distressed to the point of tears, afraid that one of the bigger kids wouldn't find him.

As she carried him back to the other children, the storm had reached their area. The winds had picked up, the rain came down harder, and the combination of the thunder and lightening were frightening the children huddled together. Ithilwen picked up speed as she carried the child in her arms, trying her best to remain calm. She was still a good distance from the little group, which made it all the more worse when the ellon's brother decided to break away from the group and run to his temporary guardian. Ithilwen tried to tell him to turn back, but the sounds of the thunder over their heads proved this a fruitless endeavor. The ellon grew worried that he couldn't find his little brother and simply wasn't thinking. This ill-made decision put him at risk, and he did not notice.

For a ways distance in the closest stables was a horse that had yet to be broken of his wild lifestyle. The trainers were having no luck getting the beast to cooperate and comply to their orders. Having a sudden thunderstorm break across the sky with its booming sounds to accompany the bright streaks of lightning did nothing to soothe this horse's mentality. One strike had landed close enough to this particular horse's stable to send it into a fit, raising all manner of noise and destruction as it kicked it's stable gate into splinters and sped out into the fields.

Ithilwen saw the horse coming before the stable hands could formulate what had happened. When she saw them attempt to chase the horse on foot, she knew they would never reach it, and its erratic path was directly in line with the older ellon that was currently running to her...

"Go! Run!" Ithilwen shouted orders to the older brother as she broke into a sprint to meet him, pushing his little brother into his arms before shoving them aside quickly. The rogue horse was picking up speed, but she had sworn to those parents that she would take care of the children. But what could she do? This problem-horse was well-known for his bad behavior, and it didn't look like any more progress was made in taming him. The stable hands were still too far away, so it came to fall on her shoulders to stop this animal.

Bracing herself, Ithilwen prepared to intercept the beast by leaping onto his back and calming him to a trot. If she could lead him away from the children, the older ones would keep them together and safe until the horse was subdued. She felt her shoulder connect with the horse's broad chest and she let out a yelp as she attempted to vault onto its back. Ithilwen misjudged the enormity of this creature, having never been this close to it. The shoulder throbbed as she clung to the horse's neck for her life as it continued to run. With a tug to its mane, she was able to steer the horse away from the children, but instead of leading the horse back to the stables as she had planned, the horse went in the opposite direction, further into the fields.

While Ithilwen had been spending the day attending to some of the children, Legolas had been assisting his dwarven friend Gimli with the construction of some new homes. They were finishing up for the day early due to the unexpected weather when shouts were heard across the area. Extra stable hands were running to them, shouting about the rogue horse getting loose and somehow Ithilwen had managed to climb atop it. Before Gimli could ask the elf what he was talking about, Legolas had taken off in the direction in which another elf had pointed. He didn't know the whole story at that point and he didn't need to. Ithilwen was on a horse that he would have never let her near, and he had to save her.

Running across the field, he could make out the form of the large horse in the distance through the rain. This wasn't good; the horse was going into a heavily-laden construction area. As he neared the area, the horse had become trapped in the maze of foundations and framework. Legolas didn't have time to warn Ithilwen that the horse was prone to bucking when frightened, but the uncalled for lightning proved to be sufficient. The beast neighed loudly, rearing up on its back legs suddenly. Ithilwen, having nothing but the slick strands of mane to hold onto, was pitched violently off its back.

"ITHILWEN!" Legolas shouted as he ran into the construction zone. She landed in what looked to be a pile of debris, but as he neared closer he felt his blood run cold.

Ithilwen lay amid a pile of discarded stone that was deemed unfit to use as foundation. Her body lay limp across the broken shards like a rag doll, with a nasty gash against her temple, leaving the rock beneath her head stained with blood.

"Ithilwen! Ithilwen!" She was unconscious and unresponsive even when Legolas lightly slapped her cheeks. There was no one nearby to help him, and he feared even as he lifted her body up that he was doing more harm than good, but he could not leave her in the rain. It was apparent that she was badly injured, and from the way her body sagged in his arms, he feared for the worst.

The healers that had attended to the young mate of the woodland prince would never forget the day that he had stormed into the building screaming for help. He was soaked to the bone, as was she, and even sported the dark-stained clothing from where she had bled as he held her against him. They would also never forget the time they had in trying to get him to turn her over to their care. It's not to be surprised, he was terrified, so they allowed him the opportunity to remain in the room.

It was all Legolas could do not to swarm the healers as they stripped the wet clothes from his wife's body and began to dry and dress her in a gown. They were speaking in rapid Sindarin, and while he could make out the words "broken" and "deep", it was more than he could bear. With that, he silently excused himself from the room she was in, only to collapse into tears just outside her door.

That was how his and Ithilwen's parents found him when they reached the healing quarters. Both ellith were in instant mother-mode, trying to calmly get Legolas to tell them everything that happened while at the same time trying to calm his frayed nerves. Legolas' voice cracked as he retold them of how he saw Ithilwen atop the untamable horse and how it threw her during the middle of the storm.

Much later, one of the chief healers in the vicinity came out to greet the parents and the prince. His face was grim and he looked both tired and upset. "My Lords, My Ladies... We've done all that can be done for Lady Ithilwen. The wounds that she has sustained are far greater than our healing magic can repair. The stones that Lord Legolas informed us he found her on have broken six of her ribs, and from the placement of the fractures we can only assume she has internal bleeding."

"That's something you know how to repair," Morwen said worriedly. "What are you not telling us?"

The healer sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. "Ithilwen's spine has been severely damaged," he said finally. "Because of the sheer number of broken bones, we cannot turn her to inspect her spinal column without running the risk of doing further damage. This would require a long recovery on her part, if she is up for the fight. However...if she manages to heal her body, I cannot say for certain that she would walk again."

"What do you mean?" Legolas asked. "My mate is as strong as any warrior that has been in these quarters!"

"I am only suggesting that you do not set your hopes too high, my lord. Lady Ithilwen could have suffered nerve damage, which is irreparable. You must remember that she is bleeding internally. There is nothing we can do to stop the bleeding." The healer placed a hand comfortingly on the prince's shoulder. "I would suggest to prepare yourselves for the worst, my lord. There is the small chance that your wife can make it through this, but do not place all of your hope in so small a possibility."

The healer excused himself to seek counsel with the others in the room, who looked less than comfortable, knowing that their talents were of no further use to the injury that was beyond them. The family that gathered around the frail elleth's bed had nearly succumbed to sobs, watching as Legolas took the eerily pale hand of his beloved and held tight.

The tears that he had been fighting back were flowing freely now as he desperately prayed to the Valar that she would recover so they could live out their lives like they'd vowed. He knew in his heart that this was not to be, as much as he did not want to accept it. As he looked down at his mate, he knew that she was beyond the hope of healing. Her normally flush cheeks were colorless, and even as her blanket covered her form, the broken deformity could still be seen in the way the folds fell across her chest.

Ithilwen's hand was steadily beginning to lose what warmth it had, and he knew he was losing her. He wanted to tell her to fight back against her injuries. He wanted to tell her to sit up and argue with him like she used to. He wanted to hold her tightly against him and feel her heartbeat against his chest, but he knew this would never happen. "Ithilwen..." he whispered in choked sobs. "Ithilwen...I will always love you. You are my everything, melamin. I do not know how I can do this without you by my side... You have to find some way to come back to me, my love...my Ithilwen..."

Two days after the accident, Ithilwen passed away.

The healers left in the room would never forget the strangled cry of anguish that came from the former Lord of Ithilien, nor the way he continued to hold the lifeless hand of his once youthful and lovely wife. They would forever see the former lords and ladies of the realms break down in sobs as the news was passed to them that they had lost one of their most precious belongings.

The funeral that took place was as somber and gray as Legolas appeared. Among the family in attendance was the small hobbits Bilbo and Frodo, the wizard Mithrandir, and the young prince's treasured friend, Gimli. They had all begun to show signs of their age in Valinor, and the heavy depression that settled over the company made the aging appear that much older.

Morwen had commented that it was a beautiful ceremony, in an attempt to find comfort in the fact that she had to lay her own child to rest, but it was for naught. She as well as everyone else knew it, but they would continue to nod and agree, as if it might have helped accept the fact that one of their own had gone to the Halls of Mandos.

Nothing could quell the hurt and upset in Legolas, though. The greatest thing that had ever happened to him had been taken from him, right when they had just started to truly live. It wasn't fair. Why should she be the one to leave? Why had the storm chosen to appear so suddenly? Why couldn't it have been himself that had taken the brunt of the blow? Why couldn't he have been the one on the horse? He often wondered why he couldn't have taken her place, but he knew that she would think the same things if their roles had been reversed. She was like that, willing to throw herself in harms way to protect him and those she loved.

But it was an accident. No one could have forseen that, not even the Lady Galadriel. She once told them she had seen them in a dream with a small herd of children running about their ankles, with appearances that took after both of them. Now that was gone. Forever.

Or was it?

For nigh on the first month since Ithilwen's passing, a heavy watch was kept over Legolas. Everyone suspected - and even fully expected in hushed conversation - that it would not be long before he followed her to the Halls of Mandos. Even the dwarf Gimli could not raise his spirits with stories of the war and their killing competitions, for the prince was too far gone to so much as appear to feign interest. His parents and Ithilwen's watched from afar, not knowing what - if anything - could be done to lift his mood.

One day, Mithrandir appeared before the lords and ladies. "I bring word from the Valar themselves," he explained. The wizard was surprised to see how quickly the loss of his wife had taken its toll on the young prince; bedraggled and forlorn, it seemed that Legolas was indeed attempting to grieve himself to fade so that he might have a hope of returning to Ithilwen, if only in spirit.

"Lady Nienna has been thinking much of you these past weeks, Legolas," Mithrandir spoke to the downcast elf, who hadn't so much as acknowledged his own name. Miraear had brought him to sit between herself and Morwen at the table. "She sees and feels the grief that you bear each day, my boy, as do the rest of us. You know that you are not alone in this sorrow."

"If everyone is aware of what I am going through, then why make a formal announcement from the Valar themselves to point that out?" Legolas had spoken softly, but there was a tint of bitterness on the tip of his tongue.

"My boy, is that why you think I am here? Of course not! I bring good news, you silly elf!"

"What could possibly be good news to me, anymore? That I am soon to die so that I can join my beloved?" He was pitying himself, he knew. Just as he knew that the words had upset the ellith on either side of him, but instead of gasping or crying, they had taken each of his hands and squeezed, almost as if they understood that his suicidal thoughts were void of any conviction. The truth was, Legolas didn't want to die; Ithilwen wouldn't have wanted that for him, but he couldn't see a world without her in it anymore. It left him at a loss of what to do.

"Do not be daft! I come bearing words from Namo himself! It appears that princess Ithilwen's fëa has safely made it within the Halls of Waiting, just four days ago." Mithrandir adjusted his robes, pausing for effect. "She asked Namo personally to send a message to her loved ones..."

That had done the trick. Legolas' head shot up expectantly, and he vaguely realized that his mother and mother-in-law were squeezing his hands harder. "W...what does she say?" he managed to get out, a sudden lump forming in his throat.

Mithrandir smiled for the first time since he arrived. "Lady Ithilwen sends her love, as to be expected. She does not know how long she will be in the Halls of Waiting, however, but she misses everyone. She does not wish for you to grieve yourself to death, Legolas. Lady Nienna has visited and spoken of the grief you bear around her passing, and it pains - and irritates - her that you would think to do something so foolish."

"But how can she expect me to go on as if I had never met her? It's not possible for me, Mithrandir, my heart hurts too much to forget her."

"As you shouldn't!" he nodded. "Lady Ithilwen wishes that you would try to return to your former self; she cannot stand the thought of you wasting away when you still have so much to live for."

"What do I possibly have!" Legolas nearly snapped. "The only thing in the world that I had that I could ever want was taken away from me!"

"Do not make me use my staff, young man," Mithrandir chided. "I may not have aged in appearance in some years but I am a tired old man who will not hesitate to use his walking stick on you." He cleared his throat. "As I was saying, Lady Ithilwen has made her decision to have her fëa be reembodied."

Silence followed Mithrandir's words for what felt like the longest time. No one spoke, trying to comprehend just what was said. Finally, Legolas choked out, "Ithilwen... Ithilwen will return to me?" The crack in his voice was the first sign of hope that anyone had seen in some time.

Mithrandir nodded. "It will be some time, as Namos has to make preparations for her reembodiment, but I have been told under the strictest tone by Namos from Ithilwen to not let you succumb to grief, Legolas. She does not want to return to find that you have taken a trip to the Halls of Mandos because of your stubborness and impatience to be reunited!"

Morwen choked back a sob and laughed. "Ithilwen's returning!" She leaned forward to see the beaming smile upon her friend's face. "Miraear! Just think of how happy everyone will be to hear of this news!"

Miraear wiped some tears away from her cheeks with her free hand and looked to her son. He wasn't displaying as much excitement as they were, but she could already see the light and color return to his eyes, and it was then that she knew that Legolas was slowly coming back from his grief. Even from the Halls of Waiting, Ithilwen had saved him.

Months had passed without any sign or signal from the Valar as to Ithilwen's whereabouts. As the days approached to the anniversary of the accident that took her from her loved ones, Legolas was beginning to believe that it had all been a joke, but there was a small part of him that told him not to lose hope just yet, that his Ithilwen would return to him.

Finally, Mithrandir had come to visit again with news from the Valar.

"Do not be alarmed," he began, which only seemed to raise their suspicions when he added, "Namos has had difficulty in finding a suitable form for Lady Ithilwen's fëa."

"What kind of difficulty?" Morwen asked. "Is he not going to let her return?"

Mithrandir's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Goodness, no! Nothing like that!" He cleared his throat as he brought his empty pipe out of his robe pocket. "No, it appears that there is not a suitable form for her fëa within the borders of Valinor."

"Where else could he possibly find a form?"

"In Arda," the old man said simply. "Ithilwen is to be reborn in the body of a mortal in what exists of Arda today. She will live her youth as a mortal until she approaches her maturity. During this time she will regain the memories of her past life as well as the body her fëa now occupies adjusts to its elven form."

"But she'll grow up without her family!" Miraear stated, looking sadly to her friend. "How will she know that these memories are not illusions of the mind? There are no more elves in Arda! She will be completely alone in the world!"

Legolas, who had been on the other side of the room and silent for much of this discussion stood up suddenly from his seat. "Then I must find a way to get to her," he said as he started to pace. "She is my mate. I cannot leave her to walk alone in the world."

"That is well and good ion-nin, but how will you get to Arda? As far as we know the Straight Road only allows passage to Valinor."

Mithrandir returned the pipe to his robe pocket, and shuffled something in another pocket. The elves watched as he extracted a folded piece of parchment that contained what appeared to be a map written in ink. "We thought as much," he mumbled, laying the map out flat on the nearby table as they gathered around. "Arda has indeed changed much since the last ship has left. The lands have broken and reformed so much that you would hardly recognize anything."

"Why does that matter?" Miraear asked, getting irritated with his riddles. "You speak as if you know of a way to sail back!"

"I do," he said, chuckling as they all froze. "Did you really believe I had brought this piece of parchment out because I am a senile old man? I assure you, my Lady, that this map will lead you back to Arda."

"We can go back?" Legolas said at last. The idea sounded so far out there that he wasn't sure if he was dreaming or not. He was still trying to tell himself that Ithilwen's death was not a dream, even as he woke from the nightmares each night to find that her side of the bed remained empty. To be able to go back and find his mate all over again was daunting, but if he had the opportunity, he was not about to ignore it.

"That is what I have been trying to say!"

"Then you should speak clearer!" Both Morwen and Miraear told him.

Legolas waved his hand to get everyone's attention. "There must be a clause to this. It simply cannot be that easy."

"There is," Mithrandir nodded, "The Straight Road will open to the remains of the Gray Havens only once every seven years." He pointed to what appeared to be a small island on the map. "From there you will be close enough to shore to venture further into what I believe are the remains of Lindon. You will need to keep track of the years more carefully when you arrive so that you can properly prepare for your return."

It would be complicated, but Legolas was dead-set on tackling this task with enthusiasm. He had no idea what he would find when he reached Arda, and he knew nothing of where Ithilwen would be. All he knew was that she would be there somewhere, and he was going to find her.

In the next five years that passed, preparations were made to sail the Straight Road once more. A number of family members would not pass up the chance to take the adventure, even after arguments were made to suggest that only a few go. What followed thereafter was a long journey that held nervousness, excitement, and wary anticipation as to the changes the world of Men had brought upon Arda, as well as how and when they would locate Ithilwen.

-x-x-x-x-x-

A/N: What'd you think? I know - it's really depressing and I'm sorry! Believe me I had a good reason for writing the prologue like that. The next chapter won't be as tear-inducing, I promise! And remember, this story isn't a rewrite of Call Me Maybe! It's AU, or better known as "naturally I get this idea after I'm halfway through my original idea with these guys". I hope you enjoyed this taste of my newest story while I work on the epilogues of Call Me Maybe. I've been watching the poll on my profile and will work on all of the stories listed when time (and inspiration) allow, and given the way my brain works, it could be all at once at times! Let me know your thoughts on this one, I'm really curious!