The laughter that bounced around their table was so loud and contagious that it was perhaps the only thing Gimli heard for two entire minutes. When it finally died down, he looked down the table to find Avaleina resting her face on her arms that were folded over the table with shame.

Her ears glowed a scarlet color, and Legolas soothingly rubbed a hand up and down her back. While clearly struggling to hold in his own laughter as Farlen got the breath to continue the story.

"So then this poor, poor thing tried to get a hold of one of the rocks to haul herself up. I have no idea how it happened to this day, but some herd of elk decided that was the perfect time to go stomping across the rocks. So she let go."

There was another round of laughter from the table, and Gimli could not help but chuckle at the vivid image that Farlen had been painting for them for perhapes ten minutes now.

"So then we see her go over the edge of the waterfall and into the cave. Feathers and reids still stuck in her hair. Berries stain almost every inch of her skin. Just gone over the edge in half a second."

A few of the warriors had resorted to wiping at their eyes as tears began to creep from their eyes at the force of the laughter. Gimli was near certain he had not seen any group of people laugh this hard for this long before, alcohol involved or not.

It was more refreshing than any spring had ever been.

"So when we get down there, she's just crawling out of the cave absolutely covered in mud, and-" unable to finish his own sentence Farlen was sent into another round of hysterics that caused a sickly wheezing noise to come from him.

Avaleina picked her head up off the table and said to everybody at the table, "And my face the size of a small village because the Amonrite beetles had been nesting and did not like my sudden and dramatic disruption."

Somehow, Farlen managed to squeeze out with his wheezes, "The size of a medium village at best. And redder than any tomato I've ever beheld in my life."

..0..0.

Jah'har leaned against a tree and waited for the bird to return to them, outside the limits of Greenwood's bordes. He had no intention of seeing Lord Ferdan again. He knew very well who that would end well for, and it was not Jah'har.

And it never would be Jah'har. At least not when they were inside the forest.

With a pleasant tweet a clearly self-pleased bird landed in the dirt nearby his feet and hopped up and down with celebration. He smiled down at it and crouched down, "Good job, little friend. What did you find?"

The bird picked up a small stick from nearby and began to trace the ruins it had seen on the spines of the book in the dirt. When his little friend started the sixth line of ruins to indicate a sixth he assumed that the bird would be done by that point.

He was surprised when he watched the number climb to eight. Shocked at nine. Beyond himself when it reached eleven.

It did not make sense how King Thranduil could have ever possessed that many books, there simply weren't enough of them to go around for him to have so many, the other seventeen spread amongst the clans, and the illegal seven his own clan had.

This should not be possible. This could not be possible.

Unless... King Oropher had lied about how many books his Silvan people had been in possession of when the council of tribes was formed. Unless they found more of them inside their massive expanse of trees and did not report it, as he should have done by treaty standards.

Maybe this was his chance to stop Avaleina from doing something so stupids not even the Valar would show her mercy. One cannot perform a spell, if one has no spellbook in which to read it from.

..

Everybody around them was caught up in their own bubble for the time being, and so Legolas took this opportunity to sneak Avaleina away for a few private moments. Careful to make sure they were not followed, they vanished through a few bushes.

Her fingers interwoven so perfectly with his that it created the perfect artwork.

Beyond the secret entrance laid the secret club they had founded as young elfings to hide from Ferdan and Thranduil. A clubhouse they still often used with Farlen to hide from their responsibilities and those they didn't like as needed throughout their adulthood. Or just to have a space to goof around in the seclusion of their private space.

The second they were behind the bushes she kissed him, somehow managing to do it before he was able to initiate. She tasted like a hint of the wine, but so much better. Sweeter and also spicy.

She kissed him back even harder, her arms coming around his neck without her thinking about it. Taking a few steps forwards he forced her to step back until her back was pressed flush against the side of the mountain behind them.

Using the support from behind, Ava pressed herself harder into the kiss until it was the only thing that Legolas' could or did care about. Until it was the only thing that mattered. Only thing he noticed.

Was her.

Eventually part of his mind reminded him where they were and he forced himself to pull back from her, endlessly pleased when she chased three more kisses from his lips as he did so.

"I missed you so much," His lips breathed with haunting sincerity.

Neglecting their usual joke, Avaleina put a hand to both sides of his face and stroked his cheeks gently, "I love you so much, Legolas. You've always been the perfect being for me, and no matter what happens you will always be the perfect one for me."

He closed his eyes to enjoy the feel of her gentle and loving touch that he had craved and missed for so long. So much longer than he had been with the fellowship. So much longer than he even wanted to admit when he had consumed this much wine, because the likelihoods of it making him cry was uncomfortably high.

But when she kissed him again it didn't matter if he thought about it or not. Because his love for her was so overwhelming that his adoration leaked from his eyes in the form of tears anyway .

..0.

"What is the goal of this game again?" Pippin asked, slurring a few of his words every so slightly.

Avaleina smiled down at him in that knowing way, "The goal is to try and toss these little balls into the cups over there four tables over while I'm blind folded."

"Right." Pippin agreed, "And how are you doing that again?"

"They're going to tap their spoon against the rim of the cup, " Avaleina began while pulling her blindfold over her eyes, and waiting for the ding of the cup. The ball left her hand at the same time she finished the sentence, "And then I aim for where I think the sound came from."

There was a chorus of groans and dramatics from the table over and Avaleina ripped her blindfold off triumphantly, "If I get it in, everybody on that team has to chug half their drink. If I miss, I drink half my drink. Until all the cups are gone."

"This sounds dangerous," Pippin mused out loud not disapprovingly.

Ava tapped the side of a glass with her spoon and waited for Legolas to take a shot, "Only if you play it correctly."

0.0..0.0..0.0

"May I sit?" Avaleina asked, and Gimli looked up to her with slight surprise from where he sat comfortably near a fire. A snoring Merry and Pippin laying across chairs near him.

"Of course," Gimli answered immediately, indicating to the chair on his side that he was not infested with hobbits.

She sat down with that fluid grace elves had even when intoxicated and throwing themselves into a chair after a long night of celebrating. Together the two of them watched the now dwindling festivities in mutual and comfortable silence.

Eventually though Avaleina ruined it, as Gimli had discovered elves are all destined to do, "Thank you for looking after him, there really is no way for me to express the depths of my gratitude."

It was hard to believe that a little over a year ago, Gimli probably would have made some snide remark about elves feeling anything at all, especially with depth. But he had learned and grown so much since then, for the better.

"It was my honor and privilege."

She turned to study him then, and Gimli could not help but notice the similarities between the way she scurinized him and the way Legolas scrutinized others on Gimli's behalf. He had to admit, even if it was only to himself, that it was endearing.

In the end she just nodded and said, "Mine too."

They both turned back to the crowd in silence again.

A few minutes later Avaleina broke it, again, "So have I passed your test, Master Dwarf?"

He looked at her in complete bewilderment, "What test?"

"The test of if I am worthy of Legolas or not."

"What? I wasn't-"

She tilted her head to the side and asked in a genuinely innocent voice, "Haven't you?"

Gimli snapped his mouth shut, and just frowned at her instead.

Avaleina smiled and laughed in response to this, and apparently decided to elaborate on what she meant even if he did not ask, "Have you not wondered about it perhaps the reason he did not mention me in the slightest was because he was not happy with me, or his life here. That maybe he was ashamed, or embarrassed. Or some other ill opinion."

Gimli blinked to himself and examined his thoughts and feelings since he had arrived here to the best of his abilities, "I had not noticed.."

She smiled at him good naturedly, "So do I pass?"

"Yes, you pass."

This time Avaleina beamed at him like he had just sold her the world, "Good."

"Have I passed your test?" Gimli asked, now curious if he were considered to be good enough for Legolas by one so close to him. Since it was clear that King Thranduil did not think that he was.

"I knew you were good enough for him the moment I felt you enter the forest," She gave him a sideways glance, her green eyes dancing with a warmth greater than the fire beside them. "Nobody as terrified as you would have come all the way to our mountain unless you were worthy of him. Besides, I trust his judgment."

"As do I." Gimli agreed almost immediately. In fact, he could hardly think of another creature's opinion of judgment he might hold in a higher regard than he did for Legoals'.

Their next silence did not last half as long as the last, but this time it was Gimli that broke the silence between them. Asking bluntly, "You're planning a way to help him behind his back, aren't you?"

She frowned at him deeply, "What makes you think that I would do that?"

"Because we had to lie to him and plan behind his back to even get him back home to begin with, so I can only imagine what it is going to take to fix a problem he put so much effort into ignoring."

Avaleina did not say anything, just turned to look at the fire with an unreadable expression. Gimli figured this did not bode well for him, but she had not gotten up to walk away so he supposed that it could be worse.

Somewhat tentatively he asked, "Just tell me what I need to do, and I will do it. No questions, totally secrecy."

Her face was still to the fire when she said, "I am trying to find a way to help them where I will not have to lie."

"But you have not found one." Gimli guessed by her tone and since she was saying any of this at all. He had learned as flighty as Elves seemed, they very rarely used their voices for unnecessary reasons.

"No, I have not…" She reluctantly acknowledged, snapping a stick in half and tossing it into the fire viciously.

"But you have thought of a solution that you would have to hide from him, haven't you?"

This time she was even more reluctant to answer, and Gimli could almost physically witness her personal lingering distrust of him and protectiveness over Legolas, wrestling with the knowledge of how much Gimli meant to Legolas himself.

In the end she settled with saying, "Yes, I have."

"So tell me what to do." Gimli stated, instead politely offering this time.

"There is nothing yet."

"But there will be?"

"When the time comes, we will need to get him out of the forest for at least twelve hours. Any ideas on how to do that without raising his suspicions? With me remaining here?"

Gimli pursed his lips in thought, and when that didn't work he furrowed his brow too. Which must have helped, because the idea occurred to him not long after, "I could tell him that I would like him to come and meet my family. He could never say no to such a thing."

Avaleina's sly smile said it all.

.0...

Radagast waited until he was certain that the Avari elf had wandered away for good before he went over to investigate what the bird had written down. It had been a windy day, and so he squinted and got closer to ensure he read them correctly.

Once he was certain, he laughed a little bit to himself and then began to wander his way home whistling a merry little tune. Pleased with the outcome of his hardwork and hoping that King Thranduil would be equally happy with it.

..0.0.0.

It had gotten to that time of night where Avaleina and the rest of the archers that were still standing had begun to wander the forest as they pleased. Enjoying its company and the elvish company around them in equal measures.

Farlen was giving Avaleina through part of the forest when a few of the very young elleth archers began to pester her with questions again, "Why didn't you say yes to Jah'har?"

"It just doesn't make sense," Another added before Avaleina could even respond to the first question, "He is perfect in every way, you two get along wondrously, he obviously adores you. I just don't understand."

She could feel her ears growing red already at being reminded of the incident that she had handled less than gracefully. And with a negative amount of tact. "Can we not talk about this please?"

Why thought?" The first archer pressed, "You never actually gave any of us an answer about why you turned him down. You just said you had decided no, that was that."

They reached the clearing where they had all been headed and Avaleina dropped off of Farlen's back, clearly growing annoyed. There was no need for all of the sideways glances between her friends for them to know she was close to her boiling point.

"Yeah, why did you not at least give him a chance?" The second pressed, "It is not like you have ever seen anybody that lives within Greenwood. Time to look elsewhere, I think."

Avaleina rolled her eyes and tried to keep herself from growing angry, "I don't need to look elsewhere, trust me."

"Just because you feel romantically about a soul does not guarantee that they feel the same way, you know. If you do not tell them then you are going to lose your chance. Just like my sister did, and she still isn't married."

This time, listening to them speak caused Avaleina to take a deep and lingering breath before she responded, " I don't know why this is even a conversation topic to begin with but I happen to know for a fact that they reciprocate my feelings. Now can we drop it? Please?"

She could feel the weight of Legolas eyes on her and she turned to meet his gaze momentarily to roll her eyes. A sign that he should not feel pressured to reveal their relationship to anybody other than the very few that already knew, she knew it weighed on his heart often. Since he was the one who had all but insisted on absolute secrecy.

"Well he hasn't done anything about it, so how reciprocal could it be?"

"Eru, keep me from committing the fourth kinslaying." Avaleina mumbled to nobody in particular.

Avaleian closed her eyes in defeat and resigned herself to the fact that their drunk brains would never let them drop this topic as she heard the start of another sentence, "You just deserve somebody who isn't ashamed to be with you, and wan't the enter wor-"

Eyes still closed, Ava did not realize why the entire group had gone silent until a pair of lips was pressed against her own. Lips hers knew very well.

Unable to help herself, she melted into the kiss and his arms faster than butter left next to a fire ever could. They might have been stuck like this for several minutes had everyone around them not erupted into a chorus of extremely loud cheers.

The couple broke apart, both of them the brightest read they could possibly be but laughing nonetheless.

"Ohhhhhhh," Ramulin declared loudly to the assembled group, "So it's her that's ashamed of you, I understand now."

They all erupted with laughter that reached past the stars.

0.0.0...0.0.00

Hello!

And the most sincere thank you for anybody still reading and enjoying this story! Xoxoxo