Maybe Later

Rating: K+
Dis: Most belongs to Tolkien.

They sat together on the branch, each in their own thoughts.
They were quiet people, they had spend many a day like this.
Their mutual silence sprang from the same reason, the experience they had shared, and that neither of them ever spoke about.
They were friends all the same.

"You are meeting that human again." She said.
"He is my friend." He answered.
There was silence.

"You could come and meet him once." He spoke after a while.
She shook her head. "Don't like humans." She said.
"He is different."

"I really don't like humans." She repeated.
"I know." He said. One of his hands kindly squeezed one of hers so she would know it was alright.

He understood.

oOoOoOoOoOo

She waited for him when he returned. She waited patiently in the back of the official welcoming committee in a place where no one noticed her.

But he did.
He always did.

They both waited until all the ceremonies were done and there was no one left to officially welcome him. Then she would walk up to him, last of all, and be the first to greet him informally.

"You were gone for a long time."
"I missed you too."
"Will you stay a long time too?"
"I'll be leaving in three months."
"The human again?"
"I have found the perfect place to live. Ithilien. You would like it. "
"Well…," she said and looked down. "At least we have three months."

He hugged her closely and wiped the tears she tried to hide.

oOoOoOoOoOo

He noticed her standing there, hidden in the trees, and he got off his horse one last time.
She did not speak when he hugged her.

"You could come with me. This does not have to be goodbye."
"You like the human more than me."
He looked down to meet her eyes. "No, Sidhel, I do not."
"You are leaving me!"
"You could come with me. I would like that."
"I don't like humans."
He hugged her. "They are different."

"Don't leave me, Legolas… I… I can't… How.. without you?"
He rocked her slowly, holding her close.
"I can't stay here and be afraid all my life, Sidhel. I have to do this. I have to prove I am stronger."
"You are stronger."
"And so are you."

She did not reply.

"Come visit me?" he asked.
She looked up at him, her eyes full of tears.

He wiped them carefully.
"Maybe when you are ready." he whispered.

oOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

He always kept an eye on the trees wherever he was. He always searched the back of every formal gathering. He always expected to see her, standing there, quietly in the back, one day.

She did not.

But she was there waiting for him, at the great white tomb of the great king Elessar, after all the others had left.

"You never got to meet him.' He said, and it was her now that hugged him, she wiped away his tears.
"He was different. He really was."
"I know, love." She answered.
He looked into her eyes, questioning her.
"Because you loved him. I knew from the start."

"You never came."
"Yet I am here."

She smiled.
He smiled.

"Would you meet his son?"
"I don't like humans."

"He is different."

She smiled.
He smiled.

"Alright then."