This is my first Lord of the Rings fanfic. Please review it, whether you think it's good or bad! Any feedback at all is appreciated.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, Lord of the Rings is not mine. It is the work of the incredible J.R.R. Tolkien.

Legolas had never expected to stay in Middle Earth.

Ever since he had heard the gulls call, he had longed for the sea. The sea had called out to him, sometimes whispering sweetly, sometimes shouting desperately. It had become part of him. So despite the fact that Legolas had not left on the first boats to the Undying Lands, he always thought that someday he would go.

But he was wrong.

For years after the defeat of Sauron, Legolas had worked to rebuild Middle Earth. He had travelled with Gimli, giving advice and help to all who needed it, before eventually settling in Ithilien. There, he had helped to restore the destroyed forests of that great land. The forest had always been his home, and it was somewhat comforting to recreate an old homeland.

Legolas was not the only elf working to restore the forest. Many of the elves who remained chose to help here – it was a place full of memories that had to be restored. He quickly made friends with his fellow elves, his charming personality a huge hit with all he met. However, he was never as close to them as he had been to Aragorn or Gimli. They had been through so much with him, and the three had grown to understand each other in a way no-one else could. Even Aragorn's wife, Arwen, was probably ignorant of some of the things Legolas knew about him. That was how deep their friendship ran.

Most of the other elves in Ithilien seemed content with Legolas's friendship, not prying too much or attempting to get as close as Aragorn and Gimli had. Amarië, however, was different.

She was a stranger to all the other elves there. None of them had heard of her. She was named after a very prominent elf in history, but she herself was unknown. Her eyes, green in colour, told stories of hardship and endurance, but she had never divulged why. Like Legolas, she was well liked, but kept part of herself hidden. For this reason, she tried to get Legolas to talk to her. Because she was like him. Because they had the same problem, and she knew that they both needed a solution. Together, she believed they would find it.

One night, when Legolas was sat in his favourite tree in the forest, Amarië went looking for him. She sat beside him in the tree, never saying a word. Just sitting there. Legolas never reacted to her being there, or mentioned it to anyone else. But somehow, it bonded them, and they grew closer. Every night they would sit together in that tree, rarely speaking, just thinking and observing. During the day, they would talk about things they had not mentioned before – their family, their thoughts, their most personal experiences. Legolas discovered Amarië had been born into a family of traitors, and that was why she was unknown. She had fought desperately in the war to try and gain respect, for herself and her family. In a way, it had worked, for she was accepted into Ithilien. But she could not tell anyone who she was.

Eventually, Legolas told Amarië he was going to go over the Sea to the Undying Lands. He told her how the sea called to him, pleading for him to come. Finally, he had decided to listen, and try to find peace over the sea.

But Amarië surprised him. Instead of respecting his decision, she had looked him in the eye.

"Is that what you really want?" She had asked. "I think you want peace, rather than to leave. Peace can be found here. You just aren't looking in the right places."

Before Legolas had fully reacted, she had placed a small, gentle kiss on his lips. Then she left.

Legolas had realised then what he actually wanted. He didn't want to go to the Undying Lands, not really. He had only decided to go there because he had been told that was the only place he could rest. But it wasn't. It was the easiest place to rest, that was true. But not the only one.

What Legolas really wanted was rest. He was the heir to the throne, Thranduils son. The only way he could rest was by having his own heir, his own son, someone to take responsibility from him before he even gained it himself.

So what Legolas wanted most of all was a family. A wife. He wanted love.

So, ten years later, he found himself staying in Ithilien, in Middle Earth. Because there, he had found what he wanted. It had made the call of the sea go away.

In Ithilien, he had found his love, or rather she had found him. He had found Amarië.