*Thranduil's POV*

I'm flabbergasted when she asks where I would like her little sapling to go. Not having a clue, she smirks and chooses her own. Little did I know it would take so long to get there.

"Perhaps this should have waited until you were well." Elrond frets slightly, but the elleth's attention is on the sapling in her hands. And she still wears my coat. It looks well on her. Like an obsidian stone caught in flickering flames. Begging to be touched but burning all who do. By the Valar, what kind of thoughts are these for a king? I shake my head to clear it and continue on.

"The moment you left me I would have done this anyway." Her voice is strained, but I've no doubt she speaks the truth. Finally, we reach a small patch of daisies and I feel her eyes on me. I meet her eyes and she instantly smirks. My lips twitch at the sight. How I love that she smiles at me despite it usually being at my expense. It is rare that I receive smiles. Perhaps because I do not give them. "I should like to honor this gift by gifting it life and gifting it to another." She looks up at me with a teasing light in her eyes. "Will you allow me to plant this here, King?" She asks and my head shakes slightly with disbelief.

"Since I do not wish to traipse further, yes." I allow and she grins.

"Then you'll be happy to escort me." She latches onto my arm and tugs me with a shocking amount of strength towards the empty field. Elrond chuckles and I quickly begin walking beside her before she faceplants and drags me down with her.

"This certainly isn't what you were going to make your final bargain, is it?" I question and her laugh is light.

"Certainly not. I have something far more interesting in mind." Her eyes sparkle when she looks up at me and stops. "But now is not the time. This is a good place." She stoops and drags me down with her to keep her steady. A king stooping in the dirt. I'm sure Elrond is laughing, but all I can do is watch as her earth hands dig into the dirt. She takes a breath and wiggles her left leg, the one with the wound upon it.

"Extend this leg." My fingers barely graze her knee and her eyes snap up to mine. Amusement taints my mouth at her reaction. How fun it is to tease her. "It will hurt your wound less," I explain and her confusion clears. Still, she does not move.

"Ah, well has it occurred to you that I am in a shorter dress than usual and such a movement would likely expose myself?" She returns with cheeks just barely tinted darker and a smirk. I blink. I had not thought of such a thing. The thought does, however, stick in my mind a bit too long for comfort. "Besides, I am finished." She pats the dirt down around the sapling then looks to me. Her lips part, but she says nothing. I smirk.

"Do you need assistance, Princess?" I ask and she sighs. Humming a soft laugh, I reach out for her hand and she takes mine. Warm, she's always so warm, like the earth itself. We take a few steps back before she stops me. I look down at her eyes as she looks up at me excitedly. She calls to my own excitement.

"I shall need you to let me have my hands, King." Her tone is teasing and I look do our hands to find hers limp as I hold on. I quickly release her as she smiles. She takes a breath and faces the small sapling on her own. Elvish dances off her tongue as Elrond comes forward to my side.

"This is the true gift of the Night of Lothlorien." He murmurs and I watch as her arms slowly point to the ground, then lift to the sky. Green light suddenly emanates from the weak sprout and it shoots up two feet. My eyes widen. She continues. The sprout shoots up another two, then ten, another ten, then widens as if a hundred years old. Branches stretch above us like the elleth's arms and sprout even more, it's canopy heavy with leaves. Only then does the green light slowly fade and Aeolin starts to fall. I move first and catch her gently with hands sliding around her already too familiar shape. She blinks up at me drearily and my heart thumps unevenly. I reach up and carefully slide my cloak off her injured shoulder to find the bandage red with blood.

"By the Valar." I murmur and lift her fully into my arms and close to my chest. I turn to begin walking briskly back to the palace. "Her wounds have reopened. She needs further healing." I tell Elrond and he hurries ahead for preparations. I look back down to Lin who thankfully still has her eyes open.

"Is this necessary?" She asks and moves around a bit within my arms. My heart is strangely loud in my ears with her so close to me, wriggling, nonetheless.

"You are a foolish, stubborn elleth." I scold her and she stills to laugh, those sparkling eyes trained on me. Apparently deciding she'll stay put, her good arm slides under my long hair and around my neck. Goosebumps rise all over me and heat sears my bare skin where she touches. By the Valar, when has one's touch had such an effect on me?

"No more than you, I should think." She returns and I huff. "It...it needed a lot of energy. To survive the fall." She explains and no longer moves. Seems she's decided going along with things is in her best interest. My head shakes once again.

"You've exhausted yourself. For a tree." Her lips pull down at the edges.

"It is not just a tree." She objects and I slow only slightly to stare down at her. Brows furrowed, her lips pulled down, one arm settled in her lap; she looks a bit petulant. "It was a gift from someone I loved. An opportunity for life that I was able to gift back into it. And it is also a gift to you." She actually sounds slightly offended. "If I thought you would not appreciate it, I would not have given it."

"Fine. I concede that the tree is...more than just a tree." I give in and she smiles up at me. My step falters slightly, but only enough for me to notice. It is not a lie. Every time I look upon the tree, I shall think of her. That is no trifle.

"Thank you." She sighs and her head lolls against my chest. A shiver of...dratted affection rolls through me at the movement. "I believe you care far more than you admit to yourself, fair King." The elleth teases tiredly. As my heart thumps under her head leaning upon me like the most comfortable of pillows, I can't help but agree.

"You think me fair, Lin?" I combat to regain my bearings and she laughs, filling the woods with the light sound. I would spend hours trying to get her to laugh if she let me. If I would not be a fool for attempting. I'm almost happy to be a fool for her. Almost. Her eyes consider me for a few moments before she shuts them and relaxes against me. My heart constricts at the ease at which she is able to trust me. One who has said he trusts no one. The palace is within my sight now and guards wait at the doors.

"I think I have decided, despite your penchant for being haughty and easily irritated, that we shall be friends." I smile quizzically down at her as she snuggles closer to me. My arms tighten around her.

"What exactly does that mean, Aeolin?" I ask her, needing her to stay awake. Her eyes don't open but her hand does gently pat my chest over my defrosting heart.

"It means we are friends, Thranduil. No matter how much you may," She chuckles. "fight against such a thing." Finally, we enter the palace but I refuse to release her. Strange looks follow me as I continue to the infirmary, but that is not of consequence at the moment.

"Should I fight against you, Night of Lothlorien?" I question and it has more meaning in it than she may know. It also includes this strange warmth in my chest, a warmth I haven't felt in a very long time. Her eyes open once again. Her lips twitch slightly.

"About as much as you should fight your smiles, Thranduil." She returns just as we enter the infirmary and I settle her down on a bed. I step back and eventually step away to the other side of the room as Lord Elrond unwraps and redresses her wounds. She'd nearly disintegrated her last bed using her strange power, but that isn't of consequence. Legolas visits just after returning from the fight and I am glad of it. With no soldiers lost, I may only worry about the elleth behind me. My son stands at my side as we wait and his eyes are often on me.

"It was kind of you to allow her to borrow your cloak." He tells me softly. My eyes glance to it hanging on the chair I was so often in the past few days.

"I believe it is now her cloak," I respond and turn towards him as he grins. I am glad to see one from him for they had been rare before the elleth arrived.

"Yes, that sounds like her." Legolas nods. Curiosity still bites me about Aeolin and I decide to name a few more questions to my son. If he'll permit me.

"Were you aware of the...life giving ability she has?" I ask and his eyes brighten.

"Something to behold is it not? Although it leeches energy from her more than any battle." I nod along to his words.

"Is there anything else surprising about her?" I ask and his eyes meet mine. He looks so like me, but his heart is more like his mother's. His smile widens.

"She has yet to stop surprising me, Adar." He tells me and a smile graces my lips. Perhaps this elleth is changing more things than just my frozen heart. Legolas and I have rarely been so warm to one another. Our eyes part just as Elrond comes over to meet us.

"Aeolin will be fine. She will rest now." He tells us with a soft sigh. It seems he is used to her antics, but no less fond of her for them.

"I will attend other duties. She is safe in your care?" I question despite knowing Lord Elrond is one of the best healers in Middle Earth. He nods to me anyways and my gaze lingers on Aeolin before I walk out.