I had lost Bolg in the forest after chasing him from Laketown. I knew my father expected me back home so without waiting for Tauriel, I galloped back to Mirkwood totally lost in thought about how Tauriel was fairing. It took me a day or so to arrive back home and immediately I noticed something different in the air. For starters, there were new horses at the stables which were never there before not to mention an honor guard of elves. When I asked what was going on, one of the caretakers who took my steed from me as I got off, said that Lord Elrond had arrived along with a member of his kin. It was true then; war was coming if Lord Elrond himself came here to speak with my father.

I strode into the main house and ran into one of my brothers. He looked ashen and his eyes were as wide as full moons. I was afraid for an instant something had happened to my kin and I looked around but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I had to place my hand on his shoulder to get him to look at me.

"Elros, brother mine, what is it?" I asked him.

"I have never seen anything or anyone like her." Elros replied stammering.

"Her?" I asked confused.

"Lord Elrond did not arrive alone. He came with a female who at first we thought was his daughter but she looked different. When it was time for her to meet father, he was a little arrogant toward her, questioning her ability to fight alongside of us. Something about lack of skills with the bow and arrow."

"And?" My heart started pounding a little bit faster for I realized exactly who had come to Mirkwood with Lord Elrond; Hedraliel.

"What happened next, no one saw coming. She was so fast. Faster than any elf or creature I had seen. She unsheathed her sword and had it under father's neck in under an instant. She told him not to underestimate her and that she was not here for his approval. That she was connected to this war more than he was and that HE was lucky they were on the same side or his head would be rolling near his guards' legs! It was incredible."

Now I could understand why every elf in Mirkwood was walking around dazed. I felt the same way when I first saw her fighting goblins. She was one of a kind and that is what made me fall in love with her; that and her loving heart and soul. Now my father, who had a trademark to be quite pompous, got a taste of his own medicine. By the fact that the door to my father's main chamber was closed, I had deduced that he was still in a meeting with Lord Elrond. Which meant Hedraliel was somewhere on our lands. I looked back at Elros who was waiting for a response from me to his story.

"Where is she now?" I asked him.

"Where is who?" He asked confused.

"Hedraliel; the princess that came with Lord Elrond." I said impatiently.

"Wait, you know her name? You know her?" Elros asked incredulously.

"I do yes, I will explain it all later. Please brother mine, where is she?"

"Last anyone saw, she was headed toward the garden by the river."

"Thank you!" I said before rushing out toward the garden; leaving my brother behind speechless.

Walking out of the back pathway, the sun had just started to set and the sunset was beautiful. The air was fresh like that of a passing rain storm. I walked slowly and turned right. It was as if my heart was showing me the way toward the one it was seeking the most. Then finally, there she was. She was standing against the railing gazing out onto the river. The breeze was blowing her hair backwards as well as her cloak. Her face seemed different somehow, harder. Even with our keen elven hearing, she had not heard me approach which meant, she was lost in thought. I did not want to scare her so I stopped a few feet away and said:

"I thought I might find you here."

I thought I heard her gasp slightly but she did not turn around so I made my way to the railing so we were standing side by side. She still did not look at me; it was as if she was afraid. What could she possibly be afraid of? I would never harm her. She meant too much to me. Finally she turned toward me but did not look me in the eyes. She took a shaky breath and reached under her cloak into what I assumed to be one of her hidden pockets. When her cloak blew back, I saw her wearing a war outfit underneath; she was prepared for whatever happened. When she took her hand out of the pocket there was something in it. With another shaky breath, she extended her hand and opened it to show me the Greenleaf broach I had given her. As I stared at her in shock, she spoke for the first time:

"I brought this back to you. It is yours to give to your chosen. It does not belong to me."

I did not speak for a good long moment. I could not comprehend why she would give it back to me. I had chosen her. She was the only one I loved.

"Hedraliel, I do not understand."

"Please take it." She said, her voice shaking with emotion. I did and she turned from me then and started to walk away. I followed her and grabbed her arm but she did not turn around.

"Please tell me why are you giving this back? I gave it to you because I chose you."

She stopped trying to leave and instead sat down on a rock bench that was near where we were. She folded her arms around her own body as if she was trying not to fall apart. She still had not met my eyes but she did speak.

"No Legolas, you did not choose me. You always had two choices. You had Tauriel and you had me. But when you truly choose a soul mate; it must be only one person; not one with someone on the side in case something goes wrong. I cannot always be guessing about her. So give it to her because you chose her and she you."

As she finished speaking, we heard the sounds of horses and turned to see Tauriel return and lead her horse toward the stables. Her facial expression was that of extreme confusion but not because of the two of us there; her thoughts were far away and it was as if she did not even see us. I knew she had stayed behind to help that dwarf Kili who was injured by the poisonous arrow when the dwarves escaped from Mirkwood and were followed by orcs. Perhaps that was why she was confused. But at that exact moment I did not even think of her or him or any of it. Only one thought lay on my mind.

What had I done?

I had fallen in love with and gave the woman in front of me the broach of my family because I wanted to spend the rest of eternity with her. And yet, I had stopped writing her, ran after Tauriel every chance I had, and went off to fight orcs without telling her. She deserved to know considering her life was at risk as well being connected to that Necromancer. Instead I had turned into my own father; only caring about my own wishes and feelings and not thinking about whom I would harm with my careless actions and thoughts. Now, I had to somehow convince her that she was the only woman in Middle Earth that had captured my heart and I would never let her go. Losing her this way would be a catastrophe; one of my own making. I was looking down at her as she sat there with extreme sadness in my eyes. I had to make this right somehow.

"Forgive me."

I said as I dropped to one knee in front of her. I had to be face to face with her. I had to get her to look at me. Please heavens above, let her look upon me again. Finally she turned to face me with tears brimming in her eyes. I have never felt so horrible in my life. I was going to make this better; somehow, she had to see. She had to see how very much I loved her and only her.

"Hedraliel, please forgive me. I never meant to hurt you in any way. You are the only woman I have ever loved. Truly with every fiber of my being. I never would have or could have chosen Tauriel but it was truly selfish of me to just disappear without a trace and not tell you anything; not share with you what was going on. Please believe me; I love you with all of my heart and all of my soul."

I looked her in the eyes as I said every single word. As I was speaking, tears slid out of her beautiful eyes and down her pale cheeks. I just wanted to show her how much I meant every single word I said so before she had a chance to say anything or run away from me, I leaned in and kissed her. It was a soft kiss but a passionate one. I wanted her to feel what I was just saying because words could be false and tricky. I wanted her to understand I was being truthful. So I put all of my emotions into that kiss. When I finally pulled away, our faces were inches apart.

I stroked her cheeks to brush away the tears and let her get her bearings. We were both breathing hard. When I kissed her, she kissed me back and did not push me away so I knew she still loved me. Whether she was willing to forgive me and give me another chance to prove my love toward her was a different matter. I was still scared of that. So I knew I had to seal the deal once and for all so there would never be any more confusion or disappointment or fear. As I looked at her, her eyes were cast down again. I put my hand under her chin and lifted it so we were gazing into each other's eyes again. I took a deep breath and swallowed hard and said:

"Princess Hedraliel Anorithilian of Rivendell and Lothlorien, will you spend eternity with me? It would be an absolute honor to be your betrothed and live out our time in Middle Earth and beyond together. You are my angel upon this world and being with you for the rest of my days would be heaven sent. May our children be as blessed as I am right now being in your presence."

She looked upon me with a stunned expression like she could not believe what she was hearing. I extended the broach again to her but I needed her answer first. She was wiping away tears as I was still down on one knee as I had been for quite some time now. It is a good thing we elves could stay in one position for a long time unlike humans who feel pain in their limbs. As my thought process came to a halt, she smiled for the first time in eons and threw her arms around my neck. I held her close and looked up at the stars that were starting to twinkle, thanking the heavens above for bringing her back to me. We parted and I realized she had not exactly answered so I prompted her.

"Is that a yes?" She giggled and nodded. How I had missed the sound of her laugh; like a clear waterfall on wooden chimes. She then cleared her throat and replied to me:

"Yes, Prince Legolas Greenleaf of the Mirkwood Realm, I will spend eternity with you and take you as my betrothed. I too love you with every fiber of my being and look forward to giving you many children. May our lands come together in peace and harmony, grown from our love."

She took the broach from me then and before she could put it back in her pocket, I had an idea. I took it from her and reached underneath her cloak to where she had Altherial sheathed in the holder. I clipped the broach to the sword's holder so that way when she went for her primary weapon--regardless of where she was--she would see that and it would remind her of us and our love and future. We kissed again and hugged. I knew then we had to tell our respective kin. Her uncle was with my father so having them both there would be extremely helpful. As we started toward the main hall, she stopped.

"Are you sure your father will approve?" She said, looking nervous for the first time.

"Oh you mean since you nearly took his head off his shoulders?" I asked.

"You have heard about that, have you?" She asked looking down slightly but at the same time I could tell she was not sorry for it. Something else that made me love her, she stood her ground no matter how big whoever she was facing off against was.

"Yes my brother Elros stammered it out, it was quite amusing. I think he would actually respect you more now than if you had just bowed to him and slinked off."

"Well then, we should go tell them both the good news. I know my uncle will be pleased. Somehow I have this feeling that both he and aunt Galadriel knew this would happen." She said with a small smile.

We continued to walk hand in hand toward the great hall and I knocked on the door. I heard my father's irritated voice allow us entrance. When he and Lord Elrond saw us together, they both looked a little surprised though Lord Elrond shrewdly, looking at his niece figured it out and had a small smile on his face but said nothing. I cleared my throat and spoke to my father and Lord Elrond.

"Princess Hedraliel and I have declared our love and are now betrothed to one another."

You could have heard a pin drop. My father saw the familial broach on Hedraliel's sword holder and his eyebrows raised but he remained stoic. No surprise there. It was Lord Elrond who came forward and hugged his niece and shook hands with me, offering his blessing and congratulations along with a wink at Hedraliel confirming her earlier thought that he already knew we would be together soon enough.

"When are you to wed, my children?" Lord Elrond asked us. My beautiful bride-to-be answered.

"We have decided to wed once peace has been restored to all of Middle Earth. It would be only fair if all of the peoples of this mighty land are as happy and at peace as we are right now." Lord Elrond smiled and nodded in agreement. That is when my father finally spoke.

"The broach, you gave it to her now? And I am assuming you have met before, though you have not informed me of that."

"Correct father, we have known each other for many months. I gave her the broach a while ago actually. And you had greater things to think of then who I was spending my time with." I answered evenly. He nodded then looked at Hedraliel and sighed.

"You have my blessing as well. I am proud my son is betrothed to such a brave young woman. Not too many people earn my respect in the first 10 minutes of meeting me and I do not give it out for free either. I am also honored that your betrothed is the princess of Rivendell and Lorien. Bringing our three kingdoms together will ensure peace and prosperity for all elves."

He then smiled for the first time. He got up off his throne and approached us, he put each of his hands on our shoulders as we looked into his eyes and he said a quick prayer in Elvish. Then he let us go. We looked at each other and my father clapped his hands:

"This announcement has brought some light into our dark surroundings right now, a celebration is in order. Please gather in the main hall in an hour for libations and a feast."

The word went out and everyone started getting ready as Hedraliel and I looked around us and at each other. We then hugged again as we separated and walked to our respected quarters. I knew that the news would spread fast across this kingdom and the other two. I was glad for it. I wanted everyone to know that we belonged to each other for eternity. I walked to my quarters to get ready and was smiling from ear to ear with a song in my heart and my soul at peace at last.