The night had fallen and the city was quiet but still Luin could not sleep. He lay in the room he had been given, the white walls and a soft breeze burning through the open balcony doors behind him. The mattress was expensive feathers, as fit Minas Tirith, and the blankets were warm and soft. Next to him, features relaxed in sleep, Legolas breathed. The moon was high and it made the blonde hair gleam like mithril. The silver light highlighting the curves of the sleeping Elf's face. Luin lay close enough to feel the heat of his lover's body but even that did not lull him into slumber. 

He shifted slightly closer. The blonde was on his back, hair spread out under him and head tilted towards Luin, eyelashes gracing high cheekbones and soft exhales a light sound in the dark. On it's position against pale collarbones, the blue jewel, exposed but the wide neck of the nightshirt, glowed in time with Luin's heartbeat. Small pulses of light that would settle into a rhythm whenever the wizard was within a foot of distance. He watched it dully, attention in his head as he thought. On his right side, the arrow wound throbbed as it healed. 

He was thinking of the last months of his life. It had been almost a year since he had attended Bilbo's birthday party and everything was set in motion. The spring was giving way into summer again despite the interfering darkness. In some ways it felt like it had hardly been any time at all, in others, Luin let like it had been a lifetime. The quest had been much more than any of them had anticipated. It had cost more than he had wanted to give, both to the fellowship and to him personally. It had taken his feeling of power. It had brought back old fears and it had cost people he was fond of. It had taken his looks and it had taken his dignity. The short strands of his hair still tickled his neck in reminder. The cut along the skin now scarred and just another line to match the dozens of marks littering his body. Each one a painful story. 

Yet as he watched Legolas sleep, he was glad that it had not cost more. He was grateful that he still breathed and that the elf beside him was still with him. In some dark moments that he had never said aloud, when he was being carried by those orcs and rended powerless by spiritual binding cable; he had thought for a few seconds that no one would come. In fact, he had wished for brief moments that Legolas didn't follow and see the mess he had ben reduced to. It may have been hair and non-threatening injuries combined with dehydration and malnutrition, but the whole experience still woke him with nightmares. 

Hands forcing his head down as a blade carved his neck. Unable to move, unable to call upon any drop of his Qi. And that eye. The eye in flames watching him and burning just like it had from the Palanthir. Sometimes there were people dying. Gimli overrun by orcs, disappearing from sight. Merry and Pippin stuck down next to Boromir, chests full of black arrows and all their eyes open and unseeing. Aragorn torn apart by wargs in a bloody mess, Gandalf being pulled into the deep black by the Balrog. Frodo and Sam never returning, their bodies lost to Mordor. Yet the one image that never failed to wake him with a cold sweat, thudding heart and heaving breaths as a scream lodged in his throat, was that of Legolas lying with the dead elves in the rubble of Helm's deep. No visible wound on his body but the limbs bent and the head lolling to the side, hair filthy with mud and blood spattering those cheeks. Blue eyes dim and the bow broken, quiver empty and skin as cold as ice. All the glow of life gone, leaving nothing more than an empty shell. 

It was that nightmare that had woken him this night. He could not remember how long it had left him awake fore, but the exhaustion from battle was warring with the fear still lingering in his blood. So he lay there and watched the elf sleep. Legolas whole and beautiful and breathing. Body warm and relaxed in slumber in the safety of their room. Luin was quiet as he gazed. His own breathing haven fallen back to it's regular flow but yet he couldn't sleep. With silent, gentle movements he pushed his corners of the sheets back while being careful not to let the cold hit his lover, and slipped from the bed. His borrowed nightshirt fell down to his knees, much too large for him and the neck too wide. Without the warmth of layers, he shivered in the night air but didn't reach for a cloak as he slipped out onto the balcony. 

It was even coder outside and he was forced to circle his Qi to keep his body from shivering. His arms leant on the stone wall as he gazed down over the city below and the shadow of the battlefield beyond. The destruction was visible even in the moonlight. Destroyed buildings, fallen towers. Out on the battlefield, dozens of dead still lay. The majority of Sauron's forces still littered the grass, the people looting them for resources. The fallen of Gondor and Rohan had been most burnt on funeral pyres yesterday but there were still more to be burned and they had been set out neatly in shrouds away from the orcs. They were distant smudges of black under the night. 

Luin sighed and ran his hands over his face as he leaned against the stone. Fingers pressing to the bridge of his nose before running through his short hair. It was too quiet and his fingers missed the strings of his guqin. Instead he hummed to himself, a slow sad melody that got lost in the breeze. "Melethril", The voice was gentle and he turned. Legolas was standing in the doorway, long blonde hair curtaining his shoulders and nightshirt rumpled. Despite his sleepy appearance, his eyes were clear and warm. He strode slowly over to join him, arms opening as he approached. Luin turned and sank into them, breathing in the familiar scent as he was enveloped in warmth. Legolas rubbed his hands up his back, thumb reaching high enough to trace the scar across the back of his neck, as if he could erase it. "Melethril, it does no good to linger. What plagues your mind?" 

Luin shivered at the touch and gripped his fiancé tighter, burying his face in the junction of a neck and shoulder. "My mind is playing horrors that won't let me sleep. Fears, memories, all brought to life". 

"I see those too", Legolas pulled away to see Luin's face. He cupped the black haired man's cheeks, the golden toned skin warm and soft as fingertips stroked over eyelids. He watched as lips parted and the wizard sunk into the touch. "I fear what could have happened if I have never found you. I fear that our friends may meet the same fate as Boromir. I fear that Frodo will fail and I fear that one day you will fall and nothing will be there to catch you. You are not alone in these fears. Nin mel, nin guiding galad". 

The endearments were new. Luin opened his eyes enough to see the blue gaze. "You called me that once before. A long time ago, or did I dream that?" 

Legolas smiled fondly. "The first time I thought I would loose you. I did not know you well then, not how I know you know. Yet those words were true and they still are. Nin guiding galad , come back to bed". The words were a gentle call. He let his hands fall to take Luin's in his and gently tug. Luin let himself be led back inside and the balcony door shut behind them. Legolas pulling him down and wrapping him in blankets and his own arms. Luin on his back, the blonde pressed to his side in a reverse of their positions earlier. 
 

Luin turned his head, black eyes open and vulnerable. Legolas raised a hand up and began running his fingers through the black strands in a soothing motion. Luin let out a long sigh and his eyelids fluttered for a second. "When this is over, lets get married when my hair reaches my shoulder blades and the flowers of spring are blooming under sunlight", he whispered dreamily. 

Legolas smiled in the dark. "In Greenwood, where the men of Dale and the dwarves of Erebor can hear. We shall wear silver mixed with green and blue". 

"All our friends will celebrate and our hands will be bound in woven leaves and silk", Luin returned the soft smile, then a thought occurred to him and a familiar spark of humour lit in his eyes. Legolas' smile grew at the sight, the fear fading. "Your father will bring out the wine".

"My father will host the wine", the elf chuckled, a ringing of bells. "He will drink enough of it to keep up with the dwarves, might even out drink Gimli". 

Luin laughed and the sound was beautiful. He grinned widely in the small space between their faces. "We shall marry under the trees of your home. You will wear the jewels of starlight left by your mother and I will wear the charms of jade left by mine. Our hands will be bound and we will swear our lives before an audience of kings. There will be dancing and much feasting and merriment and I will be able to finally call you husband". 

"I will call you husband", Legolas echoed with matching wonder and excitement. Breath barely above a whisper, the words just for the air between them. "We shall have that. When your hair reaches your shoulder blades and the forest is bright with spring sunshine. When the flowers are in bloom and I can tie them into your wedding braids. White and blue flowers to match our robes. We shall be bound and tied and be called as one for the world to see. And when it is all over, we shall have all the time in the world for each other. Then when we grow weary of this world, I will build you a boat that will carry us safely to the undying lands. I wouldn't let the water hurt you and we will be spend our immortality in the peace of the undying lands". 

"You promise?"  Luin shifted closer so that their lips were merely a centimetre away.

"I promise". They kissed before the words had a chance to echo. Luin rolling over to rest a hand to Legolas' cheek as the Elf's hands gripped his waist. Lips moving slowly and with a deep memory. Love which didn't need to be put into words. A promise and a reassurance. 

When they parted, Luin's eyes were half lidded, gazing simply into his fiancé's eyes. "Nin aglareb ithil. I am lucky to have dreamed of you".

"Melethril. Nin guiding galad. Our dreams brought us together but I would have found you and fallen even if they had never happened. I am sure". 

unedited

anyone want some cuteness? here you go. 

Nin mel, nin guiding galad= My love, my guiding light. 

Nin aglareb ithil= My glorious moon.

Melethril= lover.