A few months passed after the departure of King Thranduil and Tauriel to Valinor and all was quiet and lovely in the three elven lands that Legolas and I were now lording over. Even though technically we would not fully become king and queen until my uncle and aunt departed for Valinor themselves; which I knew was still to come though not for a while yet. However, the one thing that I had wanted to do was be mindful for the future. Though I knew we lived in peaceful times finally, all kingdoms had to be prepared for the distant future. When Legolas and I were finally blessed with children and the two of us would leave Middle-Earth ourselves, we did not want to have our children be caught unawares.

So one afternoon, I decided to have a conversation regarding this with my uncle. We sat outside as I explained to him what I wanted to do. Mirkwood already had a sizable army but Rivendell and Lorien needed to make theirs just as formidable. The Galadhrim was almost completely decimated during the battle of Helm's Deep and has been recovering ever since. If war ever came to Middle-Earth again, all of the elven lands had to be ready to join their allies; men, dwarves, hobbits, and so forth in battle. We were at a point where if something evil attacked one land, it meant all the others would come to the rescue. We were one world after the last war; without even realizing it, Sauron had united all of the peoples of Middle-Earth.

My uncle liked that idea and said he would speak with my aunt and we would start utilizing the armies and leaders that we did have for training and recruitment. When the word went out; even noble elves that previously never fought but instead protected the land, joined. I was glad that my idea was so widely accepted. My uncle then told me something I had not known or perhaps did not pay much attention to. After the War of the Ring, both my sword and I had become renowned throughout all of Middle-Earth.

I really did not know what to do with the information for as those close to me knew, I hated being the center of attention. I was just like every other elf except for the royal lineage that was upgraded to queen status during my wedding. The fact that all of the battles I had fought were recorded somehow in people's minds and made me special somehow, was in itself mind blowing for me. In the minds of all inhabitants of this world--regardless of whether they were good or bad--I was now the warrior queen with the powerful sword. Altherial was--since I first received her at age 13--the extension of my hand and now the whole world knew it.

Ever since the war, all of the orcs and goblins had retreated into the darkest corners of the world and almost never ventured out for they knew that they would surely not make it back. Though there was peace now, every land had patrolling guards that would take out any vile beast they would see. All was peaceful and that is just the way we all liked it. While having an update on the army upgrade with my uncle one day, Legolas came up to us and I noticed that he was fidgeting. Now elves do not fidget, ever. The last time I saw one do that was eons ago just before my late non-blooded brother Haldir told me he was in love with me. As Legolas and I were wed, I knew that was not it. He waited patiently and listened to our conversation until we finished and then he turned to both my uncle and I and said in the common tongue:

"Lord Elrond, if I may, there is something I have to do and I need Hedraliel to come with me as well as perhaps get some of the army from Mirkwood to help. I think you and Lady Galadriel have already foreseen this special secret mission that we must undertake."

My uncle nodded and I knew exactly what he was talking about. The day before our wedding, Legolas' father had finally disclosed the location of where his mother was buried in Gundabad. Legolas, more than anything else, wanted to retrieve her remains and lay them to rest in Lothlorien where she was born. That way everything in his life would finally be at peace and his mother would be brought back to where she belonged. Gundabad was a deadly place that still held many orcs so it would be highly dangerous to bring in a whole army and just raid it.

My uncle let us go prepare. We were going to do this under the cover of darkness. Legolas and I both dressed in our dark warrior outfits; which he had not worn since the Battle of the Five Armies and last I wore mine was at the battle of Helm's Deep. We would have to blend in with the background at night as well as use the things that made us elves such as our keen eyesight, maneuverability, and most importantly; stealth. As soon as we were ready, we walked out toward the stables and after Legolas borrowed a dark brown steed and I put a hood over Sunset's head in order for his bright blue eyes not to stand out, we rode out toward Lorien first. Legolas did not use his own steed because he was white and we needed dark colors right then.

We rode towards Lorien in mostly silence. When we reached my second home, the horn blew in the deep and the gate opened for us. As we rode in, the elves of Lothlorien, bowed to us getting down on one knee. This was the first time that we were getting such reverence. I knew it had come with the new titles; the future king and queen of the elven lands had come. Legolas winked at me as he knew how I felt regarding all the extra pomp and circumstance. But this time I just nodded and let what was, be. We had other pressing issues to attend to then some formal bowing.

My aunt approached us along with Lord Celeborn as we got off of our steeds. Lord Celeborn was looking particularly fierce for the first time. Legolas' mother or Yuniel Curufiniel was a relative of his and we were about to head out to bring her home. Aunt Galadriel spoke first in elvish:

"My dear children, this will not be an easy trip. You must be mindful of the dangers around you. Take great care of yourselves. May the heavens keep you safe and your journey be a successful one." We nodded as Lord Celeborn added:

"May the light of Anor be your guide even in the darkest of places always; it is with great honor that I see my kin returned after many thousands of years back to the place she was born from."

"Thank you both, we shall be mindful. It is my understanding that a tomb is being built for Yuniel's return home?" I asked looking at them both as they nodded in answer.

While we were retrieving Yuniel, the elves in charge of the upkeep of the cemetery in Lorien were going to be building a royal tomb for her return. There was going to be a formal service. But first we had to have the mission be a success. We spoke a bit more with my aunt and Lord Celeborn before remounting our steeds and heading to Mirkwood to join up with the elves in the guard that would accompany us.

Once we had gotten to Mirkwood and Legolas himself handpicked which elves would come with us, we also picked up a black leather hand held stretcher as well as a wagon that was made of wrought iron. The hand held stretcher was folded and put into a satchel that Legolas carried on him. We would use it to carry the remains of Yuniel to the wagon. Our strategy was to ride to the edge of Gundabad where getting to where Yuniel was buried would not require a whole pilgrimage through the orc infested land, leave the guard along with the wagon and our own steeds in the nearby forest, and hike the rest of the way on foot. We had an old map of Gundabad with us so we could confer one last time. Legolas knew the coordinates so I would be following him.

As soon as everything was ready, we set off on our steeds, with the guard, and wagon toward the land of the orcs. It took us 2 days of nonstop riding to get there. We rested in the forest as it was still daylight when we arrived so we hid and made ourselves inconspicuous while we waited for nightfall. In the meantime, we consulted the map to make sure we were in the correct area. As soon as the sun went down and the colors faded from the sky to reveal a moonless night, it was time to go. The guard wished us luck as the two of us ran on foot out of the woods and across the wasteland that was Gundabad.

Once we reached a mountain, we began to climb swiftly and steadily. As we reached the top we could see fire and light in the distance. Down below about three quarters of the way from where we were crouched, there was an opening to some tunnel inside the mountain. We quickly descended toward it and peeked inside, it was dark and dusty but that did not mean we would not run into any orcs. The place was infested with them. We walked softly and slowly, not making a sound, and looked around.

Finally about 20 feet in, Legolas pointed to an unassuming looking bulge in the earth. The whole place was not exactly leveled so this particular difference within the ground and the mountain would not catch the attention of anyone unless they knew what they were looking for and Legolas did. We started to dig with our hands as noises came towards us.

We did not hide but just blended in with the darkness as five orcs walked closer. They stopped and smelled the air. Before they could even question what they smelled; I had unsheathed Altherial and took all of their heads off simultaneously. I was not into making a fuss about anything and had done so in the complete silence. We knew that these orcs would not be missed for a long time. But we still did not want to leave the corpses lying around, so we carefully yet quickly dug random holes in the dirt and where we placed their bodies. Legolas continued to dig out where his mother was buried as I carried the heads out of the entrance and threw them in different directions making sure that in the vast wasteland they would never be found.

I returned in time to see that Legolas had stopped digging and was bowing and staring down with his hand over his heart. I looked down to where he was staring and I saw the remains of Yuniel Curufiniel. Her skeleton was intact as were her clothing though you could see the age had faded out the once vibrant colors and the armor was rusted. I touched Legolas' cheek as I knelt down next to him and whispered:

"We must take her and go at once, my love. We have to get her and ourselves to safety before the sun comes up over the horizon. Let us take her home."

He snapped out of his trance and knew I was right. Once we were safely again surrounded by our guard within the forest and on our way back to Lorien, Legolas could stare and touch his mother as much as he wanted. But we still had to get out of Gundabad. So I took the hand held stretcher out of his satchel, unrolled it, and placed it parallel to Yuniel's body. Then ever so gently we lifted her and placed her on the stretcher which had handles on all four sides for easy carrying. I then lightly moved the soil around where her resting place was for all those eons so it would look alike with the cave. Afterwards, on quick steps we exited the tunnel and headed back up to the top of this mountain.

Though we moved faster than we had before, we were also moving carefully and fluidly considering the precious cargo that was in our hands. If we had wings, we would have flown down the other side of that mountain but that is how we felt. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity but really was not, we were down on the ground and running back toward the forest as the guards emerged and quickly surrounded us. We did not slow down until we reached the horses and gently lowered Yuniel into the wagon that was then untied from a guard's steed and retied to Legolas' own. After which, without so much as a second glance, we all jumped on our steeds and trotted through and out the other side of the forest.

We had done it! We had recovered Yuniel Curufiniel's remains and now they were on their way to Lorien to be buried with honor in their final resting place away from that horrible land. Finally, her soul could be at peace and perhaps somehow she and King Thranduil could reunite in Valinor. Our mission was a total success and Middle-Earth had 5 less orcs to worry about. We got back to Lorien just as the sun started to rise in the east; it had taken a day and a half to return. We were welcomed back as heroes not just royalty. The guards that had accompanied us were going to stay for the burial and then head back to Mirkwood.

As we all headed toward the cemetery on foot, the wagon that bore Yuniel's body was escorted from all sides by both Mirkwood and Lorien guard. Lord Celeborn and Legolas walked behind the wagon as my aunt and I walked in front of it and I was leading Legolas' borrowed steed. Tears were coming down my beloved's cheeks and even stoic Lord Celeborn had tears in his. We had accomplished what even the great King Thranduil had failed to do. Legolas was restoring his mother's memory and honor.

When we got to the cemetery and arrived at the newly built tomb, the guard, and Legolas carefully lifted Yuniel off the wagon leaving the hand held stretcher inside it. With hands lighter than air, they placed her body inside of the tomb's marble coffin. One of the noble elves had restored an old crown that was worn by Yuniel's own mother and placed it on the skull. Lord Celeborn then proceeded to lay a bow beside her. Just as he was going to place an arrow as well, Legolas stopped him. He proceeded to take one of his own out of his quiver and place it next to the bow near to his mother.

"Rest in eternal peace, Naneth. I love you." He said as the tears continued to slide down his cheeks. He did nothing to stop them.

My aunt and I came forward then and holding hands over the coffin and Yuniel, we started to say the final prayers to guide the soul safely to where it belonged. As we said the words in ancient elvish, we both started to glow and we unlocked one hand each and placed them on Yuniel's body. She started to glow then too and the four of us felt that her soul had finally reached its rightful destination. It was an exquisitely peaceful feeling.

I looked over at Legolas and he was watching me with a smile on his face through his tears. When the prayers were said and the sarcophagus was sealed, we walked out of the tomb as that door was closed as well. I embraced my husband, knowing his promise to his father was fulfilled and we remained at the tomb sight for a while. The Mirkwood guards were thanked profusely and they returned back home as everyone pretty much dispersed. I knew Legolas wanted and had to spend some time with his mother so I went to my Lorien quarters and took a bath. I changed out of my battle outfit into one of the dresses I had there and joined my aunt for a meal. Both Legolas and Lord Celeborn had their meals together after the fact.

When we met up again in my bed chamber hours later, my loves' eyes were bright and full of peace. He had finally brought his own mother back home. That night he fell asleep for the first time before me. We would be returning to Rivendell in a few days. No more rushing.

As I watched him sleeping, I smiled to myself knowing every little wrinkle was finally all straightened out in his world, mind, and heart. His own soul was fully and completely at peace, at last.