The two of us faced the night, standing barefoot on the balcony of my room at the palace, waiting for sleep to take me. 

"The heavens shine brightly on this night, my Prince." I said in a hollow whisper. I felt the night settling on me like a blanket, usually so comforting but today dense and pained.

The golden prince in the moonlight pulled me into his chest, interlacing his fingers with my hair, tugging gently at each strand. "So do you," he said, looking at me with longing. 

I said nothing, because there was nothing to be said, but instead, drawing closer to him, kissed the soft skin behind his ear, whispering. "I will never forget this." 

"Nor shall I," he mumbled, his words warm against my neck. I kissed him again, letting my lips linger on his skin longer each time, tasting him, remembering what he felt like, and I heard him exclaim softly, "Ai, Gianna, this is doing nothing for my self control." 

"Then don't have any," I said hoarsely. "Valar, Legolas, I have never needed anyone like this."

He turned to look at me, and slowly, as if in a dream, and said in a low, still voice, "Gianna, you have tormented me since I kissed you that night in Minas Tirith. I cannot explain the depths of my desire; it is unseemly, I know, but I have only ever truly wanted one person, and you are she who has stolen my dignity along with my heart." 

"And you mine." 

His movements graceful and measured, he turned his face to mine, cupping my cheek, his fingers curling around my hair and pulling me closer, until our foreheads rested against one another. Taking a breath, his eyelids fluttered shut, and he slowly, devastatingly pressed his lips to mine, his own parted slightly. 

I felt my heartbeat quicken at the contact, pulling him in closer, my teeth grazing his lower lip. Legolas made a pained noise against my mouth, fervently pressing his body against mine. 

He pulled my head back, his lips finding the tender skin of my neck, and it was all I could do do keep from crying out at the the unimaginable feeling that raced through me, intoxicating me in an instant and leaving me barely astride of my senses. 

"God, Legolas," I managed to say. I did not get much farther, though, as just then his thumbs grazed the sides of my breasts as his hands moved up my ribcage, achingly gentle. His eyes met mine, pleading, and the only reply I could form was to lean into him hungrily again, our lips moving against each other, the bitter parting ahead paling in comparison to what we had now, at this moment, wreathed in the velvet night, which no longer seemed so oppressive. 

**************

"Sleep," Legolas whispered, eyes not leaving mine. 

"I cannot," I answered, still not sure this was real. 

"Gia," he said, voice breaking slightly. "Sleep awaits, whether you would have it or not."

"Valar help me," I said, in a miserable whisper. 

Sleep pulled at my thoughts and I wrested them back again and again, until I was vanished and utterly spent, and found my being awakened in the presence of those who I had called upon. 

*******

"As stated, you had half a fortnight to decide whence your fate would be diverted," spoke the solemn voice of Lórien. 

My heart dropped with his words. "Indeed, my Lord." 

"And what have you chosen, child?" came the voice of gentle Estë through the untroubled mist. 

"I will return to my own world and continue the life I began there," I said, surprised at my own conviction. 

"So young, and already so sorrowful ," said Estë sadly, "but it is the right choice, Gianna." 

"Thank you, my Lady," I replied. "It was not easy. You, I think, know this." 

"Of course," said Lórien. "Ever have we watched over you." 

"What..." I stopped, swallowing thickly to clear my choked throat. "What happens now?" 

"Your soul has been split between two worlds for a while now," another voice, that of Manwë, said gravely. "To take you fully from this world now would tear your soul in two." 

"I know," I whispered, without thinking. Did it matter what they did? Part of me would always be here. 

I sensed understanding of my statement from those who stood before me. 

"Thus your soul must depart as one from this world and pass on to the next," Lórien explained. 

"So I must...die?" I asked, feeling cold and small.

"No, not in the commonly understood sense of the word," Manwë replied. "It will seem as if you are fading, as you once did with great frequency here, but it will be for the rest of your life." 

I still felt cold and small. "As it is willed, my Lord," I said. "Much I have done that I could not have done without all your guidance."

"Yet we could not have guided someone who lacked the skills to accomplish those things," Estë said quietly. "Your fate has been woven into the fabric of Middle-earth regardless."

Manwë's resonant voice spoke out once more. "By the light of the first ray of sun at dawn, you will fade to your own world, never to return." 

"There will be time to bid farewell to all those you hold dear," Lórien said. "Farewell, Gianna." 

His voice turned to echo and my eyes snapped open. 

**********

With the first gasp of air that I breathed in, I said his name.

"What? What is it?" Legolas said, his touch calming me, making sure I was safe. 

"I will fade at dawn." I said, unable to put it any other way. 

His face was pale. "Six hours until the first rays of sun is not long enough." 

"Would infinity even be?" I asked, immensely sad but no longer fighting the inevitable. 

"No, my love," he said, his lips grazing mine once more. "It would not." 

********

"There is still so much I--I am only just remembering so many things--," Legolas trailed off helplessly. We stood in the darkened courtyard of the palace, lit only by the moon and stars and the warm glow of the lanterns which hung on the stone walls. 

"I know," I said. Not coping very well with the new circumstances, I felt weak and shivery. 

Legolas held out his hand, his pale gold hair silver in the moonlight. I grasped his hand tightly and he pulled me up onto his horse, and we galloped through the dark forest to find Faewyn. 

I tried to use every space in my mind to fill it with memories of Legolas, of how it felt when we rode together, my arms around him, of every time he touched me, or held me. My lungs constricted painfully when I recalled even just that night's experiences with him, knowing that it there was nothing I could ever do to bring those moments back again. 

*****

"Gianna, what's happened?" asked Faewyn with concern, probably partly due to the fact that my hair was unbound and I wasn't wearing any shoes. 

"I have until dawn, and then I will fade from here," I said, sliding off of Arod. "I just--I do not know what..." I tried to smile but it came out crooked--I hoped she couldn't see it in dim light afforded by the moon, but she probably could.

Her grey eyes clouded over for just a moment before she blinked determinedly and embraced me tightly. "So it shall be," she said quietly. "But first..." 

*******

"It is with great sadness that you leave us," Thranduil said, and despite his voice carrying its usual resonance I sensed he was, truly, sorrowful.

"There is no more I can offer Middle-earth," I said. "I cannot thank you enough for everything you did for me, from the time you discovered my presence in the forest when I was but a girl." 

"Despite several incongruences, you grew up here," Thranduil said pensively. "I hope that you will always carry a piece of this forest in your heart, as you will always be part of it." 

"My heart is in this forest," I said, looking up at the King. "I could never forget." 

Thranduil nodded slowly. "I know," he said. I saw his gaze flicker toward Legolas, but it was not accusatory or cold. It was an acknowledgement. 

"Farewell, then, Lady Gianna," Thranduil said. "May Varda watch over you and Manwë bless your path."

"And you as well, Elvenking," I said, forcing my tone to stay steady. I bowed, and walked from the hall without another word. 

**********

Maldor embraced me tightly before stepping back, his green eyes sad. "You will be missed most grievously," he said. "It is with a heavy heart I bid you farewell." 

"Thank you for everything," I said, trying to convey my gratitude, my respect, through just those words. "You saved me--us--all many times." 

"The greatest honour I could be awarded," Maldor said, inclining his head. "Hannon le (Thank you)." 

With a last wave, we rode off into the trees, the three white horses running like ghosts through the forest. 

*********

We stopped at many such farewells, and despite the fact that I knew the worst was yet to come, it was very dejecting having to admit to myself that I would never see anyone here ever again. 

Dawn soon was but a couple of hours away, so we made to return the horses to their stable as we would walk the rest of the night. 

A very difficult part of saying goodbye was explaining to Eärlin that I could not stay. Despite the fact that I knew he understood the intent behind my words, as elven horses always did, and I was sure he noticed me choking back tears as I spoke, it did not make it any easier to bid farewell to my beautiful, loyal companion of several years.

I gave him some carrots that Legolas had taken from the kitchen. "From the King's kitchens? Goodness, Eärlin, you are more spoiled than most of the elves here."

He snorted in reply, and nosed my hand for more. "My apologies, sweet boy," I said, my voice cracking just a little bit. "The carrots are gone." Which was ironic, because I almost was, too.

Legolas stood motionless next to me. It was he who had given me Eärlin so long ago, insisting that I name him and take him as my own. This was not any easier for him than it was for me.

I rubbed Eärlin's velvet muzzle and stepped back, but before I could go anywhere, he reached his head over the stall door and slid the pin out of the lock, pushing the door open with his head. Shaking his mane, he walked over to where we were standing. He rested his head on my shoulder and made small chuffing noises in my ear, as if to say goodbye for the last time.

Gripping his dark mane tightly, I tried not to let the tears show. At long last, I let go, and with a whinny, he nudged me forward. I patted him gently one last time. 

Smiling though blurry tears, I walked back into the night. 

**********

We stopped at the edge of a grassy knoll, on the outskirts of the forest, where the trees thinned and you could barely see the outline of small hills in the distance. 

The sky was the colour of black glass, so dark you couldn't see through it, until the light hit it just right and it seemed to barely glow. 

The faintest light shone through the black glass, at the very peripheral of the horizon, barely there. 

But I knew it was there, as my eyes were straining to see the light. 

Then it was as if an hourglass had broken, the sand spilling out so much faster than it had been before. Faewyn turned to me, her grey eyes wide. "Gianna-- my dearest friend. I cannot say how much I will miss you. Even if I live forever, I will never forget you or the time we spent--" --Here her voice cracked precariously. 

"I know," I murmured. "I will never again have such a friend as you." 

"Do you remember the very first day we met?" she asked, turning to me. Tears threatened to spill over her dark lashes--the first time I had ever seen her nearly cry. 

"I could never forget it," I said, blinking hard but trying to smile. "The birds almost gave me heart failure." 

She laughed, though it sounded more like a hiccup. "Here," she said, handing me a feather. It could have been any feather, but at the top, it seemed to be stained, the russet tones giving way to inky black. I clutched it tightly in my hand as I embraced my best friend. "Thank you for--"

I did not finish the sentence. In that second, a thousand small moments in time swirled through my head, like a silent picture on fast-forward. Faewyn laughing, shooting her bow, listening with rapt attention about Falcon in Gondor, teasing me about Legolas, running astride me as we fled from Orcs, and countless other times that she had been by my side. 

As I pulled away from her, I reached for the sheath at my leg and pulled out my dagger, Almiraë, which her father had given me for my birthday years prior. 

"Even if I could take it with me," I said, handing it to her. "It deserves to be used. Would you do me the honor, mellon nin?"

Faewyn nodded and accepted the dagger, running a finger down the flat of the blade. "I will never be parted from it, and it will serve as a reminder that despite the fact that we are from two different worlds, we will never cease to be friends." 

"Farewell, Faewyn," I said, "You are always in my heart." 

"And you in mine," she said. She looked at me one last time, her face wet with tears, and said, "Legolas, send her off well, my friend. If I stay longer I will flood the fields with the tears I will shed." 

He nodded once in response. I laughed at her comment, but it sounded more like a lament. Her raven locks barely glinting under the faint light of the coming dawn, her stance proud, Faewyn walked back through the forest path, her footfalls inaudible. 

As soon as she had gone, Legolas turned to me. "Gianna--," 

"How much longer?" I asked him. 

"Less than a quarter of an hour," Legolas said. His voice was an elegy. "I wish--

"As do I--

"No, words cannot--

"I never thought I--

Our words tumbled over each other as we frantically tried to say and remember everything we had thought over the last weeks, months, years. 

"Gi melin, Legolas," I said, my voice small. "And come what may, that will always be true." 

"As I will love you until the end of time," he said. 

Taking me into his arms for the last time, I felt him shudder against me, and his voice, so quiet, whispered my name. 

I turned to him, knowing this was it, that in a few minutes I would never have a chance to see him again, and our lips met, a desperate kiss with all the emotion we had felt for each other laced through it--longing, frustration, despair. 

When at last I looked at him, I could see the colour of his eyes. Deep blue, like the depths of the sea on a stormy day. 

"I do not think I ever told you," I said, holding back tears. "But your eyes are the most beautiful colour." 

The Prince of the Greenwood bowed his head, and I knew he tried not to succumb to the despair that tormented him. 

He looked up, eyes bright with tears unshed. "There is not a day that will come that you will not be part of me."

The sky had begun to turn a shade of lavender so breathtaking I almost forgot the sick feeling in my stomach. 

"How cruel Time is," Legolas said, not for the first time. "Guren níniatha n'i lû n'i a-govenitham, Gianna." My heart will weep until we are no longer parted.

I began to feel something, a weightless pull. And the sky lightened. 

I turned to Legolas and he and I met in a fierce embrace. I felt his lips on mine once more, fleetingly, the taste of him sweet and familiar. 

"Valar, Legolas, I never want to let you go," I said, helpless loss behind my words. He rested his forehead against mine, holding me against him tightly. 

"Nor I you," he said, grief colouring his words. "Farewell, Gianna." 

His eyes never left mine as we stayed intertwined, until the light caught my eye and we looked to the East to see the first ray of sun spill over the distant hills like a line of molten gold. 

His name was on my lips as I woke. 

***************

My own blankets, a poor substitute for all that I had left behind, were tangled between my legs, my pillow haphazard. I reached down next to me and my hand brushed against a feather, russet-coloured, stained with black. 

I looked down at a flash of blue and saw the ring Legolas gave me still on my finger. Wonderingly, I touched the delicate, jeweled pattern and knew I would never take it off.

The morning was still and quiet. 

Farewell.