"What is it, Gandalf?" you asked, folding your arms and leaning against a tree in the empty clearing he took you and Legolas to.

He sighed almost sadly. "I am sorry, my dear child. So sorry for keeping it from you this long."

"Sorry?" Legolas repeated, going rigid. "What is it you haven't told her?"

You placed a soothing hand on his arm, but still turned to Gandalf for his answer. You, too, were surprised that the wise Wizard had kept something from you, but you supposed that mystery was his way.

"You have been noticing things on this journey, Y/N," he began. "Your hearing and sight have become better - you're stronger and more powerful."

"It can't mean what you think it means," you stuttered, finally being unable to avoid the signs you'd been seeing for months now. "I-It can't."

"It does," Gandalf said, gently, as though you were a spooked animal that could run away at any moment. You were backing away to the edge of the clearing, your back hitting a tree as you slid down it.

"You mean that Y/N is ..." Legolas trailed off, pointing in your vague direction.

"Part elleth, yes," the Wizard confirmed all of your suspicions.

Suddenly, it was glaringly obvious how you were part Elf. How you were never cold, how you healed quickly, your slightly pointed ears, your sight and hearing.

"How?" you said. "I've never been as good in battle as Legolas, I've aged at a Dunedain rate - there must be something off here."

"Your mother," Gandalf began to explain, but you stiffened, a dangerous anger simmering below the surface of your eyes.

"Do not speak of her."

"She was an Elf - one of Mirkwood, in fact. She fought in the same battle Legolas's mother did."

This time it was Legolas who froze, his eyes taking on a teary sheen. You wanted to comfort him, but you were in such shock you felt that if you tried to move you'd be unable to.

"That's not what I was told," you managed to say. "She left us. She left, and she never came back."

"Your father believed that to be the truth. Your mother never wanted to leave, but she was called to fight with her people. She couldn't come back."

"My mother is ... dead." The word had such a bitter taste and an awful finality, and suddenly all your strength left you.

You thought of how everyone you knew and cared about would die before you did. How you would age much more slowly from this point in time. How you were an orphan.

The first tear fell slowly, but then they began to stream down your cheeks, accompanied by ugly sobs. You felt the ground sink next to you, and a warm arm wrap around your shoulders.

"Just so you know," Legolas's voice whispered in your ear. "This doesn't change anything for me."

The way he was always by your side made you want to sob with happy tears, but you refrained, throwing your arms around him instead.

"Oh, Legolas." Your words came out quite muffled, from where your face was buried in his neck. "Thank you for being here. Next to me, always."

"Why would I not be?" Was his simple reply. "I love you, Y/N, no matter what. It doesn't matter to me who or what we discover that you are - because you're still you. The person I fell in love with."

He flicked the tip of one of your ears, prompting a sniffly giggle from you as you ran your hand over his cheek, caressing it gently. Legolas kissed you briefly, standing and then helping you to your feet.

You took a shaky breath in, then a calmer breath out. "Alright, Gandalf. Where to?"

"We must return to Rohan," he said. "King Theoden is no longer himself, and their land is in great danger. His adviser, Grima Wormtongue, is a spy of Saruman."

"Who trusts a guy called fucking 'Wormtongue'?" you muttered quietly. Legolas couldn't stop himself from laughing, covering his mouth with his hand, though his eyes sparkled with mirth above his fingers.

"I don't know, Y/N," Gandalf sighed. "But we need the help of Rohan to withstand the Orc and Uruk-Hai forces."

You nodded. "Then we should be on our way."

The three of you returned to camp, to find Aragorn and Gimli sitting morosely around the dying fire. The despair that settled upon the forest with the darkness was hitting hard, and you felt a sudden wave of sadness overcome you at the fate of all these Ents, left to neglect and death.

"Goheno nin," you whispered quietly. I am sorry.

You didn't really know why, but a happy sigh seemed to flitter through the Entwood, and a touch of joy and beauty returned to the atmosphere.

"Are you alright?" Aragorn asked as you sat next to him. "What was that about?"

"I'm half-elleth," you said casually, reaching for a piece of lembas. "From Mirkwood, like our little princess over there." You pointed at Legolas, who rolled his eyes with a wide smile.

"I thought you might be," your brother shrugged just as calmly. "Nice to know."

You looked at Gimli, who was holding a picture you couldn't see, then Gandalf, puffing away at his pipeweed, then Legolas, who smiled at you, then dropped his eyes to his lap with an adorable flush, and finally Aragorn, ever the confident leader and good friend.

Here is my family.

- - -

At daylight, you finally left Fangorn. The thought made you somehow sad - the beautiful natural magic residing in every leaf of the forest made you feel calmer than you ever had.

Someday, you'd come back here, and make sure the Ents were not forgotten.

"Need a hand?" Legolas smirked from where he sat upon Arod. You had tried to leap behind your boyfriend three times already, but you were too short to do so.

"U-bedo," you hissed, but he dismounted anyway, cupping his hands in a foothold and pushing you up onto Arod's back. Then, of course, he swung up easily, reaching for the reins from where he sat behind you.

"Where is your mount, Gandalf?" you called.

He just whistled, and a beautiful horse galloped towards you.

"Shadowfax, fastest of all horses," the old wizard explained. "He is of Rohan. It is time I repaid my debt to King Theoden."

And with that, you moved onwards.

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