Aragorn slowly awoke, but did not want to open his eyes. He felt Legolas warm skin against him, and unconsciously hugged him closer. A soft chuckle sounded and he opened his eyes to see Legolas watching him. He had his hands under his cheek as he lay facing Aragorn, their faces inches apart.

"You look so peaceful asleep." He whispered and smiled a little.

Aragorn grinned as he remembered last night and gently kissed his lover. Legolas smiled wider and kissed him back, raising a hand to feel his stubbled cheek gently.

Aragorn sighed and looked up at Legolas, who stood in front of him.

"You think he won't accept it?"

"Legolas, that was not what I meant. I hope of all my heart he will." He said and looked into his eyes. Legolas met it, and pressed his lips in a line.

"What will you do if he don't?"

Aragorn looked at him, pain clear in his eyes. He did not know what he would do if his father would decide to hate him after this.

"Legolas, I almost lost you this week. I will not lose you now."

Legolas smiled sadly and leaned in to embrace him, and felt the man lay his arms around his shoulders tightly. Legolas common sense told him this was wrong, but he tried to tell him if was the right thing to do. He could handle the grief when it came, he had to. And besides, he always had his father to lean on. He wanted this so badly he was willing to risk it.

"But I will still lose you." He whispered softly and the pain returned to Aragorn's eyes. He raised a hand to comb through Legolas hair, and the elf closed his eyes in bliss.

"I think it will hurt just as much if you leave now." Aragorn said, feeling guilty for letting it go this far.

"Yes." Legolas said honestly.
"It will. That's why I stay."

"It that what you wish?"

They found eye contact, and without hesitation Legolas nodded.
"Yes, but if it comes between you and my father..."

"It won't." Aragorn said and gripped his shoulder tightly, assuring.
"Trust me."

"I trust you." Legolas smiled, getting one in return.
"I will talk to him, I promise. But you need to talk to Elrond first."

"I want to talk to him alone." Aragorn said quietly and his grip on Legolas shoulders loosened.

"Of course." Legolas said quietly.
"I will wait here for you."

"Thank you my love." He said and kissed Legolas gently on the lips, earning immediate response.

He took a deep breath and raised his hand. He closed his fist and knocked twice with his knuckles, earning a 'Come in.'

He pulled the wooden handle down and entered the room. Elrond sat at his desk, papers spread over the plain surface. He was tired by the look of it, but when he saw his fosterson his eyes lightened up.

"Estel." He said and put his elbows on his desk, twisting his fingers.
"Is Legolas well?"

"Aye Ada he is doing great." Aragorn said and smiled.
"No infections."

"That's good."

"Father, I came here because I had a matter to discuss with you."

Elrond frowned slightly, but smiled again, not wanting to assume the worst.
"Take a seat Estel."

Aragorn nodded and sat down, twisting his fingers in his lap. Suddenly he felt nauseous.

As a silence spread Aragorn began to talk.
"I wanted to tell you that under this incident my friendship with Legolas...grew closer."

"That's good?" Elrond said questioning.

"No you don't understand. We ..."

"Don't say it Estel." Elrond suddenly interrupted with surprising harshness. Realision dawned to his face and he frowned deeply.
"Don't say it....you did not..."

"We did." Aragorn cancelled him and swallowed his panic, trying to talk normally.
"I need your consent father."

"I can not give it to you Estel.." The elf king said and stood up from the chair to pace around the room behind Aragorn's back.

"You are married to my daughter Aragorn. Will you send send her away now? After 3 years? How about your respect? Arwén gave up her life for you! Her life! What have Legolas offered you?"

Aragorn sat quiet through it all, not daring to speak up. Finally he spoke up, and Elrond grew quiet to listen..

"Happiness. He have given me happiness and the feeling of being loved, something Arwén can never give me. It has always been Legolas." He spoke quietly, not wanting to raise his voice and anger his father more. He felt tears moisten his eyes, but refused to let them fall so he blinked them away.
"....long before I met Arwén"

"Then why did you marry her?!" Elrond shouted at his son, anger clear across his face. He knew he shouldn't yell at his son like this, but he needed to prove his point. He was too mad to think clearly.

"I married her because I had given up all hope of Legolas ever returning my feelings!" Aragorn said and stood from the chair so sudden it fell to the floor. He turned to face his father, anger and plead in his eyes.

"You wanted me to marry a women. To marry and make a family one day, and I did love Arwén. But now Legolas and I will wed and we will adopt a son to take the throne one day."

Elrond looked mad..no he looked furious.
"What about my daughter? She is mortal now Estel! I will lose my daughter forever soon and nothing can change it! She deserved her immortal life, and now it's wasted."

Aragorn fell quiet, not knowing what to say to that. And what hurt him most was to know it was entirely his fault. He could have told Arwén to follow her people that day, then she would have her life left. He should've forged her to take the Evenstar back.

"I'm sorry." He said and lowered his head in defeat.

"It isn't enough." Elrond said in a lowered voice, filled with poison.
"I forbid it. You are a married man Aragorn, you will not abandon my daughter for another elf, her best friend at that!"

"Father..."

"Leave Estel." Elrond said, and he immediately looked about a century older.

Aragorn looked to the ground and nodded, quietly leaving the room. He walked back up to his room, where Legolas was waiting on the bed.

As Legolas saw the tears the moment Aragorn entered the room his heart sank. He quickly rose to confront the man, who let his tears fall the moment the door closed behind him.

They embraced, and no words were necessary.

Legolas felt a bit guilty, but tried to push it away. He shouldn't come between Aragorn and his father, but tried to tell himself Aragorn wanted this. Aragorn could decide for himself what he wanted.

For his own sake, he knew he couldn't abandon his own duties in Mirkwood. His father could possibly handle them until Aragorn was old, but he felt guilty just dumping all of it to him.
He and Aragorn could still be a couple and live in their own homes, but it would be tough with the distance. He did not want to come between Aragorn and his father either. Maybe it just wasn't meant to be?

"We must leave Legolas." He said after a deep intake of breath.

Legolas looked up into the grey eyes, and saw tears still shining in them.

"He is just ... shocked Aragorn. He will get over it, but he needs some time alone." Legolas said and tried to smile calming through his own emotions.
"He will ask you to return soon, trust me alright?"

Aragorn nodded, making more silent tears drip down his face. Legolas gently wiped them away with his thumb, leaving a tear streak.

"Let's pack." He said and Aragorn nodded again.
"Let's ride to Mirkwood and speak to my father. I do not know how, but we will work something out. I will not leave you now."

They walked down the corridor with their bags, meeting many people. No one questioned why they did not greet them, or even looked at them. They went straight to the stables and was happy to see Arod and another horse waiting for them, fully rested.

The stableboy saddled the horses with used hands and gave the rains to their owners with a smile.

"May your journey be blessed."

"Thank you." Legolas smiled and put a hand to his heart. The boy smiled back as the elf mounted the horse beside the man.

Legolas began to gallop over the bridge, Aragorn right behind, laughing softly. They rode fast out of the gates, before they slowed their pace. They wanted their horses to be able to walk a long distance today.

Legolas immediately took a deep breath of the fresh air, and looked at Aragorn with a wide smile.

His smile quickly died when he saw him. His face looked emotionless once again but his eyes held thousands of them. They were unfocused, staring at nothing in front of him. Legolas could see that whatever Elrond had said to his son he hurt him badly.

"What can I do?" Legolas asked quietly.

Aragorn seemed woken from a dream, and slowly changed his face to meet Legolas. He put up a brave smile, but Legolas knew how broken he was inside.

"It is alright Legolas. Like you said, he need time to progress this."

Legolas nodded at his own words, but still felt concerned. The elven Lord should know better then to say these things that had hurt Aragorn so deeply. He was the only fatherlike character in his life after all.

"He will accept it once he realise he will lose you otherwise, believe me melleth." (My love)

Aragorn smiled at the nickname, trying to tell himself that.

The journey went slower than they had hoped. They stopped about three times a day, about sixty minutes each time to let the horses rest and drink some before they were back in the saddles again.

It took about 3 weeks to reach Mirkwood, but once they were there they did not regret a thing. The beautiful forest almost covered the trail they would need to follow to the kingdom. The horses hooves clinked against the raw dirt, hitting stones and stopped a few times to taste the green grass. Aragorn looked around blindly, but Legolas found the entry at once behind the branches. It was a long bridge upwards, meeting with a great gate, covered by trees. Two elves stood guard, and immediately aimed their bows at them.

Legolas raised his hands to show he meant no harm.
"I am no Orc or Uruk Kai." He said sarcastically.

The guard lowered their bows with amused faces, almost ashamed.
"Forgive me my prince, we need to make sure. We did not recognise you in those clothes."

"It's alright, no harm done." Legolas said and chuckled gently.

The guards eyed Aragorn suspiciously, almost afraid. Legolas smiled and gestured to the man beside him, almost proudly.
"This is Estel, you know him."

One of the elves raised their eyebrows, and Aragorn immediately felt un welcomed.
"It had been a while since we got
visited by a man."

"Yes, too long." Legolas grinned, teasingly, and motioned for Aragorn to follow him. They dismounted and walked up to the gates, which the guards politely opened for them. They nodded their thank you, and soon they gazed upon the most beautiful sight.

Big branches created gigantic bridges for the elves to walk between the floors. Big trees created walls and roofs and daylight lit up the kingdom through the windows. They could see Thranduil's throne far in, but it was empty.

"Excuse me Acwyn." Legolas interrupted a women preparing to walk past them, but who politely stopped. She had black hair in a long braid, and a green dress to her knees, showing her high status.

"Yes prince Legolas?"

"Have you seen my father?"

"Yes, he is in a meeting at the moment. I'm sure he is out soon." She smiled and continued to walk.

"Thank you." Legolas nodded at her back and turned to Aragorn.
"You want me to show you around?"

Aragorn was still looking around himself, surprised and happy to finally see Legolas home. He tore his eyes away and looked at the elf beside him, all troubles temporarily gone from his mind.
"Yes, that would be nice."

"Come." Legolas grinned and walked towards the highest part of the kingdom. He led him to an arch, and on the other side of it was a waterfall up close. There was a cliff going straight down beside it with green grass, filled with flowers. Aragorn looked at in in wonder, drinking in its beauty.

"This is my favourite spot."

"Yes it is beautiful."

They were interrupted by a voice, and Legolas could hear the smile.
"Yes ion?"

They turned to see the elven King himself, dressed in his long robe, looking flawless as ever. His hair was draped behind his back, showing his neck and ears.

Aragorn immediately kneeled down on one knee, making Legolas grin down at him. Thranduil looked at the man closely, before he nodded.

"So you are the Dunedain...Isildurs heir?"

"Yes my lord." Aragorn said and stood up again.
"Now King of Gondor."

"I heard Gondor got a new King after the war, but I never expected it to be you."

"Legolas." He then said as he eyed his clothes, almost suspiciously.
"Why to you wear those clothes?"

"Ada, I have something to discuss with you. Can we go to a room please?"

Thranduil, feeling uneasy, nodded and gestured towards the kingdom.
Legolas nodded and turned to Aragorn.

"Wait here, I will be back shortly."

Aragorn nodded and gave Legolas one last assuring gaze before he followed his father in to the Kingdom again.

He turned around again and clasped his hands behind his back, facing the stunning waterfall.

He hoped Thranduil would accept it at least. They needed the support Elrond did not give them.