my best friend

Taking a breath, Legolas let go of the string. The sudden whoop of air against his cheek made the braids baring his scalp flick backward. A testament, he supposed, to the sheer force of his arrow flying towards the intended target - which, unfortunately, happened to be Gimli's helmet. 

"Watch it lad," his dwarf companion said, grumbling into his bright, red beard that hid most of his face. "I paid a good amount of money for that one. It wouldn't do me good returning home with it all ruined," he scoffed. And as an afterthought: "By an elf, no less." 

Legolas paid his friend's rambling no mind, he was trained in ignoring such trivialities at this point in their friendship- if he could even call it that. He knew the dwarf jested with him. And that was enough to grant him the freedom of ignoring his friend. He would much rather have Gimli's home dynamics stay shrouded in mystery. It was just that...their elf-dwarf companionship... Well, it was a concept he had yet to fully understand and accept. His father's reaction was a constant fear of his, and it kept his heart thumping sorrowfully against his chest even when his friends had reassured him it would all be aright.

Shchoop-

THUNK.

Yes, the arrow flew its course in the correct direction. As expected.

But it had not done its job. 

Gimli sighed from below him, his beard rustling against heavy chain mail. Legolas briefly wondered whether the curly hair ever got stuck. But shook his head at the thought. It was not important, he decided. And with a quick frown he let the thought disappear into complete blackness in his mind.

"Alright," Gimli grumbled. His friend grumbled a lot. "We should leave it behind, lad. I think it was meant to be this way." With a big huff that soon turned into a quick laugh, Gimli was smiling at him like he had hung the stars. "You did well, lad." 

Legolas sighed, struck dumb by his words. 

It was an endearing thought. Gimli thought their friendship was worth the wrath of his own, dwarvan father. Once again, he sighed. 

He knew it was no good for him to ponder over these things...as though they meant something. Because, surely, they didn't. Gimli was still only a dwarf. And his father... His father clouded his every thought right now. There would be no promise of peace until Legolas had confronted the Elf Lord himself, standing directly in front of him and telling his father how much he despised this- this horrid boundary between races and - and how destructive it had been for their souls to undermine the power of other races- his father would have to understand. He would have to see that Gimli was just like they were. Just, he was different, that is all. He was just a little different. 

"Tell me," Gimli spoke up suddenly, eyebrows slotted together into a frown. "Why do you look like that?" 

Legolas shrugged, bow hanging loosely from his right hand, arrow yet to be collected. He did not know what to say to that. 

"Look like what?" he asked.

Gimli smiled softly. "Like I just stole your favourite arrow." 

They both laughed at that, Gimli louder than him. 

Legolas wasn't sure what Gimli was trying to say, so he asked him as such. His friend only shook his head and laughed again, as though what the elf had just asked him had an obvious answer. The dwarf's reply left him stunned: "I care for you, lad. Tell me what's wrong?" 

A bit dazed by the care in his friend's voice, Legolas stood in complete silence. He pondered the question, watching Gimli look up at him with a- was it a look of concern? Oh how things had changed. It made him feel happy inside. He had made a great bond with this dwarf, that he was sure of. 

Shaking his head, he said to the dwarf: "Nothing, my friend. It is nothing worth pondering over." 

Gimli frowned. "If it has you looking like that, then I beg to differ. You are acting odd and I don't enjoy seeing you suffer, as hard as that may be to believe. I want to know why you look like that." 

One thing Legolas had learnt in their adventures together was how much Gimli despised a lie. He absolutely, whole heartedly, abhorred lying and liars, and just lies in general with a searing passion. This had been an important piece of information that the elf had stashed away inside the deep recesses of his mind, unknowingly letting it slip into his cloudy subconscious, a place he would then sift through during his dreams of dragons and dwarfs and rings and fire. It was a safe place, which only Aragorn had been permitted to enter. And now. And now, the nine protectors of the Ring had seamlessly entered it with no resistance met on his part. Whether Legolas would use this information to his own advantage was never something he took for granted. How could he, when they had put so much trust in him. 

Legolas told Gimli the truth. 

"I am afraid to tell father of you." 

The words left his mouth unfiltered, soft and innocent, fluttering through the air towards Gimli as a bee would to honey. 

His dear friend smiled. "I know," he said deeply, chuckling a bit at Legolas' surprised expression. "What? Did you think you were being sly? You cannot hide it from me, elf." His friend paused for a moment, to collect his thoughts maybe. Legolas waited, breathing much calmer now that he had spoken his heart's worry out loud. "You do not need to hide it either, lad. You're alright. We can wait until you are ready to tell him." 

Unable to keep the smile off of his face any longer, Legolas dipped down to his friend's height and almost fell into the warm embrace that was immediately offered to him. 

"Thank you," he whispered. "I promise I will try to make him change."

Gimli chuckled against his shoulder, his orange hair tickling the tip of Legolas' ear. "There's no need to change him. He will keep believing the things he was taught. It is up to us now to change the future by teaching our children what is right. Guiding the future into a better place- is the best thing we can do now. Let us focus our energies on that, eh?" 

Legolas nodded, feeling the dwarf shake against him in another laugh. They pulled away from each other.

"Now c'mon! I'm hungry lad, let's see what we're having for supper today." With that, Gimli brought a smile out of him, the both of them then chatting about good foods they would try first when they finally got home.

As they walked cheerfully back to camp Legolas could feel his heart get lighter with each step he took side by side his special friend. 

And when they reached the campsite they were met with an excited Hobbit pile, two tired, yet happy, men and an all-too-knowing wizard, who upon their arrival gave them an all-too-knowing smile. 

"I see you two have become better acquainted," Mithrandir grinned, smoke leaving his mouth from between his lips. Legolas only smiled in response, watching his dear friend now spar with an overly excitable Pippin. 

"Good," the wizard said. "You've bridged a rivalry bigger than Arda itself, elfling." 

"Aye," Legolas said quietly. "We have indeed."