The Ranger And The Prince.

Epilogue.

In the style of the Prologue right at the start of this story, this Epilogue will be in a 3rd person narrative. Sorry if this is jarring from the usual format.

Prince Legolas and Princess Sapphire lived through many ages of Middle Earth and so did their children.

After the Liberation of Moria, their youngest daughter Jewel was the first to leave the nest. Jewel would never forget the centuries she spent in Mirkwood with her beloved family but she would never take her new life for granted.

Minas Tirith was not as grand or graceful as Mirkwood but she found peace in the fact Eldarion was by her side. As the King of Gondor and the Princess of Mirkwood, the two were a match made in Valinor. Eldarion was the strategist and Jewel was the negotiator.

Their courting period lasted nearly a decade in total and the whole of Gondor rejoiced when they finally announced their engagement.

Their wedding was the biggest event in Gondor since his father's wedding to his mother Arwen. Sapphire and Legolas couldn't help but be reminded  of their wedding, all those centuries ago.

With Moria now independent again, Sapphire and Legolas withdrew their elven soldiers as promised. It was a surprise indeed when some of the elves promoted to stay in Moria, on the account they had made lasting friends there.

Sapphire never thought she'd see the day when elves would abandon their forests for caves in order to stay with the dwarves. She was the best of both worlds, as her mother Galadriel had told her all those centuries past.

She was sad to leave Moria but she knew her responsibilities lay at Mirkwood, beside Legolas and his father.

King Thranduil had been delighted to see his family again after so many months away. He was beginning to worry they would opt to stay in the Mines of Moria.

Though she loved Moria and had spent so much time fighting to win it back, Sapphire knew Mirkwood was now her home. She and Legolas would one day be the King and Queen of Mirkwood, be that centuries away or millennia. But she could rest easy at night knowing Moria was no longer infested with vile creatures, and that her father's homeland was secure once again.

And so they stayed for the next few hundred years in Mirkwood, happy and content.

That was until Gemstone decided it was her turn for adventure. Ever like her mother, Gemstone wanted to travel throughout Middle-Earth and see more of the world.

With the stubbornness of both Legolas and Sapphire, she wouldn't take no for an answer. Sapphire couldn't blame her, she was around her age when she left Moria.

Gemstone was much like her mother and in that sense, she had a hunger for adventure and neither of her parents could blame her. She certainly didn't want to be an authodox princess but then again, neither was Sapphire at first.

Perhaps in a few thousand years, once she had her fill of adventure, she would return to Mirkwood.

But for the time being, she said her farewells before she rode out of Mirkwood with her sights set on the horizon and a taste for adventure.

Amethyst, ever like his father and grandfather, stayed in Mirkwood, vowing to protect it till they day he died. He joined the Royal Guard and dedicated his life to Mirkwood. He split his time between defending the borders with his soldiers, and learning how to govern a Kingdom.

Though it was difficult for Sapphire and Legolas to admit, their children were no longer children, they were grown individuals.

A few hundred years into her marriage to Eldarion, Jewel fell pregnant with his child, the heir to Gondor's throne.

With elves the immortal race in Middle-Earth, there could be families of several generations still alive. Elves can only be slain in battle or die from a broken heart.

With great grandchildren on the way, Thranduil decided it was time for him to step down as King. He had ruled Mirkwood for centuries but now he was finally willing to step down and become King Regent.

With that, Sapphire and Legolas were crowned the King and Queen of Mirkwood. Thranduil was still King Regent but he entrusted the Kingdom to his son and his daughter-in-law.

When Thranduil had first known Sapphire was in love with his son, he hadn't trusted her and get here he was, entrusting his entire Kingdom with her.

Sapphire wondered if she was able to talk to her younger self about her life, would she believe it?

She had come from nothing, an orphaned elleth, brought up by both dwarves and elves. Shunned by most, she made a reputation of herself and became a member of the Fellowship of the Ring. From there, she made lasting friends and found the meaning of love. She helped liberate Middle-Earth from evil and shortly after married the one she loved, making her a Princess. She had three beautiful children and liberated her homeland before becoming a Queen.

She could barely believe how much had changed since she joined the Fellowship.

She didn't see herself as a Queen, and she didn't see Legolas as a King.

They had been and will forever be the Ranger and the Prince.

The End.

I hope you enjoyed this fanfic, I certainly enjoyed writing it.

I do have more Lord of the Rings fanfics planned but I have some other fandoms I would like to write for as well but I promise I will get right on with the next LotR fanfic as soon as I can. If you want to see more of my terrible writing, consider following me.