After the coronation, everyone went their own way. The Fellowship of the Ring was no more. The hobbits returned to the shire, and I promised a visit. Aragorn became the King of Gondor and ruled until the end of his days. As for Gimli and Legolas? Well, let's just say that they had a splendid time visiting Fangorn Forest once more.
"Curse these roots that pop up from the ground!" Gimli grunted as he tripped over a tree root for the third time. Legolas held out a hand only to be ignored by Gimli.
"Watch your tongue, Gimli. They can hear you," I said smirking, as Gimli dusted off some dirt from his clothes.
"Of course they can. Trees. Who imagined they would have ears and eyes?" Gimli grumbled. Legolas and I let out a small chuckle at his comment.
We were having a, let's say, a little tour around the Fangorn. I showed them the Ent Water River (Gimli nearly drank a full litre and me and Legolas watched in horror as he became the tallest dwarf ever), the place where I used to sleep (the leaf bed I had made was still there), and the Heart of the Forest, where the majority of the Ents now dwelled. It took us a while to find that place, but we managed it with a lot of grumbling and complaining from the dwarf.
"Taurieth... You... have returned," Treebeard said, appearing behind the trees.
"Good to see you, Treebeard," I said, smiling. "This is Legolas and Gimli. You might have heard of them."
Treebeard stared at them with a gaze so long and intense that I thought he was going to do something bad to them. Luckily, he didn't.
"Ahhhhh. The dwarf... and... the elf. We don't see... many dwarves here. Tell me, what... are you doing... in the Forest, Master... Gimli?"
"Well, my dear fellow, I have come to wonder at the sights of your magnificent forest!" Gimli answered as politely as he can with a 14 feet (A.N: 4.5 meters) tall tree staring down at him.
"Is... that so? Well then, I hope... you enjoy your stay," Treebeard said. "What... business.. does the Prince of Mirkwood... have in this humble... forest?"
"Same as my friend, Gimli," Legolas answered.
"Hmmmmm.... Very well. Taurieth, it's been... wonderful seeing you again... Now... I must go... to visit... Rowan," Treebeard spoke, slowly turning away from us.
"Have a nice day!" I shouted. Treebeard made a low hmm sound and disappeared between the trees.
"Let's get out of this creepy old forest now, shall we?" Gimli grumbled when he was sure he couldn't see any more of talking trees.
"As you wish, Master Dwarf," I laughed as I lead the way. We walked for a good while until Gimli was left with nothing more than his complains and curses towards my beloved Fangorn Forest. I was eager to get him out quickly, or my home would have nothing but squirrel poops caused by an angry dwarf's curse.
"Where are we going next?" Legolas asked as we came closer to the edge of the forest. I remained silent and just smiled. Soon, we were out of the Fangorn Forest and was staring at a great river flowing some distance away. Being elves, Legolas and I could see far beyond, where a new forest lied waiting for us.
"That can't be-" Legolas started.
"Mirkwood? It is," I finished.
"Mirkwood? Oh, for Durin's sake, not another forest!" Gimli complained.