woodlander | IC Contact

Find Legolas now and take him somewhere safe. Do not use the first floor doors. Use the third floor. Do not tell him why. Take him to Security at once and tell Tyke it has happened at last.

[Disconnect.]

[ Well, that's alarming.

She gets up, moving to follow his orders, and talks at the same time. ]

Yes, my Lord, I will go at once.

What has happened? [ Does he need her? How quickly should she find her way back to him? Is it Morgoth? ]

Him. I will guard your escape for as long as I can, but you must hurry.

[ Tension builds in her chest. Fear gnaws at her. How can she leave her King if this is the case?

To protect the prince, yes. But it is not a choice she wants to make. ]

He has found her? [ Luthien. It's what Thranduil warned of, after all. ]

He has. He is coming for me. There is little time. I must find Nuada at once.

What of the others? Princess Nuala, and the girl. Kaye.

[ Both frequent the gardens. She assumes that Lord Elrond and Lady Galadriel are involved in this already. ]

They are not under my command or protection. I hope they have the sense to stay away.

[He hesitates.]

Tauriel. I am sorry you came to me and found I was not who you remembered. I wished only to be for you what you needed from me. [He hesitates again. He doesn't have much time, but he thinks he has time for this.] I ought to have been as a father to you. Forgive me.

[ No.

No, she won't hear this. This is a goodbye, and she will not hear that. ]

…

You are my Lord, and our protector. You are the King I remember.

When my prince is safe, I will return to fight beside you. Such is my oath, and my bond.

If I fall, you must ensure Morgoth does not learn of him. And since I could not be the father I should have been to you, let me be so in this: do not come for me. Let me protect you. That is my truest purpose as your king and guardian.

My Lord, I am your Captain.

Would you have me stay away, and give no help to you? I fear not for myself, but for you.

I will obey you. I intend no dissent, but I beg of you. Let me protect you. Let me do what I have been trained, all of my life to do.

...Tauriel. When you were trained to protect me, I had a host at my command. I ruled a nation, and was worth more alive than dead.

Here, the rules have changed. Here, I rule only three. To each of you, I am sworn to uphold your rights and protect you. If you were to die protecting me, I would be no one to anyone. If I die protecting you, I have done my duty.

If...if I am taken alive, then you must seek me. But fight no hopeless battle. Live. That is my command to you. Live.

[He cuts the feed.]

I take it back. I'd like that arrow through the chest now, please.

[ …Spike. ]

What has happened?

Were you on the bridge, luv?

No.

[ Her voice is sombre, now. ]

I tried to help Nathan Petrelli and his friends. I could not coax those doors to move; no one could. I cannot tell you what transpired there, Spike,

I'm glad for that. My... Peter was up there, you know. Nathan's brother. Stressful stuff. [ thought i lost him. ]

[ She hadn't connected them as brothers. Now she does, and a great deal starts to make sense. ]

Then I am sorry, that I could not reach him.

How does he fare now? I do not have the impression that their time trapped inside was easy.

[ Or uneventful. ]

Yeah, so am I.

[ he sighs, he has to remind himself it's over now. it's done. he just can't let peter out of his sights like that again. ]

He's... he's good, luv. Ta for asking.

You did not go with him.

Why not, when he means so much?

[ Don't play with her, Spike. It's clear you care about him. ]

Because... [ there's no bloody excuse for leaving pete in the lurch and he knows it. peter may not hold it against him, but he should.

spike leaves a very audible sigh. ] Because I suck at this.

[ She sounds thoughtful, curious, and entirely non-judgmental. ]

At what? Fighting beside him?

At... caring. [ too much, sometimes. so much so he went into hardcore denial and shutdown mode at the worst possible times (sometimes). ] At having friends.

[ let alone more. ]

So you let him go alone, and then let yourself fear for him.

[ Not sensible, Spike. Not logical, either. But then emotions rarely are. ] Is it such a bad thing, to care for another?

[ not bad, he wants to say, just hard. ]

I'm a shitty boyfriend, alright? I'm trying to make up for it. [ but how could he even?? ]

[ Thoughtfully. ]

Is he angry with you?

[ there's a pause. ] No.

[ and that might be the worst part. ]

Then why do you worry about what you must make up to him?

[ She already thinks she knows the answer to that. Guilt isn’t predicated on a person’s anger. Spike’s the one punishing himself. ]

Your feelings are what matter. You should follow them, and then you will not regret what you do or do not do. In the end you must answer to yourself, no other.

[ his feelings. people kept saying that. before this place, though? no one had cared about spike's feelings. it's not a criticism of the people he'd surrounded himself with; he still loved them. but it's true: they didn't care. and maybe that's why he's so baffled by it now. ]

There's a first time for everything, I guess.

[ She pauses, surprised by that comment. ]

A first time to follow your feelings, or a first time to have them? [ The latter might explain some of his apparent discomfort with all of this. ]

A first time that they actually matter.

If that is so, then you should make it count. Does he feel the same for you?

Yeah. Yeah, he does.

Then you should worry less, and allow your feelings to take you where they will.

No harm came to him, Spike. The next time there is trouble, you will be there to ensure it yourself.

I told him to count on that. [ but it didn't really abate his guilt. still, tauriel had helped him put it in perspective. ]

He will count on you. That is only natural in your position.

[ She tries. She wouldn’t call herself any expert in relationships, not at all. In fact the idea of them makes her uncomfortable. Still, where others are concerned, she would counsel them to follow their hearts, and be concerned with nothing else. ]

And what position is that?

You love him.

[ Sorry, Spike, but your comfort zones are not in her mind right now. That’s the word that makes sense to her; that’s the word she’s using. ]

Thus you are bound to him. It is not unreasonable, to wish to protect him.

[ he wants to protest, even if it would certainly mean he doth protesteth too much. he still wants to even knowing full well she has his ticket. ]

Didn't say it was unreasonable, did I? But he can take care of himself.

[ Not while he was on the bridge, she thinks, but she doesn't say it. He feels guilty enough for that. ]

We do not always protect, just because someone is weak. Sometimes we protect even those who like it little, because we care for them. Sometimes, even when it is someone we should not think of at all.

They should hire you to write fortune cookies. [ but he seriously appreciates u, even if he's incapable of saying so. ]

You have some firsthand experience with this?

[ She pauses, just briefly, but it's a hesitation all the same. She hasn't spoken of this to anyone, least of all to her people here. They would not approve. They had not, at home, yet it is still the truth and she won't deny it. ]

I have.

Sometimes there is a choice to be made, a difference between what the heart knows to be right, and the strict order of duty. It is not always possible, to do both. Such a choice was not long ago before me.

I chose the heart, and would again, should the choice be mine once more.

And if your heart leads you down two separate paths? [ he feels like robert frost over here, jfc. but he already knows, he's made his choice.

and it's peter. ]

One day I'm going to get you to tell me that story in full.

[ She smiles at that. Perhaps she'd tell him. She's never hinted at it to anyone else, knowing the disapproval it would send her way from people who don't even really know her.

For now, she only sounds curious. ]

And does it? Lead you in distinct, separate directions?

Yeah, but... I've already got my answer.

Thanks, luv. I mean it.

I am glad, then. You are welcome.

See you in the gardens. [ most likely. he hangs up! ]

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