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Legolas walked down the many steps into the dungeon. He’d already made the trip from his chambers to the Infirmary on the request of a guard. Not only was the girl not there; apparently now he had to make the journey down to the prison. He was a little peeved to say the least.

The dwarves stared at the elven prince as the walked past their cells, his cloak flowing behind him.

“What is he doing here?” Dwalin growled in Khuzdul. His hostel attitude was mirrored by the other dwarves. Many strode to the edge of their cells to make their threatening stares more obvious.

Legolas ignored the animosity he was attracting and walked to Y/n’s cell with purpose.

Y/n was slowly drifting into a peaceful sleep when she heard a voice. Not only a voice, but a word; a word that she understood.

“Hello.”

Y/n’s eyes shot open and she sat up. She turned her head to the man on the other side of the bars. She stood up with hesitation and walked towards him. Her eyes were wide and disbelief riddled her features.

Legolas watched her carefully. She wore strange garments he’d never seen before. She was very beautiful. Even covered in dirt and sweat and blood, she was beautiful.

“Say something again,” Y/n murmured. Every moment of silence was agony. Her gaze did not waver.

“What do you wish me to say?” Legolas said. A small smile danced on his face.

Y/n gasped in delight and clasped her hands over her mouth. A huge smile spread across her face and tears of joy gathered in her eyes. “I can understand you.” Y/n broke out into laughter. She was so relieved. She didn’t know what to do with herself. “I can understand you!” Y/n said louder. She stumbled back from the man and pushed her hair out of her face, giving him the biggest happiest smile he’d ever seen. “Oh thank you thank you thank you thank you,” Y/n muttered. She did a little turn in her cell and ran right back up to the bars. “I can understand you,” She said to the man again as if he hadn’t already heard. “And you… can… understand me?” Y/n pointed to herself as she spoke. It was half a statement and half a question.

“I can,” The man nodded.

Y/n screeched. She raised her arms to the sky and beamed.

Legolas smiled as he watched her. She was enchanting. Her smile drew him in and wouldn’t let him go. Her happiness was contagious.

“My name is Legolas,” He said and he stretched his hand in through the cell bars.

Y/n stopped her celebration but never once dropped her smile. She took his hand. “I’m Y/n.” She was expecting a handshake, but again she received a kiss on the hand. Y/n wasn’t fazed. She just flung back her head and laughed. Legolas looked familiar, in a hazy way. She’d seen him before; but Y/n couldn’t put her finger on where. Her smile faded.

“Where am I?”

Legolas tilted his head.

“You’re in Mirkwood.” Did she not know?

“I…I don’t know what that is.”

Their hands slipped apart. The mood began to shift and Legolas wished with all his heart that it wouldn’t.

“It’s a forest, a grand one.”

“Oh… alright, um… why are we in prison?” She gestured to the other dwarves.

“Trespassing,” The prince said, “You were trespassing on the King’s property.”

“Oh! I’m sorry. I didn’t realize,” Y/n said with sincere regret in her voice. “I didn’t see any signs. I’m sure this is all just a misunderstanding.”

Legolas raised an eyebrow. He was slightly taken aback by this whole conversation. No prisoner had ever apologized to him, or at least not with sincerity. She was either naïve or without knowledge of the king’s wrath.

“You might not have known, but they did,” He gave a vague gesture to her friends.

Y/n frowned and glanced at Kili. He was glaring at Legolas mercilessly. He looked at Y/n and raised his eyebrows as if to ask, “Are you okay”. She smiled and nodded.

“Where do you hail from?” The prince asked.

“Y/Country.”

“I’ve never heard of such a place.”

“Oh… yeah… I assumed,” Y/n bit her lip, “I don’t know how I got here.”

Legolas furrowed his brow.

“I went to sleep in my own bed and then… woke up here; in the middle of the woods,” Y/n paused, “I know I just met you… but, I really don’t know what to do. Would you help me?”

Legolas hesitated, “Tell me of your land,” He said.

“Well, um, it’s very different,” She said. Y/n was unsure of where to begin. “We have these things called cars?” The girl noticed confusion on Legolas’ face. “They’re machines that can, um, go really fast. And almost everyone has one, and we use them to get around.”

“I’ve never heard of cars.” The word sounded strange coming out of his mouth.

“And, uh, we don’t use swords. Well, we haven’t in a really long time.” Y/n listed off some important differences and tallied them with her fingers.

“Is there no war in your land?”

“No… no there’s war. We just…” It took Y/n a second to figure out how to put it. “Do it differently.”

“I see,” Legolas said. He did not see.

“And I feel like that’s it,” Y/n lied. There were too many differences to list them all and electricity would have been hard to explain.

“Are these the traditional garments of your land?” Legolas gestured to her clothes.

“These are my pajamas,” Y/n stated, “I woke up in the middle of your forest in pajamas with no shoes.”

“It seems like the work of a wizard to me.”

Y/n’s eyebrows shot up, “Excuse me?”

“A wizard, a powerful one it sounds like,” He repeated.

“Are you joking?” She said, taken aback.

Legolas paused, “I take it you don’t have wizards in your land?”

“No… You do?”

“Yes,” He smiled.

“Huh,” Y/n was at a loss for words. She found herself saying: “That’s so weird.”

The elven prince gazed down at her. It was obviously a lot to take in.

“So…” Y/n laughed awkwardly “I don’t know how to phrase this but… um, what are they?” She gestured to the company once again.

Legolas turned briefly before he answered. The very angry face of a beardless dwarf met his eye. The elf raised an eyebrow and turned back to Y/n.

“They are dwarves.” The slight distain in his voice did not go unnoticed.

“Huh… so that’s why they’re so short,” Y/n murmured.

A smiled pulled at the prince’s lips, “All of you are short to me.”

She laughed and glanced up at him, “Not to be rude but… what are you?”

“I am an elf.”

“An elf? Really?”

“Yes,” Legolas found her disbelief amusing if not endearing.

“I’ve never met an elf before,” Y/n said happily.

“There are no elves in your land?”

“No, we only have humans. Are there humans here?”

“There are several human settlements in Middle Earth.”

“Middle Earth?”

“The land in which Mirkwood resides.”

“Oh alright,” Y/n thought for a moment. So many questions were buzzing around her head; she didn’t know which to ask first.

“The blood on you,” Legolas said, “Is it spider?”

Y/n looked down at her filthy pants and nodded.

“Were you attacked before my men took you in?”

Y/n nodded again. Memories flashed before her eyes: the spiders’ legs reaching for her, the rock, the blood. “Uh… we don’t have giant spiders were I’m from. It was a bit of a shock.”

“I’m sorry,” Legolas said simply. He didn’t like how her voice shook or the fear in her eyes. He felt the urge to protect her.

“Well it happened so…” Y/n raised her head and shrugged. “What can you do?”

“Your land sounds like a completely different world,” Legolas said.

“It is.”

A shout echoed throughout the cavern. Five guards stomped down stair after stair with one enraged son of Durin sandwiched between them. Thorin shot death glares at the elven soldiers as they ushered him to his cell. They threw him in without the slightest regard for his comfort. Y/n heard the dwarf leader shout something scathing at the elves. They started their climb back up the many stairs, unbothered. One of the guards stopped beside the Prince. “The prisoner was uncooperative. We still do not know what their purpose in the woods was,” He spoke in elvish. “Your father is asking for you. He is… not pleased.”

“I see,” Legolas responded. “Thank you, that will be all.” He waved away the guard who returned to his group.

“I have to take my leave of you now,” He said.

“Oh, um, alright,” Y/n replied. She was startled by his abrupt tone.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Y/n.”

“You too.”

And with that he was gone. Y/n was left in her cell craning her neck to watch him go. She sat back on the cot. Her cell felt a lot smaller than before.

“Y/n!” Her name rung out softly across the prison. She looked up to see Kili leaning on his bars.

“Kili?” She asked.

“You shouldn’t talk to him.” The dwarven prince would never admit it, but he was jealous. He had watched their interaction with envy and was thoroughly upset that Y/n was happy to talk to the elf. The rational part of Kili’s mind told him: of course she would be happy, he could speak her language! But Kili didn’t care; he didn’t like her talking to him.

“Do you think he’s going to come back?” Y/n voiced her question aloud. She smiled to herself, “He can speak English!”

“He’s the enemy,” Kili said. “You should not speak to him.”

A thought dawned on Y/n and she suddenly realized why Kili looked so cranky.

“Are you upset that I’m talking to him?” She said, exasperatedly. The dwarf said nothing, but continued to stare at her. “You’re unbelievable!” Y/n huffed. She flopped back onto the hard bed and closed her eyes. “Let’s end this conversation now before I get mad.” She laughed inwardly. This wasn’t a conversation. They had never had a conversation. They only talked to themselves in the presence of the other.