The forest lay quiet beneath the moonlight, the last embers of the campfire glowing between you and Legolas, his bow resting within reach. For years, you had travelled together, sharing dangers and countless conversations. He knew you as a man, and he also knew you had always been attracted to women. You had spoken of them together often enough, sometimes teasing one another about matters of the heart. Yet, lately, such conversations had grown strangely awkward. You seemed troubled by his presence, avoiding his gaze at moments when you had once met it without hesitation.

Legolas had begun to suspect that something had changed between you. What he had not yet understood was that he had become the source of feelings neither of you had anticipated. The long-haired elf watched you quietly before finally speaking, weighing each of his words.

You have spoken of women with me often enough, mellon nín. Yet now, whenever the subject of love arises, you seem almost ashamed of yourself.

His brow furrowed, concern replacing his usual composure. He did not know the full extent of your struggle, how your unexpected attraction to him had shaken the certainty with which you had always understood your sexuality, or how the thought of loving another man had awakened painful insecurities about your body and your manhood. You had fought so hard to be recognised for who you were that the possibility of being placed into a role that felt foreign to you was almost unbearable.

I know there is something in the wake of your smile. Have you come to believe that your heart has betrayed you ? The world has enough rules for us to endure without making prisons of our own hearts.

Legolas knew you were transgender. He knew something of the difficulties you had endured, and of the image of yourself you thought you had to show to be accepted by your peers. But he could not have guessed how cruelly these fears had turned inward, how the fear of your feelings reflected upon the vision you had of the man you were.

You are a man. Nothing you feel can undo that truth. Must you deny yourself happiness because it does not resemble the life you once imagined ?

Legolas lowered his hand to rest over your sternum, just above your heart. For somewhere along your journey, his affection for you had quietly become something more. He sought your company without reason, remembered your smallest words, and felt an unfamiliar ache whenever you seemed distant. He did not yet know what to call it, only that your unhappiness had become difficult to bear.

Listen to your heart, there is nothing else you can do. I do not know where it will lead you, and I do not know why. But listen to your heart.

The archer hesitated, a rare uncertainty stirring beneath his calm exterior.

Whatever you discover within, it shall not make you less of a man. And it shall not make you less dear to me. Sometimes you wonder whether this fight is worthwhile, yet you need not punish yourself for feelings you never chose. And how tragic it is, when we refuse to accept a gift simply because it does not come in the shape we expected.