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Heart's Ease by daw the minstrel	27 Review(s)
ANA	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/2/2004
That was incredibly touching! Dare I hope that you will have more elfling Legolas stories for us in the future? Author Reply: I enjoyed writing this story so maybe I will do more with little or younger Legolas. This story was a response to a challenge on the Flufflings Yahoo list to write about a canon character's first crush for Valentine's Day.

Dot	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/2/2004
Oh,daw – this is wonderful! I was beginning to get quite fond of Elowen and it’s great to get a glimpse into her life as well as an incident from this difficult time of Legolas’ childhood. As always, you create such a cosy, comfortable atmosphere in Annael’s home. It seems so warm and inviting. I love the way Elowen seems to take such pleasure in her son and his friends – she’s such a motherly figure. How sweet that Legolas made her a pot of flowers. He obviously values her presence if he’s thinking of her while he’s at home. You’ve done a great job in keeping this consistent with ‘When Shadow Touches Home’ – being ‘bad’ at lessons, drawing Orcs , right down to the phrase “Good bye, I had a lovely time.” It’s really interesting to see it from another point of view. Elowen seems to know exactly what is wrong with Legolas and is really encouraging, steering him away from any disturbing thoughts. The idea that “all of his energy seemed to have gone into simply surviving his loss” is just so sad. You really are great at writing elflings! You capture the conversation between them brilliantly, and I love the way you still show all of their personalities. Turgon was so supremely confident even then! Annael is absolutely adorable. But then, he has such wonderful parents. It’s such a wonderful, loving, motherly thing to do, keeping mementos from her son’s childhood. I presume Legolas’ mother had something similar. And Legolas drew Elowen! It’s natural for her own child to think she is beautiful but can you imagine how wonderful it must feel to have Legolas draw her when she requested something ‘beautiful’? I could cry at that thought! Of course, the effort it must have taken for him to copy Annael’s letters and form the sentence is just unspeakably touching. It’s a pity he went home with the picture of Orcs rather than that one but then, I suppose in a way it was really personal to Elowen. She can never replace his own mother but it’s so nice to think that she can offer him warmth and love and that he not only appreciates it but at such a terrible time for him can still see some beauty in others and wants to give some pleasure to those who are important to him. This was really lovely – I can’t wait to see what you have up your sleeve for your next story!:) Author Reply: Legolas was so lucky to have this warm, loving home to go to when he needed a little mothering or just a normal family life. And I confess I made myself get teary eyed when I wrote the part about copying Annael's message. I think of Legolas as this loving little guy who is looking for someone to mother him and Elowen sure fits the bill.

Antigone_Q	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/1/2004
I loved the imagery of the "Heart’s-ease" flowers, all droopy when Legolas brought them in but perking up after being under the care of Elowen for a while, just like Legolas did. Everything grows just a little better with love, doesn't it? It made me all teary-eyed when Legolas gave Elowen the picture, and I am very glad she kept it as a keepsake with Annael's things. It was nice that Legolas had someone like Elowen to be Mommy-ish to him sometimes; he needed it so badly. Author Reply: To my embarrassment, I made myself teary-eyed in writing this. I think that Legolas was lucky to have this family in his life. Annael and his parents offered a warm, loving, normal home where Legolas was welcomed and treated like just a child who had needs that they could meet. Heart's-ease is the folk name for pansies, and I could picture these little boys turning their flower-like faces up to Elowen.

Estel_Mi_Olor	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 2/1/2004
That was absolutely beautiful! I especially liked the metaphor between Legolas and the flowers. Thanks for creating Annael, who is such a good friend to Legolas. And Elowen is so understanding! You now have a veritable library of Legolas fics. If you don't watch out, you're going to become the ultimate authority on him! Keep writing! Author Reply: Thank you, Estel_Mi_Olor. I could picture these three little elfs turning their flower faces up to Elowen. And she is such a nana! Legolas needed her in his life then.

White Wolf	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/30/2004
This is a very sweet, poignant vignette. It was nice to see a little Legolas again, as well as Annael. I was glad to see that Elowen saved Legolas's picture, which was drawn and given with love. Author Reply: Thank you, White Wolf. I am very fond of Annael's family. They seem warm and loving to me, and I think they would have seemed that way to a motherless Legolas too. He was lucky to have them. I'm glad you liked the story.

Fadesintothewest	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/30/2004
Sniff, sniff, this was a beautiful piece. Is it a stand alone? I most certainly teared up at the thought of poor little Legolas, wanting a nana to draw pictures for too. Annael's mother has always been so important for Legolas. This is definitely a relationship I'd love to see how it's developed over the years of Legolas' life in Mirkwood. Author Reply: This is just a one-shot story, Fades. It's a reply to a challenge that Karri issued at the Flufflings Yahoo group for Valentine's Day: write about a canon character's first crush on an older person. I'm glad she suggested it because I enjoyed writing this story.

tigerlily713	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/30/2004
At the risk of soundy all teeny-boppy (I just made that word up) and trite: Oh my gosh! That was so cute! Meloncholy in some ways, and certainly more complicated than simple words could ever let on, but so endearing and beautiful at the same time. Is this just a one chapter vignette or the beginning of another fic? Thank you! ~Lily Author Reply: Glad you liked it, Lily. It's a one shot thing. It's actually a response to a Valentine's Day challenge that Karri issued to the Flufflings Yahoo group. She suggested that people write a story of under 2000 words that would be about a canon character's first crush. I'm not sure that my story qualifies as a crush exactly, but I enjoyed writing it and thank her for the idea.

sofia	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/30/2004
aw... how cute! I think it was funny when Turgon said “I do not know,but it is beautiful.” Author Reply: I'm glad you liked it, Sofia. My own son often drew quite a lot of stuff before he decided what it was. The trick was to maneuver him into telling us what he thought it was before he made us guess!

LKK	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/30/2004
Such a lovely little tale, daw! Very sweet. Are Heart's-ease Middle Earth's version of pansies? Your description of them -- purple and yellow blossoms with little faces -- made me think of pansies. I love little Legolas, all sweet and shy, offering them up to Elowen, worried that she might not like them or that they were too droopy now. Elflings coloring while lying on their stomachs on the floor -- what a wonderfully charming image to share with us. (Can I have a coloring elfling too? Please??) Very appropriate that Turgon's beautiful picture was a wild riot of color, threatening to jump off the page even. A child psychologist would have much to say about that one, I'd guess. I lov you Annael nana Legolas That was the ultimate moment of sweetness, daw. I felt just like Elowen, stinging tears and all. Beautiful. If I were her, I would have added the drawing to my treasure box as well. (Actually, I did add it to my treasure box. "Heart's Ease" is now on my Favorite Stories list.) LKK Author Reply: Heart's Ease is a folk name for pansies. It seemed an appropriate flower for Legolas to offer to Elowen. As I pictured the three boys looking up at her when she said to draw something beautiful, I thought of them looking like three flower faces. I tried to make the pictures reflect the personalities and concerns of the three kids. I was glad to have Turgon back for a little while. And I have to admit, I made myself tear up when I wrote this story. Pathetic but true. Thank you for your kind words.

French Pony	Reviewed Chapter: 1 on 1/30/2004
Of course little boys draw monsters and dragons. But getting them to draw something beautiful. . . there's a challenge. The more I read about Elowen, the more I like her. She sounds a lot like my mother's little circle of best friends, all of my "aunties" from when I was little, who gave me a kitchen shower when I grew up and moved away. I think you must be a nana very much like Elowen, since you write her so well. In a lot of cultures, including my own, people like Elowen become honorary "Aunts" (or "Uncles") to little kids they help take care of, even if they aren't related to them. So I think I'll have to call her Tante Elowen now. And I know exactly what the kids' drawings look like, too! Of course dragons can be any color, they've never seen one (yet). And I can't draw braids either, so I did the exact same thing with x's when I was little. Tante Elowen must have a lot of practice looking at little kid drawings to identify Legolas's portrait of her so easily. I think I like Turgon's picture best, though. "I don't know what it is, but it is beautiful!" Speaking of Turgon, the date on the Baby Blues strip I gave you in an earlier review was slightly off. It's actually the 28 January comic. You can find it at babyblues.com, but they post them two weeks late for syndication reasons. And it looks like Legolas has been learning to write after all! Author Reply: I tried to make the three kids' drawings reflect their personalities and concerns. And I too made x's in the braids! I think Elowen recognized herself by the green dress. And Legolas copied what Annael wrote and rearranged it, but what I would say is that when it mattered to him, he figured out how to write just fine. When he's feeling better, he'll learn in a flash.

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