Kari shivered as the icy wind hit her face at the fellowship traveled through the darkness of night. She pulled her cloak tightly around her body. Chuckling a sardonic chuckle, Kari remembered Arwen's suggestion about bringing another cloak. She should have listened to her sister.
"What is there to be cheerful about?" Boromir snapped, turning around to look at her.
Kari frowned. After traveling for nearly two weeks in this windy, rough terrain and not seeing the sun for most of that time, the members of the fellowship were irritable. But no one was worse than Boromir.
"If you were really paying attention, you would have realized I am not laughing out of cheerfulness," Kari fired back.
"Regardless, keep quiet. The last thing we need is for Sauron's spies to hear you," Boromir said, turning around to continue walking.
"Sauron's spies? The reason we are taking this route is to avoid Sauron's spies."
"His spies can be anywhere and everywhere. We must be careful."
"True, but I was barely making a sound. If you choose to pick a fight with me, at least do so without making up such petty excuses," Kari retorted.
At this point the entire fellowship stopped moving to hear the words being exchanged.
Boromir whirled around angrily. "Why you infuriating…"
"Enough!" Gandalf said, walking over to stand between the quarrelling pair. "We must keep moving and I will not allow the two of you to hold us up with such mindless drivel."
Kari looked down, ashamed. Why did she always let Boromir affect her like that? "Understood, Gandalf. I apologize."
Gandalf looked expectantly at Boromir who just snorted derisively, turned around, and continued walking.
Kari narrowed her eyes and walked to the rear of the group to be near Legolas. The sight of him calmed her even though he looked worried.
"Yes, run along to the elf," Boromir muttered, not intending for Kari to hear. But Kari's sensitive hearing did pick up the scornful words, and they angered her even more. However, lashing out would only cause greater annoyance and resentment.
"You let him get to you," Legolas said quietly, rubbing her back soothingly as they continued walking.
Kari sighed, relishing in the rare physical contact she had with him. "I know."
"He does not hold any power over you if you do not allow him to," Legolas said.
"I know," Kari said, getting a bit irritated. She wanted Legolas' comfort, not his lectures.
Legolas frowned and dropped his hand from her back.
Kari cringed at the loss of contact. She did not mean to be so snappish, but her patience was nonexistent after such a long time with such dreariness. Where was the damned sun? She needed to feel its warm rays to brighten her spirits.
And she was so frustrated with not being able to be openly affectionate with Legolas. She just wanted to hold his hand and hug him and fall asleep in his arms, but all those things would mean throwing the fellowship into an awkward and unnecessary dynamic. They barely spoke to each other, and when they did, there was evident strain. When they were traveling, Kari would usually be in front of Legolas because she could not bear the though of looking at him with this invisible wall between them. When the fellowship would settle down for the morning rest, she would put her sleeping pack as far away from Legolas' because she did not want to willingly or unwillingly snuggle up to him in her sleep. Sometimes she would catch Legolas staring at her with a look of longing on his face as she tried to sleep, and she was not strong enough to look back at him. She would turn away and try to sleep to no avail. All of this was making Kari feel crazed.
Although her attentions were mainly focused on avoiding Legolas, that did not mean Kari did not learn a lot about the other travelers. Gimli snored loudly in his sleep. She had seen Pippin picking his nose a few times. Sam mumbled to himself whenever he was thinking. Merry was scared of bugs with hard bulbous bodies so he had a hard time getting a good night's sleep on the ground. Frodo was always forlorn, even when his friends were energetic, and Kari did not know any type of medicine that would help. Gandalf slept with his eyes open, which caused Kari to scream during her first watch because she thought he was dead. Needless to say, the rest of the fellowship was disgruntled with being woken up but were also very amused and made fun of Kari for a few days after. And Boromir would often be restless, pacing around pointlessly, and whenever Kari would comment on it, he would snap at Kari, causing her to make angry replies. Gandalf or Aragorn always stopped the fights before they turned physical, but that did not mean Kari did not occasionally have the desire to pummel Boromir.
With each passing step, Kari wanted to pull Legolas into an embrace and apologize for her attitude, but he had withdrawn into himself even though he was walking right by her. She wondered if he felt as frustrated as she did.
The fellowship traveled for a few more hours until the sky lightened and it was time to rest. They stopped in an area that was well forested and luckily the wind had calmed. After Kari had finished unrolling her pack, her ears perked up.
"I hear water," she said excitedly.
"There is a lake," Gandalf replied, pointing to a mass of wide trees.
Kari tried to see through the clump of trees, but she couldn't. Privacy! "I have a later watch today. In the mean time, I shall be taking a bath," she said cheerfully.
"And what if we need you, Lassie?" Gimli asked as he settled down on his sleeping mat.
"Yell. I have good ears, Master Dwarf," she said as she went gently through the trees in search of the lake. She had not bathed in more days than she cared to count. The anticipation of feeling water surround her was exhilarating. She realized that she had taken little things like bathing for granted while living in Rivendell. But, no longer. She would cherish this water.
Once she saw the lake in view, she began to undo the fastenings of her dark green tunic. Suddenly she heard the clearing of a throat. Looking up, Kari saw Boromir looking at her with a smirk on his face and a now-full water canteen in his hand.
"It has been a while since a woman undressed in front of me," Boromir said with a grin.
"I'm not terribly surprised," she retorted.
Boromir feigned hurt. "Kari, such harsh words coming from so pretty a mouth."
"Please leave me so I may bathe in peace," Kari requested.
"Pity, and here I thought your undressing in my presence indicated you wanted company," Boromir replied.
Kari scowled and waited for Boromir to leave, which he slowly did. When he was finally through the trees and out of sight, she continued unbuttoning her tunic. After stripping off her white shirt, brown pants, and undergarments, Kari waded into the lake until the water level was at her shoulders. The lake was small but deep, with a few large boulders around the edges from the cliff at the backside. After she rubbed her skin vigorously to get the grime off, she floated happily in the water. The ache began to leave her shoulders and neck, and the feeling of weightlessness took pressure off of her sore back. Although she healed quickly, general soreness was something even she was plagued with.
She propped her back against a large boulder in the water and closed her eyes. She was not sure how much time went by, but suddenly something yanked at her foot. She was about to scream when Legolas arose from the water and covered her mouth.
"Sh, you do not want to alert the others," he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes that Kari had not seen in weeks. Slowly he slid his hand from her mouth.
"Legolas?" she whispered in surprise. He blond hair was matted to his forehead and neck. Water droplets were caught on his eyelashes, his chin, and his bare chest.
He smiled. "You should have heard me," he admonished lightly. "I would have thought all that training…"
The rest of Legolas' teasing was muffled by Kari's lips crashing upon his. Her arms wrapped around his neck so that their bodies collided together. She did not know how long she kissed him for, but she did not care. She only wanted to kiss him more.
When their lips parted, Legolas looked quite satisfied with himself. "I've missed you," he said as he kissed her neck. "Your skin tastes so good."
It did not take much for Kari to feel her control slipping. "Legolas, we should not…"
"No one is here."
"Someone can easily come through the trees."
"Everyone knows you are taking a bath. If someone came through those trees, I would kill them because clearly their intentions are not honorable," Legolas said quietly though heatedly.
"And yours are?"
"Hardly."
Kari laughed softly.
"We can be quick," Legolas suggested.
Kari could not refuse him, not when she wanted him so badly. She nodded and Legolas slammed her back against the boulder with the force of his kiss.
After what Kari considered their most passionate lovemaking yet, she did not want to leave him. But, she eventually got out water and put her clothes back on. They agreed to stagger their exits even though everyone but the person on watch should have been asleep. And Aragorn was the one on watch.
Kari made her way through the trees and towards their campsite. Aragorn was, in fact, the only one awake. She walked over to him and sat down beside him, resting her head affectionately on his shoulder.
"Your head is wet," Aragorn said gruffly, nudging her head with his shoulder.
"You know you do not care," Kari replied.
Aragorn smiled ever so slightly though it did not reach his eyes. Kari knew he barely slept and that there was much on his mind. She wished Arwen were here for him.
"I hope you and Legolas had a nice time," he said quietly though amusedly, switching into Sindarin.
Kari grinned. "We did."
They were silent for a while as they sat together, enjoying the peace and quiet that was rare on this journey. Legolas eventually came out of the wooded area and sat on the other side of Kari. He smiled lovingly at Kari.
"I need a walk," Aragorn said after catching Legolas' gaze at Kari. "Legolas, your watch."
Kari reluctantly removed her head from Aragorn's shoulder to allow him to get up. Aragorn's pace was slow, and each step seemed heavy, as though there was a large weight on his shoulders.
"I worry about him," Kari said, once she was sure Aragorn was out of earshot.
"He's coming to grips with his responsibility," Legolas said.
"He seems so lonely," Kari said. "But we are here. He should not feel lonely."
Legolas smiled at his love. "Yes, but we are not Arwen."
Kari sighed. "True."
Legolas wrapped an arm around Kari's shoulders and squeezed her gently to him.
Kari hesitated at the public physical contact. "Legolas…" Kari warned in Sindarin.
"I am being friendly," Legolas murmured simply.
Kari smiled and scooted a bit closer to Legolas. "Is that so?"
He nodded innocently. "How are you?" he asked. He felt like they hadn't had a conversation in a long time.
"I am well, now. I was a bit moody before, but I had a lovely bath," she replied flirtatiously.
"Ah, yes, you do appreciate a good bath," Legolas said knowingly.
"Yes, and this one was quite good," Kari bantered lightly. "Thank you," she added, her tone becoming more serious.
Legolas smiled, his eyes flicking to the sleeping forms of the other members of the fellowship before speaking. "No need to thank me for doing a selfish action. I needed you," he admitted.
Kari's cheeks reddened but she did not mind. "The feeling was mutual, Legolas. I am sorry for being so short-tempered recently. It is a combination of the weather and Boromir's ridiculous attitude, and the fact that I was barely talking to you," Kari said.
"I think it is foolish for us to try and avoid each other when neither of us have any desire to do so. It only makes us more miserable," Legolas reasoned.
Kari nodded in agreement.
"This journey will only become more difficult, and we will all need to support each other. Everyone knows that we are friends, so there is no reason to continue avoiding each other. We should just be wary about the degree of our actions in front of the others," Legolas said.
Kari smiled. "Since when have you become so mature?" she teased.
Legolas straightened his back and looked around airily. "I have always been this mature," he said loftily.
Kari giggled quietly and hit his shoulder lightly. "Immature," she muttered. She then realized her action was not the most mature either.
Legolas smiled and kissed her forehead. "I missed this," he said wistfully.
"Me too," Kari replied, looking into Legolas' blue eyes and feeling her body calm.
"You need to sleep," Legolas said.
"My watch is after yours," Kari replied.
"I will take over your watch. I know you have not been sleeping well for the past two weeks," Legolas said.
"Legolas, I can pull my own weight," Kari said.
"I know that, everyone knows that. But you will not be of any use if you are tired and we come across an enemy," Legolas reasoned.
"I tied with you in that spar when I was tired from beating Boromir and Gimli," Kari replied stubbornly.
Legolas sighed. "Yes, but that was a spar. Now it would be your life. Please sleep, you know I do not need as much rest as you do," Legolas said, looking at Kari with a pleading face that Kari had a hard time resisting.
Her shoulders sagged and she nodded. She looked over at the sleeping members of the fellowship and then quickly kissed Legolas on the lips.
"All right," she conceded, switching back into the Common Language and getting up from her seat next to Legolas. She quietly moved to where she had unrolled her sleeping mat and flopped down. After settling for a bit, she quickly fell asleep now that part of her mind was greatly eased.
Legolas relied mostly on his alert ears for the remaining part of the watch as his eyes never left Kari's sleeping form.
Author's Note: Hi everyone! Thanks a lot for your support for Against the Grain. I never expected the story to have so many fans, and that makes me so proud and honored. I'm sorry it took so long for the sequel to start. To be honest, I had a hard time thinking about how to start it – I want to make it a bit darker than Against the Grain, but still be light and have that elements of hope and love and devotion. I'm still struggling with how to incorporate the book and movies and my ideas all together without just lifting stuff from the book and movies. Also, I don't have as many ideas about the time during the fellowship as I do during Two Towers and Return of the King, so it's been challenging to think of things to throw at Kari in the beginning. This is actually the only chapter I've written to completion, so it will be a while before the next update. I am truly sorry, but I want the sequel to do the first story justice, and I won't post anything until I am happy with it. I hope you will be too. Thanks again for the support, I really, really appreciate it.