Title: Well Behaved Women Seldom Make Good Wives
Rating: T – for action, scenes of romantic sensuality, and mild language.
Written by: Naneth Bear
Summary: Middle Earth is at peace, and Legolas wants to show Amy the beauty of Middle Earth. But still, she wishes for home, and Legolas doesn't know how to make her love him. Meanwhile, Sam and Haldir are fighting their own battles – literally.
Chapter One: Two Years
It was a hard, bright morning, full of glazed summer sunlight, and the workers were toiling hard. Most of the men were shirtless, their upper torsos bathed in sweat, long hair drawn away from their faces, and their wives glanced at them admiringly as they did the washing. The community washing place was rived just outside of the city, near to the last piece of broken wall, and the women were gathered in the scanty shade provided by the newly erected walls. Talk and laughter burst in a bubbling, rapid layer over the grinding, scraping noises of the workplace nearby. Men were levering thick boulders into pulleys and lifts as they rebuilt the last bit of wall which had been destroyed during the Second War of the Ring. Still other men chiseled the edges from boulders, creating uniform stones in rectangular shapes, and the cloudy dust from this activity hung in the air.
Deeper into the city, houses were being rebuilt – roofs repaired, walls straightened, doors replaced. The city was alive and bustling with activity, busy workers polishing the city of Minas Tirith back to its original shining glory. Against the stream rocks, women slapped tunics and leggings in the frigid water, scrubbing them into a lather with soaps and oils. Other women were hanging them out to dry in the heat, while children played busily beneath the hanging sheets and clothing. In the center of all this activity was a young woman, her brown hair pulled back in a loose braid away from her angular face. A pair of hooded brown eyes sparked with excitement as she worked steadily, legs planted firmly as she hoisted a boulder in the air, yanking hard on a corded rope. Unlike the other women, she wore nothing but a pair of leggings and dirty breast bindings, which would be shockingly indecent garb had she not been working in such a state every day for the past year.
When the stone had been received by the other men perched precariously on ladders, she dusted her hands off and flashed a quick, feral smile of satisfaction. With a delighted gaze at the work around her, she settled her hands on her hips and allowed herself a rare moment of rest. Gimli and the other Dwarves had finished repairing the gates, steeling them with the stronger, harder mithril, and the city was lush and cool from the trees the Elves had planted. The streets were being realigned, making the city faster, better, more efficient – and it was more beautiful than anything she had ever seen. The walls and castle nearly glowed in the strong sun above them, and her sharp Elvish ears picked up the gentle murmur of running water, as nearby pools and waterfalls flowed seamlessly together. It was a city she had helped build, a city she had helped restore. Like a wildfire cleansing a wood, the siege of Orcs and Uruks had helped make the city even more beautiful than before. The White Tree of Gondor, the dead spiny branches twisted and gnarled, had been given a reverent resting place among the kings of old, and a new sapling had been placed in the Court of Fountains. This seedling was small but sturdy, and already laden heavily with delicately sculpted blossoms.
"Hey! Sam!"
Sam turned, amused, as her best friend came tripping down the road. For two years, the women had been getting adjusted to their Elvish reflexes and senses, which was an extreme challenge in itself. The initial pain from changing races had faded, but Amy still frightened herself with the bizarrely quick reflexes she had – recently, she had been in complete awe after Sam had rescued a fallen glass before it spilled a drop of liquid. Still, Amy was not normally clumsy, and she didn't visit the worksite often. Being smaller, quieter, and less physically able than Sam, she preferred to work in the House of Healing, tending to injuries and doing mundane chores. Any one of the chores Amy did every day would have bored Sam to tears; she preferred it out here, with the men, where a slipup or mistake could cost someone their life. The work was risky and grueling, and Sam kept thinking how much more could be accomplished if they had just one backhoe or forklift or bulldozer. Amy threaded her way around the chunks of stone and the workers, and when she was within hearing range, she beckoned Sam over. "C'mon, Sam, quick!" She said, and Sam saw there was an eager smile on her friend's face. That in itself was a rare sight – Amy seldom smiled these days. The past two years had been hard on the both of them, both of them sleeping fitfully and trying to adapt to their new lives.
"What is it?" Sam called, following her friend through the worksite and away from the noise. "What's going on?"
Amy turned, and Sam saw that achingly familiar brightness in Amy's eyes, a glow which hadn't been seen in what seemed like forever. "We're going!" Amy squealed, hugging herself. "Aragorn said now that the city is mostly built and the crops are being resown, we should go on our trip before winter sets in!"
"Awesome," Sam said, looking behind her at the mostly repaired wall. "We have been working hard – is Gimli going?"
"Yup," Amy grinned. "It's going to be us, Legolas, Gimli, and a few Elves who want to travel back to Lothlorien. I came here to get you – Legolas wants to plan our route around Middle Earth."
"Cool," Sam said, and something in her belly twisted pleasantly when she thought of going to Lothlorien. "When are we going?"
Amy shrugged. "Depends on when we can get everything ready. But Legolas thinks by the end of the week."
Two years.
He had waited two years, rebuilding, restructuring, and trying to help Aragorn return Gondor to the proper glory. Two years, he had patiently waited for the right moment – he couldn't go running off on a quest of his own when Middle Earth was still crippled. And now, with high summer approaching, the perfect time to travel was fast arriving, and he was ready to leave. Arwen and Aragorn were more than happy here in Gondor, and the walls of Minas Tirith were finally being rebuilt. The Elves were leaving for the Gray Havens, and the race of Men were slowly but surely healing themselves from the savaging Sauron had given them. Two years wasn't enough to fully erase the scars of the land – burnt fields still lay wasted, ashy dust covering once fertile ground, and entire villages had been crumbled to ruins. Long scraping marks were still left in the mighty forests, where ancient trees had been felled, and the land was still diseased with the scourge of Orcs and Wargs.
And the people were still grieving – he knew that Amy and Sam had never slept properly, he knew that Sam still woke in the night, screaming Lizzie's name to the ceiling. Husbands, sons, and fathers were lying cold in their graves, while their families struggled to survive. Amy wrestled with her guilt, her deep longing for her homeland, and it tortured Legolas to see the land he loved – and the woman he loved – still hurt. This is true pain, he told himself as he looked out the window. To be in love with an elleth who cannot love you back, whose home calls to her, even as the sea calls to the Elves.
The doors banged open, and he heard youthful laughter – Amy's high-pitched giggles coupled with Sam's lower chuckles. He turned as they arrived, and offered them both a smile. Two years in Middle Earth suited both of them beautifully – Sam was lean, muscled and strong, tall and sinewy as a young cougar, combined with that ferocious glint in her eyes. As far as he knew, however, Sam had never touched a weapon since she had fought Lizzie – not even to train, not even to hunt. Amy's red hair was back at its proper length, just below her shoulders, and her pale green eyes were still rounded with worry, as always. Both of them were pale, despite being out in the sun – Amy's freckles had melted away, and he missed them. The immortality given to them by the Valar had taken away their cosmetic blemishes, but he still missed Amy's imperfections, her visual discrepancies.
Their personalities were mostly unchanged; Sam was still rough, wild, and crude, although time and war had tempered her anger and replaced it with a quieter grief. Amy still fretted and worried, this part of her intensified under the stress of Middle Earth, and she was still meek and domestic, but she was silent more often these days. Their night terrors were brutal, he knew; Amy's insomnia was a well-known fact among the women. She used to be titled the Night Fairy, for she would wake in the night and complete tasks other girls had left unfinished.
"So, when are we leaving?" Sam asked, tucking in the tunic Amy had given her. She shrugged the material over her shoulders, and that slow, Cheshire cat grin curved her mouth. "And how long do we have?"
Legolas spread the map over the table, outlining their route with a slim, elegant finger. "King Elessar has given us any amount of leave we wish," He answered. "And I believe the travelling time will take at least three months. I would like to spend some time in Imladris once more, and Gimli wishes to go to Fangorn, so I believe we should start out going northwest, along the White Mountain range. By heading that direction, we should pass through the Gap of Rohan with ease, past Edoras, and along the northern territory of Dunland."
"Will it be dangerous?" Amy asked, ever the sensible one.
"The Dunlanders are still slightly hostile," Legolas admitted. "But the Rohirric soldiers should keep us safe to a certain point. From then on, I am moderately confident that we should encounter no enemies, save wild animals."
Sam shrugged. "So we get to see Imladris. Awesome." The girls had heard tales of the legendary place, and Sam had a private goal to see all the citadels of Elves. "What about when we get to Lothlorien?"
"We can spend any amount of time that we wish there," Legolas said with a slight smile. "And I hear you are quite eager to see the Lady of Light again, are you not?"
Not quite, Sam thought privately, because when she thought of the beautiful woods of Lorien, her thoughts turned to a silver-haired Marchwarden. "Yeah. I kinda left there on a bad note," She admitted. "And I want to tell her about what happened, too – about Orome and those guys."
Legolas kept his face straight, but he couldn't resist a private, inward smile at the thought of the powerful Valar being referred to as 'those guys'. "Aye, I am sure she will take an interest in the tale." He answered.
"When can we go?" Amy asked, looking excited. Legolas captured the vivid image she presented to him – bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet, pale green eyes wide, red hair coming loose from its braid, lips parted slightly. Horribly dowdy compared to other ellith, but the image of perfection to him.
"By the end of the week, our supplies should be at the level I want them to be," Legolas said with a slight smile. "And then we shall go."
"Awesome," Sam grinned, and tugged her fingers through her brown hair, unraveling the braid.
I have this entire trip to change her mind, Legolas thought as he looked at Amy. I have this entire trip to convince her to love Middle Earth. I will make her see the beauty in this land. And I will, by Eru, make her love me.
A/N: Chapter one! Sorry it's so short. But please review and tell me what you think! This will be a slow-moving story, with plenty of stories and flashbacks and fluffy moments. The first half will be mostly Amy/Legolas, and the second half will be Haldir/Sam moments. xD
Don't forget to vote for the cutest couple! Poll is in my profile! :) You can select two choices.