I wrote this fic several years ago, and I just now rediscovered it. I decided to post it here as a "what not to do". It's got it all: Mary-Sue, poor and implausible plot, far too many page breaks, and an attempt at a lemon that is memorable for its sheer awfulness. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: After reading this, I am sure you will all join me in thanking Eru that I did not write LOTR, and therefore do not own it. And I'm most certainly not making any money off of this!

Till the Stars Turn Cold

After the skirmish, Allith lay back in the hammock. It had been a long day, and she was sure that Legolas was just as tired as she was, if not more so. The dear boy! Although he was nearly two-thousand years older than she, his boyish ways had earned him that nickname. Before they were even married, she had called him that. Allith could hardly believe that it had been a year since they had joined hands. It seemed like only yesterday! She thought back on how it had all started….

Allith was a young lady of the Rohirrim, no more than sixteen. She had been invited to Eowyn and Farimir's wedding because she had been a good friend of Eowyn's in Rohan. It was at the wedding that she saw him, a lone elf, clad in light green, standing a little to the side. Her eyes met his and her heart skipped a beat. She thought "If this isn't love at first sight, I don't know what is." Still she was somehow too shy to talk to him, afraid that if she told him how she felt he would think her a lunatic. She could not have borne that! Suddenly she realized that he was coming towards her, with that strange look in his eyes that she felt in her own.

"Hello," He said, still looking at Allith with that strange look in his eyes. A commonplace greeting, but Oh! What a tone it had been said in! His voice was a delight; deep, smooth, it's very sound a caress. It was as if he was saying "I love you" with his eyes. Allith felt that the room was beginning to go 'round, and a blush rose to her cheeks.

"H-Hello" she stammered in pretty confusion. "My-my name's Allith" she added, thinking that he must believe she was crazy to be behaving in this manner. The elf, however, was thoroughly charmed, and anyway, Allith was not the only one who had experienced love at first sight.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said in that round, caressing tone "My name's Legolas." As Allith talked to Legolas, they only fell more deeply in love. They had been betrothed by the end of the month. Although it was a strange thing, for an elf to marry a mortal, they felt that they could not wait any longer.

Allith shook her head with a sigh. There had been a battle that day, for though the ring had been destroyed, rebel bands of Uruk-hai, or goblins from the mountains, came down occasionally, and had to be fought off. Today's band was bigger, and had presented a much more united front and a more scientific strategy. They seemed to be more…evil. No other word can describe it. There had been casualties on their side, which was more than could be said for most of these small skirmishes.

Allith had been in the battle of course, nothing could have kept her away if Legolas was there, but she had been obliged to stay at the back. Not even her stubbornness could get her to the front lines where Legolas was. She had taken down several Uruk-hai with her bow, but her greatest joy had been after the battle, when she had seen her beloved husband, and known for sure that he was safe.

Now Allith was tired. The battle had lasted for hours, and run to safety with the rest of the women and children she would not! She had been puzzled earlier by the strangeness of the strategy, but now all that her mind wanted was sleep. She walked back to their house in Ithillien very quietly, so as not to disturb Legolas, who was asleep already. She didn't think that she'd ever get used to the elfin way of sleeping, with your eyes open, but his eyes were so beautiful that she had stopped minding. Within minutes, she had joined him in sleep.

Something was wrong. Allith couldn't put her finger on it, but there was, just the same. It had started the day of the large battle. She confided in her husband, and he confessed that he had been feeling the same way. They couldn't understand it. The weather was the same. Their small house in Ithillien looked the same that it always had, with its murals of the forest on every side just as bright as ever. Yet a shadow seemed to hang in the air, pervading even the sunniest days with a darker feeling than there should be.

There were also strange rumors coming from Rohan these days. Messengers were fewer and farther between than they ought. Yet there was still naught concrete to go on until one day when a delegation from Rohan came into Gondor. They gave a note to king Elessar that read simply thus:

Rohan no longer wishes to be an ally of Gondor.

There was no explanation for this strange massage. Allith was scared. What were her countrymen doing? Then king Elessar rode to Rohan himself to reason with king Theoden. What transpired Allith only learned after, however, I will tell it to you in more detail than she heard it and I will tell it now, rather than when she heard it.

Aragon entered the hall of Edoras where Theoden had arranged to meet him. He looked different, older yet with a strange glint in his eye that had not been there before. He did not rise to meet Aragon, but remained seated until Aragon was standing before him. Aragon asked why Theoden had decided to break off their alliance.

"Alliance" sneered Theoden."Alliance! With you fools! Are we not Rohan, The mighty? You speak as is you did not know what had happened."

"Indeed, I do not know." Said Aragon warily, for it was obvious that something was amiss. "Pray tell, what has happened?"

"We are no longer Rohan, ruled by Theoden king." Answered the latter, "We are Rohan, ruled by Saruman the Great! Saruman has implanted his mind inside us and will now live on forever!" At that instant, a great wind blew through the palace, sweeping Aragon out of the palace and into his 'entourage outside. Arwen, who was waiting outside, came over to him.

"Estel, are you alright?" She inquired of him anxiously.

"I'm alright." He answered grimly "But we may have more of a mess on our hands than we thought.

When Allith heard what had transpired, she was devastated. Her own countrymen turned evil! Then the word came that the Rohirrim were marching on them, and that the people of Gondor were called to arms. This news brought tears into her eyes. Fight against the Rohirrim! How could she! And yet she knew that she must. She prepared for departing the next day with a heavy heart. Legolas knew her grief, and thought of a good way to comfort her …

Allith came into the house. All was quiet. Then she heard a voice behind her. It was Legolas. He looked extremely handsome with a bare chest he stepped forward and put his arms around her waist. His fingers found their way onto her chest and he began undoing the buttons. At the same time he began gently kissing her neck. She felt that she was diving into a pool of touch that she never wanted to leave. The battle may have been the next day, but at that moment, she and her wonderful husband were the only two people on earth.

The next day they left to march with the troops. As Allith walked into the camp, she spied Eowyn, sitting on a large rock. She ran over to her and took her hand "Eowyn" she cried, taking her friends hand. Nothing more needed to be said but they stayed together for a moment in mute sympathy. Then Allith was called to stand with the archers, and the two had to part, but Allith was comforted that one other person in this camp understood what she was going through. For, as nice as Legolas was, he couldn't understand.

The approaching Army could now be seen clearly. Next to Theoden rode Eomer. A wave of pity washed over her. Poor Eowyn! Then her heart stopped. Nearby, her father walked! No! It could not be….but it was. Her tears were stopped by a young elf girl (young for elves, that is, she was nearly 5oo!) who she knew slightly. She struggled to remember her name. Ten…Tin…"Tinuel" she said finally, "Quel re'"

"Mae gonnaven" Tinuel replied. Then she noticed the tears in Allith's eyes. Misinterpreting them, she added "fear not for your husband's safety, for he is a great warrior. He will survive."

"It's not that" Allith answered, her eyes again filling with tears. "How can I fight my countrymen, my father, my brothers….." her voice trailed off, and a sob came into her throat.

"I'm sorry" sympathized Tinuel. "If it's any help to you, remember that these are no longer your relatives. They have been invaded by an evil force." Her words helped Allith to see things in a different light. She hardened her heat and stooped the tears. All of a sudden, a volley of arrows swept through the battle field. She ducked and let of and with a yell of" Amin khiluva lle a' gurtha ar' thar', the battle cry of the elves, she let off her arrow along with the other archers. It found its mark. She had purposefully targeted the far side of the army from her father. He may have had to be killed, but she could not bear to do it.

When the battle was over, Allith ran towards the front, looking for Legolas. Where was he? Finally she spotted him. "Oh, my love" she cried as she ran into his arms, crying with relief and strain.

"There, there, melanin, it's alright" he said soothingly. "I understand how hard this has been for you." Hey stood there for some time in each other's arms. It was comforting to Allith and her tears ceased. They then made their way slowly towards their house.

One day Legolas came in, sadly, slowly." I have bad news for you, melanin" he said. "Word has come that all elves must leave middle earth. I am trying to obtain passage for you, but it may be difficult…." Tears filled both of their eyes.

"They will have to tear me from you!" Allith cried passionately. At that moment Gimili walked in, wearing an expression of complete satisfaction.

"Guess what!" he cried "the lady Galadriel has arranged that I may sail westwards! Think of that, a dwarf sailing to Valinor! "The only response he got was to have the door slammed in his face. Hot tears of frustration rolled down Allith's cheeks. It was unfair that a dwarf should get to sail to Valinor , while she, married to an elf, should stay behind. It was more than unfair, it was intolerable! She went off to talk to Thrandull about it.

Thrandull heard her indignant tale and promised that he would attempt to arrange it. A few days later, Legolas came running up to her with a radiant face, she could go! Now it seemed that her hart was full, she would never again want anything else.

Allith thought back on those words that she had said many years ago. Although she had meant it at the time, there was something that she did want: youth. She had lived nigh well 100 years in Westerness, and age was beginning to catch up with her. She did not want youth for her own sake, but for Legolas's. she saw how worried he was for her, for though she was as beautiful as ever, she was growing weaker and weaker. She wondered what he would do when she was gone. She was everything to him, and though from her standards she had lived a long time, it would seem like an early death to Legolas.

Her premonition came true, and Allith died peacefully in her sleep soon after. Legolas was heart-broken. He did not eat or sleep. The elves whispered among themselves that he was dying of grief, one of the few ways elves could die. Less than a week after Allith's death he died too, but with a smile on his face. His friends could not understand it, had he not died sad? But here is the truth. Allith had come to him as he died, not Allith as he remembered her, old, with silver hair, but Allith as she had been on their weeding day. And taking his hand, they had sped away to a place that no man, mortal or immortal, can describe. And as far as I know, they live there to this day.

AN: Sooo…how many brain cells did you lose? Also I feel compelled to point out that believe it or not, my self-insert was actually Tinuel, the random elf that gives Allith bad advice right before the battle. And yet Allith is also a sort of self-insert, whether I meant her to be or not. The point is that I had no idea what I was doing when I wrote this fic. I am only posting it on here because in retrospect it is rather funny.

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