Home Alone with Legolas 3

Legolas sighed happily and climbed into bed. Pulling the sheets over his chest, he thought of her. What was she doing right now? He replayed meeting her in his mind, and smiled. He always knew something would happen.

The pleasant thoughts were interrupted by a quick rap on the door. Tugging the sheets around himself, Legolas went to see who it was.
Standing in the threshold, in a pale blue dress similar to Clair's, was the one she-elf he didn't expect to see.
"Nuemeril," he breathed.
Nuemeril cocked her head to one side and said coyly, "Hello, fiancé."

Clair was rooted to the spot in dismay. Uncle Eddie broke the silence.
"I want the spell," he stated urgently, not like him at all. Clair gaped at him.
What the heck was going on?
"Give it to me, then I'll let your mother go."
Dumbfounded, Clair rummaged in her pocket and gave him the paper. Uncle Eddie pushed her mum to her. Clair held her arm protectively.
It was a tense moment.

Uncle Eddie smiled strangely. "I'll just tweak this a bit, shall I?

In the depths of my mind I know,
To Mordor do I wish to go."

Suddenly Uncle Eddie seized Clair's arm in a vice-like grip, making the three linked. Whoosh!
They were gone.

Legolas was standing on the balcony off his bedroom when Lady Galadriel rushed through.
"Legolas!" she panted (in a dignified, Elvish way, of course). "You know of my magic mirror, the one that tells me the future?"
Legolas frowned. "Yes."
"Well I was just looking in it to decide what I was going to have for tea when I saw Clair."
"You don't know what she looks like."
"Arwen told me. But that's not the point. There was a man with her - Sauron."
Legolas' heart froze. "Lady Clair is with the Dark Lord?" He asked slowly, hoping it wasn't true.
"I think she's been taken captive. We need to get to Mordor as soon as possible."

"Ow..." the three had landed on their butts in a large cavern, all save Uncle Eddie who was laying motionless on Clair's right. She was rubbing her behind which was, thankfully, going numb. Clair reached over to her mother and untied her wrists and gag.
"Where are we?" the woman asked shakily.
"You are in the Dark Lord's private rooms." A deep voice boomed from all around them. No one was in sight.
Then, out of a shadow, stepped a dark, deeply handsome man dressed in black. The flames of burning torches on the walls made his hair shine.
Coordinated, Clair thought.
"I am the Dark Lord." As he spoke, pointed teeth jabbed out from his lips. "I manipulated this man to bring me the spell -" he bent down and searched Uncle Eddie's pockets carefully " - but it seems the fool has dropped it."
What was he going to do with them? Clair's mind raced to think of something.
"I have another copy!" she lied through her teeth. The Dark Lord gazed up at her. It was strange that he was so... captivating.
"I'll give it to you if you let us out of here," she rushed.

Her fingers ached, they were crossed so tight.

The Dark Lord smirked. "Alright, I didn't want you anyway. That was your Uncle grabbing you, trying to get back control of his body." He stood and stretched, then held out a hand. "The spell," he commanded, as one who is used to telling stupid Orc what to do.
Clair tugged a piece of paper out of her long white skirt - she so wasn't dressed for this - and the Dark Lord let his strong fingers brush hers as he slipped it out of her hand. He smiled the smile you see on the face of Estate agents. "Thank you." He clicked his fingers. Clair and her mum disappeared.

The next thing Clair knew, she was in the dark. She opened her eyes. She was still in the dark. It's very uncomfortable when you can't see a thing.
Clair felt her mum beside her. They were okay. The Dark Lord's voice boomed out, "In case you're wondering what your death will be, you are about to drown inside a brilliantly crafted wooden box. Don't worry, it will be reasonably fast."

Clair spun round, sitting on the cold, hard floor. Stone slabs. The sound of water wasn't slow at all. It came from a thin ray of light through a metal grille in the wall. But Clair and her mum weren't alone - there was something that was tinged in colour, and had a strange shape. It was long and thin and -
"There's a dead body in here!" Clair's mum shrieked with terror.
Clair was glad she didn't have her view. "Calm down, Mum," she said, not very calm herself. "We need to get out of here, right? Then we need to see if this guy has anything that can help us."

Clair didn't have a chill down her spine - it was frozen solid. Just there. Something glinted in the scant light. Metal. A sword. Good... What could they do with it? They couldn't cut their cell down - it was way too strong.

Yeuch - the water touched Clair's ankles and her skirt glued itself to her legs. She inhaled sharply - so cold. Where did it come from? Clair moved, freezing, to the grille and tugged it with both hands. No use. It seemed to be welded to the wall.
She heard her mum quietly snuffle beside her. She held her close. "It's okay Mum. If the water gets really high, we'll just have to swim."

The water got really high, very quickly.

Soon they were gasping for air, soaked to the skin and freezing. The ray of light was closing up. Darkness loomed all around them.
Clair had to stay afloat, had to breathe, but her limbs were beginning to ache. She was going to go under again, she knew it, and this time she might not come up alive.

Legolas had taken a black horse (it made him look cooler) and galloped his way to Mordor. He was heading straight for the dark, gloomy building in the mountains - he figured dark, gloomy creatures like the Dark Lord would like to hang out there.

He burst through the thick wooden doors and slowed to a stop. Jumping from his horse, he gazed around at the dark, gloomy building's interior. Surprisingly, it looked extravagant.
His sharp eyes captured the Dark Lord at once.
"What have you done with her?" he demanded.
The Dark Lord smirked. "In there," he gestured lazily to another door. From inside his cloak he withdrew a glinting knife.
"Would you care to join her?"

Legolas was pushed through the door. The room before him was vast and completely dark; a man couldn't see a thing.
Fortunately, Legolas wasn't a man.

A torch glowed wearily on the wall behind him. The Dark Lord did that boomy thing with his voice again (it obviously gives him an ego boost) and said, "Your lady is drowning in a box in front of you. You can stay in there and listen to her die, or come out and let me kill you."
Legolas' eyes focused on the other side of the otherwise empty room. There was a wall the height of two men, made of horizontal wooden planks. It was a box, and Legolas could hear water rushing in from inside it.
Legolas called out, "Clair?"
"Legolas?" the replying voice was high and caught between a question and a choke, but he knew it was her.
"What is it like in there?" he echoed.
"Freezing, deep and freezing." Clair mumbled.
"I mean how deep is the water?"
"I can't touch the bottom. I'm really tired."
"Lay on your back!" Legolas yelled to be heard over the noise of the water. "Don't wear yourself out!"
"Uh, my Mum's in here." Clair said conversationally.
Legolas thought frantically. "Clair!" he called. "Can you see any way out?"
"Yeah," came the quiet reply. "There's a door at the top, but it's too high up to reach."
"Wait until the water takes you higher."
"It's got a lock on it." Shoot. The torch!
"Lady? I have a torch - if I can get on top of the... thing, I can set the door alight. The wood still being dry, that is."
"Hurry up then!" Clair called, losing strength.
"I would, but I cannot see a way to climb this wall of wood!" Legolas called back. Their voices echoed in the big room. "If there was something like a ledge, I could jump halfway up and throw the torch on top."
"Good plan," Clair told him. "But we haven't got anything to... the sword! There's a dead guy in here, and he's wearing a sword -"
"- If you could push it through the wooden planks, it could lever me to the top!" Legolas finished for her.
"Where is the body?"
"Floating with us, unfortunately. I don't want to go anywhere near it."
"You have to. Clair, take his sword. Don't touch him if you can help it. Just concentrate on the sword."
"I'll have to touch it! I can't see a thing!"
"Please Clair! You'll drown if you don't!"
"I can't!"
"Don't be so foolish!" Legolas shouted angrily. Clair was quiet. For a while, all he could hear was the water rushing about. Then Click! Shove!
"I've got it!" Clair yelled to Legolas. "Okay..." She gripped the sword underwater and struggled to swim to a side. She shoved the end she wasn't holding into the dark, hard wood. With any luck, it would be a bit softer with all the water it held.

Unfortunately, wet wood doesn't do that.
"It's stuck!" Clair called. "Can you see it?"
"No," Legolas called up. "Give it another shove - it has a lot of wood to go through."
"I'll help." Clair's mum seemed to have come out of her trance. Clair smiled gratefully and the two threw their weight on the sword.
"I can see it!" Legolas' voice was very pleased. Now knowing they could reach halfway, Legolas had to act fast. He needed to get to the top before they did, or he might catch them with the fire - or worse. On the other hand, with so much water, the fire might not start at all.

Legolas grabbed the torch from its holder on the wall and ran-and-jumped, balancing expertly on the tip of the protruding sword. He wound his arm back and threw the sword with all his strength. It landed on the top just out of his view, and the trapdoor burst into flames.
Clair spied the lock on the trapdoor. "Mum!" she gasped. "Link your finger through the hole!"
Mum did. Clair's lungs were burning, but she knew she would never make it if her Mum stopped breathing.
"I'm on top!" Legolas called to them. Clair's hopes rose with the water, which just about left them space for their heads.
"Legolas!" she called frantically. "Please hurry!"
"Get away from the lock!" came the reply. The fire on the little door grew bigger. The wood began to scorch and break. "Have you still got the sword?"
Clair thought. "No, it's halfway down, still stuck in the wood!" she panted.
"We need it to prise the lock with. It will get you out faster." Legolas couldn't touch the lock or he'd burn his fingers. Slowly the wood crackled and splintered. Clair took the biggest breath of her life and ducked under, next to the wooden wall. All she had to do was go down... she gasped and nearly choked; the decomposing body had bumped into her leg. She pushed down, and her hand grazed the end of the sword's handle. Yes! She was running out of air. Quickly, quickly... got it! Clair tugged with every fibre of her muscles she had. It was very stiff - it had been pushed in with the strength of two, after all. She tugged the sword to one side, then the other, loosening it. Her chest was going to explode, but if she didn't pull it out now, she could lose it in the dark. There wasn't time for getting air. Pull!

The whole cell let out a groan as the sword came free. Yes! Yes! Clair bolted up to the surface, to find her mouth stayed under. No room. She leaned her head back like her Mum was doing.
"Clair!" Legolas called. He didn't have to be so loud now - the water was quieter because the cell was so full. "Hurry, or the water will put the fire out too soon!"
Clair slammed the sword up into the wood next to the lock. It sizzled and cracked further, further... the wood split away from the lock. Legolas, seeing this, grabbed the toasted material and tugged at the door. It broke into three shards as it came free.
A strange woman's head bobbed up through the hole, gasping for air. She was very pale.
"Good to meet you," Legolas said politely. "Mrs. Clair, I presume?"
He heaved the soaking woman out, and Clair's head came up. "Hey," he said soothingly and did the same.
"Oh geez it's cold!" Clair exclaimed, hugging herself tightly. Legolas frowned. "I thought you said it was cold in there?"
"It was," Clair told him, "But you warm up when you're kicking for your life." Clair glanced at her mum, as Legolas wrapped his thick cloak around her. The poor woman looked quite ruffled.
"So... you haven't got anything to warm me up with?" Clair asked hopefully. Legolas smiled at her fondly. "For you Lady, I saved my arms."

They practically fell through the door, exhausted. The Dark Lord spun round. "You should be dead! Not that it matters - you will be when I destroy your world!" he held up the paper Clair had given him and jeered, "Let's see: Thank you for shopping at Woolworth's - what?!" Clair stared at him and burst out laughing. "That's not the spell!" she giggled. "Look - it's a Woolworth's receipt! I lied!" The Dark Lord lost his smile. "I'll kill you!" he boomed, marching towards them.

"Oh no you won't!" Legolas grabbed a new torch from the wall and threw it at him. The Dark Lord screamed in terror as the flames roasted his clothes and engulfed him in seconds. He was a stumbling fireball.
"Run!" Legolas yelled, and they did. Out of the building, down the mountain of shadow, almost to the very edge of the dark land. The fire had caught the structure; now the building was alight.

Clair and her mum were running on pure adrenaline, energy spent. Legolas helped them along; the building would be completely swallowed any moment. The flames licked higher. They had to get out of there.

"Wait!" Clair exclaimed suddenly, struck by a thought. She tottered to a stop with her heart pounding in her head, and stammered, "Uncle Eddie. He's still in there." Her eyes grew dark with threatening tears. How could they have left him? Was he even alive?

Legolas saw the pain on his love's face, and made an instant decision. He spun on his heel and ran for all he was worth, back to the building of flames.
"No!" Clair shrieked behind him. "Don't be a plonker!" She couldn't lose him too... please. She couldn't run any more. If she sat down her legs would refuse to get up again.

Then out of the fire galloped a magnificent black horse. It stopped next to Clair and shuffled its feet, as if it was waiting for something.
"Can you take us to Lothlorien ?" Clair panted to it. The horse whinnied. "Okay, Mum?" Clair turned to her. "Can you ride a horse without reins?"

Clair felt numb. After an exhilarating ride on a strange horse, they'd made it to Lorien, been greeted by Galadriel and given dinner. At the table, Celeborn crossed his legs, presumably remembering his confession last time they met.
Clair's thoughts had strayed back to the fire, and Uncle Eddie lying there unconscious... had he woken up? Where was Legolas? Salty tears sprang to her eyes. Galadriel saw and put a comforting arm around her shoulder.
"I'm sorry Clair," she whispered. "I would look in my mirror to see the future but I need to charge its batteries."

The next day Clair managed something she'd never done before - she got up at dawn. Watching the sun rise would have been more romantic, if a certain someone was with her. Wait - what was that? Clair squinted. There was a black wobbling shape in the distance; it was getting closer but obviously moving slowly. Clair watched it intently. She saw colours among the trees of the wood: green and blue. Closer the blob came...

"Clair!" Legolas called to her. She jumped to her feet, beaming at the tall Elf supporting Uncle Eddie, who wasn't quite with it. She ran to hug Legolas, then -
"Legolas!" a she-elf came out of nowhere and threw her arms around the Princes neck. Clair's mouth fell open. "Who are you?" she asked, dumbfounded. The lady looked at her like Clair was chewed gum.

"I'm Nuemeril, Legolas' old flame rekindled." she smiled at the Elf who was trying to wriggle out of her vice-like grip. "We're getting married."
"No we're not." he protested, pushing Nuemeril away. Nuemeril looked surprised. "I'm in love with Lady Clair," he continued, reaching for Clair's hand. "I'm not going to marry you. In fact, I'd only marry Clair." Clair's heart sped up.
"Aaw," Arwen came up behind them, followed by Haldir.
"Aaw, back at you," Clair smiled at Haldir. "I knew you liked her really." Haldir blushed in a dignified, Elvish way. He got pink ears.
Suddenly there was a thump behind Legolas. He and Nuemeril spun round and Clair looked over his shoulder, found she wasn't tall enough, and looked out from under his arm instead.
"Oh, boy," she murmured. "Jake?"

"What are we going to do with him?" Clair asked her mum. The two and Lady Galadriel were sat on a tree trunk looking at a beautiful crystal waterfall. It wasn't very quiet, but it looked nice.
"You should go back, Lady Clair," Galadriel told her. "My mirror has shown me your father will be returning soon; we cannot have even more people finding out about this."
"That includes Jake," her mum added, sniffing. She'd caught a cold from the ice water in Mordor.
"We'll tell him it's a dream, and now it's morning, we'll go and he can wake up in his bed, none the wiser."
"Okay," Clair agreed reluctantly. She hadn't had a single moment alone with Legolas. She was going to have ELW: Elf Love Withdrawal. "I'll talk to Legolas now." she said and left, leaving a wise she-elf and a confused mother. They hadn't been talking about Legolas.

Clair knocked lightly on Legolas' door. She'd changed into a long white dress that had neat ruffles for short sleeves. It wasn't very Elvish; her mum had obviously been talking to Galadriel.

She heard a soft voice inside. "Come in."
Clair entered a plain room decorated with intricately detailed statues. One stood at the head of the bed. Out on the balcony was the tall figure of a handsome Prince. Her Prince.
"Legolas," she said, searching for a way to describe him. "You're looking very... groomed." which was what he usually was, except this time he had removed his tunic. The long blue shirt that covered him was outside his breeches.
"We need to talk about that," Legolas said diplomatically. "About you saying 'you're', instead of 'you are'." he drew his love into his arms. Clair smiled. "What do you mean?"
"I mean instead of 'you're', why not say 'you are'?"
"Hmm. Give me an example."
"Alright. Say I said you are beautiful. What do you say?"
"You are right!" Legolas tickled her stomach. "Cheeky maiden!" Clair laughed.
"You know Legolas, we've never really talked about our, er, relationship."
"Very well. I love you and I would do anything for you." Clair blinked. "Okay." Then she remembered why she had come. "We're leaving today," she told him unhappily. Legolas held her close.
"May I have a kiss first?" Clair smiled coyly.
"What if I say 'no'?" Legolas feigned dismay. "I cannot believe I saved your life and I do not get a kiss for it!" Clair touched his face. Legolas quietened.
"Are you coming back to my world soon?" she whispered to him.
" 'Tis definite, Lady. I am bound by your love." He leaned down and pressed a tender kiss to her lips.

"I have to go HOME?!" Jake exclaimed, dismayed.
"Yes," Galadriel told him. "Now, before you wake up from your dream..." The Elves had gotten very good at this pretence. With any luck, Jake would be none the wiser when they got back.
"I can't believe this!" he complained, not very maturely for his age. "And since when do I dream about my sister?" Clair ignored him and read the spell. She, Jake, their mum and a sobering Uncle Eddie were gone in an inkling.

It was evening in Lothlorien. Legolas was in his room, getting changed. THUMP! he spun round.
"Clair. I was not expecting you for some time." Clair got up from the floor and sat on the bed to calm her aching behind. She shrugged off her backpack.
"How is Uncle Eddie?" Legolas asked sitting next to her. Clair tried not to stare at his bare chest.
"He's going to be okay. And Jake's fooled, except he thought it was a really boring dream 'cos all the Elves kept telling him he was going to wake up." Clair paused. "Legolas?"
"Yes?"
"When you said that thing, about. You know, er... marrying me...?"
"Hmm?"
"Did you like, um..."
"What?"
"Did you mean it?"
Legolas smiled. "I mean everything I say to you."
Clair feigned being offended. "Even when you said I was foolish?"
Legolas frowned. "You know I did not mean that."
"I know."
"But I do mean this." Legolas reached over and slipped his fingers through Clair's. He looked into her eyes and whispered, "I wish you could stay."
"Me too. Hey, I've brought something for you." Legolas looked at her curiously. Clair felt inside her backpack and pulled out a packet of Éclairs. Legolas looked at them, then at Clair, a smile playing on his lips. Clair smiled back.

"Unless of course, you're still afraid of the White Substance."