The Wind Beneath My Wings

A/N: This chapter is exactly the same as the previous with added lyrics to show where in the song I gained the inspiration.

Love may not make the world go round, but it makes the ride worthwhile

Unknown

Venea turned to answer yet another question on how she had saved Mirkwood from a recent attack by a broken but determined band of orcs, most of the survivors of the War of the Ring, who had decided Gondor was too well protected, but Mirkwood would be the perfect place for revenge, from one of the many elves gathered. She and Aswen had just escaped… um… been released from the healing rooms after the fight nearly two weeks ago. Aswen, obviously, was healing much better than Venea and had been feeling better for days, unfortunately for her the healer was a stubborn man who carefully averted his gaze when Aswen had tried the look so she had been stuck there. Thinking of her friend, Venea turned to her right, where Aswen had been walking minutes before when they left the Healing Wing, but was surprised to find that no-one was there. Answering the elf's question and looking for her best friend at the same time was difficult but Venea managed and eventually found the elusive she-elf two steps behind her, looking every inch the submissive servant rather than the heroic best friend that Venea knew her to be.

You always walked a step behind.

The Princess stopped and frowned, causing several elves currently shouting questions to wisely decide to ask later and back up slightly. Aswen looked up from where she had been looking to the floor, avoiding the gazes of those around her when she noticed Venea had stopped.

Venea turned to face her fully, continuing to frown and Aswen raised one eyebrow in a silent, but readable question. Vena looked around, desperately searching for somewhere private to talk to her friend. Legolas and Eldreth, like the rest of the massed elves, watched the exchange, but were the only two who knew what was being said. Standing back, they helped widen the search. Unfortunately, they where stood in the Entrance Hall and there were few doors leading off that weren't also swamped by elves waiting to enter the Great Hall for the celebration party The King had organised. Legolas suddenly remembered one room he was sure would be empty, he was also sure his wife and her best friend wouldn't be thrilled, but it would have to make do, Venea obviously had something she wanted to ask Aswen, and it looked important. Motioning to Eldreth and lightly taking his wife's arm, he was pleasantly surprised when both women allowed themselves to be dragged along, although he could feel the heat on the back of his head when he steered them towards the door he had chosen, Aswen obviously knew what lay behind that door. His wife didn't and allowed herself to be led into… a broom cupboard.

It might have appeared to go unnoticed, but I have it all here in my heart

Aswen tensed slightly but followed her best friend into the cupboard, raising an eyebrow as she heard the door close and their respective husbands stand guard, refusing to allow anyone access while the friends had a rare chance for a truly private conversation. Aswen opened her mouth to ask what was troubling her friend but Venea beat her to speech.

"Why do you do that?" Aswen's raised eyebrow twitched slightly as it struggled for more height.

"Why do I do what? I wasn't aware…"

"That…" Venea waved an arm in the direction of the Entrance Hall the pair had been stood in moments ago as if it would help Aswen suddenly understand. It didn't. "That…" Venea sighed and tried to think of a way to explain what she meant. "That wolf attack two summers ago, you fought amazingly, nearly died saving me, then allowed everyone to congratulate me for single-handedly saving the kingdom. And now, you risked everything to the Orc leader, you faked your own death, and again risked your life to save mine, repeatedly."

So I was the one with all the glory, while you were the one with all the strain.

Aswen's eyebrow found a way to reach a new height and she was about to speak when Venea showed she hadn't finished. "You defeated him, you nearly had to watch me die, and it was your training that saved my life, and your skill that finally brought her down" Aswen opened her mouth to ask what was wrong with that but Venea still wasn't finished. "You are the heroine here, if it wasn't for you, I would be dead in the woods and Mirkwood would be under the rule of that… that…" Venea struggled for a word that could describe the Orc leader she had had the misfortune to meet.

Did you ever know that you're my hero?

"Revenge-obsessed psychopath?" Venea smiled and nodded.

"Yes! If you hadn't been there, no one in that room would be able celebrate anything, they'd be…Dead or sold as slaves or something! Yet you follow behind me with your eyes down, in a subservient manner, as if you were my servant instead of my saviour. It isn't, nor has it ever been necessary."

"They may feel differently, you are their Princess, it took them a long time to accept that, and I think they need to know your strength and ability to protect them, even though any elven Princess would probably see themselves as above that. Apart from Arwen."

"Know of my ability to protect them? If it wasn't for your ability to protect me, the only thing I would have any chance of protecting would be six feet of earth." Aswen smiled, desperately trying to make Venea see the problem from her eyes, she was a Princess, and she should take the glory. Unfortunately, Venea had very different ideas, she couldn't understand the need for her to take the credit for a job someone else had done.

I would be nothing without you

"Venea, you are Royalty, I am I subject, no matter what way you look at it, I am a Lady yes, but below you in rank and it is my duty to let you be seen in the best way possible.

"So you are content for everyone to think bad of you as long as they see me through rose tinted glasses?"

You were content to let me shine

Aswen nodded, glad that Venea finally seemed to seeing the problem from Aswen's point of view. Venea's next sentence, however, proved this not to be the case. "No, no! I won't allow it! You are an amazing person and people can't see it because you are too busy making me look good. No!" Aswen made to interrupt but Venea stopped her "Aswen you are my best friend, the only person other than our husbands who I feel truly comfortable with in Mirkwood and I won't let you show yourself in bad light. That isn't how friendship works. Yes, each person helps each other, but they don't then step back and let the one with the highest rank take the glory. Friendships are a form of a partnership, with both partners on equal footing. I have more than enough subjects, what I need is a friend." Aswen stood silent for a moment, and Venea noticed with some amusement that for the first time in their seven and a half year friendship that the elf was completely speechless. Aswen eventually found her voice.

"I am honoured to be able to say I am your friend, but I have been trained since childhood how to behave around Royalty and for several hundred years how to act as their protector." Aswen's voice dropped to an almost whisper and Venea only just caught the next words. "I don't know how to be a friend with you when around other people." Venea laughed and Aswen looked up slightly, but her friend wasn't laughing at her.

"Oh Aswen, just be the friend you are in private, I don't want there to be a difference. You don't have to hide your true self from anyone, they make like it, they may not, but at least if they don't, it's the real you that they don't like and not the mask you put on for the world." Aswen smiled through damp eyes and Venea pushed her point. "And if they do like you, the same thing stands, you don't have to worry about losing anyone's respect if they ever glimpse the real you." Venea smiled again and Aswen realised that the small, stuffy broom cupboard looked brighter when she did. Venea's next words were a lot quieter than her previous speech had been and Aswen was glad for her elven hearing. "It may shock you to learn this, but you are an incredible person Aswen and now, I will give you an order, the only one I will ever give you: Never forget it." Venea squeezed her friend's shoulder as she left the tiny room to give Aswen time to pull herself together.

Almost as soon as the door closed behind her she was immediately swamped by elves and questions. Stepping back behind the solid forms of Eldreth and her husband, she raised her hands for silence. It followed moments later when Legolas raised an eyebrow at the still chattering elves and managed to stare most of them into submission.

"I will not be answering any further questions, nor will I explain why I pulled Aswen into a broom cupboard other to say that I felt that I had something I needed to say to my friend in private, now please, make your way into the Great Hall, entertainment and refreshments are being provided there." Amidst a lot of grumbling and shuffling of feet the elves moved into the next room, leaving the Entrance Hall deserted but for the three of them. It was then that Aswen decided to surface. Motioning for the men to move ahead of them slightly, Aswen fell into step with her friend.

"Thank you Mellon-nin." Venea raised an eyebrow.

"For what?"

"For giving me wings and enabling me to fly." Venea smiled.

"Then thank you Mellon-nin." This time Aswen raised her own eyebrow.

"For what?"

"For been the wind beneath my wings and enabling me to soar."

I can fly higher than an eagle, for you are the wind beneath my wings