Wherever We Are
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN LORD OF THE RINGS OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT I REFERENCE! NATALIE AND FRANCESCA OWN THEMSELVES RESPECTIVELY! I ONLY OWN MYSELF AND MY OCS!
Chapter Two
Natalie's POV
I stood at the gates of Minas Tirith until the figures of everyone who'd left that day were nothing but dark blobs on the horizon. Aragorn and Arwen had stood there with me, somehow understanding how I felt. After a while Aragorn put his hand on my shoulder.
"It saddens me to see them leave as well, Natalie. But it is not good-bye forever. We will see them again." Aragorn told me. I smiled slightly, still trying not to cry.
"I know. But that won't be for a while yet. Growing up, I saw them all the time. I'm worried for Olympia and Kate, because Kate is going to go to Rivendell and Olympia's going to stay in Mirkwood. Kate and Olympia have always been together and I don't know what any of us are going to do. Kate's always been there for us, like a voice of reason and an emotional rock." I rambled. Aragorn nodded.
"Natalie you know that your friends will always be there when you need them. I believe that they would come from all four corners of this earth to help you if you do need them." Aragorn told me. Why does he have to give such damn good advice? I wondered.
"Aragorn and I will be here for you as well, Natalie. You can come to me should you need a friend to talk to." Arwen added, coming to stand on my other side. And somehow it doesn't surprise me anymore that she and Kate were such fast friends. Granted, all four of us were pretty fast friends with Arwen, but Kate especially. I thought.
"Thanks. Really, this means a lot to me, especially now." I told them. Both Aragorn and Arwen smiled at me. I resisted the sudden urge to hug them.
"Come. We must find you a permanent place to stay, if you will remain in Gondor." Aragorn said after a while. I nodded and the three of us walked back up towards where Aragorn and Arwen, and all the chief advisors and warriors lived. I looked at the both of them, suddenly very confused.
"Aragorn and I agree that you would make a very good chief advisor in the court." Arwen stated in response to my look. I felt my eyes bug out of my head. That is really awesome. I thought.
"Indeed. You are already a very good warrior and the way I have seen you handle yourself in times of great danger along with your quick wits have convinced me of your potential to give sound advice." Aragorn added. I nodded slowly.
"Thank you. Again! This is really, really nice of you." I told them, not knowing what to say. Arwen laughed a little and then showed me to my rooms.
There was something that looked like a living room of sorts when you first walked into the rooms. It had some comfortable looking chairs and a couch of sorts. Then there was the bedroom and connected bathroom of sorts, a small kitchen like area and a dining room with a small-ish table and some chairs. And this is all mine?! Sweet! I thought.
"I love it." I said to Arwen, who was standing in the living room and smiling after we looked around the place. She smiled.
"I am glad." She replied. Seeing as we were technically in my house now and the door was shut, I turned around and gave Arwen a hug. She laughed and hugged me back.
"Thank you." I whispered.
"You are most welcome." She whispered back. We sat down on the couch and talked for a while. Afterwards, Arwen told me that it was nearly time for dinner.
As we made our way to the great hall, Arwen explained that we were meeting with the few other advisors, the Captain of the Guard, and Faramir, who had been named the Steward, sometime in the next few days. I nodded. After dinner, I went back to my rooms and went to sleep.
*Olympia's POV*
Not long after leaving Minas Tirith, we started following the river Anduin north. Apparently, we would be following the river north, past Lothlórien to the Forest Gates of Mirkwood, then following the elven road through the forest to King Thranduil's Halls in the north eastern corner. At least, that's what I'd been told.
We passed the Falls of Rauros a few days after leaving Gondor. I couldn't help but think of Boromir. The fact that Legolas and Kate suddenly fell quiet told me they were thinking of our fallen friend as well. King Thranduil, Tawarthion and Veryan seemed to notice our sudden mood swing.
"What ails you, brother?" Tawarthion asked, stopping his horse and waiting for Legolas.
"We passed through here with the Fellowship. We were ambushed by Saruman's Uruk Hai and Boromir was killed." Legolas answered.
"This is where we laid him to rest." Kate stated, staring at the waterfall. I nodded. King Thranduil, Tawarthion and Veryan nodded in understanding and it was quiet for the rest of the day.
That night we set up camp in the forests nearby. We'd found a small clearing in the trees to camp and let our horses (and moose-elk) roam for a while. We lit a fire and ate some of the food Aragorn and Arwen had given us for the journey. Between all of us, we had tons of lembas, but we were saving that.
"Olympia, would you be willing to show me some of your self-defense techniques now?" Veryan asked after we ate. I glanced at Kate and we both grinned, standing up.
"Sure! Anyone else?" I replied. Tawarthion and Legolas also stood up. King Thranduil sat near the fire and watched intently.
"Legolas? Olympia has not taught you this yet?" Veryan teased.
"No. She has not. Though I have learned some from watching her, Kate and Natalie." Legolas replied. Tawarthion rolled his eyes a bit and chuckled.
"We haven't taught anyone Spanish yet either." Kate commented. King Thranduil raised an eyebrow.
"Would I be correct in assuming that this Spanish is the language you spoke when explaining to us that you are of another world?" he asked. I glanced and Kate and we both nodded. I then turned to my sister.
"Pero, no quiero enseñar Español a ellos. Me gusta hablando un idioma que ellos no entienden." (But, I don't want to teach them Spanish. I like speaking a language they don't understand) I stated. Kate laughed and everyone else just stared.
"Alright, anyway. I thought we were teaching them Jiu Jitsu." Kate changed the subject with a pointed look at me.
"Yes! We were!" Veryan urged.
"Jiu Jitsu is one of many different forms of martial arts. Kate, Natalie and I used to practice it a lot back home. But Kate had to stop going to the classes because she had a lot of other stuff to do. This particular form of martial arts doesn't require a whole lot of physical strength because it's mainly about using the strength of your opponent against them." I explained.
"That said, physical strength comes in handy when trying to hit your opponent because obviously, the harder you hit, the more it hurts them." Kate added. Tawarthion, Legolas and Veryan nodded in understanding.
"What should we start with?" I asked Kate. Kate screwed her lip to the side and made a face, thinking.
"Let's do some of the beginner stuff first." Kate replied. I nodded.
We spent a little while teaching them some of the easier techniques, along with basic blocks and strikes. After who-knows-how-long with those, they had gotten pretty good and we started moving on. Soon, the three were able to do the basic blocks, hand strikes, kicks and some of the easier wrist locks.
Then, of course, there was the request for Kate and I to do some of the more advanced, and therefore so much more interesting, techniques. Kate and I agreed and showed off some of the judo throws, wrist locks and throws, and other advanced techniques we'd learned in the adult classes.
"Do you want to do more tomorrow?" Kate asked as we all sat down again by the fire.
"Yes!" Veryan replied enthusiastically. Tawarthion and Legolas also wanted to do more. We sat up for a while after that talking. After a while, everyone started to fall asleep and Legolas and I were the only ones awake.
"So what do you think of the Jiu Jitsu so far?" I asked Legolas. He put his arm around my shoulders and I scooted closer to him.
"I am very interested in this art you seem to be so passionate about, my love." Legolas replied. I nodded.
"I've been doing this since I was seven. That makes twelve years, seeing as I technically turned nineteen sometime during our quest. In my world human terms, that's a long time to be doing anything." I stated. Legolas nodded.
"When is your Begetting Day?" Legolas asked. I gave him a look. What's a Begetting Day? I wondered. "Elves believe that life begins at the moment a child is conceived. Therefore we celebrate the day one was begotten in much the same way mortals celebrate the day of birth." Legolas explained, seeing the 'WTF?' look I gave him.
"Oh. Well in that case, my Begetting Day is May 20th, because my date of birth is February 20th." I told him. Legolas furrowed his eyebrows. "What?" I asked.
"Nothing. I forgot for a moment that mortals carry children for nine months. Elves carry for a full year." Legolas told me. I internally winced at the thought of elf women being pregnant for a year. Legolas and I sat in silence for a while. What other elvish traditions am I going to have to learn? I wondered.
"What troubles you, my love?" Legolas asked.
"Okay, I'm seriously considering the possibility that you can read my mind. How is it that you always know when something bugs me?" I mumbled. Legolas chuckled.
"You bite your lip when you are troubled by something. You also stare off into nothing when you think deeply. Did you know that?" Legolas pointed out.
"No. I didn't. I'm just thinking about all the other elvish traditions I'm going to be learning." I told him.
"Do not worry about that, Olympia. We will teach you." Legolas told me. I smiled and leaned my head on his shoulder.
"I love you, Legolas." I whispered.
"I love you as well, Olympia." Legolas replied. He brushed some hair out of my face and turned my chin up towards him. I smiled and leaned in to kiss him. Legolas wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me back. I tangled my hands into Legolas's hair and we stayed like that until we ran out of breath.
"Meep." I stated as I curled up in my blankets next to Legolas. Legolas chuckled softly. "Good night Legolas." I whispered.
"Good night, meleth nîn." Legolas told me. I smiled to myself and went to sleep.
Author's note: Meep! Return of the Fluff Obsession! So yeah, aside from that, I had this idea of Natalie being Aragorn's chief advisor. Though, I know in Middle Earth that's going to cause a lot of controversy because she's a girl. And an independent, sarcastic, stands-up-for-herself kind of girl at that. So I fully intend to explore the controversy and difference of beliefs and opinions with that scenario. I hope you all like that idea. Meep! READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!
