AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow, another chapter! I'm on a roll! Go me! Ok, anyway, just to give you a heads up, this chapter gets rather mushy at the end, and it will most likely not be the last mushy bit in the story. I hope you like it and will review! Reviews keep me writing!

Change: The next two weeks were very difficult for Aldeon and I. Our mother seemed to waste away before our very eyes. Strangely, though, I never once saw her cry. We had to take care of her, making sure she ate and slept. She would have sat by the window nonstop if we had not made sure it was otherwise. I had taken over my mother's role completely, cooking meals, washing clothes, cleaning, even making sure Aldeon got out of the house every once in a while.

"Go!" he insisted. I glared at Aldeon.

"You cannot tell me what to do," I answered stubbornly. "I am fine, and besides, I need to take Mother to the stream to bathe, then I must start luncheon. I also have to wash clothes. I have no time to go anywhere." Legolas sighed, moving from where he was standing in the doorway to sit in a chair in the kitchen. He and Aldeon exchanged a look of exasperation before my brother continued his argument.

"You have hardly left the house in weeks. You have done everything around here, not letting me help you except when I force my assistance upon you. You cannot work nonstop, you need to take a break. Mother's bath can wait, and I can handle luncheon, and dinner, for that matter. Go. Now."

Legolas had come to try to get me out of the house for the day. I had of course declined, saying I had too much to do, but Aldeon had overheard and insisted that I go. I really wanted to, but there was too much to be done.

"You have been out of the sun so long I would not be surprised if you did not remember what it looked like," said Legolas. I scowled at him.

"You may have servants and whatnot to take care of you at the palace, but not all of us have that luxury," I said angrily. I wanted to go, but knew I should not, and their attempts at changing my mind was not making it any easier to refuse. Legolas's eyes narrowed on me.

"Insulting me is not going to make me withdraw the offer," he said.

"It was not an insult, it was a fact," I stated. I saw that Legolas and Aldeon were not budging. "No amount of persuasion is going to make the work I have to do disappear. Now, If you will excuse me." I headed for the pile of dirty clothes.

"Oh, no," said Legolas as he stood to grab my arm. "You are going with me, if I have to drag you out kicking and screaming." I could tell by the determined look in his eyes that he would not hesitate to do so.

"And I suppose the clothes will wash themselves while I am gone?" Aldeon stepped between me and the clothes while Legolas still held my arm.

"I never thought the day would come when I would have to force you away from laundry," he said dryly. I pulled my arm from Legolas's grip.

"A lot of things have happened that we never thought would. Things have changed, and I have changed with them. At least allow me to do the laundry and start luncheon before you force me to go gallivanting throughout the forest." Aldeon held his ground.

"I agree that things have happened that have changed how we must behave, but no matter what has happened, you cannot do everything yourself. You Iwill/I go with Legolas, and when you return, the clothes will be clean, Mother and I will have eaten luncheon, and dinner will be on the stove." I looked at him, then back at Legolas before giving in.

"Fine. But next time, you will not wrest me from my duties so easily." Aldeon sighed.

"You should not have to take on these duties, Mara. You are not yet forty! As you have said, circumstances have forced us to grow up faster than we would like, but you cannot be an adult just because you feel like you need to be. Go, try to enjoy your break. And they will be coming more often," he warned. He looked to Legolas. "Force her to have fun if you must," he ordered seriously before he smiled. Legolas grinned in return before leading me outside.

"Are you happy now that you have hauled me away from my work?" I huffed as I crossed my arms before me.

"Yes," came his simple reply. We walked in silence, me following behind him, until we reached a secluded area of the stream. I stopped by the edge and sighed.

"I am sorry, Legolas," I said, facing away from him. "You are trying to help me and all I can do in return is whine and complain."

"Oh, but you are wrong," he replied from behind me. I tuned to face him, knowing he would explain. "There is a big difference between what you Ihave/I done and what you Ican do. You Ihave/I whined and complained, but you Ican/I stop complaining and have some well-deserved fun," he said as he grinned and pulled off his tunic and waded into the water. When I did not reply, he continued. "Well, if you need some more persuasion." he said as he soaked me with a huge splash. My angry gaze switched between my soaked tunic and him as he waited expectantly.

"Oh, you are going to get it," I said as I stripped of everything but my under tunic and trousers. I had all but given up trying to wear dresses since I had started working around the house. I dove into the water, trying my best to capture Legolas, but he always seemed to elude me. He would jump back or duck under just as I was about to grab him, every time. Once when I resurfaced after diving after, he was nowhere to be seen. I waited a few moments for him before I started to worry. "Legolas, where are you? If you think you are going to jump out and scare me, it will not work." No reply. What if he had passed out or something and sunk? "Legolas, this is not funny!" Suddenly I felt strong hands clamp around my ankles, and I barely had time to shriek before I was dragged beneath the water. I saw a streak of blonde shoot by me toward the surface as I kicked out and pleasingly connected with something. I did not know exactly what it was, but it was Legolas, that was enough for now. I sputtered as I reached the surface, and somehow managed reach out and grab his ear as I was trying to breathe.

"Ow!" he cried, trying to wrench away, only causing himself more pain. I hooked my leg behind his, causing him to fall backwards into the water. I ended up going with him, but it was worth it. Once we both resurfaced, I was satisfied that I had exacted my revenge, but he was not going to let me get away with that. Grinning, he soon had me out of the water, holding me just inches above the surface. "Well?" he said, obviously pleased with himself. I was not surprised with the outcome of our 'water war'; he always won.

"Fine, you win," I grumbled. "But if you were not bigger than me-"

"I know, I know, you would beat me and taunt me for eternity," he said mockingly. I stuck out my tongue and he moved as if to dunk me before I shrieked and clung to his neck.

"If I go down, you are going with me!" I said stubbornly. He shrugged.

"If you insist," I heard him say before he submerged, still holding me. This game continued for quite some time, and when it finally ended, I realized that I had completely forgotten about everything that had happened for a little while. As Legolas was plunging after something that had caught his eye on the bottom, I moved to the edge and sat on the bank.

"What are you doing?" I heard him ask as he joined me. I shrugged absently and laid back to stare up at the treetops. He was silent a few moments before he spoke again. "You should not feel guilty about having fun, you know." I did not even spare him a glance.

"And you should not tell me what I should and should not do, yet you still do." This usually would have silenced him, because he hated to be called bossy(even though he was sometimes), but he would not give up so easily this time.

"Do not change the subject," he objected.

"What subject would that be?" I countered. I could be really uncooperative when I was in one of those moods. He made a frustrated sound and sat up.

"You have been really strong these past couple of weeks, and maybe that is good, but you have taken it to extremes. You will have to be strong without your parents to care for you, but that does not mean you have turn to stone." I was surprised at his vehemence, but you must remember how my life had been for the past few weeks. I suppose part of me had, in fact, turned to stone, but I felt protected by that, and the fact that Legolas was starting to crack that protection scared me. I had not allowed myself a single tear, hardly any emotion at all since I took my mother's place. I could not afford to. I felt like I had to remain stoic. Before I replied, I shrugged as if his words had hardly reached me.

"Perhaps not, though it does seem much easier, does it not?" I picked up a smooth pebble by my side and ran my thumb over it. "A stone has no worries. It just. is. No 'what ifs', no worries about the future." I trailed off as I realized Legolas had tears in his eyes.

"How can you say that?" he said. "I feel like I am losing you, Mara. I knew this would change you, it was inevitable with your father's death, but you are like a totally different person now. The Mara I knew would never wish to be rock." He paused, staring at me hard with tear-filled blue eyes. I felt the stone inside me begin to crumble under his intense gaze. "The Mara I knew would have considered all the things a rock cannot do. A rock cannot watch the sunrise, go swimming, smell the damp air after the rain," he said, naming some of what he knew were some of my favorite simple things to do. I knew my stone had been reduced to dust, dust that was washed away by the tears that began running down my face.

"She would also have realized that stones have no friends who can bring them back to reality when needed," I managed to get out as I raised my eyes to meet his. "I wish I could be like that again. Things were so much easier when I was naturally optimistic about everything, but now it seems as if I automatically assume the worst about everything. I.but what can I do?" I choked out as a sob worked its way out. Legolas automatically pulled me to him, and I melted into him. I did not even think about how this scene may look to someone else, the prince of Mirkwood holding a village girl, both half dressed, even though he was only comforting me. "What can I do?" I repeated. "Mother is dying. I am sure of it. She will leave us within days; she cannot last any longer than that. After that, what can Aldeon and I do? He will want to join the guard to support us, but after what happened to Father. I cannot let him!" He loosened his grip a little and looked at me.

"Aldeon has been planning on joining the guard for quite some time; since long before you two found out about your father's death." When I tensed at this, he quickly continued. "He was planning on telling you and your mother the day the army returned. He has not told you yet because he knew your reaction would be. other than joyful."

" 'Other than joyful'? Is that ever the understatement of the-"

"Will you at least hear me out?" Legolas cut in and I reluctantly agreed. "You know Aldeon has wanted to join the guard since he was an elfling; you always thought he had grown out of that phase, but he did not. He knows he will make a good soldier, and he is of the right age to enter training. I know you will worry for him, but things will go much better if you do not try to stop him. He is very determined; he will go anyway, but he will regret your disapproval the entire time." I sighed, knowing he was right.

"So I should not try to stop him so he will not worry about me as much." I yawned with the last words and shifted so I was lying back.

"Taking a nap?" asked Legolas.

"No, just getting comfortable."