Kayla sat down slowly. She stared unseeing at the wall in front of her. Her mind was racing trying to make sense of what had just happened.

Legolas had kissed her, and she had kissed him back. And when he pulled away, she backed up, and excused herself from the room.

She smacked herself on the head.

"Yea, super smooth, idiot…" She said to herself sarcastically.

She cringed at how badly she had handled the situation. But she hadn't known what to do. She'd never been kissed before!

She touched her lips lightly, a slight smile parting them.

He had kissed her!

The smile disappeared when she remembered what she was supposed to be doing. Finding a way home.

She sighed, and looked around her. It wasn't like she actually wanted to leave. She had been telling the truth, when she told Legolas that this was the first place she felt at home, acceptance of the people, or not. She sighed again. This time it was heavier.

What was she supposed to do about Legolas? She forced herself to stand up. She made herself walk out of her room, and down the hall. She stood uncertainly outside of Legolas's.

He was sitting on the bed staring at the ground. He kept cursing himself in his head. He shouldn't have done that. She walked out so fast...

Kayla cleared her throat, his head snapped up, and his gaze met hers. She felt her face burn red.

"I'm sorry for running out. It was rude." she spoke before he could say anything.

He stood and walked a few steps forward, before stopping himself, and looking just as uncertain as Kayla felt.

"Do not apologize. I should not have acted so rashly. Please accept my apologies. I was the one who was rude."

She stood there shaking her head. "You are an incredibly complicated person."

He furrowed his perfect brow. "I do not understand what you mean."

"You kiss me, and then apologize for it after."

"You ran out, and you had every right to. I pushed you into something you did not wish to do."

"If I didn't want you to kiss me, why did I kiss you back, then?" she crossed her arms. "If I didn't want you to kiss me, I would have pushed you away, Legolas. "She gave him a shy smile. "I just didn't know how to react and so I ran out."

He worked this through in his head. She had wanted him to kiss her. A slight smile appeared on his lips. "And you say that I am the complicated one."

Kayla gave a shrug, still looking slightly uncertain.

He walked over to her. "What is wrong?" He pulled her into the room, and tilted her chin up, so that she would meet his eyes.

She gave another shrug, and looked away, her hair falling in her face.

Legolas gently brushed it away, and she met his eyes again.

"This doesn't change the fact that I have to go home, you know."

He stared at her face, as though trying to memorize every detail of it. "I understand that." The sadness in his eyes was immense.

They fell into a silence. She was trying to look everywhere but at him, and the only thing he could see was her.

She stepped away from him, and said, "I'm going to go for a walk, I need to clear my head."

He nodded. "I could accompany you."

But Kayla just shook her head, "I kinda just need to be alone for a while. I need to clear my head. But thanks."

He gave her a sad smile. She turned and started walking from the room before stopping abruptly and then turning around.

She jogged back over to where he stood, stopping right in front of him. She stood up on her toes and kissed him lightly on the lips. Then she backed up, with a smile, and jogged from the room.

Legolas was left standing, alone, smiling to himself.


Kayla made her way through the halls quickly, trying to avoid the resentful stares of passing elves.

She let out a relived sigh, once she had exited the halls.

Walking along one of the hidden paths Legolas had shown her, she began mulling over everything in her mind that had happened in the three days she had spent in Middle Earth.

She knew she had to go home. But she also knew she was going to come back.

She had so many questions she wanted to ask her aunt. Kayla let her mind wander over her life. She wondered if her father had even noticed her absence.

Looking around herself, Kayla found that she stood in the little clearing Legolas had shown her. She looked around herself and breathed in. She felt like she belonged here.

It too Kayla a moment to realize that something was wrong.

It was completely and utterly silent. And not in the calming way. The birds had stopped singing, and the only sound was the leaves moving slightly to the wind.

She stood still listening intently.

She could feel something too. Like something bad was lurking about. The atmosphere had changed, the air seemed heavier. Kayla scanned the trees in front of her. She caught a shadowy movement to her right.

"Who's there?" she called. Then she rolled her eyes at herself, and her stupidity. It was as if she had never watched a horror movie in her life. Rule number one of scary situations with lurky creatures.

Never ever call out 'who's there?'

The shadow became still. She tried to keep her eyes focused on it, but it was difficult, what with the trees casting all sorts of shadows.

"I go by many names, young Caster, but you may call me Gandalf."

Kayla squealed and spun around, to face a tall man in a tall pointy blue hat, and a long silvery beard. She took three steps back.

She stared at him with her mouth slightly open.

"How did you..." she pointed from the trees where she had spotted the shadow, and then to the ground where he stood. She furrowed her brow. And took another step back.

He held out his hands and gave her a warm smile. "I do not mean you any harm. I am a friend of Legolas's." He spoke with utmost certainty. As though just telling her that he was a friend of Legolas's would make her trust him.

"And I am just supposed to believe that, because you are 'Legolas's friend?'" She said, one eyebrow raised.

He chuckled, "No! Quite the opposite, actually. I was simply trying to see if you had any sense at all."

Kayla stood there staring at that strange man. "That's an odd thing to do. Wait." she crossed her arms, "How did you know I am Legolas's friend? How did you know to speak of him? And how did you know I am a Caster?"

He gave another laugh.

"You are quite sharp, aren't you?"

Kayla shrugged. "I try not to miss much." she glanced around herself, realizing that the sound had begun around them again.

"I knew you were Legolas's friend because you are here." He gestured around them with one hand "Only a close friend of his would know of this place." He fell silent for a second. "And as for your second question, well, you look just like your mother. It only seems evident that you would also inherit her powers."