Perplexities of Growing Up
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the places or characters used here except for Náriël-I did invent her and if she resembles anyone else's character in anyway, I'm sorry- not done on purpose. Everything else belongs to Tolkien.
A/N: YAY!!! THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH! IM SO HAPPY! PRETTY MUCH EVERYONE READS THESE!! (happy dance) : )
Chapter 10
POV: Author
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Why did this feel so comfortable, so right? It shouldn't. He wasn't allowed to feel this way with her...
All of a sudden, her crying came to a complete halt. Náriël lifted her head and looked up at Legolas. Her puffy red eyes clearly had confusion, and even a hint of anger written in them. Then, with all the force she could muster, Náriël shoved him away from her.
She slowly stood up and dusted the dirt and bits of crushed leaves off of her gown. Her expression had changed to an almost stoic one, but Legolas could still read the anger in her eyes.
'She's gotta work on that,' he thought.
Standing up straight, she looked him straight in the eyes and spoke, "I cannot believe you just did that."
Her voice held a certain amount of equanimity that almost unnerved Legolas. However, he quickly composed himself, and whilst still sitting on the ground where he had previously landed, he glared up at her.
"You cannot believe I just did that?" He spoke calmly, yet he held a very dangerous undertone.
"I admit that my joke went a little too far. However, YOUR little practical joke...I...I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to invite Sulia and her little posse to come and attempt to sexually harass me!!!"
"What the hell are you talking about?! All I did was tell a small group of young elleths that you were thinking about asking one of them to the ball but were not sure which one...and that they would have to prove themselves for you...I never invited Sulia."
"Well maybe you should have considered that she'd be there after our little encounter from before and considering one of the girls was her little sister!!! Or maybe that thought hadn't crossed your mind while you were busy scheming your idiotic plan!"
Legolas was standing up now and his voice was at full volume. He was completely enraged and bellowing at the elleth before him. Náriël opened her mouth to retort, but he quickly interrupted her, not letting even one word in.
"Not only that, but once she got here and got rid of the little ones...she...she..." He was so livid that he began to sputter.
"SHE SEXUALLY HARRASED ME!!! IF IT WASN'T FOR THOSE DAMNED BARS SHE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE LITERALLY THROWN HERSELF AT ME!!!!!!!"
Náriël could tell that he was now WAY past angry with her and a sense of guilt flooded her soul. She stared up at him with large, surprise filled eyes.
"I-I..." She was at a complete loss for words and felt so awful that a familiar sting in the back of her eyes quickly consumed her. She really hadn't meant for it to go that far. She hadn't meant for that to happen at all...Sulia was never part of the plan and she most definitely hadn't wanted him to get violated.
"You what?"
"I didn't know that girl was her sister! I swear! I didn't know Sulia was going to be there!! I'm so sorry Legolas. I never wanted anything like that to happen. I promise..."
"Then why would you do something like that?!"
"I just wanted to get back at you!"
"FOR WHAT?!"
"FOR EVERYTHING!!!"
Legolas was so exasperated now that he could no longer even find the strength to yell.
"And what, my lady, could I have done to incur this wrath of yours?" he raised an eyebrow in question.
Náriël glanced up at him, but quickly cast her eyes downward and away from his piercing gaze. For some odd reason, which she just couldn't figure out for the life of her, her heart was beating so fast. She felt a blush creep up on her face under the scrutiny of his gaze.
'How'd things get so damn out of hand?'
She blinked rapidly in attempt to fight back the tear threatening to spill out from the corner of her left eye. Náriël slowly lifted her head back up when she heard a soft sigh come from Legolas's direction. She expected her eyes to meet with the hard and icy glower of the angry elf before her. Instead, she was met with two surprisingly warm and apologetic sapphires. She loved how vividly, yet deep blue his eyes could be.
Their eyes didn't part for a second as Legolas slowly made his way to Náriël and gently took hold of the sides of her arms, which she had now protectively crossed. He opened his mouth to speak and his voice was now soft and calm.
"Listen, Náriël. I know how frustrated you are with everything that has happened. And I have explained to you time and time again that I am not to blame. However, you should not be angry with your father either. He loves you very much and feels that he leaves you alone much too often. He wants you to grow up into a beautiful and proper lady. He doesn't want people to look down on you like Sulia had. The Lord wishes people to admire his daughter and for you to be cultured, to know how to defend yourself...he wants you to be able to enjoy life yet be safe. For those reasons he asked me to watch over you. So that I could teach you, yet make sure you were never in any harm when you went off on one of your little adventures."
He let out a small laugh at that last part and then continued.
"I do sincerely apologize for my joke and I accept your apology. But just promise me one thing? You'll put an end to all of this foolish behavior and attempt to actually be cooperative?"
Sighing, she nodded her acquiescence.
"Good. Now let's go back."
With that, he soothingly rubbed her back and with a weak smile, walked past her and back down to the Last Homely House.
POV: Náriël
I felt a tingling sensation run through my body when he rubbed my back and a feeling of sadness swelled in my heart at the loss of his touch when he walked away.
'Why the hell am I feeling this way? And about Legolas no less!! It must be from all the damn stress his stupid joke caused.'
I scowled at that thought but quickly followed after him anyway. This was one odd day. We walked side by side in complete silence. I had a heavy feeling in my heart that I couldn't really describe. I didn't know what it was from or why I felt this way, but I felt it more every time I'd quickly glance at the strong and esoteric elf beside me. I just couldn't figure him out sometimes.
Our first meeting suddenly came back to me and I remembered how closed off he had been. How unreadable. He still was a total enigma to me sometimes. On the rare occasion when he'd let his mask slip and I could look into his eyes and almost see his soul...I was engulfed in a wonderful feeling. It was like I could get lost in those deep pools of his and never want to find my way out. I find it pretty much impossible to describe the way he makes me feel sometimes.
I shook my head to clear it of those thoughts of nonsense. Out of the corner of my eye I suddenly noticed that Legolas was giving me a queer look. I turned my head to look back at him.
"Are you alright? You seemed totally out of it and were mumbling something I couldn't quite make out..."
"Oh, I-I, I'm fine!"
'What's wrong with me?! Can I not even speak properly any more?!'
...........
Upon our return, I was surprised to find my father was home early. He was busy talking with some other elves as I looked around bewildered. Our house was teaming with elves running in and out with various objects. It suddenly occurred to me that the ball was in two days!!
"Náriël! Legolas! Where in Middle Earth have you two been all day?!"
"Oh...we...we were just..."
I had no idea what to tell him. Good thing Legolas cut in.
"We had just gone out on a hike. I'm afraid it took a bit longer than we had expected, my Lord."
"Oh. Well alright then. But I need both of your help now. Seeing as things have been going faster and better than expected, I decided to move the ball up a day. It's going to be tomorrow!"
Our jaws dropped as we stared at my father in disbelief.
'He can't be serious.'
"But ada!! I don't even have a gown!!! And I'm sure Legolas doesn't have anything to wear yet either!!!"
"Well actually...you were taking so long that day we went shopping that I got something then..."
He trailed off as I glared at him.
"Uuma dela, Náriël. I need your help right now...we'll figure that stuff out later."
I nodded but was quite suspicious of the devious look on my father's face.
A/N: Sorry sorry that it took so long to update...and I know it's another short chapter but I wanted to end it here so that the next chapter can be the ball! YES!!! The ball is FINALLY here!! Lol. Anyway, I had my little volunteer thing all last week and I was SO tired, I had no time nor desire to write. Anyhoo, we'll see how long it takes me to get the next chapter up...I already have part of it written so maybe a bit faster. One other thing, I know that Legolas's speech was a bit corny, but it had to be given, im sorry you guys.
........
Uuma dela = don't worry
........
Jack-Sparrow-Lover: yep yep...I'd like to hug him too O.o
Princess Alexiel: thanks! And yeah I know, im not gonna drag it out too much, but enough. As you can see, theyre starting to get some feeling for each other...and the balls coming up! That's gonna be fun to write!
DesolateAznVamp: yes! Just a few more I guess...I got some interesting stuff planned for the ball...(winks)
Elven at Heart: yeah, im sorry, this was a short one too! But I promise ill try to make the next one longer!!! I have more stuff to put into it...so yeah...I volunteered last summer at the hospital and then this summer I did at the JCC...that's the Jewish Community Center. The zoo huh? that sounds so awesome!!
F.A. Star Hawk: Yeah! Id be pretty pissed off too! But I mean, I guess she was just so relieved that anger didn't really register in her brain. not at first anyway! Heh.
ShopGirl1: yeah, Sulia sure got put in her place huh? and about the practical joke...you're right, it did turn some things around for them. Anyway...umm...that was chapter nine...this was chapter ten...I think you might have gotten some things a bit mixed up, lol. o.o anyhoo, thanks for the review! Unski: thanks so much!! Hey, I was wondering, what does ur sn mean? Is it Japanese? Your name perhaps? O.o
Crecy: yeah they did, but it was necessary to get all of their frustrations out, and in the end it sorta brought them closer together too.
Princess Shadowcat: im glad you like it so far and it makes me happy that you read the a/ns!! As far as them getting together...I think just a couple more...I got a few twists coming up, so that should keep you occupied and interested for a bit. Hehe
Jazmeanoo: a little fast? Many ppl are saying that they want it to go faster! Theyre telling me to hurry up and get em together basically lol. anyhoo...I like the pace its going at so im not gonna really slow it or speed it up, sorry.
Angel13: thanks
Green Eyed Elf Goddess: thank you sooooooo much!!!! I love it when I get reviews like yours! Lol!!! as far as what Legolas said at the end of chapter nine...it's gonna make sense soon...probably in the next chapter. I have some interesting stuff planned for the ball!
GoddessDiana: yay! Thanks a bunch!
Mary: thank you, thank you (takes a bow)
Arrabella: well im very glad you did find it! : ) I didn't want him to drag it out b/c then he'd seem sorta heartless for leading her on so much and playing with her that bad. I wanted him to seem a bit more passionate towards her. He felt bad b/c he hadn't expected her to take it to heart so much. So basically, Legolas realized that Náriël cared about him a lot more than he thought she did.
Lizzie in the Biz: thanks!
Beagle: yay!!! Im so happy ur reading this and that you like it!!! I know it didn't have much detail this time either, but the ball is coming up and im gonna make that chapter good (winks) I read Sabina my first chapter and she liked it and said that I had a fine command of language and that she prob couldn't write it that well! : ) anyhoo...to everyone else...THIS IS MY BEST FRIEND!!! WOO HOO!!! Lol! anyway, luv ya hun and thanks for the review!