A/N - Yes, you're not getting away from the dreaded author's note this time either, so just sit down and make the best of it!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!!! Sorry, but the Christmas-spirit has really got to me now, so I walk around the house humming christmas carols all the time!! O.o Well, on with saying thanks for reviews and commenting on them:

Hipa - No, as a matter of fact, I don't think so either, but we must remember he's a parent and they don't think logically all the time, now do they? ;) Oooh?? Sorry about that moving bit!! Just thought that those few who read the story had already seen it and so I decided to move!! But don't worry, it will not move again, and if I move any others stories you're reading in the future, I will tell you!!

DragonEyeZ - Yeah, I know, they are a bit off-character, and I admit it wasn't entirely on purpose, but I do have to twist their personalities and reactions just slightly to get the result I want! I shouldn't do it, true, but so far everyone have survived!! THANKS for your compliment, you made me dance with happiness when I read your review!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! (and now I sound like a little school girl, don't I?:'( )

koe760 - Why, actually it was originally placed in the X-over section, but never mind that!! - Thanks for putting on your fav-list, and that action isn't coming in the next couple of chapters, so easy now!! But it will come, I promise (just don't know how much of it will be published, though)!!

Cattibrie393 - Ehm, thanks for telling me!! Hopefully there won't be any missing words in this one!!

The next chapter will hopefully come before Christmas, but I am not promising anything, because I'm going to be busy the next couple of weeks and I prefer to be ahead of what I am posting, if you know what I mean!!

Disclaimer - (stares at the readers with lifted eyebrows).......yeah?

Warnings - (continues to stare, then rolls her eyes).......Find out by checking the other chapters for it!!

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Chapter 10 - If love is a matter of...

It was dark in the room. It was pitch black, as a matter of fact, which wasn't very odd, since it was in the middle of the night, and the moon was at the moment hidden from view by dark clouds.

Drizzt slipped quietly out of his bed. He had been occupying it for five days now – nine if you also counted the days where he had been totally unconscious – but now he was finally strong enough to walk by himself. It still hurt like hell, but he was able to move, and that he was certainly going to take full advantage of.

At the moment he was wearing nothing but light brown leather leggings, and the pendant that hung around his neck. He went over to the corner of the room and gathered all of his belongings. Then he dressed in the clothes he had been wearing when he first came to Middle-Earth; flowing, brightly coloured robes weren't suited for one who wanted to travel the lands unnoticed.

When he was ready to go, he walked silently down the corridors, saying goodbye to all of it. He had been glad to be here, had enjoyed walking around without being looked at with fear, hate or distrust. But he couldn't bring more harm to these Elves, to hurt them more just for his own desires.

Drizzt sighed to himself. Finally he had found a refuge and then he had to give it all up again. He shook his head to be rid of such thoughts. That was the way it was going to be, tough luck. He had dealt with worse, so he could deal with this too.

He stopped outside a door, a small frown appearing on his face. Wasn't this Legolas' rooms? Drizzt opened the door as quietly as he could, and poked his head in. Yes, that blond hair and those pale, beautiful hands visible above the sheets of the big bed definitely belonged to Legolas.

The drow slipped into the room and walked over to the side of the bed. He put his pack down on the floor and sat gently on the bed, careful not to wake the occupant of the bed.

This was probably the last time he was going to see Legolas as well. Drizzt leaned in closer and brushed away some golden strands of hair to get a better look at the prince's beautiful face. Then on a sudden, shocking impulse he leaned even closer and pressed his lips to the other's pale pink ones. Just this last time he wanted to kiss the prince, before he would part from him forever.

Reluctantly he pulled away, trying to store the taste of Legolas' lips in his memory, so that he would never ever forget. He pushed himself off the bed and walked over to a small table. Trying to be as silent as possible he searched for a pen, a sheet of paper and some ink.

He finally found what he was looking for and hastily wrote down a goodbye note, where he explained that he had to go and why, and finished with telling Legolas that he loved him. He produced a little piece of string and bound it around the paper. Then he put his pendant with Mielikki's sign on it beside the paper.

Taking his pack with him he covered the distance to the door quickly, and there he turned around to take a last look at his beloved. Then he sighed and went through the door.

"Wait!" came a soft call from the bed when he had almost closed the door fully. Drizzt froze at the spot. "Drizzt, is that you? Please don't go, Drizzt!"

Cursing himself for not being more stealthy so he hadn't woken Legolas up, Drizzt did as he was told, and came into the room again, closing the door behind him.

"Oh, Drizzt, it is you!" Legolas said with a smile and sat up, ignoring the pain it caused. "I thought I wouldn't see you – why are you wearing those clothes? Why are you out of bed at this hour?" Legolas' blue eyes got wide, and then narrowed. "You're going to sneak away, aren't you?"

Drizzt nodded slowly, seeing no other option and not really wanting to lie to Legolas. "Yes, that was my plan, and before you ask why, it is because I don't want to cause anyone anymore pain that I already have. Just look at you – it was I who brought us into all that and for that I am most sorry. But it is the reason why I am leaving; I don't want to loose anymore of those whom I care about."

"Don't you," Legolas began in a tight, hoarse voice after a little silence," don't you think that maybe you would bring more pain and sorrow to us by leaving? We care about you too, Drizzt, and we don't want you to leave. Especially I would hate to see you walk away."

"And why is that?" the drow inquired softly, wonder evident in his voice as he walked over to the bed once more and sat down.

Legolas gulped, and took a couple of deep breaths to be as ready to say the next as he could be. "Because – because I love you," he said, only just loud enough for the drow to catch the words. Legolas turned his head, afraid to look into the lavender orbs staring at him.

He didn't get any answer or spoken words at all, but strong, soft hands came up to caress his face and dark lips claimed his own in a tender, passionate kiss.

The archer didn't want to end the kiss, but he had to ask Drizzt about something, so after a while he broke away. "W-what was that for?" Although he tried to stop it, his voice was a little shaky.

"What do you think?" the drow asked, and when he got no answer, he smiled softly. "I love you too, my precious, more than you can imagine."

"You do? Honestly?" Legolas asked, not daring to believe his ears. This was a dream – it had to be a dream!

"Yes, I do, and I never thought that you'd love me back, to be honest." Drizzt had removed his hands from Legolas' face and was now staring down at them in his lap.

"And why is that, vanima?" the archer asked as he leaned forward and pulled Drizzt closer to him. "You are beautiful, kind, caring, smart, humorous, or more shortly put; you're just a magnificent person. Actually I am highly surprised that nobody has ever seen that before, or fallen in love with. On the other hand," he added, a thoughtful expression on his face and a teasing glint in his eyes, "I am rather pleased that nobody has fallen in love with you before, for then you wouldn't be available for me."

Drizzt couldn't help but smile at his teasing, a blush creeping over his face. "Well, that is most certainly lucky, cause I wouldn't want to be with any other than you, that be female or male." He leaned in again and placed a soft kiss on Legolas' nose. When he leaned back, he was grinning. "Mielikki, I would never have thought I would feel like this, or be so emotional at all!"

Legolas grinned back at him, then his features got more serious and softer. "I can't tell you how happy I am that you've been 'emotional' enough to tell me how you feel." He wrapped his arms tighter around the drow's waist. "Please say you won't leave me! Promise me, Drizzt," he pleaded, knowing he sounded desperate, but he didn't care. He wanted Drizzt to stay in Mirkwood, to stay with him.

"I would never do that to you, my precious, not now" the drow assured him, caressing Legolas' cheek with loving fingers.. He stood up from the bed abruptly, earning him a small desperate noise from the prince. Drizzt smiled and put a finger on his own lips to signal silence. He then took off his clothes, till he was only clad in the worn black leather trousers he had been wearing when he was sucked through the portal.

"Now," he said in a serious tone, "would you mind moving over a little? I don't want to fall off the bed, if you don't mind."

Legolas stared at him for a moment, until it dawned on him what the drow meant. His eyes got bigger, but he smiled and lifted his blankets. "Your wish is my command," he replied as Drizzt climbed in beside him.

"I might hold you to that," Drizzt mumbled and snuggled closer. Then he looked up at Legolas, something unknown and not too comforting shining in his eyes.. "You are serious about this, right?" he asked, his voice expressionless.

The prince looked down at him, worry lined in his face. "Of course I am serious," he replied and let his fingers tangle in Drizzt's white locks of unruly, wonderful hair. "I've never been more serious about anything in my life. I love you, Drizzt Do'Urden, and that with all of my heart. How could you think otherwise?"

Drizzt continued to look at him with that expressionless face, but now his eyes held relief, love and sadness. "Because – because I've been rejected so many times before, and every time I got my hopes up and thought that maybe this or that place was the right for me, I got disappointed and hurt. Therefore I no longer dare to hope for anything."

"Oh, meleth nin," Legolas said, his heart melting at the sight of the drow in his arms. "I would never ever do that to you. I love you and love, true love, is not so easily dispelled." He kissed Drizzt forehead lovingly.

Drizzt remained silent, his face still blank of expression. "Drizzt, please do stop with that facial mask of no expressions of yours, will you?" Legolas said exasperated, his voice more edgy and sharp than he had intended. "It makes you look so distant and uncaring, and it pains me much," he added, his voice softening and a hurt look in his eyes.

"I am sorry, precious," the drow said, his mask crumbling and his composure slowly fading away, leaving a Drizzt that looked very young and vulnerable. "I've just always been like this. It comes natural, and maybe it is my nature, I don't really know." He smiled unsurely and brought Legolas' hand to his lips, kissing it. "But I promise you to try to do my best not to be as closed. But how on earth I'm going to do it is another matter," he muttered under his breath, hoping that Legolas wouldn't hear him.

The archer did hear him, though, and chuckled inwardly. He said nothing about it, just grabbed the drow by the waist and shoulders and pulled him close to his own body. He tried to quell his growing hardness, and with much effort he succeeded. Drizzt snuggled even closer, being careful not to cause any more harm to Legolas than absolutely necessary, since he knew of the pain he was most certainly enduring, and mumbled something that sounded like 'goodnight'.

Legolas lay there for a while, caressing Drizzt's face and hair with his hands, placing a occasional kiss on his nose, cheek, forehead or lips, loving that he was able to do this now. He didn't want to go to sleep, but he was still not all well, so he was very tired and soon he drifted off again, his love in his arms again, and now, finally, truly his.

TBC

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A/N - Aaw, isn't that just cute, huh? Again, they're both slightly off-character, but I hope everyone will survive!! Anyone out there who would want to be my beta-reader?? I think I've cut the mistakes down to a minimum here, but most of the time I don't have the energy to tripple-check what I've written!! Please, anyone? Oh, yeah, the chapter title is from a song with the same title!! It's a good song!!