Hurrah! I got my first flame! It wasn't for this story, thank God! It was for a little one-shot I did. She got so annoyed at me it was funny! It upset me for a few days--hence, no updates--but, after the initial offence that someone could be so utterly bitchy, I found it really hilarious! The thought that someone can got so worked up over something that's just for fun it totally beyond my comprehension. But hey, I'm still here and she can bugger off to wherever crappy reviewers go! Anyway, now my mini-rant is over I can get on with this.

Thanks to all my supportive reviewers and especially Red Gutterflower. Yours was the review after the flame and encouraged me to carry on posting.

This is just a little chapter with a bit more insight into what Issie and Legolas' relationship was like during the quest. Any idea for the next few chapters would be greatly appreciated as my inspiration has decided to take a holiday.

Chapter 10

Isabella hesitated at the bedroom door. She just stood there and stared at the unconscious figure on the bed. As a precaution Peter had fixed a chain from the bedpost to the elf's wrist. After Issie's account of the night before he wasn't taking any chances with the two women he loved above all others. Apart from the restraints the only thing different about him was the ugly red scar on his neck the vamp had given him. From across the room she stared at it with disgust. She couldn't believe he had done that to him. Well, actually, she could very well believe it. It was what vampires did, after all.

'But it shouldn't have happened!' an insistent voice told her. 'I was right there watching and I should have been able to stop it. I was able to stop it. But I just stood there!' Issie carried on like this for a couple more minutes before she realised she wasn't getting anywhere. This wouldn't make the wound go away so she shut up and dealt with it.

She had stopped crying after about ten minutes, which was quite good for her. After half an hour of trying to sooth Katelin--she wasn't in the best of moods as she could tell her mother was still upset--she had given up and handed her over to Peter, who suggested she go check on Legolas. From downstairs she could hear the baby's restless grizzling as she fought sleep a few minutes longer.

She was scared of going in but she knew she had to. A quiet yet persistent voice in the back of her mind was telling her this was a bad idea but it was drowned out by even louder voices telling her this was what she had been waiting for. So she sighed, balled up her courage and walked to the bed. Without even telling herself to she perched on the edge of the mattress and reached out to touch his face with a trembling hand. The instant she touched him she knew it wasn't the same between them as it was. Although she was glowing inside at just being near him again there wasn't the spark between them there had been when they were first together.

The spark she was thinking about was almost a literal one. Legolas had once explained it to her when he was still trying to convince her of their bond. To begin with when they touched each other there was a jolt of almost dizzying pleasure that ripped through them. This hadn't happened every time but often enough for it to be a memorable event. He had said it was the feeling elves got when their souls made physical contact. She had dismissed it as overactive static. Guess who was the romantic in this relationship.

Her fingertips took on a mind of their own and caressed the familiar contours of her love's face. She traced his high and defined cheekbones, then down along his jaw, then up a little to brush over his lips. At the contact she shivered, remembering what those lips had done to her. She could still taste them. But before she let her mind wander into dangerous territory she jerked back to the present and continued her exploration. Her soft pads ran up his slightly crooked nose and she remembered with a smile how he had broken it. Aragorn had done a good job resetting it and you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it, or unless you were Isabella.

It had happened during the last few minutes of the battle at Helm's Deep. They had somehow managed to escape the hardest part of the fight unscathed but Issie had been thrown from her horse not five minutes before Theoden claimed victory over Saruman's army. As all other warriors were mounted she was pretty much fighting alone. But instead of staying on his horse where he was relatively safe Legolas swung down to help her. They had been fighting back to back but an Uruk-Hai was beginning to get the better of her. Anticipating a blow to the face, Issie had ducked with a gasp. Legolas, hearing her, looked back over his shoulder just in time to get punched in the face.

He'd had a sense of humour about it though. And he put up with the relentless teasing he got from Gimli and Aragorn. She wondered if he would have the same patience and sweetness about the bite. Somehow she doubted it.

Moving on she examined every other part of his beautiful face, recalling the times and places he had received a couple of other scars, then she contented herself with running her fingers gently through his hair. She was tempted to braid it again while he was still out but decided against it. Maybe when he was better.

Again she had a flashback of the two of them together. They had been at Edoras the morning they were to leave for the Paths of the Dead. The night before Legolas hair had ahem fallen out of its plaits and while they were dressing Issie had offered to redo them for him. But when she hadn't taken the polite 'no' for an answer they had ended up play-wrestling and laughing so loud they didn't hear Aragorn calling them until he had to come over to the bed and physically separated them. She had a feeling that if he hadn't come in they wouldn't have left their room for the rest of the day.

Issie waited beside him for another hour before he stirred. The moment he moved she sucked in a breath and couldn't bring herself to release it. She watched him test the movement in his neck and her gut twisted in guilt as he winced in pain. 'I should have got to him faster!' she thought again but her thoughts silenced the moment he opened his breathtaking blue eyes. For a few seconds he just blinked to get his vision back to normal. But when he finally did he looked confusedly round the room then focused on her. He frowned and Isabella felt the first real stab of alarm. He then slowly tried to sit and noticed the chain on his wrist. Issie stared at him apologetically and was about to reach for the keys when Legolas spoke.

It wasn't so much that he had spoken that froze her in her tracks. It was what he said that made alarm bells ring deafeningly loud.

"Who are you?"

Sorry at my sad attempt at a cliffhanger. I know it's painfully obvious that that's what he was going to say but I can't think of anything to come after :)

Anyhoo, if you want to flame me ... why the Hell have you read this far into it you sad sad person? If you want to tell me how to improve please do! I need all the help I can forget. If you are just out there and am liking what I do then let me know. It boosts my ego and encourages my inspiration to come home. And stops it using my credit card!

Okay, I'm nuts. Ignore me and I'll probably have calmed down by the next update. Hopefully.