For the first time that night, for some time, I could relax. I could wander from camp without a guard. I could eat.

So, I followed Legolas into the dark, some excuse about 'night archery training', and the second we found a darker place, I was against a tree and being kissed as if the world was ending, as if I was dying, heart breaking kisses that were tender, and sweet, and almost desperate.

For the first time for a week I could wonder about this again.

I stared at him, drawing my head back, meeting his grey eyes in the darkness. It was funny how clear they were to me, so obvious, even though it was so dark. Still. I couldn't take it. He was too close.

"Are you all right?" Legolas frowned somewhat as I pushed him back an inch, cold night air crashing in between us, his body tensing.

"How do you know I'm your ...twin thing?"

"I know." He lowered his head, kissing my neck slowly, hands tracing against my hair. "Do you not remember me? In your dreams?"

"Here? Sure." I was sure he'd featured in them now and then. I inhaled slowly, shutting my eyes as his lips teased my skin, sending warmth flooding throughout my body. When he lifted my leg and moved his hips against mine it just added to it. I wanted him to make love to me. The words 'make love' had never meant so much as they did right now. But at the same time I just wanted to shove him back. Fuck. I wanted him to love me. I wanted to believe him. I wanted to trust him, with that intimacy, but I wanted to...never do it again at the same time. Never. All these conflicting things were making my head and heart hurt.

I couldn't lie to him about it any more. Even as I realised this, I felt the pain, as if the words I was about to say had already ended it. How could he feel anything for me?"

"Legolas? If I tell you something, will you promise to ...stay here? Not kill anyone?" And not kill Boromir. I heard my voice add, quiet, of its own accord, "And not be angry at me?"

"Mmm?" Legolas shifted back, slowly, staring at me. The desire was gone. There was hesitation now, wariness, his hand tightening on my arm. "I swear it, if you wish."

"Boromir. He hurt me."

"How?" Something seemed to be in his face though. His neck had tensed. His hand clenched for a moment. Self-control seemed to be slipping in his face for a moment and then suddenly it was back. Calm face.

It was almost like he already knew what I was going to say and it didn't help. I swallowed, trying to keep my eyes in Legolas eyes, but those grey eyes scared me now. Too calm. Something was brewing under it. I was sure I felt it. I looked away into the darkness. "It wasn't just a punch, Legolas."

"I know."

Legolas could have hit me. It would have had the same effect. I felt like I'd been punched and doused in cold water all at the same time, hurt, stunned, angry, and ...confused. I know. Two words. How did he know?

"I heard. Wenduin, I heard it." There it was, the stormy ocean below the calm face, something that looked almost ...mad. "I was too slow."

His words shocked me. I stared at him again, his hands refusing to let me go, Legolas shifting closer. The closeness should have scared me. It didn't. Somehow it made me feel better. He was physically not rejecting me. "Forgive me."

"Forgive you?"

"I could not reach you before it was over." Legolas stared at me, that emotion exploding up, and it was guilt. Heart wrenching guilt. Had he always known? Seriously? Super elf hearing... and my guilt increased. Irrational guilt, maybe, but Legolas had been holding onto this as well. From the look on his face, he was convinced it was his fault too.

"But it was the ring. It wasn't really him." The words, this mantra I'd tried to use to calm myself and comfort myself, sounded hollow when I said them out loud. "I should have tried harder."

"No, Wenduin, there was nothing you could do. Nothing." Legolas moved away, a moment, his voice soft as he hissed something in Elvish. For once, he wasn't gentle, he wasn't all regal and unearthly, he looked as deadly as he had in Helm's Deep. Legolas went quieter, almost dangerous, "I know that he was under the influence if the ring. But it does not change it happened. If he does not face the laws of Gondor, he will face those of our kin. What was done is unforgivable. Do you-" He hesitated, his palm suddenly against the side of my face, cupping it. "Do you not remember me? After?"

"What?" I stared at him. Memories of it, of that moment, and all of them unwelcome. All of them trying to get me to vomit once more. I remembered ...shock. I didn't remember Legolas there. "You were gone. Scouting."

Legolas tensed at that, shutting his eyes, forehead coming down to rest against mine. "I left, once I had you lying down, I could not bear... I could not trust myself. You made me promise to not harm Boromir. You believed he had not meant it."

Legolas was not reacting how I expected him to. And I didn't remember anything he was saying.

"Legolas, I don't remember you there..."

"I know."

"But ...you're not angry?" With me? There it was again, that irrational fear that this was somehow my fault, that I was in trouble, completely overriding the bizarre 'Legolas was there' part of this that made no sense.

"At you? For what? I am furious, my love, but not with you." Legolas darkened, suddenly, pulling me against his chest. "I would not force you to endure him. I would ask him to leave, if you ask. I would ..." He didn't say it, but his eyes had gone dark, and I almost could fill in the word he'd refused to say. "Do anything you asked. This crime, this sin, no matter the reason, is unforgivable in our kin. Unforgivable. I will never understand why you saved his life."

"Because it wasn't his fault." I muttered. "I know it sounds lame but he genuinely … I don't think he even saw it was me, I don't think he even was aware of me, it was all his own shit. All his own problems. He attacked Frodo too, you know."

"Not in the same way."

"No. In that way, he almost took the ring and screwed us all." Somehow though Legolas anger was helping. Somehow, it made me feel better, less crazy, like I needed someone else to confirm this was really bad.

Legolas sighed. He said quietly something in Elvish again, resting his forehead against my shoulder, trembling. It was weird. I could have almost sworn I felt his pain on top of my own. Like this had happened to both of us, like we'd both been hurt, and Legolas was only now letting me see it. Feel it. This raw pain, this fear, this thing that Elves just ...couldn't face. Where had I heard it? Something about Elves going mad if they were forced?

I didn't know if that was true or not.

"I would not recommend that." A voice came, soft, even sympathetic, and Gandalf appeared slowly, Legolas' head jerked up as he stared at the old wizard, who had clearly overheard him, and maybe me too. Gandalf came into the clearing slowly, as if he was afraid he'd frighten us off, his staff just giving off the faintest light in the darkness. It illuminated the grief on Legolas face much too much. "Boromir has confessed what he did and what he intends on doing. But-" Gandalf came closer to me, resting his hand on my arm, voice lowering even more. "There is no need for him to sacrifice himself."

Legolas flinched at that, stepping back, shoulders tensing. The anger and grief reared back up. "He broke the trust and bond of Fellowship. He-"

"He thought he did. What you saw, the both of you, was not real. It was a creation, an illusion of the ring's making, to drive Boromir's mind closer to insanity." His voice was soothing but it didn't stop the shock I had at his words.

"The … it wasn't real?" Memories of it, the pain, the heart break, it had felt real. It had to be!

"The ring can do that?" Legolas didn't seem convinced. "Is that what he said?"

Gandalf shook his head. "The ring sought a weakness in the Fellowship and found it in Boromir. Having him believe he'd done a terrible thing weakened his resolve. It broke his heart."

I remembered then, Boromir's shock when I'd made it clear I wanted him to marry and be happy, like he couldn't believe it. I stared at Gandalf. "Are you sure?"

"There would not have been time for such a thing to happen." Gandalf said quietly. "I am sure. I will restore the memory for you. You will see."

His grip on my arm tightened suddenly.

And suddenly, I was under Boromir again, as he tried to tear my leggings, his breathing hard, fear screaming in me. I wanted to scream. I couldn't even move this time. I could only be there, caught in my body, as he tried to do it all over again. Felt my leggings dragged off, saw his own being pulled down and...

But then he stopped. He just knelt there, and I just lay there, his eyes glazed. He was pleading though, panting as if it was really happening, pleading. But not with me. Not as I remembered. He was fighting with himself, trying to stop what was going on in his head, pleading for himself to stop...

I could hear my own panicked breathing, as if he was on top of me...

But he wasn't.

Then, suddenly, it was over. He'd finished. His body had come to orgasm without even touching me. It had taken barely thirty seconds. And Legolas appeared just a few seconds later, dragging him back. I thought we'd talked. I thought we'd been alone, that no one had noticed. I was carried back, more or less out of it, fighting off Legolas like I thought it was still happening. Legolas had to leave once I'd stopped trying to fight him off. The look, as he knelt above me, the look he'd shot Boromir, it was enough to kill him. But Aragorn had been with Boromir, holding him down, and Legolas was more or less ordered to leave by Aragorn until he'd calmed down. The hobbits, all asleep, except for Frodo...

So they'd all known.

Suddenly, it was real. This was reality. How, I wasn't sure, but I felt it. The other was some fucked up dream we'd shared. Some terrible thing. I remembered now, how disorientated I'd felt, how weird the entire thing had seemed after, and how weird it'd seemed that Legolas was still gone when I'd woken up again.

I blinked, seeing Legolas and Gandalf once more, my knees nearly giving way. He hadn't done it? "So..."

"Would there have been more time, perhaps, but nothing happened. If there had been more time then ..." Gandalf let go of my arm slowly, and grasped Legolas, who had fallen to his knees. He looked like he was going to faint. "Relax, my friend."

"Legolas found me?"

"But your memory says you walked back. Yes."

"I thought ...her mind. I thought it had snapped. When an Elf is raped, they-" Legolas exhaled. "She was talking to herself. Trying to walk. When she woke, she said nothing, and Boromir said nothing. I feared that if her mind did not recall, if I told her, that-"

"She is not an Elf." Gandalf's words made Legolas flinch. Maybe he was the only one that Legolas would really accept. "Not fully. She is not delicate like one of your kin."

"Not fully?" Oh man, now the wizard was at it. But I was too relieved. I knelt beside Legolas, breathing in and out slowly, the real memory making me want to cry. Suddenly, all my fear of Boromir was gone. It was so weird. It was fading away like a nightmare. I could only recall parts of it now. The worst bits. "Boromir knows now, doesn't he?"

"He asked the same of you." Gandalf seemed amused at that. "You both have much heart. He will recover. Now. There is food waiting and I will put some aside for you both. You do not need to rush back to camp tonight."

He moved away, slowly, leaving us there.

Neither of us spoke for a long time.

"You all right?" I asked, finally, Legolas staring at the ground.

"I should ask you." Legolas smiled weakly. He reached up to grasp my arms. "I ...shared it."

"What?"

"The pain of it. I told you. We are from the same spirit. I shared it. I carried it, believing you could not bear it. I am relieved." He reached up suddenly, grasping my head, kissing me hard, shuffling forward on his knees to get closer.

"So I'm not pregnant with his baby. He didn't do that." I suddenly realised that all this time I'd been afraid of that. I hadn't even let myself think about it but there it was, that fear, exploding into a shiny glitter filled 'IT DIDN'T HAPPEN' bubble.

"No." Legolas actually laughed then, pulling me against him, his hand grasping my leg as he pulled it closer. "No. A'maelamin, your heart. To hold that, for so long, all that fear, and still..."

"Hey, you didn't hurt him."

"Out of fear for you. That it might remind you. We had a duty to perform. When it was over, I would have had him dragged to Gondor myself."

Drag him? Oh yeah. I stared at Legolas, between kisses, remembering. The Elf was a Prince. That was actually a big deal. Wasn't it? Butterflies rose in my stomach at that. This ...was going to be a problem. It was the first time I realised it. This whole thing was going to be a LOT more complicated than I knew.

"I love you." Legolas said softly, brushing my hair back to kiss my neck gently, his words sending thrills throughout me. The heat from earlier came back in a rush now. And this time I didn't recoil at the idea of it.

"I love you too." I admitted, quietly, as much to myself as to him. I did. It was crazy but I did. More now than ever. Even if the idea of 'Prince' scared the crap out of me. He shuddered at that, the first time I'd really said the words, and Legolas pushed me back onto the ground, following close behind, and for a moment we lay there, caught up in each other, ignoring the twigs.

"Not now."

I frowned, as he slid back up, his hair already askew. Legolas almost laughed at the look on my face, standing slowly, his eyes going back to the darkness. "You sleep, and I will keep watch over the forest."

"With you guarding the helpless woman?" I suspected Aragorn and Gimli would be less likely, but Theodan, Eomer? Probably still weren't totally convinced. I wasn't totally convinced I was bad ass either. I grasped a handful of dirt, watching as he tried to hide his 'brush hair down' from me, and half heartedly tossed it at him.

"Guarding all who sleep tonight." Legolas replied. He reached out to touch a tree, gentle, adding softly, "Though this forest is well watched."

I lay back and stared up into the trees. I swore I felt the ground move, roots or something, and remembered that earlier the forest had been much more vocal than now. It seemed calm now. "It's happier?"

Legolas nodded. "Asleep, yes. It does not fear you or I. Gimli is wise to remain some distance with his axe though."

"Living trees. I don't know how Elves kept warm." I muttered, tugging a blanket over, and pulling it around me. The night wasn't too cold anyway.

"The wood that falls naturally would be collected. The trees did not mind that." Legolas knelt, slowly, and reached out to run his fingers through my hair, slowly, the warmth of his body seeping through the scratchy woollen blanket. "It is the murder of them, unnecessary, that upsets them."

I lay there, tension fading, watching the stars through the trees, both of us going quiet. The forest groaned behind us, soft ones, almost as if some trees snored. Under the ground, there was the occasional shift, or vibration, and animals could be heard. Strange ones.

I started to look at the stars more closely, doing my best to remain awake and enjoy Legolas' touch, and was aware of how different they were. "I ...don't know these stars. I think ours were different."

I fell asleep there, not even waking as Legolas re-dressed me, somehow exhausted. When I woke, it was near dawn, Legolas standing against a tree nearby. I still felt warm, tingly, fuzzy, my heart so full of love that it wanted to explode all over the place.

"Love you." I said, sleepily, and he lifted his head to meet mine. The look on Legolas face was more than worth it, his face flooding with love, as he stood up straighter.

"And you, my love." Legolas head twisted, suddenly, as a twig cracked. Someone was coming. I didn't have to be a magic sparkly Elf to know who.

Boromir came through, slowly, his face drained of blood. He stared at me, and then at Legolas, and dropped to his knees beside me. "I …"

"You did nothing." I reached out, grasping his hand, and felt nothing. No fear, no repulsion, and for the first time since Lothlorien, felt affection. I liked the guy. I liked him again! That fake memory was literally almost gone now. Squashed under warm fuzzy feelings. I was loved, I hadn't been raped, and Boromir was my friend. "You're my brother here. I'm glad you didn't."

"No." Boromir agreed. He was trembling. Looked exhausted. He clearly hadn't slept much if at all. "I waited till morning to speak to you. Wenduin, I would have been happy to die for it."

"Exactly why it did it, maybe." I offered. "Seriously. Let's forget it till there's an orc to kill. Then we can use it."

Boromir smiled weakly. "I need no more reasons to loathe Saruon and yet I am constantly offered more. I swear with my life, I would spend every last breath to destroy all that he loves, until every last Orc is gone."

Legolas stood up and moved across, standing beside Boromir, clasping his shoulder. "Gondor. We each must take care of our own land."

"We must." Boromir stood up, slowly. "But, as long as I serve Aragorn, I will serve you. My men will. We will serve you both."

Legolas nodded. He no longer looked angry. He reached down to help me to my feet. "Then we must return to camp."

"Here." Boromir held something out, something he'd put down. "You both did not return for these. Eat them before the hobbits do."

I laughed softly and took the plate. When I opened it, there was just a few crumbs, half a browning apple, and ashes. "I think they already have."

Boromir scowled, taking the plates, and turned. " Then I will get you both food that you may ride on horseback. And kick the hobbits. Do not be long, my friends, Theodan is eager to leave."

We watched him go, Legolas sliding his arm around my waist, and I leaned against him.

"You seem better." Legolas commented softly.

"Well, I wasn't ...you know." I didn't even want to say the word now. "I just want to kick some orc butt." I gazed sideways at Legolas. Prince Legolas. Oh boy. Somehow I felt like this wasn't going to be as straightforward as it seemed right now. I was too content to care right now. I leaned against him, feeling his muscles quiver when I ran my fingertips across the low of his back, his body respond.

"Come. We will return to Edoras. There, I will talk to Aragorn."

"Aragorn?"

"You are now known as Aragorn's younger sister. And yet I not know the bonding ritual of men." Legolas smiled. "It would be wise to involve him now."

Bonding ritual? The words sent my warmth and anxiety to a whole other level. Good and bad all at once. I decided to focus on the good side. Too much anxiety lately. "I'm his little sister in this world officially, aren't I?" Aragorn had to have known this would do more than buy me 'go anywhere' passes, I supposed.

Legolas nodded, grasping my hand, and we started back slowly. "It is known by all in Rohan, and soon, all over. Duty now. We will talk of it later." He squeezed my hand one last time, letting go, the warmth of the bond going with it.

He was right. It was time for duty again.

He froze though, glancing back, and held something out. "I forgot. This was found." It was a small parcel, wrapped in soft fabric, and I opened it slowly. The phone charger! I took it, checking it, not a scratch, nothing. Legolas smiled as I touched it. "So you may use your magic box for answers."

"Thank you!" The phone, I knew, would be in the bottom of my pack. I'd carried it everywhere, not quite being able to let it go, and I would find a way to charge it.

We came back to camp, finding everyone was more or less asleep, and quietly I followed Legolas to the horses. He stroked the neck of his, a white boy with dark grey dapples, who seemed to quiver with delight at every touch, ears flickering every time Legolas spoke in Elvish, like it understood. The sunshine broke out over the trees, already warm though it was low in the sky

"Does it understand you?"

Legolas nodded, smiling up at it, affection in his face as it nuzzled it. "Long have Elves and animals shared bonds."

"You talk to everything, trees, animals... rocks?"

"Only Dwarves talk to rocks." Legolas glanced backwards at me, amused, reaching out for my hand. He drew me closer and placed my hand on his horses neck. "See? How warm he feels in the sun? How content?"

I didn't blame him. I stood there, hand on his neck, feeling the muscles twitch, the warmth of his body, the smooth coat, his mane tickling my hand, with Legolas' hand on my back once again. I supposed I did, really, I kind of felt it. But was that my common sense? It was good to be in the sun.

"I will teach you to speak as I do." Legolas said softly against my shoulder, moving closer, like he couldn't resist more touching. "The language of our people. You will see then."

Feet behind us made us separate slowly, Eomer standing up and stretching, more or less shirtless. My face went warm and I looked backwards to the horse. Funny, I was still so new to men, that even that innocent sight...

Not that it really mattered any more.

"We ride soon." Eomer moved up, tugging his shirt back on. "Are you both ready?"

More or less, except for a trip to the bathroom, I nodded.

"What about the food?" Pippin called, sleepy, and he blinked up at us from where he'd curled up under a blanket. Slowly he noticed me, he brightened, and scrambled to his feet. "Wenduin!"

"I was there yesterday too." I said, amused, as he flung himself at me for a hug that smelt faintly of meat and smoke. I noticed crumbs were on him.

"We didn't meant to leave you in the forest." Pippin stood back, gazing up. "Sorry." He meant it too. "We told Gandalf you were with us. He said you'd find a way out."

"I did." I smiled at him. Out of everyone, I was surprised by how happy I was to see Pippin and Merry, and didn't even care that they'd eaten my dinner.

"Here." Boromir jogged back, thrusting a small canvas bag at myself and Legolas. "These can be eaten as you ride, as someone ate your food." He gave Pippin a dirty look, who had conveniently decided to roll up his blanket.

I hurried off too, quickly doing the toilet thing before too many were up and wandering around, and came back to find that the camp was more or less packed up, my horse re-saddled, and Legolas waiting to help me up.

"I will teach you this too." He promised softly, as Theodan came out of the bushes. "Many things. When this war is over, you will be shown a world few have seen."

I watched as the others mounted, things packed onto horses, my horse shifting backwards and forwards restlessly. It was just a minute or two before Theodan was mounting, Eomor leaping onto his horse, and Theodan calling, "We will ride now. Is everyone here?"

When everyone clearly was, Merry and Pippin behind Eomer and Aragorn, Gimli behind Legolas, Theodan nodded, and led the way.

We flew to Edoras, or it felt it, galloping across plain and slope, across hills, hair flying, clothes flying, wind blinding, gusts of wind chasing us as if it was helping propel us forward. I ate, every now and then, but mostly just hung on, as Tinkerbell chased after the others, hooves flying, clumps of ground flying behind her. We passed people, from time to time, travelling to Edoras.

As we came closer to Edoras itself, I saw her, Eowyn waiting on the edge of the hall. People must have left Helm's Deep as we had- the bodies entombed in the caves, maybe just a few left behind to clean up. Or would they wait until they could really repair it? Or was that the end? I wondered about that, as I followed Aragorn up the path to Edoras, wondered how they'd use Helm's Deep now. It was a sobering thought though.

The second I got into the Hall, I wasn't allowed time to ponder OR ask Aragorn, because apparently they'd had enough 'girl in boy's clothing' culture shock with me. With the insistence and mild sympathy of Eowyn, I was herded into her personal room, and given soap, hot steaming water in a bowl, and a dress.

"For tonight, you may wear this." Eowyn offered a soft green dress, clearly well made, and held up a dress of her own. "And I this. Tonight we wear our finest cloth, and celebrate."

"So no pants."

Eowyn smiled somewhat then, shaking her head, agreeing. "No. You cannot wear them tonight."

When Eowyn looked at my pants and shirt, I could kind of see why that wasn't an option. They were filthy. They didn't smell, I hoped anyway, but they did have mud, and dirt, and grass, probably all flown up from Tinkerbell's not so dainty hooves. She was a massive horse and I was covered in mess.

"I will remain. We must talk." Eowyn turned away, her back to me, but clearly remaining. When she suddenly started to strip her own dress off I turned away in a hurry.

The words somehow gave me the chills but I couldn't remember why. I'd undressed in front of so many women in this place. It was weird. Now I did it again, slowly, uncomfortable, aware of how curvy I was compared to her. She had this lean figure, all muscle and bone. I grasped the soap and started to wash myself slowly, standing there, trying to not splash it on the wooden floor too much.

"You said I would marry someone."

Uh oh. Now I remembered. I blinked, freezing, staring back over my shoulder at her. She wasn't looking at me and I caught a glimpse of her body under a pale white shift, so I hurriedly looked back to my own washing water. "I ..."

"Have you offered me to him?"

"No!" I exclaimed, kind of surprised.

"But you have to his brother." She was almost accusing.

"No. Not to Boromir. I didn't offer you to anyone. It was just something I ...saw. A possibility of." I was half tempted to say I knew she liked Aragorn but I held back. Woops. Oh man. I wasn't sure how to deal with this problem. This wasn't something I wanted to change.

"You are half Elf. I heard Elf-kin see things. But I cannot accept such an arrangement. Not now." I felt a hand on my shoulder, flinching, as she came to stare at me. No anger, not really, just determination, and a kind of softness in her face as she continued, "For I have found the man I would marry. Had I been told this before your brother came to my Uncle's hall, I may have thought deeper, but now I find myself bound already. Already have I come to see you as a kind of sister."

"Sister?"

"The sister of the man I -" She turned away, suddenly, eyes dropping. It was a strange thing, to see Eowyn suddenly so vulnerable, but she still had this strength in her as she said it. "I am sure Faramir of Gondor is a noble man. But please tell Lord Boromir that I am not able to consider this offer."

"It wasn't an offer. It was just something I saw." I wished I'd kept my big mouth shut now. "There's always a lot of different possibilities in our futures, all kinds of things, and he made you very happy in one. That's all. I mean, Boromir was meant to die, and he's still clearly alive, so..." I felt my words almost trip over each other and I tried to slow down and relax. "In the one I saw, there was no arrangement, just ...the two of you finding each other. And being happy."

"It sounds a nice vision. I think I shall be happy though." She smiled, distant, and moved away, barely knowing or caring that she was walking around me near-naked. A woman in love. "I know it."

I seriously hoped I hadn't just screwed up Eowyn and Faramir. Neither of us spoke, we bathed and were dressed in those under-dresses that apparently went under the fancy dress, before I was made to sit down and one of Eowyn's maids did something with my hair. She got the same treatment and sat there, resigned, used to it. Happy even. Something in her mood had changed.

"You may stay here and rest." She said, when they were done, standing. "My maid will come in later and re-dress you."

I nodded.

There was a batch of sunlight in Eowyn's room, where a window had been opened into the late afternoon light, and I went to sit in it with the only chair in the room, the phone in the sunshine, barely paying attention to what else was going on.

Now that I was alone, and able to sit, I stared at the phone, only vaguely aware of it turning on.

Boromir hadn't done it.

Now that I thought about it, it had seemed... weird. All of it. His behaviour, the way I'd felt after, just the whole thing. And the timing. How the hell would there have been enough time? We were barely five minutes from the camp, tops, so if Legolas had been scouting, he wouldn't have been far. Even Aragorn might have heard something.

A door opened beside me and I glanced up to see Legolas, not a big shock, sliding in. He shut the door behind him and strode across the room to sit against the wall in front of me, sliding down, his legs extended and touching mine.

"Don't want a chair?" I teased softly, nudging him with a foot, as Legolas relaxed back. "For your delicate Elf Prince body?"

"Delicate?" He chuckled softly, shutting his eyes, and reached out to tug the chair closer to him so that his hands could reach my legs. "Do I act delicate?"

"Not with me." It was true too- the Elf was surprisingly … flexible. More than once I'd bitten him and he'd seemed to like it. I wondered, as I watched him rest in front of me, if this was a side of Elves that they hid. The more rough, impulsive, emotional side, the side of him where he seemed to loose his usual self-control and be controlled by his impulses. I'd only seen it in bed though. I reached out to touch his hair, still as perfect as ever, the sunshine already warming it. "Why are you here?"

"Gimli would like rest." Legolas explained. "For he intends on staying up late tonight. I was told to come and keep you company."

"You and him, are you good friends?" I hoped so.

Relief flooded me as he nodded, smiling, opening one eye to gaze up at me. "I have had few friends like him. He is ..." He almost seemed amused by his words, "...as a brother is."

"An Elf and a Dwarf. Why do they hate each other anyway? You guys seem to get along."

"There is much history and blood. Betrayal. Hurt. Arguments. Many things that have separated us." Legolas added, "I once believed that I would never wish to spend an hour with a Dwarf. Now, I find myself looking forward to the day I may travel with him and question all my life's hatred of their kind. The more he speaks of his kin, the more I find what I was taught was wrong." He drifted off, shutting his eye again, his hands still sliding up and down my calf.

I breathed out and relaxed, leaning back in my chair, my mind returning to drift as well. It was so easy to sit here and just be with him. Doing nothing. His hand made me want to sleep, to crawl down to sit beside him, and go back to sleep. I loved every second with him. I was so at ease with him.

"I look forward to taking you home too, my love."

"To Mirkwood?"

"To my father."

Somehow these words caused my stomach to flip flop and not in the good 'Oh, Legolas said something beautiful' way. I tried to hide my tension from him. Tried and lasted a second. "Oh, yeah. Your father. What about Gimli? Travelling?"

"I have time."

Somehow this didn't seem right. I wasn't sure why, but it didn't. And Legolas was a Prince. "And your father's going to be fine with me being human?"

"In body."

I wanted to groan, or kick him, or something. Legolas' stubborn 'You're an Elf' was sweet, and ...well, who knew if he was right about the Elf spirit, or whatever, but physically I wasn't an Elf. I knew it. Anyone who could see Legolas and I side by side knew it. "Legolas..."

"It may take him time."

Time was something Elves had, I realised, time was something they had a lot of. It might take his father a very long time. How much time did I have? The problems with this union was starting to become really obvious. And... what about Gimli? Why did I have the feeling that I was coming between Legolas and Gimli in the future? "How long before you would go with Gimli?"

"Ten, twenty years, when you are able to come."

He said it so casually, like it was obvious, but again this answer somehow didn't feel right for me. I couldn't explain it. There were so many problems with Legolas' answer that I didn't know what to do or say. Tell him that if I aged like 'men', that in that time, I would be getting close to middle age? Or that he and Gimli were meant to travel alone? I knew that, somehow, I felt it. His hand massaging my calf wasn't relaxing me now.

I suddenly wondered how fair this was to Legolas. How many years would I be able to give him? How would he react when I died? Death was something he struggled with, with compete strangers, how would he cope with his partner?

"Boromir is happier." Legolas said lightly. Trust him to know what to say to distract me.

"Good."

"He still regrets it."

I nodded faintly, staring down now, Legolas gazing up at me. "He shouldn't. I didn't blame him then when I thought it had happened. I'm just relieved that there's... you know, that no baby got caught up in it."

"No. There is no child for Boromir growing within you." Legolas reached up, his hand tracing its way up the inside of my leg, resting his palm on my lower stomach. He released his hand though, shut his eyes, and relaxed back against the wall, a tender smile slowly appearing on his face.

There was an increase in sound outside now, from the Hall, and the distinct scent of wood smoke. I knew we'd have to deal with this problem. The age problem, the royalty problem, the race problem, all those things. I didn't want to worry about them right now. There was too much stuff going on that involved swords and stuff.

"Big feast tonight?" I changed the subject and saw him relax. Yeah. He wasn't ready to deal with those problems either.

"Yes. There is much to celebrate."

I supposed so. It was a miracle anyone was here at all. I slid down to sit beside Legolas, lifting my phone into my lap, leaning against him as I started to flip through the photos of strangers once more.

"What is this?" He asked softly, reaching up to touch the touch screen, flinching as it responded to his touch.

"It's called a phone." I responded. "It contacts people who are far away."

"Is it safe?"

I nodded, resting my head on his shoulder again, closing the gallery on my phone. "It's safe." On impulse though, I lifted it, and took a photo of Legolas. It was kind of amusing to see him there on my phone. But it seemed ...to make this whole thing not real. I closed it quickly. It was funny how, even though I'd had the phone, I'd barely thought about it. Touched it. Was it strange that, even though it was one of my last links to my past, to whoever I'd loved, that I didn't find it interesting?

Legolas sat up a little straighter and a minute later a woman entered. She stared at him with the same awe that he seemed to generate everywhere before she said, hesitant, "My Lady must dress."

Legolas nodded, standing, and moved away to leave me to my fate.