A/N: Thanks to my beta silentmidnightdeath for beta'ing and to all you readers/reviewers/PM bugs out there! Chapter dedicated to Archet for her suggestion on more hobbit involvement! :D

Welcome to Earth!

Chapter Eleven: Breakfast-Who Knew?

Sam shot to his feet, dagger at the ready, before he remembered where he was. Looking around, he spotted Gimli serving as Merry and Pippin's pillow, but Frodo was nowhere to be seen. He poked his head out of the room to see Frodo coming down the stairs.

"What time is it?" he whispered.

"Seven, I think." Frodo replied. "Melody's dad's gone, but she's still asleep."

"What about the others?" Frodo shrugged.

"Don't know."

"Can we leave?" Sam asked.

"I reckon so." Frodo guessed, leading the way back up the stairs.

"I'm starving!" Pippin moaned behind them.

"Then get up and we'll get breakfast." Frodo told him.

"Is that wise?" Merry asked. "Do you know how to work anything around here?"

"Melody used most of it last night. How hard can it be? I asked her to explain it to me, anyway, and she did." Frodo explained. "And fruit's not too hard, no matter what world you're in!"

"True." Merry conceded, getting up and pulling Pippin with him. They went upstairs, and Frodo set about plugging in the coffee machine. Lots of Melody's 'explanations' had involved 'it just does, I don't know why. But this is what you do'." And it worked, so he didn't complain.

Soon after, all four hobbits had coffee and a bowl of fruit to share while Frodo set about warming up sausages and set out some eggs for Sam to work with after setting up the stove. He popped toast in the toaster while Merry and Pippin watched with wide eyes.

The smell of coffee brought Gimli up from the basement, and Gandalf from the shed. Legolas leapt out of a tree in the backyard and knocked to be let in. Aragorn came down the stairs, shaking his head.

"She's still asleep."

"She sleeps too much!" Gimli exclaimed.

"She is probably exhausted. She has been looking after all nine of us for a while now." Legolas said quietly. "Mostly on her own."

The dwarf fell silent. "That's why we're making breakfast." Frodo explained. "To make it easier for her." Legolas smiled. Hobbits-always so caring and kind.

Boromir stumbled down the stairs and Gandalf poured him some coffee. "Good thing Melody picked some up yesterday."

"It is." Boromir agreed, downing the cup in one.

"We may have to limit how much we drink." Frodo said worriedly.

Ten minutes later, the table was set. Bacon, eggs, cinnamon rolls that Frodo had found and sampled, toast, coffee, and fruit.

"Who will go wake Melody?" Sam wondered.

"I will." Legolas said quietly, not liking the idea of anyone else going into her room. Especially not with the look Boromir had in his eye. Aragorn smiled at his friend.

Legolas climbed back up the tree, leaving the hobbits to wonder why he didn't just use the perfectly good stairs that were in fact, closer to the kitchen than the tree, and Aragorn just shook his head at them. "He's an elf. That's why."

Once back inside his and Aragorn's room, Legolas crossed to Melody's through the bathroom, knocking quietly since her father had already left. No answer. He nudged open the door to find her gone.

At the same time, the front door opened. Everyone froze. Aragorn ushered everyone into hiding places while Legolas grabbed his bow and quiver before sliding along the hallway to the stairs. To his shock, he met Melody face-to-face with his arrow pointed at her throat as she came up the stairs, pulling out her headphones.

"Whoa, easy." she whispered soothingly, raising her hands, eyes wide in alarm. "Just me. Okay? I'm not a threat."

Legolas lowered the arrow in relief. "Where were you?"

"Out. Running." She looked exhauseted. She was shaking just from the effort of standing, and sweat soaked her tank top and shorts, covering her entire body in a glossy sheen. Her hair had turned dark and curly-like her mother's-and clung to her face and neck.

"You look tireder than you did before bed." Melody smiled.

"It makes me stronger. I'm going to go shower. By the way, what smells good?"

"The hobbits made breakfast for you. You may wish to hurry before it disappears." Legolas teased.

"Hai, hai! They're so sweet! I'll be right there!" Melody told him, rushing into her room and closing the door. Less than a minute later, he heard water running.

Legolas climbed back down the tree and knocked on the back door to be let in. Gimli opened it, grumbling about how the elf didn't even try to blend in.

"She is bathing." Legolas informed them. "She was out running."

"Running? This early?" Gandalf asked in surprise. Legolas nodded. "Why?" The elf shrugged.

"She said it makes her stronger."

"She really should be a soldier." Aragorn commented, going outside with his pipe.

Soon after, Melody came down dressed in a tight t-shirt and short shorts. "Thank you, hobbits." she said, smiling at each of them. "That was very sweet, to make breakfast."

Frodo blushed. "It was his idea!" Pippin cried, pointing at the perpetrator.

"Thank you, Frodo." Melody kissed the top of his head gently.

"I-It was nothing. You've been looking after us, and, I wanted to make it easier." Frodo admitted, blushing again.

"It's not that hard." Melody told them, helping herself. The others followed her example, Legolas standing beside her for a moment until she told him to sit before she forced him into a chair. Aragorn smirked at his friend, who looked rather shocked. Melody saw the look on the elf's face and laughed. "I didn't mean to scare you. I wouldn't hurt you, just, standing behind me like that makes me nervous." Legolas nodded, smiling back. It was hard not to.

Breakfast was a merry affair. Afterwards, Frodo and Sam cleaned up while Aragorn and Boromir fought over the Xbox again. Gandalf disappeared into his shed, and the hobbits remained gathered around the table with Gimli. That left Legolas and Melody.

"Well...what do you do all day?" Legolas asked curiously.

"Write. Draw. Sleep. Talk to people. Go out with friends. Practice. Et cetera." Melody replied, stretching with a yawn. Then she glanced curiously over at Legolas.

"What do you normally do?" he smirked.

"Travel. Travel some more. Run into some Orcs, slay them to rescue whichever hobbit gets captured. Worry about the fate of my world. Travel some more. Keep watch while the others sleep, including the watch himself. Travel some more." he paused. "That's about it."

Melody laughed. She had a light, musical laugh. The elf liked it. "You actually have a sense of humor!" she giggled. "Yay!" she grabbed his hand. "Come on."

Legolas followed her silently as she pulled him outside. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, something the Fellowship had gotten very used to already.

"Wynter?" Legolas asked.

"Yep." Melody was already texting back.

"Is she coming?"

"She's bringing Bri, Toria, and Ruby."

"Who?"

"You know Bri. Toria and Ruby are the two who took the hobbits shopping. They're sisters."

"Oh. That makes sense." he paused. "Do they all believe this?"

Melody laughed. "Hun, I don't believe this! I just play along!" Legolas looked up, shocked.

Melody shook her head. "You lot may be used to magic and the impossible, but we're not! This isn't in our list of 'we were taught this is possible'. In fact, we've been taught that it's impossible since we were old enough to understand the word 'impossible'!"

"So you don't believe in us?" Legolas asked, worried. Melody paused, then frowned.

"No, some part of me does. You're lucky. I'm the girl who still believes in Atlantis and some forms of magic at age sixteen. Most people would have had you arrested." Legolas winced. They hadn't done anything wrong!

Melody saw his reaction and gently touched his shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "Don't worry. We're not going to risk your lives, whether we really believe you're here or not." she looked at the sky, smiling. "I've always believed in other worlds, in my own way. But I never thought I'd be involved in them mixing."

Legolas gave her a curious look. She shook her head. "You'll understand when you've met some more people."

"Hey!" called a familiar voice. Legolas looked up. Melody hadn't heard, his elven hearing picked it up before her mortal ears did.

"They're here." he stated calmly, pulling Melody off the driveway.