Hi, all! I'm back. And I've got two chapters here now. They've been sat in their floppy-disc for about a week and for some reason, since I'd saved them I assumed I'd uploaded them. Silly me forgot that I actually hadn't got around to it yet.

There was that and I've been preoccupied with a 'Troy' fic I'm trying. I won't post it till it's done though. I can't handle the pressure!Lol! Kidding! I love the pressure. It keeps me writing. As do all your great reviews.

Thanks loads for the feedback! If it wasn't for that I wouldn't know you were out there and I wouldn't have got this far. Not to mention the fact that without a couple of you giving me the idea one of my previous chapters would have completely sucked! So thanks for that again, and keep the reviews coming. The more of you I hear from the more motivated I am with my writing.

So here we go with chapters 14 and 15. I hope you enjoy them and let me know what you think. Love'n'Hugs!... Nev.

Chapter 14

Legolas sat in the armchair across from her and waited expectantly. He could feel the tension coming off her in waves but she made no move to break the awkward silence. The almost suffocating pressure was growing and he anxiously took a swallow of his drink. Now it came down to it he wasn't sure he wanted to know. There was something almost comforting about ignorance. As he was he had no responsibilities, no pressures and nothing pushing him to make any kind of decision. But as soon as found out about his past he would be faced with all kinds of decisions that needed to be made. Did he really want that?

Then he looked over at Isabella's pale, almost frightened face and he knew he had to. It wasn't just his life this was affecting. And, odd as it seemed to him, he felt a connection to this young woman. Although it shouldn't really be strange, should it? They had obviously been close to say the least. The emotions he had seen in her just minutes before would have been enough to convince him that even without Katelin's existence proving the point.

The silence was driving Issie mad. The hands that grasped her mug so firmly were shaking and she started anxiously drumming her fingertips on the ceramic surface. After a good few minutes she had to say something, anything, to stop him staring at her. So she launched into her explanation without really thinking about it.

"Your name is Legolas Greenleaf. You and I are elves. You come from the woodland realm of Mirkwood. Your father is King Thranduil . I don't know who your mother is. You never mentioned her and when I finally met your father it never really occurred to me to ask. As far as I know you're nearly three thousand years old. You were a skilled archer and a formidable warrior. I should know. I sparred with you often enough to know there's not a chance in hell of me ever beating you." She smiled at the memories that came to mind and the corner of Legolas' mouth curved upward slightly, but he was too distracted to smile fully. "That's all I really know of your life before we met. When we were together we were on a dangerous quest that dragged us both far from our homes and it seemed like tempting fate to talk about it. When we were first getting to know one another you described your culture to me but it was such a foreign and unfamiliar concept that I have forgotten much. My descriptions and explanations would only confuse you further." She paused there and watched his face as he took in this information. His brow was furrowed in concentration and he stared with unseeing eyes at the dark blue carpet.

'Legolas Greenleaf.' He thought the two words over and over in his head, testing them out before nodding to himself. That was an acceptable enough name and he had no trouble with everything else she had said. For some reason it all seemed to make sense. Although he could remember none of it he could easily take it in and it seemed perfectly natural to him. Even though the memories wouldn't come he could feel they were in there somewhere. He just needed to find a way to access them. And he hoped that would come in time.

He looked up at Issie and sighed. His early life wasn't what was really concerning him at the moment. What he really wanted to know was how things had been between himself and Isabella. That was the foremost question in his mind. "Tell me about us," he requested gently.

Issie sighed and dropped her eyes to her lap, stared at the hand that had once worn her wedding ring. It had been so beautiful she had almost kept it. But looking at it had done more harm than good and she had left it behind in Mirkwood, planning to retrieve it when she had recovered enough to return. She blinked back tears as she flexed her fingers, missing the soft pressure of the cool white gold against her skin. She sniffed and forced herself to speak once again. "Uh… what do you wish to know?" was all she could manage. This was going to be harder than she thought.

"How did we meet?"

Again Issie smiled at the memory. It seemed so long ago but she remembered it like it was only that morning. "I had just be sent by Peter from my world—here—to your world: Middle Earth. I was dumped in a forest a day or two's walk from Rivendell. That's a beautiful place in Middle Earth where Lord Elrond rules over another city of elves. I don't know much about that place either." She shrugged apologetically and continued. "I picked myself up, dusted myself off and started walking. I don't remember how long I'd been walking but not long after the sun had set I was attacked by orcs; foul creatures that originally came from elves.

"Captured elves had been tortured and mutilated until their hearts were turned black and they were physically unrecognisable as the beautiful creatures they had once been. They were then forced to breed and spawned an entire race of cruel, evil beings that destroyed everything in their path.

"I had already been injured out on patrol the night before so I couldn't fight as well as I had needed to and was nearly killed. You and the company you were travelling with were camping nearby and you heard the fight. I had been almost unconscious when you shot the remaining orcs and took me back to the camp. The next day I joined the company and… the rest is history." She waited patiently for the next question but Legolas was deep in thought. So she just sat quietly and drank her coffee. He would speak when he was ready.

Legolas spent almost ten minutes just sat thinking, letting yet more information sink in and take its place. He knew he should remember this but he just… couldn't. He could picture it all happening and none of it seemed strange in the slightest but it was like she was talking about someone else. Something was keeping him from applying this to himself. There was a barrier between his mind and what he was being asked to accept and, although he could see it and hear it he couldn't touch it; or, more to the point, it didn't touch him. All he felt when he thought over their meeting was relief that someone had got to her in time to stop those orcs hurting her any more. But the 'someone' had been him. It didn't seem real. He couldn't remember.

She could both see and feel he was becoming more than frustrated and wished there was something she could do to help him. Just seeing him distressed made her want to go over to him but… after what had happened in the baby's room it probably wasn't a good idea. Next time she highly doubted she would be able to say no to those eyes. Jerking herself away from very dangerous thoughts she said, "Do you want to leave it at that for now? We can talk some more another time if you want a break. I can appreciate how hard this must be for you." Her voice was low and gentle and she leaned forward in her chair to rest her elbows on her knees. She watched him mull this over before looking at her. She blinked in confusion when she saw how guilty he felt.

Legolas mirrored her position, leaning forward and holding his mug between his palms as he sighed. He dropped his head, his golden hair falling forward to conceal his face, and he squeezed his eyes closed and slowly shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Issie. I'm trying to remember, I really am. But… it's not coming. I can almost feel it there but when I reach for it it's like swimming against the tide. I can't get anywhere." He sounded tired, even to his own ears. And he was. Tired of not knowing, not remembering, not being able to give them both what he felt they needed. Being told to accept something he couldn't remember was like asking him to pretend someone else's life was his own. He couldn't do it.

But, looking across at Issie's compassionate face, he knew he would never stop trying. There was so much love radiating from her he knew that by giving up he would be denying them the chance of something beautiful. He couldn't let himself live without something that had so obviously meant the world to both of them. And there was a child to consider. His child. That in itself was worth all this.

"You said, 'the rest is history.' What did you mean by that? What happened after? You said we were travelling with some others. Who were they and where were we going? Tell me everything." The questions and requests poured out of him. There were so many things, details he hadn't been told and any one of them could trigger memories. He wanted to know it all. He couldn't wait until morning. Selfish as it was, he couldn't stop now he had the chance to find out as much as possible.

For some reason her now emotionally drained brain wouldn't hold out much longer. After the near miss in Katie's room and the anguish on Legolas' face she realised that, stressed as he must be, she had to take care of herself as well. She was a mother first, Slayer second, confused widow third. And to do each of these to the best of her ability she needed to not skip two nights sleep. Seventy-two hours without rest would mean a grouchy Issie, grouchy Katie, injuries out on patrol and less answers for Legolas. All in all it was in everyone's best interests that she went to get some sleep. An idea had promised to save her sanity and, although she knew it was along shot and something a Mary-Sue from one of those fan fictions would do, it was her best bet.

"Legolas, I have to go get something, alright? I'll be right back." Putting her mug down on the table she silently trotted up the stairs and into her room. She opened the wardrobe and dropped to her knees. She pushed aside the polished wooden case that held Thranduil's gift—the portrait of Legolas that hadn't been looked at since she got home—and opened the bag behind it. From inside she pulled three books. 'The Silmarillion', 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings'. All books were well used and the dog-eared pages testified to the fact. She sighed and took a moment to run her fingers over the lettering and flicked the pages, breathing in the faint scent that still clung to the paper. She wished she had never read them. If she hadn't maybe she wouldn't have gone to Middle Earth. She would have been too afraid of the unknown and would have stayed. Or at least would have waited a few days so the Fellowship and orcs would have been long gone before she turned up. Then she wouldn't have met Legolas, wouldn't have gone on that stupid quest and wouldn't have gotten him killed! Then none of them would have even been in this situation and more than likely they would both be happy! Together or apart they would probably both be happy living their lives with nothing even approaching this kind of stress or pressure.

Letting out an angry sigh that bordered on a growl she slammed the books closed and got to her feet. Her frustration made its presence known through the slight stomping of her feet on the stairs as she went down. But as soon as she looked at Legolas sat staring thoughtfully into his mug of coffee like the answers were floating in there somewhere was enough to instantly calm her.

No. She was glad she went. Glad she travelled with him and learned what it was like to be loved so truly, so hopelessly it was like nothing in the world could reach you while you held tight onto him. However wrong that belief had been, it was worth all the suffering they went through and would still go through. She would relive his death a thousand times if, when he raised his head, he looked at her with recognition and love like he had done before.

But within moments he looked at her and she was once again forced to stare into the eyes of a near stranger. She sighed and walked forward, handing him the books and sitting on the floor with her back leaning against she sofa. "I was part of your life for such a short space of time. Anything I could tell you might very well be meaningless. These books don't tell all, but they can tell you far more about your world than I ever could. I never was any good at retelling stories." She smiled and watched him run his eyes over the pages, skimming the words and getting the feel of something she knew to be somewhat different to what he was used to. But with a thoughtful nod he closed the books and put them on the table. "That blue one, 'The Silmarillion,' kind of sets the scene for 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings.' You weren't actually involved in any of it but it covers the Middle Earth creation story and the beginnings of the elves and such. Probably things you were taught when you were growing up. That smaller one, 'The Hobbit', goes into great descriptions about your home and places you may have been. It speaks of your father and your people so I thought it might trigger some memories there.

"That bigger one there is a tale you were directly part of. For the most part anyway. Some of it you may see as unnecessary but while it was going on you were always asking me what the hobbits were getting up to. So now you'll know." She shrugged. "But there's something you should know." Legolas looked at her and waited for her to continue. "I was with you throughout the whole thing, after the Fellowship left Rivendell. I'm not included at all in the books. There isn't one single hint that I was ever there or even that Slayers are a part of Middle Earth at all. I'm not sure quite why, considering it was written as a prophecy by a watcher who had a vision while over there. But the point is our relationship isn't mentioned." She smiled. "Do me a favour. Use the books as well as me for information. I can only tell you so much as my memory has almost as many limits as yours." They both smiled. "So much happened in your life before you met me." She sighed and her face fell. She dropped her eyes to the ground and ran the tips of her fingers over the now empty place where her wedding ring used to lay. "I'm so afraid that, no matter what I do or say, I won't be enough to help you." Her already soft voice faded to a whisper and she fought the tears stinging her eyes. She couldn't cry over this again. She wouldn't.

But an icy hand closed round he heart at the thought that he may very well have to leave her. He might have to leave London and go back to Mirkwood, to his friends and family, before he could remember. He was nearly three-thousand years old so one year travelling with a group of friends wouldn't really stand out. The only thing she had to remind him of his life before was herself. And that was a weapon she wasn't quite prepared to use just yet. It had only been a couple of days after all. 'Give him time,' she told herself as he accepted the books gratefully and said he would begin reading them that night.

"You don't need to be here, Issie," Legolas said when he saw her start to settle back down on the sofa. "If I have any questions about what I read they will wait until the morning. And you look like you could do with rest." The Slayer started to object but he insisted. "Go to sleep. I can't concentrate with you staring at me anyway," he ended with a chuckle.

She laughed back and nodded, giving in to the emotional exhaustion she was beginning to feel overtake her. Unable to help herself she walked over and planted a soft kiss on his brow, breathing him in deeply before pulling away. She bid him goodnight, reminded him not to push himself too hard and silently ascended the stairs.

Funny. I wrote this when I was tired and I kind of projected myself into her (yes I realise it's a Mary-Sue and that kind of comes with the title). I wanted to go to sleep so I sent her to bed. Odd. hehe! : )