Chapter 20

He didn't let his lips claim mine right away, instead he achingly descended closer and closer to me. I could taste his breath on my lips with every exhale. Our noses were still connected, the only barrier seemingly keeping us apart. Something swam in the depths of his blue eyes but an instant it was gone. The hand that rested at the base of my neck which had been fiddling with the hair there, was suddenly pulling me forward, snapping the invisible barrier that was holding us apart.

Our lips met, and I had to resist letting out the groan that had been building up inside of me since he first took me to the garden and lighted the mounting fire within me. I tangled my fingers in Legolas' golden locks at the back of his head, trying to bring him as close to me as physically possible, His lips were warm and silky, and he certainly knew how to use them. He confidently dragged his lips over my own. With confidence that I would never have while sober, truthfully this kiss probably would have never happened had I been sober, I reached out and claimed his bottom lip with my teeth, gently suckling on it before releasing it with a quiet smack. Legolas practically growled in response, his tongue gently teased my lips, sliding into my mouth and tangling with my own tongue when I released a moan.

One of his hands had descended to the small of my back pushing me up against him, I trailed my own hands down his chest feeling his lean muscular body through his tunic. I could kiss him forever, if only if my lungs didn't need the oxygen. I pulled away sighing as our lips disconnected, taking a deep breath of the cool night air. That was without a doubt, the best kiss of my lifetime and my body was definitely in agreement. My body was alive and thrumming with awareness. I felt as if Legolas injected me with a shot of adrenaline the moment his lips met mine. My heart pounded erratically against my chest, so loud that I'd be surprised if Legolas couldn't hear it.

Blearily, I gazed up at Legolas. I was still in his embrace, my hands resting on his chest, so I had to look up at him to catch his gaze. He was looking down at me, his eyes flickering back down to my lips.

"Maya! Where are youuuuu." Legolas' gaze snapped to the direction of Ed's voice, as if his life depended on it. Not even a second later, Legolas was untangling our bodies and took a step back from me. The cold air of the night wrapped it claws around me, mocking the warmth the elf had previously provided me. "You should go." I blinked slowly in response, a feeling of hurt washed over me completely wiping out the adrenaline high.

"Legolas, what wa-?"

"Nuka, I swear I will kick your drunk ass back to Earth." Ed's voice was getting closer and I could practically see time disappearing before my very eyes. Legolas' face was confusing, I couldn't read him, his face was a steel mask, but his eyes were swimming with emotion. "Maya, go you need to rest."

He was dismissing me as if nothing happened. "Fine," I snapped, spinning on my heel I followed the area of where Ed's voice had come from. I found the man in question a stone's toss away from the entrance to the gardens. When he saw me his face practically lit up, "Why do you have swollen lips and sex hair?"

"Drop it." I hissed, not bothering to look at my brother as I stomped back in the direction of camp.

"Ooo someone's a little touchy. It wasn't a satisfying bang I take it?"

"I said drop it," I whirled around to face the bear of a man, "You will not speak of this anymore, not now not ever. Understood?" Ed, sensing that I would hurl some element at his head if he said anything other than yes, merely nodded his head. He didn't say anything else on the way back to camp.

When we arrived I immediately entered my tent and laid down, forcing myself into the dark abyss of sleep.

oOo

Two children: one brunette and one blonde stared at each other, bodies tense. "Now sweetie, you remember hearing about Julie right?" The mother of the brunette nudged her daughter closer. "This is her daughter."

The blonde eyed the brunette suspiciously, "Do you like horses?"

"I love them."

"I think we'll get along just fine."As if brought from a trance the two girls smiled at each other giggling as if they shared some kind of secret joke. "I'm Carrie by the way."The thirteen year-old stuck out a hand but the brunette girl's words were never heard as the scene flashed to a group of teenage girls.

Much like the previous scene the focus seemed to be on two girls: a blonde and brunette.

The blonde was more centered in the group of the girls than the brunette who was staring off into the distance with a forlorn expression.

"I can't believe he asked you out!" A red-head gushed; her cheeks were flushed from what seemed like excitement and her eyes were bright with curiosity.

"It was just Trent, he's no Brad Pitt."

"TRENT SHOWMEN?"A squeaky black-haired girl screamed in dismay.

"He's so much hotter!"One girl huffed.

"Besides that you two would be the perfect couple!"Another girl chimed in.

"Why didn't you say yes?"The red-head whined.

"Look," the blonde hissed, "I don't want to go out with him. End. Of. Story." The blonde turned and hooked arms with the aloof brunette. "Now if you'll excuse me we have some serious business to attend to."The blonde practically dragged the brunette away not stopping until she deemed she was a safe distance away from the nosey girls. "Now what's up with you?"

"They're all right, you should've said yes."The brunette mumbled.

"Oh shut up, you've been in love with Trent since you first laid your eyes on him." She tugged gently on a strand of the brunette's hair. "So what is that, three years?"

"But-"The brunette tried but the blonde just kept talking.

"You have dibs and I'm not a back-stabbing bitch."

The brunette's face lit up and she pulled the blonde into a tight hug, "You are the best friend anyone could ask for."

The blonde giggled and hugged her friend back, "I live to please."

The scene changed once again showing the two friends now grown up to be young women. The two lounged in the couch in flannel pajamas, hair tied up in identical buns, and junk-food scattered around them.

"Catch." A piece of popcorn, having caught the blonde-haired woman in surprise, harmlessly plopped said woman in the nose. Acting out of alarm the woman teetered off the end of the couch and landed with a solid thud and a soft scream. "In case you haven't noticed, dancers are supposed to be graceful." The brunette who had initially thrown the tiny projectile teased.

"I wasn't ready." The other whined. Said woman pulled herself back into her previous position on the couch, hands scooping into the popcorn bowl as she did so. "Whabf nofth?"

"I'm not even going to try and decipher that." The blonde wrinkled her nose and swallowed the handful of popcorn she had shoved into her mouth.

She rolled her eyes at the brunette, "Oh please."

The brunette laughed and strode off the couch grabbing a hairbrush off a side table. She tossed it behind her back not even bothering to see if the other women would catch it. She moved to grab the TV remote not far off and continued her trek to the stereo sitting in the corner of the room. "Now we sing." With a click the stereo fired up, the last notes of the previous song echoed in the air.

"I'm gonna marry the night…"

"Ohmygod YES!" The blonde woman screamed as she got up and struck a pose, "I won't give up on my life. I'm a warrior queen, live passionately tonight."She continued to sing into the handle of the hairbrush strutting various poses and singing multiple verses.

The brunette picked up from where the other woman left off, her microphone being the TV remote, "I'm gonna lace up my boots. Throw on some leather and cruise. Down the street that I love, in my fishnet gloves, I'm a sinner."

The other woman joined the brunette in song again not long after and the two continued to strut various poses whilst giggling at each other's moves. It wasn't until the song finally ended did the two women finally dissolved into gut-wrenching laughter.

The brunettes face grew serious as she stared at her friend. "Happy birthday Carrie."

The blonde swatted at the other's girl face, "Don't remind me, I'm getting old."

The brunette scrunched up her face, "I know, I'm going to have to start calling you grandma."

"Oh shut up, we're only a few months apart."

"Pshh do you want me to reserve your spot in the nearest nursing home grammy?" Carrie swatted at the brunette again.

"So…?"

"Lord of the Rings and ice cream?"

"You read my mind." The two women raced up the stairs with only laughter left in their wake.

The scene once again changed but the brunette no longer stood next to the blonde. Carrie, the blonde, now stood above something sniffling. Her eyes were red from crying and her entire body was soaked from the heavy downpour that was occurring but never once did her eyes leave the slab of stone in front of her.

Maya Welsh

1988 – 2012

Beloved Daughter, Sister, and Friend

May you find comfort in the arms of an Angel

"It doesn't do you any justice."The woman sniffled. "It's not how you would want to be remembered."Her hands clenched and she squatted in front of the grave. Her hands trembled as her fingers ghosted over the engravings on the headstone. "How could you leave me?" Sobs wracked through Carrie's body as she leaned her head against the stone. "You were my best friend and you left me." One hand dropped to clench at the muddy ground near her feet, "How could you leave me?"

I jerked awake, my body shaking uncontrollably. I stuffed my knuckles to my mouth trying desperately to quiet the sobs that were ripping their way through my body. My heart screamed in time with the pain that was whacking against my skull. Tears clouded my vision so much that shapes and colors blended all into one big mush.

How could I have forgotten about my best friend? We had been the ultimate duo, we had grown up together, had been each other's backbone for nearly our entire lives and I had just forgotten her. Air came out and spurts and my body ached from the torture I was going through. Panic took me into its cold embrace and my body seized as I began to hyperventilate. Gasping for air I rolled forward so I was on all fours, and dry heaved.

"What the hell?" I could feel enter my tent, his warm calloused hand felt my forehead, "I should have known." With a swoop of his arms he had me out of the tent and was carrying me bridle style. I couldn't tell where he was going, or why. The tears were still freely flowing down my cheeks and impairing my vision.

Suddenly I was flying through the air, I could barely get a shriek out before plummeting into freezing cold water. I came out spluttering and threw some curses into Ed's direction. I clambered out of the river I'd been tossed into and called to Fire to heat me back up. "What the fuck was that for?"

"Well you woke me up in the middle of the night." I blinked at the oaf of a man in front of me and pushed back the thoughts of strangling the daylights out of him. "You also had a fever."

"So, you threw me into a freezing river?" I asked incredulously.

"It wasn't a normal fever and you were bleeding. It seems me being here is messing with your magic. Whenever any of our family is together our magic becomes undoubtably stronger, I should have realized the affect it would have on you. Since your magic is already wild, and you have a lot of it, it's taking it out on your vessel."

"I could see Carrie." I whispered

"Your perky blonde friend, I remember her."

"She was crying over my grave, it felt so real."

"It probably was, you are full of strong magic Maya. Spirit could allow you to see your friend although you are worlds away. We're lucky that your ability with Spirit decided to flare up, and not your ability with Fire. I don't think anyone would have been happy to wake up to their tent on fire."

"Ed, I need a solution to this, you said you'd help me control my powers."

"I will, we'll start tomorrow. I thought I could work on just the groundwork, but your magic grows impatient and I don't want to test it. The sooner we have control over it the better. We'll still work on your fighting though, we can't have you going out and disgracing the Creator name with your sloppy sword skills." Ed grinned, and slung an arm over my shoulder, "After all if you're going to roll with us you have to be the best of the best."

"Excuse me, I was doing well on my own before."

"Yeah fighting menial beasts. You should be killing those without batting an eyelash. Don't worry sister, I'll whip you into shape. After all I'm the best fighter the Creators got." He shot a wink at me and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Alright macho man, let's get pack to camp so I can sleep the affect off."

"I want you start wearing the necklace Elrond gave you."

"How'd you know about that?" I raised a suspicious brow at my brother who did not look the least bit guilty.

"I told ya sis, we've been keeping tabs on you." He smirked down at me, "Now the necklace amplifies your magic, but it'll channel it so it's not too much at once. Think of it like training wheels. We're going to have to start from step 1 again, which means no more getting drunk and running off into the city. We're going to have to focus a lot of time on this. You'll have little time for anything else. Understand?"

"Yes." The memory of Legolas' lips moving against my own flashed in my mind. Legolas' cold face appeared before me, "I'm willing to do what it takes."

"Good."

We walked the short trip back to camp, where I could immediately feel eyes on me. Legolas was standing on the outskirts, he was watching us with obvious curiosity. He took a step towards me but I turned my back on him, wished Ed a good night, and crept back into my tent.

oOo

Ed wasn't kidding when he said I'd have no time. Nearly every waking moment of the day was spent with him either weapons training, hand to hand fighting, eating, meditating, or just working retraining my abilities. We rode together, working on training Aphrodite and Ellie's endurance and had me focus on using my abilities in tandem with Aphrodite.

Each day we'd finish well after dark and I'd crawl back to the camp both physically and mentally drained where I'd promptly pass out for the night. I never really saw much of my companions. I missed them, specifically the hobbits and their cheerful, innocent energy. Occasionally I'd hear Merry and Pippin's loud voices rambling with excitement right before I drifted off for the night.

I would see Aragorn occasionally on the practice field, he'd come to watch Ed and I fight, sometimes throwing in his own advice. I was gearing up to ask the man to spar with me. After two weeks of training with Ed I was already significantly better. I was faster, smarter, and stronger. Ed's cruel workout regimen was working to my advantage despite the absolute exhaustion it inflicted on me. My powers were also adapting well to the training. My irises no longer had a circulating spread of colors but instead were a shade of deep dark brown, so dark they nearly looked black. Ed teased me that I'd have his golden eyes in no time.

I had yet to speak to Legolas about the kiss. In fact, I hadn't seen him since that night. Sometimes I could practically feel his eyes on me, but when I'd look around, I could never see me. The elf was avoiding me, that much was clear, and I was letting him. I ignored the deep-rooted pain it caused me and instead threw everything I had into training. It worked until Ed threw a wrench in my plans.

It started when Ed told me I could sleep in for the day. When I woke up the Creator was nowhere in sight instead pinned to my tent was a note with 'day off, enjoy!' penned in his atrocious chicken scratch. I decided to go for a run away, it was now a habit that my body expected every morning and I felt more centered after it.

After finishing my run, I bathed and put on a blue dress with off the shoulder sleeves that pooled at my wrists. It was light and airy and fun to twirl in. I tucked the necklace Elrond had given me underneath, so only the string that held the necklace in place could be seen around my neck.

"Maya!" I spun to face a sprinting Pippin who barreled into me with open arms.

"Hello, Pippin. How are you? Long time no see."

"You've been off with your brother and we never see you anymore." The hobbit actually looked like he was pouting.

"Have you been missing me?" The curly haired hobbit stared down at his large, hairy feet."

"Maybe."

"Miss you," Merry scoffed, he had come over not a moment after Pippin threw himself at me, "You're all Pips been talking about."

"No, I've been talking about the food too!"

"Well I've missed you both too! And I have the day off so, if ya'll aren't up to anything I'd love to spend time with you." It was like I told Pippin we were about to eat, he immediately started bouncing up and down in excitement.

"Oh yes! You can tell us more of your stories!" Pippin grasped my hand and started tugging me away from camp. "We should find Frodo and Sam, they'll want to come to."

The hobbits found Frodo and Sam quicker than I expected, it was like they had a honing beacon for one another. Frodo shared a smile with me when I came over but before we could share words Pippin was already babbling excitedly in my direction.

"Maya tell us a story!"

"Oh yes!" Merry joined, Frodo and Sam nodded in agreement with them.

"Okay well um, I could tell you some fairytales. I used to read a lot so, I've got a stash of stories in my head, but I don't want to do all the talking. So how about I tell you a story and you tell me one."

The hobbits nodded their head in agreement and sat down on the grass to listen. I told spoke to them about Cinderella, and her hard work and care for the family that hated her. That one day she got the reward she deserved and met the man of her dreams and she fell in love. When I mentioned the glass shoes Sam scrunched up his face, "That's just impractical." Otherwise the hobbits were enthralled. I kept the story to the more PG Disney version, after all telling the hobbit about the step-sister who cut off part of her foot to fit into the show was morbid. They'd have enough of that soon enough.

"I don't get it." Pippin chirped after I finished the tale.

"What don't you get?"

"She just met him, why would she marry him?"

"I guess it was love at first sight." I said with a shrug.

"Sam knows a lot about that." The hobbit in question blushed a new shade of red when Frodo gave him a pointed look.

"Rosiiiiieeeeee!" Merry and Pippin cooed. If it was Possible for Sam to turn any redder he accomplished it, he looked like a ripe tomato.

Merry and Pippin jumped into the humorous tale of how Sam and Rosie met. She worked at the Green Dragon, the best tavern I'd ever set foot in should I go to it. "Sam stares at her with lovey eyes but can barely say more than a couple words to her," Frodo added, smirking as Sam shot him a look of betrayal.

"After this is all over Sam, you shouldn't hold back. Don't stop yourself from finding happiness." The stout hobbit blushed again and looked down into his lap.

"I, uh, she has a lot of admirers. She'd never choose me." I patted Sam on the shoulder giving him a knowing smile.

"Don't be so sure about that Sam. You won't know unless you try." The hobbit nodded but didn't say anything else.

"What about you Maya," Frodo questioned, "Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"No, there's a lot that makes up a person and you can't see it all by just looking at them. I think you can feel attraction when you see someone for the first time but not love. But a lot of my stories have love at first sight in them, so I guess I'm hypocritical for loving them so much."

I launched into a rendition of Thumbelina, and the hobbits quieted to listen.

"They loved each other dearly and the prince would do anything to find Thumbelina again, but he himself was in-"

"Look its Legolas, maybe he'd like to listen!"

"Pip!", Merry scolded, "You just interrupted the story." I honestly couldn't care less because I was watching Merry beeline it for Legolas, who wasn't alone. Next to him was a beautiful blonde haired elleth dressed in a fine silver dress embroidered with little crystals that caught the light as she moved. Her long blonde hair was the color of melted gold and fell down in small curls to her waist. She let out a tickling laugh at Pippin's antics, one that sounded like a windchime in the breeze. She was standing mighty close to Legolas, so much so that their arms brushed gently when they walked.

Pippin stopped in front of the pair, his head cocking to the side in curiosity, "Um, who are you?" The woman laughed her tinkling laugh again.

"I am Gwilwileth." The blonde smiled down at the elf, radiating with beauty.

Gwilwileth. I knew that name.

"Oh my god." I didn't even realize I spoke out loud until nearly every head was turned in my direction. I couldn't find the energy to care. The memory of my kiss with Legolas flashed in front of me, and I had an overwhelming urge to run, my body revving up like a car. My stomach felt as though I was being stabbed from the inside out and for a brief moment I thought I was going to be sick. "I just realized I have something I must do."

"We weren't done with the story." Merry was quick to point out.

"I'm sorry we'll have to finish another time." I couldn't bare to look at Legolas, despite the feeling of his eyes on me.

"Wait, we must be introduced before you run off. I have heard much about you and your brother from those in court." Slipping a steely mask onto my face, I met the woman's eyes.

"Then you already know who am and I know already who you are. Excuse me, I really must go."

"Maya, wait." I ignored Legolas' call and strode back to camp my mind only on finding Ed and sparing until I couldn't stand anymore. I couldn't hear the elf behind me but I knew he was there. Instead I beelined it for camp, praying for once that I'd find my brother.

"Maya please."

I halted for a moment, refusing to turn around. "I have already realized that is your betrothed Legolas, you do not need to tell me. What happened between us will never happen again. I am sorry." I waited a moment and when I received no response, I continued my walk back to camp.

He didn't follow.

A/N: Thank you everyone for your continued support of this story, I love hearing from you all. I just finished finals so I'm able to write for a little. xxx