This chapter has been edited to remove NC-17 content. The story is also presented in full version at the web address listed in my profile.

Author's note: 'Lord Gimli' is a reference to him being Lord of the Glittering Caves, not a lord in Ithilien.

21 – HAVEN

- - - - -

Legolas took long, purposeful strides across the field. His long hair was abandoned behind him, whipping over his shoulders in the wind. Flynn was tense. How could he just go charging up to a well-trained company of elven soldiers – armed soldiers, at that? She shielded her eyes with her hand and could pick out his lithe form slowing as he drew nearer to them, until finally she lost sight of him among the trees. She chewed anxiously on her lip, and Rhaia shifted impatiently.

"Brennewyn, what do you see?" Flynn called, knowing the Elf's eyes could still pick out Legolas's form on the ridge.

Brennewyn looked back to Flynn. "He speaks with them; nothing more. It appears as though the one he spoke to has gone to fetch someone else – whoever commands them, I would think."

At least they had not shot him on sight.

Suddenly Flynn heard a wavering whistle carry on the wind. The note vacillated in a strangely mesmeric way and both horses raised their heads, ears rotating forward to the sound. Then both Rhaia and Isilyn took off unexpectedly in the direction of the whistle. A startled Flynn clutched at Rhaia's mane for dear life as Brennewyn regained her faltering balance on Isilyn and took some control over her speed. But Rhaia was determined, and swiftly the ridge rose up to meet them, and her white feet were pounding up the hill until Flynn could see Legolas heartily embracing another Elf, and Rhaia came to a thundering halt directly in front of them. She waited, snorting happily.

Brennewyn was came hurtling up from behind and halted a little back from Flynn, who was busy trying not to look as though she had just been kidnapped by a rampant horse she did not know how to ride. She shifted uncomfortably, her pelvis sore from the long hours riding. Eyes were upon her, and she could feel herself going red. Towering above everyone else on this well-bred horse well out of her league, she glanced nervously down at the faces before her. All were armed archers, all elves and almost all dark-haired. They bore a striking resemblance to Legolas in attire, all earthy greens and browns. Could they tell she was not an Elf just by looking at her? Her hair was bound in a single braid and covered her ears, and both she and Brennewyn were now dressed in male clothing, for easier riding. Flynn smiled nervously around – and then Legolas put her out of her misery.

"Here are Flynn of Stralis, and Brennewyn of Lórien," he said, his attentions directed at the Elf whom he had embraced, his voice measured to carry through the company so all would hear. The faces she saw were blank when Legolas announced Flynn, but showed recognition when he mentioned Lórien. She did not fail to notice he had not mentioned Flynn's relationship to him.

"My ladies," Legolas went on, gesturing to the Elf beside him, "Meet Silinde of Ithilien, formerly of Mirkwood, commander of my northern border guard."

The Elf called Silinde, a tall, blonde soldier with a square-ish face and deep-set eyes, bowed his head respectfully. Flynn bowed back according to elven custom, and smiled, and briefly wondered if she should just let them think for a while that she was an Elf, if they were fooled at all. She decided that not saying anything was probably the best option, so they could at least not pass judgement on her accent and know she was an out-and-out foreigner.

Legolas turned to Silinde and said, "Now that you know it is only I invading the borders, and not a party of stray wild men, I trust we may pass through to Emyn Arnen?"

"Indeed, my lord," Silinde responded, "and if it pleases you, we could escort you as far as the cross-roads before we turn our sights back to the borders."

Legolas glanced around at the company. "You are not a sizeable group, so I would not ask you to split, and leave half here and take half with us. Is it safe for all to venture south with us and thus leave the borders open?"

"Ithilien fair is safer than ever it has been, my lord," said Silinde. "Your approach is the first note of concern that has passed our way since you left, and you will recall that it is long since we have had trouble otherwise."

"I do recall the haven our lands have become," Legolas agreed with a slow, reminiscing smile. "Then it is agreed; let us make for the crossroads."

At his words the elves turned southwards, formed a neat group, and began to move off with Silinde falling in at the company's front. Flynn marvelled at the command Legolas had, seeing with certainty that he was indeed an authority on all things Ithilien. Brennewyn rode up from behind Flynn and joined the company, soon abreast with Silinde, not shy about approaching the Ithilien border commander. Legolas moved to Rhaia then and stroked her cheek softly, and looked up at Flynn, who had yet to move, as the company filed past them. He said nothing, but when he mounted the horse, he did so behind Flynn, and she scooted forward and allowed him to spur the horse with his knees. He wrapped one arm around her and she felt his breath warm on her neck, silent, as they rode to the front of the walking company.

- - - - -

It was evening when they stopped. Flynn had drowsily watched Brennewyn and Silinde converse softly at the front of the ranks as the sun sank on their right, before she drifted off into a light slumber against Legolas's back. Here she felt markedly safer and more protected than she had for the weeks they had spent in the open. She heard, as if far away, Silinde apologising for the border patrol's mistake. They had been told, he said, by a scout along the river, that there were three unidentified travellers moving south from the Entwash crossing. The scout, Silinde said, was new to the task, and Gondorian – and thus mortal and did not have the long recollection of the elves – and had clearly never set eyes upon Legolas, because if the young man had, he surely would have recognised the Lord of Ithilien and refrained from alarming the guard.

Flynn roused as the party halted and settled into a wide, deep hollow surrounded on one side by huge rocks littered across the ground as if cloven by lightning and strewn across the countryside. The company were afforded a windbreak there, and they built fires and sat a while. Legolas entreated Silinde for any food he might have, and they discovered that the elves had stores of cured meats, way bread, and hard biscuits. He produced a supper for Flynn, and they sat with Brennewyn and Silinde as she ate somewhat self-consciously; Legolas and Silinde took some of the way bread but the elves as a whole did not seem too interested in eating. Flynn envied that they hardly needed to dine if it was not absolutely necessary; how convenient that would be.

"Ithilien will be much overjoyed now that you return," Silinde said as they settled into comfort on the grassy ground around their fire.

"How I have missed my home," Legolas said, "and am glad of heart to return." He grinned then, and added, "Though I trust that Lord Gimli has meanwhile kept the elves in good spirits."

Silinde smiled. "Indeed; he has taken to appointing himself something of an honorary ruler of Ithilien. I should think he would be reluctant to allow your return, in fact." There was mirth in his tone.

"Ah, the stiff necks of Dwarves – and how I have cursed them! Still, he can rule Ithilien until the end of his days if he so wishes, if it means my leaving would lead me to treasures such as I have found in these travels of late."

Flynn paused in her chewing.

"I sense you are not referring to any jewel or gold," Silinde responded with a slight hitch of his eyebrow.

"No indeed," Legolas agreed, and, reaching over to Flynn he squeezed her free hand; the other had stopped with a biscuit halfway to her mouth. "Flynn of Stralis this lady may be, but she is also a great jewel to my home; she is the Lady of Ithilien."

Flynn's breath caught in her throat, choking on her food. She coughed, loudly and swallowed hard, and cleared her throat, and stared at Legolas, wide-eyed. His face was serene. Since when was she the Lady of Ithilien?

Oh yes... that.

Silinde's eyes went to Flynn then, and he gave a noble nod and a smile that Flynn could not quite read. "Congratulations are in order," he said. "I am gladdened that the Lord of Ithilien has at last found his Lady."

"Thank you," said both Legolas and Flynn at the same time, and they looked at each other, and Flynn smiled uneasily. So, one Elf at least did not jump up and scream bloody treason at their union: there were only several hundred more to go.

- - - - -

The countryside was noticeably different by mid-morning. There were tall trees now – firs and pines and cypresses – and the land, once flat and gently undulating, now rose and fell more dramatically in high ridges and low peaks. Legolas halted suddenly while it grew hot, the sun burning in a cornflower blue sky. The elves looked around warily for danger. Legolas gestured Silinde over and spoke to him so quickly and quietly that she could pick out only some of their conversation but it made little sense – something about shelter and... secrets? Flynn stared at Legolas from where she sat on the horse with Brennewyn, wishing he would share what was going on. Were they in danger?

Flynn leaned around Brennewyn, trying to catch her attention. The Elf was listening with her sharp hearing to their conversation, and there was a playful, knowing grin at her lips. Flynn looked at her imploringly, but she shook her head teasingly. Flynn glanced back and saw Silinde nod once obediently, and bellow a string of commands hurriedly. The elves began to file past them again, but Legolas still did not move. In fact, he was saying farewells to Silinde. Brennewyn, too, called a goodbye to Flynn and winked and, laughing to herself, jumped from Isilyn and set off on foot with the soldiers.

"What on earth is happening?" Flynn asked in a shaking voice. "Are we under threat? Why have we been left with the horses?"

Legolas, grinning, said, "The guard and Brennewyn will be perfectly safe on foot, and will be far beyond the crossroads by sunset tomorrow, and Brennewyn will be escorted to my guest dwellings in Emyn Arnen, another day's travel from there. We will need the horses so we may come speedily to my home once we have... rejuvenated."

He may as well have been talking in tongues. "Rejuvenated? What, exactly, are we doing, staying back while they go on?"

"Oh, no, love," he said mysteriously, kicking Rhaia to move off, "We shall not stay here – there is somewhere just to the east of here which I must show you."

Flynn urged Isilyn to move off and she followed Legolas at a walk. "I thought the only thing to the east of here were the Ephel Dúath mountains, and then Mordor after that?"

"If you are talking of major features of the land, then yes, you are correct. But there is something near here which will not appear on any map." He grinned slyly.

Flynn racked her brain – what did she recall of the geography of this place? She did not dare go hunting in her bag for the Middle-earth map she had taken with her through the time-slip. Disregarding that it suspiciously depicted the entirety of Middle-earth with remarkable accuracy, it happened to be printed and laminated on modern, 90gsm stark white photocopying paper.

So Flynn visualised this region of the map, one which she admittedly did not know as well as she should. There was Minas Ithil somewhere to the south, Orodruin and the rest of Sauron's former strongholds to the east, marshy wasteland to the north, and Gondor to the west. What else? This was a place not on any map, Legolas had said, and Flynn was certain Silinde had been referring to something that was secret. Was it some classified location, some hideout that would protect them from... well, what?

Legolas had said they were not in any danger. Flynn looked around. They were entering the outskirts of what was not quite a forest but not an open plain, either. The trees were widely spaced and did not form a thick canopy, but the light was dimmer beneath the dark green leaves. Rhaia's hooves crunched on dried pine needles and flat, wide leaves, and Flynn was struck for a moment with the realisation that they were, in fact, in Ithilien, the land so beautiful even the evil in Mordor could not fully taint it.

Then it struck her. Of course! This was Ithilien, after all, where Frodo and Sam had been captured by Faramir and his men and taken to the secret pool! Henneth Annún, the Window of the Sunset, whatever you wanted to call it; it could be the only 'secret' near here that was worth the detour. Faramir would have taken control of everything around here after Ithilien became his dominion, she reasoned, and with it Legolas would have been trusted with the knowledge of the secret hideout of Gondorian soldiers. Flynn grinned excitedly to herself, hoping desperately that she was right.

- - - - -

Their route was treacherous for horses. They headed steeply downhill on a narrow path carved out beside a sheer rock wall rising on their left, and to their right a blue stream bubbled musically through a small gorge. Legolas had been singing gaily in Elvish, and after an hour of listening and failing to understand, Flynn had piped up with songs she knew, the excitement brimming in her voice drawing a look of amused interest upon Legolas's face. But now they were silent, on foot, concentrating hard on leading the horses. Flynn watched Legolas, his nimble feet going lightly over the uneven ground, and his brown and green clothing blending in with the saplings growing up through the rock face and beside their path.

Flynn tried hard to memorise this route, knowing that she may well be the only female Human ever to have come to this place, unless it had opened up to visitation significantly since the war. There was little to remember, however; there were no other paths branching off from their own, and it ran directly along the running stream. Soon Flynn could hear the distant thunder of water falling, and her heart raced with anticipation; they were close! And then, almost suddenly, they the path seemed to dissipate and Legolas climbed down and left the horses, not needing to tether them.

He took Flynn's hand and led her to a fissure hidden in the crevices of the rock wall. It was pitch dark and cold inside but Legolas was a sure guide and in a moment, after climbing a narrow stair, they emerged into a poorly lit grotto within the hill.

Flynn whirled slowly, taking in her surroundings. It was just as her vague memory of this part of the story afforded: a rock cave, dark and many-chambered – she could see the shadows of other rooms opening out around the walls with only one entry and exit in the form of the stair they had just used.

Then the waterfall came into view. Along the west side, the cave opened out to a window the size of the entire wall, only it was no window of glass; rather it was a sheet of water, a glassy, streaming waterfall, cascading down past the grotto into the secret pool below and the stream that wound west down to the Anduin. She turned to Legolas, whose joyful smile glowed in the diffuse, mottled light cast through the water. "This is wonderful," she said.

"Do you not wish to ask me where we are?" he questioned playfully.

Flynn remembered her ruse; she did not know anything of this place, and so, "Where are we, Legolas?" she asked, taking both his hands and staring around in wonderment.

The Elf turned her hands in his and guided them upwards so they were palm-to-palm, and he twined his fingers through hers. "This is the Window of the Sunset. It is a place that used to belong to Gondor, but was held in such secret that only few Gondorians now know of it. I may be the only Elf in all Ithilien who knows its location – but now," he added, letting go her fingers and running his thumbs down the insides of her forearms, causing her to shiver, "you are also keeper to the secret." He took one of her hands, which remained raised, her nerves assailed by his touch, and he kissed the palm gently, repeatedly.

She closed her eyes, yielding, and distractedly asked, "What does it entail, being a keeper of this secret?"

Legolas grinned into her hand, running it down his cheek, inhaling, closing his eyes. "You must simply..." he paused for effect and his eyes snapped open, the facets in his irises sparkling: "Keep the secret."

"Ah," she said, playing to his mock sinister tone. "It might be too complicated for my young, mortal mind." Flynn bit her lip gently as he resumed kissing an electric trail down the soft skin of her inner arm. "I might forget what it is I am not allowed to say."

Legolas tilted her chin with his fingers and her concentration faltered as he bent to graze his lips across her throat. He laughed softly.

"You cannot spill secrets you have forgotten," he said. Kissing his way up to her ear, he went on, "Now, shall I show you what is to be seen in this place?"

Something in the timbre of his voice made her skin tingle, and she answered, "If you do, then I will know all its secrets." She grinned mischievously. "You could continue distracting me, and show me later, when my mind is full of you and will not remember a thing of the surroundings, and then the secrets will be safe."

Legolas caught her invitation well, and said, "Precisely my mind." He kissed her on the mouth, so softly that she wasn't sure if she felt it at all, until his breath came against her lips as he murmured, "I think that I will perish if I must wait another moment to love you."

"Then do not wait," she said.

- - - - -

Legolas stood as Flynn leaned, limp, against the wall. Waiting for her to catch her breath, he watched her and asked, "Would you like to see the rest of this place now?"

Flynn nodded. Legolas lit a candle and led her about the main chamber, seeming to know from memory where all the furniture lay. He used this candle to light others about the cavern, and as they glowed to life Flynn surveyed the surroundings. There were furnishings seemingly out of place in a cave beneath a waterfall – overlapping mats on the floor, various heights of seats and day-beds strewn with throw rugs that spilled over on to the floor so casually that they seemed carefully placed. There were kegs upturned as tables on which more candles sat, some in holders, some gummed to the wood by long over-spilled wax.

Legolas led her out and into each room adjoining the main: one that used to serve as a pantry; one a soldiers' mess room; one as a makeshift armoury; one, most interestingly, as a private bathing chamber. There they found a hefty clay tub presumably used as a soldiers' bath, though more than likely it was only the captain who was allowed to enjoy it. Flynn thought of Captain Faramir, and all the nights he would have spent here after long and harrowing days fending off Gondor's foes. He would be long dead now, like many others. The thought cast a dark shadow over her, though Legolas was lighting the room.

Nude, the Elf trotted into the room and knelt down quickly by the bath, inspecting it, and Flynn shook herself mentally, knowing that if he saw her face he would ask what the matter was, and she could not explain. He looked up at her, smiling, and, "A bath!" he said. "A fine way to ease the long hours and miles on horseback, fair passage though our elven steeds are."

Flynn smiled, bemused. "I thought elves did not bathe."

"There is great pleasure in a warm bath! We surely would not reject such a joyful activity simply because we do not always need it to keep clean. One needs a bath for the soul, if nothing else."

Flynn realised then how second-hand she felt – the only bath she had been afforded in a fortnight having been that quick unwilling dip in the river Anduin – and the prospect of a hot soak was suddenly tantalising. "Believe me," she said, "I need it for more than just my soul."

Legolas grinned and rose and, grabbing Flynn by the waist and twirling her unexpectedly on his way past, retreated to the main chamber. She composed herself, momentarily dizzy, and followed, to find he was already filling a bucket from the waterfall. Flynn found a jug and mirrored him, standing cautiously by the ledge where the water ran past. Hadn't Faramir said something about there being certain death if you fell over the edge here? She shivered and stepped back and again followed Legolas, who hummed to himself as he went to the bathing chamber and tipped the water into the bath.

They went back and forth, singing intermittently, and the filling of the bath took so many trips that Flynn felt she had more than earned a warm soak by the end of it; even moreso because each turn at filling the jug showered her with cold spray from the fall which, while refreshing, was not altogether welcome as the warmth of the sun faded. They lit a fire beneath the tub, the light flickering up the walls hung with tapestries and decorated by tiny ceramic tiles pressed into intaglios in the rock. Flynn watched as Legolas dipped a hand into the water to test it, and, judging it suitable, he climbed in. She stared at the nude Legolas, his lithe form sinking slowly into the expanse of the tub now, and he looked at her with interest as she leaned over its edge. "Will you join me?" the Elf asked.

Flynn laughed softly and rose, venturing one leg over into the tub. "Of course." She pulled the other leg in, sharp heat washing over her legs. Gingerly she sat, very slowly, and felt the intense and singular pleasure of water just shy of uncomfortably hot as it tingled through her. Closing her eyes, she leaned back against Legolas and murmured contentedly.

They sat in the tub a long while, at first simply soaking in the water and stroking every available stretch of skin, Flynn swamped by the Elf's long body and longer legs. After a time, when she grew sleepy, Legolas requested Flynn to regale him with folk tales from her own land. She searched her head for suitable tales, but could only think of fairytales and fables, and decided that one of these would have to do. It wasn't as though he would have heard it, anyway. "All right," she agreed, "I will tell you one story which has characters I think you will find of interest."

"I am nothing but ears," Legolas assured her, albeit drowsily, his head tilted in surrender back against the tub, his eyes closed.

Flynn laughed as she thought of the peculiarity of his pointed ears and how strange it was that she should be in love with someone so physically foreign.

"Well," she began, "This one is about a young woman, a ranger, a cruel witch queen, and – would you believe? – seven dwarves..."

Slanting orange sun pierced his eyelids and he opened them to find that he had been drifting into Elf-sleep, despite his best efforts not to. Immortal or not, he was tired, and the warmth of the water and her gentle voice, engaged in the telling of a strange tale, had a soporific effect.

"...and the hunter kissed her one last time, but in doing so he somehow dislodged the bite of poisoned apple caught in her throat, and she coughed it up, and she was alive again. And so I suppose they lived happily ever after, as they tend to do," Flynn was saying.

Legolas snapped to attention; he had not concentrated on the last part of her story. Flynn's telling was not exactly conducive to rigid alertness: she seemed to skip crucial parts of the story and come back to them later, confusing the time sequence. Had the heroine not been dead? He had thought mortal death was final. He said, "Do not be discouraged, my love, for you have a beautiful voice for stories." He gathered her hair into his hands from where it lay splayed across his chest and added, "but something, I think, is lost in the telling."

He heard her chuckle as he twisted her hair into a knot at the nape of her neck.

"Are you saying I am not a natural storyteller?" she asked, her tone light.

Legolas grinned to himself, choosing his words carefully. "You are a natural healer – now that is something to boast about."

Flynn laughed and swatted him playfully. He kissed the back of her head and, in doing so, noticed again the almost horizontal afternoon light streaming through the door. The sunset! He had been so anaesthetised by their lazy afternoon that he had almost forgotten to show Flynn the stellar feature of this place. It was not named Window of the Sunset for nothing. He stood smoothly, taking care not to disrupt Flynn, who twisted, watching him hop from the bath.

"What is it?" she asked, fine beads of sweat from the water's heat glistening on her face and shoulders.

"Come, you must see!" he answered, making no effort to disguise the excitement in his voice. He extended a hand for her to take, and she did, climbing indelicately from the bath, much to his amusement, and following him as he padded lightly to the main chamber, her heels slapping on the wet floor.

It was not the first time he had beheld the shimmering jewel colours of the sunlight playing through the waterfall, but it was no less magnificent now than when first he had seen it. He heard Flynn's light gasp and he watched her, wonderment on her face, her eyes wide and sparkling. All around the main chamber, light flickered across the walls, refracted through the water in all the colours of the rainbow.

Flynn whirled slowly and Legolas watched the coloured light play over her naked body, admiring its curves, its crevices, the soft, round artistry. To him she was bewitching, and far more beautiful than she seemed to grasp, with a grace not at all like that of the elves, but more humble and less presumptuous. Even Legolas grew tired of the haughtiness of his own people. He was unaware of the serene smile across his face as she took his hand again.

There was mischief in Flynn's eyes as she ran one hand down his back. She stood on tiptoes and kissed him, her free hand in his hair, pressing his face to hers, claiming his lips. Legolas felt a gradual shift in the intensity of her energy, and suspecting he knew what this portended, he broke the kiss. Flynn raised one eyebrow.

Legolas slid his arms around her and pulled her close, savouring the taste of her mouth and the warmth of her breath. Flynn pushed against him insistently, and he yielded, allowing her to direct him backwards, his feet finding and negotiating the edges of mats and furniture until he felt the edge of a day bed behind him and let her push him down, not needing to wonder what her intentions were.

- - - - -

Soft candlelight seeped in around them. Legolas gazed at the pink-flushed beauty breathing heavily beneath him and kissed her skin, tasting salty sweat and relishing the exquisite flavour of her. She smiled up at him, contentment all over her face, and as he settled in beside her, she stretched out lazily, all her muscles tensing in one long concerto down her body. Flynn rolled on to her side, facing him, and he let his eyes fall on her body. Her voice was thick with satisfaction when she said, "I think I need another bath."