WARNING: There may or may not be some atheism in here. So beware if you get offended by stuff like that.

I do not own Lord of the Rings.

I do own my OCs.

XX

"Oh, hey guys! I was just about to heat up some leftov-" Manny paused, "I suddenly sensed a shift in the universe. What happened?"

Legolas gaped at the woman, surprised by her swift catch of the change in atmosphere around both he and Jupiter. He glanced over at his companion who had remained quiet thus far just in time for him to say, "Friendzoned."

"What?" She furrowed her brows before they lifted up and her eyes widened, "Oh... Oh. Okay, tonight sounds like a great night for chocolate chip cookies."

This caught Jupiter's attention, "Your grandma's recipe?"

"Of course, who else? Grandmas are the baddest biscuits around when it comes to cookies."

"Do you require any help, Manny?" Legolas asked politely, as per usual.

"Nah, you can go join everyone outside to train if you want. Actually, now that I mention it, Aragorn wanted to spar with you. After what happened, he doesn't want you guys to get rusty and wants everyone to spar more."

"Has he? Well, I suppose I shall take my leave." The ellon sent the both of them his usual charming smile, "Until supper, Jupiter. Manny."

The both of them watched as he continued on his way, heading back to the back doors. Jupiter's gold eyes never left his figure until he was no longer able to see him and returned his gaze back to Manny, who was looking at him as if he had three heads. He rose an unimpressed brow at her bewilderment, "What?"

"You're really deep in this, aren't you?"

He shrugged casually, stuffing his hands into his pockets, "What can I say? I'm smitten as fuck."

"I can tell." The brunette then dragged him into the kitchen, "Now while you deal with the hot stuff for leftovers, I'll deal with the cookie dough."

"Let me guess, I'm the one putting them in the oven."

"Hey, I'm not the one who barely flinched when they got second-degree burns after sticking their entire hand in an open flame." Manny pointed the wooden spoon she took out at him, "And don't think you're gonna get away with being alone with me, and not telling me what happened out there."

Jupiter sighed loudly as he opened the fridge to take out the leftover ratatouille that Manny demanded him to make upon seeing the movie Ratatouille with everyone. As he prepared for it to reheat in the oven, he gave her the short version of what happened at the cliff, making it all straight to the point mostly for his own sake. Even though it hurt to tell her what happened, it gave him a strange kind of relief. Manny always had that effect, even when he first met her. She may be bubbly and talkative, but when it was just the two of them and she knows when Jupiter needed a little venting, she always listens.

"I think I like Frodo." His best friend broke him out of his thoughts with her sudden announcement and he simply looked at her, "Like... like, like him."

"Uh-huh."

"Your lack of response worries me."

"Manny, you are aware that I've known you had the biggest crush on Frodo since the very second you saw him on screen when you were twelve?"

"What! I did not-"

They were both interrupted by knocking on the front door, their heads swiveling towards the direction of it. "Expecting anyone, sweet-cheeks?" Jupiter asked, seeming not too worried, but remained on edge.

"Nope." Manny set down the chocolate chips she was just about to pour into the cookie dough before taking off the apron, "I'll go see who it is. Don't cause any intentional fires, pyro."

"No promises." He sang as she left the kitchen, snickering when he had barely caught her flipping him off.

Manny sighed deeply as she quickly approached the door, hoping it's not some official that's working on the case with Ethan. Jupiter was already going through enough stress and he doesn't need something that's suppose to be over, coming back to him. Before she could even unlock the door, a voice spoke up behind her, "Manny, is it the... um-"

She turns to the worn out group that filed into the living room and shook her head at Merry, "Police? No. I have no clue who's out there, to be honest."

"I saw three people," Aragorn says. "One appears to be a child."

This only raised more questions for her, "A child? Okay, I can't take the mystery, I'm opening the door. Hobbits, shoes. Legolas, hair down. Make sure your weapons are away."

Instantly, although disgruntled, they all did as they were told. The elf frowned to himself slightly as he undid his braids and combed out his hair with his fingers to conceal his pointed ears, wishing that Jupiter were there to fix it for him like he usually did - again, craving his gentle touches. He winced when the thought crossed his mind, knowing that the touches they share won't be the same anymore. The guilt he has been feeling appeared again, doubling as he thought back to the look of acceptance and sorrow on Jupiter's face when he rejected his confession.

Legolas was dragged out of his thoughts when Manny made a gesture for all of them to be quiet before she unlocked the door and swung it open. Her eyes widen and jaw dropped when she saw the strangers. She opened her mouth to exclaim something, but was quickly cut off by a joyful squeal and a small figure colliding into her stomach, "Sissy Manny!"

"Holy- Oh my- Levy!" Manny quickly knelt down and returned the embrace wholeheartedly, eliciting another giggle as she picked up the child until she sat on her hip. She looked at the other two, "Chloe, when the heck did you get back to California?!"

"Well, someone's got to make sure their sister isn't doing anything stupid. And why didn't you tell everyone you moved out?! You're lucky I know Jupiter's address!"

"Yeah, well, here's the thing..." The brunette chanced a glance behind her at the both confused and surprised Fellowship, "There are some friends of Jupiter's from Arizona that came to visit and he offered for them to stay here since there's more than enough space. I hung out with them a lot and found out that it was a mistake getting the apartment instead of taking Jupiter's offer to move in with him."

"So it isn't just you and Jupiter here?" The man beside Chloe asked, crossing his arms with a raised brow.

Manny rolled her eyes, "I'm a legal adult now, suck it up. Now, are you gonna come in or not?"

Finally, all of them fully entered the house and came face to face with the Fellowship. Chloe looked completely different from Manny, instead of brown hair, she had coal black hair that was straight along with skin a shade lighter and hazel eyes. She was much older than the other girl, by at least five years, along with the green-eyed man that stood beside her, who had curly ginger hair that piled on his head and fell slightly to the nape of his neck.

The little girl that Manny held, who appeared to be five or six, had her older sister's black hair that reached all the way down to her lower back. Another feature of her's that she shared with her sister were big hazel eyes that stared at the men in wonder, her skin tone leaning more towards Manny's than Chloe's.

"Chloe, Daniel, Levy, let me introduce you to Lance, Anthony, erm... Freddy, Samuel, Barry, George, Mason, and Paul. Everyone, this is my big sister, Chloe, my brother-in-law, Daniel, and my little sister, Levy."

Chloe's brows rose, "Is it just me... Or do they look like-"

"They're hardcore Lord of the Rings fans." Manny told her quickly, "It would be easier if you just call them by their character names. They don't mind, Jupiter and I do it all the time."

"Okay..." Daniel blinked slowly, "So you're telling me that you've been living with a house full of men since you've moved out of your apartment?"

"...Yes?"

Luckily, Manny was saved by her best friend emerging from the kitchen, the first couple of buttons unbuttoned on his dress shirt and his tie draped over his neck, "Hey, Manny, I finished-"

"Uncky Ju-Ju!"

Jupiter jumped at the squeal, gasping with wide eyes as he watched the girl wriggle out of Manny's hold and scurry over to him. He grinned the widest grin Legolas has ever seen from him as he knelt down and caught the girl effortlessly, swinging her around as she continued giggling gleefully before being sat on his hip, "Levy, oh man, it's been so long! Look at you!" He said excitedly, "You've grown more!"

"Yeah! Soon, I'll be taller than you, Ju-Ju!" She said smugly, grinning.

The redhead smirked widely, "Oh yeah? When?"

"When I turn five!"

He tried to hold back his snort, but his snickers still slipped out. Levy pouted, crossing her arms as Daniel approached them while Manny properly introduced her sister to the extra men in the house upon her demand, "Wow, it's been a year and she's still this happy to see you."

"That's 'cause Uncky Ju-Ju is the best." His daughter stated firmly.

"Hey, flattery isn't gonna get you anywhere." Her only response was an innocent smile towards Jupiter.

"When did you guys get here?" He asked Daniel after a moment, bouncing the little girl a little to keep her occupied.

The man gave a long sigh, "A couple of hours ago. I have some work to do over here so we thought it would be a good idea to check up on Amanda. Levy wouldn't keep still when we drove over here."

"Seriously?"

Daniel only smiled, his eyes softening when they trail over to the little girl - who's attention was captured by the mysterious group of men - "She looks up to you. You made an impact on her, and honestly, I still have no clue how you did it."

"Alright! Fine!" Chloe suddenly shouted, throwing her hands up, "You can stay with them, but I'm telling mom!"

Manny belted out a triumphant laugh and high-fived all of her friends, though it took Legolas a moment to do so since his attention was mostly focused on Jupiter.

"So," Chloe piped up from where she sat between her husband and Manny, dabbing her mouth with a napkin, "You guys aren't born in Arizona, right? It sounds like all of you come from the United Kingdom."

They all look at each other for a moment before Aragorn clears his throat and nods his head, "Yes, we... decided to travel to Arizona together and lived there for quite some time."

"What do you all do for a living?" Daniel asks as he plated himself seconds, "I'm a photographer so I get to go around the country a lot and take pictures of pretty much everything. It's been a while since I've been in Arizona though..."

"Aragorn and I teach swordsmanship." Boromir stated when he saw the other man struggling, causing Manny to let out a quiet breath of relief. "Frodo, Sam, Pippin, and Merry all share a job at a... uh- restaurant! Gimli, here, he's a blacksmith, and Legolas..." He trailed off, having never been told whether or not teaching archery is considered a job like swordsmanship is, or a good one at that.

"I am studying bioenergetics." Legolas stated with a calm smile towards the couple, noting how Jupiter's head perked up from where he sat between him and Levy, having been distracted by the girl's stories she was babbling with a toothy grin.

"Oh?" Chloe rose an eyebrow, looking unimpressed, "So you're interested in the same science mumbo-jumbo as Jupiter."

His lips twitched at her words, keeping his kind smile in place, "Yes. He's been kind enough to help me further expand my studies, and has taught me a wide variety of other things, including his own private studies."

She snorted, "You can stay in the same room as him and talk about science without getting pissed off? Impressive. I can't even do that for two minutes without him being disrespectful."

Everyone, including Daniel and Manny, was shocked by the hidden aggression in her voice, "Am I missing something here... or?..." Her little sister trailed off, thoroughly confused as she watched Jupiter's lips stretch out into his infamous mischievous smirk.

Legolas recognized the smirk. After being around him for so long, he has put them into two groups. Good and bad. This one was most definitely bad, "Jupiter..."

"No, no, it's alright." He draped his arm around the chair of where Levy sat beside him, staring back at his best friend's big sister, "I want to hear what she has to say. Go ahead, Chloe. Lay it on me. Was it because of how big of a-" He briefly glanced down at his adopted niece, "Piece of crap I am? Or was it when we were having an 'intellectual' conversation and you came to the sudden conclusion that I'm way ahead of my time?"

"No." Chloe nearly slammed her fork back down on the table as she stood up quickly, "I don't care about all of that, that happened a long time ago, you damned atheist."

"Woah!" Manny stood up as well, placing her hand on her sister's shoulder, "This is why you hate him so much? Y'know what, doesn't matter, just calm down, sis."

The Fellowship, again, looked amongst each other, wondering what an atheist was. Instead of asking, they kept quiet and listened as they remained tensed and ready for whatever is about to happen. They all snapped their heads back to Jupiter when he snorted and said, "I should have known it was because of that. Hey, it's not my fault I wasn't born into a crazy religious family that frightens children about sin and Hell."

"Mom and Dad only showed us the truth!" She said hotly, "How dare you disrespect the Bible and God!"

Jupiter's smirk dropped and he too stood up, overpowering her glare with his own easily, "You obviously don't know me that well, Chloe. I don't care whether or not I disrespect something that another person believes should be respected. I simply do not care. I'm open-minded to the possibility of some kind of god existing, but all of that, 'Let there be light.' bullshit? How can I possibly trust the damn Bible? How can I possibly trust God? They haven't done shit for me that proves that they're fact."

"Why you-"

"And you know what I think this is really about? I think this is about the fact that you can't accept that people have their own opinions and you can't spread your Jesus-freakness onto other people that you consider abominations. Get off your imaginary throne, grow the fuck up, and quit being a prissy, hypocritical bitch to everyone and your family. Oh, by the way, just to put the icing on the cake, I'm gay, so you can shove the Bible right up your-"

Before anyone can react, there was a blur of movement from an enraged Chloe along with a chair scraping against the floor before everyone else was up on their feet, realizing a little too late that the woman was going to strike Jupiter. They were both relieved, and stunned, to find that Legolas had been the one to stand up before any of them and catch her wrist before her hand made contact.

Jupiter stared at the ellon in confused awe as he pinned her down with an eerie calm glower, stating with a noticeable strain in his voice to her, "Chloe, I must agree that Jupiter can be careless and tends to take no consideration to what another person feels when he speaks most of the time, but I also find that you, in particular, deserve it the most."

Manny paled as she watched and heard Legolas, equally as nervous as the others since everyone knew that Legolas would never speak to a woman he just met this informally unless he was furious. "I can care less if you are a guest in Jupiter and Manny's home and I can care less about your beliefs, but not only have you provoked a friend of mine, you also dared to intentionally hurt him. I will not tolerate anyone harming someone dear to me, especially Jupiter."

"Chloey..." Levy whimpered from where she sat, her bottom lip quivering, "You were going to hurt, Uncky Ju-Ju?..."

Chloe's eyes widen and her gaze softened tremendously towards her little sister, "Honey, no, of course not! I was... We were just playing!"

"I'm not stupid!" The little girl shouted, tears streaming down her face, "It doesn't matter if he was mean to you, you were being mean too! It's not right, Chloey!"

Jupiter looks down at her worriedly, "Levy?" Almost immediately, she reached up towards him and he swiftly picked her up, easily holding her light weight as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"No!" The woman ripped her wrist out of Legolas's grip, "Get your hands off of my sister!"

"Chloe!" Daniel, this time, spoke up firmly, "I think it's time for us to leave. It's obvious that we've overstayed our welcome."

"I don't want to leave!" Levy shouted at him, sobbing hysterically, "I wanna stay with Ju-Ju!" Jupiter breathed out a long sigh, quickly leaving the room whilst rubbing his niece's back soothingly as she desperately clings to him.

Manny took a deep breath through the silence after a few moments of listening to the sound of Levy's faint sobs. She then told her sister, "Chloe, I love you, but you're being a huge bitch right now." She held up a hand when she opened her mouth, stopping her from saying anything, "You started all of this, okay? You're lucky that Legolas stopped you because I would have slapped the shit out of you if you actually did it. Not only that, you made our little sister, Jupiter's niece, cry. Now, I'm going to say this next thing as politely as I can... Please, leave Levy here for the night so she can calm down and be stress-free while having quality time with Jupiter, our friends, and I, and get the fuck out of my house and stay out until tomorrow morning."

Chloe's jaw dropped upon hearing each and every word that came out of her sister's mouth, looking around at everyone else at the table to see that they all seem to agree, even her own husband, "Daniel, you're just going to stand there and not defend me?!" She said incredulously.

"She's right, Chloe. We both should leave, and while we're at it, we're going to have a long talk at the hotel."

"You're just going to leave my sister here alone with someone who barely knows how to take care of a child, a minor, and eight men we don't know?!"

"I do believe that your words mean nothing after what we all saw." Frodo said, crossing his arms.

Gimli nods his head, "It's best to let the young lass stay here. You would hav'ta drag her kicking and screamin' if you want her to leave. Not only that, she looked scared to death of ya after what you've done in front of her!"

They all winced when they all heard a wail from outside the back door and Legolas didn't hesitate to go follow after it, worry etched on his face. Chloe huffed, throwing her hands up, "Fine! I'll leave! Just make sure she doesn't go to bed too late." She told Manny before storming out, the front door slamming closed soon after.

Daniel looked at each and every one of them with a guilty expression, "I am so sorry. Chloe isn't usually like this, she's just been so stressed with continuing college and work, and-"

"I think that we can all agree that it is not your fault." Aragorn cuts him off, smiling warmly.

Boromir nods in agreement, "Her actions were uncalled for and the one who should be apologizing is her."

"And don't worry about little Lady Levy!" Pippin grinned, bouncing on his feet a bit, "We'll take great care of her!"

Merry nods his head vigorously, "Pippin and I have experience with wee' kids back home!"

Sam rolled his eyes, "I'm sure the lot of you caused a ruckus all day." His comment earned him indignant 'Hey!'s in response.

The man laughed, "Thank you. I'll bring in Levy's suitcase with her clothes and stuff, and then we'll be out of your hair."

Legolas emerged from the back door, stepping outside onto the back porch as the muffled sobs became both clearer and louder. His silent feet brought him over to the porch swing where his beloved friend sat with the little girl sitting on his lap, still crying with a red face and runny nose. The blonde watched silently from where he stood as Jupiter calmly wiped away her tears with his thumbs as she clung onto the front of his shirt. It was obvious that he was waiting patiently for his niece to calm down a little.

Once her crying eased down into hiccups and occasional sobs, he gently brushed away stray pieces of black hair, "Feeling better, bud?" He whispered gently, frowning when he received a rough shake of the head, "Talk to me, Levy. Tell me why you're so upset."

"Chl- Chloey, s-she..." She coughed and hiccuped again, causing him to return to rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe her, "She was gon- gonna hurt you! A-And.. And you two were fi- fighting!"

"Levy, sometimes friends and family fight when they don't agree on something. And you know what? It's okay because eventually, things get better. They work together to get through it because they love each other." Both he and Legolas knew it was obvious that he did not even consider Chloe as family, but nevertheless, his words are true. "And there is no reason to cry about her hurting me because she didn't. My friend, Legolas, he stopped her before she could."

"But she was going to." She whispered weakly, sniffling.

"Yes and it was uncalled for, but it's over now. Do you still need to cry?" She paused before shaking her head. "Alright. Remember, it's okay to cry every once in a while. Auntie Manny does it every once in a while too and you know how tough she is. She helped you beat up all of the monsters in your closet that one time, didn't she?"

A giggle bubbled out of Levy and the scientist brightened up a little, using his sleeve to wipe away the remainder of her tears, "There we go! You shouldn't worry about me too much, I'm pretty tough too."

"Not to mention that you will be staying for the night, Lady Levy."

Their heads simultaneously swivel over to the elf who continued his approach, joining the both of them on the bench. He pulled out some napkins that he snagged from the table and handed them to Jupiter. The man gave him a thankful nod before turning back to the girl in order to properly clean up her wet face, smirking slightly when he saw how she was staring at Legolas.

"You're pretty." She blurts out once she was all cleaned up, although her nose stayed red.

Legolas chuckled, "Thank you. I don't think I was able to properly meet you before," He offers his hand. "My name is Legolas. It is a pleasure to meet you, Lady Levy."

After a moment, she allowed him to take her hand, but quickly pulled it away after he lightly kissed her knuckles, sticking her tongue out, "Eww! Now I have boy cooties!" She pouts when Jupiter bursts out laughing, giving him a big kiss on his cheek, "There! Now you have cooties!"

"Aw man, that's gross, Levy!" He wiped his wet cheek with a grimace before looking at the amused archer, "Don't be fooled by her cuteness, she's an evil little thing. It may or may not be eighty percent my fault."

Legolas rolled his eyes, his tensed shoulders relaxing as soon as Jupiter spoke to him as he usually would. "Of course it would be you that has turned such a lovely lady into a misfit."

"Shut up." Jupiter grumbled, "You said something about Levy staying overnight."

"Yes, both Manny and Daniel decided that it was for the best that she stayed whilst Lady Chloe regains control of herself. I dearly hope she doesn't treat you like that again, or else I will not be as civil as I had been before with my words."

"You got that right, and I promise that she's going to apologize for what she did." Daniel said as he came through the back door with something in his hand.

"Danny!" Levy shouted, hopping out of Jupiter's lap and right into her brother-in-law's arms. She laughed as she was picked up and kissed on the forehead, "Where's Chloey?"

"Chloe is still a bit mad so she's having a time out for a little while so she can calm down." He told her honestly, "Chloe and Danny are going to sleep somewhere else tonight so you can spend time with Manny, Uncle Jupiter, and their friends. Promise you'll be good?"

"I promise!" Jupiter snorted when he saw the girl cross her fingers behind her back, nearly bursting out laughing when Legolas whacked his arm with the back of his hand in a scolding manner for both laughing and encouraging the behavior.

"Okay, I guess I'll go now." He pressed another kiss onto her forehead before putting her back down. "Oh! I nearly forgot!" He went back inside for a few moments before returning with something in his hand.

Daniel walked over to Jupiter and handed him what looked like a small guitar case, "Chloe's mom found it in the basement a while ago. She thought it was Manny's, but she says that she sucks at ukulele and guitar... and any other instrument starting with 'c'. Apparently, it's yours."

"...I was wondering where this went." The scientist unclipped the case and opened it to reveal the small instrument. It was still in amazing condition despite the slightly dusty case. Just like how he remembered. "I let Manny borrow it so she can teach herself - which obviously failed - and I think we ended up forgetting about it somehow."

"You know how to play it?" Legolas inquired.

"Eh, not really. If I had put more effort into it I would probably still remember a lot. Right now I only remember a few chords." He shut the case, "Thanks Daniel. I owe you."

"Nah, taking care of Levy tonight is more than enough." Daniel said honestly, "Now, I better get going before you-know-who gets extra salty. See you tomorrow morning, Levy!"

"Bye, Danny!"

The second Daniel left the porch, Levy scrambled up onto the startled ellon's lap, making herself comfortable before whispering loudly, "I know who you are!"

"Uhm..." Legolas glanced over at his friend before turning back to her, "Who do you think I am, Lady Levy?"

"The elf prince!"

The both of them looked at each other.

Levy crossed her arms, "I'm not stupid! I saw you on TV while everyone was sleeping. Everyone else too! And I saw your ears when you stopped Chloey!"

"Nobody said that you're stupid, Levy." Said the scientist, "We're just surprised that you figured it out."

"You are very intelligent and observant for your age," Legolas stated, impressed. "It appears that your mischief isn't the only thing that you have inherited from Jupiter. You see, Levy, you cannot share this with anybody else, not even your sister or Daniel I am afraid. There is a chance that we will be in danger if our presence here is known."

"Oh..." She deflated, "Does Sissy Manny know?"

"Yep." Jupiter nods, "It's you, me, Manny, Legolas, and the rest of the guys."

"Hmm... Okay! It can be our special secret! I promise to keep it safe."

The redhead relaxed, having learned from experience that despite her being just a child, she made sure to keep important promises. She's definitely a smart cookie. "Good."

"Hey, Leggy, do all elves have pretty hair like your's?"

An amused smirk crawled up Jupiter's lips at the sight of Legolas cringing at his new given nickname. Unlike with Manny, he was unable to stop her from doing so.

I'm learning ukulele so I thought it would be nice to add it into the story. :D

ALSO! Next chapter will be around 10K words, so prepare!

If there are any spelling/grammar errors, please tell me so I can fix it ASAP.