Chapter 25: The Trip
Ammie woke to squeals coming from the twin's room. She looked at her husband confused, he was still sleeping. She made her way silently down the hall and peeked in on her children. She rolled her eyes and opened the door all the way.
"Mani na le umien?" she asked looking down at her son and daughter.
"Nana!" they cried running over to her.
"'Quel amrun, nana." Lillian said hugging her leg.
"'Quel amrun." Lindir repeated jumping up into his mother's arms.
"Alright, down." She scolded playfully.
They stopped attacking her and stood calmly in front of her for inspection. She was still amazed at them, they were such a combination of her and Legolas it was uncanny. Lindir had his father's face, but her hair and eyes, and Lillian had her face and her father's hair and eyes. But right now they were dressed and ready to go outside for the day.
"Nana," Lillian began, "can we go and play with Glorelin today?"
"Please nana?" her brother begged from beside her.
"Well let me see." She said playfully, "I think you should see what your Adar says. Oh," she covered her mouth and looked at the twins with a twinkle in her eye, "but he's still sleeping. Oh well." She shrugged.
She laughed as the twins tore out of the room and down the hall to ask their father. They entered their parents' room and jumped up on their father.
"Ada! Ada! Ada!" Lindir said jumping up and down on the bed.
"Ada, can we go play with Glorelin?" Lillian asked jumping along with her brother.
Legolas rolled over and looked at the twins. Then he looked around for his wife, she was standing at the door watching the whole thing. He sighed and knocked the twins over so they landed side by side on the bed.
"So," he said sitting up and looking at the five year old terrors beside him, "what is it that you want?"
"We want to go play with Glorelin." His daughter replied crawling onto his lap.
"Well how about you go make your beds and clean your room, then we'll see." He smiled kissing Lillian's head.
The twins dashed backed down the hall to do their father's bidding. Legolas watched them leave, then he turned his attention to the woman standing in the doorway. He motioned for her to take Lillian's place on his lap. She laughed as she pushed off the wall. When she was close enough Legolas pulled her into his arms.
"'Quel amrun, melo nin." He said kissing her.
"We need to hurry," Ammie smiled up at him, "they'll be back soon."
"They can wait." He replied kissing her throat.
"Ada," Lindir called from the living room, "there's someone at the door. He says he wants to see you."
"We'll finish this later." He said rising and setting her on her feet.
Legolas threw on some clothes and went to see who was at the door. He was surprised to see Pippin standing there talking to his son.
"When did you get here?" he asked smiling at the hobbit. "Have a seat."
"Well actually I'm on an errand from Aragorn." The hobbit replied seriously, "He said to tell you to come to Minas Tirith immediately. You and Ammie."
"What about the twins?" the prince asked trying not to laugh, "We can't just leave them here."
"You are to leave them with Elladan and Elrohir." Pippin said handing Legolas the note from Aragorn.
Legolas read it then he turned to look at Ammie who had just entered the room. He handed her the note and watched her expression.
"An official summons from the king of Gondor, huh?" she said handing it back to her husband. "Who are we to refuse?"
"I understand you will need time to prepare for your journey, but I was told to make sure you arrive in Minas Tirith today." The hobbit said trying not to smile.
"Well, Legolas," Ammie said turning to look at her husband, "I'll get some things for the twins and take them over to my brothers', and you can get some things ready for us."
She turned and packed up a small bag for each of the twins. Then she picked up Lillian and grabbed Lindir's hand and headed to Elladan and Elrohir's house.
"Nana," Lillian asked confused, "are we going to Glorelin's to play?"
"Not right now, lendemel," her mother replied smiling, "you're going to spend time with Uncle Dan and Uncle Ro for a few days."
"But why?" Lindir asked confused.
"Your adar and I have to go away for a little while." She said seriously, "But we'll be back in a few days."
"Why?" he questioned again.
"You'll understand later." She smiled down at him.
They reached the house and Elladan showed up at the door before she could knock. He picked up Lindir and threw him into the air. But Ammie was starting to get suspicious; her brother knew what was going on.
"Well," Elrohir said taking Lillian from his sister and grabbing their things, "have fun. And don't worry about a thing. We'll handle everything."
She returned to her house trying to figure out what was going on. She could tell something was happening. Her brothers weren't very good at keeping secrets. But she had to hurry so she hadn't weaseled it out of them. Legolas was ready when she arrived at the house. He was waiting outside with Pippin by his side.
"We should hurry." Pippin said looking up at the elves, "Aragorn was very specific about you getting there today."
Ammie turned and whistled. Morgwae appeared a few minutes later. She strapped on the pack that Legolas was carrying and looked into the horse's eyes.
"Morgwae," she said, "I hate to ask this, but could you carry the three of us?"
She climbed onto the horse and Legolas handed Pippin up to her. Then he swung on behind her. They took off and reached Minas Tirith a few hours later. The guards at the gate laughed when they saw the trio, but let them pass. Pippin led them up to the citadel and into the throne room. He bowed before the king and took his leave. Ammie looked up at Aragorn suspiciously.
"Welcome." He said rising from his throne, "I hope your journey was pleasant."
"It was." Ammie replied, "Now what's going on?"
"You never were one to beat around the bush, Ammie." Her brother smiled, "But that will wait till tomorrow."
"No Estel, you will tell me now." She said locking him in her gaze.
"Ammie," the king laughed, "don't get that tone with me. Remember you may be older and a better fighter, but I'm still the king. Now I think you two should go freshen up, because you are to dine with me and Arwen tonight."
Ammie looked at him dumbfounded; he really wasn't going to tell her. But he had Pippin come back and escort them to their house. Once inside she turned to Legolas.
"Do you know anything about this?" she asked biting her lip.
"No." he answered honestly, "But guess what, there are no twins and no one else to bother us."
"Now Legolas, I'm being serious." She said as he started toward her.
She started backing away from him, trying to keep him at bay. But he was having too much fun chasing her. He backed her into the wall and pinned her there.
"So am I." He replied kissing her.
"But Legolas something's going on." She said between kisses.
"Ammie," he looked into her eyes, "I understand that there might possibly be something going on, but right now, we are alone. This is the first time in five years that we can actually say that. We can worry about what's going on later." He said pulling her into his arms.
That evening, they went to the palace to eat with the king and queen. They were the only guests, and they felt out of place. After dinner Arwen took Ammie out to the garden to talk while Aragorn talked to Legolas.
"Legolas," the king began when he was sure the women were gone, "Brilmir came up with this idea. But she wrote Arwen and she told me, so I'm the one stuck carrying out most of it. But Brilmir said that you and Ammie needed some time alone, away from the twins and the hustle and bustle of the city. So she and Arwen came up with this scheme to have you go on a trip. Now they wanted it to be a surprise for both of you, but I thought it might work better if I enlisted your help."
"So what are we doing?" the elf was getting confused.
"Tomorrow, Faramir and Eowyn and Eomer and Lothiriel will arrive and the eight of us are going to Rivendell." Aragorn explained, "I know that there's no one living there now, so that makes it the perfect spot. All the kids are being taken care of by some family member or another. We are planning on spending a few weeks there, but Arwen is the only woman who knows something of what's going on. She doesn't know where we are going or that we are going as well. She thinks we're just sending you and Ammie off somewhere. But I figured it would be alright with you if we came along."
"That's fine." The prince smiled liking the plan a lot.
"But we really want to surprise the women, so we're going to have them be blindfolded. And they'll be riding with us men so that they won't peek." He went on, "Oh and I'll let you borrow a horse, because if you take Morgwae, the secrets blown. He won't listen to anyone but Ammie. So are we all set?"
"As far as I'm concerned. But do you think Ammie could borrow some clothes from Arwen? I kind of forgot to pack her any." Legolas laughed shaking his head.
"Really? Why didn't she pack some?" Aragorn was confused; Ammie usually took care of herself.
"Well, she packed up the twins and took them over to Dan and Ro's." the elf explained still laughing, "She left me in charge of our things, and I was in a hurry and I didn't pack a lot of things. I would have forgot everything if Pippin hadn't helped. But neither one of us thought about Ammie's clothes."
"I'm sure Arwen has something she could borrow." The king replied laughing.
They went out to the garden to talk to the women. Arwen and Ammie went inside and got a few dresses for Ammie to wear for the remainder of her stay. Which Ammie wasn't sure of.
The next day, Aragorn and Legolas greeted Eomer and Faramir at the gate. Eowyn and Lothiriel were already set for the journey. The king and prince went back to their wives and prepared them for the trip. But Ammie wasn't very cooperative.
"Legolas," she asked when he tried to bind her eyes, "what are you doing?"
"Ammie, it's alright. I won't let anything happen to you, just trust me." He replied tying the blindfold around her eyes, "And no peeking."
He led her back to the gate, where the others were waiting. He jumped onto the horse and Aragorn handed Ammie to him. He placed her sideways in front of him so he could watch her. She could hear the others but she couldn't tell who was there. She was starting to think her husband had known about this all along.
"Legolas," she gasped as the horse began moving, "what's going on?"
"Dain, melo nin. Uuma dela." Legolas whispered reassuringly, "I'm right here. I won't let you fall."
"Legolas," she begged grabbing a hold of his shirt, "please take this blindfold off me."
"Shh." He soothed wrapping his arm around her, "Relax and enjoy the ride."
Aragorn looked back at the elves; Ammie was taking this very hard. The other women were cooperating very well. They had questions of course, but they trusted their husbands completely. Ammie had always been very independent, and not having her sight was torturing her. Arwen turned her head in the direction of her husband.
"Estel," she asked confused, having heard her sister's cries, "why are we going with them? I thought this was a surprise for them?"
"If you don't keep quiet, you'll ruin the surprise for all of them." He whispered in her ear.
"Estel." She tried again.
"Arwen, if you don't keep quiet," he said seriously, "I will have to gag you."
She knew he was serious so she remained quiet. Aragorn was glad that she wasn't asking any more questions, because he was riding right next to Eomer and Lothiriel. Eomer looked over at him and smiled.
"I don't think she likes this." He laughed looking back at Ammie.
"No she doesn't." the king replied shaking his head.
"Eomer," his wife asked curiously, "who are you talking to?"
"Shh." He answered kissing her head, "You'll find out later."
"Eomer? Faramir what is going on?" Eowyn asked starting to get suspicious of the situation.
"Eowyn," Ammie asked turning her head in the direction of her voice, "is that you?"
"Ammie?" she inquired confused.
"Aragorn!" his sister said loud enough for all the riders to hear, "You will explain what is going on now!"
"Legolas, gag her please." The king replied looking over at the elf. "And if you keep talking I'll have all of you gagged."
Legolas complied but he wasn't happy about it. He hated treating Ammie like a captive, she was his wife. This was not his idea of fun. Ammie was confused. Why was he treating her like this? A tear rolled down her cheek. Legolas saw it and rode up to Aragorn. He motioned for them to halt. The men bound the women's hands and went away to talk.
"Aragorn, I don't like this." Legolas said through clenched teeth, "Ammie is really upset."
"I'm sorry Legolas, but if you can keep her quiet I'll let you ungag her. She's going to ruin the surprise." The king replied seriously.
"I agree with Aragorn, Legolas." Eomer sighed, "I really want to surprise Lothiriel."
"I understand about the surprise, but treating our wives like captives isn't right." The elf protested.
"I understand what you're saying Legolas, but it would ruin the surprise if we did it any other way." Faramir replied shaking his head. "We're in this together."
Legolas looked back at the women.
"Ammie! Tampa tanya!" he cried running over to her.
The others followed his gaze and saw Ammie trying to untie her blindfold. She had already removed the gag. They were confused her hands had been tied like the others. How had she gotten out? Legolas grabbed her hands and pulled her to him.
"Ammie please stop." He begged stroking her hair.
"But Legolas," she cried a note of panic in her voice, "I can't see, and you left."
"I'm sorry." He said a tear trailing down his cheek, "I won't do it again."
She felt the tear hit her hand and reached up to his face. She pulled it down until it was level with hers.
"Don't cry." She said kissing his cheek, "I'll trust you. Just don't leave me."
Legolas looked back over at the men and motioned for them to mount up. He wasn't going to leave Ammie's side while she was blindfolded. She trusted him, and he had almost let her down. He set her on the horse then jumped up behind her.
They rode till it was completely dark then they stopped for the night. They had a filling supper and then laid down to sleep. The women's eyes were still covered.
The next day, the women were more subdued. They weren't questioning their husbands anymore, because most of them were too tired to think. Ammie was the only one used to sleeping on the ground so she had slept well the previous night while the others hadn't. But she was bored so she fell asleep anyway.
"Legolas!" she said when she woke up, "Where's Lindir and Lillian?"
"They're fine, Ammie." He replied calmly, "We left them with Elladan and Elrohir."
"I'm sorry." She yawned cuddling up to his chest, "I knew that. Aragorn," she called trying not to yawn again, "how long are we going to be traveling? If you need a faster way just let me know."
Eomer and Faramir looked to the king of Gondor confused. Did she know where they were going? Aragorn shook his head at their unasked question.
"That's alright, Ammie." He replied looking back at her, "I think I have this one under control."
"You know that going through the mountains is never the best bet." She said trying to stay awake.
The men were even more confused. Was she peeking? They looked at Legolas to see if he had untied her. Her eyes were still covered.
"Oh, and Aragorn, I wouldn't recommend going through any mines." She laughed, "And, and I really think if we took the, um, what is it? Oh there's this road I know, if you want to take it it'll cut the trip in half. I mean if you want to."
"Ammie," her brother scolded, "I said no peeking."
"I beg your pardon?" she replied offended, "Just because I happen to know where we are, and where we are headed, doesn't mean I peeked. I happen to have traveled all of Middle Earth in the dark, so I don't have to see where we are to know where we are."
"Ok, ok, I get it. Where is this road?" the king asked giving in.
"Um, do you see the dead tree, um it looks like a, um, oh it's the roughly constructed orc?" Ammie inquired pointing in front of them.
The men turned and looked in the direction she pointed. There was a tree that greatly resembled an orc. Had she not told them it was a tree they would have drawn their swords and waited for an attack.
"Yes." Aragorn replied shaking his head.
"Alright," she continued, "take a left and you'll see a trail, follow it and you'll reach your destination in a couple of hours. I think."
"You think? You're not sure." Eomer asked scandalized.
"You have to understand, I usually rode Morgwae, and he goes rather fast." She replied shaking her head.
"Have you ever walked it, Ammie?" Aragorn questioned.
"Once." She answered, "but it took me like four hours to walk."
"So we'll get there in a couple of hours then." Faramir replied laughing.
"But you have to understand it's not a very clear trail, and it's very easy to get lost." The princess said seriously.
"Alright Legolas," Aragorn replied rolling his eyes, "take the blindfold off."
He knew that the other women were still sleeping so he knew it was safe for her to see. She knew where they were headed. He had been a fool to think he could trick her.
When the blindfold was off, Ammie looked around trying to adjust to the sudden light. But then she looked ahead and turned to face forward. She urged the horse to the head and made sure the others were following. She led them on the path she had mentioned and within two hours they were within sight of Rivendell.
"Hannon le, Ammie." Her brother said looking over at her, "But it's time for the blindfold again."
"Why? I know where we're going." She replied confused.
"I know. But if the others realize we let you see, they might get mad." He said shaking his head.
"Alright." She smiled, "I'll play along, just this once."
Legolas retied her blindfold and they rode into Rivendell. It was completely deserted. But Aragorn knew that just because the elves were gone, didn't mean that their presence had completely left this place. He got off his horse and pulled Arwen down. The others followed his example.
Arwen, Eowyn and Lothiriel were still kind of out of it. They didn't realize what was going on. But Ammie removed her blindfold and looked around her old home. It was different without anyone here. The music was gone, as was the laughter and noise. The men released the others from their blinds and waited for their verdict.
"Where are we?" Lothiriel asked her husband confused.
"We're in Imladris." Ammie replied looking at her fellow captives, "But this isn't the Imladris I knew."
Arwen grabbed Ammie's hand and ran into the house. She hadn't been here since she had been married. She led Ammie to her old room and looked inside. Nothing had changed; it was as if someone still lived there. Ammie went to her room and it was the same. She walked in and looked around, this was her space. No one had ever bothered her in here. She went over to the wardrobe and opened it. All her dresses were here. This room held many memories.
Legolas, Aragorn, Faramir, Eowyn, Eomer and Lothiriel followed the sisters curiously. When they saw the rooms the two couples were confused. They didn't realize that this had been their home. Ammie looked at them when they entered her room. A tear escaped and made its way down her cheek.
"What's wrong, Ammie?" Eowyn asked going over to her.
"Im bar." She replied looking at her husband.
"Le na bar." He said going over and wrapping his arms around her.
Eowyn looked at the elves confused. She hadn't understood what they said. She looked over at the others to see if they knew what was going on. Faramir, Eomer and Lothiriel were just as confused as she was, but Aragorn had tears streaming down his face. Arwen entered and ran over to her sister.
"Ammie, lye na bar." She said throwing her arms around her.
"But its not." Ammie replied crying, "Ada and nana are gone. And Dan and Ro aren't here. It's just a shell, a place we once lived. Full of memories but not warmth."
Aragorn went over to them and smiled, "Lets make it a home again, at least for a little while."
The girls looked up at him and smiled through their tears. Ammie then turned to the others.
"Welcome to Imladris." She said moving toward the door, "Lets get you folks settled."
She led the way down the hall. She stopped at the room next to hers and looked in; it was completely empty except for the bed in the middle of the room. She smiled slightly; Elladan had taken all his possessions to Ithilien. Eomer and Lothiriel took the room. The next room had been Elrohir's, but it had a few things left. Mostly memories from his childhood. Eowyn looked around; she liked this room, so she and Faramir took it.
"I'll give you a tour later, after you get a chance to settle in a little bit." Ammie said exiting the room, "I should let you know that the door doesn't lock."
She made her way back to her room and went inside. Legolas was looking around. She smiled when he noticed her at the door.
"It's not what I expected." He said going over to her, "I thought it would be a bit more like our home, kind of chaotic."
"When I lived here," she smiled, "I wasn't that busy so I kept things much neater. I wanted to be in a real home."
"So what's the plan now?" he asked lifting her into his arms.
"I honestly don't know." She answered wrapping her arms around his neck, "But I'm sure we could come up with one."
Just then there was a knock on the door. Ammie looked disappointed.
"Leave it. They'll understand." Legolas said moving away from the door.
"Ammie, if you don't open this door," her sister's voice came through the door, "I'm going to come in."
Arwen pushed the door opened and looked at her sister. She smiled slightly.
"Arwen!" Ammie cried when she came in, "What do you think you are doing? This is my room, and we aren't children anymore."
"Ammie," she replied shaking her head, "honestly, well I was wondering if you wanted to help me get dinner ready."
"What you mean is, you want me to make dinner." Her sister rolled her eyes, "Because you don't know how to cook."
"Well yeah, that's basically it." The queen nodded.
"Arwen." Aragorn called from the hall, "Where did you get to?"
"She's in here." Legolas answered looking at his wife's sister.
"Estel," Ammie asked when he entered, "would you find your wife something to eat? She claims to want to make dinner, and if you know what's best for you, you won't let that happen."
Aragorn looked at the elves and laughed. Legolas hadn't put Ammie down. He went over to Arwen and began to steer her out of the room.
"Arwen," he said looking down at his wife, "lets leave these two alone."
They spent the next few weeks at Rivendell, but all too soon it was time to head home. Everyone was disappointed to be leaving the solitude of the house they had made into a home. But Ammie was ready to get home to her children.
"Lets go." She said impatiently when no one moved from the yard.
"What's wrong Ammie?" Eowyn asked looking at her.
"I want to go home." The elf replied, "I have two precious little angels waiting on me."
Legolas laughed from behind her. She looked at him frowning. He leaned over and kissed her.
"We'll get home to the terrors soon enough." He said looking into her eyes.
"Your just jealous because they never jump on me to wake me up." She retorted. She turned to the others, "Well if you think you can live without us on the way home, we'll leave you."
"What do you mean, Ammie?" Lothiriel asked confused.
"I was going to call my horse," she replied shaking her head, "so I could get home faster."
"I think we'll travel back with them, Ammie." Her husband said putting her up onto the horse.
"But Legolas," she protested.
"No buts, Ammie." He interrupted, "We should make sure the kings get back safely." She opened her mouth to speak again, "Ammie." His look made her mouth snap shut. "That's better."
Legolas swung onto the horse behind his wife and looked to the others. Aragorn was trying his hardest not to laugh, but the others were surprised at the whole episode. But they mounted up and the eight of them set out.
"Hey Aragorn," Legolas called a moment later, "if we had one more, we could feel like the fellowship."
"Yeah," the king replied, "except this time there wouldn't be any hobbits or dwarves."
"Or wizards." Ammie added, "But anyway, we don't have a quest to fulfill this time."
"Ah, but we do have a ring." Her brother countered.
"Hollen am, Estel." She scowled.
"I guess she told you." Arwen laughed from in front of Aragorn.
They traveled home as fast as they could. Ammie showed them many shortcuts, but none of the others could have told anyone how they got back. When they reached Minas Tirith everyone went to their own homes. Legolas and Ammie returned to Ithilien where they remained for many years. Then they went to Minas Tirith till the death of the king. But Ammie knew that she would have to make one last trip before she left Middle Earth.
The End.