Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. I do not own any of the character, places, names, or anything associated with the works of J.R.R Tolkien or the Lord of the Rings (books or movie, whatever). My characters are Anita, Leila, and Arlandria and that is all.

Chapter 25: Leave the Memories Alone

Anita stood in front of the mirror critically regarding the reflection she saw of a dark haired girl holding up a dress for consideration. God she hated the color blue. Something about it didn't work with her complexion, which was a real pain in the ass considering it was such a popular color amongst the residence of Rivendell. With a sigh she flung the dress onto her bed in a heap where it came to rest with the other discarded candidates.

"In all the years I've known you…" A voice from her doorway drew Ani's attention away from selecting a dress option, "I don't think I have ever seen you deliberate over your clothes so much."

Turning away from the mirror altogether and her disappointing search, the jet haired girl turned to face her twin. "Dinner tonight with all the ambassadors here is supposed to be a big thing. I have been asked by Elladan, Elrond, Gandalf, Glorfindel, and…I'm assuming…. now you too, to be on my best behavior and play the part of a demure Elvish Lady."

"Ani on your best day of the year you couldn't be demure." A pencil sailed through the air from its place on the vanity in a wide arch which Leila easily dodged. Stepping over to the bed, Lei pushed over a small section of the rapidly growing pile of clothes to find a spot to sit on the unkept bed. "All this isn't really about any important dinner where we all need to put on a good show is it? I mean when you met the Marchwarden of Lothlorien you were still wearing your painting scrubs."

"What do you think is has to do with?"

"An incredibly gorgeous and totally available Elven prince who is being housed over in guest quarters?" Anita made an indignant face before stomping over and closing her bedroom door solidly before gesturing to her sister to keep her voice down.

"No, Lei, this doesn't have anything to do with a guy I had a sexual fling with seven years ago. This has to do with the fact that I am a contributing member if this household and I have a life here and I would like to move forward from this stupid scandal."

They stared at each other across the room with Ani's words hanging between them weighing down the silence for a good long moment before Leila spoke again. " You really believed it that time huh?"

"You know I really did." They shared a chuckle as Ani asserted herself on the bed next to her twin.

"So now that you've practiced what you are going to tell everyone else, are you going to tell the person who shared a womb with you for nine months for what is really going on?"

Ani let out a long slow breath, stalling for time before she answered her sister's question, trying to find the words she wanted to say. "Lei I don't know right now. I would be lying if I said I didn't wish day and night that Legolas and I could pick back up where we left off, like nothing was different, but it's been seven years. I'm sick of people telling me that seven years is nothing, it is something…it's like two thousand days."

"Two thousand five hundred and fifty six, to be exact."

"Okay brainiac, my point is that it's a lot of time, and so many things can change… I've changed, so it isn't a huge leap to assume he's changed. Not to mention we both got in a shit-ton of trouble, something I doubt he wants to repeat especially now. "

"Anita…"

"Leila I can't." Ani abandoned her spot on the bed and returned to the vanity so as to avoid making eye contact with Leila's burning analytical gaze. "I can't put myself out there and risk hurting him and getting hurt worse than last time. Life just isn't the same. Right now it is just easier to distance myself and just suffer through this like I don't feel anything at all. All that our relationship can ever be now is trying to stay out of trouble and holding onto some really great memories we have with each other. So I am going to go down there and pretend that I don't care. It'll be easier that way."

Very calmly Leila stood up and smoothed out the fabric of her long dress, indicating to her darker twin that she was preparing to leave. "If that were really the case, if you really wanted to play this out like you don't have feelings for him, why are standing here picking out a dress?"

Ani shrugged, picking up her hair brush and focusing like to was the most interesting artifact in the history of the world. "Hope springs eternal."

The blonde girl nodded and headed for the door. Turning the handle, she paused momentarily to look back. "Wear the burgundy and gold one…it'll bring out your eyes."Anita gave a start before rigidly squaring her shoulders in adamant rebellion; which only lasted for a moment before the girl threw her hands in the air with a scoff and a roll of her eyes and began to search in the mountain of fabric for the burgundy dress.

"Hey Lei?" Ani's voice stopped the fair haired girl in her tracks.

"Yeah?"

"…How does he look?"

Leila smiled at her sister's sheepish question. "Good, Ani, he looks really good." And with that she exited the room as swiftly and silently as she had entered.

Legolas paced uneasily in the small open space his quarters offered him, nervousness and anxiety controlling his actions. He had tried to sit down and write a letter to his father, telling of the events of the day and the result of the Council, but it had been to no avail. Despite the importance of conveying Lord Elrond's message, and informing his father of the monumental decision he had made in joining the fellowship; his quill had remained stationary, hovering above the pristine paper. After surrendering any hope of writing a letter, he had begun to pace, and now he was feeling awfully claustrophobic.

On impulse, the young elven prince threw open the door to his guest quarters and rapidly exited the stuffy prison. He meant to wander aimlessly through the halls, hoping that the meaningless task would calm his nerves and his thoughts. Legolas knew the halls so well, he hardly needed to think about where he was headed, his feet remembered the way. Only a few moments of walking though, and Legolas felt that the familiar paths were having the opposite effect on his temperament. It was not only that the very walls were decorated with the proud history of the Elvish people, or the beauty of the world he had volunteered his life to try and save; it was also the reality that somewhere in these halls was the woman he had sought for seven years.

The prince stopped mid-stride in the middle of a hallway as something caught his eye. Turning slowly to face the wall, he was surprised to see a work of art he had never seen in all his years visiting Rivendell. The painting covered the entire length of the hall, and when taken in full scope, revealed a mural. The subject of the painting was an apple orchard, starting in early spring when the buds were just beginning to show on the branches and the bitterness of morning frost still clung to everything, slowly the scene moved through summer and autumn, the colors and textures vibrant enough to fool the eye into realism. The painting faded into a deep winter night, the tree branches were bare and the world devoid of life except for the streaks of falling stars across the dark background. The changes were so subtle that unless taken in as a whole; one could walk from spring to winter without knowing it.

"It is truly a masterful piece of art is it not?" Legolas gave a start, not accustomed to being snuck up on. So enthralled in the painting , he had not heard Elladan join him in the hallway.

"Indeed, this must have taken a very skilled hand." There was a strained politeness between them, demanded by social protocol.

"Anita painted this. She captured the essence the land with remarkable craft."

Legolas swallowed thickly before addressing his fellow elf. "Pardon my frankness, but I do not believe your intention is to discuss the proficiency with which your daughter paints."

Clasping his hands behind his back causally, Elladan stepped forward to close the space between himself and the younger elf. "Quite right old friend. But it is about my daughter that I do want to discuss."

"Your sentiments have been made well known…repeatedly."

"Ahh yes, but now we have an example." Sweeping his hand grandly, the dark haired elf indicated the painstakingly detailed mural on the wall. "Anita has a place in this world, and has a happy life here now. I fear that your presence here with disturb that. I am asking you, friend to friend….keep your distance this time."

Legolas sighed heavily as he continued to stare at the artwork, and he weighed out the options of his response." If your true concern is her happiness, allow her the choices that would make her happy."

"I thought your sentiment might be such, although we both know her choices tend to lead her to trouble. If you will not heed my request as a friend, then hear my plea as a father ; protect her. There is a great evil at hand here, one that threatens the lives of all this world's inhabitants, and one that I have tried to keep away from my children. In two months' time, you take your leave on a journey to fight this evil, a journey that is not without peril. Would you draw her to you, only to leave her again, to stand at the gates of this city and await your return…which will never come? A bleak, and desolate homage to devotion, frozen forever in time. Would you leave her so broken, only after she has lifted herself up? Could you destroy her thus?"

Legolas still refused to look the older elf in the eye, even as he answered, "No."

"I did not think you could. If you care for her, as you stated upon you last departure from these lands, then I ask you again to keep your distance. Let her continue her life here, within the place she claims in our society, without the complications of your affection. Allow the memories you created those years ago, happy and carefree summers days, let them warm her heart after you have departed to fulfill your duty to king and country."

The young prince's eyes remained steadfastly focused on a random spot in the mural, anything to keep his attention fixed away from Elladan. He wouldn't let the fellow elf see that his words struck true, straight to his heart, and merely echoed the fears which had been growing since he volunteered for the quest. Elladan took Legolas' silence as an affirmation of what was asked, and after placing a consoling hand on the younger man's shoulder, he turned and walked away.

Legolas took a moment to compose himself, he did still need to make an appearance at the dinner tonight; a dinner that he knew without a doubt she would be at. Every emotion that had flooded him upon entering this city, he pushed aside with all his fortitude. Taking a deep breath, the prince followed the path that Elladan had disappeared down, straight through the Receiving Hall, and into the Great Dining Hall. The room was already abuzz with many different conversations, taking place in groups segregated by race. While Elves and Men were putting forth minimal effort to comingle, the Dwarves had removed themselves to a far corner where they spoke in hushed tones, huddled against outsiders.

As he entered the Hall, it only took Arwen but a moment to see the strain on his face; a feeble attempt to cover his inner turmoil. Immediately leaving her conversation with Gandalf, Elrohir, and Aragorn, the elleth easily worked her way between the crowd of people waiting to be seated for dinner. Sliding up beside him effortlessly, she wrapped her arm through his in an intimately friendly gesture.

"What troubles you?"

"The events of today are weighing heavily on my heart." Giving his arm a comforting squeeze, Arwen accepted his excuse at face value. Arms still intertwined, she led the Elf prince through the crowd to join the conversation she had abandoned in order to retrieve him. Legolas wasn't in the mood for conversation, though he understood it to be a necessary evil to keep up appearances. Gandalf asked him about the orc attacks along his homelands borders, which Legolas answered mechanically without much thought. Independent of command, his eyes moved away from the group as they conversed around him, drawn to the doorway at the far side of the room… the doorway that led to the private quarters of the house's inhabitants. Even as his eyes rested on the large ornately carved archway, Leila bustled into the room in a flurry of pastel colors, gesturing behind her for someone to hurry up.

His breath hitched in his throat. He knew without a doubt who would be following behind the blond elf maiden. Not to be disappointed, Legolas felt his heart skip a beat in his chest as Anita entered into the dining area behind her twin. If he thought he possessed any ability to gird himself against the feelings he held for her, the prince understood only too soon as his eyes rested on her that he had none. Dressed in a high collared garment of crushed burgundy velvet with a golden bodice hugging her feminine curves, the Elf was taken in by her changed appearance. Ani stood a little taller, a little straighter backed, and there was grace in her movements that brought to mind flowing water. The purple that had adorned her hair years ago had long faded and disappeared, leaving cascading liquid onyx in its wake, to brush across her newly prominent cheekbones as she moved. Her brown eyes caught him staring, and he was drawn in by her gaze…by the familiarity of it. However much her outer appearance had changed to accommodate the look of a proper Elvish Lady, those brown eyes still held that feral indomitability that he had fallen in love with.

Holding her gaze, Legolas abandoned the group he conversed with and began making his way across the room to her, as she in turn wove her way between the people to meet him halfway. They halted when the distance between them was only a few feet, both too afraid to venture any closer. They both could feel the soft prickling sensation as one by one the other inhabitants of the room turned their curious eyes on them; waiting for some drama or scandal to ensue. But instead they stared at each other silently, drinking in the sight of the other, too apprehensive of their own actions to be the first to speak.

Anita licked her lips to fight off the dryness that had taken over her mouth, nervousness having commandeered her whole body in an iron grip. Wringing her hands, she licked her lips a second time and took a long deep slow breath to calm the butterflies before she spoke the first words they had uttered to each other in seven long years.

"Hey."

Leave the Memories Alone- Fuel