Chapter Twenty Five

A great feast and party was to be held to honour the fallen dead. Amy had missed the feast despite Aragorn's insistence that she eat but she had slept so had at least met half of his request. She wandered around the hall keeping to the edges trying to spot anyone she knew. She was not particularly short but struggled to see past the tall men that dominated the hall. She momentarily thought to go back to her room, suddenly intimidated by the crowds of strangers. She instinctively rose a hand to her chest if almost to shield it. She was used to feeling like an odd one out but all of a sudden she felt very vulnerable. She also felt a little sorry for herself. The fear and misery of what had happened at Helm's Deep still hung over her like a dark cloud. She had found herself increasingly tearful over the past few days. If she was at home the evening would call for a tub of Ben and Jerry's Dublin Mudslide, a plate of white chocolate and macadamia nut cookies, a bottle of wine, and a rubbish film that had little dialogue but plenty of action scenes. A moment like this called for Daniel Craig.

Middle Earth however, was out of ice cream and cookies, and there was of course no Daniel Craig, but what it did have was alcohol. Amy had never been a big drinker but tonight she would indulge herself and take the edge off, hell if she could drown out the thoughts with copious amounts of beer she would! Theoden said they were to celebrate the battle and send the dead off with a party worthy of such heroes, and so that is what she would do.

The hall was heavy with the smell of ale as the men of Rohan charged their glasses together in song and celebration. Amy stuck out like a sore thumb amongst them not just because of her clothing but because there were few women in the great hall.

She wondered briefly how Eowyn could bear it but then thought perhaps she was hardly the person to ponder such a thing as she knew little about keeping company no matter what the gender.

She drew quite a lot of attention but as the alcohol begun to snake through her bloodstream she grew bolder and paid little no notice of it as she moved through the throngs of people, only pausing to watch the band strike up in the centre of the hall. She felt the vibrations of the drum and the people around her who clapped and stomped loudly to the song. The beat ran through her body and she did not know why but it felt nice, as her skin pricked at the sensation. It had been a long time since she had felt music. She never played it around the house as she always thought it pointless, but she remembered a time when she was younger and she had loved music. A lot of people would question how indeed a deaf person could love music, that taking away the sound took away the music itself, but to Amy it was how music felt, and that how it made you feel made music music.

She felt a sadness wash over when she thought back over the last few years. She had tossed away most of her CD's four years ago, choosing to forgo all sound. She watched the TV on mute and had taken down the speakers for the doorbell. She had imposed silence upon her house.

She shook the feeling off, she was not at home now, and she did not need to dwell on the past. She had decided before Helms Deep that she would open up a bit and take down some of these walls she had built for herself.

She turned away from the band and saw tables laden with food, roaring fires and barrels of wine and ale being drained into tankards of thirsty men. Her appetite was still yet to properly return but in the first time for a long time she was dying for another drink. She was surprised to see Eomer serving out the drinks but supposed he felt it was his duty to the men that had fought for his land.

Eomer studied her as she approached and bowed his head gently when she arrived opposite him. He smiled and held out a tankard for her. Her smiled matched his as she took it and held it out as he poured out some ale.

"That's it lass! Get it down you! It will make you strong." Gimli's voice boomed as he patted her on the back with exuberance almost knocking her forward and causing her to spill a bit of her newly acquired drink.

The dwarf was nodding encouragingly but she hesitated. The wine she had been drinking was bad enough, burning her throat, so she could only imagine what the ale must be like. She did not want to refuse though and put the vessel to her lips taking her first taste of Middle Earth ale. She resisted the urge to cough as the strong heady taste hit her throat and she swallowed the mouthful with a slight grimace on her face. Gimli looked to be roaring with laughter and Eomer almost looked impressed that she had not spat the stuff across the table.

Whatever was in this it was definitely of a higher percentage than the beer back home and she was convinced too many of these and she would be on the floor. She was about to see if she could subtly pour it somewhere when no one was looking and change to the wine when Legolas appeared almost from nowhere with a disapproving look on his face.

He had watched her come in, watched as she had moved through the room and was glad when she did not notice him. He had thought the few days away from her would help get things straight in his head, help him decide on a course of action, but after the conversation he had had with Gandalf that afternoon he felt back to square one.

…..

"Gandalf, may I speak with you please?"

The wizard coughed slightly as he pulled his trusty pipe away from his lips. "Yes, *cough* yes… of course." He patted the bench beside him gesturing for the elf to sit down. "What is it you wish to speak about?"

Legolas took a steadying breath. "I wish to speak about Amy."

Gandalf mumbled almost to himself. "I see."

"Do you know how she got here?"

Gandalf narrowed his eyes. "Let me see…" He looked deep in thought, as if he was trying to recall a memory. "Ah yes, yes I do."

Legolas waited a beat but it was obvious that Gandalf was stopping there and saying no more.

"Could she return to her world?"

"Yes she could."

Legolas sighed, this was not going to be easy. "Does she know that? Does she know how to return?"

"She knows as much as you do I would imagine, although I am sure she will work it out in good time."

"Have people come before, from her world to ours?"

Gandalf smiled. "There have been a few, as I am sure there will be more, but not many and not often, and not always in the right order?"

"The right order? You said that to Amy before, she told me. You have been to her world?"

Gandalf brought his pipe back to his lips and took a long inhale whilst the elf patiently waited for his response. "Not yet, but I am told that I will."

"This does not make sense Gandalf."

"What do you really want to know Legolas?" The wizard asked pointedly. "Is it really important how she got here or are you more interested in how you get to her world?" Legolas looked up in a start at the wizard. "Do not look at me like that? You may be an elf, but I have walked this earth for much longer than you. Do you think I do not know about your father's ultimatum, do you think I do not know why you were so willing to come on this quest?"

Legolas looked ashamed. "I never thought I would be someone that would run away from something, but I find more and more now I find myself not wanting to return to my home. I love Mirkwood but…it does not feel like home anymore."

"I will not advocate running away Legolas. Your father means well even if he is a little hard on you."

"I know this."

Gandalf looked hard at Legolas. He had known the elf since he was knee high. So full of life and wonder the wizard often thought he would outgrow the dark forest he called home. He was not surprised when the young prince volunteered for the Fellowship and less surprised when the elf became attached to the girl from another world.

"Legolas, I am not in the business on handing out advice although this does not seem to stop people from coming to me for it. I will however, ask you a question? Think on this question and you will know what to do. Does that sound fair?"

Legolas nodded.

"Is yours a selfish heart?"

…..

"Is that a good idea?" Legolas signed when he was before her. He gave a pointed look to the tankard in her hand.

He noticed the way her eyes flashed with annoyance, he noticed the way Eomer cast an appreciative look over body now that she was no longer looking at him. He could not help but also let his eyes drop down taking in those strange clothes she had been found in. There was something about the way they held onto every curve of her body that made his blood heat. He turned his attention back to her face as she swallowed down the ale and could not help but worry that drinking was probably not the best thing for her to be doing.

Amy was about to place the tankard down so she could sign, with every intention of picking it up again but she paused when a better idea came to her. She put the tankard to her lips and did something she had not done since she was 17. She downed the whole thing.

When she was done she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand then held out her tankard to Eomer who dutifully refilled it with a sly smile on his face.

"Amy can we talk please."

She was tempted to down another in response as the warmth that ran through her was nice, but did not want to risk pushing her luck. She had been close to gagging with that first one and thought spitting it everywhere would probably ruin her point. He wanted to talk but right now she wanted to drink. This evening she wanted to drown all her sorrows and sleep in a beer induced oblivion before facing all the consequences tomorrow. "This is supposed to be a celebration. Here," She pushed the tankard towards him. "You should try some, it might loosen you up."

She saw the emotion flicker in his eyes that no one else saw, pride, hurt and of course a little bit of anger.

Legolas wanted to say something, he could see the darkness in her eyes and he knew what she was trying to do. She wanted to push all the thoughts of the last few days away and push him away in the process with alcohol. If they had been alone, he probably would have confronted her but they were not and there was something about the way Eomer looked at her that caused a tightening in his stomach. He was jealous. He was jealous about the easy smiles they had shared with each other and the way she had laughed when Eomer had downed two pints in quick succession. And so Legolas did something he had never done before, 17 or not. He lifted the tankard to his lips and quicker than most would have imagined he drank the lot then slammed the vessel on the table.

Gimli let out a roar of laughter and patted Legolas on the back. "That's it laddy! Let's see what you are made of."

"I thought elves did not drink real ale. I thought wine was more your drink." Eomer's words were a statement not a question and it had the desired effect when he saw the elf's jaw tighten.

"A challenge!" Gimli roared holding his tankard aloft.

Amy was watching the whole exchange and felt guilt rise in her. She felt as if she had forced his hand to do this and yet she could see the palpable tension between the elf and man and something inside her, something deep down enjoyed seeing the challenges between them and the male posturing.

"What are the rules?" Legolas asked.

"No pauses, no spills." Eomer answered his eyes narrowing slightly.

"And no regurgitation!" Gimli was away raising the first tankard to his lips. Between his first slurps he managed to finish his sentence, "Last one standing wins!"

"Let's drink to victory!" The men around them roared as a crowd started to gather to watch.

The drinking game started and Legolas matched Gimli drink for drink. Amy watched the elf's face as he relentlessly downed pint after pint. He was not enjoying himself she could tell but she could see the competitiveness in his eyes. The strange thing was it was not Gimli he seemed to be in competition with. She could see Eomer was goading him on and she knew that it was because of her.

She was not vain enough to believe they were competing over her but she was smart enough to see it was her they were trying to score brownie points with. She wondered on this for a moment. For Eomer she imagined it was because she was one of few women in the room and after a few beers no matter what world you were in men did tend to start vying for female attention. But Legolas? She knew she had been snide telling him to loosen up but she had not condoned an all-out ale marathon.

She cursed herself for over-thinking things again and downed what was now her fourth tankard of ale enjoying the warmth that spread through her body with it. Her head felt lighter now and all thoughts were foggier.

"Heh heh heh!" Gimli chuckled to himself as he let out a rather loud burp along with a foul smelling fart. "Here, here! Raaar! It's the dwarves that go swimming with little, hairy women haha!"

Legolas took little noticed of Gimli's deteriorating sobriety and stretched out his fingers. "I feel something." Eomer took this opportunity to smile smugly hoping the elf had drunk more than he could handle. "I slight tingling in my fingers. I think it's affecting me." He paused no longer and downed his next tankard.

Eomer stood slightly agog that the Legolas had not even began to slur yet. The empty tankards in front of him would have been enough to wipe out the strongest dwarf, which is exactly what was happening to Gimli.

"What did I say!? He can't hold his liquor!" The dwarf's eyes crossed as he spoke and with one last burp that produced a white foam that clung to his beard, he finally toppled over backward and landed with a loud thud on the floor.

"Game over." Legolas downed his final tankard and gave Eomer a pointed look. This did not seem to deter the man though and he smiled widely and held out a hand to Amy.

"Would you join me for a dance?"

Amy was well and truly on her way to being drunk now so when offered the hand for a dance she did something that she would never have done before. She placed her hand in his and let him lead her to the dance floor.

She could feel the beat of the music but it had been a long time since she had danced and jumping around in a nightclub was very different to the dances happening around her. Eomer could see she was at a lost at what to do so he took hold of her tightly and lead her around the floor in a fast paced jig like dance. She felt as if she was spinning around the room and Eomer held her close so her stumbling feet would not cause her to fall.

Legolas felt that clenching in his stomach again. He had never been someone that felt jealousy keenly but as he watched Eomer's hands slide down Amy's back and rest hungrily on her waist and hips he had to stop himself from storming over there and wrenching her out of the Rohirrim's arms.

He knew he held no claim over her, he had not told her of his feeling for her but it still hurt. To see her smiling and laughing in another man's arms hurt more than he had thought such a trivial thing could hurt. He couldn't watch anymore so turned, stepped over Gimli and returned to his room.