THE FORGOTTEN

The Truth, Clothes, Questions, and Ice Cream

Authors note: Well, a little earlier than originally planned, but oh well! I'm not quite sure how this chapter will go, I've been debating it, so we'll see what happens. I'm just as eager to see what happens as you guys are! See you at the end of the chapter!

NOT EDITED!

It was the first day of summer vacation, and Legolas and Lothril were up in her room having a "discussion".

"Lothril, your tests are over, school is out. You said you would tell them once it was over, and it is," Legolas said. He was frustrated at her reluctance.

"I know," Lothril said with a sigh. "I am fearful of what the outcome will be though."

"That does not matter. Either you tell them or I do! Whatever the outcome, we shall go through it together. You know that. If your darkest fear should happen, remember, we are gone come January twentieth. Now go," Legolas replied firmly.

"But my father is not home."

"That is too bad. Lothril, you are making excuses like an elfling. Go!"

"Only if you come with me," she said. A pleading look was in her eyes.

"Of course," he said a little softer. He put his hand on her back as they went to the door. He could feel the horrible anxious fear she felt, but he did quite comprehend it. What was the worst her mother or father could do? She was still very strange at times. She had faced a balrog, a dark lord, a fallen wizard, and armies of fierce and merciless foes with out this much anxiety. Yet, when she had to face her mother, she was suddenly fearful. It did not make sense. As they walked through the short hall Legolas asked, "Why are you so scared to tell your parents?"

"I...I don't know. I guess I am fearful that they may not accept our story, or our marriage, or you. I know we shall only be here a few months, but I would hate to think in years to come that I left this place knowing my mother and father thought I was mad and she did not approve of my husband, or anything I have done."

They stopped. "Lothril, I have only known your mother and father for a month, but they seem to trust you, and they believe you. You told me that you always had a good relationship with your parents, so I would think that they will at least be compelled to consider your story true."

"Do you not realize how fantastic this story is going to sound? How utterly ridiculous and delusional we shall both sound? And we have no way to prove any of this!"

Legolas was silent a moment, well, this seemed true, but then he remembered. "If they demand proofs, then we can show them everything we have from Middle-earth. If they do not believe that, then they do not believe truth when it is presented."

"Legolas, this whole thing is going to sound like it is straight out of a book!" Lothril argued.

"It does not matter. They must know. I think it would be wrong to hide all of this from them. You are still their daughter, and they still are your parents and they raised you, and they have a right to know. How would you like it if our children kept something from us? Even if it did seem fantastic? And do not say that you would believe them because you have traveled worlds and time, strange things may yet happen that you have not, and will not experience."

Lothril took a deep breath in, then breathed out slowly. "I would want them to tell. You are right, again you are right. Let us go."

They stood up and Legolas gave her a swift kiss on the cheek, then they went down the stairs and found her mother sitting at the kitchen table with a book.

"Mother," Lothril quietly said.

"Yes dear?"

"I have something important I need to speak with you about."

Mrs. Erickson set her book down on the table and turned to face her daughter. "Of course you do," she said in an odd tone.

Lothril said, "Mother, my name isn't Jennifer."

Her mother looked at her very calmly and said, "And what name did you choose?"

Lothril was confused. This was not what she expected. "Lothril," she simply replied. Why on earth was her mother so calm?

Mrs. Erickson then asked, "Did you or did he choose it?"

They glanced quizzically at each other. She knew something, but how? How could she know anything? Had Lothril changed something more drastically than she supposed? Or was it a mother's intuition.

"I chose it Mrs. Erickson," Legolas said.

"Why that name in particular?" Mrs. Erickson asked. Her face unreadable.

Lothril increasingly got the feeling her mother knew more than she let on, and that she was toying with them. She would suffer the game a little longer.

"Truthfully, Mrs. Erickson, it because I thought your daughter looked like the white flowers that glow in the field outside Mirkwood. Strong they are and they glow in the light of the moon and stars, yet are soft to the touch and delicate. Such is your daughter. She glows with the brilliance of one that has seen Valinor, and the beauty and grace of a high elven lady. She is strong as steel, unbending and undaunted by the foe, whoever he may be," Legolas said with much eloquence.

For the first time Mrs. Erickson showed a form of surprise. "Then you have been gone. I thought as much."

"I have suffered your game long enough mother, you know more than you let on, tell me what you know!" Lothril beseeched.

Mrs. Erickson sighed. "You have guessed it. All I know is that both sides of the family are closely related. I met your father Lothril, and felt drawn strongly to him, as if by the force of destiny. After I married your father I began to trace our ancestry and found that as time went back, the lines drew closer and closer together. I traced it back all the way to the Middle Ages, almost Dark Ages, and found that there were eight people that seemed to have no family, no ancestors, nothing. I found it curious and began to search for whom these people were."

It appeared she had finished, because she was silent for quite a time, so Lothril asked, "That does not explain your apparent recognition of my name. How do you know it?"

"Remember that tale I used to tell you about..."

"Mother, things have changed since I left. I probably do not know."

"Oh. Well there is a family tale about a great lady named Lothril that went to war and helped deliver her kingdom from the greatest peril which ever laid hold of it. I do not know what you have done while you were gone, or where you have gone, but I am guessing it is something similar?" Mrs. Erickson said. The last part sounding like a question.

"Yes mother, similar," Lothril said. She then proceeded to tell her tale, with all the detail she felt necessary. Mrs. Erickson listened intently to the whole story and glared at first disapprovingly when she learned that they were married, but her glare was negated when she began to smile and congratulate her 2,517 year old daughter.

"Well! This is quite a tale. It explains where the family story came from at any rate, though it has been twisted greatly over the years," Mrs. Erickson said.

Lothril kissed her mother on the cheek and thanked her over and over again."Please, treat us like teens in public mother, I do not want anyone else knowing. Not even Jess and Jon!" Lothril pleaded.

"Of course! Your dad will know, but other than that, no one shall learn of it from my lips."

"Oh thank you mother! Thank you!" Lothril said as she flung her arms around her mother in a hug. She kissed her on the cheek again. "I knew I loved you for a reason!" she grinned.

"I thank you," Legolas said with a bow and a smile. He was incredibly glad it was all over and was able to be himself around the house. Jessie and Jon were no of no concern to him. They both thought he was strange and that was the end of that. He took Mrs. Erickson's hand and kissed it.

"Oh please!" Mrs. Erickson said with a smile as she stood up and hugged him. "Welcome to the family!" She broke the embrace then said with a large grin, "No go upstairs and start moving!"

With smiles and joy the two ran up the stairs and began moving all his luggage over into Lothril's room, along with his dresser. She weeded out some of her clothes out her closet that no longer fit her to make room for his dress pants and the elvish robe he was wearing when he came here. The moving did not take very long at all and when it was over they both flopped on the bed.

"That was not so horrible now was it," Legolas said with a grin in his voice.

"Once again, you were correct. I was so scared she wouldn't believe us and have us taken away for psychotherapy or something."

"Psycho-what?"

"Oh, never mind. I do not feel like explaining it all at the moment," she said.

—THE NEXT DAY—

"Legolas, I have to get a new wardrobe for the summer, all of the clothes in my dresser and the closet are too short. Do you want to come with me?"

"I guess so. Where are we going to get them, may I ask."

"The mall. Remember, I was telling you about it?"

"That's the building with all the shops in it right?"

"Yes. Now come on, you can help me pick out some new outfits. I have never had much in the way of fashion sense. You can't do any worse!" she joked.

A few minutes later they were in the mini-van and heading to the mall. When they arrived, Legolas declared he had never seen such a large building in all his life. They went in by the food court. Instantly all the smells from all the different food shops wafted to them. They went through that and made their way to the main part of the mall. It was two stories, white, and spacious. They wandered around until they came to one of Jennifer's favorite stores. Much to the annoyance of their elven ears, they had classic rock blaring from the speakers.

"Ack! What is that noise? It sounds like orcs trying to sing!" Legolas exclaimed putting his hands to his ears.

"Put your hands down. No it is not orcs, it is humans. Believe it or not this is considered music."

"How in Eru's green earth could anyone call that music?"

"I do not know. One of life's great mysteries I suppose," Lothril said as she held up a t-shirt. "What do you think of this one?"

It was a dark blue and said: I'M WITH STUPID.

"Ha ha ha," Legolas sarcastically said. He saw a t-shirt over on the guys side and snatched it and held it up. "Only if I can get this shirt."

It was white and said in bold, black letters: I'M WITH UGLY.

She laughed and set the shirt back down. She browsed through the t-shirts til Legolas found one that was royal blue said: PRINCESS in white with a gothic script.

"How about this one?" he held it up. She laughed when she read it.

"How funny! Nah... no, I think I will get it! Let's see if I can find you one to match." They went over to the guy's side of the store and searched til they found a bright red shirt with white letters that read: I'M A PRINCE. They bought the shirts, he paid of course, and they left.

"I can honestly say, I would rather go into a cave than stay long in some place where that noise was played continually!" Legolas declared.

Lothril laughed and dragged him into another store. They took a break from shopping for lunch. Already they had bags from four different places, bringing the total to six. She had gotten several shirts, a pair of jeans, two pairs of shorts, Legolas thought entirely to short for public, two skirts, and a pair of shoes. She made him get two pairs of jean shorts, swim trunks, two t-shirts, a dress shirt, and a baseball hat that said, "Mr. Outdoors". The other t-shirt Legolas said he could have lived with out, but Lothril insisted he couldn't. It said: I'D RATHER BE HUNTING ORCS. They had gotten it at a specialty store that made shirts for fans of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, and about every other cult book, movie, or television show.

"I still cannot believe I let you talk me into getting that shirt," Legolas said before he took another sip of his strawberry-kiwi smoothie. "What did you say this thing was again?"

"A smoothie."

"They are very good! I like this pizza stuff too."

"YAY! I would hate to think I married someone who didn't like pizza. You know, when I was a little girl, I did not dream of becoming a princess, or anything like that. I wanted to be a Pizza Shack waitress."

"You are kidding, right?"

"No, I am quite serious."

Legolas looked at her and began to laugh. "I guess things went a little backwards didn't they! You dream of being a pizza waitress, you become a princess. Others dream of becoming a princess, they become a waitress. Maybe it was your reward for seeking a humble status in life instead of riches and glory."

"That I doubt!" she grinned. The smile died on her face however, when she saw Julie walking up. "Shh. Julie is coming."

"Hi Jen! Hi Avery! How's your summer going so far?" Julie asked with a grin.

"Very well thank you," Lothril said putting on a polite smile. She knew Julie was suspicious, and also knew that if anyone would find out, it would be Julie.

"So, are you two here alone?" Julie asked.

"Uh, yes. We are."

"Cool. Well, I got to go. Nice ring there Avery. Where'd you get it?" Julie asked. She had noticed the ring before, but chose now to say something.

"It is a family heirloom, I guess you could say."

"Oh. Cool. Well, like I said, I have to go. Bye!" she said with a smile and a wave.

"Bye!" they said in unison, and watched her walk off.

"Is it really a family heirloom?"

"Yes. My grandmother had it made for my grandfather. He gave it to my father, and in turn my father gave it to me. Only three generations, technically, but it is many thousands of years old."

"Then I suppose it is. Now, your grandfather is King Oropher, correct?"

"Yes. I have always lamented the fact I was never able to meet him, but so it is with many of my generation. Many elves never met their grandfathers, or never saw their fathers again after the Last Alliance."

There was silence for a moment, then the two stood and continued their shopping.

"This may seem like an idiotic question, but it has been bothering me for some time now."

"What is it. I promise I will not laugh, too hard," he joked.

She smiled then asked, "I know that some of our kin could do great things. Finrod for instance, he turned himself and a few others into the likeness of orcs, then sang a song that challenged Morgoth. Luthien took the form of an evil creature, and well, I was wondering if either one of us could."

"Slightly elflingish, but I can understand why you ask," Legolas said understandingly. "Well, yes, I can. If I wanted to I could right now, but I dare not. For obvious reasons. I know what to sing to challenge, but I do not know if I could turn you into something. You could do such things if ever you had the mind to."

"Do elves ever do these things just for the fun of it?"

Legolas thought a moment as if debating the answer. "Well, I do not think Finrod did, at least, after he became king. Such things are far too powerful, not to mention tiring to do simply for the sake of doing it. Although, I can imagine he may have once or twice in his younger days when he first learned the craft."

"Are you insinuating that you did such things?"

"Well, no. I was taught how, but I never did. That is not to say I was never almost turned into something. Elrohir once thought it would be fun to play Beren and Morgoth, he being Beren, me being Finrod. He tried convincing Arwen to be Tinuviel, but she said no. We were very young elflings at the time. Anyhow, when she refused to be Tinuviel, it ruined the game, so for revenge he tried turning us into orcs so he could scare her. It did not work. Lord Elrond caught him just as he started to sing, and threatened to turn him into a frog and put him in a cage for two thousand years if ever he tried something so idiotic again."

They both laughed. Lothril could only imagine Elrond making such a threat. "It is sad, almost, that elves do not do such things for fun. I suppose it is pointless to do it for fun, but wouldn't you think that a little pointlessness in immortality would be welcomed after a while?"

"Perhaps. Maybe when we go home you can try turning us both into something."

"Perhaps," Lothril said. "Wouldn't you think that this sort of thing would be an attribute of the Maia only and not elves?"

"Why would you think that?"

"I don't know. I suppose it is because in this world, shape shifting is left to wizards and witches, or creatures that know enchantments. Elves are not the enchantment sort are they?"

"No. You know that there is no magic with elves. All art and skill."

Just then she stopped. "Look! They have a piano store in the mall now! Let's go!" She dragged him into the store and immediately ran over to the grand they had sitting in the middle of the store. She sat down at the bench and saw it was a Steinway. She grinned wide as she slowly pressed her fingers down on the keys. It was well tuned and the chord sounded lovely. Suddenly a salesman walked up.

"Hello sir, ma'am. Is their any way I can help you?"

"No, we are just looking around," Lothril replied.

"Okay! Just call me if you need anything!" the salesmen smiled, then walked off.

"You should play a song for me. You said you could play the piano," Legolas said.

She smiled and answered, "Okay, but don't mind the mistakes. I have not played since before I left." She began to play Pachelbel's Canon in D then Fur Elise. She managed to play through them without a flaw.

"That was beautiful!" Legolas softly exclaimed.

Lothril blushed. "Thank you."

"I think you could be a minstrel."

"Oh, stop it! I am not that good, nor that ambitious!"

"You are not that bad either," Legolas argued with a grin. His statements served to make her blush. He still loved making her blush.

By the time supper rolled around, they finished shopping and were heading out to the mini-van. They had more bags than they knew what to do with. Both of Legolas' hands were filled with straps and handles of the various stores. Lothril had quite a few bags herself.

"You were not kidding were you, when you said you needed a new wardrobe," Legolas said as he shoved the last bag into the vehicle.

"Just remember, some of that is yours!" she teased.

"Yes, but not that much!" he shut the door and made his way to the passengers side of the vehicle.

"We shall see about that when we get home, Oh elven prince!" Lothril said just before she got in the drivers seat. He got in on the passengers side and they drove away.

They got home and sorted the clothes. Legolas had more than he thought he did. "Perhaps I was wrong!" Legolas said. "I am not sure I am going to have room for all of this in my dresser."

"Well, you can always hang the suit and the jeans in my closet."

"What about the, hoodie, thing, whatever it is?"

"Put that in there too!"

"And the shirts?"

"We can put all the non t-shirt shirts in the guest bedroom closet. We can still use that you know!"

"I think we better!"

Finally, all the clothes were put away, and they put on a new outfit, he was wearing the 'I'm a Prince' t-shirt and jean shorts, and she was wearing the short jean shorts Legolas said shouldn't be worn in public and her 'Princess' t-shirt. Then they went downstairs to get some ice cream. Something else that Legolas had discovered and liked.

"Want to watch a movie?" Lothril asked.

"No, I would rather get more ice cream," Legolas said just before he shoved the last spoonful in his mouth.

"Goodness Legolas! That bowl was full not two minutes ago!" Lothril exclaimed. She looked down at hers, which had barely been touched and had a nice neat swirling pattern of chocolate sauce on it.

Legolas returned with another huge, heaping bowl of vanilla ice cream, this time covered in chocolate sauce, whipped cream, sprinkles, and a cherry on top.

"You won't eat all that will you?" Lothril asked wide eyed. "I'm feeling ill just looking at all that sugar!" Just then Jessie came out to the living room to watch television.

"Yum! Looks good Smelly!" Jessie said to Avery. Smelly was the nickname she had given to him.

"That's what I say Ugly! But your sister hear thinks it looks nasty," Legolas said with a grin. Jessie was quite an interesting girl. She hadn't known him but two weeks when she gave him that nickname, so he gave her one.

"Don't listen to Fuzzy, she has no taste buds," Jessie teased.

"Boofa," Lothril said. That was her nickname for her annoying sister. "Why do you call me Fuzzy? That makes no sense!"

"Because that's what you look Fuzzy! And he smells funny, so I call him Smelly. Boy you're stupid!" Jessie said in obnoxious tones.

Legolas laughed, "Yes Fuzzy, isn't that obvious?" he teased.

"Oh yes, ever so obvious, Smelly," she teased back with a sarcastic face and an eye roll.

"Move over you two! I want to watch tv!" Jessie said as she wriggled her way between the two. Legolas still had a decent sized heap of whipped cream on top of ice cream. Jessie slowly reached over with her finger trying to sneak some.

"Don't even think about it Ugly," Legolas said with a wide grin as he was grabbed her hand. He looked over at her, and she was giving the most guilty/innocent smile you have ever seen and giggling like a ninnyhammer (As Sam's gaffer would say). After that bowl he declared he had eaten enough.

"I'll say!" Lothril exclaimed.

Authors note: Ya, not exactly what I thought would happen. Well, I hope you liked it! More to come, have no fear!