…Still not dead. Sorry for the wait before the previous chapter, but my life got screwed up, and then I had to concentrate on graduating High School. That's all done now, though, so I'm back! Back, and filled with energy to continue this 'fic!

Many thanks go to everyone who reviewed and read the last chapter or any chapters of this 'fic at all! Or if you've favourited, or put it on your alert list at any point in time! I am eternally grateful, and I wish I hadn't made you all wait so long. I had no idea of what I was going to get in response to the last chapter, but to all those awesome people who kindly reviewed – I do hope you'll keep reading!

Disclaimer: I…haven't written one of these in a while (although it won't seem this way to the newer readers, or readers who'll read this once it's complete) and I missed last chapter. But… I own nothing but Víra, Will, and a few other characters sort of, but not entirely, since we're in Tolkien's universe here.

.oOo.

To Be A Girl In Middle-Earth

Chapter 37: Food.

---

They didn't call it a mess, or a hole, or whatever else my scrambled brain had managed to come up with a few minutes ago.

For your information, they called it: 'a shocking, destructive, inconvenient mass of disarray that caused unwanted clutter, confusion and fear'.

…Or maybe they were talking about me.

Meh.

"…There." I stood up, dusting my hands together and nodding. "The nice, sweet, lovable wall now has an evident absence of extra doorways."

Not to mention that the gaping hole will never cause fear again! Ha!

But… if the lovely description was directed at me then I guess everyone will just have to keep on fearing.

"HELP!"

The roar that tore through Meduseld shoved me roughly out of my thoughts and caused everyone present to spin wildly to face the direction the cry came from. Legolas and I looked at each other – his expression was completely calm while I was sure I looked as relaxed as a Hobbit on fire. The glance between us only lasted a moment; then we were bolting through the corridors and into the entrance hall.

Well, I tried to.

And instead fell flat on my face.

With everyone watching.

ARGH!

I really wish my Elf-third had prevented that. But no, all that I get are pointy ears and even then they don't have awesomely brilliant hearing.

And, incidentally, they also didn't help much with the prevention of embarrassing situations.

Because Legolas had already turned the corner, I was left to drag my feet away to hide in a hole by myself. The hole turned out to be my room.

Right! I thought, determined. Before anything else, I MUST get out of this damned dress!

And, after a hasty search for breeches and a loose shift, I did so.

Jumping out of my room and raising my eyebrow at a startled passer-by, I took a deep breath punched the air.

"Okay! Back to the running!"

This time without falling over, thankfully.

…Which way was that hall again?

---

"Ah-HA!"

The windswept figure appeared through a side door and marched up to the ragtag assortment of people/humans-of-various-decent/elf/dwarf/Wizard standing and sitting around the hall.

With the addition of myself – finally – that made an extra third of elf and human, as well as a lonely little 0.3 recurring of dark.

"You have been found! Aren't you proud?" I beamed.

Seeing Legolas' raised eyebrow I was forced to struggle with the knots in my stomach in an attempt to untangle the mess. I looked for something to distract me, my eye landing on the contents of the particular table Aragorn was seated at.

I stared. Openly. I bet there was drool dribbling disgustingly from the corner of my mouth.

It looked like bread. Smelt like bread. Actual, actual non-elvish way-bread! Not I didn't like way-bread – it was dry, but good – it was just… Real bread!

I kept staring.

The Ranger glanced down, and then took the pipe he was smoking from his mouth. "…Would you care for some, little Víra?"

"Absolutely!" I said without hesitation, and then paused. "Wait, 'little'? Ah, what the hell, never mind!"

Then I basically attacked the stuff.

I did slow down when I realized that everyone was staring. Just a bit.

A plate of fresh rolls was set down sharply on the table in front of us. I grabbed at it.

"…You eat, Lady Elf?"

I glanced up, a bread roll halfway to my mouth, stopped, and pointed it instead at Éowyn. The woman now looked shocked that she'd spoken her mind aloud, her hand covering her mouth.

"Look," I said. "I don't know if that's a dig at Elves in general or me personally because I'm an unusual mishmash of races and therefore a monster that doesn't need to eat, but either way, the answer is: 'I'm part Human. I get hungry.'" I took a bite from the roll. "That is all."

The Lady said nothing and silently left the hall.

Oh.

I hope I haven't been overly rude or anything, I thought, worried. A vision of both Théoden and Éowyn hating me flashed into my head. I choked.

After jumping up, waving my arms madly, running around the table a few times, and downing a jug of water, I was fine. I'd attracted even more stares than when I'd starting wolfing down bread, but I was fine.

"Yeah…I think I'm done," I wheezed, taking up a comfortable leaning position beside Legolas – who, I'd noticed, wasn't eating. Maybe that's why Éowyn was a bit surprised?

Anyway, I shouldn't think while I eat. Inability to do two things at once and all that.

"Víralairë, your energy would best be spent on helping these children," Gandalf said sternly from his perch next to the King – the latter of which was eyeing me like I was an unwelcome coffee stain.

At the Wizard's words, I blinked around at something small and worn, realised I was looking at Gimli without his helmet, and turned my attention to some wrapped-up bundles at the end of the table across the hall.

My first thought was: …There were children inside those things?

My second: Oh, so that's what the giant call for help was for. No wonder there were no people panicking or foaming at the mouth. It also explained the presence of food.

"…Can someone fill me in here?" I asked slowly. "I seem to have missed something."

"Gladly," Aragorn offered. "If we do not, you will assume your own version of events and the gods only know where that will leave us."

The last part was muttered, but I heard it anyway and happily ignored it.

"Right. So, I'm assuming that there are little kids underneath all those warm-looking blankets."

A pair of eyes peeped out at me as I looked – I gave them a friendly smile but they quickly disappeared back into the woollen depths.

Aww…the little eyesies must be shy. So cute!

"A brother and sister from a village close to here," Legolas told me. "From what we can discern, their community was attacked by a huge group from the mountain regions."

"Outcasts, thieves, robbers and the like," Aragorn interjected. "Wildmen. They had no warning and no way to defend themselves."

I made a face, still keeping a close eye on the bundles. "Well, that's crappy. What are we going to do?"

"First, we will warm them, and continue to feed them." Éowyn rushed in, each hand precariously balancing bowls of steaming soup.

At least, I think it was soup. Gluggy mush, definitely. Soup? Maybe.

"Ah…did you make that?" I eyed the…stuff…warily. At least she wasn't offended by what I'd said earlier.

"It is fresh from the kitchens," she answered. As she set them down on the table, the bundles of blankets sprang to life and attacked their food.

There was a sharp squeak and whoosh of hasty movement.

"…What are you doing?" Legolas whispered.

"Nothing…?" I gulped, carefully prising my hands free of his tunic and stepping out from behind him.

What? I was startled, all right? Those two children were damn fast for their size. And considering the fact that they were covered in more blankets than I could count…

Disregarding everything else, I had managed to hug the Elf. Although, given the fact that my heart was pounding so fast that my head had taken it upon itself to hop on a supercharged merry-go-round and try to win the race, I was regretting the chance. Not that I needed the chance, exactly, what with me and my random glomp-everyone-I-see-ness.

What was I going on about again?

Oh yes, internal organ marathon runners.

Considering that my chest already tried to break the record for the most star jumps attempted in a minute whenever I was around Legolas, going near him when my adrenalin levels were boosted by fright was probably not the smartest of ideas.

It did make me feel all nice and cosy inside, however.

"Bonus!" I shouted. "Uhm, don't mind me," I added when everyone nearby wrenched their necks around to stare. I even spotted some faces peering around doors where I was sure I hadn't seen anyone before. Weird.

I watched Éowyn fuss over the children while I stood by and did nothing, aimlessly rocking back and forth on my heels.

"What ails you, Víra?" Legolas eventually asked.

"I feel…slightly useless," I admitted to the Elf. "And that somehow, that makes me the object of scrutiny."

The two children, however focused they were on their food, kept giving me quick glances.

At least, they frequently looked in my general direction. Legolas standing beside me, as beautiful as he is, probably received as much of their brief sidelong-directed interest as I did.

Not that I blame them. He is nice to stare at.

…And that is the understatement of the year.

I was actually rather impressed that they didn't gape with open mouths.

But then again, they weren't me. Being me probably had a lot to do with it.

Well.

More so than it would for a normal individual. I mean, I was weird to begin with, and then I had that strange obsession with Elves, and this wasn't even mentioning the fact that the Elf in question was Legolas…

…Rambling. I'll try to focus.

Although, I found focusing a bit difficult with Elfy casually leaning down to whisper something in my ear.

"Patience, Víra. In time, you will find something with which only you are able to assist."

I was also probably turning an unseemly shade of embarrassment, much to my chagrin.

Not to self – don't think about beautiful Elves, especially a certain one, right before they whisper in their ear so their breath makes you skin tingle in an inconveniently pleasant way. Such a feat would be difficult, just like my attempt at focusing, but somehow I'd have to manage.

Because, among other reasons but most importantly, I now had a bemused-looking Elf looking down at me expecting a reaction to what he'd said, and I was attempting to respond with something other than an incomprehensible "nghah".

It wasn't a great deal of help that my brain was still half-melted from having an Elf whisper into my ear.

It wasn't as if it had been anything dramatic, passionate, or even dramatically passionate anyway!

…I was sure I'd said something about rambling.

I took a deep breath and knuckled myself in the forehead.

"…Ow."

"What are you doing?" the Elf asked.

"Thinking," I replied. One-word answers seemed a safe bet for my brain at that point.

"Must you do so in such a painful-looking way?"

"For the moment? Yes." I glanced up, studied the expression on Legolas' face, deemed my brain safe enough since it didn't explode, and grinned. "Don't ask."

Thankfully, the Elf said nothing and turned back to observing the children. I did the same.

It seemed they were both on their fourth bowl of…food. I was vaguely aware that starving people shouldn't stuff themselves immediately or they'd be ill, but hey, I could be wrong. It happened.

Maybe they weren't starving, and were only trying to warm up…

Ah.

I walked over, stepped around the fretting Éowyn and a few chairs and edged myself into a position where I was standing between the two kids, but still behind them.

"Allow me," I smiled, adding, "Laucerte as súle nin (Make them warm with my breath)," before breathing onto my hands and placing one on each of the siblings' shoulders. I felt the heat drain out of me, and was pleased. It worked this way around too! Just like on Mount Caradhras when I'd warmed…

…The Hobbits.

Damn I missed those guys. But I couldn't let myself think about them! Apart from the mass depression that would sink in, I had children to assist, here and now!

The said children tensed slightly as the spell began to work – I almost pulled away – but then they relaxed, resuming their eating more calmly now. What had their names been? If we were following the particular version of events that had been happening up until now, then… the boy was Éothain and the girl was Freda. I'd have to ask, just in case, but for now, in my head, those names would suffice.

"Hey, Lady?" Freda asked suddenly.

A brief pause followed where I worked out she was talking to me. Again with that ridiculous 'lady' business. "Yeah?"

"You've got warm hands, Lady. It's nice."

That…wasn't technically what was happening, but okay. "Thanks."

The girl continued in between mouthfuls, her spooning gradually becoming less and less frenzied as she relaxed.

"My mama says," –spoonful– "that if a person's got cold hands, it means they're real kind, or something." Slurp. "But, mama always had warm hands – and papa too."

Here, she was thoughtfully distracted by the soup again.

I caught hold of a passing thought – if 'cold hands mean a warm heart' then lifeless bodies must be really nice about sharing their toys!

Ahaha… Typical of my mind to come up with something morbid like that when we're having a tender, shiny moment, here. Way to go.

"I reckon," the little girl started again. "I reckon, since you've got warm hands too, you must be extra kind."

She flashed a smile up at me, as her brother (whose spoon was still in-training for the Lightning Speed World Fast-Feeding race) nodded his agreement.

That…had to be the most heart-warming thing someone had ever said to me. Ever. Ever. Corny though it was.

Coupled with the kid's grin it made me want to evaporate from cuteness overload.

"…What? …I…Thanks…? I just…" I was silent for a moment, staring in embarrassed shock. "…Tell me if you get cold again, okay? Etelehte (release)."

I said nothing as I stepped back around a now secretly smiling Éowyn, the chairs and the end of the table. Then I walked across the room and took up my designated 'Víra is embarrassed and/or scared' spot behind Legolas – a place I seemed to be frequenting lately. Hell, I could even hide from the Elf himself, although he'd probably be able to hear me blushing.

You know, in his awesome, Elfy way.

I was sure I'd caught the knowing curl of his lips, even in my oh-so-carefully-controlled haste to duck back there.

"Do you see?" the Elf murmured. "Perhaps you are not as feared upon first sight as you have led yourself to believe."

They'll learn.

I didn't want to say it aloud, but the thought had already managed to grab my mood by its collar and was dunking it in an ice bath.

Although, as I stepped out from behind the Elf, I couldn't help but smile slightly.

"Maybe you're right," I replied finally, watching as Éowyn readjusted the blankets carefully around the pair.

Maybe…just maybe…he was right.

"Hey, hey, where's mama?" Freda piped up. A flash of sympathy passed over Éowyn's face but was swiftly replaced by a reassuring – albeit slightly strained – reassuring smile as she hushed the child. My heart nearly broke before I remembered that, hopefully, these children would be reunited with their mother before too long.

I really shouldn't get so caught up in a story that I know all about! But then again, I was here so I couldn't let my guard down too much.

Besides, it doesn't show it in a story which cuts to all the important and exciting bits, but walking in one direction for hours and hours and days and days can get really boring.

Still, maybe that's why I was here. To make it all slightly more interesting. Or it was just some almighty power's idea of an annoying joke. Not to mention slightly dangerous.

I glanced at Théoden. He certainly seemed to think so. In between his nearly inaudible counsel with Gandalf, he kept shooting me unwelcome glances. I sighed.

"Maybe it isn't just the first-time impressions I have to worry about, Elfy," I murmured, nodding to the front of the Hall.

"His heart is too filled with grief to respond well to sensible reason, I fear," Legolas replied. "Although not only he is to blame. Your actions did not give him cause to welcome you either."

Ah. True. My shoulders slumped.

"Cut the little lass some slack, Elf!" Gimli spoke up. I stared a little – I don't think I'd ever get used to him without his helmet, no matter how many times I saw it. "She already has Gandalf to chide her for her loose words – she is not in need of another scolding!"

"Not from you." I thought I heard Aragorn mutter into his pipe.

I thanked Gimli in my head, and apologized silently for thinking that his helmet-hair looked strange. But what Legolas had said was right, and his words had only confirmed just how much work I'd need to put into gaining the king's trust.

And if not his trust, something, anything to stop him glaring at me all the time. As if my outlandish presence wasn't feared enough already! The King didn't even try to hide his looks of scorn and mistrust, and the people definitely trusted him more than little old scary me. They'd just start following his example!

Things were definitely not in my favour on that particular front.

But I'm not known for giving in easily.

Hell, my companions knew that well enough from trying to make me shut up during my endless renditions of travelling songs they'd never heard before. They did it politely, of course, immensely irritating though I was.

Anyway, my conclusion? Stubbornness was definitely the way to go!

I just hoped it worked well enough to get through the thick, proud skulls of the King and people of Rohan.

…I suppose stopping the snide internal remarks about them would be a good place to start then wouldn't it?

.oOo.

And we'll leave it at that, for now. A bit of pointless chapter, so sorry about that, but I had to get things rolling again and flex this direction of my creativeness after such a horribly long break. If I continued on from here, we'd end up with an impossibly long chapter which would thrill a lot of you but drain me, and then the updates wouldn't be regular, like I'm trying to make them.

Ehh… I forgot to mention Will. He's still around there somewhere. Helping Háma guard things.

…I just realised – I'm the same age as Víra now! YAY! …Scratch that. Because of the lack of updates I'm probably now a year older. I'm also really glad that I'm going mostly by the movies' timeline, because otherwise, Víra would be 10 years older than she is now… 26? Bluhh that'd be confusing.

Oh! Would anyone like Víra to have a birthday? There're a few weeks at the end of the War where I can squeeze it in.

Please review! Even if it's just to say hi! Feedback appreciated!

-LeD

Oh yes, and don't think you're too crazy when lots of chapters for this come flooding in - I'm editing typos and things from the first 35 chapters and re-uploading them. Just a warning.