Chapter Thirty-Seven

Daniyel

It had been a long day and I wrapped myself tightly under my covers and closed my eyes. Exhaustion took me and I began to dream, except it wasn't really a dream; it was a memory wrapped within a dream.

I was standing in Mirkwood; the stars were creeping through the forest trees. It was rather astonishing, because traveling through the woods it was pitch black at night, but once you made it to Thranduil's actual realm within Mirkwood, the magic created a glowing effect from the stars and moon.

Thranduil had kindly given me a clean, new gown. It was a thin and flowing fabric that seemed to flow from my shoulders and down over my feet like water. It captured the light of the stars and moon and shimmered.

"Daniyel," Gandalf's voice sounded from inside where he was talking with Thranduil.

I tore my eyes away from the beauty of the stars and headed in. Gandalf was standing with Thranduil, but there was a third person there. He was beautiful; I was stunned and almost froze mid-step. His eyes caught mine and I felt a heart flutter in my chest.

"Legolas, my son, this lovely lady is Daniyel." Thranduil stepped aside as Legolas moved forward to greet me.

It took me awhile to realize that I was staring at him and he too was staring at me. It was as if we were suddenly turned to stone and all we could do was look at each other. I found myself thinking that it wasn't a terrible fate.

Just as I began to lift my hand toward him the memory faded. I spun and found myself deeper asleep and a different memory unfolded. This time we were traveling. Legolas was escorting me to Lothlorien; Lady Galadriel was to meet with me and try to help me. Gandalf had left us to go on ahead.

I was nervous being alone with another male, especially Legolas. There was something about him and I was questioning the way I was feeling around him; my hands got all sweaty, my heart hammered in my chest. I couldn't form sentences without a long pause allowing myself to think straight, which wasn't easy around him. I was so confused that I was beginning to think that the feelings exploding within were closer related to fear than anything else, because at that time my memories of any other feelings were hidden from me. I can still remember how excited and afraid I felt.

That night we had camped just within the trees, off the main path. The trees were so thick that we were able to build a small fire; and with our elf senses we would know of anyone approaching long before they noticed us.

The extreme amount of 'new' feelings I was filled with at that time made me tremble. The slight cold only added to that. Legolas eventually took his cloak and draped it over my shoulders on top of my own cloak. His body had heated it and I shivered with the added warmth and the knowledge that it was from him.

"You really don't remember anything?" He asked, casually.

I shook my head, afraid to speak.

"I'm sorry, that must be terrible." His voice softened.

I tilted my head up and saw that he looked at me with those same eyes as when we first met. In the limited fire light he looked wild and strange yet warm and caring.

He looked away quickly and his eyes began darting the surrounding wilderness. His brow furrowed and I just found myself lost in his eyes.

Quicker than I could register his movement he had put out the fire and covered it with dirt. He put his hand out for me.

I shook my head in confusion, "What's wrong?"

"Trust me." He whispered.

Without a single thought further I took his hand and let him lead me behind a bush, where we sat in wait. At that time I didn't know what we were waiting for, all I could think about was how close he was to me. His arm was around me holding me tightly- not in a passionate way, but more of a protective way. My heart pounded in my chest and I swore that he could hear it. I tried to keep my breaths shallow and slow, but they kept speeding up with his presence.

I bit my lower lip, trying to focus on anything else. Just as I was about to ask him what we were doing, I heard the sound of a twig breaking under foot. Suddenly my breath quickened and my heart hammered faster with fear. I leaned in closer toward Legolas; his arm tightened around me.

"Stay quiet." He whispered.

I tried to make myself as small as I could and tried to be as quiet as was possible in the midst of my growing fear.

Through the brush I watched as a pack of gruesome creatures, I now know as Orcs, stomped along. They spoke in a harsh and ugly language, yet the words that they formed were oddly familiar. I feared that they would find us and kill us. I began to panic.

Legolas turned toward me, holding me even closer to him. He brought his finger to his lips urging me to be quiet. Tears began to well in my eyes and overflow down my cheek. He watched the tears flow and his brow furrowed. He brought his fingers to my cheek and ever so tenderly brushed my tears away.

In a moment of embarrassment I grabbed his hand and pulled it from my cheek. Rather than pulling his hand away he held on to my hand and pulled me even closer toward him. In that moment my fear evaporated and I was almost at peace. I knew that I could live the rest of my life in his arms and I wouldn't care about having lost my memories.

Even as the Orcs passed we stayed down, hidden together behind the brush. Our hands clasped and our bodies close.

Legolas helped me to my feet.

"Would they have killed us if they had found us?" I asked, still whispering.

His face softened as he pulled me closer. His hand gently brushed my cheek. The protectiveness was coupled with another emotion—love.

"I would never let anything happen to you, Daniyel." I could hear the passion pour from his voice and it made me quiver.

I suddenly imagined his lips upon mine and how it would feel. To my surprise he moved in closer toward me. Just as he was about lean into me, we were interrupted.

"Now why on Earth did you let the fire die?" Gandalf said.

Legolas pulled away and stepped toward Gandalf, "Orcs, we hid in the brush as they passed."

"Orcs? Hmmm, unusual for them to be near here. We should hurry to Lothlorien." He turned toward me, "Are you able to travel this night, or should we rest?"

I glanced at Legolas then met Gandalf's eyes, "I am fine with traveling through this night."

My dream faded and then opened up to the wonder of Lothlorien. The beauty of Lothlorien surrounded us as we stood on a balcony. The very wood of the trees that the city was built upon seemed to glow. I could feel Legolas' presence behind me. I could still feel the strange emotions within myself. I was growing attached to Legolas, in a way I never thought possible with all my memory loss.

The very thought of him leaving me and returning to Mirkwood, filled me with such extreme sadness that it literally made my eyes fill with tears. I was so confused and wasn't certain what I was feeling, at least not for sure. All I knew was at that moment I had thought about him leaving and I started to cry. I turned toward him, thinking he was walking away.

Before I knew what was happening he had his lips upon mine. For the smallest moment I had intended to push him away, and then a blaze ignited through me. An explosion, like one of Gandalf's fireworks, started where his lips touched mine and flared out through my body. I felt it in my finger tips and down to my toes. A rush of suddenly burning desire, so intense, that without a single thought my body melted into him.

I knew –I don't know how- but I knew he felt it also. One hand gently, yet tenderly, brushed my cheek while the other found its way around my waist and to my back, where he urged our bodies closer together.

My lips parted of their own accord and welcomed him further. Both my hands wrapped around his neck slightly pushing him harder toward me.

The silence of Lothlorien encased us in a shell where nothing else mattered, but each other. We were alone and a small part of me began to fear the solitude while the rest of me yearned to stay in his arms forever.

To my dismay, he slowly and rather reluctantly pulled away. He rested his forehead on mine and sighed heavily. "I have wanted to do that since I first saw you." His voice was soft. "But I thought you were going to push me away."

"Truthfully, for a small moment I was." I smiled, my face flushed because of the rush of feelings coursing through my body.

"What changed your mind?" He asked, kissing my forehead.

The blaze ignited, centered on my head and a rush of heat filled me, causing me to become lightheaded. I covered my mouth with my hand, closing my eyes and slowly shook my head, to shake the fog forming in my mind. I could form no words.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so foreward." Legolas said, stepping quickly away from me.

I knew then that I had done the wrong thing by not saying anything to him. I want to yell out to him that I wanted him to hold me and kiss me. I wanted to reach out to him and press my lips against his again. But my body refused to move and I couldn't form any words.

He looked hurt, as if I had physically slapped him. Inside I was screaming for him, while outwardly I remained silently immobile.

As I reached for him, the dream left me and I was waking up. Someone was pounding on my door.

I wiped the sleep from my eyes and quickly got up and wrapped my robe around me. I was startled to find Gandalf and Ahlinniel standing in my doorway.