Chapter 35: Que Será Será

I felt his large hand take hold of my own. "Sofia." I looked up and our eyes met. "I feel that both of us must continue to explore our connection, our relationship. When I am with you my heart is lightened from the heaviness years of battle have formed. I see you take comfort in our time together as well. Regardless of your fears about our differences, I urge you not to turn from me now."

His touch, his words, his eyes were all making me dizzy. My emotions were a wild tornado in my heart and my mind was befuddled on how to respond to Elladan. I sighed, took a deep breath, and opened my mouth to speak.

"Elladan," I leaned my right hand against his heart, "this is crazy. You do realize that?"

He smiled gently and cupped my chin as a tremor ran through my body. "Crazy is not necessarily bad."

"No. Well, yes. It is." I blew out a deep breath. "Last night at my talan you said you saw pain in my eyes from the past.I know I haven't been very forthcoming about my past with you but let's just say I've got issues. I'm damaged. Trust me on that. I am not someone you should be with." Once again I stared at his chin; unable to look in his eyes.

"Hush." He smoothed my hair back from my eyes. "Do you think I am perfect?"

I gave him a wry grin. My terrible sense of comedic timing was dying to crack on that statement but I gave him my honest opinion. "Well, you're gorgeous, a kick-ass fighter, fairly," I threw in my one crack, "intelligent, and your descended from some really important people… So, pretty much, yeah."

Elladan gave me a small smile. "Well you can trust me when I say I am not perfect. I too, as you call them, have some of my own issues; things that lurk in the dark depths of my soul. Not to mention, other traits that I am sure you will eventually discover and find unappealing."

In spite of myself I grinned. "Really, what sorts of unappealing traits?"

"Nuh-uh. I cannot just give away all my secrets." My mouth set in a pout and I gave him a look. "Fine, if you must know one trait I posess that I am not entirely pleased with is my problem with jealousy."

"Jealousy?"

Elladan gave me a disgruntled look. "Must I spell everything out for you, Sofia?" I shrugged and nodded. "You are the cause of my jealousy. I cannot help the fire you bring out in me when I see you spending time with Haldir or some of the other elves or Dunedain."

I was kind of taken aback. I knew there was that moment he found me in bed with Haldir but I did not realize the level of intensity. "I had no idea," I confessed.

"Well, it certainly isn't something I enjoy professing. I know that its an unattractive trait but I abhor the looks some of the men give you." He shrugged. "As you can see, I am not perfect by any means."

Back to the original topic. "Ok, so you are not perfect but I'm still damaged. I don't know if I'm ready for this: to deal with these feelings for you as I recover from what happened last year and all those extranous issues that affect us." I sighed in frustration. "Its just too complicated!"

Elladan grabbed my hips and drew me close. "Dear Sofia, you are overthinking. Let me uncomplicate it for you. I like you." He drew close to me hair and inhaled. "I enjoy basking in the scent of your hair." He trailed his fingers from my chin down my neck and across my clavicle. "I enjoy the soft touch of your skin." Gentle lips brushed against mine. "I enjoy your sweet taste." I grinned and he smiled back. "I enjoy the ability to make you smile. For me its like the excitement of the night sky when it meets the brilliant light of the sunrise."

"Mind you," he continued, "I have sensitive elven senses. So to further simplify this problem, not only do I like you, but you enjoy me as well; judging from your racing heartbeat and quickened breathing."

I scowled. I did not appreciate being read so easily, even if it was true.

"Therefore, Sofia, I believe we have simplified our problem. As for the solution, what will you choose."

Grey eyes gave me a piercing gaze and I was speechless for a moment as I truly thought about everything he had said. "My solution…My choice…" I smiled shyly. "Its you."

Elladan's reaction made it all worth it. His smile seemed to light up my entire world but before I could take further notice of his looks his lips were on mine and he kissed me with an eagerness I had not yet experienced with him. The kiss felt stronger and seemed to strike upon my very soul with feeling. I was afraid I may have reacted like a girl from a Jane Austen novel and swooned had he not held me.

"Queserá será," I whispered.

"What does that mean?"

"Whatever will be, will be." I leaned forward and brushed his lips lightly with my own.

"So," he murmered, "no more of you trying to evade me or purposely anger me"

'Well, no to the former and no more than before to the latter." His eyes twinkled in amusement and he tightened his grip on me.

"And from now on, do you promise to talk things through with me before making any drastic decisions?"

I rolled my eyes because I knew I was not the most communicative person when it came to feelings. "I will try." Elladan raised an eyebrow at me. "Okay, I will talk to you first. And do you promise to talk to your brother? I really don't like the idea of him hating me."

Elladan swayed back and forth while holding me. "I spoke to him last night already. This may not be something he can appreciate overnight. We have always done everything together and rarely spend time apart. I know he has an issue with what the future holds in store with me but I hope he will come around. He did feel bad about hurting both of us last night with his sharp words but I do not believe he regrets it."

Shrugging, I replied. "Truth be told, he had a lot of points on things I hadn't thought or known about. I really cannot be mad at him for that. But," I gave Elladan a quick kiss, "queserá será and all that jazz."

"To use your American phrase, so what now?"

I giggled at Elladan's use of slang phrase. "You're the all powerful, wise elf. Shouldn't you know these things?"

Elladan gave me a deadpan look. "Trust me, Sofia. You unfortunately have the ability to make me feel like an uncoordinated elfing again. My years of wisdom seem to fly out the window."

I smirked at him. "Maybe we should go to breakfast first and then just take things from there."

"As you wish." Elladan pulled me in for a another spellbinding kiss that left me breathless and then started to lead me by the hand to the where the Lord and Lady dined. I swear, I think he gave me those kind of 'wow!' kisses just because of how amusing my breathless stumbling would be afterwards. Cheeky elf.

*******************************************************************************

Elladan and I received curious glances from our friends at breakfast but the main topic was planning on tactics for defeating Mavlar in order to prevent the rise of Thuringwethil. I was always more of a kill first and plan later kind of gal so I did not feel of much use to the discussion. Back home I often was sent to lead teams of slayers to combat demonic disturbances around the world but I disliked sitting around for too long to talk about fighting, compared with actually doing so. My strengths were in my battle skill and research. With my knowledge of languages I enjoyed translating ancient texts in my spare time (yeah, I know. Kind of a strange hobby for a twenty-something).

Luckily, Vi was more of a strategist so I was glad she was along. That girl was a planning queen and loved drawing everything down to the most minute detail. Not my cup of tea, but then again she thought I was weird for my love of dusty foreign books from the third century.

Aragorn made the preliminary report. "As decided last night, two teams of elves and Dunedain will be leaving after breakfast to scout the area for Mavlar. While we know he had a nearby base where he held Sofia we can assume he is gone from there by now. Nontheless, one team will look for the base between the point of Sofia's capture and the down the river where she escaped. It is hoped they will find clues of some sort. The second team will head east towards the Dark Lord to search for clues to Mavlar's whereabouts. We hope between the two teams travelling on horseback to have a location in a fortnight's time."

While he had introduced himself as Gandalf I discovered the elves and Dunedain often called him Mithrandir. This was how Aragorn addressed him now. "Mithrandir, what counsel can you give us for defeating this sorcerer being?"

Gandalf toyed with his grey streaked beard and was lost in a great look of concentration. "The question is, Aragorn, is what can you all give to defeat Sauron's plan?"

Amras' lip twitched and he softly muttered, "One can never expect a wizard to do anything but answer a question with another question."

Gandald raised one long, feathered grey eyebrow. "Indeed, one cannot. For how can the sapling grow if it does not learn how to extend its roots deeper into the the earth?"

Vi spoke up then, which wasn't surprising. While she may still have shy tendencies when it came to new people this was her arena. Through and through, she was a a warrior of strength and cunning. "We have two elements of fighting to prepare for. With Mavlar we must be able to ward off his evil magicks in order to get in a killing blow. Likely he will be surrounded by orcs or other dark beings and we will need enough warriors to conquer them. At the same time we must plan ahead and be prepared for any tricks. It is possible that James the Master Vampire may already be with Mavlar at the time of our attack. If that is indeed the case, we will need fierce warriors because while I may have never fought a Master vampire I know them to have powers surpassing their kind."

"In what ways, Vi?" Elrohir took a sip of his herbal tea and looked at her in interest.

"Their strength and speed is greatly increased. Additionally, they may posses the ability to manipulate minds, to move objects with the power of their thoughts, and the ability to do magick. Each one is different, so I do not know what powers James may posses. Are there any among you have the ability to weild the magickal forces or can resist mind manipulation?"

"Ay," answered Haldir. "All elves are creatures who posses some magic, by our very nature. We're often resistent to the magics of others but with each elf do the gifts vary."

"Unfortunately, Mavlar has already tricked us once with his magic when his fog allowed him to confuse us and take Sofia." Arwen shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows how well we can handle him?"

"Its too bad Willow couldn't come. She'd be able to wipe the floor with that guy," I murmured.

"Why could she not come," inquired Elladan.

"We need her to open the portal in case anything goes wrong. I would not want to rely on someone else to get us home."

"Oh! Someone else!" I could see the wheels turning in Vi's head. "We may need Willow to maintain our link back home but surely we could get Dawn to come."

"Dawn!" I frowned and shook my head. "No way, Vi. Dawn is still pretty untested as a witch. I don't know if that would work."

'Who is Dawn?" asked Amras.

Vi explained. "Dawn works with us against the bad guys. She's been a practicing witch for at least three years under Willow. She really has gotten quite good. Often she's come to where I'm stationed in Cleveland to help us out."

"Still, this is pretty dangerous. I don't know about her skills versus Mavlar." I bit my lip in worry.

"No, trust me Sofia. I think she can help us at the level we need her. Some protective spells and some counteractive spells. It'll be a piece of cake for her."

I was reluctant to agree but could tell Vi was feeling strong on the issue. Besides, its not like we had many other choices. "Okay, lets try it. How are you going to get her here?"

"Willow said she'd do some regular dreamwalking each night to touch base. I'll let her know tonight.'

"What is dreamwalking? Does your friend actually posess the ability to communicate via dreams?" Gandalf wide eyes indicated he was quite interested in the topic.

"Yup. Don't ask me how she does it, but she does. Its pretty cool for us she can reach us in this dimension as well."

"Remarkable. Quite remarkable. She must be talented indeed."

"Like I always say, if there's a Will there's a way," I quipped. Vi shook her head since she'd heard my lame remark before. Luckily my new audience appreciated it, by the sounds of their snorts and laughs.

"As we were saying regarding our plans," Aragorn motioned for us to get back on track. "I motion that we prepare a team to go in after Mavlar so they are ready as soon as the scouts return. This team will spend the time until then strategizing and training for battle."

"Excellent plan, brother." Elladan nodded his head in agreement. "Who shall be on this team and who will lead?"

"I propose a unit of 50 is prepared with twenty core members if we decide the mission requires stealth. Surely the team will consist of the Dunedain who are already here. As for the elves, I leave that all to you to decide."

"Elrohir and I will be with the you as always."

"With the Lady and Lord's permission, I offer my service and I am sure my brother Rumil will join me. I hesitate to offer Orophin as he will be wed tomorrow."

Everyone was looking around the room as people offered their services. "I will certainly be there," Vi smiled.

"And duh! Of course I'll be there. You know I love a good fight." I gave a wickedly disarming smile.

A smile was visible through Aragorn's scruffy beard. "How quickly life changes. To think when we first spoke of this issue you made an outcry and left the lunch table. What has changed, mellon-nin?"

I could sense Aragorn was fishing. Arwen wasn't here but I wonder if they had talked about Elladan and I. "My perspective," I replied cryptically. Ha, let them all wonder at it. Damn elves and company could be nosier than my Tia Alicia.

Gandalf cleared his throat. "Then, for now, we have come to a conclusion. Let us end this meeting now and prepare for what is to come."