A/N: Here's the next chapter! Don't really know what to say except that I had a fun time writing this one. I hope you enjoy!

As always, italics are thoughts...

I rushed down the stairs while balancing fresh sheets on my arms. The House of Healing was preparing for the oncoming onslaught of wounded. Ѐowyn and I were of those who were asked to help prepare bandages for it. I just barely finished setting the soon-to-be bandages down when the ground started shaking violently. Gripping the table tightly, I tried to remember what you were supposed to do during an earthquake. I blanked.

Quickly squatting, I held onto the table's ledge, shutting my eyes tightly. As suddenly as the shaking came, it stopped. I stood back up, waiting for my legs to stop shaking. Then I ran to the window. From the air, I saw that there were birds flying towards Gondor. Big birds. Eagles.

I sped walked out of the House of Healing. Once my feet turned the corner, I sprinted up through two levels until I reached the courtyard holding the Tree of Gondor. Desperately, I gasped for breath as one of the giant eagles approached. As it flew lower to the ground, Gandalf jumped down from the animal.

"Wynter, child, come here quickly. I'll need you to carry Frodo."

My heart raced as I nodded and hurried over to him. As I was crossing the distance between us, a burnt figure was dropped into the wizard's hands. Once I reached him, he set the Hobbit in my hands. My eyes watered at the sight of him. He was covered in scratches and dirt covered him everywhere. Gandalf called my name, "Take him to the House of Healing, quickly."

I looked back at the wizard, nodding. Quickly, I turned on my heel and started running again. I sent a silent prayer to whoever was watching that I wouldn't trip. As I approached the House of Healing, one of the healers saw me and quickly ran back inside. Another one came out and met me halfway. She took Frodo from my arms and moved to go with her. Once we reached the door, she turned to me.

"Stay out here. The healers will have a hard enough time trying to help him, a crying girl will just make it harder."

As she went back into the building, I touched my cheeks. I hadn't realized I was crying. Out of relief or worry, I didn't know though. Gandalf came past me, holding a charred Samwise. Sam. I shook slightly, waiting for Gandalf to come back. When finally he came out of the House of Healing, I ran to him.

"Is… Is it gone?"

The wizard nodded, "Yes it is child. It finally is."

My eyes flickered back to the building, "Will they be alright?"

"Their injuries should heal just fine."

"But?"

Gandalf looked at my, slightly confused.

"It sounded like there was a 'but' at the end."

He sighed before patting my head, "Only time will tell, Wynter."

As he began to move away, I quickly caught his robes, "Did… Did you see Edmund and the others?"

"Yes. The last that I saw them, they were all fine. Including a certain elf prince."

My heart thumped at that as I looked up at the wizard. He had a smile on his face, his eyes dancing with mischief and mirth.

"H-How did you know?"

"My dear, if you chose to keep your courtship secret, I advise you to keep your necklace out of sight."

My hand jerked up to the leaf necklace as I looked to the ground to hide my blush. By wearing his necklace, does it mean that we're courting? And by wearing his necklace does it really make it so obvious that he's the one who I'm with? The heat grew in my face as my mind wandered down what the necklace meant to everyone who saw it… and what insanity it could possibly bring once Legolas comes back.

"That necklace means a great deal to the prince" Gandalf continued, disregarding my internal turmoil, "I suggest you take good care of it."

I looked up in time to see the sly wink Gandalf gave me before he left. I was left staring at him in bafflement and genuine shock. Right after he turned the corner, I felt a hand on my shoulder. Quickly, I turned. Ѐowyn stood behind me, an unfamiliar look in her eye.

"Wynter are you alright?"

"Y-Yes. I'm alright, thank you."

She smiled slightly at me, "That is good. Will you come help me carry down some more sheets? It seems that the healers are afraid they'll need more."

"Sure. As they say, 'Better safe than sorry', right?"

She nodded. We walked back to the mountain castle, going straight to storage. There were piles of sheets ready to be taken. I grabbed about 5 sheets. Ѐowyn took two because, although her arm was still hurt, she still wanted to help. As I was about to leave the room, I heard her start to speak.

"So… where were you when the men were leaving to go to battle."

I froze before turning to face her, "Why does it matter now? They're all on their way home."

She had an eyebrow quirked. I swallowed, afraid that she knew where I was.

"No reason. I just heard some of the maids speaking and your brother and Haru were asking about you."

"O-Oh? Is that so? I feel bad for not seeing them off, but I was asleep. I forgot to have someone come wake me."

"Is that so? Well then I wonder if the maid who said you weren't in your room got lost. Perhaps a room that was not in use. She did say that the sheets were all bunched up though."

My hands tightened around the sheets. I knew what she was doing. She was trying to get it out of me. The thing was, though, I didn't know how to avoid it.

"M-Maybe it was one of the um… mens' rooms?"

"Perhaps. It's just there was something that the maids said that I just cannot understand."

"Oh? And wh-what is that?"

"Just something about a girl with dark hair leaving Legolas's room the morning the troops left. Do you know if the prince has a lover here in Gondor?"

"He could."

"Perhaps one that he considers himself to be very close to."

"I-I'm sure. She did leave his room after all."

"Yes, she did."

The princess left the sentence hanging in the air. It seemed to leave a palpable tension in the room. We stayed silent, looking at each other before I cleared my throat.

"W-Well, we better hurry and get these to the heal-"

"Wynter. Why won't you tell me what I already know?"

"...What do you know?"

"That you spent the night in Legolas's room."

Her hands were on her hips, hurt evident in her eyes.

"I… I did, but we didn't do anything…. exactly."

Her eyes widened, "What do you mean exactly?"

"I mean that, that night I had nightmares haunting me, came to a realization of my feelings, and… and they were returned…"

"Oh no. You didn't…. You didn't happen to… to copulate?"

I looked at the woman, "What the hell does copulate mean?"

"Fornication?"

"Don't know what that means."

"Conjugate?"

"What?"

"Did you have relations with him?"

"Of course I have relations with him. I've known him and have been traveling with him since October."

"No, what I mean is… Did you lie with him?"

I was still in absolute confusion over her words. "What is she talking about?"

"Did you two…," The woman was becoming flustered now. Her cheeks were tinted a bright pink as she stumbled over her next words.

"D-id you two m-make…. Did you two make l-love?"

My eyes widened and a tiny giggle was choked out. She thought that we… I mean that he and I…? The laughing started quickly.

"Oh my goodness. No! We didn't. What happened was was that I ended up telling him how I felt about him and then he," another giggle escaped, "He kissed me. I ended up falling asleep and I guess he just put me in his bed. Nothing happened!"

Relief seemed to wash over her as she set her hand over her heart. She was breathing deeply, shaking her head.

"Why did you not tell me before? Especially about your feelings for Legolas."

"Well, I assumed you knew," I said, teasing her slightly.

"I had speculations, yes. The least you could have done was tell me though!"

I laughed, until a thought sobered me up. "Oh no."

"What is it?" Ѐowyn took the sheets, moving to leave.

"What do I tell Ѐomer?"

The princess stopped outside the doorway. She then looked at me, "Simply the truth. That is the best, isn't it?"

I smiled brightly at the Rohirrim. Quickly, we went back through the streets. As we reached the House of Healing, Faramir was just leaving. He smiled softly at Ѐowyn.

"I was wondering if you would like to join me for a walk?"

The princess blushed, smiling widely, "Yes, just let me put these sheets-"

I quickly took the two she had and added them to my pile. Before she could protest, I kicked her forward by her behind. "Just go with him Ѐowyn. I'll take care of these."

She quickly said a thank you as she went with Faramir. He nodded his head towards me as I did my best "You-hurt-her-you're-dead" glare. Judging by the chuckle, it wasn't that impressive.

For the rest of the day and through the next morning, I worked on cutting the sheets into bandages. The men weren't expected to return until tomorrow, but without an idea on how many were injured, the healers wanted to have as much supplies as possible. I was finishing up the last sheet when I heard a voice call out from behind me.

Sam stood there, smiling.

"Sam!"

"Hello, Adie."

"Umm… Wynter actually. My name is Wynter. I'm sorry, but I ended up lying to you all. I never actually had amnesia and I was trying to find an easy way out of a situation."

Sam's eyes softened, "It's alright Wynter. I'm just happy to find you here safe, that's all."

I almosted started to cry. I rushed up to the hobbit, enveloping him into a hug.

"I missed you two."

"We missed you, too."

I squeezed the hobbit one last time before letting him go. "So, what happened to you and Frodo?"

"I'd rather not talk about that right now. How about you though? What adventure did you have since we last saw each other?"

I started talking. I told him about being held captive and almost used as food. I told him how Ѐomer saved me. I told him about the battle at Helm's Deep and the promise I had Legolas make. I told him everything I could, in as much detail as possible. Talking through it all, though, made me realize how much has happened.

It was only when I was practically pushed out of the House of Healing that I realized how much time had passed. I hurried up to the castle. Before I went inside, I stared at the moon for a bit. I held onto the necklace as I looked on.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Legolas…"

Practically the whole population was buzzing with excitement as the next day dawned. Everyone was waiting for the horns that would sound the return of the men who went to fight. By the time the first horn sounded, I was immediately running through the whole castle. I was finally stopped by Ѐowyn at the grounds, forced to patiently wait with her and the others.

Whoever said patience was a virtue, obviously had no clue what they were talking about.

I bounced on my toes, trying not to just spring out of her grip. Finally those who had gone off to battle appeared. My eyes scanned through the group before settling on a tall blonde. A tall blonde who had pointed ears.

I sprinted away from the group, quickly getting to the elf. Once I was in close enough proximity, I threw my arms around him. Immediately, I felt his arms encircle me. I squeezed him one last time before pulling back to look at him. "You came back."

His eyes locked on my throat and his mouth formed a sly smirk. He quickly pulled me closer to him and whispered in my ear, "You're wearing my necklace."

"Y-Yes," I said, feeling my face heat up, "Was that okay for me to do?"

I felt him press a quick kiss to my neck before pulling away. "Always."

From the crowd, I heard Haru yell out my name.

"Wynter! Thank god I found you."

I hurried towards him, "Haru, what's wrong? Where's Edmund?"

"That's the thing, Wyn. Ed's gonna die."

A/N: Hmm... I probably should've made cliff hangers earlier in the story rather than now, but eh. I'm sorry if this seems kinda short too. I don't have Office Word on my computer, so I'm using Google Docs, which doesn't give me any word count whats-so ever. Also, it makes me laugh at how many words there are to talk about doing the do. Thank you for reading though! Review (if you want to.)!