AN: This chapter took me a lot less time than I thought it would (I just got in the groove I guess). That said, I probably won't update again in April as I've got other things I need to focus on for a while first. I hope you enjoy! Keep taking care of yourselves :)

Scylla's revenge: Thank you for all of your lovely reviews (and you are totally fine, no worries)! Personally, I agree — I always love the "Legolas assisting the OC with archery" scenes in a Legomance and had to include one of my own. Thank you again! I appreciated each of them :)

Chapter 20

With every additional stroke through the water, my stomach flopped. Before us, the water stretched out, filling the edges of my vision with blue, but the only things on my mind were the bank and what was beyond the jagged rocks blocking my vision. Every pull of the paddle through the water was heavier than the one before it, and as we neared, time seemed to slow. The distance stretched before us, making it seem like we weren't actually getting anywhere. For some reason, my hands were shaking slightly.

Rose had fallen silent behind me.

Was she nervous? Was I nervous, or was I excited? My stomach twisted again as the hope in my chest surged, leaving me feeling oddly queasy. Maybe I was somewhere in the middle of the two.

More agonizingly silent moments of rowing passed, and I leaned forward, feeling a bit dizzy. Without realizing it, my breaths had shallowed, shortening in sync with the distance that likely separated us from our company.

What was wrong with me?

Minding my breaths now, my heart wavered, the determination I'd been feeling only moments before now in flux. We still had no idea if what we saw were their boats or not, so what if this was all for nothing? What if they weren't actually there? What if it was someone else, or there hadn't been any boats in the first place, or—?

Something moved along the bank.

"Oh my gosh." Rose's hushed voice, barely louder than a whisper, was uncharacteristically astonished.

There, on the bank, was a hobbit. We were still a fair distance away, but it was definitely a hobbit. Compared to the forest of trees lining the shore, the being barely came up to most of the lower branches. As the hobbit turned, his back now facing us, the sunlight caught the color of his cloak.

It was a dark, forest green and eerily similar to the ones we'd seen back in Lorien.

A strangled cry erupted from my chest as relief came over me like a wave. We'd done it. We'd found them, and none of the Lorien elves were to be seen. I supposed that didn't necessarily mean we were in the clear — they could still be out there, pursuing us intently, after all — but the thought raised no concern.

The company we'd tried so hard to find again was right there.

My next thought dropped on me like a deadweight. How were they going to react to us? I mean, it had crossed my mind occasionally on the trip here, but now that we had found them, we'd actually have to face them.

Right off the bat, I knew Aragorn wasn't going to be pleased. He'd specifically told us to stay with Galadriel and the rest of the elves in Lorien where it was safe, so to find us sailing after them like a pair of annoying pests probably wouldn't go over well. That said, I had no interest in being part of the brewing conflict between us and the man, mostly because I knew Rose would go toe-to-toe with him over the matter.

On a slightly brighter note, at least Pippin would be excited to see us. Depending on his mood, Merry would probably feel the same way, but they were likely the only two hobbits to feel so. Or, feel that way openly. I couldn't say for sure, but Sam and Frodo would probably be happy to see us, but I doubted they would say anything about it, especially if Aragorn and Rose did get into it.

As for Gimli, I wasn't sure if he'd be proud of us for catching up with the rest of the group or just disappointed. He'd been the one to tell me to stop expending so much of my energy on Rose, so walking up to their group at her side wouldn't look good in that regard. Would he still be upset if he knew I'd joined of my own volition?

Knowing Boromir, he would be solidly disappointed in us, but unlike Gimli, it wouldn't be because of my presence with Rose. No, Boromir would be upset because of our presence in general, just like Aragorn. Unlike Aragorn, though, Boromir probably wouldn't say much to us about it. Aragorn would have him covered there.

In all honesty, I had no idea how Legolas would react. Thinking about it a little more, it made sense for him to be just as displeased as Aragorn and Boromir, but for some reason, picturing him upset with us triggered an oily feeling of displeasure in my gut. Frowning, my pulse quickened as I thought about him a little more.

A nervous jolt of energy rippled from my stomach, adding to my nausea.

Wait. Wait a second.

"Rose? Katherine? Is that you?"

My eyes shot forward, my unsteady fingers halting mid-row.

Pippin peered at us from the rocky bank, a confused frown on his face. We'd gotten close enough that he didn't have to shout too loudly across the water to get our attention, so it was unlikely that he'd alerted anyone else.

"Hey!" Rose's voice sounded a bit strained as she forced a nonchalant tone. "What's up?"

Shooting a glance to his right, Pippin took a few steps toward the bank. "What are you two doing here? Weren't you going to stay in Lorien?"

"Uh," my voice, a bit breathless, fell flat against my ears as my nerves started taking over. "We changed that plan."

"Pip, who are you talking to?"

Pippin took another look off to the side, but before he could answer that painfully familiar voice, another curly head of hair popped into view.

Merry took one look at us and stopped, his mouth dropping open.

I raised a hand and waved at him meekly.

Rose steered us to the shore, pushing us towards the two hobbits. Gravel crunched in the water beneath us as we jerked to a stop for the first time in several hours. Drawing my shaky legs beneath me, I attempted to step out of the wobbling boat.

Already, this wasn't going like I thought it would.

"You're supposed to be back with the elves." Looking up, my eyes caught Merry's as he stared between the two of us.

Rose splashed into the water behind me. Some of the disturbed water stained my thighs, the cold startling some sense into me. With a steadier voice than before, she held Merry's gaze and stated, "Yeah, well, we left."

Pippin frowned, his forehead creasing. "Clearly you have, but why?"

Shrugging, Rose grabbed her pack and offered a hand to help me out, steadying the boat with her other one. "Does it matter?" Without giving them time to respond, she barreled on, asking, "So, what are the two of you doing?"

The two hobbits shared a look, but it was Merry who answered, "We're looking for Frodo. He's gone missing." He crossed his arms, and the frown on his face deepened.

"Did you see him on your way at all?" Pippin asked, pursing his lips together.

Glancing over at Rose, I bit the inside of my cheek, noting her furrowed brow. That made two of us. Looking back to the hobbits, I shook my head, trying not to let my growing concern get the better of me. "We didn't."

"Do you want us to help you look for him?" Rose took a step forward, folding her arms over her chest.

Merry fell silent for a second, his gaze fixed on the ground. After a moment, he looked back up at us and said, "Everyone else is out looking for him, so I guess you could stay at the camp. That way, if Frodo turns up there, someone will know." Turning to his right, he pointed with a finger. "It's that way. You can't miss it."

"Thanks, guys," I smiled, but my knees were trembling. Taking a step towards our next destination, I called over my shoulder, "I'm sure you'll find him."

Pippin gave me a thin smile before he ducked into the trees.

"This has all been pretty weird," Rose murmured, giving me a look.

Silently, I nodded, listening to the stones grating beneath my shoes. Feeling her eyes still on me, I turned to meet her gaze. "What?"

"Are you good?"

Honestly, it was a little weird seeing her act concerned about me now. Considering where we had started, I was having a hard time seeing this Rose and the Rose from Rivendell as the same person, but it was definitely an improvement.

Nodding, I pinched my lips together and hastily broke eye contact with her.

I didn't really feel good, and while I felt bad for lying to her, I also wanted to process it on my own first. Crossing my arms, I sucked in a deep breath of air.

This whole meeting hadn't gone at all like I had thought it would, and I couldn't shake the feeling that things were much worse than we'd previously thought. There was just this deep sense of foreboding in the air, but I couldn't quite put it into words. With every part of me, I wanted to believe I was just being nervous like always, but this time felt different. Hopefully, I was just overreacting to Frodo's disappearance. Hopefully, everything would be okay for us.

There was also another, slightly different, matter weighing on my mind. My revelation on the boat came flooding back to me, and with it, that same fluttery feeling in my stomach.

Oh no.

No, I couldn't have. I couldn't have developed feelings for someone in the group.

Instead of being helpful, my brain took me back to Lorien. Reliving the moment once more, the memory of someone's hand resting against the small of my back returned. His mouth had been so close to my ear, and as I recounted everything he'd said, the sound of his voice sent a sharp thrill through me.

Resisting the urge to put my face in my hands and scream, I settled for a strained release of air through my nose. First of all, how had I missed this? I'd felt weird about the whole exchange since it happened, and I was only now realizing that feelings were involved?

Oh, gosh. Oh my gosh.

What was I going to do? What did one usually do in these circumstances? Did feelings go away on their own?

Suddenly, some light pressure was wrapped around my wrist, and Rose was in my face, more concern in her eyes. "Kat? Are you sure you're okay?"

Coughing, I opened my mouth and made to lie again, but before I could form some convincing deception, the blare of a horn cut me off. Whipping my head to the side, I stared into the trees. "That was Boromir, wasn't it?"

"Yeah." Immediately dropping the subject, Rose frowned and released my arm, squinting into the woods. Her hand shifted to rest on her hip, her fingers grazing the hilt of one of her knives.

I shot her a look. "Do you think that means they found him?"

Shaking her head, she started running towards the sound. "No. Something's not right."

Deciding it would be better for me to tag along, I hurried after her and prayed that she was wrong.