Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. I do not own any of the character, places, names, or anything associated with the works of J.R.R Tolkien or the Lord of the Rings (books or movie, whatever). My characters are Anita, Leila, and Arlandria and that is all.

Author's Note in response to EmmaB : Yes this story will overlap with the Lord of the Rings trilogy in later chapters. As for Thranduil…see below.

Chapter 10: Wonderwall

After speaking with her twin, Leila understood that the situation was far more complex than her original prejudices had led her to believe. Scurrying around the house like a mouse in a maze, Leila searched for Arwen; hoping that in response to Anita's rude comment her aunt hadn't done something brash like go and tell her father…not that Ani didn't completely deserve it if that is what had happened. The first place that Leila went in search of her aunt was Arwen's favorite sitting room, which was really more of an open air sunroom that anything else. Any given day of the week Arwen could be found here reading or playing cards, but to Leila's shock Arwen was literally just sitting there. The girl couldn't tell if her aunt was deep in thought or if she had fallen asleep in and upright position with her eyes open.

"Arwen?" Leila pushed aside the sheer curtain that served as a doorway. The older elf right away turned in response to her name being called, and didn't appear all the surprised to see Lei standing there. " Arwen I think we have a little problem…"

Before Leila could finish her sentence completely, her aunt gracefully and with lightning speed abandoned her seat to approach her niece. Wrapping her arm into the crook of Leila's arm she practically dragged her niece away from the sitting room.

After they were a safe distance away, Arwen addressed the girl, "Pardon my actions, but there were ears nearby that need not hear what we will say." Her voice was hushed and the way their arms were intertwined made it easy to have a whispered conversation between the two of them.

"Oh okay," Lei hushed her own voice to match the decibel level of her aunt's voice. "Listen I think things are a little more complicated between Anita and Legolas than my sister would have us believe."

"I agree. I do believe the prince's feelings for your sister go deeper than mere desire."

"Yeah well the nice part about Ani is that she is completely and absolutely in denial about it. She always is. Ask her about a guy named Kevin, to this day she swears they were just friends; she had no idea that poor boy was in love with her."

"I do not think your twin's denial will be enough to circumvent the consequences that this relationship will bring about."

"So what are we going to do about it?"

"There is naught to be done, Anita got herself into this situation so unfortunately she will have to get herself out. This has gone beyond the subtle spark of a rebellious youth to a fast burning scandal."

Leila stopped in her tracks forcing her aunt to stop as well. "Are you saying that because of what Ani said to you about Aragorn?"

"No my dear, not at all. With some exclusions your sister was correct that Aragorn and I conduct our relationship in the shadows as well, despite that my father already seems to know that we are deeply in love."

"If you and Aragorn love each other so much then why do you have to hide it?"

"Elrond never approved of Aragorn, he never felt that the Ranger was 'good enough' for me. And though my father would never force a match upon me, he does harbor the hope that I choose another."

"Oh really who?" The sidelong glance that Arwen gave to Leila matched with a knowing little smirk made the answer all too obvious for Lei, she wondered that she had even needed to ask in the first place.

"Legolas?! Really?! Oh my god that is too weird!"

"We bear no romantic interest in each other, though we have remained friends these many years." Arwen laughed at Leila's reactions to the news. " Needless to say that if word of what Anita and Legolas have been up to here should reach Thranduil's ears, he will not be pleased in the least."

"You don't think he would approve of my sister?"

"Legolas will be king of Mirkwood. Can you envision Anita ruling at his side?"

Leila tried to imagine what it would be like to have her sister be on- half of the ruling party of anything, but the only image her mind could conjure up when she thought about it was a giant fiery mushroom cloud caused by nuclear holocaust. "No honestly I can't."

"My point exactly. So with Thranduil sure to be displeased if he should hear this news, and my brother I can promise will not be any happier about it; we can only sit by quietly and wait, for this can only end one of two ways. Either they remain oblivious to how the other feels and when Legolas returns home at the summer's end this all just goes away. Or…"

"It blows up in their face." Leila supplied the final thought already knowing where Arwen was going with this. She didn't know which outcome she was rooting for. Yes it would probably be easier if Legolas just left and Ani didn't have to try and tame her wild pendulum of emotion to admit what she was feeling, but that couldn't be healthy. However Lei had grown very tired of listening to her father and sister constantly bicker, she didn't know if she could listen to one more argument about how Anita was destroying every cultural and social rule they had here. She only had to look at her aunt's face to know they both thought this would end with the situation blowing up in the girl's face.

Anita spent the whole day avoiding making eye contact or having conversations with anyone. She did an even better job now than the first few days she had been in Rivendell two months ago. Mealtimes were the hardest since she was stuck in a stationary place facing the very people she had been trying desperately to avoid. After the conversation she had with Leila this morning, she dared not look at her twin. Thanks to her rude and snarky comment aimed at Arwen earlier in the day, she dared not look at her aunt either for fear of retribution. She couldn't look at Legolas because she was afraid her secret would be plain for him to see in her eyes. And lastly, she didn't dare make eye contact with her father or grandfather, because she would bet her left kidney that a look of obvious guilt was written across her face. It was like being a scorpion in a house full of cats, and she was just waiting for someone to pounce on her.

Somehow, and Ani was sure she had cashed in a lot of luck, she made it through dinner and didn't have to suffer through awkward conversations with her family. What she did have to suffer through was that Legolas hadn't said a word to her since their argument that morning about him spending the night. He disappeared after both breakfast and lunch and had been absent for dinner altogether, making it impossible for Anita to form an apology for her asinine behavior. She hadn't wanted to upset him with what she said, but clearly she had really upset him. It made her anxious. It made borderline crazy too.

So she sat at her vanity as the night grew darker still, exhausted from being tensed up all day under the stress of avoiding her family. Anita was glowering at her own reflection in the mirror, hating the person she was looking at for goofing up her relationship…friendship…thing with Legolas. She had never been a people person, ere go her communication skills had left something to be desired her whole life, those had always been her twin's strong points.

"Idiot." She snarled at her own reflection.

"Self-deprivation surely cannot be good for your mental wellbeing." Ani turned to see Legolas easily sliding in through door to her balcony. How in the hell he managed that two story climb she had no idea, but she was so flooded with relief she didn't have the ability to care how he did it. Immediately Anita was up and out of her chair so she could turn to face Legolas fully.

"Hey." Was the only word she could scrounge up from her vocabulary. Good, she could hear her own inner voice goading her, that should win him right over after you were an asshat. He smiled at her, his handsome little half smile that made Ani's heart skip a beat in anticipation.

"Come with me." Mechanically her feet followed his command, and she followed the elf out onto the tiny balcony that was joined to her room. The balcony was scarcely big enough for more than two people to fit comfortably, but offered a nice view of a secluded courtyard that was rarely used by the houses other occupants. Unexpectedly, Legolas hopped up onto the balconies handrail, and pulled himself up onto the overhanging roof, proving yet again that he possessed a great deal of hidden upper body strength. Ani could only gawk as she watched his graceful ascent to the roof, and knew as she watched him that he was expecting her to do the same thing. Glancing down as her ensemble, a comfy pair of pajama pants and a tight fitting tank and a set of slippers graced her feet; not exactly the most athletic wear for this activity. With a sigh she stepped up onto the handrail the same way that Legolas had, but understood that there was no way she would be able to mimic the slick maneuver. A hand appeared in her peripheral vision, and a glance up showed the prince crouching at the edge of the roof offering her his hand. It brought back memories of that first day she would have considered Legolas her friend, when they traversed the climb up to the cave before jumping into the lake below. That time she hadn't taken the hand he offered her for support, but now she gladly took the help as he heaved her up and onto the roof with him.

Legolas led her along the slanted roof top to spot of the opposite side of the great house, one that wasn't covered by overhanging trees limbs. When they had reached the destination that the elf had in mind, he released her hand before he laid down on the angled tiles of the roof. Ani looked at him like he was crazy as he patted the empty area next to him, indicating that she should do the same. When she continued to hesitate, he sighed at her stubbornness and pointed at the night sky above. When Ani tilted her head back to look at the stars overhead, she was rewarded with a flash of light that streaked across the dotted backdrop of the sky, followed not two seconds later by a another one.

"Meteor shower." She whispered in delight, all hesitation gone as she laid in the spot next to Legolas; not too close and not too far. The show was dazzling, and the girl was blown away by just how many falling stars blazed overhead, no light pollution to weaken the sight as they crossed the sky.

"Nights such as these are very dear to Elves, we believe that these are signs the Valar have answered prayers. What did your people believe, in Tucson?"

"That a piece of space junk had bounced across the atmosphere." Anita didn't have to see him, she could feel him roll his eyes next to her. She laughed at the action since it was something he had plainly picked up from spending time with her. "No we have stories, but they're long."

"I have an eternity to spare." She turned her eyes away from the cosmic display to look at the beautiful elf next to her, mostly to see if there was any teasing in his face, but he seemed completely serious.

Taking a deep breath, Ani told him her favorite mythological story, " A long time ago when the earth was new, the gods created mankind. But mankind was different than we know them now; everyone had four arms, four legs, and two heads. And for many years everyone lived in peace and the gods were praised for their wisdom, but one day mankind grew very proud of themselves. They began to believe that they were better than their creators, and praised the gods less and less every day, and praised themselves more. The gods grew very angry at man for forgetting who it was that gave them the life they were so proud of. So the gods chose to punish mankind, and in an act of swift and terrible punishment ripped every human asunder, into two parts; one male the other female. Now ever person had two arms, two legs, one head, and only half of their original heart. The punishment for pride, the gods deemed, was that every human was now doomed to a short life trying to find the other half of their heart, or they would wander the afterlife alone. But the gods were not without mercy, to offer hope they would light a fast burning lantern in the sky to show us when two halves of the same heart had found each other. We see them as shooting stars."

"That is a beautiful story," Legolas said quietly after letting the story settle into a moment of silence between them. "But do you actually believe it?"

"Hard to say. I mean I have a twin sister, so if I have another half…it's her. Plus now that I know there are two parallel universes it's kind of discouraging to think if there is someone out there for me, he could be hiding in either world."

"So you have chosen not to look for love?"

"I don't know that I even believe in the conventional idea of love. I guess I always figured that when I got married, it would be to someone that had been a friend of mine that I knew I could be friends with forever. Honestly that's going to be hard enough in a place like this, I wasn't exactly the pinnacle of desire even in Tucson."

It was meant to come off as a joke, but there was a small twinge of painful truth to what she said. Ani was a bit of a handful, she knew it well enough, and that had made any romantic involvement with the opposite gender very difficult. It was just easier to be friends. Legolas hadn't missed that there was some hurtful undertone to what Ani had said, He rolled onto his side so he could look the girl in the face as he spoke to her.

"Anita I have been with you, and I tell you with the utmost honesty that every bit of you is desirable." The girl was glad it was dark so the elf couldn't see the heated blush that crept up her face. Her heart beat a little faster at their proximity and no matter how she fought against it, there was the minutest hope in her heart that he would close the small gap and kiss here under the falling stars.

But he didn't. Instead he rolled back so he could continue to look at the beautiful light show. Anita was overwhelmed by the competing sensations of relief and disappointment. The simultaneous rush of both emotions caused a heavy sigh to escape her lips.

"Is something the matter?" Dammit. Of course the one sound he wouldn't ignore is one she was really hoping he wouldn't notice.

"Oh nothing…I uh…I'm just getting a little crink in my neck laying in this position is all." It had actually sounded like a decently believable lie, in a strange way the girl was proud of herself. She was even more proud of herself that Legolas even believed it. Moving closer to her, he wrapped and arm around her middle to pull her small body closer to him, and had her rest her head on his shoulder. It was admittedly more comfortable using his body as a pillow, but the position caused their bodied to be pressed together in an almost cuddly sort of way.

"Does that help you?"

"Yes thank you Legolas, this is much more comfortable." No, no, no! This is exactly what they had been fighting about this morning. This was the stuff that fuck buddies were supposed to avoid, cuddling like this definitely made the top of that list. He did smell good though, like grass after a summer rain. She chided herself internally, this was no good. Oh but it felt good. It could only lead down a bad path. But what was the harm in one night? Good grief Ani could actually hear the two opposing voices in her head arguing about it. It really was just one night, what was the harm that one night of cuddling could honestly do? Just one night, she told herself firmly.

Just one.

Wonderwall- Oasis