A/N- Here it is! The explanation! I hope it's good enough and believable. Also, I rated this story as PG13, and think I have stayed in the bounds, but just in case…consider yourself forewarned. Oh…and we are nowhere NEAR the end!

Legolas' footsteps softly echoed throughout the sleeping palace halls. After Elora had left, he had sat, dumbfounded, in the glade for who knows how long before slowly walking home. He didn't believe it. He couldn't believe it. Elora, his sweet Elora, a killer? It made no sense. There had to be an explanation. If only she would tell him.

With a heavy sigh and a heavier heart he opened the door to his room. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the faintly lit room; the only sources of light were a small lamp and the moonlight that came pouring in from the balcony.

The balcony.

He did a double take as he closed the door. No, his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. He could see very plainly the silhouette of an elf standing there, looking out over the woods.

Elora.

Slowly he walked to stand next to her, but not too close; he didn't want to frighten her away. She didn't look at him, didn't even acknowledge his presence. She simply continued to look out over Mirkwood. He could see the faint lines on her cheeks that told him she had been crying, but had long ago stopped. The silence stretched between them for a second, a minute, an hour. Legolas had no clue; it was as if time had ceased to run.

"There was an Orc attack." Her voice came out in a husky whisper. She paused, as if to gather up the courage to continue. "They happened a lot in Lothlorien, especially near the Misty Mountains. But lately they've been attacking more often, and in larger numbers. They attacked right before sunset, a small community. The guards finally drove them off but…I've never seen anything like this. There were so many bodies; some of the dead we could only find pieces of."

Elora let out a shaky sigh. "There were so many wounded and not enough healers, so they sent some of the older novices too. I was one of them. I tried my best, I really did but…" Here her voice cracked. Legolas didn't think she would be able to continue, but after a moment Elora found some of her hidden strength. "But this one man- man, he was barely older than us- he had an arrow in his chest. I didn't know if it was poisoned or not. I should have left it in there; he might have survived if it was just poisoned. I knew I should have left it there, allowed a healer to remove it. But I didn't. He looked so scared. When I pulled it out he screamed….I've never heard a scream like that. And then he stopped, and blood started pouring out. So much of it. I tried to stop it, I called for help, but…but he died. I had my hand in the hole, in his body, and he died." Legolas noticed she was staring at her hands, as if seeing them in her mind's eye covered with the blood of another. They were shaking slightly. "The last thing he said was, 'Please. Don't let me die.' And I did. I killed him. And then, I had to tell his widow, his wife, pregnant with the child he would never see. And for the rest of my eternity I will never forget what she said. 'May you never know the pain of losing the only man you will ever love.'"

Here she paused, turning to face Legolas' profile. "I promised myself I would never be like her, never make myself vulnerable to the grief she will have for the rest of her days. I left Lothlorien, hoping to find solace here. But then I saw you again and…" Her voice faltered and she turned to walk into his room. "I can't…I can't let myself fall in…." She couldn't continue, and the tears she promised herself she wouldn't shed came cascading down her face.

Legolas took her in his arms. "No," she mumbled.

"Shh." He felt her give in, melting into his embrace as he gently stroked her hair and whispered comforting words to her.

"How…how can you still hold me like this, after knowing what I did?"

He pulled back just far enough to kiss her forehead and then place his own on the same spot. "I love you, Elora. Nothing you do could ever make me stop loving you, and certainly not what you just told me. It was an accident, an unfortunate, tragic accident, but it was not your fault; you must know this, don't you?"

"But I can't lo-." He silenced her with a soft kiss.

"When I said those words to you tonight, I said them because I needed to say them. I didn't expect you to respond, and I still don't need to hear them, not yet. All I need do is look into your eyes, and there I find all the answer I need."

She looked up at him. Even after his declaration of love, she was still astonished to look into his eyes and see the emotion pouring through them, the love he held for her. He was right, she realized. His eyes in that moment told her more than words ever could. She leaned up and kissed him.

It was tender and soft at first, but soon morphed into something else entirely. Legolas was surprised that it was Elora who first started the change, transforming it from one of gentle love to something much more passionate. His arms tightened around her waist as hers traveled to his neck, both trying to get the other as close as possible. Carefully, he lowered he down to the bed.

It wasn't until he felt Elora's fingers stroke the skin on his back that he realized he had, somewhere between the balcony and the bed, lost his shirt. The situation was becoming dangerously close to getting out of control.

"Wait," he said breathlessly against her lips, ending the kiss. Reluctantly he sat up on the edge of the bed.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I thought you would want this."

"Oh I do," said Legolas, thinking of the bulge that had been developing between his legs. "Believe me I do. I just don't want to pressure you into this if you're not ready."

Elora sat up, resting her head against his shoulder. "You said you love me. I can't say those words back to you, but I can show you just how deeply I care for you. I want this; I want you."

He turned to face her. "Are you sure?"

Elora nodded. "I've never been more sure about anything."

He kissed her as he laid her back. "I love you," he said again, so that there would be no doubt.

They were the last words either of them would speak for a long while.



"Are you alright?" Legolas softly asked. He was laying on his back with Elora wrapped up in both of his arms, one on her shoulder, the other on the small of her back. Her head was resting in its usually spot over his heart while her left hand made gentle, abstract patterns across his bare chest.

"I'm fine," she whispered back. "Why?"

"It's just…sometimes a girl's first time is painful."

"How did you know it was my first time?"

He shrugged slightly. "I just did."

She looked up at him. "How do you know when she's not a virgin?"

"I don't know."

"You mean all the others have been virgins too?"

He glanced down at her. "You think there have been others?"

"Haven't there?"

"No." He smiled down at her. "There has only been you."

Elora smiled to herself as she lowered her head back down and lay a soft kiss on his chest. It hadn't mattered to her when she thought this wasn't his first time as well, but now that she knew, it made the experience that much sweeter, knowing that they had shared something as important as that together.

"Legolas?" she said after a while. "In the morning, you're not going to regret this, are you?"

He shifted onto his side so that his face was level with hers, wrapping his arms around her waist to pull her close. "Never," he said. "I have no regrets. Do you?"

She shook her head. "No."

He kissed her lightly. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"For experiencing with me what we just did. For being with me. I don't know why you are, but thank you."

Elora paused for a moment before answering. "I'm with you," she said slowly. "Because you make me feel alive, and special, and safe. And because there's nowhere else I'd rather be than here in your arms." She gave him an impish grin. "Why are you with me?"

"I really have no idea." She gave him a playful slap. He caught her hand and placed it over his heart. "Now I remember. This is why. You make my heart sing with every touch, every look, every kiss. You make my soul complete. And I promise you, from the bottom of my being, that I will never leave you."

Elora kissed him as he rolled them back into their former positions. After a few minutes she heard the slow, steady breathing that told her he was asleep. She remained awake, reveling in the feeling of her skin to his. Finally, she fell asleep, lulled by the beating of his heart.