Ok... the last chapter is up!!! I'm so relieved... I really love this story, but I have always been way too lazy to continue it. But now I found the time, and the occasion, to finish it. Hope you like what you read!!!

Chapter 10: Namárie, órenya

With each step Caro and Legolas took, crossing through the forest, it got a little darker, and soon the whole sky was bathed in the golden rays of the vanishing sunlight. Soon it would be night again, so the prince started to look for a place to pass the night on. After they had found a nice looking clearing, that seemed to fit for their camp, they started to unpack the things they needed for the night. They shared the work of setting up a nice fire and building up a cosy sleeping place, made out of the blankets they had taken along.

So soon a warming fire was burning, that illuminated the camp with a soft, red light. Busily Caro started to cook a nice dinner over the fire, while Legolas watched her, snuggled up in the blankets. Surely he had offered Caro a hand, but she had answered, that she wanted to pamper him, like he had pampered her in the palace.

//She looks sexy, when she's cooking...// the prince mused, staring at her and playing absentmindedly with the small bag he had carried the whole day by his chest. In it, wrapped safely into precious cloth, was the gift he wanted to give to Caro, when their paths would divide in some days. He hoped, that she would like it, and moreover, that she would have something to remember him. To part from friends is the hardest thing someone could ask you to do, but it happens so often. It's then always said, that it is necessary to let go of your friends, because they have to go their own ways. But why can the ways of two friends just be the same, even though each of them goes his own way? An unsolved mystery. The only thing that's true is definitely, that if the contact between two friends never breaks entirely, a true friendship can survive.

// But how not lose contact?// the prince wondered over and over again. But he never found an answer.

"Dinner is ready!" Caro shouted in a cheerful voice over to where Legolas was sitting. Slowly the prince got up and walked over to the fire.

The girl hadn't actually prepared a 'dinner' like we would expect one. She had just warmed a little bit of meat over the fire and had put it between two slices of bread. Nevertheless she was proud of herself. She had taken some of the herbs out of Legolas' bag, that had looked and smelt edible, to give the meat the 'special something'. And Legolas seemed to like it. He ate three of the 'Middle-Earth-Burgers', as Caro called them, and thanked her politely for the wonderful dinner.

That made Caro blush immediately and her cheeks were coloured in the deepest red. She hoped, that Legolas wouldn't notice her blush, but it was too late. He had already seen the blood creep up onto her face, and grinned when she tried desperately to hide it.

"You are cute, do you know that?" the prince asked and brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Don't call me cute!" Caro countered and put on a fake pout. Playfully she crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked stubbornly, like a three year old child, into the fire.

"But you are..." Legolas started again and wrapped his arms around Caro's still pouting figure. Immediately she let herself fall into his embrace and snuggled up in his warm hug.

"Ok, if you say, that I'm cute, then I have to be... because I am everything my prince tells me to be." Caro murmured and closed her eyes.

Honestly she had never felt so tired in her life. Marching the whole day and the fight with the soldier had stolen her so much energy. But she didn't want to fall asleep so soon, she wanted to enjoy the feeling of having her beloved nearby. She wanted to talk with him and to laugh with him. The fact, that they had only a few more days together let her finally stay awake.

//Coffee... or at least some coke... only a little caffeine to stay awake...// Caro pleaded, but nothing happened. But somehow she managed to not fall asleep.

"Caro?" Legolas asked gently and brushed over her hair. "If you want to go to sleep I don't care. I'll stay up and guard our camp. You are not used to long marching, am I right? So go over to the blankets. You really need the sleep to regain strength."

"No!" Caro protested immediately. "I don't want to go to bed. I want to be with you. We have only a few days left together, and I don't want to waste time with sleeping..."

The prince didn't want to waste time either, but he knew, that to sleep would definitely be best for her.

//Stubborn girl...// he thought, //... but I love her...//

"Ok, then... stay in my arms..." he suggested and soon after Caro was fast asleep, her arms wrapped around his body, as if he was a huge teddy bear.

Grinning he laid her down onto the blankets and sat back down beside the fire. He wasn't actually really tired, because he was used to longer marches through the forest. Unconsciously he started to hum a song, that he had heard Caro sing, when they had been walking through the gardens of the palace. He had asked her then what the song was called, but he had already forgotten the title. The only words he remembered were something like 'swallow' and 'glass', but nothing more. Caro had then actually refused to tell him the lyrics when he had asked her about them. But it didn't matter to him, because the tune alone had been catchy enough.

//A wonderful night... stars, a girl and in the air... the glistering magic of love...// he thought and felt much like a poet.

Suddenly Caro started to moan loudly in her sleep and with a loud scream she jumped up from her bed. Immediately Legolas raced over to Caro and started to comfort her. The girl was shivering on her entire body and uncontrollable sobs escaped her mouth.

"They said... they said, that I have to go back... that I have to leave you... Legolas... they said, that I have to leave now... immediately..." she stammered and looked confused around her.

"Who?" Legolas asked the first thing, that had come to his mind. He had been so shocked, when Caro had woken up so instantly, that he too had to regain his self - control.

"I don't know who they are... I don't know... " she whispered, still scared like a child.

"Whoever they are, I will protect you... you know that, do you?" Legolas tried to comfort her. "Do you?"

Slowly Caro nodded and looked deeply into the prince's eyes.

// Like a child... innocent and helpless but also strong and self - confident... simply indescribable... // Legolas thought and hugged her even tighter. Protect her was all he wanted in this moment, like always. //I'll give her the present... I wanted to give it to her, when we would have to part, but now I think she needs it more... something, a little souvenir, that she can hold in her hands and that gives her strength... something that lets he see, that she will always be in my heart... //

So he tried to pull away gently, out of the tight embrace. But Caro refused. She didn't want to let go. She feared, that if she would let him end the hug she would lose him, and to lose him was the worst thing she could imagine in this very moment.

"Caro, I won't leave you... " Legolas whispered. "I have a present for you, but I can only give it to you, if you let me got... just for a minute, órenya, then you'll have me back in your arms. Please, I'm sure, that you like it..."

Reluctantly Caro let go of Legolas, who walked swiftly over to his bag and took out his one, small, precious bag, wherein his present had been carried safely the whole day. Carefully he opened it and took out the gift, that was wrapped in black satin. Slowly he freed the present and after a few seconds he held a wonderfully shining, glass-made flower in his hand. It was a lily, formed in every single detail. In the soft firelight it shone like melted steel and Caro believed, that she had never seen anything so entirely perfect in her life. She was struck dumb and nearly forgot, that she had been crying a second before.

"It's wonderful!" she whispered hoarsely. "And it's really for me?"

"Sure, órenya... " he answered, kissing her lightly onto her cheek. " A flower for the most wonderful girl and shining star in my heart..."

Carefully Caro took the stalk between her thumb and index finger and stared like hypnotised at the glittering bloom.

//Wonderful.. and it's really for me... he gives it to me as a present... he loves me... he does... // With a passionate and deep kiss the girl thanked her prince.

Legolas was overwhelmed by her reaction. He had managed to cheer her up, and this fact made him happy too. And passionately, like Caro showed it to him, he answered the kiss, letting himself drown in the sweet sensation, that flooded through his mind. When they pulled away, they both gasped for air, but they were happy, and that was everything that counted.

Suddenly a strange lightning illuminated their surroundings and the flower in Caro's hand began to shine light blue. Legolas backed away from her and looked confused around the camp. He supposed to find a wizard standing near them, but he saw nothing, that could at least be called a human being.

Caro looked shocked at the shining glass in her hand and didn't know what to do. It looked fascinating and frightening at the same moment. Like a cold fire it opposed the dancing flames of the fireplace.

"What... Legolas, what's that?" Caro managed to say and looked questioningly at the prince.

"I don't know... but you start to gleam too..." he answered obviously shocked. He had never seen anything like this before, though he was used to some things.

"What!" Caro screamed and looked down at her hands.

The prince was right. Her hands were already gleaming bluish and she noticed, that her entire body started to shine too. She was near freaking out right in this moment, when they suddenly heard a faint singing. The melody sounded strange to Legolas' and Caro's ears, but it let them calm down. Then the music stopped and a clear voice spoke to them.

"Caro, I was the one, who talked to you in your dreams. I have to apologise, if I have frightened you. I didn't mean to, but it's time for you to go home. I know, that you would prefer to stay here in Middle-Earth, but that's not possible. You and Legolas have your own ways to go, and each of you has a different one... you know that as well as I do. So, Caro, it's time to say good-bye."

"No... " Caro sobbed and once again tears streamed down her face.

Slowly Legolas went over to her and hugged her tightly. He didn't want to let go either, but he knew, that there was nothing he could do about it. And now he understood why Caro hadn't wanted to tell him where she came from. But now it didn't matter anyway. Nothing was more important than Caro. To hold her, to touch her, to kiss her a last time before she would have to go.

So he kissed her deeply and then she vanished. The last words he heard her say were,

"Thank you, Legolas... I love you... "

Then it was silent again. The only thing that moved on the clearing were the dancing flames of the fire. Nothing more.

***

//Oh, God... // Caro thought, shifting around in her bed. She had dreamed such wonderful things, and now this damn clock had to wake her up with its fucking piep-sound.

Slowly Caro got up and looked sleepily around her room. Only a dream? This had only been a lousy dream? She already wanted to go down to make breakfast, when she suddenly noticed something glimmering lying beside her bed.

//What's that?...// she wondered and went back to her bed. When she had picked it up, she didn't know if she could trust her eyes. It was a wonderful, small, glass-made flower. A lily.

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So guys... it's over... hope you really liked it... To all who forgot it while reading... this story is dedicated to my best friend Caro, who is now also a shining member of ff.net. This chapter is practically a present to congratulate her, because she passed her final exam with very, very good marks and I have always promised her to finish it, but, as I said, I have been too lazy. ^^' Anyway, please be nice to her and read her stories!!!

Now everything I want to say is: Reviews, reviews, reviews... it's all I want!!!

And the Elvish vocabulary:

órenya = my heart, sweetheart

namárie (famous greeting of the Elves) = farewell