DISCLAIMER: The characters from Lord of the Rings and their wonderful world are borrowed from J.R.R. Tolkien. The plotline and all other characters are copyright 2002 Emily (emi_kins@yahoo.com)

25.

The journey home was long and hard. As soon as the adrenaline had left her, the pain of Elenath's wounds became almost too much for her to bear. It appeared that aside from the bruises and gashes she had received, she had also broken an arm and sprained an ankle. In addition to that, the sunlight blinded her after being in darkness for so long. It caused her such searing pain that they fashioned a blindfold for her.

At the first clear pool they came to, Merethiel tended her wounds and bathed her as best she could. The icy water brought the swelling down and numbed the pain a bit, but they had not gone fifty strides before the pain was just as bad as before. Elenath bore it as well as she could, burying her face in the prince's tunic and willing herself not to cry out. Gandalf even offered to put a sleeping spell on her, but she wanted to be awake and aware of the loved ones that had come to rescue her. One thing was for sure. She would never take them for granted again.

The male Elves took turns carrying her along the trail. Her comrades-in- arms joked that they should sling her over their shoulders as if they were on the battlefield and run all the way to Rivendell. Though their strides were smoother than most, she could not bear to think how much even that slight jarring would hurt and begged them to have mercy, trying to laugh through her tears.

They bore her gently after that, as if she were made of glass, stopping now to allow her to rest and then to take some nourishment a little at a time. She could not even feed herself because of the blindfold, but every time she tried to remove it, she could not will her eyes to stay open to the bright sunlight.

When they finally stopped for the evening, they leaned her against a tree and left Merethiel and Legolas with her while they looked for firewood. Elenath heard them disappearing into the underbrush, and as soon as they were gone, felt the warm presence of the prince beside her.

"We don't have to stop," she whispered. "We can go on if you like."

"You are tired and in pain beyond what any of us can understand. I know that the tears never cease falling from your eyes, Elenath, though you try to hide them. No, we must rest for the night."

She felt his hand against her cheek, tugging gently at her blindfold.

"The sun is nearly down. Let us see if your eyes can adjust to twilight. Then perhaps with the gradual brightening of sunrise they will adjust to sunlight again…"

She reached up with her good hand to help him, but instead of taking hold of the blindfold, found herself holding his hand. She smiled as she cautiously opened her eyes and hungrily took in the world of fading light around her. Finally her gaze landed on Legolas and her smile brightened. In his hand, he held a small bouquet of laurel blooms.

"I love you with all my heart," he said. "I thought I might die when we realized that you had been taken, Elenath. Please tell me… do you return my feelings?"

"I do," she answered, taking the flowers and smelling them as he drew near.

"Forgive me," he begged, "Forgive me for bringing Dimnarion here. I would have killed him myself if given the opportunity."

"I know..."

Hearing the approaching footprints of the others in the Wood, he searched her eyes for a long moment. "May I…?"

"Please," she whispered, brushing an errant strand of his hair away and trailing her fingers down his cheek as he kissed her gently with a passion neither of them had ever experienced before.

He had meant to pull away from her before the others returned; to pull away and act like nothing had happened, but Legolas was unable to do that. He felt as if he had been completed the moment their lips had met. It was a strangely intense feeling, especially because he had never felt himself to be incomplete. She, too, seemed reluctant to let him move away, and so he stayed, his forehead resting against hers, his hands twined loosely in her silken hair. "I love you," he said again and again. "Amin mela lle, Elenath. I'll never leave you."

"Nor I you," she answered and kissed him again as the others came into the clearing and stopped, wide-eyed with shock and surprise.

Gandalf stared at the two of them and sank down upon a rock, lighting his pipe as he went, his blue eyes twinkling with mirth. After taking a long drag from it, he blew the smoke out. "Well now," he said as if to himself. "Well, then… this complicates things a little."

"Doesn't it, though?" asked Merethiel with a grin.

The Wizard regarded her with raised eyebrows. "I do believe that cousin of yours has been a bad influence on you, Lady Merethiel!"

The she-Elf only laughed.