Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings, though I wish I did. :p

Elenya by Shelly

CHAPTER SIX


They reached Frodo's room and she collapsed into the chair beside the bed, which Pippin and Merry crawled up on and began munching on whatever snack they had in their pockets. Frodo approached her as she knew he would. "Do you not wish to go on this journey, Lilli?" he asked, hope in his voice.

She sighed. "I do wish I could, Frodo. But you and I both know what happened last time when both our rings came together. I do not wish to cause you that kind of harm again." He smiled but she could see his disappointment and laid her hands on his shoulders. "This may sound like a stupid thing to ask, but are you sure this what you want to do?"

He looked into her eyes. "What I really want is to return to the Shire and forget that the ring had come to me. To see everyone again and have everything be as it was. But I do not trust the others to see this through."

She smiled and touched her hand to his cheek. He took it and turned her palm up to see the ring-shaped burn that she had gotten yesterday, his fingers tracing the outline softly. She laughed as it tickled and saw him loosen the first few buttons of his shirt, revealing his own burn shaped like hers over his heart. "If only I could ease this burden on you, my friend," she whispered as she touched the spot with hesitant fingers.

He suddenly leaped onto her lap and threw his arms around her, and she held him to her tightly. She saw the other hobbits in the background, smiling and trying their best not to laugh, which in turn brought a smile to her face. Then he pulled away, a worried expression on his face. "Surely you won't be going alone, will you?"

She looked away, not able to meet his concerned gaze. "Frodo--"

He stepped down onto the floor. "You cannot! You'll surely be killed!"

"Frodo, it is a risk that we both take for the safety of us all. I realize the danger involved and accept it."

He assumed an air of determination. "I won't let you do this. And if I have to, I'll involve Elrond and Strider."

She couldn't help but smile at this. "Elrond knows of this already and Strider would only agree with me."

Then a mischievous light came into his eyes, and she wondered what he was up to. "Fine, then I'll tell Legolas."

"No, please don't!" she cried, horrified he would do such a thing. "Sam, stop him!" she laughed, seeing Frodo dart out the door, Sam following him. The other two joined in her laughter then stopped as Frodo and Sam returned with Gandalf in tow. "So I see you've managed to involve Gandalf as well."

The wizard eyed her curiously. "Considering the company, I doubt I even want to know what's going on."

She smiled, acting offended. "Gandalf, you wound me! You actually think I would take part in any of their mischief?"

"Humph! If anything, you would be the very one to start it." As much as he tried to sound stern, a smile nonetheless lurked at the edges of his mouth.

She laughed and stood, walking up to him and embracing him. "Gandalf, I am glad to see you again."

"Yes, it has been too long," he replied, holding her at arm's length. "And I see that you've managed to snare the heart of the Prince of Mirkwood."

Her smile disappeared. "I know, but I am not so free to return his affections as I am betrothed to another."

The hobbits turned surprised gazes on her as it was news to them. Gandalf nodded. "Yes, Boromir of Gondor, son of the Steward. I remember him from my earlier visits. Tell me, how is Faramir?" he asked.

"He is well," she answered.

"I must venture a guess if I may. Did Faramir happen to fall in love with you as well?" he questioned with a teasing smile.

She was too surprised to say anything and just stood there silent, giving the wizard all the answer he needed. "I thought he might if he had a chance to meet you. He's a wonderful person. Loves music and poetry even though he is as accomplished a soldier as his brother."

She continued to stare at Gandalf as she had never been given the chance to see this side of Faramir while she was there, and now she found herself regretting that she didn't get to know him better.

While her mind had been wandering, he had eyed her closely. "Lilli, did you happen to return his feelings in any way?"

She was jerked back to the present at the sound of his voice. "No, it is Boromir that I share my heart with."

The wizard was silent a moment. "I am surprised to say the least that you would've chosen him. After his actions of today I would be most wary of him, especially with what you're carrying. Whatever possessed your father to seek a betrothal with Gondor? It is unheard of for such an alliance to be made between two such lands."

"It is his father who's to blame," she answered. "He seeks to bind me to his son in marriage in hopes that he will be able to use the power of Elenya to his own purposes. And I imagine that he also seeks the One Ring as well."

"Fools they are to try and use such power that they have no understanding of," he scoffed in disapproval. A knock was heard on the door, and they turned to see Legolas standing in the doorway.

"I can wait outside for you until you are finished," he said.

"Nonsense, I was just about to leave," Gandalf answered then turned back to her. "Please, Lilli, give Legolas a chance. I do not wish to see you sad, and I fear if you continue on your current path you will encounter nothing but sorrow. You deserve a lifetime of happiness, and I'm afraid that Boromir cannot give that to you."

"I realize that Gandalf, but I have already promised to him that I will love him for as long as he lives. I tried to keep myself from falling in love with him, but I failed as I believe that we were meant to be together."

He smiled sadly. "Then I wish you both the best," he said before stepping outside and into the afternoon sun.

She breathed deeply then followed in his footsteps, stopping as she saw Legolas turn around from his perusal of the river below. Her breathing stopped as she became aware of the effect he always had on her when they were near to one another, and she hated herself for what she was about to do. Nonetheless it would be unfair of her to encourage his advances while she was still in love with another. Yes, she had finally given in to Faramir, but she had expected that there was a chance that they would never see each other again and had wanted to see for herself what there could've been between them if things had turned out differently.

Legolas saw her inner struggle as he fought against taking her in his arms and kissing her fears from her mind. But he had thought hard about her situation while on his way here and had resigned himself to the reality that he was going to lose her before he had even gotten the chance to know her. Although deep down inside he knew that if given the chance he could help her see that Boromir could not offer her the same happiness that he would willingly give her.

"Would you mind taking a walk with me?" he asked. "There are many things we need to talk about."

She nodded in agreement and they walked around Rivendell, past small streams towards a secluded walkway through the woods. They spotted a stone bench at the edge of the walkway, and she lowered herself down onto it with a sigh as he sat down beside her. "So how did the rest of the council go?" she asked.

"We discussed a few things, mainly when to depart. Elrond decided to send out elves to scout out the surrounding land for any presence of the enemy. That way a direction can be determined. It will be some time before they return though, a couple of months at the most."

She nodded. "I assume Aragorn will be going with them?"

"Yes, along with Elrond's sons." He quieted for a moment. "I saw that Frodo wished for you to go with us."

"He did," she answered.

"Will you go?"

She shook her head. "I have my own journey to take."

"To Lorien, I know. You can accompany us then."

She sighed. "I cannot Legolas. You saw what nearly happened the last time Frodo and I were near each other with the rings."

He took her hands in his and she finally looked into his eyes. "I know you mean to do this alone, and I advise against it. But I at least want to ask you to stay awhile." He reached up and touched her cheek. "I do not wish to see you go just yet when there is so much left unsaid between us."

She touched his hand and brought it back down to rest on the bench. "Legolas, there is something I must tell you before anything more is said." She breathed deeply to gather her courage. "I know that you would wish for there to be something more between us, but I am afraid that it can never be. I am betrothed to another which I happen to love very much, although it would make no difference if I loved him or not as I would still be expected to wed him out of duty."

He looked away to hide the pain that her words caused. "Can you not see that he cannot bring you the happiness you deserve? You will live on long after he is dead but the pain he has left in your heart will remain forever."

"Yes, I realize that he will die before me," she answered. "But I am willing to accept that as he is my life. Without him I am nothing, and I would not wish to come to you with a broken heart and soul to mend that would always belong to another. You deserve better than that which is why I wanted to clear things between us before it was too late."

He finally brought his eyes to hers and she was saddened by the anguish she saw in them. "I find your words hard to bear, my lady, but I also hear the truth in them. I am glad that you chose to be honest with me instead of leading me on a false hope."

Her eyes glistened from tears she dared not shed. "Legolas, please, I did not want to hurt you like this as I care for you very much."

"It could not be helped as the pain was my doing. I should not have given in so quickly to my emotions." He smiled then. "But that does not mean that we cannot remain friends."

She smiled also. "No, it does not," she agreed.

He rose to his feet. "Then as a friend I will leave you until we dine again tonight."

"Until then," she answered, watching him walk away as she tried to shake off her own anguish at what had passed between them. Now she only had to deal with Boromir now and see where they stood with each other, but she remained for awhile as she let the sun bake her tense muscles and warm her body. She soon felt a presence near her and heard them sit down beside her before feeling strong hands slowly begin to massage her shoulders.

She knew who the hands belonged to and would've moved so she could see him but his hands kept her where she was as his touch felt wonderful no matter what he was doing. "Boromir, what do you think you're doing?" she asked drowsily.

"I'm easing the stiffness in your neck, my love," he whispered against her ear. "I know what you did had to be difficult for you."

Now she did turn towards him, her eyes wary as she did not know if he was angry at her for being here with Legolas. "How much did you see?"

"Enough to know that you did the right thing," he replied, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "And I am honored that you chose to remain with me when you could've had a lifetime with someone else."

She regarded him in surprise that he would be so calm about everything now when earlier that afternoon he was ready to throttle Aragorn for just talking to her. But now that she looked into his eyes, she could see the familiar light in them that she had grown to love. "A lifetime means nothing to me if you are not there to share it with me," she said then allowed herself to be pulled into his embrace as she laid her head against his chest. "I love you too much to just let you go."

He kissed her forehead. "As I love you also. I actually came here to apologize for my behavior at the council as I fear that something had come over me."

She pulled away. "I'm glad that you cleared that up as you were about to get a thorough tongue lashing from me because of it," she scolded him.

She saw a playful glint light his eyes. "You're welcome to do so anyway as I might like to have a good tongue lashing."

"Oh, you!" she spluttered as she jumped onto his lap and sent them tumbling backwards onto the grass, laughing as they hit the ground.

"Are you all right?" he asked, looking down at her.

She smiled. "If you will only kiss me, my lord, then I will be."

"Since you asked so nicely," he said, and lowered his lips to hers. He soon heard a noise near them and rose to his feet.

She had heard it also and rose on her elbows, having a sneaking suspicion who it was. The muffled giggle that followed only confirmed it. "Merry! Pippin! I'll have your hides for eavesdropping on us!"

Her only reply was the rustling of leaves as they ran off.

Boromir laughed as he pulled her to her feet. "I think you put the fear into them, my lady."

She laughed also. "I think those two fear nothing."

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Next chapter: Two of the stones of Elenya are awakened and Lilli and Boromir do a little sparring of their own. No, not THAT kind! Man, what kind of person do you take me for? :p Thanks for reading and please review!