Author's note: I don't know what's going on, but no reviews are posting, and it's not just me I hope. But I can still update, right? So, here are the next couple of chapters for your reading pleasure! Enjoy!

Elenya by Shelly

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN


Lillisandra wasn't sure what had possessed her to tell him this, but she felt the need to be honest with him just as she was honest with her feelings towards Boromir where Legolas was concerned. She had expected shock, even anger at her admission of her feelings for the elven prince, but he only nodded his head once, his face betraying nothing of his emotions.

"It is as I thought," he said. "I knew the night I saw you both together that you had begun to love him then and I guess that your love for him has only grown since then."

She quickly placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "Absolutely not, my love," she assured him. "When I parted from you that night, I merely suceeded in ripping out my own heart. Legolas came to me later as he had hoped that afterwards we could start a new relationship together, and I had felt the same for a time. But my heart and soul were too destroyed to mend by another, and even now I still bear the scar of that night upon me." She caught his hand in hers and kissed the back of it. "I told him then that I could never love another like I love you."

"But you just told me that you did," he inserted gently.

"I do, but it is not the same as it is with you. With you I feel complete as I feel as if something is missing when I am apart from you, even with the love I feel for Legolas."

"I feel the same also, but we can never remain together as I am a danger to you. Although I do not wish to cause you harm, there is a possibility that I still can, and the danger only grows stronger the longer we are together," he argued.

"I realize that," she assured him. "But if we are still alive after Sauron is destroyed, then I will gladly rejoin you in Minas Tirith and spend the rest of your days together. Until then I will keep your love within my heart to hold until we can be together."

He gazed deeply into her eyes for a moment before pulling her into his arms, his chin resting on the top of her head as he held her close. "As will I, but I will not fault you if you choose to spend the time in between with Legolas as I once encouraged him to do the same with you. You deserve to be happy, Lilli, and right now I cannot offer you that. But he can, and it helps that he cares about you just as much as I do."

"I care about him, too, which is why I have fought against him over his feelings towards me. I do not understand why he wishes to ask for such pain as he knows how much I love you yet continues to pursue a relationship with me."

He leaned down to kiss her forehead softly, not wanting her to see the anguish he felt in his heart as he realized that he would have to let her go. "It is because he loves you," he answered. "He is willing to overlook the fact that you love another just to be with you, although I know that he wishes you would open your heart to him completely."

"He has told me as much, but I can't just shut you out of my heart so easily. You are so much a part of me that I do not know where I end and you begin." Then she looked up at him, bringing her hand up to touch his face. "And I am amazed that you are taking this so calmly, speaking of him in such a way."

A hesitant smile appeared. "I am by no means speaking of this easily. It is just that I have no right to fight for your love when I am in a position where I am unable to love you in return as you deserve. Part of me wishes that you did not love him, but then here you are with me instead of him. Perhaps you will tell me why you continue to torture yourself with a love that can never be shared when there is someone who is willing to offer his to you. He will give you a love that you truly deserve, a love that will last you for eternity. How can you deny yourself that?"

She was silent as she realized what he was trying to tell her. Here she was fighting for a love which could never be realized as to do so could endanger her life when Legolas offered her a lifetime for them to be together, a lifetime Boromir could not offer. And even though Boromir loved her he was still willing to make the decision to let her go in order for her to live the rest of her life as she deserved. Only why did she refuse to see it before? "Boromir--"

He silenced her with a finger to her lips. "Listen to me," he said gently. "I only want what I feel you deserve. I had plenty of time to think of this after we left Rivendell, and I spent many hours talking with Legolas. He helped me realize what I had always known since I first saw him the morning of the council. I knew that I was extremely honored to have held your heart for as long as I have, but once you were among others like you I wouldn't stand a chance against one that also sought your heart." He smiled. "Although I will still love you for as long as I live."

She smiled in return as she felt an enormous burden being lifted from her shoulders. Even though Legolas had said as much to her, it somehow sounded different coming from Boromir as she knew it was how he felt inside. "As I will always love you, Boromir." Then she embraced him once more as a happiness she thought she would never feel again lightened her heart.

He held her close to him as his heart slowly broke into a thousand pieces at the thought of never being able to hold her again or feel her lips on his. But when he looked into her eyes, he realized that it was worth his pain to see the light that shone in them, a light that once long ago had shone for him. "Now you'd better hurry back as it will not be long before the sun sets," he said as he released her.

"You're not coming?" she asked.

"No," he answered. "I wish to stay here for awhile."

She was saddened by the pain she heard in his voice and knew that he wished to stay to sort out his own emotions. She wished there was something she could do to ease his suffering, but knew that there was nothing she could do as they had shared a deep love for one another and only time could heal his broken heart. Slowly walking by him, she quickly descended the ladder to meet Aragorn, not seeing the tears that fell down his cheeks and caught the light of the sun.



"He's not coming?" Aragorn asked Lillisandra when he saw her, his eyes widening at the change in her after only a short time. She was radiant as if she fairly glowed under the light that shone through the trees, seeming to set her auburn hair ablaze, and he had to fight to remind himself that his heart was held by another as he was in danger of becoming mesmerized by her unearthly beauty. He sometimes wondered if she realized the effect she had on mortal men, but knew that she had no idea how beautiful she really was or how easy it was for mortals to fall under her spell.

And never would he tell her that it had been her that had momentarily distracted his thoughts from Arwen and not a human woman.

A touch on his shoulder brought him back to the present, and he saw her waving a golden elanor mere inches in front of his face. "Woolgathering again, my friend?" she asked as she handed him the flower.

He smiled. "It would appear so," he replied. "Is Boromir coming?"

"No," she answered. "He wishes to stay here awhile longer."

His gaze held many questions as to what had happened but he nodded instead. "I see. He fears to be so close to you when we draw closer to Lorien."

She shook her head, and his surprise grew into shock at her answer. "He has let me go, Aragorn," she whispered.

He was struck speechless for a moment, his shock turning into admiration at the great sacrifice Boromir had to have made in order to let her go as he knew that he could never let go of Arwen so easily. "Then he has more strength than I ever could, to let go of something so precious to him. But I feel that he did the right thing as he would only be a danger to you both."

"As do I," she agreed. "And I know that I should be saddened by it, but I am not as he helped me see how much love I have for another." She smiled suddenly. "I cannot wait to return to him and tell him that my heart bears the scar no longer."

He returned her smile. "Then by all means, let us leave. But first let me leave some of the supplies for Boromir to last him through his return trip." He quickly disappeared up the ladder, leaving her waiting at the foot of the mallorn.

A breeze brushed across her skin and she closed her eyes as she breathed deeply, a frown turning down the edges of her mouth as she picked up on a scent that she knew well by now. But before she could cry a warning to the two in the tree, she was brought to her knees as an arrow buried itself in her calf. She shouted Aragorn's name, her voice filled with pain and a little fear as she saw about four or five orcs approaching her from the base of the hill and she had nothing to fight them with except the long dagger at her waist and the two smaller ones hidden in her boots.

She withdrew the two and aimed carefully before hurling them at the enemy, but she had to duck at the last minute as more arrows sped overhead. Then she heard the sound of other different arrows being loosed and was glad that Aragorn had thought to bring his bow, although it seemed that there were other arrows coming from another direction she couldn't tell.

Soon all the orcs lay dead upon the ground, and her heart filled with sorrow that the fair mound of Cerin Amroth had to be marred by the blood of evil creatures. Aragorn's voice soon penetrated through the haze of pain that had clouded her mind. "Relax your leg, and it will hurt less," he gently commanded her as he turned her so that she lay with her stomach to the ground.

"It hurts, Aragorn," she gritted through her teeth. "How am I supposed to relax? Just pull it out!"

"Just do as he says," Boromir's voice spoke above her as he knelt down beside her and took her hand in his. She finally managed to relax somewhat only to cry out again as Aragorn pulled the arrow from her leg and just as quickly take out his own dagger to cut the leg of her breeches open to wrap the wound from the arrow. Then Boromir disappeared from her side and she saw someone else kneel down not far from her.

Aragorn looked up in surprise when he saw Legolas there. "I thought I had some help, but from who I wasn't sure."

She looked up and breathed a sigh of relief. "Legolas," she whispered.

He moved closer to her when she turned over on her back, allowing her to lay the back of her head on his lap. "I am here, my love," he said as he caressed her cheek with the back of his hand. "Do you think you can stand?"

"I can try," she gasped as she took hold of Aragorn's hands to let him pull her onto her feet but was forced to lean on him to stay standing. He began walking slowly towards the safety of Caras Galadon, eventually letting Boromir take over as he kept watch on the area in front of them while Legolas guarded their back. After about an hour, she could barely walk as fever claimed her and sent her sinking to the ground as blackness enveloped her.

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They always seem to be picking on Lilli, don't they? The orcs, I mean. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for reading! I just wish I could read your reviews! Grrr...