Disclaimer: I don't own a thing! I do own the movie and books though. Tolkien wrote the whole thing. I am just twisting the plot to my liking.

Chapter Five: A Talk in the Dark

"Oh, um... Hi. I was just um, looking for my movie. I'm, uh, um sorry if I woke you up. Sir." Cooper struggled to get the words out. How in the world had he been healed so quickly from all his injuries? Of course! He's an Elf, get it together girl. She was glad she hadn't asked him that.

Legolas laughed to himself, the poor girl. He must have frightened her. Why should she be apologizing, it was her house. He was but a stranger and had no right whatsoever to be there, while she, on the other hand, had every right.

"Can I help you?" Cooper's voice brought Legolas out of his reverie. She was giving him the "Are you sure you're alright?" look.

"Oh, no. I was just thinking."

"Okay then. I'll take my movie and leave you in peace." When Cooper got to her bedroom she realized she had forgotten her chips and dip. She made a fast detour to the kitchen to grab a can of Dr. Pepper. When she walked into the living room Legolas was still sitting and staring at the TV. Cooper came up behind him and tried to see what he was staring at. Then she whispered, "What are we staring at?"

Legolas jumped. He must have been thinking pretty hard not to hear a mortal come up behind him. "I was just thinking."

Cooper sat down beside him. "About what?"

"Well, the question burning in my mind right now is, 'Where am I?'"

"Right now you are sitting in my house, on the living room floor, in the state of California, on the property of Timothy and Jan Cooper."

"Um, I've never hear of this place before, where did you say we are?"

"California? It's in the continental United States, on the continent of North America, in the Western Hemisphere. Just a couple feet above sea level, but pretty close to being level with the Pacific Ocean. You can see it from the attic window."

"Really? I have never been near the sea."

"Yup."

"I'm not from around here."

"No offense, but that was pretty obvious." Legolas smiled at the girl's irony. Then he finally realized she was waiting for some type of reply.

"I guess it was pretty transparent. You probably don't see an elf everyday, do you?"

"No, elves are pretty scares around here." Yeah, and I wish there were a lot more. You know like, Haldir, Elladan, Elrohir, Elrond, Arwen, Celeborn, and Galadriel to name a few. Dang, that would be perfect!

"It must have seemed pretty strange to have me show up on your doorstep. I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused." Legolas was starting to wonder

"Oh, don't bother to apologize, it's not your fault."

"In truth, I can't even remember how I came to be here. I remember falling though the air, then hitting something solid and then someone yelling at me to move. Then there's nothing."

"My friend brought you here. You were in pretty bad shape when he found you on the road. You're lucky you didn't getting hit any harder, or you might have..." The headlights glared. NO!! Brian, Justin! The scream of the Ambulance, Mother crying, Dad pacing and talking to the EMS worker.

"Cooper, are you alright?"

Cooper jumped a bit as Legolas brought her out of the horrible flashback. "I, I'm fine." Cooper's voice faltered a bit.

"Did I say something wrong?" asked Legolas, with sincerity in his voice.

"No, nothing. It's just that I ...I don't really want to talk about it right now."

"It always helps to talk your problems out."

"I said I don't want to talk about it!" snapped Cooper.

"I was just trying to be helpful."

Cooper looked down and let out a long sigh, "I'm sorry. It's just that I am a little tired, when I'm tired I tend to be a little touchy, but that's no excuse for my poor manners. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. Will you forgive me?"

"Of course I will."

"Maybe it would help to talk. I don't suppose anyone would want to listen though."

"I would love to listen."

"Are you sure? I can go on forever."

"I guess it's a good thing I'm an elf then?"

A shy smiled crept upon Cooper's lips. I wonder what it would be like to kiss her? What?! Where'd that come from? Legolas pushed his thoughts away and listened as Cooper related what had happened on that fateful day two months ago. Cooper put forth so much emotion as she spoke that Legolas could almost imagine that he was there watching the whole thing happen. As Cooper drew near to the end of her story her voice began to fail her, and tears started to stream down her face. Legolas reached over and drew her to him. She came without resistances and cried for a good half-hour. Legolas could not understand the depth of her grief, but comforted her as best he could. Cooper was physically and mentally exhausted when she finally stopped her crying.

"I am such a baby." Cooper said into Legolas's shirt.

"No you're not. You would have to be a brave person to have gone though as much."

"This is the second time I've cried today though."

"Have you cried often since your brothers past away?"

Cooper gave no reply, and stayed as she was. Finally after a few minutes of silence Legolas realized that Cooper had fallen asleep in his arms. He gently picked her up and made his way towards her room, when Cooper woke up realized that he was carrying her. "Thank you," she whispered.

"You're welcome."

"I'm sorry about me pouring all my troubles on you. I didn't mean too."

"I know, but you can't keep all your emotions bottled up forever."

"You can put me down now, please."

Oh great! Now what is she going to think of me? Why should I worry about what a simple mortal like her thinks? We will be going back to Middle Earth soon. So then why do I care so much about her already? Don't you go falling for a mortal now Legolas, it 'll only end in heartbreak for the both of you.

"But why can't I just keep my emotions inside? Why do I have to let people know what is really going on inside of my head?" Cooper's voice broke though Legolas's reverie.

"Well, if you keep all your thoughts and emotions inside, one day you'll find yourself so frustrated that you just can't think strait. You will never be able to find anyone to love you if you can't show them that you love them too. It is a good thing to be able to not show fear in the face of danger. You have to learn when to be brave, and when to let go of all your feelings and give in to grief." Where did I come up with all that? I'm starting to sound like my father now. Did that fall leave me senseless, or did I leave them all behind in Middle Earth?

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being here and helping me get my life back on track. I'm glad that we had the chance to talk. Good night, Legolas."

"Good night, Cooper." They stayed put for a second. Cooper thought that he might be getting ready to kiss her, and Legolas thought that she was going to kiss him. Neither objected to the idea, and their lips met. Cooper's lips were cool and smooth. Legolas's lips moved over Cooper's lips, exploring their entire surface. Legolas's lips were sweet and firm. They seemed to know just what Cooper's lips wanted to do. The kiss didn't last very long.

"I, I, I'm sorry," breathed Cooper, shrinking back against the wall.

"No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have done that."

"But, I thought that I was the one ...Who kissed who?"

"I think I kissed you, then you started to kiss me back."

"I'll go to bed now. Thank you again though." With that Cooper backed into her room and shut the door. Legolas headed back towards the living room with a dejected air clothed about him.

"Well, it seems you now know how I feel."

Legolas jumped a bit at Aragorn's voice. "You startled me my friend. But what do you mean by that?"

"You now know how it is for Arwen and I, we love each other, but know we must not. It is not the same of you and Cooper?"

"Ah! I suppose it is. Do you believe in 'Love at first sight?'"

"Yes, that is how it was for me. When I first saw Arwen I thought I had wondered into a fair dream." Aragorn's look became far away as if he were somewhere else, reliving a fair memory.

"Tell me my friend, how does one live with the knowledge that you won't be with that person forever?"

"You have to learn to compromise, and put your mind and soul into doing something else. I have devoted my whole life into being the leader of the Dúnadan. You, as the Prince of the Mirkwood, could surely find something else to do besides dream of one you can't have."

"Your right, Aragorn. I will find something else to do, and put her from my mind. It won't be too hard, I should think, it was only a harmless kiss. Women are easy enough to forget."

"You're quiet right. I think I shall get a few more hours of sleep now. I advise you to do the same." With that Aragorn lay down and fell into a deep sleep at once. Legolas laid on the couch for sometime, trying to fall asleep. Sleep just wouldn't come, every time he was about to drift off, Cooper's face appeared in his mind. Her voice, touch, and her kiss haunted Legolas's memory. He couldn't do anything without thinking of her. He tried to think of any other girl he had liked, but the only one he could bring to mind was Cooper. After and hour of tossing and turning on the way to short couch he got up and sat in the recliner. Next to the recliner, on the coffee table, lay the TV remote. Be a curious, and having nothing better to do, Legolas picked the remote up. There were strange little buttons all over the "thing", it also had, what Legolas assumed, was some type of language written on it. He decided to try one of the buttons to see what would happen. The button he happened to push was to "power" button. The TV came on, but the volume had been turned down low. This didn't bother Legolas because he was an elf and had super keen hearing. He watched as people acted out a story. He decided to try another button, this changed the channel. He watched as words flashed across the screen, introducing the movie, and the actors. He waited to see what would come of it. The next thing he heard was in Elvish, then translated into English. He eagerly leaned forwards towards the TV, waiting in breathless anticipation. He listened as the narrator went on to describe all the rings of power. A map of Middle Earth was shown and they were quickly transported to Mordor and Mount Doom, and Sauron forged the one Ring. Legolas watched as the Last Alliance marched into Mordor, to fight the Enemy. He quickly picked his father and Lord Elrond out of the crowed. He watched as Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron's finger. Everything was so realistic and depicted perfectly. How did these people ever learn the story of the One Ring? He watched as Gandalf and Frodo meet in the Shire, and laughed at Gandalf's reply, "A wizard in never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early, he arrives precisely when he means too." It was like something Gandalf would say. Legolas paid close attention to all details of the Shire and it's inhabitants. He spotted a few inaccuracies, but nothing major. Once in a while one of the characters would do something, out of character. The journey to Rivendell was interesting, but not entirely true. The Hobbits didn't pass though the Old Forest, Aragorn had a sword, it took them a day from Weathertop to get to Rivendell instead of six, and Arwen rode to get them instead of Glorfindel. The women who played Arwen wasn't as half as pretty as the real one was, and she acted like a little snot. Rivendell was almost as beautiful as it was in real life, but you couldn't feel the spirit of the elves though the screen of the TV. Suddenly Legolas was filled with a dreadful sense of homesickness, a longing to again be in the Mirkwood with all his friends, family, and familiar things. Legolas started to pay attention to the movie again, it was at the part were Liv tells Viggo that he should not be afraid of his heritage, and that he will pass the test. Legolas got a little riled up at that, Aragorn had always been proud of who he was, and were he came from. He watched as they came together for the council.

"This is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, you owe him your allegiance."

"This is Aragorn? The heir of Isildur?"

"He is the rightful King of Gondor."

"Havel dad Legolas."

"Gondor has no king, Gondor needs no king."

Legolas stared at the screen, he know that someone would represent him, but he had really realized that this was meant to be the exact story. Orlando Bloom had a slight resemblance to the real Legolas, but one could tell that he wasn't really elvish at all, just an imitation.

Aragorn woke up to a voice that sounded similar to his own. "What is this?"

"I don't know. I just pushed a button, and it came on. This is suppose to be us." Aragorn stared at the TV. Now I know why Cooper thought I was someone else, he looks almost identical to me. Aragorn and Legolas sat there and were watching the movie very intently. They didn't even hear Cooper come in and sit on the floor. The fellowship was running down the great hall of the Darrowdelf. They crossed over the bridge of Khazâd-dûm as the Balrog perused them Gandalf stopped and told him he could not pass. They watched as the Balrog pulled Gandalf over the edge, then the screen got fuzzy and the picture died.

"What happened?", asked Legolas.

"Looks like part of the movie has been erased." Both the man and elf jumped at the sound of Cooper's voice.

A/N: This chapter took me a lot of time to write. Besides going to school, I have volleyball practice three days a week, and Youth Group on Wednesday nights, and Bible study on Sunday. I love giving you guy's cliffhangers, it's so much fun to have you in suspense.