(A/N: Lyrics to ponder is my favoritist part! This one is It Is You (I Have Loved) by Dana Glover, Goodbye to You by Michelle Branch, A Moment Like This from American Idol, and Why(Are We Still Friends)? by 98 degrees. Oh, yeah, I'm gonna lay it on ya'll REAL thick. It's enough mush to make you sick. It made me sick, and I freakin WROTE it. Now, to tell you about the title of this chapter, if only to bore you. There's a phrase in the WWF... I mean, WWE... grrr... that they use for the big, scary, dinosaur-type man called Brock Lesnar. It's called "Ruthless Aggression." If you've ever seen this guy wrestle, you would know why I used that phrase. He's fucking scary. *censors yell at her to up the rating for that remark* SHUT UP! I'll up the rating when Chapter 30 rolls around! Anhoodileedoo, Brock Lesnar has as much aggression as there is emotion in the chapter. That's all this chapter is. Ruthless emotions, yes sir. But I made it short so you wouldn't have to throw up too much. And tomorrow, I want a chicken caesar salad shakes from McDonalds. Yums.)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Ruthless Emotion

Eli watched from his seat on the floor as Legolas had his moment of doubt before he took a blind leap of faith. Filior did not like where he was leaping and Eli had to temporarily restrain him.

"Let me go now and I promise his death will be painless," Filior struggled, but the healer had put something in his drink that rendered the Prince helpless.

"Oh, be quiet and watch the show." Eli was almost cackling.

"How can you let her stay out there? You know she doesn't know who this dance is for. She never went to the dances at the Castle!"

"Always told her she'd regret it, didn't I?"

"Eli..."

*~*~*~*

Legolas let his heart pound away uncontrollably. Elorelei let her temper loose.

"What do you think you're doing?" She hadn't stopped dancing, but had started muttering under her breath at him.

"Dancing, Lori, what are YOU doing?"

"Wishing I knew a way of killing you that wasn't blatantly obvious I did it."

Legolas wanted to laughed, but held his tongue.

"This doesn't change a thing, Legolas. You're making it worse."

"Am I?" He was surprised at his own audacity.

"Yes, you are."

Legolas gave a look of mock thoughfulness. "Really? Would it be better if I told you what this song is for?" Why was he teasing her?! She was going to kill him!

Elorelei glared, it was a glare of something second cousin to utter hatred. He never thought he'd see her look at him that way. Legolas smiled and bore the pain of it, anyway. He'd never felt this way before, merciless and cruel. Letting everything that was in him come out in some tauntingly unyielding way. She would never love him again now that he'd ruined it, and knowing that made every other pain seem inconsequential and unimportant.

"Is that a yes? I'll tell you then," He said. The song ended and leaned next to her, letting his lips brush the tips of her leaf-shaped ears. "This song is for couples in love... Guess I miscalculated."

A series of things happened then. One, Elorelei shoved him away, but that was to be expected. Two, she stood there, looking at him as if he disgusted her, the most vile grotesque thing she'd ever laid her eyes on. Three, she was at a loss for words as her face grew red and her hands clenched and unclenched as if she longed to wrap them around his throat.

"Of all the! ... Arrogant! Presumptuous! EGOTISTICAL! Foolish assumptions! ... You! ... I should!"

Legolas stood there, unflinching, prepared for the worst of her anger. No curse she could unleash upon him would make him stop hurting, so what was the point? What happened was unexpected.

Elorelei had felt this feeling before. Anger was not going to win this battle of her emotions, so she let it go. Then, it happened. That burning. That pressing on her chest that became a fire that blazed through her and came out right behind her eyes. Elorelei knew she would never cry for someone who she didn't care about. Legolas, standing there, looking completely indifferent, didn't look like someone who she'd care about. She couldn't look at him anymore and turned away as if he'd slapped her. She privately wished he had, feeling the tears dropping, but not visibly. And she thought she could be happy without Andulin.

Legolas felt his heart tighten. She wasn't angry, it was worse than that. She was hurt. Elorelei swallowed and looked at him through stinging eyes. It would've pained him less if she had killed him.

Filior watched his sister walk out, her head not bowed or held up high. Just steady. The herb wore off and he shot up.

Legolas was too stunned to notice that Filior was heading his way until it was too late. The Prince had him by the neck.

"You go after my sister and you TELL her you love her. Or your throat will meet my sword and it will have a VERY bad first impression." His threat was true enough. The Western Prince sprinted from the room as soon as the Eastern Prince let him go.

*~*~*~*

Elorelei had not gotten far. Halfway to her room, she decided it wasn't worth it. She'd seen this happen before. She'd lose respect for everything, get reckless, get sick, and eventually die of a broken heart. Some little voice inside of her muttered, I always fancied I would die in battle.

She didn't listen to it but covered her face with her hands, feeling no desire to go back to the ball, or to her room. Feeling nothing except the overwhelming wish to die right then.

"Elorelei?"

Don't look up. Don't do that to yourself... She didn't move a muscle, she knew who it was.

Legolas bit his lip, hard. It was impossible to say what he needed to say if she wasn't looking at him. it was of her own accord when she finally looked up. Legolas hadn't realized it, but he had been holding his breath.

"I came to-"

"Shut up," She said quietly, almost in a whisper. Legolas shrank back, wounded, not saying anything. Elorelei dropped her hands slowly off her face, her fair skin streaked with tears. "Just shut up," She ordered.

Legolas predicted what she was about to do. Go ahead, hit me. Give me all you have. I owe you that much.

She raised a hand as if to strike him, but instead wrapped it around it and kissed him. It wasn't soft or perfect like their first one. It was something that she had buried inside her and suddenly freed without warning. Somewhere, in the mixed up whirl of the touch of her hands and feeling her damp cheeks against his face, Legolas responded with his own buried feelings. He felt as The kiss progressed slowly, neither of them wanting to let each other go. When it finally did, the feeling didn't leave.

"Elor-"

"No," She said swiftly. "You're not going to talk. You're going to listen," The command succeeded in quieting him, and she blew out a breath. "I'm going to tell you this once and only once. When we were younger, living at the Castle, I knew I liked you. When you won the archery tournament just before graduation, I knew I cared about you. But when my father told me I was being first to marry, all I thought was 'Legolas.' It had never even crossed my mind to marry anyone else, and my father knew that. But when I found out he did, I got scared. I didn't know what the feeling was, and if it was serious, I felt sure it was one sided. Besides, you never expressed anything except for friendship towards me. And everytime you did, I felt... things I didn't know how to decipher. Sometimes, I would look at you, casually, walking next you, joking with you, practicing, anything, and the look of your eyes would shock me. I always caught myself, but that didn't stop the feeling from coming. When I found Andulin, he told me what he felt and what those emotions were that continually came.

And one night, in total darkness, with Andulin's arms around me, I realized I loved you. Andulin died soon afterwards, and I thought it had been my fault. He knew about you all along, and wanted to die so I could go back to you. It felt horrible when he passed, but I kept on. I had no desire to stop living. But when you... you looked at me that way back there, I wanted to die. Not even the loss of Andulin made me that ill. Because I've loved you all along..."

Legolas was speechless, but he didn't need words. All he did was kiss her again.

*~*~*~*

Minele Whitecloud, queen though she was, was a very simple creature. Things HAD to be done the TRADITIONAL way. The father raised the son, the mother raised the daughter. Felair had raised both Elorelei and Filior. Minele tried to impress lady lessons on the female child, but she rejected every one, and her father let her. He even gave her a bow and a quiver of arrows. Minele disapproved, but never said anything. As for Filior, Minele was quite terrified of him. She had almost no control over how he was brought up and sometimes he looked at her in such a way, she felt an inch from death. He always blamed her for when he came home, only to discover his sister had fled from the kingdom.

Filior would be a concern soon, but not now. Now, she was frowning, trying to speak with King Felair.

"My King, I do think you should send someone after Elorelei."

He would have, if hadn't felt she needed to deal with this on her own. "And why is that?"

"Well," She did that annoying little sigh that was to mean, 'You're supposed to know already.' "I fear Legolas's intentions may not be honorable. And she has become a ruffian in her abscence. I do not want her to tarnish the family honor-"

"The family honor is no concern of hers. She left it because of your own sick desire to shape her in your image. Do not feign concern for her. She has her own honor now, to do with what she will." He snapped.

"You always have been too lenient with her-"

"And you have been nothing to her."

"I am her mother."

Felair scoffed. "Only in your wildest dreams could you produce a daughter of such caliber. We both know she's not yours. Now, if you'll excuse me..." He made it clear that she had no choice but to excuse him as he stood up and left.

Filior watched his father go, shifting his eyes to Minele. He never liked her and wondered how she could call herself a mother. He sat back and chewed on some vegatable, not really tasting it. "If she tries to drive my sister away again, she'll regret it." He thought.

*~*~*~*

"Elorelei?"

"Yes?"

"How far have we flown?"

"How far are you willing to fly?"

"With you? To the stars."

Elorelei was grateful that eagles couldn't blush. She landed in the next tree she saw, Legolas only feet behind her tail feathers. The Prince remembered flying as the best sensation he'd ever felt. Then he thought about being Elorelei in the hallway and having her tell him everything he wanted to hear...

Maybe flying was only second best.

(A/N: Gag me blind with a rusty spoon.)