Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except the foolish Half-Elven girl Elenmírë, whom I sometimes want to slap silly. She really needs professional help. Don't even know why Legolas and Haldir bother with her anymore (oh gods, I'm growing jealous of my own OC haha). Tolkien, New Line, et al, own everything else.

Author's Notes: 01/19/06 - I remember why I took a break from this story. I wrote so much drama, I just couldn't handle it anymore, haha. Let's say when this story gets into the Two Towers part, the drama will be a lot more subtle. LOL.

The Imperfect One
By: JDArc

Chapter Eighteen: Interference

"What is your decision?" Legolas questioned again when she did not answer. Her jaw had dropped slightly, but no sound could be heard from her mouth. She bowed her head, unable to look into his eyes any longer. True to his word, Legolas remained where he was, close enough for her reach out and kiss him if she desired, but he made no movement whatsoever. The choice was hers and hers alone, and he vowed to remain there as long as he needed until she answered him.

Finally, she looked up, locking her grey eyes with his, and although her face remained blank, her eyes were once again the only indicators of the emotions flying crazily in her mind. Very slowly, she felt her hand reach out as though she had no control over it, and Legolas's eyes grew wide, hope flashing wildly across his features. He leaned forward slightly, willing for her fingers to grace his cheek with their touch. She was close, so close…

Just as Elenmírë opened her mouth to whisper her answer, heavy footsteps alerted the two Elves, and to her horror, Boromir strode in their direction, his eyes full of fury. Legolas slowly backed away from Elenmírë and steeled himself against the verbal attack that would inevitably ensue.

"WHAT IS GOING ON!" Boromir boomed loudly as he reached the pair, and Elenmírë gulped, petrified to her spot against the tree.

"It is night, and you should rest," she started in a quavering voice, but Boromir waved his hand at her attempt to change the subject.

"I'll find no rest here," he muttered, his eyes flashing with suspicion and pain as he flicked his gaze over her pale face. He snapped his head and glared hatefully at the Prince of Mirkwood. "Answer me." The two remained silent, unable to make eye contact, and Elenmírë shuffled uncomfortably on her feet. When no one dared to speak for a few minutes, she sighed heavily, keeping her gaze firm on the grass surrounding her feet.

"How did you know I was here?" Elenmírë whispered in response, succeeding in angering the Man of Gondor even more so than he was. At that moment, gone was the loving man she had known, and in his place stood a man full of rage. She also knew that she could not kiss his pain away this time; her decision had to be made now.

"I heard the Lady's voice," he growled, and she stiffened slightly at the revelation. Galadriel told him of her whereabouts? But why? "She led me, and I followed the sound of her voice, only to be greeted with this.." He took in a deep shuddering breath. "Now, ANSWER ME, Elenmírë!" His voice fell to a soft, dangerous tone. "Why. Are. You. Here?" Despite his lowered volume, she flinched at the intensity of his rancor. Steadying her breath, she lifted her eyes to his, frightened of Boromir for the first time.

"I was brought out here to make a choice," she began slowly, choosing her words carefully, acknowledging that any mistake now could result in a full brawl.

"What for?" Boromir's lip curled up into a sneer, but there was a hint of fear at her words, and he clenched his hands into fists angrily.

"To chose between the two of you," she uttered, barely audible, and Boromir exploded.

"Your choice has already been made!" he shouted angrily, his eyes flashing at Legolas. "Why do you haunt her footsteps, Elf! Can you not see she is my betrothed? She does not need you spying her every move!" He stalked over to Elenmírë's side, his aura threatening as he closed in on her, and her eyes grew wide with open terror. "And why does the Elf feel that there is even a decision to be made, Elenmírë? Why-"

"Tell him of your true feelings, mela," Legolas cut in, his eyes pleading, and she looked back to Boromir who's face was a mask of pain and anger, daring her to utter one syllable of her betrayal. Back and forth she looked between the two males, her mind screaming insanely in her head as her heart threw an angry tantrum at being denied, and she shut her eyes tightly, covering her ears with her hands.

"Leave me be, both of you!" she cried out, shrinking away from them. "Leave me alone!" They started at her reaction, and both reached for her, but she swung her arm wildly, succeeding in making contact with the gentle firmness of Legolas's cheek. He straightened, not so much from pain (though the blow did throb as Elenmírë was no weak female by any means), as from shock. He stood frozen in place, his hand on his cheek as Boromir's attempts to grab a hold of her were also fouled.

"Why are you acting like this?" Boromir growled, his anger finally directed at her. "Why do you feel the need to run each and every time I try to find answers from you? You are my betrothed, Elenmírë! We do not keep secrets from one another-"

"I do not want to marry you!" she spat out finally, the reality of her words sinking in, and Boromir recoiled as if he were the one slapped. Legolas completely forgot about his pain or the fact that she had hit him. He was awaiting anxiously for her to continue, for her to say the words that would be in his favor, but it was a frail hope, for her eyes found his and she growled, "nor do I wish to be with you, Legolas." The sincerity in her tone was unmistakable.

"You don't love me…?" Boromir whispered into the air, devoid of any emotion other than shock. "This entire time, you did not love-"

"I did, and I still do, Boromir," she cried.

"Then why this?" he asked, his tone flat, his face hardening with uncontrollable pain. "Why break free from me if you still love-"

"Because I love Legolas, too," she said in defeat, hanging her head as Legolas snapped his up to gape at her. "Mary Sue was right," she continued in a hushed tone. "I am a selfish person, and to stay with you would have been nothing but selfish because I would not be able to give all my love to you the way you would give all your love to me. You deserve more than that, Boromir." She turned her eyes to Legolas. "And I cannot be with you, Legolas, for the same reason. I need to clear my mind without having to worry about the two of you constantly. Look at us!" She spread her arms wide. "Look at the three of us, acting like lovesick fools! It is like you said, Legolas. There are more important things to dwell upon. I have worried far too much about my life when the lives of all the Free Peoples in Middle Earth depend on the success of our mission. It is only right to focus our attention to that cause alone, which is why I release you, Boromir, from your bind to me."

"Elenmírë, despite this…this argument, I do not want that," he whispered. "I still love you, and I do not wish for this to end this way-"

"But I do," she choked, "only because I cannot give you what you need. I love you, and a part of me always will, but I cannot deal with a relationship at this moment, not when the burden of our mission demands all of our attention. I'm sorry Boromir." She sniffed to keep her tears from falling. "If…When this mission ends, maybe my heart will have decided by then, but I cannot give you an answer right now-"

"I will not wait," Boromir snapped without warning, his eyes growing unusually dark and unfamiliar. His words stung her more than she realized, and as her breathing became shallow, her hands flew to her chest over her heart. She sagged against the bark of the tree behind her as realization began to sink into her mind. Boromir had always been a source of strength for her; he had always been by her side throughout it all, and she had become dependant upon it, always firmly believing that he would never leave her side. Now, the actuality of his words burned a hole in her heart, and her knees gave away as she slid down to the forest floor, drawing her knees to her chest once more.

She lifted her gaze to stare at Boromir again as he looked completely unaffected by her sudden loss of strength. He suddenly took on the appearance of a stranger, and she blinked again to refocus her eyes; he looked sinister and untrustworthy, but she denied the vision before her.

"You are not yourself," she whispered, her throat dry. "I do not recognize you anymore-"

"You should speak," he scoffed with an empty laugh. "Where is the valiant warrior who stole my heart from me? I do not see her here. All that is left of her is a simpering, crying, dreadful mess…a shadow of the one I loved. She never would have betrayed me." With that, Boromir pivoted on his heel and fled the same way he had come, and Legolas stared hard at the crying She-Elf huddled at the base of the tree. He kneeled before her, but she turned buried her face in her hands, refusing to look at him.

"Go away," she rasped, her voice barely audible. "You've heard my decision."

"All I recall is your declaration of love, melamin," he answered softly, "and now I know why you have kept yourself from me."

"But you know that I am unstable," she wept, and when he reached for her hand, she did not object, but instead, looked up at him through her blurred vision.

"Yes, and I will give you time," he replied, placing a loving kiss on her hand.

"What?" she said in confusion, shaking her head uncertainly. "Did you not say that you would go to Mary Sue-"

"I have heard the words that I have only wished to hear from you alone," he said, placing another gentle kiss on her palm, a gesture that reminded her only too well of her first love, and the tears sprung anew. She pulled her hand away from him, but she did not disconnect her gaze from his. "That was the only answer I wished to hear from you. If you are not ready now, then I will wait as long as I have to." A soft smile spread across his face as her eyes filled with unrestricted love, and he leaned in to tenderly place a chaste kiss on her cheek. "Until then, I shall not insist on rushing you." She nodded, unable to do anything else, and Legolas took that as his cue to grant her wish and leave her. As he walked away, he resisted the urge to turn back to her, knowing that she needed this time alone to recover from what had just happened.

Elenmírë watched his retreating figure with her heart beating madly at his response, but it was not enough to keep the pain from swirling in a mad storm inside. The only face in her mind at the moment was that of Boromir's, and she recalled the gentle way he had looked at her when they had shared their first fateful kiss under the willows, the way he was always happy when they spent countless hours in Rivendell with Merry and Pippin. And the vivid memory of how he had taken her into his arms that night of her betrayal after fleeing from her forbidden kiss with Legolas did nothing to stop her from wishing that she had never met the Prince of Mirkwood. And although Boromir had finally relinquished his claim on her, she could not help but wonder at his sudden change in mood. It was as if he had snapped into a different person in the matter of seconds, pleading with her one minute not to leave him and then emotionlessly discarding her the next. It made no sense, and she marveled at what could have caused it. She shook her head in disbelief. She was about to refuse Legolas's offer, immediately running to Boromir as soon as the task was complete, but Boromir's sudden appearance changed everything, and now she was left alone once more.

Her thoughts turned to Galadriel, and the pain she was feeling quickly transformed to that of bitterness and anger, desperately seeking for any reason at all that the Lady of the Wood might have to have sent Boromir to her at that exact moment in time. It changed absolutely everything, and Elenmírë began to blame the wise She-Elf.

"Do not pass judgment just yet, young one," a voice snapped in annoyance in her head, and the young Elf jumped to her feet immediately.

"Look what you have done, my Lady!" Elenmírë whispered harshly into the air, her tears streaming down her face as her head whipped back and forth and up and down, searching for Galadriel. "I am no longer engaged to be married, and-"

"You have set in motion what the Valar have in store for you," the Lady cut in. "That is what matters the most."

"Am I to be alone!" she cried out abrasively. "Is that what the Valar wish for me!"

"Hush your tongue, young one," Galadriel murmured, and immediately the sight of her angry, ethereal eyes flashed angrily in Elenmírë's head, and the She-Elf cried out in alarm.

"Do not be insolent," the Lady commanded, her tone calming a bit. "Follow my voice for I have much to show you."

"I care not to see it," Elenmírë muttered angrily, crossing her arms.

"Do you refuse my command when I have been hospitable and allowed your company to enter my Wood?" Galadriel's voice was threatening, and suddenly, to her left, the Lady seemed to have emerged from thin air, and Elenmírë shrank back in panic. "You often comment on how young the human girl is, and yet, you still act as if you are much younger than she," she reprimanded. "You have been selfish for far too long, Elenmírë. This is not about you, but about the future of this very world, and if you wish not to heed my orders, then Middle Earth is lost."

"I do not want that burden," Elenmírë whispered, ashamed.

"But it is yours to bear," Galadriel replied, her tone and anger softening. "Your part is an important one for you must protect both the Ringbearer and the One. Your fate has already been written, and you must learn to read the lines." Elenmírë bowed her head in humiliation.

"I am sorry, my Lady." Her cheeks were flaming with mortification at her own words and actions, and she silently berated herself. The Lady listened to the inner workings of the young She-Elf's mind, and she nodded in approval. There was no harsher critic than Elenmírë herself; no words the Lady could say could hurt worse than the insults flying crazily through Elenmírë's brain. It was time for the young She-Elf to see the glimpse of the future.

"Follow me, young one," Galadriel commanded, and this time Elenmírë did not fight but abided, and together they walked back toward the city.

TBC…