Disclaimer: LotR belongs to Tolkien.
A/N: This is my first LotR fic, and it was written for my friends Christmas present, which is why it is one of those girl-goes-to-Middle-Earth-and-Legolas-falls-in-love-with-her fics. All names have been changed, except my friend really does go by Elf.
The Fellowship was entering Moria. Just as Frodo was being grabbed by The Watcher, a blonde haired, blue-eyed girl appeared.
"Hi! I'm Elf!" she said. "Um…I think Frodo needs help."
She didn't hear, but Legolas whispered to Gimli, "I think I'm in love."
"Help!" Frodo screamed.
Everyone rushed to his aid, and he was saved. Then they all went inside Moria. The tree was knocked over, rocks fell down, and they were trapped in Moria.
Elf walked in step with Legolas. "Hi Legolas. I'm Elf. But if that offends you, my real name is Rose. Rose Catherine Jones, yup, that's me!"
"No, the name does not offend me. But you speak strangely. I suppose I will have to get used to your strange ways."
Elf nodded. "Yup, you will!"
Gandalf joined them. "Elf, did you say your name was? Do you have any special powers? Do you know anything we don't?"
"Um…I know stuff you don't…but I can't tell you. It would mess stuff up. But I can do something…I can write in Elvish!" She took a sheet of paper out of her pocket, picked up a sharp rock and scratched on the floor the Elvish writing on the One Ring
"Do you know what that means?" Gandalf asked.
"Yup! 'One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.' It's in the language of Mordor or something, and it's on the One Ring. Frodo has the One Ring. He got it from his Uncle Bilbo. Bilbo found it in Gollum's cave. Gollum is also called Smeá gol," Elf said. "I think Smeá gol is cool!"
Gandalf looked amazed. "How do you know all this?"
"Oh, I have my ways," Elf said mysteriously. "Oh, I also can write stuff in Dwarvish. I suppose you should get Gimli over here."
Legolas called out, "Gimli! Come here!"
"What do you want, elf?" he asked.
"Elf here has something to show you," Legolas replied.
Elf consulted her paper again and scratched on the floor the words that would appear on Balin's tomb.
"And do you know what that means, Elf?" Gimli asked.
"DUH, obviously!" Elf said exasperatedly. "It means 'Balin, son of Fundin, Lord of Moria.' Dwarves," she muttered, annoyed.
Gimli harrumphed. "Do you know where you are?"
"No, I don't," Elf said sarcastically. "I thought we were in Rivendell. I know we're in Moria. I'm not that stupid."
Gimli frowned and walked back up beside Merry and Pippin.
"You should be nicer to Gimli," Legolas said.
"But I don't like him. It's you I lo--never mind," Elf said hurriedly, blushing.
Legolas' heart leapt. ~Did she just start to say she loved me? Oh, I hope so!~
~*~
Later, Legolas walked beside Aragorn at the front of the group. Though he loved Elf's company, and though she could make him laugh more than Pippin or Gimli, he hated being beside her, knowing that she would never feel the same about him as he did about her.
"Something is troubling you, Legolas. What is it?" Aragorn asked presently in Elvish.
Legolas sighed. "How does it feel to be in love, Aragorn?" he replied, also in Elvish.
Aragorn thought for a moment. "It's a wonderful feeling. There's nothing like it. Why?"
"It's just…I think I may be in love with Elf. She's beautiful, and funny, and smart…just wonderful. But she could never feel the same. I'm an elf of two thousand, nine hundred and thirty-one years, she's a girl of the race of Men of…what would you say, fifteen years? It's impossible."
Aragorn laughed. "That's how I felt when I first knew I loved Arwen. Of course, I am the one who is of the race of Men…but I was afraid she could never love me. As it happened, she loved me too. You won't know until you ask, Legolas."
"I don't know…what if she hates me?" Legolas worried.
"Legolas, you're very attractive. Even if she doesn't feel that way about you, I'm sure she'll be flattered. And she may even start to feel for you. You just have to ask her," Aragorn said.
Legolas sighed. "Perhaps…thank you for your advice Aragon."
"You are most welcome," Aragorn said in the common tongue.
Legolas nodded to him and walked back to join Elf, who was saying to Pippin, "She says 'I think…' and gets sucked into the mirror." Pippin laughed.
Aragorn shook his head. "He's not going to ask her. I know it."
~*~
Elf sighed as she lay on the cold stone floor. She'd just awoken from a restless sleep. Her dreams had been of Legolas, and of him together with another girl, who for some reason resembled Britney Spears but whom she knew was Galadriel. ~Face it Rose, you're madly in love with him. Why can't I tell him, now, while I'm in Middle Earth?~ She looked over to see who was on watch and realized it was Aragorn.
"Um…Aragorn? Can I ask you something?"
Aragorn looked at her. "Yes, of course."
"If you were…never mind, when you were first in love with Arwen, how did you tell her?"
Aragorn smiled. "I just told her. I was afraid, of course, that since she was Elfkind and I was of the race of Men, that she would hate me for falling in love with her. But it turned out that she was in love with me too and was afraid of what I would think. You should tell him, Elf. What is your true name, while I think of it?"
"Rose. Rose Catherine Jones. And I should tell who what? I don't want to tell anyone anything. Nope, not me!" Elf said, slightly hysterically.
Aragorn shook his head. "Legolas is the only elf here. You would not have asked me about Arwen if you did not love him. And besides, I heard you in your sleep. You were saying, 'No Legolas! I love you, me, not her!' Rose, you love him. All you have to do is tell him. He may even feel the same."
"He could never feel the same," Elf mumbled, a single teardrop in her eye.
"And why not?"
Elf laughed bitterly. "He's a two thousand, nine hundred, thirty-one year old elf, I'm a thirteen year old girl. Not likely."
"You are only thirteen years? I thought you must be fifteen, at least."
Elf shook her head. "Nope, only thirteen."
"Oh. Very well then. You should sleep. You should also tell him how you feel in the morning."
Elf sighed. "Maybe…. Thank you Aragorn. You've been a real help." She walked back over to where she was sleeping and fell into another restless sleep.
Little did she know that another person's dreams were troubled. Legolas tossed and turned constantly, murmuring, "Rose…Elf…Rose…" over and over. No one knew--no one except the one man standing watch, a friend to both, who knew their deepest secrets. The man who was determined to get them together.
~*~
The next day they all woke early and continued on their way. Both Elf and Legolas were lost in thought, and both were very quiet.
"So, Elf, what was that joke you told me yesterday? About the mirror?" Pippin asked.
"Huh, what?" Elf asked, looking up.
"That joke. About the mirror," Pippin replied.
"Oh. I'll tell you again later. I'm not in the mood right now," Elf said.
Gimli was trying to talk to Legolas. "…so, what do you say?"
Legolas shook his head. "Oh, sorry. What were you saying?"
"What is going on? You haven't heard a word I've said," Gimli said crossly.
Legolas sighed. "I'm sorry, Master Dwarf, there's just…this girl…"
"Ah, so that's it lad. You're in love. I understand. It's like Dwarves. Some people believe there are no Dwarf women, and the Dwarves just spring out of the ground. Which is, if I might say--"
"Gimli? I'll be back in a little bit."
"Fine, all right. Leave me here to talk to myself, go right ahead! No respect, I get no respect…"
Legolas was already gone. He reached Elf and took her hand. "Walk with me?" he asked.
"Um…all right," she said, blushing.
"Elf…Rose, when I first met you, I thought you were beautiful, if a little odd. And now that I know you more, I've come to like you more and more. And to tell the truth…I think I'm in love with you," Legolas said, reddening.
Elf's jaw dropped. "What?"
"I'm sorry, you must hate me now. I mean, you're only fifteen years old--"
"Thirteen," Elf interrupted.
Legolas frowned. "Only thirteen? Well, anyway, you are only thirteen years old, and of the race of Men, and I am two thousand, nine hundred thirty-one years old and am Elfkind. How could you ever feel this way too? I'm sorry, I was foolish to think--"
"But I do," Elf interrupted, tears running down her cheeks. "I do love you. I've loved you since…forever! I mean, I already knew you, there are books and stuff, but actually meeting you made me love you more. But I thought you'd think I was just a stupid girl."
"I could never think that," Legolas said softly.
The two leaned closer and kissed. The kiss, brief as it was, was both soft and warm and held a promise of the future.
Suddenly Elf felt herself being pulled away. "What's happening?"
"Your time here is ending. I shall miss you. I love you, Rose. Here…take this, and remember me always," Legolas said, thrusting his cloak clasp into her hand.
"Take my necklace, and think of me," Rose replied, removing it and handing it to him.
Legolas embraced her, and she embraced him. Then within a few seconds, she was gone.
"I love you!" they said simultaneously.
~*~
In a small house by a General Store in the year 2003, Rose Catherine Jones awoke.
~Was it all a dream?~ she wondered. Then she realized she was clutching something in her left hand. She uncurled her fingers and found…nothing. ~I guess it was a dream after all.~
"OW! Rose!" her sister Michelle yelled from halfway across the room, "Don't leave pins on the floor! I just stepped on this!" She picked up something from the floor and threw it onto her sister's bed before going downstairs, muttering about her sore foot.
Rose immediately picked the object up. It was the clasp from Legolas' cloak. She smiled, remembering the one kiss they had shared. She tucked the clasp away in a drawer and went downstairs, happily singing to herself, "Elf and Legolas, up in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G…"
~Fin~