TO ELVEN SWORD: I've figured out a way to not make Gwynna sound that bad. Think of it as Gwyn-ne(r), and then things will seem to be better! That helped me, anyway. I was thinking of using "Gwyn" but that's the name of the main character in this show called The Princess of Thieves and every time I think of "Gwyn" I will think of this Robin Hood's daughter.

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Chapter 5 : Time Flies

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Time flew by, and Gwynna had now been away from Minas Tirith for three months. Now it was autumn. The trees were losing their leaves, and there were brown leaves everywhere that crackled underfoot. The Elves usually swept them up in neat piles, and at times Gwynna would help out too. She was popular, but she spent most of her time with Fenwë, who was very pleased with the progress of his student, and Legolas, who practiced archery with her everyday. Of course, she missed her father dearly, and often wondered when he would come to visit her, but at the same time she also felt that she had everything she wanted in Ithilien. Fenwë could never replace her father, but he seemed like a father figure to her, making sure that she was all right, and teaching her everything she could possibly want to learn, and more. Her relationship with Legolas was more complicated, though. She could speak with him about everything, and he would listen, always interested. Then he would tell her everything, and she would listen, always interested. She found herself looking forward to all the archery practices, and at times she caught herself making excuses to extend the practice. This way, Gwynna's skill with the bow improved by leaps and bounds, to the pleasure of both Fenwë and Legolas.

By then, Legolas had told her much about the War of the Ring, information that she took in greedily and remembered. What most fascinated her was the friendship between Legolas and Gimli. Gimli had not yet come to Ithilien for a visit, but there were always letters, and he had promised to come one day soon. Gwynna wished that she had such a good friend, a friend she could always depend on, a friend who would risk his life for hers.

Unfortunately, although Gwynna had developed more grace and poise than before, she was still rather clumsy. She was rather prone to dropping plates and cups, some of the more delicate ones shattering on the ground, much to her embarrassment and disappointment. At times she would have little scrapes when she wasn't careful with her knives and arrows, and Fenwë often found himself dressing her little wounds. Many Elves found it very amusing how she was always hurt in some little way, but Gwynna wished fervently that she would one day become as graceful as the Elves, and stop getting all the bruises and cuts. That led her to trying to glide around the way the Elves moved, which led to falling flat on her face. Which made the Elves even more amused. And so it went on, a vicious cycle from Gwynna's point of view, and just something entertaining from the point of view from the Elves.

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Gwynna wandered around, one of the rare times she was left alone. Fenwë had decided to let her have a day off from studies, and it wasn't time for her practices with Legolas yet. So she had some time to herself. She sat down, leaning against a tree, and opening her book. She frowned at the page, trying to decipher what she was reading. It was all in Elvish, and although Fenwë had spent many hours teaching her, and she had spent many nights trying to remember everything she learned, it still was slow and tedious for her to read a page of Elvish.

She became so engrossed in her book that she did not notice when two people came to stand before her, and jumped when Legolas cleared his throat. She looked up to see him grinning at her, and next to him was Eldarion.

"Eldarion! It's so good to see you!" she said, jumping up to give him a hug.

"It's good to see you too, Gwynna," he said, hugging her back. "We've missed you in Minas Tirith. My family sends their regards. And your father, of course."

"You came alone?" She was surprised. She had expected Eldarion to come with the king, and her father.

"Eldarion got a little restless in Minas Tirith, I understand," Legolas said, smiling. "Perhaps because he missed his best friend? Your father, however, is busy in Minas Tirith."

"He's doing well, so don't you worry about him. He worries about you constantly, though. I see now that there really is no need. Other than the scrapes and bruises I heard about from Legolas, but those are to be expected. In fact, I would be very taken aback if you were not injured in some way," Eldarion joked, winking at her. Legolas let out a laugh.

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Eldarion watched, amazed, as Legolas and Gwynna practiced archery. Gwynna now had some skill with the bow, which greatly surprised Eldarion, as she had left Minas Tirith never having held a bow in her hands before. Legolas, of course, continued his record of never missing a target, but that only pushed Gwynna to work harder, and motivated Eldarion to practice as well. And so soon the three of them stood side by side, working hard on their skills.

As they practiced, Eldarion watched his two friends. There was something between them, some mutual bond. Something he could not exactly puzzle out. There just seemed to be this hidden confidence between the two, some strong foundation of trust. He nodded to himself. That was good for Gwynna. She needed a real confidant. He knew that there were many things she had had to keep to herself throughout her life, things she never felt comfortable telling him about. Legolas was just that perfect listener that she needed.

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After their daily practice, Gwynna grabbed Eldarion's hand dragged him off to meet Fenwë, waving to Legolas as she walked away. Legolas smiled and waved back, gathering his arrows.

Eighteen, only eighteen. To Legolas, she should have been little more than a baby. But he thought her beautiful, smart, and gifted. He enjoyed her company immensely, and looked forward to their practices every day. In fact, sometimes he thought that the practices were the only reason he got up every morning. He was always thrilled when Gwynna wanted to practice for a longer time, and when she did not ask, he would try to make excuses.

He didn't exactly understand their relationship, but he knew that he enjoyed it, whatever it was.

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NOTE: Well now I'm going to continue to write chapter 6 after I upload this. =0)