AN: Well, it's just 1:15 AM so I'm actually updating earlier! Anyway, I'm
glad to see all of you great reviewers didn't hang me for my vision. I was
afraid of that you guys would! I appreciate all your feedback. Please keep
it coming!
Elleiadrieal: The identity of the armored woman will be revealed in time. Legolas's reaction in coming up soon. Thanks for the compliment.
Lomiothiel: I know I'm breaking a lot of rules and I really don't intend on making a habit of it. Thranduil isn't a very nice person, look how he treated the dwarves in The Hobbit. Thanks for the compliment and thanks for the two reviews!
kurleyhawk2: Well, we shall soon get a full explanation of what Emma is very soon! Thanks, as usual, for your review!
PixiePea000: All I can say is that Shannon is important. I like cliffhangers, makes you think! Anyway, thanks! By the way, GOLLUM!
Littlesaiyangirl: Thanks for both the review and the compliment.
*words*---indicate something being sung. (This time the song actually gets involved. I don't own the song either. It's "Music Box" by Mariah Carey.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
Emma stared at the darkened pool for what felt like an eternity. The images she had seen, before Legolas covered her eyes, were still swirling around in her mind. She didn't understand what she was supposed to have gotten out of them or how the images were going to help figure out to whom she belonged. All she recognized was Thranduil.
Looking over at Legolas, it appeared to Emma that he had some idea of what those images alluded to. He seemed to be deep in though. His gaze had a distant look, his mind back in Mirkwood.
The elf-woman said something aloud in her own language. As if by magic, her husband appeared, walking regally down the stairs that lead into the area. The two conversed quickly in the same elvish Emma had heard Fire and Ice use.
Galadriel turned to Emma and said, "Celeborn, will take you to your chambers and see to it that you are properly dressed and fed. I must speak with the prince in private."
"But---but," Emma sputtered, filling with apprehension.
She didn't want to go with an else she didn't know, didn't trust. Instead, he was hoping she could stay with Legolas and he could, maybe, explain to her what she had just witnessed.
"Emma," Legolas said, turning to the skittish elf, "Celeborn will not harm you. You can trust him. I will meet you as soon as I am done here."
"Are you sure?" Emma asked, in a smallish voice.
"I am very sure, little elf," Legolas confirmed.
With that assurance in mind, Emma allowed Celeborn to lead her away from Legolas and Galadriel.
"You looked puzzled, Prince Legolas? Why is that?" Galadriel asked when her husband and Emma were far enough away to be out of ear shot.
"I am not sure I understand what I saw," Legolas replied, his voice belling his confusion.
"Please, explain what you mean," the ancient elf woman questioned.
Legolas, too confused to mind his manners, sat down on one of the steps that lead into the sunken area. She placed his head in his hands, as if trying to sort the thoughts in his head. He sat that way for handful of moments, formulating a response that made some sense.
"I understand that my father was with another---a handmaiden of my mother's though I can not recall her name all I can recall is that she and my mother were often mistaken for sisters so alike they were in appearance," Legolas started.
"That is correct," Galadriel confirmed, "Her name is lost to time. The only elves to remember it would be your mother and father, though I do not think he would tell it to you."
Legolas nodded his understanding. He did not even want to begin to think about his father. The range of emotions he was experiencing, when it came to his father, seemed to range from total and utter anger---anger at the fact his father could betray his mother, the fact he appeared to knowingly endanger the life of a child---to a stinging kind of hurt, almost a feeling of betrayal.
Shaking off thoughts of his father, he returned to the matter at hand.
"With this woman, my father sired another child but sent the woman and her family away before the child was born. All were killed, save this child," he surmised.
Galadriel nodded, affirming that his summary was correct.
"You appear to understand much of what you say," she, simply, stated.
"There are questions that plague my mind, though. Am I correct in assuming that the child is Emma? If it is, what does that make her?" Legolas asked, questions being asked as quickly as rain falls in a thunderstorm.
The ancient elf paused for a moment, considering the prince's questions and the weight of the knowledge she was about to bestow upon him.
"Your assumptions are correct. The child you saw was a very young Emma. To you, she is your half-sister. What she is to become to your father's kingdom is entirely your choice," she announced with a quite strength.
Legolas was stunned and made no motion to hide that fact. He knew that he and Emma looked alike and could be related though some strange twist of fate. Never did he imagine that they shared a parent that he had just gone from being the sole son of the king to a significantly older brother.
"What do you mean when you say that it is up to me to decide what she to become to my father's kingdom?" Legolas questioned, confused.
"You understand that your father, upon his finding out of this information, will decide that she is simply an illegitimate child of the court. You, my young prince, must decide what title she gets. Deny her and she becomes another elf in your father's kingdom or you can accept her and allow her the title of Princess. Mind you that, if you accept her, you will be sharing title and inheritance with her," the ancient elf explained.
She, then, added, "You must decided now for it will determine the course of your journey."
Legolas sighed, falling under the weight of such a massive decision and the number of questions he wanted to ask. He knew how his father was going to react. He prided himself on not being like his father. With a somewhat wicked smile, he made the decision that he knew would, somewhat, avenge the wrong his father committed against the memory of his mother. It was the decision he felt was right, for both him and his newly found baby sister.
"I have decided to accept her as a princess. It is only fair to her and to the memory of my mother. I still have questions, Lady Galadriel, about the armored woman and the red haired man" Legolas announced.
"Take the child to see the king. Your answers will be found there," she replied, turning away from Legolas---an indication that the conversation was over.
At his behest, a guard came and to the prince to where he and Emma would be spending the night. Legolas entered and found Emma sitting against the wall, knees pulled into her chest. She was staring out at the horizon.
Without so much as a sound, he sat himself next to the child.
"It is a lovely view. Do you want to talk?" Legolas commented, trying to sound casual and failing slightly.
"I'm confused, Legolas," Emma, slowly said, "What just happened? What did I see?"
"You did not understand what you saw in the mirror?" the elf responded.
Emma nodded her head and blurted, "The only thing I think I recognized was your father."
Legolas noticed that Emma had begun to shiver, since the night had turned chilly, and he threw his cloak around her shoulders. She smiled her thanks, wrapping it around her.
"My father did play a large part of what you saw, Emma," Legolas explained, "In short, after my mother passed; my father became involved with one of my mother's handmaidens. With this woman, my father sired another child. She was sent away to pass over the sea but she was killed along the way. Before she was killed, though, she gave birth to a baby girl. That baby was you, Emma, making you Princess of Mirkwood and my sister."
Emma sat silent for a moment, letting it all sink in. She was princess and the elf sitting next to her was her brother. The cruel elf who had threatened to send her parents away was her father. Her real mother was killed because her real father didn't want her around. Jumbled up feelings and questions ran through her head.
"How can that be true? You said you didn't think we were related," Emma, managed, to express.
"I did not know about this; believe that much to be true. That is the past, anyway. What matters now is what we do together. I have many years to make up for and there is much I would like to show you," Legolas replied, honesty tingeing his voice.
Emma was still in shock. Moments ago, she was an orphan with two great adoptive parents. Now she was being asked to understand that she had, at least, a brother and a father and that she was a princess.
"What about that red-headed guy? Or the lady in the funny armor? Who were they?" she babbled.
"I do not know but we will seek out someone who does. He lives just beyond those trees," Legolas replied, pointing to a spot far on the horizon.
The two elves sat in silence, each still working through what they were being asked-nay forced-to accept.
"Legolas," Emma said, breaking the oppressive silence,"back on the path here you promised to tell me why it was easy for me to keep up with you in the woods."
Legolas gave a small laugh.
"You know very little about your own nature but that is not your fault. You believed that you were a child or the race of me. We are like humans, as you call them, in many ways. We can appear to be very much like them, especially when you look at a human child and an elven child younger than you," Legolas started.
Emma scooted over so that she was sitting right up against her brother. Figuring that she was doing this because she was still cold, Legolas put his arm around her, pulling her into a half-hug of sorts.
"Aside from some of the more obvious physical differences, like the pointed ears, we are far more graceful and swifter than most humans. That is why we are able to move with such speed through the trees. We also move soundlessly. I am sure you noticed that when you walked, you made no sound. We are also immortal," Legolas concluded.
"Immortal? Didn't you say your mother died? Was she human, then?" Emma questioned.
"She was not mortal---though elves can marry and produce children with mortals. Illness and age do not affect us but we can be killed or waste away from sorrow," Legolas explained.
He, then, added, "My mother was killed by the spiders in Mirkwood."
"I'm sorry," Emma said, quietly.
"It was not your fault. On to happier subjects, little sister, may I ask a favor of you?" Legolas asked.
The use of the phrase "little sister" stunned her for a moment but she recovered and replied, "Of course, big brother."
Legolas smiled, warmly, and asked, "Can you dance for me? I heard you dance alone in one class."
Emma turned red. It was true that she took private lessons with Spiro and performed one private act in the studio's show.
"I could. I guess," she answered.
"I would like that very much," Legolas said, allowing Emma to shuck off his cloak and stand up.
A wealth of dances crossed her mind. She had done so many different ballets. One stuck out in her mind as being very appropriate for this moment---the first private she had ever done.
She remembered it like it was yesterday. The costume was a mint green tutu with a mint green and purple corset on the top. She had her hair in a bun crowned with three purple flowers. Pink, seamed tights were on her legs and shiny pink Pointe shoes, with the familiar ribbons, were on her feet. She was supposed to be a music box dancer come to life. She had been so nervous before taking the stage; afraid that she was going to make a fool out of herself. Her music cued and she went out there and let the music take over. It was over before she knew it. All she could recall was that it was just her and the music, no audience watching her, no fancy lighting, no nothing.
"This dance was called Music Box Dancer," she explained.
As she stood in a "B+" position, normal preparation for many of her dances, she began to softly sing the lyrics of the song she had danced to.
With the tune in her head and words audible she began to dance, fist stiff and jerky, just like a doll, then more fluid and refined, like a ballerina was suppose to look.
*When I am lost
you shine a light for me and set me free
When I am low
You wash away my tears
And take me through
The loneliness
And emptiness
Through the darkest night
Somehow I survive
Through it all
When you tell me I'm the only one you need
Sweet and tenderly
And your love
Breaks away the clouds surrounding me
All I have I want to give to thee
If I should fall
Your love is strong enough to lift me up
If I'm afraid
You chase away my fears
And take me to
A brighter place
Beyond the rain
And I feel alright
Because you're by my side
Through it all
When you tell me I'm the only one you need
Sweet and tenderly
And your love
Breaks away the clouds surrounding me
All I have I want to give to thee
You take me through
The loneliness and the emptiness
And I feel alright
'Cause you're by my side
Through it all
You tell me I'm the only one you need
Sweet and tenderly
And your love
Just breaks away the clouds surrounding me
And baby all I have I want to give to thee
Want to give you all of my love
Now and forever my love
All I have I want to give to thee*
She finished on her knees, arms appearing to cradle a baby.
"That was beautiful," Legolas commented.
Emma crept back over and sat next to him, wrapping herself in his cloak. He placed his arm around her again.
"Thanks," she replied, "that was the very first private I ever performed."
"It was wonderful. I must also ask you about your name. Names are very important here. Where did yours come from?" Legolas asked.
Emma though for a moment, trying to remember what she had been told as a young child.
"My mom told me that she named me Emma because it was a combination of my grandmother's first names-Emily and Mallory. Take the first two letters of each and you get my name," she explained.
"You mother is very clever," Legolas commented.
"It's funny," Emma said, her voice serious, "before you came up here, I was thinking about how this is the furthest I've ever been without a family member with me. I guess I can't think that anymore."
Legolas laughed and commented, "We have had a very busy day, you and I. Now, get some rest. We are going to leave as early as possible tomorrow."
Emma yawned, for the first time noticing how truly tired she was, and snuggled into Legolas's side. Within minutes, she had fallen asleep, dreaming of dancing.
Elleiadrieal: The identity of the armored woman will be revealed in time. Legolas's reaction in coming up soon. Thanks for the compliment.
Lomiothiel: I know I'm breaking a lot of rules and I really don't intend on making a habit of it. Thranduil isn't a very nice person, look how he treated the dwarves in The Hobbit. Thanks for the compliment and thanks for the two reviews!
kurleyhawk2: Well, we shall soon get a full explanation of what Emma is very soon! Thanks, as usual, for your review!
PixiePea000: All I can say is that Shannon is important. I like cliffhangers, makes you think! Anyway, thanks! By the way, GOLLUM!
Littlesaiyangirl: Thanks for both the review and the compliment.
*words*---indicate something being sung. (This time the song actually gets involved. I don't own the song either. It's "Music Box" by Mariah Carey.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
Emma stared at the darkened pool for what felt like an eternity. The images she had seen, before Legolas covered her eyes, were still swirling around in her mind. She didn't understand what she was supposed to have gotten out of them or how the images were going to help figure out to whom she belonged. All she recognized was Thranduil.
Looking over at Legolas, it appeared to Emma that he had some idea of what those images alluded to. He seemed to be deep in though. His gaze had a distant look, his mind back in Mirkwood.
The elf-woman said something aloud in her own language. As if by magic, her husband appeared, walking regally down the stairs that lead into the area. The two conversed quickly in the same elvish Emma had heard Fire and Ice use.
Galadriel turned to Emma and said, "Celeborn, will take you to your chambers and see to it that you are properly dressed and fed. I must speak with the prince in private."
"But---but," Emma sputtered, filling with apprehension.
She didn't want to go with an else she didn't know, didn't trust. Instead, he was hoping she could stay with Legolas and he could, maybe, explain to her what she had just witnessed.
"Emma," Legolas said, turning to the skittish elf, "Celeborn will not harm you. You can trust him. I will meet you as soon as I am done here."
"Are you sure?" Emma asked, in a smallish voice.
"I am very sure, little elf," Legolas confirmed.
With that assurance in mind, Emma allowed Celeborn to lead her away from Legolas and Galadriel.
"You looked puzzled, Prince Legolas? Why is that?" Galadriel asked when her husband and Emma were far enough away to be out of ear shot.
"I am not sure I understand what I saw," Legolas replied, his voice belling his confusion.
"Please, explain what you mean," the ancient elf woman questioned.
Legolas, too confused to mind his manners, sat down on one of the steps that lead into the sunken area. She placed his head in his hands, as if trying to sort the thoughts in his head. He sat that way for handful of moments, formulating a response that made some sense.
"I understand that my father was with another---a handmaiden of my mother's though I can not recall her name all I can recall is that she and my mother were often mistaken for sisters so alike they were in appearance," Legolas started.
"That is correct," Galadriel confirmed, "Her name is lost to time. The only elves to remember it would be your mother and father, though I do not think he would tell it to you."
Legolas nodded his understanding. He did not even want to begin to think about his father. The range of emotions he was experiencing, when it came to his father, seemed to range from total and utter anger---anger at the fact his father could betray his mother, the fact he appeared to knowingly endanger the life of a child---to a stinging kind of hurt, almost a feeling of betrayal.
Shaking off thoughts of his father, he returned to the matter at hand.
"With this woman, my father sired another child but sent the woman and her family away before the child was born. All were killed, save this child," he surmised.
Galadriel nodded, affirming that his summary was correct.
"You appear to understand much of what you say," she, simply, stated.
"There are questions that plague my mind, though. Am I correct in assuming that the child is Emma? If it is, what does that make her?" Legolas asked, questions being asked as quickly as rain falls in a thunderstorm.
The ancient elf paused for a moment, considering the prince's questions and the weight of the knowledge she was about to bestow upon him.
"Your assumptions are correct. The child you saw was a very young Emma. To you, she is your half-sister. What she is to become to your father's kingdom is entirely your choice," she announced with a quite strength.
Legolas was stunned and made no motion to hide that fact. He knew that he and Emma looked alike and could be related though some strange twist of fate. Never did he imagine that they shared a parent that he had just gone from being the sole son of the king to a significantly older brother.
"What do you mean when you say that it is up to me to decide what she to become to my father's kingdom?" Legolas questioned, confused.
"You understand that your father, upon his finding out of this information, will decide that she is simply an illegitimate child of the court. You, my young prince, must decide what title she gets. Deny her and she becomes another elf in your father's kingdom or you can accept her and allow her the title of Princess. Mind you that, if you accept her, you will be sharing title and inheritance with her," the ancient elf explained.
She, then, added, "You must decided now for it will determine the course of your journey."
Legolas sighed, falling under the weight of such a massive decision and the number of questions he wanted to ask. He knew how his father was going to react. He prided himself on not being like his father. With a somewhat wicked smile, he made the decision that he knew would, somewhat, avenge the wrong his father committed against the memory of his mother. It was the decision he felt was right, for both him and his newly found baby sister.
"I have decided to accept her as a princess. It is only fair to her and to the memory of my mother. I still have questions, Lady Galadriel, about the armored woman and the red haired man" Legolas announced.
"Take the child to see the king. Your answers will be found there," she replied, turning away from Legolas---an indication that the conversation was over.
At his behest, a guard came and to the prince to where he and Emma would be spending the night. Legolas entered and found Emma sitting against the wall, knees pulled into her chest. She was staring out at the horizon.
Without so much as a sound, he sat himself next to the child.
"It is a lovely view. Do you want to talk?" Legolas commented, trying to sound casual and failing slightly.
"I'm confused, Legolas," Emma, slowly said, "What just happened? What did I see?"
"You did not understand what you saw in the mirror?" the elf responded.
Emma nodded her head and blurted, "The only thing I think I recognized was your father."
Legolas noticed that Emma had begun to shiver, since the night had turned chilly, and he threw his cloak around her shoulders. She smiled her thanks, wrapping it around her.
"My father did play a large part of what you saw, Emma," Legolas explained, "In short, after my mother passed; my father became involved with one of my mother's handmaidens. With this woman, my father sired another child. She was sent away to pass over the sea but she was killed along the way. Before she was killed, though, she gave birth to a baby girl. That baby was you, Emma, making you Princess of Mirkwood and my sister."
Emma sat silent for a moment, letting it all sink in. She was princess and the elf sitting next to her was her brother. The cruel elf who had threatened to send her parents away was her father. Her real mother was killed because her real father didn't want her around. Jumbled up feelings and questions ran through her head.
"How can that be true? You said you didn't think we were related," Emma, managed, to express.
"I did not know about this; believe that much to be true. That is the past, anyway. What matters now is what we do together. I have many years to make up for and there is much I would like to show you," Legolas replied, honesty tingeing his voice.
Emma was still in shock. Moments ago, she was an orphan with two great adoptive parents. Now she was being asked to understand that she had, at least, a brother and a father and that she was a princess.
"What about that red-headed guy? Or the lady in the funny armor? Who were they?" she babbled.
"I do not know but we will seek out someone who does. He lives just beyond those trees," Legolas replied, pointing to a spot far on the horizon.
The two elves sat in silence, each still working through what they were being asked-nay forced-to accept.
"Legolas," Emma said, breaking the oppressive silence,"back on the path here you promised to tell me why it was easy for me to keep up with you in the woods."
Legolas gave a small laugh.
"You know very little about your own nature but that is not your fault. You believed that you were a child or the race of me. We are like humans, as you call them, in many ways. We can appear to be very much like them, especially when you look at a human child and an elven child younger than you," Legolas started.
Emma scooted over so that she was sitting right up against her brother. Figuring that she was doing this because she was still cold, Legolas put his arm around her, pulling her into a half-hug of sorts.
"Aside from some of the more obvious physical differences, like the pointed ears, we are far more graceful and swifter than most humans. That is why we are able to move with such speed through the trees. We also move soundlessly. I am sure you noticed that when you walked, you made no sound. We are also immortal," Legolas concluded.
"Immortal? Didn't you say your mother died? Was she human, then?" Emma questioned.
"She was not mortal---though elves can marry and produce children with mortals. Illness and age do not affect us but we can be killed or waste away from sorrow," Legolas explained.
He, then, added, "My mother was killed by the spiders in Mirkwood."
"I'm sorry," Emma said, quietly.
"It was not your fault. On to happier subjects, little sister, may I ask a favor of you?" Legolas asked.
The use of the phrase "little sister" stunned her for a moment but she recovered and replied, "Of course, big brother."
Legolas smiled, warmly, and asked, "Can you dance for me? I heard you dance alone in one class."
Emma turned red. It was true that she took private lessons with Spiro and performed one private act in the studio's show.
"I could. I guess," she answered.
"I would like that very much," Legolas said, allowing Emma to shuck off his cloak and stand up.
A wealth of dances crossed her mind. She had done so many different ballets. One stuck out in her mind as being very appropriate for this moment---the first private she had ever done.
She remembered it like it was yesterday. The costume was a mint green tutu with a mint green and purple corset on the top. She had her hair in a bun crowned with three purple flowers. Pink, seamed tights were on her legs and shiny pink Pointe shoes, with the familiar ribbons, were on her feet. She was supposed to be a music box dancer come to life. She had been so nervous before taking the stage; afraid that she was going to make a fool out of herself. Her music cued and she went out there and let the music take over. It was over before she knew it. All she could recall was that it was just her and the music, no audience watching her, no fancy lighting, no nothing.
"This dance was called Music Box Dancer," she explained.
As she stood in a "B+" position, normal preparation for many of her dances, she began to softly sing the lyrics of the song she had danced to.
With the tune in her head and words audible she began to dance, fist stiff and jerky, just like a doll, then more fluid and refined, like a ballerina was suppose to look.
*When I am lost
you shine a light for me and set me free
When I am low
You wash away my tears
And take me through
The loneliness
And emptiness
Through the darkest night
Somehow I survive
Through it all
When you tell me I'm the only one you need
Sweet and tenderly
And your love
Breaks away the clouds surrounding me
All I have I want to give to thee
If I should fall
Your love is strong enough to lift me up
If I'm afraid
You chase away my fears
And take me to
A brighter place
Beyond the rain
And I feel alright
Because you're by my side
Through it all
When you tell me I'm the only one you need
Sweet and tenderly
And your love
Breaks away the clouds surrounding me
All I have I want to give to thee
You take me through
The loneliness and the emptiness
And I feel alright
'Cause you're by my side
Through it all
You tell me I'm the only one you need
Sweet and tenderly
And your love
Just breaks away the clouds surrounding me
And baby all I have I want to give to thee
Want to give you all of my love
Now and forever my love
All I have I want to give to thee*
She finished on her knees, arms appearing to cradle a baby.
"That was beautiful," Legolas commented.
Emma crept back over and sat next to him, wrapping herself in his cloak. He placed his arm around her again.
"Thanks," she replied, "that was the very first private I ever performed."
"It was wonderful. I must also ask you about your name. Names are very important here. Where did yours come from?" Legolas asked.
Emma though for a moment, trying to remember what she had been told as a young child.
"My mom told me that she named me Emma because it was a combination of my grandmother's first names-Emily and Mallory. Take the first two letters of each and you get my name," she explained.
"You mother is very clever," Legolas commented.
"It's funny," Emma said, her voice serious, "before you came up here, I was thinking about how this is the furthest I've ever been without a family member with me. I guess I can't think that anymore."
Legolas laughed and commented, "We have had a very busy day, you and I. Now, get some rest. We are going to leave as early as possible tomorrow."
Emma yawned, for the first time noticing how truly tired she was, and snuggled into Legolas's side. Within minutes, she had fallen asleep, dreaming of dancing.