AN: Sorry for the lack of up dates this weekend. I had to read this horrid
novel called "The Orchid Thief" for a class I have on Friday. I needed to
get it done because I have a horrible feeling that I'm going to have to
write a paper about it. Anyway, keep those reviews coming! I greatly
appreciate them and they make my day!
TitanicHobbit: I'm a bit annoyed at my ballet/jazz teacher. He drilled me on these four combinations during my private lesson on Tuesday only to change them on Saturday during ballet class. My tap teacher---well, let's not get started on her. How are your lessons going?
kurleyhawk2: Thanks as always!
: P: I don't write slash only because I, myself, don't read it but to each his own.
TigerLily713: Thanks!
Elainor: Sorry, I was a bit rushed on time when I typed that chapter. My mom frowns upon me waking her up at 4AM to tell her I'm going to sleep. You shall soon see what Thranduil thinks of Emma.
PixiePea000: She has to show up at least once in every story. As the real Fire would say, "I don't have a problem with authority! I am authority!" Then again, she's also found of saying, "Not everyone can be as good as me" and "You are so much dumber than I ever thought possible." By the way, GOLLUM and watch out for Agent Elrond Smith.
Lomiothiel: Thanks as always for the review! Let's just say her parents might take it better than his father.
Elleiadrieal: I will! Thanks for the review.
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.
The length of wood was yet another Portkey, courtesy of the wizard Patrick. It took Legolas and Emma to a point just outside of Mirkwood forest.
Emma looked around, a bit confused. She assumed that they were going to be transported closer to the palace.
"Why are we out here?" she asked, "How come it didn't take us closer?"
"We rode out of the forest. I would be only right if we rode back in," Legolas explained, "Plus it would frighten any elf who saw us just appear out of thin air. Better we travel this way."
Emma nodded, and with a boost from her brother, climbed on to the back of the dappled gray horse she was riding. Legolas rode in front of her, guiding his horse along the familiar trail. Emma's horse followed behind her brother's mount. She did not have to guide it for some odd reason. That allowed the young elf to dwell on how much she had actually learned since she left the woods. She wasn't quite sure how much time had passed but, to her, it seemed like it was a very long span of time.
Legolas turned around for a spilt second.
Over his shoulder, he called, "You appear to be fine with horses now. Are you not scared anymore?"
"I don't think I'm scared anymore. Maybe it's because this horse is very calm," Emma replied, looking up from the braid she had been making in the horse's mane.
"What will you call her?" Legolas called, sounding very causal.
"You mean this horse is mine," Emma said, incredulously.
Horses were expensive to give and care for in the other world. She figured it was probably the same here.
"Of course she is yours. How else would you get around? We lack those noisy metal machines you have in your world. Now, what would you like to call her?" Legolas explained.
Emma thought for a moment. She wanted to give her horse an interesting name, something that no one here would ever think of using. Her mind wandered back to a biology class from earlier in the year. They had been learning about binomial nomenclature; the two name system created by Carolus Linnaeus. Her teacher had required them to learn some of the Latin names for common animal species. The horse was among the group she had to learn.
"I want to call her Equuis," she, finally, said.
"Equuis is a very interesting name. Does it hold meaning in your world?" Legolas questioned, the Latin word sounding very odd when combined with an elven accent.
"Its part of the Latin, which is a really old language where I'm from, name for a horse," she explained.
"That is very clever," Legolas commented.
They rode the rest of the way in silence, leaving their mounts only when they reached the stables.
"Are we going to see your father or my mom and dad first?" Emma asked, as they exited the stables.
"We will see your parents first but we are going to get changed first," Legolas said, taking Emma back toward his chambers.
"Why?" she questioned, eager to see her parents.
She had missed them very much during her time away from Mirkwood.
"We are changing, little elf, because your mother is near royal status and it would do her a dishonor to tell her this news dressed as dusty travelers," Legolas replied.
Emma nodded, though she wasn't quite sure what he meant.
After their brief stop in Legolas's chambers, the two elves set out again. They took a long, winding path to a sparsely decorated part of the compound.
As Legolas talked to the guards posted outside of her parent's room, Emma marveled at the dress she was wearing. Legolas had unearthed it from a large chest, saying that it was his mothers from when she was just a girl.
The dress was long, to the floor and covering her feet. It was cream colored and had simple sleeves. Over the dress, she wore a royal blue bolero style jacket. The jacket was held closed by an ornate silver and pearl pin. Her hair was down and on the top of her head sat a dainty silver circlet. Emma decided that she probably looked very much like a princess from a fairy tale or a professional ballet dancer; she wasn't sure which.
"Come along, little elf," Legolas ordered, giving her a light shove and breaking her reverie.
The two guards stepped aside, allowing them entrance into the room.
"Mom! Dad!" Emma, happily, called upon entering the room.
She ran toward both of her stunned parents and tried to get both of them into one hug. Relief washed over the three figures. Each was happy to see the other alive and well.
"Pixie, we were so worried about you. Are you alright?" Mitchell asked his daughter.
"I'm better than fine, dad. Legolas took very good care of me," Emma replied.
"Let me see this dress," Shannon asked, holding Emma at arm's length.
Moments later she pulled her daughter back into a tight hug.
"I missed you pixie," she whispered.
"I missed you too, mom," Emma replied, in a whisper.
Emma wormed her way between her two parents. They sat on a couch in the nicely furnished room where they had been staying. The other doors indicated, to Emma, that this was not the only room in the chamber. Legolas sat in a chair opposite the trio.
"Thank you for sending us that message and keeping an eye on Emma," Shannon said to the elf.
"It was my pleasure. Both of you did a very good job of raising her," Legolas commented.
Shannon gave the elf a smile but her husband did not.
"Can I ask what was the meaning of whisking us off to this strange place and kidnapping our daughter?" he asked, his voice laced with unbridled hostility.
"You must realize that this was, in no way, my doing. This was done by my father's hand and his hand alone. I knew nothing about it," Legolas retorted, making an attempt to defend himself.
"I don't care. Why take Emma with you? Did you fill her head with more cockamamie ideas? Kidnapping is against the law you know," Mitchell commented.
"I took her with me on my father's orders. He is the ruler here and, as such, he makes the laws," Legolas replied, trying to keep his temper in check.
"So, he's in charge. What gives you---since you're obviously not the king--- the right to take her," Mitchell added, starting to stand.
Before Legolas could respond and Mitchell could do something incredibly rash, Shannon pushed down on her husband's shoulders. That forced him to sit down. She ignored the dirty look he threw her.
"Calm down, Mitchell. I'm sure he can explain everything," Shannon said.
The elf gave the mortal woman a small smile, thanking her for intervening.
"If you will allow me, I can tell you everything I have learned about your daughter," Legolas offered, keeping a close watch on Mitchell.
"Please, tell us everything," Shannon prompted.
With some assistance from Emma, who added what she remembered, Legolas told the couple everything thing they had learned during their journey.
"So," Shannon started when the tale had been completed, "let me see if I understand this Emma is technically your half-sister by a handmaiden of your mother. She is going to be allowed the title of princess, despite this fact,"
"Something akin that," the elf confirmed.
He then added, "There is more to this story. It was no happy chance or strange twist of fate that brought Emma to you."
"What do you mean by that?" Mitchell asked, his hackles rising again.
This time it was Emma who tried to calm him.
She looked up at her father and told him, "Dad, you have to listen to the story. Besides, this is about mom not you."
"Shannon, do you remember that day in the studio when I could not explain the third image in the mirror?" Legolas asked.
"Of course," Shannon replied.
That day had been replayed in her head so many times that it was becoming part of her everyday thought processes.
"Have you ever had dreams involving battles you did not recognize and elves or creatures who looked somewhat like myself? I should not call them dreams, really. They appear to be more like memories long forgotten that are trying to break free," Legolas questioned.
Shannon avoided everyone's eyes and nodded.
"You never told me about that, mom," Emma commented, sounding very hurt.
In her mind, her mother never kept anything from her. Secrets didn't exist between the two of them.
"I didn't think they were anything, pixie. I figured that they were just products of an overactive imagination," Shannon admitted.
Again, with help from Emma, Legolas informed Shannon about the true nature of her background.
"You look upset," Emma commented, as the story came to an end.
"I'm not upset, pixie. I'm just a little confused, that's all," she said, almost mechanically.
"It is a good thing, though," Emma said, with a smile, "it means that Legolas's father can't make you and dad leave."
"Wait a cotton picking minute! You mean to tell me your father was going keep Emma here and send my wife and I back," Mitchell said, nearly shouting.
"I am afraid so. He does not see the need to keep the two of you here," Legolas, quietly, commented.
"Then, what's changed? I'm still the same person I was when I came here," Shannon stammered, confused by the sudden impact of all the information she had to now make sense of.
"You are still the same person but, like Emma, you have a place here. You will come to understand that in time, once the information sinks in a bit," Legolas explained.
Legolas got up to leave, understanding that this small family needed time to sort out everything they had just learned. He headed for the door when something dawned on him.
"I know I have just brought Emma back but my I borrow her for a little while longer?" Legolas requested.
"There is no need to ask permission, Legolas. She is your sister, after all, and I trust you'll take good care of her," Shannon replied, releasing Emma from the half hug she held her in.
With a wave, Emma followed Legolas out the door.
"Why do I have to go with you?" she asked, afraid she was going to get caught in the middle of some kind of massive conflict.
"He needs to see you. I am hoping that, by you being present, he will tell me about your mother and why he did what he did to my mother," Legolas answered.
As they walked, Legolas stated, "You look uneasy."
Emma had begun to play with her hands, wringing them and crossing and uncrossing her fingers. Her eyes darted her and there as if she was looking for a quick and easy exit.
"I'm not so sure I like this situation. Your father was downright mean to me when I first met him so I'm nervous he's going to be the same now," Emma admitted.
Legolas thought for a minute. He did not want to lie to his sister; to tell her that everything was going to be alright and that she would not feel the king's wrath but he could not bring himself to. The truth was far better than any lie.
"He may be but do not worry over much, little elf. He will probably be angrier with me," Legolas assured Emma.
"Why?" she asked.
It was her natural response to many statements.
"I have to tell him something he does not want to hear or admit too," Legolas explained as they reached the doorway of the throne room.
TitanicHobbit: I'm a bit annoyed at my ballet/jazz teacher. He drilled me on these four combinations during my private lesson on Tuesday only to change them on Saturday during ballet class. My tap teacher---well, let's not get started on her. How are your lessons going?
kurleyhawk2: Thanks as always!
: P: I don't write slash only because I, myself, don't read it but to each his own.
TigerLily713: Thanks!
Elainor: Sorry, I was a bit rushed on time when I typed that chapter. My mom frowns upon me waking her up at 4AM to tell her I'm going to sleep. You shall soon see what Thranduil thinks of Emma.
PixiePea000: She has to show up at least once in every story. As the real Fire would say, "I don't have a problem with authority! I am authority!" Then again, she's also found of saying, "Not everyone can be as good as me" and "You are so much dumber than I ever thought possible." By the way, GOLLUM and watch out for Agent Elrond Smith.
Lomiothiel: Thanks as always for the review! Let's just say her parents might take it better than his father.
Elleiadrieal: I will! Thanks for the review.
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.
The length of wood was yet another Portkey, courtesy of the wizard Patrick. It took Legolas and Emma to a point just outside of Mirkwood forest.
Emma looked around, a bit confused. She assumed that they were going to be transported closer to the palace.
"Why are we out here?" she asked, "How come it didn't take us closer?"
"We rode out of the forest. I would be only right if we rode back in," Legolas explained, "Plus it would frighten any elf who saw us just appear out of thin air. Better we travel this way."
Emma nodded, and with a boost from her brother, climbed on to the back of the dappled gray horse she was riding. Legolas rode in front of her, guiding his horse along the familiar trail. Emma's horse followed behind her brother's mount. She did not have to guide it for some odd reason. That allowed the young elf to dwell on how much she had actually learned since she left the woods. She wasn't quite sure how much time had passed but, to her, it seemed like it was a very long span of time.
Legolas turned around for a spilt second.
Over his shoulder, he called, "You appear to be fine with horses now. Are you not scared anymore?"
"I don't think I'm scared anymore. Maybe it's because this horse is very calm," Emma replied, looking up from the braid she had been making in the horse's mane.
"What will you call her?" Legolas called, sounding very causal.
"You mean this horse is mine," Emma said, incredulously.
Horses were expensive to give and care for in the other world. She figured it was probably the same here.
"Of course she is yours. How else would you get around? We lack those noisy metal machines you have in your world. Now, what would you like to call her?" Legolas explained.
Emma thought for a moment. She wanted to give her horse an interesting name, something that no one here would ever think of using. Her mind wandered back to a biology class from earlier in the year. They had been learning about binomial nomenclature; the two name system created by Carolus Linnaeus. Her teacher had required them to learn some of the Latin names for common animal species. The horse was among the group she had to learn.
"I want to call her Equuis," she, finally, said.
"Equuis is a very interesting name. Does it hold meaning in your world?" Legolas questioned, the Latin word sounding very odd when combined with an elven accent.
"Its part of the Latin, which is a really old language where I'm from, name for a horse," she explained.
"That is very clever," Legolas commented.
They rode the rest of the way in silence, leaving their mounts only when they reached the stables.
"Are we going to see your father or my mom and dad first?" Emma asked, as they exited the stables.
"We will see your parents first but we are going to get changed first," Legolas said, taking Emma back toward his chambers.
"Why?" she questioned, eager to see her parents.
She had missed them very much during her time away from Mirkwood.
"We are changing, little elf, because your mother is near royal status and it would do her a dishonor to tell her this news dressed as dusty travelers," Legolas replied.
Emma nodded, though she wasn't quite sure what he meant.
After their brief stop in Legolas's chambers, the two elves set out again. They took a long, winding path to a sparsely decorated part of the compound.
As Legolas talked to the guards posted outside of her parent's room, Emma marveled at the dress she was wearing. Legolas had unearthed it from a large chest, saying that it was his mothers from when she was just a girl.
The dress was long, to the floor and covering her feet. It was cream colored and had simple sleeves. Over the dress, she wore a royal blue bolero style jacket. The jacket was held closed by an ornate silver and pearl pin. Her hair was down and on the top of her head sat a dainty silver circlet. Emma decided that she probably looked very much like a princess from a fairy tale or a professional ballet dancer; she wasn't sure which.
"Come along, little elf," Legolas ordered, giving her a light shove and breaking her reverie.
The two guards stepped aside, allowing them entrance into the room.
"Mom! Dad!" Emma, happily, called upon entering the room.
She ran toward both of her stunned parents and tried to get both of them into one hug. Relief washed over the three figures. Each was happy to see the other alive and well.
"Pixie, we were so worried about you. Are you alright?" Mitchell asked his daughter.
"I'm better than fine, dad. Legolas took very good care of me," Emma replied.
"Let me see this dress," Shannon asked, holding Emma at arm's length.
Moments later she pulled her daughter back into a tight hug.
"I missed you pixie," she whispered.
"I missed you too, mom," Emma replied, in a whisper.
Emma wormed her way between her two parents. They sat on a couch in the nicely furnished room where they had been staying. The other doors indicated, to Emma, that this was not the only room in the chamber. Legolas sat in a chair opposite the trio.
"Thank you for sending us that message and keeping an eye on Emma," Shannon said to the elf.
"It was my pleasure. Both of you did a very good job of raising her," Legolas commented.
Shannon gave the elf a smile but her husband did not.
"Can I ask what was the meaning of whisking us off to this strange place and kidnapping our daughter?" he asked, his voice laced with unbridled hostility.
"You must realize that this was, in no way, my doing. This was done by my father's hand and his hand alone. I knew nothing about it," Legolas retorted, making an attempt to defend himself.
"I don't care. Why take Emma with you? Did you fill her head with more cockamamie ideas? Kidnapping is against the law you know," Mitchell commented.
"I took her with me on my father's orders. He is the ruler here and, as such, he makes the laws," Legolas replied, trying to keep his temper in check.
"So, he's in charge. What gives you---since you're obviously not the king--- the right to take her," Mitchell added, starting to stand.
Before Legolas could respond and Mitchell could do something incredibly rash, Shannon pushed down on her husband's shoulders. That forced him to sit down. She ignored the dirty look he threw her.
"Calm down, Mitchell. I'm sure he can explain everything," Shannon said.
The elf gave the mortal woman a small smile, thanking her for intervening.
"If you will allow me, I can tell you everything I have learned about your daughter," Legolas offered, keeping a close watch on Mitchell.
"Please, tell us everything," Shannon prompted.
With some assistance from Emma, who added what she remembered, Legolas told the couple everything thing they had learned during their journey.
"So," Shannon started when the tale had been completed, "let me see if I understand this Emma is technically your half-sister by a handmaiden of your mother. She is going to be allowed the title of princess, despite this fact,"
"Something akin that," the elf confirmed.
He then added, "There is more to this story. It was no happy chance or strange twist of fate that brought Emma to you."
"What do you mean by that?" Mitchell asked, his hackles rising again.
This time it was Emma who tried to calm him.
She looked up at her father and told him, "Dad, you have to listen to the story. Besides, this is about mom not you."
"Shannon, do you remember that day in the studio when I could not explain the third image in the mirror?" Legolas asked.
"Of course," Shannon replied.
That day had been replayed in her head so many times that it was becoming part of her everyday thought processes.
"Have you ever had dreams involving battles you did not recognize and elves or creatures who looked somewhat like myself? I should not call them dreams, really. They appear to be more like memories long forgotten that are trying to break free," Legolas questioned.
Shannon avoided everyone's eyes and nodded.
"You never told me about that, mom," Emma commented, sounding very hurt.
In her mind, her mother never kept anything from her. Secrets didn't exist between the two of them.
"I didn't think they were anything, pixie. I figured that they were just products of an overactive imagination," Shannon admitted.
Again, with help from Emma, Legolas informed Shannon about the true nature of her background.
"You look upset," Emma commented, as the story came to an end.
"I'm not upset, pixie. I'm just a little confused, that's all," she said, almost mechanically.
"It is a good thing, though," Emma said, with a smile, "it means that Legolas's father can't make you and dad leave."
"Wait a cotton picking minute! You mean to tell me your father was going keep Emma here and send my wife and I back," Mitchell said, nearly shouting.
"I am afraid so. He does not see the need to keep the two of you here," Legolas, quietly, commented.
"Then, what's changed? I'm still the same person I was when I came here," Shannon stammered, confused by the sudden impact of all the information she had to now make sense of.
"You are still the same person but, like Emma, you have a place here. You will come to understand that in time, once the information sinks in a bit," Legolas explained.
Legolas got up to leave, understanding that this small family needed time to sort out everything they had just learned. He headed for the door when something dawned on him.
"I know I have just brought Emma back but my I borrow her for a little while longer?" Legolas requested.
"There is no need to ask permission, Legolas. She is your sister, after all, and I trust you'll take good care of her," Shannon replied, releasing Emma from the half hug she held her in.
With a wave, Emma followed Legolas out the door.
"Why do I have to go with you?" she asked, afraid she was going to get caught in the middle of some kind of massive conflict.
"He needs to see you. I am hoping that, by you being present, he will tell me about your mother and why he did what he did to my mother," Legolas answered.
As they walked, Legolas stated, "You look uneasy."
Emma had begun to play with her hands, wringing them and crossing and uncrossing her fingers. Her eyes darted her and there as if she was looking for a quick and easy exit.
"I'm not so sure I like this situation. Your father was downright mean to me when I first met him so I'm nervous he's going to be the same now," Emma admitted.
Legolas thought for a minute. He did not want to lie to his sister; to tell her that everything was going to be alright and that she would not feel the king's wrath but he could not bring himself to. The truth was far better than any lie.
"He may be but do not worry over much, little elf. He will probably be angrier with me," Legolas assured Emma.
"Why?" she asked.
It was her natural response to many statements.
"I have to tell him something he does not want to hear or admit too," Legolas explained as they reached the doorway of the throne room.