Disclaimer: As if it even needs to be said, the characters which seem to be well-developed are not mine. They're Tolkien's, as well as Peter Jackson's unique interpretations in several instances.

And now, on with the story, which I pray to God will be longer this time:

*****
As stated, the young elf arrived in Tawny's quarters, and helped her out of her "uncommon outer-wear" and into the bathroom.

Not having showered for a few days, Tawny was anxious to get herself clean and looking presentable. It was much to her dismay that she discovered there were no showers in Mirkwood, only large bathtubs. Still, Tawny sucked up her previous dislike of baths, and stepped into the water.

The water was scented lightly, and it's luxurious smell washed over her in waves. Likewise, the water seeped into what seemed the very being of her, as she lay in the long tub. Well, maybe baths were not that bad after all. But then again, any type of bathing would seem refreshing after spending a few days without it.

Looking about, Tawny took in her surroundings, smiling at the directly across from her. A few candles were placed about the room, as it seemed this bathroom had no outside light source. After searching for a few minutes, Tawny had come to this conclusion, and was quite surprised. Though the room was slightly dim, it was not an oppressive darkness. Rather, it felt as though the entire room was basking in some ethereal light, which she could not explain. Come to think of it, the few places she had been in Mirkwood had all felt the same way. Odd, very odd. But not something which would cause her to dislike it here. No, if anything it was drawing, the slight glimpses making her wish to see more of this beautiful (or what she had seen, anyway) place.

How fortunate she was that Legolas would be escorting her around, then. Tawny rolled her eyes as she soaped up her body, then plunged beneath the surface of the water for a moment to clean her hair. She rose up, her eyes still closed, and lounged for a few more minutes in the bathtub. Before she got too pruny, she stepped out of the tub, pleased to see that there was a towel hanging on a hook behind the door to the bathroom.

Once she had wrapped the towel around her body, she heard a light rapping on the door. A muffled voice came from behind it.

"Milady, if you are done, then I can please come in and help you prepare for this evening's dinner."

Tawny nodded to the elf standing behind the door, before remembering that she would certainly not being able to see her doing such. "Come in!" she called, shaking her head at her stupidity. 'Come on, Tawn. Get it together.' She spoke to herself, waiting for the door to open.

The elf maiden peeked her head through, and seeing that the human girl was covered, came in fully. "I have brought a change of gowns for you, milady. You may see to them on the bed while I tend to draining the bathwater."

Tawny nodded softly, and began walking out the door. She paused for a moment, turning to face the young elf. Well, young to the elves, anyway. "What's your name?" She asked bluntly, looking the maiden in the eye. She saw the maiden blush slightly, and suddenly wondered if it was an appropriate question to ask.

"I am called Ameth." The elf spoke softly, and then turned back to the bathtub. Obviously the conversation was complete.

"Oh, okay then. Nice to meet you, Ameth." Tawny grinned to her, and then walked out the door to her bedroom. Her bedroom. It was weird to think of it as that.

Laid out on the bed were three of the most beautiful dresses she had ever seen. Of course, everything Elven was unmistakably gorgeous. The first dress was a dark blue color, with beautiful silver stitching to create a sort of shining star effect along the bodice and hems. The other two were both variations of the same dress, one in light pink and the other a deer, mossy green color. Of course, Tawny took the more unique of the three, and dressed quickly in it. She finished stepping into the gown just as Anarane came back from draining the bathwater.

"I see you have dressed." The elf spoke, taking a brush by the table.

"Oh, that's not necessary." Tawny put up her hands, as though to stop her. "My hair will dry straight and all."

The young elf maiden nodded to Tawny with a strange look, and then took her leave. Tawny sighed to herself then, and sat on the bed, laying back.

"Now all I have to do is wait."

*****

An hour later, Legolas knocked on the door. Not hearing a reply from the other side, he opened it up to find the human girl curled up on her neatly made bed, fast asleep. He strode to the side of the bed, and took one of her petite shoulders in his hand, and shook her slightly. "It is time to awaken." He spoke to her, and her eyes immediately opened, she popping up to gaze around her. One glance down at her dress, and she remembered.

"Oh yes, dinner." She spoke mostly to herself. Legolas gave her a soft grin, and then looked away. Tawny rolled her eyes at her own stupidity once again. 'How dumb was that, Tawn? Oh yes, dinner.' The voice in her head mocked. She reminded herself to go smother it with a pillow once this was all over with.

"Dinner. Yes. That thing we all do to nourish our bodies." He spoke sarcastically, and then extended his elbow to her. "I am here to escort you to said dinner."

Tawny rose, and took his arm somewhat shyly. He was, afterall, a handsome-looking elf. Legolas seemed to pay no attention to this, and escorted her from her room, walking with her down the hallway. So far, no one had given her any odd sort of look. It was only a matter of time, though... Tawny scanned the crowd with wary eyes, squinting as though she was some detective. Ah! There was one maiden giving her an odd glance. And another. And yet another. Her eyes widened a bit as she took in the scene before her. Over fifty elvish maidens were milling about, most talking amongst themselves. Hardly a male elf was in sight. Now that was odd. Perhaps they were... in a separate dining hall? But why would any male elf wish to leave the presence of such beautiful creatures? Oh wait, they must all be gay. This thought caused Tawny to giggle, and Legolas turned to give her an odd look. Right. No more giggling, then.

"Uh, Legolas," At a glare from him, she corrected herself, "Sir Greenleaf?"

"Yes?" He tilted his head to the side slightly so as to acknowledge her next question.

"Why are there so few male elves here?" It was a valid question. She was curious, afterall.

After a nervous chuckle, Legolas replied. "My father is seeing to it that I am betrothed by next year at the latest."

Tawny turned in surprise to her dinner escort. "Betrothed?" She asked in a shocked voice.

"Why yes. I am nearing that age." Legolas pulled out a chair at the long table for her, waiting.

Tawny blinked at the chair for a moment. After it didn't spring up to bite her, she realized he has pulled it out for her to sit in. And so she sat, smiling up at him. "Thank you."

"It was no problem." Legolas said genially, rethinking his ideas about the human girl. When she was not clad in a nightgown and newly awoken to a strange place, she was rather pleasant company. She wasn't the type to go swooning for his winsome looks, and he admired that. 'Not that I would have told her that,' he spoke to himself as he left her sitting near the end of the table, he escaping to the head to be with his father.

*****
Legolas ignored the flirtation glances that were thrown his way throughout dinner. His attention was mainly on the youngest member of the dinner table. Tawny. She was staring down at her plate at the moment as though willing the food to disappear on its own. Legolas laughed to himself as he watched her pick at her food. Most of it was foreign to her, he reasoned. Or perhaps it was the company. Surrounding her were tons of elf maidens, all casting cool glances in her direction.

Tawny's focus was on neither of these things, but rather on the young elf maiden who cleaned her room during the day. She was here too somewhere... oh! There Ameth was. She too, seemed to be smitten with the Prince. But what was that? She had looked away now. Perhaps there was more to her attraction that just obsession. Tawny continued to gaze at the she- elf, and eventually her gaze wandered over the Legolas.

That was how Legolas next saw her: staring at him with a strange fascination in her eyes. Legolas looked away, but her gaze had pierced his calm demeanor. Her eyes were a similar shade of blue as many of the other she-elves there, but Legolas saw something different within them. Innocence. It was similar to the eyes of hobbits and the eyes of men. Aragorn had eyes that felt too. That was it! Her eyes displayed her emotion. After being around the race of men for so long, Legolas had longed to come across beings that lived, not just existed in an ethereal mist.

And not just that. Tawny's eyes held, as he had thought before, innocence. It was rare to come across that in this post-war world. Legolas longed greatly to know how she had kept her youthful glow after that particular event.

But no, while she seemed young, she also seemed wise. That was what she was, then, a sophomore in a world of beings much older and wiser than her. She had much to learn about the world.

It was at that moment that Tawny glanced over at Legolas, only to find him smirking at her. She gave him a quizzical look to which he only shook his head and made to converse with another maiden.

"And then, oh Prince Legolas! It was so amusing, the sheer stupidity of the dwarves-"

"I would ask you to kindly stop talking about the dwarves that way, Milady." The prince exclaimed to the she-elf sitting next to him. "For unless you have spoken or journeyed with one yourself, you know not of what you speak." The elf nodded dolefully as Legolas pushed his plate forward and his chair back. "If you will excuse me father, I have lost my appetite."

Funnily enough, a similar situation was also occurring down at the end of the table:
"Oh, Anarane, you must have heard of it, the dwarves in their extreme stupidity actually-"
"That's enough!" Tawny interrupted as she pushed herself away from the table. She may not have been from Middle Earth, but it wasn't hard to spot unfairness. "I have had it with your self-righteous attitudes and racist comments." With a calm demeanor she addressed then. "I bid you goodnight." Tawny spun on her heel, walking out of the hall and leaving a good portion of the elves staring after her in wonder.

They didn't have long to gaze after her before Prince Legolas passed by, he having heard the outburst as well. He followed after the newly exited girl, ignoring the aghast faces of the maidens at the dinner table.

*****

"Tawny, mellon!" At this she turned around.

"What did you just call me?" Tawny squinted in the darkness which had fallen since her trip to the dining hall. A look of confusion was written on her face.

"I beg of you, stop." Legolas stepped forward until he was only a foot from her.

"I am stopped, smart one." She retorted, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Legolas blinked for a moment. Had she just--? Yes, she had. "What happened back at the table?" He demanded authoritatively. If she wanted to play this game, he would follow suit.

"I got frustrated with the racist comments flying back and forth." Tawny replied evenly. Her hands were the only thing that gave away that she was nervous in her response. She toyed with the ring on her left hand, spinning it clockwise, then counter-clockwise, then clockwise, then counter- clockwise...

Instinctively Legolas reached out and grabbed her hand, and she looked down at his for a moment before drawing her own back, obviously shocked.

"My Lord?" She asked hoping that was considered formal enough. Invoking formalities was sure to cause him to see his error.

A flash of recognition registered on his face as he saw what she was doing. Well, she was wiser than he thought. He bowed low and lifted his head slowly, catching her eyes. Her... very alive eyes, which conveyed her feelings at the present far too well. Lucky for him. "I apologize, Milady." After her hesitation, he continued. "Lady Tawny, I hope to soon repay you for my inappropriate behavior."

"Oh no, no!" Tawny laughed as Legolas straightened in confusion. "You're forgiven. Surely forgiveness is extended without any sort of belief that the forgiver should expect anything in return from the trespasser. Your offense is no longer between you and me, but between yourself and God."

A bright smile lit the prince's face. "Lady Tawny," he spoke softly, now bowing out of respect. "You are a most noble woman." At her blush he continued. "I apologize for any wrong I may have caused to come your way, and I hope to enter into friendship with you."

Now Tawny curtsied (though it was somewhat sloppy, as she had only seen it done in the movies, and assumed it was the proper thing to do,) a sly smile on her face. "According to my faith,"

Legolas interrupted, "And my own, mellon."

Tawny gave him a strange look but smiled and continued. "hope is something which is certain but not yet realized." The sly smile turned into one of happiness. "If you 'hope' to have a friendship with me, then you should realize that by my definition it is certain one will come about."

"Then it is settled, mellon."

The young mortal's eyes lit up in question. "You've said that word thrice tonight." She teased, then asked in earnest, "What does it mean?"

"It means 'friend.'" She gave him a pleased smile and so he spoke more. "But for one such as yourself, it may be better to say mellonim, meaning 'dear friend.'"

"We shall see." Spoke Tawny as she began to move backwards towards the living quarters. "For now I must take my leave, though. Be you friend or foe, being alone with a male at night is surely unwise." She nodded to him. "Goodnight... mellon." With that she left a very surprised Legolas behind in the gardens of Mirkwood.

***** *****

AN: Well... that's done. Yay for the chapter being done. I decided I'll update every Monday... or at least try to.

Most of this was done during my trip to Las Vegas for my grandmother's funeral. Those of you who know me know that she lived with us, so it's been a really hard time for the whole family...

I have a lot more to say but I think I'll leave you all with this and go write chapter four because I doubt you all could (or would want to) read through five and a half hours of rants from my drive home.

~~ Mioni