A/N: Oh my god! I actually updated! Fans of this story might enjoy the idea that PPCP has now become my main priority, so expect more frequent updates as the weeks go by. Please review when you're finished! I'd like to know if anyone still cares about lil' ol' Angel…


Chapter Four

Angel woke up when her alarm clock began to play some song by the Dave Matthews Band. Pulling herself out of her groggy state, Angel padded into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of ready-made coffee. As she sipped the bittersweet concoction, someone spoke. "Did you sleep well?"

Angel turned around to see Legolas standing at the entrance to the kitchen. She noticed that he had changed and was now in clothing that any man would wear to bed; a loose fitting button-down shirt and pants that looked like silk. She smiled. "I guess I did. I should ask you the same thing. Did you sleep well?"

"My rest was fulfilling enough. I'm sure that I'll be prepared for the day ahead."

"Excellent. Do you want any breakfast? I'm a light eater and only planned to fix some toast and fruit. Care to join me?"

A confused look washed over Legolas' face. "The fruit sounds wonderful, but what is 'toast'?"

Angel laughed in spite of herself. "That's right; I forgot you're not from around here. Toast is thin slices of bread that are set next to a heating element until the outer edges are toasted. Think of what happens when you hold lembas over an open flame."

Soon the confusion was replaced by understanding. "I see. This 'toast' will be satisfactory."

It wasn't long before Angel was fixing the toast and Legolas was preparing the fruit. Angel had managed to grab some apples and oranges out of the fridge and gave Legolas the job of peeling the oranges and cutting up the apples. The two worked well together and soon Angel was sitting in her chair reading her paper as Legolas watched Angel. Angel didn't notice this until she reached for her coffee and saw that Legolas wasn't eating. "Is everything all right?"

"Everything is fine. What are you reading?"

"It's called a newspaper. It tells you what's going on in the world around us. It has the local news, what musicians are playing around town, like a town crier on paper."

"Very interesting. May I see it when you're finished?"

"You can take it now. I've gotta get ready for work." Angel paused for a second. "Oh crap."

"What's wrong," Legolas asked.

"I just don't want to leave you here, that's not fair to you."

"Don't worry about me Angel. I can keep myself occupied until you return. In all honesty I'd rather stay here. I don't know my way around this region of Arda. I probably wouldn't have found you if Galadriel hadn't told me where to go."

Angel was floored. "She knows where I am? She can see me?"

"Her mirror is very helpful in that regard. As your grandmother, she likes to make sure you're taken care of and that no major harm comes to you or your siblings."

"Wow…creepy. Anyway, you're sure you'll be all right spending the day alone?"

"Please Angel, I'm not a child. I know my limits. Go do your job and I'll be here waiting for you when you come back."

Angel smiled. "When you put it that way…all right, have it your way." Angel went back into her bedroom and closed the door, leaving Legolas to decipher the paper that Angel had left him. She came out a few minutes later dressed and ready for the day. "Is there anything you need before I go?"

"I do have a question."

"Sure. What is it?"

"You had mentioned last night an uncle who wrote down the history of the Telcontar family. Could I see it?"

"Sure." Angel went back into her office and pulled a stack of books off of one of the shelves. "Uncle John was very meticulous in his writings. You might want to start with these first." She handed him the trilogy. "These start with Bilbo's birthday party and when Frodo was given the One Ring. Basically the Red Book of Westmarch."

Legolas looked at the pile that Angel had set on the table. "What are the others? There certainly is a lot here."

"You're telling me! Um…this one is about Bilbo's journey with Gandalf and Thorin to the Lonely Mountain." She handed him The Hobbit. "This one deals with the First and Second Age." Next came The Silmarillion. "It's my favorite. The rest are self explanatory. The tales of Numenor, the fall of Morgoth and Sauron, lots of different things."

"Extremely interesting. And there are other people that know of this as well?"

"Very much so. I can't go into it now or I'll be late. We'll talk more about it when I get back."

"All right Angel. Have a safe journey."

"Thank you. I shall." Angel went over to her front door and grabbed her bike. "I'll be home around sunset. Watch for me then."

 With that she left the apartment, leaving Legolas scouring through the volumes of history, reliving memories never really forgotten…


"Come on Angel! You never go out with us anymore. A few of us want to go for drinks at the Needle, come join us!"

Angel was just about to grab her bad and head home when Sam, one of the layout guys, stopped her at the elevator. Angel nearly took him up on his offer, but then remembered Legolas waiting for her to return. "I'd love to Sam, I really would, but I've just got a new roommate and he needs help moving in. It would be really inconsiderate of me to make him do that all by himself."

Sam's eyebrow lifted. "Him? Does 'Ms. Girl Next Door' finally have a sugar daddy?"

Angel's eyes widened. "No! You know me better than that. He's a family friend who's just found himself in Seattle without a place to stay. Until he gets back on his feet, I'm letting him crash at my apartment. I just promised him I'd come home after work and I mean to keep my promise."

"Well bring him along! I'm sure we'd love to have him. What's his name?"

Angel had to think fast. Sam would have a hard time accepting that a supposed fictional character was sleeping on her couch, so she said the first thing that came to mind. "Jason, Jason Greene. I'd bring him along, but he's terribly shy. I'm sorry Sam, I'm just gonna have to pass. Maybe some other time."

"Ok, ok, you got me Angel. Maybe next week." Sam patted Angel on the shoulder. "Have a great night."

"You too Sam."


Angel opened the door and found Legolas surrounded by all the books that she had given him that morning. Legolas took his nose out of The Two Towersand looked at Angel, his eyes shining. "This is simply amazing. I feel like I'm back with Aragorn and Gimli trying to rescue Merry and Pippin. Your uncle has done your forebears a great service by being so accurate."

"I'm sure that if he were alive, he would take that as a tremendous complement. Most of the books there were just notes and my cousin Christopher put them in a readable form and had them published after Uncle John died. The Walkers and Tolkiens owe a great debt to Chris."

"Is there any chance I could meet this fellow? It would certainly be an honor to befriend another one of Aragorn's kin."

"I'm sure Chris would love that, but I don't know how to get the two of you together. Chris is quite older than myself and can't travel long distances and to be frank, you don't have the right paperwork."

"Paperwork?"

"Identification papers, a driver's license, a passport, even a birth certificate. In this day and age, to travel from country to country you need to be able to prove you are who you say you are."

Legolas lifted the book in his hand. "The proof is right here Angel. Is this good enough?"

Angel smiled at Legolas' sudden naiveté and sat down next to him. "I wish it were that easy, Legolas, but it isn't." She motioned to all the books surrounding them. "The general public believe that this is fiction, a story that Uncle John created himself. Only our two families even have the notion that all of you are real. If you were to go running around proclaiming yourself as the Crown Prince of Mirkwood, you'd be locked away in a mental institution, probably for the rest of your natural life."

"What's a 'mental institution'?"

"A House of Healing for the mentally ill. They're not nice places to be in, and I couldn't bear for you to be put in such a place." Angel reached out and took Legolas' hand. "I wouldn't even want to risk that just for you to see Chris face to face. I'm sure we could set up plenty of phone conversations between the two of you, maybe even Chris' son Royd could come visit on occasion…"

Legolas nodded and placed his other hand atop of Angel's. "I understand. I appreciate you looking after me."

"I just don't want to see you get hurt. You know so much, but the world has also changed a great deal since you last walked these lands. I just want to protect you… keep you safe."

A silence came up between the two and Angel noticed that they were still holding hands. Angel suddenly pulled her hand out of between her companion's. "I'm sorry, that was inappropriate of me."

Legolas smiled. "It's all right; I didn't take it as such. What can I do to keep the both of us safe?"

"First off, you'll need a name for when you're in public. What do you think about 'Jason Greene'?"

"It sounds pleasant enough. You'll still call me by my given name, correct?"

"Of course! That's just for when someone asks about you. The people at my work think you're my new roommate, they might stop by. If anyone else besides me talk to you, they'll address you as Jason Greene."

"I'm glad that I'm able to keep a little of my given name in this deception we're playing. What else should I know about 'Jason'?"

Angel filled him in on how he was from England and that he was rooming with her as long as he felt necessary. Legolas had no trouble with the situation, and inwardly enjoyed it because it gave him and Angel a connection that no one else shared.

Angel decided that she didn't want to cook, so she chose to order in some Chinese food. It arrived sooner than expected and it wasn't long before Angel was devouring her sweet and sour chicken while discussing the finer points of her uncle's writing with Legolas and his beef stir fry. This went on for hours, Legolas mentioning how well he liked Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth and how well they got along during the Battle of the Pelennor, Angel talking about her and Chris doing their best to preserve their family history. She had barely mentioned the movie trilogy before Legolas was asking her questions. "What are movies?"

"They're like moving pictures that tell a story. Chris agonized over it before finally giving the family blessing for the movies to be made. Uncle John's books were deathly popular since they were published nearly 60 years ago, but the movies have brought so much more notoriety to the Legend. It's frightening to know so many people have put their lives into following a piece of fiction…"

"Can we see them? Or do we have to go somewhere to see these 'movies'?"

"We can watch them here; we can watch the whole trilogy in fact. Peter Jackson, the man who made all three movies, sent Chris an advance copy of the last movie and Chris sent a copy to me as well. Return of the Kingisn't available for home viewing for another few months, so to have it already is a real treat. If my friends knew I had it already, I think they'd sell their soul to have a copy of it."

Legolas gave her a puzzled look. "What for?"

"It all goes to the popularity of the movies. Anything related to the movies and the books have been snatched up like it was the end of the world." Angel couldn't help but giggle. "Especially things having to do with you."

Legolas blanched. "Me? Why me? Why am I special? I was just doing what was necessary."

"It doesn't help that a very handsome man was chosen to play you, Legolas. His looks and everything that makes elves who they are make the perfect combination for thousands of girls infatuated with a certain Legolas Greenleaf."

Angel swore that she saw Legolas blush. "I can't believe that. It's just not possible."

"It is my friend. Watch and you'll see." Angel set up her DVD player with the extended version of Fellowship. "I will warn you, Peter had to make some changes to the story for each movie. In the case of the first one, he left out Tom Bombadil."

"He left out Tom? Why? What for?"

"Time. To put Tom in made the story much longer than the owners of the movie studio would allow. Peter also replaced Glorfindel rescuing Frodo with Arwen, so he would be better able to show the relationship between her and Aragorn throughout the other two movies. Chris and I weren't too keen on those changes, but accepted them as necessary. You'll still enjoy it Legolas, I do."

"I believe you Angel, but I'm still concerned."

Angel started the movie and went in the kitchen and made some microwave popcorn. Legolas heard the noise and looked up over the sofa. "Are you all right in there?"

"I'm fine Legolas. Don't worry about me. Watch the movie."

Legolas turned around and continued to watch the "prologue". Angel came in with a large bowl of popcorn just as Bilbo's birthday party was beginning. She sat on the sofa next to Legolas and saw tears threatening to fall.

She paused the movie and turned to look at him. "Legolas, are you all right?"

"I'm sorry; it just all came back to me." This time it was Legolas' turn to take hold of Angel's hands. "You have no idea what it was like then, the threat of the Shadow was in the back of everyone's minds… Elendil, Gil-Galad, even Elrond were so courageous to fight against Sauron for so long.

"When Sauron returned and it was our generation's turn to take up the fight, the threat was even worse than before… we were near hopelessness toward the end. It's only by Varda's grace that Frodo destroyed the ring when he did. If he hadn't, you probably wouldn't be here. None of this would be here… all the world's beauty would be gone…"

Legolas' tears finally fell and Angel felt ashamed for what she had done. She had forgotten in her excitement that she was sharing the experience with a living soldier of this war long since past. He was a veteran and needed to be treated as such. "Legolas, I'm so sorry. I should have thought more about your situation. I'll turn it off." With that she turned off the TV, leaving the apartment dark and quiet.

"I thought I could handle it, I see that I was incorrect. Thank you for being so considerate with me. Most people in your situation would think I was more prepared to face my past."

"It's me that should be apologizing Legolas. It's just been so long since I've been able to talk to anyone besides Chris about my past… I mean our past. All my friends would freak out if I were this candid with them. Even my family doesn't like to talk about it, they think it's some plague to be rid of, like it's a hideous family secret that needs to be hidden away in some back corner. They thought Aunt Lucy and I were crazy to believe it at all. It's been so nice to be able to talk to you about all this Legolas. You've been a welcome change."

Angel looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was past midnight. "I should be getting to bed; usually I'm stone asleep by now. Are you gonna be ok?"

"I'm not sure. Would you stay with me for a little bit longer?"

"Of course, you don't even need to ask."

Legolas and Angel sat on the sofa in silence, hand in hand. Angel didn't really know how much time had passed when Legolas spoke. "Don't think I'm crazy for doing this… for some reason it just feels right." Legolas took his hand out of Angel's and instead placed his head in her lap. "Do you think it's insane for an elf as old as I am to be acting like such a child?"

"I don't think so. Everyone needs to be comforted in his or her own way. If this is your way, I can't do anything to change it."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Think nothing of it," Angel said as she stroked Legolas' hair. She kept on with her ministrations until Legolas settled down enough to fall asleep. She didn't feel right leaving him alone, so she went to her office and took two of the blankets she had put in there back out to the living room, one for the elf, one for herself. She moved the coffee table out of the way and positioned herself in front of the sofa, just in case Legolas needed her.