Disclaimer: The Lord of the rings does not belong to me.

Crazy Beautiful

Chapter 4

Misunderstandings

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Haldir leaned his weight againt a tree as he watched in amusement as the teenager walked around the same trail for the third time.

"My dear girl, you've already walked through this part of the woods three times over. Are you planning to make the fourth or will you just admit that you are lost?" The elf asked, trying to suppress his grin. Monkey turned and glared at him." I am not lost, I merely have no place to go." she snapped.

Haldir straightened himself out and walked briskly towards her. He grabbed her wrist and dragged her away from the clearing that they were standing in.

"Where are you taking me?!" She tried to wrench her hand from his grip but his grasp was too tight for her to wriggle out of. She pulled her arm towards her and bit into his hand. Haldir cried out in alarm as her teeth sunk into his flesh. He jerked his arm back and exclaimed, 'You cannibal!'

"If I were a cannibal, I wouldn't eat you! I'd be eating another human."

"Yes, well, you're more a chicken anyway." He muttered.

"So you do admit that you are a worm. Ha!" she countered. Haldir rolled his eyes. He let out a frustrated breath and said, " Come with me, you are going to write a letter to your worried family informing them of your state of being. Tell them you wish to return as soon as possible so that they might rid me of you for the rest of my immortal life. And in case you don't know what that means, its forever!"

Monkey did not object for she did not want him to find out her little secret, that she wished not to return at all. She followed him up to another flet and sat herself down on a wooden stool before he could force her down roughly as he did in the dining hall.

He handed her a piece of paper and a quill which she placed on her lap. Her eyes wandered around the flet and came to the conclusion that this time it was indeed his flet. He had a shelf just for his weapons and uniforms, a big comfortable-looking bed. The talan gave her a tremendous sense of comfort.

The elf slipped off his boots, removed his cape and folded it neatly. He placed it on the shelf, fluffing it up with the rest of the uniforms stacked nicely. "You're awfully neat." She raised an eyebrow as she watched him tidy his things. The only response she got was a grunt as he flopped back onto his big bed and stared at the leaves above him."Comes with being an elf I suppose?" She added in, but this time there was no reply.

She turned her attention to the blank piece of paper and started to think about what to write.

Dear father,

You are probably upset to receive a letter from of all people, me. I am terribly sorry that I have not yet been eaten up or killed as of late. I have been forced to write this to you and am currently residing in Lothlorien. Hannah is well and safe and is in the good hands of a Prince so you need not worry about your precious daughter.

She paused for a moment and looked out beyond the canopy of leaves towards the west where her homeland was. Her eyes flit across to Haldir who was still staring above, unblinking. She called out to him but there was no response. She said his name louder but he remained quiet and motionless. Worry started to grow in her heart and she set the paper and quill on the chair and headed towards his bed. "Haldir?" She waved a hand above his eyes but they did not waver, much less blink. She put two fingers under his nose and was relieved to find hot air brushing past them. She sighed softly, strangely happy that he was still alive. She wondered what could be wrong with him. Then she suddenly remembered an old tale she had heard about elves. They had odd behaviours, and sleeping with their eyes open was one of them.

The sight of Haldir lying motionless brought back the horrid memory of her mother on her death bed. Her knees began to weaken and her breath caught in her throat and she could do nothing but kneel by Haldir as tears that had been hiding for years made their appearence on her smooth cheeks." I'm so sorry..." She whispered and let out a sob."I am so so sorry..." She clutched the bedsheet, trying to control herself." I miss you so mama..."

She managed to get a hold of herself after a while and made her way back to the chair, picking up the letter again. She began to write furiously, tears still falling onto the paper.

Do not worry for me, though I am sure you do not. After all, I am the wretched daughter that you so often wish you did not own. I remember all your shoutings, whenever I did the slightest wrong. I remember all those times you ignored me and blatantly refused to answer me! All because mother died you had to live in your own world and pay no attention to me whatsoever! You did not care when I spoke to you and you did not comfort me when I cried. You pulled me out of sight from your precious guests and punished me for being the nuisance I was. But you never thought that maybe I was just looking for your attention. And I was longing for your love once again. I know you've tried everything you could to protect me from mother's illness. Her madness that you knew I had also acquired at a tender age. As soon as it had triggered inside of me when mother died, you knew there was no hope. But there was actually, you could have saved me if only you didn't push me away. And now... I am still waiting to be saved. You loved mother, why can't you show me the same affections you showed her knowing she was just as crazy as I am. But don't bother looking for me here in Lothlorien, I shall be gone before you can reach me.

Your unwanted daughter,

As she was about to sign her name, Haldir stirred from his sleep and sat up.

"Are you done yet?"

"Nearly..." She muttered, her hands brushed her eyes lightly, making sure there were no remaining tears lingering around them. "Were you really sleeping?" She asked suspiciously.

"No, I just like staring into space. She talks to me you know? She's really entertaining." He smirked and swung his legs around so that they touched the floor. He got up as she rolled her eyes at his sarcasm. He sat on another stool in front of her, putting his boots back on.

He rose up again and looked down at her with surprising gentleness. She peered up at him with curious eyes, the emotion in his caught her breath and she lost herself in his gaze. He leaned forward, his arm rested on the shelf behind her for support. His face loomed dangerously close to hers and she was painfully aware of his warm breath carassing her skin. She was very tempted to close the distance between them but she jerked back to reality. This was that worm! That worm who was constantly mean and hostile towards her. Now he was attempting to take advantage of her! A young and innocent human girl. How dare he! Rage burst anew in her heart and she brought up her right leg with force.



Haldir buckled backwards and landed on the floor with a big 'thump'. He was shouting loudly in pain. He could not understand why she had suddenly kicked him in his most vulnerable spot. He groaned and rolled on the floor in agony, watching her shout words that he could not really hear and storm towards the ladder, only to stop all of a sudden as she peered at the ground that appeared so far below. She clenched her fists and decended it quickly with determination.

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Haldir's POV

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I woke up slowly and could not help thinking about the dream I had. It was so short, and meaningless. But it was so real at the same time. Was it really a dream? I sat up and found the monkey girl still seated on the stool I left her on and decided that it indeed was a dream. She had been kneeling by my bedside and crying, whispering an a apology to... her mother? I believe it was. Then it ended there. I would never have thought to see Monkey in such a sad state of sorrow. She appeared so fragile and weak that I was convinced it was just a dream.

I got off my bed and put on my boots. I kept replaying the dream in my mind. Could she really be that sensitive and... humane? I looked at her with wonder and for the first time felt a sense of empathy. I averted my eyes before I could not stop staring. I reached over her and tried to get my cape when suddenly the Monkey kicked me! And it was not just anywhere! If it was my leg I would have laughed at her. But noo! I landed on the floor in such intense pain because she just had to hit me there for some reason that I could not fathom. She rambled on and on in the most high pitched voice I have ever heard that my ears would not normally stand if not for the pain I was already experiencing. She mustered enough courage to decend the ladder herself and was gone suddenly.

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Monkey sat beneath a tree and brought her knees up to her chest and sighed. How she wished she could return home, her father would be there but at least he did not harass her. She pushed a red lock of her hair away from her eyes and felt tears begin to form. Seldom did she cry and always when she did, it was unwillingly because of pride. This time however, she let her tears fall without caring. No one seemed to care about her, why should she care about what they would think of her if she cried.

"Why are you crying?" A voice asked. It was coming from underneath the shade of the trees around her. She failed to see who was talking to her. It must be one of the elves and their cloaks that help them to camouflage amongst the trees.

"I won't tell you unless you show yourself." She answered quickly, wiping away her tears.

The voice sighed. "If I show myself, will you promise not to run away?"



'I know that voice...' she thought but he had already revealed himself.

Monkey swallowed. "Haldir."

He smiled a little and for the first time it was a genuine one, not the mocking smile he always gave her and it made her feel comforted, even just a bit, despite the fact that he had tried to do something very stupid. He opened his mouth to speak and he said something that was out of the blue.

"I remember reading a book when I was younger. It was about the Nothern lights. It is a beautiful blaze caused when material thrown off the surface of the sun collides with the atmosphere of the earth. Aurora, that is its name."

Monkey looked up at him with her eyes widened. He knows.

"As is yours."

Aurora was silent for a while. He was right and that was her name and it was her mother's name as well. It was strange that it was not Hannah who had been named after he mother since she was the first child, instead it was Aurora. But nobody objected to it because as Aurora grew older, her mothers personality and charateristics had begun to show very significantly in her and not her sister. Her red hair was the biggest reminder to her father of her mother so when she died, her father grabbed her by her hair and cut it short. She was forbidden to grow it long but she did not mind, she did not want to see her mother whenever she looked at her own reflection.

"Why did you kick me?" Haldir asked, he folded his arms again and leaned agaisnt a tree. He had a habit of doing that.

"Why are you asking me? You should know your own faults." She huffed as she stood up and dusted her bum of grass. She failed to see a huge caterpillar crawling on her shoulder and quickly walked away from him. He followed after her in attempt to remove the bug and when he reached for it, she turned around and stuck her tongue out at him.



"Why can't you just take your hands off me?" She snapped.

"I was..I was.."

"First you try to harass me in your talan and you deny it and now, just a few seconds after your pretence, you do it again! What is the matter with you?" She yelled and it made Haldir turn red in embarrassment. The whole of Lothlorien must have heard her yelling. He did not say anything, instead he quickly reached for the hairy bug on her shoulder and held it, wriggling, between his fingers.

"Oh." Was all Aurora managed to say.

"As for what you think happened in the talan, its not what you think. I was leaning over to take something. And I'm sorry if I made you cry..."he said softly as Aurora turned and blushed at how rash she was.

"You didn't. I was thinking of something else." She could feel her tears coming again as she thought of her family again but she brushed them away as fast as they had come. He knew what she was so upset about, he had read her letter as soon as she left.

"Your family. That is why you came here." He said, nodding knowingly. At this, Aurora could no longer contain herself. No matter how brave she tried to be, she was still the young girl that she was and her emotions betrayed her as often as she did not want them to. She buried her face in her hands and wept.

"Don't cry." He whispered, unsure if he should take her in his embrace. But he decided that it did not matter if she thought he was trying to take advantage of her, as long as he conscience was clear that her had done all he could to comfort her, his duty as a gentleman. But in the back of his mind, he knew he comforted her not because he felt he had to, he did it because he did care. As strange as it sounded, he did care about her. He only made fun of her because he liked the way she frowned everytime he spite her. He liked having squabbles with her, it made him feel less serious. He had liked her from the moment she started calling him names.

And he realised, how much he did not want to let her go.

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End of chapter 4

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Plasmolysed cell membrane and Larien: Sorrrrie this took so long!!! but inspiration ran low on us for a lonnnnng time. Anyways love y'all and keep em' reviews blasting! ermm..ROTK tomorrow! all geared up, whoohoo!