~~~A Rose by Any Other Name~~~
Chapter Four

The next day the fellowship started out early again, Legolas still carrying Ascadholiel in his arms. Finally around midday they stepped off the snow and said goodbye to the mountain.

Ascadholiel frowned when Legolas didn't put her down and questioned him about it. He smirked teasingly at her, but still said the first part seriously. "The ground is very rocky here and the bottom of your feet are very soft. You would be bleeding and in pain within the first few steps." Now his words turned truly teasing. "Do you tire of my humble company so soon Lady? Perhaps you would enjoy another's company more? Perhaps Boromir would..."

His words were further silenced by her hand over his mouth. Her eyes were closed and she had an unreadable expression on her face. "Say one more world, elf, and I'll throttle you, or at least try my damndest. In the first place, you're about as humble as a spoiled cat. In the second place, I hardly find your company even close to tiring. Third, at this point I would rather kiss a deadly sea snake than be within arms distance of that arrogant, self-absorbed, holier-than-thou, ass hole. Its bite would be far less venomous and less hurtful than his words and suspicions. I don't hate him mind you, but his unjustified insult is still fresh in my mind. I fully intend to let him stew in his juices. I've put up with that kind of abuse and far worse my whole life in my old world, and I'll be damned if I put up with it here."

Finally she uncovered his mouth and opened her eyes. Legolas was still smirking amusedly at her. "Whatever you say Milady."

Ascadholiel playfully glared at her elven carrier. "Insufferable elf."

Legolas' smirk widened. "Silly human."

Ascadholiel laughed lightly and contented herself with a quiet conversation, sometimes talking with the hobbits as well and listening to their stories of the shire.

*****

Finally the sun started to set and Gandalf called a halt early this night. Legolas set Ascadholiel down gently and flexed his arms, stretching the tired muscles and wincing slightly as he brought them out of the position that they had been in for so long.

Ascadholiel looked guiltily down at the fire that Aragorn had started. "I'm sorry for you having to carry me Legolas. I know I'm anything but light."

Legolas shook his head and sat beside her, turning her face to look at his. "Don't apologize Lady Ascadholiel. I didn't have to do anything. It was my choice. You asked several times for me to put you down. Plus, it matters not. My arms are merely a little stiff, but stronger than they look. They have to be in order for me to properly use my bow."

Ascadholiel smiled at him and nodded. "Thank you Legolas."

The elven archer nodded then stood again, letting Pippin take his seat. He smiled down at her. "You'll be without me tonight I'm afraid. I stand watch."

Ascadholiel nodded as she noticed another of the hobbits, Merry, she remembered, sat on the other side of her. "That's okay. I understand fully. You go and be the strong protective male type. We do what me must. I'll just snuggle with these cute little hobbits here. Right guys?" She threw her arms around their shoulders and hugged them.

The two little ones returned her hug and scooted closer into her sides. Pippin smiled brightly at her. "Oh it would be a pleasure Milady. Right Merry?"

The other hobbit nodded. "Course Pip" Then Merry looked up at Legolas. "Never fear Master Elf. We'll protect her while you're gone."

Legolas smiled in amusement. "Of that I've no doubt. Goodnight then."

They said their goodnights then sank into a nice conversation, Frodo joining in, and then Sam as well as he brought dinner over to them. Soon it got into a round of sharing songs, Gimli even joining in with some of the songs that he knew.

Frodo leaned forward after one song. "Asca, why don't you sing a song from your world."

Ascadholiel's eyes widened for a moment. "Oh, I don't know Frodo. My voice isn't that great. It might crack or squeak..." She saw the looks on their faces and sighed. "Oh alright. As long as you all promise not to laugh if it does."

They all agreed and she straitened up and cleared her throat. By now Gandalf, Aragorn, and Boromir had stopped talking to listen to the songs, and even Legolas kept an ear on them, as he stayed alert to the watch some ways away.

Not thinking that the elf would be listening, Ascadholiel spoke up. "This is a song right now that reminds me a lot of Legolas, so forgive me if I blush a little. It has more meaning than one in this instance, so you'll have to look deeper than just what you hear on the surface." She smiled gently at Boromir as she said this, as a sign that she was no longer mad at him, then started singing, her voice a little shaky at first, then strong and sure, a smooth sounding alto/soprano that drifted easily over the camp.

"Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender reed. Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed. Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching need. I say love, it is a flower, and you, its only seed.

"It's the heart, afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance. It's the dream, afraid of waking, that never takes a chance. It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give. And the soul afraid of dying, that never learns to live.

"And the night has been too lonely. And the road has been too long. And you think that love is only for the lucky and the strong. Just remember in the winter, far beneath the bitter snow, Lies a seed, that with the sun's love, in the spring becomes a rose."

Ascadholiel's voice drifted to a close and after a long moment of silence she opened eyes she hadn't realized that she had closed. The group was smiling at her and she blushed furiously.

Gimli was the first to break the silence as he patted her knee. "That was beautiful lady."

She smiled. "Well it was no where near as beautiful as Legolas' voice."

Aragorn chuckled a little. "Ai, I wouldn't be comparing your voice to that of an elf's, Lady Asca. Elves, as with other things, are naturally talented singers and no other race can match their many beauties."

Ascadholiel smirked. "Maybe so... but I can try my damndest."

The fellowship laughed, including Boromir. Ascadholiel noted this and stood, turning slightly serious. "Boromir, might I have a word with you in private please?"

Boromir and the rest of the fellowship stopped laughing and he stood to join her. "Of course milady."

Ascadholiel stepped carefully along the ground. "Walk with me a ways?"

The man nodded and followed a little behind her. As they passed Legolas, the elf put a worried/questioning hand on her shoulder

Ascadholiel paused and lightly touched his forearm, saying quietly, "Don't worry, we'll be right back."

Legolas nodded and let her go but still planned on keeping an eye on them.

The two walked a ways into the woods but stayed close enough to see the fire. Boromir stopped then. "I was wishing a word with you as well lady, but please, speak first as it was you who requested this meeting."

Ascadholiel nodded her thanks. "I wanted to apologize for some of the things I said to you the other day. Some of them mind you. Most I meant wholeheartedly. I find myself slowly but surely becoming more than just acquaintances with the rest of the fellowship, we are beginning to become friends. It weighs heavily on me that you and I are not. I wish for that to change."

Boromir nodded. "I would accept your apology lady, but I won't. Your words to me were well placed and truly made me look and think. Never before have I been spoken to in such a manner by a woman, and rarely a man... yet never so truthfully. I could not comprehend a lone woman being on the mountain like that and I did not fully believe you to be from another world. I thought it trickery of Saruman's. Then I truly looked after your words to me.

"Moreover, elves are known, even in my city of men, to be able to sense evil and resist its spells. Legolas was the first to trust you and I should have seen that. My remarks were rude and unjust, as you had sated. Even had I not trusted you, I should have trusted another of my fellowship. It is I who ask your forgiveness now milady."

Boromir took one of her hands and gently kissed the back as he looked at her in the moonlight peaking through the leaves of the canopy. "You have been ever modest since that first night and I see the error of my too swift words. Perhaps you will have your wish and we shall pave the way for a friendship between us."

Ascadholiel smiled and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you Boromir. I accept both the apology and your hand in friendship. Let's both forgive each other." She grimaced then and muttered, "God that was cheesy. 'These are the days of our lives.'" Then she chuckled at his confused look. "Sorry, it's a pun from my world."

Boromir nodded and smiled and they started walking back to the camp. As they did, Ascadholiel laid her hand on his shoulder again. "Next time though, just don't be such an ass."

Boromir's laughter rang out through the trees and back to the fellowship who all sighed in relief that the tension between the man and woman was broken.

Legolas was already smiling, having heard every word of their conversation. 'Maybe this journey won't be so bad.' He though as he looked up at the twinkling stars.

*****

Ascadholiel woke up nice and toasty the next morning. She stretched a little and noticed that something shifted both behind and in front of her. She opened her still half asleep eyes to the predawn light and noticed the curly head snuggled up under her chin. She smiled and wrapped her arms a little tighter around Pippin's small body making him snuggle a little closer to her. She looked over her shoulder, careful not to wake him up, to see Merry snuggled up just as tightly to her back, his sleeping face buried between her shoulder blades and his arm thrown over her waist.

Ascadholiel looked over towards the fire and saw that it had been rekindled by the two sitting by it with their backs to her. She looked around more and saw Aragorn standing a ways away on watch. She slowly extracted herself from between the two hobbits and smiled as they simply rolled into her vacated spot, snuggling up with each other. She tucked the blankets around them in a stroke of maternal instinct.

After that she straitened and walked over to the two sitting by the fire, who had yet to look at her, thou she knew that at least one of them knew she was awake and there. She knelt behind Legolas and wrapped her arms around his chest, resting her head on his shoulder and squeezing in a hug. "Good morning mellon nin." She kissed his jaw gently.

Legolas placed one of his hands over hers on his chest and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Good morning Ascadholiel. You seem to be in a good mood."

She squeezed him one more time before letting go and moving over to do the same to Boromir. "I am." She wrapped her arms around then man and gave him a swift peck on his stubbled cheek. I feel much better and much happier now that Boromir and I have cleared the air between us."

Boromir smiled and laid his arms over hers in a form of returning the hug. "For that I am glad as well. Did you sleep well Lady Asca?"

Ascadholiel nodded as she got up to go greet Aragorn. "Well enough without my elven pillow. I've come to the conclusion that hobbits generate more body heat than their small statures belie. Though my hips and back are starting to really kill me. Good morning Aragorn."

She hugged him and the ranger smiled, wrapping his arm around her and returning the embrace since she was before him. "Good morning Lady Ascadholiel. It is good to see both you and Boromir in such good spirits. Hopefully it will spread to the rest of the fellowship, especially Frodo. The burden on him is the greatest out of all of us."

Ascadholiel smiled and let him go. "When he awakens, I might know something that could help with that. A song that I live by that has helped me quite a bit. I've never sang it in front of anyone else before, but hey, you guys didn't laugh when I sang the last one, even though this one will be a slightly different style, so, we'll see." She smiled again and went back to sit by Legolas.

The elf looked at her as she sat. "Why would we have laughed? You sang beautifully."

Ascadholiel blushed and stared at him. "You were listening?"

Legolas nodded. "I apologize if I was not meant to listen. Tell me though, does the song you sang truly remind you of me?"

Ascadholiel blushed a little deeper and nodded, dropping her eyes shyly. "Yeah, in some ways it does nin mellon. In some definite ways."

Boromir smiled silently as he watched the two, noticing something between them that the two didn't even see themselves. As perceptive as the two of them were, they were evidently blind to their own feelings. They were starting to fall for each other. The way this girl blushed without sometimes knowing it and pushed and joked with the normally stoic elf made it obvious to the Gondorian. Not to mention that he actually had looked deeper into the song and had indeed seen a meaning deeper than even the girl had.

The other clue that Boromir had was from Legolas himself. The normally cold and distant blonde had opened up to the girl and had told her some of his past. He had let her sleep in his arms the second night. The proud elven prince even allowed her to refer to him as a pillow. He had been near frantic to find her after they were all buried in the snow. Though the biggest thing was also one of the smallest. Legolas smiled. He only smiled, however small, for Lady Asca, and was doing so more and more.

Boromir just wandered how deep the feelings would continue to grow and when they themselves would notice them. For now, they were definitely still only friends. He joined their conversation, 'or rather pulled in by Asca.'

While he thought this, he laughed as he watched the girl and the elf poke and elbow each other back and forth waiting between each time and pretending to be discreet about it. He found himself laughing openly at their antics as they played like little children, smirks ever present on their faces.

A few minuets later, Gandalf joined them by the fire, sitting on the other side of Boromir.

Still being in a wonderful mood, only heightened by her play with the elf, Ascadholiel got up and nearly ran around the fire and wrapped her arms around the wizard. "Good morning Gandalf!"

The wizard laughed and hugged her back before letting her go. "Good morning Lady Asca."

Ascadholiel kissed the old wizard's cheek then rose to her feet again and moved back to her seat. "Did you sleep well Gandalf?"

Gandalf nodded and smiled fondly at the girl. "Very well thank you. And yourself? Hobbits are known to kick."

Ascadholiel chuckled. "No. They were just fine. Well, Merry snores, but aside from that rather amusing fact, my sleep was restful enough. Once again, I missed my elf-sized pillow, but hey, you take what you can acquire, do you not? Good morning sleepy heads." She said as Merry and Pippin sat beside her, Pippin's hair a mess and both of them looking for all the world like groggy children.

They said their good mornings as Gimli joined them soon after. Finally Frodo and Sam were up and sat across the fire beside Gandalf and the dwarf. Sam began cooking the breakfast as the morning routine began again.

**********

A.N: Finally!! Chapter four is now out. I'm so sorry for those who have waited so long for this one to come out. I've been on a very long hiatus. For those of you who are reading my American Miko fic, I am continuing it. I've just run into a little problem of impassable writer's block. If any of you have any ideas for me, please drop a line and I will truthfully and open-mindedly listen and consider them. For this story... I have a definite set place I want to get to, starting in Lothlorien, the only problem is, getting there. Not to mention I'm going to medical school right now, so my time is almost nil. Do keep sending your support ne?! For those who have stuck with me, thank you so much and there will be more!!! Keep reading ne?! Namaarie!!!

~Celesta Hellewise Harman