A/N: Title not to be confused with "Making Love".

Chapter 24- Making Lembas

Indilisse and Haldir had not seen each other for two entire days. She had not necessarily been trying to stay away from him, but it was obvious to her that staying away was exactly what Haldir was doing. As far as she knew, no one had heard of what had transpired between them, or if they had, they had been especially tight lipped on the matter. There were a few questioning looks from Luinil, however, so it made her believe that Haldir had talked to him about the whole situation. She could not understand the questionable looks, though, from Luinil because she had not been lucky enough to ascertain exactly what Haldir was accusing her of.

Needless to say, she was presently on her way to Rúmil's and Narië's talan for the evening meal and to celebrate Rúmil's begetting, with the knowledge that Haldir would most likely be there and that dinner would be very uncomfortable. Even more so if the other three decided to formulate a plan to bring them together faster.

She paused before the wooden door, adjusting the dress upon her shoulders and lifted her hand to knock on the door. There came loud curses from inside the talan, and Indilisse made them out to be the brothers' engaged in some form of game with dice. Indilisse giggled to herself and knocked on the door, crossing her arms over the front of her body, holding Rúmil's gift in her hands carefully. Narië came to the door and pulled it back, giving Indilisse a look of sheer exasperation.

"Thank Eru you are here!" Narië exclaimed, grabbing Indilisse's arm and pulling her hastily into the room. "I thought you might never show up."

Indilisse giggled, and looked at Narië after quickly scanning the room. The three brothers sat around the main carven wood table, talking happily, berating each other, daring each other, drinking dark wine and rolling dice between them. "Why are you so happy to see me?"

"I need a female to talk to." Narië said lowly, "Someone who does not constitute rolling dice a fun game."

"Then I am not that person," Indilisse remarked, trying desperately to keep a straight face.

Narië sighed and laughed, nudging her shoulder against Indilisse's. "You better watch it, or I can embarrass you with no troubles with Haldir around."

"You are evil Narië." Indilisse blushed slightly and motioned for Narië to move in the direction of the kitchen area. The ellyn decided right at that moment to become quite quiet and finally realize that they had been joined by one more elleth.

Rúmil jumped up and grabbed Indilisse in a long hug, looking at Narië, "Narië, my love, you think of the best begetting day gifts. I would love to have both of you in my talan..."

"More appropriately your bed," Narië replied with a sarcastic laugh, moving into the kitchen.

Indilisse pushed herself out of Rúmil's arms and smacked his arm, "Rúmil, I cannot believe you would talk like that now that you are bound."

"That is what I say!" Narië called.

Rúmil pouted, "Why can I not? I am only voicing a dream that I have had for some time now... of course they have stopped since Narië and I joined... but...."

"You will not be able to dig yourself out of this one now, Rúmil." Indilisse laughed, "And besides, you are not my type."

She handed Rúmil his gift and joined Narië's side in front of the small hearth as she mixed a stew of some sort. Indilisse had become fully aware of one set of eyes on her back, but was not sure if the others were watching her as well. What was Haldir trying to do anyway? Burn a hole into the back of her head?

"Tell us, Indilisse," Orophin started and paused for a sip of his wine. "What is your type?"

Indilisse groaned and glanced sideways at Narië who only mustered an emotionless shrug. What a great friend she was. "That is not a question I would like to answer at this very moment, Orophin."

"But Indilisse, if you have not found a suitable ellon by now in all of the elven homes, I believe you are setting your standards a little high." Orophin continued.

She turned and glared at Orophin and he smiled wickedly back at her. "I will not oblige you an answer, Orophin, now just leave the subject alone."

The room was quiet again before Rúmil called his brothers back to the game before them. Indilisse and Narië finished gathering the meal and set it upon the table, Rúmil and Narië sitting across the table from each other. Orophin took the side with only one seat, thereby making Indilisse and Haldir sit beside each other. Did his brothers not even know about the fight they had recently?

Fortunately, the meal was progressing peacefully, but she was not unaware of the sideways glances Haldir would afford her every so often. When a dish was asked to be passed, he would hand it to her, and she would take it, being careful to not touch him, but on a few occasions she had not been so lucky and brushed his fingers lightly. Every single time that this happened, however, she felt a slight pleasure that she had never felt before by a simple touch- not even previous touches from Haldir. Something was intervening, weaving its magical spell around them, and no matter the level of their distaste for each other, it was nearly forgotten by the end of the night- even if it was for a very short time.

Rúmil took the velvet pouch the gift Indilisse had brought him was in, and appraised it cautiously before loosening the toggles and opening the bag. He reached in and pulled out an old leather bound book, the pages yellowed and beginning to crumble from deterioration from its long years in existence. Rúmil ran his fingers over the harsh leather cover, lifting the top cover to look at the first page. "I cannot believe you still have this, Indilisse."

"I do not have it any more, it is again yours." Indilisse smiled.

"What is it?" Orophin asked, standing over his brother's shoulder to peer down at the brittle parchment. "It's that old diary you kept?"

Rúmil nodded, "I gave it to Indilisse when she left Lórien so she would not forget me."

Indilisse giggled and nodded her head, "We wrote letters back and forth through this book, but it was mostly Rúmil's drabbling."

"I still cannot believe you kept this all these years." Rúmil said in awe and looked up at her.

"You said I could keep it and give it back if I ever returned to Lórien." She smiled, "I am back now, and I think you need it more with all those sappy love poems about the elleths in the bath house. Maybe Narië would benefit from them."

Everyone laughed, except Rúmil who sighed and shook his head, "You always manage to turn any situation into a joke."

Indilisse looked at him, "But you must promise to keep it between you and Narië only. I do not wish all of my dark secrets spread throughout Caras Galadhon."

"I should give it to Nindë then?" Rúmil questioned.

"You are evil." Indilisse stood up and placed her hand on Rúmil's shoulder, the other on Haldir's without thinking. She felt the muscles beneath her fingers tense tightly and realized what she had done. "Well, my friends, it is getting late and my mother asked me to help her bake lembas and bread in the morning. I unfortunately have not made the dough for the lembas yet."

Narië looked at her and frowned, "You are supposed to let that set for half a day!"

"I know," she chuckled, "That is exactly why I must go and make it now."

She said her goodbyes quickly and made her way back to her talan, letting herself in and closing the door behind her softly. Indilisse sighed, thinking about Haldir for a brief moment before she was interrupted by a soft knock on her door. "Who is it?"

"Haldir." Came the deep reply.

Dropping her shoulders, she pulled back the door to reveal the glum-faced March Warden. "If you are here to be inappropriate again, let us save the hassle and let me knee you again."

Haldir visibly grimaced, but quickly washed the look from his face. "I will not be inappropriate. I came to apologize. I should not have treated you like I did, you deserve better than that, and I do not think I will ever be able to forgive myself if you do not."

"Why did you do it?" She asked, leaning against the door.

"Were you in the garden with Elladan?" He asked.

Indilisse nodded, "We have already gone over this Haldir. Aye I was, and no you cannot dictate what I can and cannot do."

"I am not going to." Haldir looked at her for a long moment before continuing, "Did he kiss you?"

"On my temple, but only as a friend would." Indilisse replied, her stomach quickly growing uneasy with the direction of the questions. What she had suspected Haldir saw was exactly what he had. "Did you see me do more?"

He bit his lip, "I do not know what I saw."

She softened her stance and reached out to run a hand across his soft cheek. "I left when Eruanne joined us. She decided to go to Imladris with Elladan to get to know him better. That is who you saw with Elladan."

"How can I know for sure?" He asked again, but in an antagonizing fashion.

Indilisse looked at him and sighed, "There is no reason that you should believe me, Haldir, and Eruanne and Elladan are no longer here to vouch for me. All you can know is what is in your heart regarding all the times we have been together and I have been truthful with you."

"You are right, Indilisse, and I was wrong not to trust you." Haldir nodded his head and turned his ashamed eyes from her. "For all that I have done to you, I am sorry, my dear Indilisse. I love you, I am sure it does not seem like much now, and I understand if you never wish to speak with me again. Even I would not want to speak to myself again after I had not paid the correct attention to you around others. Or after I had listened to Nindë and went where she told me. I am despicable for having ever doubted your character because I know you are the purest and truest elleth I have ever had the privilege of knowing."

Indilisse stared at him wide eyed, trying to take in fully what he was saying. She wanted to speak, but something bound her mouth shut and made her body freeze so she could not react.

He continued, "And it is particularly horrible that I let my mind make me believe it was you, when I knew all along it could not have been you. The dress Eruanne wore was a shade darker than the one you wore... You deserve an elf that is far superior to me, Indilisse, so I can just say that I love you and that is all I have to offer you. That is the reason I was so angry. I could not bare the pain of seeing you touch another ellon. I wanted it to be me so badly in Elladan's spot when I thought it was you."

Haldir looked around, and Indilisse could only stare blankly.

"I love you, Indilisse. I have since you were an elfling, but ever since you have returned, it has been a new love. The kind that makes someone completely fall apart because all they can think about is that person." Haldir sighed and glanced at the ground. "I regret having waited this long to tell you, but it did not make any sense to me. I have never felt like this before."

Say something you imbecile! She was so emotionally moved and shocked at the sincerity of his admissions, that for a short amount of time she forgot how to coherently move her mouth to form any word. Indilisse could not even make a sound, and the look in his eyes as he met hers again briefly caused a great pain to rip through her body. He thought she did not return his feelings! Say something!

He nodded his head and blinked his eyes a few times, almost as if trying to fend off tears. "Well, I have said what I wished, so now I bid you sweet dreams."

With that, he turned and started hastily away from her door. He walked down the first few steps and Indilisse, finally coherent, if only by a slight bit, mumbled, "I love you too."

At least that made him stop. He whipped around and looked at her from his spot just at the first set of stairs down to the city floor. Surprise riddled his face.

Finally the use of her facial muscles returned and she was able to give him a soft smile, and said firmly this time, "Haldir, I love you."

In three long strides, he was in front of her once again, but this time he placed his hands upon her waist and pulled her against him. Before she could speak again, his lips were upon hers, questing hungrily, but again were laced with the love and care she felt so many other times before from him and had missed when he had visited her talan not three days prior. Haldir broke apart from her lips, caressing her cheek with his hand, "Say it again, Indilisse, so that I am sure I am not hearing things."

"I love you, Haldir, March Warden of Lórien, Captain of the Galadhrim... my love. And I have already forgiven you for what you have done." Indilisse said through an emotion-heavy voice, but quickly pulled back from him, smacking his shoulder.

He recoiled in shock, "If you have already forgiven me, what in Eru's name was that for?"

"That is for even paying attention to Nindë. There is no forgiving that." She remarked, pulling from his arms. Indilisse turned around and entered her talan, leaving Haldir standing dumbfounded outside the door. She went to her kitchen to collect the ingredients to start mixing the lembas, expecting Haldir to follow her, but he did not. After a few moments of waiting for him to make his entrance, she walked to the door and found him still standing in the same spot she had left him, and with the same disbelieving expression on his face. "Why are you still standing outside my door?"

"You did not invite me in." Haldir replied, looking up into her bright eyes and soft expression. He still could not comprehend that she too loved him, and had not told him until just a few moments earlier. All of his worrying about rejection and pity coming from her had been unfounded the entire time. She loved him! When he heard her say those words the last time, he felt his heart light on fire and swore he could have heard the sound of silver trumpets in the air. Finally, there would be no more skirting around the issue, and holding back his real feelings so that he could guard against anything that could happen between them. Never before had he been able to completely let his walls down, but with Indilisse... his Indilisse... everything was possible.

She giggled at his remark and grabbed for his hand. Oh how he loved the sound of her laugh. "Since when does something as insignificant as an invitation into an elleth's talan bother the March Warden? I have always heard that he takes what he wants."

He allowed her to pull him inside. "Well, my Indilisse, I very much used to do that. But I have learned in these few short months since you have been back that I must take into consideration other's feelings and situations as well."

"I am very glad to be of your service." Indilisse smiled cheekily, closing the door and walking back to the kitchen area.

"What are you doing?" He asked as she poured ground wheat into a large wooden bowl.

She glanced up at him, "I told you already. I am preparing lembas dough for the morrow."

"Oh." He looked around the front room, and found that no candles had been lit, the only light in the room that from the constant glow of city streaming in through the small windows. Haldir looked for matches and lit the candles in the room.

"Why do you ask Haldir?" Indilisse questioned, looking at him. "You did not think I was telling the truth?"

Haldir glanced at her and gave her a sheepish smile, "I thought it was only an excuse to get away from me as fast as you could."

She sighed, "Aye, that was partly the reason, I must admit, but I am helping Naneth. They are preparing for their journey west."

"So you have known about it?" He asked, "When Master Targon mentioned that he wished to be a part of one more training before he left, I could not tell if he told you."

Indilisse sighed heavily, "He did not tell me; Nana did."

"Why did he not tell you?" Haldir questioned again, leaning against a wall across the kitchen from Indilisse.

"Because he did not want to anger me." She replied. "He has said in the past that if I had not bound by the time they leave Middle Earth, that he would like me to accompany them there so I would not be in danger at the ending of all things."

He listened to her carefully, knowing on some level just how controlling Targon was, but had never really noticed it to this extent with his family. "It is not as though you are an elfling. I cannot believe he would request that of a two thousand year old elf-maiden."

Indilisse snorted slightly, gazing back at him, "Most are wed by the time they reach a millennia. And he does not think I can care for myself should a problem arise."

"I can tell you that you are probably the most capable of protecting yourself compared to any other maiden, though I do not hope you take that to heart and never bind." Haldir said, looking over her again. She went back to work at mixing the concoction, remaining quiet and involved in her work, giving Haldir some much needed time just to gaze over her lithe body through the thin dress she wore. Her hair moved freely about her back, only bound in a single half braid with some strands falling to frame her oval-shaped face. The toned muscles of her arms and back worked in effortless accordance with one another as she moved about the tiny kitchen, pouring liquids and measuring off seasonings.

He could not stand watching her for much longer, and closed the distance between them, placing his hands on her shoulders. She gasped slightly, jumping back and landing so that her back was sufficiently pressed against his chest. Indilisse tried to turn around in his arms, but he held her firmly in place, letting his hands move slowly down the exposed, smooth skin of her upper arms, and slowly to circle around her lower arms. Watching her reaction intently from his vantage point of looking down at her from the side, he made sure that he was not overstepping his boundaries with regards to their relationship. After all, they had only just admitted their love.

Indilisse seemed to be enjoying what he was doing, as she had all but stopped the mixing of the ingredients with her hands and let her head rest back on his shoulder. Haldir smiled, not sure if she could see it or not as her eyes were half closed. Slowly he let his long fingers entwine with her sticky, flour covered ones and submerged them back into the goopy mixture. Her hair smelled of the distinctive soft niphredil, as it almost always did, but since he was so close it seemed intensified tenfold. He struggled to keep his composure as he slowly guided her hands into the leisurely folds used to mix the substance. Indilisse giggled lightly and removed her head from his shoulder, looking down at the bowl in front of them.

Haldir continued to move their hands in the intricate dance, feeling parts of himself being given away every movement they made together, almost as if they were making love. Never before could he have equated mixing lembas dough with the soft (or heated) caresses of love making, but now here he was standing behind Indilisse, losing himself in the moment by the scent of her hair, the soft breathing from her mouth and the way her body grazed against his. He would forever remember this evening and making lembas together, partaking in the experience of it- sharing and being so close, hopefully as a precursor to the actual act of bonding. The thought excited him even more so and he made a vain attempt to shift his position to hide this fact, but she only smiled and held his hands in place.

He placed a soft kiss upon her right ear tip, eliciting an exaggerated sigh from Indilisse. "Melin le, brennil nin."

She removed her right hand from the now completely mixed recipe, her hand slightly covered in the wet dough, and reached for a cloth to wipe her hands off. Before cleaning her hands, though, Indilisse removed his right hands and gently wiped it of the substance. Next she took his left hand, spending a longer time appraising each of his long fingers as she ran the cloth along them. Haldir was unable to breathe as she did this; it was titillation in the simplest form to have her clean any part of his body.

I have to stop thinking like this right now.

Indilisse finished with her own hands and placed the cloth over the top of the bowl, pushing it to the back of the counter until the following morning. She then tried to turn in his arms, but misjudged just how much he had been pressing her against the wooden countertop, and was only able to turn a third of the way before her left hip hit the wood. He took this as his chance to place another kiss in the crook of her neck, then began trailing up her neck ever so languorously to her jaw line. Her eyelids fluttered slightly, and he continued across her cheek as she twisted just enough to meet his lips. They met in a heated kiss, one of need and passion, his tongue grazing her lower lip, coaxing hers to join his in a well orchestrated dance. Indilisse smiled slightly against his mouth before allowing him entrance to sweep his tongue along the inside of her mouth.

She blindly extended her hand behind her and grazed a cheek as he quested deeper into her mouth. Her fingers brushed along a piece of hair that escaped his braid, and nimbly pushed it back from his face, gently running her smooth fingers over the tip of his ear. An incredible sensation rippled through him at that moment and he was unable to suppress a deep growl into her mouth.

Not wishing to be outdone by her caresses, he placed his sure hands upon her cloth-covered abdomen, his fingers splayed out and nearly spanning the entire distance of her flat stomach. Bit by bit, he let his fingers graze up her body, stopping just before reaching one rounded breast. Cupping it, he tested its suppleness with a few light kneads, feeling the nipple harden from beneath the fabric of her gown. Her breathing grew heavier and she let out a tiny gasp as two of his fingers found the tight nub and rolled slowly.

Indilisse broke her lips from his, and struggled to find her breath as her eyelids hung half closed over her passion-filled eyes. "You should go."

"So soon?" He asked, hoping his utter disappointment did not seem that apparent.

She pushed him back and turned to face him, "Haldir, meleth nin, it will be better if you do not stay. I cannot restrain myself when you touch me like you do."

Haldir smiled and leaned into her, resting his forehead against hers. He would have to have her soon or he would explode combust from all of the pent of sexual frustration from their relationship. "Then we are in the same boat, Indilisse, but I do not wish to end this."

Indilisse sighed, "Nor do I, Haldir. But there will be a better time and place for such things. I do not give myself as freely as others do."

"I know." He said lowly, placing a soft kiss upon her brow. "I am being selfish."

"No more selfish than I am wishing to make you wait." Indilisse replied with a small smile.

Haldir nodded his head in understanding, knowing she was probably not only nervous about the situation, but also was reserved after such a big disagreement a few days before and that she was probably waiting for a commitment more than anything. He was ready to give of himself completely to her, but first he had to think of just the perfect way and time to do it.

With his own sigh, he pulled away from her and smiled, "Oltho vae ne fuin hen, meleth."

"Harthon cened le ennas." Indilisse replied and placed a soft kiss upon his mouth.

Before he could be pulled fully into the kiss, he parted them again and started to the door with her following him. Haldir walked towards the stairs and stopped just at the top before turning back and gazing at the door of her talan. She was resting her head against the doorframe; her eyes were closed with a look of utter happiness upon her face as she lost herself in a reverie- hopefully of what had just transpired between them. The soft, cool wind was blowing at the light folds of her dress, pressing it sensuously to the front of her body, the air brushing past her beasts and swelling her nipples from the cool contact. Drawing his attention away from her chest, he raised his eyes and met hers that were wide open now with a haughty grin playing on her lips. Had she just been showing herself off just to tempt him?

It took all of his will power to turn back around and not go to her and take what he needed so badly. Haldir let out a long sigh, adjusting his tunic on his shoulders before taking the first step down the staircase. All good things come to those who wait. Aye, that would be true.

--- Naneth- mother Melin le, brennil nin- I love you, my lady Meleth nin- my love Oltho vae ne fuin hen, meleth- May you dream well tonight, love Harthon cened le ennas- I hope to see you there