NOTE: GothicBlacre, there is another way to say 'go kiss an Orc' in Sindarin, but I don't know it right off the top of my head. And sofia, good insight! :) Enjoy!

Chapter Sixteen: Síriel is Touched

A woman had never kissed Gimli before, and he had never at all dreamed that even a half-elven maiden would kiss him. A strange feeling coursed through his body. Síriel was smiling through her tears. She pulled him close to her for an embrace, and he felt odd. He was glad when she let go of him. He had never been that close to a woman before. And a woman in tight clothing that revealed all her curves was quite dangerous business, even for a Dwarf. But he kept his wits about him.

"You are welcome, my lady. I only hope that there comes a chance for you to wear them, then you must let Legolas inform me." he said.

Síriel smiled and wiped her face.

"I will do that, Gimli. I thank you again, and good night!" she said.

"Good night!" he called after her, as the door closed behind her.

When she was gone, Gimli shuddered.

"All your life a woman has never been so much as an axe's length close to you, and then you almost lose yourself to a young half-elven maiden who kisses you on your forehead?" he chided himself. "You must have more sense than that, Gimli. You must!"

Síriel rushed from the Dwarves' guest hall to the hall where her sire and fellow Elves were lodged. Glóin attempted to call her, alarmed at her tear-stained face, but she rushed past him. He was debating whether or not to go to her himself when his son appeared.

"What have you done to Síriel?" he demanded.

Gimli looked at him with a dazed expression.

"She kissed my forehead and embraced me…" he said inaudibly.

"Son, you know that I do not have the sharp hearing ability of the Elves. Speak louder so I can hear you." Glóin said.

"She kissed my forehead and embraced me…" Gimli repeated.

"And you hit her, did you? Do you not understand that she meant it only as a sign of appreciation and friendship? Just because you are not used to women does not mean that you should take any sign of affection from them seriously, especially her! She is so innocent!"

Gimli sighed.

He spent the next hour carefully explaining to his sire exactly what happened between him and Síriel, leaving out no minute detail. When he finished, Glóin nodded to him in a knowing way.

"Women have a habit of bursting into tears over the strangest things. It was not your fault at all, my son, not your fault at all." he said.

Gimli chuckled. Now he had another reason not to wed. He pitied Legolas. The poor Prince did not know what he was getting himself into.

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Back in her own room at the guest hall where the Mirkwood Elves where resting, Síriel was gazing at the gift Gimli had given her. How kind of him to give her a gift, despite the fact that they had never met before! And how kind of him to encourage Legolas to speak with her and know what was troubling her! Dwarves, or so she had heard from many Elves, were quite selfish beings. They did not care for anyone or anything but themselves and mining, ever mining for more jewels and mithril. Yet Gimli and Glóin had proven all of those Elves wrong. In fact, she felt that the Elves she had heard this information from where themselves selfish. Anyone who passes off false information about another race because they feel superior to them must be selfish. These two Dwarves had given her more than most of the Elves she had ever met. They had given her love, friendship, and their kind hearts. That was why she had gone down to the thirteen Dwarves when they were locked up in Thranduil's prisons. She knew exactly what they were feeling because she felt it herself. They had appreciated her for who she was—a being with feelings and rights just like themselves. They cared not if she was a full-blooded Elf or not.

Gil-celeb heard muffled sobs from his daughter's room. He went in and found her cluching a small box and crying over it.

"What is the matter?" he asked her gently.

She flashed the box under his nose.

"Jewelry? Where did you get it?" he asked.

"Today, here." she sniffed.

"And…did you pay for it?" Gil-celeb asked.

To his complete horror, Síriel shook her head.

"Man (what)?" he shouted.

Síriel lifted her copper-red head slowly.

"I did not steal it, if that is what you think." she said.

"Then how did you come by it if you did not pay for it?" Gil-celeb said. "It follows reasonably that if you did not pay, then you stole it."

"You forget that there is another way, sire."

"Pray tell me what is that way?"

"A gift."

Gil-celeb looked astonished.

"A gift? From whom?" he asked.

"Gimli." Síriel replied. "He gave it to me. He has been exchanging very detailed letters with ernil Legolas. He knows everything about me as well as what is happening between Legolas and myself. Did you know, adar, that Gimli persuaded Legolas to speak with me and find out about my past? Legolas was afraid to do so and further injure me. It is not true what is said about Dwarves, that all of them are selfish and care for nothing at all. Gimli and his sire alone have given me more than most of the Elves in Thranduil's palace for all the time I have lived there! They see me for who I really am—a person like them with feelings and rights! Oh, sire, you do not know how happy I am because of this gift!"

Gil-celeb was speechless for several minutes. He knew that what his daughter said was nothing but the truth. He had witnessed himself the treatment she had received at the hands of the Elves in Mirkwood.

How many times had he awoken during the nights to hear his only beloved daughter weeping because of something she had been told? And now a Dwarf, by giving her this small gift, had proven that she was just as she had said herself, a person with feelings and rights. And she was weeping because someone finally appreciated her for who she was.

Reaching over to caress her hair, he said softly:

"Henion (I understand), Síriel."

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The following morning, Síriel was surprised to find Gimli at the lodge. He bowed slightly to her.

"I forgot in my haste last night to give you this. It is a note for Legolas. If you can deliver it to him." he said.

Síriel nodded and took the sealed letter.

"I will do that, master Gimli." she told him with a smile.

He remained for the morning meal with her. When it was over, he could not help but feel slightly sad. He liked her, but did not want to admit it to himself or his father. That would be too embarrassing. He stood with the men of Lake-town as they watched the Elves board their rafts, which were laden with the things they had bought.

"If I do not see you again, may you have a life full of happiness. It was an honor to meet you, Síriel." Gimli said.

The maiden bowed deeply.

"It was my honor, Gimli. Please give my regards to your father. I will always treasure your gift." she told him.

The Dwarf stood and watched the Elves as they were towed back to the river, and he gave a final wave of farewell to Síriel.