AUTHOR'S NOTE: All I want to say is don't get your hopes up, the title is
misleading, but I put that title just for that reason. I love being evil!!!
Hehe, anyway, also, thank you for all the great reviews I've gotten. I know
there are more, but Tony, yours are more memorable if only because they
seem so professional. I really appreciate all of them, though, and I really
hope everyone sees fit to continue reviewing! Thanks!
I"Father!" He was so close, if I could just get to him before the orc. "No!" My father had fallen under the orc's blade. Once again I was too late. But now I had even more to worry about. The orc had now turned to me. I heard my name called from a nearby hill. The leering face of the orc came closer, his rusty scimitar ready to cleave me as it did my father. Out of the corner of my eye, on a hill, I saw Legolas, struggling to get to me as I had struggled to get to my father, and I knew that he would fail, just as I had. Suddenly the gleam of his blonde hair which had stood out on the dark field disappeared. The orc, which before had seemed to be moving in slow motion, now quickened his pace towards me. His blade glowed red with my father's blood, and I knew that mine would soon join it. He raised the bloody weapon above my head, and I screamed helplessly in anticipation of my own painful death.I
"Mara! Mara, wake up!" I sat up, breathing heavily. It took me moment to remember where I was. Stranded at the palace because of flooding, in the room across the hall from Legolas's. Legolas was standing by my bed, his hands on my arm where he had shaken me awake.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Yes," I replied, "I am sorry if I woke you. I was having that same terrible nightmare again. but it was different this time."
"I know," Legolas said. "I was there." With my mind still being cloudy from sleep, it took me a minute to understand what he meant.
"You were there? I mean, I saw you, but I did not realize. and you disappeared!" Legolas smiled a little and nodded.
"Yes, I was there. At first I did not realize what was happening, but I recognized it as the dream you had described to me before. When I saw that orc headed for you, I panicked for a second, but I forced myself to wake up somehow. I don't really know how. But as soon as I awoke I came in here because I knew you were having the same dream."
"Is that really possible? To share a dream?" Legolas shrugged.
"Obviously. I mean, we both remember the same thing, and I disappeared in your dream when I woke up." I simply nodded and looked out the large window in the large guest room Legolas had talked me into staying in.
"It is not even near dawn but I know I will not be able to sleep again tonight," I said with a small smile. Legolas also smiled as he stretched and sat in a chair nearby.
"So what do you want to do?" He asked.
"Oh no, you don't have to stay up too, you should go back to bed," I quickly said. I should have known better; he was always just as stubborn as me, if not more so.
"So you think I'm so big and strong and fearless I can forget something like that and just go right back to sleep?" He laughed a little before he continued. "I guess I can take that as a compliment, but it is not quite true. That was very. unsettling and I think I would rather stay up with you." I raised my eyebrows at him in challenge, but he just shrugged and sat back comfortably in his chair, as if to say he was not going anywhere. I rolled my eyes as I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
"Fine." I paused. "I wish these nightmares would stop. I have been having them since the night after I found out he had died. I have never really had dreams at all before that." Legolas sat forward.
"Maybe they will stop when you accept that your father has died; that you cannot reach him."
"You mean if I do not try to reach him in the dream?" He nodded.
"Yes, something like that." I could see the nightmare playing in my mind, and I knew how hard that would be.
"It will be hard to do that. It is so real, as if I am really there on that field and there is the chance I can reach him. I do not know if I can stand there and watch him be killed - again - without trying to do something about it." I felt my eyes fill up with tears, and this time I did not even try to stop them. "I cannot keep watching him be killed again and again." Legolas moved to sit on the edge of my bed and, he had done many times in the past few weeks, put his arm around me consolingly.
"Then you should try to stop those dreams. I have seen how horrible they are now. Maybe the purpose of these dreams is not to give you a chance to try to save him, but to say goodbye to him and accept his death." I sniffed a little, wiped my eyes, and somehow managed to grin a little.
"I never realized that you were so philosophical," I said. Legolas laughed, and for a moment he just looked at me, with an odd look on his face, before he abruptly stood and crossed the room to the window. I got up put of bed to light some candles so we would not hurt ourselves tripping over something in the pitch darkness. I lit the lamps but could not reach some of the wall sconces. I grunted in frustration as I stood on tiptoe to reach one, then squealed as I was lifted off of the ground. After I got over the split-second panic, I lit the candle before Legolas set me back down.
"You could have warned", I began loudly, before Legolas clamped his hand over my mouth, laughing quietly.
"Shh!" he said, still barely managing to contain his laughter. "We are most likely the only ones awake and I would rather not wake the entire household."
"Well if you had given me some kind of warning." Legolas's already wide grin spread even further.
"Oh, but scaring you is so much fun!" I frowned and poked him in the side before lighting the rest of the candles until the room was fully lit. When I turned back around, Legolas was sitting on the bed, watching me with that same strange look. a kind of half-smile thing. I wondered about it but decided it was nothing and sat beside him on the bed.
"What are we going to do now that we are awake in the middle of the night?" I asked, slightly embarrassed that it was my fault that we were awake at all.
"Well." said Legolas, thinking. "Oh, I just started a book that you would probably like. We could just read it until sunrise." I agreed, and Legolas went to his room, soon returning with a thick book.
"Well that will I certainly /I last us until dawn," I said. I never had liked long books.
"Oh, stop complaining, you big baby," Legolas said as he settled on the bed beside me. I settled my head on his shoulder as he opened the book so that I could see it.
"A I romance?! /I" I exclaimed. "Since when do you read romances?" I asked, thoroughly amused.
"Hey, I have wide-ranging interests," he chuckled. I yawned and settled back for the long hours ahead.
I"Father!" He was so close, if I could just get to him before the orc. "No!" My father had fallen under the orc's blade. Once again I was too late. But now I had even more to worry about. The orc had now turned to me. I heard my name called from a nearby hill. The leering face of the orc came closer, his rusty scimitar ready to cleave me as it did my father. Out of the corner of my eye, on a hill, I saw Legolas, struggling to get to me as I had struggled to get to my father, and I knew that he would fail, just as I had. Suddenly the gleam of his blonde hair which had stood out on the dark field disappeared. The orc, which before had seemed to be moving in slow motion, now quickened his pace towards me. His blade glowed red with my father's blood, and I knew that mine would soon join it. He raised the bloody weapon above my head, and I screamed helplessly in anticipation of my own painful death.I
"Mara! Mara, wake up!" I sat up, breathing heavily. It took me moment to remember where I was. Stranded at the palace because of flooding, in the room across the hall from Legolas's. Legolas was standing by my bed, his hands on my arm where he had shaken me awake.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Yes," I replied, "I am sorry if I woke you. I was having that same terrible nightmare again. but it was different this time."
"I know," Legolas said. "I was there." With my mind still being cloudy from sleep, it took me a minute to understand what he meant.
"You were there? I mean, I saw you, but I did not realize. and you disappeared!" Legolas smiled a little and nodded.
"Yes, I was there. At first I did not realize what was happening, but I recognized it as the dream you had described to me before. When I saw that orc headed for you, I panicked for a second, but I forced myself to wake up somehow. I don't really know how. But as soon as I awoke I came in here because I knew you were having the same dream."
"Is that really possible? To share a dream?" Legolas shrugged.
"Obviously. I mean, we both remember the same thing, and I disappeared in your dream when I woke up." I simply nodded and looked out the large window in the large guest room Legolas had talked me into staying in.
"It is not even near dawn but I know I will not be able to sleep again tonight," I said with a small smile. Legolas also smiled as he stretched and sat in a chair nearby.
"So what do you want to do?" He asked.
"Oh no, you don't have to stay up too, you should go back to bed," I quickly said. I should have known better; he was always just as stubborn as me, if not more so.
"So you think I'm so big and strong and fearless I can forget something like that and just go right back to sleep?" He laughed a little before he continued. "I guess I can take that as a compliment, but it is not quite true. That was very. unsettling and I think I would rather stay up with you." I raised my eyebrows at him in challenge, but he just shrugged and sat back comfortably in his chair, as if to say he was not going anywhere. I rolled my eyes as I sat up and rubbed my eyes.
"Fine." I paused. "I wish these nightmares would stop. I have been having them since the night after I found out he had died. I have never really had dreams at all before that." Legolas sat forward.
"Maybe they will stop when you accept that your father has died; that you cannot reach him."
"You mean if I do not try to reach him in the dream?" He nodded.
"Yes, something like that." I could see the nightmare playing in my mind, and I knew how hard that would be.
"It will be hard to do that. It is so real, as if I am really there on that field and there is the chance I can reach him. I do not know if I can stand there and watch him be killed - again - without trying to do something about it." I felt my eyes fill up with tears, and this time I did not even try to stop them. "I cannot keep watching him be killed again and again." Legolas moved to sit on the edge of my bed and, he had done many times in the past few weeks, put his arm around me consolingly.
"Then you should try to stop those dreams. I have seen how horrible they are now. Maybe the purpose of these dreams is not to give you a chance to try to save him, but to say goodbye to him and accept his death." I sniffed a little, wiped my eyes, and somehow managed to grin a little.
"I never realized that you were so philosophical," I said. Legolas laughed, and for a moment he just looked at me, with an odd look on his face, before he abruptly stood and crossed the room to the window. I got up put of bed to light some candles so we would not hurt ourselves tripping over something in the pitch darkness. I lit the lamps but could not reach some of the wall sconces. I grunted in frustration as I stood on tiptoe to reach one, then squealed as I was lifted off of the ground. After I got over the split-second panic, I lit the candle before Legolas set me back down.
"You could have warned", I began loudly, before Legolas clamped his hand over my mouth, laughing quietly.
"Shh!" he said, still barely managing to contain his laughter. "We are most likely the only ones awake and I would rather not wake the entire household."
"Well if you had given me some kind of warning." Legolas's already wide grin spread even further.
"Oh, but scaring you is so much fun!" I frowned and poked him in the side before lighting the rest of the candles until the room was fully lit. When I turned back around, Legolas was sitting on the bed, watching me with that same strange look. a kind of half-smile thing. I wondered about it but decided it was nothing and sat beside him on the bed.
"What are we going to do now that we are awake in the middle of the night?" I asked, slightly embarrassed that it was my fault that we were awake at all.
"Well." said Legolas, thinking. "Oh, I just started a book that you would probably like. We could just read it until sunrise." I agreed, and Legolas went to his room, soon returning with a thick book.
"Well that will I certainly /I last us until dawn," I said. I never had liked long books.
"Oh, stop complaining, you big baby," Legolas said as he settled on the bed beside me. I settled my head on his shoulder as he opened the book so that I could see it.
"A I romance?! /I" I exclaimed. "Since when do you read romances?" I asked, thoroughly amused.
"Hey, I have wide-ranging interests," he chuckled. I yawned and settled back for the long hours ahead.