AUTHOR'S NOTE: Sorry for the wait! Since you've had to wait so long, I will
keep this a/n short; the reviewer thank-you's are at the end.
Dangerous Dreams:
~*~ I was back again, in the same field where I had stood countless times before. I knew what I would see, I knew I could not stop it, but I also knew I could not stop myself from trying. Suddenly I could see him across the field, despite the hundreds of elves and orcs between us, my eyes sought him out easily. I watched as he slew one, then two of the terrible creatures.
"Ada!" I screamed as, while he was distracted by one orc, another came up behind him - and my world was shattered again. I stared helplessly at his lifeless body. "What do you want?" I cried to the air tearfully. "Why must I see this again and again?" My despairing thoughts were interrupted by a sinister chuckle. A rough hand grabbed my shoulder and jerked me around roughly. I was suddenly staring down a blade, with an orc at the other end.
"What's this 'ere?" he said as he pressed his blade against my throat. "Stupid elves don't have the brains to leave their women-folk at home, I see," he sneered. When I tried to run, he grabbed my hair and jerked me to the ground. "I could just kill you, but I think I may have a bit of fun first," he said. My mind was racing. There was no way for me to escape, and it was as if the other elves could not see me. Sometimes Legolas appeared in these dreams, but he was not here to save me this time; he always appeared just after Ada was killed. It seemed hopeless as the terrible creature bent over me, his fingers digging into my arm and neck mercilessly. His foul smell permeated my nostrils; I was wincing at the smell as much as the pain. I screamed, which only made him cackle.
"Scream all you want, elf, no one here will hear you." He brought his face so close to mine they were almost touching, and I squeezed my eyes shut as he sniffed loudly. "I can smell your fear," he said proudly. "I will make you fear me more than you can imagine before I am-" He was suddenly silenced as I was relieved of his weight. I opened my eyes just in time to see Legolas planting one of his knives in the orc's neck. His face was one of an emotionless warrior until he turned to me.
"Mara, are you okay?" he asked as his eyes scanned me for injuries, immediately finding where the orc's fingers had drawn blood in my arm and neck. I was unable to speak; I was too busy concentrating on breathing. Legolas gave me a little smile. "A silly question when we are in a dream, I know. I doubt that makes that hurt any less, though. I will go wake you up." A few moments later he faded away. ~*~
I awoke with one hand gripping Legolas's, the other tightly fisted in his tunic. I immediately let go and sat straight up in bed, breathing heavily.
"Mara, it is okay, you are awake now. It was only a dream," Legolas said soothingly as he lit the lamp beside the bed.
"I know, I just - Oh, Eru, it seemed so real! Every time it seems so real, and this time that orc. . ." I said as I turned into his embrace, turning my face into his neck.
"I know, I have never experienced such realistic dreams," he said, stroking my hair comfortingly. "Perhaps the orc was only there because of the stress of what happened with Tyelka earlier. Whatever caused it, though, it is over, let us not speak of it now. . ." His voice trailed off as he pulled my hair to one side.
"What is it?" I asked as I pulled back and saw his widened eyes. Without answering, he grabbed my arm and pushed the sleeve up, exposing vicious bruises where my arm had been bleeding in the dream. I gasped. I had never even heard of anything, including injuries, in dreams carrying over into the waking world. Legolas skimmed his fingers over the bruises before raising his eyes to meet mine.
"Please tell me you already had those," he said quietly. I shook my head as my eyes filled with tears.
"What does this mean? How can something like this happen?"
"I do not know," Legolas replied, "But we must find a way to stop these dreams. What if something worse were to happen, or if I were not there? How do we know what will carry over and what will not?"
"I do not know. I do not know why I must see my Adar killed repeatedly, why it seemed like only that one orc was aware of my presence, or how we share the dream. We never share any other dreams, why this one?" I had stood and begun pacing in an agitated fashion as I spoke. As I finished, I turned to face Legolas, who was still sitting on the bed. "There are nights when I am afraid to go to sleep, and now that this has happened, how will I ever be able to find peace in sleep? Ever time I close my eyes, I never know. . ." I trailed off forlornly and sank back onto the side of the bed. "I am sorry."
"Sorry? Sorry for what?" asked Legolas, his eyes clouded over with confusion.
"That you have been dragged into this. It was bad enough when you occasionally had to deal with one of my nightmares, but now it may put you in danger, and I am sorry that you somehow got involved."
"Well, I am not sorry," he said as soon as I had finished. "I am glad. If I had not been there tonight, who knows what may have happened? Of course it is unfortunate that you should have to deal with this at all, but if you must, I am glad that something out there is allowing me to somehow help." He smiled a little and wiped away a tear that still lingered on my cheek. "If I could take these dreams away, deal with them myself so that you would not have to, I would do it in a heartbeat. It hurts me to see you like this," he said, with such emotion I did not know what to do except throw my arms around him, only to bump my bruised arm in the process. I winced, and Legolas, of course, noticed.
"Let me see your arm," he said. He placed his hand over the bruise and, to my surprise, whispered a healing spell.
"You can heal!" I exclaimed when he had finished. He grinned sheepishly.
"Only a little; Aldeon taught me a simple spell for pain. The bruise is still there, but it will not hurt for a while." He repeated the process on the bruises on my neck. I went over to the mirror and found that he was right. The skin was still covered in a sickening array of black, blue, yellow, and green, but it no longer hurt.
"Thank you, it feels much better."
"You should ask Aldeon to heal them tomorrow," Legolas advised. "He is much better with the spells than I am and can most likely heal them completely."
"No," I said immediately, frowning. "Neither Aldeon or your father, or anyone else for that matter, should know about this." Legolas looked as if he wanted to protest, but eh consented.
"All right. But do not even think of asking me to keep the incident with Tyelka from them," he said, before I could even make the request. I pouted for a bit, but did not argue. "Come get in bed," he said. Before my protest could work its way past my lips, he was answering my fears. "There are a few hours yet until dawn. You do not have to sleep, but you should at least rest." I gave in and crawled beneath the covers. Legolas laid down behind me, his body nearly spooning mine, his arm around my middle in a protective manner.
"Legolas?" I said after a few moments of silence.
"Hmm?" he mumbled against my hair.
"You have fought orcs before, while on border duty, have you not?" He shifted before answering.
"Yes. Why?"
"Do they really look like the orcs in my dream, and do they carry such a stench?" Legolas propped his head on his hand as I rolled over to see him.
"Yes, they look like that, and smell like that, too. On the border, we can often smell them coming before we can see them. Why do you ask?"
"I have never seen - or smelled - an orc before. How can the depictions of orcs in my dreams be so accurate?" Legolas had no answer, and we soon drifted back into a comfortable silence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sometime after dawn when I rolled over to tell Legolas that we should change for breakfast, I found that he had fallen asleep at some point in the night. As I still felt guilty about keeping him awake the night before, I carefully crept out of the bed without waking him, then silently changed and brushed my hair before slipping out the door. As soon as I was in the hallway, I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing well how light of a sleeper he was. I hurried to breakfast, arriving at nearly the same time as Thranduil and Aldeon.
"Good morning," I greeted them.
"Good morning," returned Aldeon. "Did you sleep well last night?" he asked as the food was set upon the table. I nearly cringed at the reminder of my sleepless night, but somehow managed a smile.
"Yes, quite well." I tugged a bit on the high neck of my dress. I had deliberately worn a long-sleeved, high-necked dress to cover up the bruises.
"How did dinner with Tyelka go last night?" Thranduil asked. "I noticed that you left early."
"Um. . . yes, well. . ." I fumbled for words.
"Mara," came Legolas's voice, edged with warning, from the doorway. "Flustered, I pushed the food around on my plate a bit, ignoring Aleon and Thranduil's curious gazes. "Would you rather I tell them?" Legolas asked gently as he sat beside me. I nodded.
"Tell us what?" Aldeon demanded.
"When Tyelka and Mara left dinner last night, I followed a few moments later, and found him kissing her rather forcefully." Legolas had managed to keep his calm as he spoke, but unfortunately his father and my brother were either not as skilled or not as worried about controlling their tempers. They both stood immediately, faces flushed, speaking simultaneously of what they would do to Tyelka. Aragorn chose this exact moment to walk in.
"Whoa, what did I miss?" he asked with raised brows.
"Tyelka kissed Mara last night!" Aldeon exclaimed. Aragorn's raised brows shot even higher.
"I must say *that* came sooner than expected," he commented.
"You keep that expression very long and you will end up with eyebrows like Lord Elrond," Legolas said, earning a scowl from Aragorn.
"It was a forced kiss, you dolt, without Mara's consent," Aldeon said angrily.
"Please!" I cried, bringing silence to the table. "It was not that big of a deal. Legolas gave him quite a lecture, and I do not want him to be demoted or any such thing; one night of stupidity is not enough to destroy centuries of hard work in my eyes."
"In my eyes it is," Thranduil grumbled as both he and Aldeon sat back down. "But I will respect your wishes - this time. If he so much as touches you ever again-"
"Then I will have no objections to whatever punishment you deem necessary," I said. Aragorn blew out a long breath.
"Well, that was interesting. Remind me never to kiss you, Mara." When three angry elves immediately pinned their piercing gazes on him, he threw up his hands in mock surrender. "Kidding, kidding!"
A/N: To my wonderful reviewers:
Laura: Thank you! I'm not planning on stopping any time soon (
ElvenStar5: Lol, you sing? Maybe you could do a theme song for the fic!
Coolio02: Lol, yes, it was the dreaded 'Tyelka Lip Attack'. I haven't had time to check your story out yet but I will soon!
Orli's Babe: Thanks! Aren't we all dying to know?
Lauren: When you say more more more I get this mental image of someone banging on their keyboard like you see people banging on dinner tables saying 'food food food!'. Well, I hope you enjoyed the 'more'!
twirlerchicka13: Wow, your favorite? Thanks!
Elvenrocker: I think she was just a bit too traumatized to be 'pissed' about him watching her every move; otherwise she may have complained.
Passerby: Thanks! I hope you 'pass by' again!
Iluvien: Thanks for all the reviews! Now, for everything you said: Yes, I love Thranduil, too; I kind of made him a bad guy in my other story and felt I should make up for it :). And yes, Legolas's bad mood after the dance does have have to do with the secret, hence, I can't tell you! Thanks for the comment about the grammar; I try my best (but don't catch me in a chatroom, your estimation of my grammar would take a nosedive!)! And no, as you can probably tell already, there is to be no crush on Aragorn, I am every bit as firm as you when it comes to Tolkien's pairings. He put them together, they should STAY together. Aragorn and Arwen may come in as soon as the next chapter. . . Well this has gotten quite long! Thanks again for the reviews!
Mioni-bear: Thank you! I always love Legolas as the 'older brother' type, too.
Jennifer: I am also a sucker for the 'damsel in distress', although I also like the 'strong woman', so I often try to combine the two. Thanks!
DiamondDeamonRose: Uh oh! All I can say is enjoy Geometry while you can, because Algebra 2 is much harder (but then again, I was stupid enough to sign up for the honors class!). I have no more math homework, though, it's a new semester! Yay! I should be able to update more often now :).
Megolas1: Hopefully you got off your knees long enough to read this chapter, lol. I can honestly say that I don't know if Tyelka will strike again, you never know!
Jenn: 'Aw'? Yay! I got an 'aw'!
Tootie: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
POpCoRn: Yes, that did scare me! Goodness! But I'm glad you like it!
Miss-Pell: Glad you're enjoying the suspense! It may not be relieved for a few more chapters; hope you can stand it a bit longer!
Exile of Numenor: (You're welcome!) Thanks!
Tony: Well that 'certain watcher' certainly came in handy in this chapter! It may be too bad, though, that she had to 'realize that she is a beautiful young woman' under such circumstances, but Mara is just too stubborn, she just HAD to learn the hard way. *glares at stubborn Mara*
Taraa29: No! Don't strangle Mara, then it would TOTALLY ruin my plot! Lol, glad you like it!
Please review! I am sorry if I missed anyone! By the way, guess what?! I have 96 reviews! Yay! I'm going to cry(happy crying!) when they hit 100!
Dangerous Dreams:
~*~ I was back again, in the same field where I had stood countless times before. I knew what I would see, I knew I could not stop it, but I also knew I could not stop myself from trying. Suddenly I could see him across the field, despite the hundreds of elves and orcs between us, my eyes sought him out easily. I watched as he slew one, then two of the terrible creatures.
"Ada!" I screamed as, while he was distracted by one orc, another came up behind him - and my world was shattered again. I stared helplessly at his lifeless body. "What do you want?" I cried to the air tearfully. "Why must I see this again and again?" My despairing thoughts were interrupted by a sinister chuckle. A rough hand grabbed my shoulder and jerked me around roughly. I was suddenly staring down a blade, with an orc at the other end.
"What's this 'ere?" he said as he pressed his blade against my throat. "Stupid elves don't have the brains to leave their women-folk at home, I see," he sneered. When I tried to run, he grabbed my hair and jerked me to the ground. "I could just kill you, but I think I may have a bit of fun first," he said. My mind was racing. There was no way for me to escape, and it was as if the other elves could not see me. Sometimes Legolas appeared in these dreams, but he was not here to save me this time; he always appeared just after Ada was killed. It seemed hopeless as the terrible creature bent over me, his fingers digging into my arm and neck mercilessly. His foul smell permeated my nostrils; I was wincing at the smell as much as the pain. I screamed, which only made him cackle.
"Scream all you want, elf, no one here will hear you." He brought his face so close to mine they were almost touching, and I squeezed my eyes shut as he sniffed loudly. "I can smell your fear," he said proudly. "I will make you fear me more than you can imagine before I am-" He was suddenly silenced as I was relieved of his weight. I opened my eyes just in time to see Legolas planting one of his knives in the orc's neck. His face was one of an emotionless warrior until he turned to me.
"Mara, are you okay?" he asked as his eyes scanned me for injuries, immediately finding where the orc's fingers had drawn blood in my arm and neck. I was unable to speak; I was too busy concentrating on breathing. Legolas gave me a little smile. "A silly question when we are in a dream, I know. I doubt that makes that hurt any less, though. I will go wake you up." A few moments later he faded away. ~*~
I awoke with one hand gripping Legolas's, the other tightly fisted in his tunic. I immediately let go and sat straight up in bed, breathing heavily.
"Mara, it is okay, you are awake now. It was only a dream," Legolas said soothingly as he lit the lamp beside the bed.
"I know, I just - Oh, Eru, it seemed so real! Every time it seems so real, and this time that orc. . ." I said as I turned into his embrace, turning my face into his neck.
"I know, I have never experienced such realistic dreams," he said, stroking my hair comfortingly. "Perhaps the orc was only there because of the stress of what happened with Tyelka earlier. Whatever caused it, though, it is over, let us not speak of it now. . ." His voice trailed off as he pulled my hair to one side.
"What is it?" I asked as I pulled back and saw his widened eyes. Without answering, he grabbed my arm and pushed the sleeve up, exposing vicious bruises where my arm had been bleeding in the dream. I gasped. I had never even heard of anything, including injuries, in dreams carrying over into the waking world. Legolas skimmed his fingers over the bruises before raising his eyes to meet mine.
"Please tell me you already had those," he said quietly. I shook my head as my eyes filled with tears.
"What does this mean? How can something like this happen?"
"I do not know," Legolas replied, "But we must find a way to stop these dreams. What if something worse were to happen, or if I were not there? How do we know what will carry over and what will not?"
"I do not know. I do not know why I must see my Adar killed repeatedly, why it seemed like only that one orc was aware of my presence, or how we share the dream. We never share any other dreams, why this one?" I had stood and begun pacing in an agitated fashion as I spoke. As I finished, I turned to face Legolas, who was still sitting on the bed. "There are nights when I am afraid to go to sleep, and now that this has happened, how will I ever be able to find peace in sleep? Ever time I close my eyes, I never know. . ." I trailed off forlornly and sank back onto the side of the bed. "I am sorry."
"Sorry? Sorry for what?" asked Legolas, his eyes clouded over with confusion.
"That you have been dragged into this. It was bad enough when you occasionally had to deal with one of my nightmares, but now it may put you in danger, and I am sorry that you somehow got involved."
"Well, I am not sorry," he said as soon as I had finished. "I am glad. If I had not been there tonight, who knows what may have happened? Of course it is unfortunate that you should have to deal with this at all, but if you must, I am glad that something out there is allowing me to somehow help." He smiled a little and wiped away a tear that still lingered on my cheek. "If I could take these dreams away, deal with them myself so that you would not have to, I would do it in a heartbeat. It hurts me to see you like this," he said, with such emotion I did not know what to do except throw my arms around him, only to bump my bruised arm in the process. I winced, and Legolas, of course, noticed.
"Let me see your arm," he said. He placed his hand over the bruise and, to my surprise, whispered a healing spell.
"You can heal!" I exclaimed when he had finished. He grinned sheepishly.
"Only a little; Aldeon taught me a simple spell for pain. The bruise is still there, but it will not hurt for a while." He repeated the process on the bruises on my neck. I went over to the mirror and found that he was right. The skin was still covered in a sickening array of black, blue, yellow, and green, but it no longer hurt.
"Thank you, it feels much better."
"You should ask Aldeon to heal them tomorrow," Legolas advised. "He is much better with the spells than I am and can most likely heal them completely."
"No," I said immediately, frowning. "Neither Aldeon or your father, or anyone else for that matter, should know about this." Legolas looked as if he wanted to protest, but eh consented.
"All right. But do not even think of asking me to keep the incident with Tyelka from them," he said, before I could even make the request. I pouted for a bit, but did not argue. "Come get in bed," he said. Before my protest could work its way past my lips, he was answering my fears. "There are a few hours yet until dawn. You do not have to sleep, but you should at least rest." I gave in and crawled beneath the covers. Legolas laid down behind me, his body nearly spooning mine, his arm around my middle in a protective manner.
"Legolas?" I said after a few moments of silence.
"Hmm?" he mumbled against my hair.
"You have fought orcs before, while on border duty, have you not?" He shifted before answering.
"Yes. Why?"
"Do they really look like the orcs in my dream, and do they carry such a stench?" Legolas propped his head on his hand as I rolled over to see him.
"Yes, they look like that, and smell like that, too. On the border, we can often smell them coming before we can see them. Why do you ask?"
"I have never seen - or smelled - an orc before. How can the depictions of orcs in my dreams be so accurate?" Legolas had no answer, and we soon drifted back into a comfortable silence.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sometime after dawn when I rolled over to tell Legolas that we should change for breakfast, I found that he had fallen asleep at some point in the night. As I still felt guilty about keeping him awake the night before, I carefully crept out of the bed without waking him, then silently changed and brushed my hair before slipping out the door. As soon as I was in the hallway, I breathed a sigh of relief, knowing well how light of a sleeper he was. I hurried to breakfast, arriving at nearly the same time as Thranduil and Aldeon.
"Good morning," I greeted them.
"Good morning," returned Aldeon. "Did you sleep well last night?" he asked as the food was set upon the table. I nearly cringed at the reminder of my sleepless night, but somehow managed a smile.
"Yes, quite well." I tugged a bit on the high neck of my dress. I had deliberately worn a long-sleeved, high-necked dress to cover up the bruises.
"How did dinner with Tyelka go last night?" Thranduil asked. "I noticed that you left early."
"Um. . . yes, well. . ." I fumbled for words.
"Mara," came Legolas's voice, edged with warning, from the doorway. "Flustered, I pushed the food around on my plate a bit, ignoring Aleon and Thranduil's curious gazes. "Would you rather I tell them?" Legolas asked gently as he sat beside me. I nodded.
"Tell us what?" Aldeon demanded.
"When Tyelka and Mara left dinner last night, I followed a few moments later, and found him kissing her rather forcefully." Legolas had managed to keep his calm as he spoke, but unfortunately his father and my brother were either not as skilled or not as worried about controlling their tempers. They both stood immediately, faces flushed, speaking simultaneously of what they would do to Tyelka. Aragorn chose this exact moment to walk in.
"Whoa, what did I miss?" he asked with raised brows.
"Tyelka kissed Mara last night!" Aldeon exclaimed. Aragorn's raised brows shot even higher.
"I must say *that* came sooner than expected," he commented.
"You keep that expression very long and you will end up with eyebrows like Lord Elrond," Legolas said, earning a scowl from Aragorn.
"It was a forced kiss, you dolt, without Mara's consent," Aldeon said angrily.
"Please!" I cried, bringing silence to the table. "It was not that big of a deal. Legolas gave him quite a lecture, and I do not want him to be demoted or any such thing; one night of stupidity is not enough to destroy centuries of hard work in my eyes."
"In my eyes it is," Thranduil grumbled as both he and Aldeon sat back down. "But I will respect your wishes - this time. If he so much as touches you ever again-"
"Then I will have no objections to whatever punishment you deem necessary," I said. Aragorn blew out a long breath.
"Well, that was interesting. Remind me never to kiss you, Mara." When three angry elves immediately pinned their piercing gazes on him, he threw up his hands in mock surrender. "Kidding, kidding!"
A/N: To my wonderful reviewers:
Laura: Thank you! I'm not planning on stopping any time soon (
ElvenStar5: Lol, you sing? Maybe you could do a theme song for the fic!
Coolio02: Lol, yes, it was the dreaded 'Tyelka Lip Attack'. I haven't had time to check your story out yet but I will soon!
Orli's Babe: Thanks! Aren't we all dying to know?
Lauren: When you say more more more I get this mental image of someone banging on their keyboard like you see people banging on dinner tables saying 'food food food!'. Well, I hope you enjoyed the 'more'!
twirlerchicka13: Wow, your favorite? Thanks!
Elvenrocker: I think she was just a bit too traumatized to be 'pissed' about him watching her every move; otherwise she may have complained.
Passerby: Thanks! I hope you 'pass by' again!
Iluvien: Thanks for all the reviews! Now, for everything you said: Yes, I love Thranduil, too; I kind of made him a bad guy in my other story and felt I should make up for it :). And yes, Legolas's bad mood after the dance does have have to do with the secret, hence, I can't tell you! Thanks for the comment about the grammar; I try my best (but don't catch me in a chatroom, your estimation of my grammar would take a nosedive!)! And no, as you can probably tell already, there is to be no crush on Aragorn, I am every bit as firm as you when it comes to Tolkien's pairings. He put them together, they should STAY together. Aragorn and Arwen may come in as soon as the next chapter. . . Well this has gotten quite long! Thanks again for the reviews!
Mioni-bear: Thank you! I always love Legolas as the 'older brother' type, too.
Jennifer: I am also a sucker for the 'damsel in distress', although I also like the 'strong woman', so I often try to combine the two. Thanks!
DiamondDeamonRose: Uh oh! All I can say is enjoy Geometry while you can, because Algebra 2 is much harder (but then again, I was stupid enough to sign up for the honors class!). I have no more math homework, though, it's a new semester! Yay! I should be able to update more often now :).
Megolas1: Hopefully you got off your knees long enough to read this chapter, lol. I can honestly say that I don't know if Tyelka will strike again, you never know!
Jenn: 'Aw'? Yay! I got an 'aw'!
Tootie: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!
POpCoRn: Yes, that did scare me! Goodness! But I'm glad you like it!
Miss-Pell: Glad you're enjoying the suspense! It may not be relieved for a few more chapters; hope you can stand it a bit longer!
Exile of Numenor: (You're welcome!) Thanks!
Tony: Well that 'certain watcher' certainly came in handy in this chapter! It may be too bad, though, that she had to 'realize that she is a beautiful young woman' under such circumstances, but Mara is just too stubborn, she just HAD to learn the hard way. *glares at stubborn Mara*
Taraa29: No! Don't strangle Mara, then it would TOTALLY ruin my plot! Lol, glad you like it!
Please review! I am sorry if I missed anyone! By the way, guess what?! I have 96 reviews! Yay! I'm going to cry(happy crying!) when they hit 100!