A/N: WHEEEE!!!!!!! Reviews are fun! *hint hint* Anyways, thanks to all my reviewers for bothering to read this story. I am very happy to say that it doesn't seem like a Mary Sue to me... I mean, at least Nicole hasn't fallen madly in love with Legolas.... yet. I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do with that yet, but since they seem to hate each other quite a bit, I think they're just going to go on hating each other. Besides, Legolas is mine, Nicole can't have him!!!!!! If you want a Legolas romance, go read my other LotR story. It's going to end up being a romance.

Also, terribly sorry about this, but at some point in time, there has to be a chapter which is actually serious. So, here it is. Nicole isn't too happy, as you'll soon find out. But I'll try to stick some humor in anyways.

Oh, and as a warning, those of you that hate it when the main character sings, too bad for you. ~m~

Disclaimer: Tolkien is a genius, I am not. I think that clarifies everything.

Home Sweet Home

Chapter Seven ~ Tears For Home

Nicole got bored of walking very easily. The only thing that had changed was the weather, and the order of the way the group was walking. The order was now Gandalf and Aragorn at the front, followed by Nicole, followed by the hobbits, then Gimli and Boromir at the rear. But still, it was boring beyond belief. She amused herself by putting a bit more drama in the Fellowship's lives. In her thoughts, of course, because if she did it out loud, she was worried that they'd cut her leg open again.

Gimli turned to Legolas, who had just saved him from dying from an attack of flying tree-monkeys.

"Legolas, I know I hate you because you are an over-obsessed Elf, very mean, ugly, too graceful, and what is with the prancing?" Gimli said with a very tearful and emotional expression on his face. He continued, wiping his tears with his overly-bushy beard. "Despite all of your painfully obvious flaws and imperfections, you're like a brother to me. I love you!"

Opening his arms wide, so as to better crush Legolas with his powerful hug, Gimli is stopped by Legolas' reply to Gimli's speech.

"I love me too."

Nicole burst into a fit of giggles, which got annoyed stares from everyone in the Company, especially Legolas because of his super-sensitive ears, and the fact the Nicole was walking right behind him. Legolas said, not too quietly, to Aragorn, "I'll take the rear-guard." He went to the back of the group, and Boromir came forward to talk with Aragorn about some boring stuff.

Nicole tuned out of that conversation and just blanked for a while. The soap-opera game she had been playing wasn't fun anymore, because she'd run out of insults for Legolas, compliments on Gandalf's hair, and comments on the short stature of five of the members of the Fellowship. Instead, she tried to remember as many lines from the "Mary-Sue" parodies of LotR she used to read. Thinking of fanfics made her think of computers, which made her think of technology, which made her think of how Middle-Earth had absolutely none at all, which made her think of Earth, and how it was fun. Except it wasn't because... well, it doesn't matter. I can't remember all that much about Earth anyways. She repeated that in her head, and wiped her eyes, trying to keep them moisture-free.

Inconveniently, Boromir chose that time to turn around to ask her something. Nicole thought hurriedly of an excuse, then decided to sneeze. She made it sound really big, or allergic, or something. The sneeze made it seem like she was just sick or allergic to something, so Boromir didn't really get the big picture. Ha, no wonder he's blonde... but nice. she added, because he quickly gave her a cloak.

"Thanks," she said.

"Are you sick?" Boromir asked, not waiting for an answer. "It is not remarkable, we are getting closer to the mountain, the weather is colder. I would not have chosen this path if it had been at all possible. But they insist that Caradhras is the only way."

Nicole nodded. The topic of geography and weather was extremely boring to her. Luckily, Boromir turned back to Aragorn and continued their discussion. Nicole's thoughts of Earth came back to her. Out of her obscure, drifting thoughts, she heard a single melody reach out. She searched her memory of choir songs to find the key, the artist, the occasion, anything about it. Finding nothing, she assumed it was a song that she heard often on the radio. She couldn't remember to hearing it on the radio either. She finally remembered hearing it on a TV show long ago. Nicole didn't know why she would remember that song, but she remembered it clearly. She hummed the melody under her breath, comforted by the memory of what she used to call her home. Suddenly she remembered Legolas' Elf-hearing, and abruptly stopped. She'd only ever sung in a group, and was embarrassed if anyone ever caught her singing solo.

Deciding that brooding was better left for private contemplation, Nicole joined the hobbits in a rousing game of "Name That Rock". Apparently, Nicole wasn't the only one bored out of her mind. The hobbits were quickly running out of names.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Pippin asked.

Nicole thought for a moment, then pointed to a rock on the left. "That's Bob."

Pippin shook his head and said quite seriously, "We've already used that name. Pick another one."

Nicole laughed at his seriousness, then pointed to a different rock. "Ok then. That's Hewey." She picked another rock close by, "That's Louie." Choosing a third rock to complete the duck trio, she concluded, "And that's Dewey."

Merry nodded, "That's better." They continued they're game for a long time, most of the unusual names coming from Nicole, along with a surprising amount of names from Sam. Of course, most of them were the names of plants. The rest of the day they spent trying to make up new names because they ran out. Boromir and Gimli would help out occasionally, but Legolas, Aragorn, and Gandalf kept on being serious. Spoil sports, Nicole thought bitterly, I guess it's too much to ask for them to have fun once in a while. At least Gandalf doesn't think I'm a spy. And Aragorn is pretty nice to me. And then there's Legolas... Nicole's thoughts trailed off because thinking of Legolas made her think of her soap-opera version, which made her laugh, and that would just make everyone angry at her all over again.

The day passed slowly, and when they made camp Nicole felt unreasonably tired. After everyone ate their meager portion of dinner and deciding the night watches, they settled down for the night. Gimli was taking the first watch. Nicole lay awake for a while, able to make out the soft breathing of four sleeping hobbits.

"Gimli?" she called softly, unable to fall asleep just yet.

"Aye," he answered gruffly and as quietly as he could manage.

Nicole paused for a moment. Her thoughts seemed too tangled right now to say anything that would make sense. In the end, she sighed quietly and murmured, "Good night," before rolling over and falling into a fitful sleep. Her dreams were glimpses of her old life, images seen as if she was looking through a shattered glass. One of the more disturbing images was a graceful porcelain ballerina spinning in slow circles. Music box melodies accompanied the image. In the real world, Nicole's body shuddered and rolled over again, shifting position. The dreamscape changed now, and Nicole was looking through the cracked glass at a garden during a rainstorm. The tinkling melody changed to the song without a name that Nicole had remembered earlier. This picture was more calming and she was lulled into a false sense of security. The glass shattered and Nicole's eyes opened suddenly and her body tensed. Geez Nicky, it was only a dream. More like nightmare... Breathe. Calm down. She waited for her pulse to slow down and breathed slowly and quietly.

Legolas had taken the watch now, she noticed, and was staring up at the stars. Nicole resisted the urge to giggle, because it was so unlike her soap-opera self-loving Legolas to be pensive. She felt like spontaneously grabbing a pair of scissors and chopping his blonde hair into a nice mushroom cut. Let's see if he still loves himself after that. She smiled at the thought. Nicole soon found herself staring up at the stars too, and just thinking about the way her life used to be. Unaware of her actions, she began humming the familiar song again. By the time she had realized that she was humming, she had actually started singing the song, even though she didn't know that she knew the words. She sang in English, happy that she was at least able to remember the language she used to speak with frequency. Singing softly to herself, she was able to momentarily forget where she was, and that she was still in the company of an Elf that was awake.

I waited 'til I saw the sun
I don't know why I didn't come
I left you by the house of fun
I don't know why I didn't come
I don't know why I didn't come

When I saw the break of day
I wished that I could fly away
Instead of kneeling in the sand
Catching teardrops in my hand

My heart is drenched in white
You'll be on my mind
Forever

Out across the endless sea
I would die of ecstasy
But I'll be a bag of bones
Driving down the road alone

My heart is drenched in white
You'll be on my mind
Forever

Something has to make you run
I don't know why I didn't come
I feel as empty as a drum
I don't know why I didn't come
I don't know why I didn't come
I don't know why I didn't come

As the last note escaped from her lips, the lulling spell was broken and she was aware again of her surroundings, and the reality stung her harder than she would have expected. A silver tear spilled from her lashes and slipped down her cheek. I thought I was supposed to feel at home here, her depressed heart argued. But you do feel at home here, rational thoughts refused to accept her hearts emotions, you're just homesick. It'll go away, once you get used to this place. "I'll never get used to it," she whispered quietly.

A sudden shift to her far left reminded her of Legolas' presence. She tensed suddenly, remembering all the instances in the novels when some Elf had used his or her super-hearing... and realized that he had probably heard her singing. Oh great, I'm never going to live this down. The one thing I never wanted to happen, happens here: the place where I am supposed to fit in and be all secure and stuff. Screw that philosophy. She turned onto her right side, so that she faced away from him. She breathed deeply and quietly, trying to restrain herself from grabbing her dagger and giving him that mushroom cut she'd envisioned.

Everything will be OK in the morning. Maybe he'll forget about it. I mean, if you were 2000-something years old, how good can your memory be? The thought half-convinced Nicole. Everything will be OK in the morning. Everything will be OK in the morning. Everything will be OK in the morning. Repeating her mantra silently, she eventually managed to fall asleep, promising herself that she would stop thinking about Earth. Everything will be OK in the morning. Everything will be OK in the morning.

Legolas turned his attention back to the sky silently, watchfully.

A/N: Grr... I don't like how I ended this chapter. Hopefully you were all able to survive the sappiness. I'll try to keep it out of the story from now on, unless you guys like it, then I'll put more in. It's all about the reader! **and the reviews** LOL! And, as an extra Disclaimer: Don't Know Why belongs to Norah Jones. If I ever put in an original song, then I'll tell you about it. But until that day (never) comes, it's not mine!!!! Ok, well, I'm very sorry that this chapter took so long, but lots and lots of stuff is going on right now. I'll try to get Chapter Eight up soon. As in, maybe a week? Lets hope so... Well, I'll let you all get on with the reviews! *hint hint* ~Morgaine~