Authors Note: Ok so first things first.... I am soooooo sorry for taking sooooooo long to up date this fic I offer no excuses and can only apologise over and over and hope that this chapter goes someway to making up for my disappearance.

Oh and wish me luck I have to go and pick up my Alevel exam results next week.....

Chapter Eleven

"A...Ada." She whimpered, for the second time, as his arms encircled her slim form, trapping her firmly with in his desperate embrace.

She was immediately overwhelmed by the touch of his skin, by his smell by.... by everything his presence caused her to feel. She silently cursed herself at not being strong enough to form any other words. She had been waiting a life time for a moment similar to this so why now could she not think of the right words to say. The last thing she wanted was to start their relationship with an uncomfortable silence!

But the silence was quickly broken.

"I am so sorry," He whispered, gently beginning to rock her soothingly from side to side in his arms as he felt the first of her tears meet his skin, where her cheek lay tightly against his neck. "I am so sorry for everything."

Unknowingly she then found the right words.

"Do not be!" Her voice sounding muffled as she tried to bury herself further into his shoulder. "You did not know. No one knew fully what had happened. It was all a horrible mix of unfortunate events." Aranel silently scowled herself at her inability to with hold a sob. She didn't have time to cry she had to convince him that there was no need for him to apologise.

"Shh," Legolas attempted to comfort. "Everything is going to be alright." He could not quite bring himself to say when it was that he believed everything would be alright, there were still many things that needed to be sorted out, to be spoken of , but eventually life would hopefully slow down and give them time to relax and learn about each others experiences that they should have been apart of, that he truly did believe.

Gently pulling back from her, Legolas lent forward and pressed a gentle kiss to the pale skin of her forehead before placing a hand on her shoulder and leading her over to the cushioned window seat.

He smiled comfortingly as he pulled her down to sit next to him.

"Gods," Aranel whispered, reaching up with one of her hands to wipe away her tears. "There is so much I want to ask you but I...., I have no idea of where to start."

"There will be time for me to tell you everything that you wish to know but first I just need to know that you are safe and well." He softly brushed her last treacherous tear drop away from the corner of her eye.

"I am." She glanced up and met his smiling gaze. She found herself almost instantly lost in the torrent of emotions she saw in those blue depths, mirroring everything she was feeling and more. "I am now."

"Grandfather how was she when you left her?" Tavaril asked hurriedly, bypassing any formal greeting which would have been far more appropriate as he raced into the elf Lords chambers.

"Aranel, for I presume that is whom you speak of, was as I expected her to be...,." Elrond stated. "Nervous."

As he spoke the elf lord reached out to pour himself a glass of wine, picking up the bottle from where it had been placed on dresser in his chamber by one of the serving staff. "But I suspect that she will be fine once they have spent some time together."

Tavaril moved further into the room, kicking the wooden door closed behind him. "When are you going to talk to Aragorn?" He was anxious to know when his uncle would be brought into the reunion currently taking place a few rooms away from where they stood.

Sighing loudly Elrond sipped at his wine before placing the glass back down on the dresser. "I would prefer it if you did not seek to destroy the door Tavaril" He sighed once again. "And I will wait to discuss it with Legolas. I do not wish to force another reunion upon him before he is ready." He picked up his glass again, swallowing a mouthful of the sweet red liquid before continuing. "He has had a lot to take in over the last few days, and Aragorn has only just learnt of Arwens proposed departure..... they are both in need of some time to adjust before forcing them into to further upset."

"Upset?" Tavaril glanced over meeting with his grandfathers' eyes. "You think they will be angered by each others appearance in their lives?"

Elrond sighed. "To be honest I have little idea as to how they will react to each other, especially as Aragorn has long believed Legolas to be dead. The knowledge that he has been living in Mirkwood all this time with no word to the man he was supposed to have loved may produce a range of unpredictable emotions from our human king."

"Will introduce him to Aranel first or would it be wise to...."

"Tavaril!" Elrond frowned, using his tone of voice to calm the increasingly agitated younger elf. "Let us see what comes of her encounter with Legolas before we make any further decisions." He moved a few steps forward and placed his hand gently on his grandson's shoulder his tone softening with a hint of regret. "Ultimately it is their choice. I believe that I have meddled enough in their lives. I no longer have the right to judge what they choose to do."

"What do you think Cadell, Aloysius, and ...."

"Tavaril enough!" Elrond sighed. "I dare not assume how Aragorn's children will react but all three of them are now considered adults so hopefully they will behave as adults and keep out of discussions that do not concern them." He glared meaningfully at the young, dark haired elf, hoping to get his point across.

Thrusting his hands into the air in mock surrender, Tavaril laughed.

"I have stopped with my questions I promise."

"Thank you," Elrond grinned, Tavaril's laughter was infectious. "Now let us sort out where Legolas will be staying, I think some where far away from the royal chambers as possible would be more suitable do you not? We do not want any sudden and unplanned confrontations in the corridor."

"Now that I would pay gold and silver to witness." Tavaril was still laughing but now his eyes had taken on a gleam that reminded Elrond to much of the boys' father.

"What?"

"A confrontation between Aragorn King of men and Legolas Prince of Mirkwood! Are not both legendary warriors? What a battle we could expect from an unorganised meeting that neither was ready for..." Tavaril tapered off as he noticed the look of complete exasperation that almost radiated from the elder elf.

"Are you finished?"

"Yes my lord." He said hurriedly lowering his gaze to the floor.

"I fear that there is too much of your father in you Tavaril. He always lacked the ability of knowing when it was a good time to quit."

Hearing the amusement in his grandfathers' voice he looked up and once again met his eyes.

"Besides a fight like that could go on for days, you would not have the patience to sit through it."

"What will happen now?" Aranel asked softly. She now sat comfortably with her legs curled up under her to one side of the cushioned window seat, Legolas, no Ada it would take time to get used to called this elf beside her by that title, sat smiling with one of her hands enclosed with in his. They had probably now spent hours listening to each others life experiences. Both had been desperate to explain how much they had wanted each other to be part of their past experiences of both joy and depression.

Except for the first there had not been any of the uncomfortable silences she had expected would occur when she had first met him. But then she suspected that it had a lot to do with the fact that they had so much to discus. So much each wanted to tell the other.

At her question Legolas glanced over his shoulder and out at the slowly fading sun light. They had been lucky so far to not have been interrupted but he doubted it would be long before Elrond came for them.

Legolas knew he had to be hidden away until Aranel was ready to face Aragorn. Until she was ready to face another individual who would, once again, change her life completely.

"What do you wish to happen?" The smile that had previously graced his face disappeared slightly. "How do you wish to proceed?"

"I..., How do you think he will react? Aragorn I mean?" She hurried to add in order to avoid confusion.

"To you?"

She nodded.

"He will seek to integrate you into his family." Legolas' smile returned as his mind began to wander back through his memories of the human king that had long ago worked his way into his heart. "He will instantly love you for it is not in his nature to turn away of his friends or family when they are in need."

"But you are unsure of how he will cope with your return." She felt him tense, gripping her hand tighter as he was pulled back from his memories.

"He will be angry at first." Legolas sighed. "But I can not blame him for any reaction that I may produce from him. In all honesty I expected anger from you when we first met. I half expected to be returning to Mirkwood this evening."

"Why?" She sounded surprised, anger was probably the one emotion that she had not felt in the last few hours.

"Aranel I should never have believed what was told to me, I should have searched the forests and never rested until I had proof of your death and that of Gimli." He released her hand and reached up to push back a strand of her shoulder length hair that had fallen forward across her face. "I was not strong enough and I gave up far too easily."

"But you were not to know." She tried to convince him once again.

"I gave up without a fight." He growled. "That is something that I will never forgive myself for and I do not expect you nor Aragorn to forgive me for it either."

"But..."

Aranel was silenced at the sound of footsteps making their way down the stone corridor past the room they were effectively hiding in.

Releasing a sigh that sounded more like poorly with held laughter Aranel shook her head gently.

"My nerves are completely on edge." She giggled, though Legolas almost grimaced at the anxiety clearly noticeable in her laugh.

"Do you want me to speak with Aragorn first?" His eyes glanced up and meet with hers asking the same question with his gaze. "That way I many be able to calm him down before you meet him or at least he will be so over come with shock that he will be unable to form worlds."

"Do you think his reaction will be that bad?"

"No," Legolas shook his head. "As I said he will love you. Do not fear his reaction although I would advise you to allow him time to come to terms with all that has happened. To say it was a shock for me to discover that you still lived would be an incredible understatement. Poor Aragorn must attempt to cope with the appearance of the both of us."

She nodded, agreeing with his words and trying, but not succeeding to with hold a new flow of tears that once again began to well in the corners of her eyes.

"No," He reached up to wipe away one of the droplets that began to make its way down her face. "No more tears enough have been shed over the last few years to last us a life time." He pulled her into a loose, but comforting embrace. "And I am sure that there will be more to come over the next few days but enough for now."

She nodded, not trusting her voice not to break if she attempted to speak her acknowledgement and understanding. She buried herself further into his arms, revelling in the knowledge that she was being held by a father she had long believed to be dead.

This is what she had been searching for.

Ever since Gimli had began telling her tales of her family as a young child, this is the feeling she had been searching for.

She left Legolas' grip suddenly tighten around her as the footsteps outside in the corridor returned. This time there was a soft tapping at the door before the handle was turned, and the door pushed open.

"I am sorry to disturb you,"

Aranel turned in her fathers arms to face Tavaril where he stood in the now open door way.

"Evening meal is now being served in the main dinning hall. Lord Elrond has asked me to use this time to escort you to the chambers you will be staying in for tonight." He smiled at the two still curled up on the window seat. "This way you will hopefully be able to walk through the palace without any unwelcome sightings by those who would recognise you."

"Thank you." Legolas said as he released Aranel from his arms and stood, turning as he did so to gasp her hand and pull her up beside him.

"Ada," Aranel smiled as they walked towards the young male elf. "This is Tavaril. He... he has helped me so much over the last few days." She reached forward and took hold of Tavaril's arm with her free hand. "Tavaril this is Legolas.... my father."

There she had said it.

The first time she had ever been able to introduce her elven father to anyone. It felt strange, but trilling at the same time.

"This is my Ada." She repeated with a grin, and resisted the urge to slap Tavaril's shoulder as she caught him as he rolled his eyes at her when she repeated herself.

"Thank you for looking out for her when I could not." Legolas grasped Tavaril's arm in gratitude and the younger male smiled.

"It has been a pleasure to aid her in her search my lord. I am only grateful that I was able to assist her as much as I have been able to."

Aranel gripped Tavaril's hand tighter before releasing it and gesturing for him to lead them out of the room and into the corridor beyond.

They had only walk a few steps out of the room when Aranel suddenly stopped.

"Oh... wait." She pulled away from both elves and turned to run down the corridor in the opposite direction.

"Aranel!" Tavaril called after her. "What is it?"

"I have to apologise to Gwen I was supposed meet with her earlier."

Tavaril shook his head. "Do not worry, Lord Elrond has already explained that you are no longer able to work for her and has compensated her for that."

"Oh... but I still should say something......or....."

"Aranel!"

She watched as Tavarils' gaze moved suggestively from her to her father. He was right, now was not the time. She needed to be with Legolas. This was their time now to many people had come between them in the past.

This was their time.

She nodded and raced back the short distance along the stone corridor.

Back to her fathers side.

This is where she needed to be right now.

Elrond shifted uncomfortably in his seat trying to think of a reason to keep the family at the table for as long as possible. He glanced across the room and tried to judge the amount of time that had past since he had left Tavaril outside his chambers. It felt like hours had gone past but he was sure that it was his own anxiety that was making time seem to drag by.

"Ada?" Elrohir asked from where he sat opposite him. He was obviously concerned. "Are you well?"

Oops.

He obviously had not been as careful and unnoticeable as he had hoped.

"Aye Elrohir I am just tired." He smiled as he spoke attempting to disrupt the attention that was now placed on him by most sitting at the table.

"Did you not rest well last night?" Aragorn worriedly questioned. After all it was unusual for the elf lord to admit to a possible weakness.

"Not as much as I had planned, no, but I will make sure that I do this night." He took a bite out of a piece of fruit and tried to move the conversation on to a different subject. "Elrohir you should be proud."

"I should? Why?" He asked suspiciously. "What has happened?"

"I spoke with Tavaril earlier he has matured a lot since I last spoke with him. Why what else do you think I would know about? What have you been up to?" Elrond questioned glancing across to Elladan who sat beside Elrohir.

The second of the twins shrugged his shoulders before he turned to face his brother.

"Nothing I swear... Where is Tavaril?" Elrohir scanned the room with out detecting his sons' presence.

"He... ummm..." Elrond quickly tried to form an excuse for his missing grandson, but was not able to do so with the speed he had hoped for.

"Well?" Elrohir asked.

"I am here Ada sorry I am late," Tavaril marched through the main entrance just in time to save his grandfather from certain interrogation. "Lord Elrond I found the text that you requested and I placed it in your chambers I hope that was acceptable?"

"Aye," Elrond nodded, gesturing for Tavaril to take the free seat to his left. "Thank you."

"Is everything well?" Elrond asked Tavaril quietly once everyone at the table had fallen back into their own discussions.

Nodding the young elf smiled

"Aye, so far, everything is well."

TBC...