A/N: Thank you to those of you who have taken time out of their precious day to leave me little notes on how you are enjoying the story. It is those reviews that drive me to write more and faster. Happy reading!

Chapter 21- Of Naked Elves, Elflings, and Persistent Friends

11 Víressë, Year 9 of the Fourth Age- Palace of the Citadel

Emlin woke at the first morning light streaming into her chambers from the large window where the heavy draperies had already been pushed back. She sometimes did not like that she had a handmaiden assigned to her to see to her needs. Emlin much preferred to take care for her own needs, and she supposed it was something borne of trying to show her parents that she did not need them. Additionally it felt odd to have someone strange in the room to check on her while she slept. With her parents, it had been normal if they were to check on her in the middle of the night, but to have a strange person, even if it was someone she had grown to know rather well, come in, was just plain odd as she was not royalty and undeserving of such treatment.

Slowly, Emlin removed the bedcovers from around her shift-covered body and stood up, stretching her arms above her head. She could not believe she had slept so late that the sun was already full in the sky and the birds outside were chirping their happy songs. Then again, she had been up late helping with a few near fatally wounded soldiers in the Houses of Healing, both Men and Elves. They had been brought in after an unsuspected resurgence of Haraddrim radicals ambushed the large battalion of Ithilien Rangers on their way to Minas Tirith, Emlin had stayed by the side of one of the foot soldiers most of the night, in such case that he required anything, but she was instructed to go rest. She had argued, but Emlin knew that her skills as a healer were not developed enough to help this man. If anyone was going to really help, it would be Arwen, and even she had diminished capabilities as of late, and it was dangerous to the child she carried.

Emlin quickly dressed and brushed her long hair out before pulling it up with a few pins in the style the Gondorian women chose to wear their hair, completely off their necks and out of their faces. It often made Emlin wonder why the elves never usually wore their hair like this during everyday tasks, as it was much more logical to keep all of it out of the way, but Emlin did recognize that hair was everything to elves. She giggled to herself as she placed the last pin in and walked for the heavy door.

She walked quickly along the corridors, now finding it easy to get about the palace after having a month and a half's practice getting her bearings. Had it already been a month and a half? Emlin sighed to herself. It was hard to believe that time had gone so quickly for her with all the learning she was doing both with the human healers in the Houses of Healing, and also from Arwen in the palace, where her lessons were both on healing and of the workings of royal courts. She had nearly forgotten about the masque, and her parents leaving... and the relationship that she had formed with Valandir. But the operative word was, nearly.

At least once a day she would think of Valandir and his humorous anecdotes on life, but the thoughts would always turn to Legolas. She had wondered for the entire month why Legolas had left Minas Tirith without so much as a farewell to her, or even a note to be given to her later. It had hurt her greatly that even as friends, he did not see the importance of seeing her before he left. They had left very early the morning after the archery lesson, but at least Valandir had pushed a piece of parchment under her door saying that he could not wait until the next time they would meet. Emlin sighed to herself, thinking about that archery lesson and the way Legolas has stormed off and locked himself in his chambers before she had even shot her first arrow. Granted, Valandir was being quite inappropriate about where he was placing his hands and Emlin knew that Legolas would be bothered by it. That was why she had allowed Valandir to continue- to bother Legolas.

He deserved it after kissing her... after making her think he was viewing her in a different light. But his distance and unresponsiveness to her the rest of the time made her believe that it had all been a mistake and he was ashamed of himself. Though, after leaving the cloak like he had done, Emlin knew there was something else behind his actions than just Legolas being overcome by an urge. It actually seemed that he cared for her, though she would never know for sure since Legolas never bothered to speak with her.

Emlin grabbed a piece of fruit from a passing tray as she continued on her way to the Houses of Healing to see how the new patients were doing. The streets were bustling with early morning activity as she made her way down to the next level. Shopkeepers where opening the doors and arranging their displays, food merchants were setting up their foods for all to see. Emlin smiled as she passed a few vendors whom she had healed on her own recently from minor injuries, and continued on her way into the large stone building on the sixth level.

"Ah, good, you are back Emlin," came the call from the stubborn, plump old woman named Ioreth, who made it her responsibility to boss around the healers in their duties. "The prince came in injured after you left."

"The prince?" Emlin questioned, "Lord Faramir was injured?"

"Nay, Lord Legolas." Ioreth replied.

Emlin felt her throat constrict and her chest tighten at the mention of his name. "What are his injuries?"

"Arrow to the leg and a gash across his stomach." Ioreth said, "We have stopped his bleeding as best we can, and removed the arrow head, but he will benefit from your Elvish skills more than my mere mortal ones."

Emlin nodded her head, only half comprehending what Ioreth was saying about Legolas. "Where is he?"

The healer pointed to a private room at the back of the main room and Emlin saw that the door was open and his boots were laying at the foot of his bed. She walked quickly, almost too quickly, perhaps, as she received odd looks from the other healers. Entering the room, she found Legolas covered in only a thin bedcover up to his waist, his upper half completely bare and a thick cloth wrapped about his abdomen, the bright red color of blood soaking through it. He was awake though, and seemingly lucid enough for his eyes to grow large with shock when she entered.

"Emlin?!" He squeaked.

She giggled, finding that rather funny, but it inadvertently relaxed her nerves. At least he was not as bad as she first suspected. "Suilad, Legolas."

"Why have you come?" He questioned as she got closer to him and pulled the small leather-paneled stool up to sit beside him.

"I am your healer, Legolas." Emlin replied. He began to say something, but stopped himself and looked over her. Emlin smiled, "Good, now that argument is settled, I need to assess your wounds. Which leg were you hit on?"

"My left thigh," he said quietly, and she reached for the covers to pull them over his leg. With lightning reflexes, his hands were covering hers and stopping her removal of the cloth. "Is there not anyone else who can do this?"

Emlin raised a curious eyebrow, wondering why he was so bothered with this. She smiled softly, realizing that he was probably not wearing anything beneath the bed covers, but that thought made her blush as well. "I am the only Elven healer here, Legolas. The others can give you salves, compresses and tight bindings, but they cannot give you complete relief of pain."

"I am fine, though." Legolas replied, again stopping her hands. "I have been injured worse than this."

"I must see with my own eyes, Legolas, to be convinced of that." Emlin said and again started to roll back the bed cover, but he grabbed her hands and held tightly. "Daro tan, Legolas!"

"Emlin..." He began.

"Avosto. No dínen." Emlin said soothingly, peeling his death grip away from her hands. Finally she was able to roll the covers only over his leg, finding that indeed there was nothing beneath. Emlin could tell that he was still very uncomfortable with the situation even with the coverings still on him, and she could not blame him as she too was immensely uncomfortable. She felt herself blushing deeper, and trained her eyes on her task rather then glancing up at him. She was sure that his gaze would be too much to handle right at the moment with the realization that only a quarter of his body was covered by a very thin cloth... his rather glorious body... despite the wounds.

He rested back against a pillow, but his thigh tensed up completely as she placed her fingers around the puncture wound, though she knew it was not of pain. The injury was only superficial and with the personal healing power of the Firstborn, the skin was closed, but she could only wonder why he tensed so tightly. She placed the bed covers back over his leg and stepped back. His face was set in a stone-like expression. "I said that it was fine."

She chuckled and shook her head, stepping back from him. "And I said that I was your healer, and that I would tell you if you were fine or not."

"You are certainly domineering." Legolas replied. "I do not remember you being so forceful."

"That does not surprise me." Emlin glanced at him, "As I recall, the last time we had a real conversation was when we were in Lórien. You do not know me for who I am now."

Legolas remained silent, and Emlin hoped that he had heard the bitterness in what she had said. She opened the bureau beside his bed and pulled out new bandages for his stomach and left him for a few moments to go mix a healing salve. Once out the door, Emlin breathed a sigh of relief to herself, finally able to calm down after seeing Legolas with hardly any coverings on his body and also able thank the Valar for not making her act incredibly bumbling about him. Actually, she had been very authoritative, and Emlin congratulated herself on that aspect. It proved to herself and to Legolas that she was indeed not a pushover. Maybe he would start to think her worthy of him.

Emlin quickly mixed the salve in a wooden bowl, also thanking the Valar for not mortally wounding Legolas. She would not have been able to handle it if she had walked in to find him on his deathbed. Elbereth, she had initially thought it was going to be bad by the way Ioreth had spoken! But upon seeing him and having him put up a fight about her checking his wounds, Emlin knew everything would be fine. But then her mind suddenly traveled to Valandir. Where was Valandir? Was he still in Ithilien? Had he been... slain?

Hastily, Emlin banished the thought from her head and walked back to Legolas' room. She shut the door halfway and sat down again beside him, reaching for the end of the soiled bandage. Emlin could feel his eyes watching her closely, though she did not know if it was her exactly or what her hands were doing. Trying to take her mind off of his gaze, she asked, "Is Valandir with you?"

"He is the one who dragged me in here last eve." Legolas replied, though there was an unmistakable disdain to his usually soft, warm voice.

"He is not injured?" She questioned.

"Nay." Legolas said and grew silent again.

Emlin found that the wound on his belly was only a surface one as well, or at least was by now as Legolas' healing powers had again helped a great deal. "The way Ioreth spoke, it sounded as if you were bleeding profusely."

"I am just as Elven as you are," he said in a irritable voice.

"Legolas, I do not need your constant snapping at me." Emlin looked at him before turning back to her work. She placed her hands over the gash and whispered a few spells, feeling the familiar tingling and warmth spread across her body, then direct itself through her fingertips.

When she had pulled her hand away from him to spread the salve over it, he stopped her hand, "How did you learn that? Only a few have that actual healing gift."

"Ada has the gift of healing, and you should know that my grandmother did as well." Emlin answered him and removed her hand from his. She spread the salve over the wound, then slowly wrapped the long bandage around his body so that it would remain tightly in place. "Naneth told me many stories of how she helped her mother in the healing house in Mirkwood. And how you were always injuring yourself."

He chuckled lightly, "It may be hard to believe, but I was a very graceless elf growing up. And that led to me being extremely prone to wounds."

"That is hard to believe, Legolas." Emlin replied, sitting back and looking at him. He did not seem so predisposed to his quiet and brooding mannerisms at this very moment, like he had been the last visit, and truly seemed quite lively with his expressions now back upon his face and the intenseness in his eyes. Even though he still bestowed upon her a few incredibly ambiguous glances, she felt that he was not as weary of the world as before. What had changed?

"Why do you wear your hair up?" He questioned.

She met his eyes and raised her eyebrow questioningly, "It is practical."

"But elves rarely wear their hair in such a way." Legolas said.

Emlin chuckled and stood up from her seat to clean the mess she had made. "I would rather pin it up than have a chance of it falling into a bloody wound. And human children tend to reach right for my hair whenever it is loose. It is not the most thrilling experience to have hair pulled."

"I will agree." Legolas laughed, "But elflings are no better."

"I would not know, I have never been around a babe besides Thoron." Emlin said, "I suppose I shall find out first hand if I am ever to become a mother."

"If you ever become one?" He questioned, "Do you not mean when you become a mother?"

Emlin looked at him for a long while, trying to understand what he meant by asking that question. Was he asking for himself, or only because it was the flow of conversation? Realizing that she had stopped the entire process of cleaning and now stood frozen in place, Emlin blushed sheepishly and turned her attentions away. She chastised herself for even speaking with him in the first place as she had vowed upon his last departure that she would never utter another word to him unless it was of dire importance. But he was so hard not to speak to when he was being friendly.

"You will not answer me?" He asked, grabbing her arm as she walked by him.

She looked down at her arm, feeling the warmth of his hand flowing into her body, but quickly moved her eyes back to his. "Why do you care, Legolas?

"I am a friend." Legolas said.

Emlin grunted in pure disgust for his comment, but it sounded extremely unfeminine and unelf-like, though she did not really care. "You call yourself my friend? Legolas, I may not have lived for three thousand years, but I know what friendship is and is not. And I can tell you that we are not friends. We are mere acquaintances."

"How can you say that?!" He exclaimed.

She rolled her eyes, "I will not detail the happenings of the last time you were in Minas Tirith, Legolas. I should not have to tell you how you acted!"

Legolas rested back oddly, and let a calm come over him so that he did not continue to yell at her. Emlin watched him closely and reached down to pry his fingers away from her arm. He sighed, "I was wrong, I am sorry. I beg your forgiveness."

"You think I can give it to you that easily?" Emlin eyed him critically, but regretted saying what she did and hoped he did not take it suggestively. She, however, did not have time to find out how he took it as there was the sound of someone clearing their throat in scorn at the door. Emlin turned quickly to find Aragorn and Arwen standing just inside the door. "I am sorry, my lord and lady. I will leave you to speak with Legolas."

She detected the slight smile on Arwen's lips as she passed, but kept on her way out of the room.

Legolas watched Emlin scurry out of the room and shut the door. Oh he was brainless beyond brainless! He had acted like a complete troll to the one person who meant anything in his life. Elbereth, why did he have so many problems communicating with her anyway? Maybe he had ruined their relationship completely and there was no repairing it. He knew he had waited too long to come back to Minas Tirith to profess to her his love, but even now he was not ready. He could not do what he wished with Valandir still in the way of things.

"Are your wounds healed, yet?" Aragorn asked him, pulling Legolas out of his self-induced silent berating.

"Yet?" Legolas questioned, "You are such a friend that you would ask if I am healed 'yet'?"

Aragorn nodded his head and turned to Arwen, "He is fine, meleth."

"Aye, I can see and hear that." Arwen chuckled, glancing quickly at her husband and then down at Legolas. "So you have taken to yelling at healers?"

Legolas grumbled and rested back on the pillow more, closing his eyes, "You know that I did not intend on yelling at her."

"Maybe on this visit it would do us all a favor if you were to let Emlin know exactly what is in your heart." Aragorn replied. "I cannot stand to see one of my friends so unlike himself because he cannot say what he wants. Saying I love you is not that difficult."

Legolas grunted and rolled his eyes, "Why have you come? To see how I am, or to annoy me until I give in and tell Emlin I love her without really knowing if I do or not?"

Arwen gave him a soft, but deadly glare. "Then I suggest you take some time to spend with her while you recuperate without arguing with her to find out if you do."

"I have had entirely too much of this talk." Legolas said, "I have been hurt in battle and here I am speaking to you about a completely unrelated matter. We need to have council about the ambush."

"When you are able, mellon, we will have council." Aragorn replied, "But what we say now has no business in council and needs to be said after the argument you had with Emlin."

He grumbled, "My friends, this is my business and not yours."

Arwen shook her head slightly and turned to Aragorn, "Come, hervenn, we are not needed. We were wrong to push the matter."

Aragorn nodded, "When you are ready to leave the healers, your room in the palace is available."

"Thank you." Legolas replied, watching them move towards the door. Now he was being rude to his friends! What was this world coming to? They disappeared quickly, though he could hear them speaking to some of the other wounded in the large room, checking on how they were fairing as any involved King and Queen would.

Emlin swept into the room again with a some white cloth folded in her arms. She dropped it on his legs, "Please do this favor for me and cover yourself."

Legolas found that quite humorous, though he had to agree with her. The moments when she had been looking over his leg were the most intense he had ever felt, willing himself not to become too excited about her body leaning over him in such a way and being almost bare to anyone who walked in. Just the fact that Emlin knew he was not wearing anything was embarrassing enough, though he had always been comfortable with himself. Maybe it was just Emlin that inspired that reaction. "As much as I would love to obey your wishes, Emlin, I cannot sit up enough to put it on."

She glanced over at him suspiciously and walked to the door to call for someone, but stopped as her eyes lit up. "Valandir!"

Wonderful, just wonderful!

"Pen velui." He heard Valandir say, but only saw his arms as they went around Emlin. Legolas felt a cold shiver go up his back and he closed his eyes, trying to calm himself. "Where is Legolas? Have you been healing him?"

Emlin nodded her head and pointed inside the room. Valandir walked past her and stood in the doorway, as she said, "I have healed his wounds, but I do not think I can heal his character."

"Not even the Valar could, Emlin." Valandir chuckled and glanced at him.

"Help him put his robe on." Emlin ordered and disappeared again.

Valandir chuckled, shaking his head as he closed the door behind him. He walked over and grabbed the soft white fabric that was the clothing worn within the healing houses. "Emlin is quite the loose-tongued elleth."

Legolas did not reply and tried his hardest not to make the task of dressing him easy on Valandir. He felt like a small child again... a small child who wanted to have the new bow his friend had just received as a gift. He was ready to do anything if it meant Valandir becoming so incensed that he gave the 'bow' to Legolas out of frustration.

"She could give you-." Valandir started.

"Is it everyone's lot in life to bother me with thoughts of Emlin?!" He exclaimed.

Valandir paused for a moment, but then finished with the robe application before sitting on the leather stool Emlin had been sitting on earlier. "Why would it bother you, mellon?"

Legolas was quiet and turned his eyes away from Valandir, "I do not wish to speak of it."

"Legolas, I know how you feel when it comes to Emlin." Valandir looked at him.

"How could you if you continue to pursue her?" He argued. Well this day definitely was not going as planned.

Valandir was quiet for a long time and rested his arms on his knees, folding his hands as he focused his eyes on the ground. Finally, he looked up at Legolas again, "I have not been the most honest friend."

"I do not understand." Legolas said, not knowing how to take Valandir's words and actions.

"At the masque, I made it my duty to find an elleth out of the few who were there, to get to know so I could introduce her to you." Valandir replied. "So that I could keep you from completely wallowing in your self pity and fading."

Legolas sighed, "And..."

"And the elleth I found was Emlin. I already knew of her from what you told me, so I figured she would be a good elleth to choose. My plans were going accordingly until you appeared out on the terrace that evening." Valandir explained. "Then borne was this idea that I would make you so jealous that you could not help but take Emlin for yourself. What I had not realized in the long run was that it was Emlin you had been waiting for all of these years. You will not admit that yourself, but I have often seen you with that carven bird when you think no one is watching."

Legolas felt himself blush slightly and looked away from Valandir's eyes. "So you do not like Emlin. Why have you waited until now to tell me when we were away for an entire month? Did you wish me to worry about it?"

"I like Emlin a great deal, Legolas. She would make a fine mate for myself. But I believe that it is with you that she would make a perfect mate." Valandir replied. "You just have to convince her of that."

"But what of Emlin? Have you not stopped to think how this would affect Emlin? What if she loves you?" Legolas queried.

Valandir smiled warmly, "We are only friends, mellon nín. There is something bothering as well her that keeps her from falling in love with another ellon. And that something, or someone, is you."

"You obviously did not witness what just happened." Legolas laughed, finding that the most absurd thing he had ever heard.

"I saw the exchange between you two about the cloak, Legolas." Valandir chuckled, "I know love when I see it."

Legolas thought back to that moment and let out a sigh. Valandir was right. There was something different about the exchange. "But I have been so daft. How do I make her see again that I care for her?"

His friend let a devious smile cross his features. "Advising you on matters of Ithilien is something I am not very good at, but on matters of the heart, I am."

"I knew I asked you to be my advisor for some reason." Legolas jested with a relieved smile. This day was the oddest day of his life. He had been through the gamut of emotions from worry about his wounds, to being with Emlin in an enclosed space, to being angry at everyone and everything for having thoughts of Emlin. "If you are not right and she has truly fallen for you, and you break her heart, you will not live to see the next day."

"Threat taken." Valandir chuckled, "Now, in matters of state..."

"No! I wish not to speak of matters of state now. Help me to get up to the palace." Legolas said. "There will be someone there who waits for me."

Valandir laughed, "I doubt she will be very pleased to see you, but if you wish to march to that death, then all I can do is stand by and watch."

"Hannon le, mellon nín." Legolas smiled, "Now hand me my leggings."

---

Suilad- Hello

Daro te- stop that

Avosto- Don't worry

No dinen- Be silent

Meleth- love

Mellon- friend

Hervenn- husband

Pen velui- lovely one

Viresse- April

Hannon le- Thank you