Sarah: Yeah, I think in general the elves of Imladris would have had to know something was up. Besides, she knows Estel, and Gandalf… and running across new halflings would be bound to spark curiosity in anyone. You're welcome… and I'm not so sure I could.

LJP: Okay, I don't know what to say. Usually MS accusations are meant in a bad way, sort of a 'why did you put this up on the .net? We've already got thousands of these and another one isn't worth reading' sort of way… which I don't get that you mean from your reviews.

Kat: Sure. A surprise coming soon to a fic page near you [scroll down ; ) ].

Animir: Nice to know you're there… I would try, but then I'd never get my papers/ presentations done.

Iluvien: Actually, you have to wait a while past this chapter to find out if it lasts or not. ^o^

Laughard72: Okay, I just got done with a few articles for my Psych of Emotion class, so I'm gonna bore you half to death. Males are kind of stuck in a role—from early on in their lives, they're kind of encouraged to hold in their emotions and let display of them fall down to a minimum. Anger's considered okay, as long as it isn't always pure violence. Happiness/Joy, even, (I think), is supposed to be on the tempered side. Females, however, are encouraged to talk about & express their emotions all the time. So, with the basis for why they don't often cry, I've got one counterexample off the top of my head… probably because of the fic section I'm writing in. In The Two Towers (movie) Wormtongue lets a tear fall when he sees the army that's going to march against his former king. I always loved that. Probably because it is such a rare display. Alright, I'm done now.

Lindaleriel: Things typically get worse before they get better…

Concetta: Glad you liked it. I couldn't see her asking, at that point, but I figured someone would complain about it. No one has yet! ; )

Farflung: Hey, you're back! Cool. Now… Chapter 26: I thought the intro was somewhat amusing myself. And I have no idea if there were gay elves, either. I still haven't read the Sil, and since my upcoming two day break is likely going to be stuffed with a paper I have to do, I likely won't… for a while. He didn't like to tell us much about home lives, did he? I thought Lanien was a bit over the top, but then she was likely quite exasperated by Wind, and stricter than usual considering the prince was the one who brought her. Glad you liked it, and I had to play with Estel somehow. He's human—and rather old for one—but a still quite young being when around the elves. Chapter 27: Well, thanks for the vote of confidence… but I don't think it will ever happen, unless it winds up a total parody… and my sense of humor is a bit too dry for something like that. It was definitely a new thought for her. She's still having trouble swallowing the idea that she may be attractive to guys. Yeah, nothing much happens. Lie down, stare for a few minutes, and likely fall asleep. On her part, at least.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Lord Elrond was in a foul mood. He stormed around the place as if he were about to come across a band of orcs to kill with but a glare. It didn't help things that Arwen had sent a token of her love for Estel with Elladan and Elrohir when they went riding off. Thankfully I'd known they were going before hand—I'd been able to send the daggers I'd had hanging in my shop for the last years off for Leaf. The others no doubt were fine, but those were undeniably better, since I'd had some practice in their art by the time I created them.

We still had received no news… which was why Elrond was in such a frenzy. Okay, frenzy is not a good word for a lord of elves, but I've never seen him so worked up… in my few years here. Pacing at all hours, hardly sleeping—he walks by at all hours of the night—and he's apparently not eating either. Arwen has been worried about him, which only makes it worse, really. He's worried about her, she about him…

Only she has an outlet for her nervous energy. Unfortunately that outlet turned out to be me, as her brothers informed her of the truth before leaving. Unlike Lanein she has been a kind and understanding teacher. Apparently she was raised a little bit wild, too, though not for too terribly long. No one would ever doubt her being a lady now. She also understands a certain distaste I shall probably forever hold against dresses, and says nothing about it when I show up wearing leggings and a tunic, though she did insist on having some tailored to me so one can tell merely by looking at me what I am.

I can deal with that, with her lessons about proper table etiquette, how to deal with arriving or leaving lords, ladies or commoners, and when she spent a while convincing Glorfindel to teach me to dance—to his ruin. But I assured her if I was that interested in learning to be smooth and elegant—all said with a certain degree of sarcasm, to be sure—that I could get Joy or Leaf to teach me.

It was funny at first, watching her blink and shake her head slightly as she connected the name Leaf with the crowned Prince of Mirkwood. Then she got used to it, and that amusement was gone, leaving me with very little to smile about.

She had spent two days in contemplative silence once we found out—from Lothlorien—that the fellowship had arrived there with but one. Mithrandir, Gandalf, the wizard who knew better than any going what they were up against… was gone.

The news he had fallen into shadow had shaken me as well, though I daresay she's the only one who noticed. It was hard to handle knowing Leaf could die. Could already be dead.

"Dwelling on the separation again?" Arwen asked, coming up behind me in one of the gardens that almost reminded me of the edge of the great wood I had called home for so long, if I didn't look too long or too hard.

"You read me too well," I murmured, my voice a bit hoarse from disuse.

"I have studied you—you intrigue me. Female and male tendencies fighting for dominance, for display. I've come to have an idea how to read you, as Legolas no doubt has."

"He knew me well as Wind. We could ever read each others eyes." I glanced back at her for a moment, then tilted my head slightly so my hair swept over my face. "It's odd. I rarely thought of him during the years I was here and he was in Mirkwood. But now that he is in danger…"

"You can't get him out of your head," she finished dryly. "Believe me, I understand." She drew up to my side, looking down at a small creek running near my bare feet. "Legolas is perhaps the best warrior there."

"And stubborn, and headstrong, and more than willing to go into danger to protect his friends." I shook my head. "He knows he is—if not the best—then at least the fastest, most graceful, and the one with the keenest senses. He will use those abilities beyond what would be asked of him if he were but fighting with elves, because he is the only one who possesses them to such a degree." I rubbed at the back of my neck, this time more consciously than usual. The movement jerked the chain that now hung around my neck, jolted that which lay hidden beneath my shirt. Its presence had become a comfort, but I couldn't bring myself to toy with it the way she-elves generally did. It was a nervous habit either way, but I just couldn't always think as a she-elf, and I didn't want to bring anyone's attention to that which I now wore.

"Have you fought beside him?"

"Numerous times," I agreed with a faint smile. "Of course that was when we were yet children. Since then I have turned my slight skill to hunting, while his prowess has elevated his esteem in the Wood." I leaned against the tree, letting my head fall to the rough bark, bits of my hair no doubt tangling. "Still, we fought orcs, spiders. Once we saw a troll."

"Saw?" she asked, some slight amusement in her voice for the distinction.

"Mm-hmm. At the time I was only thirteen… which would have made Leaf and the majority of the others closer to seventeen. Still much too young to take on a troll, especially since the only weapon any one of us carried at the time was a bow and arrow—a pitifully small bow and arrow. The ends had been carved into points, and even shooting from the lowest branch of a tree couldn't have injured a ground squirrel. Leaf didn't even bother to try to kill the troll."

"Legolas was the one with a bow? Why doesn't that surprise me?"

I laughed softly. "He's always loved archery. He had that silly thing as long as I knew him. He probably still does, come to think of it."

She was quiet for so long I looked over at her. Her eyes were dark, her hands lightly clasped in front of her.

"Arwen? What's wrong?"

She sent me a weak smile. "You can read she-elves as well as male elves now?" she asked quietly.

"It's obvious something's wrong—your shoulders are slumped, eyes dark, head down… What is it?"

She sighed and began walking. It was apparently not just a male thing… at least, I wasn't the only she-elf who needed movement to help think things through. Or maybe we just wanted to outrun the problem. "You've known him for so long," she whispered softly.

"With a millennia break in the middle," I reminded her quietly.

"Yes, but still…" she trailed off.

My gaze dropped to the ground as I understood. She would never have anything like that amount of time with Estel. "Sometimes I almost wish we hadn't known each other before meeting at his birthday celebration. Then maybe things would be easier."

"It seems to me you've come to some sort of understanding," she murmured quietly, a bit of the sparkle coming back into her eyes as she looked at me.

I lifted a brow in question. "Oh?"

She laughed lightly. "Still not grasping the feminine wits, are you?" she teased, reaching out to touch the chain about my neck. "Let us see… When Legolas arrived I had never seen you wear a single piece of finery. Since he left, you've never been without this chain… Couldn't be related events, could they? And I don't suppose the absence of the ring on his hand could have anything to do with it?" She laughed again as I simply stared at her in shock. "Don't worry, I doubt any one else has noticed. Males would be more likely to notice if you suddenly lost or gained a weapon, rather than a thin chain which you mostly hide… Why do you hide it?" she asked with a frown.

I rolled my eyes and tugged the chain out of my shirt, rubbing the band of the ring with my thumb as I stared at it. "He said nothing… just left it."

"Yet you wear it all the time."

"And you do not think it could be for fear of losing that which is not mine to lose?" I answered quietly, dropping the ring. It slid heavily down to settle right over my heart, the sapphire sending small lights over my dark green tunic.

"I do not. If I believed it was just dropped in his haste to leave—highly unlikely, since he no doubt lingered beside you as long as he could—then perhaps I would consider it. But since I would rather guess he left it clearly for you, perhaps going so far as to fasten it around your neck, I am not inclined to believe it meant nothing more than simply not wishing to carry it with him." She ignored my flaming ears until the last, when she acknowledged them with a triumphant smile. "Do not ask such questions of a she-elf, Alyeni. We have no such doubts in answering as would pause a male."

"So I've come to realize," I sighed softly, dropping the ring back inside my shirt as soft footsteps approached. Together we turned, and with one look we both knew something was wrong.

Arwen stumbled back slightly, unsteady on her feet as she looked at the elf in question. Her only response was a shrug. "Lord Elrond wishes to speak with Alyeni," he murmured quietly.

To say that shocked both of us would be an understatement. We looked at each other for a long moment, and then both bolted for the building Elrond was likely in. If I wasn't so panicked by the thought of what on Middle-Earth he could possible have to say to me I likely would have laughed at seeing the Lady Arwen running so.

"Alyeni," Lord Elrond murmured when I came in. He lifted a brow at Arwen as she came in behind me, her skirts and hair somewhat awry, panting slightly from trying to keep up with me. "Arwen." He turned back to me. "I thought I should inform you—Mirkwood has fallen under attack."

I blinked, and came up with the most eloquent of replies. "Huh?" While I had been expecting ill news, that wasn't anywhere close to what I'd been thinking.

"The shadow within the wood has grown, and presses upon those elves who live within it. An army is being gathered as we speak."

An army… I took a deep breath, slowly shaking my head. "This cannot be," I insisted. Open war… It had happened only once before, in my lifetime, and it had started with dwarves… which wasn't really that surprising.

"It is so," he declared, watching me carefully.

I looked down… and admitted that though Imladris had been a wonderful place to live, my heart yet dwelled within the forest of my birth. "Then I must go." When I looked up at him, I saw no surprise in his eyes…

"No!" Arwen insisted. "Alyeni, what could you possibly do?"

"Whatever I can," I murmured, my voice gone hard and flat. I slipped into Tyran with an ease that should have surprised me, but didn't, not by that point. I turned to Elrond. "Would a horse carry me?"

"Take two," he answered, bowing his head slightly at me.

I frowned faintly at that show of respect, but bowed in turn. "Thank you, Lord Elrond." I strode from the room, already thinking how best to quickly pack everything I planned to carry back with me.

"Alyeni! Alyeni!"

I shook myself, recalling that that was my name, despite everything. "What?" I asked, after picking the horses, leading them over to my workshop as she dodged my steps.

"How can you be of assistance?"

I sighed, slowly bowed my head, wondering for an instant what I could do that wasn't being done. With a shake, I straightened, determined again. "Even if my presence gives us an extra day in our home—a day to get the villagers safely into the halls—it will be worth my own death."

"What about Legolas?"

"What about him?" I asked curtly, rubbing at the back of my neck as I looked around to see if anything else should be taken. Satisfied, I strode quickly from there to the room I had been calling mine for the last years.

"Is that day worth his death, as well?"

"Arwen!" I stilled, biting back my anger, knowing there was no time for it. "We do not know that he lives, even now," I finally answered, throwing a change of clothes into a pack. "And what will it matter? If he returns home to find his own realm destroyed, how long do you think he would remain here, anyway?"

"But—"

I whirled on her, fed up with her and the more feminine habits once and for all. There was no place for them where I was going. "I am not an elf lady, Arwen of Imladris. I am simply a wood-elf of Mirkwood, who knows more about fighting and weapons than will most of those who now fight. Leaf is a good teacher… when he wants to be." Besides our time in the wood, he had made it part of our daily time while I'd stayed in the palace to train me. I think it was more his way of being sure I could fend off any unwanted attention than anything… But even so the knowledge of battle stirred my blood, urged me to be done with this, to go, to help… even to die, if it came to that. At least I could die proudly, knowing I was to die for my home, for those and for that which I cared about above all else on Middle-Earth.

"Alyeni!"

"Tyran today, and tomorrow, and every other day either until Mirkwood is safe, or there are no more tomorrows for me," I answered curtly, lashing my pack to the horse who carried my craft.

"You are not a male!"

"No, I'm not!" I agreed hotly, glaring down at her. "But my heart burns within me at the thought of standing idly by as my home falls. If I thought I could have been of help where Leaf is going, I would have gone. That requires a level of skill beyond my own… but to fight orcs? If it was only that, wouldn't you have gone to Estel, to Gondor? I must go, Arwen. I cannot remain here if there is anything I could do other than sit quietly by and watch death and destruction come to my home."

She took a deep breath, and calm slowly spread over her face. "Very well. Will you return for the wedding ceremony?"

"I do not know if I will be able to ride out with you, as hoped," I murmured. "But if all yet live, I will do my best to be there in time."

She nodded, offered me a faint smile, and stepped back. "Ride hard. Don't look back."

I bowed my head slightly to her, gave her a tight smile and then rode off, glad that as children Leaf had often convinced the stable master to let us borrow horses from time to time. How else would I know enough to ride as quickly as I desired?