A/N; Stupid chapter, little too much drama near the end, but it gets better, I promise!

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)Maranwë(

I sat down for a moment, exhausted from dancing. Elladan and Elrohir came over to join me.

"Having fun?" asked Elladan.

"I simply adore parties," I said, smiling.

"Good," mused Elrohir, putting his arm over my shoulder.

I was instantly suspicious and rolled my shoulder back to remove him without touching him. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, honestly," they both said defensively at once.

"Uh huh," I put in. "Surely."

"Well, Ada has given us permission to have a party for our closest friends in Imladris in five days, and we were wondering if you would like to come," Elladan said quickly.

Elrohir smirked, replacing his arm. "It would be fun. We could hang around Imladris for a while and- Oh yeah. You could meet Hithil, too."

I raised my eyebrows. "Who is Hithil?"

"My paramour," Elladan announced proudly, and his younger brother rolled his eyes.

"Who's going to be there?" I asked. "I'm not going anywhere with you two without sufficient support."

"We invited Boromir, Legolas, Larien, and Éomer so far and they said yes," Elrohir replied. Then he gave a sour frown. "Unfortunately, Arwen and Estel will be there, too, of course."

Elladan quickly gained a mocking voice. "That little kiss-up Éowyn is too fearful that her dear Uncle Théoden will become more ill during her leave if she were to come."

Elrohir sighed. "And ol' Faramir said he would rather slice himself in the head with an orc blade than go anywhere with the two of us, alone or not."

"And the only person we're waiting on an answer from is... you," they said in unison, batting their eyelashes babyishly.

Already my mind was made up, but I took a moment to pretend to decide for effect, since I didn't want to appear too eager to go. "Alright. Fine, I'll go."

. : . Later on, the party continued to go on without much incident. The distinguished politicians speaking by Théoden's throne. The warriors, friends of Éomer or members of his éored, were drinking and laughing at not much at all. The elves were either dancing to the sweet symphony music or speaking to Legolas. Maranwë was speaking, or was it flirting, with Boromir, Éomer was greeted all night long, but all he wished for was to be alone. Éowyn spoke with Faramir, but no one truly noticed. No one was really sure how much time had passed, until Larien saw her sister again. : .

)Larien(

"How much have you had to drink?" I asked my sister, watching her drunken stumble as she went for more wine.

"A lot," she said with a slur and a hiccup.

"I can see that," I responded.

Maranwë grabbed another glass of wine that she chugged down in one gulp. Then she took a bottle of rum and took it to the other side of the room.

"I think your sister has officially gone insane," said a voice beside me. I turned to see Théodred refilling his ale mug.

"Hello, Théodred. Your cousin's party certainly is going well."

"How can you tell?" he asked

"Because everyone's drunk."

Théodred laughed for a moment before excusing himself to return to his friends and the slow waltz that had now begun to play.

"Maer undome, Larien," said a light voice behind me. I turned to find the Prince of Mirkwood smiling down at me. Good evening

"Maer undome, Legolas." Good evening

"Lle merna salk?" he asked. Would you care to dance

"Sure," I replied, accepting his arm and walking to the center of the floor. "But I must admit, I cannot dance well."

"Nor can I," he smiled, resting his hand on my waist, his other in mine.

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" I asked and he laughed musically.

With that he began to whisk me around the dance floor. "Lle thîr bain, Larien. That dress is gorgeous." You look beautiful

"Hannon lle," I said, blushing, not being able to think of anything to say other than that which I had been fighting. Thank you

He sensed it. "Man naa ha?" I tried to order my words in advance if he were to ask me again, which he did. "Larien, man naa ha? Clearly something is on your mind." I still didn't know what to say. "Shall you answer before tomorrow?" he said mockingly. What is it

"Legolas, you are staying the night, correct?"

"Aye," he replied, cocking his head to one side curiously.

"Would you mind meeting me at my bedroom before you retire? I have questions that need answering and you may be the only one who can help me."

"I do not mind at all. An hour after the party has ended I shall go to your chambers," he said with perfect timing, for now the waltz was ending.

"Hannon lle," I said, smiling as he kissed my hand and disappeared into the crowd. All I could hope was that he would stay true to his word. Thank you

)Éomer(

As Larien waltzed around the floor with Legolas, the oddest feeling crept into my chest. Was I jealous? I had never thought of Larien in that sense before just a few months ago, and ever since then, desire for her consumed me from the inside out. Why did I harbor this feeling for her? It was beginning to become an infatuation.

I watched Larien finish her dance with Legolas, then Elladan, Elrohir, Estel, then Théodred, and I was amazed to discover that I was indeed jealous. I had no clue how to explain it. Why was I like this?

The orchestra began another waltz and I walked up to Larien, working up all the courage I could. "May I have this dance, Larien?" I asked, gazing into her hypnotizing eyes.

"You certainly may," she replied, smiling.

The curves of her face were lit by the candlelight, making her look fairer than anything I had ever seen. Her eyes looked like sparkling emeralds that blazed a path through mine and into my soul, so much so that I was almost afraid to look directly into them. Her honey hair framed her face delicately. Looking at it, I had an image of brushing the same hair away from her face to kiss her. I came back to reality and focused on her, trying not to be overcome by her empyreal beauty.

"You look beautiful tonight, Larien," I murmured.

She blushed, looking at out now dancing feet. "Thank you."

"It brings out your eyes- the dress, I mean," I commented softly.

"You are a lot like Éowyn," she said, giggling.

"And that rose is beautiful," I pointed out.

"What?"

"The white rose on your dress," I replied, pointing to the flower, "It symbolizes eternal love, right?"

"Aye, I believe so."

"Do you wear it for a special reason?" I said, silently praying that she didn't. All I wanted was for her eternal love to be solely for me- yet I wanted that too much for it to be true.

She shook her head. "Éowyn picked it out. Though I must admit, I do not care for it. It's not one of my favorite flowers."

"What is your favorite flower?" I questioned.

"A yellow rose. They shimmer so in the Rohan sun that they appear crafted of gold," she said simply. I tried to picture what she was speaking of, but to myself I compared her golden brown hair to the gold of the flowers she described and the Rohan sky to the ever so subtle hints of blue in her forest green eyes.

Then she smiled, taking on an inferior tone. "Yet Éowyn believed that the yellow would not match with the woodland green."

"Well, although it may not be your first choice, the rose is beautiful, Larien," I complimented.

She blushed again. "I don't know; I guess I'm just picky."

I smiled at her. I wanted to say more to her, but could think not of anything that would not have sounded stupid.

Sooner than I would have liked, the dance was over. I reluctantly released her, kissed the back of her hand, and watched her as she walked out of sight.

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