Long-Overdue A/N: Um…. Hi. NO!!! ducks vegetables and covers ears to drown the "BOOOOOO"s I'm sorry! I know that this is NOOOOO excuse, but I had such incredible writer's block on this chapter I was ready to loose my mind- you can ask Megan and she'll tell you!
Chapters might be a little slow posting now because, as I've recently discovered, HIGH SCHOOL IS ABSOLUTE HELL!!
Well Mari's been in California since…… July 19th, and I HATE IT! She's not there to run to down the block when my parents are arguing and I have to dial a different area code just to ask her something instead of using the old walkie-talkies we used to use :'( and I've made a lot of new friends so far- since she heightened my standards for someone being there for me, it's going to take a lot of people to meet up to that.
Ugh, anyway, I know this chapter sucks but this was just inserted to be semi-funny because the next couple chapters are taut with dun dun da dun DRAMA!!! I know- I suck at puns.
Ctimene- lol CALM DOWN- Yes yes I reviewed, now breathe in and breathe out. There you go. Lol hope you like this chapter as much as the last.
Ningwen- So glad you liked it- but just out of curiosity, did you like the humorous or dramatic parts more? I just gotta figure what you guys want me to do with this.
Lady Anck-su-namun- lol Love your username- supposed to signify anything? Anyway, so happy you liked it and I'm sorry I couldn't get this up sooner. Okay, that makes me feel a little bit better- I didn't really know that part since I haven't read the books, but still that sounds pretty weird. I mean, to have Aragorn as a son AND a son-in-law? And Arwen's supposed to be so beautiful and stoops so low as to go for HIM of all people? cringes
Periannath- lol very good observation: it's probably just because I'm such a potty-mouth myself and that's how I write. And, updated!
Magluvsaragorn- lol both Mari and I would have- that's why we put it! It's like a fantasy and we were like "What the hell? Let's just do it!" so we did. And yes, she had just slept with Boromir the night before and yes she does still love him, and yes she is EXTREMELY confused as to who she loves, and that will be explained further in…. a couple chapters. I have to start dividing them up.
KP- oh BFF, I O U big time.
Lexi22- rocks your socks? lmao I feel so loved! Watched Mulan, can't figure it out either. Oh well- you find it and let me know. Now that I look at it, that quote is like the one from PotC, and I'm sorry! Completely unintentional- I DON'T OWN IT, PLEASE DON'T SUE! lol I sense that your brothers can slightly get under your skin? Ummm… don't mind odd questions and besides, that wasn't odd. The town I live in doesn't have a high school, so I applied to a county school- now I'm a freshman at Bergen County Tech across the highway from Teterboro Airport. What about you? lol glad you found it "um uh interesting." You were supposed to call Tori and were reading my story instead? Tell Tori Happy (belated) Birthday and I'll send her an apology/birthday card! lol And through all the pessimism of the SC reunion, you still like it. :-D How bad was it?
Angel13- yes, understood that the "story is great" the first 32 times, but have to admit I was flattered. Hope you like this one!
Ala- to the best cousin on the whole frickin planet, thanks. Soooo happy you reviewed.
Terriah- lmao short but sweet- hope you like this.
Meggin- Whoa--- chill! Lol happy you liked it, and SURPRISE! I updated!! dances around the room, avoiding rotten tomatoes Oh, I can't TELL YOU how happy it made me to know that I had such a positive effect on you- YAAAAAAY! Over writer's block temporarily….it's gaining….. GAAAH! RUN!I was going to tell you about this before, but Ches was on and it always seems she gets annoyed when I think it's you, or maybe I take things to personally. Probably a little of both.
I didn't forget- This chapter is for Lorelei31 since I was such a bitch.
Hope you enjoy this- THE REVIEW BUTTON IS HUNGRY!!!! FEED IT!!!!! Would reaching 35-40 be a lot to ask? I get so jealous with those people that have like 500. :'(
Oh yeah, and apparently my less than signs or pluses don't like me this chapter, so I'll use italics to signify stuff, and I think you guys are smart enough to get the drift.
luv always
meg aka dramaqueen
)Boromir(
I woke up later in the morning than I would have liked. I wanted to see her. I needed to see her.
If Legolas tried anything with her last night, my sword will be defiled with royal Elven blood by sunset.
Pull yourself together, Boromir. Your infatuation for this woman is positively consuming you!
It's not like I can help it!
I dressed and looked out the window, seeing that Maranwë was walking towards a waterfall. I couldn't help but smile, seeing her smile as she picked a seregon blossom and placed it behind her ear.
I had been in a daze for the past few days caused solely by her, ever since the party.
I had not known Éomer very well, but I had heard that two Elves residing in Edoras had insisted that the rulers of major locations attend, so my brother and I had gone in my father's stead.
Little had I known what I had gotten myself into.
She had instantly caught me off guard when I saw her standing beside Éowyn and Larien. She was breathtaking herself, her jet-black hair shining in the sunlight and her piercing mahogany eyes visible from meters away.
The morning after our drunken encounter, I instantly knew that it was a dream- it was far too exquisite to have been reality. Yet it took me about a week to forget the feeling of her kiss and I knew then that something had to have been real, something had to have happened between us.
In the days following, I could not remove her from my mind. She was so enchanting… so enticing… so perfect.
I loved her.
When I confessed it to her, I knew the feeling was mutual. And, however short a time we had known each other, I was going to ask for her hand in marriage. Just, I didn't want to seem insistent so I would wait.
I fingered the diamond ring, ready in my tunic pocket. Yes, I would wait.
There was a harsh rapping at the door.
"Enter," I said without truly thinking.
A blonde maid in a modest black dress came in and gripped her hands together in front of her waist. "Lord Elrond requests your immediate presence in his study, Lord Boromir."
"Certainly. One moment, thank you."
"I beg your pardon, my lord, but he insists upon your haste."
I turned and looked into her eyes, seeing they were fearful and she was biting her lip.
)Maranwë(
Making certain that no one was watching me, I pulled my morning gown over my head and tossed it to the base of the willow tree. I slipped under the waterfall into a small alcove so no one could see me. Wringing out the flower of all its warm perfume and working it over my body, I dipped under the water to rinse off, pulling my hair back by winding the stem of a niphredil blossom around the tail I gathered and tied the edge around the bud.
"Boo," said a warm voice behind me, taking his powerful hands and circling them around my shoulders and halfway down my back. He then let his hands glide down the side of my body and gripped my waist, pulling me into him, letting his lips brush against my shoulder.
I didn't need to turn to know who it was. Working my hands over my stomach to rinse off some seregon juice, I said, "Aur maer, Legolas." Good morning, Legolas
"Aur maer, Maranwë a'maela nîn," he murmured seductively, nuzzling his mouth against my neck. Good morning, my beloved Maranwë I shivered.
"Yahoo!" screamed a voice from the other side of the falls, followed by a loud and echoing splash.
"There goes our privacy," Legolas chuckled, his lips grazing my ear.
"Race you out," I said quickly, gasping for a breath that I held and swam under the curtain of raging water.
I was laughing hysterically by the time I saw Legolas surface after me. "You cheated," he accused, smoothing his hair back.
"You're just a sore loser," I put in, sticking my tongue out.
"Oh really?" he chuckled, splashing me.
"Hey!" I exclaimed, thrusting a wave of water back at him.
"Hey!" he yelled back, splashing me again.
"Hey!" hollered something that popped up from underwater between us.
I screamed, swimming to my Elf, not knowing what to make of the creature that appeared. Legolas held me against his tense body, my fingers clinging to his soaking tunic, but we both calmed down at the realization that the something was Elrohir.
"Are you trying to scare us half to death?" Legolas questioned, flustered and irritated. I grabbed my white gown on the edge of the lake, slipping it over my head without revealing my body to the twin.
"No," he replied innocently, dunking his head under the water once more. When he resurfaced, he grinned and said, "I'm trying to scare you straight to death!"
I clenched my teeth. "Damn it, Elrohir, you need to work out some severe issues! You can be such an ass sometimes!"
Legolas looked at me incredulously. "Sometimes?"
I looked upwards, instantly screaming, "Legolas, watch out!"
Legolas looked up and ducked beneath the water, narrowly avoiding Estel as he jumped from a rock and smashed into the lake.
"Do you want to kill me?!" Legolas screamed.
Aragorn just flashed a cheeky smile and submerged again.
"Great," I said sarcastically. "Now there'll be grease floating on top of the water and blood and mud and… God damn it Aragorn, you've fucking contaminated it!"
"Look out below!" screamed three voices in unison from the top of the waterfall. We all raised our gazes to see Larien, Elladan, and Hithil ready to jump. "One, two, three!"
The three, linking arms, were about to leap, but Larien withdrew and pushed both off the edge.
It was as if the instant they hit, they resurfaced, yelling, "Larien! What the hell was that for?! This water's fucking freezing!"
She smiled angelically as she raised her hands and did a perfect dive, hardly making a splash upon entry.
Legolas laughed as Larien caught breath and wiped the water from her face. "What's so damn funny, Legolas?"
"That dive was pathetic," he said, howling with laughter.
"Like you could do better," she challenged.
"Hey, I can do a dive twice as good as you can, and at least I can hit a target dead-on two inches away!"
Larien narrowed her eyes. "Oh shut up, Legolas! Your arrow couldn't shoot an orc's dick if you were giving him head!"
"Shut the fuck up!" Legolas said, nearly laughing he was so angry at her obviously playful insult.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot. I meant if you were giving Elrohir head," she giggled.
"Larien, leave him alone," I chided.
"You want to shoot, Larien? All right then- let's go!" Legolas exclaimed, hopping out of the lake and offering Larien a hand. She grabbed it but yanked him back into the water with an echoing splash.
"That's it," he said when he resurfaced. "Let's go to the archery field right now." He hoisted himself out of the lake and Larien jumped up after him.
"Fine. Have it your way. Race you to the archery field!" Without signaling him on, she took off. He ran after and we all followed to make sure that they didn't kill each other.
)Legolas(
Soon the lake was empty since all had followed us to the archery range.
We had run there so fast that we were there in no more than a moment, although the lake had been over a mile away. The range itself was a beautiful meadow with targets attached to distant wooden posts. Flowers sprouted from branches of surrounding trees and sprinkled their petals around the posts. About ten meters from the closest targets was a long patio, a cobblestone floor with a very high wooden roof and hooks on the supporting beams that had bows and quivers of arrows strapped around them.
Larien whipped out a bow, threw it up in the air, spun on her toes, and caught it perfectly.
I yanked a bow off the hook and hissed, "Larien, quit showing off your tricks and shoot."
"After you, my lord," Larien seethed the last two words with a particular venom.
I rolled my eyes, loading an arrow onto the bowstring, yanking back, and launching it to the center of the red target.
Larien laughed. "Are you kidding?"
"What do you mean? I got a bull's-eye!"
"That was one of the most pathetic displays I've ever seen." She grabbed a blue-feathered shaft, twirled it between her fingers, loaded it onto the string, walked out into the meadow and launched it high into the air.
I scoffed. "Well that certainly went well."
"Just wait." The arrow flew back down and into her hand and she loaded it back instantly, firing it into the tree above the farthest target. It caught into the stem of a flower and flew down into the heart of the point. Then she offered me one of her arrows. "Care to try again, your highness?"
"Don't even bother," Elladan said quickly. "She whooped my ass before when she challenged me last time." I threw my bow at him and the bowstring caught around his neck, which muffled his coughed laugh. "I just found it amusing to watch you try."
He chuckled again and I pulled off the bow, smacking him in the head with it first. "Asshole."
Larien pushed her hair back behind the apex of her ear, waving towards it. "Oh, Legolas? I'm waiting."
I hung the bow back on the post. "Waiting for what?"
She crossed her arms over her chest.
"Fine," I mumbled. "You're better than me- in archery only!"
"Hmm. Sure. I guarantee that if you were to challenge me to anything else, you would surely go down."
"Shut up and give it up, already, Larien."
"Oh, so I guess that means you're not up for a game of 'Catch and Fire'?"
My eyes must have been darkened with anger now. "You'd be only too privileged to lose to me, Larien Tiwelë."
"Excuse me?" she inquired indignantly. "Let's get at it, Leggy!"
I cringed. "You know I hate when my father calls me that!"
She smiled, reloading her quiver. "Precisely."
We walked into the field, but Elrohir had run ahead to the armory near the base of the acreage near the city. He ran back with chest plates, chainmails, and helmets. "Here, suit up."
As I put my arms through the sleeves of the chainmail, Larien laughed. "Armor? Please. If Legolas was a real man, he'd be confident enough in his own game that he wouldn't need armor."
I scoffed, pulling it on. "It's your game that I'm not confident enough in!"
Larien looked to the group nearer the trees. "Estel!"
Aragorn shook a branch, picked up the apple that fell to the ground, and threw it into her palm.
She balanced the apple on the top of her head and I turned around. Without giving me much time to think, she launched an arrow at my back, but I spun around in time to catch it and launched it immediately at the apple, skimming her hair and knocking the apple off.
"Elrohir!" she called.
Elrohir ran to where the apple and arrow had fallen. "No good, Leg!"
My jaw fell. I looked to Elrohir, then to Larien, and then to Maranwë. "What? I hit it hard-on- I mean dead-on!"
Larien turned to me and raised her eyebrows and flashed a suspicious stare, giggling when she noticed I had been looking at her sister.
Elrohir twirled the shaft between the fingers of his left hand and picked up the apple with his right. "No impact, Legolas. The arrow didn't pierce it."
I walked over, examined the arrow, and then snapped it in half.
"Oh, too bad Mr. Greenleaf. Now it's my turn."
I shook my shoulders, rattling the chainmail, as I balanced an apple on my head. She turned around and I aimed it to hit between her shoulders. Firing, it whizzed through the air and she caught it moments before impact. In one fluent motion, she shot it back and before I could feel it, the apple fell off my head.
"Elrohir!" I summoned.
He ran and retrieved the apple, bringing it to my nose to show that the arrow hit the direct center and had pierced it completely.
"Oh Legolas? I believe I need to hear something from you!" Larien said innocently.
I turned around and folded my arms.
"Oh, forget it, Legolas." She coughed to muffle the words, "Misogynistic bastard." Then she started her way back to the city. "I'm hungry- I'm going to change before breakfast. Are you all coming?"
"I'll be there in a minute, Larien," Maranwë said as the twins, Estel, and Hithil followed her.
Larien nodded as they continued walking to the House of Elrond.
Maranwë walked up beside me and headed back up to the archery range. I followed, as if in a trance. She grabbed a bow and threw a quiver over her back. She loaded the arrow and missed the target by inches.
I walked over behind her as she loaded an arrow. "Here, try it this way." I slid my fingers between hers and helped her grip the bowstring back, brushing my mouth across her palm when she yanked it past her cheek. She shuddered and released her shot, which hit the exact center. She smiled, turning towards me and I intertwined our fingers. "See? It's perfect."
She leaned forward and kissed me, and I resisted taking her right then.
I tried to breathe, but she still pulled at my mouth between words. I whispered, "Valar damn me, but I want you, Maranwë. I want you more than I've ever wanted anything in my life."
She merely moaned, pulling me in deeper, refusing to let me speak, neither admitting nor denying that she felt the same.