Ah, posting at half-past-midnight…what could be better? Well, there's always sleep—but that's overrated anyway… Er, blame any silliness in review responses on the fact that I got up early and had a busy day and thus am a wee bit on the tired side right now, which makes me silly…but I managed to get the post out! And that's the most important thing, after all.

Chapter Twelve: Fine

Eldarion listened anxiously, chewing on his lip. There had been silence for some time, but his uncles had said they were coming, and he believed them. He just wished that they could come a little bit faster. It was so cold, and every time he shivered his head throbbed. He had grown quite stiff trapped immobile under the rocks as he was, and his limbs were beginning to ache.

He must have closed his eyes for a moment, because suddenly he felt a soft touch on his arm and started. He could not see when his eyes flashed open, but he became aware of a strange grinding sound echoing oddly in the small enclosure.

"Eldarion?" a light voice breathed in his ear.

"Uncle Legolas!" the boy cried, awkwardly wrapping his arms as best he could around the elf crouched by his side. It was difficult since he did not know exactly where Legolas was, and he could not move his lower body.

"Hush, Eldarion, we are here," the elf reassured him, adjusting the child's hold on his waist.

"Uncle Gimli?" the boy asked in a tremulous voice, sensing only one being near him.

"He is enlarging the gap in the rock which I crawled through. It was, unfortunately, not of a size suitable for our dwarven friend's broad shoulders. I fear he has found too great a fondness for food since travelling with hobbits…" There was a muttered dwarven curse at that which made Eldarion laugh. "That is the source of the scraping sounds and grumbles that are now assaulting your ears," Legolas finished lightly.

"Oh," said Eldarion, and he fell silent for a moment, listening.

"Tell me lad," the elf asked then, "are you hurt?"

"No," the boy replied. "I just can't move my legs. They're pinned under the rock."

He could feel the elf tense sharply. "Where? Guide my hand, that I might feel it." Legolas's voice was tight and strained, although he seemed to be trying to keep it calm. Eldarion did as told, taking his uncle's hand in his own and leading it towards the stone that trapped him. He felt the elf flinch slightly when he touched the cold rock.

"Are you in any pain?" Legolas's voice was calm, but slightly higher than usual; it reminded Eldarion of the way his mother's voice changed pitch when she was smiling at someone she didn't like or pretending that she wasn't sad when she read letters from her daeradar about Lothlórien.

"No, I'm just stuck. And I am a little stiff," the boy admitted with a slight wince. He didn't know how long he'd been lying there, but it was long enough that his legs had cramped up and gone numb.

"We shall soon have you free," the elf assured him.

"I know you will," Eldarion replied, voice full of trust. His uncles were here now. They would make everything all right again. He hugged Legolas and laughed. "Hurry up, Uncle Gimli!" the boy shouted gleefully. "You're late again!"

Eldarion couldn't make out his uncle's response, but he giggled at the furious tone of the mutters over the grinding sound of the rock being chipped away. Fear forgotten, the child settled down to wait happily in the dark cave, now just another fun adventure with his favorite uncles.

………….

At last Gimli broke through enough of the rocky barricade that he could squirm through. While Legolas was by far the taller, Gimli's shoulders were much broader than the slim, nimble elf, and the tiny hole had only admitted Legolas though sheer force of the prince's will. The dwarf could hear his chainmail scraping on the edges, but he gritted his teeth against the shrill noise—hoping absently that Legolas would think to cover his sensitive elvish ears—and forced himself through.

Panting, the dwarf rose from the undignified heap that he had landed in when he tumbled out of the opening. He rubbed his shoulder, which was throbbing in protest at his exertions as well as at being landed on. He ignored that, as well as the tightness of his ribs, looking for his friends. Of course, he could see nothing. "Legolas?" he called, "Eldarion?" Worry racing through his veins, Gimli started forward, staring wildly into the darkness.

"Peace, Gimli," came a steadying voice through the black. A faint glimmer of almost-imagined starlight, somehow misplaced into the smothering cave, shone as the elf turned his eyes towards him. "We are here. Eldarion is unharmed, but he cannot get free of the stones upon him." A slight tremor of tension ran thickly through Legolas's carefully calm tones. Gimli was unsure whether it was simply the elf's reaction to his unwelcome location, or if it was worry for the boy.

Stumbling forward anxiously, Gimli ran into the rocks that the elf had been speaking of. He cursed loudly—fortunately in dwarven, which neither prince spoke—and rubbed his knee.

"How long do you think it will take to get me free, Uncle Gimli?" Eldarion's light tone piped up. Although it was hoarse and strained it still contained the innocent trust of childhood. He did not ask whether it would be difficult, or doable, or painful, or the host of other questions that were chasing each other fearfully through the dwarf's skull. He trusted in his uncles completely to free him; it was a foregone conclusion that they would keep him safe, even after Gimli had failed to protect him from the cave. Tears came to the dwarf's eyes as he dropped to his knees next to the prone boy, and fortunately the darkness hid them so that he would not need to pretend that they were in protest to the injury he had just received.

"Soon, lad," Gimli said roughly, patting the child's shoulder awkwardly. "Soon."

"Oh, good," Eldarion replied happily. "It's getting kind of uncomfortable," he confided softly. "I'm glad you found me." There was no accusation in the child's tones, no reprimand for either risking his life nor in taking so long to get to him. A small hand grasped his in the dark. "Don't worry. Everything's all right now."

The dwarf swallowed against a suddenly thick throat. "Ay, lad," he said to the darkness. "Ay, that it will be," Gimli promised softly. He could see Legolas nod in firm agreement by the shift of elven eyes.

If I have to beat it out of the Valar one by one personally, I promise you everything will be fine, the dwarf vowed silently to the child.You will be fine.

Reviewer Responses:

Alma – Eldarion really is stealing some hearts, isn't he? I suppose I can't kill him…well, not without making this an AU, at least…wink! And I'll have you know, I never laugh either evilly or forebodingly. Nope. Not me. You must be thinking of someone else. Oops, here comes Rhys, I better go now and let her do her thing here…

Thanks! Hope you enjoyed your holiday, too! And being a vegetarian (albeit a loose one), I think I'm safe from turkey-glut…it's the cranberry sauce I have to watch out for! And the sweet potatoes with marshmallow sauce! Mmmmm… drools!

Katatonia – Well, er, you could, uh…could…here, you know what? You can babysit Eldarion for the holidays! How's that sound? Not only will you then be, er…entertained enough you won't have to worry, but it will give Aragorn and Arwen (not to mention the lad's uncles) some time off. Of course, that still leaves the question of "will you survive" so…maybe not a good idea. Anyway, I hope you're still alive to read this chapter! Do we have a pulse? Someone get some athelas in here!

Aranna – Yes, yes, quite all right—and that really isn't a cliffie. I like cliffies. evil smirk! I'll show you a cliffie sometime…bwahahaha! And the elf is definitely crazy. Definitely. After all, his best friend is a dwarf, he must be deranged! Hmm, that also explains the whole rocks-thing… Good luck with your tests! And thank you for finding my bloody sodding question marks. Grumble! Thank you very much, and you enjoy your time (and survive your school) until our next meeting…which should be right about…now…

Deana – I know! I was SOOOO excited when it came up! :D joins Deana in her merry jig!

werelemur – hey, at least he isn't bored anymore!

Jebb – good, good…take it from Gimli, throwing yourself down a hole in a cave isn't the smartest of choices. Especially when you know the elf is going to lecture your ears off for it afterwards… And if they're the dynamic duo, does that mean they need to wear spandex body armor and utility belts and masks with eye-slits and big black capes? Oh no, I mentioned Legolas and spandex in the same sentence…run from the fangirls! Someone get a mop in here, we have a drool alert! I won't ever do it again, I promise!

Wow…I am tired…snicker!

Banbie – well that was rude of your stupid brother. Tell him to behave, or I'll sic the Elf, Dwarf, and kid on him. And that's a scary threat! And I'll read your story as soon as I get a moment, promise! :D

MysticHeero – thanks! And Welcome! And I don't know what you're talking about. Foreboding? No foreboding here. I never write anything with foreboding…right, guys? I'll get the next chapter up as soon as I get the chance, but bear with me, it may be a while—sorry!

Dark Borg Drone – er…coming? C-o-m-i-n-g? I, uh…don't know where that came from, I couldn't find that typo anywhere in the fic. Perhaps your computer just showed a funky "m" that looked like an "r-n"? I've seen that happen before…hope the confusion wasn't too bad…although now I'm confused…what does "corning" mean? Am I suddenly channeling too much Thanksgiving and writing a harvest fic? lol

Alatariel – Wellp, as you can see, we did indeed get to Eldarion. Now we just need to get him out! And the 73º is in Savannah, Georgia where my college is located. I'm now in the thirties and forties and similar temperatures, home in good old northern state Pennsylvania. Brrr…although it's still better than 27º…sympathies!

SirNotAppearing – Wow! Awesomeness! Thank you! And it's okay, I scare myself alllll the time, feel free to do likewise. Nope, he's not scared and you're not scary! Hee hee, it must be late…er, early… But what's Snaitf mean? Is that a Monty Python ref I missed? My friend will skin me…

Speaking of said friend…the "lurker" comment was just me poking fun at her, not meant as anything else. I just have to poke BamfChica all the time because she's a bad reviewer and reads without doing so, and I'm always on her case about it. I don't know if she's reading this one (not a big LoTR fan; I know, it's very sad!) I just threw in the comment to annoy her. 'Cause that's what we do to each other. Aren't best friends great? smirk!

…yeah, I think I'm approaching the stage of babbling-ness, so I'll just leave you all here with a promise to put out the next part as soon as I can and an apology for whatever randomness I just wrote. I'm sure I'll look at this next time I get on and go "what was I on?" but hey…updates are updates, and zany reviewer responses are just amusing icing on the cake, no? Okay, it's time for bed for Rhys before she says something really stupid. 'Night, all! Pleasant dreams, and please, no cave-induced nightmares! My conscience couldn't take it. Oh that's right, I don't have one, I forgot…okay, objection withdrawn your honor!

…and it is definitely sleep time now. Until our next meeting! :)