It's been almost eight months. Eight months since I started training these lazy, lazy Men. Half of them had never picked up a sword in their lives. Now they're almost good.

Wanna hear something funny? Tosun -- that's the guy who could barely hold a sword when this started, and kept dropping it -- is my best now. He's not very good, but he's still my best. It's sort of sad.

I kick Bregil's sword out of his hands -- again -- but he actually remembers to leap back when I try to kick his feet out from underneath him. He CAN be taught!

He hooks one foot under his sword, trying to kick it back up into his hands, fumbles it, slices his palm, swears, and drops it. Whoever let this idiot have a double-edged sword should be put to a slow, painful death. He shouldn't even have a butter knife.

Although there were a couple of months where I insisted we use wooden swords. They did not take that very well, believe me. Men. If you take away their sharp toys, they pout like children.

I crouch down, sheathing my own sword, and gesture him down so I can take a look at his hand. Even if they're not learning anything, I am. Healing is a very useful talent with this bunch. I can stitch cuts like a pro. At least none of my patients ever look like Frankenstein's monster.

Bregil glances over my shoulder and swears. "Nothing is better than humiliation except humilation with an audience," he mutters.

I hold very still for a long second, then focus on his hand. Yes, I know who's here. I can hear Gimli muttering complaints about Legolas's knives poking him the whole way from the Lonely Mountain. Even if he wasn't talking, I've got the same skin-crawly, stomach-clenching feeling I get whenever Legolas is close. Yes, I am pathetic.

I pull a strip of linen from the pouch at my waist -- yes, I DO carry bandages with me -- and wrap it around his hand. "You'll live," I say. "Keep it clean."

Bregil gives a small, ironic smile. "I know by now, my Lady."

I rise to my feet and stretch my back, then shoot a quick glance at the sun. It's starting to set. We've been out here since dawn. I think it's time to go in. I touch Bregil's shoulder. "Go home. We're done for today." He nods gratefully, but pauses before he walks away. "My wife sends her greetings, my Lady. She thanks you for your help with the baby."

I smile. Bregil's an ass, but his wife is actually very sweet. "Tell her she's welcome, and to send for me if there's any trouble."

He bows quickly and hurries away.

With all that's been happening since Legolas's return -- the plans for establishing the colony in Southern Ithilien, the return of Eowyn and her brother, the wedding preparation, everything else -- we really haven't had time to talk. Not that I've been avoiding him, or anything. At least not sincerely attempting it, but if it so happened that I didn't see him, I might have taken steps to continue that. Little steps.

Really.

Gimli claps Legolas on the back as I work my very slow way over to the fence. The female Elf he came in with grins at him quickly and hurries off. No, I don't know who she is. Yes, I am jealous. Shut up.

"Hey."

He glances at me. He has his hair loose, and he's dressed like he's been avoiding anything even remotely like civilization. "Hello." He tilts his head at me and studies me. I know I look like crap. I don't need that look to tell me that. I need to have a bath and fresh clothes before I'll even FEEL human again. "You've been avoiding me," he says softly, and he won't meet my eyes.

Oh, dammit. Now look at what you did, Kayli. You went and hurt his feelings. Why does he have to be so...so...damn cute? Argh. This love stuff turns your brains to mush.

And I don't even have a good excuse for what I've been doing, except that I don't know what I'm doing.

I boost myself up on the fence next to him and stare at my boots. "Not exactly," I say lamely. "I mean, I haven't been...going out of my way to not see you. I've just been..." I shrug.

"Not being where you know I'll be?"

"Right."

"And that's not avoiding me?"

I smile slightly. "Yeah, I guess it is." I roll my shoulders and try and restore some semblence of sanity to my hair. "I'm sorry. I don't know what I've been doing. Hell, maybe I am -- was -- avoiding you. I don't know what to say to you. And --" I glance back over my shoulder. "Who the hell is she?"

He stares at me blankly for a second. "Who?" he follows my gaze. "Tingalen? She's Ginuviel's sister. A friend since we were young." He turns and looks at me, then smiles. I hate it when he does that. It lights up his whole face. "Were you jealous?"

I lift my chin. I am NOT going to spend this conversation staring at the ground. "Maybe."

He laughs at that, outright laughs, and kisses me. I almost fall off the fence. He needs to not do that when I'm not prepare. I do stupid stuff like trip over my own feet and make these pathetic lovelorn sighing noises. It's embarassing. "You have nothing to fear from her, melisse. She is my friend, nothing more."

I narrow my eyes at him. "I didn't know that."

Legolas takes my face in his hand and looks me in the eye. "You should have," he says firmly. "Do you not trust me, Kayli?"

I lean forward and kiss him. "Yes. No. I don't know. You have too much of me for me to trust you entirely." I look out over the practice field. "I've had my heart broken. It's not a fun experience, and I'm not out to do it again."

He smooths my hair back. Sure, it does it for him. "I cannot promise that I won't hurt you," he says, "but I can promise that I will try not to."

I smile at him. Honestly, I think that's the most honest thing anyone's ever said to me. "I can live with that."

111

"You still have not answered my question," he says, several hours later. We're sprawled out on my bed, playing a game.

...A card game, you freaks. Get your minds out of the gutter.

I stare a little too intently at the cards in my hand. "I know."

"Will you?"

I sigh and play one of them. "Yeah."

He arches a brow at me. I wish I could do that. Elves must have different facial muscles than humans. Like...Vulcans, or something. "Asnwer my question, or marry me?"

I shrug and play a card. "Both."

You know, it's not often you see an Elf shocked into silence. Seriously. Well, I imagine I see it more often than most people would, since I have this occasionally embarrassing tendency to say what I'm thinking, but they usually recover faster than he is.

"Did you just say yes?" he asks about five minutes later.

I turn the page in my book and don't look up. "Yeah."

There's another long moment of silence. He doesn't look shocked so much as thoughtful now. "I must speak with Boromir," he muses.

Now I look up. And frown. What the hell does Big Brother have to do with this? "Why?"

He shrugs. "I must ask his blessing, Kayli."

OK, I still don't get it. "You haven't already? I mean...aren't you supposed to do that before you ask a lady to marry you?"

He shrugs and picks his cards back up. "It seemed pointless. No one controls your actions but you, as you have proved before. Why ask him if I knew you wouldn't have me?"

I mark my place in my book and tuck my legs underneath me. "This isn't going to be easy," I mutter. I'm playing with the chain aroud my neck. Like I always do when I'm thinking. You've probably noticed by now. "I'm having a hard enough time getting the Men to trust me without suddenly up and getting hitched."

Legolas laughs suddenly. "I overheard some of the things they say about you the day I returned. They fear you more than respect you, at the moment. DId you really break the one Man's nose?"

I frown at that. Honestly, I've broken a couple of noses. Also three arms, a shinbone, two jaws and countless fingers. But they're learning. It's a sad day when learning has to be through pain. "You mean Kristo?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "I know not. He tried to defend himself against the others. Something about how he was just trying to be friendly."

I shake my head. "No, that's, uh, Fred...something. Let's just say that he and I have two entirely different ideas of friendly." I frown suddenly. Hoo boy. "You didn't hurt him, did you?"

He smiles slightly and traces the scar on my face. "Fear not, love. Gimli restrained me."

I grin. "I love that Dwarf."

Another arched brow. "Should I be worried?"

I can almost feel the smirk on my face. "Well, he is very...magnetic."

Legolas laughs and takes my hand. "Now that I would never live down," he says. He pulls me down to him, so that I'm laying on our game.

I snuggle my head into his chest and sigh. "Iariel's in love with Brioc," I inform him. "And Boromir's avoiding Edana like the plague."

The Elf starts to pull my pins out of my hair. See? Elves and hair. "I had noticed he tends to look at Lady Edana with fear in his eyes."

I giggle. "She'll get him. I am going to laugh so hard when she does." I rest my chin on my arms so I can look at his face. "Now I know how Arwen and Eowyn feel," I muse. "They're happy, so they want to see everybody else happy."

He lightly runs his fingers over my face. "Are you happy?"

"Yes." I lay my head back down. "I'm very happy."

His arms tighten around me. "Good."

111

Wanna hear something funny? Well, it's not really funny, but it is interesting.

I've been researching. About Elven marriage customs. Yes, I am researching about my fiancee...future husband...whatever he is, I'm researching about it. Shut up.

Did you know, that once two Elves bond, that bond is unbreakable, even by death? It all goes with the theory that even if their bonded one dies, they'll see them again, either in the Halls of Mandos or when that person is reborn in Valinor. Of course, they're aren't many who HAVE been reborn that are recorded. The only record I can find is of one Elf who died in Gondolin and was reborn in Arda.

Glorfindel. Yes, that Glorfindel. It's the same Glorfindel. Glorfindel of Gondolin -- now Glorfindel of Imladris -- fell while fighting one of the Balrogs that destroyed Gondolin. His death allowed Earendil to escape with his mother -- that's Elrond's father, in case you didn't know -- and apparantly Mandos -- the Vala who runs things in the Halls of Mandos, also known as Namo -- was so impressed with his strength and valor that he decided to allow Glorfindel to return to Arda, once more to serve the line or Earendil. It's all very interesting.

But so not the point. I'm sure you all enjoyed the history lesson, but it does have a point that has to do with me. And him. The point is, an Elven marriage bond is completely unbreakable. Even if one of them dies, their mate/bonded one/husband/wife/beloved/whatever, can't remarry. Why? Because, technically, they're still married.

See, that's the part I'm really not digging. I'm mortal, as in not going to live forever. But he will.. And, in case you hadn't guessed by this little spiel, he wants an Elven bonding ritual. So, the gist of it is, I'm going to die, and he's going to be stuck with that forever. Unless I'm reading into it wrong. It's not like there's a lot of precedent, either. Aragorn and Arwen don't count, because when Aragorn dies, so will Arwen. In effect, it's his death that will kill her, as he's the only thing binding her to Middle-Earth. The only other Man/Elf bonding thing I can find is Beren and Luthien, and we all know how THAT ended.

I make a disgusted noise and chuck the book across the table. It goes sliding off the other side and hits the floor with a THWAP!

"Dare I ask what you're doing?" Aragorns asks, and I nearly jump out of my skin.

OK, sneaky Elf-trained Man person, don't do that. I swear at him. "Don't DO that," I snap. "You scared the crap out of me."

He sends me an amused look and bends to pick up the book. "Ah," he murmurs, flipping through the pages. For a moment, he looks very sad. Then he glances up at me and smirks. "Accepted, did you?"

I roll my eyes. "Did everybody know?"

My King slips into the chair across from me. "Yes," he replies easily. "You two may think you're being subtle, but you're really not. And Boromir's shouting woke half the palace."

I reach up and play with the chain around my neck. I can absolutely NOT hold my hands still for an extended period of time. "Figures," I mutter, and give the book a nasty glare, like it's all the poor books fault.

"You can not find what you seek in books," Aragorn says firmly. "Perhaps you should ask him."

I frown. "Well, sure, if you wanted to do it the easy way," I mutter. "How do I bring this up, Aragorn?" I pick up the book and wave it under his nose. "Hey, honey, I was doing some research on Elves, and did you know that according to said research, when I keel, you won't be able to remarry?" I slam the book back down. "Yeah, that'll work."

He's laughing at me. Not out loud, he's too polite for that, but I can see it in his eyes. And the red shade his face is turning from trying NOT to laugh out loud. "Well, I wouldn't use those exact words," he says finally, once he's curbed the impulse to giggle. Yes, I know Aragorn doesn't giggle. Drop it.

I frown harder. "I KNEW this was a bad idea," I say darkly. "I knew it."

Aragorn sighs. He's getting exasperated. "Love is never a bad idea," he says, going into King-of-Men-and-don't-you-forget-it mode. "Would you truly pass up what you have with him, in exchange for his POSSIBLE future happiness?"

I make a face at him. "It's all so weird," I answer. "I mean, we don't even KNOW what's going to happen when we bond...or marry, or whatever. I mean, it could happen that way, right?"

He nods slowly. "Kayli, I fear that you and Legolas...already ARE bonded."

I stare at him for a second. OK, now I'm confused. "Huh?"

He leans forward and looks at me intently. I hate it when he does that. Makes me feel clear. Like glass. Really clear, just-been-cleaned glass. "Do you know what truly bonds two Elves, who have pledged their hearts to one another?"

I shake my head, and he continues. "It is not the ritual, no matter what your reading may have told you. It is the..." He's searching for the right word. I think I know what he's getting at. "The consummation of that love."

Oh. That. I can feel myself blushing, and I duck my head. "Oh," I mutter.

"As I told you," he says genlty, "Boromir's shouting woke half the palace."

I laugh slightly. "I'm gonna kill him," I mutter.

Aragorn stands and reaches out to touch my shoulder. "Take this, Kayli," he says softly. "Legolas is one of the truest, most loyal people I have ever known, and he loves you." He gestures at the book again. "Even if it does come to pass that the two of you are bonded for eternity, even past your death, I do not think that it will make much difference. I truly do not think that he would find another he would love as he loves you."

I smile slightly, then stand up and hug him tightly. "Thank you," I whisper. I pull back and blink quickly. I have something in my eye, dammit. "How did you get so wise?"

Aragorn's smile turns a bit ironic. "I grew up in the House of Elrond. You want to be wise, live with him."

111

Anywho.

Becca --FFN sucks ass. Thanks! You're awesome!

Sylvia Viridian -- Believe me, she's trying. Thanks!

CHEESECAKE -- Thanks!

Ming Bubble -- Oh, that's all right. Thanks again!

essence of popsicles -- Who doesn't love the Hobbits? Thanks!

Auburn Arafura -- I had to rearrange like all the chapters just to get one to work. It really, really sucked. Thanks for your patience.

Slayer -- Yes, that was from Buffy. Spike, right? I'm shameless. Good eye!

Destiny Goddess -- I swear, this flippin' thing doesn't even HAVE spellcheck. I try to read over all the chaps before I post 'em, but I guess I missed some stuff. Sorry. Thanks again!

chelsey-pudge -- Thanks!

Andrew Joshua Talon --- Honestly, I think I might have another use for you...Tell me, what are your views on reincarnation? (Yes, that is a serious question. My doctor says you should humor me.)

Iariel -- Don't worry, you'll get your Gondorrian. Kayli might have to do some pushing, but we all know how good she is at that. Hey, I've missed you too! Yes, Edana is another reader-insert. Just so you know, Brioc can be kinda thick-skulled. Thanks! And welcome back!

Laer4572 -- Well, I think it's pretty sure by now that Kayli is NOT your typical female. Thanks again!

halfblood princess & Summer -- Thank you! I was worried about that...

Crecy -- She HAS gotten better, they'd better watch out now...Heh. Thanks!

Did I miss anybody? If so, I'm sorry. It's hard to keep it all straight, what with the chapters all funky. Don't worry, you're awesome too! Thank you, everybody!