I'm glad people are enjoying this fic so far, I have never gotten such a strong response from any of my other fics. To all you guys who reviewed, thank-you so much, it means a lot to me. Love ya!

"I love him," she whispered to herself, "I love him," slowly she found the words easier and easier to say. It made sense, she couldn't get him out of her head, every minute of every day. She loved him. It was funny, it took a complete outsider to tell her this, show her the madness in her ways. But, she didn't care now, she wanted to be happy even if that meant going home with her tail between her legs. She didn't care, she just wanted him to hold her again. Make everything better.

She stood still in the middle of the white city, tears coming to her eyes. She had been such a fool. Sure, they had jumped into things a little quickly, but that didn't matter, she was in love. She ran her fingers through her hair, her mouth gaping, "what have I done," she turned and ran down the winding path back to her small home. Her adrenaline rushing through her body uncontrollably strong.

There was only one thought on her mind, she had to get home. She didn't care how dangerous it was, all she cared about was going back to him. She missed the rush of laughter, the joy of smiling. It didn't matter what family he was born into, all it mattered was him. And she was a fool to doubt.

She ran into her small temporary home, grabbing this and that and throwing all of it into a small worn knapsack. It wasn't much, but it had gotten her through. Within minutes she had packed, without taking a second look at her small home, she hurried outside again, taking one last look at the old rocking chair she had sat in so much.

A small smile crept her to lips, one of the fist genuine smiles since she had left, "I am a fool," she with amusement, shaking her head.

"Lady elf!" The same man she had talked to earlier approached her, now dressed in full armor holding his helmet in his hand.

"Kind sir, I owe you the world," she smiled, "I get it now, I-I-I don't know what I was thinking! I love him! That's all that matters! And I am going home! There was nothing to think about, and you made me see that!"

He smiled somberly, "I'm glad to hear that I was of service, lady elf, but, I'm sorry to say, you cannot leave the city."

Nessa's smile dropped, her eyes growing large, "what?" She whispered, dropping her bag.

He looked at her sadly, "the city is under attack, you cannot leave. You shouldn't even be in your home, go, to where it's safe."

Nessa stared sadly at the man, "but, but," she felt tears come to her eyes, "what if he never knows."

He smiled encouragingly, "do not worry, lady elf, Gondor is strong."

She lifted up a shaky hand, wiping away her tears, "I am a fool," she said sadly.

"No," he shook his head, "never a fool, lady elf," he smiled, "now go, hurry!" He waved his free hand for her to run to the upper levels.

She nodded, grabbing her bag and running back to where she had come from earlier. Fate, it seemed, still had once last ride for her. Wiping away the remnants of her tears, she walked boldly into the mass of people, throwing her emerald hood up over her ears. She made her way into a small corner where she could sit alone, she knew better then to join one of the large groups of people.

"Nessa!" Alannis ran over to her, smiling happily, "I was so scared! I thought you hadn't come!" She wrapped her arms around Nessa, giving the elf a warm hug.

Nessa smiled, putting her arms around the young girl, "Alannis, you should be with your Naneth." She smiled encouragingly, then realized her mistake, "I mean, mother."

Alannis nodded slowly, "why does my mother hate you? I mean, you're so nice, Nessa, and I like you."

Nessa smiled warmly, "thank-you, Alannis, but that's a question to ask your mother, and not me."

Alannis pulled back, frowning slightly, "but she won't tell me either."

"Then maybe it's better you don't understand, little one."

"I'm not little," Alannis crossed her arms and pouted.

Nessa smiled, "then go, your mother must be worried. Trust me, she loves you an awful lot."

Alannis nodded, stepping away from Nessa, "alright, but I'll talk to you later, promise?"

Nessa shook her head, "I'm sorry, little one, but, I'm going home," she laughed slightly, "I'm going to go home."

Alannis nodded sadly, "but, I don't want you to go, Nessa. You're my friend."

"And you shall have other friends, Alannis. Don't worry, I promise I'll visit you again, some time soon, maybe. And maybe, by then, you have made a ton more of friends and I'll bring some of my friends, and we can all sit and talk together. Won't that be fun?"

Alannis nodded, "promise?"

Nessa smiled, nodding, "of course," she looked up to see Alannis's mother standing behind them impatiently, "go, now, hurry!" She smiled, waving the little girl off to her mother.

Alannis nodded, and waved her goodbye, "remember your promise, Nessa!"

Her smile turned more and more somber as the girl and her mother disappeared into the crowd. She hated promising the impossible, but, she hoped, that maybe she could come through on this one. She had broken a lot of promises recently, lied maybe even more.

That scar was still there, though, and it seemed to be cut deeper and deeper with each added burden. Legolas had said he wanted to share her burdens, but she wasn't ready to share her pain just yet. She was scared. The fear never really made much sense at all, once she thought back on it, but it was strong. Strong enough to drive her away from happiness.

A small smile came across her lips, she had once thought happiness was a guarantee, that everyone had. But now, now she realized happiness was earned, and happiness was lost, but most importantly, she had to remember that you could always find happiness again. And she thought the valor had forsaken her, but in the end, the valor always protected her. She was just too blind to see it. And now, now she might have just lost her one chance at happiness.



Legolas rode through the city absent-mindedly. Not really watching the people, not really listening to their happy cheers. The battle was won, but the dark lord still reigned, and Frodo was still out there somewhere. Hopefully alive.

Aragorn rode beside him, he was silent as well. Even Gimli, who sat behind Legolas, had fallen quiet. Waging war took a lot out of them apparently.

"I still say we should have kept them," Gimli finally grumbled, "they'd come in handy in another tight spot."

Aragorn shook his head, "no, Gimli, I promised I would let them rest. If I hadn't, I don't think that they would have even helped us anyways."

"Imagine them coming after you, Gimli," Legolas smirked, "they hold no oath to your ancestors."

Gimli grumbled something along the lines of 'stupid elf' before again returning to his silence. Legolas, now having wandered out of his absent- minded state, began to look around him, at the people. All seemed relieved to have survived, but many others were weeping as they looked upon dead friends and relatives.

"Gondor needs their King," Legolas smiled and looked at his friend.

Aragorn looked among the people, his eyes giving away his sadness, "I am no King."

"You cannot hide from who you are, Aragorn. Dislike it as you may, I know that you will be the one to unite all of us again."

"How can you know such things?" Aragorn looked at the elf, "my path has always been hidden from me."

Legolas shook his head, "Arwen believes in you, doesn't she? That has to count for something."

Aragorn sat silently, his eyes staring ahead as they rode up the long, winding road through Gondor. Legolas nodded slowly, then looked back among the people. He could tell that this journey was coming to an end, he was going to miss riding beside his friends. Nine had left Rivendell, maybe only six would return. He had hoped for a long time now that all would return, but he knew in the back of his mind that many of them would not return.

Frodo's fate had been sealed when he left the fellowship, Sam's as well. Merry and Pippin, although maybe the most unlikely among heroes, had almost sealed their fates as well when they helped Frodo escape. And Boromir, he had done exactly what he had promised. He died protecting the hobbits from harm, and, inadvertently let Frodo, and the ring, escape harm's way.

As for Aragorn, Gimli, and himself, they had survived many battles. But one could only dance around death for so long. Sooner or later, death catches up.

"Legolas," Aragorn breathed slowly, noticing a familiar face in the crowd.

"What?" He turned to his friend.

"Look," he pointed to the blond haired she-elf, crouching next to a little girl and talking. Her back was to him, but it was her. There was no doubt of that in his mind.

Legolas's mouth dropped, "Nessa," he whispered, much to Gimli's confusion, "Nessa!" He yelled to her stopping his horse in the middle of the street.

Nessa turned her head to see him sitting on a white horse, smiling sadly. She stood up, ignoring the girl's many questions, "Legolas," she finally made out, her eyes filling with tears. She stood there for a moment, arguing with her legs to move.

Legolas climbed down from his white horse, careful as to not knock Gimli off, but still with such speed and agility that only an elf could muster. Somehow, her legs took control of her body, and she ran into his arms, burying her head in his chest. Heavy sobs escaping her eyes and lips. It wasn't at all how she pictured meeting him again, but sometimes it is better left to actions as apposed to words. They always spoke louder, anyways.

He smiled softly, stroking her hair, and trying to whisper anything reassuring. For a moment so streaked with tears, it would probably be one of the happiness memories of his life that he would take with him everywhere. Holding her in his arms after so long, knowing that she had finally come back to him. That it was not false hope.

And she, who had spent most of her life running from something like this, had suddenly found it to be something she never wanted to live without. She loved him. She loved him. She loved him. And that is all that should matter. Love.

"What a pair we make," Legolas finally whispered to her, kissing her a top the head in an effort to try and calm her. He rested his head on top of hers, closing his eyes and feeling the release of his tears. "What a pair."

It was funny, for a moment, time seemed to stop for the two elves. The people of Gondor stood as silent observers, most surprised to see their infamous resident elf crying in another's arms, others for reasons of their own.

Alannis's mother took her daughter by the hand, smiling down on the child. Alannis looked up at her mother, not understanding why her friend had just left her in tears. Her mother just shook her head, "come now, Alannis, let's go now."

"But what about Nessa, Mamma?"

The woman shrugged, "I don't know, I don't know what will become of her."

Alannis looked at her friend again, watching as the elf that held her kissed her gently a top the head. She felt another tug on her hand, her mother was getting impatient. She sighed, "bye Nessa," she whispered to the wind, walking away into the crowd.

Aragorn shook his head, "they're both fools," he mused looking over to Gimli before turning his attention back to his friends.

Gimli snorted, "how come you two didn't see it fit to tell me any of this!" He waved his hand in the direction of Legolas and Nessa.

Aragorn smiled faintly, "how come you didn't ask?"

"How was I supposed to know!"

Aragorn laughed, "by asking," he mused before picking up the dwarf and sticking him on the back of his horse, much to Gimli's disapproval.

"What do you think you're doing!" The bewildered dwarf finally asked, "this is too strange." He commented, not used to riding behind Aragorn.

"Something tells me that now that he has her back, he's never going to let her go again," Aragorn reasoned, kicking his horse lightly to signal it to start walking again. Legolas pulled back, now that she had calmed down. Taking her head in his heads and studying it closely, it had been many months since he had last seen her. Although, he had often thought about her, it still wasn't the same as holding her in his arms again. "You look tired," he finally said, "your eyes, they look so tired now."

She smiled, "yours aren't exactly awake, either."

He brushed a stray hair from her face, glad to feel her hair between his fingers again. They stood in silence for a moment, both unsure of what to say. "I don't know where to go from here," Legolas finally blurted out his thoughts. "I don't know whether to hug you, or to kiss you, or to turn you away. I just don't know anymore."

She shrugged, "neither do I. We certainly made a royal mess out of things, didn't we?"

He smiled, "as always," he teased.

"I guess we could start back from the beginning."

He shook his head, "I don't regret our time together, why should we pretend like it never happened?"

"Because that's what tore us apart, Legolas," she sighed, "we imploded."

"No, we tore ourselves apart, Ness. You were in pain, and I was too love stuck to even bother seeing it. And when I finally did, I had realized that I had lost you."

She stepped forward, closing the small gap between them, and put her arms around him, resting her chin on his shoulder. "I was gone before I had met you," she breathed.

"Then why come back to me?" He asked sadly, pulling her back again to look into her eyes once more.

She bit her lip, "stranger things have happened," she said casting her eyes downwards, trying to avoid his piercing stare.

"Why are you here, Nessa?" He repeated himself, "why are you here back in my arms? Only you can answer that."

Her eyes began to tear up again, "because I am a fool." Whoot. Another chappy down, and the reunion of Leggy and Nessa! I must confess, I had a hard time with this chapter. I rewrote, and rewrote, and rewrote how they would meet at least seven times. And each time there would be a ton of reworking done. So I hope you like this meeting of our two lovers, it was the one that I thought best captured their personalities.

In a couple of the first ones, I had them talking a lot more, like from the get go really. And they were both right there like making out in the middle of the street. And that just didn't sit well with me. Because we know that both characters really love each other, but there are obvious problems in their relationship. And the fact that Nessa did not return to Legolas, but in fact he found her would be slightly unsettling to Leggy.

But he knows when she calls herself a fool, that a lot of the same thought patterns have been going through her brain. Because all the chappys Leggy was in by himself, that is what he always referred to himself as! Note the connection!

So there you have it, a little glimpse into my head, and hopefully you have the same thought pattern. And I will shut up now.

Please Review.