A/N: IT'S NOT MY FAULT! I tried for over an hour last night to get into ffn and post this chapter but no luck. (I DID win a lot of Freecell games while I tried, though - if you care...) Replies to reviewers are at the bottom since I "waxed eloquent" (okay, I ran off at the...keyboard).

Second Thoughts

Chapter 5

The midday meal proved very similar to the previous evening's supper. Dariel and Elfwine avoided each other, clearly miserable at doing so. Eldarion glanced between the two of them, wondering what had changed so drastically since this morning. Well, maybe he could get them back on course. "Elfwine, what do you say to showing us around Rohan tomorrow? Would your father allow an escort to accompany us on an outing?"

Elfwine looked up at him and shrugged. "I am sure he would. Is there something in particular you want to see or just to get out and ride some?"

"You know this country better than me. Surely you have favorite places we could see. And perhaps we could even visit Helm's Deep if it is not too far. I have heard much about the place."

Elfwine started to nod agreement when Eldarion turned to his sister and asked, "Will you join us Dariel? There isn't much for you to do around here. It should be interesting."

Dariel blushed, then stammered, "Yes, I would enjoy it. If Elfwine does not mind me coming along with you."

"Why should he mind?" Eldarion asked, looking at the other boy.

"I have no objection, though I am not sure we want to go to Helm's Deep if Dariel accompanies us. I fear the ride would be too long and taxing on her."

Dariel blushed more deeply and focused attention on helping her younger sister sitting next to her. Clearly he considered her a poor rider and felt her presence would be a hindrance to them.

"Do not be fooled. Dariel can cope quite well with adversity when she needs to, though she may regret it the next day!" Eldarion teased.

Dariel glared at him, but Elfwine was already answering, "Then I will arrange it with Father and have cook prepare food to take along."

Despite the planned excursion, Dariel and Elfwine still avoided one another the rest of the day. Lothiriel realized Dariel probably had no idea how to prepare for the ride, so she spent the evening adjusting one of her old riding outfits that would work better than the clothes Dariel had with her, and making sure she knew what to take along.

Shortly after breakfast the next morning, the trio headed to the stables. Their escort, led by Eothain, was already saddled and waiting. Quickly Elfwine and Eldarion saddled their horses, then Eldarion moved to aid his sister with her horse while Elfwine packed the things they were taking along. Soon they were mounted and the party made its way to the city gates and across the plains.

They had been riding for some time, and Dariel noticed that Elfwine kept glancing at her curiously. She wondered what had his attention, and finally he enlightened her. "Where did you get that outfit? It looks like one my mother has."

She laughed, realizing why he was giving her such strange looks. "It should – it is one of hers adjusted to fit me. She thought it would work better for this outing than the things I had."

He nodded. "You should find it more comfortable than what you wore coming to Rohan." He stopped, thinking his comment might be rude, but she didn't seem to notice.

"It is. And I was grateful for her assistance."

Elfwine let out his breath in relief. It would be very nice if he could get through this day without saying something stupid to her.

They traveled to a few of his favorite spots, and finally stopped for the midday meal along the banks of a stream. They had been laughing and talking, and presently Eldarion was telling them some ridiculous tale, when Elfwine looked past him to the horizon. Immediately his expression sobered and he stood.

Realizing he had lost part of his audience, Eldarion looked around curiously to see what had Elfwine's attention. "What is the matter?" he asked, seeing nothing alarming.

Elfwine didn't answer him, but instead called to the group of soldiers gathered a short distance away, "Eothain!"

When the soldier looked up at him, he pointed and Eothain rose as well. A moment later, he was at Elfwine's side. "We should return to Edoras at once. Collect your things."

Elfwine caught his arm as he started to move back to the Riders. "If we go to Edoras, we will be riding right into it. If we ride hard, we may reach Helm's Deep before it hits."

Eothain pondered a moment, then nodded. "You are right. Get ready to leave." He called to the Riders as he approached, "Quickly, mount up!"

Dariel stood, looking uncertain, but slightly alarmed. Eldarion voiced their concern, "Elfwine, what is the matter?"

"There is a storm coming – a bad one. It is between us and home, so we will make for Helm's Deep and shelter there. Looks like you will get to see it after all. Gather our things and get mounted, quickly."

He began hurriedly tossing things into the saddle bags, and had his horse ready in only a few moments. Eldarion was still working with his saddle, so Elfwine went to aid Dariel and then helped her to mount. When everyone was in the saddle, Eothain led the way at a canter that soon quickened to a gallop.

Already the winds were beginning to pick up and the air had become more chill. No one spoke as they hurried along, but each felt the tension. Eothain and Elfwine kept casting worried glances over their shoulder. It was soon evident that even though they were only a few miles from Helm's Deep, the storm would catch them before they reached it. They were in rockier terrain so their pace had slowed, but Eothain pressed them on as quickly as he dared.

Elfwine and Eldarion had taken up position on either side of Dariel, and it proved a wise move once the torrential rain caught them. Her horse did not react well to the adverse conditions and came to a halt, snorting with displeasure and shaking his head to rid himself of the water hitting him. Dariel was looking more and more panicked as it became apparent that her horse was paying no attention to her commands, and Eldarion's efforts to catch hold of the animal's reins and lead him almost got him yanked from the saddle. Finally, Elfwine pressed his horse in close to the gelding's side, reached for Dariel and caught her by the waist. In one quick motion he pulled her from the saddle, then placed her in front of him on his horse. Once she seemed settled, he called to another Rider, "Kialmar! Get her horse!"

Kialmar changed positions with Elfwine and soon had the wayward horse in tow, and they continued on the last few miles. Gratefully, they rode up the causeway and into the refuge. They decided it best to keep the horses with them, so they all rode into the main hall and began dismounting.

Elfwine climbed down from his horse and helped Dariel down as well. She had been shaking violently ever since he pulled her off her horse, and he wasn't entirely sure whether it was due to cold, fear or a mixture of both. Eldarion hurried over to check on his sister. "Dariel, are you all right?"

She was too cold and numb to speak, so she faintly nodded her head. "We need to get her warm," Elfwine said. "There should be wood stored in that alcove next to the fireplace."

Eldarion nodded and hurried off to the task. The Riders were tending the horses, and Elfwine led Dariel over to a chair that he pulled closer to the fireplace. Gently he pushed her down on it, then took his cloak and put it around her. Even though it was soaked through, it would provide some warmth until they got the fire going.

Eldarion returned with wood, then set about getting the blaze lit, and soon a fire was roaring. Elfwine turned Dariel over to his care and went to help the men secure their lodging and find whatever dry blankets and food could be had. He and another man spread the blankets they carried with them over some tables to let them dry out, and they went through what food they had left to see where they stood in that respect.

By the time he returned to Eldarion and Dariel, she was looking somewhat better and shaking less. He held out the dry blankets, "Remove as much wet clothing as you can and then wrap up in these." Eldarion took the blankets and began to assist his sister.

She became aware that no one else was doing something similar, "Are there blankets for the men, also?"

"Those were all the dry ones we could find. Now that we have several fires going, the wet ones will begin to dry out, as will our clothing."

She looked at him with dismay. "But I should not take all the dry ones!"

He smiled at her. "You do not have much choice. The men of Rohan would rather freeze to death than allow a lady to be cold and wet!"

She blushed at his statement and turned away, slowly removing the wet outer garments. Elfwine moved back to join the men and confer with Eothain on their situation. Because the men routinely carried more food with them than they needed, there was quite a bit of dried meat, some nuts and cheese. There were a few apples remaining from the picnic lunch, but the bread had gotten soaked by the rain and destroyed. It wouldn't fill them, by any means, but they wouldn't starve either.

They had found some fodder for the horses, and hauled some buckets of water for both the horses and their party. Gradually they settled in, the men gathered at one large fireplace and the three royals at the other. They would hold off eating as long as possible to stretch the food's effects. There was some soft talk, but mostly they just sat quietly.

Nothing had been said among the trio for some time, when finally Dariel inquired, "Will not our parents be frantic, not knowing where we are?"

Elfwine glanced at her and shrugged. "Possibly, but Father trusts Eothain to keep us safe. He will reassure your parents that Eothain will let no harm come to you. And likely the storm has hit there also. They will expect us to have holed up somewhere to try to get out of it."

They lapsed back into silence for a while longer and then Eldarion ventured, "Any reason we cannot take a look around? As long as we are here, I might as well see the place."

Elfwine nodded and rose. "Of course." He looked at Dariel. "Do you wish to join us? It is mostly just battlements and fortifications, but there is little else to do."

She appreciated the invitation and stood. "Yes, I think I will. It will help the time pass more quickly." She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and they set out, with a boy on each side of her.

They mostly just explored the areas that could be seen without going out into the rain again. Once that had been exhausted, Elfwine suggested, "Perhaps you would like to see the Glittering Caves."

"I have heard of them," Dariel said with surprise. "They are here?"

He nodded. "The Hornburg backs up to them and they were used as additional protection during siege. The women and children would flee the battlements and take refuge in there. A settlement of dwarves is deeper into the caves, but they rarely venture forth."

Dariel's excited smile was answer enough, and Eldarion nodded in agreement to the proposal. Elfwine led them to the back of the hall and through the entrance to the caves. Holding the torch he bore high over his head, he let the light hit the gems and crystals, reflecting it back toward them. Dariel let out a gasp of awe as she moved forward and stared up at the wondrous sight. Eldarion held his torch higher as well, and they moved deeper into the caves.

"I can see why the dwarves wanted to come here," Dariel commented. "It is beautiful!"

They spent over an hour exploring, before finally deciding to make their way back to the main hall and warm up. The chill in the cave was becoming too much.

Once back in front of the fire, they settled down in silence again. Other than quiet occasional conversation, no one seemed much inclined to talk. At length, they portioned out food and ate their meager meal, then most of the men opted to settle in for the night and hope for a little extra sleep.

Though not entirely dry, sleeping on damp blankets was preferable to the hard floor, so they laid a bed and stretched out. Again, the boys flanked Dariel, in hopes of helping her keep warm. Elfwine drifted off fairly quickly, having slept on the ground quite often, but the others found it more difficult to doze.

Eventually Eldarion slumbered also, but Dariel could not get comfortable. A couple of hours later, she was still awake and feeling miserable. The dampness of the blanket she lay on was seeping in, she was hungry and she was cold enough to start shivering again. Restlessly she shifted position, trying to get warmer, but nothing helped.

A quiet voice near her asked, "What is the matter, Dariel?"

It was Elfwine and she felt guilty for waking him. "I did not mean to disturb you. I just cannot get comfortable."

In the low light, he could see her shivers and reached over to touch her face. "You are cold!" Quickly he rose and added some logs to the fire. Grabbing another blanket he returned and lay down beside her, this time much closer. He spread the blanket over the two of them and reached over to pull her close.

"What are you doing?" she asked in alarm, barely keeping her voice down.

"Helping you get warm," he replied. "Do not worry. I will not do anything inappropriate," he added hastily.

She blushed, though he probably couldn't see it, and wouldn't have noticed for his own flushed face. As strange as it felt to be lying there with a boy's arms – Elfwine's arms – around her, she couldn't really say it was displeasing. And she was warmer. Besides, her brother was right there so what could happen. She consciously made herself relax. She was not going to make too much out of this. He was just being considerate and trying to ease her discomfort.

It wasn't until the next morning that she realized how quickly she had dozed off in his arms. When she awoke, he had already risen and only her brother slept beside her. Elfwine was talking with Eothain over near the Riders. The air was still a bit chill, despite the fire, so she kept the blanket wrapped around her as she sat up.

Eothain spotted her and nodded in her direction, pulling Elfwine's attention there.

He moved over to her and knelt on one knee. "Good morning." He hesitated and tried to stifle a blush as he asked, "Did you sleep better?"

Now pink herself, she nodded. "Thank you," she told him softly.

He gave her that half smile she had become so familiar with, then told her, "The worst of the storm has passed, though it will likely rain off and on most of the day."

Eldarion had awakened and sat up beside his sister to listen. "We will eat what is left of the food and then set out for Edoras. It will be a rather miserable ride, I am afraid, but without more food, there is little point in remaining here. We can be warm, dry and fed by nightfall," Elfwine continued.

Eldarion nodded and rubbed his face, then ran his fingers through his hair a few times in a vain attempt to comb it. Elfwine paused, then said, "I do not think it a good idea for Dariel to ride her horse. He is too flighty, and the wind and rain may yet upset him. She should ride with either you or me, Eldarion." He looked between the two of them to judge their reaction.

Dariel turned even pinker, partly with embarrassment that he felt she was not a good enough rider to manage on her own. Eldarion yawned. "She can ride with you. I do not have much experience with riding double, and my horse was acting flighty yesterday also. I may have my hands full with him."

Elfwine glanced at Dariel to see if she objected, but she did not meet his eyes. He explained, "I would let you ride one of our horses and have someone else take your mount, but none of the Rohirric horses is suitable for you either." When she still did not respond, he said, "You can either sit behind me or ride in front of me as you did yesterday."

Somehow the thought of his arms around her again was more embarrassment than she could manage, so she told him, "I will ride behind you, if that is all right."

He nodded and stood. "Let us gather up our things, eat and be on our way. It is a long ride."

The food was eaten and the horses readied, then within an hour they were departing. Dariel had been hesitant to slip her arms around Elfwine's waist, but when his horse started forward, she hastily did so. As humiliating as this was, it would be worse to fall off.

They rode for over an hour through the rainy, gray dawn. Eothain finally called a rest under some trees, and most dismounted to stretch their legs. The rain and the wind had set Dariel to shivering not too long after they left Helm's Deep, and reticently Elfwine suggested, "Dariel...you might be warmer if you rode in front of me..." He broke off, blushing, and wishing just once he could speak to her or look at her without turning red.

She hesitated only briefly, but was so chilled that even as disconcerting as the offer was, anything was better than continuing to shiver the rest of the day. Shyly she nodded and looked away from him.

When it came time to remount, he helped her on then swung up behind her. He pulled his cloak forward and fastened it around her as well. Despite the intimacy of it, she couldn't deny she was indeed much warmer, and she forced herself to tell him, "Thank you. This is better." He reached around her for the reins and the group was off.

Gradually, she began to relax. This was going to be a long ride, and sitting stiffly was not going to work. She forced herself not to think about it and just concentrate on the riders ahead of her. They made several more stops every hour or so, and at long last they spied Edoras in the distance. Gratefully they rode through the gates and straight to the stables.

Once dismounted, Elfwine handed Dariel over to her brother, and sent them up to Meduseld while he helped tend the horses. Over an hour later, he traipsed in with an armload of wet blankets and their few belongings. His father and King Elessar were waiting in the Golden Hall and looked up when he came in. Gamling took the things he carried and he went to speak with them.

"Father, King Elessar," he acknowledged.

"My thanks to you, young Elfwine. Eldarion has told us how you attended he and his sister on this outing," King Elessar said. He smiled and added, "I seem to be making a habit of thanking you for watching after my children!" Elfwine grinned reticently with pride and looked down.

"Well done, Elfwine," his father told him. "Go and get a warm bath. I will have some supper sent to your room for you."

He nodded. "Thank you, Father." He gave a slight bow to the two men and exited to the hall, a pleased feeling easing his tiredness.

Fed and bathed, he fell appreciatively into his warm bed and was quickly lost to the world.

Replies to Reviewers:

Jazzcat - "That waterfight was priceless." - sometimes the "funnest" things to write are the stories, or parts of stories, that are "new to me". The waterfight was one of those. I had no plans to put in a water fight, but I just sat down and started writing and that is where I ended up.

thayzel - "but I thought Lothíriel was a little too obvious in this ch." - yes, she was a little obvious, but she could see that both of them felt the same way about each other and was hoping to help them get past that before Dariel left. At the rate they were going, two weeks would be gone before they even managed to speak to each other without blushing!

"Seems sad there're only 7 ch.s - can't you prolong it? Somehow? beg" - well, this particular story is only 7 chapters, but it is really an "episode" in the Elfwine Chronicles. There is nothing to say that I can't revisit this pair if I come up with another story line to use with them. I sort of dubbed them the Elfwine Chronicles, even though many seem to be more about E/L than Elfwine, because he is the common thread in all of them. He is there in all the stories, even though one or the other parent may be absent or "not seen much", so that leaves me wide open as to what I can do with him. I'm not PROMISING more of this story, but you never know. All I need is an idea to niggle at me. I never intended to write this story. I was going to stop after Newness and switch my focus to Harry Potter until after the new book comes out in July, but this idea wouldn't let me alone so I figured I better get it on paper!

Tracey - "Don't tell your father..." - I liked that line, too! So very Lothiriel! (at least the way I write her for the Elfwine Chronicles)

Scatty - "About Dariel not being what I expected, I didn't mean that as a criticism." That's fine. I think it probably partly does have to do with thinking of her compared to yourself at the same age. Keep in mind that this is more like medieval times so kids weren't as sophisticated as they are now. Most 14 year old girls probably would be a bit more mature nowadays. Also, if Aragorn and Arwen were raising their kids in Rivendell, or some quiet, sleepy little town, I think they would be different than the way I am showing them. But they have been thrust into the "life of leisure" world of being King, with all its privileges, so despite Aragorn and Arwen's skills I'm not sure there would be a lot of opportunity to pass them on as they might in a different setting.

"I always thought Aragorn and Eomer's families would someday be joined by marriage, and if that's where this is going, the trip is proving kinda fun." - they kind of have to if they want to marry royalty! There isn't a lot of choice out there. Eomer's kids can't marry Eowyn's kids, so that pretty much only leaves Aragorn's kids (in civilized society), or perhaps the children of Lothiriel's brothers... I haven't decided whether this would eventually go in the marriage direction or be nothing more than a "first crush".

"I'm curious about Eomer and Aragorn's reactions though. I can imagine them seeing this and secretly finding it amusing in a 'this is a great idea' sort of way." - No Comment!

lady scribe of avandell, Julia - You (and others) seem to feel I captured the teen angst - wonderful! Haven't been a teenager in a while, but I still remember how it was, apparently.

Elwen of Lorien - "I think if I could have your talent with words I will not suck in AP English next year." I can't take total credit. My grandfather was a college English professor and being raised by his daughter meant I had to toe the line! And they didn't hesitate to use big words, even when I was little, so I was forced to grow up comfortable with words.

"I hope your week ends better then it has started." - Appreciate the thought. It is...better. Which is not really the same thing as good, but I had nowhere to go but up after Monday! And the reviews did cheer me up!