Disclaimer: Still don't own anything...
Oh god... You're all gonna hate me after this, I know. .
~*~*~*~
Voices were murmuring all around me, although I couldn't make out the words. I opened one eye, then shut it again; it was too bright! I had an awful headache and a pain in my right shoulder. I groaned and slowly opened both of my eyes. A strange light was coming through the window, and I realized that it had snowed quite a bit. Someone was sitting on the end of the bed, and there were five or six other people standing around my room.
"She's awake!!!" the person on my bed screamed. I moaned and cringed.
"Shut up, Mary-sue," I said softly.
"Oh, Lothuviel, we were sooo worried about you! Everyone thought you were gonna die and I was like 'Oh no if she dies then how will I ever get back to our world-'"
I slapped my hand over her mouth and gave her a look. She looked puzzled, then nodded. I took my hand away, and she turned around and said to all the other people, "Okay, clear out! Me and Lothy have some business to attend to!" The elves all gave me kind smiles and filed out the door. Then Lauren turned back to me.
"Okay, fill me in. What happened? Everyone was freakin' out. They said you were attacked by giant spiders or somethin', which obviously was not the case because giant spiders don't exist, and they were all upset 'cause you were sleeping with your eyes closed."
I sighed. "Lauren, didn't you ever listen when I was ranting about elves before we came here?" I asked slowly. Lauren gave me an ironic gaze.
"Um... no. Why would I listen? I just zoned out."
I sighed again. "If an elf sleeps with their eyes closed, it means they're about to die. And giant spiders do exist. They live in the deeper part of the forests of Mirkwood."
"Oh," Lauren said. "Well-"
Just then the door flew open and slammed against the wall, and three people came running in. It was Morharmaiel, Trelan, and Legolas.
Morharmaiel ran over to the bed, threw herself into a chair, and immediately started patting my hand. "Oh, thank the Valar you are all right!" she exclaimed. "We were all so worried about you!"
"Well, I am fine. Thank you all for coming to rescue me," I said, mainly looking at Legolas. He smiled and knelt down beside the bed.
"I would have never been able to forgive myself if something had happened to you," he said softly. I blushed up to my hairline and looked at Lauren, who was smirking. Trelan sat down on the bed and brushed the hair away from my eyes.
"I am overjoyed that you are well," he whispered. "I believe I would have died from a broken heart had anything happened to you." I grinned tearfully. I feel so loved.
Trelan turned to the other three. "Will you excuse us for a moment?" he said. They all nodded and shut the door on their way out.
"You have an awful tendency of getting hurt, Lothuviel," he said once they were gone. I shrugged.
"I think I am cursed," I told him. He chuckled and resumed stroking my hair. I love it when people do that.
"Let me see the wound," he ordered. I looked at my shoulder and noticed that my shirt had been cut so that there was only a sleeve on my left arm. My right side had a bandage around it.
I shifted so that he could unwrap the gauze, and once it was gone, I looked back at the shoulder.
"Eww!" I exclaimed. He laughed openly. The skin around the bite had turned all gray and scaly. It was nasty. The bite was deep, and it was apparently infected: it had pus all around it. "That is disgusting," I muttered. Trelan lightly ran his finger over the gray part, and I hissed in pain.
"Sorry," he said softly. "I will go get one of the Tari, the healer. She will put a poultice on the wound, and that should heal it."
"All right," I replied. He kissed my forehead.
From outside I heard someone squeal, "Awww! He just kissed her!" Trelan and I exchanged a look, and he opened the door. Morharmaiel and Lauren fell into the room: they had been listening through the door. Legolas was standing in the hall laughing.
"You three should know better than to eavesdrop," I scolded playfully.
"I wasn't droppin' no eaves!" Lauren said, and she and I laughed. The elves gave us weird looks.
"Inside joke," Lauren assured them. "Now skedaddle on out of here. I need to have a nice heart-to-heart with Lothuviel." The elves smiled at me again and left.
"Okay, guess what yesterday was!" Lauren said as she leapt on to the bed.
"I don't know."
"It was Christmas!" she squealed happily.
"It was?"
"Yes! And I got you this!" She groped around under the bed and pulled out something wrapped in a red piece of satin with a gold ribbon on it. I opened it and gasped.
"Lauren, this is gorgeous!" I breathed. She had given me a light silvery-blue cloak, with leafy patterns sewn in silver thread.
"I made it," she said proudly. I grinned.
"Nuh uh!"
"Yeah! Morharmaiel has been helping me with it over the last few months!"
"Lauren, it's so pretty! I can hardly believe you did something this complex!"
"Oh shut up. Now what'd you get me?"
Shit, I thought. I glanced around the room looking for something to give her. I got an idea.
"Bring me my jewelry box," I told her. She went over and got it and handed it to me. I pulled out my favorite necklace and held it out to her. "Merry Christmas."
"Laura, this is your favorite necklace!" she said. "You can't give me that!"
"Yes I can. I want you to have it. I'd rather have this awesome cloak than that!"
"But-"
"Take the necklace, Lauren."
"No!"
"Yes."
"No!"
"YES."
"N-"
"TAKE THE GODDAMN NECKLACE!!!" I roared. She went "Eep!" and snatched the jewelry out of my hand.
"Thanks!" she said, and gave me a hug. I hugged her back.
"And don't forget, if yesterday was Christmas, tomorrow is my birthday," I told her with a smirk.
"Aw, crap."
~*~
I was in bed for three days after that. Lauren stayed with me all the time, and Morharmaiel too. Legolas and Trelan popped in often, and Trelan made sure that the healer checked on me every few hours. Even the twins came to see me, and Elrohir apologized for the events following the death of Kenny. I forgave him, and he and his brother and I started to form a strong friendship.
Lauren started to wear the necklace I gave her all the time, and I was glad, because I was afraid she didn't like it. For my birthday she gave me some nice boots that she told me she had found. I raised an eyebrow at her.
"Where did you find them?" I asked. She smirked.
"Larien's room." I howled with laughter and gave her a huge hug. That made the present even better.
On the fourth day the healers said I could finally get out of bed and walk around. Huzzah! I put on some normal clothes (as opposed to a nightgown) and headed slowly down the stairs.
When I got into the main hall there were lots of elves. Almost all of them, even the ones I didn't know, came up and greeted me and said that they were glad that I was all right. Out of nowhere Morharmaiel came running up and practically tackled me to the ground.
"Watch the shoulder, Morha," I said with a laugh.
"Sorry! It is just so good to see you!" she exclaimed as she squeezed me tightly.
"I can have that effect on people." I looked through the crowd and saw that the twins were there. They each came up and kissed my cheek and said that they were happy that I was all right. Hehe, I attracted the hotness. However, I didn't see Legolas or Trelan. Maybe they were off being incredibly good looking. Well, of COURSE that's what they're doing! I thought angrily. Now if I were a hot male elf, where would I be? Well, I'd be screwing me... er, that sounded wrong...
"They're in the dining hall, dumbass," I heard Frank say.
"Why thank you Frank," I thought back to him.
"Not a problem. Good to see you aren't dead."
"Thanks for caring."
"See ya. *pop*"So I walked to the dining hall and looked around. Sure enough, Trelan was there. No Leggy, though. Hm. Ah well.
"Trelan?" I said softly. He spun around, beamed, and ran over and gave me a huge hug. For the first time, I noticed how I felt safe in his arms, and how my head fitted perfectly into the space between his neck and his shoulder. NO!! Focus on the Leggy. Focus on the Leggy... No falling in love with your Red Herring, Lothy! Bad girl!
"It is good to see you back on your feet, Lothuviel," he said quietly.
"It is good to be able to feel my legs again," I muttered. He laughed and, for the first time, gave me a real kiss. Once he pulled away, I gave him a shocked smile, and he stumbled back a few steps.
"I, um... I must be going," he said hurriedly, and started to walk away quickly.
"Lothuviel!" someone said from behind me. I turned around with the same shocked and hurt expression to see Legolas walking up to me. I turned back around and watched as Trelan rounded a corner far down the hall and disappeared.
"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly, putting a hand on my shoulder.
I stared at the corner Trelan disappeared around. "No," I whispered. "Nothing at all."
~*~
I mostly stayed inside the next few days, while everyone else was outside enjoying the snow. As crazy as it sounds, the elves seemed to enjoy playing in the white stuff as much as human kids do.
Trelan had been avoiding me since the day I got out of bed. Every time I tried to talk to him, he'd make up an excuse to leave, or pretend like he didn't hear me.
Finally, thirteen days after I had been bitten by the spider, the healers gave me permission to go outside. Woot! I put on a warm dress, the cloak Lauren made me, the boots she stole, and some fuzzy gloves, then went downstairs with the little hobbit freak.
"Ooooh, I can't wait to teach all the elves how to have snowball fights!! This'll be great!" she squealed as she bounded out the front door and into the courtyard. She leapt off of the top step and fell with a phish into the snow.
"Phish?" I said out loud. I shrugged and looked at where Lauren was. Or should have been. The snow was so deep that she had completely disappeared from view, except for her hairline up.
"Crap," I heard her mutter, and I started laughing.
"Aww, is widdle Mawy-Sue stuck in the snowww?" I asked "sympathetically".
"Bite me," she grumbled as she started to plow through the snow. Since I really was a human, I braced myself to fall through the snow as well. However, I didn't. Because I was an elf. Huzzah!
I started to squeal and prance circles around Lauren, who was scowling up at me. "Bitch," she mumbled. I giggled and stopped.
"I'm an elf and I can stand on snow and you caaaaaaan't!" I jeered, pointing at her. I noticed that all the other elves were giving me strange looks, so I stopped.
Since it had taken Lauren a little less than a century to walk ten feet, I decided to pick her up and give her a piggy-back ride out into the open area beyond the walls. There were elves all around, walking about and climbing trees and stuff. I took a deep breath to breathe in the fresh air, but immediately started hacking.
"Gaa! The air! It burnsss usss!!" Lauren said mockingly. I glared at her and adjusted the hood that was over my head.
Suddenly something freezing cold hit my neck and I screamed. "UGH!!! SNOW DOWN MY DRESS!!!" I yelled. For the umpty-millionth time since I had been in Middle-Earth, the elves gave me bemused looks. I spun around and saw Elladan and Elrohir laughing hysterically. They were each holding an armful of snowballs.
"Hm. Looks like the twins don't need to be taught about the fun that is snowball fights," Lauren said.
"Shut up," I growled. I pranced over to them and stopped, giving them my cute flirty look.
"Greetings, Lords of Rivendell," I cooed. "Wouldst thou care to partake in some winter amusements with me?"
"But of course, milady," Elladan said with a sweeping bow.
"We would be honored," Elrohir said while imitating his brother.
"How lovely!" I said. Then I scooped up some snow in each hand and smashed it on the back of each of their necks. They stood up straight and immediately began running around, trying to get the snow out of their shirts. I grinned and frolicked on back to where Lauren was watching. She shook her head.
"Pathetic," she said. "This is how you do it." Lauren picked up a handful of snow and rounded it into a perfect sphere. Then, with 11 years of softball throwing skills, she chucked it at the nearest elf, who was about fifty feet away. It phished into his back and he jumped. I exchanged a high-five with Lauren, then stood dead still.
The elf had been Legolas.
"Oh shit," Lauren and I said at the same time. Legolas raised an eyebrow and smirked. He bent over to pick up a handful of snow, and I squeaked.
"RUN AWAAAAAY!!!" Lauren yelled in a Monty Python voice. I sprinted over the snow and hid behind a tree. After about thirty seconds I stuck my head out, thinking that he was gone.
Nope.
He was less than ten feet away.
He threw the snowball at me as hard as he could and it hit my face with a loud PHISH. (A/N: Don't ya just love that word?)
"That's no fair! I was unarmed!" I protested, wiping the snow off of my forehead.
"All is fair in love and war," he said smoothly. Hey, I didn't know elves knew Shakespeare.
"Pompous elf," I muttered, and he smiled angelically. I could almost feel my heart melt. I shook myself out of it and became semi-serious. "Do you know what is wrong with Trelan?" I asked. "He has been avoiding me for nearly a week."
"I do not," Legolas replied with a puzzled look. "He is over there, speaking with Elrohir. You should ask him."
"Thank you. I will." I walked over to where the pair was talking. Trelan had his back to me, and Elrohir saw me over his shoulder. I motioned for him to go away, and he gave me a slight nod.
"If you will excuse me, Trelan, I am going inside. It is quite bitter out here." He gave me a look, then turned and walked away. Trelan turned around and jumped when he saw me. I got straight to the point.
"Why have you been avoiding me?" I asked. He brushed past and walked towards the trees.
"It does not concern you," he said firmly. I felt like Elizabeth when she was chasing Jack around the island.
"It most certainly does concern me!" I exclaimed. "You are ignoring me, and I want to know why!" By now we had reached the edge of the forest, and there were no other elves around.
"It does not matter."
"Yes it does, Trelan!"
"I do not want to talk about it."
"Well I do!"
"FINE!" he roared. I stepped back a few feet, scared to death. He took one step and grabbed each of my arms in his hands. "Do you want to know why?" he asked fiercely.
"ELVISH RAPE!!!" Frank hollered.
"Let go! You're hurting me!" I said, trying to jerk my wrists away. He pulled on my wrists and brought my body closer to his.
"You're gonna need the circulation to your wrists so you can bitch slap 'im," Frank commented.
"Do you want to know?" Trelan hissed angrily.
"Not if you are going to continue hurting me!" He let go of my arms and I rubbed my wrists angrily.
"I have been avoiding you because..." he faltered.
"Why?" I asked calmly after a few seconds.
"Because I am afraid that my love for you can no longer be an act," he said softly.
"HOLD UP!!!!" Frank shouted.
"WHA-?!" Before I could finish he had brought his face down level with mine and was giving me a long, soft kiss.
"WOOHOOOOOOO YEAH!!!" Frank yelled.
"Piss off, Frank," I muttered mentally.
"Heh heh. Laura's gettin' some ACTION!!!""GO AWAY!!!"
"*pop*" Thank god. Trelan pushed the hood off my head and stroked my hair. Ooer.
After nearly a minute, he took his face away from mine and stared into my eyes. "When Morharmaiel showed up at the gates and told us that you had been taken by the spiders, I nearly died of fear."
"Really?" I breathed. He nodded.
"Yes. And when I said that if anything had happened to you I would have died of a broken heart, I was serious."
It was then that I realized that this was no high-school crush he had on me. He was really, truly in love!
"Um, are you sure that I am the one you want? There are plenty of other nice elf girls out there..."
"I am sure."
"A-hem!" someone said. Trelan looked up and I spun around to see Legolas, Lauren, and Elladan and Elrohir watching us. The twins were wearing identical smirks, Lauren had an eyebrows raised and her arms crossed, and Legolas looked somewhere between shocked and disgusted.
"If you two are done making out, everyone else has gone inside for something hot to drink. And we're going in, too. You guys just stay out here, if you want, because you'll 'have your love to keep you warm'," Lauren sneered. She and Legolas spun on their heels and walked towards the palace. The twins just both shrugged and followed them.
Trelan and I looked at each other, then I looked at the ground. Why had Lauren reacted that way? Trelan put his hand under my chin and lifted my face until I was looking at him.
"Ignore them," he said softly, kissing me again. Then he snaked his arm gently around my waist and we started to slowly follow the others.
This was all wrong!! Trelan wasn't supposed to fall in love with me!! That was Legolas' job!! I loved Legolas!!!
...Right?
~*~*~*~
*slams head against keyboard repeatedly* STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! STUPID! Bad Mary-Sue writing Laura! BAD BAD BAD!!!!
*gains her composure* Phew. Okay. Forgive the mushy, stupid, crappiness of this chapter. There go my reviewers.
Please don't hurt me!
~*!Laura!*~