Dancing with the Balrog

Disclaimer: I don't own anything of Tolkien's, just Enellewyn

Author's Note: Sorry I haven't updated in such a long time! I just haven't been having many good ideas. Mostly a little thing called procrastination…. anyway, I can't guarantee a consistent posting of chapters, but I'll do my best. And thanks for all of your wonderful reviews. They are greatly appreciated.

Chapter 2

'O Elbereth, what am I doing?' Enellewyn thought to herself as she paced back and forth in front of Arwen's chamber door. Her legs felt numb and her head started to spin. She stopped pacing abruptly as the door opened.

"Excellent! You're here," Arwen said, grinning. She looked around the corridor shiftily before taking Enellewyn by the arm in a vice-like grip.

"Hey—Ow!" Enellewyn protested as her friend dragged her into the spacious room. She was immediately shushed by a flustered looking Arwen.

"Do you want the whole kingdom to hear you!" Enellewyn shook her head feeling more nervous than she looked. Which, considering the circumstances, was quite nervous.

"Now, to the problem at hand," Arwen said purposefully, pushing Enellewyn into a chair in front of a large mirror.

"Legolas likes a pretty maiden, no doubt, but we can't make you look too pretty or you're resemblance to one of those giggling idiots would be obvious," Arwen muttered to herself. "We could of course--…no that would be too strange. Hmm. Well I suppose we should start smaller." She surveyed Enellewyn who had been looking at her worriedly. "First and foremost, your appearance." Her voice was stern.

"No offense, but the trousers must go. If you are to contend with Valanya," (at the mention of her name Enellewyn felt the urge to pummel something.) "We must first get you into some dresses." Enellewyn's face blanched. "Now I know you hate wearing dresses, and I like comfort as much as the next elf--" Enellewyn interrupted before she could continue her rushed rambling.

"No, I refuse!" she said at once.

"Enellewyn! You're going to have to! You can't walk around in men's clothing with dirt smeared on your face for the rest of you life!" At this, Enellewyn threw daggers with her eyes. Arwen blushed, though she continued. "Eventually you're going to have to do it. You have such nice features. You're mother's right you know. A nice green dress would bring out your eyes. (If a nice GREEN dress would bring out my eyes, why must she give me pink?' Enellewyn thought.)That would catch Legolas off his guard."

Enellewyn thought that that was highly doubtful, but she would do almost anything to get Legolas's attention away from that thing named Valanya.

"Now, to work!" Arwen clapped her hands once with a purposeful air before she began to bustle around the room.

Enellewyn clenched her eyes shut as the long procedure ensued.

Several hours later after a lot of primping, prodding, coloring, contemplating, plucking, pushing, and overall poking, Arwen had deemed Enellewyn ready for her debut.

"Really Enellewyn, you look absolutely beautiful," Arwen said admiring the transformation.

"What if he hates it?" Enellewyn worried, even though she felt slightly dumb worrying about Legolas's opinion of her appearance.

"Don't be silly! He'll love it. And besides, you haven't even seen yourself. How would you know?" Arwen said, taking her hands in hers and pulling her up from the chair.

"I suppose…" Enellewyn said timidly. She turned slowly and tentatively so that her reflection stared back at her in the golden wrought mirror. Her hand flew up to her mouth to muffle a gasp she couldn't even contain. She spun around a few times; staring open mouthed at her changed self.

Her usually tangled, ragged hair was now falling down to the small of her back in shining locks of auburn. She was wearing a flowing green dress that swayed about her ankles with every delighted movement. Enellewyn couldn't help but realize that her eyes did look much brighter with the accompaniment of the green dress.

Her eyes had been faintly outlined with black kohl, which gave them the appearance of being much larger. Her cheeks had been brushed with a light pink powder to make her face look more flushed. Overall, Enellewyn thoroughly agreed with everything Arwen had said.

Arwen grinned as Enellewyn spun around a few more times, loving the way the dress moved about her legs.

"I knew you would like it. One of the most comfortable dresses I have." Enellewyn's face faltered.

"But I cannot take your dress. If it's yours you should have it back." Arwen scowled slightly.

"Don't be ridiculous, I have enough dresses as is," she said in a reprimanding tone. Enellewyn smiled.

"Thank you. For everything." Enellewyn embraced her friend tightly. "I hope this will work," Enellewyn said, still spinning back and forth.

"Oh it will work," Arwen said wryly.

Several minutes later, after more marveling at how comfortable the dress was ("Really, it's nothing like the dresses that mother gives me. Hers are all scratchy, and…pink, ugh."), and a crash course in how to keep up her appearance, Arwen sent Enellewyn out to look for Legolas.

After a little bit of searching, Enellewyn doing little jigs in the deserted corridors as the dress swished much to her delight, she collided with someone as she turned a corner. Her face split into a gleeful, almost manic smile as she realized it was Legolas.

"Oh, my apologies miss. I didn't see you there." Legolas said absentmindedly, not even meeting her gaze. He walked passed her before Enellewyn could say anything. Enellewyn's mouth opened and closed continually before she actually did anything.

Her face turned red with suppressed rage and her eyes turned a deep emerald. She stomped stiffly through the corridors, breathing hard, scaring away anyone who happened to walk by. She was almost to her chamber before her face began to return to its normal color and her breathing returned to normal. She stopped abruptly in the corridor as tears welled up in her eyes.

She sank down onto the floor as a waterfall of salty tears fell from her eyes. Enellewyn sat against the wall, quietly crying to herself before she heard footsteps fast approaching. She stumbled to her feet hurriedly and ran down the hallway to her room.

Wrenching open the door to her chambers, she collapsed onto her bed in a shaking heap. 'He couldn't even bother to notice me!' Enellewyn thought self piteously.

'I'll show him. I don't need him at all!' With silent determination she rose from the bed and marched out the door to the dining hall.

As she stood before the iron wrought doors, she wiped away the tears on her sleeve. The guards heaved open the double doors and she nodded to them in thanks before stepping over the threshold resolutely. The sound of clinking silverware on pewter plates met her ears, and she was glad that her entrance hadn't been noticed by anyone.

She sat down at her seat at the head table across from Legolas. Valanya was hanging off of him like an extra limb. Enellewyn had not been happy with the change in seating arrangements. For Aragorn, any friend of Legolas's was a friend of his.

Legolas looked up at her, his eyes glossy, a dreamy smile on his face. His expression faltered.

"Enellewyn, er…" he stuttered.

"I'm surprised that you actually bothered to remember my name," Enellewyn said coldly, turning away from him slightly with her chin in the air. Out of the corner of her eye she thought the he had a look of confusion on his face. Though she quickly ignored it, reverting to giving him the cold shoulder. He reached across the table to touch her arm, but she shrugged him off with a decisive "Humph!"

Though her plan was soon interrupted by a cold, shrill laugh, that sounded more like a shriek. Enellewyn couldn't help but glance over at the source of the hideous noise. It was Valanya. Her face was stretched into an evil smile and she was laughing maniacally. She saw Legolas gulp. Next to her, Elladan was biting his lip, looking displeased. The disruption had gotten Aragorn's and Arwen's attention, and mostly everyone else at the table.

Elrohir gulped audibly. Reaching over from next to Legolas, he picked up Enellewyn's empty plate and held it in front of her.

"What…?" Enellewyn said, looking, puzzled, at everyone. She glared at Valanya who had suppressed her snorts of laughter when most people at the table sent her death glares.

Enellewyn looked at her reflection in the pewter. It took a moment for her to realize what was wrong. Her mouth fell open in horror.

Staring back at her was her own slightly distorted reflection, though her make-up, which had not so long ago been perfectly applied by Arwen, was now ruined.

There were large circular black smudges surrounding her upper and lower eyelids where she had swiped at the torrent of tears that had come down. She looked like a raccoon.

Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir, Gimli, Aragorn, everyone was looking at her uncomfortably, waiting to see what she would do. Valanya was still surpressing laughter.

Her eyes shifting everywhere, anywhere but her friends' (or Valanya's) gaze. Her heart thumping loudly in her ears.

Enellewyn practically became a blur as she darted from her chair and out of the dining hall, holding her hands up in front of her face. 'Could anything else to go wrong today?' she thought as she ran blindly, tears dripping streaming from her eyes.

Back in the dining hall, there was silence at the table. Arwen was cradling her head in her hands. Gimli kept clearing his throat, and Valanya was back to her old act.

"Poor dear. It's just absolutely terrible when that happens," her voice sickeningly sweet.

Arwen looked up before saying that she would go look for her.

"No, I will go," Legolas said gently, leaving the table. Valanya whimpered as he left. As he disappeared from view her sympathetic smile was replaced with a look of malice.

Abruptly, Enellewyn stopped. In a wild act of pure outrage, she rammed her foot into the wall. She wanted something else to feel the desperate pain of embarrassment that she felt. It didn't help, though numerous toes started to bleed. The crimson blood seeped through her satiny thin slippers.

Her breathing became harder as she became angrier, and redder in the face. She strangled the air in front of her before reaching up to muss her hair, clawing at it with her fingers. The shining waves were once again reduced to a tangled mess.

When she got no satisfaction at that, she punched the stonewall. She punched it again. She kept punching until her fists began to ooze blood. The crimson liquid slowly dripped onto the floor as she collapsed in defeat.

'Why am I so stupid? Why doesn't Legolas…why doesn't he…why doesn't he care about me anymore?' Enellewyn thought angrily

"Why!" she shouted out loud.

"Why what?" came a soft inquiring voice. Enellewyn looked up into a pair of familiar, endless, blue eyes. She froze.

The slight grin that was playing across Legolas's face disappeared, as he realized that she was hurt.

"Enellewyn, let me help--" he said starting forward. But Enellewyn stumbled numbly to her feet, almost falling backwards.

"Now you want to help me?" she said coldly. Legolas looked at her, confused and slightly hurt. "No." she said stonily. "Care to remember my name too? Oh, never mind, I forgot, friendship of a thousand years means nothing to you." Before he could get another word in, Enellewyn had run down the corridor, a slight limp in her stride.

She ran into her room for the second time that day in an emotional mess, slamming the door behind her. Diving onto the bed, she shook with sobs.

'What are you doing? All of this over Legolas. Get a grip on yourself!' Enellewyn thought, her tears ceased for the moment. She sat up slowly. Remembering her black smudgy eyes and bloody wounds, she went over to the washbasin and scrubbed her face, hands, and foot clean of the mess.

She had just changed back into her trousers and tunic ('I feel like me again'), and was about to get into bed when there was a knock on the door.

Enellewyn buried herself under the covers. "Go away!" she shouted, curled up in a fetal position in the folds of sheets and blanket.

"It's me." Enellewyn recognized Arwen's soft voice immediately.

"Oh. Come in." Enellewyn said, resurfacing from her makeshift burrow. The door creaked open slowly. Arwen sat down on a corner of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" she said gently.

"Rotten," Enellewyn replied glumly.

"He is worried about you," Arwen said quietly.

"Let him be worried. I can't stand…. I just can't…. I hate him," Enellewyn said coldly, a single tear escaping from the corner of her eye. She swiped at it angrily.

Now it is not in the nature of elves to hate, so this was dire.

"No you don't. And you know it." Arwen said knowingly. Enellewyn stared up at the ceiling stubbornly, refusing to admit anything. "What did he do to you that was so bad?"

"That's the thing. He did nothing!" Enellewyn's heart felt like it was being punched over and over again at the very thought. "I bumped into him earlier today, after you sent me to find him, and he didn't even realize it was me. He didn't even see me. He just said 'excuse me' and continued walking."

"Oh, Enellewyn," Arwen said, realizing just how bad it truly was.

"You would think that after more than a thousand years of friendship, he would have noticed me, but no…he didn't give me a second glance." More tears welled up in her eyes.

Wordlessly, Arwen pulled her in for a hug, which, decidedly, Enellewyn needed very badly. Though more so, she needed a friend.

Well, there's the second chapter. Hope you all like it a lot. I know it's kind of weird how Legolas didn't realize it was Enellewyn, but it is serious. Maybe I'll add in a little twist….hmmm, have to think on that.

Anyway, please review! Your feedback is greatly appreciated!