Thank you for all of the reviews. I have almost 60 reviews, which has far surpassed my expectations of this fic. Now, for all of you young readers out there, this chapter may contain content not suitable for children under 13 years of age.
Haldir- *rolls eyes* Oh, so now you get on with the formalities!
Speaking of that, I don't own Lord of the Rings or any of it's characters. But Akira is mine, and so is Ruali, although I would much rather have Haldir or Leggy...but what are you gonna do?!
~~~
Akira was thankful she'd had a bath. She was pretty sure she'd taken more then half an hour, but it had been worth it. She decided that she was going to wear her NYC shirt once again, no matter how 'improper' it was. Checking around quickly, she reached for her clothing.
Haldir stopped dead in his tracks. As much as he wanted to, he could not make himself turn around. Though he knew he should. The march warden simply stood, starring, as Akira stood blissfully unaware of his presence. The elf tried to make his eyes close, or his feet move, or even do something to make himself known.
Sighing happily, Akira took off her headphone and opened her eyes. Her eyes widened to the size of basketballs when she saw the elf standing there. There was a blush on his cheeks, which on him seemed completely out of place. His eyes were wide open. Suddenly, the gravity of what was going on hit her.
She had just been standing there, naked, listening to Chingy, and Haldir may have been watching her the entire time.
"How long have you been standing there?"
Akira's soft and yet accusing voice jolted Haldir back into reality. He blinked a few times, something he wish he'd been able to make himself do when he had first walked in on her. He opened his mouth to speak, but his mouth was dry, and he could not think of anything to say. For the first time in his many years on Middle Earth, Haldir march warden of Lorien, was speechless.
"Not long," he said in a voice that was somewhat dry and raspy. "I came to take you to your sparring lessons." Then there was a silence, neither of them knowing what to do or say. Akira's face was still flushing a furious shade of red. Haldir was trying to think of anything, how blue the sky was, fighting tactics, how long it had been since he'd last clipped his toe nails, anything other then the fact that he had just seen Akira naked. At length he suddenly said, "Come." He then began walking out of the talan. After a few moments, the march warden turned, not knowing if he expected to see the young woman walking behind him. But she was. A confused and angry look on her face, embarrassment showing in her eyes and the way she tried to duck out of his gaze.
Orophin and Rumil stood, chatting idly as Akira and Haldir came up to them. Both were blushing, and looked rather angry and embarrassed. Rumil, not wanting to miss an opportunity to embarrass his brother, opened his mouth to ask what had happened. Orophin quickly nudged his brother in the shoulder.
"Do not ask," Haldir told them. The red head's face flashed with some unknown emotion.
The two brother's nodded. Orophin went to retrieve a sword. It was pretty plain. A long black handle with a lethally sharp blade. Akira took it with a shaky hand. The march warden raised his own sword.
"This is your battle stance," he informed her. The young woman tried as best as she could to do the same, but the fact that the man in front of her had probably just seen her, *all* of her, was still weighing heavily on her mind. Haldir watched her expectantly. She simply starred up at him with her large brown eyes. "You should try it. It may be useful should you actually fight someone," he told her irritably. Akira blinked up at him. Her arms were unwilling to move as her eyes studied the clouded aqua orbs of the man in front of her.
Orophin and Rumil watched the exchange. Their brother and the young woman were standing there, swords in hand, gazing at each other with great intensity. What in the heavens were they doing? Haldir was supposed to be teaching her to fight, not staring her down. Rumil prepared to clear his throat in an attempt to gain their attentions.
"You saw me naked, didn't you?" Akira asked suddenly.
Rumil coughed loudly, his eyes widening for a few moments. Orophin hit his back lightly. "We should...um...leave...come on," he said. He grabbed his brother's wrist and began dragging the confused elf away.
The march warden blinked at her for some moments. He straightened his back and lowered his sword, regarding her a bit longer. He stood completely still and seemed to loom above her as the young woman starred up at him. "I saw nothing," he answered calmly.
Akira blushed again, but not so much with embarrassment as with anger. "Yes you did!" she said her voice unexpectedly shaky and loud with anger.
"No," he said in that same soft voice. "I did not. Now, take your battle stance-"
He was cut off by another yell from the young woman in front of her. "You did too! I mean unless you were standing there admiring the gold leafing while I was standing there completely naked-"
Haldir gritted his teeth together. "I saw nothing!" he told her. Akira shut her mouth quickly. "Now, if you would take your battle stance, we may begin your first lesson."
Akira tensed with rage. She'd had the courage to actually bring it up to him, and he denied everything! Of course, what did she expect? The truth? Her eyes caught his, and Haldir saw anger in their brown depths. What did she have to be upset about? He had just seen her naked. He was scarred for life. All right, he had to admit, maybe it had not been that bad. Actually, it had been kind of nice. What was he thinking? Of course it was bad! It had been awful and he never wanted it to happen again.
"I only came to apologize," he blurted. The elf blinked at the realization that he had said it aloud.
"You? Apologize? I really am crazy."
He sighed softly, and relaxed his tense muscles. He went to sit down near one of the trees, and the young woman only guessed that she was supposed to follow him. She did and sat nearly a foot away from him. He idly wondered why.
"I was..." He took a deep breath, "..." He attempted to say it, really he did. But the word was so unfamiliar coming from his lips. "I do not control what it is you wear. I should not have tried to."
Akira needed to clean her ears out more often, because she could have swore that she had just heard Haldir apologize. "What changed your mind?" she asked softly.
"My brother's," he ground out. "On occasion they tend to have ideas, which believe it or not, are actually good. They suggested I..." he trailed off. He had said it once. Must he really be forced to admit it again?
Thankfully the young woman did not bring it up. Her eyes were on the ground, finding the grass very interesting at that moment. She tried to process everything that had just happened. Haldir had yelled at her for having a shirt that showed her belly button ring, seen her naked, and apologized for yelling about said shirt. Her head hurt.
There was a long, awkward silence between the two of them. After about five minutes passed, the elfin captain stood. He picked up his sword, and looked down expectantly at the young woman. "We will start now." His words brought Akira back, and she lifted her head up to see him once again towering above her. She stood herself up, and dusted off her cargo pants. Though there was really no need. She bent down to pick up her sword. At first she had not really felt the weight of it. It was heavier then she had expected. With a little effort she clutched the handle with both hands, and followed Haldir to the middle of the larger talan.
The elf watched her as she trudged over to him. Her back was slightly hunched, and she had to hold on to the sword with both hands. "You can not fight like that," he said. "You must stand straight. And you must be able to hold your sword with only one hand."
"It's heavy," she informed him. "It's not like I normally go around with swords hacking people up."
He sighed. The march warden had thought that by giving her a regular sword, and not an elven blade, things would have started out much easier. You needed some skill to be able to handle a sword of Lothlorien. She, apparently, had none.
"The purpose of this is to help you regain your strength, and learn to fight. Should you ever need to, I expect you to be able to defend yourself. Though I highly doubt you will ever be in battle."
Looking up for a moment, she lost her balance slightly and stumbled forward. "You..." She trailed off. No way was she going to be the damsel in distress. Besides, why had she believed him anyway? If she had believed him at all. Haldir watched her. He waited for Akira to say something, to finish whatever she was going to say.
"I...?" he questioned. The young woman flipped a piece of dark red hair which had fallen in front of her brown eyes so she could look at him. She shook her head. It wasn't important.
"Let's just get this over with OK?"
Akira raised her sword, trying her best to get into the battle stance that Haldir had shown her only a few minutes earlier.
~~~
Around an hour later, a panting Akira tried her best to dodge as the elf brought his sword down. Haldir admitted she was not bad. He also admitted that she was not good, either. The march warden knocked the sword out of her hand and sighed. "You must hold your blade with a firm grip," he said bringing the tip of his blade up. "Or else it will be taken by the enemy, and it is all over."
She nodded and stepped away to retrieve her sword. She was not all that comfortable standing unarmed with Haldir pointing a sword in her face. Not her idea of fun at all. When Akira stood again, her back hit something. She jumped and turned around,only to be face to face with the elf. She clenched her teeth together. She really needed to tell him to stop doing that.
"You do not trust me," he stated calmly. The young woman wanted to scream 'duh' in his face at the top of her lungs, but decided against it. "I promised that I would protect you. It is important for you to trust me."
She starred blankly at him. "You can't just tell someone to trust you and then baam, the two of your are best friends," she scoffed. "Trust is earned."
That was true. But how was he supposed to earn her trust? He could tell that she was somewhat afraid of him, something he found upsetting. After a while longer of sparring, Akira was dismissed. Haldir wandered aimlessly around his home, thinking of how he could amend for his behavior. He needed her to trust him. How was he supposed to keep someone safe who thought that *he* was the danger?
"Haldir," greeted a soothing voice. The elf turned and bowed graciously.
"Lady Galadriel," he said.
She smiled. "I believe you were looking for me."
The march warden simply starred. Had he been looking for her? He had simply been walking around, trying to clear his mind. Maybe he had been seeking her out subconsciously. "I wanted to speak with you about Akira. She sees me as a danger, not as a protector. If I am to watch over her she must trust me, but she does not."
"Can you truly blame her?" The elf thought. No, he could not. He regretted his actions, but not his intent. The only thing he had tried to do was protect his home and honor. Another one of those warm smiles spread across the elfin lady's beautiful features. "Follow your heart, Haldir. Listen to it. No matter what path you find yourself led to, you must always trust your heart." Haldir nodded, and then left the lady's presence.
~~~
Just in case anyone is wondering, this isn't Mary-Sue at all. I have really short blond hair, blue eyes, and live out in the boonies. I can't do any of the things that Akira will be doing. I do want a tongue ring though. But I have to wait four years dag nabit. Well, anyway just not Marry-sue. I'm probably more like Haldir actually. *shudders*
Haldir- Do not insult me. I know plenty of people who would want to be me.
Please review this chapter!
Haldir- *rolls eyes* Oh, so now you get on with the formalities!
Speaking of that, I don't own Lord of the Rings or any of it's characters. But Akira is mine, and so is Ruali, although I would much rather have Haldir or Leggy...but what are you gonna do?!
~~~
Akira was thankful she'd had a bath. She was pretty sure she'd taken more then half an hour, but it had been worth it. She decided that she was going to wear her NYC shirt once again, no matter how 'improper' it was. Checking around quickly, she reached for her clothing.
Haldir stopped dead in his tracks. As much as he wanted to, he could not make himself turn around. Though he knew he should. The march warden simply stood, starring, as Akira stood blissfully unaware of his presence. The elf tried to make his eyes close, or his feet move, or even do something to make himself known.
Sighing happily, Akira took off her headphone and opened her eyes. Her eyes widened to the size of basketballs when she saw the elf standing there. There was a blush on his cheeks, which on him seemed completely out of place. His eyes were wide open. Suddenly, the gravity of what was going on hit her.
She had just been standing there, naked, listening to Chingy, and Haldir may have been watching her the entire time.
"How long have you been standing there?"
Akira's soft and yet accusing voice jolted Haldir back into reality. He blinked a few times, something he wish he'd been able to make himself do when he had first walked in on her. He opened his mouth to speak, but his mouth was dry, and he could not think of anything to say. For the first time in his many years on Middle Earth, Haldir march warden of Lorien, was speechless.
"Not long," he said in a voice that was somewhat dry and raspy. "I came to take you to your sparring lessons." Then there was a silence, neither of them knowing what to do or say. Akira's face was still flushing a furious shade of red. Haldir was trying to think of anything, how blue the sky was, fighting tactics, how long it had been since he'd last clipped his toe nails, anything other then the fact that he had just seen Akira naked. At length he suddenly said, "Come." He then began walking out of the talan. After a few moments, the march warden turned, not knowing if he expected to see the young woman walking behind him. But she was. A confused and angry look on her face, embarrassment showing in her eyes and the way she tried to duck out of his gaze.
Orophin and Rumil stood, chatting idly as Akira and Haldir came up to them. Both were blushing, and looked rather angry and embarrassed. Rumil, not wanting to miss an opportunity to embarrass his brother, opened his mouth to ask what had happened. Orophin quickly nudged his brother in the shoulder.
"Do not ask," Haldir told them. The red head's face flashed with some unknown emotion.
The two brother's nodded. Orophin went to retrieve a sword. It was pretty plain. A long black handle with a lethally sharp blade. Akira took it with a shaky hand. The march warden raised his own sword.
"This is your battle stance," he informed her. The young woman tried as best as she could to do the same, but the fact that the man in front of her had probably just seen her, *all* of her, was still weighing heavily on her mind. Haldir watched her expectantly. She simply starred up at him with her large brown eyes. "You should try it. It may be useful should you actually fight someone," he told her irritably. Akira blinked up at him. Her arms were unwilling to move as her eyes studied the clouded aqua orbs of the man in front of her.
Orophin and Rumil watched the exchange. Their brother and the young woman were standing there, swords in hand, gazing at each other with great intensity. What in the heavens were they doing? Haldir was supposed to be teaching her to fight, not staring her down. Rumil prepared to clear his throat in an attempt to gain their attentions.
"You saw me naked, didn't you?" Akira asked suddenly.
Rumil coughed loudly, his eyes widening for a few moments. Orophin hit his back lightly. "We should...um...leave...come on," he said. He grabbed his brother's wrist and began dragging the confused elf away.
The march warden blinked at her for some moments. He straightened his back and lowered his sword, regarding her a bit longer. He stood completely still and seemed to loom above her as the young woman starred up at him. "I saw nothing," he answered calmly.
Akira blushed again, but not so much with embarrassment as with anger. "Yes you did!" she said her voice unexpectedly shaky and loud with anger.
"No," he said in that same soft voice. "I did not. Now, take your battle stance-"
He was cut off by another yell from the young woman in front of her. "You did too! I mean unless you were standing there admiring the gold leafing while I was standing there completely naked-"
Haldir gritted his teeth together. "I saw nothing!" he told her. Akira shut her mouth quickly. "Now, if you would take your battle stance, we may begin your first lesson."
Akira tensed with rage. She'd had the courage to actually bring it up to him, and he denied everything! Of course, what did she expect? The truth? Her eyes caught his, and Haldir saw anger in their brown depths. What did she have to be upset about? He had just seen her naked. He was scarred for life. All right, he had to admit, maybe it had not been that bad. Actually, it had been kind of nice. What was he thinking? Of course it was bad! It had been awful and he never wanted it to happen again.
"I only came to apologize," he blurted. The elf blinked at the realization that he had said it aloud.
"You? Apologize? I really am crazy."
He sighed softly, and relaxed his tense muscles. He went to sit down near one of the trees, and the young woman only guessed that she was supposed to follow him. She did and sat nearly a foot away from him. He idly wondered why.
"I was..." He took a deep breath, "..." He attempted to say it, really he did. But the word was so unfamiliar coming from his lips. "I do not control what it is you wear. I should not have tried to."
Akira needed to clean her ears out more often, because she could have swore that she had just heard Haldir apologize. "What changed your mind?" she asked softly.
"My brother's," he ground out. "On occasion they tend to have ideas, which believe it or not, are actually good. They suggested I..." he trailed off. He had said it once. Must he really be forced to admit it again?
Thankfully the young woman did not bring it up. Her eyes were on the ground, finding the grass very interesting at that moment. She tried to process everything that had just happened. Haldir had yelled at her for having a shirt that showed her belly button ring, seen her naked, and apologized for yelling about said shirt. Her head hurt.
There was a long, awkward silence between the two of them. After about five minutes passed, the elfin captain stood. He picked up his sword, and looked down expectantly at the young woman. "We will start now." His words brought Akira back, and she lifted her head up to see him once again towering above her. She stood herself up, and dusted off her cargo pants. Though there was really no need. She bent down to pick up her sword. At first she had not really felt the weight of it. It was heavier then she had expected. With a little effort she clutched the handle with both hands, and followed Haldir to the middle of the larger talan.
The elf watched her as she trudged over to him. Her back was slightly hunched, and she had to hold on to the sword with both hands. "You can not fight like that," he said. "You must stand straight. And you must be able to hold your sword with only one hand."
"It's heavy," she informed him. "It's not like I normally go around with swords hacking people up."
He sighed. The march warden had thought that by giving her a regular sword, and not an elven blade, things would have started out much easier. You needed some skill to be able to handle a sword of Lothlorien. She, apparently, had none.
"The purpose of this is to help you regain your strength, and learn to fight. Should you ever need to, I expect you to be able to defend yourself. Though I highly doubt you will ever be in battle."
Looking up for a moment, she lost her balance slightly and stumbled forward. "You..." She trailed off. No way was she going to be the damsel in distress. Besides, why had she believed him anyway? If she had believed him at all. Haldir watched her. He waited for Akira to say something, to finish whatever she was going to say.
"I...?" he questioned. The young woman flipped a piece of dark red hair which had fallen in front of her brown eyes so she could look at him. She shook her head. It wasn't important.
"Let's just get this over with OK?"
Akira raised her sword, trying her best to get into the battle stance that Haldir had shown her only a few minutes earlier.
~~~
Around an hour later, a panting Akira tried her best to dodge as the elf brought his sword down. Haldir admitted she was not bad. He also admitted that she was not good, either. The march warden knocked the sword out of her hand and sighed. "You must hold your blade with a firm grip," he said bringing the tip of his blade up. "Or else it will be taken by the enemy, and it is all over."
She nodded and stepped away to retrieve her sword. She was not all that comfortable standing unarmed with Haldir pointing a sword in her face. Not her idea of fun at all. When Akira stood again, her back hit something. She jumped and turned around,only to be face to face with the elf. She clenched her teeth together. She really needed to tell him to stop doing that.
"You do not trust me," he stated calmly. The young woman wanted to scream 'duh' in his face at the top of her lungs, but decided against it. "I promised that I would protect you. It is important for you to trust me."
She starred blankly at him. "You can't just tell someone to trust you and then baam, the two of your are best friends," she scoffed. "Trust is earned."
That was true. But how was he supposed to earn her trust? He could tell that she was somewhat afraid of him, something he found upsetting. After a while longer of sparring, Akira was dismissed. Haldir wandered aimlessly around his home, thinking of how he could amend for his behavior. He needed her to trust him. How was he supposed to keep someone safe who thought that *he* was the danger?
"Haldir," greeted a soothing voice. The elf turned and bowed graciously.
"Lady Galadriel," he said.
She smiled. "I believe you were looking for me."
The march warden simply starred. Had he been looking for her? He had simply been walking around, trying to clear his mind. Maybe he had been seeking her out subconsciously. "I wanted to speak with you about Akira. She sees me as a danger, not as a protector. If I am to watch over her she must trust me, but she does not."
"Can you truly blame her?" The elf thought. No, he could not. He regretted his actions, but not his intent. The only thing he had tried to do was protect his home and honor. Another one of those warm smiles spread across the elfin lady's beautiful features. "Follow your heart, Haldir. Listen to it. No matter what path you find yourself led to, you must always trust your heart." Haldir nodded, and then left the lady's presence.
~~~
Just in case anyone is wondering, this isn't Mary-Sue at all. I have really short blond hair, blue eyes, and live out in the boonies. I can't do any of the things that Akira will be doing. I do want a tongue ring though. But I have to wait four years dag nabit. Well, anyway just not Marry-sue. I'm probably more like Haldir actually. *shudders*
Haldir- Do not insult me. I know plenty of people who would want to be me.
Please review this chapter!