Howdy all. Wow, I got over a 100 reviews. *squeals with joy*

Haldir- *jumps up and down on pink and purple fuzzy thrown* Could you have gotten something a bit more, I don't know, regal then fuzzy mermaid designs?

...hmm...probably.

Haldir- *falls off thrown at stupidity of author*

Anyway, I'd like to know who gave me my 100th review, so if you know could you e-mail me or something, or put it in your next review? It'd be great.

~~~

Akira snuggled into her pillow and wrapped the white sheet around her more closely. She was having a wonderful dream. She should have probably been waking up at the moment, but she was to busy getting her first good night's sleep in weeks.

Haldir looked impatiently at his sword. Were was she? Absently, he began strumming his fingers in an irritated fashion looking irritably around as he waited for her. Rumil sighed.

"Just because she is late," he began grabbing his brothers fingers, "it does not mean you have to take it out on the tree." The captain pulled his hand away from his brother and glared at him.

"She was supposed to be here over half an hour ago. What in the Valar could she be doing?"

The other elf rolled his eyes, and smiled as he spotted Lady Siltathar. "Why not go and check on her, since you are indeed so worried."

The captain thought about that idea, but quickly decided against it. He remembered the last times he had went into Akira's talan without her knowing. First he had nearly gotten his nose broke, and the second he had seen her dressing. He had no desire for either to happen again. Well, at least the first one...

"Excuse me brother," Rumil said, flashing a smile to the elven woman as she passed. "I have matters that I must attend to."

Haldir simply shook his head as he watched his brother wander over to the elven woman, striking up a conversation with as much charm as he could muster. He then glanced around again, looking for any sign of the red haired teen. She was nowhere. He did not dare venture to her talan once again, for who knew what perils he might face there.

~~~

Keeping his eyes shut tightly, placing a hand over his nose, and using the other hand to feel his way around, Haldir stood in the entry way of Akira's talan.

"Akira?" he asked. "Are you in here?" He did not open his eyes, for fear of what he may see, and he dared not move any further, should the young woman be sleep walking. He stayed in place for many minutes, using his keen elvish hearing to try and detect the young woman's presence. "Akira?" The sound of soft, even breathing assured Haldir that the young woman must have been sleeping if it was indeed she there. Taking a chance, he cracked an eye open slightly, prepared to shield his eyes should the young woman not be decent once again.

A heavy sigh of relief filled the talan as he saw that she was sleeping. Thank the heavens. He knew better then to edge closer to her, so instead he lingered in the doorway.

"Wake up," he commanded from the entry. "Akira. Lessons. Wake up," Haldir said once again. She did not stir, only snuggled in deeper to the pillows.

Sighing heavily, the march warden took a few steps into the room. It was littered with clothes and other things spread across the floor. He scowled at the mess that was the talan. He saw a large black duffle bag sitting in the corner, and spied a great deal of papers on top of it. Curious, he warily stepped passed Akira's sleeping form and made his way to the bag. He knelt down and picked up the papers.

The first paper he looked at was a rough sketch of the hobbits which had left Lothlorien only a few weeks ago. Frodo was sitting down, his eyes seemingly fixated on a point not shown in the drawing. Sam was next to the ring bearer, happily nibbling on a piece of lembas. Pippin and Merry were standing in the far right corner, each holding their swords, seeming to be walking towards the other half-lings.

Another was of Rumil and Orophin. Haldir's face softened a bit as he studied the sketch. His brother's stood side by side, each holding their arrows, aimed at the targets. Orophin's face as drawn well, lines of concentration creasing in his forehead. Rumil seemed to be distracted as a lady elf passed by.

The next was another elf. His long hair was flowing behind him, almost as if there was a wind whipping around him. He held his long bow tightly in one hand, and his other hung loosely to his side. His eyes were drawn with a great depth, and it could be told that a great deal of time was spent on them, trying to get them exactly right. His face was stoic, expressionless, except for the bit of sadness that could be traced by the well drawn lines of his face. Akira had obviously spent a great deal of time on it.

Which surprised Haldir. Since, it was obviously, a sketch of the captain himself.

"These are lovely," he said softly, barely glancing up at the young woman behind him. His gaze lingered on the picture of him, before turning to the next. It was of Lady Galadriel, sitting in her garden, a look of peace and serenity drawn onto her lovely features. The trees and flowers were drawn with great detail, making the picture almost seem real. "Beautiful even," he commented to himself. "You drew these."

It was not a question, but a statement. Akira reached down and quickly grabbed the sketches out of the elf's hands. He stood up, turning slowly to face her. Her cheeks were once again flushing a shade of light pink. "You shouldn't go through other peoples stuff," she informed him a bit angrily.

"I was merely looking at them," Haldir said in his defense. "I did not mean to upset or wake you." He glanced down at the drawings which she was still clutching. He reached out his hand slowly to them. "May I see the rest?" the march warden questioned.

The young woman starred dumbly at him. He wanted to see the rest? Well, he had said that they were beautiful. She was planning to say no, and yell at him to get out of her room, but she suddenly found herself extending her hand to give them to him. Haldir took the drawings, and began studying one. Akira felt her face flush. She'd sketched a few, a lot, of pictures of the march warden. So, she may not have really liked the guy, but he was a wonderful model for sketches. His deep eyes, and mythical good looks, made it hard *not* to draw him. And besides, he looked so much better on paper then he truly was in real life.

Haldir could not get over the detail of the drawings. He glanced up at Akira every so often, seeing the red on her cheeks seeming to intensify each time he looked at another sketch. There were several of the hobbits, most of them together, but a few of Frodo sitting alone, or of Pippin and Merry arguing over some lembas. There was one of the entire Fellowship as well. A few of the Lord and Lady of Lothlorien, sitting on their thrones, looking over their elven city. The march warden noticed, but did not comment, and the fact that he had also seen some more pictures of him. In each sketch he was standing alone. In one he had been holding his sword, looking as if he was ready to go into battle. In another, the captain had been leaning against a tree, his eyes closed as if he was in deep relaxation.

"Are you done yet?" questioned Akira, who was slightly embarrassed since she knew that the march warden had seen at least three pictures of himself already. He was probably getting the wrong idea, and heaven knew that he didn't need any ego boosts, he had more then enough of that already. Haldir handed the sketches back to their owner. The red head took them and quickly shoved them into one of the pockets of her large duffle bag.

She turned her attention back to the march warden, who was still standing there with a trace of curiosity on his face. Akira smoothed a piece of dark auburn hair behind her ear. "What were you doing in here?" she asked quietly. "I mean, I would have thought that after getting punched in the nose and seeing me naked that you would have learned your lesson."

"One," Haldir began calmly. "As I have said before, I saw nothing." She glared at him. "And speaking of lessons, you missed your sparring lessons with Rumil and myself. I wish to know why." The young woman yawned a little and stretched her arms above her head.

"I was sleeping," she informed him. "But I'm up now. So I guess lessons are still on."

The march warden noted the sound of disappointment in the young woman's voice as she said this. "I have told you before, I have things that I must do. Since you did not show up, then you have simply missed lessons for today. Tomorrow, I expect you to be there on time, for I do not have the time to wait around for you," he said turning to leave the talan.

"Like what?" Akira asked, a bit angry that he was storming off. Haldir turned back to her, eyeing the young woman as to her meaning. "What do you have to do?" she questioned again.

He thought for a moment. "I..." he began. To be truthful, he could not think of anything. He must have *something* to do. He was the march warden for Valar's sake. He furrowed his brow in frustration. "My plans are of little importance. You have missed today's lesson, and that is all that you need to be informed of."

With a smug smile on her face, Akira neared him. "So you don't have anything to do. Pitiful. I mean, you *are* supposed to be the march warden and everything, and you really have nothing better to do then to hang out with me," she stated. Haldir narrowed his blue eyes.

"Hang out?" he questioned, the unfamiliar phrase causing him to raise his eyebrows in confusion. "I do not know what this means, but I certainly have no plans on 'hanging out' with you. As you said I *am* the march warden, and I have matters to attend to." Matters which at the moment, he could not exactly think of. But he was sure he must have *something*. The young woman shook her head.

"Hang out means to like, talk to and be around and stuff. And your talking to me now, so there," she retorted, a look of triumph beginning to show on her features. Haldir frowned. He was hanging out with Akira, for lack of anything better to do. He really *was* pitiful.

~~~

The unlikely couple walked through one of the many beautiful gardens of Lothlorien, Haldir naming the flowers which seemed to catch Akira's interest. This 'hanging out' had not been an idea welcomed by either of the two, but the young woman had missed her sparring lesson, and the march warden really didn't have anything else to do.

"Why did you wish for me to show you the gardens?" Haldir questioned the woman as she bent down to smell some of the flowers sprouting about another mallorn tree. She ran her hands lightly over the soft petals, and stood up once again to face him.

She shrugged and continued walking. "I don't know," she said. "I was bored, and I can't find any more batteries for my CD player, and the hobbits are gone, and usually around this time Rumil is chasing that woman around, and Orophin is doing whatever it is that guy does, and Anfarawen is probably with her husband."

The captain scowled. "So, I was your last choice?"

"Yep," she answered.

Gee, didn't he feel all warm and cuddly inside.

Akira sighed as she plopped down next to a mallorn tree. Her gaze wandered from a colorful arrangement of flowers to Haldir, who was standing with his back turned to her. When did she become so pathetic that she was spending her time with someone who would rather have their limbs torn off by orcs then to talk to her? Whatever an orc was anyway. She really hadn't asked anyone. "Haldir," she said gaining the march warden's attention. When he turned their eyes met. Akira thought back to times when she would have turned away, and tried to hide behind the tree she was leaning against. Over the time she had been here, many strange things had happened, one of the most strange probably being that she learned not to be afraid of Haldir. Not that she trusted him much yet, but she wasn't scared of him. "What's it like being an elf?"

The captain blinked once or twice. The question had seemingly come out of nowhere. He walked over to where she was sitting and took a seat as well. "What it's like being an elf?" he repeated thinking over what his answer would be carefully. "I suppose I can not really tell you, for I have never been anything other then what I am. I can only tell you that as an elf, I have a connection with nature, the beloved woods in which I live for example," he said.

The young woman nodded, and rested her head on the tree. "Do you know magic or anything?"

He frowned and turned to her, their gazes meeting once again. "I do not know what this 'magic' is. And I suppose that even if I did I would not be able to answer your question. Elves are blessed with keen hearing, sight, natural grace and agility, if that has anything to do with magic. We heal faster, and do not need as much rest as your kind."

"What's the deal with not closing your eyes when you sleep? It's freaky," she commented.

"That, I can not answer," Haldir informed her. "All I know is we do. And as for it being freaky, well, I find you sleeping with your eyes closed of equal freakiness."

Akira smiled, though the march warden did not find anything he had said amusing. It was something about the way he said 'of equal freakiness' that made the slang term seem to, regal, almost elegant. It was quite funny. "Why?" he questioned. She shrugged again, and shook her head.

"Just wondering what it is to be a hugger of the trees," she said.

Hugger of the trees? He truly never would understand her language. They sat in a surprisingly comfortable silence for many minutes. At some length, Haldir spoke again. "What is it like to be a human?" He had often wondered this. What is must be like to be human, to be so fragile and have such a short length of time in this life. He wondered how men could feel at peace without having a connection to the earth.

Akira thought for some moments. "It's interesting," she replied. She was sure that compared to being an elf, who all seemed to be so beautiful and graceful without even trying, that clumsy humans with all of their flaws must have seemed like an insignificant race.

"Interesting? Vagueness is not your specialty, Akira. I have answered your question, I bid you to answer mine."

An odd feeling of déjà vu passed over the young woman when he said this. She thought a bit harder for a few moments. How could she sum up being mortal to someone like him? How could she put the feelings of joy, happiness, embarrassment, sadness, sorrow, hope, loss, and everything else into words that he would understand.

She smiled sadly, and stood up. Haldir watched her curiously as she began heading towards the rest of he gardens. He stood up, and with a few strides of his long legs, easily caught up to the red head. "Akira?" he asked trying to gain her attention. The young woman turned her head, meeting the march wardens gaze and softly answered his questioned.

"Painful," she whispered.

The elf took in the word, and then nodded. He continued in their tour of Lothlorien.

~~~

All righty. Now. Haldir.

Haldir- What now?

Ahem:

Commodores R Ppl 2 asks if you would marry her.

Daughter of the Roses suggets The Golden Wood Gift Shop in downtown Lothlorien for a thrown, but since I already got you one from Toys-R-Us, that's not really relevent. Unless your looking for a girl to settle down with...

Sweet A.K want's you to marry her too.

Nenuial, how dare you suggest that I bribe for reviews? I would never! Thank you for the help with that chappy.

Haldir-...-

So, who's marrage proposal shall you accept?

Haldir-...I can't belive ppl actually asked...um...ah... *plays Jepordy music* My heart all ready belongs to someone.

Fangirls- *cry*

Haldir- FLUFFY!

All-...-

Please review!