(A/N: Healing, as defined to me in a Review after chapter twenty, is: a healing of both body, heart and fey [spirit] where the two participants allow each other into their heart and soul. Often used for grieving or heart broken elves. Sometimes this ritual is used before consummating a bond. Thanks Lilena! Song for this chapter: Wind's Nocturne.)

- - - Grace - - -

Was it possible? Ah, NO! I told myself, I AM NOT falling for Legolas! But then I turned my head and looked behind me and felt his hand caressing the back of mine, and suddenly, I wasn't so sure. How did this happen? No, wait. It wasn't happening. Everything was normal. Okay, take a deep breath. No, DON'T! When I did that I could smell him! Now that I'd screwed that up, I tried not to think about what he smelled like.

He didn't smell at all like Aragorn (Eeeew!) or Gimli. Legolas smelled like outdoors, which didn't surprise me, we'd been outside all day, everyday for a long time. But then why didn't the rest of us smell like that?

Suddenly pain in my hand make me look down. I had been clenching my hands so tightly I had actually broken the skin in one spot with my nails. Bringing my hand up, I sucked on the cut, trying to stop the bleeding. Legolas didn't say anything but I know he noticed me. My blood tasted like a penny. Every time I would taste blood after that, it reminded me of the night I battled emotions and the inevitable.

Suddenly I felt Legolas tense behind me. He heard something. After listening for a second, I heard it too. Horses. But it didn't sound like the number of horses we had. There was more. We stopped the company and I heard Éomer call out: "Halt! Halt! Who rides in Rohan?" ¹

A mysterious voice called out from the dark. There was something familiar about it. I had never heard it before, yet it sounded like someone I knew. After contemplating this for a long while, I realized who it sounded like. Aragorn!

I looked over to my right to make sure Aragorn was still there and he hadn't ran off and was just coming back to report to us. Yes, he was there, with Merry sitting in front of him, looking exceptionally rugged and manly in his dirty state. Mmm, smelled manly too, if that's the same as unwashed. As I watched, his face changed from puzzled to happy. He handed the reins to Merry and jumped off the horse, calling to the hooded stranger named Halbarad.

They talked for a while about nothing interesting to me. Legolas took it all in I know, so I could ask him later if I really wanted to know what they were saying. Then they did say something that interested me.

"I have thirty with me," said Halbarad. "That is all of our kindred that could be gathered in haste; but the brethren Elladan and Elrohir have ridden with us, desiring to go to war. We rode as swiftly as we might when your summons came." ¹

Wait, wait, wait, WAIT! Back up a second. War? What's this? Why wasn't I told about this? And hadn't we just finished a war? Does HELM'S DEEP ring a bell for any of you guys? Obviously not, since you decided we needed to fight some more. Yes, let's go into yet another life-threatening battle and hope we come out with all our limbs, let alone our lives. Now if that's not fun, I don't know what is!

We started to ride again and this time I was moved to sit in front of an elf with dark hair I didn't know. At least they were smart enough to know I'd be more comfortable with an elf (their intentions were always good, I found) than a man. Gimli went and sat with Legolas and all of us, including Aragorn and Merry, rode with the group he called the Dúnadain. Riding next to me and Elf Boy was another Elf Boy! This one looked exactly like the one I was riding with and their names were even the same! Okay, so I'm exaggerating, but they were close. Aragorn started talking with the one that had the more complicated name, thankfully leaving me to talk to the one who's name I could pronounce. And he tried to teach me to say his brother's name too.

"Ell - Roh - Here," Elladan said.

"Ell - Roh - Here," I repeated.

"Good!" he praised me in his slightly accented english.

"Thanks!" I said. "What are Aragorn and Elroarhirm saying? Paths of the Dead? What's that?"

Elladan made a face when I said his brother's name, but I guess he decided not to comment. "The Paths of the Dead are a place rarely gone to. Long have humans and elves alike been afraid to walk them. But, with Estel to lead us, we shall do it together."

After processing these complicated sentences in my head, I voiced my opinion. "Okay, what I don't get, is, why, if everyone's so afraid of the monsters or whatever that lives there, are we going through it? Does Aragorn have a death wish, because I know I don't!"

Laughing lightly at me, which I didn't like, Elladan said, "There are worse things than monsters to fear there, pen neth.¹¹ What walks there, is the dead itself."

"WHAT?!" I yelled.

- - - Elladan - - -

I flinched at the shout from the girl in front of me.

"Quiet, young one," I told her.

"Sorry," she muttered, brushing her dark hair from her face. She shook her head lightly.

"Legolas," I called in elvish. "What is her name?"

"Grace," he said back to me and she looked up hearing her name.

"What did you say?" she asked.

"Nothing, little one. It is not of importance."

Grace brushed her hair lightly again and it quickly fell back into her face. I pressed the reins into her hands, which were partially immobile because of strips of cloth wrapping her wrists which I had not asked about yet, and steadied myself on the horse. When Grace felt my fingers touch my hair, she stopped all movement, most likely wondering what I was doing. Quickly, I did the simplest braid I could think of, to keep her hair from her eyes. Then I took the reins back from her hands.

She turned her body slightly to me, and for the first time looked me in the eye. Her eyebrows were pulled into a frown and her straight mouth looked troubled.

"Why did you do that?" she questioned.

"I thought it would keep your hair from your face," I said simply. I did not mention to her that braiding rarely occurred between anyone who wasn't kin or one a bond was shared with. Nor did I say I had never seen or heard of a human with their hair braided, although, for the first human I had seen with their tresses done like that, I have to say, it did suit her.

"Um, thank you, I guess."

She seemed just as unnerved by the unusualness of that as I did, for I had only braided the hair of my own family. I saw the young hobbit gaping at me senselessly, while both Elrohir and Aragorn shot me uneasy glances from the corner of their eyes. After a look at Legolas, I knew I should have let Grace's hair be. His eyes burned into mine. I knew he could read them and see I felt nothing for the young human as I could see he did. That seemed to calm him slightly though he did not speak for the rest of the night until we took rest.

Grace and Meriadoc, the hobbit, slept almost immediately and deeply for the hours we were resting and taking council. When they were woken by Legolas, we again mounted horses and started the last leg of the journey to the Hornburg. After a hasty ride, we arrived and were greeted by the stares of all the citizens of Edoras.

(A/N: I know it was an abrupt end to the chapter but that's really the best place I could think of to cut it off. And as of now, I have nothing else to say. Review!)

¹ Return of the King, page 757

¹¹ Elvish that, by the way, probably isn't correct! Translation: little one