AN: Hi all! I hope summer's going well for all of you. I just came back from Boston and Salem for the weekend. It was pretty cool to see all the stuff about the witches in Salem. I even got the chance to walk a few graveyards at night. Alas, though, I didn't get to see any ghosts though one of the tour guides managed to scare my sister so badly she turned as white as a ghost. That probably has to count for something, right? Anywho thanks for all your reviews and for putting up with the sparse updates. I'm really glad some of you are sticking around for the ride no matter how slow it seems to be going for me recently.

Elven Script: Emma's just a little confused to say the least. She was marginally afraid of the fact she was an elf and now the dead are coming back to life around her at the hand of one of her friends. Not exactly something normal, I guess, even by elven standards. As for my wayward muse, I think I have it tied down again so I hope things will get better!

pixie88: I'm glad you liked the few chapters! As for Emma, Legolas, and Algernil, there's going to be some more interaction between the three of them in the near future since they all have to figure each other out. As for Emma, she still has to figure out if she can trust the newest addition to the royal family lest another enemy shows up to bother her and make her miserable. Thranduil's going to find out about Algernil eventually too (probably sooner rather than later) since he doesn't know his wife is back. He also doesn't know that she knows about Emma and how she came to be. Not a good thing to say the least!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in Graduate School. All I own are Pointe Shoes.

For a long moment, there was a tense silence between Legolas and Algernil. Both were trying to figure out what to make of what had just taken place within the confines of their room.

While Algernil was lost on how to feel about the little elven child, her son was confused for a totally different reason. It was so strange for Emma to act the way she had. She was usually a very welcoming little girl, friendly after a few moments. Yes, Emma always came off shy and reserved but she wasn't truly. There was something rather friendly about her no matter how closed off she first seem.

That was how Legolas saw it when Emma was with anyone except their shared father. Thranduil's open hostility was met with silence and downcast stares from Emma. She was playing the role of a dutiful daughter- Though Legolas suspected there was a good bit of fear involved in that role too- while her adoptive mother raged a private war with Emma's biological father.

Still it was strange for her to dart off like that. She wasn't one to normally escape from a meeting like that. Their own first meeting some time ago, in Legolas' mind, didn't really count. They had both been tentative and, frankly, his announcement was unexpected and scary. He really shouldn't have expected her to act differently.

"She doesn't like me," Algernil stated, breaking the heavy silence that hung between mother and son.

She figured it had to be said and felt much better now that it was out in the open. It wasn't the first time someone had openly disliked her but Algernil figured it was a conclusion that shouldn't have been reached on the first meeting. Maybe the second or third but most certainly not the first. Neither one of them had time to really get to know the other unless Emma had some power she wasn't aware of. After the display Niphredil had put on, Algernil was ready to believe anything was possible.

"Nana, Emma barely knows you. She is not one to jump to conclusions like that from the outset," Legolas assured his mother, privately hoping his words were true.

Even if there was the slimmest of chances, he wanted Emma's actions to be just a little fluke. There wasn't anything truly normal about them and he wanted to make sure his mother understood that fact.

"Then how come she ran off like all the orcs in Mordor were chasing her?" Algernil wanted to know, giving her son a rather pointed stare.

Legolas sighed, knowing this was going to sound strange to his recently returned mother. To him, though, it was perfectly normal. Just a small part of Emma's character.

"Emma is simply afraid of you, nana. Save for myself, she does not trust the court of Mirkwood. Specifically, she does not trust our father," Legolas explained, feeling as if he had explained this to his mother before.

Even if he had- He wasn't quite sure if he had or not. - he knew it was best for him to do it again. The display Emma had just given them was reason enough to do so. Perhaps, his mother didn't really believe him when he said that Emma was skittish around members of the royal family?

"Emma is afraid of me?" Algernil asked, sounding rather stunned by that proclamation, "That is not the answer I expected, my son. I have given her no reason to fear me."

To Algernil, Emma looked like a nice enough elfling. She looked like her son which was slightly off putting to Algernil but that was a whole other story entirely. She really hadn't expected her half daughter, figuring it was best to think of Emma like that anyway, to look so much like her full son.

"She probably assumes that you are going to treat her as Thranduil does. He has no love for has and makes that fact publicly known to all in the court," Legolas explained, "Woe be it to anyone who asks about his daughter. Even with her in the room, he is liable to say that he has no daughter. It is not the nicest thing he could do to her."

"That is not the proper way to treat a child. Thranduil should know better. He never treated you that way," snapped Algernil, feeling slightly sorry for the skittish little elfling who had just fled from the room.

Maybe it was part of her mothering instincts returning to her, even if her son was fully grown and an adult in his own right. The little girl he was caring for was obviously a child and Thranduil should have known better than to treat a young one so coldly. Especially a young one who was of his blood.

"I know that, nana, but he persists in treat Emma poorly. It is a sorry sight to see," Legolas informed his mother commiserating with her feelings, "It is a very good thing that her adoptive parents, especially her mother, treat her so well. It is not like she is lacking in love or anything of the sort. Her mother, Shannon, would do anything for her."

With a thought, he added, "As a matter of fact, she has. She left the other world- The Muggle World as some call it- and everything familiar about it to stay here with her daughter. Though, one could argue that there were other reasons why she stayed."

Though Algernil wanted to question her son further about the reasons, she did not. The female elf assumed that it was best to wait until this Shannon person returned to Mirkwood. Then she could as her herself. That way she would not feel as if she was asking others about someone else's business.

Instead, she asked something her son could answer.

"But you like her. Why is this? Why not treat her as coldly as her own father does?" Algernil questioned, watching as her son's expression changed.

She could plainly see that Legolas did not like his motives questioned where Emma was concerned. Still, she had to ask him. It seemed better that way and more certain.

"She is my sister," Legolas blurted, " She is of my blood and I would not treat one of my family in that way, regardless of how I felt about them."

"Is that the only reason, my son?" Algernil pressed as a small smile crossed her face.

She had always enjoyed needling others with questions. Though some found it annoying, others found it as a symptom of her wanting to learn things. To understand the world around her and the people in it. That and it gave her a better feel on anything her husband might be planning. A few friendly, well placed and worded questions and one could learn anything they wanted.

"She is just a nice elfling. I was her caretaker when our father wanted her identity discerned in Lothlorien. One gets to know another well on such a journey. She is very much a child who should have grown up here but did not," Legolas admitted.

"I am sure she is better for the latter fact considering how you say Thranduil treats her," Algernil interjected.

"On that point, nana, I am sure you are correct. Though, I think, I would rather liked having a sister," Legolas agreed.

"You rather like having a sister now," Algernil laughed, "a sister you should see too now."

She stood and sighed. There was something she had to do no matter how much she did not want to do it. Her preference would have been to sit with her son and discuss what had happened in Middle Earth while she lay dead.

Still, no matter how much she didn't want to do it, it was best she did. If she did not, the surprise would be an ugly one.

"Where are you headed?" Legolas asked, standing as his mother did.

"To see your father," she sighed, "I should announce my presence to him before someone tells him I have returned. It is best I do this alone, my son, for I do not wish to see his wrath brought down upon you. If that were to happen then I may wind up doing something rash."

With a good-bye to her son, Algernil set out to do something she was not really looking forward to doing. That being speaking with her husband.

Someone she was sure would not be pleased with her return.