A/N: Another chapter for you all! Sorry it took a bit longer, I'm afraid a had a bit of writers-block. This chapter is rated PG-14 for brief nudity (not sexually explicit in any way). Now, to my super-fantabulous reviewers! angelsfyre1---You bit a horse on the ear for kicking you? What would a romance fic be without a jealous Legolas? lol. Thanks for the review, and I hope you like the new chapter! ephona---"holy snikies" profound words! Hope you like the new chapter! White Wave---I'm glad you stumbled upon my work too! Glad you like it so far! Duvet---Thank you! I'm glad you like it! Enjoy the new chapter! I feel loved :-D BellaRu---Thank you! Hope this was soon enough. Fiona McKinnon---Good to hear...er...read! lol. Enjoy the new chapter!

Big hugs to everyone who reviewed! Thanks everyone!

Disclaimer: I do not own Legolas or anyone else you recognise. Donna is mine though, so no touchy!

Chapter 3: Haunting Dreams, and a Couple of Peeping Toms

Legolas sat in the darkened room, waiting anxiously for the girl to wake. Her wounds had been tended, and antidotes administered, but she still remained unconscious. He wondered if perhaps she might have been seriously hurt when Camthalion kicked her, but Lord Elrond had checked her himself, seeing how distressed the young prince was. He found that she had a couple of cracked ribs, huge bruises, and some raging saddle-sores, but there was no evidence of further damage. He told Legolas that it looked to him as if she was simply exhausted, and that she would wake after her body had had time to recover.

Now he sat by her bed, several hours later, watching her like a hawk for any sign of stirring. So far, the closest thing to movement was when her face became troubled, and she murmured something to the effect of, "I only eat purple monkeys, that one's yellow."

A while later, she began to stir, mumbling snips of elvish and words of a language he could not understand.

A dark-haired adolescent stalks through the forest, wearing a sleeveless buckskin shirt and leggings. Her hair is pulled back into a long braid, exposing slightly pointed ears, and she wears a beautifully beaded necklace. She carries two daggers, a bow, and a quiver of arrows is on her back. The man in front of her motions for her to crouch beside him in the bushes. He has the same dark brown hair as the girl, pulled into a topknot at the back of his head. Oddly clad strangers step on to the land from huge ships. People like this have been arriving for a while now. They are not good to the land. They cut down trees, burn away the forest bit by bit. They carry guns, and they kill far more than they need to survive. The adolescent knocks an arrow, preparing to shoot the intruders, but the man stops her. They cannot act yet, there are too many.

The two return to the village, and they are greeted by a tall woman with fair hair, green eyes, pointed ears and pale skin. She embraces both of them, kissing the man deeply. She has been worried. The man goes to speak with the warriors of the village, leaving the other two alone. The woman takes the girl's hand, leading her into the longhouse. She takes a small comb crafted from bone and un-braids the girl's hair, brushing it and quietly singing a hauntingly beautiful song that only they can understand. The girl contentedly drifts in and out of sleep, quietly uttering a single word, "Naneth…"

All of a sudden, loud explosions are heard. People screaming. The two run outside. The strangers are there.

"Ada?" No answer. The adolescent runs to get her daggers and bow, but the woman stops her. She is told to flee to the hills until nightfall, she will follow when she can. They argue for a time, finally the girl runs.

Fire, smoke, burning, screaming, blood. Night falls, the girl returns. So much death.

"Naneth? Ada?" No answer. Bodies, blood, burning. "Ada? Naneth?" A foul smell, burning flesh. Voices, a language she cannot understand. She follows the sound. Men, intruders. She hides in the bushes to watch. The men drag corpses to huge fires. Dark black and brown hair, tanned skin. More and more bodies they drag. Wait, golden hair? "NANETH!" She runs out of the bushes, surprising the men. One of them fires his gun, he misses. She drops down next to the cold, lifeless form. Green eyes, which used to be filled with so much life and light, now stare dully out at nothing. She is asleep, she must be asleep. "Naneth…Naneth…Naneth…" No answer. Blood on rosy lips, golden hair stained red. Screaming, crying, grief. The girl attacks the men, screaming, yelling, thrashing. They hold her arms fast. Pain. Blackness.

"NANETH!" Donna screamed, jumping up. Tears streamed down her face as she frantically looked around the room, unsure of where she was. She felt arms wrap around her, and she struggled violently, still confused.

"Donna! It is I, Legolas! Calm down, you are safe!" Legolas, the kind elf who had saved her from the orcs. Her senses were bombarded with his scent. Pine, cinnamon, fresh water and musk. His scent was so calming. He smelled like the woods in autumn. The tears continued to stream down her face as she became aware of where she was, and relaxed. She began to sob, the grief from the night terror still prominent in her mind, even as the images swiftly faded away. Legolas sat down next to her, gently rocking her in his arms as she sobbed. She reached inside the nightdress she had changed into, fingering the beaded necklace she had worn for as long as she could remember.

Even after her sobbing stopped, he still held her in his arms, quietly singing a familiar, hauntingly beautiful song. Even if she could no longer understand the words, she still took comfort in the familiarity. His voice was like the wind, gentle, calming whispers. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep, clinging to him tightly, enveloped in his warmth and calming scent.

He sat silently, listening to her slow, quiet breaths. She had fallen back to sleep some time ago, but even if he'd wanted to, he couldn't get up. She had his tunic in a death-grip. But he didn't mind. She was so dainty, she fit perfectly in his arms. It felt oddly right, holding this small, mysterious woman. What had caused her to have such a terrible nightmare? She'd told him that she'd lost her memory a while back. Did forgotten memories haunt her in her dreams?

He looked down at her small form, and saw that she clung to him with one hand, and the other held a beaded necklace. The beads were made from bone, and each had an intricate design painted on it. In the middle of the necklace there hung a large fang. He slipped it out of her hand curiously, the longer he looked at the beads, the more detail he saw on them. It must have taken years to complete.

He let go of the necklace, and took her hand instead. He was surprised to see that they were rather callused. That hands of a warrior. She is such an enigma. Perhaps she will be more willing to speak of her past after tonight…The grip she had on his tunic began to loosen, and he slipped off the bed and laid her down, tucking her back in.

Donna groaned unhappily as the sun shone through her balcony window, hitting her in the eyes. She tried to roll over and stuff her head under the pillow, but somehow the light still got in. Sighing in defeat, she eased herself up and sat on the side of the bed, wiping the tiredness from her eyes. She stretched, and took in a deep breath, gasping when she suddenly smelled something besides her own scent. Legolas. The memories of the previous night slowly flooded back.

"Aw shit…" she muttered. She was furious with herself, not to mention embarrassed. She couldn't even remember what had caused her to start crying. She knew she'd had one of those night terrors again, but the memories would fade away as soon as she woke. The only thing that ever remained was the grief.

Suddenly, she heard a knock on the door, and jumped back into bed, flinching as the giant bruises on her ribs throbbed in protest from the unnecessary movement. She rolled over, with her back to the door, then someone quietly opened the door and walked in. She felt them sit on the edge of the bed, and gently roll her on to her back, unbuttoning her nightdress and checking her bruises. She involuntarily jumped and her eyes snapped open when warm hands passed over a particularly tender area. A dark-haired elf with grey eyes sat on her bed.

"You ain't the healer who took care of me last night…" she said suspiciously.

"Are not" he corrected, continuing to check her injuries.

"Whatever. Who're you?"

"I am Lord Elrond," he replied, laying the bandages back over her wounds and buttoning her nightdress back up. "I understand your name is Donna. You are quite the enigma, I have never seen an Eleth such as you."

"'Eleth'?"

"A female elf."

"I'm not an elf!" she said irritably, sitting up and cringing as more pain shot through her ribs.

"Be still! You are tender yet!" scolded Elrond. "Legolas told me you might not accept that. No matter. How is it that you came to be in Imladris? Legolas said that you were dressed rather oddly when he came across you."

"That's what I'd like to know. I remember crawling inside this big hollow tree to…well, why I did it ain't important…but when I crawled back out I was here," she explained.

"Interesting. What did this tree look like?" asked Elrond thoughtfully.

"Now that I think about it, it was kind of strange. Even though the tree was hollow, it still always had leaves on it. Even in winter. The leaves were greenish gold, and in spring it grew really beautiful blossoms. For some reason whenever I tried to show it to…people…I could never find it."

"Golden leaves? A Mallorn tree no doubt…but how could that be possible?" Elrond sat silently for some time, his brow furrowed in thought. After a time, he spoke again. "Legolas also told me the name of your homeland. It is strange to me. Does the name Middle Earth mean anything to you?"

"No," she replied. "Neither does the name Imladris. I might not be the most talented when it comes to Geography, but I think I would remember a name like Middle Earth. I don't know where I've landed myself, but it sure as hell ain't anywhere on the maps I'm used to. I don't know why I'm here, and I don't know how I'm gonna get back. In the mean time, what the heck am I supposed to do?"

"I fear that I know little of matters such as these. However, there is one person I know of who would likely know more. A secret council will be held tomorrow, and you shall attend. In the mean time, if you feel up to it, you may explore. But please, try not to sustain any more injuries! You seem to be rather accident-prone!" he said with a smile.

"Ain't that the truth," she muttered, rubbing her ribs. Elrond left to give her some privacy, and a moment later a young woman with dark hair came in carrying a simple grey robe, and an emerald green dress.

"Hello, I am Arwen," she said with a smile, laying the dress and the robe on the foot of the bed.

"I'm Donna," she replied, flinching slightly as she stood up. She wished she hadn't. Everyone she met there made her feel even shorter than she was. She guessed Arwen to be about as tall as Legolas. She could have rested her chin comfortably on the top of her head. She walked around to the foot of her bed, fingering the velvet-like material of the dress. "This is so beautiful!"

"I am glad you like it," said Arwen, beaming. "Although I am not able to take all the credit. Legolas wouldn't stop talking about how you had the most beautiful green eyes he'd ever seen. That is how I picked it for you." Donna went wide eyed.

"He said that?" she asked nervously. Arwen laughed and replied, "Indeed he did. I believe the prince of Mirkwood may be a little infatuated."

"Excuse me, PRINCE? He never mentioned that. So he's probably hitched already, or betrothed to someone, right?" she asked hopefully.

"Hitched? I am not familiar with that term…"

"Married."

"Oh! No, for some reason elf women are not fond of him. I believe it is a matter of vanity. Most elf women are very proud you see, they do not want to be seen with someone prettier than they are," said Arwen, laughing merrily. Her laugh was musical and infectious, soon they were both laughing. Finally after a while Donna had to make herself stop, her ribs were beginning to throb angrily.

"Alright, for now just put this robe on and I will take you to one of the bath houses. Then the healer will re-dress your wounds and I will help you change into this," she explained, indicating the green dress. "After that I would be happy to give you a tour."

"Baths? Yay!" said Donna happily. She changed into the robe, and Arwen escorted her to a bathhouse, leaving her to soak out the rest of the stiffness from her trip.

She had been there for a while, when suddenly she heard rather high-pitched voices just outside.

"Hey, there's heat coming from in there!"

"I'll bet it's the kitchen! Let's go in!" Donna looked around frantically for a towel, or something to cover herself, but there was nothing within reach. Finally she took a deep breath and ducked under the water, hoping that whoever was outside would go away quickly.

"Hmm…it's a bath house!"

"A bathhouse? What's that Merry?"

"This is a bathhouse!"

"What's it for?"

"Honestly Pippin, I worry about you sometimes! It's for bathing of course!"

"That water looks awfully hot!" Donna felt a small hand reach into the water and grab her foot. With that, she jumped several feet into the air, squealing in surprise.

"YOW! There was something in there…ah, Merry? Why does that elf have big googly-eyes on it's chest?" Donna stood rigid, like a deer in the headlights. The water just came up to her navel. Two little people with big fuzzy feet stood next to the bath. She looked down at her chest, and said, "They ain't THAT big…"

A/N: Well, there's another chapter! I thought I'd finish on a funny note this time. Read, review, and wait patiently for chapter 4, for it is being made as you read!