"My, but Estel was giving us the evil eye!" Lunian frowned after the retreating form of her sort-of brother. "I don't know what's got into him."
Legolas smiled faintly and quickly, the move nearly a grimace. "I do." The conversation the day of their arrival still lingered in his mind, though it had been several weeks. Most of that time he had spent wandering the gardens, more often with Lunian beside him than not.
Lunian was patient for only a short while. "Well?"
Legolas blinked and glanced up before looking at the path ahead of them. "He fears what he cannot control."
"There are more things that cannot be controlled than can. Why fear them?" She smiled at the look he gave her. "Or perhaps you were thinking in slightly more specific terms than whether or not it decides to rain this afternoon?"
"It will, and I was." The sun had yet to shine brightly today, and the air smelled of rain.
"I know it will rain, but you know what I meant." She took another of the deep breaths she'd been treating herself to all morning. "I love the smell of rain," she murmured absently. "Whether coming or going."
Legolas smiled softly, content to let her wander from their conversation if he could. But as the silence was once again broken, he was reminded how tenacious she could be.
"So, what did you mean?"
He sighed with a slight shake of his head. "He fears the things that may hurt those he cares about."
"You're being abstract. Even something as sweet and simple as a flower can hurt someone. Of course, being an elf, you probably aren't subject to the horrors of hay fever, are you?"
"No," he murmured idly, again hoping she wouldn't continue.
"Then what?"
"It doesn't matter. It cannot be changed, cannot be stopped."
"Well, if he was glaring at me, then it has something to do with me, which means I think I should know!" She turned to face him, her eyes flashing, some of the gold coming to the fore of her hazel eyes as they stepped out of the shadows into the light.
He held up a hand, but she wasn't to be so easily soothed.
"Has this anything to do with his warning?"
"Warning?"
"He said to be careful, but would say nothing else." She frowned and began walking again. "I hate it when people speak over my head on purpose, waiting for me to grow up to grasp the meaning. I'm not getting any taller, so please stop it!"
Her hands were clasped, something being moved around in her left hand again. He caught her hand, lifting it so he could uncoil her fingers. A smooth stone, about the size of the last digit of his first finger lay in her palm. Even as he watched she rubbed her fingers over it, turning it unconsciously. "What is this?"
She shrugged and closed her fingers over the oblong grayish stone again. "It's a worry stone. Whenever I get nervous or agitated, or sometimes when I'm bored, I roll it through my fingers. I don't know it if really helps, but it reminds me I've had such times before and always gotten through them." She uncurled her fingers for a moment, tracing a few of the silvery lines that were visible around the deeper, nearly blue gray. Lunian remembered when she found it, smiling faintly.
"What is that smile for, Milady?"
"I was just thinking how I came across it, that's all," she murmured, turning to walk once more.
"And how was that?"
She looked at him and slowly shook her head, clasping her now empty hands behind her back. "Nope. Not telling."
"Why not?"
"Because you're not telling what you know about Estel. Turn about is fair play."
He shook his head. "Mortal speech."
She laughed, the sound echoing back to them from the rocks rising on all nearly all sides. "Mortal speech, is it? How can that be, when I have only ever been around one mortal, who was also raised by elves?" Her grin became mischievous. "I learned it from Elladan. He and Elrohir still get into nasty rounds of tricks." Soft laughter escaped her lips once more, as her eyes clouded on a memory he couldn't see.
Elladan crouched low in the bushes, his eyes searching the clearing ahead of him intently. Lunian, no more than seven years old and still rather short, slowly crawled forward so she was beside him.
"Ladan?" she asked softly. "What are we—"
He covered her mouth with his hands. "Shh, just wait."
She sighed and laid down on her stomach, stretched out so she could still see through the leaves of the bush, her head propped on one hand. With the other she rolled her stone around in little circles in the dust. A small beetle walked past her, so she nudged it with her finger, turning it back around. She used a small twig to make a small moat around her stone and the beetle, smiling at the thought of the beetle being a dragon guarding a palace. She had always loved stories of adventure.
The beetle spoiled her fun by climbing out of her moat, but she let him go, seeing a type of plant she hadn't before off to her left. She studied its leaves, furrowed slightly and standing on stalks that lifted them to about eye level, three or five leaves per stalk. She reached out to the plant, plucking a bunch of it, lifting it to her nose to breathe in any scent.
"Ladan? What's this?" she asked, passing a broken leaf to him.
He frowned, running his fingers over it, then brought it to his nose to smell. He shifted his weight slightly so he could inspect it with his other hand. He let it fall to the ground and rested his hands on his thighs. "Where's some more of it?"
She pointed, and then covered her ears with her hands for the yelp he let out. "What's wrong?"
He gave her a sour look and was about to say something when Elrohir came up and poured a messy whitish liquid over Elladan's head. Clumps of some powdery substance oozed over Elladan's shoulders, globs falling from his hair to the ground while others slid slowly over his shoulders, seeping into his tunic.
After a long, silent moment he lifted his hands and carefully swiped at his eyes. His shoulders were slumped in defeat. "You win today, my brother," he murmured at long last. "Take a look at the plant Lunian discovered," he added, before turning down the branch of the path that led to the pool, obviously intending a good dunking before returning home.
Elrohir looked after his brother for a long moment, a smile tilting his lips. Then he shook it away and looked down at her. "What have you found, little one?"
She shrugged, pointing at the plant.
Elrohir sighed and lifted a hand to his forehead, rubbing his temples. "Come on. I'll get you fixed up." He chuckled after she hopped up, allowing her to take his hand. "Don't tell Elladan."
She chuckled again, remembering the red rash that Elladan had had after that. Elrohir laughed that it had covered him entirely because of the time he spent in the pool trying to get the gloppy stuff off of him, but she had only seen it on his hands and face. Especially the bright red patch right on his nose where he'd smelled it.
Elrohir had covered her with a smelly paste, and made her drink a bitter liquid, so she never developed the nasty rash, for which she had been very thankful, seeing how uncomfortable Elladan had been.
Thinking about it now, she sidestepped a small patch of the weed, making a mental note to warn Elladan about it. Ever since, he'd eradicated all signs of that particular weed with a vengeance. And he would get some of it on at least one of his hands, no matter how careful he was, and be miserable for a while once more. The next time some popped up, he'd attack it with an increased fury, remembering all the times in the past it had made him suffer.
As the clouds above them opened, Legolas started to turn back to the dwellings for shelter. Lunian remained, tilting her head back as the rain washed over her, darkening her hair.
Finding himself some shelter beneath a rock overhang, he called to her and held out a hand for her, but she laughed softly, lifting her hands to the rain. She spun in a circle, welcoming the rain with another laugh. As he watched her, he considered her features once more, still puzzled by them.
She had the skin of an elf, light and nearly luminous, and her eyes were deeper with wisdom than Aragorn's, though the man had a lot of experience and years on his side. But that was where his ability to liken her to an elf ended. Her hair was of a darker shade of gold than any elf he had ever met, her eyes mostly green with hints of golden brown and even bits of blue within them. She was strong, her arms slender, but toned with muscle. She could step lightly, and her ears often picked up his approach when she wasn't lost in her thoughts, but that came from being around elves all the time. The bones of her face marked her a child of man, her cheekbones prominent, her jaw rather square.
Merely to look upon her, she wasn't exactly beautiful. Pretty, sure, but not beautiful. Her eyes were round, her lashes tipped in silvery gold, making them seem shorter than they were at first glance. Her brows were arched naturally, and a little thicker than she-elves considered normal. Still, he couldn't help but think her the most fascinating female he had ever come across.
Even now, drenched by the rain, her honey gold hair a muddy brown, hanging in stringy rivulets from her tilted head, her eyes closed as rain slid from her face like a river of tears, her mouth curved in a pleasure-filled smile, she intrigued him. Rather than finding the square-ness of her features off-putting, he wondered how she could appear so strong and yet so soft in the same instant.
As the rain gathered in strength Lunian's smile faded and she reopened her eyes, looking at the clouds with a frown. She drew her cloak about her and covered her soaked hair with her hood, the edge of it keeping the water from entering her eyes as she searched for him through the dripping foliage.
"We should get back, or Elrohir will begin pacing." She looked up again. "I thought it would have been done by now," she murmured, as if in explanation. Her eyes took in the path they had taken, before swiveling to another, rocky path which would get them back more quickly and without the possibility of being flooded, though it would require a little more effort on their parts. "Follow me!"
Legolas did as she bid, racing behind her, jumping over or onto rocks to remain there as she raced quickly through the rain. He heard a soft sound from the path ahead, but couldn't form any words in time. As the path washed out under her feet he wrapped an arm about her waist as she started to fall, pulling her back to the side they didn't really want to be on.
"Thanks," she murmured softly when he released her, slightly out of breath, watching the water and rocks cascade past them. Once the path had stopped moving, she ran forward again, going a little more slowly this time, at least until they got onto level ground.
After they raced into the main building, Legolas shook his head, then gathered his hair at his nape and squeezed the water from it, feeling a little foolish when he saw the growing puddle at their feet.
"There you are!"
Legolas looked up to see a distraught elf come quickly towards them. The expression was so comical he was about to begin laughing when Elrohir gathered Lunian in his arms. The desire to laugh left Legolas so quickly he felt dizzy. And sick. He looked away as Elrohir kissed Lunian's dripping hair.
"It took you long enough to get back," Elrohir murmured gruffly, his voice thick with emotions.
"There was no need for you to worry," Lunian soothed. "I know my way home," she added, her voice teasing.
Elrohir closed his eyes on a troubled sigh. "Go get dried off, little one." Lunian chuckled softly and moved away, leaving Legolas, Elrohir, and a giant puddle, which was still slowly spreading out as if it had a mind of its own, and wanted to cover the entire floor. "You should as well, Legolas. Dinner will be soon."
Legolas looked at Elrohir, noting the dampness all down Elrohir's front and where Lunian's arms had gone around him. "You are not exactly dry yourself."
Elrohir glanced down at himself, and smiled faintly. "I forget myself in my concern for her, sometimes."
"So I saw," Legolas murmured.
Elrohir glanced at him sharply, watched as Legolas's eyes skidded away after an instant. "She is my daughter, Legolas. Such is my concern for her."
Legolas had lifted his eyes as Elrohir spoke, but now lowered them with a frown. "I once viewed her as a child."
"She will always be my daughter, Legolas." Elrohir said, answering the question Legolas hadn't been able to bring himself to ask. Then he looked at the dripping prince for a moment longer. "Go, be at peace."
Legolas nodded after a moment, his soft boots making quiet but still audible squishing noises all the way to the room set aside for his use while he stayed.