Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings.

A/n: I had to tweak the timeline a little bit to make this work but only slightly.

Chapter 10

Flee to Helm's Deep

After Theoden had made his decision, Gandalf charged towards the stables. "Helm's Deep," barked Gimli as they followed him, "They flee to the mountains when they should stand and fight. Who will defend them if not their king?"

"He's only doing what he thinks is best for his people," said Tigerlily

"Helm's Deep has saved them in the past," said Aragorn.

"There is no way out of that ravine," snapped Gandalf, "Theoden is walking into a trap. He thinks he's leading them to safety. What they will get is a massacre. Theoden has a strong will but I fear for him," they entered the stables and Gandalf made his way to Shadowfax, "I fear for the survival of Rohan. He will need you before the end, Aragorn. The people of Rohan will need you. The defenses have to hold."

"They will hold," said Aragorn.

Gandalf mounted Shadowfax.

"The Grey Pilgrim," said Gandalf thoughtfully, "That's what they used to call me. Three hundred lives of Men I've walked this earth, and now I have no time. With luck, my search will not be in vain. Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east."

"Go," said Aragorn, softly. Gandalf and Shadowfax rode fast out of the stables, through the streets of Edoras, out the gates and into the distance.

Tigerlily grunted as she lifted Hasufel's heavy saddle onto the horse's back. Where Legolas had got to she didn't know. He had disappeared as soon as everyone had begun saddling up the horses. Tigerlily couldn't help but think he'd disappeared to avoid having to do anything. She heard a commotion at the other end of the stables. She stopped what she was doing and looked round the stall. A horse was kicking out as some soldiers tried to calm him. She had had enough experience with horses to know to stay well away from a horse like that. She had seen someone be killed when a horse had trampled them. It had taken weeks for her to trust her own pony again after that. She smiled at the memory of her beloved pony, Grass. She hadn't been the most imaginative child and had simply named him after what he ate. It had been a long time since she had seen him. He would be very old now, approaching twenty-six. He probably would have been 'put out to pasture' as her father would have put it. She knew that meant if Grass was suffering from old age, he'd have put Grass out of his misery. She frowned as Aragorn foolishly went up to the horse. "That horse is half-mad, my lord," said a near-by soldier, "There's nothing you can do. Leave him." Aragorn began to speak in elvish and the horse calmed down. Éowyn was watching Aragorn too. "His name is Brego," said Éowyn, "He was my cousin's horse."

"Brego," said Aragorn. He muttered something in elvish and stoked the horses nose.

"I have heard of the magic of the elves," said Éowyn, "but I did not look for it in a Ranger from the North. You speak as one of their own."

"I was raised in Rivendell for a time," said Aragorn, "Turn this fellow free. He's seen enough of war." Aragorn left the stables. Éowyn approached Tigerlily as she returned to saddling Hasufel, silently cursing Legolas. "Why was Lord Aragorn raised in Rivendell?" she asked. Tigerlily looked at Éowyn then back at Hasufel.

"It's not my place to say," said Tigerlily, "He had to leave for a reason and doesn't like to talk about it."

"What was the reason?" asked Éowyn

"I can't tell you," replied Tigerlily.

"Alright then," said Éowyn, "What is going on between you and Lord Legolas?" Tigerlily froze and looked at Éowyn.

"How did you know about that?" asked Tigerlily

"I guessed," said Éowyn, "I also guessed that Aragorn has no idea. Now that reason or Aragorn finds out about the two of you."

"That's blackmail but alright," said Tigerlily, "Aragorn fell in love with someone he shouldn't have. A bit like I have."

"All I wanted to know," said Éowyn. She left the stall and left the stables.

"Sorry about that," rang a familiar voice. Tigerlily turned and scowled at Legolas.

"Where have you been?" demanded Tigerlily, her fury melting away as he gazed at her with his piercing blue eyes, "Avoiding work?"

"No," said Legolas, "But I felt that Éowyn was on to us. I was trying to throw her off."

"Well that wasn't very useful, she knows," said Tigerlily, "Why were you trying to throw her off?"

"I don't want her to tell Aragorn," said Legolas, "We'll tell him when we're ready, right?"

"Yes," said Tigerlily, "I don't think there'd ever be a right time to tell him. He's looked after me since before I was born." Legolas laughed and smiled at Tigerlily. She finished saddling Hasufel. "How long will it take to get to Helm's Deep?" she asked.

"Err, according to Theoden, if we leave soon, we should be there late morning, early afternoon tomorrow," said Legolas, "Mainly because there are the old, sick and children with us."

The city emptied with people taking only what they needed. Legolas was walking ahead of the group. His keen eyes watching for any potential attack. Tigerlily and Gimli were with Éowyn. Gimli was riding Hasufel with the two women walking either side. Aragorn rode with the king not far behind. Éowyn asked Gimli about his people. "It's true," said Gimli, "you don't see many Dwarf women. And, in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, that they're often mistaken for Dwarf men." Éowyn turned and looked at Aragorn. He mimed and whispered. "It's the beards," he whispered.

"This, in turn," Gimli continued, "has given rise to the belief that there are no Dwarf women, and that Dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground." Both Éowyn and Tigerlily laughed. Gimli too laughed. "Which is, of course ridiculous," said Gimli.

Hasufel suddenly bolted and galloped off. Gimli struggled to grip the reins and fell off. Éowyn ran up to help Gimli whilst Tigerlily ran after Hasufel. People were moving out of the path of the crazed horse as fast as they could. Tigerlily was running as fast as her legs could carry her. She ran past men and women, past a group of very surprised guards and right up to Legolas. Hasufel had slowed down and gently nudged Legolas' shoulder. Legolas looked around at Hasufel and saw Tigerlily struggling to catch her breath.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Crazy horse, threw Gimli," said Tigerlily, "I thought he was going to trample some poor unfortunate child."

"He knows who his master is," said Legolas, patting the horse and smiling. Tigerlily smiled too and looked around. There was a cliff nearby which would provide shelter. The sun was beginning to set and they needed to make camp. The people were tired from walking all day. "Mind if I borrow your horse?" asked Tigerlily

"Not at all," said Legolas, "He's yours as well."

"What?" said Tigerlily. Legolas grinned.

"You're going to jinx it," said Tigerlily. Legolas smiled and kissed her on the lips, gently stroking her cheek. "Why did you do that?" asked Tigerlily

"I've never needed a reason before," said Legolas, "except I love you." Tigerlily mounted Hasufel and with one last smile at Legolas, turned back to find Theoden.

Theoden was still talking to Aragorn when Tigerlily rode up. "So you caught him," said Aragorn. "Ran all the way to Legolas," said Tigerlily, "Guess I wasn't the only who didn't want to listen to Gimli. King Theoden, there's a good site for camp not far from here. If it's alright with you, I'll help the people set up camp."

"Thank you, Tigerlily," said Theoden.

"Can I see your sword?" The same question from the same person reached Tigerlily's ears for the tenth time in as many minutes. "For the tenth time, no," said Tigerlily at the young girl, "I don't want anyone's blood to spill by this sword except orcs."

"I won't hurt myself," replied the seven-year-old Rohirrim.

"Oh yes, you would," said Tigerlily, leaving where she was stood to head towards Legolas. The little girl and a small group of her friends followed Tigerlily. They had been trailing Tigerlily for half an hour and she was beginning to tire of them. She could walk faster than them and reached Legolas. "I'm beginning to change my mind about having children," she said.

"We were going to have them?" said Legolas.

"You know what I mean," said Tigerlily, "But I think I've got a way to stop them following me."

"What did you have in mind?" said Legolas

"The one thing a seven-year-old girl never thinks she will do," said Tigerlily. Legolas turned his head to look at Tigerlily, she was smiling at him. As the sound of small feet approaching grew slightly louder, Tigerlily pushed Legolas out of sight behind a large rock, put one hand behind his neck and kissed him. The little girls took one look at the pair and ran away, yelling at the top of their voices. Tigerlily knew that the one thing a small girl never thought she would do was kiss someone of the opposite sex. She pulled back from Legolas as the last girl ran away. She turned and looked around the side of the rock. The girls had disappeared back to one of the campfires. Tigerlily felt Legolas grab one of her wrists and she turned to face him. He pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. Her lips opened under the pressure of his. Tigerlily only focused on Legolas as he kissed her lovingly. "Tigerlily! Legolas!" called Aragorn.

Legolas pulled away from Tigerlily and stepped back from her as Aragorn came round the boulder. "What are you two up to?" he asked.

"Nothing," said Tigerlily.

"Don't stray too far, Tigerlily," said Aragorn, "If you do leave the camp, which I hope you won't, take Legolas with you so you don't get lost, alright?"

"Yes," said Tigerlily. Aragorn left the two of them. Even in the fading light, Legolas could see that Tigerlily was blushing. "That was close," she said, "Feel your heart pounding a mile a minute?" Legolas grinned.

"Not really," said Legolas, "I don't care if we get caught. Just as long as I'm with you."

Tigerlily smiled. Legolas stepped forward and put his arms around her. Tigerlily buried her face in his chest and inhaled his scent. She didn't want to fight in the war; she didn't want to move from where she was. She felt at peace there. Legolas tightened his grip on her as he felt his heart begin to pound and his blood race to somewhere it shouldn't. Tigerlily felt something stir. She looked up at Legolas. He looked back down at her, running one hand through her hair. He bent down and captured her lips with his own. His kisses were rougher than before with desire. His hands were pulling at her clothes as if trying to rip them off. When Tigerlily pulled away for breath, she could see his eyes were begging her. "We can't," she said.

"Yes," said Legolas, "We can. We can leave the camp. No one would see us there."

"No," said Tigerlily, "It's not that I don't want to. Believe me, I do. But Legolas…"

"Why not?" asked Legolas

"Because I want that future more than anything," said Tigerlily, "I want to be with you for as long as I have on this earth. I want to have that son with you. But what I'm scared is that my family will disapprove of you. I don't want to lose them either. Imagine Legolas, if we were to just give in to our desires. If that son I saw was conceived. We'd probably marry but if my family didn't like you, I would lose them. I already half lost them. I don't want to lose them completely. Please Legolas; just wait until they've met you."

"You run everything by your family?"

"We're very close," said Tigerlily.

"I can wait," said Legolas, "I will wait for you. We won't have to go all the way until you're sure."

"Thank you," said Tigerlily. Legolas stroked her face before kissing her, following a familiar path along her jaw and down her neck.

Tigerlily looked at her reflection in the clear water of the river. Some guards had found it near the camp. Her fingers gently traced a small love bite on her shoulder from the night before. Legolas had slowly undone her tunic and pushed it off her shoulders. He had pulled her shirt just off her shoulder and started kissing it. She hadn't had the heart to stop him once he had started sucking and biting at her skin. She couldn't imagine how he felt, getting so close to what he desperately wanted but being turned away. Legolas had been a bit sneaky after making that mark on her. He had distracted her by kissing her again and then slipped his hands up her shirt. It had taken all the strength she had to push him away. He had come to his senses afterwards and asked her forgiveness. She had forgiven him and woken up that morning with one arm clamped around her waist. "Tigerlily!" called Gimli.

Tigerlily jumped from her thoughts. She quickly pulled her shirt back onto her shoulder but the mark was faintly visible through her white shirt. She pulled her tunic on, the brown fabric instantly covering the bite. "Tigerlily," said Gimli, coming into sight, "Come on, you. We're leaving."

"Yes," said Tigerlily, fastening her tunic, "I'm coming."

Tigerlily was in front of the caravan of Rohirrim. She was a scout with Legolas. She couldn't see or hear as good as he could but she was a good backup if they were attacked. Being in front of the others meant they could talk without being overheard. "I'm sorry for what I did last night," said Legolas, as they looked out over the countryside.

"Nothing to be sorry for," said Tigerlily, "You were following your animal instincts and marking your female." He laughed.

"So you're my property now?" he said

"No! But that's the way you see me," said Tigerlily, "I've seen it time and time again. People acting like animals when it comes to their lovers. You wouldn't want a strange man to touch me, would you?"

"No," said Legolas

"Like a dog wouldn't want any other dogs going near his mate," said Tigerlily, "I've seen my brothers come close to killing people who tried to seduce their wives."

"So you're my mate now?" said Legolas. Tigerlily gave him a friendly punch in the shoulder. "If you're lucky," she said. Out of the corner of his eye, Legolas saw something large and furry bend down as if it were about to pounce. It was about to pounce! "Get down!" he said. He pushed Tigerlily down to the ground and covered her with his body. The Warg leaped clear of them and landed at the bottom of the cliff. Legolas heard a scream. He pulled himself off Tigerlily and looked down the cliff. "Háma!" he shouted.

He drew an arrow and fitted it in his bow. He fired it. It hit the Warg in the shoulder. It turned from killing Háma and roared at Legolas. Legolas drew another arrow and fired it at the Warg. It stumbled away from Háma's body. Legolas jumped down and killed the Warg with his knife. "A scout!" he snarled. Tigerlily jumped to her feet and ran to find Aragorn. "Aragorn! Aragorn!" she cried, "Attack!"

"What is it?" shouted Theoden, "What do you see?"

"Wargs!" shouted Tigerlily, "We're under attack! Get them out of here!"

"All riders to the head of the column," called Theoden. Tigerlily turned and ran back to Legolas. "What are you doing?" he hissed, "You should be going with the women and children! You could be killed!"

"We die, we die together," said Tigerlily, staring back at him with her hazel eyes.

There was a strength lying there that Legolas had never seen before. Maybe she could survive. The riders came up behind them as Wargs appeared over the ridge nearby. Legolas swung himself onto the same horse as Gimli. Aragorn reached down as he passed and pulled Tigerlily onto Arod. "You shouldn't be here," he shouted over the roars of the Wargs. "And you should be on the throne of Gondor," replied Tigerlily, "Seems we're both out of place. Now hold still." She spun herself so she had her legs on one side of the horse and then stood up. She drew her sword and leaped down from the horse. Legolas saw her jump and stopped Hasufel so suddenly that Gimli began to wobble. He turned Hasufel to face Tigerlily and Gimli fell from the horse. He rolled away from the horse and ended up facing a Warg. Another was creeping up on Legolas.

"Legolas!" shouted Tigerlily, "Behind you!" Faster than a blink, Legolas drew his knife and stabbed the Warg. He jumped from Hasufel. Tigerlily ran at the oncoming Wargs and swung her sword. Many Wargs fell at her blade and their blood stained her sword. She didn't see Aragorn's fight with the Warg. She didn't even notice he was missing until she saw Arod without a rider. "Aragorn!" called Legolas

"Aragorn?" called Tigerlily

"Aragorn?" barked Gimli. Tigerlily followed Legolas to a cliff. An orc cackled near by. Tigerlily approached it and placed her sword tip next to its throat. Gimli raised his ax.

"Tell us what happened," said Tigerlily calmly, "And we will ease your passing."

"He's dead," coughed the orc, "He took a little tumble off the cliff." Legolas strode up to the orc and seized it, his furious face just inches from its own. "You lie!" he snarled.

The orc laughed again but its head fell backwards and it exhaled its final breath. Legolas saw a small jewel in the orcs hand. It was Arwen's. She had given it to Aragorn. Legolas took it, then walked back to the edge of the cliff and looked down. "Get the wounded on horses," said Theoden, "The Wolves of Isengard will return. Leave the dead." He looked at Legolas. "Come," he said to Legolas. Theoden walked past Tigerlily to help his remaining men. Legolas turned and looked at Tigerlily. "Please no," she whimpered.

"I'm sorry," he said softly. Tigerlily felt tears forming in her eyes as she thought of her friend, a man who had been like a second-father to her since her birth. Gimli bowed his head and walked away sadly. Legolas walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders. "I can't believe he's gone," she sobbed, "He can't be gone!"

"It's alright," said Legolas, soothingly, "I'll protect you. I'll never let anything hurt you."

Tigerlily broke into sobs, her tears falling onto his tunic. Her body shook with the huge, wracking sobs that tore through her. Legolas placed a gentle kiss on her head and stroked her hair. "Come," he said, "We have to get going."