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

A/n: This is a deliberately short chapter.

Chapter 13

Battle for the Hornburg

"Hurry! Inside. Get them inside!" yelled Aragorn. The final soldier left standing limped into the hall. The others quickly shut the doors and barricaded them. "The fortress is taken!" said Theoden wearily, "It is over." Aragorn strode over to him angrily.

"You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it," he said to the tired old king, "They still defend it. They have died defending it." Theoden did not answer. Aragorn turned to Gamling. "Is there not other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?" he asked, "Is there no other way?"

"There is one passage," replied Gamling, "It leads into the mountains. But they will not get far. The Uruk-Hai are too many." Tigerlily could see Aragorns mind working out a plan. "Tell the women and the children to make for the mountain pass," she said, "And barricade the entrance!" Gamling looked at Aragorn. Aragorn nodded.

"Do as she says," said Aragorn. Gamling nodded and ran to the caves.

"So much death. What can Men do against such reckless hate?" asked Theoden.

"Ride out with me," said Aragorn, "Ride out and meet them." Theoden looked up at Aragorn. New life seemed to grow within him. He stood up straight and proud. "For death and glory," he said.

"For Rohan," said Aragorn, "For your people." Tigerlily felt warmth creeping into the room. She turned to the window. "The sun is rising," she called.

"Yes," said Theoden, "Yes. The horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the Deep one last time."

"Yes," said Gimli. Tigerlily felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned and saw Legolas looking at her. "You should go to the caves," he whispered, "Escape with the women and children."

"No," said Tigerlily, "I'm going to see this through. And if I die, I die with you." Legolas drew her into an embrace. "I thought you were going to say that," he said. He let Tigerlily go. Once again, Aragorn and Gimli missed an obvious clue to Legolas and Tigerlily's true feelings for each other. Theoden, however, didn't. His niece had been right when she said the two loved each other greatly. He smiled.

Horses were brought and the remaining few climbed onto them. Tigerlily climbed onto a horse behind Legolas and wrapped her arms around his waist, holding more tightly than before. Gimli had run off to sound the Horn of Helm Hammerhand. "Fell deeds awake," cried Theoden, "Now for wrath, now for ruin and a red dawn!" The horn sounded, loud and clear in the still morning air. "Forth Eorlingas!" called Theoden. The horses charged out of the hall and through the fortress, slaying orcs. Tigerlily had borrowed a sword from one of the Rohirrim. She beheaded a good many orcs with it. But her grip on Legolas failed and she fell amongst the orcs. Legolas felt fear grip his heart. He turned his horse around and charged back. "Legolas!" shouted Aragorn. He watched as Legolas tried to pull Tigerlily out of the orcs but he got pulled off his horse too. Legolas found himself in the midst of some orcs. He angrily killed them all but one hit him in the face. He felt a dull pain in his nose. Tigerlily swung her sword and killed the Uruk-Hai. Legolas managed to climb onto the horse and pulled Tigerlily up behind him. They were on the causeway and the sun was rising quickly. Tigerlily looked the east. She saw Gandalf, on Shadowfax and a confidence in his eyes. Eomer, son of Éomund, appeared beside him. "Gandalf," breathed Tigerlily.

"What did you say?" asked Legolas. Tigerlily began to laugh.

"It's Gandalf!" she cried, "Look to the east! It's Gandalf!" Legolas looked to the east and saw Gandalf. "Rohirrim!" called Eomer. The Riders of Rohan appeared over the ridge.

"We're saved," whispered Tigerlily.

"To the King!" called Eomer. The Riders of Rohan rode down from the ridge, towards the orcs. As they moved from its path, the bright light of the sun blinded the orcs. Legolas raised his hand to shield his eyes. The Riders slayed many orcs. Those who remained ran away to the north, into some trees. Trees Tigerlily did not remember being there before. "Stay away from the forest," warned Eomer, "Keep away from the trees!" Screams came from the forest as the something killed the orcs. Tigerlily shut her eyes and cowered behind Legolas. The screams stopped and the trees swayed innocently in the breeze. "Legolas," said Aragorn, "You're injured." Legolas raised his hand and found blood was seeping from his injured nose. "I hadn't noticed," said Legolas.

"Don't worry; I'll clean him up," said Tigerlily. Aragorn nodded. The weary soldiers returned to Helm's Deep and were greeted by the women and children. Eowyn looked relived to see her brother and uncle were still alive. She seemed particularly happy about seeing Aragorn alive. Many women and children went and thanked Aragorn and the others for coming to them in their time of need. Legolas watched as families were reunited and some mourned the loss of fathers, husbands, brothers and sons. He felt a gentle touch on his arm. It was Tigerlily. "Come," she said, "Let's get you cleaned up."

The water gently splashed in the bowl as Tigerlily wrung out the cloth. She gently placed the cloth against the nearly dry blood. Legolas flinched slightly. "Did I hurt you?" asked Tigerlily. Legolas shook his head. Tigerlily was very gentle as she wiped the blood away. Legolas kept making eye contact with her, his bright blue eyes piercing her hazel ones. When she placed the cloth down, she turned her face to his and found him capturing her lips with his. His kisses were wet from the water that had cleaned the blood from him. They failed to notice anything around them. The only things that existed to them were each other. They didn't notice when Eomer entered the room. He opened his mouth to apologise but then realised they hadn't noticed him. He slowly backed out of the room. He closed the door and smiled to himself. "What are you smiling about, lad?" said Gimli. Eomer jumped with surprise having not noticed the dwarf. "Nothing," said Eomer.

"Doesn't seem like nothing," said Aragorn who was stood nearby, "Are Legolas and Tigerlily in there?" Eomer nodded.

"Good, we've been looking for them," said Gimli. He reached to open the door. Eomer didn't want to be accused of anything, like not telling Aragorn and Gimli about Tigerlily and Legolas. He quickly left. This was none of his business. Aragorn was confused but not as confused as he was when he opened the door. Legolas was stood in front of Tigerlily. It seemed completely innocent. Until Legolas bent down and kissed Tigerlily. Aragorn's jaw dropped. What had he said to Legolas? Tigerlily caught sight of Aragorn in the corner of her eye. She pulled away from Legolas. "Aragorn," she said. Legolas looked up and saw his friend. "All right, now I'm confused," said Aragorn, "I thought that you weren't…"

"Aragorn," said Tigerlily again, "Come with me." She took Aragorn by the arm and left the room. Gimli looked from Legolas to Aragorn and Tigerlily's retreating backs. He looked at Legolas again, "Did I miss something?" he asked.

Tigerlily stopped. Aragorn was running one hand through his hair, trying to work out what he had just seen. "I thought you weren't interested in him," said Aragorn.

"It changed," said Tigerlily, "It changed when I looked in the mirror of Galadriel and saw my son."

"Your son?" said Aragorn. Tigerlily nodded a smile on her face.

"Not just my son, Legolas' son," said Tigerlily.

"How long has this been going on?" asked Aragorn.

"Not long," said Tigerlily, "Since Amon Hen."

"Do you love him?" the question came out of the blue.

"What?" said Tigerlily.

"Do you love him?" asked Aragorn again.

"Yes, I love him," said Tigerlily, "I guess I've always loved him."

"Then I wish you all the happiness in the world," said Aragorn. He kissed Tigerlily on the forehead. "You two haven't…?" started Aragorn. Tigerlily was shocked by the question.

"What! No," she said, "Not yet. I want to wait until I have seen my family again."

"I guessed as much," said Aragorn, "Don't worry, you will soon. I promise you."

The orc bodies were being piled high to be burnt later. Gimli was having a well-earned rest and was sitting on an orc. He hadn't seen Aragorn, Tigerlily or Legolas since he and Aragorn had walked in on the other two. He looked up for one second and recognized a familiar pointy-eared face. Legolas had finally emerged from wherever he had been lurking. His fingertips were playing with the string of his bow. He stood in front of Gimli and smiled. "Final count," he said, "Forty-two." Gimli nodded, spying Tigerlily not far off. "Forty-two?" he said, "That's not bad for a pointy-eared elvish princeling. I, myself, am sitting pretty on forty-three." Legolas looked surprised. The orc Gimli was sat on began to twitch. Legolas quickly drew an arrow and shot at the orc. "Forty-three," said Legolas.
"He was already dead," protested Gimli.

"He was twitching," said Legolas.

"He was twitching because he's got my ax embedded in his nervous system!" explained Gimli and he shook his ax to demonstrate. "Calm down, you two," said Tigerlily, "Besides if this is a game, I win." Legolas and Gimli frowned at her.

"Forty-five," she said. Gimli's jaw dropped. He had been beaten by a much younger human. Legolas smiled. He bent down and kissed Tigerlily. A few teenage girls nearby began to giggle. Gimli pulled Legolas' bow out of his hand and hit him on the leg with it. "Ow," said Legolas, "What was that for?"

"Idiot elf," said Gimli, "There are children here. If you're going to act like a lovesick fool, do it somewhere else." He handed the bow back to Legolas.

Later, Aragorn, Tigerlily, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Theoden, Eomer and Gamling set out from Helm's Deep on horses. With their relationship now out in the open Tigerlily was far more comfortable around Legolas. She rested her weary head on his back as they rode along. Her eyes were closed. But she wasn't asleep, she heard every word that Gandalf said, "Sauron's wrath will be terrible, his retribution swift. The battle for Helm's Deep is over. The battle for Middle-Earth is about to begin. All our hopes now lie with two little Hobbits, somewhere in the wilderness." Tigerlily opened her eyes and looked over Legolas' shoulder, towards Mordor. In her minds eye, she could just see them, Frodo and Sam getting closer to Middle-Earth. Followed by a little shadow that sent shivers down her spine.