Kari was running after Legolas and soon tackled him to the ground, sending them both rolling down the hill of green grass. When they finally stopped, Legolas pinned Kari's arms over her head with his own and straddled her legs. She was breathless but he was calm, with a playful glint in his eyes.

"Now what was that for?" he asked as he kneeled over her.

She grinned at him mischievously. "Must there be a reason?"

They both laughed. Suddenly, Kari felt Legolas' lips on hers and as quickly as they were there, they were gone.

Kari looked stunned. "Wha…what was that for?" she asked quietly.

"I'm sorry," Legolas replied, getting off of her and releasing her hands from his grasp. He stood up and began walking away.

"No, Legolas," she called after him. He would not turn around. Kari ran up to him and stood in front of him. Before he could say anything, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. He responded passionately and soon they were on the ground again.

"Kari," he whispered to her as he kissed her neck.

"Yes?"

"Kari?"

"Legolas…" she moaned softly. Legolas was surprised that she said his name so…lovingly, but he would have to reflect on that later.

"Kari, wake up, please," he said, shaking her.

"Huh?" Kari looked around her, she was in a tree and it was dark. It had been a dream. All of it had been a dream. She let out a frustrated sigh.

"What is it?" Legolas asked.

"A dream," she replied.

Legolas wondered fleetingly if the dream was about him, but immediately got back to the task at hand. "Kari, the orcs are coming."

Kari's eyes bulged. "How many?"

"From what I can tell, about fifty."

"Fifty?" she cried out. Killing one was manageable, but fifty? It was only she and Legolas.

"I will fight them, you stay in the tree," Legolas said when he heard the alarm in her voice.

"No, do not be stupid, Legolas," she replied, trying to remain composed.

"If you get scared, just climb back onto the tree…"

"Legolas! I shall be fine," she replied confidently.

He nodded and impulsively kissed her forehead as he had done many times before.

The orcs were coming.

Kari and Legolas prepared their bows, figuring that they had enough arrows to kill about half of them with the arrows and then they would have to leap down and attack with their swords. They heard the orcs charge towards them, probably having picked up their scent.

"Yrch!" Legolas said.

Kari and Legolas immediately began firing arrows. Legolas was using two arrows at one time while Kari was firing deadly arrows quickly one at a time. The orcs had archers as well, but the arrows did not come very close because Kari and Legolas were camouflaged well in the tree. When they were out of arrows Kari and Legolas looked at each other before leaping to the ground armed with their short swords. Kari kept on stabbing and lunging and cutting through what seemed like an endless crowd of orcs. She couldn't not see where Legolas was anymore. Suddenly she found herself on the floor with a very bad headache that made her completely disoriented. An orc had hit her from behind. Her backside had always been her weakness. She saw an orc over her about to give her a deadly blow but Legolas decapitated him from behind and Kari quickly got up. She began fighting again and after what seemed like forever, it was over. The endless crowd of orcs was no longer endless. She was alive. But Legolas…

"Legolas!" she yelled. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and realized it was Legolas trying to get up. But a dagger was sticking out of his thigh that did not allow him to. "Legolas!" she said again as she knelt beside him.

"I'm…eh…I'm alright," he said, trying not to make her worry.

"Shut up, Legolas. I must concentrate," she said sternly as she cut his pant leg to get a clear look at the wound.

"Just pull it out and wrap it quickly," Legolas said.

"Let me do this," Kari replied seriously.

Legolas had never seen her so focused. Sure she was focused when she was practicing archery or fighting or reading, but there was a quiet calmness about her that he had never seen before.

She pulled the dagger out of him swiftly. He flinched and gritted his teeth, letting out a sort of growling noise.

"I'm sorry I hurt you," she said softly.

"You did not hurt me, the dagger did."

He was bleeding profusely now and Kari pressed her hand firmly against his wound and the other hand caressed his face.

"You must look at me," she said.

"What are you doing, Kari?"

She did not answer, but he trusted her. He looked directly at her, questions roaming around in his eyes. He felt warm suddenly, all over, like sunlight was being poured into his veins. He gasped but held her gaze. Her eyes seemed unfocused and finally she pulled away. She cried out and fell to the ground.

"Kari!" Legolas yelled. He pulled her to him and cradled her in his arms. She was breathing heavily and she looked exhausted.

She sat, refocusing her eyes on him. "You should be fine," she said, breathless.

He looked at her quizzically, having completely forgotten about his wound when Kari screamed with pain. His eyes fell to his thigh where his blood-stained pants were torn but the wound was gone. "What…what did you do?" he asked her, amazed.

"I healed you," she said, still trying to regain her strength. Every time she did this it hurt then that would subside into exhaustion.

"But…how? You did not heal me like I see you heal people in the Healer's Hall. I do not understand," Legolas said.

"I have a gift. I do not know how I got it, but I have it. I can heal wounds. I found out I could do this when I was fifteen. I inflict the pain upon myself to draw out the ailment and replace it with my own energy. That is the best way I can explain it," Kari said.

"Do you hurt now?"

"No, I am fine, just a bit tired."

"You should not have healed me. You could have just wrapped my leg," Legolas said.

"If within my power, I would never have you suffer," she said seriously, looking at him directly in his eyes.

Legolas got up and helped Kari rise as well. "That feeling is mutual," he replied. "But I do not suffer, do not fear. Come, the sun is rising, we must get back to Rivendell and tell Lord Elrond what has happened," she replied lightly, slowly walking towards the horses that were luckily unscathed.

"Are you hurt?" Legolas felt like a fool for not asking her this sooner.

"Not really. I heal quickly. Remember that sprained ankle I had because of the competition when I was fifteen? That healed in three days when it should have taken at least two weeks." She got up on her horse and Legolas followed suit.

He could tell that she was exhausted. She had fought bravely as he watched her out of the corner of his eye.

They rode quickly to Rivendell and when they finally reached the entrance, Kari collapsed with over-exertion on her horse. Legolas quickly got off his horse and carried her inside to the Healer's Hall. Though he did not want to leave her, he had to tell Lord Elrond what happened to them.

After telling Lord Elrond what transpired, the Lord of Rivendell was silent for a long time as he paced the study room they were in.

"Forgive me for breaking your meditation, Lord Elrond, but I am anxious to know what you think this may mean. Orcs have not come around here for a long time, longer than I can remember, and now Kari and I find ourselves in the middle of over fifty of them. I feel an evil stirring that will not be stopped easily," Legolas said.

"I do not know what this all means without council from others like Gandalf. But we shall see. I am glad that neither Kari nor you were hurt," Lord Elrond said.

"I was injured, My Lord. But, Kari healed me, not using herbs or potions, but she placed her hand over my thigh and warmth unlike anything I have ever felt before filled me and then I was healed. But she was in pain and then her pain subsided but she became very tired. She was already exhausted from fighting the orcs and then when she did that for me…I thought for a second that she would die. But the Healers say she will be fine. Lord Elrond, if I knew any harm would have come to Kari I would never have planned this trip. I take full responsibility for the condition she is in now," Legolas said quickly, but sadly.

"So she chose to heal you herself," Lord Elrond said quietly.

"You knew of her gift from before?"

"Yes. We decided that it was a bad idea to let anyone know about it because she feared that she would be exploited because of it."

"Does anyone else know?"

"Aragorn and Arwen. Once, Aragorn arrived here near death. He had broken several ribs and had severe internal bleeding. He was going to die. And then Kari healed him. That was when I did not allow you to see her when she was ill," Lord Elrond revealed.

Legolas nodded with understanding. It made sense now. "Can Kari die from saving someone?"

"I do not know. Healing Aragorn strained her terribly. If the time came for her to test her boundaries further, she would push them until they broke her."

Legolas remained silent as he thought about Kari possibly dying from healing someone.

"Do not worry, Legolas. Kari has a strong spirit, she will fight greatly before something like that happened."

As Kari awoke, her sore body reminded her of all that she had faced in such a short amount of time. She had fought well and healed Legolas, making every bruise and ache completely worth it.

"Kari," Legolas said softly from the side of the bed where he had made camp until she woke up. It had only been a few hours.

"Legolas, are you alright?" she asked sleepily.

He chuckled lightly. "You are the one in the bed resting. I should ask you that."

Kari smiled. "I ache. My arms feel sore and my back. I think it is from slicing all those orcs in two."

"You fought well, you should ache."

"As did you."

Legolas looked down and grasped her hand lightly. "No, had I fought well, you would not have felt the need to heal me and you would not be as exhausted as you are now," he replied sadly.

"Do not blame yourself. It was my choice to heal you though I admit it was not a hard decision to make. I would make it over again if I had to without hesitation. You worry too much, I am fine," Kari said with an encouraging smile.

"I worry because I care about you," he said.

Kari inhaled deeply, wanting to interpret his care as love, but knowing that she couldn't. She changed the subject. "I'm sorry that I did not tell you about my abilities before."

"I understand why you did not."

"You are not insulted?"

"I won't lie. I wish you had, but there had been no need to before today. Get some more sleep," Legolas said.

"You do not need to stay with me, I really am fine."

"I want to," he replied.

Kari sighed and closed her eyes. "Do you know that you speak in Sindarin when you fight?" she mumbled.

Legolas chuckled. "No, I did not. I must not be aware of it," he said, bemused.

"It's very endearing," she mumbled again before falling asleep.

Legolas smiled. He was endearing.

Author's Note: I appreciate all the reviews, I can't believe I got over 250! And I have over 10,000 hits, so thanks to all who read but don't review. It's nice to know I'm being read. Take care.