A/N: We've been bad girls. We suppose we've made you think we've actually discontinued the story which, apparently, isn't true. It took us a while, but we've got a massive update for everyone, and hopefully it makes up for dropping off the face of the earth for four months winces. Since our last update, we finished our spring semester at college and Jen has completed summer school (wow . . . it has been a while). We sincerely apologize for letting this project go for so long - it was mainly my fault, and let it be said that Jen pestered the shit out of me until I got my ass in gear. And this, ladies and gentlemen (if there are any gentlemen reading this) is why there is a new chapter up. It's extremely long, but you all deserve a nice long update for being so patient and sticking with us. Thank you, and we promise it won't take another four months to update . . . we hope . . . Let us know if this update does the wait justice! Thank you!

As the walls are closing in
And the colors fade to black
And my eyes are falling fast and deep into me
And I follow the tracks that lead me down
And I never follow what's right
Sadness and pain the truth begins to light
If I cried me a river of all my confessions
Would I drown in my shallow regret - 'Black' by Sarah McLachlan

Chapter 26

The chill of the morning air was what woke Frodo. Wrapped in his cloak and bedroll as he was, it still seeped in and slowly brought him back to the waking world. He blinked drowsy blue eyes until the area around him came into focus, which from his point of view, was a tree root, leaves and some bushes. Frodo shivered slightly and pulled his blanket in to wrap more tightly around him, squeezing his eyes shut and hoping he could get in some more sleep before he would have to face another day.

Fate, however, decided otherwise."Frodo, there's a spider on your shoulder!"

As if he was going to fall for that one."No, Pip," Frodo murmured sleepily."Don't feel it."

"But Frodo, it's -"

It didn't take long for the hobbit to realize the tickling going up his shoulder to his neck was not the wind."Yah!" He sat up and began brushing vigorously at his shoulder. A thumb sized black spider tumbled off, and Frodo scooted away from where it landed on the ground. He grabbed the nearest appliance - one of Sam's pots, and began bashing the spider with the bottom of it.

"Mr. Frodo, I'm going to have to wash that again!" Sam protested amidst the other hobbits laughter.

Aragorn chuckled as he watched Frodo pummel the little spider until it was embedded into the ground, then fling the pot away and catch his breath.

"I'll wash it, Sam," he said.

"I told you I wasn't lying," Pippin informed him with a big grin. Frodo looked at the younger hobbit's mischievous green eyes suspiciously.

"Pippin, you didn't put it there, did you?"

His eyes widened in shock and hurt."Frodo, why would you be thinkin' I'd do something so terrible to my dearest cousin?"

Nevada snorted from where she lay on the ground."Pippin, he's not stupid," she voiced."Your innocent act stopped working weeks ago."

Frodo laughed, then focused on calming his still racing heart. He saw Pippin's rather sheepish face, and consoled him with,"It's all right, Pip. No harm done."

Sam grumbled the whole way through cooking breakfast and wouldn't let Frodo near his pot, insisting that he could wash it much faster than the other, much to Frodo's exasperation.

Morning was in full swing as Legolas headed to the boats with Boromir to reload the bedrolls and packs they weren't using, and Nevada heard it all around her as she continued to lay on the ground, blearily staring up at the sky and treetops. She was content to listen to the chatter of the hobbits and the thudding of human and Dwarven boots around her. I have to get back in the boat with them, she thought on a deep sigh. What are the odds of us leaving the fat one here? Honestly, would it make much of a difference in the journey if he wasn't with us? All he does is grumble, eat and smoke. If he smokes any more of that pipe weed while I'm in the boat, I will toss him over. Nevada grinned to herself as she imagined what that scenario would look like, then suppressed a chuckle. That's pretty funny, maybe I should do it anyway. Just to see him flounder like a fish and sink in all that armor and chain mail he's wearing.

It took Nevada a long moment to realize that a particular pair of boots had stopped next to her left side for quite a while. She didn't bother looking over to see who it was, for she could smell him pretty good. He always carried a certain smell around with him, like leather and some other unique smell that she'd grown accustomed to smelling on him. Usually, it was an almost pleasant smell, coming from a human, but after being back in the wilderness again for a few days in warm weather with no other factors of nature blocking her sense of smell, he was starting to get a little foul. Nevada wrinkled her nose and told herself that maybe if he took a dunk in the river he might not smell so bad, but then again, river water was a smell she wasn't fond of, either.

"What was that face for?" came his calm, unruffled voice.

Nevada continued staring up at the treetops somewhat dreamily, one arm flung behind her head and the other absentmindedly picking at her cloak."Your stench."

There was a brief pause from the person above."My . . . stench."

"Yes."

"I have a stench."

"You can't smell that?"

There was a distinct sniffing for a few seconds that made Nevada grin again."I always smell like this."

She sighed."That's because you're used to your own smell."

"What do I smell like to you?"

"Like you don't own anything to wash yourself with. You don't, do you?" There was a long pause."I thought so. Aragorn, that's disgusting."

The ranger sighed at the lazy Faerie absentmindedly staring off into space, still lying on the ground as if she had all the time in the world to contemplate."You're in quite a peculiar mood today, Nevada."

"Because I find it disgusting that you don't own any cleaning products to keep your body from smelling like the inside of a barrel of fish?"

"The soap here is the soap everyone uses," he said in his own defense."And I use it."

"Not recently, apparently."

"Nevada, would you drop it?" Aragorn asked in annoyance."Please get up so you can put your bedroll in your canoe."

Nevada's cheshire grin was lazy and self satisfying. It felt good to know that she'd ticked him off already today, and it was only seven or so in the morning.

"I will get right on that," she drawled. He made a noise that she didn't have the inclination to interpret, and before she could do much about what came next, he had grabbed her arms and pulled her to her feet with little trouble. Briefly disoriented from the sudden lying down to standing up transition, she blinked owlishly at his irritated face for a few seconds."You don't like me right now, do you?"

Without bothering to answer, Aragorn gave her a little shove towards her bedroll."Get to it, Nev."

She made a face as she turned her back on him, then listened to him walk away. Guess he's touchy about his body odor, she thought, chuckling to herself. It didn't particularly bother her that he wasn't entirely happy with her teasing. Truthfully, she was in a peculiar mood. For the first time in a long time, she didn't feel a huge need to rush, to hurry - she felt more relaxed. Perhaps it was due to the good night's sleep she had after talking things over with the Elf and finding out why they had all been so moody in the first place. Things seemed to be moving at a slower pace this morning, anyhow.

Nevada finished rolling up her bedroll and walked towards the boat with it, Sam's cooking wafting through the air and to her nose as she passed it by. She walked past Legolas, who gave her a nod and a slight smile, which she returned. It actually felt . . . good to get along with him, as sappy as that sounded. She wondered if she was growing soft, or if this was just her slowly letting her guard down around these people. Did she want to do that? Nevada frowned to herself as she reached her boat and put her things away. Should she have gotten close to these eight men? After all, she'd either never see them again when this was all over or die with them - two extremes that, surprisingly, greatly bothered her equally.

"Time to eat!" came Pippin's bellow, immediately followed with shushes from Sam, Aragorn and Frodo. Nev's mouth quirked into a smile and she turned on her heel to join them. She sat down slowly Indian style across from Pippin and Sam, the latter of which handed her a plate of food.

"Thanks," she remarked before digging in. Breakfast was a fairly pleasant affair, and everyone's moods were up. The day was turning out to be warm, with a cool breeze whisking through every now and then. When they all finished breakfast, everyone packed up the remainder of the supplies and loaded them in the boats while Sam and Frodo washed the used pots in the river with some of their soap.

It wasn't long before everyone was back in their respectable boats, shoved off the shore and headed further down the river for another day of travel. The forest areas on either side were relatively peaceful, and the only noises from nature were the chirping of birds and the swift passage and gurgling of the river.

The noises from the Fellowship, however, were an entirely different matter.

"Merry, what was the name of the tune you sung a few days after Goldilynn's wedding? The one when you had too much ale and decided to cheer yourself up cause she'd gone and got herself married before you could -"

"I don't remember, Pippin."

"Aw, sure ya do, Merry, it was a funny one! How did it go, I want to sing it!"

"NO, Pippin."

"Please, Merry -"

"Drop it, Pippin!"

"Oh wait, I know a good one!"

The young hobbit's voice filled the air as he sung a lighthearted, jaunty tune while Boromir paddled and Merry looked unamused. Aragorn chuckled to himself from his boat and Frodo had a smile on his face. Sam didn't look amused, either, but the human saw the gardener tapping out the beat with his foot.

Most of the day passed in that fashion - Pippin entertained them with happy tunes from the Shire, and even had Merry and Frodo singing some of them. It lightened the mood considerably, and all were in high spirits by noon.

When lunchtime came, they opted not to stop at shore, but make do with some of the lembas bread they received from Lothlorien. It did its job in filling everyone up until they would stop for the night, and their journey continued without hitch.

The thick forest on either shore continued so for another hour, but soon all began to notice the forest thin out a little. The foilage was less thick on the ground, and the trees weren't as tall. The forest was still quite abundant, but less packed together and more spaced out.

The river remained still and swift for the early afternoon, and conversation became scarce as everyone reverted to their own thoughts on the journey. Only a few noticed when the river began to subtly change.

Frodo didn't know how he felt it, but he knew when the river began to run quicker. The water around him grew choppier along the shore, and a few rocks were springing up in the water, creating mini waves that caused the boat to roll out of the way. Uneasily, he put a hand to the side of the boat and looked ahead, but he couldn't see because there was a bend in the river.

When they curved around the bend, however, he could see what was causing the change, and it made his heart stop.

Far up ahead, water boiled and crashed against massive rocks in a swirling mass of rapids.

"Aragorn!" he called out to the ranger as fear pounded a different tune in his heart.

Grimly, the Man stared at the rapids they were quickly coming towards, and came to the conclusion that they had no time to reach the shore and travel around them. They were coming up fast, and he wasn't willing to risk fighting the strong currents towards the shore.

"Everyone, hold on tightly, rapids ahead!" Aragorn called back loudly. The hobbits gripped the sides of the boat uneasily as everyone spotted the rapids approaching quickly from ahead. The water seemed to boil and sputter as it crashed up against the rocks and back into itself to repeat the process over and over as the river swirled over the rocks in masses of currents.

All too soon their boats reached the clashing currents; Aragorn's first. Frodo and Sam gritted their teeth and braced themselves as Aragorn held a firm grip on the paddle, trying to maneuver the boat away from the rocks and into a safer passage through the rapids. Despite his careful instruction of the boat, it hit a few rocks, jarring it in the other direction and ripping gasps from Frodo and Sam, who had gone pale in the face of the frothy waves the rapids conjured.

Behind them, Legolas paddled through with an almost out of place calm look on his face. Gimli gripped the sides of the boat with determination, and Nevada looked grim as she kept one hand on the boat and one on a few of the looser packs that might have fallen out due to the jostling they were receiving from the waves. A particular wave rose up against their left side, causing the boat to lurch with its force - and water to spray and spill in their small space.

"Ahh, damn you!" Nevada cursed as the cold water hit the side of her skirt and lower body. She felt faint goosebumps travel down her legs, and shifted uncomfortable at the feeling of a wet bottom courtesy of the water that was now sloshing at the bottom of the boat.

"That's what you get for wearing a bloody skirt to travel in, Faerie!" Gimli retorted, his voice louder than usual so he could be heard above the roaring of the water around them.

They hit another hard wave, this time on the right, and Nevada took that opportunity to let a pack slip and hit him on the back."Whoops, that one slipped!" Nevada called out, pleased at the outraged note in his voice when he protested.

Things were not so lighthearted in Frodo's boat. He wasn't necessarily afraid of the river, but the rushing and swirling water was so alarmingly close it made his heart speed up. He'd never seen rapids that big, and the noise of them was loud in his ears. Each time the boat lurched or moved with the water, he felt Sam grip his arm, and they would occasionally change uneasy glances.

The boat jarred once again, ripping a gasp from Frodo as the resulting water sloshed in the boat and around his feet. It was so cold! He tried to lift his feet away from it, but the water spread thinly on the bottom, and his toes couldn't quite escape it. He turned his gaze from the water below him, to the water surrounding and churning their boat, to the tall figure in the boat with them.

Aragorn's face was nearly expressionless, and seemed etched in stone. The lack of fear or anxiety, and the calm and controlled way he handled maneuvering the boat helped calm Frodo down. He looked totally oblivious to the possibility of tragedy or an accident. Well, there is a possibility, Frodo thought, eyeing the waves the rapids created with trepidation. What if he misjudges a rapid, and the boat tips over? What if someone else tips over? We couldn't go get them in these rapids - who could swim in this?

Frodo felt a touch on his shoulder, and he looked over to Sam. Sam smiled, half reassuring and half uneasy. He realized his shoulders were pretty tense, and he forced himself to relax and give a weak smile back. He looked back to Aragorn at the moment another wave hit the side of the boat, and water sprayed the side of his face. Blinking, he reluctantly let go of the side of the boat to wipe the moisture away from his eye and forehead. He couldn't wait until this was over.

"Merry, look at the fish! I can see fish!" Pippin called excitedly. His hands gripped the side of the boat as he peered down at the rapids, and the streamlined dark bodies of fish swimming with the rapids."How can they fight these currents?"

"I don't know, Pip. Maybe they just get lucky," Merry retorted between his teeth. He was struggling to hold on to the few packs on the top that would have fallen off if he hadn't nearly put his body over them. The top two were wet from some of the waves spraying onto them, and his hands were smelling of river water now. Boromir was in front of him, paddling this way and that to avoid the worst of the rapids.

A fish jumped out of the water then near their boat, and Pippin gasped."Look, Merry, they're jumpin'!"

"I can't look, Pippin," Merry said, irritation running through them."I'm too busy making sure our food doesn't fly into the river."

Pippin opened his mouth to reply when the boat jerked and water flew up in his face. Sputtering, he pulled back and squeezed his eyes shut as he coughed out what river water got in his mouth. He wiped his face with his sleeve and decided to stay away from the edge from now on.

"Got some rough ones coming up!" Boromir called to the two hobbits over the roar of the rapids."Hold tight!"

Merry barely heard him before the boat encountered the last set of harsh rapids. Boromir grimaced as he paddled towards the left to avoid a large rock, then squinted to see any more obstacles hiding amongst the spray. He couldn't see any in their line of path, so he stayed on it. He could see the end of them, and couldn't have been more grateful.

It felt like Pippin's bottom was raising up from his seat. He didn't so much as feel the jar, but went flying forward when the back half of the boat went up.

Merry felt the jar in his bones when the boat hit the rock nearly in front of them. When he heard Pippin and Boromir yell, he had just enough time to turn his head before a body collided into his back. His hands went flying off of the packs, and at that moment the boat tilted dangerously to the right.

Merry felt himself fall for a few horrifying seconds before the shockingly cold water hit him.

"MERRY!" Pippin screamed, his eyes wide as he watched his cousin fall into the rapids and disappear under.

"No!" Boromir scrambled, pushed Pippin out of the way and tried to reach for the Hobbit before he went under. He cursed the air blue when he couldn't, and briefly thought about jumping in to get him. But he couldn't leave Pippin in the boat to fend for himself. For a blind moment of panic, he didn't know what to do, and then he lifted his head up to shout, "Merry went under! Someone, help Merry! He's gone under!"

Nevada watched the whole thing play out with a horrified expression on her face. It looked as if it were in slow motion to her, and then he hit the water and was gone. Shit!

"Oh, shit!" she said out loud. She heard Legolas let out a few Elvish curses behind her, and she looked wildly around to find the other boat and make sure everyone was on there, too. She spotted Aragorn looking behind him, heard Boromir shouting, and realized that Aragorn couldn't leave his boat just as Boromir couldn't.

"Dammit," Nevada muttered. She couldn't just leave him there, and she knew time was going to run out. He'd run out of breath before long. Their boat was just finishing up with the rapids, and she'd made a mental note of the spot she saw him fall in. Taking in a breath, she quickly undid her cloak, threw it aside, and stood up.

"What in the hell are you doing?" Gimli asked. Legolas was staring up at her with his mouth open as if he wanted to speak, but she ignored him as she took in a breath and dove into the water."What the hell is wrong with her?!"

"She wanted away from you," Legolas said with a sarcastic tone as he got to his knees and watched the spot she'd dove into. His heart was pounding a little harder, for he wasn't sure if she could do that alone. Her knee still wasn't quite healed, and he was sure Merry was still in the rapids."Merry fell in the water," he explained to Gimli.

"What?" Gimli sat up straighter."The lad fell in? How?"

"Their boat hit a rock," the Elf answered, distracted as he watched the water. He hadn't felt this sort of panic since their encounter with the Balrog.

Aragorn was in much the same state of panic. Frodo had cried out when he only saw Pippin in the boat with Boromir, and the two Hobbits were climbing toward a fine state of hysteria as they talked over and around each other, wondering where he fell in and if they would find him in time. The ranger had seen Nevada go in, which was probably the single most stupid thing he had ever seen her do. He'd have much preferred Legolas to go in, but it looked as if the Elf was contemplating doing that very thing soon. Aragorn was worried Nevada wouldn't be able to find him, and if she did, could she drag him back?

The water they waited in was placid compared to the rush of rapids they had just come from, and they were lucky enough to be in a calm patch where it was easy to slow the boats down to a slow drift. They couldn't get too far away from the rapids to ensure Nevada and Merry wouldn't have to swim far to reach them.

Pippin was sobbing into his hands as Boromir slowed the boat down. The man had a vice grip on the paddle, guilt and worry etched on his face. He looked back at the rapids and cursed himself one hundred times over for not seeing the rock and not being able to go in after him. He had to believe Nevada would find him. Nothing could happen to that Hobbit. The thought of losing Merry over a mistake he made was unbearable. He tuned into Pippin's sobbing, and felt more guilt pile on. Hesitantly, he placed a hand on the Hobbit's back and rubbed reassuringly.

"We'll find him," he told the other, his voice sounding tight to his own ears.

She hadn't come up yet. Aragorn scanned the waters, trying to keep the panic down that was trying to crawl its way up his spine. She wouldn't have jumped in if she wasn't a good swimmer. He had enough faith in her that she would be all right, but then again, they weren't entirely sure what was in these waters, or how rocky the bottom was. Perhaps she'd hit something, or was snagged on some underwater plant? He exchanged a look with Legolas, whose face was expressionless but he knew the Elf was just as worried.

Legolas couldn't wait anymore. Without a word, he pushed the paddle into Gimli's hand, ignoring the Dwarf's baffled expression as he stood up, as well. He unhooked his cloak and kept an eye on the still waters, searching for Nevada's head even as he prepared to dive.

As he jumped in, he heard Gimli say,"What am I supposed to do with this?"

The cold of the water was the first thing that hit Nevada when she had jumped in. It chilled her to the bone at first, and caused her to gasp in some water. She surfaced briefly after to spit it out, clamped her teeth together to keep them from chattering, and took in a breath before going under again. She opened her eyes to look for any large murky shapes in the water, but couldn't find any. How far could one Hobbit sink? Didn't he say he could swim? She searched under water for what felt like hours, her fingers growing numb as she swam as best she could in the rapids. The current wanted to pull her one way, then another way, and she spent some time trying to get her bearings and look for Merry at the same time.

Maybe he was caught by an undertow, she thought, briefly panicking. Valar, he could be anywhere - behind her, at the bottom, off to the side . . . Nevada looked under her, and couldn't spot anything. Where was he?

Her lungs were nearly on fire from lack of air, and she gave up for the time being to surface. When she broke from the water and took in lungfuls of air, she was surprised to see a blonde head a few feet away.

"You!" Nevada could only think to say.

Legolas didn't bother to give her a look."Where have you searched?"

Her teeth chattered briefly before she looked around to find out where she was at. They were in a more shallow area at the end of the rapids, a good twenty-five yards from the three boats."About thirty feet to the north and south, fifteen east and west. I didn't really look below me because I figured he wouldn't have enough time to get that far. He wasn't unconscious or anything."

"We'll look everywhere this time. We can't rule anything out," Legolas replied.

"We should go back in the rapids, then."

Legolas nodded, looking back at them as they both treaded water."Yes. We'll go in as far as we can, then head down towards the bottom. Don't stray too far from me. Losing sight of each other could become dangerous."

Nevada nodded, grateful for the help. The river was so much larger when one was swimming in it and looking for one small body. They both took in deep breaths and went back under the cold water. She kept his blonde hair in the corner of her eye, thankful for its light color against the dark of the water. They hadn't swam very far before their bodies felt the pull of the rapids. The sound they made on the surface was dulled to their ears, and the churning of the water could be seen from a few feet above them. It was more subtle, but no less powerful below.

She searched the water above, below, and to the sides of her as she swam and did little half turns to scan the water behind her. Nevada couldn't see anything but the bodies of smaller fish darting by to avoid her. Fear started to edge in with the panic as she swam further and her gaze darted everywhere.

They both came up for air at the same time, their efforts fruitless."We go down further?" Nevada nearly shouted against the roaring of the rapids around her. Legolas nodded, and as he did she felt herself being pulled away by another current. The Elf swiftly grabbed out for her hand and pulled her towards him.

"Hold on to my hand for now," he called to her."We can't lose each other." She nodded, and they dived back down. Going down was easier since one couldn't float away very far without the other. They kept their eyes peeled as they traveled down, further down until the light of the sun was far away and the area around them had turned dark, almost black. Both strained their eyes against the lack of color, determined not to miss any equally dark shapes in the water.

The current wasn't bad that far down, so Legolas signaled to Nevada that they could move apart to broaden the search. She nodded before turning in the opposite direction of him, looking back every so often to make sure she could still see him. Barely, for even in the dark, the farther he went, the harder it was to spot the pale blonde head. Nevada looked back to the area around her, ignoring the slow burn starting in her lungs. No, she could not surface, she thought stubbornly. They had to find him before he drowned. How long had it been since they both dived in? How many minutes? Was it really only minutes? Surely they'd been searching for hours. It felt so long. Was he conscious?

It was by mere chance that she spotted the floating fabric. Her thoughts had become so panic filled that she wasn't fully aware of where she had swam while she searched, and she spotted the abnormal ruffle out of the corner of her eye. Turning toward it slowly in the numbing water, she got an eyeful of a cloak and a huddled, still figure. Hope and worry flared equally in her heart, and she darted towards him as fast as her body would let her. Her knee had started throbbing a while back, and seemed to want to lock up on her as she swam.

That couldn't happen. She was so close to him. Nevada reached out as she drew closer, and grabbed onto fabric. Feeling lower, she felt flesh and grabbed an arm. She pulled him up, feeling the protest in her aching arm muscles, and caught a glimpse of his pale, drawn face. Panic renewed, Nevada slid her arms under his armpits and proceeded to pull Merry up with her as she tried to swim with them both to the surface. It looked so damn far away, and when did this little guy get so heavy?

Five feet up, Nevada's arms felt like they were holding up tree trunks and her lungs were screaming at her for air. She could do this, it's only one Hobbit! She pulled him up some more as her legs kicked to propel them upwards, towards the growing light at the very top. A few air bubbles escaped her mouth, and she kept it clamped shut. You'll get there, you'll get there . . . Where is Legolas? What in Valar's name could he be doing right now? The river isn't that big!

Her knee hurt. Merry's leg kept knocking it, and it ached fiercely against the cold water. She swam further towards the surface, determined to make it before her lungs exploded. It frustrated her that her limbs were feeling sluggish because of the cold. It wouldn't do to have to send someone to find two drowning people because one couldn't get her limbs to work properly. The dazzling surface looked close and far away, and Nev felt despair creep into her heart. She needed air so badly.

A sudden movement to her left made her head jerk over, and with elation she watched Legolas swim over. His eyes were focused on Merry, and he made her let go of his left side so he could take it. Together, with Legolas pushing them both up to the surface, they made it in quicker time than Nevada thought possible.

When they broke surface, Nevada gasped, coughed, than breathed in gulps of air, much to the relief of her aching lungs. Legolas pulled Merry up out of the water, and swam with one arm firmly around the Hobbit's waist, his head on his shoulder, and one hand on Nev's back, pushing her in the direction of the boats. They were still partially in the rapids; it had taken him long enough to find Nevada in the murky depths of the river's bottom, dark as her hair is, and he wasn't about to lose either one of them now.

They fought the rapids for the next few minutes, occasionally taking in mouthfuls of water when the waves became too large, and before they knew it, the water had calmed down and they could breathe easy again.

Legolas began expelling water from his lungs by coughing hard a few times, and Nevada was doing the same.

The two found themselves about ten yards from the boat; not a terribly long distance, but it looked like miles to Nevada. Her lungs still ached, her knee was throbbing, and her nose burned from swallowing some of the river water. Merry felt so heavy, and it was as struggle to keep his head above the water so he wouldn't drown.

Legolas could clearly see the exhaustion in Nev's face. He was a little better off, because the cold didn't affect him like it would her, and he hadn't injured anything recently, but he still felt the fatigue of fighting the rapids in the back of his head. To help take more of Merry's weight, he slid an arm around the Hobbit's back and lifted him up so he was half draped across his shoulder. He let Merry's head rest on Nev so he would be able to swim.

Nevada wiped the river water from her eyes to look at Legolas, figure out what he was doing, and take Merry's other arm to put around her neck. Together, they slowly swam back to the boats, unaware of the shouting going on and the scrambling for paddles as the three tried to get closer.

All Nevada could think about was getting inside one of the boats. She gritted her teeth as another sharp ache came over her knee, and ignored it as she half swam, half dragged Merry towards their companions. Neither of them spoke, just focused on Merry and held their gazes on the one boat with Pippin and Boromir, the former nearly leaping from into water in joy and concern.

Legolas reached the boat first. He grabbed hold of the side with one hand, and Nevada let go of Merry so he could lift him up. The Elf put his hands on either side of Merry's waist, and hoisted him as high as he could for Boromir to grab. The Man took hold of the Hobbit under his arms and pulled him in.

"Is he all right, is he going to be okay?" Pippin asked frantically, tear tracks still glistening on his face. "Why is he asleep? Is he conscious?"

"Easy, Pippin," Boromir said. He laid Merry down on the packs so his body was at a slant, and leaned down to feel his chest. It rose steadily up and down, and the Man sighed with relief. To be on the safe side, he again checked to see if he was breathing and that there was a pulse. Once he was sure the Hobbit was alive but unconscious, he turned to the two in the water who were waiting for the verdict.

Boromir nodded, unable to say in words how much he appreciated their help. The two looked relieved and seemed to understand his silent thanks, so they turned around and began to swim wearily back to their own boat. Boromir looked up at his companions in the other two canoes, and shouted, "He's going to be fine! He's just unconscious for now!"

Frodo, Sam, and Gimli cheered, and Aragorn nodded, the tension slowly draining out of him. He watched Nevada and Legolas; a dark head and a pale head, swim back to their boat, and felt frustration fill him. He did not miss the look of pain on Nevada's face. While he was grateful for their quick thinking, he didn't like it that she endangered herself by going to get him. Her knee could have given out while she was out there, and even though he realized Legolas wouldn't have let anything happen to her, it still alarmed him that she took that chance.

With mixed feelings, he waited until the Elf and Faerie reached their boat to shout, "We'll stop keep going until sunset, and then we'll stop for the night."

Nevada felt the breath whoosh out of her at that statement. She so incredibly did not want to keep careening down the river until sunset - sunset was four hours away!

Legolas pulled himself up and into the canoe, splashing water inside and making it rock slightly.

Gimli was sprayed with Legolas's entrance, and immediately protested. "Do you have to bring half the river in with you, Elf?"

Legolas spared him a glance as he helped Nevada hoist herself inside. "I assumed you would enjoy a taste of this fine Anduin River water."

"I hope there was a note of sarcasm in there," Nevada commented with chattering teeth as she entered the boat and immediately wrapped her arms around her legs for some warmth. "I hate this climate with a passion. Our rivers are always warm, not bloody freezing!"

"I believe it does get warmer the further south we get. It's unfortunate that Merry decided to fall out of the boat before then." Nevada couldn't help but snort with laughter. Legolas picked up the paddle and handed it to Gimli. "You have the honors, my exquisitely short friend."

Gimli tried to glare at the Elf as he grabbed the paddle, but found he couldn't quite do it. Legolas's eyes were tired, and fatigue as well as wet clothes seemed to weigh him down. Even the Faerie looked subdued. Deciding to give them a break, the Dwarf merely grumbled under his breath at the Elf and began paddling.

Nevada could feel cold water trickling down her back from her hair, and it made her grimace. She leaned over and picked her wet, heavy mass of hair off of her back. She brought it forward and held it out over the water to squeeze the access water out. Legolas was doing the same with his, and both squeezed out water until no more came out. Deciding that she couldn't stand the feeling of cold, damp hair against her shoulders, she pulled out a hair tie and pulled her hair back away from her neck.

Legolas pulled off his outer tunic and was immediately grateful to have the added weight off. He bunched it up over the side of the boat and wrung out as much water as he could before throwing the heavy mass in the corner of the boat.

Nevada figured she could have dome some wringing out herself, but she couldn't find the energy to do anything but watch the Elf wring out his clothes. His silver shirt was the brightest thing in the boat, and just as wet as anything else he had on. The Elf's blonde hair hung limply down his back, and it was plastered to the side of his face in a way that made Nevada laugh helplessly.

Legolas gave her an unamused look before turning his attention to the other boats. Even though Merry was alive and well, silence prevailed in the other boats. It wasn't a comfortable silence as they had before, but a tension filled one. The Elf sighed to himself. Normally, he would be concerned, but at that moment, he was wet and cold, and for once, could not wait until they stopped for the night.

An arm plopping over the edge of the boat caught his attention, and he watched, bemused, as Nevada rested her head on the side of the boat and let her hand trail in the water as they moved. Fatigue etched across her face, and his amusement turned to concern.

"How is your knee?" he asked her.

"Feels like I'm an arthritic old Human," Nevada said without opening her eyes. "Yourself?"

"Physically fine," he replied, then smiled. "But wet and, therefore, miserable."

Nevada snorted. "Yeah. Everything feels like it weighs an extra ten pounds."

Legolas nodded. "You were lucky to find him first. I don't know how long Merry could have held on if you hadn't."

This time Nevada opened one eye and looked into the Elf's serious face. "It was luck. I just happened to stumble upon him before you did. We both would've drowned if you hadn't helped get him here, because I'm such a fantastic swimmer."

Legolas laughed. "You don't give yourself enough credit."

"Neither do you. I have never met someone who is as understated as you when it comes to his abilities. If I were you, I'd flaunt it."

The Elf shook his head. "I have nothing to flaunt over others who are just as capable."

"That's a load of shit," Nevada opened both eyes, giving him a disgruntled look. "And you know it. I may not like the majority of you Elves, but I recognize a damn good archer when I see one, as well as a freaking good swimmer, and don't make me say it again."

Legolas shook his head, oddly pleased at the Faerie's admission. She, as well, had proven her mettle and skill since the journey began - and so had Liana. Thinking about her now made him miss her terribly, the familiar ache in his heart starting to throb with new intensity. He found himself again wondering where she was and how she was doing. He did not doubt her ability to hold her own and fight, but he couldn't help but worry. He knew well not to take attacks of that scale lightly, and worried that it would be more than one person could handle. It was almost cruel to expect one person to be able fix a problem so big, but watching his father rule for centuries made him realize that it could be done. He had faith in Liana, but he still prayed for her safety in these dark times.

Nevada watched the Elf withdraw from the world around him as his thoughts turned inward. She knew what he was thinking about, for she thought of it often enough. He missed Liana, as much as she did, but it was easier for Nevada to put aside her distress. She knew what Liana was capable of, and comforted herself with that knowledge. Liana always had a better handle on dealing with what was thrown at her than Nevada sometimes had, and she counted on that to get them both through being apart when everything around them was so dangerous. They'd had that problem when they were children; whenever they were separated, they would constantly fret about the other until they met again. Nevada made herself trouble less now that they were older and both skilled in their own rights; after all, she wouldn't want Liana worrying about her.

However, the Elf might not feel that way."You don't need to worry about her," Nevada said quietly. She shivered once against the cold, and drew her knees up closer to her body in the boat. Her fingers still trailed the water, and it felt surprisingly warm to her fingertips. The rest of her hand was cold from the wind, so she dunked it under and left it there as the Elf reacted. His back straightened and he looked her in the eye, expression unreadable."You're easier to read than you think, Elf." He didn't say anything for a few seconds, and Nev recognized the look in his eyes, his face. The poor thing was miserable.

Nevada sighed."Try not to be troubled, Legolas. She's probably a lot safer than we are. Think about it. We're traveling with the most wanted person in the entirety of Middle Earth! Ringwraiths and wizards and Orcs are after our little group because of that Hobbit in the other boat."

Legolas's pensive stare went from the water to Nevada before turning back to the water. "I cannot help but worry," he said quietly. "None of us know the condition her country is in, or what she might walk into."

Nevada lowered her eyes back to the water for a moment, briefly revisiting the horror she met upon returning home. No matter what she had told Liana, or what she believed to be true, she hoped her friend wouldn't have to see the same. It nearly tore her heart in two. Thinking about it made the Faerie's heart sink into depths she didn't want to go into, so she pulled herself back into the present.

"Whatever she walks into, she'll be able to handle it," Nevada said to the water, knowing Legolas was listening. "She's stronger than you think."

Legolas looked over at the Faerie, who was slumped over the side of the boat, one hand trailing in the water, and completely soaked. The black tail of her bound hair hung limply down her back, and her weapons lay at the bottom of the boat next to her. She looked tired, freezing, and depleted, but she, like the Faerie he loved, was anything but weak.

"You both are," he said so softly she barely caught it.