Disclaimer: No.
A/N: I am so, *so* sorry I took forever. Again. Please don't be mad at me. Oh, and did anybody else notice that Legolas, like, never smiles? I'm talking, like, a full-on smile with teeth showing and everything. Am I the only one who wishes he would?
Lady Light: So did I.
Voided: Thank you. Nice to know you understand.
freakishworm: I will. Just give me some time. Sheesh. And thank you.
kurleyhawk2: (Blushes)
SarcasmSage: (Blushes some more)
Tracy: Um, maybe you should e-mail me and let me know if it's been like three weeks or more since I last updated. Sometimes I don't realise how long I'm taking. Look at this time. It's been like a month! Shame on me! Thank you for sticking with the story.
Moose Head: Was that supposed to be a flame or something? If so, I wasn't offended by it. And let me ask you something; If I didn't admire Tolkien's work, what exactly would I be doing on FANfiction.net? (Shakes head)
Everyone else: Did I say or do anything that implies that I'm disrespecting or insulting Tolkein's work? Apparently, Moose Head seems to think so. Thank you for reading my story.
A/N: Oh, I also found out that in PotC, in that scene right before the Black Pearl arrives and Will is in his shop working on a sword, the script says he was suppossed to be shirtless. He wasn't. Does anybody else feel severely cheated?
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Valora had stopped counting the days. She was pretty sure it had been about a week since they had left Rivendell. A week since she'd had more than a few moments away from her companions or any sort of real privacy. It was driving her insane.
Oddly enough, she found herself missing Arwen terribly. It had been nice having another member of the female population to talk to. She just hadn't really realized it until she had gotten herself into a situation where she would be stuck with nine males (ten if you counted Bill the pony) for at least a month and a half.
On the plus side, she and Boromir had managed to keep to their truce and behave civilly, if not friendly, towards each other. She had even developed a bit of respect for him. She had watched him begin to train the Hobbits to defend themselves with their swords. She had to admit, he was very skilled with the blade and seemed to be growing quite fond of the Hobbits. And he had such a strong loyalty and pride for his people that she had to admire him for it. She still thought his pride bordered on arrogance, but there was nothing she could really do about that.
And her sword skills had improved a little. As she refused to take lessons from Boromir, Aragorn had continued to train her. Her skills were still nothing to brag about, not by any means. But at least it wasn't a certain death situation for her should she ever engage in battle using her blade. Still, she preferred her bow. She was more skilled with it and didn't have to be quite as close to her enemies to use it.
She was now on speaking terms with Legolas. That hadn't been planned at all. It had happened a couple of days into the journey. She had risen early and greeted Aragorn, who had been keeping watch the night before. Unable to go back to sleep, and wanting a few moments to herself, she had wandered to the other end of camp. There, she had come across Legolas, sitting with his back against a tree, not moving at all. Confused, she had moved a little closer, saying his name and waving a hand in front of his face. She took a good look at him. Then she had jumped back with a startled yelp. His eyes were open and staring. He didn't look alive at all.
Her yelp brought Aragorn and woke Gandalf and Boromir, who rushed over. The sound also caused Legolas to jump to his feet, holding his bow at the ready. This, of course, only startled the poor girl even more and she stumbled back into Aragorn.
"What is it?" he asked, catching her before she could fall.
Valora had stared at Legolas in utter astonishment, her eyes wide and jaw gaping. "You- you were just-" she stuttered. "I thought you were-" a look of complete confusion came over her features. "Your eyes were open and you weren't moving."
"I was sleeping," said Legolas, unsure as to why she was looking at him as if she'd just seen a ghost.
Aragorn thought for a moment, and grinned. Apparently, even with all the questions she'd asked Elrond about Elves, she wasn't aware that Elves usually slept with their eyes wide open. "Valora," he said, unable to hide his amusement, "Elves sleep with their eyes open. He wasn't dead, if that's what you were thinking."
She had turned to look back at him in surprise, then turned back to Legolas, who nodded slightly in confirmation. The corners of his lips quirked upwards slightly in what was the closest thing she'd ever seen to a real smile on the Elf's face. Her initial shock was quickly overcome by embarrassment and she tried valiantly not to blush as she straightened herself up and out of Aragorn's arms. "You sleep with your eyes open?"
He nodded again, eyes shining with amusement.
"Okay, that's just creepy," she stated. She had turned and walked away from them, well aware that they were having a good laugh at her expense.
After that little incident, she had pushed aside her earlier embarrassment about hanging out with Legolas for about an hour and flirting and then finding out that he was a prince. The fresh feeling of embarrassment outweighed the old. Eventually, that had worn off, too. It *was* kind of funny, after all. And to have continued to avoid him would have been childish. She and Legolas weren't exactly close and she still felt slightly uncomfortable around him, but they got along well enough. Besides, her little crush, which she still denied having, on him was quickly wearing off as she watched him and the Dwarf constantly give each other dirty looks and had to listen to them bicker. And she found that it was much easier to ignore the fact that he was royalty than she had previously thought once she grew more comfortable around him.
Boromir in particular had seemed to enjoy her embarrassment while it lasted. He'd teased her about it for the better part of the day, along with Merry and Pippin. The two Hobbits stopped when it became apparent that she was losing her patience. But Boromir was enjoying it far too much.
Valora had managed to keep from losing her temper this time. "Well, I'm sorry," she had ground out finally, when Aragorn pointed out that she had spent a lot of time learning about the Elves from Elrond, which only made the situation more amusing to Boromir, "but when I'm talking to someone, I don't usually ask, 'Hey, do you sleep with your eyes closed?'." That seemed logical enough and the teasing lessened, but didn't actually stop until Gandalf told them to leave her alone.
Guilt had begun to weigh heavily on Valora as of late. Since they were all traveling together, and some of them were her friends, didn't the others have a right to know the truth about her? As far as she knew, Gandalf hadn't said anything to the others about how they had met. And she hadn't wanted to tell them. But was it really fair to keep it from them? Especially Frodo. She'd lived with him for several weeks. He trusted her. If anyone had a right to know who she really was and where she had come from, he did.
But what would they do if they found out? Would they forsake her, as so many people in her own world had done simply because she was unlike them? She didn't want to lose her friends. She had no one else. At least, not until she found her way home. Still, wasn't it wrong to keep it from them?
Technically, she knew there was nothing for her to feel guilty about. After all, it wasn't as if she'd lied to them about anything. No one had directly asked her where she was from. But she hadn't volunteered the truth either. She let them believe whatever it was they thought about her. In a way, wasn't letting them believe things that weren't true just as bad as lying to them?
Having no one else she could talk to about it, she had asked Gandalf what he thought. A lot of help *he* had been. He'd told her that if she felt she should tell them, to go ahead. If she didn't think it necessary, don't. She was completely on her own in this decision.
As a result of her frustrations, she was becoming irritable. She'd snapped at Gimli for no real reason yesterday. The Hobbits were beginning to look a little afraid of her at times. That made her feel even worse than before.
It had gotten to the point where it bothered her so much that it distracted her during her weapon training. Like right now.
Aragorn frowned as she very nearly failed to block a simple thrust. He'd seen her block more difficult moves. Her mind wasn't on her training. That much was evident. "Valora, pay attention." He hadn't injured her so far, save for a few small nicks on her fingers, but was beginning to worry that he would.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"Don't be sorry, just concentrate. I'd hate to stab you."
"Ha," she retorted. "I think you've been thinking about stabbing me on purpose with my attitude lately."
He didn't trust himself to answer that.
"Aragorn, I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind lately."
"You're not the only one."
"Yeah, well. I think what's on my mind is a little different from what's on all of your minds." She deflected his sword to the side and lunged.
"How so?" he asked, sidestepping her.
"It's about where I'm from."
He frowned again. She never had told them much about herself. With Boromir he could understand, considering they didn't really like each other, but she hadn't said much to the rest of them either. As far as he knew, at least. He remembered that she had said she was, "not from around here," but that was all he remembered her saying on the subject. He was curious about it, but had decided not to press the issue. And now wasn't the best time to be talking about it either. "I suggest you concentrate on your training for now and worry about everything else later."
"I'm trying. It's easier said than done."
He nodded even as they kept fighting. Valora may not be the most skilled fighter he had ever met, but she was trying very hard to learn. He was proud of her. She was learning faster than she realized. And her determination was very admirable. He'd grown quite attached to her since he had met her, even if she was cranky as of late.
"Good," he said approvingly as she parried a blow. "I'm going to go faster now." At her nod, he increased the speed of his attack. He felt a bit of pride as she matched his pace, though she was much less graceful than himself. "Good."
The others began to watch as the fight escaladed. Legolas in particular enjoyed watching the training sessions when he wasn't looking out for danger. He'd seen Aragorn fight many times before. Aragorn was a very fierce warrior. Yet, he was so careful with Valora, always doing his best not to harm her if it could be helped. It was rather interesting to see. And they seemed to enjoy talking to each other, whether it was during their training sessions or any other time. Although neither one had said anything, Legolas knew that they were very fond of each other. He also knew that, now that Valora was getting the hang of the swordplay, Aragorn was going to have to teach her that, in a battle, anything went.
Valora was feeling quite good about how she was holding up. Then Aragorn lashed out a kick towards her. She felt the impact against the lower part of her legs, but didn't have any time to really register it. The next thing she knew, she was laying on her back, which now ached, and staring up in shock at the sky.
Aragorn stepped closer so that he was standing over her and pointed the tip of his sword at her throat. He felt a little bad about what he had done, but he had to make it clear that she had to expect the unexpected and that, when you were fighting for your life, there were no rules. He looked down at her stunned face, staring up at him. "Yes, that was quite unexpected, wasn't it?" She said nothing, so he continued, "If this had been a real battle, you would be dead."
"I'm not sure that I'm not dead now," she said dryly.
He smirked. "Always remember, do what you have to do to survive. When your life is at stake, there are no rules. And never, never let your guard down in a battle."
"Expect the unexpected," she grumbled. "All is fair in war. Okay, I get it. Could you get the sharp, pointy object away from me, please?"
Aragorn obliged and sheathed his sword.
"So, basically, you just knocked the wind out of me and gave me a headache and an array of new bruises to make a point that I already have enough sense to know?"
"Yes. I just wanted to make sure you don't forget what you have enough sense to know."
"Okay." She kicked out hard and fast. She hit him just below the knees and managed to knock his feet out from under him.
Aragorn, caught off guard, fell back onto the earth and landed hard on his back. For a moment he was dazed.
Everyone else was stunned for a moment. Then Boromir started to snicker. The Hobbits were the next to show their amusement. Then Gimli. Soon, they were roaring with laughter.
Valora raised her head to look at Aragorn. She felt quite a touch of satisfaction about the fact that she had surprised him. "You didn't expect the unexpected," she said simply. This only caused the others to laugh harder. "Practice what you preach, Ranger."
Aragorn lifted his head and gave her a dirty look. He didn't like that smug look on her face.
Valora plastered an innocent look across her features. "What? I'm just pointing out that you weren't listening to your own advice."
"Very funny."
"They seem to think so." She inclined her head towards the others. Legolas and Gandalf were the only ones not downright laughing. Gandalf was chuckling a little and smiling while Legolas's amusement showed clearly on his face, despite his lack of an actual smile. Valora smiled sweetly at Aragorn.
Aragorn just shook his head and sighed. He climbed to his feet and reached a hand down to Valora. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. He would kiss an Orc before he told her, but he was impressed. She had a lot of potential to be a great fighter someday. She'd just proved it by surprising him. He only hoped she wouldn't have to prove how good a fighter she could be any time soon.
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You know that scene in Miss Congeniality when Sandra Bullock kicks Benjamin Bratt's feet out from under him at the end of their sparring match in the F.B.I training gym? That's what happened with Valora and Aragorn.
A/N: I am so, *so* sorry I took forever. Again. Please don't be mad at me. Oh, and did anybody else notice that Legolas, like, never smiles? I'm talking, like, a full-on smile with teeth showing and everything. Am I the only one who wishes he would?
Lady Light: So did I.
Voided: Thank you. Nice to know you understand.
freakishworm: I will. Just give me some time. Sheesh. And thank you.
kurleyhawk2: (Blushes)
SarcasmSage: (Blushes some more)
Tracy: Um, maybe you should e-mail me and let me know if it's been like three weeks or more since I last updated. Sometimes I don't realise how long I'm taking. Look at this time. It's been like a month! Shame on me! Thank you for sticking with the story.
Moose Head: Was that supposed to be a flame or something? If so, I wasn't offended by it. And let me ask you something; If I didn't admire Tolkien's work, what exactly would I be doing on FANfiction.net? (Shakes head)
Everyone else: Did I say or do anything that implies that I'm disrespecting or insulting Tolkein's work? Apparently, Moose Head seems to think so. Thank you for reading my story.
A/N: Oh, I also found out that in PotC, in that scene right before the Black Pearl arrives and Will is in his shop working on a sword, the script says he was suppossed to be shirtless. He wasn't. Does anybody else feel severely cheated?
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Valora had stopped counting the days. She was pretty sure it had been about a week since they had left Rivendell. A week since she'd had more than a few moments away from her companions or any sort of real privacy. It was driving her insane.
Oddly enough, she found herself missing Arwen terribly. It had been nice having another member of the female population to talk to. She just hadn't really realized it until she had gotten herself into a situation where she would be stuck with nine males (ten if you counted Bill the pony) for at least a month and a half.
On the plus side, she and Boromir had managed to keep to their truce and behave civilly, if not friendly, towards each other. She had even developed a bit of respect for him. She had watched him begin to train the Hobbits to defend themselves with their swords. She had to admit, he was very skilled with the blade and seemed to be growing quite fond of the Hobbits. And he had such a strong loyalty and pride for his people that she had to admire him for it. She still thought his pride bordered on arrogance, but there was nothing she could really do about that.
And her sword skills had improved a little. As she refused to take lessons from Boromir, Aragorn had continued to train her. Her skills were still nothing to brag about, not by any means. But at least it wasn't a certain death situation for her should she ever engage in battle using her blade. Still, she preferred her bow. She was more skilled with it and didn't have to be quite as close to her enemies to use it.
She was now on speaking terms with Legolas. That hadn't been planned at all. It had happened a couple of days into the journey. She had risen early and greeted Aragorn, who had been keeping watch the night before. Unable to go back to sleep, and wanting a few moments to herself, she had wandered to the other end of camp. There, she had come across Legolas, sitting with his back against a tree, not moving at all. Confused, she had moved a little closer, saying his name and waving a hand in front of his face. She took a good look at him. Then she had jumped back with a startled yelp. His eyes were open and staring. He didn't look alive at all.
Her yelp brought Aragorn and woke Gandalf and Boromir, who rushed over. The sound also caused Legolas to jump to his feet, holding his bow at the ready. This, of course, only startled the poor girl even more and she stumbled back into Aragorn.
"What is it?" he asked, catching her before she could fall.
Valora had stared at Legolas in utter astonishment, her eyes wide and jaw gaping. "You- you were just-" she stuttered. "I thought you were-" a look of complete confusion came over her features. "Your eyes were open and you weren't moving."
"I was sleeping," said Legolas, unsure as to why she was looking at him as if she'd just seen a ghost.
Aragorn thought for a moment, and grinned. Apparently, even with all the questions she'd asked Elrond about Elves, she wasn't aware that Elves usually slept with their eyes wide open. "Valora," he said, unable to hide his amusement, "Elves sleep with their eyes open. He wasn't dead, if that's what you were thinking."
She had turned to look back at him in surprise, then turned back to Legolas, who nodded slightly in confirmation. The corners of his lips quirked upwards slightly in what was the closest thing she'd ever seen to a real smile on the Elf's face. Her initial shock was quickly overcome by embarrassment and she tried valiantly not to blush as she straightened herself up and out of Aragorn's arms. "You sleep with your eyes open?"
He nodded again, eyes shining with amusement.
"Okay, that's just creepy," she stated. She had turned and walked away from them, well aware that they were having a good laugh at her expense.
After that little incident, she had pushed aside her earlier embarrassment about hanging out with Legolas for about an hour and flirting and then finding out that he was a prince. The fresh feeling of embarrassment outweighed the old. Eventually, that had worn off, too. It *was* kind of funny, after all. And to have continued to avoid him would have been childish. She and Legolas weren't exactly close and she still felt slightly uncomfortable around him, but they got along well enough. Besides, her little crush, which she still denied having, on him was quickly wearing off as she watched him and the Dwarf constantly give each other dirty looks and had to listen to them bicker. And she found that it was much easier to ignore the fact that he was royalty than she had previously thought once she grew more comfortable around him.
Boromir in particular had seemed to enjoy her embarrassment while it lasted. He'd teased her about it for the better part of the day, along with Merry and Pippin. The two Hobbits stopped when it became apparent that she was losing her patience. But Boromir was enjoying it far too much.
Valora had managed to keep from losing her temper this time. "Well, I'm sorry," she had ground out finally, when Aragorn pointed out that she had spent a lot of time learning about the Elves from Elrond, which only made the situation more amusing to Boromir, "but when I'm talking to someone, I don't usually ask, 'Hey, do you sleep with your eyes closed?'." That seemed logical enough and the teasing lessened, but didn't actually stop until Gandalf told them to leave her alone.
Guilt had begun to weigh heavily on Valora as of late. Since they were all traveling together, and some of them were her friends, didn't the others have a right to know the truth about her? As far as she knew, Gandalf hadn't said anything to the others about how they had met. And she hadn't wanted to tell them. But was it really fair to keep it from them? Especially Frodo. She'd lived with him for several weeks. He trusted her. If anyone had a right to know who she really was and where she had come from, he did.
But what would they do if they found out? Would they forsake her, as so many people in her own world had done simply because she was unlike them? She didn't want to lose her friends. She had no one else. At least, not until she found her way home. Still, wasn't it wrong to keep it from them?
Technically, she knew there was nothing for her to feel guilty about. After all, it wasn't as if she'd lied to them about anything. No one had directly asked her where she was from. But she hadn't volunteered the truth either. She let them believe whatever it was they thought about her. In a way, wasn't letting them believe things that weren't true just as bad as lying to them?
Having no one else she could talk to about it, she had asked Gandalf what he thought. A lot of help *he* had been. He'd told her that if she felt she should tell them, to go ahead. If she didn't think it necessary, don't. She was completely on her own in this decision.
As a result of her frustrations, she was becoming irritable. She'd snapped at Gimli for no real reason yesterday. The Hobbits were beginning to look a little afraid of her at times. That made her feel even worse than before.
It had gotten to the point where it bothered her so much that it distracted her during her weapon training. Like right now.
Aragorn frowned as she very nearly failed to block a simple thrust. He'd seen her block more difficult moves. Her mind wasn't on her training. That much was evident. "Valora, pay attention." He hadn't injured her so far, save for a few small nicks on her fingers, but was beginning to worry that he would.
"Sorry," she mumbled.
"Don't be sorry, just concentrate. I'd hate to stab you."
"Ha," she retorted. "I think you've been thinking about stabbing me on purpose with my attitude lately."
He didn't trust himself to answer that.
"Aragorn, I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind lately."
"You're not the only one."
"Yeah, well. I think what's on my mind is a little different from what's on all of your minds." She deflected his sword to the side and lunged.
"How so?" he asked, sidestepping her.
"It's about where I'm from."
He frowned again. She never had told them much about herself. With Boromir he could understand, considering they didn't really like each other, but she hadn't said much to the rest of them either. As far as he knew, at least. He remembered that she had said she was, "not from around here," but that was all he remembered her saying on the subject. He was curious about it, but had decided not to press the issue. And now wasn't the best time to be talking about it either. "I suggest you concentrate on your training for now and worry about everything else later."
"I'm trying. It's easier said than done."
He nodded even as they kept fighting. Valora may not be the most skilled fighter he had ever met, but she was trying very hard to learn. He was proud of her. She was learning faster than she realized. And her determination was very admirable. He'd grown quite attached to her since he had met her, even if she was cranky as of late.
"Good," he said approvingly as she parried a blow. "I'm going to go faster now." At her nod, he increased the speed of his attack. He felt a bit of pride as she matched his pace, though she was much less graceful than himself. "Good."
The others began to watch as the fight escaladed. Legolas in particular enjoyed watching the training sessions when he wasn't looking out for danger. He'd seen Aragorn fight many times before. Aragorn was a very fierce warrior. Yet, he was so careful with Valora, always doing his best not to harm her if it could be helped. It was rather interesting to see. And they seemed to enjoy talking to each other, whether it was during their training sessions or any other time. Although neither one had said anything, Legolas knew that they were very fond of each other. He also knew that, now that Valora was getting the hang of the swordplay, Aragorn was going to have to teach her that, in a battle, anything went.
Valora was feeling quite good about how she was holding up. Then Aragorn lashed out a kick towards her. She felt the impact against the lower part of her legs, but didn't have any time to really register it. The next thing she knew, she was laying on her back, which now ached, and staring up in shock at the sky.
Aragorn stepped closer so that he was standing over her and pointed the tip of his sword at her throat. He felt a little bad about what he had done, but he had to make it clear that she had to expect the unexpected and that, when you were fighting for your life, there were no rules. He looked down at her stunned face, staring up at him. "Yes, that was quite unexpected, wasn't it?" She said nothing, so he continued, "If this had been a real battle, you would be dead."
"I'm not sure that I'm not dead now," she said dryly.
He smirked. "Always remember, do what you have to do to survive. When your life is at stake, there are no rules. And never, never let your guard down in a battle."
"Expect the unexpected," she grumbled. "All is fair in war. Okay, I get it. Could you get the sharp, pointy object away from me, please?"
Aragorn obliged and sheathed his sword.
"So, basically, you just knocked the wind out of me and gave me a headache and an array of new bruises to make a point that I already have enough sense to know?"
"Yes. I just wanted to make sure you don't forget what you have enough sense to know."
"Okay." She kicked out hard and fast. She hit him just below the knees and managed to knock his feet out from under him.
Aragorn, caught off guard, fell back onto the earth and landed hard on his back. For a moment he was dazed.
Everyone else was stunned for a moment. Then Boromir started to snicker. The Hobbits were the next to show their amusement. Then Gimli. Soon, they were roaring with laughter.
Valora raised her head to look at Aragorn. She felt quite a touch of satisfaction about the fact that she had surprised him. "You didn't expect the unexpected," she said simply. This only caused the others to laugh harder. "Practice what you preach, Ranger."
Aragorn lifted his head and gave her a dirty look. He didn't like that smug look on her face.
Valora plastered an innocent look across her features. "What? I'm just pointing out that you weren't listening to your own advice."
"Very funny."
"They seem to think so." She inclined her head towards the others. Legolas and Gandalf were the only ones not downright laughing. Gandalf was chuckling a little and smiling while Legolas's amusement showed clearly on his face, despite his lack of an actual smile. Valora smiled sweetly at Aragorn.
Aragorn just shook his head and sighed. He climbed to his feet and reached a hand down to Valora. She took it and he pulled her to her feet. He would kiss an Orc before he told her, but he was impressed. She had a lot of potential to be a great fighter someday. She'd just proved it by surprising him. He only hoped she wouldn't have to prove how good a fighter she could be any time soon.
_________________________________________________________________
You know that scene in Miss Congeniality when Sandra Bullock kicks Benjamin Bratt's feet out from under him at the end of their sparring match in the F.B.I training gym? That's what happened with Valora and Aragorn.