A/N: It's been FOREVER since I updated, I'll admit. All I have to say is after the chapter, so here is the disclaimer:
Disclaimer: I. Own. Nothing. Not. Legolas. Not. Lothlórien. Not. Anything. That. You. Would. Recognize. I. Own. Fanya. That's. All.
NK24: Absences
The dawn came, and Orophin and Fanya walked amongst the nine walkers rousing them. Fanya had time to dwell on what had happened last night during her watch. When she came to Legolas, (Orophin, she thought, had purposely passed him by), she knelt down beside him and whispered, 'The sun rises, and so must you, 'before squeezing his hand and moving over to the four hobbits, who were all snoring contently. Legolas grinned to himself as her breath tickled his ear and stood up, stretching and listening to the sounds of the birdsongs and the rushing river.
Nothing of significance happened during the morning, and the time passed quickly. For once, the company wasn't moving with haste. The eight foreigners were silent, but the Galadhrim (Mainly Rúmil, Orophin and Fanya) talked merrily amongst them. Haldir was leading the group. Aragorn was behind him, being lead by an elf Fanya did not know. Boromir was being lead behind Aragorn by Orophin. Legolas came next, still being watched by Fanya, and behind him was one of the Hobbits, lead by Rúmil. Gimli the Dwarf was last behind the other three young hobbits.
They stopped every few hours or so, for the poor hobbits were still weary from the journeys previous. Finally as the sun was going down Haldir stopped them, for a group of elves had arrived with a message. Their report was of the orcs that had followed them. Most were slain, but a few retreated back into the mountains.
"My Lord, I also bring a message from the Lord and the Lady." The young messenger said. "The company you escort is not to walk sightless." Haldir nodded his consent. The messenger boy jumped back on his horse and rode away, followed by the eight or so that had come with him.
Haldir turned back to the company, and approached the dwarf. "Your pardon! Look on us now with friendly eyes. Look and be glad, for you are the first dwarf to behold the trees of the Naith of Lórien since Durin's Day!" he said, untying the dwarf's blindfold and letting him see the woods.
"Look upon the woods again, Legolas," Fanya whispered to Legolas as she untied the knot behind Legolas' head. He, like the other companions beheld the beauty of Lorien. There was a large mound, covered with grass and trees. At the feet of the two circles of trees, the grass was dotted with golden flowers. High up amid the branches was a white flet, gleaming in the setting sun.
"Behold Cerin Amroth!" Haldir said. "This is the heart of our ancient realm, just as it was many years ago."
Everybody sat on the grass, talking amongst themselves, but Frodo stood apart from them all. He stared in wonder at all that was around him. To him, he was lost in another world; a world unlike everywhere else he had been. He felt the same timeless air that Fanya had felt when she had first beheld the magnificent realm, and couldn't pry his eyes away from its beauty. There was no sickness or deformity in anything that grew from Lórien's soil, for on the land of Lórien, there would be no stain. Sam was next to him now, saying something to the small hobbit. Fanya heard nothing that was said between them, but Haldir came to join them after a moment. He led them away from the camp, presumably to show them another part of the wood.
Fanya was leaning on a tree, watching what was happening around her, as well as watching the sun sink behind the valley. She felt someone take her hand from her side and turned to find Legolas. He smiled, as she saw him.
"Would you come with me? We will watch the sunset, and I wish to speak with you," he said.
"Yes," she answered, letting him guide their way from the camp. In a tree, a half-mile or so from camp, Legolas and Fanya sat. The sun was now sinking rapidly in the sky.
"What is it you wish to speak with me about?" she asked. The sun was now almost gone, and they had been silent for a while now.
"I wish to know why." He said. Fanya looked down to the ground. "Why did you leave me a few months ago? I said I would go with you to Gondor."
Fanya was silent for a minute while she considered her answer. "I had a dream. In my dream, you were talking with somebody named Larien, and you...you kissed her..."
"Did I?" Legolas laughed. "I must inform you otherwise. Fanya, I know that Elven dreams show us what may occur in future times, I'm sure that you know this already." He said. Fanya nodded. He kissed her cheek gently. "But if I kissed Larien, who is my longtime friend who I haven't seen in centuries," he stressed the last word, "It would be out of friendship, not of love." He concluded. Fanya sighed. She had been stupid to think that Legolas would do that. Why had she left?
"I was stupid... I thought that you were in love with another..." she said quietly.
"You were not stupid," he said, running a thumb gently down her jaw, "You came to the wrong conclusion."
"And I acted too fast... I should have trusted you," she said. Adding silently to herself, 'I need to learn to trust others, but I first need to trust myself...'
O
"What are they singing?" I heard Pippin whisper to Merry.
"I dunno, Pip... but it doesn't sound happy." Merry whispered back.
"They are grieving." I said to them, startling them. I didn't need to say anything about who we were grieving for... for it explained itself.
"Oh..." Pippin muttered. "Well... what are they saying about Gandalf?" he asked innocently.
"For me the grief is still too near... Now is not the time for explanations." I answered solemnly. Pippin and Merry nodded, and then they both fell into silence.
Fanya was nowhere to be seen at the present moment. When we had gotten into the city, we were counseled by Galadriel, and sent to a large field area, where guests stayed. Elves had brought clean clothes and food for us, and we had eaten and drank. Now, each member of the Fellowship dwelt in their own thoughts. Gimli was asleep.
I had waited for the rest of the Fellowship to clean up, because I wanted to spend some time alone while cleansing my body of the filth that caked it from Moria and from the travels before. I took my new silver outfit, and approached the path that lead to the hot spring.
I heard a voice singing from in the spring, and I knew who it was. Fanya was there.
I padded silently over toward the spring, and slipped my clothing off. Fanya was oblivious of me as she sang. She was sitting on the edge of the spring on one of the rocks, her blonde hair dripping with water. I drew near to her, and joined in her song.
O
His voice melted with mine, and we both sang of the death of Gandalf, and of his wonderful life here in Arda.
It was then, that I realized exactly who I was singing with.
I quickly looked behind me and blushed at the sight of Legolas in naught but his skin. He smiled, and advanced, until he was right behind me. He gathered my hair to the side, and without a word, and without stopping his beautiful song, he started rubbing my back. He knelt down, and massaged my shoulders, making me forget everything around me.
Somehow, we both ended up in the water. Legolas had finished his work on my back, and was now rubbing the mud off of his skin. We were silent; no longer singing. There was only the sound of the rippling water as we moved. The moon's rays shone a friendly light, coming through the canopy in the trees in little sects to hit the water and illuminate the spring in a very ethereal fashion. Boldly, I waded through the waist-deep water, and began to silently return Legolas' favor to me, by washing the grime of his travel away off of his back. I slid my fingers up and down his bare back, and rubbed away his past.
O
Fanya was nervous, I could tell, but she was doing a very good job of hiding it. When she started to rub my back, I couldn't hold my silence any more. I turned around and took both of her hands.
Kissing every finger of hers, I whispered 'Be with me tonight,' before I kissed her. Softly first, but with every repercussion, we deepened our kiss. She pressed herself against me, and after we broke apart, my whole body throbbed.
'I cannot.' She whispered back. There was more sadness in her eyes than her voice revealed. 'I-'
'Why not?' I asked softly. She didn't answer. I knew she had no answer but her own pride. 'Let me show you how I feel... Whether you feel wholly the same matters not. Just be mine tonight.'
Fanya was shocked, and she didn't know what to say at all. In her intimate moment, she had forgotten who she was... where she was. 'I cannot... not now' she said to Legolas. And with a single movement, she started to wade out of the water. She gathered up her clothes, and wrapped her towel around her, walking out of the spring area and into the moonlit world.
Legolas sank under the water, drowning himself until his lungs begged for air. 'I scared her off... I shouldn't have even mentioned it...' he thought morosely. 'Why must I be so persistent?' He followed Fanya's path out of the spring, but paused to dry himself off and put his new clothes on.
He did not see Fanya for many days.
O
Fanya went in search of Orophin when she left that enchanted area. She found him in his talan, reading a book with a goblet of wine in his left hand. Fanya knocked on the doorframe, and entered when Orophin looked up and smiled. He motioned for her to sit.
"Sit, please." He said with a smile. "And tell me why you come to visit me in the dead of night."
"This is of the utmost secrecy," Fanya said, blushing deeply. "Please, tell no one." She begged. Orophin nodded.
"I was going totell everyone, but since you asked so nicely, I will not." He replied.
Fanya proceeded then to tell Orophin about her short and sweet encounter with the Prince. Orophin raised his eyebrows when she told him that Legolas had invited her to bed him.
"And you refused?" Orophin assumed, when Fanya did not continue, "Because you are obviously not with him now. You told him you could not."
"Do you enjoy spying on people all the time?" Fanya mumbled.
"I wasn't eavesdropping on your romantic bath, for your information. I know you well enough to assume what you would do in a situation... and in this particular situation, you left quickly to seek help from a friend." He said in an uncharacteristically wise voice.
"And what do you suggest I do?" Fanya asked, trying to hide that she was extremely interested in his answer.
"I suggest that you spend time thinking about what he means to you, what would happen after you were with him? What would happen if you did not? You obviously are in love, for denying it so many times has plainly assured you of that fact... and when are you going to tell him?" Orophin left it at that.
"...I don't know..." Fanya answered slowly. 'I should have told him...' she thought.
"Do not stress over it... please. It is not healthy for such a young elf as you are," Orophin comforted after a minute of silence, during which Fanya chastised herself unnecessarily. "Here, drink this wine... and then decide what you are going to do." He offered her a goblet of wine he had just poured out for her. She took it and took a sip, feeling the warm substance slip smoothly past her mouth.
"Thank you..." Fanya said, taking another sip of the delicious wine.
O
As Legolas dried himself off, he reprimanded himself. He knew he shouldn't have asked her such a thing... she was so young. She didn't understand the passionate feelings of the elves as well as most elves do. Legolas had just acted in response to the moment...
He did not return to the camp that night... seeking sweet solitude, he silently made his way to a place far off, away from the Fellowship.
O
Not knowing where Legolas was the next day was quite disappointing for Fanya. She wanted to apologize for acting so last night, and to tell him all of her thoughts. She did want to join with him... but maybe not this soon. Delving into a relationship was completely new for her. True, she'd had a childhood crush once when she was nine... it had not worked out too well.
Following her feet, she somehow found herself back at Orophin's talan. Orophin was not home. She went to the clearing, where she practiced archery alone. When that became dull to her, the sun was setting and she made her way to the visitor's area. Curling up in a ball, she shut out the rest of the world and wished that her yearning for Legolas would subside.
O
Aragorn understood elves well and how well they hid their feelings from others when they wished to. Snores and a gentle light surrounded him. Only Lothlórien has such a light, he thought. It was late and he was tired, but there was one member of the Fellowship who was not there whom Aragorn desired to speak with. He was not with Fanya, for she was on the other side of the clearing pretending to sleep. With his trained ears, he had heard her crying earlier. Why?
Legolas did not return that night. He did not return the next night, either. Where was he? All of the Fellowship, save Aragorn, had not seen Lothlórien, so they were constantly enthralled by its beauty. They did not really notice the Elf's absence as much as Aragorn did. Fanya felt it the most. The feeling of wishing to talk with him was eating away at her, and she was quickly losing patience. To find something to do, she talked with Aragorn.
In the dead of night, Legolas returned. He only needed to look at Fanya to sense something was wrong.
"You've hurt her again, mellon nin," Aragorn said gently from behind him. Legolas had been distracted and had not noticed the human's presence. "She told me what went on the other night... I do not blame for your actions, I only blame you for your absence," Aragorn said calmly.
"I was wrong to suggest such a thing, I did not know what she would say," Legolas said. "I wish to speak with her," he made his way over to her sleeping form but Aragorn stopped him.
"Do not wake her. She is dreaming" Aragorn said. Legolas sighed but closed the distance between himself and Fanya, lying down and encircling her waist with his arm. He did not care who saw. He did not care what would happen when she awoke. He lay there with his eyes closed for hours until sleep took him and peace came to him.
O
When Fanya awoke, she felt his arm wound around her waist and she sighed in bliss. How often had she wished she would wake like this? Legolas stirred. Wordlessly he lifted her up, his eyes saying all that she needed to hear. Carrying her like a baby, he left the clearing and out of sight of anyone. He laid her down on the soft, springy winter grass and kissed her deeply.
"I knew you would come back to me," Fanya said when Legolas lay down beside her. "All along..." She not only meant during the previous time elapsed, but during her travels to Gondor and to Lothlórien. It was a thought that had surfaced rarely but had been there all along.
"Know I will always return, Meleth nín," Legolas consoled. His eyes were bright with his passionate love for her and she saw it clearly as a bell would sound.
O
A/N: Okay. It's been forever since I updated. But here I have a few things to say:
1) Thank you for everybody who has reviewed (Shivvers, Harmony727, Crecy, RyuJouyou,WordNerd, and Padfoot76: Iam sorry, but I wont have specific responses to your reviewshere, but Ibelieve I did send you emails when I recieved reviews. You all rock). But it appears to me that 61 people get my updates, and 5 people reviewed my last chapter. 5. That is sad.
2) Depending on what YOU say in your reviews, this may or may not be my last chapter. I have been busy writing an original fiction story that takes up most of my time, and I will only finish this story if you all want me to finish it.
3) Review, please and tell me whether you would like this story to continue, or any of the other stories to continue. I am going to keep this story up either way, because to me it is a way to see how much I have grown in my writing since I began this a year and a half ago.
4) To Shivvers and Ardonelle in particular, I am dearly sorry I did not send this to either of you, but I haven't the time to send it to you, and I have not updated this story in forever. It's my own fault for taking too long.
Please, please, please do not ignore this.
-The Hobbit Ivy-
2/12/05
