A/N: Bonjour, all! Long authors note at the bottom...

Disclaimer: Ali's mine! Hooray!

Chapter 13 : Chasing Forgiveness

"Why won't you leave me alone?" Alí yelled. "You followed me here, didn't you?" she accused.

"I did not follow you, I arrived a week ago! You can ask your sister," Legolas replied defensively, feeling his fear consuming him. Would she forgive him? It certainly didn't seem so, the way this conversation was going already.

"Leave me alone, Prince," Alí spat, turning and trying to walk away.

"Please don't walk away this time, Alí. I want to apologize," Legolas begged with her back. She turned, pressing her back into the wall, giving him a profile view and not facing him.

"I need you to forgive me," Legolas said. He chanced a step toward her, and Alí scooted farther along the wall.

"Why are you here?" She asked coolly, softly, not hiding the fact that she did not want this conversation to happen.

"I am here to apologize to you," Legolas felt repetitive. "I am here to make my amends," he added softly. "I have been awful to everyone... including you. Especially you, sister" he added.

He saw Alí's lips form the word "sister", and she turned her face away from him.

"Why did you stop writing to me?" she asked in an unattached voice. "Do you hate me?"

"If I hated you, would I be here now?" Legolas asked. "I didn't stop writing because I didn't love you. I stopped writing because..." he sighed. It was time to confess what he'd never said aloud. "I was jealous. I was angry. I didn't want to be second to anyone in your life, and your first was Gildor..." He walked to her, step by step, but she still would not look at him.

"I'm not proud of my life, and I am trying to fix what I have selfishly demolished... it is hard to build from ruins." He stepped even closer, to where he was right next to her. He could see that she was silently crying. "And I cannot live without your forgiveness, sister."

Alí broke down, sliding down the wall and putting her head between her knees and crying. "You are so stupid," she sobbed. "I'm so stupid..." Legolas slid down beside her and put his arms around her.

"I am, sister..." he agreed. She put her head on his shoulder and cried.

"Please don't leave me again," she said softly.

"I won't... Never again."

This time, he told himself, he would keep his promise.

Alí climbed on the roof, laid on the smooth beams, and stared at the stars. She scorned herself for breaking down in front of Legolas. She knew she looked weak... but as tough as she wanted to look, something in Legolas' voice had plucked at her heartstrings.

She hadn't forgiven him yet. She hadn't said those words... she needed more time.

A week passed, during which Alí and Legolas did not speak to each other. They met eyes when they passed in the hallways, they lifted a hand in greeting when they were in the same room together, but they said nothing to each other...

And they didn't know how to change it. They didn't know how to make their situation better, and they slowly drifted apart.

Legolas did not want that. He didn't want the silence. He hadn't traveled leagues upon leagues to experience a silence so painful it was like breaking your leg in six places.

So he left.

In the night, he gathered his belongings, mounted his horse, and left Rivendell to begin his journey home.

Alí woke to a sunny day with a refreshed heart and mind. She was going to find Legolas and apologize... and forgive him.

But when she knocked on his door, there was no response. And when she opened the door, there was nothing in the room; just an empty wardrobe and a hastily made bed. She rushed around speaking to people, and nobody had seen him. Had he left? No... not when she wanted to talk to him!

In a flurry of quick decisions, she went to the stables and found the fastest horse, her Uncle Elladan's horse, Celebroh, mounted it, and rode to the Rivendell border. She spoke to the guard on duty.

"Who passed here last night?" She demanded. The guard looked momentarily shocked.

"I assume you want to know if the Prince left. He did, milady, early in the morning, at least four hours before Anor rose this day," he replied tentatively.

"Thank you, sir," Alí said. She spurred Celebroh and the horse started to trot... gallop... sprint.

"I hope he isn't too far ahead," Alí's voice was lost on the wind as she and the horse sped across the plain. She rode on for hours, but she worried.

How much time had she gained with her sprint? Perhaps she could catch him.

Legolas practically fell off his horse as he stopped to make camp that night. It was about an hour until Anor would set, and Legolas had ridden all through the day. He gathered a small amount of wood for a small fire and sat on the ground beside it, enjoying the growing warmth as the air cooled.

As he nibbled on a piece of dried meat he had taken from the kitchens on his way out, he spotted a rider coming his way. They were on an elvish horse, and the figure looked definitely female. In a momentary mind lapse, he wondered whether she was young and unmarried.

But those shameful thoughts were soon chased away by his recognition of the maiden.

Alí got what she wanted. She'd caught up to him... but now what?

"Hello," Legolas said first, staring at the fire. So he had noticed her.

"Hi..." Alí replied, biting her lip... It was too late to flee.

"Want to sit down?" Legolas offered her the dirt beside him.

"No thank you..." Alí gathered her courage in a shaky breath. "Look, Legolas. I never apologized to you and I obviously had my part in this... everything... and I wanted to say that I'm sorry for doubting you and I'm sorry for running away every time you tried to speak with me. It was very childish of me," Alí stood very still for a moment, during which she chewed on her lip, searching for any sign of response from Legolas. "And I accept your apology, from before. I just hope that you forgive me," Alí kept biting her lip nervously. A long moment passed.

"I wouldn't think of rejecting your apology in a thousand years," Legolas said warmly. He stood up and they embraced tightly. Alí's nerves calmed down instantly. "Now come and eat with me." Legolas and Alí sat down and ate together. The tension was gone, and the awkwardness evaporated. The siblings laughed and talked and spoke of sweeter times.

When the stars began to appear in the sky, Legolas laid back on the ground, using his pack like a pillow. He patted his stomach. Alí hesitated for a moment, and then put her head there just as they used to do so long ago.

Everything was good, and both were at peace.

"I missed you," Alí admitted. "I went to Greenwood to find you, but when I did, I didn't like what I saw... so I fled."

"I don't blame you," Legolas said dryly. "I really am a disgusting elf," he commented. There was a long pause. "This is when you disagree with me," he whispered comically. Alí giggled.

"Now why would I do that?" she asked playfully.

"Because you love me?" Legolas tried.

"That I do," Alí agreed.

A/N: Good chapter? Better ending this time? Hah. Yeah, last chapter wasn't very nice of me. :)

So here I have some stuff to say in response to a review I got...

Some of you might notice that my story has some Grelvish in the beginning, as well as in the title. Sorry guys, but that's staying the same. I make a habit of not going back and changing what I've written once it's been posted. It shows me, and the world, that I grow as an author. I learn things all the time and that affects my style of writing immensely.

Everything I do, every choice I make about straying away from canon is on purpose. Seriously, I know that elves aren't prostitutes. But this story wouldn't be anything like the way it is if Legolas couldn't be a whore, right? (Excuse my language).I'm not the only one to make a background for him that includes a lot of flippant merrymaking.

Nicknames. Yes, I know that Hobbits are the only ones who really used nicknames in canon, but Ali, Legolas, and Lauralin grew up in Earth, in case everyone's forgotten. They had a lot of human influence, and we definately do the nickname thing.

In regards to my turning Rivendell's hierarchy into a royalty... I did that on purpose. I know that Ali should not be a princess, but for the record, this is fanfiction, and I have the right to make her a princess if I want. I'm not the only one who does it.

I know Mirkwood has no palace. I considered writing it like canon and making the palace underground, and I believe I've mentioned that it has a lot of underground rooms (at least I thought about mentioning it...) but for the record, I'm also not the first one to "mess up" Mirkwood's royal home.

In regards to Ali learning how to fight, must I mention the Earth connections again? She has had a lot of human influence, and she probably saw that women were equal to men, knowing and fighting in wars on Earth. There's nothing wrong with wanting a little girl power, right? Ali's an independant elf, as she proves many times. Also, her Aunt Arwen has a sword and knows how to use it. Arwen has a large influence on Ali, whether she likes it or not. If gentle Arwen knew how to fight, then Ali would probably follow in those steps.

I know that Elrohir would have been a better choice for teaching Ali how to ride. But Elladan is Elrohir's twin and would probably have an equal gift with horses. AlsoElrohir, I might mention, is Ali's father and Elladan is her uncle. Personally, I listen to what my relatives say more than my parents. It was a nice oppurtunity for Ali and her Uncle to bond.

I'm sorry if any of this sounds defensive, it's not meant in that way at all. This note was just for the purposes of explaining my motives of where I stray from canon and where stick to it.

Glorfindel cookies for everone who reviewed!

-Ivy

6/27/06