Author's Note: Hi, this chapter has a song involved. It's one of my favorites and the one I imagine Leanna singing: The Voice in the Celtic Woman´s version. Thanks for reading ;) and also I'm still looking for a beta reader, please HELP.

The three of them walked back to the rest of the Fellowship, Merry and Pippin hugged her almost toppling her on the ground had it not been for Legolas still holding her.

"Calm down, little rascals" her voice was threaded with laughter.

"You had them worried for a while, lass" Gimli snorted.

"Only them it seems, maese Gimli"

"I KNEW you would wake up, lass, you have the spirit of a true warrior. If only you bladed an axe..." Leanna would never had thought that a dwarf could be bashful.

"We are so happy you are back" Merry exclaimed.

"Leanna" Frodo's voice was hesitant, he stood further away, his eyes held now a new storm, so much was stirring inside of them. She knew that look, the pain behind it, and was certain that itwas nothing more than the mere beginning.

"Hi Frodo" she smiled at him, as sweetly as possible and offered her arms. They hugged for a few moments under the caring gazes of their friends.

"Where's Boromir" the girl asked then, curious at her friend's absence.

An awkward silence followed that sentence.

Against her friends wishes, Leanna did not rest for the rest of the evening, instead she went lookingfor Boromir. Something inside told her that he needed some company, even if the man wasn't yetaware.

"And here I was, hoping that my friend would be welcoming back to the word of the living"

Boromir turned around quickly, a sword on his hand, he had obviously been training alone for a while.

"Leanna..."

The man froze mid-step, obviously wishing to reach her but not daring to, Leanna noticedsomething in his eyes, almost like fog, or maybe a shadow, but was only for a moment, before he casted his view to the side almost with shame.

"Boromir" it was Leanna who closed the distance between them "I'm back" she took the man'sfree hand and guided it to her face, the callouses on his palm caressed her cheek and she smiled athis bewilderment "And I'm completely fine"

"I almost dared not hope..."

"While there is life, there is hope, Boromir" the young woman said "What weights so heavy inyour heart, dear friend?"

There were a few moments of silence, until finally she sighed and still holding his hand, sat down,Boromir was confused for a moment, but she insisted and led him to lay resting his head on herlap.

"You are tired, Boromir, our mind tends to trick us when we are tired, so rest for a while. I'll sing for you"

"Do you see me as a child?" he asked lightly amused.

"Oh, just hush and listen old man" she mocked and started singing.

As she sang Boromir remembered, his home, his family, the images swarmed in his mind, his proud father, dear brother, the city, the white then the Fellowship, riding, fighting, laughing, their travels, the cold of the mountains, Moria,her.

Leanna had become an important part of him, as a friend, a companion, a sister in arms even.

They each had darkness of their own, their burdens and faith, the heavy weight of the Ring hangig from Frodo's neck, or the ancestral crown over Aragorn's head, the brothers who's lost Gimli had to face in Moria, Gandalf's demise, the little ones had to face being so far away from their sheltered homes. Even that elf prince, Boromir had noticed how he watched their female companion, it wouldn't be an easy battle since it involved the lass and her many secrets.

Boromir almost smiled at the thought, this journey wasn't over, after the rest they would continue moving forward.

He was fighting, he was striving for strength and honor, for the power to protect everything dear to him.

Warm spread to his heart, gaining ground against the shadows swirling in his mind, with his eyesclosed Boromir could glance a hopeful future, free and bright.

All the while, Leanna was caressing his hair leaving behind soft, ethereal traces of white andsilver.

Once the song was over, and after a content silence, she softly laid a hand over his chest.

"As long as the heart beats, Boromir, there will be hope"

"I suppose that such wise words should be listened" his rough hand enveloped hers.

A silence of acceptance coursed through them, there was something there, between them, something deep and nameless. Her smile was relaxed, caring, the man was now definitely stunnedand so was the newcomer.

Legolas had just walked upon them, far enough to allow not being easily noticed by human eyesbut his could definitely engrave her expression into his heart. A strange feeling tugged at his chest,it was painful and bitter, she had never smiled at him that way.

"We shall return now, night is drawing near" Boromir got back on his feet, and she followed suit,
or at least tried to, sitting on the ground for that long using her lap as a pillow for the grown-up warrior had numbed her legs. And so, the blonde helped her laughing and claiming that she stillneeded more training.

Legolas watched them walk away, and the bitterness in his heart spread, making his body ache. He was angry, and stunned so many emotions at the same time left him almost breathless.

A few days after Leanna was, again, on the edge. The recent travel on memory lane through herchildhood and adolescence put her on a very unstable state, not at all similar to how calm andcollected she acted for Boromir's sake. The nightmares were an every-night occurrence, going back to Morpheus was useless, so she decided to go for a walk.

Elves were very sensitive, thankfully her steps were quiet, and other than the occasional guard noone else disturbed her.

Finally, alone, surrounded by trees, Leanna let her mind wander and that strange energy that hadbeen present in her body ever since she woke up in Lothlórien emerged slowly at first. It was warmand almost like electricity, it buzzed and hummed inside her, she had used it to repel some of the darkness that damn ring was leaving in Boromir's mind, now she would try to use it on herself

"Who am I?"

Who was she? The little girl named Anna had died in a cage, her will, herself at least had witheredand disappeared years ago replaced by the monster's little humming bird.

The question floated in the night air, for a few seconds. Then soft steps approached her, strangelyenough she didn't have to turn around to know who was there.

A few more steps and Legolas was standing beside her.

"May I accompany you?"

"Why?" the question wasn't meant to be as strained as it sounded.

"I will listen, if you wish to speak"

She knew he would, because that was the kind and caring prince, the brave warrior, the one that was so dear to her, even if she would never say it to him.

"My parents knew each other since they were children, and growing up together they also fell in love and got married. My mother had inherited an old inn, they restore it and run it, I was born there. Those two" her voice faltered for a moment, apparently lost in her memories.

"Those two were, deeply in love, there was this perennial comfort, and warm, and happiness around the house. As I was growing up, guests would come and go, their stories, their tastes, even the different languages,it was a constant learning for me, you know. It was home. But one day, a man came to our door,and during the night, he slayed them all, my parents, our guests" her voice was far away, as if telling someone else's story, Legolas body tensed but seeing her eyes lost in the past he darednot speak.

"He took me with him, said I was his..." she hugged herself, striving for comfort, for protection "That... Man, strived for killing, hunted down other peoplelike prays, then caged them, broke their spirits and made them beg for release, for death. And,every single time, he made me watch. I lived a very long time inside a cage, only going out whenhe took me to hunt, or to dispose the bodies. I wanted it to stop so many times, Legolas... but I
wanted revenge, I didn't even want freedom, just revenge, killing him for destroying my home."

Then Leah came, and gave her hope, empathy, minimal as it was it still rubbed a little on her,enough to make her recognize another human being as such.

But the ginger haired woman died.

"So, I waited in the dark, I braced myself and kept on living and one day... One day I finally
stabbed a knife to his heart and watched him bleed. The little humming bird killed the monster, butwas not free. I was finally out of the cage, Legolas, but I was not free. What did I had left to hope for? I was... empty. And wanted it all to stop."

She was nothing then, a horrible void engulfed her mind and what little was still there of her soul,or so she had thought.

Leanna didn't noticed she was crying until the elf's hand caressed her cheek, erasing her tears.

"My pop's found me then, and honestly, that stubborn redhead made mekeep moving, until I was able to live again, and hope, hope that I would be alright, that I could find
a home"

Her adoptive father, Leah's father. An ex-Marine, working for a private security company. Theman had a strong Irish ascendance, with a head as red as his daughter and a stubborn temperament.

He never gave up on her, never blamed her, and most importantly never ever pitied her.

So, with time, she decided to live again, and to do so for both Anna and Leah.

Leanna, it was just a mashup of names, a made-up persona. So...

"I don't know who I am, Legolas, not anymore. Should someone as tainted as me even join youall? I wish for nothing, neither hope, but I can sense others expectations and worries, I learned howto give comfort, and how to hurt, terribly."

She took a step back from him.

"Sometimes, sometimes I feel that if I stop living as this persona I created..."

To her utter surprise, Legolas hugged her, his warm spread to her body, she hadn't even noticedhow cold she was until then.

"Matter not the name you take, or the choices you make, I will always be by your side, and willhold you whenever you need me to, you have my full trust and my support, this I shall promise."

"How can you?"

"Because I wish so"