Chapter Seven:

One month later…

Natalie whipped her head around, water droplets from her hair splashing onto her face. Laughing, she shoved her paddle into the cold water of the river and pushed it against the current.

About fifteen people in neon orange life vests were squished uncomfortably into six canoes with a primitive look to them. Together, they were rowing down a river affectionately nicknamed 'The Anduin.' Actually, this was the river they would be shooting on many months later. But for now, all the Fellowship members, scale doubles, and rowing instructors were only here for fun. And learning, of course.

A loud splash interrupted the tranquility of New Zealand's surrounding nature. Natalie turned again, this time to see only four other boats. Where was the fifth? She caught a glimpse Billy and Dom trying to hold in their laughter before the bottom of the missing boat resurfaced and, a moment later, Orlando and John's heads, their dripping wet hair plastered to their foreheads.

"It was the elf's fault!" John shouted accusingly to the rest of the boats, making said "elf" turn a delicate shade of pink.

"Was not!" he yelled back, but his reply was lost to everyone else as they continued rowing up the river.

XXX

XXX

After the group had spent a long day playing – and learning – in the rough waters, they returned to the dock. Natalie hauled herself up the ladder so she could kneel and lean over the edge to wring out her hair. After the boat-tipping incident, two certain hobbit actors had decided that it would be extremely hilarious to try to tip other people's boats. And unfortunately, Sean Bean, who was sharing the boat with them, agreed. And since Natalie's boat, which she shared with Stuart and Elijah, was the closest one to theirs, they were upended many times.

Somehow, after the fourth time, Natalie hadn't found it all that funny anymore.

When everyone had clambered onto the dock, a man with a camera whose name Natalie couldn't remember gave them all a too-cheery smile and pushed them closer together. "It's time for documentaries!" he announced, his grin even wider. After a quick smile, Natalie turned away to find the car she had arrived in but she felt a hand on her shoulder.

When she glanced back, Elijah met her gaze and quickly motioned her away from the group with his finger. "I need to steal you for a minute," he joked.

Without a word, Natalie turned and allowed him to lead her away from the group and back down to the dock. There, the instructor was pulling the large canoes up into the soft clay, but when he saw Elijah, he gave him a small smile and a quick wink. Natalie looked between the two quizzically.

"These canoes have got to be back here by ten," the man said, tying up a third canoe, but motioning to another one farther away from the dock. "Just don't forget your life jackets, tip the boat, or go out into the rapids. I really shouldn't be letting you go out after sunset anyways."

"Good point," Natalie said to Elijah.

"What?"

"You said we'd only be a minute. We can't go out in canoe without telling Peter or Dom or someone where we are. He'd disown us, recast-"

"Firstly, I said I was going to steal you, and I am," he said, pushing a life vest into her arms. "And if I steal you, you should know better that it'd be longer than a minute."

He was beginning to scare her a little now, even if he was being funny.

"Secondly, we are allowed to go canoeing."

"Can I see your permission slip?" Natalie asked, only half-joking, as he stepped into the canoe. Elijah laughed, extending his hand to help her into it. Unsteadily, Natalie gripped it and settled her weight into the small canoe.

"I don't need one. He just said we could," he said, nodding his head back toward the instructor who had just finished tying up the last canoe and was making himself scarce. Natalie hid her smile as she sat down, but Elijah caught sight of it anyways as he picked up an oar from the boat and pushed away from the dock. Natalie saw no point in fighting it now.

But what was the purpose of bringing her out in the middle of the river? Sure, she and Elijah had quickly become great friends, but they had never done anything just the two of them. Not anything not related to filming, that is. Natalie reflected back on the thoughts she had had when she first met Elijah. She couldn't deny that she had felt an attraction to him, but she had thought that those feelings had gone away and been replaced by a great friendship. Now, out here on what was seeming more and more like a date. At least, that's the way Natalie was feeling about it. She didn't know how Elijah felt – he was still silent, staring out at the water. Natalie felt that tension of I-think-I-like-him-now-what come creeping back.

Soon, the canoe was flowing slowly and calmly with the current of their Anduin, and Elijah abandoned the oar to the bottom of the boat as soon as they had reached the middle of the river. Natalie wasn't sure what was going to happen next. He was keeping her on the edge of her seat and alert, and if he didn't do something soon other than just look at her, she might burst.

"So… what's with the canoe ride?" she asked to break the silence.

"Oh, I don't know. Just feeling the stress of getting ready for this movie and wanted to relax." Elijah grinned at Natalie and leaned back in the canoe, folding his arms beneath his head. "I thought the sunset might be pretty out here on the river."

Natalie's head was still spinning with the awkwardness of being alone with him, so she simply said, "Okay." She leaned back and watched the sky turn pink and orange.

After a few minutes of silence that served to sooth Natalie's nerves, Elijah spoke again. "I know this all must be kind of freaking you out," he said. "I mean, everyone else here is pretty experienced. We've been doing this kind of stuff forever – I mean, this movie is way more intensive than anything I've ever done before, but at least I knew what to expect for the most part."

"Well, yeah, I guess it kind of is. It's all going by so fast, though. I hardly have time to catch my breath, so I haven't really thought about it too much."

Elijah sat up and met Natalie's gaze. "I guess I brought you out here to ask how you're doing… I've kind of taken you under my wing, and I wanted to make sure that you aren't completely overwhelmed." He smiled, crinkling the corners of his eyes. "And the hard part hasn't even begun yet! I just wanted to make sure that you knew that I'm always here if you want to talk about anything or if you're confused or just… anything."

"Aw, Elijah! That's so sweet of you." Natalie reached over and gave him a quick hug. "I'm doing pretty much alright for now, but it's nice to know that I can turn to you as we start filming… I can't believe we shoot our first scene next week!" She gave a short laugh, but then they were met with silence once again.

Elijah was still looking into her eyes. Natalie felt a blush creep up her face, but she couldn't make herself break the gaze. "Um…" she started to say, but was interrupted as Elijah pulled her close and kissed her.

It was a short kiss, and Natalie didn't feel the storybook fireworks, but she did feel a zing of warmth travel down her body. Before Natalie's mind could catch up with the things her body was feeling, Elijah broke the kiss and leaned back, almost shoving her away.

"I'm… sorry," he sputtered, dropping his face into his hands. "I… I don't know what came over me. I'm so sorry, that was so inappropriate." He raked his fingers through his hair, making it stand up funny. "I… I can't believe I did that. I'm so sorry. Will you forgive me?" He looked up at Natalie, who was still slightly stunned at what had just happened.

"Um… of course. Don't even think about it," she mumbled. She had no complaints about the kiss, and really wouldn't mind kissing him more, but she sensed that she should keep quiet about her feelings right then.

"Oh, gosh, thanks. I mean – not that I don't think you're great – I mean, ack, I'm sorry. What I mean to say is that you've become such a great friend, Nat, and I really hope I didn't just screw that all up."

"It's okay," Natalie said. "I really value your friendship too. Let's just…"

"Can we pretend that this never happened? I feel like such an idiot," Elijah cut in. The look on his face was so worried that Natalie almost laughed at him. For a moment, she considered telling him her true feelings, that she actually really liked that he kissed her, but she bit back her words in realization that he really didn't want to pursue that kind of relationship with her.

"Alright. Still friends?"

"Of course! We are still Lily and Frodo, Bearers of Doom! Up here!" Natalie laughed, giving him his high-five.

"Well, you bear it more," she said.

"Doesn't matter," Elijah laughed. "You get it for a little while," he said in reference to the Ring.

"Yes, but I'm distraught over your seemingly untimely death," she said. "And so conveniently before we get to the mountain, too."

"Sorry; I admit it. I had it planned the whole time," he said sarcastically. "Had Gollum go arrange it with Shelob the night before…"

"Ah, a conspiracy, eh?"

"You're not supposed to tell!"

Natalie laughed at his joking and felt some of the tension go away. She hoped that they could really forget about this and go back to being best friends. They had a long fifteen months of shooting to go, and she hoped that their attraction to each other wouldn't get in the way of their friendship again. As much as she wanted to act on those feelings, she knew that following that path could only lead to disaster.

"So, are we good?" Elijah asked her, breaking into her thoughts.

"We're good," she agreed. "Ready to head back?"

"Only if you are."

"Well, I'd like to have dinner tonight, if you catch my drift…"

"Say no more," he said, picking up the oar.