That night, everyone helped with dinner. Boromir and Aragorn tracked five rabbits, and Legolas shot them down. Gimli and Frodo started a fire, and Sam made his signature "rabbits and taters" with a few spuds he had brought. Gandalf helped by tracing strange symbols in the dirt that seemed neither Elvish nor Dwarvish, saying they would keep stray animals from wandering into the campsite.

Merry and Pippin helped themselves to second and third helpings, all the while ignoring the glares from the rest of the fellowship and praising the most excellent culinary talents of the Great Samwise Gamgee.

Bellies full with hot food for the first time in long time, the party lay down to rest for the night. Sam volunteered for the first watch, and very soon the camp was silent. (All except for the thunderous snore coming from Aragorn's sleeping mat.)

After about three quarters of an hour, just as Sam was contemplating the repercussions of strangling the ranger in his sleep, another sound caught his attention.

Crack rustlerustle

Twirling around toward the noise, eyes wide, Sam wished he had thought about bringing a weapon of some kind on his watch with him. How far away was his sleeping roll? He could grab a frying pan and come on back…

CRACK CRACK rustlerustle

A thick bush not 10 feet away from him jostled, it's leaving brushing together, but Sam couldn't see its cause. Heart pounding wildly, images of wolves and bears and oliphants rushing through his head, he inched closer.

'Well, I might as well get a closer look before I go running off screaming into the night. It might just be another rabbit or a bird… Yeah…'

Suddenly, he caught a flash of yellow fur! And… pointed ears? But what beast had yellow fur and ears like a…

"Legolas?"

Elf. Sam sighed in relief as a wide-eyed Legolas emerged from behind the bush. He had on only his leather pants, being bare from the waist up.

"Gol' am I glad to you. But what are doing getting naked at this hour of the night?"

'Oh Valar, I'm caught!' Frozen in a bent position, half naked, Legolas stared at his small friend trying to figure out which lie would sound the best.

'Oh I just figured I'd give any small mammals around a nice show, Sam!'

'Haven't you noticed it got so warm so suddenly, Sam?'

Anything was better than the truth; he was about to go find the same river they had stopped at earlier in the day, to take the bath he denied himself before. If he told Sam that, he'd have to tell him about…

No!

"My uhh.. tunic needed mending. It snagged it on some branches while we were walking today, and I just couldn't sleep till it was fixed." The golden haired elf was never a very good liar, and judging by the way Sam was looking at him, he didn't think he'd done a very good job this time either.

"Oh really.." Sam said. He folded his arms in front of his chest and stared intently at his half naked fellow.

"Well let me see that sir, I'll be happy to mend it for you so you can get some shut eye. Back when Mr. Frodo and me were still in the shire, I didn't only do the gardening and cooking, I did the mending and picking up as well don't ya know."

"Erm.. well.." If Sam got hold of his tunic, he would know he was lying, and then he'd have to explain somehow..

"No, that's fine. Thank you though. You're not only a hobbit of many talents but a truly kind one as well."

Something told Sam, in the tone of Legolas's voice and the fear in his eyes, that he should just let this go. But he suspected he might have some Tookish blood somewhere in him, because now the curiosity of it just wouldn't let him leave it alone.

"Why thank you!" He exclaimed, putting on the widest smile he could muster. "You don't know what it means to me, hearing such kind words from an Elf. My Gaffer at home wouldn't believe a second of it at all. But, begging your pardon sir, your left eye twitches slightly when you lie."

Groaning inwardly, Legolas's voice turned pleading.

"Please Sam, just go back to your post. I'm fine, I promise."

Coming closer, Sam was surprised to see Legolas actually start to back away from his approach.

"What's going on? Why are you acting so strangely?" Sam started closing in on the elf as he kept backing up, arms in front of him, till the bare-chested blonde's back hit the trunk of a tree.

Glancing down at the prince's bare feet, Sam's breath caught in his chest and he stopped in his tracks.

"Legolas!"

The elven prince's face crumpled, and he looked as if he were about to cry.

"Go on then!" He cried, "Laugh at them! I know they're hideous."

"Well now.." A small smile crept over the young hobbit's face. "I wouldn't say that. They look a lot like mine! Do you mean to say mine are hideous?"

"No, no! It's just that.. that.." A little voice inside the elf, a voice that had been long kept silent and hidden, suddenly spoke up.

'Tell him! He'll understand! It's been so long, please!'

A groan from the campsite brought both pairs of eyes to the pile of hobbits, who adjusted arms and legs and then settled back into sleep again.

'Ok, I'll tell him' Legolas gave into the gnawing need to find relief, and finally reveal his secret. So what if Sam laughed. So what if he didn't understand. He was going to be spending a lot of time with these people and he had to find someone he could be completely honest with.

'But quietly. I don't need the fellowship to wake up and find me.. like this.'

Head downcast in defeat, Legolas came to kneel beside Sam. Leaning in close to his ear, he whispered ever so softly,

"My father was not an Elf."

Keeping his voice down as well, Sam whispered back,

"Really? Well now that's not that bad at all. Mr. Elrond is half elven as well, isn't he? And I say, if you don't mind, that it doesn't make you any less of a man. Err, Elf. But what does that have to do with the fact that your feet look like a.. a.."

"A shrub covered forest floor?" Legolas timidly suggested.

Sam opened his mouth, but no words came out, and all he could do was shrug.

"You see Sam, my mother had a preference for shorter men."

Now Samwise Gamgee had never finished his schooling. After the first few lessons, he had been roughly pulled out with the excuse, "What's book learnin' gonna do fer my boy in the field?" And so sometimes it took him a little longer than others to piece together things. And after a few moments of staring blankly at his (apparently) half-elven friend, the pieces slowly came together in his head.

"You're half hobbit!"

"Shhhh!" Legolas's hand flew to Sam's mouth. "Not so loud!" He hissed. "It seems that the feet were the only trait I inherited from my father, thankfully."

This is really a source of shame for the poor old man.. Sam thought to himself. He suddenly remembered little Daisy Figwit. Daisy had lived near him on the Hill, and the two had become fast friends as children. But as soon as she had come of age, the Shire noticed a problem; she was growing hair in other places than her feet. This wasn't normal for hobbit men, and was even scarcer in hobbit women. So, burning with shame, she had locked herself away for days in her room.

The only way Sam had coaxed her back into society was to learn how to..

"Wait here." Sam crept silently, for hobbits were able to do so when the pleased, over to Aragorn's pack. Careful not to wake him, silently apologizing for his theft, he maneuvered the shaving kit that the ranger had brought with him out of his bag.

Making his way back, Sam flashed a reassuring smile to Legolas. Settling in front of the elf, Sam gestured for his friend to sit as well. "Here now, give me one foot. Let's try this out."

It was still very dark, so Sam was extra careful to position the blade on the slender foot as to not cut his companion. It had been so much easier in the comfort of the Shire, in Daisy's sunlit bedroom.

Slowly but surely, the hair fell off first one foot, then the other. Legolas almost shook at first, no one had seen his feet for years, let alone touched them. But he found that the longer he let Sam go on, the easier it became. By the time it was done, every muscle in his body was relaxed. He leaned back on his elbows and closed his eyes. No one had ever given him such attention, such acceptance. Growing up in an elven society, where no one ever grew any facial hair and little body hair, a lesson on shaving was out of the question. So he had hidden his feet away in shame, and also his heritage. His father hadn't stayed with them, leaving just a few days after his birth, and his mother simply kept the identity of her lover a secret.

"Wait, Sam. Won't the hair grow back?" Legolas finally asked.

"Well, I reckon I'll just have to do this again for you, won't I?" Sam smiled, and gave the elf's left foot a little tickle. Wriggling in Sam's grasp, Legolas protested,

"Won't Aragorn miss his shaving kit?"

Sam shook his head. "He never uses it anyway."

So what did you think? I'm literally starving for a review for this... I think this'll be the end; I don't think I'll continue this into a slash story between Legolas and Sam, but I realized as I finished it that it would be a great base for the pairing.

I don't know.. maybe.. -;