Hey all! I'm sorry it took me so long to update, but yesterday I had a problem. I was nearly finished with Chapter 5 when word suddenly froze on me when I was saving what I had done onto my datastick. However, when word froze it went all weird and completly erased the story from my datastick. Thankfully, I had the first four chapters of the story saved on my desktop, but I didn't have any of Chapter 5 saved on there. So, I spent most of the evening last night and today going from my notes and memory for Chapter 5.

Thank you for being so patient, and I hope you like this chapter. Oh, thank you all so much for your reviews and I hope you like this chapter! As always, let me know what you think!

Note: Dialouge in bold is spoken in Elvish.

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Lord of the Rings.

Chapter 5

The dawn came and Carita was the first one to wake besides Aragorn, and she had doubt that Legolas even went to sleep. She was busy rolling her bedroll and strapping on her sword when the others started to wake. Deciding to tuck her cloak in her pack, she put it away neatly and put the pack onto her back. After a quick breakfast of some bread, the group was once again on its way. Carita walked beside Gandalf as he led the party. "What is our course exactly?" she asked him and he glanced at her.

"Once we reach them, we shall continue along the Misty Mountains, and with luck, the Gap of Rohan should be open," Gandalf said.

"What if the passage south is blocked or even being watched?" she asked. "What path shall we take then?" she asked quietly. Gandalf looked at her with a small smile.

"If it comes to that we shall decide what to do at that time," Gandalf said. Carita nodded and turned her eyes to the path ahead of them once more.

They continued on and the sun was high in the sky and had been for a long time before Gandalf brought them to rest in the shade of a small grove of trees. Carita, however, was not tired and stood to look out towards the mountains. She could barely see them in the great distance. Her eyes were keen, but they were not nearly as sharp as Legolas' or of the race of elves, but they were keen enough to see the mountains in the distance. However, they were still so far away, at least a four week journey.

"May I ask you a question?" came Legolas' voice behind her.

"You just have, but may ask another," she said with a small smile as she turned and faced him. Legolas, however, was not smiling.

"You will think me rude, but I must ask," he said softly and she waited. "I heard you and Gandalf speak last night, but I did not listen long. Only long enough to hear him say that someone has never stopped hunting you. Who has hunted you?" Carita sighed and turned around to once again look off into the distance once more.

"Do you know how long I have lived, Legolas?" she asked him softly and he moved to stand next to her. His silence she took to mean that he did not. "As you said, many of your kind know me as the daughter of Varda, but that honor does not fall on me alone. The stars that shine, the constellations we chart, are her creation just as I am." She paused and took a slow breath. "Lady Varda created me at the end of the Ancient Times, at the dawn of the first age," she said softly and slowly. "I was to be her light on Middle Earth when I had reached the proper age, and any skills I required were honed and taken to memory while I resided with her. It was during my two hundredth year that I met him," she finished softly.

"Who?" Legolas asked and Carita turned her eyes to him. He was surprised to see them full of tears and sudden worry.

"The one who has had his minions hunting me for thousands of years," she said softly. "I will tell you no more." Legolas nodded and Carita turned from him and quickly walked away. Legolas sighed and frowned deeply as he watched her walk away. Carita took slow breaths and she lowered her head as she walked past Gandalf. The old wizard stood and followed her when she slipped into the trees. Aragorn made to follow, but Gandalf held up his hand and Aragorn nodded and let him follow Carita alone.

"Carita, it is not wise to wonder from the group," Gandalf said as he approached her. She had not traveled far and she sat at the base of one of the many trees her sword resting in her lap.

"I almost told him," she whispered so softly Gandalf barely heard her. Her fingers moved across her blade and she looked up at Gandalf tears in her eyes. "I almost told him. I have never shared with anyone that past. He just asked a simple question and I nearly told him everything."

"Carita," Gandalf said softly as he kneeled next to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "You have lived for thousands of years, as long as all life on this earth," Gandalf told her and she finally let her tears fall. "For the last three millennia you have spent the time alone, save for your periodic journeys to Rivendell and my visits. He has been your companion since you returned to Rivendell, and you trust him."

"But I cannot trust him with my past," she whispered. "I cannot." Gandalf gave her a small smile and moved his hand to rest on her face. She was wiser than any wizard, elf or man; she had lived through much, had done much, and seen much and yet . . . she could be as naïve and innocent as a young child a flaw that had nearly cost her her life. As she looked up at him that was exactly what she reminded him of and not the Maia that the Lady Varda created and cherishes over any other.

"You told him nothing that he could not read in the books of his father's hall, or of the halls of Rivendell. The darkness of your past was never recorded. So have no fear, my friend. Come, and have a bit to eat, you need to keep your strength," Gandalf said as he stood. Carita sniffed softly and nodded her head as she sheathed her sword once again and wiped at her face with her hands before she followed the wizard from the small grove of trees.

When she emerged she did not look at Legolas or any other of the company save for the hobbits, and when Pippin and Merry spoke to her about their home and the stories they had to share, she smiled and laughed right along with them. Her sadness and her fear forgotten once again thanks to the Shire folk and for that she was thankful.

"Carita," he whispered and pushed her dark hair from her face to rest behind her ear. She sighed softly and closed her eyes as he leaned into her and placed a chaste kiss upon her neck. "The moonlight brings out your beauty so strongly, I could sit for ages with you under its light and know nothing else but your face," he said, his heated breath dancing across her neck before he kissed it again.

"You charm me with your words," she said softly and with a smile as she opened her eyes and looked at him. He smiled a breathtaking smile as his hand moved across her neck and into her hair. His dark eyes sparkled and his shoulder length black hair blew slightly in the breeze that floated around them as they sat on her balcony in the light of the moon and stars.

"I do not mean them to charm you, they are the truth," he said before he leaned in and kissed her firmly. She sighed once again as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. For a second she pulled her lips away from his and looked up at him.

"Do you promise never to leave me? Even when I am sent to Middle Earth, do you promise that you will come to me?" she asked him and he grinned at her. She saw something flicker in his eyes, something dark and she felt that something was a miss. However, just as quickly as it appeared it was gone and the warmth was in his eyes once again.

"I do not know if I can make that promise, my young one," he said as his hands moved across her body and she shivered. "However, I shall try with all my might." Carita nodded and smiled as she let him take her as he had just hours before.

With a jolt Carita sat up from her bedroll her heart racing and her mind spinning. She had never had dreams of her past as she had been having for the last four weeks. Ever since her conversation with Legolas her sleep was plagued with memories, memories of him and the life they shared before the darkness had taken him. Carita took a slow deep breath and raised her trembling hands to her lips. She could still feel the fire of his kiss upon her lips and she closed her eyes tightly as she shook her head.

"Carita?" a deep voice asked and she opened her eyes to see Boromir kneeling next to her. "Are you well?" he asked and she lowered her hands and looked at the man.

"I am fine," she whispered and he frowned. She could see his face clearly in the dark night air, and she knew that he could see her.

"You do not seem well," he told her. It had become clear to her then that Boromir's trust in her was slowly growing and by the concern she saw in his eyes she was glad to know that he had grown to care for her well being.

"I am fine, it was nothing more than a dream," she told him softly. "If you wish, you can go back to sleep and I shall keep watch until the dawn. I do not think I could sleep more even if my body demanded it." Boromir hesitated. "Please, take rest Boromir, we have a hike ahead of us tomorrow, and I do not wish for you to be too tired," she said.

"Thank you, Carita," he said and she smiled.

"You're welcome," she whispered and Boromir moved from her to his own bedroll and laid down once more. Carita took in a shaky breath as she stood and strapped her sword to her side. Moving silently through the resting fellowship, she took a seat on one of the large rocks. They would reach the mountains by mid-day tomorrow, and she wondered where their course would take them then. Her dream replayed in her mind once more and she took a deep breath. There was no point in drawing herself back to all those years ago, she had saw the pure evil he had become and now she traveled with a company that would destroy him forever.

"You have been avoiding me," a soft voice said from beside her and she looked at Legolas. "I did not mean to anger you, when I asked who hunted you."

"You did not anger me," she told him truthfully. "I have not meant to avoid you, my friend, but the hobbits have been of comfort to me these last few weeks." Legolas frowned and sat down next to her. "They help me forget the night," she said in a whisper.

"What is it you dream of?" Legolas asked gently. "I hear you in the night and watch you move about. Sometimes you cry softly others you smile or your face and contorted in pain."

"I dream of . . . nothing that concerns you," she said trying to keep the bitterness from her voice. She had nearly told him again. Her eyes met his and she saw the slight hurt reflected there before he pushed it away. Carita sighed and closed her eyes as she turned her head away. "I am sorry," she whispered. "I do not mean to be cross. There are just some things that are better to remain unsaid." She looked at him again, and his expression was soft, but he was not looking at her. "There is much about me that is dark." She paused when he looked at her. "There are things I am ashamed of."

"What happened that made you feel that way? You can speak the truth to me. You know I will tell no one." For the first time since her chat with Merry and Pippin earlier that morning Carita smiled a true smile and reached over to him. She took his hand into hers and squeezed it. Legolas, surprised by her sudden movement looked down at their hands. He glowed very dimly compared the light that emanated from her hand and he realized then, that though she was just as tall and lithe as he was, her hands were much smaller.

"I know you would never tell any living being," she said softly and Legolas turned his eyes to her face. "There is no doubt in that, but . . . they are my secrets. Secrets I have kept for many, many years." Legolas nodded and tightened his grip on her hand.

"Perhaps one day, you shall share your secrets with me," he found himself saying before he even truly knew why.

"Perhaps," she whispered and squeezed his hand in response to his tightening grip. "Perhaps." They shared a smile before they turned their eyes to the horizon around them, but they did not let go of each other's hands until the light of the dawn appeared and the woke the others for another day's journey onward.