A/N: I know, I know… it's been a while. Again. Well, I just got back to school a few weeks ago after Christmas break so I've been going to new classes and trying to get a hang of things. Haven't really felt the urge to write lately, until today that is. Don't worry though, I promise to keep this updated as often as possible! You know me. Also, I just wanted to let all of you lovely reviewers out there how much I appreciate your reviews and…I'm so glad you like it! Keeping me motivated, haha.

Kira – I'm glad you like it! Yes, do keep reading.

Remember 1105 – Don't think I've mentioned this, but nice pen name. Fan of V, hm? Great movie. Well, I'm glad you're intrigued. Hopefully it keeps you around.

happyangel123 – Basically, what just happened is Laina had a nightmare about the Uruk-hai, but is not sure what to call them since they don't really exist yet, or not to her knowledge or anyone else's. Then, she wanted Legolas to be able to see the Great Orcs as well, so she sort of…transferred her visions to him. Somehow. Weird power.

SilverUnicorn66 – Glad you like it!  Keep reading.

virgo-valentina – Here you go…

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A buzzing in my ear too loud to ignore woke me from my restless sleep. My dreams hung around even after my eyes opened, blanketing my thoughts. I saw, growing from beneath the bed, a tree old beyond my reckoning, smelling of bark and stale air, its roots tearing the seams from the carpeted floor. The tree reached beyond the ceiling so I could not see its top, but a few branches hung over me, suicidal leaves falling lifeless from them, resting beside me before becoming invisible. Though I did not hear the floor breaking, I thought for a fleeting instant that the tree had moved, taking a step forward before collecting its leaves and vanishing with the rest of my dreams.

I stretched and yawned, rubbing my eyes to assure myself that no more visions from my dreams haunted my waking. As I rubbed, I noticed Legolas lying haphazardly beside me, blanketed up to his neck, a rather agitated sleep that had descended upon him was lifting. I saw his eyelids flutter dangerously before allowing him to regain his vision.

I listened to the stifled groan that escaped his lips and watched him reach his arms above his body, the muscles in them silently grateful for the joy of movement. His eyes wandered a moment around the room before finding me, and he sat upright quickly, his blanket tucked under his arms so as to keep it from falling below his collarbone.

"How can you have that much energy in the morning?" I ventured a question despite the completely stunned expression engraved in his eyes. He was letting them wander over me, not in a suggestive or cheeky way, but in an astonished, disbelieving way. I raised an eyebrow at him. "By the way," I began again, seeing he would say nothing, "why in Arda am I in your bed?" The answer could not have been…well, no. It only crossed my mind for a second before I dismissed it altogether, part of me nagging at myself for thinking it, and part of me dropping to my toes at the thought. Legolas, however, seemed in utter amazement as he stared at me. With every passing second I wanted to know the answer more, and after staring back at him for a while I thumped him on the nose. He stopped his long gaze to rub his nose disapprovingly.

"Laina…" Legolas began, but could not continue. I thumped him on the nose again, prompting a response. "Laina, you don't remember what you saw last night, do you?" he said slowly, almost unable to believe himself.

"Leaf, I'd really like to know what in Varda's name you're on about," I insisted a bit snappishly.

"Last night you had a nightmare…Laina, you can't tell me you've forgotten," Legolas was distraught. He began to explain to me the exact events of the night before, and under normal circumstances I would have told him to shut up because he was being childish, thinking one of his dreams actually occurred, but listening to him talk about me and the way I was talking about these—what?—"Great Orcs" convinced me. I wondered instantly why he would have believed me at all, until he mentioned my somehow transferring my vision to him. This had all gone too far.

"Stop right there," I interrupted uncomfortably as Legolas was describing a bending white light. "I'm not special, Leaf, I don't possess the power to conjure or have premonitions or transfer any thoughts I have to you," I was saying. Legolas shook his head in disagreement. I wanted to punch him. "Please!" I yelled angrily, getting up from the bed and beginning to pace his room. By now I must have paced at least a few miles just around various rooms since the night before. "I won't believe it, Greenleaf, I won't. I'm not powerful," I muttered.

"I don't know what power you possess, Laina, but you have it," Legolas maintained. He was looking up at me expectantly, as if at any moment I would burst into flame and begin projecting the entire future for everyone to watch.

"I don't have power," I said adamantly.

"Well, whether or not you do, you saw something in your sleep last night that may prove helpful to us," Legolas replied.

"To whom?"

"To Aragorn and I, and that…that Dwarf," Legolas answered, a bit disgusted.

"Why would you, Aragorn, and a Dwarf be on the trail of giant Orcs?" I yelled hysterically, wanting to laugh.

"I don't know, Laina, but you believed it, and so do I," Legolas answered, releasing the blanket from under his arms. I watched as it fell slowly to his navel, eyeing his half-naked body as I vaguely remembered doing the night before. As I scanned his chest, I noticed a slightly reddened area of skin. I felt my eyebrows knit as I took a step toward him again. He had been watching me too, and at my peculiar behavior he looked down at his chest, staring at the same reddened patch of skin. Was it…no. It wasn't in the shape of a… I took another step closer, thinking my Elf eyes were deceiving me. I should have remembered they never had before. Taking one last step closer and running into the end of the bed, I squinted hard at the red patch of skin.

"Legolas," I breathed, crawling onto the bed and reaching tentatively to his chest, placing my hand over it. The mark fit perfectly. "It's my…"

"Hand," Legolas finished.

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A few months later – January, Year 3018 of the Third Age

"Get—out—of—my—forest!" I yelled, letting an arrow fly with each maddened word. Five Orcs fell to the ground, their mouths curled into screams that never escaped. I stood triumphant underneath the tree that used to be my family's flet, sighing.

"Laina, you alright?" Malian's voice called from above me. He was now known as the master of the trees, for he climbed into one every time a large band of Orcs came traipsing through our Wood, sniping them from above.

"Fine!" I called back, silently patting myself on the back for never disposing of his friendship completely. Not only had he been useful to have around when Legolas was too busy, but he was, as he always had been, easy to talk to and very protective. And, another plus, Kaethe's family had decided to sail into the West and Kaethe was too busy mourning their passing to reveal herself to the Wood much anymore. Though this took its toll on Malian, I could not admit that seeing less of her around was not a welcomed development.

Malian swung himself from the tree, landing upright on his two feet as if he were lighter than a leaf. "Looks like it's our turn to handle Gollum," he said, brushing off his sleeve and offering an elbow for me to take. I scanned the trees around us for another moment before deciding no more Orcs were in hiding and taking his elbow, allowing him to lead me to the dungeons.

Every fortnight, Gollum had two new caretakers. Though we were constantly on patrol, Malian and I took pity on him and never minded feeding him or listening to his absent ramblings, and decided to stay an extra few days taking care of him. After all, he was a creature of Ilúvatar too and deserved to be treated with some sort of respect. He could not have known what he would be setting into motion by telling Sauron what he had.

"Gollum," I said soothingly, staring through the bars at the mass of bones covered in stretched skin. "It's time for your walk," I said, coaxing him carefully with one finger through the bars. Gollum's lamplike eyes turned to us, observing us for a moment before reluctantly approaching the bars. He allowed me to fasted a rope around his neck and hand the other end to Malian before reaching into my pocket, pulling out a key, and tentatively opening his cell. Malian quickly wound the rope out from between the bars and held it tightly, both of us fixed intently on Gollum's slouching figure, still standing just inside his cell.

"Coming?" Malian asked, tugging the rope a bit. Gollum mumbled before taking a step forward. I was relieved that he had not tried to sprint away as he had done so many times before. As of late, however, Gollum had taken to simply obeying and seemed to have abandoned any ill-conceived escape plan.

Malian and I rather enjoyed our time with Gollum, mostly because he was one of the few still in Mirkwood who did not have some sort of agenda. I had seen much less of Legolas lately, because he was almost always on patrol. Thranduil did not trust anyone as much as he trusted his son and would therefore trust no one to lead a patrol unit like Legolas. I understood, too, because over past few years I had spent in Mirkwood, I had never seen quite as many Orcs. It was impossible to go a night on patrol without shooting fifty arrows.

The Orcs were not the only bad omens. It was as if a thick fog had descended upon the land, causing both anxiety and depression in every Elf in the Wood. Though we all tried to keep it light, our intuitive natures nagged at us, poked us, whispered in our ears that something terrible was happening. Something dark, something uncontrollable, and that someone somewhere needed out help.

I had taken to sleeping in rooms various Elves every night, because the nightmares would not go away. Though I never remembered them the next morning, I could feel my body growing weaker—to the point where I had spent entire nights reading or cleaning or even patrolling (if Legolas would allow me to patrol at night, which was rare) because I refused to sleep. Though some of the nightmares may have been helpful, Malian and Legolas had grown tired of being told of their impending doom every night, so they told me that when I awoke all I would do is pace around their rooms for a while before tucking myself back in. I refused to disturb anyone else with the nightmares I was experiencing. At one point, Legolas had insisted I keep him posted on what I dreamt about, but mostly they were scattered things that did not make any sense, like walking trees or Great Orcs or burning lands…I was happy to simply forget them.

When Malian and I decided Gollum had hopped about enough, we took him back and locked him in his cell, like we did every night. I watched Gollum slink back in without reprimand. Well, at least with all the bad things, there came a semi-comfortable routine.

"Legolas' room tonight?" Malian asked as we made our way up the stairs toward the front of the castle.

"I think so," I agreed, yawning. I had not slept the night before.

"Sleep well then," Malian said as we entered the halls, taking my hand in his and kissing my knuckles before turning on his heel and walking tiredly to his room.

I waved after him before strolling to Legolas' room, not bothering to knock on the door before pushing it open. Legolas was sitting on the edge of his bed, pulling off his shoes and shirt. Even after spending many nights in his room, his half-naked body still sent chills dripping down my spine, so I looked away.

"Evening," Legolas said offhandedly, not turning to look at me.

"Rough night?" I asked, noticing the scratches on the backs of his arms.

"Had a run-in with a tree," Legolas explained, collapsing on his bed without bothering to wash his face, hands, or body and without unbraiding his hair.

"Right," I smiled, crawling into bed next to him. Legolas turned toward me and took a deep breath as if he were going to say something, but after a moment he exhaled without saying a word. I raised one eyebrow at him. He had done the same thing every night I spent with him for a fortnight or more, and I was growing tired of his silence. "Yes?"

"What?" Legolas asked, pretending to be confused. I shook my head.

"When are you going to tell me what you've been trying to tell me for a while now?" I wondered, eyeing him.

"I just wanted to say…goodnight," Legolas answered hesitantly. I raised another skeptical eyebrow at him but decided not to press it further. I closed my eyes, trying my best to feel what he was feeling, to sense his emotions, but a great barrier had been erected between us and I felt nothing. It was almost as if his presence were undetectable.

"Goodnight," I replied before allowing myself a few moments of restless sleep.