Perplexities of Growing Up

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the places or characters used here except for Náriël-I did invent her, and if she resembles anyone else's character in anyway, im sorry- not done on purpose. Everything else belongs to Tolkien.

A/N: as always, thanks to all my reviewers!

Chapter 9

POV: Author

...his adrenaline was pumping and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her against the bars...and closer to him...

Stepping up to the bars he lowered his mouth so that it was right by her ear and he felt her shiver. His voice was ruff as he whispered in her ear.

"Now what makes you think that I've never felt such bliss before?"

Her eyes widened to this remark and she blushed. What happened next, she hadn't expected. The gentleman in Legolas was gone and he was beyond furious. He shoved Sulia away from him so that she fell on her bottom. Grabbing hold of the bars he felt the adrenaline surge through his veins and he quickly broke through the wooden bars...setting himself free.

Nimbly stepping over the broken wood he glared at the now slightly frightened elleth below him. His looming form truly seemed menacing to Sulia at this moment. In one swift motion, he kneeled down beside her and grabbed her by the throat –not too hard, but hard enough to send his message across.

"I never, and I mean NEVER want to see you attempt to pulling something like that off again!!" His voice had started out in a venomous whisper and had risen to an ominous roar.

"I do NOT belong to you. I am NOT taking you to the ball. I will NOT kiss you. And I most certainly WILL NOT BIND WITH YOU!!!"

With that, he released her and stood up, straightening his shoulders and coming to his full height. Sulia scrambled up and not even bothering to dust the clinging dirt and leaves off of her dress, she ran off as fast as her stiletto-type heels could carry her, feeling Legolas's glare piercing her back as she retreated.

Once she was out of sight, Legolas let out a deep sigh and collapsed to the ground. He sunk down beside his former devise of imprisonment and put his head in his hands. He finally let out a scream of frustration and then leaned back on his hands. Tilting his head upwards he gazed at the beautiful and imposing trees. They seemed almost daunting in the twilight. Legolas had been so caught up in what was going on that he hadn't even noticed the sun sinking below the horizon. He slowly closed his eyes and let the crisp breeze run its gentle fingers across his face.

His mind began to replay what had happened earlier that day. Legolas contemplated what could have caused Náriël to play such a dirty and obscene practical joke. Shaking his head, he opened his eyes to the now dark world around him.

'This must have been her pay back for everything...and I thought the worst had been over after I told her the situation.'

Legolas scowled at this thought and got up. This was not going to do. He would not allow her to take away his dignity like that and get away with it.

'And after I helped save her pride before' he thought sourly.

This time, it was his turn. He would get back at her alright. There was no way he would allow her to have the final laugh. Looking about him Legolas was struck with an idea. He would have to work quickly though because Náriël would surely come to "visit" him in the morning.

'I wonder what her reaction would have been if she had discovered Sulia and myself in a ... compromising position?' He smirked to himself.

He did have to admit that Sulia was quite good looking, but he looked for more than good looks in an elleth. One with her personality would most definitely not do. With that last thought he bent down to pick up the partially broken cage. Since it was already damaged it seemed much easier to break now, and Legolas made short work of it. He flung the pieces about him and then turned and made his way back to the House of Elrond.

Quietly sneaking in, he crept into his room and removed his bow and quiver of arrows, along with his daggers, from their resting places. The weapons were strictly for protection during the night. Putting them on, he left the house, grabbing a small bowl from the kitchen on his way out. Legolas then made his way back to the forest.

On his way back to the broken cage he took a detour and searched the ground for a certain berry. All he had was the moonlight to go by –to his luck, it was a full moon, however, the towering trees blocked out much of the light. After a great deal of searching, he finally found a few bushes full of them. He gathered them into the bowl and then walked to the nearby stream. After he had filled the bowl with water until all of the berries were covered, he finally went back to the cage. There, he crushed the berries and mixed their juice with the water. This formed a sort of liquid that looked remarkably like blood. When he was done, he spilled some of it over a few of the broken pieces of wood and onto the ground around them. Legolas then walked back to the stream, letting some of the liquid spill here and there on his way.

Looking back at what he had done, he was quite proud to say that it really did look like there had been some sort of struggle and blood had been spilt. Now all he needed to do was trample some of the grass and make it look like someone was dragged to the stream.

Once done, Legolas climbed up into a tree where he could sleep the few hours that remained of the night. That particular tree also provided a good vantage point from which he could watch everything, yet be covered up by the foliage.

........

The next morning, Legolas awoke early and was surprisingly not tired at all, despite the fact that he slept very little and had had a previously very trying day. He sat in his tree and listened. Several minutes passed by and he finally heard what he was waiting for –humming. He knew it was Náriël. Looking at the path, she finally became visible.

Legolas could tell that she was not yet aware of what was in front of her. However, that quickly changed. Náriël stopped dead in her tracks and her eyes widened at the sight. The wooden cage was broken into pieces which were lying about everywhere. She then noticed what looked like blood. Blood.

"Oh my gosh."

She whispered this so quietly that Legolas was barely able to pick it up. He smirked to himself.

Náriël ran up to the shattered pieces and knelt down. Her eyes scanned the area and to her it was clear that some sort of struggle had occurred. If Legolas had been the victor, he would have come home, wouldn't he?

At that moment, something else caught her eye. She stood up and walked up to some bushes –broken branches and more blood. Náriël noticed that there was some sort of trail from the blood and she quickly began to follow it, only to discover it came to a dead end at the stream.

"No, no no no. Damn it!"

She turned and ran back to what once had been a cage. She frantically spun around in circles as if desperately trying to find something. Legolas noticed a look upon her face that he had never seen before –a look of terror, panic, and sadness.

"NO!"

As she exclaimed, she collapsed to her knees. She laid her head on the ground and began to weep. At this point, Legolas realized that his practical joke had gone too far –much, much too far.

'What had I been thinking last night?! Did I expect her to just laugh and go on about her business?! What have I done?'

With that thought he jumped down from his hiding place and slowly walked up to the distressed elleth who was sobbing on the ground. He knelt beside her and gently placed a hand upon her shoulder.

He spoke quietly, "Náriël?"

He heard her sharp intake of breath and she cautiously lifted her head. Her red eyes met the worried and apologetic ones of Legolas. He saw the relief spread across her face and then some emotion that he could not really place. Suddenly, he found himself with Náriël in his arms. She had flung herself at him, not like Sulia, but in sincerity. Legolas was so surprised by this action, he didn't know what to do. She had wrapped her arms around his waist and her head was now in the crook of his neck.

She was crying again.

Actually, it was more like hysterical sobbing. Carefully, he wrapped his strong arms around her and sat down. Hugging her close to him he rested his head upon hers and began to gently rock her.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I hadn't meant for it to get so out of hand."

Her crying slowly began to die down and he heard her sniffle as she rubbed her nose against his neck. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Why did this feel so comfortable, so right? It shouldn't. He wasn't allowed to feel this way with her...

Jack-Sparrow-Lover: yes, reviewers can be so damn mean and annoying sometimes . anyway, thanks for the review and im glad you do read the a/ns! Thanks so much.

GoOrlandoItsurbirthday: thanks! And you have quite and interesting sn! LOL!

Eryn Galen: thanks so much! And im glad you read the a/ns b/c many ppl don't. out of 14 reviews from chapter 8, only 5 told me that they actually read them!!! That makes me mad, esp since I even wrote that it was an important A/N (sighs) but what can I do? I cant make ppl read em. O well.

Mary: now by that comment, do you mean that chapter 8 sucked or that you were upset that I ended it where I did? o.O

Princess Shadowcat: your welcome! And im sorry that you didn't get any reviewers, that really sucks. Maybe if you revised it a bit and then tried again? (shrugs) anyway, thanks for the review!

Jazmeanoo: lol! Jittery huh? that's a funny way of putting it...but youre gonna have to wait a bit till I get there (winks)

DesolateAznVamp: thanks SO much! : )

Sarah R: thanks!

ShopGirl1: yep! Lol! And I don't know if that phase is gonna come soon b/c I got volunteer work all next week so im prob gonna be pretty tired when I get home...most likely a bit too lazy to write. Then again, if my reviewers are good and want it bad enough...and maybe if I get a few more that actually read my a/ns (which would make me happy) then I might just update a bit quicker!

Elven at Heart: thanks, and as far as the authors notes go, I totally agree with you, unfortunately, not all that many reviewers bother to read them. . as far as updates go, I don't know how quick im gonna update again b/c I got volunteer work all next week...but ill see what I can do : )

DJ: Chile huh? that's awesome! Im learning Spanish...and im not all THAT bad at it either lol! Anyway, thanks for the review!

Austin B: haha, if it was me, id kill her too! XP I agree with you about the reviewers thing. It just really pisses me off when ppl do crap like that. I hate ppl like that . anyway, thanks for the review!

Icy Lullaby: china?! That's so cool, lol. Makes me kinda sad that you cant review tho (sniffles) but I guess youll just have to catch up when you get back. I hope you have a fun trip tho! And yes, Náriël is wild!! Im really glad that you like that chapter so much. As far as Sulia goes, I think shes more than a BIT horny LMAO!!! I thought shed be a pretty fun character to write and a fun one for you guys to read so there ya go!

Princess Alexiel: it makes me happy that you like it so much! : ) anyway, its still gonna take a few chapters before they get together...I wanna drag it out a bit, more fun that way! Lol!