~If I never see you again I will always carry you inside, outside, on my fingertips, and at brains edges, and in centers, centers of what I am of what remains.~

Legolas turned to Elrond. "There is not nearly enough time to teach her what she needs to know." He glanced at Rosa before returning to Lord Elrond. "She should not go." He knew of the danger that they would face and she would not be prepared. No matter what path they travel it would be a large difficulty for her. Especially with her fear of horses.

He had no idea what Elrond was thinking, no amount of training they give her before they disembark on their journey would be sufficient, he was concerned with her safety, and as much as he disliked the human from Gondor...he agreed with him.

Elrond acknowledged what he said with a polite nod before saying, "That may be true but I have already decided, just do the best you can."

Legolas noticed the girl, Rosa, looking up at him. He made sure to keep his mask firmly in place. He would rather her hate him and she stay safe than place her in danger, as I would feel about any helpless girl, he thought to himself, trying to give reason to why he felt such a strong need to protect her. When she turned away again, he could see the raw emotion in her beautiful blue eyes. He found his gaze lingering longer than usual. Her eyes were different from the pale blue eyes of the elves, or the grey-blue eyes of the humans he had seen, they were so vibrant, it was almost unnatural. He torn his eyes from her and took a step back, trailing behind Aragorn and Rosa as he led her to the training ground.

"This field will serve as your training ground, " Aragorn said, "Training will start tomorrow. Be ready to wake early."

Once they had left Legolas climbed up into a tree, feeling more familiar there. He rested his eyes, just listening to nature. It was hours later when he was suddenly awakened from his trance. He heard her long before he saw her, Rosa was running through the trees, darting between them with an inhuman grace. His mind only shifted from that thought when he saw her face. She looked as though she were running from someone, afraid of something, but no one was chasing her. He watched, now interested. He stood quickly using his elvish vision to watch her further, even when he thought that she should not be able to move any longer, or collapse from exhaustion she kept moving, he was surprised.

Legolas almost laughed out loud when he realized that she had gotten lost within the forest, it took her much longer than expected to find her way back. When she did, instead of returning to her room, Legolas watched her collapse into the middle of the field. She slept peacefully for only moments before he saw her shake, while she tossed and turned in the field. Legolas had to turn away from her, because the longer he watched, the more he felt the urge to reach out and craddle her close to him, to shelter her from her fears. Legolas shook his head, he didn't understand these thoughts and wished to banish them. He climbed up into a tree not far from where she slept, decided to rest awhile himself.

Legolas awoke when he heard someone approaching, it took mere seconds for Legolas to recognize the person as Rosa. She had resumed her running and was even doing other exercises. He looked around for Aragorn but didn't see him, she was doing this of her own accord, he watched with curiosity. Nearly an hour had passed with Aragorn approached.

"You weren't in your room," was all Aragorn said to Rosa once he was close enough to be heard.

"You're right," she replied dryly.

"Where have you been?" He asked.

"Here, and lost in the woods for awhile but eventually I found my way back. I couldn't stay inside. Sorry...I started without you."

"Well now that you're warmed up...time for the real work to start." Rosa turned around in time to see Legolas jump down from the tree where he had been resting. Legolas turned to Aragorn, "Amin dele ten' he, re il uma sina." (I am worried about her, she cannot do this.)

"Amin uuma weera. Re caela feanor." (I don't agree. She has a spirit of fire.)

"Amin uuma dura he fea, Amin dura he curu." (I don't doubt her spirit, I doubt her skill.)

"Re umuva sina, Amin falanuva he." (She will do this, I will help her.)

Legolas heaved a sigh, "Quel marth, Mellonamin." (Good luck, my friend.)

He stood back as Aragorn trained her.

"First we must work on strength training." Aragorn said grimly. Then next two hours Rosa was running, whenever she did Aragorn would smack her with a wooden sword and say, "Dead."

"You're not strong enough to fight a seasoned warrior, until then you run." He explained.

By the end of that day's training she had welts on her arms and legs.

Rosa collapsed on the ground, the time finally up, "Will I...ever..do...anything..other...than...running?" she said, through heaving breaths.

"Yes," Aragorn said, "roll over."

"What?" she asked. Aragon gave her a look that said "Just do it." She sighed and rolled onto her stomach.

"Now push up."

"What?! You want me to do pushups after all that?" She groaned.

"Yes. Until you can't lift yourself anymore."

Rosa started grumbling until she saw Aragorn get down on the ground beside of her and do them with her. Legolas watched in the distance as her training started. As the days passed on he could tell that she was improving, getting stronger. Elrond walked to stand beside Legolas, who was watching Rosa's progression. Elrohir and Elladan had left earlier that day to scout ahead for the fellowship, Elrond was growing nervous. He had seen a vision of Rosa's arrival but it was quite different from what had occurred, it worried him, his visions could be changed by the actions of another but never before had they strayed so far from what he had seen.

Legolas turned to Elrond, who seemed to be deep in thought.

"Mani naa ta?" (What is it?)

"Ta naa ilfor." (Something is not right.)

Legolas watched Elrond for awhile, he seemed deeply concerned and disturbed with his own thoughts.

XXX

The sound of the wooden swords smacking together echoed through the woods, "Very good." Aragorn said, praising Rosa, he had begun to teach her how to use the sword nearly a week ago, they practiced three times a day just as before, they would start out running and then instead of wearing her out he would teach her the proper stances and techniques. Though she had no prior knowledge she was determined to do this.

"What do you mean, very good? You won...again."

Aragorn smiled at her, "Yes, but you managed to keep your weapon in your hands and you did not fall. I have many years of experience, you cannot hope to best me after only a week."

"Right." she said, "Well, I'm beat. Lets go get some food."

He chuckled, "Not so fast. Today you begin your training with the bow."

Rosa held a groan in, "Okay then, lets do this."

"Oh I will not be teaching you." Aragorn said.

Legolas stepped out from the woods, "I will."

This time Rosa didn't even bother holding back, she let out the mother of all groans, "This oughta be fun." She glanced over at Legolas, she was still not liking him for his last comment, "Lets just get this over with."

Aragorn walked off, laughing at her reaction to Legolas.

"Keep your feet shoulder width apart."

"Aaughh." Rosa adjusted her feet so that they were shoulders width apart and lifted the bow, readying the arrow again.

Legolas scowled, "Keep your knees slightly bent."

"Uggghhhh." She relaxed her legs letting her knees bend slightly, looking over at Legolas to make sure she was doing it correctly. He didn't even acknowledge her.

His shoulders tensed, "Keep your grip firm but don't tense up."

"Nggh." Rosa took a deep breath, softening her grip and relaxing her shoulders.

Legolas closed his eyes, letting out a frustrated breath, "Keep your you arm raised, elbow up."

"Arraugh." She raised her arm higher, her whole body tensing with frustration.

He gripped his bow tightly, his knuckles turning white, "Keep-

"Aauuuuggghhh"

"Would you stop that incessant groaning?" Legolas said through gritted teeth, working hard to keep his mask firmly in place.

"I'm clearly doing it all wrong. Just show me!" Rosa yelled back. He walked over to her and corrected her stance, touching her as little as possible.

"Now. Take a breath in and pull back."

She quietly did as he asked.

"Don't focus on the target, for now just keep the stance and as you breath out, release the arrow."

Rosa looked at the target, nearly fifteen feet away, there is no way I'm going to hit that. She slowly let out her breath and released the arrow, which promptly went two feet and landed in the grass.

"Stop focusing on the target."

"I wasn't."

"You were."

"No, I-

Legolas stepped forward and tied a cloth around her eyes.

What are you doing?"

"If you can't see the target, then you can't focus on it. Now do it again."

Rosa sighed, "Fine." This time she had no choice but to focus on doing everything correctly. She raised the bow, taking a deep breath, she had no idea how she looked but tried to mimic how Legolas had placed her before. She let the breath out and released the arrow. The moments passed and Rosa could take it anymore she reached up to remove the blindfold.

"Don't." She felt his hand on hers and she nearly jumped, she hadn't heard him move closer. He opened up her hand and placed another arrow in it.

"Again."

After about an hour of shooting arrows blindfolded he finally allowed her to take it off. She looked around her. There two feet in front of her was the first arrow, as her gaze traveled up she saw that the rest of her arrows had gone much further, she even managed to hit the target once, albeit on the very edge but still the target nonetheless.

"I did it!" Rosa turned smiling towards Legolas, he looked up to see her turn towards him with the happiest smile on her face. His heart jumped at the sight. Her smile reminded him of how happy he had been to learn how to use a bow when he was younger. He felt the urge to smile back but instead, very briefly held her gaze before turning and walking away. Rosa's shoulders slumped, "Good job Rosa. Oh, thank you Legolas, couldn't have done it without you." she grumbled, turning to pick up all the arrows.

Legolas knew she was upset with him but still as he walked away he smiled.

XXX

Rosa placed the arrows back in the quiver and then made her way back inside. It had been nearly three weeks since her arrival at Rivendell and she knew that they would not stay much longer. She made her way down the halls with the intent to return to her room but after a few wrong turns she found herself lost, again.

"Damn, I thought I had gotten the hang of this." she bemoaned to herself, she always had the worst sense of direction.

This time she found herself in a rather large library. The shelves reached from the bottom of the floor to the top of the ceiling. Filled with books of all shapes and sizes. The room was lit by the natural light that flowed through the windows in the room, and on the table in the center was illuminated by candlelight.

She walked along the shelves, letting her fingertips brush along the spines of the books. Most of them looked ancient and untouched. When she pulled one of the larger books out she recognized the writing, not that she understood what it said, but it was the same as the writing in the book that she had. Curiosity had Rosa firmly in it's grasp, Rosa placed the book back on the shelf and began looking through the rest. It was hours before she found another book with the similar drawing in it as the book she had. Rosa pulled a book off the shelf, it had the same cover as the book in her room. She let her fingered pass over the title, Librum Praesagium, inside the book she found many different drawings, but once she neared the back of the book she saw the same drawing that was a the beginning of the 254 Librum Arcanum, she left the library almost immediately and silently crept along the halls hoping to find her way back to her room without being seen.

Rosa was just outside her room when she saw the twins, she nearly cursed aloud. When the saw her they smiled, "We've been looking for you."

She gulped, taking an involuntary step back.

XXX

There in the middle of the table, surrounded by the rest of the fellowship, Elrond, Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir, sat Rosa. She had been caught red-handed with the book from the library, thankfully they hadn't wanted an explanation, but rather her participation in their plan. Rosa had known twins before, Sally and Gillian but they couldn't have been more different, that was not the case with Elrohir and Elladan. They got along quite well, in particular they both found enjoyment in preying upon others, normally their father would be the butt of the joke, however, with so many knew people in Rivendell, well...the twins couldn't resist. They had a series of pranks ready for nearly every person in the fellowship, save Rosa and the hobbits, who would provide the distraction.

"Ready?" Elrohir asked, leaning in towards Rosa.

"As ready as I'll ever be..."

The night had started off rather harmless, a few jokes here and there to test the waters, but it didn't take long for things to escalate. Next came Rosa's part, she had to take Boromir's attention long enough for Elrohir to slip an extremely spicy herb into Boromir's food. While Elladan replaced his ale with a sour concoction of his own creation.

"Sooo, Boromir..." Rosa said, hoping he would look up at her. He didn't.

She sighed and continued, "I was just wondering what Gondor is like, I've never been there myself and when I ask Aragorn about it he gets this far off look and says something vague, you'd think he was an eighty year old man with all the cryptic things he says." Rosa glanced over at Aragorn to see him coughing out the wine he had just been drinking. She had to fight hard to keep from laughing, serves you right for eavesdropping. He quickly recovered and wiped his mouth. When she turned back Boromir was raising his head towards her.

His eyes studied her for a moment, as if assessing her sincerity. "Why?" he questioned.

Her eyes darted to Elrohir and Elladan, they were nearly finished. "Because I wish to know, but if you don't want to tell me then fine."

Elladan had retreated to his seat and Elrohir was about to do the same, Rosa tension release some knowing this was nearly over. It was only when Elrohir dropped the bottle that Rosa panicked, Boromir was turning back to his food and he would see Elrohir. Rosa moved without thinking, her hand grabbing onto Boromir's, he instantly turned back at her.

"I just wanted to say," Rosa watched Elrohir pick up the bottle and escape back to his seat going unnoticed. She sighed, that was far too close.

"What?" Boromir asked.

"Huh?"

"You just wanted to say, what?"

Rosa hadn't thought about what she was going to say, "Oh...uh. I just wanted to say that...I'm sorry."

"For?"

For what is about to happen to you, she thought to herself, "for what I did back at the council and I know, I mean, I understand why you said what you said."

He seemed genuinely taken aback by what she had said. Though she hadn't truly meant it, at least not the part about being sorry. Rosa turned back to her food and poked at it. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Boromir was still staring at her, but what she hadn't noticed was that she had caught the attention of someone else who was falling victim to the twins while he watched Rosa.

When Boromir finally returned to his food he was startled by the spice, at first he didn't seem bothered but after he coughed lightly Rosa knew what was coming. She wanted to cringe as she watched he reached for his glass. Boromir face distorted into a look of disgust and was coughing and spraying the rest of the drink onto his food while Gimli had discovered the live bug in his meal which had promptly hopped into his beard.

Legolas had stood abruptly, knowing who was responsible but as he took a step found himself tumbling forward as a not-so-graceful elf with his boot laced tied together would. When Aragorn tried to help Legolas up he found himself attached to his own seat and sighed. Sam had panicked thinking he too was a victim of the twins, but was not. The other three hobbits had erupted into laughter and Rosa tried to keep from laughing as she shrunk down in her seat, yet failed miserably.

Elrond of course knew that the twins had orchestrated the plan, in his anger he had overlooked her, Merry and Pip. Elladan and Elrohir shot her a wink over their shoulders before they were...escorted from the room.

~Two hours Later~

Rosa sat alone in her room with the book from Elrond's library, Vala's notes and the book from her world. It had been nearly an hour since Rosa had escaped to her room, hoping to forget the events that had occurred at dinner, Rosa shuttered to remember that she had any part in it. Though she had to admit that she was, before it got vastly out of hand, a little amused with their jokes. Rosa sighed and returned to the books in front of her. She was able to pick out words from each book that matched with the notes. From what she could tell the book she had was mainly about one person, who was the same person in the page from the book she had found in Elrond's library. Rosa yawned, it would take her forever to be able to translate it all and she was certain that she didn't even know enough to be able to translate it all.

The hours passed and night had fallen upon Rivendell, the stars were alight dancing above them as Rosa drifted off to sleep. It was her last night in Rivendell, and though she knew of their quest, she had no idea what awaited her outside of the safety that Rivendell provided.

XXX

Rosa packer her bags in silence, Vala had brought her clothing to wear during their travels. She was nervous to leave, up until this point Rosa had forgotten what her being there might mean for the story. Once she was finally ready Rosa said her goodbyes.

"Vala, Diola lle ten' nad mellonamin." (Thank you for being my friend.)

"Ta nae amin saesa, Aa' lasser en lle coia orn n' omenta gurtha." (It was my pleasure, May the leaves of your life tree never turn brown.)

Legolas and Aragorn stood near Elrond and Gandalf, discussing the coming journey, while Frodo, Sam, Mary and Pippin stood near the horses, blissfully unaware of what was to come. Gimli waited patiently while smoking his pipe. Rosa made her way over to Gimli, sitting next to him, "Gimli," she said, looking down at him, "do you think we can do this?"

He thought about it for a few moments, "Aye, Lassie, if not, then we'll die tryin'." Rosa mulled it over in her head, she had been so determined to go with them, but now she wondered if she would help at all, or just get in the way as Boromir said.

Her eyes shifted over to Frodo, she thought about all that he would go through, all that he had already gone through. She felt her smile fall as she looked at him, he looked so happy there with his friends. It felt wrong knowing that he would be separated from them, she tried to smile knowing that Sam would be with him through it all but couldn't. Her eyes darted over to Legolas, locking her gaze with his. She didn't turn away, instead she studied him. Rosa wondered how old he was, how long it had taken him to perfect his indifferent face. It seemed impossible to her, how someone could live so long and still enjoy the small things, does he? Rosa searched his eyes for some sign of emotion.

Legolas didn't turn away for once, he had been watching her talk to Gimli and the way her smile had fallen after watching Frodo. When he looked into her eyes he no longer saw the bright sapphire blue, but instead a dull grey that was void of the happiness he had seen in the weeks before as she practiced. He felt the urge to comfort her but instead just kept staring back.

Elrohir and Elladan returned from their scouting and made their way over to Ellrod. They shared words about the path ahead and then it was time for the fellowship to leave. Boromir sounded the horn of Gondor, causing Elrond to share a few words with him but Rosa was too far away to hear them.

"The ring bearer is setting out on the quest to Mount Doom. Of you who travel with him, no oath or bond is laid to go further than you will. Farewell, hold to your purpose and may the blessings of elves," Elrond's eyes rested upon Legolas, "and men," then Boromir, "and free folk go with you." and lastly Gimli, and the hobbits.

Gandalf turned back towards Frodo, "The Fellowship awaits the ring bearer."

He walked to the front of the group and the fellowship set out, "Mordor, Gandalf, is it left or right?"

"Left."

Rosa kept towards the back with Aragorn, waving goodbye to Arwen, Vala and the twins, Elrohir and Elladan. She looked over to see Aragorn and Arwen saying their goodbyes through their eyes, Arwen looked so deeply sad, Rosa's heart ached for them. Aragorn nodded to Arwen and the turned following Rosa, who shuffled behind Sam, feeling like she didn't really belong here. Life wasn't perfect for her back home, but at least she knew where she belonged.

They traveled until nightfall, few words were spoken unless either Merry, Pippin, or Sam was informing the group that it was time to eat. As they picked a spot to settle down for the night Rosa stepped forward, "I'll gather some firewood." She hadn't asked for permission yet almost instantly Aragorn, Gimli, Boromir and Legolas stood to keep her from going. Before they could say anything she shot them daggers, "I'm not asking. If someone wishes to join me, fine, but I refuse to sit around like a bump on a log and do nothing to help."

"There are other ways, less dangerous ways to help." Aragorn offered, hoping to appease Rosa while keeping her away from any possibilities of danger.

She smiled at him, "Good, then I'll have something to do when I return."

Aragorn sighed while Boromir and Legolas stepped forward, "I'll go with you." She looked between the two, they weren't exactly her favorite people, but before Boromir had become a complete jerk he had been very nice to her. She wondered if she could get him to act that way towards her again. She walked past them smacking Boromir on the arm lightly. "Let's go."

As they got further from the camp, and the sound of the hobbits could no longer be heard, an uncomfortable silence settled over them, disturbed only by the sound of crunching leaves beneath their feet. Rosa sucked in a breath and let it out loudly as she scanned the ground for firewood.

"Why did you choose me?" Boromir's voice broke the silence, it was soft and much warmer than it usually was.

She turned towards him, "Why?"

He nodded.

"Well," Rosa thought about it for a few moments, she hadn't given it much thought at the time. Neither of them wanted her there, but Boromir's reason had made her less angry with him. He was concerned and she couldn't fault him for that. Legolas however, seemed cold and distant, part of her wanted to get to know the man, or I guess I should say elf, under that cold emotionless exterior but the other part wanted to kick him in the shin for being a jerk. When she looked over at him she realized that he had been staring at her the whole time. "I guess I kinda hoped that we could become friends."

Rosa peeked up at him from under her lashes. He was watching her intently. Rosa, feeling a little uncomfortable under his gaze, began walking again. Though she was still distracted by Boromir and ended up tripping over a large root, landing on the ground she let out an indignant huff before rolling onto her back.

"That's it! I'm done with nature!" she called out to no one in particular.

Boromir stared blankly, blinking at her before he bust out into laughter. He walked over and helped her up off the ground.

"Thanks," she grumbled dusting herself off. When she looked back up she realized how close Boromir was. She froze as his hand reached up towards her face, resting on her hair that covered her cheek. He brushed it behind her ear and removed a few leaves from her hair.

"You should be more careful," he said looking into her bright blue eyes. She stared back into his, they were a dark green, matching the forest around them. He gave a slight smile before he turned away and began gathering logs. Rosa let out a breath she didn't know she was holding and followed him, picking up sticks and smaller logs.

"What do you miss most being out here in the wild? Warm bed? Good food? Non-aching feet?" Rosa asked playfully.

"My brother." He smiled, it was sad, but filled with fondness as Boromir thought of his memories with him.

"Faramir," Rosa whispered. She felt sad knowing that Boromir would never see him again. With a thought, Rosa became determined, maybe I couldn't have saved Johnathan, but I will save Boromir. It shouldn't be that hard, after all, I know when, where and how it's going to happen.

If you haven't messed up the story by just being here, the little voice said.

You just had to ruin it, she said back.

Boromir's voice brought her back to reality.

"Huh?"

"What do you miss?"

"Oh definitely a warm bed, good food, and non-aching feet," she replied smiling.

He chuckled, "Truly?"

She gave it some thought. "Feeling useful." She looked over at him and gave him a half-hearted smile.

He faltered, knowing he was the one who had made her feel useless, claiming that she would only get someone killed. He winced mentally remembering what he had said. He still believed she should not be with them on such a dangerous journey but now, seeing her sadness for the first time, he wished he had been more mindful when he had stated his opinion.

"Well, my arms are full. How bout you macho man, can you carry any more?"

He glanced up at her, "Macho man?"

She laughed. "Oh nothing. Let's go."

Once both of their arms were filled with the firewood they made their way back to the camp. Rosa kept and extra careful eye on the forest floor below her, not wanting to have a repeat of earlier. Aragorn started the fire and the hobbits were quick to begin their cooking. Legolas had managed to catch a couple rabbits, which were added in once properly skinned and cleaned. After filling their stomachs and warming themselves the hobbits settled down to sleep. Aragorn offered to take first watch with Gandalf and Legolas took second.

"Well I don't mind getting up earlier so I can take the last-"

"Absolutely not." Aragorn said, before she even finished her sentence.

"But I-"

"No."

"Please?"

"No, now get some sleep."

Rosa was tempted to grumble some choice words under her breath but one thought of elven hearing kept her from that. She looked pointedly at Aragorn before settling herself down on the edge of their campsite opposite of him. One look from Aragorn and Legolas was making his way over to where Rosa lay, setting his bed roll near hers.

After having slept so long in a real bed Rosa was having trouble sleeping on the ground again, and this time the soothing sound of Aragorn singing was not there to lull her to sleep. Unable to find a comfortable position, Rosa just laid on her back and stared up at the stars and though delayed, sleep did claim her. Rest, however, did not follow.