Title: Until We Reach Valinor

Chapter 4: Disappointment and Joy

NOTE: This story is sequel to "A Teacher's Duty" and you'll have to read that one first to understand this one. Also, this story does not contain slash, and it is not a romance, despite what the first chapter might suggest.

SPECIAL THANKS to Orlando's Sweetheart for helping me pick the name of the woman, and the title to this story. Your help is much appreciated, thanks a lot.

Now, on with the story.

…

"Celin!" Legolas hissed, not wanting to wake anyone but him.

Celin woke with a start, "Sir?" he whispered.

Legolas jerked his hand towards the outside of the tent and removed his head from the opening. Celin rose quietly, treaded carefully through the sleeping forms of his tent-mates, and ducked outside the tent.

"You wished to sp-speak with me, sir?" he asked, trying valiantly not to yawn.

Legolas smiled at his sleepiness, "My apologies for waking you this early. You can go back to sleep in a minute. I merely wanted to tell you that what I taught you in those extra hours of practice I made you do in punishment for not attending classes- I want you to teach it to the class, starting today."

"What?" Celin gasped, his drowsiness evaporating, "But I don't even know it that well myself, to teach it!"

"You know it as well as you'll ever know it," Legolas said reassuringly, "You are a fast learner, Celin- twice as fast as anybody else here, and you have learnt everything I taught you. We both know that. All that remains now is to see how well you will be able to teach them what you know."

"Sir, you should have told me that you wanted me to teach what you were teaching me!" Celin protested, rather besides himself, "Then I would have-"

"Paid greater attention?" Legolas interrupted. "That isn't how this works. You learn everything with equal attention, so if you are sprung a surprise of this kind, you won't be unprepared. And you aren't unprepared- you paid as much attention as you could."

Celin could not argue with this, "Alright, sir," he said after a long moment, "I will do as you say, but I hope you do not expect too much of me. I don't wish to disappoint you."

"Do your best, and you will never disappoint me," Legolas reassured him, "Now go back to bed."

"You must be joking, sir, I could never sleep after this! I have to plan out how I am to teach them!" Celin sounded horrified by the mere idea of sleep now.

Legolas smiled to himself, he had expected this, "Alright then. Do as you will. Just don't worry too much."

Celin nodded and began to walk away.

"Oh, and Celin?"

"Yes, sir?"

"It goes without saying, but don't expect any help from me, except perhaps to demonstrate what you're teaching them."

"Of course, sir. As you said, it goes without saying."

As Legolas looked after him, he wondered fleetingly if he had done the right thing.

…

"Class! CLASS! Please, quiet down!" Legolas yelled over the din, clapping his hands to draw their attention.

He was meeting with a lot of rebellion today- the children were in absolutely no mood to learn new things with the graduation coming up, especially since what they would learn today was not part of their coursework for this year.

"Sir," somebody whined, "Can't you please give us an off today?"

"No, indeed I cannot," Legolas said sternly, "Or rather, I can. Celin is the one who will be teaching you today, not me. So technically, you do have an off, but only from me."

The class immediately broke out chattering about this new development. Legolas decided that this was a good time for him to make his exit. He turned quietly, and, unnoticed, crept to the far end of the clearing so he could watch at a distance how the class proceeded.

"Celin, what is this?"

"How come you never told us?"

"Why does he want you to teach us?"

Celin held a hand up, suddenly finding himself in his element. He really had an extraordinary ability of getting people to listen to him. It merely depended on what he said. For they might listen to him, but they might not cooperate him.

"Sir wants me to practice teaching- you know, so he knows how good I am at it," he said in a deliberately off-hand manner, "It all depends on how much you learn, you know, So please, just give this a try, will you? For my sake. I promise I'll let you go early if sir let's me."

This was met with a flurry of agreement. Legolas smiled delightedly as he watched Celin bend the class to his will effortlessly. He had their cooperation. The question was, would he be able to teach them?

"What are you teaching us, Celin?"

"Is it something we already know?"

"Is it difficult?"

"How long do you think it will take to learn, Celin?"

"It's something new, and you'll soon find out about the rest of your questions. Just get your swords and your scarves."

"Scarves?"

"Whatever fo -"

"JUST GO AND GET THEM, WILL YOU!" Celin roared, making them all jump. He took a deep breath and said, "Look, I know we all thought it was paranoid of sir to ask us to bring scarves in the summer, but there was a reason for it. So just stop arguing and bring them."

Legolas smiled; amused by this comment, evidently they had forgotten he was still there. He found it quite hilarious that they had found him paranoid.

"So, what are we doing with the scarves?" Pilinel asked a few minutes later.

"Sir?" Celin asked, jolting Legolas out of his reverie, "Could you please help me demonstrate?"

"Yes of course, Celin," Legolas said. He took the scarf from Celin's hand and tied gently but firmly over his eyes

Celin spun around once, and then said in the general direction of a tree, "We're going to have to learn how to fight someone when we're blindfolded and they're not."

There was a gasp from the others. The task was more difficult than anything they had confronted before. Instantly, they wished that Legolas was teaching them. For how could Celin ever teach them how to do something so…difficult?

Celin, feeling their alarm, wondered if he should say something to reassure them. But then, he thought, perhaps it was better to let them see for themselves.

He took a deep breath, and emptied his mind of all thought as Legolas had taught him to. He shut his ears to the sounds of the whispers around him, and opened them to every sound that Legolas was making. He sharpened all of his senses, and when he thought he was ready, he said, "Now, sir."

Legolas's sword swung into action, and to everybody's amazement, Celin's was there to meet it. In fact, he was able to meet every one of Legolas's blows successfully. After two minutes, he thought they had seen enough.

"What did you think?" he said, untying the scarf from around his eyes.

They were looking at him with wide eyes.

"What?" he said nervously, "It's not that difficult."

"You are amazing, Celin," said a hushed voice, "That was…brilliant."

"Er…thanks," Celin said uncomfortably, "It really isn't that difficult, mellonamin. You just have to learn to use all your senses."

Legolas thought this would be a good time to make himself scarce, so he sidled back to the corner, unnoticed by all except Celin, who gave him a look before turning back to the class.

"Now you've got to teach that to us," Linnor stated finally, after they had spent a long time just staring at each other's faces.

"Yes," Celin said, bracing himself. "Pair up, and draw lots to see who will be blindfolded first."

There was a sharp intake of breath from Legolas which thankfully nobody heard. He thought it was a mistake to leave something like this up to chance- because there were some who had the skill to downplay their skills when occasion required it, and some who did not, so the partners could not be picked through merely drawing lots. But then, he reminded himself, you know these students' abilities much better than Celin does. It's your job to know them- and Celin has never bothered to observe these things until now. He won't know whom to give which roll even if he doesn't do things by chance. So I won't interfere, not this time.

Later, he half-wished he had. Celin was good at demonstrations, but not at explanations. He was not able to use the right technical terms; as a result they did not understand what exactly he wanted them to do, and the whole thing was more or less a fiasco. Legolas watched with grim resignation as the class, bruised and in some cases bloody, went to change their clothes and wash their faces after the grueling lesson.

Celin walked towards Legolas after everyone had gone. His teacher appeared to be lost in thought.

"Sir?" he said tentatively.

Legolas jerked out of his reverie, "Yes, Celin?"

"It…it went badly, did it not?"

"You did your best, Celin," Legolas said, sighing heavily, I just wish it could have been better.

"Sir…I'm sorry to disappoint you," Celin said, crestfallen.

"Listen to me," Legolas said, suddenly realizing how his behavior was being read by the boy, "You did not disappoint me. You did your best, and no one can ask for more than that. Just, next time, don't leave the pairings up to chance. Match people according to their skills, and to do that, you have to observe people from now on. Or you'll never succeed in getting the pairings right."

"But if you aren't disappointed in me, why did you sigh like that?"

Legolas hesitated. He had been thinking how droll the school would be if Celin decided not to continue next year, but he had promised the boy he wouldn't try to influence his decision, so how could he give him that answer?

"Sir?" Celin asked, wondering whether the teacher had forgotten he was there.

"Yes, Celin, I'm still here," Legolas sighed; "I just don't know how to answer that question."

"So you are disappointed in me then."

"No! Of course not! I just…I can't answer the question because if I did I would be breaking the promise I made to you a week ago."

To Legolas's amazement, Celin started to laugh. "Oh, sir, don't tell me you've been worrying about me leaving?"

"Well, actually I have been," Legolas said, bewildered, "You did seem very crestfallen after today's class. But…" he brightened considerably, "Does this mean that you won't be leaving then?"

"No, of course not, sir," Celin answered, smiling slightly, "If I can't fight, then I want to become a teacher, and it strikes me that I can improve upon it best if I'm able to observe your teaching skills at close quarters. After all, sir, you are the only one who can help me find my path; I would be a fool to turn my back on that."

A great load fell away from Legolas's heart, and his features lit up in a rare, bright smile, "Oh, Celin, thank you for saying that," he said with heartfelt joy, "You don't know how much it means to me."

"Actually, sir, I think I do," Celin said surprisingly, "It is part of the reason I made the decision to stay. I would never want to cause you pain if I could help it."

Legolas was touched. "I…Celin, that...thank you for saying that," he stammered, "But please don't let my influence burden you in the future."

"Don't thank me, sir;" Celin replied, choosing to ignore the second part of the sentence, "I want this as much as you do. It isn't some favor I'm doing you. On the contrary, you're the one that needs to be thanked. Thank you, sir."

Legolas watched in speechless wonder as he walked away. He had never been more happy, more touched, or more proud of anyone in his life. All his worries about Celin evaporated in that one instant, and he turned his mind to other things. Such as Linnor.

…

TBC…

So sorry I tool so long over this update, but this is the best I can do with all the homework we have. If it's any consolation, you have my assurance that I will never quit with this story. Not as long as I'm alive, LOL.

Many thanks to my reviewers for their kindness. Thanks all of you! Next chapter- Linnor, and the 'surprise' Legolas was referring to last chapter.