A/N: Sorry it's taken so long! I had to make a decision for my future, next year I will be going to Scotland!

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings. The only character I own is Ammy.

"Normal speech"

'Thoughts'

'Ammy's thoughts'

Revision 30/03/12: Parts of this chapter have been edited but shouldn't effect the overall story!

Chapter 7
Comforting

Ammy finished the plate of food in silence. The Fellowship also remained silent and soon the air became tense as every member was brimming with questions but no one knew how to voice them.

"Thank you for the food Sam." Amaterasu said and handed the empty plate to the hobbit. She then stood and walked to the edge of the camp. Soon all they could see was her trailing along the ground behind her, a white, silver river that blended into the night and the darkness.

"Go and talk to her!" Merry nudged Frodo and nodded in Ammy's direction. "You're her best friend here, so probably needs comforting."

"I wouldn't know what she needs. She probably hasn't had much time to come to grips with everything." Frodo mumbled. "If she wants to talk she'll come to us. You know how independent she is."

The dark haired hobbit stood and went to his pack, pulling out a blanket and then curled up in it.
The other hobbits decided this would be a wise move to make. They were already very tired and they had only been travelling for one day. Pippin thought it was because they were considerably smaller than their companions and so what seemed like mere miles to the others would be entire countries to the hobbits.

Soon there was peace around the fire as the humans and the dwarf also settled down for the night.

Amaterasu could hear the others settling down for the night and was relieved that none of them had pestered her for questions. She wasn't quite sure how she felt if she was completely honest. Understandably she had never died before and then been given a second chance at life, so it was as disconcerting for her as it would be for the others. The looks of disgust that she had seen Boromir throwing in her direction had not eased her at all and despite the comfort the Hobbits had exuded she hadn't felt comfortable remaining there.

Ammy found a large boulder that was still in sight of the campfire and the others and scrambled up its weather worn surface. It took her several tries as she didn't have claws or the strength of a tiger, however she eventually managed to scale the boulder and perched on top of it. Then she sat and thought.

Legolas turned his gaze in Amaterasu's Fellowship, barring the elf and the woman, had settled down for the night several hours ago but the woman had yet to move from the boulder she was perched on. The elf felt his brow furrow as he realised that it had gotten considerably colder during the hour the small female had been sat alone. He could see her shivering but she seemed not to have realised that she was that cold.

After several minutes thinking Legolas walked over to the campfire and woke Aragorn. The Dunedain had not been deeply asleep and was coherent within seconds. The two males exchanged looks and Legolas's eyes flicked over to Ammy. Without saying a word Aragorn stood and grabbed his pipe and sword and made his way over to where Legolas had been keeping watch.
The elf on the other hand picked up the still warm blanket Aragorn had left behind and moved over to Amaterasu.

"You might consider wrapping yourself in this. You humans are much frailer than elves and dwarves and I do not think you will wish to give Boromir more reasons to send you evil looks." The elf's voice rang out from above Ammy's head and she jumped in surprise.

"Crying out loud!" She squeaked. "How the hell do I not hear you? Or is it one of those natural elf gift/talents that you have?"

She felt the warm blanket drape over her shoulders and snuggled into the coarse but thickly woven fabric. Now that she had something warm to compare with the night air she discovered her shivering limbs and chattering teeth.

"It is one of those natural elf gift/talent things." The blonde elf smiled down at the woman. "Those talents also helped me notice you were shivering."

"From all the way over there?" disbelief was obvious in Ammy's shocked voice and she let out a curse when Legolas simply nodded. "Remind me when I ask a silly question that you are almost impossible to keep anything from."

"That would probably be wisest. Now tell me, what are you thinking?"

Ammy shifted around on top of the rock and stared up at the elf. There were a few more seconds of silence but neither of them looked away from each other. Ammy's pink eyes took in every detail of Legolas' face and decided to tell him.

"I died." She breathed out. "I died and went to the weirdest place I have ever been, met the weirdest little creature ever, met Lucifer and the Three Fates. I bloody died!" There was silence once again but Legolas didn't turn his gaze away from her. He knew she had more to say.

"My parents will grieve for me, as will my friends. I died when my life was just beginning. But I'm not upset. That's what worries me."

She swivelled back to face over the plains once more, giving her back to the elf but he could tell she needed the open space to feel free and that it gave her comfort.

"Why does it worry you little one?" The elf said and then dared to place his hands on her head and begin to stroke her hair down slowly. The pure white strands were soft between his fingers and as delicate as spider webs. She leaned back into his touch and spoke.

"Because I think I should care, be upset, be angry. But I've been given another chance. How many people can ask for that? I left behind one life where it was good, not all the time but we couldn't appreciate the good without the bad could we. I will miss my parents and my friends and my animals but I have a new world to explore and that scares the shit out of me." Ammy let out a choked sob.
"And we're going on this quest and I don't know anything about your world, save for what I read from Lord Elrond's books, and I'm worried what will happen."

The blonde elf knelt down behind the woman and pulled her long hair up and out of the top of the blanket. He then ran his fingers through it gently, teasing out any knots or snarls and once it was lying straight he separated it into three thick bunches and began to plait each bunch. As he weaved Ammy's hair he thought and by the time he was on the second bunch of hair he had a passable answer for the woman.

"We do not know you from before. We will not judge you like you were judge in your world. Our world is full of strange and wondrous things, wondrous sometimes dangerous or beautiful things. But we are your friends, the hobbits, Aragorn, Gandalf, the dwarf and I. We will teach you what you need or want to know about our world and we will support you always." He kept his voice soft and soothing.

"What if something happens though? What if we get separated and I end up alone." Her whispered words were nearly lost in the darkness and Legolas had to strain his elven hearing.

"If something happens, then we will search this world to find you. We are a Fellowship and we are friends. A common cause may unite us but we are individuals with honour and integrity and above all compassion and love. But we do not know what the future holds. So stop worrying about 'if' and focus on 'now'."

Amaterasu remained silent whilst she thought through what Legolas had said. The elf had plaited each of the three bunches and they now only trailed down half the boulder. Although they were quite thick he knew that he could weave them into one large plait which would hopefully prevent Ammy from catching it on too many things.

"You are right. I will stop worrying. Thank you for listening to me." Ammy half turned and smiled at Legolas. "I feel more at ease now but what are you doing with my hair?"

"I am plaiting it so that you will not catch it on any trees or branches next time you decide to go fumbling round in the forest. And I am glad you feel better, although I was hoping you would cheer up soon as I was beginning to sound like Gandalf. I may be older than him but I would hope I am more fun but by the end I was sounding like a wizened old man!" Legolas' light teasing of the wizard, who had caused much consternation earlier, sent Ammy into little giggles.

"There you are little one." Legolas said as he tied off the end of the thick plait with some of the torn fabric from the trousers they had destroyed. "That should be slightly more comfortable in this environment. Your hair is even longer than an elf's. How long did it take to grow?"

Ammy tugged the thick plait over her shoulder. It was heavy but the woven strands would only reach to her knees when she stood and so she would be unable to catch twigs and mud in it from the ground and the contained strands would only be caught occasionally by the odd offending branch.

"Thank you. I never had the patience to plait my hair and the length of it always proved problematic as I couldn't manipulate the strands and ended up tangling myself up in it. One time it was so bad that my father had to cut me out of it." She giggled as she remembered the exasperated look on her father's face.

"I was about ten and my friends said I should plait my hair. After practicing weaving on my father's horses I was ready to do it on my own. By the time he came into the stable I was unable to move my arms I had wrapped myself up that badly! The knots wouldn't tease out so he had to cut it. Then it was only just to my knees. I think that was the only time I got it cut. I had it trimmed occasionally but nothing drastic. When I needed it up, especially if I was doing surgery or field work, I would get the ends and roll them up into a bun, or half tie it up. It never got in my way though. But now I have a question for you Mr Elf. Where did you learn to plait a woman's hair? And you can't say on yourself because the plaits in your hair are different to the ones you did in mine."

Legolas looked at the woman and opened his mouth but nothing came out. Ammy began to laugh fully as she realised she had managed to surprise the all-knowing elf. There was also a light tinge on the elf's cheek bones and Ammy struggled to contain her mirth knowing that she had embarrassed him. Despite persistent questioning the elf refused to answer her and merely asked if she was thinking of getting any sleep, after all they had days of walking before them and she had yet to sleep. Smiling at Legolas' obvious subject change she slid down off the boulder and landed in the grass.

The two walked back to camp quietly and as they neared Ammy could see Aragorn keeping watch with his pipe in his mouth. Despite the cold the man seemed to be unaffected and Ammy shivered just looking at him.

'Then again he seems to be the 'outdoorsy' type so he's probably used to cold nights. That and I am a city girl used to central heating and Manchester weather. Never remember Manchester getting this cold though.'

Legolas gave her a gentle nudge in the direction of the Hobbit pile that had formed. All four Hobbits were fast asleep and were laid in a line. Each was wrapped in an individual blanket but over the hours they had migrated closer to each other for warmth. A space however, had been left between Pippin and Frodo who were at the centre of the group and a blanket and cloak had been neatly placed in between them. After checking with Legolas, Ammy surmised that this was meant for her and was cheered that the Hobbits accepted her.

She began to make her way round the campfire, treading carefully so as to avoid waking Gimli or Gandalf. As she passed Boromir an icy cold hand shot out and grabbed at her ankle. Holding back a shriek of alarm she looked down at the man. He released her ankle and stood up slowly.
Whilst he was not as tall as Aragorn, he was quite thickly built and less lithe than Legolas and Ammy felt a shiver of fear run down her spine. When in her tigress form the man posed less of a threat, she was the one with natural weapons and strength, but in her human form he reminded her too much of her ex-boyfriend and murderer with his towering frame and thicker body. Despite knowing this was Boromir and not Jack, Ammy looked back over her shoulder searching for Aragorn and Legolas. The man and the elf were still sat just outside the camp circle but she could see that Aragorn had partially turned his body so that he could watch the camp and this gave her reassurance.

Her thoughts were interrupted when the man gave a cough and began to speak in a hushed voice.

"I apologise for my behaviour. I have been less than gentlemanly and you did not deserve my disrespect. I hope that you can forgive me." He said and then looked down at her.

"Umm sure. I don't think we met under the best circumstances. Anyway I'm really tired so I'm going to go to sleep now. See you later Boromir." Ammy offered a tentative smile to the man and then carried on to her sleeping space next to the Hobbits.

After lying down and getting as comfortable as possible she looked over to see Aragorn and Legolas talking softly. Boromir had lain back down but she could see his eyes looking at her from across the campfire. A shiver ran down her spine and she turned her gaze away from the man and snuggled into the blanket.
Soon she was fast asleep and missed the looks that Boromir was receiving from Legolas and Aragorn...

A/N: I'm very sorry for the lateness of my update.

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Ryua