Disclaimer: I am not Tolkien
AN: As promised this chapter is chock full of 'feelings' and not much else. Thanks for your support everyone! Please keep the feedback coming; it really helps!
Reminder: ITALICS is Elvish
Happy Reading!
Chapter 14: Clarification and Satisfaction
The afternoon meal was a quiet affair as all those assembled would be rising out to Isengard within the hour. The horses were ready, their bags were packed, and their weapons were cleaned and repaired from the battle. Nina was sorely tempted to disclose what had happened with the hobbits and the Ents but decided not to rob herself of the sight of Gimli's face upon seeing the hobbits feasting on the battlefield.
Nina had found herself seated between Eomer, who had walked her into the keep, and Haldir, who had reappeared at her side the moment they reached the doors. Knowing her brother well, Nina was nervous at his expectant and amused expression. It was the same look he gave her when he and their brothers were about to play a trick on her or commence teasing her relentlessly. She raised an eyebrow in question at him but he simply smiled and shook his head in a non-answer.
The elleth was the only female present in the company which would surely bother Eowyn who had been tasked with leading the refugees of Edoras back to the city under guard from half the Rohirim. If events kept to their predetermined time lines, their company would reach Edoras no more than a day behind Eowyn as they were riding as opposed to walking with the wounded and children.
Several seats to her right and across the table sat Legolas who kept giving her the strangest looks the entire meal. She felt his eyes on her from time to time and each time she looked up to catch his gaze with her own questioning one he would give a look full of clouded and confused emotions she could not read but were still overwhelming in their intensity before looking away again. He almost looked conflicted. The heat in his gaze was reminiscent of the times when they had kissed since reuniting outside Fangorn but there was also something like anger in him that should not place no matter how hard she tried. When the plate were finally cleared Nina made to leave and was shocked to find her wrist caught by none other than Legolas himself who must have sprinted around the table in the mass of moving men to reach her before she departed.
"One moment of your time please, my friend." He said coolly before all but dragging her out of the room and down two successively more dusty halls until he opened a door to the top of the keep and ushered her outside. Once he'd shut the door behind them Nina turned to face him and found that same impossible expression on his face.
When he didn't move to speak after the first minute Nina sighed wearily "I cannot read your mind Legolas. What is it?" Apparently those words were enough because within seconds he was holding her pressed against him and had secured his lips over hers. Nina smiled softly into the kiss and moved her lips over his. If all he wanted was this he could have just done it inside. He clearly wanted to speak with her about something but until he decided to speak with words she would happily enjoy this manner of conversing. When she was about to open her mouth to deep the kiss further Legolas wrenched himself away.
"Why do you spend time in the company of Eomer?" Legolas's question came out as more of a demand and she had to quell her instinct to fight at such a challenging tone.
She simply stared at him askance for a moment before deciding to answer and see where this was going. "I have spoken to Eomer twice in my life. Once you were present and the other I ran into him in the stables when I was looking for you. He walked me back to the keep for lunch. Why?" It was a bizarre line of questioning. Did the ellon not approve of Eomer as a friend for her? Did he believe he had the right to dictate who her friends were? This didn't sound like behavior she'd ever proscribe to Legolas.
"I do not like the way he looks at you." Nina raised an eyebrow at his sullen tone. What on earth was wrong with her friend? He was acting so strangely.
"Why? How does he look at me? He's been nothing but kind since I met him." Perhaps she had misread Eomer's kindness and he was actually making a mockery of her or something of the like. It seemed unlikely but something was clearly bothering Legolas and she didn't want him in such a foul mood if she was going to be trying to have their much needed conversation about their relationship when they got a spare moment.
Legolas looped an arm around her waist and pulled her close again but did not kiss her much to her disappointment. "He looks at you the way I look at you." The ellon locked his eyes on hers and she could feel the heat pooling in her cheeks as she blushed. Oh! Legolas was jealous! If it wasn't so unexpected she would probably find it hilarious. Eomer was nice and fairly good looking but for someone like Legolas to be jealous of anyone was sheer insanity.
Once she recovered herself from the surprise Nina let a small smile cross her face and reached up to cup his cheek reassuringly. "But I do not look at HIM the way I look at YOU." She stated boldly and raised herself up on her toes to give him a light kiss on the lips before pulling back and continuing. "Besides, EVERY woman in this whole place has been looking at you like you're something to eat since the moment they set eyes on you." Legolas's eyes widened in what looked like confusion and she laughed lightly. "Do you really have no idea how unfairly attractive you are?" Nina's question was only half teasing. He was honestly the most attractive male she'd ever seen in either life.
Legolas leaned in and kissed her soundly. The elleth could feel his lips ticking into a small smile as they slid across hers and her hand on his cheeks looped behind his neck to deepen the kiss. When they broke apart for air Nina saw that most of the conflict had left her ellon's eyes and smiled. "Eomer may look at me however he likes; it will not change the fact that I see him only as a friend. He is one of the only humans who does not dislike me for being an odd elleth. Now come, we will be late if we do not hurry!"
She extracted herself from his grasp reluctantly and opened the door to reenter the keep. Legolas took hold of her hand once he'd shut the door behind them and pressed a kiss to the back of it as they made their way towards the stables. Neither took note that their hands remained interlocked until they had to separate to collect their packs and weapons and mount their horses. Only Haldir took note of their near lateness but when he saw the smiles the both wore Nina saw him shake his head and turn away instead of commenting.
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Legolas disliked Eomer so profoundly that it could very well be termed hate. It would have been far easier to ignore the man's presence or possibly even find him simply annoying if he did not insist on being so close to Nina. For the better part of the afternoon ride the man had kept pace at Nina's left and he kept to her right. Legolas had hoped to use this time to possibly continue their conversation from earlier. Having addressed the fact that Nina did not regard Eomer as more than a friend, Legolas assumed she was implying she saw him as more than a friend. He'd been almost certain for some time that she at least partially returned his feelings but he wanted certainty and assurances, especially if she was going to be around a man like Eomer for the foreseeable future.
Once or twice he caught her giving him knowing, slightly sympathetic looks when Eomer would dole out a compliment or offer personal information about himself in hopes of her reciprocating. After several hours in his presence Nina was beginning to look a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation and he knew she could see his every growing tenseness which she responded to with an almost exasperated look that clearly asked 'what do you want me to do about it?' He managed a small smile at the thought that she preferred his company to the man's. Both elves let out a sigh of relief when Théoden called for Eomer to join him at the front of the party.
"Shall we go hide in the back so he cannot find us if he returns?" Nina teased but he knew the offer was a serious one when she nudged Tala to the side of the riding column and slowed her trot to a walk. Legolas followed suit eagerly. They waited until all of the men of the company and the Galadhirm elves had passed (including Haldir who spread them both an exasperated smile) before picking up speed again and following the tail of the party.
For the next hour the elves simply rode in blissful silence, enjoying each other's company. Legolas wished to speak to her but found the idea of not being able to reach out and touch her during conversation very disheartening. Their talk would have to wait until the company stopped for the evening and Nina said farewell to her brother. When the horn call to stop the march came both elves led their horses up the column to find Haldir, knowing he wouldn't leave without a farewell form his sister.
Nina hopped off Tala mid stride in a graceful but reckless move that had Legolas wondering how she'd survived her time as a breakable human. She walked swiftly up to the Marchwarden and allowed him to fold her into a hug. He heard their softly spoken goodbye and a promise form Nina that she would make time to see all of her brothers when she returned to Lothlorien in a little over a week. Legolas forcibly pushed the thought of their impending separation out of his mind. He could only deal with one issue at a time. When Haldir looked to him Legolas smiled and spoke, "It did my heart good to see you again my friend. I hope we shall see each other again soon. Safe travels." Haldir nodded in acknowledgment and with that the Galadhirm turned as one and began marching to the distant forest of Lothlorien.
Legolas dismounted and slipped an arm around Nina's waist as was becoming habit. Seeing her so sad at the parting was enough to cause his own sorrow. Once the Galadhirm had disappeared over the crest of the hill Nina took a deep breath next to him and looped an arm around his middle to give him an impulsive half hug before grabbing Tala's lead and smiling. "We should find Aragorn, Gimli, and Mithrandir." She suggested tilting her head to the head of the halted procession.
"Let us go" he agreed and fell in step beside her as they made their way to the front of the column. The soldiers were clearly well practiced in the art of making a quick camp as most of the riders had picketed their horses and were in the process of making small campfires in groups of ten or so. Much to Legolas' pleasure the fire the other members of the Fellowship were seated at was less than ten feet from the treeline.
Legolas was running several possible ways to convince Nina to speak with him alone later through his mind when she spoke. "Could we talk later tonight? I fear we are long overdue for a conversation." The ellon couldn't help but notice the blush that stained her face and smiled.
"Of course, Nina." He'd slowly found himself using the Elvish term for 'my friend' less and less as he came to regard her as something well beyond a friend. Nina's answering smile made him wish they were alone he could kiss her again.
"There you are!" Gimli's gruff voice bellowed from the fire pit. "Eomer here said you two disappeared more than an hour ago! We were starting to think you'd run off!" Legolas laughed at the accuracy of his statement. They had been hiding.
"We went back to speak with Haldir, you probably just lost us in the crowd of 'pointy ears' master dwarf" Nina teased, easily deflecting the attention from their absence and onto Gimli's apparently contradictory sentiments about elves.
"Well you two aren't too bad but the rest of that lot isn't worth picking over to find you!" The dwarf protested halfheartedly and Legolas laughed. The friendship between him and Gimli was unexpected and unconventional to say the least. Nina shook her head and took Arod's reigns from his hand before taking both horses to picket them by the rest. He noticed she left Tala unfettered and marveled again at how well trained Haldir's horse was. Tala chose that moment to prance around the tied down horses as if mocking them for their masters lack of trust and quickly rephrased his thought. Tala was not well trained she was simply too smart to run away.
Nina returned moments later and dropped her pack on the ground next to Gimli before settling herself down on top of it and removing her weapons. Legolas followed suit and tried not to let his gaze linger too long on the elleth's form as she bent to remove a large knife strapped to her thigh. If the eyebrow Aragorn raised at him in surprise form across the fire was any indication he was not all that successful.
Food was produced from the bags of those assembled and Gimli volunteered to cook, lamenting the absence of the hobbits who had been exceptionally handy to have around at meal times. The rest of the evening was spent listening to the songs the soldiers sung and the tales of old battles passed around by the King, Eomer, and Théoden's advisors at the Fellowship's fire. Once the rest of their companions had finally taken their rest Legolas stood and offered Nina a hand. She smiled nervously but allowed him to pull her up and allowed him to lead her into the bordering trees. The walked in silence for several minutes until the noises coming from camp were barely audible and finally Legolas sopped near a fallen log which he pulled her to sit down on.
"First," he said lightly before pulling her into a quick but thorough kiss that lasted quite a bit longer than he'd intended. Once he managed to pull away from the addictive feel of her soft and eager lips against his own and the intimate caress of her tongue against his he smiled widely. "I've wanted to do that since we left." He admitted shamelessly.
"You won't hear any complaints from me." Nina said breathlessly, leaning her head back on his shoulder. Legolas took a moment to revel in how natural the casual intimacy of the moment felt. He'd noticed before just how reflexive reaching out to touch the elleth constantly had become and as opposed to being alarmed by the sudden change Legolas was reveling in the closeness.
Taking a bracing breath Legolas decided it was time to speak before he lost his nerve again. "How much do you know about romantic relationships among our kind?" He asked and tried not to laugh when she stiffened slightly in his arms. The ellon drew small comforting circles on Nina's back as she internally debated her response.
"I know elves only ever fall in love once and that sex is tantamount to marriage for you." Nina replied, refusing to look him in the eye but Legolas could see the strong blush crossing her face and wished to reassure her.
"Look at me little one." He requested, tilting her head up so her could look her in the eye. "There is nothing to be embarrassed about. I simply wanted to be certain you'd understand me fully. I am aware that the middle of a war that could be the death of us all is not the ideal time for either of us to discover we have romantic feelings for another but clearly the Valar have a different opinion. I am in love with you and I wish to keep you with me as my mate, match, and wife until the end of our days." Nina was staring at him with a stunned and slightly vacant expression that sent him backpedaling "I will understand if you-"his words were cut short when she laid a hand over his mouth to stop him.
A smile more beautiful than the ellon had seen in his thousands of years on the earth bloomed on his elleth's face. "I love you too. I am now and will always be yours." She stated simply and replaced her hand with her lips. Caught up in the overwhelming joy radiating inside his chest Legolas pulled the elleth onto his lap and immediately deepened the kiss. He'd always tried to retain some sense of himself in their previous exchanges but now, with the only elleth he could ever love having agreed to tie herself to him, Legolas let go. He crushed her to him, leaving no space between their bodies and traced every inch of her that he could reach with eager hands. Now was not the time for them to become bonded but soon… soon when all of this was over he would take her for his own and would not be separated from her at all if he could help it.
It was only when he began to feel light headed that he separated his mouth from hers for more than a moment. "When the war is over I will make you my wife." There was no uncertainty in his tone. All the petty emotions he'd felt when she was in the presence of other males now seemed so pointless. How could he be jealous when she proclaimed herself to be his?
"I am very happy to hear that." Nina's chest still rose and fell rapidly as she regulated her breathing and the ellon took several moments to imprint the memory of her looking like this into his memory. Her black hair was wild form the days ride as well as his hands. Her face was still flushed with color and her lips were swollen and kiss bruised in a most enticing way. The almost childlike joy and lightness he could see swimming in her bright green eyes felt like an answer to the insane happiness in his own chest.
Nina buried her head in the crook of his neck and laid several very enticing kisses across the junction lightly. "Can we stay here tonight? It's much more fun to incite gossip when it is deserved." Before he could answer she slipped out of his hold and seated herself on the mossy ground in front of their makeshift bench, patting the ground beside her in mock invitation. The ellon was only too happy to oblige the request and slid to the ground next to her before pulling her into his lap in a move that was quickly becoming a favorite perk of their newly declared mutual affections.
Nina quickly took advantage of her new seating arrangements and playfully pinned his shoulders to the mossy ground, following him into the horizontal position and fusing her lips with his. Legolas couldn't help but feel slightly guilty for how many liberties he'd already taken with his elleth. Elves may be more physically affectionate and open as a rule but intimate contact was unilaterally only initiated between married pairs. Of course, Nina had expressed –several times, loudly and vividly- how little matters of propriety were followed in her birth world. She certainly was not complaining as his hand slipped under the back of her tunic to trace absent patterns on the bare skin of her back. Indeed, it was her that began striping him of his tunic in response. They both knew that their interactions needed to come to a halt before actual intercourse but Legolas couldn't help but feel alternatingly elated and smug moments of satisfaction as Nina made it clear with her actions that she was most certainly not opposed to them becoming more intimately acquainted then and there.
It was not until he noticed she was trying to slip out of her own tunic that Legolas put a stop to things. Valar knew he wanted to see his elleth, his future wife, in such an unclothed state but she was clearly overestimating his self-control. Reluctantly, Legolas rolled them over so that he was hovering over her prone body with most of his weight braced on his forearms on either side of her shoulders. "If you begin taking off your clothing I cannot be certain we will not be bonded before sunrise." The ellon buried his face in the crook of her neck and whispered to her while laying kisses along her neck in a mirror to what she'd done to him earlier. "As much as I want nothing more than to have you irrevocably tied to me in every way imaginable, I would perhaps be more prudent to wait for the end of the war," Legolas looked around at their surroundings absently to distract himself from the reality of their position "and perhaps a bed" he added jokingly as his eyes came back to rest on hers.
The mix of frustration and resignation was oddly gratifying and Legolas couldn't resist initiating another long kiss but kept the pace considerably slower than their earlier passionate urgency. Legolas could feel his body returning to his control bit by bit as they continued their slower exchanges. When Nina broke away from his mouth she was still breathing irregularly but it was nothing compared to the heaves of air they'd been gasping for before. "I sort of hate that you're right" the elleth grumbled with her eyes closed. Legolas let out a startled laugh which was cut short as she continued; now meshing her gaze with his warmly. "Besides, I'll be leaving soon and I will need more than a few days with you after we're married." Legolas felt his mind simultaneously go blank and fill with images and interpretations of what she'd said but eventually found it within him to return his impish grin. The ellon eventually just shook his head good naturedly and tipped them both over onto their sides.
He had, of course, been intending to propose they bind themselves together for some time but it appeared the reality of the situation was reminding him of some aspects of their coming nuptials he'd neglected to think about. "We'll need to have an official ceremony before we bind ourselves." Legolas's voice was soft and hesitant. He knew human woman were generally enamored with weddings in the human fashion which he understood were full of religion and ceremony. An Elvish binding ceremony would be far simpler and was generally not performed as it was redundant but for the heir of Mirkwood… this would be mandatory. He hoped Nina would not be too displeased by the extended obligations shed unknowingly agreed to.
"Ceremony?" The elleth tilted her head slightly in confusion.
"The tradition is old and mostly disused and were I any other ellon you could probably forgo the entire thing but…" he trailed off. There were moments he hated being the king's son. Nina still had insecurities about being without a traditional family in a world that was so heavily centered around parentage. He knew this. Certainly her brothers would stand up for her in the ceremony and he had a feeling the lady had made more friends among Galadriel's people than she knew but Legolas was aware it was not the same as having her father and surrogate grandmother there. "Perhaps I can convince my father. I do not want to make you uncomfortable." Legolas tried to sooth the confused elleth.
"Legolas I am not objecting to a ceremony; I simply did not know one existed. The only elf I have ever seen get married was a future for Arwen and Aragorn but they get married in the human tradition. What is an elven ceremony? I thought that… well I thought you just had sex and it was done." She was blushing again and Legolas let out a breath he had been unaware he was holding. He'd misread surprise for anxiety.
"It is similar to the humans hand fasting ceremony. IT is simply symbolic and would be completely unnecessary if I was not certain my father would have my head for depriving him of an opportunity to give our people an occasion to celebrate. I've never had a very active position in court as I am a warrior but I am still the heir." He felt more than saw Nina nodding in contemplation.
"Can my brothers come? I assume we would have it in Mirkwood and I know how your father is about visitors" Legolas smiled at her reference to the problems Bilbo's company had run into among his people.
The ellon was quick to assure her "Nina, I am fairly certain half of Caras Galadhon will be in attendance. It is not every day a prince marries the Lady of Light's favored apprentice" Nina's eyes widened slightly before she burst out laughing. "What is it?" He asked curiously. He loved that she was laughing as it was one of his new favorite sounds but he was curious to its cause.
"It's nothing, just, a few years before I came from my world the son of a monarch across the sea in England married a woman from my country. It was the topic of gossip across the entire world for months before and after the event. Hundreds of thousands of people either attended or watched it on the television. I'm simply hoping we could manage to be slightly less conspicuous than that royal wedding" Legolas remembered Nina's description of the television and she had mentioned England before as the place form where her partner-healer had come from.
"We shall try to keep the guests to less than thousands," Legolas replied in a mock-serious tone which set Nina laughing again before he became serious for real and asserted a second factor "there also will not be months for anyone to speculate about our match. As far as I'm concerned I am dragging you to Mirkwood the moment we are free from battle and once your brothers are able to make the journey I will be taking you as my own." Legolas had found, over time, that he enjoyed the surprised yet pleased look Nina's face took on when he spoke of their future so confidently. He also enjoyed the kiss she initiated immediately following such statements and was elated when this instance proved to follow the pattern.
"I have no problem with that." She eventually stated once they'd broken apart again. "However, we may wish to wait a day so we can see Aragorn's face when Arwen shows up to his coronation. I'm also willing to be the look on everyone's face when they marry immediately following his receiving his crown will be entertaining." Loathe as he was to waste a moment Legolas had to agree that he should probably be at the coronation of the King in waiting.
"I suppose." He agreed halfheartedly. Legolas again marveled at the sheer usefulness of her foreknowledge. That thought made him sit up with a start, taking Nina with him as not to dislodge her. "The child I saw in the mirror, did you know she would be ours?" He had never considered if Nina knew their futures intertwined in such a way. Somehow he doubted it. His elleth was not the type to keep such information to herself.
"No. Galadriel made it clear to me that my purpose is to ease the path of others. Knowing my own future is not part of the task the Valar have given me. I'd seen the image in passing and I know how the idea of elflings appeals to you after how you reacted to my age so I put it in the scenes I showed you." The elleth was clearly annoyed that such information was out of her reach and Legolas bit back a smile- she was blind to her own future just like everyone else.
"And does the idea of elflings appeal to you?" She'd never spoken her own feeling on the subject and he was curious despite knowing they would have a son in that likely future she'd shown him.
"I love children. I'd become a sort of honorary aunt to my working partner's children in the ears before I came here and I worked with children a lot. The idea had always scared me a little though. I suppose the last time I really considered the idea I was in a very different place in my life let alone a different place all together. I find I'm much more receptive to the idea of YOUR elflings than I was of the abstract." The ellon decided to express his please with that sentiment by pulling her back to the ground with him and effectively ending any possible conversation by taking over her lips. Legolas was absently thankful that elves needed so much less rest than humans. Between the passionate kisses and comfortable conversation it was less than two hours before sunrise when the pair took their rest.
AN: Okay it is taking far longer than I'd planned to get the gang back to Edoras and I'm starting to think I'm just trying to avoid separating the elves for as long as possible. Oh well, it must be done! Anyway I hope you enjoyed an entire chapter of fluff… yeah not sure how that happened…
Let me know what you thought!