Chapter 17

The Dead kept themselves separate from the man, elf, dwarf and faye throughout their journey. During the two days it had taken to get from the Valley of the Dead to the docks of Minas Tirith, the Princess had not slept in fear of being slaughtered in her sleep. She should have faith and trust them like Legolas had suggested, but the Dead had already betrayed the King of Gondor before, what was to say they wouldn't do it again?

She sat before the campfire, tired, but alert to her surroundings. She had not spoken to any of her friends in the past few days due to her exhaustion. The Princess usually became moody when she was overtired and didn't want any of the males to be on the receiving end of her rage. Adrianna felt her eyes begin to droop, but snapped them open quickly, gasping for breath as she did so.

"Ade, you need to sleep."

The smooth voice of the elf broke through the silence of the faye's campfire, and she was suddenly alert. She needed to control her tongue before her attitude offended him.

"I don't want to sleep." Her voice was slightly snappier than she had intended it too be, Adrianna mentally scolded herself for it, turning to look at Legolas apologetically as she did so. Legolas was not fased by her tone, and was brave enough to take a seat on the log beside her. They remained in silence for a long while, the faye having to force herself to keep her eyes open during that time. The elf looked deep in thought.

"I'm sorry." Adrianna stated, her voice breaking through the silent night.

"What for?" Legolas asked, turning to look at her tired, emerald eyes.

"For being snappy." She replied, pulling her cloak tighter around her shoulders.

"Don't apologize for that." He stated, smiling. "You're overtired."

Her emerald eyes narrowed at him slightly. His clear blue eyes, she found, had a hint of amusement dancing in them. "I'm still not going to sleep." She stated, looking towards the trees where the Dead were hiding. "I don't trust them. They don't like me very much, saying that us faye's are cowards."

"You're not a coward." He stated.

Her eyes softened towards him and she smiled, "Thank you for protecting me in the cave." She stated bashfully, biting her lip as her cheeks flushed light pink.

"I will always protect you." He stated. Adrianna blushed a darker shade of pink before turning to face the campfire. She felt, or rather, sensed him move closer towards her seconds before his cool lips brushed tenderly across her left temple. She felt her face heat up even more as the elf stood up, "You should get some rest, Ade." He stated calmly.

The faye looked up and watched him move away from the campfire towards where Aragorn was sitting, smoking his pipe. With the feeling that she was safe now, and that Legolas would rescue her if any of the Dead tried to slaughter her in her sleep, the Princess got up from the log and made her way over to where Gimli was sleeping. She set her cloak down beside him before settling down herself.

During the night, Adrianna was awoken by Aragorn gently shaking her awake. Thinking it was one of the Dead, she had almost swatted him like a fly, but upon seeing her friend she dropped her hand and sat up. "Uruk's." Was all he said. Adrianna knew that there was about to be bloodshed.

She quickly got up and strapped her weapons back onto her person before running towards the edges of the trees with Aragorn to join Gimli and Legolas in hiding. They waited there for a short moment before big wooden ships sailed into view. The faye shivered as the ships docked, and there was a long moment before Orcs and Uruk-Hai began to trickle out of the ships and onto the land where the four of the Fellowship and the Dead army had just been camping.

When all four ships had been emptied, Adrianna noticed Aragorn give a signal. A simple flick of his hand. A short moment later, she felt a rush of danger, and saw what the army of the Dead could really do. They raised their ghostly weapons and let out a piercing battle cry. The Orcs and Uruk-Hai didn't expect anything, save for the few who had noticed the campfires that had recently been put out. The Dead swung their weapons, slaughtering and decapitating all which stood in their way.

The faye, the elf, the dwarf and the man stayed off of the battle field, watching the Dead make quick work of the enemy. The ghostly figures then poured into the ships to take care of the ones who had fled.

Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Adrianna stepped out of the trees and followed the Dead army onto the ships, ready to sail to the port of Minas Tirith.

Legolas immediately turned to the faye, "I'm sure there will be somewhere for you to rest here." He stated.

The chestnut haired Princess nodded before turning to look at Aragorn, "Aragorn?" She asked, "How long do you think it will take for us to reach Minas Tirith?"

"I doubt it'll take longer than a day, the water flows quickly and we are not on foot." The Ranger replied.

Adrianna nodded and formed into her fairy size, flying high into the rafters so she could sleep above the goings on below (and hide from the Dead). When she sat down, she curled her wings around her body. She felt as though she had been acting a little strange around the elf, and hoped that he hadn't noticed a difference. Perhaps she was thinking too much into it? Perhaps not. Perhaps he hadn't noticed because there was a slight possibility that he liked her as well? What a stupid thought! Adrianna rolled her eyes at herself.

But he had kissed her tenderly on the temple.

The faye felt a light blush cross her features and bit her bottom lip. She shook the thought from her head and settled down for the night. Adrianna was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to sleep for an entire century!

She tossed and turned for the majority of the evening before eventually falling to sleep, her dreams clouded with the elf and the uncertain feelings she had for him. The ending of the dream didn't turn out how she wanted it too. In fact, she was really upset. The Princess wiped tears from her eyes and cheeks; she did not want to lose him as a friend! Adrianna flew down from the rafters of the ship to go in search of Aragorn. The Ranger was in love himself, so wouldn't he be able to help her?

The faye found him on the main deck, looking out at the calm, eerily still, dark water. She approached him until she had stood beside him, "Aragorn, can I...confide in you?"

The Ranger turned to face her, a look of worry and confusion evident in his eyes and face. "Of course, Ade." He replied, "Is there something troubling you?"

Now that she'd asked if she could talk to him, she didn't know where to begin. She hesitated, and stared blankly at the murky water below, "I...I'm not sure." She fluttered towards the wooden railing along the side of the ship before taking a seat and tucking her knees into her chest, letting her wings go limp as she thought of how to begin. "I think I like somebody," She began. "But I don't know and..." She hesitated. "I'm worried I'll lose his friendship if he finds out."

"Ade," Aragorn began, smiling knowingly down at her. "I'm sure that won't happen."

She paused in suspicion, and blinked up at the Ranger, "You know who it is, don't you?" She asked. Aragorn only smiled his reply before looking back out at the water. "I don't know." She stated finally.

"What?"

"My feelings." She replied, "I like him more than I did during the begining of our journey...but I've not known this feeling before."

"It would help if I knew who it was you were referring to."

"But you already know, so his name isn't relevant."

"Why won't you tell me?"

"Because he has good hearing!" She whispered sharply, flying into the air in front of the Ranger's face. She placed a hand on his mouth, "Be quiet!" She whispered, "He may be able to hear us talking."

"Elves don't tend to eavesdrop." He mumbled against her hand, his eyes alight with amusement.

She dropped her hand and crossed her arms, "So you do know who it is." Adrianna could feel her face burning.

Aragorn nodded, "And he seems to care a lot for you." Adrianna perched herself on the Ranger's shoulder, listening to his words.

"But that's because of his nature."

"He does so more than the rest of the Fellowship." He added.

"That's because I'm a woman."

Aragorn sighed before glancing up at the stars, "Ade, even Gimli has noticed. And you know dwarves aren't observant in these cases."

The faye tucked her knees into her chest as she registered the Ranger's words, "What do you think this feeling is then?" She asked.

Aragorn thought about it for a moment before turning to look at the Princess, "From my own experience," He began, "It could be a possibility that you feel for him, in the same way I feel for Arwen."

A/N: Apologies for a short chapter, and for the cliffie! But, in my opinion, I thought it would be a good place to stop ;) Aha, sozzles! Thoughts please xx