I woke and …
Everything was okay.
It was strange. From the moment I woke up, the smell of a salad drifting across from a plate Legolas had left sitting beside me on a bedside table, I felt that sense of being 'home'. That relief. Maybe it was the bed- that smelt so much like Legolas- or it was the simple way the bedroom had been designed. Nothing was over the top or fancy, the bed frame almost natural wood, smoothened but still in the organic shape it must have grown in. The curtains must have been cotton or something soft, the sheets and bedding this kind of slightly rough silk that had been dyed a natural light green that varied in intensity across the bed. Marbled, maybe?
There was a small table in the corner with a couple of chairs, a lantern sitting on it that clearly was used from the blackened metal top, a bookshelf above the table with various old and new books, a chest of drawers and a full length mirror that had some kind of gauzy fabric curtaining it and softening the corner it stood in.
Beside the bed I noticed my crutches and got up slowly to explore further. In one corner I noticed another door, a simple sliding door, and when opened I found myself gazing down a long walk in wardrobe. Half empty, hangers waiting, and my suitcase sitting patiently underneath. The other half had his clothing already hung up, his suitcase opened and half empty underneath the hangers, his shoes dumped on a boot rack.
Wow. It was one half his. One half mine. It was the first time I'd actually shared a room and a space with another person like this.
"I have not unpacked for you." His voice came from behind me. I leaned against Legolas, who was clearly happy with this idea, his arms sliding under mine and supporting me. "Would you like me to?"
"I … I think I might need a little help." Considering how easy it was to balance on crutches. "Do you mind if I keep exploring while you do this?"
"No." Legolas was already bending over, pulling things out, and hanging them up. To my amusement he was back in tunic and leggings, almost a perfect match of his younger self, except for the faint lines and clear aging on his face. I wondered why he had that- why ANY Elf showed aging signs of they were 'immortal'.
No time to ask. I moved past him, carefully, and found myself in a little bathroom. One light in here and that was it. Not even a power point. I checked my phone again. This time there were several, which caused my heart to jump, but almost all of them were from Brian. Jess, apologies, all kinds of stupid stuff. Two from Cele- one telling me 'He's still drooling/no change' and the other was 'want me to hit brian?'. I texted back a quick No at that... I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I wasn't going to tell someone, even if he was my 'son', to smack him.
Exploring the house further I found that most of it was free of modern things. The living room, with the walls covered in artwork and carvings, didn't even have a TV. The kitchen had electronics, a fridge, a gas stove, and everything except for the fridge was turned off. A sliding door that had been left half open showed how most of the lighting happened- there were neat rows of solar powered lamps and a little note that read, 'All charged.'. At least the toilet had a normal light and a normal flushing thing. I had to admit that was one thing I wasn't interested in... fumbling with pretend toilets and stupid fake lights at three in the morning.
There was even a library of sorts, at the other end of the house, with its own little enclosed balcony and entrance. To my amazement most of the books weren't even in English. There was an entire bookcase dedicated to what I had to guess was Elvish. A row dedicated to Dwarven and a few other languages, I had to guess, though for all I knew it could have been some other ancient language. Atlantian? There was even a closet, several degrees cooler than the library, with some pretty fragile and old looking books arranged carefully under glass lids. I bet an Archaeologist would have wet themselves with delight at some of the books here. I gazed inside with wonder as Legolas came in, looking to him, and he smiled as he leaned against the wall.
"Many of the Elves that live here come to use the library. They will give us some warning until you are used to them."
"Cool." So we wouldn't be walked in on, having naked fun time, by one of the youthful Elves? Good. I watched as Legolas moved across to carefully close books and put them away. "Are they sorted? Can I read them..." Without messing up his careful order.
"Yes. It is easy." Legolas pointed at the spine of the books. "There are little stickers on the spine of each. Colours go together. Read what you like."
I nodded and moved past him to the covered balcony outside. There were old couches out here, faded, a little tired looking but very comfortable. Half burnt candles hung from candle holders that were bolted to the roof of the covered porch. A magazine that claimed I could loose ten kilograms in ten weeks. Classic. Did Elves really stress about that too? Or was that also a sign that my son had been around?
When I lifted the magazine I found the answer. A note slipped out ,complete with a little hand drawn map, my name and a line starting from the door in the kitchen. Legolas had already turned around and gone inside.
Moving inside, I went into the kitchen and followed the little arrow back out into the backyard. There was a path that vanished into the trees, a little slippery, but I followed it anyway. It was a good ten minute walk up a slope before I found myself at another building. This one looked much newer and was a contemporary style, practically a box shape with big glass windows, and … a satellite dish.
When I opened the door I found myself in modern heaven. Electric lights. A stereo in the corner. A TV and surround sound speakers. Several computers and a laptop. A tiny kitchenette and fully electric bathroom. Even a cupboard that had the words 'gaming systems' on the door.
"Hey, mum!"
I jumped as the voice came from one of the computers. Going in slowly, suspicious, I found myself face to face with a very amused looking Cele. "Are you a recording?"
"Nope. See?" He grinned and twisted the image. Suddenly I was seeing Boromir. My legs went weak, suddenly, as I caught the reality of what I was seeing. Boromir looked awful. His face was drained of blood, a machine breathing for him again, eyes shut and his breathing slow. Bandages were all over his head.
"He might not look pretty now but you don't need to be worried." Cele's voice, ever cheerful, came across as he turned the image back to me. "I figured you'd be home soon so set the motion alarms to let me know when you came close to the shed. Like?"
"Um." I wasn't sure what to make of this. "You know. You're not anything as half-elf as I expected." Somehow I'd pictured my baby growing up to be like Lord Elrond. Kind of stiff and inhuman. My statement made Cele grin wider.
"I was raised here. In these times. Well, in Middle Earth as well, but my culture is as much from Australia as it is there. A number of the Elves in the community are young enough to still need the comforts of this world. You can use anything you like and play things loud. It's soundproof, no one around will be bothered, and the couch folds out into a bed. Father's home is a little... old fashioned. There's some students who will be here every Sunday and it's agreed no one plays games then, but other than that, you're free to use it as you want."
Just a little. When I smiled he relaxed. "So enjoy it. Father rarely goes near it but he may for you."
"Thanks."
The image was gone again suddenly. I had this image of Legolas trying to play the Xbox or something. Nope. That didn't make any sense to me.
I moved to rest on the couch, breathing out slowly, my mind once again blown by the whole 'your son is an adult AND growing inside you' thing. Only when I heard Legolas coming did I bother to budge.
He peered in, clearly reluctant to even enter, and his shoulders relaxed as he saw me slowly and awkwardly readjusting myself on top of the crutches. "You found the haven."
"Haven for who though."
"Any Elf born within the last two hundred years, our son the only exception."
Oh. That was interesting. Not … so interesting as Legolas himself. He leaned against the doorway as I came out, a relaxed smile on my face, a bag over one shoulder and … leggings on.
Only leggings. I gazed down, transfixed, because from the … from the shape of everything, I suspected he hadn't worn anything else. Not underwear. Not ...socks. Bare feet. Leggings. Tight ones. And underneath...
I wanted to touch it. No. I wanted to rip them off and eat him up.
When he shifted forward, the thigh muscles clearly flexing, I gazed up, and caught it in his face. Same hunger. It flared up in a space of five seconds, when all I'd done was look. He must have known what I … what I was thinking.
Legolas none-too-gently grasped my arms and pushed me against the wall of the 'shed', his breathing faster, dropping the bag. We stared at each other, my cheeks flushing with color at his intense stare, lost for words, our faces inches apart all of a sudden. One of his legs slid up the inside of mine, slowly, the leggings so thin that I could feel the muscles under them flex as he moved closer.
"Hi."
"My love." Legolas kissed me, so slow and tender, his hands sliding up my arms to cup my face.
Legs went weak, crutches propping me up, as time vanished. We didn't hold back this time. The kiss lasted a long time, gentle at first, and steadily grew in intensity as the heat of the day sent sweat beading down my body and adding to the warmth there.
When I tried to offer a leg, it didn't work, my bad thigh didn't want to flex that much. Legolas released me and gazed down, kneeling, sliding my dress up my leg as he pressed kisses against the bare skin and skipping over the edge of the bandage.
"He... hey, what-"
"You have something to lean on." He didn't even hesitate, slowly moving up and vanishing, I felt his lips grazing my sensitive skin slowly and teasing me as he found what he was looking for. I groaned as he started to tease me, over and over, dependant on the crutches now as my legs couldn't support me.
Not while he was doing that.
"I can't stand forever!" My squeak got his attention, voice breaking as I felt his tongue stroke right up my body, hands clenching around the crutches hard at that. Oh my god. I'd never wanted to throw someone down and ride them like a wild woman like I wanted to right now. "Leggy-"
He leaned up suddenly, standing, kissing me hard, and I was lifted up into his arms. The back pack was back, somehow, and Legolas grinned as he abandoned the crutches once more. "Wait."
"Fuck you, I don't want to wait and there's no way-"
He cut me off with another kiss, a quick hard one, and started to jog towards somewhere into the bush. Bush? What about air conditioning? ...no, wait, I didn't care. I kissed the side of his face, his neck, his shoulder, his bare chest, whatever I could reach, delighting in the effect it had on him. His step would falter, or his nostrils would flare with a sharp inhale, the obvious arousal no longer easily contained underneath the tight leggings.
He dropped the bag, as we went around a gate, and then... we were falling.
With a giant SPLASH we fell into something, water closing in over our heads, soaking me to the bone. I surfaced, spluttering, Legolas pulling me against him. A pool. A tiled pool carved into the side of a river? Legolas laughed. His feet brushed the ground, mine didn't, and he pushed me against the side of the pool, kissing my neck again and again.
"It will be easier for your injury if there is no weight." He explained, breathless, one hand unzipping my dress and the other pulling it down my body and away into the water. "It is cooler here."
It was, the water was so amazingly cool and refreshing compared to the heat outside, and I leaned against the edge of the pool as Legolas drifted back. I watched him undress, slow satisfaction and heat at the sight of him building in my own hips, and opened my arms as he came sliding slowly back through the water. I embraced him against me, arms around his head as he tugged off my bra, kissing him again and again.
"I love you." It was so true too. I was confused, yes, confused at how I'd forgotten this. I released him, tugging my own panties off with a wriggle and another dunk underwater, and slid my good leg around him. No preparation needed- Legolas was ready. He had been ready for a long time. I drew his hips against mine, our bodies reconnecting in the water, his arms coming around me to hold me tight against his.
"I love you." He shuddered, shutting his eyes, this incredible flood of relief suddenly crossing his face where there was usually just a mild hint of something. Had he been expecting, even now, for the possibility that I might reject him? My arms wrapped around him, holding him against me, embracing him with every part of my body.
We didn't move for a few minutes, I didn't want to, and I didn't think he did... it was this sense of peace, of triumphant peace, having him there... inside me, feeling his body once again connected to mine, and every twitch, every vibration as his heart sent blood to where we were connected, creating a throbbing sense that I couldn't miss.
When he moved, it was slow, deliberate, his eyes locked in mine, our bodies drifting back until we felt the tiled wall of the pool behind us. Legolas shuddered, control slipping, as did mine.
"If I hurt you-" He breathed against my lips, "-slow me."
"Ditto."
We bumped against each other, our eagerness making for a rhythm that didn't quite match, and Legolas laughed, guiding me as he started to claim me, again and again, pinning me between the wall and his body, our breathing becoming ragged and bodies producing sounds that probably made every animal in the area run for their life, our bodies grinding against each other with increasing need and lust.
My own orgasm came fast, then another, as he didn't seem willing or able to give in just yet, time fading as he kept finding ways to pleasure me, over and over, until finally I was so limp with pleasure that Legolas was holding me against him. I felt his body finally release, a minute after another orgasm of my own.
His legs gave way and we sunk into the water, arms still around each other, the taste of water adding to his kiss as he kissed me underwater with a slow gentle kiss until my lungs begged for air.
We surfaced, quickly, panting for air and laughing, Legolas floating and pulling me close. We lay there in the sun, floating in the water, bodies slipping and sliding against each other, the sun hot against my skin. The pleasure lingered a long time, aided by his slow stroke of fingers across my bare skin, my body weightless in the water with his help. Legolas slid down to sit against something... a platform in the water... and I lay across it.
"You waited for me." I breathed out, slowly, gazing up at him. Water was on his eyelashes, to my amusement, and I reached up to brush it away. "All this time?"
"Yes."
I shut my eyes, leaning against him, and tried to not cry. Crying seemed like a great choice suddenly. It had to be the hormones, of course, but I just … wanted to cry big fat tears. This was not helped when I felt his hand slide over my growing stomach, over the life he'd created so long ago, cupping the little growth there.
"When you return to Middle Earth, to me, you must take as much fruit as can be carried. I remember you enjoyed it."
Yes, that was right. To his younger self. "You don't mind..."
"I am myself, now, or then." Legolas responded. He shifted up slowly to stand beside me, as I floated, and I felt no embarrassment as he gazed down at my naked body in the sunlight. He was running his fingers across old and new scars, his silver-blonde hair darker and golden while wet, his own ancient scars a silvery hue that barely showed up. "I would feel hurt if you did not love me and rejected me, as a young Elf or as an ancient one."
"I don't care about your age."
"I know."
I gazed around- one of his hands was holding my head up in the water- trusting him as he ran his fingers across my body slowly. The pool was, like I'd noticed at first glimpse, literally carved into the land beside the river, and tiled with pale brown and green tiles. There were carvings though. A stone turtle, resting on the edge of one part of the pool. A carving of a woman holding a basin, water flowing out of it into the pool, so much like Lothlorien. The trees seemed healthy, vibrant, and bushes flowered all around the pool and river, so very alive. I saw a tree beside the river, the branches so heavy with bright orange mangos, that the tips of the leaves were brushing across the surface of the water.
It could have been anywhere. There was no sign of people, aside from the carvings and the tiles, it could have been some ancient pool long forgotten. River water flooded into it and then cleaned it as it carried water back out again and downstream.
"It's so beautiful."
"We treasure the river." Legolas responded, gazing up, breathing out slowly. Contentment was all over his face as he gazed out. "We are guardians of the land, not owners, and so we offer the land as much compassion as we would to our own family."
"And carve everything?"
"If we find a stone we like, yes. You would find many carvings through the bushlands of this property." Legolas reached out to touch the turtle, which I only now realised was attached to a much larger rock that was still half buried under the ground, as if someone had just taken the tip of a rock and turned it into something else.
"It's a beautiful home."
"Cele will like growing up here." I muttered, fingers going across my stomach, reminding myself that he wasn't yet born. Not yet.
"Cere." Legolas laughed, reaching down to stroke my face as embarrassment flooded it, and added, "Do not feel embarrassed. You would often call him Cele instead of Cere."
"Yeah." Oh man. I repeated it in my head. Cere. Cere. Cere. Right. Cel... Cere.
"Let's return home. I will cook, you relax, and we will call him for news."
That night, while he cooked, I slowly unpacked my things. Not just my bag- all my things had been brought out and I wandered through the house with my belongings, slowly placing them here and there, surprised by how comfortable I was to do this. Mix my things with Legoals' things. Boxes were empty and strewn across the house, I had to kick them around anyway, as I placed objects in places, books in the library downstairs and in the bedroom, set up a little study upstairs in a room Legolas had reserved for me with my laptop and desktop fan, and ...settled in. By the time we'd fnished dinner it felt as much my home as his. Did it always feel so fast, that sense of 'This is my home?', or was … something special about it?
I wasn't sure. But the moment I'd gotten the last of my photos out and on the walls in the hallway downstairs, beside Legolas and Cere's photos and Mum's collection of her own mothers cookbooks, jewellery and photographs were put away in my little study on the empty shelves waiting there, I felt it. After dessert all the weight and exhaustion fell onto me. I shut down.
After that, all thoughts of activity vanished, all plans and expectations of visiting the frequently. Here was another world, almost literally with Legolas, and my body just decided for the both of us what it wanted. And it wanted to shut down. I couldn't lie to myself any more. I suddenly noticed how the crutches rubbed against my armpits- made worse by the strapless dresses that were most comfortable in summer's humid end. Noticed the ache in my thigh like never before. It was as if my body was shutting down, adrenaline fading, and I just … didn't want to move.
That didn't mean I didn't stalk Boromir's progress obsessively. And it was usually the same. 'Day 4. Drooling.' Day five. Drooling. Twice a day updates that barely changed. It was good news though- his medically induced coma was doing what it was supposed to do, his brain was recovering, and his body was healing. He'd gained colour back in his face slowly day by day. Cere swore, once, that when he'd held a hamburger under Boromir's nose that Boromir had almost woken. Defying medically induced coma for food? I could almost see Boromir trying.
Legolas didn't seem that surprised or annoyed by my sudden need to be lazy. I spent most of the time in the house where the air conditioning was, while Legolas came and went, doing things with the land at his own pace. He'd come home, we'd cook together, and fall into bed to embrace each other. Legolas almost always slept at night now. Another quirk of being old, I supposed, or perhaps he knew how much I liked it... to have him beside me all night. Some nights he'd get up and vanish again, to gaze out from the balcony, or read a book downstairs.
I knew that I would be returning to Middle Earth soon. I wanted to. The urgency may have lessened, my instincts demanding that I rest, but it didn't leave. I felt like I was still half there, even waking sometimes and expecting to see it, and had already started to list what I'd take back with me. Already had my phone ready.
Legolas didn't speak about it but I would catch him, catch him glancing at a specific bag as if he recognised it, or trying to feed me as much organic fruit and vegetables as he could manage, as if somehow Minas Tirith wasn't good enough. Without speaking to each other about it, that suitcase started to slowly fill up with things, clothing, pregnancy nutrients, and soap.
The other residents of the land only showed themselves after a week. They came, with food, with instruments, some dressed in modern clothing, some in more traditional gowns and tunics. Elves. But not life as I knew it. These Elves resembled hippies, more than Elves I remembered, with the aura of 'otherworldly creature' that all Elves seemed to have. They showed up almost exactly a week since we'd arrived, twenty of them, drums under arms, harp, guitar, food, incense, and crowded into our home.
Seconds after they'd settled, food was handed out, instruments came out, and music filled the house. I swore they reminded me of something, though I couldn't quite figure out what until they started to sing a more modern song, and realised exactly what they reminded me of. That band- 'Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros'. They were so much like them that I had to actually sneak out my phone and double check. Was that what modern Elves were like? ...Hippies? I supposed that couldn't be THAT surprising. It was probably a culture they were much more comfortable with than, say, gothic culture.
These Elves seemed surprisingly more relaxed though with me, less shocked or bothered by the whole Elf-Human relationship, and seemed more able to let me into the club. I relaxed so fast there that it was almost hard to believe they WERE Elves, except for the frequent Elvish that scattered the room, and even found myself sitting there as one of the female Elves sat between my legs and sang to my stomach while another braided my hair.
It was a little, strange, perhaps, but touching. It was worth it to see Legolas' face as it happened. He stood there, arms crossing and uncrossing, like he wasn't sure what he was supposed to be doing all of a sudden.
After that, they'd come and go frequently, and it made things more interesting for sure. I'd come downstairs and often find an Elf, stretched out with a book, as at home here as I was. And somehow I didn't mind.
The weeks drifted by, one after another, and finally...
It was time for Boromir to wake.
When I came to the car I found Legolas there, with that bag we'd both been eying, the bag I'd been packing for the trip. He met my eyes as he lifted it into the boot of the car.
"Just in case." He said quietly, glancing down at it, "I packed it according to your list."
"My list?" Oh yeah. The one I'd been half-heartedly adding to. My heart sunk as I kept my eyes in his for a long time, reaching out to touch his hands, and Legolas squeezed them with a sad smile. "Today?"
"I think I remember it being so. After this, you've changed it again, but-" He sighed and bent down to lift a second suitcase. "-I have prepared. There are seeds. Grow a garden."
"Um. Isn't that a bad idea?" I watched him lift the second box into the back of the car. "Altering the future?"
"I don't care. I want you and our son to be well fed. Plant these seeds and grow a garden." Legolas frowned, faint, his eyes going down to my stomach. "I do not know the future of Minas Tirith, I was not there often, and I do not know the future of Middle Earth, do you?"
"Well... not exactly. Except that there's some babies."
"Then plant a garden." Legolas closed the boot. Reckless. Couldn't say I didn't like this side of him but...
Legolas drove on the country streets for several hours, slowly, anxious the entire way, clearly uncertain about what he was doing. Cere... or Cele... I was confused again... met us at the very outskirts of the city, at the furthest train station out, some place called Caboolture. This time with him driving, we made it pretty fast.
"Have you talked to Brian yet?" Cere asked me from the driver's seat, before glancing back at Legolas, an amused smile crossing his face. "Hang in there."
Legolas barely looked up. He'd shut his eyes the second we'd gotten onto the highway.
"No. He's texted me a few times." A few was an understatement. Twice a day maybe. I only paid attention to news about Boromir. "Why, he's contacted you?"
"We've talked." Cere went quiet as a truck passed us on the highway. Unlike Legolas he was at ease, even enjoying the speed, his long hair tied back with the strands tucked behind his visibly pointed ears. He may have seemed young on the phone but in person, he still looked at least thirty, perhaps a little older. There was even faint lines. He had more wrinkles than I did. But when he grinned, it was like it outshone the signs of aging, it made him look ten years younger.
I still struggled to view him as my baby. Still couldn't quite connect grown half-Elf to the little life in my stomach. He was closer to 'that cousin' I'd only met a few times, or a nephew, an uncle, or something like that. Still... I liked him. It was weird but true. The bond was instantly there.
"Here." He said, suddenly, reaching for a bag he'd brought with him. Cere nudged it to me. "The first of my presents for you."
"Presents?" That was right. Legolas had mentioned this. I opened the bag and found a little wooden box waiting for me. It was carved and with some kind of ornate golden latch.
"It's from ancient Egypt. Had it made for you. The box had to be repaired recently but the rest has lasted pretty well."
What! I stared at him, then at the box, and carefully undid the latch. I had heen expecting some kind of jewellery and found myself instead gingerly unwrapping a heavy black cat up. It was about the size of my hand, a heavy metal with dark blue eyes that glittered with gold and gold 'strings' around the neck. There was an inscription down a little tablet against the cat's chest and it was attached to a heavy stone base that was covered in Egyptian hieroglyphs. But on top of that... our nicknames as well. Wendy, Leggy, and Cere.
I didn't know what to say. The cat was ancient. It seriously was. It kind of brought home how long ago
"Bast. Goddess of cats. Museums would kill for something like this. Modern English on an ancient carving! They'll either pretend it doesn't exist, claim it's a fake, or spend years debating it." Cere seemed pretty amused by my silence. "You don't like?"
"It's amazing! But-" But holy cow. "How old is it?"
"Ancient Egypt. Pharaoh Khafra of the Fourth Dynasty. I went to see the beginnings of the Sphinx but found it was already half built."
"You went?" Seriously? He was tanned but very white, blonde, clearly not Egyptian. "Like that?"
"Couldn't resist. Traders weren't uncommon. I found my way there, from Atlantis, and explored for several years while father slept."
"His curiosity has always been a source of confusion amongst our kin." Legolas muttered from the back. "Or daring. I woke to find that he had been gone fifty years."
"I was home barely ten years after you woke, father, and thanks." His trademark grin flashed at his father in the rear view mirror. "You did not mind my stories when I returned."
I carefully wrapped the statue back up in the cloth it'd been wrapped in. I could picture it somehow- Cere, in ancient … what, Egyptian linen, on a boat that was going up the Nile, that big grin of his.
"You've seen a lot."
"After learning about it, how could I not explore the world when given the chance? The Silk Road. That was exciting."
"Dangerous too." Legolas muttered. I glanced back to catch a glint of something not unlike pride in his face though. He met my eyes and I saw it increase slightly. "But he has your heart. I could not ask for less."
"I could." Cere muttered. "Hang on."
Suddenly we were crossing lanes, Legolas groaning in the back seat, and … straight into a service station with a Hungry Jacks. Cere winked at me and swung the car, still moving pretty fast, easily into the drive through and stopped quickly beside the box. As soon as a woman, someone called Stacy spoke, he started. "Gday, Stacy. Get ready for this. Ready? Good. Three vegetarian meals, but with onion rings instead of chips, three of those farm salad things, a kid's meal with a vegetarian burger, one Aussie burger, and two ultimate double whoppers, as well, as a sundae. Remember- no chips, only onion rings. What kid's meal? The one with chicken nuggets, I think. Yeah. The drinks- all orange juice. Cool."
I stared at him. He ignored me, Legolas, just drove on in casually, tugging his wallet out.
Cere only spoke when a massive group of brown paper bags joined Legoas in the back seat and we were back on the highway, the smell of food wafting out, a sundae suddenly in my hands. "Boromir will be hungry and I know I am. The chicken nuggets and onion rings are for the others in his ward. Father, can you put that food in the thermal bag carefully? The vegetarian meals are for us."
"Um. Thanks."
He nodded and focused on the road once more as the traffic started to get heavier closer to Brisbane.
The food teased me right into the hospital. I wondered how no one smelt it. Did nerves with pregnancy equal super sniffing ability? This might have been useful in battle or something but not now. I waited for them to let us into see Boromir, waited for the lift, waited even as we walked, and my nose and anxiety kept urging me to lunge for the bag and get eating. The surprise that he wasn't in a mixed person ward, like in movies, went over my head. Who cared why or how he'd gotten a single room?
The second we were inside Boromir snapped to attention.
"You been back to Minas Tirith yet, woman?" Boromir grabbed for my hand, dragging me close, trying to sit up. He looked really woozy and his eyes kept crossing, as if he was having trouble keeping them focused, a bandage on his scalp. He only relaxed when I sat on the chair beside him.
"No, I was waiting..."
"I'm not coming. What are you waiting for? Go home and get me some new clothing." He didn't seem that annoyed though, or even upset with me, and even with the tubes in his arms and the hospital gown, Boromir seemed to be the same as ever. Better, even, much more cheerful. He grabbed for something beside him and held it up. My stomach churned at the sight of it. Some kind of tiny … fleshy thing. In the shape of a ring. "May I present to you- the power of the ring."
Okay. That was both gross and creepy. I stared at the tumour, so small, but it was a very distinctive ring shape. "Why did you keep it?"
"To remind myself of my promice." Boromir's smile faded slowly as his eyes went over myself and Legolas, who had come up beside me, adding, "To both of you. Go home and tell Faramir."
We went quiet, as Cere slid the curtain around the bed, Boromir, myself and Legolas exchanging glances.
The thing was... he was right.
We all knew it.
Legolas moved closer, his arm brushing mine, and there was this faint sigh from him.
"I know." Strength left my voice as I said it. I sat there, suddenly, thinking over the feelings I'd had since … since Boromir's operation. Being half here and half there. It was strange, as if mentally I was already in that room in Minas Tirth, in that room where Faramir had last seen Boromir badly wounded and where time had more or less stopped.
"But first-" Cere suggested, softly, as he came to Boromir's other side. "First. We should eat and watch this."
"What?"
Cere held up a box. The Fellowship of the Ring?
I ended up remaining in one of the only chairs, the tiny hospital room having not that much in the way of choice, as a portable DVD player was brought out. Boromir was up, which seemed to be more of an effort than he'd expected, sitting straight up with pillows giving him 'cushions'. I suspected it was closer to needing help to remain upright. Movie on, food out, Cere vanishing a moment to distribute food somewhere else. Nurse bribes? Maybe. We lasted for half the movie, which was lucky given that we'd already watched half before the hospital before having to return to a hotal waiting.
For three days that was what we did. Boromir. Movies. One after another, in that tiny room, until finally after three days we'd finished them all. I sat there as we watched Aragorn get crowned, feeling myself already half gone from this place already, and when I reached down to quietly lift up the bags that had been waiting for me- the bag I'd packed, the bag Legolas had packed for me, and a backpack, I saw it in his face. He knew. I knew. Once the credits of Return of the King were rolling, I heard Legolas sigh softly. Boromir didn't seem to know. I said goodbye quietly, he was too sleepy to do more than wave his hand and flop, as we left the room. Cere had him. I wasn't worried about him.
We didn't really speak in the car. I'd expected to go back to the hotel but we didn't. Instead, we drove all the way back to the land Legolas had built on, Legolas didn't even seem bothered by the highway for once, making it back to the land in record time just as the sun was sinking down.
Neither of us spoke during the drive but as Legolas helped me get out, he stared down at me, face paler than usual.
"You have to go." Not a question. It was clear fact.
"Yeah." I sighed, somehow feeling … bad... even though this was something we knew was going to happen. And I didn't MIND it. I had Legolas waiting, I had an agreement to come and go every three months.
"Do you wish to do it here or at home?"
"At home." The answer was instant. Even though it meant hours in driving to get there, even though it'd delay it, I knew it was right. I wanted to leave THIS Legolas in the one place we both felt relaxed and secure. Come back to him in that place.
Legolas nodded.
The drive was long and tense. Night came, as we drove, as we wove and danced through the back streets and the long old country roads that Legolas preferred, the stars appearing between long dark clouds that blew across the sky frequently. I dozed on and off, as Legolas' music played, my mind with Legolas.
My anxiety grew. My sense of 'leaving' grew. And Legolas didn't let go of my hand a moment, even as he drove, even as he struggled with his own anxiety over driving.
I didn't know how late it was when we got back to the property. One, two, four in the morning? There were distant lights from the 'technology cottage' where I assumed some of the Elves in the community must have been working. There was a lamp in the living room that had been left on, I could see it through the window, and yet I knew I wasn't going back in that house.
"It is time then." He muttered. Hadn't he said said something similar? Legolas started to offer bags to me. Held them out. Carefully arranged them around the crutches. He made a suitcase, a backpack and a box of seeds far more complex than they seemed, the way he fussed, tugged and arranged, constantly brushing his hand across the swollen stomach I knew was always on his mind.
"Wait a second." I muttered, shifting the box of seeds under one arm and grasping the shirt arm that was closest, and tugged Legolas closer. Leggy. Old man. Elf, really, Old Elf. What was wrong? Why did I feel so tense and anxious all of a sudden? I let go of the suitcase handle a moment. "Wait."
I knew what this anxiety was. I really did. And as he paused and turned to face me, the question lingered at the back of my head, the question rose. It'd been one I'd been avoiding for the weeks I'd been here. One question, really, but one pregnant with multiple meanings. One that asked for many answers.
"Are you sure that you'll be ... fine?" Fine with the intimacy with THIS Legolas, with the length of time I'd be apart from young-Legolas, or with older-Legolas being older...
He sighed when I asked. Legolas gazed down, and for once his height didn't provide any kind of comfort or attraction. For once the distance between his chest, which was level with my eyes, and his own face... it seemed to be eternal. It took me a while to finally meet his eyes. He had a faint frown as our eyes met.
"You are asking about when you return to Minas Tirith and to my younger self." Not even a question. "I will not be jealous. I will be ...beside you."
"That's crazy though. It's another you!" The anxiety burst out. It WAS crazy. I was sleeping, loving, married to two different versions of the same Elf. Right? "I'll be calling you on the phone and you'll be there in the background. Like a clone. It's weird! How can you be fine with that? You or ... or other you!"
"I am. I feel peace with it. It is not a stranger. It is a person I trust intimatly." Legolas backed up to lean against the edge of the car. It should have looked weird, really, but somehow he seemed at ease in this world when not forced to interact with it too much. His arms crossed, clothing modern, hair tired back and his pointy ears the only real clear sign that he was really the same Elf. He reached out to grasp my hands. "You chose to love me."
"I did. And..."
"By loving me here, in your world, and in the past... you love me. Yes?" When I nodded, Legolas squeezed my hands, and bent down to kiss the back of each one. "Yes. And I love you. Now and then. Explain this to me, back then, and that I am here to take care of you here and now. I am two beings for you. Youth and ancient. It must be strange." Legolas smiled gently as his fingers stroked my hands. "I must have seemed ancient back when we were in the Fellowship."
"You were. But now you're even older. With so many things I don't know." The honest truth was that I was still stressed out. Instinctively, I knew, I FELT that this Elf was my life partner. That didn't change the fact that I barely knew much about him. "It's weird. Like two husbands."
Legolas nodded faintly. "Time will change that. Do you feel I am different from then?"
Honestly... no. Tireder, older, both obvious with the aging in his face and the lines of grey in his silvery blonde hair. But he felt the same. "Not really. Except for the amount I don't know about you. You, now, have so much more I don't know."
"More time we will share. We have years. Decades. Our lives will slow, our time will calm, and we will grow as any other pair of lovers. In both times I will teach you my language, take you to the home of my people, and spend days with only you for company. Hunt with you. Dance with you. Ride with you. Make love to you for hours. All the things that the War of the Ring did not allow."
I supposed he had a point there. I relaxed on the crutches at that. The 'war of the ring', however exciting, really hadn't given us much time to get to know each other. It was like one long endless teaser of hormones and feelings between bashing and stuff.
"I guess I'm rushing it. You know. I'm pregnant now." I muttered. "Seems like we did the baby part before the normal couple part."
"We did many things in the wrong order, this is true, for an Elf would not even marry before two years of courting." Legolas' smile widened slightly. "In times of war this such thing happens and it takes time, once peace has come, for the couple to find peace as well. This is why it is so important for you to return to Minas Tirith with our child. Allow me the time to grow with you. Come home to me, in this time, and give me that same chance. We have time now."
"Yeah. We do." I relaxed a little. "And you're sure that when I say 'Hey Leggy, I'm with your older self too...' you won't..."
"I will ask you questions to prove this. I will demand to talk to myself upon this phone. It will take a few days to believe it." Legolas responded instantly. He bent down to pick up the suitcase, which had tipped on its side, and pressed it gently into my free hand. "Trust me."
"I do. Both of you."
It was funny how those words seemed to be the tipping point for the change. As if Galadriel was waiting, or watching, or sensed something in me. Because I did trust him and I did feel slighty better. First I had to tell him what had happened. Sleep. I was already to sleep.
With those words, I felt the strange sense of movement, the … folding. Worlds changed. Energy flooded around me. Legolas-from-my world vanished.
I returned.
Minas Tirith. The smell hit me first. The smell, which was so clear and obvious compared to the fresh clean land that came with 'my world', was muskier. I felt the bed under me, smelt the unwashed bodies around us, Boromir's men. Faramir. Legolas. Sweat. Faint scent of waste coming from the streets outside. Felt the sticky fresh-blood feeling sink uncomfortably under my bare legs as I tipped back onto the hard mat with a painful flop.
And yet it was almost like returning to another kind of reality. Almost like a dream ended. My world, with modern things, with Boromir, with old-Legolas... it vanished too.
It was just seconds after we'd left this bed, after Boromir had panicked, and Legolas was still bent forward where I'd grabbed for him. He was standing up.
Then the noise, drama and emotion of the situation that I'd left hit me in one wave.
"Where has Boromir vanished to!"
"Wenduin!"
"What!"
Other exclamations of shock, surprise and even fear flooded me. The soldiers that had come for Boromir's sake were loudest, perhaps not used to any kind of magical shenanigans of any kind, and I saw several actually check under the bed.
I dropped the box of packaged seeds as their reaction, all noise and motion and drama, hit me hard like a big wave of terror. Suitcase tipped one way. Backpack weighted me back. Faramir grasped my arms long enough to shake me in a way that was probably harsher than he intended with, "Boromir?"
"What? He's not here."
Legolas was fast to grasp Faramir's hands and detatch them, to free me from the straps of the backpack, his puzzled frown only giving them a momentarily glance... he lifted me up onto my feet and drew me closer, one hand reaching down for the wound he was searching for, reminding me that when I'd left this place I'd been pretty badly injured myself.
"You are not injured."
The younger Legolas shocked me. Time seemed to slow as our eyes met, as I took in the lack of aging on his face or in his hair, and for the first time since I'd met him... he didn't seem quite so ancient to me. I almost felt 'equal'. Almost.
His quick mind was working under those grey eyes. They'd gone from my face to my stomach, to the clothing that was clearly different, his fingers digging in as he held me upright, a strange kind of calm between the two of us as the chaotic panic swirled around us over Boromir. My heart thudded in my throat, a gentle anxiety rising, and …
"I am not marrying him." I said quietly, softly, voice flooded out by Faramir. Legolas heard it. His sensitive ears understood.
He nodded, a smile coming to his eyes and his lips, and then the moment was broken as Faramir grasped my arm and turned me towards him.
"Please Wendy. What has happened?"
"She is older. Her child has grown." Legolas turned as well, releasing one arm, and he carefully lowered the backpack from my back.
"I don't understand. How?"
"Boromir's... god, how do I even explain it?"
"Where? You … I … my eyes have tricked me, for I saw..." Faramiar stood up once more, curls akew, a picture of confusion and worry that bordered on panic, his love for the brother he'd only just gotten back growing. "What? What have I just seen?"
He looked like he was afraid he was going mad. I tried to speak fast and explain quickly. How would I accept it?
"Elf Magic. Boromir is in the place I came from. He's with healers." I was trying to make it quick and easy, because I was tired suddenly, and I just wanted to hide in a small dark cosy room with Legolas. Sleep. Tell him what had happened. Sleep. See Aragorn. I had this sudden wave and need to see Aragorn, for some reason, and Eowyn, this realisation that I'd missed them. The hobbits. I'd missed all of them. "It's a long story..."
"I would hear the entire thing another time." Faramir didn't seem quite able to take it in. He opened his mouth again to ask, "What … please. Explain once more."
"Some kind of Elf magic. We travelled to my world. Boromir and I... We were taken to healers. Boromir needs more healing with an internal sickness that they found. While we were there... nothing happened here. Time stopped here and moved there."
These people clearly had not watched Doctor Who recently because that last explanation did not help in the slightest. There was an audible pause in the room as I stood there, crutchless, and the good leg I was standing on gave a little protest. I reached for the crutches and arranged them under my armpits. Sighed. Oh yes. They were horrible blister-summoning things but... but it was a relief to be off my good leg.
"You can't walk?" Legolas asked quietly.
"Healers. Fixed it. It's just going to take time."
"Boromir is well?"
"Better than well. Was eating everything he got his hands on."
Faramir was not done. I saw it, saw his mouth open, confusion, but to my great relief Aragorn appeared from the back of the room. Had he just come in or had he been there the whole time? I wasn't sure but at least he seemed to be relaxed.
"She looks tired. And there is clearly no panic. There is no bleeding injury. Her color is back. She would not lie about Boromir's wellbeing." He said. It was very soft, the way Aragorn spoke, and yet it held so much weight in the room. As soon as he'd said it, Faramir went quiet and the soldiers seemed to step back or shrink slightly. Farmair turned to them, nodding, and one by one they left the room. Aragorn turned to me when the room was emptied, leaving only myself, Faramir, Legolas and Aragorn, and grasped me in a bear hug that made me all weepy all of a sudden. Crazy hormones. Big wet tears started to roll down my face at his musky smell.
"You are tired, aren't you, little sister?" He said quietly. Aragorn held me there with his big hands on either of my arms.
"I didn't mean to question her word." Faramir stepped back and reached up to run his hand through his hair. "It's a tense day."
Oh. That was right. Today was also the day Eowyn married Faramir. Tomorrow was the day Aragorn was crowned. My mind was slowly returning to Minas Tirith time. I felt something brush across my hand. Legolas' hand. Aragorn remained close to me.
"I promise. Boromir is so well that he's eating like a horse, last I saw him, but he just needed more healing. There was something in his body … a sickness... that was dangerous if they didn't treat it. He was I didn't want to bring up the 'He might stay there for years' part of it. I was tired. Embarrassed that one hug was making crocodile tears run all over my face. I tried to smile at Faramir in what was hopefully a reassuring way. "He really is. I know it's probably been like one second for you guys but for us it was weeks. He's fine. Great."
"Then we need not ask more for the time." Aragorn decided. He straightened. "And this has caused delay enough for you and the Lady Eowyn. We have been given good news."
"Yes, but confusing." Farmair seemed to be a little less relaxed. But at least the mention of Eowyn had snapped his mind back to the moment. "You wouldn't lie. I'm saddened to think he will not be here..."
"I'll take photos." I promiced. Bad idea? Who knew. "I mean... painting. I'll get a painting of it."
Faramir nodded distractidly before he turned to the soldiers who hadn't spoken. "We will have to hurry. Send word that we may be late..."
"Not with my assistance. Legolas, you should take Lady Wenduin, and I will assist Faramir myself in getting ready." Aragorn released my arm. Soldiers vanished. Legolas grasped my shoulder gently. "I will carry these belongings to the chambers."
"Nope. To the house." The 'chambers' just reminded me of something very stupid that I'd done. Legolas might have accepted it but now... now I wasn't going to be able to look at that room without guilt. "The little one with the hobbits."
"Then to the house we go." Legolas agreed.
Legolas helped me downstairs and onto the back of a horse. While he went back inside for the bags, I sat there, breathing in slowly, and surprised at how emotional I felt at being home. Home. It was like being home. Women in long dresses, hair covered, carrying or dragging along sleepy babies and kids, getting the water from the wells for the day, the smell of bread just about ready to be bought. A soldier jogging past as he sang to himself some bouncy tune about a maiden... sounded kind of dirty and I was amused to see a woman throw an entire bread loaf at his head with a curse. The sudden gust of wind that carried the smell of flowers. Was it going to rain today? No clouds in the sky.
Gimli appeared and I felt those big wet crocodile tears threaten to come back. Holy cow. I'd missed the dwarf. I'd missed them all so damn much. Screw Brian for a 'friend'. These were people I could depend on with my life. How could you say that about a guy who couldn't even treat his lover right?
"Gimli." I breatehed out.
"Lass. You all right?" He gazed up and I was torn between amusement and joy at seeing him as I caught sight of comb teeth caught in the Dwarf's beard. He'd tried to comb it. Weeks of travelling must have made it knotty as hell. He'd put on some fancy looking robes and armour and his axe looked shiny and sharp. Wedding day clothing included a well cared for weapon? Who knew.
"Good. I mean... I'm good. I am."
"Heard you were injured." Gimli raised an eyebrow as his eyes unashamedlbly stared at my stomach.
I knew it was bigger, noticeable now, but it wasn't that big. I'd have kicked him if I wasn't using my good leg to keep balanced on the horse. "Oi."
"Just wondering what kind of breakfast they gave you. Gave me fruit. Fruit!" He chuffed, as if insulted, and shook his head. "What kind of breakfast is that for a celebration."
"The kind they feed you so that you have room for what's to come at lunch." Legolas responded as he came out. He met my eyes and I felt love, blinding tear jerking love at his face, because he was smiling. Smiling in his face, in his eyes, in his heart, and he had the bags easily under each arm. Maybe he felt it. Felt how much I'd missed him. This him. Young-Elf-Legolas. How long had it been since we'd openly loved one another?
It might have to wait, I tried to remind myself, given that I was expected to marry Boromir today. But someone may have as well tried to tell that river down there to stop flowing for a few hours so that someone could cross it. Now that the floodgates were open it was flowing all over the damn place.
"Can you ride?" Legolas asked softly and I caught his other meaning. Did I want to be carried? I would have happily risked scandal in Minas Tirith to be in his arms for a few hours. Luckily my logic remained intact and I nodded.
Gimli hesitated, eyes going from me to Legolas, and he blinked. Gestured at us as if to shove us away. He wandered inside with a gruff snort and a shake of his head.
"He knows." Legolas said softly but the smile didn't go. It remained.
Legolas knew how I felt too. That was all that mattered.
Legolas assisted me to the small house on the side of Minas Tirith and I sunk onto the bed with a soft groan of relief as soon as we were in a room. Crutches really did rub skin badly under arms.
"You cannot rest long. There is a wedding to go to." He was trying to be tough. Legolas took about three seocnds to drop the bags and flop beside me. He leaned against me, pressing against me, lips finding mine. "I feel the time you have been without me."
"Well... not … exactly."
I tried to explain the other thing. The 'I met you in several thousand years' thing. And like I predicted... Legolas didn't know how to react. He sat up as I started, one hand threading through mine, but his emotions hiding behind a guard.
"I should not know too much..." He muttered, suddenly, cutting me off. "You are sure it is me."
"Without a doubt. You. Older you. And … and I met our son too."
Another freeze. Legolas stared at me, then slowly to my stomach, some of his warmth returning. "Our son."
"I left him here with you. Or I'm going to. And … and he and you … I guess you travelled or something. In twenty years I have to leave."
"I would have you remain with us."
"But I can't. I won't. But I'll be at the other end. And you'll have him." It was all I had to give him and I willingly offered it to Legolas without a single hesitation.
Sitting there, I was vastly aware once again how different things were, the firmness of the bed, the obvious texture of feathers sewn into the blanket, and Legolas. So much younger. With thousands of years. Thousands. I wouldn't leave him for several decades- almost a third of my life- and I'd basically be going straight back to him. Within seconds.
"It's a long time." I muttered.
"I do not see time as you do. Time is... different for us." Legolas responded. He was pulling a chair across and sat on it in front of me, grasping my hands, and he smiled faintly. There was an air of tension about him though. I could see it.
"Do you find it weird that I'm with … you?"
"Weird?"
"Um. Strange. Unusual. ...not normal."
"It is not normal, no." Legolas agreed quietly. "But I confess that to hear that you were born in the Undying Lands, the home of my ancestors, has more of my awe than to hear that I will find you once again."
"I was born on Earth, Leggy, the Undying Lands were... well, it was in the past. Elves aren't exactly ruling the world." I had to admit I was also a bit stunned by that. Earth. Home. Third planet from the sun. Apparently the origin of Elves. Or was it just a world they'd found and adopted?
"Few that are not of Elvish blood are aware that the Undying Lands are not … not upon this land. That it lies beyond the world, beyond time and stars."
"I wonder how humans got there then. Or were Elves the second?"
"I doubt any who are alive would know the answer to this." Legolas responded thoughtfully. "I have heard that there were men, a great distance from the land of my ancestors, but there was no talk of who came first. Perhaps it is not important. You must remember- it has been a great span of time since Elves came to being. Perhaps it was the ideal place for my people to grow and learn in wisdom. The Lady Galadriel may understand more of the time when the Elves came to Middle Earth for she herself came from the Undying Lands. Let me open your packs and place them away safely in chests." Legolas was standing and heading for my suitcases as he spoke the last sentence. He knelt and started to ...prod the zipper.
"You take hold of the metal thing and pull. No... the other way. Yeah. That's it." I smiled faintly at the surprise and pleasure in his face. Oh yeah. This world didn't have zippers. "Pull slowly or it snags."
It still blew my mind. Elves. Came into existence in Earth. from my Earth to Middle Earth. And from the sounds of things... Lady Galadriel was one of them. I sat there quietly, picturing Earth, and for the first time in my life I was actually genuinely fascinated about the whole Atlantis myth. About other ancient myths, stories passed down in all those ancient civilisations, about 'master races' or 'master cities. Or whatever it was they called them.
"There's no hobbits or anything though." I said quietly.
It was more to myself than to Legolas but as he was going through my bags, he glanced up, and responded, "Perhaps there was once." He was carefully arranging my clothing for me. Most of it was modern and I knew I'd have to be careful to not wear it around 'sensitive' people...
"None of these would do for the wedding." Legolas muttered. His words surprised me. Twenty minutes... or maybe forty... and I'd already forgotten about Eowyn and Faramir getting married barely down the street. "We must hurry though. You are expected to meet the Lady Eowyn before she is wed, are you not?"
"Oh crap. You're right. That was the plan." The plan... almost a month and a half ago for me. I stepped carefully into the dress and was glad that it was made to be wide- my stomach was larger than the dress had been designed for.
Legolas helped me dress. He'd pause, his hands freezing on my skin as he did, his eyes shutting a moment, his nostrils flaring as if my smell was teasing him. I watched him and when, midway through dressing, I leaned up to kiss him... he sighed and leaned against me, arms dropping the lace he'd been trying to tie, face buried against my neck.
"I told you that I chose you."
"I still feared..." He trailed off and released me, kissing my forehead, before stepping around behind me to tie up the back of the dress. "We must not be late and... and it may be difficult to tell Lord Faramir of your choice"
Yeah. No kidding. 'I chose your brother, then Legolas, then your brother, and …. now Legolas again'. I sighed as he brushed fingers across my shoulder, lips kissing the back of my neck, and felt a small flood of anxiety rise. Tough cookies for me. I'd have to face the music with my indecisiveness. Whatever they thought... I'd have to accept it.
"If you would like me to speak to him-"
"No. It's gotta be me." No question. I'd have LIKED Legolas to do it. That would have been easy and great. But … "When should I?"
"Tonight. During the feast. If Lord Faramir feels anger or frustration then he will be comforted by Lady Eowyn."
"Yeah." I kind of felt like that was a bad time to give him bad news. Right before his wedding night. But... he'd already slept with her. I reached for my crutches as Legolas headed for the door and hobbled after him. I'd just have to trust my feelings, not trip over the long dress that I had NOT missed, and smile. Weddings. We always had to smile for those.
But ...at least I was home. Yep.
A/N Hello gorgeous people. :)