Guest: It was a very relaxing chapter. Most of the chapters from Chapter 5 and on will be emotional roller coasters.

pink bunny: Thanks.

Disclaimer: I do not own "The Hobbit."

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Chapter 8: Father to Daughter

Sarah followed Legolas, her heart beating louder and pounding faster with every step. She was afraid that if it got louder and faster she would have a heart attack. Then again, considering who she was going to see, a heart attack would be a kindness. She tried to mentally prepare herself for this next encounter with her father, but, having no knowledge of what he might say to her, there wasn't much she could do.

Legolas stopped outside Thranduil's private rooms and reached his hand out to open the door. Sarah drew in a deep lungful of air, trying to get control of her nerves before she passed out. It sounded like a gasp. Her brother stopped and turned to her. Seeing her panicked expression, he drew his hand away.

"You do not have to do this," he said in a whisper. "You can run. I can say that I was unable to find you. Give yourself some time."

"No," Sarah said. "If I run he will only come after me, especially if Gandalf is the one behind all of this. And it has to happen sooner or later. I've learned that the longer you take to say something, the greater it will haunt you if you miss your chance." Like the chance I had to tell my fake-father what I really thought of him.

Legolas nodded, and opened the door. He stepped aside so that Sarah could enter, closing the door behind him. Through the door, she heard him say, "If it gets to be more than you can take, I will be in the archery range. Come and find me if you need someone to talk to."

Sarah waited until his footsteps faded before taking a look around the room. Thranduil stood on the other side of the room, once again dressed in simpler clothes than when they first met, with his back to her. She slowly started walking closer to him, each step seeming to take an hour. She was almost halfway across the room when she finally stopped, her nerves refusing to let her legs take another step. She stood there for what felt like ages before Thranduil finally turned around.

"Sit down, Sarah," Thranduil said, gesturing to the couches.

"I prefer standing," Sarah said in a low voice, not trusting herself not to squeak in terror if she spoke louder. She wanted to be fully prepared to run if she couldn't take it, even though her legs felt like they could collapse at any moment.

Thranduil didn't respond. In fact, he was silent for a few minutes as he simply looked at his daughter. Sarah, on the other hand, looked anywhere except at her father. She was waiting for him to say something, and he was obviously taking his sweet time thinking of what to say. What do you say to a complete stranger, even if that stranger is your family?

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. Sarah almost wished that one would, just to break up the uncomfortable silence. After a while, she couldn't take it anymore.

If he doesn't say something within the next sixty seconds she thought I am going to run.

She began counting down. For some reason her mind drifted to thoughts of the Hunger Games, and began to compare that minute to the countdown before the Blood Bath. She got all the way into the last ten seconds when. . .

"I know this is a lot for you to take in."

Sarah jumped. If this had been the Hunger Games, Thranduil's voice would have been the equivalent of a land mine going off as a tribute stepped off their platform before the countdown finished. Sarah was tempted to run right then and there. Instead, she held still and waited for Thranduil to continue. It took a lot more effort than one might think it would.

"It is hard on me as well. A lot of memories came back yesterday, long forgotten memories that I had pushed back to the furthest corner of my mind. Talking about your mother in any context is painful for me."

"Then don't talk about her," Sarah said. "I don't think you brought me here just to tell me stories of the past."

"I brought you here because Gandalf said I should talk to you," Thranduil said, "even though I did not know what to say to you. I was hoping to think of something before you arrived."

"And did you?"

"Nothing that would not make it more awkward between us than it already is."

There was silence for a few more minutes as each of them were trying to decide what to say to the other. Sarah started to think that there was nothing he could say that could possibly make things any more awkward. She was proven wrong not two seconds later.

"I heard what you said to Idhrenion."

Sarah stopped breathing. She had been staring at the ground, but now she looked up at Thranduil. It could have been a trick of the light, but, for a moment, she thought she saw a tear escape his eye.

"Please know that I would never hurt you," he said. "Not intentionally."

"You could still hurt me," Sarah responded. "This is going too fast. I need time to heal from the last father I had before starting over with another one."

With that, Sarah turned and started walking out. She heard footsteps behind her, but didn't stop. A hand grabbed her arm and pulled her back slightly. It hurt. Her mind flashed back to the many times something like this had happened before. Her heart stopped.

"Sarah, wait."

Sarah turned around. For a moment, she thought she saw her fake-father's face. It quickly changed back into Thranduil's. But that moment is what decided what she did next. Adrenaline rushed through her as she used the heel of her shoe to kick the Elvenking's leg, forcing him to let her go.

She ran.

She turned around and ran to the door, opening it and running out before Thranduil could stop her.

"Sarah!" he called out to her. "Sarah, stop! Please, come back!"

Sarah didn't listen. All she did was run. But this was not like the last time she had run away from her father. That time she had been running blind. This time she had a destination. The archery range. She knew where it was and how to get there from where she was. She kicked off her shoes and picked up the hem of her dress to allow herself to run easier.

Legolas had apparently not gotten very far in the time it took for Thranduil and Sarah to have their short conversation. Sarah turned into a long corridor not far away from the archery range when she saw him walking. She was about to run to him when she heard a very familiar voice.

"Sarah, please, wait!"

Sarah turned down a side passage before Thranduil could catch up to her. As she ran away as silently as she could, her mind went over the different places she could hide. Legolas would no doubt tell Thranduil where he had been going, so she couldn't hide there as that would be the first place they would look. She couldn't go to the stables, seeing as how that hadn't worked out as a safe haven. They would no doubt go to Edana next and ask her if she knew where she was.

The only other place Sarah could think of was the room she and Edana had been given. It had an inside lock, so she could insure that no one would be able to get in. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. Sarah set off, making sure to be as quiet as possible and that very few people saw her.

Legolas just missed Sarah as he turned around, having heard his father's frantic voice calling for his sister. Thranduil rounded the corner and saw his son staring back at him.

"Has Sarah run past here?" he asked.

"No," Legolas answered. The look on Thranduil's face was more than enough to tell him that his conversation with Sarah had not ended well. "What did you say to her?"

"That is not important right now," Thranduil started to say.

"Not important?" Legolas repeated. "Of course it is important. I know how you can be, Father. Your words hurt others without you even realizing it, and, by the time you do, it is too late to fix it. Sarah has been through enough already. She does not need you making things worse."

"Just help me find her," Thranduil demanded his son, "so that I may fix it before there is any permanent damage."

Legolas wanted to argue more, but instead walked with his father to the archery range, hoping that Sarah wouldn't be there and that she could avoid Thranduil for a little while longer.

Sarah reached the bedroom, quickly running in and locking the door behind her. She leaned up against it and slid down to the floor. She pulled back her sleeve and saw that the skin where Thranduil had grabbed her was already starting to bruise. The tears she had been holding back broke free and ran down her face.

She let them fall.

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How was it? I really didn't know what to put in their conversation, so I tried to end it quickly without it being completely terrible. Their conversations are going to be really awkward for a while as I think of better stuff for them to say.

There's a quote in here from a movie. Cyber-cookies if you can guess what quote from which movie.

Please leave me a review.