Chapter 26.

So, I've been writing this story a lot lately, but not in the normal way. I've been writing the ending, because... I dunno? Because I found the song that inspired me to write the beginning parts of this story! It's A Day Without Rain, by Enya, and it's brought back all of the things I wanted for it. So, I'm writing the end so I'll have my set goal to reach. :)

It's so hard for me to write stories, man. I have this little orchestra playing in my head while writing this, so I'm always afraid that you guys won't get the right feel for it.

Anyhoo. Review, please, and tell me what you think! :) Opinions, ideas, anything. Just let me know, and I'll do my best to make you all happy. :)

I don't own Lord of the Rings.

(Sophie)

*Sigh...*

I looked around the empty library for the millionth time.

For whatever reason, everyone in Rivendell decided to disappear today, and there was absolutely no one to talk to. The Fellowship was off training already, so that cuts out about... 99 percent of my friends. Kristy's off in the kitchens learning how to bake like an elf; odd, but elves are great cooks, after all. As for everyone else? They're all long gone, having their own fun. So, I'm left here alone, sulking around in my room.

Woooo...

The Fellowship has only been formed for a week, yet they're already acting as though Mordor was right at our doorstep. I'm no expert on volcanoes, but if you were to ask me, I'd say we've got at least another month before we need to start training.

I'm even more determined than ever to hitch a ride with the Fellowship east. It was hardly noon, and I already felt like dying of boredom. When the Fellowship leaves, so will many of the elves here in Rivendell. They're all planing on leaving for the Undying Lands soon, so that's about the other .5% of my friends... gone. The other .5% consists of Kristy and Arwen, and if Elrond has his way, his daughter will be on the first ship out of here.

If I don't leave this place... Heck, I might have to leave the for Undying Lands.

No, that is a BAD idea. Me, spending an eternity with a bunch of elves? I'd be better off alone.

A loud thud echoed through the room, bringing me out of my depressing daze.

"Hello?" Great job, Soph. Calling out to a mysterious thud. That's how most people die in movies, stupid girl.

Well, there was no answer, so I guess I'm good.

I pulled myself out of the lounge chair I was sitting in, and moved towards the open window for some fresh air. To my surprise, I was greeted by a chuckling Gimli and Collin.

"Hello there, m'love!" Collin smiled and waved, as Gimli continued to laugh his heart out. "Have you by any chance seen an axe lying around here, lately?"

"Uhhh... No?" I raised an eyebrow at my strange friend, wondering what mischief he'd gotten himself into now. "Why?"

Collin laughed and ran his hand through his hair nervously. "Well, you see... We seem to have misplaced ours."

"Collin..." I began slowly, studying the nervous young man and the hysterical old dwarf in front of me. "How does one simply 'misplace' a dangerous weapon the size of a small child?"

"He... he!" Gimli tried to speak through his laughter. "He... he threw... and he..." Gimli made a throwing motion with his hands, but his laughter kept getting in the way of his magnificent story telling. "Tell, her, laddie, tell her!"

Collin let out a sigh and let out a small chuckle himself. "Alright, well... You see, my good pal Gimli here was teaching me a few tricks with the axe, and it was going quite well, actually." Oh no, here comes the but. "But..." There it was. "It all sort of... misfired."

"Misfired? How do you misfire an axe?" There is no trigger!

"I threw it too hard, and it flew through the window!" Collin sighed, indicating the window that separated me from the outdoors. "Don't ask me how, Soph. You know that freak things always happen to me."

That they do, Collin... That they do.

"Ah!" Collin exclaimed as he looked over my shoulder. "There it is!"

I turned around to see a big axe stuck in one of the many bookshelves in the room.

How did I miss that?

"Care to get it for me, love?" Collin smiled.

I was slightly torn. Should I help Collin out and possible get into the unhappy mix of ticking Elrond off? Or should I ignore the entire situation and go back into my hold of solitude?

I like Collin far too much to avoid getting in trouble with him. This is guaranteed to make my day more entertaining.

"So... How does this work, exactly?" I studied the axe, trying to decide how I should go about ripping it out of the wood.

"Simple, lassie!" Gimli called from outside, finally out of his laughing fit. "Grab it by the handle and rip it out!"

Okay... Simple enough... I grasped it tightly and pulled with all of my might. Dang, Collin sure did throw this baby hard. With a couple of tugs, I finally managed to get it free.

"YES!" I cheered, but I was overestimating my strength. The axe was far heavier than I anticipated, and I immediately began to fall backwards as I was thrown off balance.

I'm going to die. I'm going to die.

An arm came out of nowhere and steadied me, saving my life. and preventing me from causing any more damage too Elrond's dear library.

"Thanks, man!" With a sigh, I looked up to look upon the face of my rescuer.

Bad idea. My savior was, unfortunately, Lord Elrond himself! In all of his eyebrow-raised glory.

"You should have let me die, sir." I mumbled, terrified at the trouble that I had gotten into.

"Miss Sophia..." Elrond began, his hand grasping my sleeve tightly, preventing me from escaping. "First, you manage to break your bedroom window, and now you are destroying my library? Why?"

Smart-ass mode, on! "Because, Elrond. It's always been my dream to destroy everything you hold dear." Next target: Arwen.

The elf lord rolled his eyes and released me. "Sophia, where did you obtain that axe?"

"That would be mine, my good sir." Collin leaned into the room, a cheeky smile on his face. "We had a bit of a mishap in teaching me how to wield an axe. No harm done, however. Dear Sophie was just returning what belongs to me."

Elrond's eyes widened as he gazed upon Collin in all of his ridiculous glory. "The training grounds are nowhere near here!"

"They're not?" Collin frowned and scratched his temple in confusion. "Since when?"

Without speaking, Elrond relieved me of the axe and handed it to Collin. "Please, just go..."

My friend grinned and saluted. "Will do, sir!" He then followed after Gimli, who had made his exit the second that Elrond had arrived on the scene.

Elrond turned to me, now, agitation evident on his features. "Are you not going to follow?"

"Geez, Elrond... If you didn't want me here, you could have just asked..." I sighed and hopped out the window.

Wait a minute... That's perfect!

If Elrond's unhappiness towards me can't get me a one-way ticket with the Fellowship, I don't know what will!

"Collin!" I ran towards my friend, having difficulties catching up with his long strides. "I have a wonderful idea!"

He stopped, allowing me to run face-first into his back, and I then proceeded to fall to the ground. That's the way Collin and I greet each other.

"Sophie!" He exclaimed, turning around. "What are you doing down there?"

"Don't worry about it!" I dusted myself off as I stood. "I'm good I'm good!"

Gimli popped his head out from around the tree. "How much trouble did yeh get in?"

"None!" Collin shrugged. "He just kindly suggested that we move to the training grounds."

The dwarf's eyebrows furrowed; at least I think they did. He's got a hairy face, it's hard to tell.

"We weren't in the training grounds?"

"That's what I said!" My friend threw his arms into the air. "Anyways, what were you saying, Soph?"

"Huh?" I turned back to my friend, having been distracted by a couple of squirrels a couple of yards away. "Oh, right. I know how to get Gandalf to let me go with the Fellowship!"

At this, Gimli's jaw dropped. "This is no game, lassie, this is war! Mordor's no place for a woman!"

Wow, Gimli, there's no need to get all sexist on me. "Well, that's good, because I don't want to go to Mordor."

The dwarf let out a sigh of relief and relaxed slightly. "Well... Good! Then what's all this talk about traveling with the Fellowship?"

Sigh... "Because elves are equivalent to poop, master dwarf."

And then Gimli's eyes shined like the sun. "Agreed! Dwarves are by far the superior race! You two would fit in well with my people."

"I never said anything about hating elves." Collin laughed. "I just said they were no fun!"

"All the same, dear boy." Gimli smiled. "Now, where are you intending to go, milady?"

Our party was expanded when Aragorn and James emerged from the bushes. "Where have you two been? I've been searching everwhere for you!" He gave me a smile and bowed. "Good afternoon, Sophie."

"Sup?" I curtseyed, finally getting the hang of the blasted greeting.

"Well look at us!" Collin exclaimed and wrapped his arms around James and Aragorn's shoulders. "We're all together, let's go do something fun."

"Anything to get me away from Legolas." James shuddered. "He's been acting so odd lately. Any time I try to talk to him he freaks out and runs away. It's like I have the plague or something."

Aragorn shook his head, immediately becoming the party pooper of our lives. "We have work to do. Evil doesn't sleep, so neither shall we."

Collin laughed and gave Aragorn a firm clap on the back. "Then we'll train at night, while we're not sleeping. Come on, let's go!"

"No, Collin." The ranger tried to pull his arm free of our friend's tight hold. "We must prepare ourselves."

Our faux-hawked friend sighed and turned to face his opponent. "Aragorn, you're what, eighty bajillion years old?"

"Eighty-seven." He sighed.

"Eighty-seven bajillion years old!" Collin declared, and he turned to gaze upon the rest of us like a defending lawyer trying to prove a point. "Now, I don't know about you guys, but I'd say that if someone's not prepared after eighty-seven bajillion years, they're never going to be prepared. Those who agree say 'aye!'"

"Aye!" We cheered, causing a defeated sigh to emerge from our dear Aragorn.

Collin smiled triumphantly. "The jury has spoken!" He sang out. "Let us go and procrastinate!"

"Hurrahh!" James and I shouted, as Gimli chuckled. That dwarf had a considerably large amount of admiration for Collin. It was quickly becoming much like a father/son relationship, even though for a dwarf, Gimli wasn't that old.

We ran off into the forest, dragging an unwilling Aragorn behind us. Although his exterior made it seem as though he was against tagging along, I know that he was actually relieved to have the break. This journey had hardley begun, and the poor ranger was already letting the stress get to him. If anyone needs to relax, it's him. I say we get him and Gandalf some cruise tickets and send them off to the Carribean for a week.

After quite some time, we finally came across the perfect spot for procrastination.

It was a beautiful clearing, with a decent-sized waterfall flowing into a clear pond. It was like we'd walked into a painting. The trees around us still clung on to their autumn leaves, and the grass was a bright green, with wildflowers scattered throughout.

"Look!" Collin ran forward, towards a couple of bushes. He ran behind them, and emerged dragging a small boat behind him. "Perfect! Aragorn, help me get this out into the water!" The ranger groaned and moved towards the boat sluggishly. Collin chuckled and gave his friend a pat on the back. "What are you stressing out about? This boat is here for a reason; it was meant to be! Relax, brother!"

Gimli, James and I watched as our two friends pushed the boat into the water, and a small thought popped into my head.

"I wonder if dwarves can swim..." I mumbled to myself, but Gimli still managed to hear me.

The dwarf turned his head to look up at me with warning in his eyes. "I wouldn't be trying anything if I were you, lassie."

I raised my hands in surrender, not wanting to get my head chopped off. If I could judge a person's character at all, I'd say that Gimli was a tad bloodthirsty, and he'd had no problem killing someone trying to drown him.

Collin and Aragorn joined us once more, and my blonde friend smiled at the sight at the cute little boat floating out in the water.

"Ah... Perfect." He sighed, breathing in the fresh air.

We stood there in silence for a moment, not quite sure of what to do next.

"Collin?" James began, his eyes studying the boat.

"Yes, James?"

"How are we supposed to get in the boat?"

Collin eyed the far-off boat as it floated in the middle of the large pond. "Huh..."

(Kristy)

"Arwen, can I talk to you?" I walked into my friend's airy sitting room, where she sat embroidering some pillows.

"Of course." She smiled and pat the chair next to her, gesturing for me to sit down. "What is it?"

Sigh. Sophie's going to be so mad at me for not telling her first, but it's her fault for going missing. I'd searched all of Rivendell for her, but she was no where in sight. According to Elrond, she and Collin ran off together after leaving a rather large axe mark on one of his bookshelves.

That sounds pretty accurate. Sophie and Collin are always getting into trouble.

"Well, someone's caught my eye, recently, and I was wondering if you could inform me of his character."

Arwen's smiled brightened and quickly put away her embroidering. "Please, do tell."

"Well, he's extremely kind, and very handsome for an elf."

"Oh, he's an elf?" Her eyes widened. "I expected it to be one of the men visiting from the North. Is he from Rivendell? Oh please tell me that it's one of my brothers; it's about time one of them settled down."

Ha! That's funny. I actually had a crush on Elladan way back when, but that only lasted a few weeks.

"No, he's not from Rivendell. He's actually from Mirkwood."

"Ahhh." Arwen nodded. "Well, what's his name?"

Oh I hope she has something good to say about him. "His name's Legolas."

Had Arwen been drinking coffee, she would have done a spit-take. "Legolas?"

I sank back into my shell, taking her surprise as a bad thing. "Ummm... Yeah... Is that a bad thing?"

"It's a wonderful thing!" My friend's smile blew up, and she took my hands in hers. "I've known Legolas all my life! He is a wonderful person, and would never dare to hurt the woman he loves. What about him caught your eye, might I ask?"

"I don't know." I sighed. "He and I just keep running into eacch other, and I guess that he's grown on me."

"Then your feelings are genuine." Arwen released my hands and sighed. "That is good; I thought that you might have been infatuated with his rank."

"His rank?"

She nodded. "Yes. He is the Prince of Mirkwood, after all."

My heart stopped beating and my jaw dropped. "He's a prince?"

Arwen looked at me in complete disbelief. "You did not know?"

"No!"

"Goodness, Kristy! Is it not obvious?"

"How can it be obvious?" It's not like the word 'prince' was stamped on his forehead.

Arwen sighed and looked down to her hands. "Oh, I don't know. I'm just slightly stunned that you are just now finding this out. Do you believe that he returns your feelings?"

"Ugh, I don't know..." I frowned and leaned back into my chair. "I hope so."

My friend smiled and squeezed my hand. "You are a beautiful woman, Kristy. Any living being can see that. He would be a fool not to like you. Just be careful; elves do not love like humans do. Do not rush into things, let him make his feelings known, first."

Greeeattt. I was never good with men, and now I've got ot try and capture the heart of an elf.

(Sophie)

The sky had darkened into night, and all was quiet down at our pretty little pond. Gimli and Aragorn had gone back home during dinner time, so only us Earthlings remained. James was resting by a tree, snoozing away after a long day of fishing and trying to teach Gimli how to swim. Collin and I, on the other hand, were more like night owls, and we were floating around in our tiny little boat, staring up at the starry sky.

"So, how dangerous do you think that this is going ot be?" I asked quietly, not looking away from the sparkling sky above.

"How dangerous will what be?" Collin angled his head slightly so he could see me.

"You know..." I sighed. "Mordor, volcanoes... That guy with the funny name..."

My friend laughed. "You mean Sauron?"

"Why can everyone else pronounce it?" Seriously, the name's so weird! "Anyways, how bad do you think it's gonna get?"

Collin looked back up to the sky and furrowed his eyebrows. "Well, I don't know. I've never been on a quest before."

"If you die, Collin, I am going to kill you."

"Don't be silly, Sophie." He laughed. "That would be counter-productive. Besides, you're going to be with me. So if I go down, we all go down."

Good point. "I just don't see the logic in throwing a ring into a volcano."

"Oh, neither do I." Collin shrugged. "Where Elrond gets these ideas, I'll never know. It's a funny world we fell in, huh?"

Ha! You've got that right. It was silent for a while as we stared at the sky. The only sounds came from crickets and the waterfall beside us.

"Hey, Collin?"

"Hmm?"

"I miss Rohan."

Collin took my hand in his and squeezed it. "When all of this is over, I'll take you back to Edoras, and we'll kick Grima's butt. That sound fun?"

I smiled. "It sounds perfect."