THE FORGOTTEN

My Brown Eyed Girl

Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings or any related Tolkien properties. Nor do I own "Brown Eyed Girl", "Don't Stop Believing" or "Carry On My Wayward Son".

Author's Note: The chapter in which – Everyone goes out for ice cream and Legolas gets his picture taken. If there is any elvish, it will be in italics.

It was evening and Lothril was in her room reading on her bed with her back against the wall and her legs stretched out in front of her across the width of the bed and her door wide open. Legolas knocked on her open door.

"May I come in?" he asked.

"The door is open," she answered with a smile.

He crossed the threshold and shut the door behind himself then went over to her bed and sat beside her with his feet dangling over the edge. "Lothril, do you think you should be up here right now?"

"How do you mean?" she asked, looking confused.

"You have but the rest of this week, the next two weeks, and until Friday the week after to spend with your family before you must say good bye to them."

"That is not true," she said.

"Is it not? Grandma Sue said she would come for us the Friday after Memorial Day," he replied.

"I was told after we finish with the orcs I shall be offered my choice again and then given time to make my goodbyes before we return," she said.

"Yes, but you do not know how long that shall be. It may be but a few hours," he replied.

She gave a frustrated sigh. "I know. I am trying to balance school work and being with them. This," she said, holding up a text book, "is not leisure reading."

"I understand, but you can stay up after they go to sleep and do your school work then," he said. "I shall be grieved for you if you spend your last days with your family studying. They are far, far more important than any of this."

"Yes, but if I am doing school work at night, when shall I spend time with you?"

He grinned and put his arm around her. "I am flattered you are so concerned about me, but we can spend the mornings together. We both wake early enough, and if you would rather not, then after you finish your work at night I will come see you. Morning or evening though, I am afraid I must put a requirement upon our time together."

"Such as?"

"That you must kiss me at least once. In the four days since your father and mother learned of our betrothal you have not kissed me one time. I do not mind forgoing displays of our affection in front of your kin, but we have been alone three times and you have not so much as embraced me," he said. "There is a certain measure of cruelty to that; to have a moment of privacy in a strange world with the one you love most and receive no consolation – it is very hard to bear," he answered, giving a playfully serious look.

"My deepest apologies," she replied, trying to keep her tone serious. "Please accept this humble kiss as recompense for my negligence and cruelty towards you." She turned so she could kiss him more easily and laid a long, soft kiss upon his lips. When she broke the kiss she crawled onto his lap and said, "And this is a pledge to not make you suffer so again while we are here," and pressed her mouth to his with and let her hand caress his cheek and then said, "and this is a kiss to make true my pledge," and kissed him again as she did in Cerin Amroth.

He closed his eyes and readily yielded to the heady feeling those kisses gave him. He loved her kisses and the feel of her soft warm lips against his and how expressive she could be with them, but these kisses – they were like a heady wine that sent his heart soaring. "If I had thought such a small complaint would yield such results, I would have made a more grievous claim," Legolas said with a very pleased smile.

She took a deep breath and buried her face in his neck and said quietly, "No, your claim was very grievous, and whether you knew it or not, you also made the claim for me against myself. I have felt on edge the last few weeks since we left Edoras, and have greatly needed this moment of privacy with you so I can be with you unguarded."

He leaned his head on top of hers and said, "I think in many ways you may now be unguarded with me before your father and mother. They know now, and I think we could safely conduct ourselves as we did with our friends once we were all at peace. I do not think they would mind at all. It is not as if we did this in front of our friends. I think the need for avoiding any show of nearness with me is past, do you not?"

She gave a shamefaced chuckle. "I suppose I have been a bit ridiculous this last week or so, haven't I. Though, I well imagine even if I had never met you, I probably would have been equally ridiculous with anyone else I brought home."

Legolas chuckled, "Of that I have little doubt!" Then he paused and looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "Lothril, something you said in Lothlórien came to mind just now – when you told me you would return to Middle-earth because that is where you belong, this feeling you are have been battling since we came here is what you were thinking of, is it not? You have been awkward around me as you have not been since the day we met, as if you do not know how to act. It is what has kept us apart and what would have made you act so silly with another if we had not met."

She gave a thoughtful nod. "I feel like oil in water here. Sometimes I feel so flustered – like I do not know what is expected of me. But that's just it, I suppose. I feel like something is expected of me here. None of you, not one Elf, Man, Hobbit, or Dwarf made me feel as if there was some expectation I was to meet outside of being courteous. Other than that, everyone just expected me to be myself. Here I feel and have always felt some tremendous pressure to do a certain thing or be a certain way, but I do not know what it is. I suppose it is what has always made me act so unsure of myself."

"Hmm, I suppose it is probably the expectation of you being and acting human when you are not. I certainly understand feeling like oil in water here. This place is not meant for elves at all," he replied.

"Not at all. I am sorry though if you feel as if I have been avoiding you," she said.

"In any event, now that your father and mother know of us, and now that we have reached our private understanding, then I am of the opinion you should consider behaving as the elleth you are and treating me as your betrothed in front of your family. Your parents know, and if your sister and brother know we are dating or whatever you called it, and if they guess the seriousness of our relationship, so be it. They shall know nothing for certain if we do not tell them, and it is of little concern I think, if they suspect we are deeply in love," Legolas said.

Just then there was a knock at her door. Lothril quickly climbed off his lap and answered her door to see her sister.

"Hey, we're gonna go get ice cream," Julie said. "Do you know where Avery is? Think he'll want to come too?"

Lothril opened her door wide to reveal Legolas standing just over her right shoulder.

"Oh, wanna come get ice cream with us?" Julie asked.

"Yes, that sounds fun," Legolas answered.

"Sweet! Now hurry up! I neeeeeeed iiiiiiccceeee creeeeaaaaammm!" she said and then dashed down the stairs.

"Have you ever had ice cream before?" Lothril asked him as she went over to her dresser and pulled out a pair of jeans.

"Yes, as a matter of fact. There are a few elves who live between Dale and our realm that keep cattle and every so often we purchase extra cream from them and make ice cream," Legolas answered.

"Really? What flavors?"

"Oh, whatever we have on hand. Sometimes it is just sweet cream, sometimes we will mix in preserves or whatever fruit we have on hand. My personal favorite is fresh strawberries."

"I cannot say I have a favorite flavor, but I do adore strawberry," Lothril said. "Now before Julie has a chance to get mad at me taking too long, you need to leave so I can change."

She shoved him out the door and he leaned against the wall and said to her mentally, "You know, by the time I become fully accustomed to having to leave the room entirely whenever you wish to change, we shall be married, I think. We spent entirely too much time on the road together."

"Yes, but to be fair, I was rarely fully undressed when we traveled, and I did not care if anyone saw me merely remove my outer tunic. Now that I think about it, I think I was only fully naked four times on the way to Rivendell and twice between leaving Lothlórien and reaching Minas Tirith."

"When were you naked between Lothlórien and Minas Tirith?" Legolas asked, sounding a little shocked. He knew full well she had bathed properly on the way to Rivendell because they went out of their way to set up the tarpaulins so she could with full privacy. But they didn't take the tarpaulin to Minas Tirith.

"On my watches on the Anduin. Whenever I got to watch alone for a couple hours while we were paddling by night, I bathed during the day while everyone slept. I knew nothing was going to happen, so I kept a wary eye open and got properly cleaned. Then I would dress and wake the next for watch and no one was the wiser. The fact that you three ellyn were such gentlemen and that I had that lovely tarpaulin Estelneth sent with me is what made me comfortable with bathing more on the way to Rivendell." She emerged from the room in her jeans but the same shirt and a light zip hoodie.

"That took you long enough," Legolas commented aloud but in elvish as they headed down the hall. "I thought for sure you were changing your whole outfit with how long you were taking."

"No, but I was not wearing certain under things so I supposed I should wear one if I am going out," she replied.

Legolas turned a little pink when she said that. "How often are you not properly dressed around me?"

"Best you not know," she replied over her shoulder as she headed down the stairs.

Wide eyed and shaking his head he said, "You are a riddle and a half, you know that? Goodness forbid we sit near each other with others around and yet you spend time with your betrothed while lacking proper clothing."

"To be fair, this particular under garment does not exist in Middle-earth and now that I am back here, I find them quite intolerable."

Legolas paused at the bottom of the stairs and stared after her as she headed through the dining room towards the kitchen and the back porch. Was she trying to stir up his feelings for her or was she being her eccentric little self? Sometimes she said the most outlandish things in innocence and other times she was being a terrific flirt and trying to get a reaction out of him. This was one of the times he honestly could not decide which.

She turned around and saw him standing by the stairs and gave him a funny look. "Are you coming or not?"

This was the first outing Legolas had in the two weeks he had been there that wasn't to her school/church or her grandparent's house. This was out into the wider world and he was hoping to get a better glimpse of how their towns and things were ordered. He said as much mentally to Lothril who informed him this was certainly not going to be the trip for that and explained that that area in general was not a very good representation of how towns were laid out in the wider world at all. The reason – too many lakes and rivers to avoid. In digital orc tracking with her mother, he had asked her to show him where they were on the map and she pulled up one on the internet and zoomed in and he saw for himself that this particular corner of the world was all but covered in water. Indeed, the better part of the towns seemed to be named after the accompanying lake, or rather the biggest accompanying lake. He asked how the fishing was and Mrs. Erickson said she was sure she didn't know but that in general it would be better to wait to go fishing until they were up at Grandma Sue's. Something about manufacturing and industry and what at home they would refer to as 'orc mischief' but here seemed to be refined and what made the world go round.

In any event, the drive there had been fairly short, but rather pretty as the road leading to the ice cream place was heavily lined with trees. They came to a shady little intersection with a stoplight with a line of little houses set back off the road on their right, a tiny three business strip mall on their left, kitty corner a little shabby building with 'Al's Garage' painted on it and directly ahead on the right corner, the ice cream shop. The ice cream place was very different from other things he had seen so far. For one thing, you did not go inside. The place was lined in long yellow florescent lights that Lothril told him were supposed to help keep bugs from being attracted to them, and was painted white with red and blue stripes going all the way around and large color posters and menus showing off their ice cream selection.

As they pulled up, Legolas was curious to see what kinds of people were there, how they spoke and how they acted. There were mostly families, a small group of teenagers, and a couple of older couples who were there with their adult children and grandchildren. They got out and he finally looked at the menu and was astounded at the number of different ice cream flavors they had and made a few mental notes on ones he wanted to try making when he got home. He saw they did have strawberry, but as a whole world of different flavors were before him, he decided to try something different, but what? There was a lot of different here. Suddenly he caught part of the Erickson's conversation.

"I'm thinking I'm gonna get a tin roof," Mrs. Erickson said in response to a question from her husband.

"What is a tin roof?" Legolas asked her.

"Vanilla ice cream with chocolate and peanuts on top," she answered.

Three things he had not much experience with – vanilla, chocolate, and peanuts. "Jennifer, what are you getting?" he asked.

"Not sure. I'm thinking either a Caramel Caribou or Moose Tracks," she answered.

"What are those?" he asked.

"Ice cream with lots of fun stuff in it. The Caribou one has caramel and chocolate covered caramel and Moose tracks has peanut butter and chocolate with chocolate fudge mixed in," she answered.

"What is caramel?" he asked mentally.

"Sugar and probably milk boiled down until it is golden brown, thick, and sticky. I adore it and if you do not have it in Eryn Lasgalan, I might cry," she answered.

"We make something that sounds the same." He stared up at the menu again then said, "Do you suppose I could get a tin roof but made with Caramel Caribou?"

Lothril replied, "That sounds amazing! I don't see why they wouldn't… you can always ask."

They got their ice cream and sat down at one of the picnic tables. It was a lovely warm day with a soft breeze, the sounds of people around enjoying themselves was in the air, and somewhere across the street someone was outside working with their radio cranked up and was blasting oldies which wafted across the street and underscored the lazy afternoon. They were enjoying their ice cream and just chit-chatting about this and that when a classic car in excellent condition pulled up tuned to the same station as the guy across the street. It was an old lime green Cadillac convertible with the roof down and it drew attention from most of the patrons as the music was loud and the car was beautiful. The man got out and got in line to get ice cream while his wife stayed in the car listening. The next song came on and a bouncy melody with a bouncy bass started playing and suddenly Lothril broke into a huge grin and she and her mom started singing "Brown Eyed Girl" by Van Morrison, taking a lick of their ice cream at any long pauses or if a drip was threatening and dancing where they sat. They weren't the only ones either. Legolas watched this with great delight as hitherto he had heard rumors of her and her mother's spontaneous musical performances but hadn't actually seen one, now that he was, he was grinning and chuckling into his ice cream. Oh, this was a treat! Others were doing it too, though not quite as enthusiastically, and it was very entertaining to see.

The song faded, the DJ gave the station identification and cut to commercial.

"That was a treat to watch," Legolas said mentally as he casually kept eating his ice cream. "And I must say, you seemed to enjoy that song quite a bit. You obviously know it well."

"To be honest, it is a favorite song of mine. It is just so much fun to sing and then of course, it is about a brown eyed girl," she replied in kind, minding her own cone.

He glanced over at her then back to his dessert and commented, "Certainly gave me a few ideas for later."

She turned slowly and looked at him with a suppressed grin and a raised brow, trying desperately to look disapproving but Legolas could see the anticipation in her eyes. The radio station came back from commercial with the station identification again and some chords started playing on a piano with a guitar bass underscoring it. The woman in the convertible turned up the volume and the entire place seemed to turn and stare at the car and then looked at each other and started bobbing their heads.

"If you thought that was entertaining, watch this," Lothril said aloud to Legolas. Just then a high tenor voice started to sing:

Just a small town girl

Living in a lonely world

Took the midnight train going anywhere…

By the end of the first line the entire place had joined the radio and everyone was singing, including the teenagers who had only lightly head bobbed to "Brown Eyed Girl".

Legolas looked around in great amusement as everyone was either singing or bouncing to the song and cars that drove by were honking and waving. "This is very fun, but why this song in particular?"

"It is the unofficial anthem of the area. Detroit is the nearest large city and the song mentions it. It also was an incredibly popular song when it came out and still is. Very fun to sing and nearly everyone knows it."

The song ended and the next song that came on was "Carry On My Wayward Son" by Kansas, and the convertible lady turned down her radio as her husband returned with their ice cream.

"Well that doesn't happen everyday," Mr. Erickson said.

"No but it should," Mrs. Erickson replied. "Life should be more like a musical."

"No," Julie said flatly. "No it shouldn't."

Legolas looked over at Lothril sidelong.

"Wasn't me," she said mentally as she licked her ice cream. "Sometimes life is just awesome like that."

The last three weeks of the school year were strange for Lothril. Being back in high school was strange enough, but then to occasionally have not only an elven prince but also her betrothed casually stroll into lunch and spend the afternoon with her was extra surreal. After months of doing whatever she wished, whenever she wished and with him, it was very hard to remember she had to stay in classes until 3:10pm every day and she couldn't just move seats so she could sit by him or kiss him whenever she had a mind. She couldn't even call him by his real name most of the time! And then the rules… And the pointless homework…

Legolas meanwhile was relieved that he needn't pretend to be other than he was around her mother and father, and as far as everyone else in the world was concerned – he did not care what they thought. He figured as long as he did not tell anyone he was an Elf from Middle-earth secretly hunting orcs, there was very little to worry about. He enlisted the help of his would-be mother by marriage to help him find any news about the alleged wolf attacks in the mornings while Lothril was in school, and he began plotting where they occurred on her state atlas and trying to figure out where they were and were heading. In the afternoons when he didn't go to school to see Lothril, he read through some of the more worn looking books on her shelf and listen to whatever CDs she left in her stereo for him; or he went outside and explored the wood or went down to the lake where it touched the Erickson property. The shore there was muddy, grassy, and reedy but there were a lot of trees, so he would often climb one and sit on a branch overlooking the water and think about ships and gulls and all the strange things that this world seemed to be full of. He was very glad he was seeing so many of the things and getting to know the people that his beloved had spoken to him about. It was a chance he hadn't dreamed of having, and the more he was there and the more he learned, the more he understood Lothril. With all that though, he was going to be very glad when it was time to return home. He was sure the return was going to be difficult for Lothril, and he spent a good deal of time pondering what he could do to help her. Maybe nothing could be done, but he was determined to encourage her to spend every moment possible with her family while she was still there. If nothing else, she could have memories.

In the meantime though, he was enjoying getting to know her family and her friends and seeing how she was taught and raised. The more he learned, the stranger he found this world and the gladder he was that he was not born in it and even more so that Lothril seemed determined to leave it. It wasn't bad per say but it was not a place he would wish to be stuck in. He pitied those poor exiles.

He was also enjoying exploring the area. Some days around the time Mrs. Erickson would leave, Legolas would dress and go for a walk. Within about three miles of the house was a fascinating diversity of things. He found a coffee shop at which he became a semi-regular patron, a handful of businesses, and a horse riding stable where he became very chummy with the woman who taught riding.

It was Monday and finals were next week and Lothril was studying more than she probably ever had before. By and large she was studying at night after she theoretically went to bed and during study hall and biology per her plan, however, she had one more English essay due Wednesday the end of the week and wanted her mom to proof read it before she turned it in. Consequently, she was spending a couple hours hiding in her room writing that afternoon and Legolas decided he would take the opportunity to get to know her family better, particularly her siblings.

The younger siblings, it seemed, were not so plagued by papers and finals and Mrs. Erickson told him the younger grades did not really have them like high school did. He came downstairs and found both of them in Eddie's room with the door open and building something with a bunch of tiny brightly colored bricks.

He knocked on the door and said, "May I come in?"

"Sure," Eddie said.

"What are you doing?" Legolas asked as he sat down beside them.

"The real question is – what are you doing?" Julie asked, making an exaggerated suspicious face with squinting eyes and a raised brow.

"I thought I would spend some time with the both of you," he answered.

"Why aren't you hanging out with Jenny?" Eddie asked, making his own comical suspicious face.

"She is writing an English paper," Legolas answered simply.

"Don't blame you then," Eddie said.

What are you – oh, what is this?" Legolas asked, reaching over into the toy box and pulling out a wooden sword and shield painted green.

"Our dad made those," Eddie said. "I think I have Julie's in here too."

"What?! I've been looking everywhere for the dumb thing! Why didn't you tell me?" she said to Eddie.

"You didn't ask," Eddie said with an impish grin.

Legolas laughed at them and asked, "Are both sets the same?"

"Mine is blue and red and Eddie's is green, but otherwise, yeah," Julie answered.

"My favorite color is green," Legolas said. "This looks well used. Do you both play with them often?"

Eddie shrugged. "Some."

"Mostly just whacking at each other with them or hitting trees," Julie said.

"I used to have a wooden sword like this one. I still have a wooden sword actually, but it is full sized and a different style of blade. But when I was young I had a sword nearly identical to this but with a different shield."

"You still play with wooden swords?" Eddie asked.

Legolas looked thoughtful a moment then said, "I suppose I do, but I call it practice so I do not get in trouble for doing it for hours."

Julie gave sly grin and said, "Sneaky! I didn't know you knew how to sword fight."

"I suspect there is a lot about me you do not know," Legolas said with a grin of his own.

"Yeah, like your real name," Julie said, arching a brow.

That certainly caught Legolas off guard, but he kept his surprise in check and his face neutral. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Well you're obviously not Avery," she said. "I mean, Mom and Dad seem to think you are, but Avery doesn't have pointy ears."

"Or an accent," Eddie added.

"So what's your real name?" Julie asked again.

"And what are you?" Eddie asked.

"What do you think I am?" Legolas asked.

"I think you're an elf," Julie said. "but the Lord of the Rings, Middle-earth kind, not the Santa Claus kind."

"And that you turned Jenny into one too," Eddie added.

"I assure you, I have never turned anyone into anything," Legolas said. "Well, as you have guessed it and can clearly see it, I will tell you – I am an elf, and decidedly of the Middle-earth variety. My name is Legolas."

"Aha! I knew it!" Julie exclaimed.

"You knew that I am Legolas?" the elf asked, slightly confused.

"No, not that. But I knew you were an elf. I just knew it!" Julie said.

"So how did Jenny turn into an elf?" Eddie asked.

Legolas hesitated. "That is a long and complicated story."

"Well you clearly did something because she wasn't an elf when she went to the school and then you showed up that afternoon and she was an elf," Julie said.

"Are you a wizard elf?" Eddie asked, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Certainly not," Legolas said. "I suppose some explanation is necessary, and contrary to what you think, your mother and father do know I am Legolas and not Avery, so I reckon there is little harm in telling you what happened. In short, I was sent here to fetch her to Middle-earth and as soon as she arrived she began turning into an elf."

"Why were you sent to fetch her?" Julie asked.

"Because she wanted to come there," Legolas answered.

Her younger siblings frowned at him. "But why did she turn into an elf?" Eddie asked.

"What aren't you telling us?" Julie asked.

"Many things that are not mine to tell nor my place to tell to you," Legolas answered. "It is probably best you discuss it with your mother and father and sister."

"Oh fine," Eddie said.

"Well, if you won't tell us anything interesting, can you at least teach us how to sword fight?" Julie asked.

Legolas laughed at the abrupt change in subject. "Do you really want to learn?"

"Yes!" Julie said enthusiastically.

"What about you, Eddie?" Legolas asked the younger one.

"YES!"

Legolas smiled. "Very well then. Though, I am sad to say, these swords you have will not do for either of you. They are too small. However, I well imagine we can find some branches that can be made to a suitable length. If you enjoy it, I will make you both larger swords and shields that will fit you both better as you get bigger."

They headed towards the door and as they cut through the living room where Mrs. Erickson was reading and she asked, "Where are you guys headed off to?"

"Legolas is gonna teach us how to sword fight," Eddie answered.

"If you have no objections," Legolas added, just to be safe.

"Fine with me! Just don't kill each other," she replied. "Wait, Legolas?"

"They have seen the truth all the way along, apparently," Legolas explained.

"Oh," Mrs. Erickson said, looking a bit surprised. "Well, have fun guys, and don't kill each other."

"Worry not! I have not lost one yet in training," Legolas said and then quickly followed the two out the door.

Mrs. Erickson got a funny look on her face as she suddenly realized they were really learning to sword fight and he really had trained people to fight and he really hadn't lost one. Not that she objected, but it was peculiar to realize.

Outside they started looking for suitably sized sticks and branches and it became apparent that there weren't any fallen ones straight enough so Legolas told them to wait while he went inside to get a knife. It only took him a few seconds to jog up to his room, fetch his white knife and jog back downstairs, fastening it to his belt as he sometimes carried it.

"All the good branches are kinda high up," Julie said.

"Not a problem," Legolas replied. On the few tree varieties he was not as familiar with, he reached up to a lower edge of the branch and pulled to see how flexible the wood was, and after a while he found what he wanted and looked at the kids and said, "Stand back so you do not get hit when I toss down the branches."

They backed off a ways from the tree and watched with some amazement as he easily jumped up to a low branch several feet above his head and pulled himself up so he was sitting on it. He carefully stood up and reached up to the branch above and pulled out his knife and with three quick slashes, three good sized branches fell to the ground.

Legolas jumped down to the ground and asked, "What do you think of these?" as he picked up the largest one and began taking off the smaller twigs and leaves.

Julie picked up one and Eddie the other and they started lightly swiping at the other with the leafy branches, much to the Elf's amusement.

"These'll work," Julie said with a grin.

Legolas laughed and said, "If you give it here, I will turn it from a fan to a sword for you."

"I can do it," she said, holding out her hand for the knife.

He hesitated, "Best not. This is not really a knife meant for this work, but it is all I have with me."

"Can I see it anyway?" she asked.

He paused and evaluated her a moment. "Yes, but it is heavy and you must be careful with it or you will cut off your own hand."

She looked serious but excited as he handed it over to her. She took it very carefully and studied the handle, Eddie coming up close beside her and looking as well, being careful not to bump her. "This is really pretty – and long! Where did you get it?"

"I had it custom made for me," Legolas answered.

She gingerly turned it over and then handed it back to Legolas.

"Is it really as sharp as you said?" Eddie asked.

"I did just cut these limbs with one stroke each," Legolas replied.

He nodded, "Yeah, that's pretty sharp then."

"But come, give me your branches so I can turn them into swords and then we can begin," Legolas said, holding out his hand. Within a couple minutes both branches were free of leaves and twigs and the ends cut to the right length for their height. As soon as he was finished he began with teaching them how to hold their swords and in no time had them doing basic drills.

It was an hour or so after tree branch sword training had begun that Lothril decided to take a break and walk around her room stretch a little. She took off her headphones and went to the window and saw her siblings and Legolas outside on the gravel driveway and Legolas had them doing slow motion sparring. Was that ever familiar! They were going along through a couple different basic forms when Eddie took a swing that started way too far back and looked more like he was trying to hit a baseball than anything else. Legolas immediately blocked it with his own stick to keep Julie from getting clobbered in the face and made him stop as he showed him what he had done and how it was supposed to look. After demonstrating it a few times and then Legolas resorting to coming up behind him and repositioning his arms and stance so it was correct, Eddie tried it again but against Legolas to make sure Julie didn't lose an eye. Once he seemed to have the form down better, he allowed Julie to come back and they resumed. Julie, it seemed, had a talent for these things. Her reflexes were quick and her reactions were good. With a sigh Lothril turned away from the window and resumed her writing.

Another hour went by and Lothril had finished her final essay for English and decided she was well done for the day. Finals were next week and she still had the whole week ahead of her and she wanted to spend some time with her family before she left. She wanted to end the school year well, but not at the expense of last moments with her family. Now that the essay was done and ready for her mom to proof read before she handed it in the next day, she snapped her trapper keeper shut and jammed it in her backpack then hurried downstairs with her paper and set it on the kitchen island.

As she went through the kitchen her mom said, "Hey, tell them dinner will be done in twenty minutes."

"Will do. My paper is on the island," she said over her shoulder as she dashed out the door barefoot. As soon as she got outside, she saw that they had moved their sword practice to the space in the side yard out the kitchen window between the swing set and the trampoline.

"Again!" Legolas said and immediately her siblings clashed again with their sticks as Legolas watched intently and then called out, "Stop!"

Immediately they broke off and were both looking like a sweaty mess but grinning. Clearly they were having a good time.

"Mom said dinner is in twenty minutes. You two might want to go shower," Lothril said.

"Yeah, probably," Julie said. "Come on, Eddie." They both put their sticks over their shoulders and headed inside with them.

"Looks like you three had fun," Lothril said watching them retreat inside.

"Very much so. Your sister has a talent for swordplay. Her reflexes are excellent and her hands are very nimble. Your brother is a little clumsier, but his foot work is better. He is very light on his feet," Legolas replied.

"Really? He always stomps through the house like an elephant," she said.

Legolas laughed, "He does, but when I started working with his footwork he moved very lightly and easily."

"Huh," Lothril said thoughtfully. "So I would ask how it came about you teaching my siblings swordplay, but honestly with them, I am shocked it wasn't knife fighting too."

"That came up. I promised them we could tomorrow as the weather seems to be threatening rain again. I also told them that if they are diligent in practice this week and next, I will give them wooden swords and knives before we head northward to hunt orcs," he replied.

Lothril laughed, "I'm sure they will be your best students yet! Are you going to make them?"

"Of course! I shall begin tonight," he replied.

"Do you need to wash up before dinner?" Lothril asked.

"Not particularly. I was not doing sword drills for two hours," he answered. "How much shall you be studying the next two weeks?"

"Not much. An hour or two at night perhaps after the others go to sleep. I want to do well so I do not ruin all the hard work I did up until that Tuesday, but at the same time I do not want to waste my last few days with my family with studying for finals," she said.

Legolas nodded. "Good, for if you had said you were going to study hours on end, I was going to hide your books. Your time with them is short and you need to be with them. I am surprised you were writing this afternoon at all."

"Well, I was finishing up reading a story and writing an essay on it. I wanted to get it done at once so Mom can read through it before I turn it in Wednesday," she said.

"That is understandable, but is that not cheating as she is your teacher?" he asked.

"It was an English paper. She's my history teacher," Lothril explained.

"I see," he said and then paused and added, "We have a few minutes and it has been since Lothlórien since we have practiced together. Would you like to go a round?"

"Give me a sword," she said with a smile. He went back over to the tree he had gotten the other branches from and climbed up again and quickly cut another and made it ready and gave it to her. She swung it around a little then said, "This will do."

"Good," he said and without warning took a swing at her which she easily parried.

Mrs. Erickson was making dinner and when she turned around to put something in the sink she saw the contest outside her window. She didn't know much of anything about sword fighting, but from what she could tell, they were really going at it and her daughter was giving as good as she got. For a minute it looked like Legolas was driving her back towards the tree house that sat atop an old, tall stump but then suddenly she jumped and was on the tree house platform, kicking the ladder down so Legolas had to dodge it. This didn't work particularly well though because he easily ran up the slide and cornered her against the tree house. Up she leapt again, onto the top of the tree house and then with her branch sword in one hand she leapt up and grabbed the top of the huge wooden swing set with the other and half pulled and half climbed up, running across it as lightly as a squirrel. Legolas gave chase and they began sword fighting on the cross beam of the swing set. Her heart leapt into her throat as she watched them both jump backwards blindly to dodge attacks, or spin or flip out of the reach of the other. One wrong move and… Suddenly her daughter looked like she was cartwheeling over the edge, but no – she grabbed the rope holding the swing and was sliding down the rope. Legolas grabbed the other side and slid down as well and the fight continued on the ground until all at once both of their sticks snapped in half and they stopped right where they were and started laughing, tossing aside their broken pretend swords. She watched as Legolas said something to her daughter who replied as he took her hands and placed a small kiss on her lips and then pulled her into a hug.

Mrs. Erickson smiled. It was nice to see them be affectionate to each other. She had been worrying a little since they found out about the betrothal, as it seemed Jenny was avoiding getting near him. She had wondered if they were having a fight, but as he did not seem upset at all, she wondered if perhaps elves didn't go in for that sort of thing. Seemed strange to her, but what did she know of elven culture? They had been a little friendlier acting around them the last few days, but little more than being near each other or an odd casual touch. Seeing them share a hug and such a sweet little kiss though, it was nice to see and it put her mind at ease. She chalked the otherwise serious lack of PDA up to Jenny being Jenny and nothing more serious and left it at that; especially as she could smell that dinner was about to be overdone if she didn't get back to it.

The days leading up to finals seemed to be rainy every other day which meant knife fighting lessons for the younger siblings in Lothril's bedroom, which was the only room large enough without a hanging down light fixture and the least amount of furniture or toys in it. Otherwise, it would have been the living room. Lothril watched knife fighting lessons while sitting on her bed. It was infinitely amusing to her to watch a t-shirt and sweat pants clad Legolas teaching her younger siblings how to fight with gorgeously carved wooden long knives in an upstairs bedroom. Especially with how laid back he was being. Their lessons had been fun, but intense as they were on a tremendous time crunch and her skills were a matter of life and death. As this was just for fun and something to do with her siblings, he was frequently joking around with them and being a little silly (though never about the fighting itself, but rather in between drills), especially after they found out he knew how to cartwheel. After that, there was a solid hour of them having him cartwheel and then teaching them how to cartwheel in the wide upstairs hallway.

At one point Mrs. Erickson came upstairs to see what all the thudding was about just in time to see Eddie try a cartwheel and have to get caught by Legolas before he veered into the wall.

"Hi mom!" Eddie said, once Legolas set him upright. "Legolas is teaching us how to cartwheel!"

"So I gathered," she replied. "I trust there are no holes in my walls?"

"Not so much as a scratch," Legolas replied, smiling.

"Alright, my turn again," Julie said.

"Yes, now this time I want you to focus on your center of gravity like we did earlier and work on keeping yourself straighter. You almost have it," Legolas said.

Mrs. Erickson smiled and sat down next to Lothril a couple feet in front of the staircase and watched for a little while. "He's a good teacher," she said quietly to her daughter after a minute. "He's very patient and explains things well."

Lothril nodded. "He is. He was one of my constant teachers," she replied. "Taught me all I know of how to fight with long knives and much of what I know about sword play, though I had other teachers for that."

"Yeah, I saw part of your little sword fight the other day," her mom said.

"Oh?"

"If I hadn't believed you were an elf before, I'd believe it now. I about choked when you cartwheeled off the swing set."

She grinned wide, "That was fun!"

"You two certainly looked like you were having fun."

Lothril looked at her mother sidelong. "We were. It has been six or seven months since we have practiced together."

"You know," her mom said, barely above a whisper, "your dad and I have been a little worried about you guys since we found out. You were acting so aloof with each other. The last couple days at least you've been acting a lot friendlier and seeing you two the other day… it was reassuring to see that you actually love each other. Just saying." With that she stood up and said, "Julie and Eddie, go downstairs now and do your chores."

"But Mom," Eddie started.

Legolas gave him a very serious look and said, "Mind your mother. That is part of learning to be disciplined. What I did I tell you when we started sword fighting?"

"If we won't be disciplined, you wouldn't teach us because it's too dangerous for tom foolery," Eddie replied.

"Exactly, now go," he said with a soft smile and nodding his head towards the staircase.

Without another word, Eddie turned towards the stairs then he and Julie both stopped and said, "Oh! Our knives!"

"Your mother said 'now', so I shall take care of them for you this time. Go on," he said.

"Thank you, Legolas," Mrs. Erickson said with a smile.

"You are welcome, Mrs. Erickson," he replied.

"You can call me Donna you know, and Mr. Erickson Ed," she said.

"Ed? Is that like how your name is?" he asked, looking at Lothril.

She nodded, "Yes, it is short for Edward. Dad is the first, Eddie is the second. We do that here sometimes," she answered.

"I see. Interesting," he said thoughtfully. "In any event, I thank you for what you said to Jennifer a minute ago."

"You heard that?"

"We have very sensitive ears," Lothril said. "It's why I keep flinching every time the school bell rings."

"I think everybody does," Donna said sardonically. "But now that you've brought it up – why have you been so aloof with each other?" her mom asked, looking at both of them.

"Well, I wasn't sure how comfortable you and dad are with everything and I didn't want to throw it in your faces and make the last couple of weeks here weird and awkward," Lothril said.

She shook her head, "Oh Jenny, you've changed so much and not at all. Of course it's weird! Seeing you with pointed ears is weird! The only not totally weird thing about any of this is the fact you two are engaged. I admit, I wish we could have had been there for your relationship prior, but we understand. If I were in your shoes, I probably would have married him by now. Shoot, you said it yourself, your dad and I were married by now. We've actually been a little worried since we found out since you two aren't acting very much like a couple in love. I mean you seem friendly with each other and give each other looks but-"

"Actually mom, that's just ósanwe, that really deep stare. It is more or less the result of the focus it takes to do. See," she said and then reached out to her mother's mind and continued mentally, "It can be a little unsettling until you are used to it, and eye contact makes the connection between two minds stronger." Suddenly the look in her eyes as she stared at her mom went from staring into her soul, to almost staring into nothing. "And if one is really good at it, one can do this with multiple people at once."

"It is true," Legolas said mentally, staring at her mother.

"This is really weird but amazingly cool," her mother thought and said aloud, so it almost sounded like an echo.

"No mom, just think what you want to say."

Suddenly there was a rush of thoughts that sort of dumped out all at once. "I don't know what to say, this is really cool but kind of strange. So this is what you two have been doing the last couple weeks when you're looking at each other? Are you talking like this every time you look at each other?"

"Whoa! Not all at once. Keep your thoughts in the background of your mind, like you do when you're trying to think of what to say, and then bring them to the fore as if you are going to speak but then stop shy of actually speaking," Lothril said. "And be warned, any strong feelings or thoughts or memories can be felt or seen sometimes by whomever you are doing this with."

"Seen?" Her mom asked, bearing in mind the instructions Lothril had just given her. Her other thoughts were still buzzing fairly loudly in the background, but they could ignore them well enough.

"Yes," Lothril replied and then proceeded to think of her first glimpse of Rivendell, which caused Legolas to think of it which caused Donna to suddenly have a vision almost like a vivid dream play across her mind. She could smell the stone and pine and earth, she could hear a river far below, she could see a beautiful house in a valley beneath them. "Now you think of something – a clear memory of a place like Gran's house."

Suddenly before their minds the Elves could see a yard with younger trees in it and a yappy little grey poodle chasing a huge Saint Bernard across the lawn and Lothril heard two voices laughing that she knew well – her mom and her grandmother. Legolas suddenly chuckled aloud and Lothril and her mother both felt his utter amusement at the sight.

"The dog that could crush the other with its paw running away as if she were twice his size! Has he no shame?" Legolas laughed.

Suddenly the connection was ended and Donna was left with her own thoughts. "That was cool, but I'm feeling tired all the sudden. I'm going to go downstairs," she said as she turned and headed for the stairs.

"We will be down in a minute," Legolas said as he took Lothril's hand and pulled her into her room.

Donna waved to let them know she heard and continued down the stairs.

"And we are not going downstairs right now because?" Lothril asked as she sat down on her bed.

He sat beside her and gave her a kiss then said, "I want us to come to an understanding about how we are going to behave around your family henceforth. We shall only be here another two weeks and you heard your mother – they have been concerned that we are not acting like two people in love and I, for one, would like to leave your father and mother with every assurance of our love for each other and our future happiness together."

She sighed and let her head sink onto his shoulder. "I guess we should kiss in front of them occasionally, but if I am being perfectly honest, I am not sure how comfortable I am kissing in front of them."

"I am not sure how it should be any different from our betrothal. You certainly seemed to be fine with it then. And you did in front of the Fellowship."

"Yeah, but don't forget, Elrond told me to kiss you a lot at our betrothal. Though I was more or less comfortable with it by the end of the night. As for the Fellowship, that was unavoidable unless I did not kiss you at all. And how often did I wait until most everyone was asleep?"

Legolas shook his head with a grin. "You will be half dressed around your betrothed and bathe naked in broad daylight mere yards from eight male traveling companions, but you cannot kiss your betrothed in front of your own mother and father."

Suddenly she got a strange look in her eye Legolas hadn't seen before. She stood and grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the room and down the stairs into the doorway that separated the living room from the kitchen and before anyone had a chance to so much as say 'hi', she pulled him to herself and dipped him while giving him a big kiss then pulled him back upright and dragged a bewildered but amused Legolas over to the arm chair, sat down, and pulled him down to sit on her lap.

"Well then!" Julie said.

"Hey look, Donna, I think you're right. They do like each other," her dad said to her mom.

"Sure looks that way," she replied.

"Get a room," Eddie chimed in.

"Don't mind if I do," Lothril said, and with that stood up, still holding Legolas and carried him back into the dining room and set him down at the base of the stairs.

"You get in the strangest moods sometimes," Legolas said as he followed her up the stairs.

"You all wanted me to show how I felt, so I did. Let no one say I did not give the people what they wanted!" she replied.

"You are upset."

"What? Don't be ridiculous."

They were at the top of the stairs and he took her hand. "You are trembling."

"Mostly because I can't believe I just did that," she said, giving a nervous sounding laugh as she moved towards her room, "but I couldn't let things stand as they were."

His brows knit together, "Were you upset by my teasing you? Does my teasing bother you?"

"What? You've seen how we are. The whole lot of us are teasers."

"That does not answer my question," he said as he shut the door to her room behind himself.

She pulled her beanbag chair away from the corner and flopped down on it and Legolas sat on the floor beside her. "No, it does not bother me, but you had a point and so did Mom and I realized I was being ridiculous and knew full well if I didn't dive into the deep end, I never would get in the water at all. So to speak. It is also why I climbed out that window. I knew I should. I knew I had to. I knew if I didn't just climb out on the ledge and drop I would never really live. I never really lived before I did that. I just walked through life feeling a dissonance with the world around me. Like I was never really a part of it. I did not realize it right away, but in those dreams I felt in harmony with what was going on and with you. And when you showed up out the window, it was like a door was opened and I could feel that harmony again. Everything I did in Middle-earth felt like a natural extension of myself. Everything I do here feels like it runs contrary, so I have to force myself to do it or else I do nothing at all."

"Even kissing me?" he asked.

"In front of others, yes. I did not care to do it much in Middle-earth because I know full well nobody wants to watch two people kissing all day, so I was mindful of that, but I ceased feeling shy about it in front of our friends and kin by the end of our betrothal celebration, like I said. Here though – I do feel shy about it. I still do, but now that I've done it, I feel some allowance to do it again."

"Allowance to do it again? This place does affect you! For a good long while now I supposed your awkwardness at our meeting was due to you being young and unsure of yourself, and the circumstances being so strange with all the unknowns about everything. Now I begin to think it was a result of you living so long where you do not belong," he replied.

"Perhaps," she said thoughtfully.

He smiled and said, "Do you know what I miss most about Middle-earth in this moment?"

"What do you miss most?" she asked.

"I miss taking your hand and leading you away to some quiet place and lying beside you in the grass as we did in Lothlórien and Ithilien and in the evenings as we pitched camp after leaving Minas Tirith and finding those quiet and lovely places in the fields of Rohan where we would not be seen or disturbed. Do you remember the sweet smell of the wild flowers and the grass of Rohan in the starlight?"

She smiled wide at the remembrance. "I do. The earth beneath us smelled so sweet and the stars above us burned so brightly; and you so warm beside me singing those sweet songs in my ears all night. I miss it too. Though, even if we were in Middle-earth, if the weather was the same, we should be confined to indoors anyway with this rain."

"With you, that is no bad thing. Did we not spend evenings of bad weather in Rivendell in your room or mine? And did we not pass them very happily together? Indeed, I look forward to a few rainy days at home," he replied.

"Oh? And what do you usually do on rainy days?"

"Usually I sneak down to the wine cellar and take a bottle out of father's private collection and sit beside the window and drink and play songs. Unless of course, someone is trying to find me, in which case I hide, and as a last resort sneak out of my window and either go down to the river and swim or else hide out somewhere until whatever pestering noble gets bored and leaves. However, once we are married, I plan on posting a guard at the door with orders to throw anyone who dares try to disturb us in the dungeons until we are quite through or the rain stops. Whichever occurs last," he answered.

"Quite through with what?"

"This for one thing," he said as he stood and then picked her up and carried her over to her bed and laid her down then lay down beside her and kissed her rather seriously.

She pulled away from him said, "We have a year to wait, Legolas, though it feels like you may have forgotten that."

"I have not. That thought is fixed firmly in my mind. I am merely pulling back the veil a little on my affections for you," he replied before kissing her again.

"A little?" she panted when he finally released her from his kiss.

"A very little.

"Hey mom," Lothril said as she rounded the corner from the dining room into the living room. "Do you think I could get a family picture of all of us?"

"I guess so. Why?" she replied.

"Well, I was thinking the other day it would be nice if I could bring some pictures back with me. I want to get a really nice photo album put together and I want pictures of everyone," she replied.

"Oh, well in that case, I think we could get everyone to take one," her mom replied. "It'll give your dad an excuse to play with his camera, so that should make him happy. I think he's outside in the garage futzing around if you want to go tell him. Today would be a good day for it too. It's nice out!"

Lothril nodded and headed outside. It had only been a week since her parents found out the truth, and they had taken it a whole lot better than she had thought. What was really astounding though is how well they just seemed to accept the fact she would leave… permanently… But as her mom had put it, it wasn't like she was dying of a terminal illness or like they were sending her off as a missionary to headhunters. They were letting her go off to live happily ever after with Prince Charming. And with a far more solid guarantee of her future health and happiness than they could dream of having if she stayed. This made Lothril all the more glad the Valar had seen fit to send Legolas along.

The garage door was wide open and her dad was fiddling with something at his work bench and talking to Legolas who was sitting on the world's heaviest and most comfortable office chair ever. It was made by her dad from a reject Mercury car seat (something about the electronics not working right on it from the factory) and a World War Two era office chair that had a base that felt heavy enough to be made of solid iron. Either way, it was more than solid enough to handle the thick car seat. As soon as she approached Legolas' gaze turned to her reflexively and he smiled.

She smiled back then said, "Hey dad, can you get out your camera and tripod and take a picture of us? I want to put together a photo album to take with me and I want a family picture."

Her dad paused a moment with what he was doing and then said, "Yeah, I suppose I could do that. When do you want to take it?"

"Now, more or less. I don't need some formal thing or anything fancy, I just want a half decent picture of all of us," she answered.

He didn't say anything but he nodded and after a minute said, "Well, I'll need to wash up and put on a clean shirt and jeans."

"That's fine. I'll make sure everyone else is ready," Lothril said. "Come on, Legolas. Let's get you ready for your first picture."

"This is exciting," Legolas said as he stood and made his way to Lothril.

"Well don't get too thrilled," Lothril said. "It's not quite as exciting as you might think."

"So say you, but in the whole long history of Middle-earth, I am the first Elf to get my picture taken," Legolas replied.

Lothril blinked, "Oh! I hadn't thought of that. Well, in that case, I will have dad take a picture of you by yourself first. I've had my picture taken a few times, but not as an elf, so I will leave the honor to you."

"That is very sweet of you, but I would much prefer to have one with you," Legolas said as they headed back towards the house.

"Oh we can take one together too," Lothril replied.

"I've got a couple new rolls of film we can use up," her dad called from the garage.

"Thanks dad!" she answered. "So there you go, Legolas. We have two whole rolls of film we can use. So, I think forty-eight pictures. It's dependent on how big dad's rolls are."

"Forty-eight?! Well then, I suppose we might get a couple pictures together then," Legolas said.

As soon as they got in the house Lothril heard her mom call out, "Hey Jen!"

"Yes, mom?" she returned, pausing in the doorway between the kitchen and the living room.

"How formal do you want these pictures?"

"I don't really care. I just want a picture of everybody," she answered.

"Do you plan on showing these to people?" her mom asked.

"Well, probably, but it's not like I plan on posting them in the town square," Lothril answered.

Mrs. Erickson nodded and said, "Give me a minute to do my hair and makeup."

Lothril nodded and then headed upstairs with Legolas in tow. "So how does one dress for getting their picture taken?" Legolas asked.

"In years of yore, one would dress up, but really I don't want formal portraits. I want one or two shots of us in front of the house and then a couple pictures of everyone by themselves, and that's it. I don't want formal pictures because that's not how we are. I really hope mom doesn't go crazy with this or make Julie and Eddie dress up or anything. I just want their faces clean and their hair brushed," she replied. "Though, that said – I do want a picture or two of us in our elvish clothing. In fact, we'll do those first. Go put on your outfit you wore for our betrothal! I'm gonna go tell dad my plan."

Before he could even reply, she sped off back outside where she met her dad halfway between the garage and the house. In the meantime, Legolas went upstairs and put on his elvish clothes and circlet and jewels and making himself look like a proper elvish prince again. Not that he minded the more relaxed and plain clothes he had been wearing the last two weeks, but it felt wonderful to be in elvish made clothes again. As soon as he was ready he went downstairs where he found a slightly less than enthusiastic looking Eddie and Julie sitting on the couch with neatly brushed hair and wearing a different outfit than they had been wearing earlier.

"Oh no! Mom told us to change, but we don't have to dress up do we?" Eddie said, sounding like he was in utter dread at the answer.

Legolas laughed, "No, not at all."

"Then why are you dressed up like a fancy schmancy elven prince?" Julie asked.

"Because she said she wanted a picture of me in my regular clothes, but I will change back into a shirt and jeans for the group picture," Legolas answered.

"Good, because I hated my Easter dress. It was itchy," Julie replied.

"Where is she anyway?" Legolas asked.

"She's upstairs," Julie answered.

Legolas nodded and sat down beside them on the couch.

"Do you dress up like that all the time at home?" Eddie asked.

"Depends on what I am doing that day. If I am training soldiers or practicing sword play or archery or riding my horse, then no. Otherwise I am likely to wear something like this," Legolas answered.

"You have a horse?" Julie asked.

"I have four horses," Legolas answered. "One for traveling long distances, one for hunting, one for casual riding, and one for riding into battle."

"Lucky! I want a horse!" Julie said.

"Do you know how to ride one?" Legolas asked.

"No, I want to take lessons but they're kinda expensive," she answered.

Legolas nodded but didn't say anything for just then Lothril came into the living room wearing the dress she wore for their betrothal and looking like a Wood Elf come to grace the world of Men.

"I'll go see if Dad has the camera ready," she said as she whisked past them.

"Hey Jenny, mom said to ask you if this is fine," Julie said as her sister went by.

Lothril stopped and looked at her siblings and said, "It's perfect. I just want a couple pictures of us dressed up then I'll be back in a t-shirt and jeans for the group picture." And with that she headed back outside to look for her dad who was indeed outside setting up the camera on the tripod.

"I think I shall follow her, excuse me," Legolas said as he stood and went out after her.

"He's got it baaaaad," Julie said once she heard the door shut behind him.

"Got what?" Eddie asked.

"A thing for Jenny, duh!" Julie answered. "What did you think I meant?!"

"I dunno! That's why I asked!"

"Geez Eddie. Pay attention! He's head over heels for her. I mean, I know they're engaged, but did you see that look on his face when she came into the room?" Julie shook her head with a grin. "He's got it bad."

"Figure we should tease him about it?" Eddie asked.

"Only when he's around Jenny because she'll get all flustered. I don't think he'd care," Julie answered.

"That's true. We've been calling him 'your majesty' for a week and he just keeps laughing and calling us gwaun-gwain*. We really need to figure out what that means," Eddie replied.

Meanwhile, outside the camera was set up in the side yard and Mr. Erickson was adjusting the camera settings to take advantage of the light they had before snapping a couple pictures. First of just Legolas against the backdrop of an overgrown cedar bush, and then a couple of him and Lothril before Lothril declared that was enough and it was time for them to go change. They went in the side door that opened into the dining room and up the stair, at the top of which Legolas stopped Lothril.

"It is good to see you in this dress again," he said quietly.

"It is good to see you looking like a prince again," she returned. "But we ought to hurry. I am sure my brother and sister want to be done with this as soon as possible. They hate getting their picture taken, as does my mother."

"They shall simply have to wait a moment longer, for I will not be denied seeing you thus," he said before leaning in and giving her a sweet kiss.

Just then they heard footsteps on the stair and a moment later her mother appeared and saw them standing at the top of the stair, Legolas holding her daughter's hands. She smiled and said, "Oh good! I thought you might have changed already. I wanted to see you both dressed up."

Legolas let go of one of Lothril's hands and moved so he was beside her and so Donna could get a good look at both of them.

"Is this something you would wear everyday?" Donna asked.

"It is not terribly dissimilar to things I might wear any given summer day," Legolas said.

"I don't know yet," Lothril added. "I haven't had a chance to figure that out. Though, this is the dress I wore for our betrothal. And that is what he wore for it."

Donna didn't say anything but she did give a nod and then after a moment said, "I wish I could have seen it. Well, I'll let you two change and then we'll take the group picture." With that she turned around and went down the stairs.

"Perhaps we should let your mother keep the pictures of us," Legolas said. "I would love to show them to my father, but I think she needs them more."

"No worries there," Lothril replied. "We can get as many prints made as want. I plan on getting doubles of every picture so Mom and Dad can have a copy and I can have a copy."

"You can do that?" he asked, wide eyed.

"Yes. If we want we can get a dozen copies of every picture we take and hand them out to all our friends, though I doubt they'd want one. However, if for some reason when you see them you think you want an extra copy, we can always get another copy made as long as we have the negatives," Lothril answered.

"Negatives?" Legolas asked.

"Yeah, so you know that clicky sound you heard whenever Dad took a picture? That was the shutter opening and closing really quickly, allowing the image of us to make an impression sort of like a shadow on the film. When we're done with the roll of film, we'll take it in to get developed where… well, I'll let dad explain it. He really understands it better than I do. He used to develop his own film back in the day," Lothril said. "I've only ever dropped it off at the one hour photo."

"We can have those pictures in an hour?" Legolas said, wide eyed.

"Well, a little more than that. We have to finish the whole roll of film first, then drop it off, but it only takes an hour to develop once its dropped off," Lothril clarified. "If we were taking pictures with the digital camera you could see them right away, but they're not as good quality. However, just so you can see yourself, I might have Dad take a couple pictures with his digital camera and put them on the computer for you to see."

"More human wizardry, I see," Legolas said with a shake of his head before chuckling and turning into his room.

"Wait! I forgot! I have a digital camera. It's not as good as dad's, but then we'll get a quick picture of you with your elvish clothes. Come on!" she said and grabbed his hand and dragged him into her room where she began rummaging through her night stand until she found what she wanted – a little green digital camera. She turned it on and held it up and got a quick snap of Legolas looking at her. "Here, look at yourself!" she said as she came to stand beside him and pulled up the image she had just snapped. She zoomed in the image what little she could on his face and let him see himself.

"Hmm… I wish I could see this bigger," he said, really not sure what to think of the picture just taken.

"We'll put it on the computer later," she said. "But here," she said, putting the camera back into picture taking mode and holding it out at arm's length, lens facing them. "Smile!" with that she clicked the shutter and then turned it around to see the picture she had just taken proved to have part of her face out of frame.

"I am not sure, but I think that is not a very good picture," Legolas said.

"Oh it's dreadful! But that's part of the fun of digital pictures. We can take hundreds of them and it doesn't matter because we can get rid of them as easily as we take them and take another. With film it is a little more important to get it right the first time," Lothril said. "Speaking of, we should change and get back outside before Julie and Eddie kill us."

Legolas laughed and agreed and he left her room. As soon as the door shut, Lothril looked at the two pictures she took of Legolas again and smiled. What a weird year… or two weeks… whatever… She quickly changed out of her dress and hung it back up then left her room and saw his bedroom door was open and that he was already downstairs (and that his room looked like the maid had just left it sparkling, which sent a pang of guilt through her because her room was lightly disheveled and she had a stack of books and CDs she needed to reshelf). She hurried downstairs and out the door to see her dad looking through the view finder on his camera and arranging everyone. Lothril moved into the frame and her dad placed her then set the timer and hurried over. After two or three shots and a hope that in at least one of them everyone had their eyes open, and then to make her happy, Single pictures of each of them, and then one or two pictures of her and Legolas in t-shirts and jeans and that was it.

"How many pictures are left?" she asked.

Her dad paused and checked the camera. "Six."

"Can I borrow your camera for a couple days and finish off the roll?" she asked.

Her dad thought a moment then he said, "Oh, I don't see why not. What are you thinking of taking pictures of?"

"Well, I want a picture of Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Dave and Heather, Katherine, and Sam, and a couple different places," she answered. "I figured I could take them at church tomorrow."

Her dad nodded and said, "Well, if you want to be in those pictures, I could always take them for you at church."

Lothril smiled. "Thanks, Dad!"

The Friday before finals her friends decided they were going to have an end of year pizza party at Margie's house and they extended the invitation to Avery as well. The plan was pizza, board games, and possibly studying, but probably not. The festivities were set to start at six and they decided as it was barely more than a mile if they cut through the woods, that they would just walk. Her father objected at first siting safety concerns on the return journey, but they promised they'd bring their long knives in case of an animal attack and that seemed to pacify him. That and Legolas casually mentioning he had hundreds of years of experience hunting and that Lothril had taken down a large troll by herself. Walking a mile wouldn't take very long, but they decided they wanted to take their good sweet time, so left around five carrying Lothril's school backpack containing their long knives, elven cloaks, and her class notes.

"Are you excited about this evening?" Legolas asked as they headed into the woods.

"A little. I am glad I get to spend time with them all one more time outside of school. You sound rather excited though."

"I am. I am curious to see you with your friends outside of school," he said. "This is really the first time I shall see you at ease with your friends and I am painfully curious to see it."

"And why is that?" she asked. "Wait, I think I can guess. Never mind, I do not wish to know."

Legolas laughed. "I think you guess rightly and I shall be giving a full report to Elladan and Elrohir."

She shook her head. They took a fairly leisurely pace and sauntered through the woods, stopping here and there to let Legolas look at the odd tree or plant. It was fun walking through the woods with him, and she determined when they got back she would definitely be asking him to show her his favorite places in his father's realm. After a while though, they determined it was time they start making actual progress towards her friend's house and so headed to the neighborhood on the other side of the woods and quickly cut through it and crossed the street and so made it to Margie's house right at six. Their other friends Andrew, Brian, and Katrina all showed up within minutes of Lothril and Legolas, and Margie's mom returned not ten minutes later with the pizza.

They ate then headed downstairs to play board games, and it didn't take long for the conversation to turn to a mutually favorite topic – The Lord of the Rings.

"Oh, that reminds me," her friend Andrew said, turning to look at Lothril. "I was reading 'the Lord of the Rings' last night where Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli were hunting down the orcs that had captured Merry and Pippin, and two thoughts occurred to me – one, why doesn't Aragorn just ask Legolas about the Riders of Rohan? I mean, he has to know elves have this crazy telescopic vision, right? And two – do you suppose after they reached where the orcs were burning and are trying to figure out what happened, Legolas honestly thought that, or was he just being a sarcastic smart-alec?"

Lothril got a very strange look on her face that Andrew couldn't interpret. It looked like his friend was simultaneously trying really hard not to laugh and yet, sort of terrified, like stage fright. Hadn't they had a hundred conversations like this before about all sorts of things?

"Well," she said slowly, looking like she was really thinking it through, "I think-" she stopped because out of the corner of her eye she saw Legolas turn to towards them and rest an elbow on the coffee table they were playing on and his head on his hand, looking dreadfully impish. "I think Legolas didn't say anything because Aragorn didn't ask, but when it was clear the ever-talented ranger couldn't get more specific than he did, he decided to be the smart-alec that he is and show off. I don't think he really thought what he said about Merry and Pippin, or at least, not the flying away part. Though I imagine he well believed they went off singing into the trees."

"Your turn, Avery," Margie said, handing him the dice.

"Thank you," Legolas replied and rolled the dice and quickly moved the number of spaces, but landed on a blank square and so it was now Katrina's turn.

Legolas looked at Andrew and said, "I do not believe he was being a smart-alec. I think he was expressing relief at a situation that had clearly gone from grim to hopeful by injecting a little humor. As for the other – he was curious to see just how skilled Aragorn was, but when it became obvious the Dúnedain could be no more specific than that, he simply filled in a few pertinent details."

"Nobody asked you," Lothril said, teasingly, arching a brow at him.

"I can hardly sit idly by as one of my favorite character's character was being defamed," Legolas replied.

Andrew nodded, "It's understandable. So, you are a fan of 'Lord of the Rings'?"

"Very much so," Legolas answered.

"Sweet. So, if Legolas is one of your favorite characters, is your favorite race the elves?"

"You could say I am partial to them," he answered with a grin.

"I'm more a fan of dwarves myself," interjected Brian.

"Why the dwarves, may I ask?" Legolas asked as he absentmindedly watched Brian roll. He looked like he was doing really quite well and he began to wonder if he wasn't going to win.

"I think it's cool that they live in mountains and make all that awesome stuff. The elves just sit around playing harps and shooting bows," Brian answered as he moved his piece. "Oh sweet! I get to roll again!" he said then picked up the dice and tossed them again. "Don't get me wrong, bows are nice and all, but I'd rather have a war hammer or a battle axe! And I prefer the dwarf esthetic. None of that thin, spindly looking stuff."

Lothril nearly snorted into her pop at the look of utter incredulity on Legolas' face at Brian's assertions about elves.

"That's not true," Andrew said, "Some of the most amazing weapons in Middle-earth were forged by the elves. Glamdring and Orcrist, for example."

At this Legolas smiled. At least one of these children had some sense.

"Yeah, but after the Last Alliance they all just sat around with magic rings playing harps," Brian replied.

"I think you're forgetting though that even the dwarves in the third age admitted that they couldn't make armor and weapons as good as they used to," Andrew said.

"That is true," Legolas chimed in. "I should be curious, Brian, to hear what you must then think of the role of the elves in the Battle of Five Armies? Do you suppose they played their harps to drive away the orcs of Gundabad?" he asked, the look on his face being utterly amused.

"Legolas, they are children," Lothril reminded him mentally.

"I know, but I may have my fun," he answered in kind.

"Well, Thranduil and the Mirkwood elves are sort of different, aren't they? I mean they have all those giant spiders they're fighting off and whatever. But didn't the book say they don't make anything?" Brian asked.

"That's not exactly it," Lothril said. "It's not that they don't make anything, it's that they don't export very much. They do however, forge their own armour and weaponry, create their own every day use items, and so forth."

"Ooooh," Brian said, slowly nodding his head.

"That definitely makes more economic sense," Andrew added.

"To answer your original question," Legolas said, "They are a little different from other elves, in that their kings are Sindarin, or if you prefer, laquendi that did not go to Valinor, nor did any of the silvan elves, and they hold more to a way of life that is not so heavily influenced by the Valar. The silvan elves avoided much heartache and strife that way, and after Oropher and Thranduil witnessed the fall of Doriath, they decided such a life was preferential, and so moved to the Greenwood."

"Wow, you really know your stuff," Andrew said.

Legolas smiled, "I have made some study of it."

"What else do you know about the Mirkwood elves?" Andrew asked. "I can't find very much about them."

"What would you like to know?"

"Well," he paused and thought a moment then said, "Why didn't the elves help the dwarves get rid of Smaug?"

"It was discussed, but dragons are difficult enough to kill in open battle, to say nothing of one holed up in a mountain with heavy defenses, and the dwarves were not about to share any secret passageways with anyone. If a direct attack had been tried, Smaug would have hardly needed to move to thwart the attempts. He merely should have faced the directions of the gates and breathed fire. The army should have been incinerated where they stood."

Andrew nodded, "I hadn't thought of that. So then why didn't they help the dwarves afterwards?"

"Who says they did not? Aid was offered, but the forest was dark then and there was not room in the habitable places to house all the dwarves. Dwarves are stubborn, they were still hurt that Thranduil did not roast his army at the gate in an attempt to reclaim their home. They took some provisions but then scattered to their various kin. I dare say if Smaug had razed Mirkwood to the ground, the Dwarves should not have offered to allow all the elves to stay in Erebor," Legolas answered.

"Still, they should have done something rather than let the dragon stay there," Brian said.

"Wake a sleeping dragon?" Legolas asked with no small amount of incredulity.

Brian paused a moment then said, "They could have snuck in and killed him in his sleep."

Legolas laughed. "The next time you happen upon a sleeping cat, try grabbing its tail and see what happens. Once your wounds have healed, I would love to hear all about how one kills a sleeping dragon."

Andrew was stifling a smile as he looked at Brian who thought it over a moment then said, "Good point!" Andrew burst into laughter.

Meanwhile, Lothril was feeling like the comeback kid as her roll landed her on a space where she got to roll again and wound up rolling three times in a row and catching up to Brian.

"Hey! When did you catch up?!" Brian said, finally paying attention to the board.

"While you were talking about waking dragons," Lothril answered with a grin. "But what you still haven't noticed is that Katrina passed you up."

"What?!" Brian cried, and looked at the board. Well there went his lead.

"Haha! Serves you right for thinking the elves suck," Katrina teased.

"What do you care? Aragorn's your favorite," Brian said.

"Yeah, but I like elves too," Katrina replied.

"Who is your favorite, Margie?" Legolas asked, as she had mostly been quiet during the conversation.

"Treebeard, I suppose," Margie answered. "Or maybe Gandalf."

The conversation continued on through the board game, drifting here and there until at the last moment, Margie got a string of lucky tosses and wound up winning. After that they broke out the Uno deck and Legolas finally saw Lothril's cut throat competitive side as she had no qualms about burying him or her other friends under a pile of 'Draw Four Wild' cards and 'Draw Two's.

The evening was fun, but decidedly more sedate than pretty much anything they had done with friends in Middle-earth, except maybe rainy evenings in Rivendell when they just sat and talked in one of their rooms. Even quiet evenings with the Fellowship in Minas Tirith involved a lot of smoking and often singing. Despite the fact Margie had a piano down in the basement and that Lothril had mentioned several of them took piano lessons from the same teacher, absolutely no one seemed inclined to play anything. So the evening was more or less food, games, and conversation. Oh yes, this definitely explained a few things.

Around nine o'clock parents began showing up to pick up her friends (as all of them were younger than Jennifer, none of them could drive themselves yet), and Legolas and Lothril decided it was time they head back also and bid Margie and the others goodnight. As soon as they rounded the corner from the house, Lothril paused and pulled out their Lothlórien cloaks from her bag and they flung them on and immediately melted into the night.

"You seemed to enjoy talking about yourself," Lothril teased as they began winding through the neighborhood that backed up to her woods.

Legolas laughed, "It was hard to remember to speak of myself like that. I nearly slipped. I am glad though that I had this chance to know your friends."

"I am too, I think. To truly get the full experience, you need to spend time with me and Lynn, but I am not sure if we shall manage that before we must leave," Lothril said.

"Oh, I do hope so," Legolas said with a grin. They chatted a little all the way through the neighborhood until they were a ways into the woods, then he put a hand on her arm to stop her. "Do you have a time you must be home?"

"Technically, I have a midnight curfew, but given who my friends are, mom and dad are not very strict about it. Why?" she asked.

"So if I kept you out a little while longer, no one would mind?" Legolas asked.

"No, not really," she answered.

"Good," Legolas said as he pulled her in close. "Midnight is some hours away and I desire greatly to tarry in the woods on such a clear night."

"Even here?" she asked with a playful little smile as she brought her arms up to rest on his shoulder and let her fingers begin combing through his hair.

"Especially here," Legolas replied with a slight shudder as she played with his hair. "I still feel restless and want to sail, but so far from home, I am finding even this little wood a place of solace."

"Just wait till we get up north," Lothril said. "The sky is thick with stars and the woods go on for miles and end at the lakeshore."

"Do you think we shall see the lake?" Legolas asked.

"I am going to make a point of it. Grandma Sue is very close to Lake Michigan and I well imagine we will be able to sneak in a beach day. In fact, as I recall, there is a very pretty little known stretch of beach that we may very well have to ourselves. Especially if we go during a week day," she answered.

"I do hope so. After you told me you picked your dress for our betrothal to match the lake, I have been desirous to see the original," he said.

"Then we shall certainly have to see it," she replied and kissed him.

They kissed for several minutes, her fingers woven in his hair and gently massaging the back of his head with her fingertips, his hands on her back and holding her close, occasionally letting one of his hands gently play with her long, soft, silky hair. He could not help himself… between kisses he began telling her how much he adored her and by the end of an hour they were up in one of the old oak trees sitting on one of the branches big enough around to be a mature tree. His back was against the trunk and her back was against his chest, and both of them straddling the branch as he kissed her cheek and neck and composed sweet verses to her. He was leaving a trail of kisses up her neck, behind her ear, down her jaw, and moved her into a position where he could reach her lips. No sooner did his lips press to hers that she began to smile and then started to laugh.

"What?" he asked with a grin.

"Ooh, nothing really, but a silly children's rhyme came to mind just now," she answered.

Now he was a little confused. "A children's rhyme?"

"Yeah, we generally used it to tease classmates about crushes. You use the names of the two kids in the rhyme so if it was about us it would go: Legolas and Lothril sitting in a tree! K-i-s-s-i-n-g! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the carriage!"

Legolas chuckled. "Seems appropriate."

"Never thought I would live it out so literally," she said.

He gave her lips another kiss and then resumed kissing her neck.

"What is it about the woods at night that makes me feel so… so… passionate? Is that even the word I want? It has always been this way for me at night in the woods," she said, sounding half dreamy.

"It is your elven blood," he answered between kisses. "Starlight always stirs our hearts… and if we are under bough also… all the better… It is why… we hold so many feasts at evening… and why… we tend to marry at night… and many outside… or with the windows wide open… to let in the sounds of the trees… and the starlight."

"Did you?" she asked, sounding very distracted.

"Did I what?" he asked as he began kissing behind her ear.

"Did you dream of marrying some nice elleth under bough by starlight?"

"Not until I met you," he answered as he moved her again so he could reach her lips.

When they finally arrived back at the house it was closer to eleven than ten, and her parents were both still up, as was their habit. Legolas and Lothril only gave a brief goodnight in passing though as they passed by the living room. Tomorrow was Saturday, there were no particular plans, and they decided they could easily lay spells on one of their bedroom doors and carry on in the house and so keep her curfew, lax as it was, and do whatever they wished without raising concerns or suspicions.

Being an elf did have its advantages.

Author's Note: *gwaun-gwain: young goose/geese. So basically, this was as close as I could get to "silly goose". However, in more than one language/culture/time in history being young was associated with being silly or ridiculous or at the very least, lacking maturity so I decided this would work. That and – have you ever seen goslings? They're pretty silly to watch. …The ice cream scene – I can't say I have seen this happen at the local ice cream place, but I have seen this happen once or twice in real life (not just that one episode of Family Guy). Why do I say this? Because life should be like a musical. Everyone should sing and dance badly to awesome oldies without needing a flash-mob. Because it's the little things in life that make it fun. I don't know what's going on in your life, but take a deep breath, go outside barefoot and walk in the grass, and sing along and dance to some oldies. If you've not really listened to oldies, I recommend starting with stuff your parents or grandparents would have listened to. CCR, Journey, Queen, The Temptations, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley, Ella Fitzgerald, The Monkees, Bobby Darrin, Scott Joplin… just to name a few to get you started.