Fan Fiction ❯ Wild Blue Yonder ❯ An Unexpected Encounter ( Chapter 5 )

**REVISED**

Disclaimer: I own it, I own it. . . . eek, the fanfiction police are here, no I don't own it. I plead the fifth. . .

Wild Blue Yonder

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Chapter 5 - An Unexpected Encounter

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In the three days since he had met Rain, Legolas had observed many things about her. She was definitely one of the most interesting people he had ever met. She moved with a grace almost equal to his own, moving as swiftly and silently through the woods as any elf. Her stamina was unbelievable, most humans would have wilted under the strain of their travel pattern, but she seemed to thrive. The only other human he had meet with stamina her equal was Aragorn.

When he had questioned her about her abilities, she had just shrugged and said part of it was from her military training and part was her love of outdoor activities. He was currently watching her as she spitted two rabbits he had shot along the trail today for their dinner. Nanook, her dog, was curled up next to him, his head resting on Legolas's thigh.

"Rain, do you miss you family?" Legolas asked, curious to know more about her.

She sighed as she turned away from the fire to look at him. A small sad smile flitting across her lips. "I don't have a family anymore, Legolas. It's just me and Nanook, he's my only family."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up painful memories." he said, chagrin coloring his tones, his eyes taking in her sad expression.

"No, It's alright. I really didn't have a lot of family to begin with. Growing up it was just my mother, grandmother and myself. My father left my mother when I was less than a year old. He had found someone else that he loved better than us, I guess." she looked a little rueful at the comment. Turning back to the fire, she poked at the coals with a long stick in her hand.

"My grandmother died just after I entered the military. It was hard since she practically raised me. I had so wanted for her to see me graduate from college, it was the only thing she ever really wanted for me." sighing again, she leaned back against the log next to the fire, staring unseeingly into the flames. "I did it though, I finished and then I took my diploma and put it on her grave. I think she was happy that I followed through with her wishes."

Reaching out, she turned the spitted rabbits to keep them from burning, her face lit by the firelight. A pensive expression darted across her face. Legolas could almost feel her emotions as she related her sad tale to him. Loosing ones family was a hard thing. "What about your mother?" he asked softly.

Tears filled her eyes as a pained expression clouded her face. "Mom. . . she passed away only six months ago. She had gotten cancer two years before, we thought it was all gone and then suddenly. . ." she stopped her voice breaking. As much as she tried, she could not get over the suddenness of her mother's passing. Staring off into the distance behind Legolas she suddenly sat forward, wiping the tears from her eyes as she gazed intently over his shoulder into the forest.

"I'll be right back." she said quietly, getting up from the ground and silently moving into the trees behind her. Legolas frowned, looking around behind him to see or hear what had bothered her so much. He could not see anything, but he could hear her, barely and only because he knew what she sounded like, stealthy circling the camp. Closing his eyes, he listened carefully to his surroundings his senses extending, searching for what had caught her attention. He began to chuckle quietly when he realized what Rain was after.

Hearing a thump and a yelp, he grinned at the recognized voice. Still grinning he watched as Rain forced marched another elf into camp, his hands secured behind his back with her handcuffs things. Leaves and dead branches caught in his disheveled black hair and a smudge of dirt, from where he had been shoved into the ground, adorning one check.

"So Elladan, I see you have meet my friend Rain." chuckled Legolas, ignoring the dirty look he got from the other elf.

"Funny, Legolas. Could you get these things off me?" he growled as he watched the woman saunter casually back around the fire and sit down.

"So how is it that the a warrior, such as yourself, could be careless enough to get caught unaware by a woman, no offense Rain." Legolas countered, enjoying the sight of the normally stuck up Elladan flustered.

"None taken, Legolas" quipped Rain, leaning back against the log, enjoying the fact the she had taken down now, not one but two elves. "Just remember," she said, "he's not the only one who's been caught unaware." Laughing at the chagrined expression that flitted over Legolas's face and the startled one from Elladans'.

Elladan slyly looked from the woman's laughing face to the embarrassed expression now on Legolas's face. "Oh ho, so I'm not the only one, humm." he said, laughing harder as Legolas began to blush.

"Rain would you please release him, so that I can shut his laughing trap for good." Legolas growled, bouncing up from his sitting position to advance on Elladan. Laughing at the antics of the two elves, Rain stepped in between the two men, putting one hand on Legolas's chest to keep him from hurting the other elf. Instantly, she was reminded of the reason why she had avoided touching him over the past few days. She became very aware of the rapid thud of his heart, the warmth of his body radiating through the soft material of his tunic, the strength barely suppressed in the muscles of his chest. Snatching her hand away as if scalded, she forced herself to remain nonchalant.

"Sit down, Legolas. It's almost time for dinner and I wouldn't want to ruin my appetite by watching you two shed some blood, all right." she said as she reached up and push lightly on his chest, gesturing with her hand for him to grab the rabbits before they burned to a crisp. Grumbling impolitely, Legolas stalked over to the fire as Rain slipped behind Elladan and unlocked the cuffs.

"Ok, boys. Let's try to play nice for the night, all right." she chuckled as she watched them shoot dirty looks back and forth at each other. Nanook, who had been watching from where Legolas had left him, trotted over next to Rain and placed his large head against her hip. Elladan, seeing the large unfamiliar animal jump back several paces from them, his hand going to his empty knife sheath. Feeling the empty sheath, Elladan looked confusedly down at it.

"Are you looking for this?" the woman said. Looking up, he saw her twirling his knife between her fingers. Turning it over in her hand, she held it out hilt first to him. Mumbling softly, he took it gently from her hand, so as not to cut her. Snapping the blade back into the sheath, he walked around her and sat down across from Legolas against the log, staring up at the strange woman.

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