'Technically', this is goodbye

(Irony POV)

Irony's eyes shut open. She squinted both of them and examined her surrounding despite her blurry vision. She was still in that cursed room in the healing quarters. The exact same poorly furnished and lighted square room. She sat and frown contemplating how frustrated she was by this whole situation.

"Another one of those nightmares?" came Glorfindel's soft voice, as he stood from the chair to sit by her side on the bed. He was wearing his full armour, just like the day he had arrived in Mirkwood. Judging by the pockets under his eyes, he had probably been fighting off spiders recently and neglected to rest. His armour was spotless though, and so was he.Elves...

"Much worse." She replied frowning deeper. Glorfindel furrowed his brows with concern. "Just a regular dream. But the kind you feel really embarrassed for having." She giggled loudly and let herself fall back on the pillow. A wedding? Really? she mentally scolded herself for having had a dream a five years old might have.

"Do you remember what happened?"

Irony shook her head.

"You fainted when Legolas had you stand up."

Irony growled. "I thought the damned black blood was out of my system?!" she inquired. How long would this nonsense go on. It already seemed like forever since she had been outside. The worse of it was not being able to tell when truth became illusion, or nightmares - if that's what they were. The whole ordeal was more frustrating everyday that passed. Perhaps she should have stabbed herself in the heart with that arrow. Then it would all have been over.

But then again a few days of blacking out here and now were a small price to pay for immortality, she reflected.

"We had thought that what little remained inside you was harmless. Obviously we were wrong." sighed the Balrog Slayer, shaking his head. "We have drained it all out of you, this time." he told her, pointing at her right wrist. It was bandaged. Now that he had mentioned it, the cut stung a little. "You will feel weak, and dizzy for a days or two. But you are entirely free of black blood now. You should recover quickly." he added, smiling his reassuring smile of his.

His smile was a little too sad though. Strange, thought Irony. Helping herself with her hands she sat again and stared thoroughly at the elf. Up and down went her eyes. He was slouching a tad more than he usually was, and his hands were nervously playing with the tip of his cape. Irony's eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. Again. "Spit it out!" she yelled at him.

Caught off guard, Glorfindel let go of cape. The elf's mouth opened and closed without producing a sound. Then like a fish, he did it again and again. Irony could feel herself growing more annoyed by the second. She wondered if she would ever live through a whole week without something bad or disturbing happening. "Is it that bad?" she asked, encouraging him to speak. The elf hesitated a bit, then shook his head. "Is it Legolas?" The elf shook his head and rolled his eyes, confirming that the prince and him still only just tolerated one another. Irony squinted her eyes; if it wasn't a bad news, and if it wasn't about Legolas then... "Let me guess, the king has banned me?"

The vanya shook his head yet again. "He has been surprisingly cooperative concerning your safety. If not out of respect for his son then out of respect for you." Glorfindel shrugged. "One can never tell why Thranduil does anything. He is a compl-"

"You're ranting, elf." she snorted. "I was out for long enough to still be kept in the dark now. So Glorfindel, please, speak!" Her friend's gaze dropped to his hands. "You looking at me with sad eyes and with your armour on is starting to worry me. It's almost like you're about to say goodbye and leave me here." Reality settled in. "You are abandoning me here, aren't you?!"

"Abandoning is a strong word." he replied. "And it implies that I find some peace in parting from you, when in truth it unsettles me quite a bit." he admitted. "I am not too confident in what shall happen to you next if you stay here. I mean...Thranduil is more than able and powerful enough to protect you. But I fear that may not be enough to keep you out Morgoth's aim. And since the shadow of the east was his-" He suddenly paused as if he had almost said something he shouldn't have. "My point is," he started again, "Lord Elrond, Rivendel's Lord, may be more suited to look after you. I am certain now that he has sent me here with the purpose of taking you back with me." Irony wrinkled her nose wondering how that Elrond Glorfindel spoke of could have known she would be in Greenwood. And if he had known that, then why had he not told Glorfindel what would happen so he could have helped and saved everyone some time. "He is more powerful than the elven king thanks to the rin-." He paused again and cleared his throat. "He is more powerful than Thranduil. For now." Worry showed on the vanya's face. "Him and his people have had dealings with your kind before. They shall treat you more kindly than the wood elves. And, I'll be there to keep an eye on you."

Irony sat straight. "You seem more worried than need be. So I am guessing there is something you are not telling me." She raised a brow and waited for a response.

The elf shifted uncomfortably. After searching for his words for a long time, he rubbed his temples. "Irony...this is...beyond complicated. And there is very little I can tell you -or any one else about that matter. Just know that what you choose to do next may determine more than just your own future."

"I am not going to decide whether I am leaving or staying here without knowing the whole story." she declared firmly. Acting blindly was what idiots who wanted to get killed did. And she'd been a couple of times too many close to death already. "And why would what I choose to do even matter?" she asked. "I mean, Morgoth is very likely done toying with me. And in case you haven't noticed, there is very little harm I could do to elves even if I wanted to." Glorfindel raised a dubious brow, which prompted Irony to add, "I won't use Legolas to have my way. I promise."

Laughing, the Balrog Slayer wrapped an arm around her and pulled into a hug, careful to not get his hair caught up in between them. "No one is ever safe from you, it seems." He hold on her tightened. "In truth it is a more imminent danger I worry about." He pulled away slightly. "Still, like I already told you, I cannot go into details, so please, accept this as an explanation: you are not supposed to take part in what is coming." The serious look he was bearing was making Irony uneasy. "But since you..." He hesitated. "But Legolas is supposed to take part in it." Irony shivered. This was oddly reminding her of what the fortune teller had told Legolas. "Everything that may have happened in the future, may no longer happen the way it would have happened if you crossed path with him." Now Irony was confused.

Glorfindel sighed. "In other words, the future was uncertain, and you mingling among elves have probably made it even more uncertain that it was. And that may be a terrible thing."

"That's a lot of 'may' and uncertainty." she argued. "And if I understood anything out of all those probabilities, it's that nothing was certain to begin with. So I don't see how adding uncertainty to uncertainty could have changed anything. Besides, for all we know, maybe, my presence will change the future for the better, and not for the worst." Somehow she doubted that. "But more importantly...why-how do you know what will happen next? the future?"

The Vanya only stared at her in silence. "I would rather be too cautious than not enough." he finally said, ignoring her questions.

"So leaving or staying really isn't my choice is it?" She leaned back against the piled pillows. Staring at the walls she wondered what secrets was Glorfindel holding.

"But It is." he insisted.

"How so?!" she half yelled back. "You're telling me that staying here will bring some- some bad shit to-... To I don't even know who exactly, and that Legolas will somehow be caught up in the middle of all that. So from where I'm standing, you're not actually giving me any choice."

The Vanya cursed under his breath. He seemed to be annoyed by his inability to explain things properly. Still wondering why he knew so much about the future, Irony remembered he had told her that he was different from the other elves before, but she was only really beginning to grasp what he had meant by that now. For some reason, he knew more than everybody else did about probably everything. That must have been what he had meant when he had said that he could sometimes 'sense' things, and people. Still, Irony doubted that it was intuition only that guided him.

"We may not be able to identify the consequences that your choice will have. Therefore, the choice is free of guilt, and yours to make. Technically." he elf-splained in that very senseless meaningful elven manner of speaking. They speak so many languages and still, they do not communicate efficiently in any of them, she thought.

"And yet, 'technically', if I go-

"Go to Rivendel?" asked Legolas none too happily as he slammed the door closed behind him. "I thought I had warned you against speaking of your nonsense and prophesies to her." he spat to Glorfindel in sindarin, making himself taller. "You would do well to remember that I could have you banned from here."

"You hold no authority over me." Glorfindel said, remaining calm as ever. Irony wondered how their relationship could have gotten worse. She had thought that they would have bonded over having seen a Valar, or at least been content to ignore each other after that. She had been so wrong...

"Greenwood is your father's kingdom for he recognises better friends from foes."

The prince growled lowly, seemingly not ready to swallow his pride just yet. Glorfindel may have been seated, but it was apparent that he was ready in case Legolas let his temper take the better of him.

"I am so tired of you two bickering over which one of you can or cannot make decisions in my stead." whispered Irony. She knew the elves had heard her. She turned to Glorfindel. "I am not a child," she turned to Legolas. "And I am not your toy." she told him. "I do want to leave this castle, and I eventually will," The prince gasped then scowled. "But for now, I am fine, right here." That, she had directed to the Balrog Slayer. "Anything else you'd like to add?" Both elves shook their heads. "I was awaiting apologies for your childish behaviour, not sad heads shaking." she insisted. Both of them began muttering unintelligible sounds all the while looking at the floor. If they had not been interrupted by some soldier knocking on the left opened door, Irony would have forced a real apology out of their mouths.

"I am sorry to intrude."he started, "Lord Glorfindel, the company is ready, and awaiting your order to depart."

"Thank you. I shall be there shortly." replied the vanya. The soldier bowed and swiftly left the room. Glorfindel stood. "I guess it is time then." he told Irony, doing his best attempt at a happy smile but failing miserably. "I shall miss your company greatly. But I am hoping you will write to me often."

"I will." she confirmed. They stared awkwardly at each other for a second before Irony sighed loudly and lunged for ward to hug the giant as tightly as she could. Once he would be gone she would no longer have any friend here. She'd be all alone again while Legolas would be kept busy with estate affairs and spiders. "Shit, I hate to see you go." she croaked. The prince's face paled, but he did not interfere.

Glorfindel only laughed that loud and warm laughter of his. "Rivendel is only three weeks away, if you wish to visit."

"I will. Soon. I promise." she assured him. Already wondering how much negotiating it would take to convince both the King and his son to let her leave for a while. Legolas would probably accompany with her.

"I should go now." said Glorfindel as he pulled the human off him. Unexpectedly, he kissed her forehead. And Irony felt him freeze and shiver, as if he had had bad feeling creeping down his spine. But before she could question him about it, he spoke again.

"Farewell."

A/N: I am SO sorry I didn't update sooner, but yeah..life just got in the way x) Anyway here is another chapter! I keep saying it is the last one, but that last chapter keep being stretched and stretched and stretched *sighs* that last chapter is damn hard to write, but hey, it's coming up!

I hope you enjoyed reading this one ^^