A/N: This chapter is hot off the press. I know I haven't written anything in over a year, but I revised all of my chapters and added this new one. Enjoy.
A Safe Place
It was not until night fell that the Fellowship arrived at Lothlórien. They could barely make out the wood's borders as they stood before it for the moon had not yet graced the land with light and though the stars were bright their gleam was not sufficient. The ancient trees reached for the heavens. Grey stems bore golden leaves and in seeing them Arnen smiled. Their color reminded her of Telperion and Laurelin, the trees that branded her irises two ages ago. The Company pressed forward through the forest and through their weariness, seeking a place for rest.
"I believe tonight it would be safest for us to leave the ground and sleep in the trees. Evil will not lurk too high," Aragorn mused aloud.
Stroking one of the tree trunks, Legolas said, "I will climb up. I am at home among the trees, by root or by bough, though these trees are of a kind strange to me, save as a name in a song. Mellyrn they are called, and are those that bear the yellow blossom, but I have never climbed in one. I will see now what is their shape and way of growth."
"That is all well and good for you," griped Pippin; "but I am not an elf or a bird. Trees are no place for a hobbit to sleep. It just is not natural."
Legolas smiled kindly at his irritated companion. Nimbly, he jumped and caught a low hanging branch of the tree. Just as he began to swing himself up higher, a voice sounded from among the branches.
"Daro!" it commanded.
Legolas let go of the branch immediately and shrunk against the tree trunk.
"Stand still! Do not move or speak!" he whispered to them. There was fear in his voice for he was not certain if the one who commanded him to stop was friend or foe.
Arnen listened intently as Legolas and whoever was above him transacted in the Silvan dialect of Sindarin. She had not heard it often during her stay in Rivendell or her time with the Grey Company, but Elrond had thought it necessary for her to know some of it. That night she silently thanked him for his stubbornness in the matter, because the short conversation she heard lightened her heart greatly. Above them were Elven watchmen that meant them no harm. A ladder was sent down for Legolas and Frodo – though Sam, of course, also climbed up – while the rest were told to wait at the bottom of the tree. Pippin scooted closer to Arnen's side as the conversation above their heads drew on.
"Do you think they will let us keep going?" he asked.
"I do not doubt it, Pip. Legolas will take care of everything. He may be an infuriating elf, but he has a good head on his shoulders. Look, he is climbing down now."
Legolas turned to them and relayed his discussion with Haldir, the elf watchman that had stopped him in mid-climb.
"Tonight, the hobbits will sleep in the flet from which I just climbed. The rest of us will stay in a flet of a neighboring tree."
Quickly, Aragorn hid their belongings in a deep drift of leaves as Merry and Pippin joined Sam and Frodo. The young Took grumbled as he climbed.
"It just is not natural, I tell you."
Arnen followed behind Aragorn as they climbed the grey rope ladder let down for the rest of them. Her curious eyes scanned the flet before she stepped foot on it. It was simply a wooden platform nestled among the stems at the top of the tree. A hole was in the middle of it through which the ladder was. Taking the extended hand of her brother, Arnen pulled herself onto the talan, as it was called by the Elves. Gratefully accepting the food and drink handed to her by the watchmen, Arnen separated herself from the others as much as she could then quickly ate. Every one of them kept to their thoughts. After a silent meal, they all dropped off to sleep except for Legolas and Arnen.
The prince of Mirkwood watched her as she looked down to the forest floor. He marveled at how her eyes shimmered in the darkness. When she looked up, Legolas did not turn away from her blazing gaze. It frightened him, what he saw then and what he saw within Moria, but he did not allow that fear which he held inside to bear down upon him. Slowly, trying not to wake his companions, he eased his way over to her. Arnen neither told him to stop nor gave any indication that she wanted him to. It did not take long for him to reach the other side of the flet, where she sat. They both waited there in silence.
Arnen looked down to the forest floor. Legolas was surprised and slightly startled when she began to speak.
"For years and years I have held this secret. I would always hear from Gandalf and Elrond, 'You are never to tell anyone. Never!' So, I never did."
Legolas heard her sniff and watched as she wiped tears from her eyes.
"When I traveled with the Grey Company, how I desired to tell them my secret. These were men that I fought beside. I entrusted my life to them and they did the same with me. Each of them was my brother and they swore to protect me against any harm or danger. They should have known. I wish I had been able to tell them.
"You all were never supposed to find out this way," Arnen explained, looking up at Legolas. "I do not know how Gandalf…how Gandalf…how Gandalf planned for it to be. I do know that I was to come here for something. But now I am so lost. He was supposed to tell me what to do next. What am I to do next?"
At that moment Arnen lost her composure. Hesitantly, Legolas reached out and drew her to his chest. There her sobs were muffled and none of the Company stirred. Quietly he hummed to her a lullaby he learned as a child, rocking her gently, smoothing her dark hair. A sweet wind from the west caused the maiden in his arms to shiver with cold, but Legolas also sensed that calm settled upon her.
"Legolas?" her voice was quiet. She took his hands and firmly looked into his eyes.
The elf was mesmerized by her irises. "Yes, Arnen?"
"Do you fear me?"
Her question took him by surprise. Fervently, he replied, "No, Arnen. No. You are my dear friend. I do not fear you. Certainly, what occurred today frightened me. I am confused by it. However, I do not fear you." Then, he added with a chuckle, "But, I will be more careful about making you angry."
Arnen smiled at him with gratitude. Hugging him tightly, she felt assured that she need not fear being alone. She had her brother, who, though he did not understand her, stood beside her and still loved her. She also had Legolas, who had turned out to be one of the truest friends she had ever had. In her darkest time, she had found some hope that there was hope.