FIC: "The Elf Princess Diaries, Vol 1" (35/39)
Title: The Elf Princess Diaries, Vol 1
Author: DantanaSkywalker (aka Haldiriell if you're joining us from a LOTR site)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: action, romance, mystery, humour
Author Notes: LOTR characters and Princess Diaries characters not used with permission. Everything else is out of my imagination. Sindarin translations included at the end of the entry.
Previous chapters
--Chapter Thirty-Five--
Scottie sent the two elves and Shelley home in the limo. Jake caught a ride with Merc. At her door, Shelley bid them good night and told them she'd see them the next afternoon, since they were going to work on their final projects for English.
Gimli was in the living room, watching QVC--"Ah, now there's a piece worthy of a dwarf! Look at the way the gold's been wrought!"--and he looked up briefly to ask them how the evening had gone.
"It was . . . interesting," Legolas said, and Bree just smiled.
Haldir and Melinda were in the kitchen, sitting at opposite ends of the table. Both seemed rather tense.
Brianna eyed her parents. "So, Prom was fun. Thanks for sending Elf Boy. Shane's a skeeze."
"I thought you were no longer going to call me that," Legolas murmured.
"No, you're always going to be Elf Boy," she responded.
"I'm glad you had fun, honey," Melinda said, and took a sip of her tea.
The teenager looked between both adults, who were studiously not making eye contact. "Okay, what'd you guys fight about this time?"
"Nothing," they said in unison.
Bree lifted a blonde brow. "Oooh . . . kaaaay, then. I'll just go hang my dress up . . . You know, the reason I don't believe you is 'cause it'd totally take a lightsaber to cut the tension in here."
She let go of Legolas's hand, and it was then that Haldir noticed they'd even been touching. He turned blue eyes to Legolas, who looked at him levelly.
Bree sailed out of the room to change. Legolas tugged with a finger at the bowtie and slumped into a chair.
"The last time I was around that many humans in that much finery," Legolas said, "was, I believe, at Aragorn's coronation ceremony."
"I missed that," Haldir commented. "I was still recovering from the orc blade in my back."
Melinda set her mug on the table and left the room.
Legolas looked at his friend, but chose not to address it. He finally succeeded in getting the bowtie off and set it on the table.
"Did you enjoy the dance?" Haldir asked.
"It was pleasant, if some of the musical choices were questionable. As was some of the attire of the females," Legolas said. "Brianna was, perhaps, one of the most modest."
"I heard that," Bree said, as she entered the room. She wore hip-hugging jeans and a "Space Princess" shirt with a caricature of Princess Leia on it. The outfit exposed at least an inch of her stomach, but she ignored the look her father aimed at her.
She dropped into the chair next to Legolas. "Hi," she said.
He smiled a little dopily. "Hello."
Bree held up her foot. "Is that a blister?"
"I believe so," he replied.
Haldir stared at them. "Eru berin."
Bree paused in plucking bobby pins from her hair. "Something wrong, Ada?"
"Nothing."
His daughter pulled the last pin from her hair and the whole mass cascaded down her back in a tumble of gold curls. "Be right back."
She left the room again, and Legolas watched her go, her long, slim legs encased in denim. He looked back at Haldir, and found the elder elf glowering at him.
"Gerin dâf lín," Legolas said.
"Istin sen, Thranduilion. Tirio le trevedich mae, Legolas. Aewgliriel na sell nín, ú-annin he na hervenn dîn."
Brianna came back in, without the pins, a scrunchie around her wrist. "Ada, are you threatening Legolas?"
"She is not yet an adult," Haldir said in Sindarin, ignoring her. "Dartho, aniron ten."
Legolas sighed. "Sui iest le, Haldir."
----------
May 10, 2003 -- Home
Prom was AMAZING! I mean, besides the part where I broke up with Shane and then punched him, and security tossed him out, or the part where the band took off because the lead singer's girlfriend's mom had a baby.
I was gonna leave, but I ran into Legolas. I wasn't expecting him, so I was kinda surprised, but it was a good thing. Mom and Ada got him a tux and stuff, and he looked delicious in it. And we danced.
And he kissed me.
I've been walking on air for hours. Shel and Scottie think I'm nuts, well, only kinda, 'cause anyone with eyes can see Legolas is HOT, but anyway. I'm in love. Okay, I'm eighteen, and I just broke up with my loser ex, but, like, there's something different now. I don't even know if it's anything I can describe. This morning, I had a crush on that hottie from "Dawson's Creek", the counselor guy Jen was dating? And now, it's like, I see him, and he's cute, but that's it.
Ada said that elves mate for life. I guess he was right, 'cause all I see, all I want, forever, is Legolas. It sounds crazy, and we keep getting all these talks in school and magazines about how to tell if they're "the one" and all that crap. But this is, I dunno, so beyond anything they could define.
And you know what's scary? I won't really be "legal" by Eldar standards until I'm 50 . . . and if Ada wants to make me wait until then to be with Legolas, I'm kinda okay with that. I mean, I don't want to, but if I have to, I will. That's only 32 years. Arwen and Aragorn waited, what, 68?
I have a blister on my foot, so those shoes are probably getting trashed, or donated, or something. But maybe I'll keep them. You know, 'cause they're the ones I was wearing tonight.
I'm gonna e-mail Michael, see if Mia's a big sister yet and all that. Oh, I think Legolas is at the door.
----------
Bree flipped her diary closed and got up to answer the soft rap. It was Legolas. He has his hair rebraided into his normal style, and wore a sweatshirt and jeans, with bare feet.
She couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. "Hey."
He smiled in return.
"So, I take it Ada gave you a 'don't touch her until you're married or I'll remove your hands with a dull, rusty spoon' lecture?"
Legolas snorted. "He did, in fact. Without the spoon." He tipped his head, obviously considering her words, but he didn't broach the subject.
She took his hand and pulled him towards the fire escape. When they were seated outside, Brianna said, "Thank you for coming tonight."
His opaque blue eyes regarded her thoughtfully. "You seem surprised."
She waved her hand vaguely. "I'm used to human guys. Like Shane. Disgusted as I am, I really can't say I'm all that surprised. Guys used to be really cruel. They'd make fun of my ears, my height . . . It's only in the last year or so that I've gained any grace whatsoever. Mia Thermopolis thinks that she's the biggest freak in school, but I've got lightyears on her."
Brianna drew her bare feet up on the bench, not at all bothered by the slight chill left from the end of winter. "I think I win by default with 'not human'."
Legolas gave her a small smile and looked up at the stars, the one or two visible. "Sometimes I forget you are as young as you are. If we were in our world, they would still be coddling you, treating you as a child. Perhaps it is growing up here that has made you seem much . . . wiser beyond your years."
She sat forward, a slight frown marring her smooth elven features. "What is it? You seem sad suddenly."
Legolas stood, walking to the railing. His strong shoulders seemed to sag, as if weighed down. "Tonight I am happy, but I cannot help wondering what the morning will bring. We still must find Daneithionâr and stop his evil. It is true he is nowhere near the level of . . . he who must not be named-"
"Voldemort?"
He blinked at her.
"Sorry, never mind. Pop culture reference. You're right, he's not on Sauron's level. I can't fathom Sauron's level." She ignored how he winced a little each time she said the name. "We'll find him, don't worry. It might take a while, but we will. And, hey, it'll take up some of those thirty-two years we've got looming ahead of us."
Legolas narrowed his eyes, and she grinned, stepping up to wrap her arms around his waist.
"I do believe," she drawled, "that you have ruined me for all others. And all you did was kiss me."
His lips twisted in a smirk for a moment before he ran a hand through her silken hair, letting the silvery strands tangle around his fingers. "Aewgliriel. Nínim. I have lived for an age of this world. In all that time, I have not found a maid who inspires as you do. And yet, I am afraid to ask you to promise that this means the same to you."
"Legolas," she breathed. "I can't see the future. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, or three thousand years from now. And I know I'm only eighteen, and there's an age difference between us that encompasses . . . a lot. But I can tell you this: I believe with all my heart that we met for a reason, and I intend to stay this way. If I have to leave you, it won't be by choice."
He sighed heavily, not quite relieved. But he knew that neither of them were ready to plight their troth. That would come, surely, but she was still so young.
"And I, you," he told her. "Come, you must retire. We have an English project to finish in the morning."
----------
Bree and Legolas spent the late morning putting the finishing touches on their essays. Bree typed them, though Legolas really did write his; no matter what people said online, Legolas had a sharp elvish mind behind that pretty face. Melinda was home from the department store, and she'd shut herself in the den. Haldir was on the sofa, watching CNN.
When the other girls got there, they sat down to make presentation posters, a last-minute decision on the teacher's part.
"Where's Gimli?" Bree asked. She looked up from colouring in a diagram with a gel pen.
"I believe he is shaving. Again," Legolas said. He squinted at his own poster. "I do not understand this human ritual."
"It's the high school equivalent of show-and-tell," the younger elf said, pushing at her blonde hair, which kept escaping her braid. "And before you ask what that is, it's a special part of grade-school classes, notably kindergarten when the kiddies are about five or six, when they get to bring in something from home and brag about it."
Legolas eyed her, his blue eyes narrowed as he tried to decide if she was serious or not.
Suddenly, Haldir exclaimed and gestured to the television, nearly throwing the remote in his agitation. They all turned to the set, which they'd been ignoring, seated on the floor.
"Out of New York this morning, we have more news about the violent new gang that has been stalking the city's streets," the anchor said melodramatically. Bree tried not to roll her eyes, but the temptation was too great.
The woman continued, "The gang, recently identified as Say-I'm sorry, 'Seregweth'- has no affiliations with typical gangs. In the past, they've been responsible for the break-in at Alliance Pharmaceuticals in New Jersey, as well as the death of local attorney Jared MacArthur."
Legolas glanced over at Bree, who shook her head.
"Last night, three Manhattan pawn shops were broken into and cleaned of every gun the shops carried." The anchor looked disturbed at this. "The hand symbol associated with Seregweth was spray-painted on the window of each store."
Brianna swore aloud at that. Haldir looked at her sharply, but she didn't apologise. "Guns are bad," she said. "And it means that they're planning something really nasty."
"Then," Haldir said grimly, "we must somehow discover what it is, and stop it."
----------
Trips out to visit each pawn shop resulted in very little. Bree couldn't pick up anything at all. Defeated, she and Legolas went over to Scottie's for a conference with Michael.
"I'm really getting tired of this," Bree said. "We seriously need to figure out what the heck he's doing and stop him."
Over the speaker-phone, Michael said, "Well, what'd he grab from Alliance, and from the medical supply stores? The guns would indicate they're going after something even bigger, or they think you guys'll be coming after them."
"Or both," Legolas said darkly.
"I don't know what he grabbed," Bree admitted. "Scottie, can you do your computer thing and find out?"
Scottie smirked. "Already done, Your Highness."
She held up a piece of paper and rattled off a list. It made no sense to Bree, but Michael the chemistry genius made a "Huh" sound and went silent for several long moments.
"Hey," he said after a bit. "Can I call you back? I gotta call someone."
"Sure." Scottie ended the call and turned to her friends. "Now what?" she asked.
"I don't know," Brianna murmured. "I really don't."
Translations:
Eru berin. - Eru save me.
Gerin dâf lín. - I have your blessing.
Istin sen, Thranduilion. Tirio le trevedich mae, Legolas. Aewgliriel na sell nín, ú-annin he na hervenn dîn. - I know this, son of Thranduil. Tred with care, Legolas. Aewgliriel is my daughter, and you are not yet her husband.
Dartho, aniron ten. - Wait, I desire it.
Sui iest le. - As you wish.
Author: DantanaSkywalker (aka Haldiriell if you're joining us from a LOTR site)
Rating: PG-13
Genre: action, romance, mystery, humour
Author Notes: LOTR characters and Princess Diaries characters not used with permission. Everything else is out of my imagination. Sindarin translations included at the end of the entry.
Previous chapters
--Chapter Thirty-Five--
Scottie sent the two elves and Shelley home in the limo. Jake caught a ride with Merc. At her door, Shelley bid them good night and told them she'd see them the next afternoon, since they were going to work on their final projects for English.
Gimli was in the living room, watching QVC--"Ah, now there's a piece worthy of a dwarf! Look at the way the gold's been wrought!"--and he looked up briefly to ask them how the evening had gone.
"It was . . . interesting," Legolas said, and Bree just smiled.
Haldir and Melinda were in the kitchen, sitting at opposite ends of the table. Both seemed rather tense.
Brianna eyed her parents. "So, Prom was fun. Thanks for sending Elf Boy. Shane's a skeeze."
"I thought you were no longer going to call me that," Legolas murmured.
"No, you're always going to be Elf Boy," she responded.
"I'm glad you had fun, honey," Melinda said, and took a sip of her tea.
The teenager looked between both adults, who were studiously not making eye contact. "Okay, what'd you guys fight about this time?"
"Nothing," they said in unison.
Bree lifted a blonde brow. "Oooh . . . kaaaay, then. I'll just go hang my dress up . . . You know, the reason I don't believe you is 'cause it'd totally take a lightsaber to cut the tension in here."
She let go of Legolas's hand, and it was then that Haldir noticed they'd even been touching. He turned blue eyes to Legolas, who looked at him levelly.
Bree sailed out of the room to change. Legolas tugged with a finger at the bowtie and slumped into a chair.
"The last time I was around that many humans in that much finery," Legolas said, "was, I believe, at Aragorn's coronation ceremony."
"I missed that," Haldir commented. "I was still recovering from the orc blade in my back."
Melinda set her mug on the table and left the room.
Legolas looked at his friend, but chose not to address it. He finally succeeded in getting the bowtie off and set it on the table.
"Did you enjoy the dance?" Haldir asked.
"It was pleasant, if some of the musical choices were questionable. As was some of the attire of the females," Legolas said. "Brianna was, perhaps, one of the most modest."
"I heard that," Bree said, as she entered the room. She wore hip-hugging jeans and a "Space Princess" shirt with a caricature of Princess Leia on it. The outfit exposed at least an inch of her stomach, but she ignored the look her father aimed at her.
She dropped into the chair next to Legolas. "Hi," she said.
He smiled a little dopily. "Hello."
Bree held up her foot. "Is that a blister?"
"I believe so," he replied.
Haldir stared at them. "Eru berin."
Bree paused in plucking bobby pins from her hair. "Something wrong, Ada?"
"Nothing."
His daughter pulled the last pin from her hair and the whole mass cascaded down her back in a tumble of gold curls. "Be right back."
She left the room again, and Legolas watched her go, her long, slim legs encased in denim. He looked back at Haldir, and found the elder elf glowering at him.
"Gerin dâf lín," Legolas said.
"Istin sen, Thranduilion. Tirio le trevedich mae, Legolas. Aewgliriel na sell nín, ú-annin he na hervenn dîn."
Brianna came back in, without the pins, a scrunchie around her wrist. "Ada, are you threatening Legolas?"
"She is not yet an adult," Haldir said in Sindarin, ignoring her. "Dartho, aniron ten."
Legolas sighed. "Sui iest le, Haldir."
----------
May 10, 2003 -- Home
Prom was AMAZING! I mean, besides the part where I broke up with Shane and then punched him, and security tossed him out, or the part where the band took off because the lead singer's girlfriend's mom had a baby.
I was gonna leave, but I ran into Legolas. I wasn't expecting him, so I was kinda surprised, but it was a good thing. Mom and Ada got him a tux and stuff, and he looked delicious in it. And we danced.
And he kissed me.
I've been walking on air for hours. Shel and Scottie think I'm nuts, well, only kinda, 'cause anyone with eyes can see Legolas is HOT, but anyway. I'm in love. Okay, I'm eighteen, and I just broke up with my loser ex, but, like, there's something different now. I don't even know if it's anything I can describe. This morning, I had a crush on that hottie from "Dawson's Creek", the counselor guy Jen was dating? And now, it's like, I see him, and he's cute, but that's it.
Ada said that elves mate for life. I guess he was right, 'cause all I see, all I want, forever, is Legolas. It sounds crazy, and we keep getting all these talks in school and magazines about how to tell if they're "the one" and all that crap. But this is, I dunno, so beyond anything they could define.
And you know what's scary? I won't really be "legal" by Eldar standards until I'm 50 . . . and if Ada wants to make me wait until then to be with Legolas, I'm kinda okay with that. I mean, I don't want to, but if I have to, I will. That's only 32 years. Arwen and Aragorn waited, what, 68?
I have a blister on my foot, so those shoes are probably getting trashed, or donated, or something. But maybe I'll keep them. You know, 'cause they're the ones I was wearing tonight.
I'm gonna e-mail Michael, see if Mia's a big sister yet and all that. Oh, I think Legolas is at the door.
----------
Bree flipped her diary closed and got up to answer the soft rap. It was Legolas. He has his hair rebraided into his normal style, and wore a sweatshirt and jeans, with bare feet.
She couldn't help the grin that spread across her face. "Hey."
He smiled in return.
"So, I take it Ada gave you a 'don't touch her until you're married or I'll remove your hands with a dull, rusty spoon' lecture?"
Legolas snorted. "He did, in fact. Without the spoon." He tipped his head, obviously considering her words, but he didn't broach the subject.
She took his hand and pulled him towards the fire escape. When they were seated outside, Brianna said, "Thank you for coming tonight."
His opaque blue eyes regarded her thoughtfully. "You seem surprised."
She waved her hand vaguely. "I'm used to human guys. Like Shane. Disgusted as I am, I really can't say I'm all that surprised. Guys used to be really cruel. They'd make fun of my ears, my height . . . It's only in the last year or so that I've gained any grace whatsoever. Mia Thermopolis thinks that she's the biggest freak in school, but I've got lightyears on her."
Brianna drew her bare feet up on the bench, not at all bothered by the slight chill left from the end of winter. "I think I win by default with 'not human'."
Legolas gave her a small smile and looked up at the stars, the one or two visible. "Sometimes I forget you are as young as you are. If we were in our world, they would still be coddling you, treating you as a child. Perhaps it is growing up here that has made you seem much . . . wiser beyond your years."
She sat forward, a slight frown marring her smooth elven features. "What is it? You seem sad suddenly."
Legolas stood, walking to the railing. His strong shoulders seemed to sag, as if weighed down. "Tonight I am happy, but I cannot help wondering what the morning will bring. We still must find Daneithionâr and stop his evil. It is true he is nowhere near the level of . . . he who must not be named-"
"Voldemort?"
He blinked at her.
"Sorry, never mind. Pop culture reference. You're right, he's not on Sauron's level. I can't fathom Sauron's level." She ignored how he winced a little each time she said the name. "We'll find him, don't worry. It might take a while, but we will. And, hey, it'll take up some of those thirty-two years we've got looming ahead of us."
Legolas narrowed his eyes, and she grinned, stepping up to wrap her arms around his waist.
"I do believe," she drawled, "that you have ruined me for all others. And all you did was kiss me."
His lips twisted in a smirk for a moment before he ran a hand through her silken hair, letting the silvery strands tangle around his fingers. "Aewgliriel. Nínim. I have lived for an age of this world. In all that time, I have not found a maid who inspires as you do. And yet, I am afraid to ask you to promise that this means the same to you."
"Legolas," she breathed. "I can't see the future. I don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, or three thousand years from now. And I know I'm only eighteen, and there's an age difference between us that encompasses . . . a lot. But I can tell you this: I believe with all my heart that we met for a reason, and I intend to stay this way. If I have to leave you, it won't be by choice."
He sighed heavily, not quite relieved. But he knew that neither of them were ready to plight their troth. That would come, surely, but she was still so young.
"And I, you," he told her. "Come, you must retire. We have an English project to finish in the morning."
----------
Bree and Legolas spent the late morning putting the finishing touches on their essays. Bree typed them, though Legolas really did write his; no matter what people said online, Legolas had a sharp elvish mind behind that pretty face. Melinda was home from the department store, and she'd shut herself in the den. Haldir was on the sofa, watching CNN.
When the other girls got there, they sat down to make presentation posters, a last-minute decision on the teacher's part.
"Where's Gimli?" Bree asked. She looked up from colouring in a diagram with a gel pen.
"I believe he is shaving. Again," Legolas said. He squinted at his own poster. "I do not understand this human ritual."
"It's the high school equivalent of show-and-tell," the younger elf said, pushing at her blonde hair, which kept escaping her braid. "And before you ask what that is, it's a special part of grade-school classes, notably kindergarten when the kiddies are about five or six, when they get to bring in something from home and brag about it."
Legolas eyed her, his blue eyes narrowed as he tried to decide if she was serious or not.
Suddenly, Haldir exclaimed and gestured to the television, nearly throwing the remote in his agitation. They all turned to the set, which they'd been ignoring, seated on the floor.
"Out of New York this morning, we have more news about the violent new gang that has been stalking the city's streets," the anchor said melodramatically. Bree tried not to roll her eyes, but the temptation was too great.
The woman continued, "The gang, recently identified as Say-I'm sorry, 'Seregweth'- has no affiliations with typical gangs. In the past, they've been responsible for the break-in at Alliance Pharmaceuticals in New Jersey, as well as the death of local attorney Jared MacArthur."
Legolas glanced over at Bree, who shook her head.
"Last night, three Manhattan pawn shops were broken into and cleaned of every gun the shops carried." The anchor looked disturbed at this. "The hand symbol associated with Seregweth was spray-painted on the window of each store."
Brianna swore aloud at that. Haldir looked at her sharply, but she didn't apologise. "Guns are bad," she said. "And it means that they're planning something really nasty."
"Then," Haldir said grimly, "we must somehow discover what it is, and stop it."
----------
Trips out to visit each pawn shop resulted in very little. Bree couldn't pick up anything at all. Defeated, she and Legolas went over to Scottie's for a conference with Michael.
"I'm really getting tired of this," Bree said. "We seriously need to figure out what the heck he's doing and stop him."
Over the speaker-phone, Michael said, "Well, what'd he grab from Alliance, and from the medical supply stores? The guns would indicate they're going after something even bigger, or they think you guys'll be coming after them."
"Or both," Legolas said darkly.
"I don't know what he grabbed," Bree admitted. "Scottie, can you do your computer thing and find out?"
Scottie smirked. "Already done, Your Highness."
She held up a piece of paper and rattled off a list. It made no sense to Bree, but Michael the chemistry genius made a "Huh" sound and went silent for several long moments.
"Hey," he said after a bit. "Can I call you back? I gotta call someone."
"Sure." Scottie ended the call and turned to her friends. "Now what?" she asked.
"I don't know," Brianna murmured. "I really don't."
Translations:
Eru berin. - Eru save me.
Gerin dâf lín. - I have your blessing.
Istin sen, Thranduilion. Tirio le trevedich mae, Legolas. Aewgliriel na sell nín, ú-annin he na hervenn dîn. - I know this, son of Thranduil. Tred with care, Legolas. Aewgliriel is my daughter, and you are not yet her husband.
Dartho, aniron ten. - Wait, I desire it.
Sui iest le. - As you wish.