A Rose By Any Other Name

And now for the thanks!

Once again, I’m not really going to reply to what was written in reviews individually… that would take too long, and I’m a rally busy college student… and poor BTW. But anyway, to Bekki; AzureDragoness; Elerrina Rose; kirameki; and satiana: Thank you all so much for reviewing! I laughed with joy when I was reading your reviews, especially when some of you gave specifics. I truthfully wasn’t sure how everyone would react to he bitching out a certain Gondorian, but I’m so glad you enjoyed it. It was spurred on when I was snuggling, nude, with one of my friends who had been raped recently, and he needed some comfort, and his ass of a stepfather who let it happen in my opinion, said exactly what Boromir said. That was all that I wanted to say to the ass, so I revised it for this fic. BTW, I have to warn everyone that later on in the fic, there will be mentions of past rape. It’s a serious issue that I and some of my friends have been through, one even dying from it, and I feel the message needs to be strongly discussed, so that people are not afraid to do so when it is nessesary. Fanfics I believe are way to this. If anyone has a problem with reading these mentions in later chapters, though they are not vivid description, please tell me in the next reviews you send and I will post warnings at the beginnings and endings of the paragraphs where they are, so people can just skip over that part and get to the rest of the chapter without having to skip the whole chapter. Other than that, there will be more humor and the introduction of more running gags. And don’t worry Boromir lovers, they won’t always be at each other’s throats… after all, who needs an annoyance in Boromir… when you have Haldir?! LOL. Don’t get me wrong, I love Hadir almost as much as I love Legolas, I mean, he’s suc ass ass, and a has a good wit about him. And I love Boromir too. I think he got a real cheep shot… thus is the reason I named my first hamster after him! LOL! Anyway, enough rambling!

And now, on to the fic!!!

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~~~ A Rose by Any Other Name ~~~
Chapter Three

Pippin and Ascadholiel were hot into a conversation about suitable pranks for a twelve year old to play that wouldn’t burn down the tavern, and were having quite a good time of it as well. They looked up for the first time however when a shadow fell over them.

Legolas stood over them and gestured for them to stand. “Come. We depart now.” Then he scooped Ascadholiel swiftly up into his arms.

Ascadholiel raised her voice a little. “Hey! There’s no sudden warmth to muddle me now, so I, do, object! Why can’t I walk?”

Legolas shook his head. “Because we have no foot wear for you right now and it will do no good for you to freeze your feet off. Now hold still. I do not have a wish to drop you or see you injured.”

Ascadholiel sighed but nodded and once again kicked her feet until they were covered, then stilled. “Fine, but as soon as I find shoes of some sort, I’m walking. It’ll get me in shape. Deal?”

Legolas nodded. “Deal.” He paused for a second, and then said, “As long as your hands are around my shoulders, be careful, and pull out one of the long white daggers sheathed behind my quiver.”

She felt around under his silky hair for a moment and finally brought one of the daggers out. She studied it with widening eyes. “It’s beautiful!”

Legolas nodded. “Thank you. The other is its twin. Keep this one with you. If we are attacked, the fellowship will need my bow. I will do my best to defend you, but if we are overwhelmed, you might have to protect yourself.”

Ascadholiel’s eyes widened and then shut a little as they stepped out from under the overhang and began walking through the snow again, the storm still blasting around them. Her face non the less was quite fearful. “Oh my great good gods! I hadn’t even thought of that. The biggest fights I’ve ever gotten into, besides the mostly everyday beatings, were the playground fights at school when I was a little kid. I don’t even know the right way to hold a dagger, let alone use one to defend myself!”

Legolas frowned deeply when she mentioned that she had been beaten almost daily. He hugged her close to soothe her. “Don’t worry. When we stop for a break, if there’s time and opportunity, I’ll show you a bit about defense. Though the best thing for you to do if we are attacked would be to find a place to hide and try not to draw attention to yourself.”

She lowered her head a little and tucked it under his chin, holding the dagger against her chest with one hand, the other going back around his neck. “You wouldn’t think me a coward if I happened to take you up on that advice?”

Legolas shook his head. “Hardly. You have already admitted to not knowing how to fight. It would only be stupid and dangerous for more than just yourself if you attempted to fight without the knowledge of how to do so. Besides, you are a woman and should be protected. I would not put you through that risk.”

Ascadholiel sighed and said, “If I didn’t know that you meant absolutely no insult by the comment, I’d call you a sexist pig. But since I am fully aware of that fact that no harm or insult backed that comment, and it was said simply out of your worry for me, then the only thing I can say is, thank you Legolas.”

“You’re welcome Lady Ascadholiel.”

“Asca.”

“I beg your pardon?”

Ascadholiel chuckled at the slight puzzlement in his voice. “I was talking with Pip this morning as you saw and we could see no reason why we would have to tie some peoples tongues up, trying to get them to pronounce the full name if they couldn’t get it. So we decided to call me Asca for short. Though I really like the way that you yourself say the full name, so you can feel free to use it like that if you’d like. You gave me the name after all. It’s only right, and besides, I like hearing it from you.”

Legolas nodded and smiled a little at her babbling. “My thanks then. I’m glad you like it so much.”

“Yes, I like it very much. It’s beautiful. A very beautiful language. Legolas? May I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“If we have time, will you also try to teach me some of your tongue? I’ve always had a love of other languages. I know a little of a few of the languages in my world. A little French, a little Spanish, and more Japanese than either of those, though even with that language, I don’t know enough to have a simple conversation. But none of them as are as beautiful as the language you speak. I think I could have a passion for it.”

Legolas nodded and smiled at her enthusiasm to learn more about his culture. He spoke in her ear since they were so close. “If it pleases you so, then I will teach you.”

Ascadholiel put her other arm around him now and tightened them briefly in a hug. “It would please me greatly Legolas! Thank you so much!”

Legolas nodded. “You are very welcome.”

They walked on, sometimes talking, sometimes falling into a comfortable silence, but mostly Legolas taught her some of the basics of his language. The blizzard however became worse and worse, raging furiously around them.

Legolas at one point, cocked his head to the side and stopped walking, listening. “I need to put you down for a moment. I know your feet will be cold, but I have to see to something.”

Ascadholiel nodded and Legolas set her on her feet. She smiled steadily at him. “Go. And be careful. It is painfully accuring to me at this moment, that we are on the edge of a very unforgiving looking precipice.”

The elf nodded and hopped effortlessly up onto the snow, making his way along the edge of the cliff.

Ascadholiel watched him go for a moment, then made a face and started hopping from one bare foot to the other. “Jeez-us!”

Up from the front of the line there was suddenly shouting, then a bolt of lighting came from nowhere and struck the snow high above them, causing it to fall.

Ascadholiel looked up at that moment and let out a shocked scream, throwing herself against the side of the cliff, as everything seemed to crash around her. Then everything was quiet. She thought for sure that she was going to die now.

The girl started to panic, until the snow above her seemed to shift and her heart skipped a beat. She looked up to see Legolas’ strained face as he helped dig her out frantically. Finally, shivering from fright and the cold, and slightly freezing again, she was free. She looked at Legolas and shakily said, “Okay. That really sucked.” Her voice cracked on the last word the the tears broke from her eyes.

She started sobbing and clung to her elven friend as he scooped her up tightly in his strong, comforting arms. “That is one of the scariest things I have ever been through! I thought I was going to die!”

Legolas held her, trying to sooth her as the others of the fellowship argued over what to do now. When he heard that they had decided to go through the mines of Moria, he shuddered as well. He murmured in her ear as they started walking again, “Let’s hope that remains the scariest thing you ever have to go through. Though the road we go to take now is fraught with just as many perils I think. Know though that I will protect you as I have vowed.”

Ascadholiel’s sobbing had started to quiet down now. “I don’t care where we go now as long as we get off this god-forsaken deathtrap that some have deemed worthy to call a mountain. I know now the place they’re referring to when they state that, ‘hell hath frozen over’.”

Legolas chuckled at her attempt to lighten the mood and lift spirits, including her own, as they walked. “It can’t be all that bad, can it Ascadholiel? After all, you’ve met me and the others, received a new and properly fitting name, and have a chance to start a new life, a new adventure.”

Ascadholiel chuckled a little. “Don’t turn the subject around my dear elf. I have a right to hate this place! It’s tried to kill me twice now! You’re a separate issue.”

“How can I be a separate issue, when I have saved your life, both times?”

Ascadholiel sniffled a little and smiled a tiny smile at the amusement she saw in his eyes.

Surprisingly when Gandalf finally shouted at the mountain that it had won and they were leaving, the snow slowed and finally stopped as if letting them pass off of it. They were in the snowy foothills by nightfall. They traveled a little ways into the night before stopping to camp. Their outer layers, if they wore any, were taken off and laid out to let dry by the fire. The night watch was set and the rest of the fellowship bedded down, some together for warmth.

Ascadholiel was pleased beyond words that she did actually have her elven pillow back, only this time they were laying down, wrapped in the blankets. Legolas lay on his back with his arms behind his head and both of the shirts off since the sleeves of the second were wet.

Ascadholiel, now only in the clothes she had originally come in, snuggled into his side, laying her head on his collarbone, and one of her hands resting on his bare chest over his heart. She happily snuggled right up against his warm body. She sighed and trailed patterns on his chest absently with her fingers. She smiled as she heard him chuckle from deep in his chest.

Legolas brought one of his arms down and wrapped it around her shoulders. His voice was quiet as he spoke to her. “Are you happier now that you have your elf-sized pillow back?”

Ascadholiel tilted her head back to look up into his face. She grinned at him. “Yes nin mellon, much happier. You’re very warm, and so very nice to snuggle with. I’ve come to the conclusion that, along with everything else, you must have a built in snuggle charm.”

Legolas cocked an eyebrow and shifted his head to get a better look at her. “Snuggle?”

Ascadholiel smiled again and nodded, shifting so she was a little more over his chest and settling her ear over his heart and her arm slung over his waist. “Snuggling. It’s what we’re doing right now. I’m a very tactile person, which means that I like and sometimes need to touch people and things. It’s all innocent really. A simple, light, meaningful touch, will touch me more, and mean more to me than a million words, poems, songs, or deeds.”

Not knowing quite anything to say to that, Legolas wrapped his arm a little tighter around her, his eyes moving back up to the clear sky ane bre bright stars.

Ascadholiel sighed again, her warm breath drifting over her friend’s chest. “Good night Legolas. Hannon le.”

Legolas smiled again and wrapped the blanket tighter over her shoulders. “You’re welcome. Good night Ascadholiel.”

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A.N.: So, there’s the next chapter! What do you think? Come on people!!!! Ya gotta review or I’ll think you don’t want to hear any more and I’m just wasting my time! I’m not writing this just for myself you know! So yeah, tell me what you think ne?! Complain to me about something if you wish, just review!!!! I need feedback!!!! ~Points to self~ Is begging… can’t you tell?” Well, JA!

~Celesta Hellewise Harman