Juliana snapped out of her daze and looked up at the hobbit. Leaning on the tree, she stood up on her cramped legs.
"I wasn't invited to the council, Merry. I can't."
Merry chuckled, "I wasn't invited either! And I'm going. You can help us! Please?"
"Now, now, Master Brandybuck, don't force the girl into anything she isn't willing to do. She might be afraid."
Juliana glanced up at the face that the arrogant voice sounded from. To her surprise, it was a seemingly young elf. His startlingly blue eyes pierced hers and she winced, suddenly feeling insignificant to him.
"You're Legolas," she stated.
Legolas looked at her queerly, "Yes, I am. But we haven't been properly introduced. I forget, you see the future."
Something about his tone of voice made Juliana feel smaller than a hobbit.
"I'm not afraid," she stated boldly.
"Aragorn tells me you are young, I wouldn't blame you if you were afraid."
Juliana was tempted to foolishly spit that Legolas looked not ten years older than she, but she knew better. She knew that he was nearly 3,000 years old and did not want to offend him. Merry looked between the two anxiously.
"I am not afraid, I just do not invade on things I am not invited to," Juliana mused with a glance at Merry, who blushed and slunk away.
Legolas glared, "Well if you must know, Aragorn requested your presence at the Council and was most disappointed when you did not come. I suppose he expected you to be there. Shame you didn't foresee that."
Juliana eyed the bow hanging on his shoulder and forced herself to restrain a snide comment.
"I do not see everything," she said quietly.
He stepped toward her, "That," he smirked, "Is obvious."
(*Random A/N-I know I probably have an unamed number of readers yelling obscenities at their computer screens -=I would be=- right now, for making Legolas so cynical, but don't worry, he won't stay that way. He's just cautious!)
"I will come if I am asked."
"Unless my ears deceived me, you were asked by Master Brandybuck."
Juliana decided, as much as she hated to admit it, that he was right. By some of her statements, she even made Merry sound insignificant, and instantly wished she hadn't.
"Last I checked, Merry Brandybuck did not form the Fellowship."
Legolas raised an eyebrow, "You're looking for glory from Lord Elrond, then?"
She could almost feel her eyes turning from pale blue to steely gray, as they usually did when she was angry. She fixated her eyes on his, "I do not seek glory, Legolas. I am out of place here. I am as much aware of this as you are. I am not here to argue with you."
Legolas, with a twitch of his eyebrow and a bow of his head, adjusting his bow on his shoulder and strode away.
Retaining her dignity, Juliana shoved her hands in the pockets of her now torn and filthy pants, strolling out of the clearing.
"Juliana!"
She looked up, only to see Aragorn's expression of concern, "Why weren't you at the meeting?"
Frodo stood in the background, looking on questioningly.
"I - wasn't invited," Juliana said simply.
"Indeed? I sent Frodo to extend an invitation to you this morning..."
Frodo's blue eyes grew wide. He looked down at his feet, gradually backing up.
"Master Baggins," Aragorn muttered, turning to face his young companion, "Why didn't you remember?"
Frodo dramatically gripped his left shoulder, "I - oh the wound. It's pounding! And the Ring-it's such a burden! I wish it had never come to me! We should make for Mordor..."
By this time, Frodo gave up on his ramblings and scampered out of the clearing.
(*Random A/N #2-I'm sorry I had to put humor in there...there won't be a whole lot of that. That little ramble didn't even fit Frodo's character, so excuse my idiocy ::laughs::)
"Will you come with us? You could be of such help," Aragorn sighed, placing a firm hand on her shoulder.
Several scenes flashed before her eyes like lightning as she pondered her answer. She felt a throbbing between her eyes, and the dim sunlight was just able to leak through the trees, causing her to shield her face.
She sighed heavily, "Yes, I'll come. But again, please don't expect anything of me. There's only so much I can tell you."
Aragorn nodded, "I understand. And don't worry, I'm sure you'll get home."
"What makes you think I want to go home?"
"Not only does it reflect in your eyes, but Master Took also has a tendency to talk quite a bit."
Juliana frowned. She did want to go home. More than anything. But again; she was indeed afraid. This is what she had dreamed of for years, and now that she was there, it was so real. She was terrified. She was terrified of the mines she knew they would have to go through in the near future. She was terrified of the snow, and the cold, and especially Orcs. She had yet to see one, and she, to tell the truth, was not anxious to. She didn't know why she kept agreeing to accompany them if she was so afraid. In some twisted way, she decided, she felt that she was obligated to. She was obligated to help them through this, because she felt as though she'd put herself in this position, and to back out now would be foolish. The last thing she wanted to do was let down Frodo and the hobbits, and Aragorn and Gandalf...even Legolas. Especially Legolas, for some reason. She had a suspiscion that she now had a new reason to stay. She wanted to prove herself to Legolas. That she wasn't afraid; that though she was young, she could fight, and even watch out for herself. In no way did she want to be coddled by...an elf, as odd and dwarf-like as that sounded.
And then she remembered his eyes. Those blue eyes...
And she began to think that he wasn't as cold and cynical as he seemed. That he wasn't trying to make her look bad. Maybe, she thought, just maybe this was his sick and twisted way of making her stay.That cocky smirk that played across his face so often during their conversation. In realizing this, she felt more emotions than she thought it possible to feel at once. She felt hurt that he had tricked her in trying to get her to stay, and she felt hurt that he almost seemed to take advantage of her young age and obvious tendency to be naïve. These emotions surprised her more than she thought they would, because he didn't seem to be at all like the Legolas she had learned so well through Tolkien.
And then she remembered Sam. He seemed so cruelly untrusting of anyone he could possibly have suspicions of. She couldn't expect anything but this from Sam; his persona didn't surprise her as much as Legolas' had.
No, it was her responsibility to go through with this "quest...mission...thing" for as long as she possibly could. She tried not to think of her home in Chicago. Of her 18 year-old over-protective brother, or her bratty 11 year-old brother who had been asking her for rides around the city four months before she even got her drivers' permit. She even dared to attempt to forget her parents. She dared to forget her father, who she was close to, but yet he was so far away. Sure they got along all right. They had the same taste in movies, and they played pool together for at least five hours per weekend. But she never had the kind of relationship with him her brothers had. Her older brother, Joshua, had played football all through high school, and her younger brother, Charles, pretended to be obsessed with soccer to earn his father's affections. Juliana didn't worry about such detailed things. She was, to say the least, different. She didn't care if her father didn't think she was active; because, truth be told, she wasn't. Sports and all the consequences that went along with them never appealed to her. She was more interested in creative writing courses and drama club, and if he didn't accept that, then she was quite all right with it.
Juliana and her mother, however, always got along. She had never felt uncomfortable around her mother, or in telling her mother anything. Her mother genuinely accepted that Juliana didn't want to be the person that her father often made Juliana think he wanted her to be. She let Juliana make decisions for herself, and in doing so, got decent results.
It wasn't until now that Juliana realized how much she really did miss her family; especially her mother. But looking into the sea of pale eyes belonging to the likes of Frodo, Pippin, Legolas and Aragorn changed her mind. She was a responsible person, and she knew what her responsibilities and burdens were.
She was now sure that she would accompany Frodo for as long as she could.