Title: A Slayers Holiday: There and Back Again
Author: Wildecate
Email: Wildecate@hotmail.com
Rating: G - for the moment
Notes: Since you were all so nice the first time round, here we go again.
Pairing: None as yet
Credits: Joss Whedon/JRR Tolkein - ya de ya de ya

Buffy eyed the target carefully and drew the bow back, taking aim. Legolas watched her impassively, his arms folded before him. He was unsure what this girl was capable of despite seeing how strong she was and how able she was to handle a sword. He watched as she took a deep breath, let it out and let the arrow fly. It hit slightly to the left of the mark that he had made on the tree and she lowered the bow, her forehead creasing with annoyance.

"You need to keep your bow arm straighter as you release the arrow. Keep both eyes open, fixed on the target."

He moved to stand behind her, settling her hands back on the bow, moving her shoulders into position. He bent his head so that he had the same eyeline as her, leaning so close that she could warmth emanating from his skin. She tried to ignore his closeness and concentrate on hitting the mark. Slowly she drew the bow back and again released the arrow. This time it flew true landing in the centre of the mark. She turned to smile at him, only to find he had moved around her, pacing towards the tree to retrieve the arrows she had shot.

"That was good, right?" she asked hopefully, wanting his approval.

He tugged the arrows from the tree without any apparent effort and walked back to her in silence, dropping them at her feet.

"Again"

An hour later her arms were aching from controlling the bow and she pleaded a rest. He inclined his head and took the bow from her, returning the arrows to his quiver after checking the points. He passed her the waterskin and she drank deeply, finding herself thirsty and enjoying the cool taste of the water. Legolas was waiting for her as she slung the bow over her shoulder and hung the waterskin from her belt. She followed him and they walked back in silence.

"Legolas, have I done something to upset you?" she asked after a while, unable to deal with the silence.

"Why would you think that?" he replied.

"Because you're so quiet, you barely talk to me and I wondered if I'd done something that wasn't right." Buffy was finding this so hard to say to this silent elf. It was like talking to Angel. He never said anything and just let her fill up the silence which meant that she ended up saying things she didn't mean to.

"I know that I'm new here and I don't know all the customs but I wondered if there was something specific that I had done to merit your silence."

The elf turned to her with a half smile, the closest she'd seen to him looking happy.

"I apologise if my silence has upset you."

She gave him a full volt smile and, if she didn't mistake herself, there was a blush creeping along his cheekbones. They walked on together in silence until they reached the camp again. Aragorn came to meet them, the stresses of the last few months telling on his face. Legolas remembered their first meeting, the young Ranger and the reticent elf had become close friends. How long ago that seemed, even to him. So much had happened since then and he longed for things to be the way they were. But there was an evil which had to be fought. He glanced down at the tiny woman by his side. There was no time for her either. He could not afford the stirrings of feeling that she evoked in him. He had driven her hard this afternoon and she had exceeded his expectations, able now to shoot almost as ably as Aragorn. He was proud of her for her hard work and knew that he had upset her by not talking, but he could not trust himself to get too close. She had somehow worked her way into his heart without even trying.

"We must ride now" Aragorn gave Buffy a quick look "How did the lesson go?"

Legolas gave a half smile "She is almost as competent as you are, my friend."

The two had spoken in rapid elvish and Buffy had not understood. They headed off towards the horses and Buffy stopped in her tracks. Riding was not one of her strong points and she sincerely hoped that they had found her an easy horse to ride. She counted them quickly and realised that there was no horse for her and looked in confusion to Aragorn who was checking his horse.

"Am I not coming with you?" she asked "You're going to leave me here?"

He smiled down at her "You will be riding with Legolas, his horse can carry two." He raised an eyebrow "You said you could not ride?"

Buffy nodded in understanding and then said frankly "I don't think he likes me" provoking a laugh from Aragorn.

"I don't think you need to worry about that, Buffy. Legolas is not the kind to speak unless he has need to." She flushed pink as Legolas joined them, leading one of the biggest horses she had ever seen.

"I'm going on that?" she asked nervously.

"I shall not let you fall." Legolas cupped his hands before him, giving her no choice but to trust him and allow him to help her mount the horse. She settled herself in the saddle and Legolas mounted lightly behind her.

"Are you ready?" he asked and she wriggled slightly, getting herself comfortable.

"I guess" she resigned herself to a long and painful journey.

She was surprised when Legolas wrapped an arm around her waist and took the reins with the other. As the horse began to move from a slow walk into a fast trot Buffy found herself quite safe and secure, despite being a lot further off the ground that she was comfortable with. Soon the motion of the horse changed from being uncomfortable to lulling her to sleep and her head fell back against Legolas, her eyes closing with weariness. Legolas felt her weight shift and her lean back against him and tightened his arm around her. Aragorn glanced back from his position at the front and gave a tiny smile.

Buffy awoke to find herself being passed down from the horse to Aragorn. He steadied her as she found her feet and rubbed sleep out of her eyes. She watched Legolas lead his horse away to unsaddle it. He seemed completely unfazed by the ride but Buffy ached in places she couldn't even mention. As she had slept most of the ride she offered to take the first watch. She noted that Legolas settled himself on the opposite side of the fire, sharing the watch with her. He was idly going through the arrows in his quiver, checking them over, replacing any points that were dulled, intent on his work. Buffy leaned forward and poking the fire. It was very strange, she had no idea what to say to him, no common ground other than this quest that she had found herself on. It had seemed such a bright idea at the time following them on this journey but now she was beginning to wonder exactly had been going through her mind at the time. It was the second day of travel and she still had no idea where she was going. She glanced up at the elf and realised that he had vanished. She hadn't even been aware of his movement, some guard she was - far too preoccupied with her own thoughts. He returned to the bright circle of the fire, this time seating himself beside her.

"I wondered where you went" she said "I didn't see you leave."

"I took a quick walk around the outside of the camp." Legolas had felt Buffy's disquiet so he had left her to try and get his own feelings in check. He had not been assailed by such feelings for many many years and although experienced, was unsure of human feelings in these matters.

"You may sleep some more if you wish, you still seem tired."

"I'm OK. Just not used to horses. Cars are much easier."

Legolas quirked an eyebrow "What are cars?"

Buffy thought about the easiest way to explain cars to someone who had no knowledge of engines "Cars are like cars except without the horses. They are powered by engines."

"Engines? Mechanical things? Do these things not harm your world?"

Buffy nodded "I'm afraid the world I come from isn't very caring about the environment. We still have forests and mountains and wide open spaces but the cities are the complete opposite" she thought briefly of LA "and the inhabitants aren't that great either."

Legolas shrugged "It is not the way with all peoples to have the same affinity that elves have with the earth."

"It's not the way of anyone in my world. We just use the earth as if its there purely for our use. I guess I'm probably not any different to anyone else, but at least I save the earth every so often." She gave a wry grin to herself "so that everyone can go on destroying it in their own way."

Legolas did not understand "you save the earth?"

"It's a bit complicated"

"Most things about you appear to be complicated" he gave her a very charming smile and Buffy tried not to stare. "Go to sleep now, Buffy. We have a long day ahead of us."

"You're not going to sleep" she protested as he pressed her down into the ground, laying a cloak over her.

"I may go without sleep if I need to but Aragorn will take the next watch and I shall sleep then. You can sleep now."

In the silence of the night, Buffy soon drifted off and her dreams were a confusing mix of elves and fairies, Legolas and Aragorn and Willow calling out her name. Gandalf's kindly smile, vampires and then Angel, their conversation ringing clear in her mind.

"You're leaving me?"

"Yes"

A gentle hand on her shoulder awoke her and she opened her eyes to see a pair of dark eyes looking back at her in concern. She realised that her cheeks were wet and that she had been crying in her sleep. It was still night and she sat up to find that she was lying between Aragorn and Legolas, and that Aragorn was taking the final watch. Legolas slept peacefully beside her, his face still and beautiful in the moonlight. She brushed the tears away embarrassed and Aragorn turned from her, allowing her some privacy to pull herself together.

"You seemed to be having a nightmare. I thought it best to wake you."

"Oh" Buffy was even more embarassed now.

"Is there anything I can do?" Aragorn spoke from concern but also from the worry that the woman who travelled with him carried some deep hurt which could hinder their journey. Buffy pushed her hair out of her eyes and shook her head.

"Unless you can turn back time, there's not a lot you can do."

"Turn back time? There is something you regret?"

"We all have regrets Aragorn. It's just mine seem to be bigger than everyone else's."

"That's because they are yours. But regret is not the way to live your life Buffy. You must move on from whatever it is that hinders you. " Aragorn passed her a water skin and she drank slowly masking her slow rising anger.

Of course, he did not understand and there was no way to explain. Being the Slayer did not hinder her. It was her. She had no choice but to fight every night, to stand against the forces of darkness and to risk herself for the world. Aragorn would not understand, could not understand that in her world she was the only person who could do her job, the only person who had the power and the strength to fight night after night. Here, everyone seemed to be warriors, everyone carried weapons. Here she wasn't special and she was silently enjoying being treated as a girl for once. Admittedly, they had found it difficult to deal with her strength, her skill at fighting but once she had proved herself against the band of Orcs, Aragorn had allowed her to join them and she was now riding with them. Buffy longed to see Gandalf, to get home but part of her wanted this fight.

"Settle back to sleep, Buffy, it's a long time until morning."

Buffy obediently lay back on the ground, resting her head on one of the saddlebags and gazed up into the night sky. It was clear and cloudless, the stars sparking brightly and so entrancing. Soon her eyes closed again and she slipped into thankful dreamless sleep.

It was early morning when she awoke, finding herself face to face with Legolas who was also awake and looked as if he had been for a while. He was watching her. Buffy smiled self consciously and he grinned back. She had had more conversation and smiles from the elf in the last 12 hours than she had done since they had met. What did you say to someone who had been watching you sleeping? She knew Angel used to do it and hadn't minded that much. For some reason she found that she didn't mind Legolas doing it either. She stayed where she was, looking straight into his eyes and he returned the look.

Legolas was unaware of how long they lay like that, side by side, just gazing at each other. She was so beautiful but her eyes glimmered with pain. He wondered what could have caused that. Elves saw a lot of pain over the many hundreds of years that they lived but she was human and he had never seen a human so young with such agony in her eyes. Slowly, tentatively he stretched out his hand and stroked her cheek with it before she moved her head slightly, laying it on his hand. He felt the softness of her skin and lowered his other hand to clasp hers, running his fingers down her wrist as she raised her hand to stroke his face and sliding up to his ears. Legolas tried to ignore the urge to kiss her could not help himself and bent his head to hers, brushing her soft lips with his. He felt her indrawn breath and smiled against her lips.

"Legolas?" she breathed quietly.

He pulled back and stroked a gentle hand over his face, before running his fingers over her lips.

The sounds of the camp grew louder and it was with reluctance that Legolas finally moved away from her, knowing that they should not be discovered at this point. She understood, he could see it in her face, but there was also contentment in the look she gave him, as if any questions she might have had about him were now answered.

Aragorn gave no sign that he was aware of that what had passed between them, but it was blazingly obvious to him who knew the elf so well. Buffy allowed herself to be helped on the horse and Legolas took his usual position behind her but Aragorn noticed that they sat a little closer, that Legolas held her a little tighter and that Buffy wound her fingers around his hand which clasped her waist. There was comfort and love to be found, even in these perilous times and Aragorn would not deny his friend the chance of such love. Buffy was a remarkable young woman, strong and courageous and yet someone, beautiful and vulnerable. Legolas had been drawn to that and Aragorn also felt some kinship with the girl, as if she had a destiny that she could not avoid any more than he could. He prayed quietly that they might meet Gandalf soon so they might safely send her home, despite Legolas coming to care for her, for she was human and he was elven and immortal and human never came to anything except sadness.




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