It's been seven days. Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas have returned with the rest of the men from the gates of Mordor. Gandalf had already returned with Frodo and Sam two days earlier. Currently, Legolas could be seen pacing back and forth in the Houses of Healing, a small frown on his face. He made to pace once more when Aragorn grabbed his friends shoulder and halted the elf.

"You must not worry." He said, "Ireth is strong, Elladan said she just needs rest."

Gimli, from his position against the wall, agreed, "Aye, laddie. The lass will waken soon. A survivor, that one she is."

Legolas inhaled carefully, squeezing his hands shut before relaxing his shoulders to the best of his ability. Truth be told he wasn't just worried. He was angry…and scared. If she had stayed on the ships like he had wanted, like he had asked; she wouldn't have been hurt. Hearing the news of her injuries from Elladan and Elrohir had made ice run through his veins, a cold fury running through him faster than he could kill the orcs in his sights. He wanted her to be safe, to avoid this current situation.

Elrohir, who looked odd without his brother standing beside him, tilted his head toward the curtain that separated Ireth from the rest of the wounded. Elladan appeared moments later, nodding slightly to himself. "She'll awaken soon. I'd give her no more than a few hours."

Legolas' eyes focused on him, "Is this normal? For her to be unconscious this long from a stab wound?"

Elladan and Elrohir exchanged a look before both made a motion for the trio to follow them to a more secluded place. Aragorn frowned at the two, wondering what would lead them to such actions, but nonetheless followed the two with Gimli trailing behind and encouraging Legolas to be patient for a little longer.

"It had come to my attention that Ireth had more than one injury." Elladan raised his hands in a placating manner when Legolas visibly tensed. If the news he were to tell weren't so heavy he would consider teasing the ellon, but as it were he needed to mention this small bit of information. "It is not so much as a physical injury as it is mental, I'm not sure how it happened but it seems that Sauron was able to attach broken spirits to her subconscious thought."

"Broken Spirits?" Aragorn questioned, "What are those?"

Again, Elladan exchanged a look with Elrohir, who both seemed to glance at Legolas briefly and then nodded to each other in some sort of silent agreement. "They are spirits, genderless and formless, given a shape by impressions and grievances of the one they are attached to. Has she been subjected to anything at all to allow four to take different forms and cause her mind turmoil?"

Gimli and Aragorn shook their head, looking slightly confused as to how their friend could acquire such torment. But their heads quickly shot to Legolas when he said in monotone, "I do."

Everyone just stared at him, waiting for him to explain her inner turmoil that would allow these abominations to feed off her mind and torment her, but Legolas quickly asked, diverting the topic of Ireth to something much more concerning.

"How did they become attached to her?"

"Somehow she came into contact with Sauron. It's hard to tell if it was before…her journey here, or after she awoke." Elrohir stated.

Legolas looked at Aragorn, both remembering her picking up the Palantir in Rohan. "It was after, when we were in Rohan. After Pippin took the Palantir from Gandalf, she grabbed it away from Aragorn."

"That must be where she came into contact with him," Aragorn murmured before looking at Elladan, "Now that Sauron is defeated, will these Broken Spirits disappear?"

Legolas fidgeted slightly as Elladan took his sweet time answering. He really wanted to smack the ellon across the face…with his foot, but seeing as he needed to know if Ireth would be okay; if she would awaken soon, he waited for Elladan's answer.

Said elf looked at Legolas with a slight worried frown, "It's hard to say. We can only know when she awakens. Until then it would be best to prepare for the worst."

Legolas scowled, turning away from the elf and walking back towards Ireth's bedside. She wasn't as pale as she had been when he'd first seen her on that day, which gave him a small amount of relief. Carefully, he brushed away golden strands of hair from her face, noticing that she had shifted positions since Elladan had seen her. It gave him another wave of relief—if she was moving around then she's starting to come out of this sleep. Legolas sat down in the chair beside her bed, ignoring the grin the dwarf was giving him from the opening of the curtain.

BREAK

Ireth blinked open her eyes, a soft light coming in from the window beside her bed. Something golden caught her eye, and when she shifted her gaze from the window she found herself looking at a sleeping Legolas. With his head propped up by his elbow, the morning light made his hair glow as if he were a star in the sky. His eyes were half-lidded, his gaze unfocused. It made a small smile appear on Ireth's face. Quietly, Ireth sat up, then instantly stilled, a small squeak coming from her mouth as her hand went to her abdomen.

She'd forgotten she'd been injured. Ireth looked down at her stomach, finding the knife wound mostly healed though there were areas of her stomach around the wound that were red and sore. It made her wonder exactly how long she was out, and if they had won the war. The war… Ireth sat up fully, grimacing at the pain, and allowed her legs to fall off the edge of the bed. It took her two tries, but she was able to gain her balance and walk with little support to the window beside Legolas. Beyond the window, the sun shone on a damaged but in tack city. There were no orcs, and many people seemed to be trying to tidy up the destroyed city.

Blinking, Ireth looked at Legolas, wondering if she should wake him up or let him sleep. Deciding on the latter, she left her "room" and wandered out of the houses of healing, wondering how long she'd been unconscious.

"Ireth!?"

Said girl turned at the sound of her name, blinking in shock to see Eowyn and a strange yet familiar man walking toward her arm in arm. Ireth nodded to the man, then smiled at Eowyn, "Hello."

Eowyn had released her male companions arm in order to hug the elleth, though Ireth was still a little confused at the astonished and relieved looks that seemed to grow on her friends face. Éowyn released her, a frown on her face. "You've been unconscious for nine days!"

Ireth felt her jaw drop. "Nine days?"

Eowyn nodded, her brows furrowed in a worried look. "Eomer brought you to the Houses of Healing as fast as he could, but there wasn't much that the healers could do, and then those two elven men came in and healed you."

Ireth blinked in surprise, "You mean Elladan and Elrohir?"

Eowyn nodded, then guided Ireth to an open door way, her friend trailing respectively behind them. Eowyn guided Ireth to what looked like an outdoor parlor, and sat her down at a bench. Ireth thanked her, wondering exactly who the man standing beside her was. Ireth raised a brow at Eowyn and noticeably looked to the man. She grinned when a faint blush spread on Eowyn's cheeks.

"Oh, Ireth, this is Lord Faramir," Eowyn said, turning so that she could see the two. "Lord Faramir, this is a close friend of mine, Lady Ireth of Lothlórien."

Ireth smiled at the man, noticing some of the familiar features he had. His reddish brown hair, the length of it, and his eyes were all familiar to her. It caused a pang in her chest, though she wasn't sure why. "It's nice to meet you."

"As well as you, milady." Lord Faramir glanced away from her, his brow quirking as a small smile played on his lips. Curious, Ireth looked from him to a grinning Eowyn and then finally turned around on the bench.

Legolas stood a few feet back, a relieved looking smile on his face. Ireth felt her cheeks turn pink as she quickly looked back at Eowyn and Faramir, "Please excuse me for a moment."

Ireth stood, ignoring the knowing grin on her friends face as she walked over to the elf. Her stomach was practically tied in knots as she approached him, her cheeks tinged pink. "Hi."

The breath was practically knocked out of her as she became crushed in a hug, her face pressed against Legolas strong chest. Ireth laughed a little, looking up at Legolas when he finally released her from his grip. There was concern on his face that made a bubbly feeling rise in her stomach. "You should go rest, you've been unconscious for nine days."

That was when Ireth remembered the war. "What happened while I was unconscious?"

Instead of answering, Legolas nodded to a figure behind Ireth and then, with a hand on her lower back that sent tingles up her spine, he led her back to her bed in the makeshift room. There was a tray at the foot of the bed with fruits and cheeses on it, brought for her when the healers realized she was awake. Ireth ate slowly as Legolas told her about Aragorn's plan to make a diversion for Frodo and Sam, Gandalf calling for Giant Eagles to help fight the foul beasts, and then the fall of the Great Eye, and the destruction of Mordor.

"Frodo and Sam?" Ireth questioned with large eyes, her lower lip slightly trembling at the thought of the two hobbits being dead. Legolas sat next to her, a consoling arm on her back as he talked to her.

"Both alive, but greatly injured." Legolas explained as Ireth heaved a sigh of relief and laid her head on his shoulder. Her stomach was twisted in all sorts of knots, but she was more relieved to know that the two hobbits were in the least still alive.

"That's a relief."

I'd like to apologize for how late this is. I started college and I don't college well. I finally had some free time to write this and post it. I wanted it to be longer but it's been four weeks and I know that y'alls patience is waning if it's not gone all together.

I have about two to three more chapters to go, and then the story is complete so YAY! Of course I still have my other story going on and that's just going to be a pain in the ass because its going to take FOREVER.

So I know this chapter was kind of weak but I'm starting to come to my wits end with this story and that' all i'm going to write for now cause my computer is running it's text incredibly slow and it's really confusing.