The Fellowship was gathered on the banks of the Anduin, the great river that ran from north to south through most of the land. All of the company had been cloaked in the sage green of the folks of Lóthlorien, the cloaks clasped about their necks with emerald green broaches in the shape of malorn leaves. Now the Fellowship received individual gifts from the Lord and Lady.

*Open this at the end of everything, my brave granddaughter.* Galadriel instructed as Celeborn passed Torwen a small velvet bag.

It was not very heavy, and felt as though it were stuffed full of fabric. The elleth was confused but knew better than to question the wisdom of her grandmother.

When Legolas received a Galadhrim bow that matched Torwen's own, she felt as if the bowstring she had constructed was burning a hole in the pocket of her tunic. Rulim andÓrophin had been correct in their assumptions/ The elleth had absentmindedly begun braiding the strands when her grandmother had mentioned bestowing the prince with a new bow. Now that the bowstring was waxed and complete, and the prince had the bow in his possession, Torwen was doubting her gift. A bowstring made of one's own hair was considered quite the intimate gift, usually to a warrior from their mate.

Would the ellon turn his nose up at such a gift? No, Legolas was anything but rude. He would never refuse a gift from a friend. But what if her gift made him uncomfortable, and caused the ellon to distance himself from her?

True, the elleth had distanced herself from the prince during their stay in the Golden Wood, but during that time Torwen had come to the conclusion that being parted from him was more painful than having him near. She had already been parted from her friends for many years, and was loath to be so again.

A hand at her elbow pulled Torwen from her ruminations. The elleth turned and grinned when she saw the blonde Marchwarden before her.

*Haldir, I did not expect to see you before we departed.*

*What a friend would I be if I neglected to see you off?* The ellon smirked minutely before his features smoothed seriously once again. *Please, take care little one.*

*You always have worried so, my friend.* Torwen chastised quietly, wrapping her arms about the ellon's shoulders and pulling him to her.

*Let the prince protect you.* Haldir muttered near her ear, causing the elleth to pull back in confusion. *Even now, he watches over you.* He continued, raising his brows and throwing a glance over Torwen's shoulder.

The elleth turned quickly to see the silver haired prince watching her from the corner of his eye as he loaded the boats they would be traveling in. Torwen turned back to Haldir, whose smirk had widened when the elleth's blush reached the tips of her ears.

*Legolas is watchful of us all.* The elleth sniffed dismissively.

*As you say.* The Marchwarden intoned, humor coloring his usually stoic voice.

He dipped into a shallow bow before turning and walking away.

Legolas quickly adverted his gaze when the elleth turned towards him the second time. He thought the farwell between Torwen and the Marchwarden had been rather lacking for two who were betrothed. But then, he reasoned, the had just caught him watching them moments before.

The ellon couldn't help himself. Aragorn was right. For all he wanted to be happy for his friend, the jealousy burned him up inside.

"Don't know why you're looking so sour." Gimli grumbled from beside him, the dwarf leaning against his axe and watching the boats being loaded with supplies. "At least you elves don't sink when you hit the water."

"I suppose it's lucky for you then, that you will have two elves in your boat should you fall overboard." Torwen quipped from behind them, eliciting a deep rumble of laughter from Gimli.

Legolas busied himself with checking clasps on packs, ensuring bedrolls wouldn't be lost with movement. Anything to keep from having to face the green eyes of the elleth behind him.

They had been gliding along the glassy surface of the Anduid for nearly three hours, all quiet around them besides birdsong and the chatter of the Hobbits. Frodo and Sam shared a boat with Aragorn, while Merry and Pippin entertained Boromir with tales from the Shire in their own vessel.

Torwen sat, knees to chest in the front of their boat, gazing ahead for any sign of something amiss as the dwarf behind her grumbled and complained about the movement of the boat they travelled in. Eventually Legolas was able to distract their companion by asking him about Gimli's mysterious gift from the Lady Galadriel.

The dwarf hemmed and hawed for a moment and when Torwen spied a look at him over her shoulder, she was surprised to see he was blushing. Grinning, the elleth turned back to once again cast her gaze ahead of them.

"I asked her for a single hair from her golden head." The dwarf admitted gruffly. "She gave methree." He continued, in a dreamy whisper that Torwen never would have thought the short man capable of.

"A special gift, indeed." Legolas acknowledged from the back of the boat where he was dipping the oar into the quiet waters of the river. "Hair is quite the intimate gift in our culture, Gimli."

It was Torwen's turn to blush furiously, and she hoped that Legolas could not the tips of her pointed ears turning crimson beneath her ginger curls.

"Torwen, would you sing us a song?" Pippin asked from the next boat over.

Thank Eru for those little Hobbits and their distractible natures. And so they spent the rest of their day rowing down the Anduin, all taking turns singing songs. A few Torwen recognized, but many she did not. A testament to how far apart their races had drifted.

*You should get some rest. I can take the last of the watch.*

Torwen glanced up at the pale haired ellon and pursed her lips. She had managed to avoid him for most of the evening, having snuck away to gather mushrooms and other edible vegetation as well as managing to bag a few hare on her way back. The Fellowship had dined well that night, saving the lembas bread that had been packed into their boats for another time. Now she had been perched on this log on the rocky shoreline for hours, ears pricked to catch the sounds of the forest behind her and sharp eyes watching the river and opposite shore.

*It is you that needs the rest, friend. You were rowing all day.* Torwen argued, crossing her arms over her chest as she returned to gaze to the opposite shore.

Something was casting her heart into darkness, twisting her stomach into knots. This was not the undulating darkness of the ring that constantly poked and prodded at her mind. This was the uncomfortable weight of dread. A steady feeling of foreboding that the elleth had not been able to shake since they had pushed the boats to shore late in the afternoon.

Legolas said nothing, simply settling himself onto the log next to Torwen and she found herself inching closer. The elleth took comfort from his silent, simple strength. Legolas settled his bow upon his thighs, quiver propped against the log at his feet within easy reach.

*I feel it too. This shadow that has cast itself upon us so suddenly.*

Torwen huffed a sigh and stole a glance at the ellon beside her. His brows were drawn together with concern as his blue eyes scanned the distant shore. She fought the sudden urge to smooth the ridge on his brow with her lips. To distract herself, the elleth plunged a hand into the pocket of her tunic, smoothing fingers over the wax of the bowstring that still rested there. Inhaling a steadying breath through her nose, Torwen curled her fist around the stand and withdrew it from her pocket.

*Legolas? I-* She stuttered to a stop when the prince turned his sharp blue gaze onto her.

This wasLegolas. Why was this so difficult? It was simply meant to be a token of friendship. Nothing more.

*Torwen?* Legolas murmured, brows drawing in further.

The elleth coughed to clear her throat, tucking wild flaming hair behind her ear with one hand and trying to ignore how the sound of her name from his lips sent something warm blazing low in her stomach.

*I… Well… Here.* She finally managed, dropping something small and lightweight into his lap before abruptly standing to her feet and striding to her bedroll, laying down with her back to the shore and to the blonde ellon.

Legolas was left bewildered, gently pulling a bowstring made of hair the color of fall leaves through his fingers.

A/N: I have many number of excuses for why I've been gone for so long but I'll spare you from most of them. The two most important ones are as follows: About a week after the last time I posted, my computer died. I had 6 unposted chapters of this fic saved there and nowhere else. Needless to say, it was a blow and I was too angry to rewrite for a while. Second, it's wintertime. Any of you that have grown up on any sort of farm know that everything goes wrong in the wintertime and that's what's been happening over here.

So, sorry again. I'll try to post again soon but I'm still trying to rewrite what I lost and keep up with the farm work. I've also been sketching out a couple of other fics on paper and will likely start writing those soon as well. One is a Draco Malfoy fic and the other is a Din Djarin/Mandalorian fic. If you have a preference for either of those, let me know in a review!