The Ranger And The Prince.

Home At Last.

When at last we reached the gates of Moria, we finalized our plan of action. With the fellowship, we had been able to journey from one side of the city to the next in relative secrecy. If it hadn't have been for Pippin's misfortunate accident, I believe we would have been able to cross Moria without any interference at all.

At least, I was banking on that.

We planned to split our army into three, only a few hundred per garrison. The larger the army, the larger the possibility of being detected by the enemy before our time to strike.

Me and Legolas would stay in the vast hall of Moria, where we suspected most of the fighting would take place. We would be the group most vulnerable on all sides, that's why we decided we would lead that garrison, we didn't want our children in such a terrible position.

Jewel and Eldarion would take their garrison towards the mines. Gemstone and Amethyst would take their garrison deep into the main city.

As quiet as we possibly, we found ourselves in the main hall of Moria. It felt good to be home, especially since last time I had been there, I had been with the fellowship and thought Moria was lost forever.

We had barrels of oil brought from the camp. Most of the Orcs and Goblins festered in the cracks in the stone, deep crevices running into the mine. Well if that was the case, dumping boiling hot oil onto them before setting it afire, would rid us of a fair few of them.

No doubt the stragglers of the creatures would then return to the surface where we could finish them off. At least, if all went according to plan.

Just as we predicted, the inside of Moria was silent, as though nothing since the dawn of time had lived there. But of course there were foul creatures dwelling within.

Giving Gemstone, Amethyst and Jewel the last few hugs, we parted the armies and set off for our respective areas.

Both me and Legolas put on our brave faces for the soldiers we were commanding even though we were worried sick about our children. They may be grown up, a hundred or so years under their belt, but they were still our little babies in our eyes. Call me a soft mother but I knew Legolas was anxious about the split up.

While we stayed with our garrison in the grand hall, all we could do was wait in silence. It really was like Helms Deep all over again.

Our soldiers were quite as well, they dare not say anything above a hush whisper and even those were few and far between.

Though many of the dwarves wanted to take full advantage of the Elves' shock at the beauty of the dwarven city, they knew better than to chance waking the enemy up.

The barrels of oil had already been placed in specific places along the edges of the large cracks in the ground. Once our three days of waiting passed, we would start to boil it with torches before we tip the oil into them, dousing the Orcs and Goblins in scolding oil. For good measure, the torchs would be thrown down the crevices as well, lighting the oil on fire.

With this, we not only had surprise on our hand, we had two almighty strikes on them before the fighting even begins.

For now though, me and Legolas were sat down on the cold stone floor. His back was leant against one of the stone pillars and I had my back pressed to his chest, his legs either side of me. He held me close as we waited the last few hours before we would start the siege.

"If only my father could see me now..." I sighed quietly as I snuggled back into him.

"He would probably wonder why you brought an elf boy home," Legolas chuckled lightly as he buried his face in the crook of my neck, kissing me sweetly.

"Yeah," I muffled my own chuckle with my hands, "He would have chased you all through Moria if I had ever brought a baby faced elf boy like you home."

"I'm not baby faced," Legolas retorted, trying not to raise his voice too much as he kissed my neck again.

"Whatever. But still, my father would have killed you if he caught you doing this to me," I smirked as Legolas kissed me on the neck again.

"Would you rather I stopped?" Legolas scoffed as he sat back up.

Rolling my eyes, I laid back. It didn't take long for a faint smile to fade. In only a few hours we would be fighting to liberate my home, it's not something anyone would take lightly.

I need to change the subject to something that wasn't to do with the fate of Moria.

"It's weird seeing Eldarion so much," I whispered, looking up to the ceiling of the vast hall, "I mean, the more I see him, the more he looks like Aragorn."

"Aragorn would be proud," Legolas mused.

"I heard him talking to Jewel the other day," I started, trying not to bring attention to it in case Legolas got the wrong impression, "He offered to let her see the grand library at Minas Tirith."

"Yeah? Well you know Jewel, she will jump at the chance to get her hands on new books. Perhaps once Moria is purged, we should visit the White City? It's been a while since we enjoyed the hospitality of men, I'm sure Eldarion wouldn't mind. Jewel will lose her mind once she sees all the books on offer at Minas Tirith." Legolas mused.

Ok, that wasn't exactly what I meant but it was a start. Legolas loved Jewel so much, she was just the sweetest elleth. Who knows how he would react if he learnt a family friend wanted to court her?

"Jewel isn't a little elfing anymore," I sighed, "Surely she can travel to Minas Tirith on her own should she want to."

I left it at that, not wanting to press the matter further and worry Legolas any more before the battle.

Even after all these centuries I had yet to find a more comfortable pillow than Legolas' chest so it wasn't a surprise when I fell asleep leaning against him. No doubt he would wake me if needed.

Sorry this chapter is short. Won't be long until the next one.