"You swear that no harm shall come to any of them, should I agree to stay with you? You will let them all go and allow me to heal Legolas?" I ask, my throat raw with contained sobs anguish.

I am trapped; there is no possible solution to get me out of this.

"I will not harm any of them.  You have my word."

"And how do I know the word of the damned is to be trusted?" I question, crossing my arms defensively in front of my chest.

"I never go against my word, child."

I narrow my eyes at that.

"I may be deceitful, true." he concedes.

"I suppose I will just have to trust you at your word then.  Very well."

"Now go, help your prince.  I do not wish to have you moping around here for the rest of eternity." he gestures me back down the hallway I had run through.

"I hate to disappoint you," I call over my shoulder, managing to find a sense of sarcasm as I jog  back down the hallway, farther from the Witch King, "but I'm not going to live forever.  The people of the North live much longer than the race of men, true, but we are mortal." Finishing the thought, I break into a run.

I hear him call after me. "After all this time, you truly think the iron fist of time applies to you?  You have such power you have yet to discover.  Your gift of healing is nothing, nothing compared to what I will show you!" the Witch King shouts after me.

I had just signed away my life to the Witch King, and now my life is apparently infinite.  He didn't lie to me, but he also didn't seem to find it necessary to tell me I would be trapped with him until the end of time. Perhaps once I learn what I can from him, I will be able to kill him.  I will certainly have enough time to come up with a plan. 

The realization doesn't seem shocking to me; the fact that I'm taking this new horror with such grace.  The time on this journey has done much for my strength mentally, physically, and emotionally.  My head is filled with fear but I am able to shove the anguish down and lock it away deep in my mind.  I can and will stay strong and focused on my goal.  I will defeat the Witch King, even if it kills me.  And now I have a chance to save all of the people that matter most to me in my life.  I should be grateful that it has worked out somewhat in my favor; they will all be out of danger, at least of the Witch King.

I finally reach the end of the dimly lit hallway and come across Legolas, lying in the middle of the floor with two knives protruding from his stomach. I can see the quick and shallow breaths he's taking, giving me infinite relief.  There's still time to save him.

I rush to his side, resting my hands gently on either side of his face. "I told you, you should not have come.  And now look what's happened to you." I chastise gently, looking to see how bad his wounds are.  It's apparent that he will die in moments if I don't heal him.

"-had to come... make sure-" I interrupt him.

"Don't talk, I don't want you hurting yourself anymore.  Just lie still while I heal you." I get a firm grasp on one of the knives. "This is going to hurt, get ready."

He nods tersely.

I jerk the knife up swiftly, pulling it cleanly from Legolas's stomach. "One more." I say quickly, and yank the second knife out.

Ordinarily, I wouldn't dream of taking the knives out if I didn't have something to bandage the wound with ready, but I don't know how much more time the Witch King will allow me, and I'm unsure if healing with the knives in place would cause the wounds to heal around them or not.

I rest my hands directly over both of the stab wounds, my hands quickly becoming slick with blood.  I close my eyes, reaching out with my mind for any water close by.  It's much harder here; the ground isn't frozen with it like in the North, and there's no standing water even remotely close. 

Though my eyes are closed, I can almost see droplets of water pulling towards me.  It comes out of the cracks in the walls, dew off blades of grass.  It all pulls like a magnet to me, rushing to surround my hands.  As soon as the droplets of water touch me, they begin to glow with a radiant light, seemingly even brighter than when I had healed King Thranduil.

This healing was much different than the type of injury King Thranduil had, though.  With him I had been drawing the poison out, and now I was, in a sense, trying to keep the goodness in.  The two stab wounds quickly diminish, leaving not even a scar in their places.

I allow the water to cease its glowing, and it falls back to the earth, not longer filled with my healing power.

Almost afraid to meet Legolas's gaze, I look at the stone flooring between us. "You and the others are free to go.  You must leave now, before the Witch King changes his mind." I say with urgency. "Find Seron and my father and leave while you still can."

"And what of you?" Legolas asks warily.

I look at him steadily. "I bargained my life for yours; I must stay." I keep my face as straight as I can, silently cursing my ancestry for not giving me the ability of keeping my emotions in check like the elves.

"Why in the world would you do something that stupid?  Your life is more valuable than mine, Arra!"

"And should I have just left you to die?" I ask quietly.

Legolas is silent for a moment. "Yes." he responds finally.

"Well I couldn't," I reply fiercely, "not when there was still a chance I could save you."

"It was a stupid decision." Legolas says bluntly, but his eyes show only gratitude.

"Well, people do stupid things when they're in love." I shoot right back at him, not taking the time to think through what I'm about to say before it comes out of my mouth.

I almost physically cover my hands with my mouth when I realize what I had just admitted.

"Truly?"

I just nod my head, feeling my cheeks flush slightly.  Legolas's hand comes to rest under my chin, and tilts my head up to meet his gaze.  We're inches apart, and then suddenly, there's no distance between us at all.

Legolas's lips touch mine gently, almost as if he's asking permission.  After getting over the initial shock, I shake myself from my frozen stupor and kiss him back before he can pull away. There's a feeling of urgency underlying, terror of not knowing what will happen next.  Both of my hands rest lightly on his shoulders, and I pull him closer, deepening the kiss.  It feels like the ground has opened up beneath my feet and I'm freefalling, and yet at the same time I feel as though I'm flying. 

We both breath away, breathing deeply, and I lean my head in against his shoulder, closing my eyes.  If only I had the ability to freeze time.

"How am I supposed to just leave you here now that I know what your feelings are?" Legolas asks, rather breathless.

"I do not know, but you must.  If not for your sake than for Seron's and my father's.  You must go." I kiss him fleetingly again, but break away to speak. "Go." I whisper.

He nods before pressing his forehead to mine and whispering, "We will see each other again. I know it."  And then he's off, running to find Seron and my father. 

I will see him again.  I will.  I keep repeating this idea in my head over and over until I believe it.  I pull myself from the stone wall I had been using as support, and walk back to where the Witch King had been last. 

I will see Legolas again.  I know I will.

I would love what your reactions to this chapter were in the comments below!  I read them all, and they guilt me into updating faster XD.