"We ride to Isengard, for that is where the Hobbits have taken refuge," Legolas stood next to Agardess where she was standing watching over the battlefield. Agardess didn't look at him. 

"Bring the Hobbits back, I will great them once they come to Helm's Deep." 

"You won't come with us?" Legolas asked her, he turned to her but she still refused to look at him. She shook her head. 

"Make sure the Hobbits are safe and well, but no, I will not ride with you." She inclined her head to him before turning  on her heel, leaving the elf alone behind her. 

"Why not?" Legolas called after her. Agardess turned ever so slightly before facing back the direction she was previously going. 

"I feel as if I should not be there. I will not go against what has been advised of me," She walked away from him then and did not look back. 

~*~

Agardess stood watching the group ride off. They were heading to Isengard and Agardess was not sure how long it would be until she saw them again. But she felt that she was needed here and because of that, she stayed.

"You stayed," Eowyn said sounding surprised as she came to stand beside Agardess. Agardess nodded watching the riders, they were specks now, barely visible even to her. She tore her eyes away and looked to the woman next to her. 

"Can I ask a favor of you?" 

~*~

Ebony hair fluttered to the ground, tickling Agardess' bare skin as it brushed against it her on its fall to the floor. Yet Agardess didn't move not wanting the woman behind her to slice her with the knife she was so carefully wielding. They had left Helm's Deep behind them and this seemed like the perfect time for a change. 

"Finished," Eowyn announced. Agardess lifted her hand to her hair feeling the shorter length. It was where she liked it now, having grown during their journey. 

"Thank you," Agardess said standing and brushing herself off. She turned to the woman beside her who handed the knife back to her. Agardess nodded her head in gratitude slipping it back into her belt. "Have you ever loved someone, Eowyn?" She asked suddenly. Eowyn shrugged. 

"I am not sure I know what love is," She answered quietly. "Of course there is the idea, but how do you know what you are feeling is love?"

"Then you have not," Agardess pulled the woman to her feet. She had kneeled while they were talking, brushing the strands of hair away. "For you will know when you have fallen in love." 

"Have you love someone?" Eowyn asked. Agardess bowed her head. 

"Yes, I know the feeling of love quite well," Agardess smiled. "For someone rests in a special place in my heart." Eowyn's face seemed to fall. Agardess took the shorter woman's face in her hands, tilting it up so they were seeing eye to eye. 

"Do not fear of finding love, love will find you. You need not search for it. Love will find you Eowyn, be patient, it always does." Agardess kissed the woman on her forehead before releasing her. She bowed and left the room.  

~*~

"Agardess!" She heard a voice shout. She turned and was tackled in a hug by two tiny figures. She smiled and laughed, hugging the Hobbits form to her own.

"Merry! Pippin!" She cried unable to clear her face of the joy she was feeling. The Hobbits noticed the slight change in character. She seemed happier, warmer, more in touch with her emotions. The Hobbits hugged her more tightly, welcoming this change. She was still Agardess, but now she seemed to have a heart. 

"What are you holding?" Pippin asked glancing at the black she had clutched in her hand. Agardess turned to the railing and released the silky substance into the air. 

"Hair," She said watching it swirl away. "I had to wait for a windy day in order for it to spread. Come Hobbits, you do not want to miss the celebration!" 

She was wearing a dress and her usual weapons had been stripped. She was gorgeous, her white dress contrasting beautifully with her dark hair. Eowyn came and embraced the elf, leading her away from the Hobbits to where the women had gathered. She had missed the toast but that mattered not, she was hailing the dead in her own way, giving to the land what was once her's. 

~*~

"No pauses," Eomer was saying as Agardess wandered over to where Gimli and Legolas were standing. "No spills." Agardess raised her eyes at Legolas who simply shrugged in response and took the tankard as it was handed to him. 

"And no regurgitation," Gimli added eying his foamy ale with a look of greed. 

"So it's a drinking game," Legolas said looking around at the men that surround him. Men cheered.

"Last one standing wins," Gimli said and Agardess wondered if the dwarf was drunk already. Gimli began chugging the drink, gulping down the liquid inside. Legolas took a calmer approach, sniffing the ale first before hesitantly raising it to his lips. 

The table began filling with empty tankards and Agardess settled to leaning against a pillar, watching quietly. Gimli began babbling nonsense before starting to drink another, nearly dousing himself as he missed his mouth in his drunken state. 

"I feel something," Legolas said inspecting his hand. "A slight tingle in my fingers..." Eomer and Agardess exchanged a look. "I think it's affecting me." 

"What did I say?" Gimli slurred. "He can't hold his liquor!" The dwarf then kneeled over backwards and Agardess stifled a laugh as she leaned over the table to check to see if he was okay.

"Game over," Legolas said and Eomer nodded. Agardess stepped lightly over Gimli and made her way over to Legolas holding a tankard of her own. 

"You've now tasted the drink of dwarves and men," She lifted it to her lips. "Disgusting really, but it is all in good fun." She moved to step around him but Legolas caught her arm. 

"How drunk are you?" He asked. Agardess smiled. 

"Not quite as drunk as you." She moved away from him then, vanishing into the crowd that had formed around the table Merry and Pippin were dancing on. Her arm was caught again, but it was Eowyn who grasped it this time. 

"Are you sober enough to speak with me?" Eowyn asked, Agardess shrugged. 

"How sober is sober enough?" Eowyn laughed at her statement and dragged the elf away. 

"Do you remember our conversation about love?" She asked hesitantly. Agardess nodded, unsure where this conversation was going. "I think I know, I think love has found me." Agardess followed the woman's gaze, it landed on Aragorn and Agardess suppressed a sigh. 

"Do not give your heart away easily," She said sipping at her ale. "You are human, you can and will more than once. Your first may not be your last, but you will find them." Agardess patted Eowyn on the arm before weaving her way back into the crowd, discarding her empty tankard somewhere on a table. 

~*~

Everyone was dancing now, moving around with their partners, switching with every song. Agardess was mixed up in the middle of it somewhere, dancing with a man before she twirled off the dance floor, the man she was dancing with already having a different partner. She smiled and made her way into the crowd of bystanders. 

She found Legolas in the crowd standing off by himself. She walked over to him and kissed him, no longer caring who was looking. Legolas stiffened under her and pulled away giving her a look.

"How drunk are you now?" He asked. She smiled at him. 

"To drunk to remember what I just did in the morning," Agardess answered without pause. Legolas shook his head at her fondly. "How drunk are you now?" 

"Not quite as drunk as you," He responded with a slight smile on his face. "Come on Dess," He said throwing one of her arms over his neck. "Let's get you to bed." Agardess laughed. 

"You called me Dess, you've never shortened my name before." 

"I guess not, but it does not matter since you will remember nothing of this in the morning," Legolas reasoned. Agardess nodded and laughed again. 

"Well Leggy," She said smiling at him. "I guess that means that my words have no meaning either." She giggled to herself and Legolas shook his head at her again. 

"Yes but unlike you I will remember this conversation in the morning." They had reached the room Agardess was staying in and Legolas kicked open the door and helped Agardess into the bed. She smiled at him. 

"Leggy," She yawned. "I used to drink a lot you know." He nodded, he knew. 

"You've mentioned it before," He said quietly. She grabbed for his hand and pulled it towards her lips. 

"You saved me," She murmured and kissed it. She released his hand and rolled over. "Quel du. (Goodnight)"

"Quel du." Legolas responded and padded quietly out of the room, closing the door softly behind him. 

~*~

Agardess woke with a headache and a foggy memory of what had happened the night before. 

"I regret it," She said as she came outside to find Legolas already out there. 

"Drinking so much?" He asked with this fond little smile on his face. She groaned and leaned against the pillar. 

"Yes and whatever I did that is worth regretting." Legolas shook his head at her.

"You have nothing to regret," He said simply and she turned her gaze to him.

"Lle lakwenien? (Are you joking?)" She asked. "I'm not a predictable drunk, who knows what I'll do next."

"I am not joking, we were together for most of the night," Agardess felt as if he were stretching the truth a little. "You did nothing." She nodded her head, finally taking his answer. 

"I didn't honor the slain," She said suddenly. "I mean, not with the men inside, I did in a way, but I fear it is not enough." 

(Quick Note: This is going to be a song, I don't own it. It is called Safe and Sound by Taylor Swift. Listen to it if you want at this point, just as a warning not all of it is going to be written)

"And how are you going to honor them?" He asked quietly. She breathed in deeply and begun to sing.

"I remember tears streaming down your face when I said I'd never let you go...

And all those shadows almost killed your light...

I remember you said 'don't leave me here alone'

But all that's gone and passed tonight..."  

She sang quietly, her voice soft yet beautiful. Legolas joined in, the lyrics flowing back to him. It was a song his mother sang to him when he was scared, and it was sung at her funeral.

"Just close your eyes

The sun is going down

You'll be all right

No one can hurt you now

Come morning light

You and I'll be Safe and Sound...

Don't you dare look out your window

Darling everything's on fire

The war outside our door keeps raging on...

Hold on to this lullaby...

Even the music's gone...

Gone..."

"Are they honored?" Legolas asked as she stopped singing. Agardess nodded her head, not meeting the elf's eyes.

"Yes, they are honored."