Elladan and Elrohir had never really been studious. Since they were but elflings, the twins would rather fool around making all sorts of pranks and mischief, leading their tutors to frustration. Lord Elrond thought this behavior would wear off as they come of age. It didn't.

As Erestor, his chief of advisor, were presenting his view on the reports of Rivendell's latest security report, The lord of Rivendell kicked Elrohir's foot beneath the desk.

The kick instantly jostled the younger twin back to reality. His head snapped up to see the face of his adar (father) frowning grumpily at him. He immediately covered the sketch he made on the parchment before him and pried his eyes to Erestor to try to listen to the matters at hand.

"...a band of orcs has been spotted east of our border. Our border patrol had successfully chased them away and killed any that showed up a few days ago, but yesterday we got another report of more orcs sightings..."

He did try to listen. But alas, Elrohir's thoughts drifted back to a face of a pretty young woman who had stolen his heart.

Erestor's voice was merely a background noise as Elrohir imagined back the memory of Wanda. He could still feel her soft lips on his; could taste the remaining of the sweet berries on her mouth...

'So you and Wanda, huh?'

Elladan's voice rang in his mind. Elrohir cursed inwardly when he saw the shit eating grin on his brother's face. Ro mentally told him to mind his own business, but he knew it was impossible. After all, they both shared a blood bond. Being an inseparable twins, both of them could feel each other's emotions perfectly. And unfortunately Elladan liked to tease Ro whenever he can, just as much as Ro liked to tease his own brother.

'Payback is sweet,' mocked Elladan mentally to Elrohir.

The younger twin chose to ignore him and went back to watch Erestor's presentation, but in a minute his mind returned to the fading golden sun the day before.

He remembered standing there amidst of the forest just at the outskirt of the city. He could hear the trees singing softly in a gentle tune, a sweet lullaby to his ears. She was looking up at him, her doe, hazel eyes captivated him. He was well aware of how she was resting her hands on his chest, how he placed his on her small waist. Elrohir just realized how small Wanda was compared to him. At the moment, a conflicting feeling waged war inside him. He wanted to make her his; ravish her with abandon. Yet the protective instinct he had for her prevented him to do so. In fact, staring at those innocent hazel eyes made him feel slightly weak in the knees and all he wanted to do was just hug her and keep her safe.

'You're disgusting, brother. Soon Adar is going to kick you out.'

Elrohir grinned at hearing Dan's grumble in his head.

'Keep glaring at me like that and I bet twenty pence that Adar will kick you out too,' replied Elrohir.

'Make it double. I have been listening to the reports-unlike you.'

'Deal.'

"Out."

The sound of the stern command from Lord Elrond snapped both of them, along with the rest of the council members.

"Milord?" questioned Erestor in confusion. The only person who didn't seem surprised was Glorfindel. The elf warrior with lush golden hair wasn't trying very hard to hide his amusement. Elladan frowned when he saw him smirk.

"Apology for the interruption, mellon (friend). I was talking to my sons," Lord Elrond shot the twins his almighty elf lord look and with another stern voice, he commanded, "Get out. Both of you."

The rest of the council member were either trying to hide their smile or sighing softly. They were thinking of the same thing: Warriors their young lords might be, but they hadn't really grown up from their childhood.

"Adar, I was trying to get Elrohir to-"

Elladan stopped himself mid speech when he saw the deep frown on his adar's face, along with the twitch on his forehead. That wasn't a good sign. Defeatedly, he got up from his seat and exited the court with Elrohir.

"I believe you owe me..." Elrohir on purposely made a gesture of counting with his hand, "...forty pence for that. Pay up."

Elladan scowled at seeing Ro's smug face. He reached down to the hidden pocket in his robe. "A bet is a bet," he murmured quite unhappily as he paid up the wager.

There was a bright, brilliant smile on Elrohir's smile as he received the coins. "Isn't today my lucky day? I get to get off the meetings early while at the same time earning a few good coins for my hard work. See you at dinner, Dan," whistled Elrohir, tossing the coins in his hand as he sauntered away.

"Wait, where are you going?" Dan didn't see Ro smiling to himself, but he concluded the answer rather quickly. "You scoundrel," grumbled Elladan, "You planned this. You make us get kicked out just so you can go to see her."

"Genius, isn't it?"

"At my expense?" protested Elladan.

"Oh, please. You were thinking about riding with your horse the whole meeting. You couldn't wait to get away too."

Elladan folded his arms in front of his chest. "Fine," grunted the older twin, "In that case I'm coming with you."

Elrohir sharply turned around and held up a hand. "Brother. You cannot come with me."

"Why?"

"As soon as the meeting ends, Adar would try to find us. You know now how important it is for me to find Wanda... there's much to discuss-orcs! She needed to be reminded that the border is currently not very safe."

"She lives far from the border," countered Elladan with a roll of his eyes.

"Remember our rule. We cover each other's back," convinced Elrohir, raising an eyebrow. "You owe me the last time I cover for you when you excused yourself from meeting the daughters of Lothlorien. Remember?"

Elladan sighed defeatedly. "Fine. But be back before sundown. I cannot cover for you for long. Adar is not in a good mood today."

Elrohir grinned like a Cheshire cat, slapping his brother's shoulder happily. "Hannon le (thank you), brother," he thanked Elladan before turning away and walked with a long, determined strides.

"Bring something for me from the market!" called out Elladan which was responded with an ok gesture from his younger brother.

***

Wanda carefully inserted the small thread into the needle. Her nimble hands worked with agility to tie off the end of the thread. She resumed the stitches along the border of an exquisite deep obsidian dress with quite a jaw dropping low cut on its neck.

"This is a beautiful dress, mama," she complimented Etheriel, who looked up from her work and beamed at Wanda, "It's quite a brave dress for an elleth, but beautiful nonetheless. Who orders this? They must be very rich," commented Wanda with a hint of drama in her tone.

"Ohh, rich indeed!" exclaimed Etheriel to her adopted daughter with a bit of gleeful drama in her voice, making Wanda chuckle. "One of the guests in the House of Elrond ordered this. I think she's from Lothlorien. Whatever it is, I bet she's planning to charm her entrance to the feast of starlight next week."

"With this dress, she definitely will," agreed Wanda. "Where will the feast be held?"

"The House of Elrond, sister. Where else would it be?" chirped Belethiel, chirping in to the conversation. "Can you imagine? These ellith from across Arda coming in to try to charm their way into the hearts of our single young lords?" Belethiel sighed dramatically, "It would be like a bloodbath in the house of Elrond."

Wanda couldn't help but chuckle at Belethiel's remark. She joined the chorus of giggle of the two ellith, sneakily hiding the anxiety in the pit of her stomach that started to grow.

Elrohir was out of her league. How was she suppose to compete with all these girls?

Wanda glanced at Belethiel, admiring how beautiful and kind she was. She had no doubt that the girls that Belethiel talked about would be just like that. Probably richer, grander, but also as kind as Belethiel. After all, the elven race seemed to always be graceful and held their values and moral in high esteem.

"Lucky for me, I have Rubin already," Belethiel's voice suddenly reduced into a sweet daydreaming tone, earning smiles from Wanda and Etheriel. Belethiel smiled back at them whilst running her pale hands on the bulge on her stomach, "...and this little one."

For a while, Wanda forgot her anxiety. The dreamy expression that was on Belethiel's face was mirrored to Wanda's as she walked over to her adopted sister and held out a hand to gently feel her stomach.

"I can't wait to meet her. She will be beautiful like you, Belethiel," Wanda sighed happily.

"Or," their mama came closer, also putting her hand on Belethiel's stomach, "Grandson. Imagine little Rubin running around."

The sound of the ladies giggling filled the small house located in the village near the city of Rivendell.

Wanda didn't eat much for lunch. After she was done helping her mama, she used Belethiel's pregnancy as an excuse to go. Again, to find healthy, nutritious wild fruits as a means to escape to the forest.

She had grown to love both Etheriel and Belethiel, even her husband Rubin. They were nothing short of gracious and especially kind to her. Etheriel had become that mother figure to her; and Belethiel, the sister she never had. They shared everything, even in poverty. They were happy, content in their simple lives. They made her happy. But there was always a part of her that she couldn't shake off: the part that say that she didn't belong. That the real her wouldn't be accepted anywhere in this world.

Wanda entered deeper to the forest. Having ventured the forest for more than six years, she knew the layout of the forest very well. She walked through the tall trees, their evergreen leaves rustling gently by the wind, shading her from the offending sunlight. She drew in the pristine air of the elven realm, letting calm seep into her being. She could smell the tress around her mingled with the scent of the fresh, fertile soil.

If she could only choose a word to describe the land, she would say that this land was blessed.

The more she ventured deep into forest, the more she got closer to the border. If she wasn't being careful she might venture too far and be out of the protective magic that kept the dark creatures off the land. But she knew just how far she was allowed to go safely. Afterall, she didn't feel like meeting the orcs again anytime soon.

She turned west, and soon she could hear the sound of the calm water, calling her. A smile made its way to her face as she passed through a slightly denser foliage. And when she got through, she found herself in front of an untouched, beautiful spring.

Wanda gazed at the beauty of the hidden resting place with reverence, silently admiring it before setting down her empty basket and began to stripped herself off of her clothes.

She jumped.

The cool, crystal water hit her face, suddenly blanketing her from the rest of the world. From her worries. There was quite a small current inside the spring, and it took her a while to get out of the water. But when she did, there was a huge, carefree smile on her face-one that she never shown to the world. She wiped her eyes and began to swim playfully around the water.

Her peaceful escapade soon ended when she heard shuffling noises behind the thick foliage where she came from.

She froze in the water. Her alarmed eyes searched her surroundings. Another noise heightened her senses, causing her hands to twitch under the water. If this was an attack, she would be in a disadvantage; she was naked. Skinny dipping alone, deep in the forest made her an easy, unsuspecting target. She began to recall her training: she shouldn't be putting herself out here, in the open, vulnerable.

"Blyat (Damn it)," she cursed under her breath in her mother tongue. Her shoulder tensed as she prepared to defend herself.

A rather fat squirrel jumped down from a tree with a thud, then scurried with its little feet and disappeared behind the foliage. Wanda released a relieved breath and immediately relaxed. She decided that it wasn't best for her to linger out here anymore. Besides, she had her fill already.

She got out of the water and rather quickly put on her clothes, not even bothering to wait to dry herself up. Her empty fruit basket sat there on the ground-it was about time she started her fruit search, else she might lose the li-

A high pitched screech rang in her ears before a weight suddenly threw her back towards the water with a huge splash. She choked on water. Instinctively she kicked her way out of the water, but something held her foot down.

An ugly, wicked creature glared back up at her underwater. It hissed, baring his teeth at her while its bony hand firmly gripped her ankle. Her scream was muffled by the water. She shot a red ball of energy towards the dark creature. Being free of it, she tapped into her powers for the first time in six years and shot herself out of the water, tumbling unto the ground.

Another screech tore through the air; this time she could hear running footsteps from the forest. At least a dozen of them. She didn't know how, but they managed to get past the protective border.

Something whizzed past her left ear.

Driven by adrenaline, she ran.

Her heart hammered against her chest. She no longer cared that she was soaking wet or that she had left her mama's fruit basket behind.

The forest soon became a blur of green as she sprinted away from the enemy. One by one, the goblins caught up with her. But she never stopped. She bent and waved her hand, sending red spheres of energy towards any incoming attack. All seemed manageable until more of the creature showed up and charged at her. Almost a dozen of them jumped to her blind side at the same time while she was too preoccupied. Soon she was overpowered. She felt her skin crawl as slimy hands and feet of the goblins-their sharp nails, creeped up against her, pulling at her arm. Her clothes. Her hair.

She was overwhelmed, both with fear and disgust.

She let out a scream as they held up her hands, attempting to pin her to the ground. She was tempted to give up, to cover her head and rolled into a ball-

But she was an avenger. She overpowered Thanos and almost had him-almost. These lowly creatures were nothing to her. Nothing. If Natasha or Steve see her quitting like this...

With a renewed determination, she tapped into the power that she long have tried to abandon. With a roar, a burst of scarlet energy exploded out of her, sending the goblins thrown by the sheer power of it.

Another collective screeching. This time, she successfully pissed them off. Now on her feet, she rained scarlet energy upon them. Her once hazel eyes glowed ruby, reflecting anger in her chest.

To her, these creatures are bullies. And she refused to be bullied again.

"No more," she growled dangerously, tearing and ripping the creatures apart with her power.

It ended quickly. By the time she was finished, she found herself surrounded by the whole hoard of dead goblins. At least forty, fifty rotten corpse spread around the once serene forest. Black blood marring the leaves and the ground around it. Her heart thumped against her chest at the scene that she caused.

She shouldn't be here.

She jogged away, trying to get away from the scene as far as possible, but soon she was breathless. Wanda slowed herself down, briefly examining herself. She was still wet from the fall in the spring. Various scratches from goblins' sharp nails torn her dress and skin. Then there was at least two deep cuts caused by the goblins' daggers.

"Bozhe moi (My goodness)..." she murmured breathlessly. She had been stuck in Middle Earth long enough to know the effect of goblins' poisoned blade.

She had to get home.

***

[Author's Note: And that, people, is why skinny dipping is not exactly a good idea. Especially in a natural setting. So how's the chapter? I need feedbacks. What do you think of the story line? Am I moving too fast, too slow? Let me know your thoughts in the comment section. Thankyou for reading and leaving a ❤️ or ⭐! More Wanda x Elrohir coming up next!]