A Second Chance

Chapter 29

Well friends, here we are, 29 chapters and 544 votes later, this is the end of A Second Chance. This has been such a wonderful journey... I feel slightly emotional... *sniff* I can't thank you guys enough for all the support this story has received! I GIVE HUGS *holds out arms* *sniggers* A very big and special thank you to CJ_Callahan90, I wouldn't be writing fan fiction at all if it weren't for her! And thank you to all those who have commented, especially those who have been here since the start of the book. I would mention you all by name, but it's far too late for my brain to go through that (many pathetic apologies *bows humbly to faithful commenters*) 

And now, enjoy~~

oOo

Emma groaned.

For some unfathomable reason, she was on the ground, with a bunch of sticks and a rock poking into her back. And she was freezing. Which was odd, considering she was supposedly insusceptible to the cold... Opening her eyes, she realized that something seemed off. There was no snow. No tents. No elves... 

No sassy Elvenking.

Speaking of which... he kissed her. He actually kissed her. Why would he do that? He was Mr. Sassypants. He doesn't do kissing.

Where was he anyways?

Looking around, Emma's mouth dropped opened. The trees... they were all wrong.

This wasn't Greenwood.

These were her woods.

But that meant...

That meant that it had been a dream.

All a dream.

A wonderful, too-good-to-be-true dream.

She refused to believe it.

"Miri?" she called, hoping against all hope that somehow, just somehow, it had been real.

"Legolas?" she called, when she received no response. She felt the tears pool up in her eyes. She struggled to get up, and when she managed that task, she focused on standing.

"Thranduil?"

His name came out as a choked sob, reality slamming into Emma like a bag of bricks.

"Emma!"

Her head snapped up.

"Over here!" she yelled, hope welling up inside her again.

"Oh God, Emma! You were out here all night?"

"Wh- Jared?" Emma's eyes were wide with disbelief. She was so shocked, she didn't even do anything when he hugged her. Eventually she remembered that Jared was a dirty cheat and shouldn't be touching her. Shoving him away with all her strength, she stood, glaring up at him.

"Mortal! Don't touch me," she hissed.

Jared's eyes practically bugged out of his head. "Mortal? Emma, have you finally lost it? I told you that the trees weren't doing anything to help you!"

Emma huffed and turned away from him.

"Leave me alone."

That was met with silence.

Eventually, the sound of his footsteps crunching on the leaves faded into the distance, and Emma allowed herself the luxury of tears, just this one time.

None of it had been real. Miri, Legolas, Dol Guldur, Carl and Zippy...

Thranduil.

All figments of her overactive imagination.

All representations of what she wished was real. What she wanted to be real. What she needed to be real.

But it wasn't.

It wasn't real.

And it never will be.

~Fin~