Author Note: As far as I know, this is the ONLY story on all of that is written from Gael Baudino's Strands series, so I understand if this gets zero reviews. If it does get reviews, well, Hand of the Lady be on you, my friend. Alanae a Elthia! For those interested, Strands of Starlight is a small series of books written in the 1980s by the above mentioned author. Some of the later books were written in the early 90s. These are amazing books, and my story takes place a few years after Strands itself, where the Elves are not fading, but they are not plentiful and abundant and the threat of the Church still hangs over Saint Brigid and the Free Towns. Mostly deals with Mirya and her rebirth and how she feels and deals with it, since Gael did not detail such an amazing story potential and I always wondered.

Strands of Memories

I am who I am. My name is Mirya. I have red-gold hair and emerald eyes. I am an Elf... Mirya's thoughts, dark thoughts, along with the litany she had used so many times as a human, trailed off as she felt the approach of her beloved. Terrill.

"Mirya, why are you out here all alone? Natil is playing the harp, Talla is dancing...it may not be a day of festival, but all days are days for celebration." So long as I have you, beloved. Mirya heard Terrill's thought and could not say he was wrong.

"Yes...it is so, my love. I do not know. I was simply thinking...about my rape, as Miriam. My first rape and murder as Mirya. Dark thoughts, love. Thoughts that have no place here, in the Forest. In our home. My death and rebirth, my finding my way back to you..."

Terrill placed a hand on his beloved's shoulder. "You know that it was-" Mirya grasped his soft, womanly hand.

"I know, dear one, I truly do. It was for the best, in the end. For if it had not happened, I would not have been reborn, I would not have found you again. No amount of torture and rape could make me want to stay away from you, and being Miriam, the human healer, for years helped me be able to understand them and help and heal them more than some of my kinsfolk." Mirya turned and planted a soft kiss on Terrill's soft, feminine lips.

Terrill's soft arms wrapped gently around Mirya and he pulled her, very gently, to the soft forest floor, showering his precious one in the love he had been holding in for hundreds of years after Mirya's death. Her rebirth was the greatest gift of the Lady.

Elthia had indeed heard his prayers and returned her to him. Her suffering had been great, as both Mirya and Miriam, but she was here. He was here. And that was good. It was all good. Everything was good.

Mirya's soft skin yielded easily to Terrill's touches as she dropped her grey-green cloak to the Forest floor, ready for Terrill's love. His kisses brought back her old memories once again, of young Terrill. Of young Mirya. Of Elves lost and loved, faded. She gripped his shoulders tightly, refusing to yield to her sorrow.

A soft shimmer within the Dance signified the coming of another. Mirya almost let out a sigh, but if the other was meant to come, then that was how it was supposed to be. Terrill, too, felt the same. They donned their cloaks once more and stood. It was Natil, the healing harper.

She smiled her soft, starlit smile. "Beloved ones, we are supping now. Would you take leave of your loving long enough to dine with us? Talla has blessed the meal, we simply need Mirya to continue the dance so the blessing is complete. It would be well if she would so shower us with her Lady-blessed singing voice as well."

Mirya smiled, a true smile. Ever since her rebirth, her talents she'd had in her old life returned as well. Her beautiful singing voice, perfectly complementing Natil's harping and Talla's dancing, and her own dancing. Not as lovely as Talla's, but when they danced together, they were in such perfect sync that the courses of universes seemed to alter.

Hand in hand, Terrill and Mirya headed back to the caves where they dwelt. The Elves, and the two witches, Charity and Roxanne, along with her child Lake, now a small boy, were waiting. They smiled at the approach of the other Elves.

Talla grasped Mirya's hand an pulled her into the dance. Mirya felt her soul soar and shimmer,and let her voice rise into song:

Ele, asta a mirurore

Cira a ciraie

Elthia Calasiuove

Marithae dia

Manea, Elthia

As her words enveloped the shimmering clearing and Talla's dancing, complementing Natil's healing harp playing, Mirya closed her eyes and just let herself go into starlight with the singing and dancing, words coming effortlessly and happily. As the song and dance finished, she saw Terrill's face reflected in the starlit fire.

Sorrow was there, but it was only sorrow for the years they had lost. There was also happiness. Happiness that Mirya was here, that they were both here, and the world, at least for Terrill and Mirya, was complete. The Lady's blessing was upon this place, and it shimmered with the loving light of the Creatrix. Terrill stood and took Mirya's hand, leading her back to her place next to him around the fire.

Herbal tea was passed by Varden, bread by Roxanne. Terrill broke off a piece of the loaf he'd been given and held it out to Mirya, who took it with gentleness and love. My love. How I missed this. How I missed you all. There was no time nor reason to sorrow at this moment, but she remembered the lost Elves, those who had faded or been killed and had not been given the blessing of rebirth and return like she had.

Mirya silently mourned them, but did not let the mood of happiness go away. They were all remembering the lost. They all did. She felt their buried sorrow, their losses, but there was nothing she nor anyone could do.

Mirya had felt her way around the Dance, spoke to the Lady. She and Terrill would fade, of course, but, as Natil had said to her long ago, to leave is to return. Just because they would fade didn't mean they wouldn't have another chance at rebirth and life again, when the Elves returned to the world when they were needed most.

They were needed here, but they weren't wanted. In the future, the Elves would be needed and wanted, their help. It might take some time for humans to realize it, but Elven healing would always be needed, asked for, and given, not necessarily in that order.

Speaking of help and healing, she looked again at Charity and Roxanne. Both had had the choice, to become Elven, one with the starlight, immortal, but both had chosen mortality, humanity. The Gift of Humankind they called it. To go on, to not fade, but truly move on to something else, perhaps something greater. To, perhaps, become one with the Lady, to enter into the patterns,the Strands of Starlight, as something greater even than Immortal Elves, the Firstborn.

Charity was a woman now, a great woman, a great healer and midwife to the people of Saint Brigid. She remembered her old life as well, where she had worked leather once. It never bothered her and she never brought it up unless it was as a joke. Roxanne remained mortal because of Lake. As someone who was both immortal and mortal, he would need someone to explain to him the joys of being human.

Charity was sipping her tea and watching the Elves, moonlight sparkling in her eyes.

"After his Visitor, Kay has changed much, but I still enjoy going to the church. Have any of the Elves considered coming to Kay's sermons? You would be surprised by how much they've changed and how much he mentions the 'Blessed Lady'."

Charity smiled mischievously, "Everyone believes he is heaping his worship upon the Virgin. We all know who the Lady really is, of course. It truly is a wonderful experience, even though Elves worship differently."

Mirya smiled. "Even though my place is here, I would still accompany you, whenever you wish. I have to visit Janet soon, but after, I would do anything to make the townsfolk more comfortable with our people. Still, they cross themselves when they see us. At least some of them."

Mirya sipped her tea and remembered when Francis first saw her after her rebirth. It had been shocking and saddening. Now, of course, all made sense in both her Elven eyes and her old human eyes. He had seen a miracle of the Lady, and such a miracle was beyond human understanding. Mirya closed her eyes, cupped her hands tightly around the tea, peppermint, and leaned against Terrill's warm shoulder. He put an arm around her and kissed her lightly on the top of her red-gold head.

Varden smiled softly at his brother and Terrill's reborn lover, their much-loved and much-missed Mirya. Such anger had been brought about because of Mirya, but in the end, such love and the return of his almost-sister was enough to justify it. Mirya shifted slightly, eyes closed, likely basking in the starlight and the patterns, since Elves did not sleep.

Still, she and Terrill made each other so comfortable, Varden would not put sleep past them. The Elf was filled with joy at his brother's happiness and the return of Mirya that he could almost, almost, forget the anger that had led him to take so many lives that day, when Mirya's first death had been upon them.

When she had been raped and tortured, and then dismembered and brutalized in every way. Mirya. For her to go through so much and still come out content...she was such a strong woman and he realized there was indeed a reason the Lady had given her rebirth out of all the Elves they had lost. Mirya brought healing, of the body and the mind, and she brought experience of those in terrible pain.

Varden pulled Sana and Lake into his embrace, nuzzling his young son. Lake still didn't understand what was going on, or really, even what he was, but he would have many great teachers. All of his family here, his beloved Elves that dwelt within the starlight, would be more than happy to help Varden's son find his way.

The thoughts of Mirya drifted...back, long ago...Mirya, and her kin, were created, with the rest of her race, at the earth's creation, by the Firstborn Elven Goddess, Elthia Calasiuove. By her hand was she called up out of nothingness, and set upon the earth to care for humankind, to help and heal, aid and comfort them, forever.

Her four and a half billion year history would have been too much for humans, but Mirya had had Elthia to get her through the long years, the loving embrace of the Creatrix, and her beloved Terrill with whom she had loved and grown together.

Together, they had watched and aided humans as they climbed from the trees, learning to be, to think...then the men from Auverelle had attacked when she and Terrill were merely enjoying an evening alone, unarmed, and they had brutalized her and killed her. And then she had been reborn, as a human woman named Miriam.

Not even being human could quash the power of her healing. Her life as Miriam had been bitter and hateful. When at last she had been transformed by Varden, the Lady had given her a second chance at life, a second chance to be Mirya again, to be with Terrill, to aid and comfort as needed, and now, here, together, the last Elves lived. Once, her people were all over, now all that remained sat here in this small circle near peaceful caves. It was happy, but also sad. So much loss of Elven life, pointless. Healing, comfort, aid.

How could they help humanity through the troubled times that were coming if they were not around? If only...if only...so many probabilities, so many strands amongst the starlight. In certain futures, the Elves did not fade, but grew as immortal Elven blood awoke in those thought to be human, just as dear Janet and Anne. In one future, Janet and Anne joined them here, in this small clearing, and spoke of aid and comfort. That future, that strand, was getting smaller as the years went by, however.

The Elves were coming to an end for now, but the Lady had assured her that it was not the end, no matter how much it looked it. She trusted the Lady Who was Everything, and so she did not sorrow. The Elves would fade, then the Elves would return. And...the Lady would lose contact with her children. Who would help humans while they were gone? Who would give them aid and comfort? Soft tears trailed down Mirya's cheeks, glittering with fire and starlight.

Terrill shook her lightly. "Beloved? You cry. Tears of joy, and also tears of sorrow. You need Her tonight, my love. Go to Her. You know above all Elves you are welcome. She loves you. You are Her, as are we."

Mirya nuzzled Terrill. "Yes. Comfort. I need Her, Terrill. Before She is gone. Before I cannot see Her anymore..." The Elfmaid trailed off at Terrill's confused look.

"Terrill...I see futures, just as you do. I followed a certain strand, and we lose Her, beloved. We lost contact with Her in this strand. I...if I lost Her, how would I get through? How would any of us? If it weren't for Her, I would have given in to the despair I felt as Miriam. She helped me before and after my rebirth. I'm afraid of losing Her." Tears streaked her lovely face.

The other Elves, knowing when the two needed privacy, had retreated to the caves. Or, perhaps, to bask in Elthia's presence themselves, for as long as they could see Her and speak to Her.

Terrill hugged Mirya close. "Let us both go to Her then. In the end, we will be with Her for eternity."

Mirya wiped her eyes. "I do not know, beloved. I am fearing myself lost. When we go to Her, we do not see our lost brothers. Our lost sisters. I lost a sister myself, to the Fading, you know that Terrill. I do not see her when I am in the arms of the Lady. Her name was Aurellia. I miss her. I miss them all."

Mirya still did as she was told. She closed her eyes, basking in the comfort of the permanent stars that graced her vision. One called to her, glowing with a darker shimmer than the others. Mirya lept into the incandescence, felt one small moment of nearly unbearable heat and coolness and found herself standing on the familiar grassy plain, looking at the eternal starlit sky, and...

...the Woman robed in blue and silver Who waited patiently, as if Mirya were the only thing she were concerned about. Love and peace, and safety enveloped her. Safe. She was so safe here. No worries took her. No tears. Just immanent love and compassion.

Mirya went to the Woman and went to one knee. Elthia's grey eyes gazed at Mirya with unending love and compassion.

"Do not sorrow, My child, My precious, precious child. You have seen the strands. You have seen My children lose Me. They find Me again. They only lose Me because they no longer seek Me out. They no longer believe in Me. I cannot hold them and speak to them if they do not wish Me to. I do not force Myself on anyone, love."

Mirya felt the Lady's arms encircle her. It was a circle of love, compassion. She never, ever wanted to leave. "My Lady...why? Why must we fade? Varden asked that same question long ago, but why? There are possibilities where we do not fade. Where others become like us. Is...is there any way You can help those strands become stronger? They are so weak...I cannot bear the thought of losing You."

Tears soaked the Lady's blue-silver robes, but She simply held Her child closer, arms tightening about Mirya. "You will never lose Me, Mirya. I have always been with you and will always be. I cannot change things. If you and the rest of My children wish, you can pour all the energy you have within the strands of starlight that might keep the Elves from fading, but understand this, Mirya, beloved."

The Lady gently stroked Mirya's cheek, wiping away her tears, filling her with tranquility.

"Whatever you do, you do with knowledge. Humans and Elves are one. Humans and Elves will be one again. Neither one of you will be separate from Me, this I promise you. Mirya...you have been through much pain and torment in both of your lives...you need to rest. This fading...it isn't permanent for the Elves, unless they so wish it. You could rest here, with Me, for eternity. You could be with your lost sister and friends again. They are well. They are at peace with me."

"Within the eternal lands of summer and starlight. When the time for fading comes, you too will see, feel, the eternal lands of My Kingdom. Until then, trust in My pattern, in the way the future to come is shaped. If the strands do end up leading to the Elves not fading and once more becoming a part of human history, then that is the way they were meant to be. If they do not, then that too is the way they were meant to be. Be at peace, dearest child."

Elthia Calasiuove, the Lady, the Creatrix of the universe and beyond, kissed Mirya's forehead and clasped her hands, helping her to her feet. "Go, child. There is one who waits for you. If you do not return, he will sorrow. He has had as much sorrow in his life as you have had torments and pain. Go to him, child, and what will be, will be. My Hand be on you, flower of the stars."

With that, the stars cleared and Mirya saw herself in the circle again. The fire had died down a bit, the others likely gone to the caves to talk and to rest. Terrill waited for her of course. He prodded the fire with his silvery sword and looked up as he caught Mirya's eyes. Starlight met starlight.

Terrill hesitated. "Are you...?" He trailed off.

She smiled. "Yes. I am more than okay. What happens, happens. The Lady...I understand everything, Terrilli, beloved. We will never be apart. Even should we fade, we will be reborn again, as I was. I will find you and remember you and your love. Always, Terrilli."

The male elf stood and pulled Mirya close. "Our cave is empty. The ground is soft." His voice left open the possibilities, but Mirya knew that only one was certain.

"Yes. It is. My love. Always. My strands of memories will never lose you, but I could always use much more to remember you by. Ilme mari yae." She kissed him, let her love flow through the starlight, mingle with his own starlight. More intimacy than any human could ever hope to experience.

The Elfmaid let Terrill lead her to the empty cave and the soft bedroll awaiting them their, for their love.