Hello lovely people!

I do apologise for the delay. This chapter has been ready to roll for a while but I've just not had a moment to myself to post! After working a 6 day week, one day off, two days in, one day off (today), then another 5 days in, starting tomorrow. Lovely!

Anyway, the next chapter after this just needs a quick review and that's ready to go, so a smaller gap in posting this time. As always, not mine, and enjoy!

MM-x

Elves shouldn't get ill I thought ruefully as I wiped my mouth, lying back on my bed and pressing a cool cloth to my head. I was sweating hot and cold; shivers and heat and pain were all I could think about. My muscles ached, I was on sensory overload, and my skin hurt from the lightest touch. I felt my stomach cramp up again and I vomited violently into the bowl placed by my bed. Apparently the shifting between bodies, times or whatever had happened had taken a rather large toll on me, and I was now so unbelievably ill.

I hadn't accepted any of what I'd been told. Well, I'd recognised that I happened to have some Elven features and I was most definitely in Middle Earth; but I was not, in any way shape or form, accepting that I was an Elf and that I was plopped into this war zone by the Valar. No way. I rationalised it by repeatedly assuring myself that if I was an elf, wouldn't I be able to at least speak ONE of the languages of Middle Earth for the purpose of ease to settle in? If this were at all real, should it not be perfect and happy and easy for me to settle in and accept it all? Why would the Valar have been so unfair as to leave me here on my own without anyone I knew?

But you do know people here, in a sense that irritating internal voice of mine commented lightly. Go on, name people, describe their personality. Go on, I dare you

"Shut up." I grumbled out loud. I had no reasonable answer to explain how I was acting other than shock, sadness and an obscene amount of fear. No-one seemed to understand why I was so scared. I shouldn't have been scared of being alone, going to somewhere I've never been on my own; after all, I did just that going to university.

True, but there I could still contact the people I knew and loved. Here in the past, this other place, I was so completely and utterly alone. No-one to talk to except Elrond, no-one who could reassure me that it would all be okay, and who I could believe.

I let my stomach settle again and moved the bowl out of my sight, though I could still catch an acrid whiff if I turned in that direction. I shakily got to my feet and, ensuring my "nightclothes" (it was more like a full-blown dress, in my opinion) weren't covered in anything less pleasant, and walked to the balcony to get some fresh air. It was quite cool and it was refreshing to be out of my room after spending a fair amount of time there. I sat on the floor of the balcony and looked out through the twisted metal bars. The view was breathtaking and it dawned on me that I was in Rivendell, said to be one of the most beautiful places in all of Middle Earth... and for the last few days I'd been complaining about it.

I watched elves come and go in the early afternoon sunlight, the golden rays reflecting off the stream that gurgled through the valley and the trees standing proud and tall around the courtyard below. If I had my dates right, Frodo would be here soon, within the next few days, and I was at a loss as to what to do. I could go and talk to the hobbits, to Legolas, to Boromir and Aragorn, and risk their lives but begin to enjoy my time here whilst it lasted. Or I could not, make sure they lived, and wait for an opportunity to get myself away to somewhere I could do no damage until all of the important parts of their history had passed. I didn't know which way to go.I was still torn internally in this place between believing and denying, hoping and hating myself for hoping. I hoped I could get home, I hoped my mum and sisters were still alive.

I was also starting to hope that I could find more our about my dad. He'd always been kind of aloof and a stranger at times, but I was like that too. Me and dad weren't so different, were we? I mused, closing my eyes. Stubborn, deep-thinking, reliable, a little aloof, and a temper to match. What a combination.

I heard someone gently close the bedroom door and watched as Elrond approached the balcony. "Do you seek peace? Or do you simply desire the clear air?" he asked as used the bars to I stand and face him. Every few hours I seemed to gain a little height, and I now came to just under his chin, where before I had barely reached his armpit. I think this growth was the main cause of the severe muscle pain that was coming and going in waves, although I hadn't told anyone about the pain, just the sickness and fever I couldn't hide.

"A mixture of both, Lord Elrond. I was admiring the view, thinking about a lot of things, and trying to clear my head. Looking at the same four walls is starting to make me feel claustrophobic; I never really stay in one place for very long. I can't sit still for more that a couple of hours at a time. Unless I'm reading a really good book, that is." I added as an afterthought.

"Well then, when you are feeling yourself again how would you feel about a short tour of Rivendell with one, or both, of my sons?" I perked up that – I had quite fancied a look around.

"Yeah, I'd like that. I just need something more appropriate to wear than what I came in. I'd rather not draw more attention to myself than absolutely necessary." He nodded, and turned to leave.

"Make sure you eat something, you will do more damage being ill on an empty stomach than on a full one. Shall I send someone with a small tray or will you come to dinner?" He asked over his shoulder at the door.

"I'll stay in my room if that's okay, Sir, I don't really fancy the strange looks until my stomach can handle them." I replied with a laugh. "Although I wouldn't mind some company, so I might make an appearance later if I feel up to it. I have something I need to do, anyway."

"What is that?" Elrond asked cautiously. "If you think that I will permit you... " He was drawing himself up to full stature, chin held high.

"Oh, no, nothing like that, don't start worrying. I just want to burn the book." I walked back into my bedroom, picking Lord of the Rings up off the bed. "It's too dangerous to keep about. Can you imagine what would happen if it landed in the hands of Sauron, or one of his minions?"

Elrond seemed to consider what I had to say. "Then it shall be done. Though perhaps I disagree with such a course of action, it is your choice. There are those who wish to speak with you, not least of all my sons. Gandalf, as you may have heard him named, feels he must meet the mysterious stranger who appeared in our realm most unusually." The twinkle in his eyes told me he was joking with me, and I offered a small grin in return. "Now, I have business to attend to, then dinner to prepare for. I shall send Elladan or Elrohir up with your meal later in the afternoon. It may be your last opportunity to see them for a length of time, very soon they must away on an errand at my request."

After Elrond left, I returned to the balcony with my bag, spreading the contents out on the floor. I picked up my camera and switched it on, clicking through the photos saved on the memory card. I began crying quietly as I remembered the last moments with my family, my heart wrenching in complete sadness. I was going to miss them so much; and I knew I wouldn't be the same for a long time without them. I switched it off, unwilling to see anymore of the happy images and turned to my other belongings. I picked up Big Ted and hugged him to my chest, I could still smell my mother's perfume which I sprayed on him once week when I was at home. Packing the rest of my things away, including the summer pyjamas, I found a little contentment as I rested my head against the wall and fell asleep.

I was awoken quite unusually – I was being carried to my bed by someone rather tall, and I was very aware I was quite heavy.

"Ungh" I moaned, squirming and looking up into a twin's face.

"You awaken." He said and placed me on the bed. "Feel well?" I nodded, shifting back onto the pillows. I patted the bed next to me and said twin shuffled back to sit next to me, his rather long legs reaching well beyond mine. "Short." He commented with a wicked grin.

I only knew one response to this – a swift poke in the ribs. "Which one?" I asked, and his eyebrow rose.

"Guess." He said, and I rolled my eyes.

"Elrohir." I took a stab in the dark, thinking that it was a 50-50 chance in the end. He clapped and I was surprised to find I had it right. "Go me."

"Go you?" he questioned, and I tried to think of a simple way of putting it.

"Well done me." Elrohir nodded, and then we sat in silence for some time. "You are well?" I asked after a while.

He frowned. "Half." I smiled at his way of expressing his feelings.

"My language, 'kind of'." I told him, and he repeated it, playing with the words and saying it a few times. "Good." I said.

"Teach more." And so began the first English lesson between myself and Elrohir; the food he had brought lay on the bedside cabinet, completely forgotten.

xxxXxxx

"You should come out with brother and me – see Rivendell." He said after a few hours of language practice. The main difficulty had not been words but rather grammar and pronunciation, and we settled on compromises between both languages to create an understandable form for the both of us. It was nice to be able to talk with someone who didn't seem so adult, like Elrond obviously was. It seemed like I was talking to someone on my own level, and that was refreshing. It wasn't nearly so patronising and it was far easier to converse with him than I thought it would have been, it just seemed natural and there was no stilted moments. Any silences were not at all awkward and that made me feel a lot better about my situation.

"Do you want to view my family?" I asked him suddenly. He looked at me kindly and I collected my camera from the balcony. I turned it on as I sat back on the bed. "Ignore item, look." I pointed at the screen, letting him look closer at it. It was a picture of the twins, grinning cheekily as they stood in front of a window. Luckily there were no aeroplanes visible – I couldn't be bothered trying to explain how they worked.

"Victoria, Jade." I pointed each out.

"Twins also." He commented. "You know similarities." I nodded, guessing he meant I knew better than most what it was like.

"My sisters. Young, 16 in human years." I said. I clicked onto the next image. It was me and my mother taken by one of the twins. "Mother. Much I miss her." I said with a sad smile.

"Very similar, you and she." He commented and I took the camera off him.

"In appearance. Not always so in personality." I got an idea as I looked at the camera. Tucking my hair behind my ears (overly sensitive to the point of painful and rather red, I'd noticed) I threw my arm around a surprised Elrohir. "Smile!" I announced and took a photograph. I grinned as I looked at the image. Elrohir's eyes were wide and he looked like he was about to suffer a heart attack, whilst I looked decidedly like I was about to do something either inappropriate or evil to the poor elf. If only I had a printer, it would be all around Rivendell before Elrohir knew what was going on.

"Let me view." He demanded in the best impression of Elrond he could muster, and I turned my nose up, flicked the camera off and moved to put it in the lockable drawer in the cabinet.

"No." I said sweetly, twisting the key that had previously hung on the mirror frame in the lock. Elrohir sulked for a moment before brightening. "You are much better, please come out tonight. Much time yet before the evening...meet?"

I snorted. "You sound like friends at my home. Always saying for me to go out." I looked around. It was later in the afternoon, but after all the sleeping I had done I wasn't tired. Just achy and sore. "Have you something to kill pain?"

Elrohir got off the bed and stood to face me, his expression moulded into one of concern. "You hurt? Why did you not announce this sooner? I shall return in but a moment." He frowned at me and then left the room. I groaned and changed into some of the clothes the maid had brought me the day before, and I twirled about in the pretty dress. It was a pale green, simple gown that looked very similar to the one I had worn on my first day here, but it was much finer, more intricate and very light to wear. However, there was still the matter of shoes. I didn't fancy wearing the same pretty but non-matching shoes again, as they were starting to pinch at my toes. I couldn't complain, at least I had clothes and shoes to worry about.

I began humming as I waited for Elrohir to come back with a pain reliever. I was bored, there was nothing for it... and I was music deprived. I didn't want to use my MP3 player for fear of the batteries running out, so I decided that singing was the only thing.

I made my way through a few songs, mostly choir songs that I'd learnt at university, including the mighty Carmina Burana movement "O Fortuna." I loved the Latin and it was ironic that, just as the writer of the poem, I was in the hands of fate and was waiting for the wheel to tell me where I was going next. I pointedly ignored that the song was mostly about gambling.

I stopped my random singing as Elrohir opened the door after a brief knock. "For your pain." He said, signalling for me to drink it. "You sang well. A strange tongue."

"A dead language. Unused." I explained at his confused expression at the term "dead language". I examined the little glass vial, checking it wasn't going to taste foul. It had no scent so I couldn't determine if it would make me feel worse. However, the goblet Elrohir still held, and his amused expression gave me the gist that it wouldn't be pleasant. "Bottoms up." I said ruefully and poured the liquid down.

It tasted funny, but not overly disgusting. Like liquorice and cloves and other stuff I couldn't name.

The pain relief was almost instant. It felt like someone had cracked an egg over my head, and streams dripped invisibly through my muscles, easing the pain and tension that had built up there. The only part of my body I still felt any severe sensitivity was on my ears, but that I could handle. I would simply tuck my hair behind my ears so it wouldn't rub.

Elrohir handed me the goblet and I drank its contents. It gave me a pleasant shiver, and I felt my muscles rejuvenate and the weariness I had felt leave me. The sickness had all but gone, a slight queasiness still resting in the very pit of my stomach. I jumped around in circles to test the level of the nausea, because if my stomach could handle being thrown about it could handle food, drink and activity.

"Ah, all is right in the body of Benny." I grinned, but Elrohir didn't seem to get the use of 3rd person "It matters not." I waved a hand dismissively. "Where?"

"The gardens? It is not yet dark." Elrohir offered me his arm and I took it, bouncing energetically.

"Gardens are a good start." I said, and we left my room, after spending far too much time there for my tastes.

I hope you enjoyed. Thank you to all the lovely people who are adding me to favourites, and reviewing. It really makes my day!