A/N Thank you to the following people for reviewing: AndurilofTolkein, EluredandElurin, Jesus' girl 4ever, MistressOfImladris, Lydwina Marie, Charming Ever After, quarterhorseranch, Woman of Letters, Raider-K, Anthi35 and the Guest Reviewer. You guys are awesome. Also, a huge thank you to all who have followed and favorited and even just browsed a bit.

And a HUGE shout out goes to Raider-K for beta reading this and helping me tidy this up and to MistressOfImladris for letting me use the name Faeron!


Rule #35: Always Have Patience with your Patients.

Calaerneth paced nervously back and forth. Today was her first genuine appointment as a healer, and she would not have Lord Elrond by her side to help if she needed it. Biting a nail, she wondered how this even happened...

...Last night she was still fuming over her infuriating encounter with Golden Delicious. Throwing the covers back on her bed, she brushed her hair, preparing to get into bed when a knock sounded on her door. "It had better be him coming to apologize for being such a jerk," she muttered as she stormed to the door.

Instead of Golden Delicious, however, she was met by Lord Elrond who had a quizzical look on his face. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

Cal flushed and tightened the belt on her robe. "Lord Elrond, what a surprise. I was not expecting to see you here. Come in, please." Opening the door, she stood to the side to allow the dark-haired lord to enter.

"Thank you," Elrond said, entering. His dark eyes took in her robe and the pulled back coverlet on her bed. "I do hope I am not interrupting. I know it is quite late."

Calaerneth smiled and offered him a seat. "No, my lord. You are more than welcome. Is something wrong? You look like you have something on your mind," she said.

"I have a special request to ask of you," Elrond said, steepling his fingers together thoughtfully.

"A special request?" Cal repeated incredulously. In what capacity, could the Lord of Rivendell possibly require her assistance?

Elrond nodded and smiled softly. "Yes, after watching your exceptional display with Morfindir today, I began to think that perhaps you could be of service to a particular friend of mine." Elrond leaned forward, his elbows on his knees as he thought how best to describe the situation. "He suffers from traumatizing dreams which are beginning to affect him on an emotional level, yet he is very stubborn and will not admit that he needs help. Since you were able to help Morfindir, I hoped you might try to help him."

Calaerneth swallowed thickly. "I see, and who might your friend be?"

"His name is Lord Glorfindel. He is the Captain of my Guard and a dear friend. If there is any way you could help him through this, I would be grateful."

All Cal could manage was to echo "Lord Glorfindel?" As in the Glorfindel? The balrog slaying hero of Gondolin Glorfindel?

She tried to pull herself together. "Is he the same…?" She gestured loosely, for the words would not come out.

Lord Elrond nodded, just once. "Yes."

She stared after Lord Elrond and then realized her mouth was open. She shut it.

Cal stopped and thought for a moment. She was not sure how she could help him, especially someone like Lord Glorfindel. He was...well, beyond imagining, frankly. Helping someone in the middle of a waking terror was one thing, but counseling someone, especially if they felt they did not need help was another matter altogether. However, seeing the hopeful look on Lord Elrond's face, at least she had to try. "I am not sure how much help I will be, but I will give it my best attempt my lord," she said with a small smile.

Elrond grinned, pleased to hear this. "Thank you, Lady, Calaerneth. If there is anything I can do to help you just let me know. I will let you retire for the night, and tomorrow morning I will show you to the room that will be your personal work space. Expect Lord Glorfindel tomorrow evening after the last meal." Standing to his feet, Lord Elrond bowed and left Cal pondering just how she was going to pull this off….

...It had only been less than a day's time since her conversation with Elrond concerning Lord Glorfindel, and now she would be meeting the legendary elf for herself in a matter of minutes.

As she continued pacing, Cal decided to make one last check to be sure that she had everything ready for when Lord Glorfindel arrived. She still could not believe that her first patient was him.

Knowing how important it was that he be as comfortable as possible, she requested a low couch for him to use during their sessions together. She fluffed the soft feather pillows, rearranging them a few more times. Finally, after about the third time, she decided that they were perfect.

Moving on, she straightened the pictures on the light blue walls. The artwork depicted peaceful rivers, mountains, and trees. She told Lord Elrond that generally patients who suffered from terrifying experiences felt more at ease in rooms adorned with tranquil objects and colors. Satisfied with the arrangements, she picked up the book that Lord Elrond had given her and started going through some of the finer points, including her own questions that she had written out beforehand. Cal wanted to make sure she started out slow, not jumping to more serious questions or issues before he was ready. She certainly did not to make him any more uncomfortable than he probably already was.

Calaerneth was in the middle of going through the handbook when she heard the tread of light footsteps. Turning around, she nearly dropped her book when she realized who it was… Golden Delicious.

And he did not look happy at all.

"You!" she exclaimed, snapping her book shut. "You know, you have a bad habit of barging into the wrong places. I'm waiting for a patient right now. A Lord Glorfindel? Now, if you will kindly excuse me."

Golden Delicious's eyes narrowed, his body tensing up when he heard her mention his name. "I am Lord Glorfindel."

Calaerneth felt all the color drain from her face. Surely, he jested. Golden Delicious could not be her first patient. She glanced down at the book in her hands and then back at Lord Glorfindel. Lord Glorfindel, Elrond's close friend. He was counting on her to help him. Pulling herself together, she gestured for Golden Delicious...err, Lord Glorfindel to take a seat on the sofa.

Smirking, Glorfindel reclined on the sofa, crossing his feet. Sighing heavily, he took a strand of his hair and started playing with the ends. -*

Cal watched him carefully, noticing how nervous he actually was, though he would not have anyone know. Despite his horrid attitude, she surprisingly felt sympathy for him. Here was this warrior elf, the stuff of legends—a slayer of a mighty balrog—and he was nervous.

Taking out her notebook, Cal prepared herself for her first session. She drew a deep breath and started with her introduction, just as she planned. "My name is Calaerneth. This evening we will begin with some basic questions for our first session. So, first question: what is your name?"

Glorfindel rolled his eyes. "You know my name, or else I would be anywhere but here."

Calaerneth slashed a heavy line through that question in her notebook. "Next item," Cal said, gritting her teeth. "Tell me about yourself."

Glorfindel sat up. Turning around, he stared coolly at her and cleared his throat. "My name is Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower. You may have heard of me before? I am fairly well known… but I suppose not everyone may be as familiar with their history of famous elves and epic battles…"

Fighting the urge to throw her book at him, Cal methodically proceeded to the next question, all the while avoiding eye contact with her patient. Horrid elf. "So, tell me, Lord Glorfindel of the House of the Golden Flower, what do you like to do in your free time?"

Glancing nonchalantly at Cal, he shrugged. "Kill things. Sharpen my sword..."

Looking up at him as he spoke, she locked her eyes on his. Seconds ticked by, his dark blue eyes trained on her green ones; and her breath caught in her throat under the intensity of his gaze, like he could feel her heart speed up, like he knew what she was thinking, like he knew...her.

Cal inwardly scoffed. How dare he try to make her feel uncomfortable? Pushing her nerves aside, she continued.

"Interesting," she said flatly, writing his response in her notebook word for word. "So, Lord Elrond tells me you have been having trouble sleeping at night? Can you tell me what has been bothering you?"

Glorfindel's eyes flashed, and before Cal knew what was happening, he towered over her, his face only inches from hers. "That is none of your business!" he hissed. "What I dream is my own concern, not that of some child who has only been here for a couple of days!" Standing to his full height, he stormed to the door.

Slightly shaken, Cal took several deep breaths to slow her pounding heart. "I am sorry. I meant no offense. Lord Elrond was worried and asked me if I would help."

Glorfindel tensed when he heard Elrond's name. "I appreciate your concern, if you can call it that, but I do not need nor want your help. The only reason I came tonight was because Elrond told me to come. I came. We are done here." Before, Cal could reply, Glorfindel stormed out, slamming the door.

"Well, Cal, nice job! First appointment and you totally ruin it," she whispered to herself, throwing her book on the couch. To be honest though, she was also frustrated at Glorfindel. Here she was trying to help him, and he acted like an egotistical creep. Why could he not just admit he might need help?

Sitting down on the couch, she cradled her head in her hands. How was she going to tell Elrond that she had failed on her first try? Thinking back to Glorfindel's answers, she slowly came to a decision. She was not going to give up. She had never met a challenge from which she backed away, and she was not about to let Glorfindel be the first.

Standing to her feet, Cal headed for the door. She would head to her room and figure out how she could possibly earn his trust, even if only by a little. She was only a few feet out the door when she spotted him.

Not wishing for him to think she followed him, Calaerneth stood to the side and watched.

Lord Glorfindel was not alone. There, in front of him with a tear stained face, was Elrond's youngest son, Estel. As she watched the golden-haired warrior interact with the child, she could hardly believe this was the same elf who had just behaved so abominably to her.

"Estel, small one. What are you doing out of bed at this hour?" she heard him ask, his voice low and melodic.

"I can't go to sleep because I am scared of the orcs under my bed. I heard them! They are scary Glorfy," he said, sniffling.

Calaerneth's heart melted a little at the pair of them as she realized Glorfindel did have a vulnerable side. She continued listening to the exchange, a smile slowly playing across her face.

"It is alright, little one. Sometimes I too have bad dreams," he told Estel softly.

Estel's small mouth dropped open. "Really? What do you do when you have bad dreams?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

Glorfindel thought for a moment before answering. "I don't know…" he admitted, sounding lost.

Estel piped up, his own troubles forgotten. "Silly, you go get someone to help you not be scared!"

Looking down at Estel, Glorfindel ruffled his unkempt hair. "Is that right?"

"I found you, didn't I? You wouldn't let any old orcs carry me off!" Estel said, his eyes shining with admiration towards his balrog slaying friend.

Smiling slightly, Glorfindel picked up Estel and carried him back to bed singing a low song under his breath.

Cal listened to them go, her heart full of wonder at what she had witnessed. Surely, there had to be some way to reach him...to help him. He had behaved horribly—there was no denying that point—but still, he was under her care. She would find a way, of that she was certain!

She picked up her notebook and glanced at the most recent page.

Free time: Kill things. Sharpen his sword, she had written and sketched a caricature of an exaggerated Glorfindel impaling her therapy couch.

She closed the book with a sigh and shook her head. It was difficult to reconcile that this ill-mannered, bad-tempered grouch of an elf was the Glorfindel of legends.

He certainly looked the part. She could easily imagine him in shining armor racing toward the enemy on a white charger, sword drawn high in the morning sun...but then he opened his mouth and ruined everything.

Maybe he was a famous warrior, Calaerneth concluded. Perhaps he was fearless and bold and used to winning every fight and every battle, but...he had never gone up against her. Calaerneth tucked her book under her arm and tossed her hair as she started down the path.

Lord Glorfindel had met his match.