a/n: huge thanks to everyone that's followed and favorited the story: Dante Ophydain, SleepiPanda, pure1ruby, firefoxxe, ouihas, Treklocked Asgardian, ambs-vs, Ec1aire, sketchyybitch, Bestbuds55, Misztique, aeriestar, Trunksymia, Dreamergirl1556, and .clouds.0607. Thanks heaps.

Holly couldn't stop thinking about the incident that morning. It had been hours since it had happened, but it was still clear in her mind.

She'd felt a shock when she kissed his cheek. Like there had been some weird connection. Or maybe it was just static electricity. Her lips had tingled for a few minutes afterwards and she couldn't stop touching them and smiling.

She imagined him maybe turning his head and their lips meeting. Maybe a real kiss. How his full lips would feel on hers. Would he be devastating? She shivered thinking about it. She knew he would be. Most devastating.

After a while she sighed and shook off those thoughts. She didn't want to think about it, about him. It would only bring her disappointment in the end. Things like that always did. Always would.

She looked down at herself and sighed. She knew she should have skipped lunch, but she'd been hungry. And she'd fainted at the rock. She didn't feel right. Not about what had happened or what Fili had said...

She didn't want to think about what he'd said, about repeating the same day. It was too... bizarre.

"I want to visit grandma," she said suddenly. Grandma always made things better.

Mary frowned at the broken silence. "Umm, okay," Mary said.

"Tomorrow," Holly said.

"How about the day after?" Mary said. "Saturday. And we can bring lunch."

"Will they let us?" she asked. She'd expected to meet with some resistance.

"Oh, I'm sure they will," Mary said. "I've seen other families..."

Holly nodded. "Well, I'm going to turn in," she said and stood.

"Goodnight," Mary said and went back to her book.

She hadn't thought to bring any reading material. Which was a shame because farm life was boring at night. Nothing on tv, nothing to do. She hadn't brought her computer and there was no wifi for her tablet. No bars for her phone. It was like hell with grass.

She clomped up the stairs in defiance of the place. Funny how it was such a paradise when she was a child. But now it seemed stifling with too many memories that she wanted to forget.

Happy memories only made her sad. They made her long for those days again. Back when she had everyone in her life. And now the last one was dying, too.

With nothing else to do, she sat on the bed and took out the old leather pack of her father's. She dumped it all on the bed before her.

She contemplated the items. And what they could all mean. She came up with no answers besides one. Her father was a freak that liked house robes. And blue.

She picked up the stone and lay on the bed. She held it up and looked at it. Everything was blue in the room, moving oddly as she looked through it and turned it about every which way like a kaleidoscope. She sighed and let her arm fall back onto the bed, getting no answers.

As she lay there she moved everything back into the pack. Piece by piece, sticking her hand in and placing each item in the bottom. Tiredly. Her hand withdrew from the pack and she came out with a worn letter. It was yellow and creased and torn with age.

Sitting up, she opened the letter carefully. Her hands shook with anticipation at reading something, anything, from her father. A grocery list even.

But no. It was in a foreign script. Oddly shaped letters on the page.

"Damnit," she said and folded the letter up once again and placed it on the night stand by the bed. She resolved that she'd take it with her when she visited her grandmother on Saturday.

On Friday, even though she had promised to visit Fili, she had been too tired from the day before. She barely made it out of bed and found the strength to help her aunt. She'd felt guilty and distracted the entire day. But still couldn't find the energy to climb the rock at all, not even after dinner. So she went to bed early.

"Fili," Gandalf said and motioned for him to come talk. Fili nodded and headed toward the old wizard. Gandalf walked off and Fili followed, he cast a glance over his shoulder.

"Yes, Gandalf?" Fili asked once they were away from the others.

Gandalf sighed and looked down at Fili who in turn looked up at him, expectantly.

"This is the first chance we've had to speak," Gandalf said and sat on a fallen log, he motioned for Fili to join him.

"Yes," Fili answered and sat. He wondered what this was going to be about.

"Tell me what happened," Gandalf said and looked down at him. It was like his gaze was boring into his soul.

"What happened when?" Fili asked, perhaps the old wizard meant something else. In any case, he wanted Gandalf to come out and say what he wanted to know.

"You know what I am talking about young Fili," Gandalf said. "The woman on the rock."

Fili sighed and nodded. He didn't want to lie to the old wizard, but he didn't want to tell him everything, either. Some things a man had to keep to himself. Like the way his body feels when he sees his Amrâl. How he wanted to make her his own on that rock. How...

He cleared his throat. "We... talked," Fili said and blushed.

"Did you?" Gandalf asked and smiled. "Who is she? Why is she here. Tell me everything."

"Ah... she is Holly," he said and shrugged. "I... told her about us."

"What did you tell her?" Gandalf questioned.

"That we're repeating this day," Fili frowned.

"And what did she say?" Gandalf asked.

"Before or after she fainted?" Fili said and smirked.

"She what!?" Gandalf said and chuckled. "Good heavens, my boy. Is she all right?"

"Yes, she is well," he said and nodded. "But she... she said she'd come back today."

Gandalf nodded. "Yes... she would have to," he said.

"What do you mean?" the blond dwarf asked with a frown.

"I mean only that if she doesn't come back, we..." the wizard paused and frowned himself. "Good heavens, I don't know! Let's just hope she comes back."

"Yes," Fili said.

"Will you talk to her again today?" he asked.

"I will," Fili replied.

"Good, good," was the answer. But he said no more for a time. Fili knew Gandalf was looking forward and back as he was wont to do when things got difficult.

"Fili... you must convince her we need her help," Gandalf said.

"What kind of help?"

"I am convinced that she can be of assistance to us," Gandalf said.

"How?" Fili frowned.

"Slowly we are all becoming aware that we are repeating this day," Gandalf said in all seriousness. "I am convinced that Thorin and Balin now know of our situation. And if we don't stop this... cycle... we... all of Middle Earth will be doomed to redo this day. And there is no telling how many people throughout know of what is happening."

"Hmmm," Fili said and nodded. "That doesn't make any sense. But very little of what you say does."

Gandalf only chuckled. "You must do this, convince her to come with us," he said. "And we will go to Elrond in Rivendell."

"The elves," Fili said a slight tone of dislike in his voice.

"Even so," Gandalf said.

"I will do what I can," Fili replied.

On Saturday they decided not to work. But she still didn't visit Fili. She would go after her visit with her grandmother. But maybe Fili and his friends would have passed by her rock by then. But it wasn't something she could worry about. But she had to admit she wanted to see him again. She smiled thinking about it.

Mary had called ahead to the assisted living facility early that morning and got the okay to visit. They packed a nice lunch in a picnic basket and headed out.

The car ride was tense. She had never spent much time with her aunt. Mary had always been living elsewhere and she'd never come to visit any of her family. But that was Mary and everyone said Holly shouldn't take it to heart.

The facility was thirty minutes from the farm. The parking lot was about half full and they had to park far from the door.

"I'm thinking we should have come yesterday," Holly said as they retrieved the basket from the trunk.

Mary only humpfed in reply as she closed the trunk. The rest of the walk was in silence. Apparently Mary didn't take kindly to 'I told you so's.

Her grandmother was very happy to see them. "Oh, I'm so glad you came," she said and began her ceaseless rambling. Not that it was a senseless talking, she had a lot to say. She had a lot of friends. They played bingo on Thursday nights. Monday was card night and there were puzzles set out all the time in the common room.

It seemed that she led a very comfortable existence. Except that she was dying.

Holly could see that she was worse since the last time she'd seen her grandmother. Six months before.

Her grandmother wheezed and coughed a couple of times during her ramble. She sat in a chair near her window, a blanket over her legs.

The room as surprisingly nice, for a nursing home. It was spacious and more than enough room to be just a bedroom. But it was more than just a bedroom, in essence. A bed, a comfy couch and matching chair near the window where Holly's grandmother now sat. A small table to play cards or eat sat by the room's other window. She had her own bathroom. All she was missing was a kitchen. But she had a small refrigerator.

"Mary," her grandmother said. "Would you be a dear and fetch me a cup of tea to go with lunch?"

"Sure," she replied and nodded. "You want anything?" She looked at Holly.

"Ice?" they'd brought drinks. Mary nodded and turned to leave.

"Make sure it's hot," her grandmother called after her and watched as Mary closed the door.

"You look like you could use a friend," her grandmother said and patted her hand.

Holly smiled and looked down at the floor. "Things have... happened," she said and shrugged.

"Oh? Like what? Tell me," her grandmother was always a good listener.

"Tell me about the rock," Holly said.

"The rock?" she asked and frowned. "I... I don't know what you mean."

"I think you do," Holly said. They'd always wanted to get rid of that rock.

Estelle, Holly's grandmother, sighed. "I'm not sure you're ready," she said.

"Grandma, I'm an adult," she said. "I'm thirty-five, how much more ready do I need to be? Ninety?"

Estelle chuckled softly and shook her head.

"Besides, I found these," Holly said and took the blue stone and the parchment out of her bag. She held them out for her grandmother to see.

"Yes... I figured you would," Estelle said. "I just... hoped you wouldn't put everything together."

"Everything?" Holly asked. "Not nearly everything... what do you know?"

Estelle sighed. "Your father... I'm sure you remember him?"

"Yes, though not much," she said.

"Along with English, he spoke a strange language," Estelle said. "And... he was just very strange."

"Where did he come from?" Holly asked. She really wasn't getting anywhere with her grandmother and Mary would be back soon.

"Over the rock," Estelle said and looked out the window. "We didn't approve of them."

"Of who?" Holly asked.

"Your mother and him... together," she said. "We had gone away for the weekend. To visit your grandfather's family. Left your mother and Mary at the farm. When we came back... he'd shown up and they'd... bonded or..." Estelle sighed deeply. "She just wasn't the same after Alatar came."

"Alatar?" Holly asked and frowned.

"That is his name... or was," Estelle said. "Your mother wanted us to call him Albert... after..."

"Because there aren't many men named 'Alatar' around?" Holly asked.

Estelle only nodded.

"So... why did he die? What happened?" Holly asked. Mary came back with a cup of tea and two of ice.

Estelle looked at Holly. Holly shrugged and nodded.

"I'd always hoped you remembered," Estelle said and sighed. "But we always told you that he just died." Mary paused in setting up lunch.

"He was killed," Mary said looking up.

"Killed? How? What happened?" Holly asked.

"Attacked," Mary said. "There were three of them."

"Three? Who?" Holly asked and leaned forward in her chair.

"Unsure," Mary said and shrugged.

"They were... black," Estelle said. "Not to say they were... black." She frowned.

"They weren't human," Mary explained. "They came from over the rock. We didn't see them... but that's the only explanation."

"What happened?" Holly asked. She was dying, she needed to know everything.

"He said they were goblins," Estelle said.

"Then he'd said they were orcs," Mary replied looking at her mother.

"Well, whatever they were called, they attacked him and your mother," Estelle said. "Your grandfather got his shotgun and took care of them."

"We dumped their bodies in an unmarked grave," Mary said.

"And dad is under the big oak," Holly said.

"Yes," Mary said and nodded. "He died a few days after the attack. Your mother wasn't hurt, only scratched up. I'm surprised you don't remember."

"Why would I remember?" Holly asked.

"You were there," Estelle said. "Saw the whole thing. You came into the house and got your grandfather."

Holly frowned down at the table. She shook her head. She'd had memories of something happening for years. But she'd never been able to make sense of it. But now she realized just what it was and that it had actually happened.

She sighed. "But... who was he?" she asked. "Why did he come?"

Neither lady had an answer and remained silent. Mary helped her mother to the table near the other window in the room.

Holly sighed and put the parchment and stone on the table. Mary looked at them and went back to getting her mother settled with her tea and sandwich.

"I'm not going to get anymore answers, am I," Holly said, it wasn't a question. She knew stubborn when she saw it.

"It's not that we don't want to answer you, dear," her grandmother said. "It's that we don't know the answer."

Mary sighed. "He wore that blue robe when he came," she said. "And he had a big stick. That stone was in the top of it. He... used it... tried to fend off those goblins with it. But he... was too weak or they were too strong." She shrugged, not really knowing what happened and unable to speculate any further.

After they had begun their meal and enjoyed it in silence for a few minutes, Estelle spoke. "It seems to me that there's more to your questions than just wanting to know who your father was," she said. "You know something."

Mary looked at her mother, then at Holly.

"I..." Holly said and sighed. She chewed her lip. "I've been over the rock."

"What!" Mary blurted, shocked.

Holly shrugged. She wasn't about to explain her actions to anyone. Especially since she was essentially playing on the rock, something she'd done as a child, though not as high, not over the top. But then... what would have happened if she HAD gone over the very top as a six year old child? She didn't want to think about it.

"I wanted to see the farm," she said. "So I climbed up the rock. Then I got tired of looking at the barn and turned around." She shrugged.

"Why didn't you say something?" Mary asked.

"I thought... you'd think I was nuts," she shrugged again. "And..."

"And?" Mary asked.

"And, nothing," Holly said and shook her head.

"And means something else," Mary prodded. "What is it?"

"I met... someone," she said.

"When? Who?" Mary asked. Estelle sat there, silent.

"His name is Fili," Holly said. "He's... from over the rock."

Mary frowned. "He came over? When?"

"No, I went over," Holly explained. "That day when I was looking at the farm. I just... went over, to see why it was wrong... What I was seeing."

Mary nodded. "And what happened? Who is he?"

It was funny, Mary's curiosity. She'd never cared about Holly's life before this. And now...

"He's... very nice," Holly said and smiled. "And... he has a lot of hair. And... oh, he's very nice looking." She bit her lip.

Her grandmother laughed and then in mid laugh, she began to cough. Violently. She wheezed and turned pale.

Mary called for a nurse to the room. One was there in under a minute and they got her into her bed.

Holly just stood there. She held onto the stone tightly. Her hand tingled she held it so tightly, her knuckles turned white.

"It's probably best if you let her rest," the nurse said softly.

"Let us say goodbye," Mary said and crossed the room. The nurse left them. Mary fussed over her mother for a bit, not saying anything.

Then it was Holly's turn. She came over and stood there. Her grandmother looked even more deathly pale than she had a few minutes before. She took Holly's hand, the one with the stone in it and wrapped her cold fingers around them both. There wasn't much strength in those fingers, barely holding on.

"Warm," her grandmother said and smiled. Her eyes had grown glassy. "He always said you'd have to leave us one day."

"He?" Holly asked and frowned.

"Your father," Estelle said and smiled wanly.

"But where am I going?" Holly asked, still frowning.

"Over," she said and coughed. "Over the rock. Middle Earth, he called it. Your father."

Holly looked down and covered her grandmother's hand with her own, sandwiching it between the two of hers. She swallowed hard and blinked back tears. She didn't know if she should take that bit of knowledge as truth or just the ramblings of an old woman.

"I'll miss you," her grandmother said and smiled at her.

"Not as much as I'll miss you," Holly said and closed her eyes. She wished with all she was worth that her grandmother would get better.

She sighed and let go, her grandmother's hand slipped back onto the bed.

Holly bent and kissed her on the forehead. Estelle smiled and closed her eyes.

Mary was waiting out in the hallway when Holly came out and closed the door softly.

Outside, they walked past the rows of windows into the resident rooms. Holly glanced up as she got into Mary's car. Her grandmother stood watching, her finger to her lips. She waved as they pulled away from the nursing home.

Holly sat back perplexed but pleased. Whatever it was that had happened, was good. She still held her father's blue stone in her hand, the light quietly winked out to blue once again and she shoved it into her bag.

a/n: I know it's slow going now, but it picks up. I promise.