I swear, I'm alive, and I didn't mean to take such a long time to update this fic. I am truly sorry for it. A lot of things have happened during the past couple of years (Wow, has it really been this long) Some good things, some bad, I won't go into detail unless you guys specifically wanna know.

I promise (unless something happens that I can no longer write) I will get this story done.

I will prevail.

Or my muse bunnies will die.

Mwhuahaha. Okay. I'm done.

Here's the next chapter for you though.

xxx

It was killing her.

Not literally, but figuratively speaking it was.

Her entire body was sore and even though she's a nurse, she had almost forgotten all about certain muscles that hadn't been used in such a long time.

And it all became clear to Kyra that she was, in no way, fit enough. She wasn't. Even though she worked for twelve hours, always on her feet, she was not healthy enough.

So Kyra couldn't help but wonder why Lady Galadriel wanted her to learn how to wield a sword and perhaps it wouldn't be so bad, but they had assigned Haldir to be her instructor.

By the slight tilt of his lips to the glimmer of amusement shining in those eyes of his, Kyra knew that the Elf was entertained by her suffering.

Guess it was her own punishment that he was giving her.

She couldn't help it though, it was becoming a nuisance just watching that smug expression on his face.

"Why are you laughing?" She panted, dropping the sword to the ground, listening to blade slide over something equally as hard. Kyra's arms felt like Jello and she felt incredibly disgusting (more so than she ever thought possible) considering the sweat that poured down her face and neck cause her hair to cling uncomfortably to her skin.

"At you, my lady."

How he said it made Kyra's eyes narrow.

"Are you becoming weary?"

She nodded, "Yes."

"You wish for the activities to cease for the day?"

"Damn straight."

"Then." He held up his sword, "Defeat me then we shall."

"Oh come on!" Kyra whined, "I can't do it. I'm too tired."

"Lady Kyra." Haldir's voice was stern and he stood straight, "You have previously mentioned while we were travelling that you are a healer's assistant in your world, correct?"

What did that have to do with anything? She though, and gave him a confused nod.

"When you are feeling drained after a long day of attending to your patients do you tell them that you cannot longer care for them or do you continue?"

Now she understood why, her lips formed into a straight, unimpressed line.

"An enemy will never hesitate to finish what they have started if their foe shows weakness."

Kyra looked him in the eye. "Do you wish to show me that weakness and be defeated or to defeat me and feel a sense of pride?"

As much as Kyra wanted to just say screw it but Haldir was right, anyone willing to kill her or anyone else wouldn't stop, especially if they were tired. She held up her sword, "Come at me, mate."

For him, she'd continue.

And so they went at it again, taking a few breaks every now and again before Haldir had enough and dismissed Kyra. It was then that she had noticed how late in the day it was as the sun, that was shining brightly in her eyes, was now beginning to make its decent beyond the horizon; the trees casting their long shadows down over them and the land.

Once she was able to sit down, her entire body shook, she felt dizzy, lightheaded and her mouth was dry.

Kyra had to remind herself that was much more physical activity, more water had to be consumed.

Slowly, she moved to stand but collapsed to the ground, the edges of her vision becoming dangerously dark so Kyra closed her eyes, taking deep breaths to try and regain her composure again.

She stayed there for a little while, her eyes snapped open when she felt someone gently snaking their arm under her legs and her shoulder and with ease pulled her into their chest.

Through the darkness, she saw that it was Haldir.

Kyra's voice was above a whisper as she spoke, "H-Haldir."

"Rest." Haldir's voice was soft, comforting even. "I shall take you to our healers and you may take tomorrow to regain your strength."

She could only give him a slight nod of her head, lifting her hand up and giving him a thumbs up.

Hopefully that was a universal gesture to assure that they have acknowledged what was told to them.

xxx

She was laying on a cloud, it seemed.

The pain and exhaustion that she had felt previously was completely gone and she felt as good as new.

Kyra's eyes fluttered open and she saw that she was back in her room, slowly she looked around and her eyes widened, noticing that Haldir was sleeping peacefully in an armchair beside her bed and she couldn't help but smile.

It was only about four weeks since she had arrived in their world, but it did not seem that long and in that time she had quickly noticed one thing.

Haldir was gorgeous.

Too bad she didn't see that when she first met him, maybe then she wouldn't have knocked him unconsc-no. She would have and Kyra knew that she couldn't deny it, she would've still hit him.

Carefully, she manoeuvred herself until she was sitting up and she winced, all of the muscles that were used yesterday feeling stiff and sore, but not as much as they did previously.

Yawning, she glanced down at herself and noticed that she was completely clean and free of the dirt, sweat, and blood that stained herself and her clothes and she paused as slight panic rose.

Her cheeks beginning to turn a brilliant shade of pink and she quickly glanced over at Haldir.

He didn't!

Kyra swore to whichever God they prayed to that if he did, she would find an even bigger rock than what she found before and beat him with it.

Letting out the breath that she had been unknowingly holding Kyra forced herself to throw off the blankets that were piled on her, swinging her legs to the side of the bed, and went to stand up-

Only to fall to the floor with a loud thud.

She groaned. Well, that definitely wasn't something that she was expecting and unfortunately for her, Kyra saw that Haldir was awake and at her side in an instant.

"Are you alright?"

"Uh...fine." Kyra looked up at him and noticed that he was refusing to look at her.

A lone brow rose in confusion. "What?"

"Look at your attire, Lady Kyra."

She did so and gasped loudly, managing to reach up and pull down one of the many blankets on the bed and covered herself up.

Why didn't she notice that before?

She cleared her throat, "I...I'm covered now."

"Are you able to stand?" Haldir asked, still unable to look at her, but this time, she wasn't going to prod him any further on that, this entire situation was awkward.

"I think so." Kyra said after a moment, gradually getting into a kneeling position and then finally standing up, treading the waters (so to speak) as she took a couple of small steps. "I'm...I'm good."

"I will be out in the hall." He stated, and began to walk away. "When you are in more appropriate attire I shall come and escort you to the morning meal."

Kyra watched as he left, closing the door behind him with a soft click for a few seconds before leaning against the wall and exhaling loudly.

Well, that could've gone better.

xxx

It didn't take her long to get into the proper clothing that she would need and was thankful that the seamstresses that they had in the land knew how to make a decent set of clothes.

Kyra was still wearing a pair of trousers, but they were barely noticeable, and they were a deep red colour and fit her frame nicely, she wore a type of blouse (not a typical piece of clothing for a woman, she knew) but for what she was going to be learning, she needed to be able to move around.

The blouse, she noted, was somewhat see-through and was happy that they didn't discard her clothing and was able to find her dark-coloured tank top and ensured she put that on first, tucking it into the band of the pants and threw over the blouse.

The boots, well the boots were a nice addition as on the outside they had everything that footwear should have and was nice and warm on the inside.

Kyra felt bad, but was glad that her assumptions about this time period was wrong.

Just as she was finishing up the last bit of her laces a knock came upon the door, Kyra called out to them. "Thirty seconds!"

It wasn't even that when she stood up from the bed, grabbed her hair tie from the night stand and headed for the door.

As she opened it and saw Haldir leaning against the wall, staring out the window down at the gardens she pulled her hair into a half-assed ponytail.

Without even looking at her, Haldir began his remarks. "I had heard that mortal women took ages to get ready, but I did not think it would have taken that long of a time."