Chapter 7

The next morning, I was escorted to meet with Lady Galadriel and I was a bit nervous. I wasn't sure how much she knew and if Lord Elrond and Gandalf had communicated to her about how things were going with me. As we passed groups of Elves they stared curiously at me but they were good at being discreet. We walked into an open court and walking passed a few Elves we came to a door on the left which the messenger knocked and when hearing a response opened the door.

Lady Galadriel was almost perfect and I swear she even glowed a little in the sunlight. She was dressed in a white gown and smiled when she saw me walk towards her.

'Hello Lady Samantha, I hope you have been enjoying your time here in Lothlorien.' She greets motioning to a chair next to her 'please sit. There is tea and food on the table when you are ready.'

'Hello, thank you. Yes, it's been refreshing to be able to relax after the journey here. Although it is all still very strange to me here.' I state with a smile.

'Yes I would imagine so. I want to thank you for agreeing to come, I know it was not easy leaving your newly established home in Rivendell.' She comments as she stares intently at me

'It's okay, I understand why you wanted me to come and even though I didn't really want to leave Rivendell. I know that coming here was a bigger priority in my appearance and life here than anything else.' I state

'Are you curious at all to how I found out you came here?' Lady Galadriel asked 'Traveling to other worlds is, I'm sure you found out, is not something that has ever occurred before.'

'I am a bit.' I begin with a chuckle before continuing. 'I assumed as much, it's not a thing in my world as well.'

'I had a vision of your face and how you were leaving your world in a box of some sort and when the doors opened you found yourself in our world.' Lady Galadriel begins 'It is strange that the Valar has brought you too us and a week later I received another vision. One that told me that you were already of aware of this world and the mission that the Fellowship is on.'

'I see, Lord Elrond told me that you might be able to help more in figuring out why I was brought here. Is that true?' I asked

She looked at me a while; examining me it felt like I was under a microscope.

'It is possible; I have been searching for information in regards to if this has ever happened. I do not think it's possible for you to go home, I firmly believe that there is a purpose to why you have come.' Lady Galadriel states with a soft smile

'Oh, it would be curious to see if this has occurred before.' I muse as I grab tea and some fruit before sitting down and continuing 'Did Lord Elrond inform you about my stance on what information I do know?' I was very curious to see what she has to say about what was decided.

'I think that is was a wise choice on your part to decide not to say how much you know or what it is you know exactly. I cannot say if others know about your arrival here but bringing you here is part of protecting you.' Lady Galadriel explains before continuing 'By staying in Lorien I am able to shield you from Sauron figuring out where you are, if he is looking for you.'

'So far it seems he doesn't seem to know you are here in Lorien. I understand that you had a routine in Rivendell that helped keep you busy?' she finishes with a smile

'Yes! I was wanting to talk to you about that." I state with a smile

It was late afternoon when we finally stopped for the day. We would resume again the next week to talk more about everything. She said starting tomorrow she would have someone meet me in the morning to show me to the library and I would resume my history studies. We also talked about resuming my cooking and gardening once she talked to the chef and gardener if they had the time to allow me help. There was also talk about the priority of me learning of elvish in order to help my socialization with the rest of society here after the Fellowship left.

I was shown the way back to my room and I changed into leggings and a long top and grabbed my archery gear and went down to Fellowship to find Legolas. To see whether he wanted to do training still. I found that the Hobbits were eating like always, Boromir was laying down, Aragorn wasn't around and Gimli was talking with the Hobbits.

'Hello lassie we missed you this morning!' Gimli states between eating his food

'Hello, yes sorry I was in a meeting with Lady Galadriel discussing the situation of me being from another world problem.' I state earning chuckles as I sat down and waved food away 'Does anyone know where Legolas is?'

'Not sure; he left this morning. What did he say again, do you remember Merry?' Pippin askes

'No I was half asleep still.' Merry answers sheepishly

'He asked that we tell you he had to cancel archery practice but that he would meet you at your talon before dinner.' Frodo states from his spot smiling at me when I stopped looking worried.

'Thank you Frodo, I appreciate someone paying attention. Well, I'll leave you guys be. I have to drop this back off at my talon since I don't have archery practice anymore.' I state getting up and heading back the way I came as everyone shouted their goodbyes

Walking into my room I saw that Teear brought me flowers; I smiled and smelled them. Earlier I had asked her if I could have plants in my room and she was so happy I enjoyed plants and nature that plants were now taking over my place. I loved it! I grabbed my medicine book and lounged in a chair by the fire trying to memorize as much as I could.

'Come in!' I called when a knock came to my door and smiled when Legolas entered 'Hey, how's it going?'

'I am doing well.' Legolas states with a smile

'So no archery practice huh?' I state placing the book on the table and glancing at him. He had a light gray tunic and pants that made his ice blue eye stand out.

'No I am sorry to change plans again. Will you still join me for a walk?' Legolas asked

"That's okay and yes when did you want to head out?' I asked feeling a bit odd about us just awkwardly standing about my room

'We can go now if you are ready.' He answers

'Sounds good to me.' I state and we both exit the room and I follow him as he takes a right and we take a ramp that moves to the next set of talons.

We walk about the city and take the ladder down to the ground and we open up on a path. This was a new path I hadn't been here before and after a bit of walking he took me through a path through the gardens where I began to realize it was filled with strolling couples and smirked to myself. We kept talking to a minimal and instead of following the other couples through the gardens we took a right and landed back around trees and away from the city.

'So will you give me any hint to where you are taking me too.' I ask getting curious to what he wanted to show me

'No but we are almost there.' he glances down as me our eyes lock longer than normal before I broke our stare

'Okay, stay mysterious.' I mumbled

He smiles and we continue on our way for about a 1/2 a mile longer until we stopped at a tree. Climbing the tree first, Legolas was able to bring the ladder down for me to follow. Once I got to the top I waited for him to bring the ladder back to us before asking.

'So you have brought me to a tree?' I state teasing him a bit

'Yes and no. When I was with the Galadrium, the border patrol unit I found this spot and if we go around to the other side you'll see way.' Legolas states with a sparkle in his eye as he talked

I followed him to the other side and it was a beautiful view. Between the trees it had a direct view of the Misty Mountains and the sun starting set over the mountain.

'Wow, this is a beautiful view. Thank you for sharing this with me.' I state with a smile as I take a seat and lean against the trunk of the tree.

'You are most welcome.' Legolas states taking a seat next to me 'I am glad you enjoy it.'

'Yes, we'll have to come back to this spot so I can remember the trail after you leave.' I state staring off at the mountains and enjoying the breeze

'Of course I would love that.' He murmured 'How did your meeting go with Lady Galadriel today?'

'It went well; she is the sweetest person you know. We talked about how she had visions which is how she found out about me landing here. Part of the reason why she brought me here is to keep Sauron from finding out where I am, if he even knows I'm here. Which we don't even know.' I state glancing at him while I talked 'She also wanted me here because she trying to research if this has ever happened before. However, one thing that was decided is there is a 1% chance that I would even get to return home.' I state thinking back to this morning.

'What happened when you came here, if you don't mind me asking?' Legolas asked curiosity showing

'You are okay to ask. Well I was leaving work and I stepped into the elevator, think of it as a levy and pulley system where you stand on a platform and it transports you from one level say from here and it moves and takes you to the ground.' I stopped to see if he could follow what I meant

'Elevator?' Legolas draws out feeling out the word and a confused looked 'strange word but I understand, we have similar systems in Mirkwood.'

'So I stepped into the elevator and when I got to the ground floor I found myself in the middle of a field instead of the ground floor of my work.' I state taking a breath before continuing the rest of the story.

He was a very good listener and was completely engrossed in the story. It seemed he was very curious about it and where I'm from. We sat talking and laughing telling stories about getting in trouble as kids. It was nice to become so good friends with Legolas and to spend time hanging out. He was very different from Aegnor, not in a bad way but just totally different personalities.

The sun was slowly setting over the mountains, 'We should head back I'm starving!' I state getting up

'Yes we probably should.' Legolas states

We walked back in silence but it was comfortable silence and not one of awkwardness. I truly enjoyed all the time I got to spend with each and every person of the Fellowship knowing that I wasn't sure if I would see them again or what would happen with me here. The scariest part is the longer I was around the Fellowship the less Aegnor was in my thoughts.

'So we're on for archery practice after breakfast right?' I ask pushing the thought away.

'Yes.' Legolas states with a smile then greeting Gimli

'There you two are! We were about to eat without you.' Pippin exclaims

'Hello to you as well.' I state smiling at them I walk around the fire and took the empty seat next to Boromir 'Hi Boromir how was your day?'

'Hello, it was good. Now that we are resumed training the Hobbits it helps keep me busy. Sometimes all this relaxation gets to me and I don't like it.' Boromir states handing me a plate of the food they made

'No I totally get it. I have the same problem, sure a few days of not doing anything gets to me as well.' I state before I start eating

'What will you do here do you know?' Boromir asked curious now.

'I met with Lady Galadriel this morning to talk about just that. Legolas wants me to continue my archery training while I'm here. Lady Galadriel is going to have someone tutor me to learn Elvish, and I'm hoping to continue to learn gardening and cooking.' I state with a smile, it was good to see him happy and interacting with us and not focusing on the temptation of the Ring.

'It sounds like you have a plan started to keep you busy. Why are you training in gardening and cooking; do you not have those skills from your world?' Boromir asked

'Well I know how to do both but my world is way more advance and…. well, it's complicated but the gist of it is, what I know will not fully be enough to start a life here and be able to support myself.' I state not really wanting to get into the whole modern food

'Oh I see well I hope that you get the training that you need to adjust to living here. You are always welcome to live in Gondor at any time. You should see the city where men live where you'd be welcomed.' Boromir states with a smile

'I would like to. I would like to see other places.' I states smiling but heartbroken on how happy he was that I would go and see Gondor.

I spent the rest of dinner listening to Boromir tell stories of Gondor and living there as a kid. He was without a doubt so proud of Gondor and the national pride he had was a refreshing idea. I was nearly in tears because I was laughing so hard and some of the mischief that his brother and him used to get into.

While Boromir and I chatted amongst each other on the opposite side of the fire sat Aragorn and Legolas. What wasn't noticed was the intense stare that one kept shooting at Samantha not able to not look her way.

'You should be careful.' Aragorn states softly for only Legolas to here

'What do you mean?' Legolas asked confused finally breaking his concentration to look at Aragorn

'You've been staring at Samantha since she sat down with Boromir as if you want to interfere and not let her be close to him.' Aragorn teases

'I do not want to interfere. She is allowed to get to know Boromir.' Legolas states defensively

'Perhaps, but be careful.' Aragorn states with a stern glare.

He was worried about how from the start Legolas has been drawn to her from curiosity while in Rivendell but with Samantha spending time with Aegnor he held back. But now, they all have gotten to know her on the trek and felt she was part of their family. He watched as Legolas got to know her that it seemed it made him wanting to know more each time. Sighing, he shook his head. He could not stop what could happen but he wished no one to go through the difficulties of what him and Arwen struggle with.