Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings or Xanth.

A/N: Okay, a quick question for everyone. Should there be a love plot between one of the girls and Legolas? That is all, except for a slight question of enemy, but I think I have an idea for it.

They were quick to begin again on their way after treating the many ailments various members of the company had picked up along the way. A few had their eyes frozen shut and there were more with the problem of frostbite. Nothing was too serious and the worst of the cases could easily be cured in Lothlorien where they were to seek the advice of Galadriel.

They traversed the marsh terrain with considerable discomfort until nightfall, when they managed to find the marsh solidifying into soil. Cold and wet from the mud they had spent the day traveling through, they slept unfitfully, but happy that they were out of the knee high mire at long last and they had the fire going to keep them warm.

They checked their supplies the next day before setting out once more. They were getting to Lothlorien just in time, as the food supplies were running low after the majority of the food packed at the bottom of the packs of the ponies had been ruined in the marsh.

They were this time welcomed into the woods and not assumed trespassers as before. The original members of the company were greeted with familiarity and the new ones with respect and curiosity. The elves that met them refrained from asking questions as they led them into the heart of the wood to Galadriel's domain, without this time the precaution of the blindfold.

They made it up the high ladder of the white tower into the chamber where Galadriel and Celeborn stood, awaiting them with curiosity and joy in their eyes as they looked at the group. Part of it was the fact that this held many memories for all of them and in part that it was relived better than before. None of their members had been lost in the process of the journey and possibly lost forever.

The chamber where they stood resembled a mix between the one described in the books as well as the one in the movie, lighter in coloring and darker in mood than those who had seen the movie had thought it should be. Galadriel stood in the center at the back wall, no chairs to sit in here, with her white robes billowing about her delicately, staring deep into the minds and hearts of all gathered before her.

"This is a much changed occasion," she said, her voice musical and deep, tone lighter than last they had met. "So like the last when we met, yet much is changed. Glad are the hearts of all present to see Gandalf this time present and not cast into the deepest shadows of Khazad-Dum. Foreigners of these lands are unusually well schooled in our ways and have found their way into danger, as our dear hobbits have done before them."

"They are trying to return home, Lady," Gandalf put in. "These are truly strange times that we are facing, where those who have no magic of their own can travel between worlds where the Istari have always been unable so. I would have never imagined the troubles we face now to ever come. Do you know what enemy is trying to forge the one ring anew?"

Galadriel looked deep into the eyes of Gandalf, as though conversing with him without words but with looks that each held a sacred meaning. Celeborn spoke all the while, but none heard his words through the battle of wills that was passing. Something was happening between them, but no one dared looked. Rather, they felt the argument as the tension in the room rose and fell.

Buy that is a matter we may discuss in the morning," Celeborn said as the two broke eye contact, each looking pleased with themselves. "It has been a long trial for all of you, especially the passage of the Caradhras. Some of you have yet to have your wounds treated and all of you need rest now."

Galadriel's eyes roamed, looking to all of them in turn. Aragorn, Legolas and Gandalf were able to withstand her glance the longest, the rest shying from it in a respectful matter. Liz winced at it, closing her eyes tightly as though ridding herself of an inner evil that caused her pain.

"Yes, it is time for you all to rest now. Your journey has been long and it will be longer still. Take refuge here, where Lothlorien can protect you."

They left in single file, descending the ladder in solitary reflection on the words that flooded their minds. For those who had never endured this before, they were left with a feeling of something crawling on their skin and their minds filled with involuntary thoughts of home.

Those with worse cases of frostbite were quickly tended to once they were firmly on the ground. The rest were led to a small cottage where they could all spend the night, girls with their own room. As soon as they were all joined, they were given food and drink and they ate in quiet, not quite knowing what to say of their own experiences and deciding to keep themselves quiet.

The girls met in their room for a conference on what more they had learned, though it turned out not to be much. Still, all they knew was the fanfic author who had made this world had both read the books and seen the movie. They had decided to give Aragorn a sense of humor and Celeborn a smaller part than in the books, and yet larger than that in the movie. They were trying to mesh what may not be fully able to be meshed.

Finally, finding that their failing attempts to figure out the author's style and strategy with this story were futile, they fell into slumber. They found themselves thankful that Aragorn had decided to give up on lessons tonight and just leave them with another day off of it in this peaceful place.

Galadriel wandered through the gardens, this time not intent on showing someone a vision, indeed she no longer could do so without Nenya resting on her finger. Instead she wondered about the mind of the girl that had so quickly looked away from her gaze. Her mind was not the only one there, something else was in there. She knew her dilemma without having to ask, and now knew how she was to fix it. Rid the girl of the other presence in her mind and she would no longer speak and write in a foreign tongue. The odd thing about it was that she did not seem to know that the other presence was even there.

She saw a bird, small and delicate but not of her lands, fly towards her from below. She managed to stop it, beckoning it to her in such a way that it felt compelled to. "What brings you here, creature of the west?" she asked in the bird's language.

"I'll tell you none of it, elf wench," the bird spat at her. "It be no business of yours." It flew off quickly, gaining height and distance from her at an increasing rate lest it be caught again.

Galadriel watched as the bird flew away, puzzled at it's curt manner and the words that it spoke. No creature had ever spoken to her as such before, and it puzzled her that one would do so now. Her eyes traveled from the horizon where it had disappeared to the ravine from which it came. A girl stood there, eerily still and unmoving amongst the quivering trees and slight ripples within the waters.

Liz shook her head slightly and breathed deep the cool night air to clear her aching head. Looking around, she knew that she had blanked again. Leaning against a tree for support, she took in her surroundings. It was within a ravine, a small pond surrounded by trees made it seem like a miniature paradise. The walls were shallow, easy to get out of and the water was clear enough to see the bottom, even with only the light of the moon and stars to show the way. It would be great for swimming in.

We don't have bathing suits here, she reminded herself, spoiling her fantasies of doing something that might make her feel more like she were at home. She looked longingly up into the tree and sighed as her imagination settled on something she had once read in a book.

If this were Xanth these trees might have bathing suits. The thought made her smile and tear her eyes away from the tree to look for how she get here. As she went along the shore of the pond she touched each tree, dubbing it a shirt tree, shoe tree, pie tree, or anything of the like to keep herself from thinking about how lost she could possibly be until she found a slope that would lead her up to higher ground.

She saw a lady in white, Galadriel, there watching her curiously. She smiled slightly and dipped her head respect, unsure of quite how to react before her. After a moment of silence, and the awkward task of not meeting her eyes which was normally the natural thing for her to do, she asked, *I don't suppose you know how to get back to the cottage?*

The lady smiled ever so slightly that Liz wondered if she had imagined it and turned to walk. Liz followed her until their temporary home was in sight and relaxed at the sight of it. She had taken her eyes off of Galadriel for a moment, and now when she looked back to her to thank her she was not there. With a bit of a shrug, this was a magical world after all, she made her way back to the house.

People spoke from within the rooms where the original fellowship was to be resting. Almost all of them were still awake at this hour, discussing things pertaining to her. She heard Gimli's gruff voice mention how unnatural it was that she would flinch so at Galadriel's gaze. From there people tended to take sides, taking from their own experiences in the past.

*If you wish to discuss me, do so when I am present next time,* she said loudly through the door and proceeded to her own room, wondering herself why Galadriel's gaze had caused her pain earlier. As she fell onto the pillow she heard a door shut from elsewhere before falling to sleep.

The morning following they were all generally very quiet. No one of the original Fellowship really wanted to associate much with the girls and it created an odd tension in the room. Gandalf and Aragorn announced that they would be staying for a few days to rest and try and gain more information, and no one really spoke much at all after that.

*Okay, I'm sick of this,* Liz said finally, breaking the quiet as breakfast wound to a close. *Legolas, help out for a sec?*

He grudgingly got up and went over to them, annoyance in his eyes over having to listen to her because of her predicament. He was just glad that she made it quick, telling her friends through him that there was a place to go swimming near here and they could probably spend the day there.

They readily agreed to this and were out in a few minutes, leaving behind unnecessary items and setting off for the pond. They all had the felling that the rest would be talking with Galadriel about their quest and whatever else was happening in the lands and did not really want to be a part of it. They wanted only time to be normal girls their age and hang out without having to deal with problems too big for them.

They were wondering what to do about swimming garments when they came to the slope into the ravine when they saw the strangest sight. There were garments and food growing in the trees, not a thing that any of them had ever suspected would have happened. Curious, they followed the line of trees to the last one in the line, the one Liz had came out of her blanking against, to find it filled with bathing suits.

"This is weird, even for here," Ruth commented offhandedly as Liz went up the tree to harvest a few suits in their sizes. Eyeing the trees suspiciously all the while, they said little else as they changed in private caves covered by bushes and vines.

They found themselves quite eager to dive in, not being able to have regular bathes and showers and finding this the perfect substitution. They spent the day until noon swimming and splashing, having fun as they would have normally done and forgot about all of the problems that plagued them here. They stopped for a quick lunch break, harvesting a few pies from a pie tree uneasily and finding them to be more than adequate. They ate on a blanket harvested from a bush and found towels to dry themselves off with as well.

They were quick to dive back into the crystal clean water and resume their games. They all began to offer their small trinkets and shiny jewelry, except for Ruth and Louise who did not so much as mention their rings, so that they could toss them to the center, then dive to get them back. It slowly turned into a competition over who could find the most before everyone else could. There were a few good natured fights over a few of the items, but not anything that was not solved within a few seconds.

Leigh went in for a dive at a slight glimmer she found at the bottom of the pond, her eyes closed as her hand poked at the bottom of the sandy bed. She felt something cool slip over her finger and knew that she had gotten what she had come for.

It was less than a second later, before she even had a chance to begin swimming up to the surface again when the water began to swirl menacingly. The water in the pool whirled of it's own accord, as though the water were draining out but the level never lessened. They were all caught in the whirlpool, fighting to keep their heads above the water. All, that was, except Leigh who stood at the bottom at it's core.