Ch 8: The musings of an unlikely nurse.

Hey all, I am a Goddess, two serious chapters within a week with UNI starting and my birthday in 4 days. All bow down before the magnificence that is me .

Anyway this is a glorfys POV what he thinks about all the stuff that's been happening and his feelings about becoming a nursemaid.

Chapter proverb: "Man who run in front of car get tired"

And now for the disclaimer:

Georgia (authors kid sister) ETphonehome doesn't own anything that Tolkien owns she just owns the stuff that she owns (grins evilly) Like glorfy and his bow and arrows. (Snickers suggestively)

ETphonehome: (shrieks) Not another one,!!!! Where are you all coming from????

Georgia: Phillip told me about the portal so I snuck in behind you and hid behind the life sized cutouts of the fellowship until you were distracted. (Grins) aren't you glad I came? Now you don't have to worry about the disclaimer. (Grins insanely)

ETphonehome: (bangs head repeatedly against conveniently placed brick wall)

Now enough madness, on with the chapter……

imaginthereisaline

Glorfindel's pov

The lady Alicia recovered slowly from her illness and it was some days before she was able to even stand unassisted. As it was she still required a great deal of assistance to walk any distance and it was inevitably I who gave the assistance.

In the beginning it had been my task to care for her because all others who knew of her were occupied with other important tasks, now it was simply because I was the most familiar to her and Lord Elrond did not want to distress her unduly. Whilst I wholeheartedly agreed with him I hoped that we would soon be able to introduce her to Imladris; not being able to reply to Lord Erestor's veiled jokes about me becoming a nursemaid because of spending so much time in the infirmary when I was obviously not injured was becoming too much for me to bear.

Now that the ring bearer was out of danger and Estel and Mithrandir had arrived Elrond had called a meeting to discuss why and how the ladies had been brought here from their world and what was to be done about them.

Alicia's explanation of how she and the twin girls had been brought here was fascinating; and the revelation that she was from another world entirely and knew our future was a great shock. After she had said her piece and the rest of those gathered had begun to discuss solutions she became very quiet, I had noticed during the time I was caring for her that she wasn't very talkative. It wasn't so much that she was reluctant to talk but more that she preferred to listen and speak only when she was sure of what she was saying. She also seemed to use her expressions and posture to replace much of what would normally be spoken out loud.
Elves in general once they reached a certain age are very reserved and rarely show emotion of any sort on their faces but Lady Alicia would more often answer with a smile and a head shake or a nod or some other change of expression that suggested that she had thought of an answer and decided that it would probably be a bad idea to actually say it out loud. I found it fascinating to watch the constant play of expression as it washed over her small face as she spoke, and the rapid and expansive hand gestures that often accompanied her speech made it a truly individual. It was also possible to read her emotions simply by watching her face and I had noticed that she seemed distracted by some inner turmoil recently. It was not surprising considering what she had so far endured, but it was troubling that she seemed not to have resolved the matter and she was becoming more and more distracted. I only half listened to the discussion, and watched the Lady's reaction to their agreement to her suggestion that she was from a different world. She seemed relieved that they considered her trustworthy, she was only slightly regretful when it was decided that the book needed to be burnt to stop the possibility of it falling into enemy hands. She sat by the fire slowly feeding the fire with pages of the book seemingly oblivious to the discussion going on around her; I finally voiced a suggestion that seemed painfully obvious to me but seemed to have escaped everyone else's notice.

"Why not send her to see the Lady Galadriel in Lothlorien? Surely the lady will have some idea of what to do, and she may also be able to see something in Lady Alicia's memories that she has forgotten or lost through her fever"

The other's seemed surprised that I had spoken but quickly agreed that it was a good idea; a truly marvelous idea it turned out, and because it was my idea I was chosen to be among the unfortunates that had to travel with not one but two sets of twins. I resigned myself to a long and interesting trip, at least with the lady Alicia along I would not lack intelligent conversation. I had not been paying much attention to the conversation until lord Elrond addressed a question to Lady Alicia.

"Lady, I believe it would help you in being accepted into our culture as an elf if you had an elvish name. Could I ask what your names meaning is in your own tongue so that I may more accurately translate it into an elvish name?"

There was a moment of silence as everybody waited for her reply as she continued to stare into the fire, after a moment she looked up and then blushed obviously embarrassed,

"I'm sorry, I wasn't listening"

I answered quickly repeating the question for her and then giving her an opportunity to answer, the answer itself was rather surprising. Her name she told us meant truth ,or truthful one, it took a little puzzling out but eventually it was decided that the closest translation was Anwe. Lord Elrond was very pleased with him self for working it out and presented her with his choice with some pride. He was so pleased when she accepted that he didn't seem to realize that she seemed rather distracted at the same time.
By this time it was most definitely time for lunch, as I helped lady Anwe out of Lord Elrond's study I asked if she would like to go to the main hall for her meal; I thought it would help her feel more at home among us if she was able to sit among elves and observe them doing something as mundane as eating. Sadly my idea failed quite spectacularly, the elves in the hall were ridiculously curios of the stranger in their midst and the fact that I needed to very nearly carry her to her chair only increased their fascination. The Lady was immediately tense and barely picked at her food, I ate as quickly as was seemly to spare her further embarrassment and we left the hall amidst a fresh wave of whispered guesses at her identity and origins.
As we walked back to her room in the healing wing I tried to apologies for the behavior of my fellows, Anwe did not seem to mind very much but expressed the wish to take her meals in her room until she was better able to cope with quite so many people.

I left her to her rest once we reached her room, and later when I returned I took her outside to enjoy the sunshine after her long confinement in the infirmary. The twin girls Sarah and Rachel visited her there and told about their most recent escapades, it seemed they had planned to come here and had brought a great many supplies from their world not readily available here to help them. This explained how they were somehow able to make a seemingly harmless cushion make a horrendous noise when Erestor sat down on it in his study in front of lord Elrond and Estel.
After the twins visit I had to leave to catch up on some paperwork that I had been neglecting to care for our visitor, hen I returned some time later I was shocked to find her gone from the bench I had left her on.
I stared around franticly for a moment wondering what could have happened to her in the safety of the gardens, and then I herd the unmistakable sound of weeping from a stand of young trees in the corner of the garden. I made my way over to the trees calling her name, I fond her curled up on the ground weeping as if her heart were broken. I tried to talk to her and ask her what was wrong but she didn't seem to hear me, finally I took hold of her shoulders and turned her to face me.

"Lady what is it? What's wrong?"

Her answer was not what I had been expecting.

"I can never go home, (sob) even if we find a way I can't, I'm not human anymore (sob, hiccup) my own family won't even know me and people will be afraid of me because I'm different."

It took me a moment to comprehend what her garbled answer actually meant; but when I did I felt the deepest sympathy for her. She had realized that even if a way was found to send them back to their world she would not be able to go, in her world elves did not exist so she would be outcast and her own family would not recognize her so changed. Her family may as well be dead for she would never be able to see them again and she would never be able to go home. I myself know what it is to know ones home is forever lost to them as my own home had been destroyed in the fall of Gondolin in which I died.
She was distraught and I gave what little comfort I could, enveloping her in a warm hug and I held her until her weeping ceased.

She was tense in my arms for a moment, them she relaxed and clung to me like one drowning who has found something to keep them afloat. Her whole body shook with the force of her sobs so I held her closer to stop the shaking. That was when I discovered that she was painfully thin; I could feel the bones of her shoulders and arms easily through the cloth of her robe. There was so little of her to begin with that it was frightening to see how badly weakened she had been by her fever and I realized that she may yet die from her ordeal if she wasn't carefully watched.
Slowly her weeping subsided and I sat with her until her breathing slowed and she drifted into an exhausted sleep.
When I was sure that she was deeply asleep I gently lifted her into my arms and carried her back to her room, once there I lay her on the bed gently and covered her over with her blankets. Then I sat in one of the chairs beside the bed to wait for her to awaken, I knew she would not want to wake up alone. I settled myself for a long wait for she was sure to sleep till morning. As I looked at her sleeping peacefully her face still slightly tearstained I remembered a stray thought that had occurred to me as I held her.
Her hair smelled nice, faintly of flowers and grass, I puzzled to myself why this might have seemed important enough to remember but came up with nothing and dismissed the thought. While I had been carrying her to her room it had struck me again that she was too thin, she was like thistledown in my arms her weight barely noticeable like a child a fraction of her true age. I decided to speak with lord Elrond about it when I got the chance, it would not be good for her to travel if she was not properly recovered. Gradually I allowed myself to relax into a light doze as I waited for her to wake; I knew she would want to explain the true reason for her outburst and she would not want an audience.
As I drifted of the thought crossed my mind that I was treating her like a child and I smiled slightly to myself, there were worse ways to be treated I suppose.

YAY I cant believe I finished it tonight, I am a legend

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