I want to thank all my faithful readers for sticking with me after such a long hiatus. Thank you. Without you guys I would not have been able to continue the story. Thank you for all the support. Thank you for all the encouraging reviews.

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Author

"She will not stand alone."

She nearly fell from her perch on top of the boulder she was standing on when she heard the familiar voice, full of strength and valor. Her head snapped up and right in front of her head, a particular golden-haired elf-lord stepped out of the dark shadows of the forest. Other elves followed suit, and appeared from the shadows as well. However, she only saw him.

He…looked exactly as if he stepped right out of Tolkien's book. He looked every bit of the elven lord he had been in Gondolin, gone were the shadows and lingering phantoms of melancholy and pain. In its place, he regained a brilliant aura of valor and strength. His eyes glowed fiercely as he looked right at her. Their intensity burned right into the depths of her soul and being. Prior to that she had already lost her breath after the particular bloody exertion she went through. However, now, all the oxygen she had left in her lungs was squeezed out of her at his look.

She looked away. She had to remain strong. She could not be a damsel in distress forever. She closed her eyes briefly, trying to gather the last of her courage. She clenched the sword tighter, and as she opened her eyes, she stepped down from the boulder and into the fray.

She slammed her sword into the knees of the Urukai in front of her and barely darted out of the way in time as it fell forward towards her. She then whirled around and slammed the sword into the abdomen of the Urukai that was behind her in one fluid motion. However, at this point, her sword jammed into the armor as she tried to pull it out.

Her dilemma did not go unnoticed by the Urukais. Quickly, two headed her way. She yanked harder, but the sword refused to budge.

Dear gods…

She swallowed nervously. Well, no use crying over spilt milk. She started running towards one of the Urukai heading towards her. At the last moment as the sword came down towards her head, she pulled up all her knowledge of baseball and threw herself down to the floor, sliding in between the Urukai's legs. As she slid past his legs, she reached out with her arms and pulled. She thank god for physics, because the Urukai resisted for only a few seconds before falling face down.

However, she didn't have much time to celebrate. Instinct made her quickly rollover to the side to avoid getting decapitated. She scrambled up in a hurry and ran behind a tree to avoid another sword swipe. She twisted her body around the tree and sent her leg into the chest of an incoming Urukai with the full force of her body, sending it flying backwards.

The force of her kick continued to propel her body forward, and she would have flown off as well if she wasn't caught. Someone caught hold of her upper body with an arm around her waist. She swung around in a full circle. A familiar voice breathed warmly into her ear: "Kick."

She immediately followed suit and extended her legs. They connected with the head of an Urukai. The arm set her down on the ground, and a hand moved gracefully to grab hold of her wrist. Her body instinctively followed the momentum, turning to execute a back kick as her foot slammed into the chest of another Urukai. The hand on her wrist turned and she pivoted on her right foot so that her left foot sliced through the air and smashed into the helmet of a third Urukai.

The hand tugged on her wrist, pulling her up to a hard armor. Swords clashed over her head, she felt herself turned so that she was facing the armor instead of standing with her back to it. A sense of déjà vu came over her. Her eyes stung as she remembered this was exactly how they met in Forlindon. The hard armor rubbed painfully against her blistered skin, but she did not care. For a brief moment, the warmth and the safety she felt being in his embrace overpowered everything else.

How long time passed, she did not remember. However, all of the sudden the din of the battle passed and silence fell upon the forest. She slowly turned around. Bodies of both Urukais and elves littered the floor. Once again, the brown dirt and the green grasses were dyed dark red and black. The air reeked of the iron taste of blood and death.

Reality slapped her right in the face and woke her up from the daze she had been in. She breathed in sharply and stumbled back a step, right up against the steel armor. A warm hand touched her shoulders. She closed her eyes and clenched her fists tightly. She forcefully yanked herself away from the warm embrace. She turned around and gave a rather trembling smile: "I'm fine."

The smile was obviously unconvincing, because the golden elf's eyes narrowed slightly in a frown: "Pinor," he reached out a hand to touch her cheeks. She turned away from his hand, her lips trembled slightly.

"Glorfindel, please…I…" He, like the brilliance of the sun, was beautiful and warmth to her. But at the same time, it was also painful. She knew, then, that he was important to her. And if he should ever hate her, she did not think she could take it. He was everything to her. He had been the sole warmth that thawed her long and wintry days in Forlindon. And soon…soon he will leave, and that warmth will leave as well, and…and she will have to go back to the wintry coldness.

And in that brief moment, she felt an overwhelming sense of pain and hate. Why show her what warmth…what kindness felt like if she could not have it forever? Did the Valar not know what kills is actually not loneliness or cruelty, but the knowledge that there had been kindness in the past?

"Miriel, little one, please look at me. Tell me what is wrong," he took her arm and pulled her closer. She couldn't look at him. She didn't know how to look at him. She didn't know how she could look at him.

"I…"

"Laurefindil, you forgot to introduce the lovely lady to us," a voice suddenly cut in.

Miriel turned to see an older version of Legolas walking towards them. His face was stern and lined with weariness, and although his voice was equally severe, his gaze was filled with respect as they looked upon her.

"Forgive me, Thranduil. This is Miriel Hall, my lady," at his words, Miriel's face flushed slightly, and she bit her lips. His words made her turn cold inside. It was a reminder of what she had caused and what he had done.

"Well met, Lady Miriel. It is quite unfortunate that we have to meet under this circumstance, but then again, perhaps it was our fortune that we should, for your actions have certainly saved my kingdom this day. If t'were not for you, we would not have known the Urukais' arrival." The elven-king bowed deeply to her.

Miriel let out a gasp at his action: "I…no…King Thranduil, please don't. I can't accept such honor." A small voice in the back of her mind whispered thank god for the Urukai blood and grime of war that covered the red blisters which covered her face and body. But other more tumultuous thoughts soon overrun that voice.

"No, the honor is ours, Lady Miriel," Thranduil said, his silver eyes flashed brightly.

Miriel flushed heavily: "I…" she turned away to look into the dark leaves of the Mirkwood forest. She came because she had to; as long as it was within her powers, she would not let Middle Earth's history change its course. She did not do this out because these elves were Glorfindel's people. She did not do this because it would have pained the golden elf-lord to lose his families, his friends, the people he cared about. It had nothing…nothing…to do with him. A shadow passed through her eyes as she clenched her hands tightly again: "It's really nothing," she turned back to the elf king and gave a tremulous smile.

The elven king gave a small smile as he looked at Glorfindel: "The Valar graced you with a beautiful and courageous companion."

"Thank you," the elf-lord murmured, a strangely proud and warm look came over his eyes as he looked down on Miriel, a look perhaps he did not even realize he had.

"Come, t's been a long day for us all. Let us return to the Halls and rest for another day tomorrow," Thranduil said in what would normally be consider an invitation, but coming from him, it sounded more like a command than anything else.

Miriel turned her head slightly to look at Glorfindel, his eyes caught her stare. She bit her lips and looked away. She did not want to spend time with him. In fact, she never planned to be in Mirkwood at all. However, Thranduil exuded an air of power and authority that demanded respect and deference, and she could not find the strength or the nerve to say otherwise.

Glorfindel extended a hand to her. She stared at it a few seconds, unsure of what to do. She shouldn't even be near him. Being this near him for a few mere minutes already did crazy things to her head. She couldn't think straight much less steel any sort of resolve to do anything. All she wanted was to greedily revel in his warmth, in his kindness. But she shouldn't, they were not hers to take.

"Miriel, come," he said softly. She made the mistake of looking into his eyes, the pools of molten gold, and she all but melted. She extended a trembling hand towards him. He closed the gap between them and took her clammy, cold hand in his warm hold.

The rest of the walk happened while Miriel's brain went around in circles in the full speed of a bullet train. She was bubbling with words that she wanted to say or perhaps even yell at Glorfindel. How could he act like nothing had happened? He had a shotgun marriage with a human girl that he did not love! Why did he marry her when he loved Arwen so much? The elf-lady was the reason Glorfindel was fighting. She was his star, to put it literally and figuratively.

Yet, here he was, introducing her as his lady as if it was all normal, as if they had actually gone through the whole five year courting, three year engagement, and one day wedding ceremony followed by a one month honeymoon. The questions, confusion, and anger bubbled within her, pushing back the fear and pain of future abandonment until she was almost about to explode by the time she and Glorfindel were left in his room alone.

She heard the thud of the heavy wooden door of the room close. She bit her lips nervously, and opened her mouth to speak, but Glorfindel beat her to it.

"What is wrong, Miriel? You are angry at me."

She gave a wry chuckle: "Nothing ever escapes you."

"That is not true, but I know you. You are angry at me." The elf-lord said quietly as he walked from the door to stand in front of her.

Miriel looked up at him, her red eyes dark with tears and turmoil: "You know me?" she repeated almost hysterically, "you know me? Then do you know how horrible I feel right now? Do you know?"

She bit her lips, trying to control herself, but the words came tumbling out in a rush: "I knew, don't you understand? I knew who you love. I knew how much you love her. You fought for her. You fought for her in these dark times, and…and I knew you see me as a child."

Her voice wavered and started to break: "I…I know you are an honorable elf. I know you made a promise to me in Forlindon, to protect me. But…I too have my honor and my pride!" Sobs choked her words, "I…Do you know how awful…monstrous I feel? How could you? How could you! I am not a child. I made a decision. It was a decision I could live with!"

All this time the elf-lord remained silent, he looked back at her with a look that she had never seen before; it was a look of confusion and uncertainty.

She cried even harder, as if the tears could soothe the pain in her heart. Because to her, that look told her he now realized the mistake he made by binding himself to her, and it killed her.

She couldn't take this. Her chest ached with a throbbing pain until she couldn't breathe from the agony. All the other words, the ranting she had in her mind disappeared as her entire body trembled and ached with the knowledge that the person she cared for the most in this world will hate her for something he had done merely out of a sense of duty and obligation. She turned and ran out of the room, unable to even voice her pain and anger anymore.