See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.

Chapter 11

Galadriel made her way silently through the deserted corridors that led to Celeborn's private study. There she found him sitting at his desk looking through some documents. As she walked in he looked up from his work, the tension he was feeling from Riah was wearing on him. Dealing with all the emotions and trials Riah was facing and worrying about when Dansyl would attack next was occupying much of his time, and therefore putting extra stress on him.

"Darling, I have something to tell you that will undoubtedly lighten your burdens," Galadriel said while gliding over to her husband's side.

"Well then; pray tell my love," Celeborn said as he set down his papers and focused his attentions to his wife.

"The Heir of Krystos has regained her memory." She said with the all too familiar twinkle in her eye.

"Riah, has remembered Haldir? When did this happen?" Celeborn asked standing up abruptly.

"Just now dear, Haldir took her to the clearing and returned to her the ring that she had lost in battle, something about it must have triggered her mind because she remembered everything about Haldir that she had forgotten."

"This is wonderful, I can imagine how this might shock Haldir, I hope he is taking this well."

Haldir turned slightly when he heard the words come out of Riah's mouth. "She has remembered?" he thought, "How could that happen, things like memory loss did not simply vanish in a second, or did it?"

"Haldir," Riah said tentatively and Haldir was pulled out of his thoughts.

"Yes, Riah," he said moving towards where she was still sitting.

"I am so sorry, it must have been awful being completely forgotten like that, I can't imagine how that would make someone feel," Riah said still clutching the ring in her hands.

"Don't for a minute think that it was your fault you lost your memory Riah, because you did nothing to deserve it." Haldir said kneeling in front on Riah and taking her hands in his.

"It is my fault; this whole ordeal is my fault. I led Dansyl to Lorien, to Galadriel's room that night; she almost died because of me."

"Riah, you saved her life; Celeborn told me what you said to him. How you willed him to believe that she could in fact be healed. If you had not been there she would have died before Dansyl ever got there."

"I still feel the guilt, Haldir. How could I not? And on top of Dansyl's attack which led me to my current condition," Riah said motioning toward her eyes, "I am supposed to be the Heir of Krystos and I am letting him down. My powers have not returned and Dansyl's threat is eminent. Haldir, he will come for me soon, I can feel it and I will be powerless against him."

"You will never be powerless, little one. I don't believe that you have the ability to be powerless. And as for your powers, they will likely reappear when you need them the most. And you will not be alone against Dansyl."

"You sound so sure of everything, as if things will go the way you want them to simply because you say it out loud." Riah said tentatively raising her hand to Haldir's cheek.

"I would rather sound sure of myself then give into my worries. For if I did I believe it would be the ruin of me. Enough of this dark talk; we should be getting back to the city. And Riah?"

"Yes, Haldir."

"Thank you for remembering me."

"Your welcome Haldir and thank you for not giving up hope that I would remember you." At that Riah took Haldir's arm and he led her through the darkened woods back to her rooms.

What Haldir didn't have the heart to tell Riah was that he had given up hope of her ever remembering him, in hopes that it would dull the pain he had felt in thoughts of losing her forever.

When Riah woke up the next morning, she immediately felt as if she was being watched. Although she couldn't see the assailant who was no doubt somewhere in her room, she could feel their eyes on her. It was then that she heard it, the whisper of someone blinking their eyes. It didn't occur to her to think how she could have possibly heard something as inaudible as that, for at that moment she bolted to an upright position on the bed, and banged her head with a loud thunk upon something hard.

Her action was met by a loud "Oy!" and the sounds of someone falling off of the bed and onto the floor.

"My my Riah, you have got an awfully hard head!" the voice was Celeborn's from where he no doubt had landed after falling unceremoniously to the floor.

"Celeborn! What were you doing? You scared me half to death!" Riah said leaning over the edge of the bed.

"Good, now we are even from that little balcony stunt you played!" Celeborn laughed as he gathered his robes and stood up from the floor. "I was merely coming to wake you up, but you looked so peaceful sleeping that I didn't have the heart to wake you."

"I do wish I could have seen you robes flying and your hair splayed about as you tumbled to the floor! I am quiet sure it is not something that most would ever have the privilege of seeing!" Riah said laughing as Celeborn sat again on the bed.

"My dear, should I take that comment to heart and think that you would rather see what is underneath the robes as well?" Celeborn teased with one raised eyebrow.

"Hmm, no doubt that would be a pleasing sight, and I must admit it had been a long time since I have seen anything of that nature, but I do believe your wife might protest the idea." Riah had come to enjoy the risqué' repartee that she shared with Celeborn on almost a daily basis, he was still a young randy elf at heart, and she had no problems indulging his ego.

"Yes, I promise you I would be quite enjoyable, and I doubt Galadriel would mind, she might even want to be present."

"You dirty ole' elf! You sure know what to say to make a girl blush!"

"Ah, perhaps I am I bit to old for your tastes, eh? Maybe you prefer someone younger? A certain March Warden?"

"You never were subtle, Celeborn. And that is a subject to be pondered greatly. How could I have blocked him out so easily? It is odd that I would only forget on person."

"In all honesty Riah, we haven't been able to come up with a suitable explanation for your memory loss. I am simply ecstatic to hear that you have indeed regained your thoughts for Haldir. He was much disheartened knowing you had no idea who he was."

"I feel horrible for that Celeborn; I would never want to hurt him intentionally."

"I know darling, I know, but that is now in the past and now we must work to be ready for whatever Dansyl tried to throw at us."

"Very well, can I at least get dressed first?" Riah asked with a smile.

"Of course dear go right ahead, I'll just be right here."

"I bet you will, so you can watch right? I may be blind but I know you can see perfectly well!"

"You caught me their Riah, I almost made it too. Ok, ok I will wait for you outside; let me know when you are ready." Celeborn said laughing as he rose and walked out of the talan.

The next few weeks passed rather quickly for Riah. There had been no further threats from Dansyl, so she had begun to let her guards down a bit. She still walked with Galadriel and played around with Celeborn but she spent most of her time with Haldir.

She still wasn't able to get over her guilt of forgetting him and she felt like she had lost time to make up for. They spent their days about the forest talking, sharing stories of their life. Haldir found her world quite interesting and wanted to learn all he could about it. In turn Haldir began to teach Riah how to fight blindly. There had been no improvement of Riah's sight and they decided that if Dansyl did come she would need to be able to protect herself. She picked up on the sword play quickly and appreciated the way Haldir taught her to nearly float upon the ground as she blocked his attacks. As the time passed they became quite close, talking to one another about everything and anything.

One night Riah was walking with Haldir on the highest flet in the city. Riah felt completely at peace with everything, walking with Haldir at that very moment made her think that things couldn't get any better than they were. It didn't even matter that she was blind, she was in this wonderous world with amazing people, and to top it off spent most of her time in the company of Haldir, one of the realest, most intriguing beings that Riah had ever known.

Haldir was in still many ways a mystery to her, such a strong force to reckon with on the outside, and even harder barriers to break through on the inside. But still he had a softness about him whenever he was with Riah, she could tell that some of the sterness left his voice and despite being blind she could tell that his eyes softened when he looked upon her.

While they were walking Haldir reached down and took Riah's hand in his own. This surprised Riah, not because of Haldir's action, but because it felt so natural to her. It had been a long time since she had felt at ease with any man. They stoped on a balcony that Haldir told her overlooked the forest with a clear view of the full moon. Even now Riah still wasn't used to the presence of the pure-unbrideled magic that lay within the forest.