Author's Note: This one's going to be somewhat short, but it's important to the plot and I didn't want to combine things. I did want to address the issue of Haldir – Don't consider him down for the count when it comes to pairings. I would never do that to poor Haldir! I love him too much! I have something special in mind for all of my little elves.

Without further ado, here is the next chapter:

Haldir's dreams had been simple enough. Memories of the long ago past, and what had been significant about them. Haldir could recall first sitting upon a simple Talan, his knees pulled tight to his chest, arms wrapped about them as he looked down upon an elven binding. The girl he seemed to focus on the most, and he knew her name and face by heart. Could feel his fingers in her hair and her laughter, soft as bells twinkling in his ears. He was young then, barely an adult, and already his heart felt as though it had been broken. You are young still Haldir. She'd told him, chuckling as though he should think it all as funny as her. My fate is not with you. I am sorry. Oh, but she didn't seem sorry did she? Not with the time she'd spent with him, not with her stories about a life together, full of hope. It had all been just that in the end. Stories. And in that moment, he'd closed himself off, and he'd become bitter. He'd awoken with her voice in his head, and it left no feeling in him. Not the way it used to. And more and more he became aware that she no longer mattered, and that she hadn't for sometime. He didn't see her face, or hear her sudden rejection anymore, when he felt something for someone. He didn't snap shut as quickly, and it didn't take him as long to peek back out of his shell, if he did. No, now it was done on instinct alone, and the face of the elven woman from long ago, faded into the rain becoming just a memory to be looked back on.

When he had risen Legolas and Elrohir were still asleep, and quietly he'd dressed into his now dry clothes, and silently descended the stairs into the stable. It was where he was now, the stable doors pushed open just enough so that he could peer out at the night sky. It seemed that he wasn't the only one awake, as an old man from the village had approached him as soon as he'd appeared, a silver form in the door way.

"You think it'll flood?" He'd asked him, squinting at him cockeyed through the rain. "That there Silathil says he reckons it's flooded a few times in centuries past."

Haldir had stepped aside to let the man stand with him under the over hang. He recognized him from a porch not too far off, and could sense the uneasiness in him. "I know not," he told him gently, "Though, were it not raining, perhaps I could hear if the water formed in the mountains, or flooded the river."

"You can hear things like that!?" He'd seemed incredulous.

"Aye, I can." Haldir nodded.

"You elves are amazing, I'll tell you. I can't hear my own wife clucking at the other end of the house. I think they calls that selective hearing, if I ain't being mistaken," the old man said, squinting off at the area his house stood in. Haldir just smiled at him genuinely, watching as his whole face drew up, and his eyes turned into slits as he struggled to see in the dark.

"I believe they do," Haldir chuckled finally, patting the old mans back. "And believe me when I say, Elves can be especially guilty of that."

The man seemed surprised. "Is that right?"

"Indeed it is." At that, they both shared a chuckle, and said nothing else.

Elrond's son slept on, hours passing, the storm outside raging for more than its fair share of time, and a light rain still filmed the air as he groggily woke, at least an hour before daylight, clinging softly to the warm arms that clung right back to him. Lips curved into a smile before he leaned in to press a kiss upon the golden haired darling's brow, resuming his lethargic position as he waited for his guests to wake. The day would be spent with the children, again... though the entire village would probably be on edge. The storm, if it had been in the mountains, could do some serious damage, and they all knew it. Elrohir had warned them of the past two floods, had told them what happened, and so whenever it rained this much, every person fretted at least a tiny bit that they might be picking their lives out of the mud later that afternoon. But he was too sleepy to even think of such things right now, and instead simply rested his head between his and Legolas' shoulders, limbs completely tangled by that point. Legs mixed with legs, arms twined about bodies... no one would be able to tell where Elrohir ended and Legolas began! And his dreams... still more had been revealed to him, though it was mainly images of his sister as she grew up... little things like how she enjoyed wearing her hair, the comb she used... how light and merry she was for much of her life. But that had been all. No epiphany. No great disclosure, though it had been wonderful to know his sister once more. He wanted his life back.

The dark-haired elf heard voices down below... soft, merry laughter... and though he didn't wish to abandon Legolas, he slipped from the comfortable embrace, pressing a sweet, gentle kiss upon the other elf's lips, hopefully rousing him just enough to hear his words. "I'll be downstairs, my Sunshine... though I wish I could be here when you wake, I've not the heart to oust you from bed... Come down when you feel up to it..." He didn't bother dressing completely, just threw on a loose tunic over the leggings he'd slept in, combing his hair and braiding it back in one of the pleats the very sunshine he spoke to had taught him before slipping down the stairs in a pair of soft-soled leather shoes. He wasn't at all surprised to see Haldir, though he was a bit startled to see the person he spoke with was old man Tillman. A warm grin of greeting was given, eyes flickering over Haldir for a brief moment before focusing on the kind, elderly man.

"Mr. Tillman? What brings you to the stables this early?" Though the elderly were known to stop by and ride an hour or so, it was rare to see them down at the stables so early. Had he remembered the tales of floods? Perhaps. Elrohir had moved to comfort Sundancer, frowning when she seemed overly skittish. Had it indeed rained in the mountains? A glance of worry was cast to Haldir, before checking the other good creatures for signs of unease. "I thought the storm would never end... even Legolas seemed a bit tense at times. How did you fare the storm, Mr. Tillman? Everyone all right? I hope your dog didn't panic..."

"Weeealp. That old dog panics if a crow caws too loud, Silathil, you know that. Found him tryin' to squirm between me and tha misses." Mr. Tillman gave a sound of defeated distaste, shaking his balding head. "To hell with it. I let him have the bed. There's no way I'm sleepin' with a dog. The misses would soon as kick me out than that blasted dog...can't even get a good night's sleep in my own house. So anyways, I came out to my porch cause it seemed the storm was dying down, then I saw your friend come out. Hard to miss that hair in the dark, I'll tell you. It glows like a flash bug."

Haldir's face went through many transformations, as Mr. Tillman spoke...a lot. All the stages of amusement were there, one right after the other, though he knew Mr. Tillman wouldn't see them to get offended. "I says to him, does he reckon it's going to flood, but he didn't know. Then he says he could hear it if it wasn't rainin'. I tells him that I was amazed how well your kind can hear and that I had selective hearin', but then he tells me that Elves do too."

He laughed then, "Well, it looks like arms and legs ain't all we got in common then, is it Silathil?" He grabbed Haldir's upper arm since he was closer than the elf he'd been speaking to and shook it a little.

Haldir laughed again and looked over to the brunette elf, smiling. "Mr. Tillman's selective hearing seems to be caused by his wife." He teased, sending another fit of laughter from the old mans lips.

"That it is, that it is." he agreed, pounding on Haldir's back a little too hard with a 'thump thump thump'. Haldir didn't seem to mind though, and only grinned.

Elrohir, or Silathil, as the town had come to know him, and was his nickname even before his capture by the orcs, chuckled softly as the man recounted the entire conversation and what had led up to it, the smile never leaving his face. The old folk were friendly here, more so than the middle-aged, and always did have a good tale to tell, even if everyone had heard it nearly one hundred times over. Elrohir only laughed gently once again at the mention of his wife, and he shook his head softly.

"And if you heard his wife, you'd know why. There's a reason she's the best story teller for the children around here. The woman can talk... and talk she does."

Anyone else might have been aghast at the lack of respect Silathil showed toward Mr. Tillman's wife, but the truth was, Mr. Tillman always had the same type of complaint about his wife, and it had become a running joke between the two as time went on. Even when Mr. Tillman was young, only married a few years, he had the same complaint - his wife talked entirely too much, and you could never tell when she was about to say something important mashed between the ramblings. Even now, the man simply clucked at Silathil's jesting. "Oh, yes, yes, yes. She'll talk till the next age if you let her. One thing I can say is that I always fall asleep at night. Ain't never had trouble doing that. Bless her she means well, and I love the woman, but by the sun and moon, sometimes I wish she'd get a good case of the lost voice for a few days," he replied, earning a grin from the dark-haired elf before a warning finally did emerge from his lips.

"The horses are a bit spooked, though, sir... I would at least pack your belongings... just in case. You can always unpack them again if the warning proves false, but you can never get back things left behind..." His head shook in melancholy, for he had borne witness to the first two times water claimed the village, and he was powerless to stop it. The first time, his warning had gone unheeded, and half the town had died in the flood. Only his family suffered no casualties, for they alone trusted him.

Now..?

Perhaps the warnings of three elves might give the village proper warning, if the waters were to come, and indeed, signs were pointing to at least a small overflowing of the banks of the nearby River Ringlo and its tributaries. A small over-flow could be handled: it would make the ground more than a little soggy... it might even flood the floors of a few homes, but it wouldn't sweep the town away as it had in the past. But... if the waters rose and a flash flood occurred, high ground was the only hope to survive. He was sure his own family, after hearing his warnings of the larger, longer storms, was already packing things into bags to load onto the carts each horse would be strapped to lead their lives up into the higher mountains. "I'll have the horses ready to be hitched if we hear any flood waters heading our way... and Legolas and Haldir will help call the alarm if need be." He knew his friends would have no objection to that, and he offered a grim, tightlipped smile to Haldir. From what he'd heard, things were looking good. Dogs... horses... If he saw rats heading for high ground, he'd know for certain what would happen.

With all those comments about the man's wife, Haldir couldn't deny the laugh that had formed in his throat. He was thinking mostly about Elrohir's father Elrond, and about the long and grueling councils he'd been known to hold. Especially one, in particular.

Elrohir had been young still, just when they'd been discovering their attraction to one another, and they were all being put through one of those councils...

Haldir couldn't help but send the memory to Elrohir, if only so he could relate. Haldir had been watching the young elf across from him. Elrohir had seemed to be sitting regally in his fine robes beside his brother, who was obviously asleep. But Elrohir was not entirely innocent, as upon close inspection, he too was about to nod off to the droning sound of his father's steady and stern voice. Haldir was not one to hide his misery at being there, and was slumped forward, his chin in his hand, fiddling with an acorn in his other.

That's when the urge had grabbed a hold of him, and he bent to its will, flinging the seed to hit the youngest twin square in the nose. Try as he may to look innocent, he had no luck in the matter and was easily found out. But that was where he stopped the memory, sensing that Elrohir was more worried than he was letting on - and with good reason!

As the rain was dying down, he could hear something behind it, something that only he knew he (And Legolas, had be been up) could hear, for it was still too faint for even Elrohir to yet grasp. Haldir patted the old mans shoulder gently, helping to guide him to face his home. "Yes, Silathil is right. Go pack up, friend. I think you will not regret it if you do." He encouraged, giving him a very sincere look.

Mr. Tillman stared between the two elves for a moment, then nodded gruffly – it had been all the encouragement he needed.

"Will do," he said thankfully before turning to hurry off as quickly as he'd come.

Haldir turned to face Elrohir completely and walked closer to him, reaching up to touch his braid gingerly with a soft smile playing upon his lips, noticing it was one that Legolas had re-taught him. "I fear it shall flood," he admitted. "I can hear it faintly, far off. But it is gathering. I think the mountains are holding a lot of water. And you can feel it...just as I can, and so can the animals. The unease will wake Legolas, if it has not already."

Elrohir nodded slightly, grinning supportively at Mr. Tillman as he scampered off, sprightly for an old man. Then, worriedly, he turned to Haldir, lips forming an instant frown.

"It'll be another big one. This entire place will be washed out... we're just lucky it'll take a few hours for all that water to trickle into the creeks before it merges with the Ringlo... but once it does, it's just going to barrel down the mountain like an avalanche would, and take down everything in it's way." And my, did the dark-haired elf look worried. Frightened.

He shook his head to chase the unwanted fear away, taking a few steps toward the blonde elf, bridging the gap to embrace him gently, which Haldir returned, going so far as to press a kiss to Elrohir's forehead before the young Lord spoke. "You were missed last night, and I fear it would have been the last in a nice, cozy bed for days, if not weeks." He sighed, drew back slightly, then placed a gentle, innocent kiss upon the Marchwarden's lips – effectively stunning the blond for a moment - before pulling fully back and turning to face his horses.

All of them were skittish, prancing lightly here and there in their stalls, for they knew what would come later that day. "We should pack... Go, wake Legolas and get your things together... I'll go warn the family... then you and Legolas can send word through the village that a flood is coming while I hitch the horses up... get them ready to carry the carts that they'll have to pull..." And his mind was running a mile a minute, working out how to get every to high ground, the horses that could take more than one trip, everything that was needed to keep their lives safe, and eventually, secure once again.

Nervous?

Of course he was! But... perhaps it was his father in him - he took charge like no one else could, calculating with skills he had long before his accident with the orcs, dormant till needed. "We need to hurry... we have hours yet, but they'll go by quickly."

Haldir allowed Elrohir out of his embrace, understanding his hurry to get everything done. He didn't blame him of course, moving an entire village wasn't exactly an easy task. Especially if there were non believers about, in their midst. But Haldir wasn't worried about that. He knew Legolas could just tell a story that would scare the tar out of them, and make them more than ready to go. Still – it would be a long day, and a nerve-wracking one. Elrohir and Legolas would need his support, and the village would need them all to be vigilant and stern.

With a grim look, Haldir turned to follow Elrohir's instructions.

Author's Note (again) – So… there you have it. Short, but vital. Again, I'm BEGGING for someone to help me continue this story with. I'm running out of pre-done chapters to edit! I can almost guarantee that by the end of this year or early next year, I'll have nothing left to post if someone doesn't step forward soon to help.

PLEASE – PM me if you think you can help me. All I'm really looking for is someone who understands THIS Haldir. Please please please, with sugar and sprinkles on top?