After many hard days' ride, we reached the woods of Lothloríen. Upon looking at the aged, breathtaking trees, I felt a blanket of familiarity and comfort envelope me.
"Welcome, Lady Terumi and Captain Boromir, the Lady of Light has been expecting you for quite some time," an elf greeted us, and who I assumed was the one who replaced Haldir. At the thought of the late elf, a pang filled my heart; I should have done something...I could have healed him.
I bowed in greeting, and blinked away the tears that threatened to fall. Boromir followed suit, although his eyes narrowed when the newly appointed march warden came up and took me by the hand.
"Come, Lady Terumi, you must be weary from your journey," the Elf murmured, and led me further in Caras Galadhon.
Hours later, Boromir and I had been fed, bathed, and allowed a lengthy repose. I was garbed in an Elven dress that shone like moonlight against the great sea surrounding my tribe. But what surprised me was that I had not seen Lady Galadriel yet, and that troubled me for an unknown reason. I rose from my bed, unable to sleep much anyways, and walked down the familiar path that led me to the river's shore. I removed the slippers from my feet, drew up the skirts of my dress, and placed my bare feet into the water. A jolt of grief wracked my chest when I did not feel the familiar rush of exhilaration as my feet were encompassed by the surprisingly warm water. Was this how the water felt to everyone else, so unattached and lifeless? A breeze raked its gentle fingers through my unbound hair, and the long-forgotten piece of the woods smoothed away the lightest cracks upon my soul. A shuddering sob escaped my lips; how could such beauty and peace exist in a world fraught with such dark and overwhelming evil?
A strong arm enveloped me about the waist from behind and a body molded against mine, which caused me to tense and gasp. "I knew I would find you here," a baritone voice murmured, one that I knew quite well.
"Boromir," I mumbled, and fell into him.
"Why do you cry?" he inquired, gently raking his fingers through my hair and his tenderness only served to make more tears spill. "Oh Terumi," he whispered, and buried his face into my hair.
"I fell so empty...I- I have never felt this alone...even when..." I trailed off brokenly, "How a-am I to d-do anything n-no-now?"
Boromir was quiet for a time, but I knew he was lost in thought. His arm tightened around me, and then he finally replied, "I cannot even begin to empathise how you feel at this moment, but heed my words when I say that the presence you bear about you aids all of us- whether you possess your bending or no. Many look to you as their pillar of hope and for strength when they have none...and I- I look to you when I wish to know why I need to keep fighting and be the man you believe in me."
The hand that was laced within my hair freed itself, and somewhat awkwardly brushed away the tears that clung to my face. I leaned into his touch, and my heart swelled with an unfamiliar, albeit welcome, warmth at his tenderness. "Boromir," I whispered, unable to form any proper words of gratitude except for the manner in which I spoke his name.
"Do not thank me, you need not ever thank me," he chided softly, and nuzzled his nose against my neck. "Listen," he mused suddenly as we sat in silence.
"May it be an evening star shine down upon you. May it be when darkness falls, your heart will be true. You walk a lonely road, oh, how far you are from home," a voice beyond all those who were deemed fair sang out through the woods, "Mornie utulie; believe, and you will find your way. Mornie alantie, a promise lives within you now..." As the voice trailed off, fresh bouts of tears fell and sobs sounded.
"Sh, sh, I have you," Boromir soothed, he turned me in his arms so that he could hold me to him.
"I'm sorry," I mumbled hastily, embarrassed, and tried to get on my feet.
"Never apologise for crying, Terumi, never apologise."
I settled into his arms, and proceeded to relinquish all of my control over the emotions that I had so dutifully kept hidden away to all but myself. Boromir said nothing, only holding me protectively in his arms until I finally succumbed to exhaustion.
The next morning, I was met with a melodic voice gently calling my name. I opened my eyes and saw Lady Galadriel sitting on the edge of my bed; I lurched upright, which caused a small smile to upturn her lips. "Calm yourself, young waterbender," she spoke softly. At her moniker, tears burned my eyes, and her hand came up to cup the side of my face. "Do not feel such agony over something beyond that of your control," she mused, "Come with me." Numbly, I followed her out, going deep into the woods of Lothloríen. "A very powerful and ancient dark magic has fallen over you, imbued into the blade that struck you down in the battle...crafted by Sauron's treacherous hands- you know this," she said with gentle omnipotence.
"Yes," I whispered, bowing my head.
"Do not let the Enemy defeat you so easily, you have a promise within you...one that I shall see fulfilled."
"But how? My bending is gone- Saruman said so."
"Terumi, have faith in yourself, and time shall see it through. I want you to sit by the pool of water, look into the water, and clear your mind," she instructed.
I did as she said, but no matter how hard I tried, I could not clear my mind. As I stared into the water, two things remained in the forefront of my mind- the desperate longing to bend the water before me and the wistful thought of all the forms I have done in times past. For hours, I sat there with a mind full of muddlesome thoughts; Galadriel somewhere behind me.
"Brush away the emotions that cloud your mind...discipline your mind," she whispered in the wind.
I gritted my teeth, and I tried to do as she requested; however, I could not refrain from trying to reach out with my mind to commune with the water as I intimately had done before. I felt the darkness that swarmed within my soul bubble to a tempest, and a cold sweat trickled down my spine. I sat at the pool's edge for hours; I somehow could sense the sun's movement across the sky.
"Enough," Galadriel said suddenly, making me jerk in response.
Strangely exhausted, I took her offered hand, and was met with the sight of Boromir standing along the edge of the glen. When he saw me leaning against Lady Galadriel for support, he wordlessly came up to me and took me into his arms.
"I can walk, Boromir, put me down," I argued feebly.
"You look exhausted," Boromir argued, "Come, you must eat." He carried me towards where the Fellowship had stayed and I found a meal laid out and waiting for us.
"Thank you," I murmured in fatigue, and held onto him as he carried me to a place where I could sit. As much as I loathed admitting it, he was right- I was exhausted. I smiled faintly up at him when he set me down on the ground with great care.
We ate in silence, until Boromir suddenly asked, "Do you miss your home?"
"I constantly miss being surrounded by the ocean, my namesake...and I miss the only friend I had there. But my missing her is out of my control- I would miss her the same there as I do here," I replied faintly.
"What happened to your friend? Your namesake?"
" She died…My parents named me after the ocean...'Terumi' means 'bright, shining ocean.' My grandfather told me I was born amidst a fierce oceanic storm, and that when I came into the world...the ocean ceased its tempest and calmed," I mused softly, my throat growing thick with melancholy at the mention of Yue and my parents.
"Why have you not spoken of your parents in times past?" Boromir inquired gently.
"My mother died shortly after I was born, and my father went mad from grief...some say he wandered onto the thin ice and was lost- other rumours say that he drowned himself- because- because he was unable to raise the very being that stole his wife away," I explained, my voice barely above a whisper, "I have lived with my grandfather since the very beginning...until I came here." I blinked back the tears that burned and clouded my vision as I asked him hoarsely, "Do you often think of Minas Tirith?"
"Not a day goes by where I do not think of the White City," he mused, eyes slightly glazed over as he lost himself in reverie.
I let him think back on happier times, and thought of the state of my world. Was it freed from the tyranny of the Firelord, or had the Avatar failed? I wished that the latter was not the truth, but in all honesty- I hardly felt a part of that world anymore. I no longer saw the division of race through the elements; but of Dwarves, Elves, and Men- my enemy was no longer Firelord Ozai, but Sauron and his puppets. My faith no longer lay with the Avatar but with Frodo.
"Terumi?" Boromir gently calling my name pulled me away from my thoughts, and I looked to him. "Will you ever be the same?" he murmured.