Raali brushed the hair back from her eyes and re-braided her hair while someone else was on watch. She stared solemnly into space, an apathetic gaze haunting her usually expressive face. Slender fingers moved nimbly and skillfully through dark hair as she wove several warrior braids. She was tired, emotionally and physically, but was relieved that the day was over. Several companies of elves had come through seeking to trade and improve diplomacy with the stronghold that is fair Lorien and it was almost as distressing as an Orc attack trying to escort them through the forest under an ever watchful gaze.

It had been a good three weeks since the 'incident' with Haldir and though her heart was heavy, she felt that she must go on. In the back of her mind, she knew the only reason why she had not faded that very night was because of Eland. She felt more than grateful towards him. He had held her all night as she cried and whimpered Haldir's name in the dark, giving her the emotional support that she needed so dearly. She knew that the other soldiers believed that her and Eland were involved, but she did not care and was relieved that he as well did not seem bothered by it. Merel, however, was rarely around, always busy with some menial task that the March Warden had burdened upon him. Raali had not had the change to see him in a while but was too caught up in her duties to truly notice anything askew.

She jumped out of her thoughts as a distress signal was sent through the air. Grabbing her bow, she and the other soldiers slid quietly out of the talan and moved through the trees towards the North East side of the border where the distress call was sent from. They moved quickly, seemingly mere flashes of light in the trees. When they arrived, they set right into battle as they saw that they were under attack. Several elves had already been killed and their bodies lay strewn on the forest floor, stretched out, almost reaching towards something, towards home. Raali felt a wave of nausea as she caught scent of their spilled blood and organs on the ground mixed in with that of dead Orcs.

She moved quickly with her sword, remembering to block and being more cautious than the previous time. An hour later, they had killed off the majority and sent a small group after the Orcs who had fled.

A fuming March Warden pushed through the crowd of confused warrior-clad elves.

"They should have never been allowed this close to the border!" he roared. "How was it that they were not sighted before?" His steel gaze turned to the frightened and worried looking soldiers of the North Eastern border patrol.

"They caught us completely by surprise, sir, " a paled soldier blurted out.

Haldir's gaze slid to him. "By surprise?" he asked with gritted teeth. "A group of 87 Orcs caught you by surprise!"

The elf swallowed hard. "Yes, sir," he nodded. "We were on very careful watch when they attacked. We did not hear or see them."

Haldir turned away, deep in thought. "So the enemy grows stronger," he said. "Then we must be twice as fast and twice as fierce." He turned back suddenly towards the Captain. "And ever more watchful. Twenty of our Lorien brethren died tonight defending our land and our people. Send word to the Lady though I am sure she is already aware."

Raali rushed through the crowd, eager to get back to her post. Tears shone in her eyes though she did not dare to let them slip through. A dark mood had set upon the warriors of Lorien. And there was a soft lament for those that died, though she guessed that the one in Lorien was much louder and much more heart-wrenching. It tore at her to think that many of those elves had families and partners that would probably fade along with them.

She spotted Eland a few feet away and called to him.

He turned and looked at her, tears in his eyes.

"Several of my friends...," his voice trailed off. Raali said nothing as she embraced him and allowed him to cry into her shoulder, deep sobs that spoke of a most painful loss. She looked around to see that Eland was not alone in his tears and she wondered why she was not mourning so fretfully as well. Perhaps it was because she had become jaded, had become used to the pain of loss that she no longer felt it as others did. If her mother's death certainly didn't do it, then Haldir's massacre of her heart certainly finished the job.

She gently pulled Eland up and supported him as they walked to the dining area, weak with fatigue and grief. And no matter how much she had urged him, he would not eat. He said very little on their way back to his talan, a sad expression on his face that seemed like it would be there for all eternity.

Yet Raali knew of nothing more that she could say to him. What could one say at a time like this? And she knew she was the worst at these 'heart-to-heart' talks, especially when it was her who was supposed to be doing the talking. But she had to try. She had to try, for Eland.

"Eland," she began but he cut her off.

"I think I'm just going to sleep," he said, his voice, no longer filled with emotion, sounded somewhat distant and cold. She was taken back at his words since she did plan on spending the entire night consoling him, as he had done with her.

"But I want to be there for you Eland!" she cried as he turned to leave. He turned back and smiled.

"You have been here for me and given me all the support I could ever want," he said warmly, "But I need to be alone now to reconcile with my thoughts. That is all."

"Well if you should ever need anything...," she bit her lip.

"Of course," he smiled again and turned away. "Thank you Raali."

She watched him walk away, still shocked and a bit hurt that he had not wanted to be in her company tonight.

Kicking away rocks with her boots, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and smirked at the situation. Here she was, alone again. She realized that she had hated being alone at times like these when the mood was so melancholy. She just wanted to be with someone and talk about what happened. She just wanted someone's company.

After taking a quick bath at the river, she climbed up to her talan only to find that her hopes were answered but not in the way that she had expected.

"The March Warden has a message for you," one of the soldiers yawned and handed her a scroll. He was indeed requesting her presence at his talan. She felt a pang of fear and anxiety. And shame, though for what she did not know.

Walking towards his talan, she tried to 'fix' her heavy wet hair as best as she could. She did not know why she cared about what he would think of her and did not know why exactly she was trying to look nice for him. Her actions seemed scripted almost, as if she had done this so many times that it had become habit.

Indeed, it had.

She paused before she started to climb. What did he have to say to her? Did he want to reconcile? Did he wish to apologize? Her mind was blazing with a mixture of curiosity and dread.

She knocked twice at the entrance and heard his deep voice call for her to come in. Awkwardly, she walked in and stood before him, though not too close, just enough so that she could establish eye contact and not be chastised for anything.

"Please relax," he said to her and motioned towards a chair. Her eyes followed his hand gesture but she remained in her position, staring him down with an apathetic expression.

He raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

"I have received word from the Lady about news concerning your brother," he told her. "He was executed this morning. She knew you did not wish to attend so she scheduled it for a date that you would be away."

She felt her stern demeanor relax slightly at those words and she nodded at her acknowledgment.

"Is everything alright, Raali?" Haldir asked her suddenly, his eyes concerned. "Do you need to talk about this?"

She wanted to spit in his face.

"Yes March Warden," she said, " everything is fine. I don't need to talk. May I be dismissed?"

His eyes narrowed at her attitude and she hoped he had realized that he meant nothing to her any longer. At least that is what she kept telling herself as she gazed upon his handsome face. In reality, it was taking up all of her energy not to run over and maul him with hugs and kisses until he apologized and professed his love.

She was hoping that he would start to discuss what had happened between them but he did not.

"I'm sorry I have not spoken to you in a while," he said, his eyes piercing and searching her own. "I have been very busy. You must know that I am often very busy at the border. In fact, I will probably be up all night pouring over these maps and sorting through these reports."

She nodded but said nothing. He could see that his words had no affect on her whatsoever and he sighed and dismissed her. As she turned to leave, she saw him out of the corner of her eye, close his eyes and rub his temples. He was tired, no doubt.

'It must really be a burden to tear someone's heart to pieces,' she thought bitterly.

'Bastard.'

Yet on the way back, she could not help but choke down a sob. Tears sprang to her eyes yet again but she quickly swiped at them with the back of her hands.

Fuck. It still hurt.

She would get over this, she assured herself. Haldir had only been her first love. Everyone was upset about losing their first love, right? Everyone eventually gets over it, right?

"Right," she whispered to herself and pushed her chin up as she walked, forcing herself to regain military demeanor as she neared her talan.

Yet when she returned, there was no one there. Strangely enough, the talan was empty.

Something was not right and she frowned as she looked around for any signs of a note. Sighing, she suddenly heard many voices.

Grabbing her weapons, she raced swiftly to the forest floor, only to find a large group of soldiers walking back to their talans, talking solemnly but in a much improved mood. She spotted some friends and made her way over to them.

"What is going on?" she asked.

"We're going home," Miras, a recent friend of hers who was also one of the elves she shared the talan with, said with a sad smile. "We will return in a few weeks but the Lady has granted us a leave of absence."

Raali sighed deeply. She was relieved, but also still upset from the losses. In truth, she tried to shut out the truth and when she did, it didn't seem real. It seemed as if none of it happened, but then reality would set in and she would know the pain all over again. It upset her to think that she dreaded the lament that she would hear when she came home. It was unavoidable and the entire city would resonate with sadness. There could be no hiding from it. The laments forced the entire city to mourn.

'The elves of Lorien can be so sadistic sometimes,' she thought to herself.

'But haven't I mourned enough?' she thought as she walked back to her talan, 'Haven't I been through enough where I shouldn't have to mourn the loss of anyone else?"

She felt angry all of a sudden. Why were they forcing her to mourn for more people when she had already lost so much?

'Well they did sing a lament for your mother,' a voice in the back of her mind snapped. 'They mourned for your loved ones. They took you into their city. The least you could do is mourn for theirs.'

"But why me?" she yelled out loud, causing a few elves to turn their heads and look at her curiously. She ducked her head and kept walking.

'Those elves that lost their brothers, life mates, fathers today,' the voice continued, angry and determined, 'don't you think they suffer too? Don't you think they will mourn as you have mourned?'

Oh, who was she kidding? She stopped and closed her eyes, leaning against a tree.

She knew she was acting selfish, and stupid, and bitter, but all in all, the pain was still too fresh in her mind. The situation with Haldir was not helping either. She just wanted...peace of mind. Yet every time, it seemed something new would arise.

She always knew city life was more complicated, but did it have to involve so much drama? Sitting down on her cot in the talan, she closed her eyes and smiled. She was going home, even if it was for a few weeks. And when she did, she would take a long hot bath.

Alone.

A/N: Well, this is yet another connecting chapter. I was thinking of making this the second to last chapter, but realized that I always have this bad habit of ending my stories in such a...how shall I put this...CRAP way. I need to learn how to write good endings and so far I have been failing miserably. I have a pretty clear view of how I want it to end and realized that if I ended it here, it would be so abrupt and still leave questions unanswered.

Thank you all for reading and reviewing!

ALSO, PLEASE READ HERE! I need YOUR help. It's not mega important but I will love you very much if you help me (yes, love, Mesopotamia love). So there was this story that I had on my favorite's list for a while which I foolishly erased and now want to reread. HOWEVER, I can't recall what it was called or who it was by BUT I do know that the story had the plot of the movie Ever After (you know, the one with Drew Barrymore. It was like Cinderella only cooler!) and the summary claimed so as well (about being like the movie ever after). I have tried searching for hours and looked at my reviews history, but nothing has come up. It IS quite an old story (I think it was published in 2001 or 2002 or something like that). I also remember that it was a Legolas fic with the character with nickname of 'Ari' (I can't remember the actual name but I can remember the nickname, figures doesn't it?) who is the nanny for Legolas' younger brother. It was quite a well-written story (from what I can remember), so if anyone happens to remember reading it or has it on their favorites list, please tell me what it is called or who it is by! My love is guaranteed!