Hello! Welcome back to my fic! It has gotten a lot of attention, though very few new reviews. However, I would like to thank BsG-Blondy, ElfLuver13, Maid of Imladris, Haldir's Heart and Soul, and GreenWood Elf for their feedback—it was very much needed and appreciated. Also, I'd like to thank everyone who reads this without reviewing. I'm glad people are enjoying it.

Disclaimer: You know, I put ownership of Lord of the Rings on my Christmas list, but Santa just did not come through for me…maybe next year.

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To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 25: Stay

Silent feet ascended the long stairway up to the dwelling of Lorien's Lord and Lady. A soft blue glow hit Haldir's fair golden hair as he continued up the spiraling stairway at a constant pace. The Lady had summoned him and he had a feeling that this meeting was of great importance, though he did not know quite why. He just had a feeling.

His feelings were seldom wrong.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Haldir quickly walked around the large pool of clear, dark water in the public area and waited for the Lady in the dim light. Then, like a lamp in the dark, there she was, shining in all of her pure glory. With a grace like no other, she descended down the white marble steps of her domain to meet Haldir. Going down on one knee, he greeted his Lady with a bowed head, in awe of her beauty. He did not always do this, but sometimes, he simply could not help himself.

"Come now Haldir—you have known for a very long time that I do not require that." She said, addressing his great spectacle of respect.

"My Lady," he said, continuing his formal acknowledgement of her despite her statement, then rising to his feet to discuss the matter at hand. "You have summoned for me?"

Her eyes darkened and the mood was no longer light. "Indeed," she whispered, and turned away from him to face the dark treetops of her fair city. "Haldir…I fear I have seen something very grave in my mirror this morning."

Haldir felt his heart start to beat faster. The lady had never told him of any of her visions from her mystical mirror. He could hear the ill-will in her voice—she had tidings of bad news for him today. Haldir found himself slightly disturbed when she did not continue with the bad news, but just stood their silently, looking over her night-blanketed lands.

"What have you seen, my Lady?" He finally asked, unable to take it anymore.

"I have seen the dark shadow of war." She whispered silently, turning to face him. Her eyes caught his intensely and held them; he felt as though she was looking into his very soul, gauging his very reaction to the future. Though he tried to hide it, his initial reaction was shock. Elves were not of this world—war was not a thing of the elves anymore. Elves no longer belonged on these shores and there would be no war in Valinor. Why were they going to war?!? It made no sense to him.

"I feel your deep confusion Haldir. While we reside in Caras Galadhon though, we are still members of Middle Earth, even if our elves are leaving these shores for the glorious ones of Valinor. We still remain here and thus must fight for the freedom of these lands. I do not yet know when we will be needed, but when the call comes, we shall indeed help forge a new day where evil will not have such a great hold on the world."

"Yes, my lady." Haldir replied, bowing his head. "I should not have doubted you."

"And you still doubt me now." She said softly, taking hold of his chin and lifting his eyes up to an understanding, though slightly sad smile. "Fear not Haldir; it will all make sense in good time. For now, we must start to prepare for this battle of battles. I shall expect you to immediately start training all of our eligible warriors for battle. Get new warriors battle-ready and advance our older warriors to new levels of skill. Your second-in-command and the eldest and most trusted members of the guard may help you in this task. I put my full faith in you Haldir. It is your job to make sure that our people are prepared to win in battle when the time comes."

"It will be so my lady. I will start preparing for the classes immediately." Haldir stated dutifully, then bowed and turned around to exit, already making intricate plans in his mind.

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Taking a break from the task at hand, Heledhril found his eyes gliding over the empty training grounds. Well…they were almost empty. Since he had not been able to sleep, he thought he would go and practice alone in the training field, but had been surprised to find that he was not the only one there. The new female commander, March Warden Belegwen, was also out on the field, wielding what looked like a very mean sword.

"She most certainly means business…to train so hard at this time of night, with no partner." He thought to himself, curious as to why she would give an 'imaginary foe' a death match in the middle of the night. "I could really learn something if she would dual with me. Perhaps she would like a partner…"

He could not stop wondering and hoping for a chance at seeing her skill first hand, so without much ado, he found himself slowly and shyly approaching her whirling body in the night.

But then, suddenly, she stopped. "Perhaps she has noticed me…" He thought, though she had not looked in his direction yet. She seemed to be quite perplexed with her own sword at the moment. He froze, now slightly intimidated about approaching such a good swordsman. Then, in one mysterious motion, she thrust her sword down into the dirt solidly. Heledhril found himself cocking his eyebrows in confusion as he watched her with interest.

What he saw next astonished him. The lady grasped both sides of the sword's cross guard and then lifted herself into a handstand on the sword. With closed eyes and a look of concentration, she steadied herself. Ever so carefully, she took one hand at a time and moved it to the hilt, all while maintaining her balance on the sword. Not being able to hold it in any longer, Heledhril let out a small chuckle at the craziness of it all, then regretted it as he saw that she had opened her eyes and was staring at him intensely.

"What are you doing, Commander?" He asked, immediately turning serious as to not upset her. It was wrong of him to laugh at someone of such high authority. He could get in trouble for doing so. However, when he next saw her eyes, he knew it was not so, for they were filled with good humor.

"I see you find my methods rather amusing Heledhril. Would you like to try it? It takes a great feat of strength and balance to do it, among other things." She said, her eyes glittering as she waited for his reaction.

Though uneasy about trying something different, Heledhril found that he could not say no to the Commander, who seemed to have better swordsmanship than any other elf he had ever encountered. "I shall feel silly doing this, but if it will help…" He stated, shoving his own sword into the ground firmly.

Belegwen tested his sword, pushing on it to make sure that it was in a steady slice of ground. "Okay, now you must grasp the cross guard and judge how much momentum you will use. Too much will propel you over the sword, while too little will not get you up there. Remember, once you are in the air, you must find your balancing point—a straight spine is a key figure in this."

Still perplexed at everything that was happening, Heledhril looked uneasily at the sword and then at Belegwen. He had always taken her for a rather shy and unconfident person, but right now, she seemed quite different—very certain of herself. How odd to see such a change in her.

Taking hold of the cross guard on each side of the blade, Heledhril took in a deep breath and pushed off of his feet quickly and delicately, only to find that he had overshot his mark and was hurdling over the other side of the sword. He tensed as his fall was stopped by two small hands gripping his calves tightly. "I have you," he heard her say, "I will hold you until you find your balance point."

It was quite difficult indeed. A normal handstand was easy because one's arms were not so close together. It was very difficult to balance in this way. Heledhril could feel the sword shaking in the ground as he tried to pull himself back into an upright position. He felt Belegwen help him along a little, until he found himself in a perfect line with the sword. "Point your toes…good. I am going to let you go now. Focus."

After about five seconds, he felt her hands release their grip and he focused all of his strength into his arms and the center of his body. He felt the sword shaking and starting to swivel a bit as he fought for his balance, then gracefully dismounted before he fell. Shakily, he straightened his back and looked at her. "Indeed, you are correct Commander. It is a very hard test. Where have you learned such training exercises?" He questioned, most curious about her methods. He had never seen anyone do things like this before and wondered where they had originated.

"My father was a guard member, long ago. When he was training, he came up with his own style of sword fighting and started to come up with many exercises that might help train a person to have perfect swordsmanship. When he passed on, he left his book of methods to me and I have tested many of them out, all while forming a few hypotheses of my own. What we have worked on tonight is my own work, which I am greatly excited to try out. I have great hopes that if the method is perfected, it could be of great use to the elves."

"Indeed," Heledhril said, perplexed by the she elf. He could tell that a great amount of her time had been spent on this method. "I would be interested in testing it out with you, if you would like."

"Really?" She asked, looking a bit confused. Her shyness was coming back quickly. "You would help me?"

"But of course!" Heledhril exclaimed, turning on his charm in an attempt to sooth her uneasiness with him. "It is a most interesting theory; I'm perplexed. I have never seen anyone try to improve something like this before. Please, do tell me more." He said, taking a seat on the grassy ground. He watched her as she did the same after pulling her sword from the earth.

"This is all based upon the thought that the sword and elf must be one. By doing balance and strength exercises with the sword, one learns of the sword's limitations and strongholds, as well as one's own. That said, the sword becomes more than just a weapon, but a training tool for all good and necessary things that a warrior should have." She said, then looked over his shoulder and out into the distance. "I do apologize, but Commander Haldir is coming and I will have to work with him now. However, if you are still interested, you could always come out here and meet me again. I am often here at this time."

"Yes, indeed, I will practice your method and meet you out here once I can do it. I am glad that we have had this conversation, milady Commander. Thank you for the lesson and your expertise." Now, both were on their feet and with a small bow, he watched her turn around and approach the Head Commander.

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Immediately, Belegwen knew something was wrong. Though Haldir was almost always serious, there was something different in his demeanor tonight, though she could not quite place what it was. He was…colder, though perhaps a bit detached as well, which was not normal for him. "Come," he suddenly called to her, "There is much for us to discuss." With that, he turned away and plowed into the dark woods with her at his heels, trying to keep up with his long and furious strides.

Indeed, something was bothering him. Belegwen frowned, not really knowing what she could say or do to make him feel better. He had been avoiding her whenever possible, since their night of pleasure, which had been nearly a week ago. He guarded their secret with care, not even talking to her during their 72 hour guard session that had started the next day. Then, the following training sessions had been filled with a tension that was so great that it was nearly unbearable. Now this…

Something had to be done. Belegwen quickly decided that now was not the time for her to be her obedient, shy self. After checking for any signs of Eldarin life around the path, Belegwen quickly grew bold and grabbed his upper arm, pulling it to her bossom tightly to stop him. "Something is bothering you. Tell me." She commanded him as he stopped.

He turned to her, slightly shocked at her actions. Quickly, his eyes scanned the premises to see if anyone was witnessing this. There was nobody about, but that did not stop his anger towards her. "Now is not the time. We will discuss this in the privacy of my tallon." He tersely stated, yanking his arm away from her and continuing on into the heart of Caras Galadhon.

Silently and sadly, she followed him again up the winding steps towards his quarters. There was so much that she did not understand and it brought her an unlimited amount of hurt. She did not understand why she had feelings for this cold beast and why she had given herself to him, as he did not even seem to care. It pained her to think about it all, but yet she could think of little else.

Eventually, they made it up to his room. He opened the door and entered with her following closely behind him, head down in shame. "Sit." He commanded harshly, motioning her to the bed. Lifting her head a little, she sat down and looked up at him, the burden on her heart still showing as greatly as his did. He stared back at her, a slightly odd look in his eyes.

"I have met with the Lady tonight and she did not give news of glad tidings." He started, having Belegwen's full attention. "She has seen a future in her mirror that she is most certain of. We are going to war. Soon."

Belegwen's eyes enlarged as she clenched her fists. "What?!? Who are we fighting at the end of our own age?" She asked tensely.

"We fight the war of the ring. Few details have been disclosed to me; I cannot answer your question. Our only duty now is to start preparing for it. I want you teaching swordsmanship classes. We will work the schedule out tomorrow." He said as he paced the room almost nervously.

"Very well then," Belegwen said coldly, rising from the bed, "Is that all?"

She looked him in the eyes, challenging him to say otherwise. It seemed to make him stop for a moment, as she had planned. "Do not question the Lady's will Belegwen." He stated in a soft, irritated voice.

After walking to the door, her angry eyes met his once again. "It is not the Lady's intentions that I hold in question." She spat, then left feeling quite horrible. She would need time to work all of this out in her head. For now, all she wanted was a nice bath and her bed.

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He stood absolutely still, his eyes still fixed on the door well after she had left. Her eyes were haunting him. Learning about the war did not seem to trouble her as it did him, but she was mad at him—he just knew it. However, what he didn't know was what to do about it.

Trying to ignore it, he found himself stripping down and donning his robe for a bath. Quickly, he went down the stairs to the bathhouse, only to find her exiting it as he entered. Knowing he needed to say something, he grabbed her arm. "Belegwen…"

But that was all he got out, as she ripped her arm away from him and continued on her way without even looking at his face.

Yep, she was mad.

After taking a quick bath, Haldir hurried up the marble steps with the hopes of catching her before she went to sleep. He only made the quickest stop at his tallon to run a comb through his hair before continuing on to hers. He knocked on the door ever-so-softly, but did not wait for an answer before he entered.

The lights had already been dimmed, but she was not in bed. She stood immobile out on the balcony, facing the outer world. He knew she felt his presence, but made no move to turn and face him. Slowly, he approached her, not knowing what he would find. He felt a light breeze as he exited the room onto the balcony. Cautiously, he put his hands on her shoulders. "My lady…" He murmured, slowly sliding his hands down her arms, finding no resistance.

Or so he thought. Whipping around at the speed of light, he found himself face-to-face with a very upset elf commander. Her angry eyes met his and she all but smacked him with her look of indignation. "How dare you?!?" She hissed quietly, grabbing the front of his robe with a clenched hand. "How dare you toy with my heart? I gave you everything I had to give and you ignore me, then come back to beg? Do you think I will accept such poor behavior? Do you?!?"

"My lady, you do not understand-" He started, as she turned away from him and barged back into her room. He continued anyway, following her. "I told you that this has to be a secret. This is the only way that we can have this. I am not mistreating your heart; I am simply not revealing it for all to see."

She stood with her arms crossed, staring at the wall in the faintly lit room. He came up behind her again and gently put his arms around her waist. Feeling no opposition this time, he bent down slightly and brought his lips within an inch of her tiny, pointed ear and whispered sensually, "I still feel the same as I did last week. I care about you, Belegwen."

Now, he felt her tremble in his arms and drew her in closer until he could feel every curve of her backside against the front of his body. Breathing softly on her ear still, he lowered his head and placed a few slow and tender kisses on her neck, awaiting her reaction as his hands slid languidly over the smooth satin robe that covered her stomach.

"If that is how you feel…" She said breathily, "Then why are you so unkind when we are not alone? You say you are just trying to hide…hide what is there, but you needn't be so cruel." She whispered, trying to sound angry but failing more and more with every kiss that he layered up and down her soft neck.

Quickly, he turned her around so she faced him and pulled her chin up with two fingers so that she faced him. Her eyes stared into his and he felt his heart start to beat double-time as he tried to find the right words to say.

"I'm sorry."

It was all he could come up with, but it was enough because fiery lips hit his own immediately with a passion he had not dreamed of. One of her hands pushed into his hair while the other dragged down his back, pushing her close against him. He could feel the heat and curves of her body through their thin robes and shuddered as he grasped her tighter and joined in.

It was only one kiss, but it felt like it could burn on for all of eternity. Finally, he pulled away, gasping for breath, in awe of the power of it all. Silently, he pulled her into his embrace and stroked her damp hair, shutting his eyes to savor the moment. "My lady…," he murmured into her hair, "I will try not to be so harsh. You are a commander and deserve more respect than what I have given you. However, I will not allow all others to see any hint of what is happening here. This is a secret and it must be well guarded. You must not think that my actions as a commander have anything to do with my feelings towards you. Promise me you will remember this in the future. No matter how rude or cruel I am, you must promise me that you will let it all go because I am only being what I must—I am doing my job. Do not fear my harshness in the outside world; my feelings for you will not change."

Leaning down again, he kissed her forehead softly. "Promise me now."

She looked up and into his eyes, studying them for sincerity, as she always did. Pushing back a piece of his white-gold hair, she gave him a soft peck on the lips. "I promise."

Happy that she was happy, Haldir smiled, then his eyes glittered and he shoved her against the wall. He nuzzled his face against hers and whispered in her ear, "May I have my way with you?"

"Do you not always?" She murmured, taking his lips roughly with hers and pulling his against her. He grasped her to him and let his hands wander, making her elicit gasps as he touched her in all the right places. His hands went to the tie on her robe and it slid off easily. He lost all control as they reached her bed and he did indeed have his way with her.

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As Belegwen gasped for air, she felt him roll off of her and leave the bed. No, this could not be. He could not just 'have his way with her,' as he had so grossly put it, then get up and leave and expect everything to be fine between them. With the quickness of lightning, her hand shot out and grabbed his arm as hard as she could, trying to clamp on with the iron grip that she knew he had mastered a long time ago.

Her eyes burned into his with a questioning longing for something that he did not understand. "You cannot leave yet." She commanded.

His dark figure looked back at her, his face leaning back down into the small tendrils of dim light that hit the wrinkled bed sheets and her forlorn body, questioning what she wanted silently. "Belegwen, I must go…we have a big day tomorrow and I have only a few hours left to sleep."

Her face became sad and unreadable. She paused, trying to think of the right words to say. "Haldir…all I ever do is give. I give to my people, my land, my lady…I give to you my body and my loyalty. I have given you your comfort…now please…stay and give me mine." She said, begging all while loathing herself for sinking to the level of begging. Why should she beg for his attentions? The whole 'care' thing had obviously just been a big ploy to get her in bed, had it not?

She did not know what to think, and that tormented her heart to no end. All the while, he looked down on her, staring into her eyes with confusion. Finally, he questioned her with an odd expression on his face, "Was that not comfort for you? Did I not give you pleasure?"

"Yes," she shot back immediately, "Yes, you gave me great pleasure, but it is not comfort."

He still looked confused. Male elves…good grief. "Then, what must I do?"

She looked down, wishing she had just let him go. She did not want to plead with him or make him uncomfortable. This was just a big affair, nothing more.

"No," He said suddenly, intensely. He made her look up at him as he sat back down on her bed. "You must tell me what to do. You promised me that you knew of my feelings and intentions and I tell you again, they do not waiver. Tell me what I may do for you."

She saw what she thought was the truth in his eyes. It bothered her; she wondered if what she thought was sincerity really was not. However, it was there, so she must ask.

"Stay with me." She said, giving way to the desperation in her heart for something of permanence. "Please. Even if it's just until I go to sleep. Stay." Then, she shut her eyes, for fear of seeing his anger at such a silly, girlish request. She waited for his reproach…

But it never came.

Instead, she felt him lift the sheet and join her in bed, pulling her towards his naked body. She opened her eyes when she felt his warm skin upon hers and found herself face to face with him. "Like this?" He questioned softly, pecking her cheek as he pulled her into his hard, muscular arms.

"Yes," she breathed, terribly surprised that he was still here. Gently, she snuggled her head into the crook of his shoulder and stared up into the glass roof of the ceiling, looking at the stars.

"Anything for you." He muttered, before wiggling a bit to get comfortable. Then, she sighed softly as his breathing caught a regular pattern.

"Perhaps," she thought, "there is hope for us still."

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So, what do you think? I'm presenting you with an extra-long chapter today. It's the longest I've ever wrote. I plan on it being the first of many because you guys deserve longer chapters than what I've been giving you. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it. Though my classes start in soon, I will try to make time for this in my busy schedule. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful day!

-P.G.