Title: RESTORATION

Number Author: Fianna

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Tolkien owns the elves of Lothlorien and I write only for the pleasure of their company.

Cast: Haldir, Orophin, Rumil and my own characters

Timeline: Several hundred years after the War of the Ring

Chapter 25

Sweeney strode out of the wood bearing his burden without a word, although Rowen had plenty to say, her angry mutters filling his ear, her fingers pinching painfully, fists beating his hips hard enough he had to clench his teeth. He had taught her many things over the years, and had to admit she'd grown into a handful.

One he was not about to let loose to run back into Haldir's arms. No, the elf would not have it so easy, if he wanted Rowen he was going to have to work for it.

It didn't matter that Rowen would not agree.

He stopped at the edge of the fire, smiled at the amused glance from Thranduil, gave Orophin a look that made the elf return to his seat with a wary expression, and then set his sister on her feet. The slap across his face made his ears ring, thankful only she had not used her fist.

A handful indeed, he mused, capturing her wrist when she would have hit him again.

"Tsk, Rowen, calm down."

"How dare you, fool man," Rowen hissed. She jerked back but Sweeney held her tightly, fully aware Haldir was only steps behind.

"I'm not just a man, remember?" Sweeney pulled her close, unable to avoid their interested audience, he still could speak softly even if she would not necessarily hear what he said. "I only make it more challenging for your elf, sister. You fly too quickly into his arms. What you intend to give is worth much more, even if you do not believe it."

Rowen glared at him. "You go too far, Sweeney."

"I do what I must, as I have told you I will. And if it means you will lie beside me tonight, then you will."

"I can sleep where I like."

"Not tonight, nor tomorrow. Perhaps never," he countered, trying hard not to grow angry. He sat down, jerking her down beside him.

Haldir stood at the edge of the firelight. "I will not be far." He met Sweeney's gaze with a look that meant retribution and then turned away into the shadows.

Rowen sniffed angrily and kicked Sweeney's ankle. "You are not my brother."

Sweeney smiled and settled to lie on his back, folding his hands over his chest. "I am certainly your brother. Who else would be brave enough to thwart the March Warden of Lorien?"

Orophin made an odd sound and Sweeney lifted his head to look at the Lorien warden. The elf was sitting beside Tauriel, a hand covering his eyes and most of his face. Tauriel smiled at Sweeney, her eyes full of laughter.

Rowen rolled over beside him, dragging her cloak from under Sweeney's head with a jerk. She threw it across her shoulders and hid beneath it. Sweeney rubbed his head and then let out a faint sigh. Being a brother was not always an enjoyable thing. He closed his eyes but then could not help but smile. Perhaps, he mused, it actually was.

0o0

Haldir sat just inside the edge of the forest, able to see the fire and those sitting around it, yet far enough away he could not be seen by them. He sat on a tree growing nearly sideways in order to reach the sunlight on the edge of the wood, removing the small pack from his belt to sort through the contents.

"Looking for poison?" Thranduil asked, stopping a few steps away.

"Not needed," Haldir replied without looking up.

"He will not be easy to get past," Thranduil noted.

"As he intends, but there are ways."

"Indeed, poison..."

"I do not want to kill him, Thranduil." Haldir looked up at the Mirkwood King through strands of hair pulled free of its braid, loosened when Rowen had wrapped her arms around him. He looked away as the memory of how she felt flared the heat in his blood. "I may want to hurt him, but not kill him."

Thranduil's gaze said as much. He moved to sit across from Haldir, leaning back against the tree behind him. "So what will you do, March Warden?"

"I have not yet decided."

"But you have decided you want her."

Haldir looked up again, meeting the King's gaze intently. "I have."

"Well, at least that is settled," Thranduil sighed. He smiled at Haldir. "Finding an ent will not be easy. The trees do not wish to cooperate."

"Perhaps you did not say please," Haldir murmured, repacking things into the small leather pouch.

"You should not mock me, Warden. I am a King."

"So you are," Haldir agreed. "But not my king. You have no power over me, Thranduil. I mean no disrespect, however. I make only a point that you are not superior to those here."

"I am," Thranduil declared in a dangerously soft voice. He leaned toward Haldir. "You should remember that, March Warden. I deserve respect..."

"Which has to be earned," Haldir countered smoothly. "Have you come to argue, Mirkwood King, or simply to annoy me?"

"It is far too easy at this moment to ruffle your feathers, I could not resist." Thranduil grinned when Haldir looked up again. "What are your plans?"

Haldir stared at Thranduil and then looked away to the shadowed wood. "We will move into the forest. I can speak to the trees, but you are correct they wish not to interfere. It will be by luck only that we find an ent who will speak. I ..." he stopped, frowned when a flutter of leaves drifted down around them. "I am sure it will take many days if not months."

Thranduil grimaced. "Too long, Warden. I must return to my wood soon. There must be another way."

Haldir replaced the pouch on his belt, looked at Thranduil with a faint smile. "There might be."

0o0

Rowen sat on the grass in a small area clear of trees lit by the late quickly fading sunlight. The forest felt heavy around her, full of shadows. She could not understand these trees and it bothered her. Why have the ability to hear some and not others? Did they speak different languages, like the races of Arda?

Haldir had not explained any further, had kept his distance since the night Sweeney had dragged her from the elf.

She was still angry about that, and glared at Sweeney although it did not help at all as he simply ignored her. And had for the past two days. And yet, Sweeney had kept close, too close, hardly a step from her from morning till night, dragging her to his side when they stopped for the night. She had at first expected Haldir to say something, or do something to counter Sweeney's overhanded tactics, but once again the elf had retreated.

It made a woman crazy. Did he want her or not? Was Sweeney that intimidating that the warden was afraid to confront him? She couldn't believe that, did not want to believe it.

So why was he waiting? Or was he waiting? Or did he simply decide she was not worth his time?

The questions pounded in her head, forming a throbbing ache behind her brow. She rubbed it in vain, squinting to see what Sweeney was doing.

They were alone, Orophin and Tauriel had once more disappeared, while Haldir and Thranduil stood a distance away speaking privately. She wanted to hear what they said, but a glance from Haldir had sent to her to current seat, fuming over both Sweeney and Haldir's lack of reaction. A breeze stirred the leaves of the trees, a faint musty odor of decay and soil tickled her nose. How long to find an ent? Would they find them at Orthanc? Were the tree-herders still there guarding the old wizard, or had they moved on, leaving him alone?

She doubted the wizard would be left unguarded, but how to tell an ent from the mutitude of other trees? Where were they? How did they find one?

All questions she did not have to answer, left more to Haldir and Thranduil.

So she sat, chin on her fists as she waited, and fumed.

Sweeney pulled a thin blade from his boot and picked up a stick, sliding the blade smoothly to remove the bark. It was an effortless thing, the blade extremely sharp, the stick pliable. His fingers gripped the knife casually, his gaze fixed on his hands, lashes shadowing his cheeks, hair falling in disarray once more over his brow.

"So why not grow your hair long as it should be?"

Sweeney grunted faintly. "Why should I?"

"Women would fall all over you if they thought you an elf."

He glanced up from beneath that lock of hair, blue eyes glinting. "Like you have?"

She sniffed, regreting her statement.

"He is not what you need, Rowen."

"Who are you to say? He said as much." Sweeney stubbed her toe in the dirt in frustration. "Perhaps you are right, being half-elven is a taint."

Sweeney sighed and stopped working his blade. "You are not tainted, Rowen. He simply is far older than you and . . ." he grunted looking back to his hand. "I just want you to realize you are worth far more than a quick tumble in the bushes."

Rowen crossed her arms over her chest. "I am sure you've had your share of quick tumbles, Sweeney."

He smiled and then glanced at her. "That's different."

"Oh, is it now? You can drag a girl off to the woods and do what you like and I cannot?"

"No."

"You are not my father."

"But I am your brother in the absence of said father and so, I can say what you will do."

"And if I leave you? Maybe I'll decide to walk away, Sweeney, go on my own without you."

"I won't let you."

"You'll have no say. I am not a child."

He glanced at her again. "Sometimes I wonder."

Rowen stood up. "I am not. I have lived far longer than most men."

"Yet still a youngling by elven standards," Thranduil commented. He stood a few feet away. "But I assure you your youth does not deter the March Warden." He smiled at Sweeney. "He will have his day, trust me. And your sister. But not today, for his mind is set on his mission once more. You will have to be patient, Rowen."

She looked suspiciously at the Mirkwood King. "Why would you tell me this?"

"Because your anger is misplaced. You fret over things that are not real. We have work to do and you are now distracted. The trees feel you do not care about why we have come here."

Rowen flushed and stepped back once. " Can you hear them?"

"I can always hear the trees, Rowen. They are very old here, older than I even." He looked up at the canopy above them. "If we are to find an ent, then we must pacify those that protect this wood. The trees are as yet unsure of our purpose. Too much has been done in the name of evil in this world, and the trees have long memory."

"What must we do?"

Thranduil sighed. "Wait, we must wait. Haldir will find a way, his work as emissary vital in this. I must bow to his experience." The elf shifted his gaze to Sweeney. "Until we find this ent, you will remain close to your sister, but trust me Haldlir will have his way."

The King turned and moved away, settling against a tree, leaving them alone once more.

Rowen glanced around the forest, closed her eyes to feel.

And felt nothing.

0o0

Haldir trailed his fingers along the bark of the trees, moving slowly through the thicket, eyes closed, feet sure, placed without sight nor care. In his mind he spoke softly, urging the sleeping trees to wake, to listen, to call to a creature so much like them yet not.

Nothing answered, yet Haldir was not deterred, continuing his path through the forest a tree at a time.

He loved the trees, had loved those greater than these nearly beyond life itself. Could they not sense this in him? Did it not matter? Did they not care that his mission was to bring new life to his wood? All questions he relayed and repeated, patient, methodical in his argument.

To any who watched, an elf simply wandering in the wood, fingers nearly caressing the trees.

Rowen watched, with Sweeney's ever-present body a few steps away.

Thranduil sat cross-legged on a stump, fingers joined under his chin, eyes closed in some kind of mediation. Orophin crouched nearby, his gaze scanning the forest as if he felt concern, eyes wary.

Tauriel, the last member of their group, stood just behind Thranduil watching Rowen.

The elf's intent gaze made Rowen shiver, knowing, amused, yet also beneath that concerned.

Did she care what Rowen felt, or did?

How much longer would they walk this dark forest, how much longer the delay? Was not Haldir concerned about leaving Rumil behind to guard Lorien?

Too many questions.

Haldir stopped suddenly, lifting his chin as if to breathe in the forest, his hair a long fall of silver down his back, strands tangled in the quiver, nearly covering the sleek arrows he could wield so well. A cloak hid the rest of his to his ankles, buckled to his shoulders with small elegant pins carved of leaves and ivy.

Thranduil shifted and opened his eyes, looking directly at the warden with a lift of his brow.

"It's not working, March Warden."

"It will." Haldir's voice carried softly, full of determination.

"We waste our time, the trees do not care, have never cared for the others of Arda."

"I do not believe that. We must simply continue."

"A waste of time, as I said," Thranduil argued. "We should simply return to Lorien and go on with our lives. The forest will simply not be what it once was."

"I will not be deterred, Thranduil King, I will continue..." Haldir turned around to face Thranduil as leaves fluttered down around him. "I will not go away."

More leaves fluttered, branches creaked in a forest that had no wind. Rowen blinked and looked up at the canopy. There were no squirrels or creatures that might have disturbed the leaves.

Haldir sighed, pulled the dagger from his belt. "Perhaps if I take a seedling from Fangorn, they may connect with ours." He knelt and placed his hand to the ground, fingers gripping the slim knife but casually as the soil rippled in front of him. Thranduil watched with interest, Orophin turned his head sharply.

Rowen held her breath.

The tiny root broke free of the dirt at Haldir's feet and shot up to wrap around his wrist. Another broke free and coiled around Haldir's knee, locking him in place.

Another vine broke the ground at Thranduil's stump, faster than the elf could move, capturing his ankles to knee as he stood up. Orophin did not move, but looked at the vine wrapping his wrist with a lift of his brow.

Rowen froze but nothing moved near her. Sweeney grunted, a sound of near panic behind her.

Tauriel smiled but did not move either.

"Well," Thranduil tested the strenth of the vine, grunted when he could not move. "It seems the trees heard something."

Another tumble of leaves showered Haldir and then the tree behind him moved, slowly, creaking as boughs shifted and stretched, the trunk twisting as if wakened from a long nap.

"Welllll, indeeeed..." a deep voice boomed, echoing in a breathy sound that made Haldir smile. "I am tired of listeningggg to yourrr bickeringggg..."

"Well, indeed," Thranduil repeated, his gaze sly and amused as he looked at Haldir.

0o0