Chapter 23

Here I am! With yet another update, sort of boring and kind of slow, but some information in there you can't miss out on. Now that this chapter is finished, I can relax and just hope you guys enjoyed it because the beginning was a pain in my arse to write. I am so out of practice!

In order to keep my Elvish up to par, I've decided to include at least one moment in each chapter where the characters speak only in the language. Sorry (Not really), but I don't want to loose what little I do know. Enjoy!

Anyway, I hope you guys like this and I would LOVE some true insight to your thoughts! Give them to me, I love it when people pick things apart and detail it. Helps me get better at writing!

-I do NOT own LotR or it's characters

-I DO own Heather, other oc's and the plot

~TL

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"Kuile, Heather." (Awake)

"Utu'Amin ooma..." (Follow my voice)

"Tul'n'alaquel a' lle nosse." (Come back to your family.)

"Lye feith'ten lle." (We wait for you.)

Heather groaned softly and squeezed her eyes shut against the light shining against them. To put it bluntly, she felt like crap, imagine going out and partying on new years eve, times that about ten and add fifteen shots of tequila to it and you'd have the same feeling she is.

A dull roaring muted the rest of the world around her, making the headache pounding away in her head worse than it already was. Though, with her disjointed thoughts scrambling to make sense of things again, it could be the headache was causing the roaring noise. Taking in a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes, squinting them against the painful slants of sunlight filtering through the curtains in her room.

Though, thankfully, her bed was as soft as ever... Hold up.

Curtains... Bed... Her room?

Ignoring the pain in her head, she shot upright in wide-eyed astonishment, immediately regretting it afterwards when the throbbing in her brain decided to skip right past rock hitting rock and straight onto jackhammer to the skull portion of headache pain. Letting out a soft groan, she leaned her head against her knees and closed her eyes, trying to push it away... Well at least to the point where she didn't feel like someone was attempting to rip her head open with a pair of pliers.

Suddenly a faint pressure made itself known on her person, familiar and itchy... She knew this feeling. Slowly lifting her head back up, Heather stared into the eyes of her Ada, tears filling hers with alarming intensity when a rush of emotion suddenly engulfed her. "Ada..." She managed to whisper, a hand reaching over to him.

"Amin tinu..." (My daughter) He reached out and wrapped his hand gently around hers and sat on the bed beside Heather, allowing the young elleth to curl up against him and cry on his shoulder. Without saying a word, he simply ran a hand through her hair soothingly and listened to her half-sobs as she clutched the front of his tunic.

Minutes passed into an hour before Heather finally managed to calm down, her sobs becoming hitched breaths between shuddered sighs. When Elrond was certain she had calmed enough, he pulled back and tipped her head up so he could look at her face, the same gentle smile on his as he examined her. "Fain'lle nwalma tuulo' Tel'hoon Natul' i'yeste vano a'quella." (Releasing sadness from the heart becomes the first step to heal from fading.)

Heather hiccuped slightly and frowned in confusion, taking the glass of water Elrond offered her. Wrinkling her eyebrows, she pondered over the new word she never learned. "Quella?" (Fade, Fading)

He sat quietly for a moment, his gaze drifting from her and to the open windows, the curtains fluttering from a soft breeze. "Quella mart'a Tel'Quessir iire tumba nwalma san'sen." (Fading happens to the people -Elves- when deep sadness takes them.) He turned back to look at her, a hand reaching up to brush her hair from her face, a sad look etched into his. "Nir'um il'kuile tuulo' ta." (Many do not wake from it.)

Now that was something Heather could understand, her eyes widening when the realization hit her. Reaching up, she ran a hand through her hair lightly, trying to make sense of the situation. "Amin yest'a Quella?" (I began to fade?)

Reaching out, Elrond laid his hand on top of her limp one sitting on her lap, regaining her attention once more. Looking up at him, she saw for the first time the marks of strain and stress around his eyes, the tight line to his lips and the pained look in his gaze. "No, Heather. Manka I'yeste um'n'uma kol'lle, lle aa' cael'fair." (Yes, Heather. If I'yeste did not carry you, you may have died.)

"Nan'sut?" (But how?) Turning her hand over, she wrapped it around Elrond's hand and stared down at them thoughtfully. Belatedly, she noticed just how thin her fingers were compared to his, her skin much too pale to be considered healthy. "Amin um'il sint." (I do not know.)

"Amin neek..." (I see.)

"Heather..." Elrond prompted her to look back up at him again, a faint smile on his lips once more when she did. "Lle toror ar' seler' mern'ele'lle." (Your brothers and sister want to see you.) Heather smiled at that and pulled her hands back gently to run them over her hair, attempting to make herself look presentable. Chuckling under his breath, Elrond stood up and held a hand out to her. "Tolo." (Come.)

Raising an eyebrow, she put her hand into his and let the ellon pull her slowly to her feet. Once upright, Heather was struck with vertigo and swayed alarmingly. Reaching out, she rested her hand on his shoulder, eyes closed as she breathed slowly until it passed. "Lle cael'kaima ten'nir're." (You have slept for many days.)

He hesitated for a moment, making Heather crack open an eye and look over at him curiously. He never hesitated unless it was something he knew wasn't exactly good. "Lle aa'elelle cael... Natuln'ataya." (You may see you have... Become different.)

"N'ataya sut?" (Different how?) Heather finally straightened back up and frowned slightly at him, the faint headache returning after her brief bout of dizziness and making her thoughts fuzzy. Elrond smiled slightly and held out his arm for her to take without another word. "Fine keep your secrets." She sighed in English, making him laugh quietly under his breath as he lead her from the room and down the open hallways of the healing ward.

Arwen and the twins watched with mounting amusement as Heather gaped at herself in the mirror they had so kindly set up for her when she woke. Raising an eyebrow, Elladan bit back a laugh when she reached out with a single finger to poke at her reflection and jumped slightly when she realized that yes, the person she was seeing was indeed herself.

"Um..." Heather leaned closer and stared at herself with furrowed brows. "One question."

Arwen shot the twins a warning look when one of them opened his mouth to, no doubt, say something sarcastic and stepped up behind her sister. Reaching up, she gently brushed the younger elleth's hair behind her shoulders and began braiding it with quick, sure movements. "Ada does not know." She finally said with some reluctance, eyes roaming over Heather's taller frame curiously.

"We've never had anyone show up from another world before." Elladan piped up, one shoulder raising in a shrug. "So we have nothing to compare this to." Elrohir added, his own shoulder, opposite of his twin's, raised up in a shrug of his own.

"So... While I... Slept, I changed?" Heather asked quietly, tearing her eyes away from her altered appearance and over to Elrond's reflection standing in the background. "Just how long did I sleep?"

The twins exchanged a look and frowned slightly when Arwen wrapped her arms around her tightly. "For several weeks..." She whispered quietly, her voice trembling ever so slightly with barely leashed emotion. "Ada would not let you fade and refused to leave your side."

Locking eyes with Arwen's in the mirror, Heather's gaze drifted back to her face. Her new face, and new body. Truthfully it wasn't like she changed into a completely different person. In reality, she looked almost the same.

But her hair was one thing that threw her off, it had always been long enough to brush her shoulder blades. Now it hung low enough to cover her entire back, and her face! No more baby fat clinging to her cheeks and jaw, or anywhere else for that matter, as if it had simply melted away.

On the plus side to all of this, she now understood why she had vertigo when she stood up earlier. Biting back a sarcastic laugh, she eyed her taller frame critically. It wasn't like she grew several feet and now towered above everyone else in some cosmic twist of fate. She was still considered short compared to the rest of the elves.

But she had to of grown at least half a foot if not a few inches more. At the very least she was taller than most human women by a little bit. "But I still don't understand why or how... I was... Well I looked human up until now. Why did I change suddenly months after I show up here?"

"I do not know." Elrond finally spoke up, making Heather turn around for the first time since catching sight of her reflection to face him. "Gandalf is searching for a reason as we speak."

"So he doesn't even understand..." Looking down at her fingers, she frowned at how thin they were thoughtfully. "This can't be healthy for the body to shift like that."

"You did have a headache up until a little bit ago." Elladan said suddenly, earning a look from her. "Perhaps that was it."

"A headache is one thing, your body deals with stress or certain pain that way." Heather shook her head, still feeling off-balance from the weight of her new hair. "Perhaps, but if some unknown magic awoke in you to begin the change..."

"Unknown magic?" Now she was completely lost as she stared around the room at them. "What unknown magic?" Frowning, Heather eyed each one only to have them refuse to meet her eyes. "What are you hiding?"

"The stone you found. That would be the cause of unknown magic." Gandalf's voice broke the silence as the wizard made his appearance. A book in one hand, staff in the other and kind grey eyes looked her over. "It is good to see you awake again, Heather." He offered gently, making the young elleth's irritation vanish just as quickly as it appeared.

Turning, he placed his staff against the wall and held up the book in his hands. "I couldn't find a reason why your appearance changed..." He opened it and began flipping through the pages quickly before coming to one he had marked previously and held it out to Elrond. "However this may explain how you arrived."

Tipping her head curiously, Heather moved to stand beside Elrond and peered at the book in his hands, eyes roaming over the unfamiliar elvish until they came to the sketches at the bottom of the page. "Those look like the markings on the stone."

"Because they are." Gandalf stated grimly, staff back in his hand as he leaned forward to study the book as well. "It is old magic, almost forgotten except in this book." Looking up at the wizard Heather raised an eyebrow at his expression. "So it's old... Is that bad?"

Clearing his throat, the wizard straightened up and let out a low sigh while pulling his pipe out of thin air, the familiar trick earning a small smile from Heather. "It isn't... Bad. But it isn't used for... Various reasons." He hedged carefully, making her huff under her breath. Closing the book, Elrond turned his gaze back to the wizard, a thoughtful look on his face. "How did this come to be?"

"I don't know. However it is by pure luck Heather stumbled upon the stone the exact moment she did or she may have never arrived here in your forest." Puffing on his pipe, Gandalf eyed her for a moment then offered a smile. "It was good luck Aragorn happened upon you in the forest when he did."

Beginning to hate the feeling of confusion altogether, Heather let out a low sigh and waved a hand in front of her. "And Aragorn is...?"

Silence. Looking around at everyone, she blinked at the looks they were giving her and resisted the urge to yank on her hair with some difficulty. "What?"

Elrond blinked and held back a laugh while shaking his head. "It would seem we failed to tell you his name." Elrohir however had no such qualms and laughed softly to himself. "Heather... Aragorn is Strider's true name." Arwen explained with a smile, making her sister's face turn a faint pink color from embarrassment. "All this time I've been calling him the wrong name?" She squeaked out, eyes wide as she stared at the elleth in mortification.

"Truthfully it is my fault." Elrond murmured, a smile on his face as she turned to look at him with the same wide-eyed look. "I believed Strider would be easier for you to say and remember when you first arrived."

"I suppose..." Trailing off, Heather rubbed a hand over her face and turned to look over at Gandalf with a sigh. "I wouldn't say stumbling across that rock was good luck if I keep being confused by everything like this." She muttered under her breath, earning several grins from those around her.

"Truthfully if you didn't come across it when you did, then I believe the stone would have simply returned here on it's own." The wizard smiled at her wryly, making her roll her eyes only to stop half way through.

"Wait, return here? Are you saying..."

"The stone came from Middle Earth originally, yes."

Now that was interesting. But it offered up several things at once. The main one being that if things from Middle Earth could show up on her world, then that could mean she'd end up going there herself eventually. All good humor suddenly vanishing from her, Heather bit her lip and looked down at her feet. After everything that had happened, that was the scariest thing possible she could imagine happening.

"Heather." Gandalf prompted her to look back up at him, eyes full of worry as she studied his face quietly. "It takes more magic than is in your body to traverse the way the stone did. You cannot physically be returned to your world without a strong source of energy."

And just like that the blanket of pain and worry that had begun to wrap it's suffocating weight around her suddenly vanished. "I won't just... Suddenly disappear?"

Elrond placed his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into a light hug. "You are my daughter, I would not allow it." He murmured when she wrapped her arms around him tightly. Cursing her mood swings, Heather let out a breathless laugh and nodded her head. "Okay."

Pulling away, she rubbed at her face in irritation and turned back to Gandalf, a steely look in her eyes. "I want to help... I... I can't read Elvish yet... But I want to help."

Chuckling lightly, he leaned against his staff and eyed her squared shoulders and fists. "You can help by living your life."

Blinking, the sudden fire of determination died out under another damn wave of confusion. "Excuse me?"

Nudging her with the end of his staff, he nodded towards the balcony behind her. "Go live your life. It isn't every day when someone is given a second chance like this, enjoy it." With that, he took the book Elrond offered back to him and vanished from the room, leaving her to stare after him.

Before she could even think about following the damned wizard, two pairs of arms wrapped around her and tugged Heather away from Elrond and steered her towards the door. "Come sister, you have yet to show us how well you handle your new bow." Elrohir chided her teasingly, causing her to look up at him curiously. "Yes, we hear you are quite proficient." Elladan chimed in, Heather's head turning to look up at him as they walked along.

"Where exactly did you hear that?" She asked suspiciously, successfully distracted from her previous line of thought. "I'yeste claimed you were a near master when he arrived with you."

"Yes, the bow was a gift from someone in the Greenwood? Tell us, could it have been a gift to offer you a courting?"

Choking on her air, Heather sputtered and stared at them in horror. "No! Why the- No! Just.. No." She shook her head violently, ignoring the braid that swung up and hit her in the face.

"Is that so? A beautiful gift like that is surely important." Elladan leaned over her, a mischievous look in his eyes as she narrowed her own at him. "It isn't."

"Really? Then tell us who may have gifted it to you?" Elrohir asked this time, leaning forward as well and making her back up a few steps, arms crossing over her chest as she glared at them. "The king."

Both twins stared at her for a moment then burst into laughter at the same time. "Come, come! That is a good joke, but we know he would-"

"He gave it to me because it was important and he didn't want it to just sit there anymore." Heather cut in, making them quiet down and study her for a moment only to begin laughing again as they turned and walked away.

"Hey! I'm telling the truth!" Heather growled, chasing after them in a fresh bout of frustration as they continued laughing at her.

"Of course."

"Never thought you weren't."

"Come on! The one thing I'm proud of and you aren't even taking me seriously!"

Elrond smiled wryly at their voices as they faded away in the direction of the training field, Arwen shaking her head beside him as they stood on the balcony. Almost as if the last several weeks didn't happen, life seemed full of promise once more.

Even if it happened to be the three siblings arguing and laughing the way they were. The promise of happiness had a strange way of showing itself.

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