An- Hey Hey everybody!! Despite the fact it's Jane's chapter, she's too lazy to write the An, so here I am, Niori, bringing it to you! LOL! And YAY! People are still reading…just not reviewing….lol. And FYI guys, reviews make us very happy…and they make us feel like writing is worth it! So, review please! Oh, and Laer…you were the only person who kept up the whole time!! So don't be paranoid!!

Chapter 25

It was happening again. That horrible feeling when it feels like everything that's wrong with your life is no one's fault but your own. When you can no longer ignore the achy feeling of loneliness you live with, but ignore during the day; and slowly, the pain simply becomes you. You can hardly breathe. Then the guilt comes, crushing almost every other feeling except for the emptiness of feeling alone. It feels like everyone you've come to love has left you, or will leave you when they find out what a monster you are. The worry that that feeling brings… like you are a Thing that has no right to be spoken nicely to, or treated with any decency at all. Like you will never find a companion, because how could anyone love a monster like you….

"Carla?" Carla heard her voice spoken as daylight began to shine through her eyelids. She'd been having a dream…and that's all she could remember. Apparently, it hadn't been a good one though; she was soaked with cold sweat despite the warm temperature in the room.

Jane's face swam into focus as Carla pried her unwilling eyes open. "What do you want?" She mumbled.

"Nothing specific." Jane smiled. "I just wanted to get back at you for waking me up so suddenly the other day."

Even in her half-asleep state, Carla found it within herself to give Jane the finger.

"Aw, you're so sweet, Carla." Jane spoke, sarcasm evident in her speech. "Anywho, it's about noon, you freak, so you might want to get to starting your day, as most people around here start theirs around 6 or so." She took a bite of an apple.

Carla grumbled and turned over. Screw that. She was sleeping some more…besides; she didn't sleep very well last night for some reason.

"Eomer asked me about you." Jane said quietly, taking another bite of her apple.

Her eyes whipping open, Carla sat up and stared at Jane. "What?" She whispered.

"Yeah…he wanted to know how you were doing…. what with Niori's disappearance."

Carla felt her stomach drop. "Is that all?" She prodded weakly.

"Yes. I'm sorry Carla; I didn't really have much to say to him about anything that was any of my business." She sighed. "I did, however, see Legolas this morning as well." Jane's face became somber.

"Where were you that you saw both of these guys?" Carla half laughed. "Did you make it your 'quest' this morning, or something?"

Jane looked at her condescendingly. "I saw them both at the breakfast fire. Unlike you, I eat regularly."

"You went alone, I suppose?" Carla teased. "You must have looked like a loner…"

"I- went with Elijah. But that doesn't really matter." Jane's cheeks blushed only slightly, and Carla didn't seem to notice.

Carla smiled mockingly. "Well, back to Legolas; how did he look? I can't believe we haven't seen him in, like, a week and a half."

Jane gladly brought the topic away from her and Elijah. "He looked terrible. It was more than just a physical appearance, because he was pretty disheveled- but this was more internal; he didn't respond to anyone, hardly even me; but his eyes…his eyes seemed really dead. It was just awful. I think Niori being….missing…is killing him."

Carla closed her eyes to fight down the confession that was fighting to escape her. I did it…it was me it's my fault that Niori is missing I hit her with a tree branch and knocked her out and now she'd probably wandering around the forest starving or maybe the enemy has her and it's all my fault-

"That's…awful. Poor Legolas." Was all she said.

1.1.1.1.1.1.1

"Jane! Come up here, I want you to see something!" Elijah's voice rang out. Jane looked around, confused. Where was his voice coming from?

"Elijah!" She was getting slightly annoyed now, " I can hear you but I can't see you!"

"Jane!" She heard his laughter. "I'm in the tree right above you!"

She looked up. There he was, in a giant beech tree, his face shining with laughter. They had snuck away from everyone, and had hoped they weren't being followed.

"Oh! I'll be right up!" She exclaimed, all agitation gone, as she began to climb to the center of the tree where he was waiting for her. He took her hand when he could reach her, and pulled her the rest of the way, until she was sitting in front of him, their knees hitting each others.

"What do you want me to see?" she asked, smiling. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Oh, nothing!" He shook his head, his eyes wide with mock innocence. "I just wanted to get you in a tree with me…"

"You know, you're very sexy when you lie…" She touched his full lips with her index finger and kissed him again.

She felt his warm, rough hands glide from her lower back to under her shirt.

Suddenly, from somewhere nearby, Elijah heard a sound. He stopped kissing her and removed his hands abruptly. "Did you hear that?" He asked her.

"Hear what?" She cooed, trying to kiss him again. Like she'd really been listening to anything other than her heart beating frantically…

He put his finger up, stopping her, his brows contorted with unease and curiosity. "It sounded like some one…" He trailed away, straining his eyes to look into through the trees.

Just then, a small figure ran out from two trees and ran straight underneath their tree without slowing down. She (they could tell it was a girl- she was wearing a skirt) was wheezing and extremely out of breath. Jane and Elijah scrambled out of the tree and called out to her. She was already rather far from them; she was a very quick runner.

"Hey!" Jane cried. The girl whipped around, her round face struck with sudden terror. Then she turned and ran even faster, to which Jane and Elijah, with one fleeting look at each other, chased after her.

"Please!" Elijah cried, as he sprinted, "Who are you?"

When the girl heard his voice, she ran even faster. When Jane strained her ears, she heard the girl sobbing.

They ran after the girl, until she slowed down, seemed to swoon, and fell to the forest floor.

They both ran over to her frail body. Extremely concerned, Jane bent down over her and looked her over. She was very small, with hardly an ounce of fat on her fragile body. She was covered in dirt, blood and wearing grimy rags that barely covered her. Her face and body was covered in bruises that ranged from purple to yellow, and her wrists looked as though someone had tied her up for an extremely long period of time.

"Oh, honey…what happened to you…?" She whispered, as her heart ached with pity.

Elijah bent down too, his eyes dark with concern, but Jane shook her head, putting her hand to his shoulder. "If she wakes up, you might scare her." She said quietly.

He frowned, straightening up. "Why?"

"I don't know why, but when you called out to her, she looked petrified."

Elijah nodded slowly and walked away from the girl and Jane; who was gently brushing hair off the girl's face. She tucked it behind her ears- her pointed ears.

"Oh my God…" Jane muttered, "You're an elf!"

The girl stirred, then opened her huge brown eyes. She looked struck by fear for a moment, then her eyes rested on Jane's kind face. "Who are you?" She whispered, her face still frozen with fear.

"It's okay, honey." Said Jane soothingly. "You're in Rohan, very close to the"-

"Jane!" Elijah's rang out from somewhere to her left and the girl winced slightly, "Maybe you should ask her where she came from, before you reveal where she is; where we are."

Jane understood. He was afraid that she could be an enemy, and go back and reveal the whereabouts of the ally camp. So, Jane thought she might as well let the kid know who's she's dealing with. Besides, she was fairly sure Elijah and herself could take the girl on if it came to that.

"You speak differently…" She said softly, her brow furrowed. It was as though she was trying to place where she had heard that accent before.

"Yes, I do. " Jane agreed. A little annoyed once again that her lack of an English accent was blatantly obvious. "But you know, we're with the allies." She said kindly. She spoke slowly and delicately; the girl struck her as a bit unstable.

But the girl still looked upon her with mistrust and fear. "What name did the King Eldar go by before he was crowned?" She spoke promptly.

Jane frowned, caught off-guard. "What did you say?" But she'd heard her correctly.

The girl eyed her. "It's a test question. If you answer it correctly, I'll believe you are who you say you are. If you answer incorrectly, I'll start running again."

"You can't run again, you're too weak." Said Jane calmly. "As for your question, I knew him as Aragorn."

The girl's face broke out into the most amazing smile. Her dirty face seemed to glow, and tears of joy filled her eyes, and ran down her dirty cheeks.

"Thank the Valar I've found you." She whispered through her tears. "Niori was right, I've finally found you!"

Jane's heart jumped a mile. "Wait- Did you just say Niori? You know her? She's alright? Where did you come from?" Thousands of questions gripped her mind, but the girl had obviously been through an ordeal, so Jane stopped questioning her. For now, anyway. Niori was okay. And this girl knew where she was.

"Yes, Niori is…alright." Her face seemed to darken, but when she looked upon Jane it shined again. "What is your name?"

"I'm Jane, one of Niori's best friends." Jane answered, her words becoming choked off as her throat constricted.

"You are Jane?" She looked upon Jane with such awe; it sort of caught her off-guard.

"Um, yes." She replied, "Have we met…?"

"No, no…but, you are one of the four. You were friends with my father."

"What?" Jane asked, interested. She had a suspicion to whom this girl was…from the elf ears to her beautiful dark brown hair, hidden beneath layers of grime. "Who was your father?" The question she already knew the answer to came out as a whisper.

"Who are you?" Elijah came closer, and this time the girl didn't shrink away; she beamed at him, tears of utter joy shining in her eyes.

"My name is Silmarwen, daughter of King Aragorn and Queen Arwen. I'd like you to please take me to my brother, Eldarion."

Without another word, Elijah fell to his knees in a deep bow. Jane couldn't even speak she was so stunned.

"But- but-you- you're supposed to be dead!" She managed to get out. "I mean, Eldarion- everyone thought that the whole royal family was lost!"

"My sister, Arien is alive as well." Silmarwen said quietly. She cast her eyes down.

"You- you're sister's alive too?"

She nodded wearily. "I've been gone from them for about a day and a half." She spoke, her voice weak sounding.

"Them? Niori as well?" Jane's voice was rising out of shock and excitement.

The girl nodded slowly, then seemed to swoon again. Jane grabbed her by the shoulder to keep her sitting upright.

"You must be exhausted. Have you eaten at all?"

"I'm used to eating very little. I haven't been fed properly since I was captured."

"Who captured you?" She growled, feeling a sudden pang of hatred for these monsters. She felt Elijah's comforting hand on her shoulder.

"The Eastern Men."

Jane swallowed painfully. Her worst fears were confirmed. She could only imagine what this girl, her sister, and Niori have been enduring at the hands of those evil bastards. She suddenly couldn't wait to chop those bastards into sushi.

Nodding, Jane stood up and looked at Elijah meaningfully. "We should take her back. Now." She said seriously.

"Wait a moment please." She held her small arm up. "I would like to know your name." She looked at Elijah enquiringly.

He bowed again. "I am Elijah, son of Frodo, your highness."

She smiled brightly. Jane could hardly believe that this was the very same girl they'd chased through the forest only minutes before. "Ah! Another friend of my family!" She exclaimed, " It's good to finally meet you, Master Baggins."

Elijah smiled and nodded, indicating that the sentiment was mutual.

Jane kneeled down again to meet her face to face. "Your highness, do you mind if Elijah carries you? I noticed you seemed to be afraid of him earlier. It's just that I'm worried about your strength; we still have a bit of a walk ahead of us."

Silmarwen's brow furrowed, but she nodded resolutely. "No, I do not mind. I just need to see my brother, please."

He picked her up, his face registering shock because of her lightness. "Although…" She added, her eyes glinting mischievously. "I can't help but be a bit curious why two young people such as yourselves would hide in trees deep within the forest to steal a few kisses."

Jane and Elijah looked at each other, and Silmarwen didn't miss it.

"I will not speak of it, if you both wish it of me." She smiled.

Letting out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding, Jane nodded in thanks. "If you'd change the story a little bit, we'd deeply appreciate it."

Elijah gave her an annoyed look.

"Okay, I'd deeply appreciate it." She rolled her eyes.

"You know, you could just tell the truth…"

"You know we can't do that."

"And why not?"

She glared at him. "Erin can't find out about us!" She hissed.

He glared back. "Jane, for the love of the Valar, isn't it about time she found out?"

Jane lowered her eyes, shaking her head. "Let's talk about this later, Elijah." She murmured. "I don't think her highness would like to have to listen to"-

But Silmarwen was fast asleep in Elijah's arms.

Nonetheless, Elijah and Jane walked in stubborn silence back to the camp. It only took them about fifteen minutes to get to the entrance, and they were let through without question. The little girl in Elijah's arms got a few looks from people, but thankfully, no one recognized her enough to cause a scene. Jane and Elijah made directly for the little house that Eldarion had been occupying only five days.

"Silmarwen…" Jane whispered gently, touching her delicate shoulder until she stirred and woke up, "We're here."

There were seven guards posted at all entrances and windows to the house. The two at the door heard the name Jane had spoken, and they both rushed to get the 'King', their faces white with excitement, and their eyes wild with news.

Eldarion appeared at the door only seconds later, tears of complete disbelief forming in his eyes as he looked upon the still girl in Elijah's arms.

"Silmarwen…" He choked out, putting a hand to his mouth. He gripped the doorframe, bent over, as if he might pass out from the shock. His face was white and alarmed.

At his voice, her little head snapped up to look at him, and her breath caught in her throat as she gasped. Elijah slowly put Silmarwen down, wary of her strength, but she fell sobbing hysterically into her brother's waiting arms.

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An- - Not much to say anymore!! But hey, hope you enjoyed and reviewed please! Oh, and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!