"So where is the tent?" Celebrian asked, watching Ithilwen pop the trunk of her car.
Only to find it crammed full of bags.
"Well," the younger woman trailed off. She pulled and piled bags on top of bags, which would have toppled had Celebrian not moved to hold them in place. "I know it's back here... Over the kids' spring break days that weren't used for makeup days, we went down to the city park and camped out for a night. I think it was the only time I ever used the th-there you are you little heathen!" Ithilwen tugged and grunted until she had extracted what looked like a long fabric roll from the back of the trunk.
"That's it?" Celebrian asked in disbelief.
"This is it." Setting it down by her feet, Ithilwen took some of the piled bags from Celebrian's grasp and set them back in place in the trunk. "I don't have any sleeping bags with me, though." she added with a frown. "We can stop by Walmart and get a couple when we get some food."
They stood there for a while, staring at the open trunk. It was the following morning, and on impulse, they had decided to check out of the hotel and head out to the camp grounds. A little earlier than they had originally expected to leave, but Ithilwen couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to be closer to home. Mount Solon wasn't exactly down the road from their town, but it was closer than Chesapeake.
"So," Celebrian shut the trunk with enthusiasm. "What direction do we start out in this morning?"
Ithilwen dug in her jeans pocket for the now crumpled sheets of directions. "Mapquest says... We head northeast. Then we get on Woodlake Drive, go some ways until we reach Greenbrier Parkway, then we stay there until we run up on the I-64 ramp that will go towards Virginia Beach, Hampton, and Richmond. After that it looks like we get to go through Interstate Hell for a couple hours before we get off on Scenic Highway Road."
"Interstate Hell?"
Ithilwen showed her the bit of directions that she dubbed Interstate Hell. "See? Interstate Hell. It's where we're stuck playing lane-hop on a four or six lane road before we pass our exit ramps."
Back in Burgess, the new visitors were still playing catch-up with each other until well into dawn before the excitement began to wear off. That left Morwen and Fiona to find places for everyone to stay for the next three months.
"I'm sorry that I don't have enough whole rooms for everyone," Morwen said apologetically. "This house is big, but I never expected that I'd get to play hostess to so many at once."
"Don't worry 'bout that, Lady Morwen," Gimli said with a yawn concealed by his large beard. "As long as I got a place to lay my head, it doesn't matter to me." The others nodded in agreement, some even adding in that they would be fine bunking with others.
Morwen smiled at the dwarf and looked around to take stock of how she could organize things. Haldir would be with her, obviously, not that he would leave her side. Ithilwen's room was off limits for the moment because her daughter was not there to give her consent. She noticed that there were four other couples that could get privacy up on the top floor where her room was. There were a handful of smaller guest rooms downstairs that could be divied up between the remaining guests. She looked at Fiona. "Are the guest rooms ready to be used?"
"Definitely. On the upper floor and the bottom one. The bottom ones are a little smaller, and could only fit one to two people in each, depending."
"We can share a room," Pippin said. "We're not very big, as you can see Miss Fiona, and we'd be fine with one of the smaller rooms down here."
Fiona watched the other three nod, not knowing that the hobbits were not as enthusiastic about heights as their elven friends. She was then told by Eomer that he would bunk with Gimli, and Elladan and Elrohir would also share a room. Erestor had agreed to share a room with Glorfindel, but warned the balrog-slayer that any shenanigans in the middle of the night would surely get him hit.
That left the couples to a room for each pair, and Elrond and Legolas to a room to themselves.
"Where are you going to sleep, Fiona?" Morwen asked, having done the calculations in her head and realized that one of the upper rooms would be occupied by an elf or elven couple.
"The studio." She answered simply. "Most of my stuff is down there anyway, and what isn't I can move up to the attic to get out of the way. Most of the stuff in there needs to be moved up there as it is. Besides, Tauriel said that she'd stay with me, and there's plenty of room in the studio for the both of us." She seemed rather content with the idea, and Morwen didn't choose to argue with it. Fiona then moved down the hall and motioned for the lower-floor occupants to follow her and choose a room.
Morwen led the others upstairs and began to get them situated for rest. After she had shown Elrond to his room, that left her parents and Legolas when Fiona came bounding up the stairs.
"Hang about, Mom!" She called out. "Have you given Legolas a room yet?" Morwen shook her head. "Good, come with me!" she tugged on the elf's arm, leading him to a room at the opposite end of the hallway. "When Ithilwen told me that you guys were going to come out here after the war, I knew this was the room for you. It's got a bit of a balcony near some trees, so it's almost like being back home. At least I think, since I don't know what your home looks like," Fiona rambled.
"This will be fine," Legolas said, amused at this girl's antics. "I thank you, Lady Fiona."
"Please, Fiona is fine," she said, turning to leave and let the elf get some rest.
Outside in the hall, Fiona was met with three pairs of eyes watching her; one set was puzzled, one set was sparkling with laughter, and one set was pointedly annoyed. She watched as Galadriel led her husband into their new room and shut the door, leaving her to be stared at by Morwen. "What?" she asked innocently.
"I know what you're up to, missy," Morwen said softly, knowing that her relatives could still hear.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Mom," Fiona walked up to her. "So we're all gonna nap for a couple hours?"
Morwen nodded, watching her descend the stairs. "I'm not impressed, I hope you know that."
"I know, Mom."
After getting off what Ithilwen called Interstate Hell, they pulled into a gas station for a quick break. Celebrian had the laptop out and booted up, with her neice's assistance, and was looking over the website that promoted the renaissance event. "Ithilwen, did you see this?" she asked through the open window.
Ithilwen returned the gas pump to its holder and leaned into the window. "See what?"
"There's archery at this faire!" She sounded excited at the prospect.
"It looks like there's going to be a contest too," the younger woman pointed out. "Hear Ye Hear Ye - The Royal Archery Contest shall be held upon the grounds of the Stone Tower Glenn Renaissance Faire, June 22nd and 23rd. The Tournament is open to one and all and is absolutely free. Participants shall be divided into two groups 12 and under and 13 and older. Archers must be in Medieval, Renaissance or Fantasy attire and are required to provide their own equipment however bows and arrows must meet the Standards of the Contest. Arrows must have wooden shafts with field tips and bows are limited to recurve and longbows only. No compound bows will be permitted. The winner of each group will receive a Golden Arrow to signify their ability as Master Archers... Well that's sounds like fun."
"Do you have a bow?"
"Not with me," Ithilwen shook her head sadly. "Conventions are pretty picky about weapons, as you've seen, but it's for safety measures."
Celebrian closed the laptop and set it back in its casing, tucking it under the seat. She shoved Ithilwen's arms lightly as she opened the car door and got out. Ithilwen watched dumbfounded as her aunt took her by the arm and led her into the convenience store, going up to the counter. "Excuse me," she began, looking at the teenage cashier, "My niece plans to take part in the royal archery contest at the renaissance faire in Mount Solon this weekend. She requires a bow and arrows. Where might we find these items?"
Ithilwen was pretty sure that she shared the cashier's dumbfounded expression.
"Uh..." the boy cleared his throat. "Um... I think the Walmart Supercenter over on John Wayland Highway would have what you're looking for." He turned quickly to his manager, who had come back from the backroom.
"What you looking for?" the manager asked, looking back and forth between the three.
"These ladies need bows and arrows for that Stone Tower Faire this weekend, Mack. I was telling them that the Supercenter on John Wayland might have them."
The manager rubbed his chin and thought about it. "It's still a way's drive away from Mount Solon, but that's the closest you might find. There might be a Dick's Sporting Goods store closer. Have you tried them before?"
Ithilwen finally found her voice. "The limitations are either longbows or recurves with field arrow points. I've been there before and they only sell compounds."
"Ah, that would be a problem then." Mack said. "Sounds like Walmart might be your best bet."
Celebrian thanked the men for their assistance and after Ithilwen paid for the gas and some drinks, they left the store. Ithilwen was silent until she got back in the car. "I can't believe you did that!" she groaned.
"What? I could tell that you wanted to enter the competition, why not go buy a bow so you can?"
Ithilwen's head thumped against the wheel. "I want to, but that doesn't mean I can!" She sighed. "I haven't shot a bow in years..."
A few hours later, the two ellith were sitting outside their newly constructed tent. Celebrian was wiggling in the fold out fabric chair, amazed that the flimsy construction was holding out. Ithilwen was tearing into the package that her new longbow was housed in.
"How come you haven't shot a bow in years?"
"Started college," the elleth grunted, nearly shaking the wrapping in frustration. "Going full time for four years took up a lot of my freetime, so archery just...fell behind." She nearly shouted for joy when she felt the plastic of the bow beneath her fingers. "If Ada knew, he'd be horrified, wouldn't he?" she asked, looking up finally.
Celebrian leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "I don't think so. You went to pursue an education. No one can admonish you for doing that. Haldir might insist that you take it up again, but would that be a bad thing?" Her niece shook her head. "What are you going to wear? The rules said you have to dress up."
"There's what I've been wearing to the renaissance fairs," she offered up. "That should work as fantasy."
Later that evening, Celebrian watched her niece drift off to sleep, clutching that silver tunic like a blanket against her. 'Probably the one thing she has from middle-earth with her, and it's an ellon's tunic,' she mused. 'Not just any ellon's tunic, either. I wonder, does she know?' Choosing not to worry about it, she laid down and went to sleep herself.
Morwen's idea of sleeping for a few hours, turned out to roll over into the next morning. None of them had any idea how tired they were, but at least their sleep patterns were evened out now. Somewhat, anyway.
Everyone was gathered in the living room the next morning, watching in wonder as Morwen brought in stacks of books and set them on the coffee table. She'd spread them out and peek into each one before settling on one and bringing it to the top of the stack, opening it fully for all to see. It was a book filled with pictures and other odds and ends. "I thought that I'd go ahead and show you Ithilwen's baby pictures while she isn't here," Morwen told Haldir with a grin. "She might try and hide these books when she gets home, but I've kept good records of her growing up. It's not the same, but I wanted you to see her before she gets here all grown up."
The group scooted forward to look at the book as Morwen began to point out the significance of each of the images and the items. There were many pictures of Ithilwen being held as a baby, not long after they had arrived in this world. There were things that Morwen explained were ticket stubs to events she was a part of, and ribbons that were awarded to her for various things.
"Who is this?" Merry asked, pointing to a curly-headed girl in a white dress sitting beside Ithilwen. Each were holding woven baskets with colored eggs.
"That's me!" Fiona said.
"It was your first Easter with me and Ithilwen," Morwen said with a smile. "I had gained full custody of you that February. It was the best Valentine's day present I could ever have asked for in this world."
"What do you mean?" Haldir asked, confused.
"About the custody thing?" He nodded. "Oh, well I adopted Fiona. She was orphaned at such a young age, when she and Ithilwen had just started kindergarten. Ithilwen told me about her new friend, and when I learned about her living in the orphanage, I couldn't let that go. It took a year and a half, but Fiona has been a delight that I have not once regretted," she smiled at the blushing girl.
Haldir looked to the young woman, who began to fidget under his stare. "If this is the decision of my mate, then I welcome you into our family, Fiona," he said warmly.
"Really?" Fiona sounded genuinely surprised.
"Of course," he replied. What had this child been through in her past? Or had she not expected to be a part of the family any longer when he appeared?
"Wow, thank you...er...what can I call you?" She started fidgeting again.
"What do you wish to call me?"
Fiona didn't waste any time in replying. "How about Dad?" she asked nervously. "I'm not familiar with the elvish lingo Ithilwen uses, and I'd hate to butcher your language. At least until I'm comfortable with it?"
Haldir nodded again. "That is acceptable, daughter." he added as an afterthought, which made the girl beam with pride. Morwen patted his arm and smiled, glad to see that he was easily accepting this new addition. She turned back to the albums, and pulled another one out of the pile.
"Okay, this one's from their middle school years," she began, only to hear Fiona groan "Oh please not those!". She grinned. "Oh yes, those! Your eighth-grade field day pictures are hilarious!"
"Ithilwen's gonna know you showed everyone those," Fiona pointed out. Morwen shrugged.
"What's wrong with them?" Tauriel asked.
Fiona looked to her mother, but Morwen didn't answer. "Well, you have to understand that on field day, there's a lot of activities held outside in the school's field. But it was really hot that day, so a lot of the girls were wearing white t-shirts to stay cool. We heard rumors about a water balloon fight, but we weren't expecting for it to actually happen... Basically, those white shirts turned see-through when they got wet, and everyone could see what color training bras the girls were wearing."
"Except..." Morwen added, trying not to laugh.
"Except...Ithilwen wasn't wearing a training bra," Fiona cringed, knowing the hell she'd get for sharing this story. "She pretty much skipped the training stage, and everyone found out that day that what she had underneath her shirt was all her. The bra looked like a cropped top, but that's besides the point," she continued. "Until the end of the year, she continued to get comments from our classmates about how she 'got those things so early' or 'what's it like to wear a real one?'."
"My baby got them honest," Morwen said with pride. "And it wasn't as bad as Fiona's making it out to be. Many of the other girls were beginning to develop, just...not as advanced as Ithilwen."
"You didn't do as bad as you thought you did!" Celebrian said with pride as they left the range. The royal archery competition had just ended, and the award of golden arrows were passed out with flourish to the winners of each age group.
Ithilwen twirled the golden arrow between her fingers. "That's because I was against other novices," she remarked. "And I'm not the only one that won; there was a three-way tie in our group!"
"Doesn't matter," Celebrian said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You did remarkably well for not having practiced in many years, and I've got pictures to prove it! Your adar will be so proud when he learns of this."
'Whenever I see him, you mean,' Ithilwen thought sadly. The quiver of arrows jostled against her back as she jimmy-rigged the longbow to the quiver so that she wouldn't have to carry it. She added the golden arrow to the quiver shortly after. The professionals that had done an exhibition show before the tournament commended the archers for their skill, but she knew it was just politeness. She felt that she was out of practice, and being the marchwardens' child, perfectionism tended to eat at her.
They walked for a bit, to stop at a tent with a sign labeled 'Willow Wisp Face Painting', at Celebrian's insistence. The painter, Mistress Rayne, had eagerly asked the ellith where they had procured such realistic looking elven ear tips. Ithilwen explained that it was a family trait, to which the woman gushed and wished that she was so lucky.
Much later, they browsed the merchant tents and ran across some homemade oils and soaps. The sound of glass vials clinked together all the way back to the car, along with a faerie-inspired halter dress that Celebrian had insisted that Ithilwen buy. She caved, remembering that she had a pair of faux suede boots that would look great with it..
As the sun set over the camp grounds, groups of people were gathering around their camp-provided fire rings preparing dinner or making room for smores. Celebrian reclined in the flimsy fold out chair again, looking about at the others in the area. "It is almost as if we are back in middle-earth," she remarked. "If you ignore the presence of the occasional car or cell phone being used, that is."
Ithilwen was too busy trying to melt the marshmallow over the fire ring to look up. She had burn four already because she hadn't paid enough attention. "Speaking of home," Ithilwen said, carefully removing the softened goo from the skewer. "What do you think about leaving early tomorrow?"
Celebrian watched as she smashed the white goop between the brown cracker and piece of chocolate, adding another brown cracker on top of the steadily softening chocolate before passing it to her. She took it hesitantly, not because of the mess it looked to be, but for the heat that came off of it. "Are you not enjoying yourself?" she asked, before taking a bite of the smore.
"It's not that," Ithilwen said, preparing her own smore. "Don't get me wrong, this faire has been a lot of fun, but...I don't know, I guess if you've been to one within weeks of another one, you kind of hit all the main attractions."
"It's because of that yearning you're feeling." It wasn't a question, but a statement.
"Yeah," Ithilwen conceded reluctantly.
Celebrian licked her fingers clean from the excess chocolate that had melted off the graham crackers. "Then let's do it," she said finally. "Why delay what your heart wants?"
"Are you sure, Aunt Celebrian? I mean, aren't you having fun at the faire?"
"Yes, I have. But I have had fun because you have been there with me," she leaned forward in her chair. "Ithilwen, where you go I go. So let's pack up and head out tomorrow morning. The adventure doesn't end here, child, don't you know that? I still have yet to meet my sister again, and I'm also looking forward to meeting your friend, Fiona!"
A/N: Hot damn! lol Got it done faster than I expected! Woot woot! :D
I cut out a lot of the events, that go on at these things, because after a few chapters of this trip, it started to feel redundant and I didn't want to bore you all. About those field day pictures... there is some truth to them. ;) There wasn't a water balloon fight at my middle school, but I did suffer a major sunburn. And I don't remember any of my classmates going through the 'training' stage, either.
So I'm gonna take a break for a couple of hours and relax my brain before I start working on chapter 30. Thanks for all of the alerts and reviews, you guys! It really makes me happy to see that y'all enjoy this story so much!
