Title: How Does It Feel (35/?)

Author: palephoenix (palephoenix(underscore)6(at)yahoo.ca)

Genre: LOTR FP-het

Pairing: Legolas/OFC

Rating: PG for now...

Warning: Mary Sue... I'm in a Mary Sue mood... I can't fathom why anyone who doesn't like Mary Sues would read a fic clearly labelled as such... But apparently some have... -rolls her eyes- When you review telling me my story sucks because it's a Mary Sue all you end up doing is giving me my good laugh of the day.

Disclaimer: Not for profit, purely for entertainment purposes. The characters belong to Tolkien and the actors belong to themselves. I'm just borrowing them. I don't know the actors; if I did I wouldn't be writing this... I'd be keeping Orlando in my bed for the next five years.

Feedback: pretty please with Orlando on top???

Notes: Eilish is pronounced 'eye-lish'... As far as I know it is the Irish version of Elizabeth... As in previous chapters, words in italics are in elvish, with the translation at the end of the paragraph. This chapter is written with canon events, not movie events. Some dialogue (and only dialogue) is taken directly, word for word, from the book.

Summary: Labour and delivery nurse Eilish Bell is in a car accident and finds herself thrown into Middle Earth.

Chapter 35

"Mithrandir!" Legolas cried. "Mithrandir!"

"Well met, I say to you again, Legolas!" The old man replied.

"Gandalf!" Aragorn finally shook off his stupor. "Beyond all hope you return to us in our need! What veil was over my sight? Gandalf!"

Gimli couldn't speak, just sank weakly to his knees, shading his eyes from the gleam of Gandalf's snow-white robes.

"Gandalf," The Istari repeated. "Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf." He stepped down from the rock on which he stood.

"Gandalf!" Eilish ran over and hugged him. "Damn, it's good to see you again!"

"Eilish," The wizard smiled. "Yes, you may still call me Gandalf. Get up, my good Gimli! No blame to you, and no harm done to me. Indeed my friends, none of you have any weapon that could hurt me. Be merry! We meet again. At the turn of the tide. The great storm is coming, but the tide has turned."

"And you're Gandalf the White," Eilish grinned.

"Yes, I am white now," Gandalf said, resting a hand on Gimli's head. "Indeed, I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been. But come now, tell me of yourselves! I have passed through fire and deep water, since we parted. I have forgotten much that I thought I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten. I can see many things far off, but many things that are close at hand I cannot see. Tell me of yourselves!"

"What do you want to know?" Eilish asked. "A hell of a lot happened since you fell."

"Will you not first give us news of the hobbits?" Aragorn implored. "Did you find them, and are they safe?"

"No, I did not find them," Gandalf said. "There was a darkness over the valleys of Emyn Muil, and I did not know of their captivity, until the eagle told me."

"Ah, that was Gwaihir we saw, 'Lass," Eilish reminded the elf. -leaf-

"Yes, that was Gwaihir the Windlord," Gandalf said. "I sent him before me to watch the River and gather tidings. The Ring has now has passed beyond my help, or the help of any of the Company that set out from Rivendell."

"Then you know Frodo left us," Gimli spoke up. "How do things go with him?"

"I cannot say. He was saved from great peril, but many lie before him still. He resolved to go alone to Mordor, and he set out: that is all that I can say."

"Not alone," Legolas told him.

"No, not alone, Sam went with him," Eilish added. "I figured Frodo might try and make a run for it, so I told Sam to wait by the boats and not let Frodo leave alone."

"Did he!" Gandalf smiled, a twinkle in his eye. "Did he indeed? It is news to me, yet it does not surprise me. Very good! You lighten my heart. You must tell me more. Now sit by me and tell me the tale of your journey."

"I have something to tell you," Eilish said hesitantly, glancing at Legolas. The elf took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"When we were in Lothlorien, Galadriel let me look in her mirror," She began, her voice soft. "Galadriel made it possible so 'Lass was able to see what I did. In the mirror I saw myself the day I came to Middle Earth. I saw myself at my job, helping deliver babies, then I saw myself leaving work and driving home. I drove the way I always go. I was just going to turn off the main road onto my street. I wasn't paying enough attention, and I didn't see this other car a block down run a stop sign and come flying up the road. It hit my car." Eilish swallowed hard and rubbed at her eyes. Legolas wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. -leaf-

"I saw the ambulance come and take me away to the hospital," Eilish's voice broke then, and she couldn't speak any more. She buried her face in his shoulder and listened as he continued for her.

"In her world, Eilish died. The last scene was of a memorial service," He said quietly. "All of her family members were present." Legolas said no more to the others, only drew Eilish further into his arms and whispered to her soothingly in Elvish.

Gandalf looked worried and saddened. Aragorn and Gimli sat in stunned silence. The group sat for some time, silent but for Eilish's soft sobs and Legolas' whispers.

After a time Aragorn sighed, breaking the stillness, and began to speak again. He told Gandalf everything else that had happened since Moria. He was very subdued as he told Gandalf of Boromir's death. On hearing of the man's passing Gandalf sighed.

"Poor Boromir!" He said quietly. "Galadriel told me he was in peril. But he escaped in the end. I am glad. It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir's sake. But that is not the only part they have to play. They were brought to Fangorn, and their coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains. Even as we talk here, I hear the first rumblings. Saruman had best not be caught away from home when the dam bursts!"

"In one thing you have not changed, dear friend," Aragorn remarked, "You still speak in riddles."

At that, Eilish laughed in spite of her grief. "It's not a riddle, really. The Ents are waking up and Merry and Pippin will give them the push that they need."

"Indeed, they are," Gandalf laughed. "And I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying."

"So, want to elaborate for those out of the loop, Gandalf?" Eilish said with a smirk.

"The Enemy, of course, has long known that the Ring is abroad," Gandalf began, "And that it is borne by a hobbit. He knows now the number of our Company that set out from Rivendell, and the kind of each of us. But he does not yet perceive our purpose clearly. He supposes that we were all going to Minas Tirith; for that is what he would himself have done in our place. His eye gazes abroad rather that near home; and mostly he looks towards Minas Tirith. For already he knows that the messengers that he sent to waylay the Company have failed again. They have not found the Ring. Neither have they brought away any hobbits as hostages. But let us not darken our hearts by imagining the trial of their gentle loyalty in the Dark Tower. For the Enemy have failed- so far. Thanks to Saruman."

"Then is not Saruman a traitor?" Gimli asked, confused.

"Indeed yes," Gandalf replied. "Doubly. He threatens the Men of Rohan and draws off their help from Minas Tirith, even as the main blow is approaching from the East. Yet a treacherous weapon is ever a danger to the hand. Saruman also had a mind to capture the Ring, for himself, or at least to snare some hobbits for his evil purposes. So between them our enemies have contrived only to bring Merry and Pippin with marvellous speed, and in the nick of time, to Fangorn, where otherwise they would never have come at all!"

"And Sauron won't know what happened after the hobbits were taken, since the Orcs from Mordor were killed by the other Orcs," Eilish remarked. "All he knows is that now he has another enemy."

"Yes," Gandalf agreed, "But Isengard cannot fight Mordor, unless Saruman first obtains the Ring. That he will never do now. He does not yet know his peril. He came forth to meet and to spy on his messengers. But he came too late. The battle was over and beyond his help. He has no woodcraft. He believes that the horsemen slew and burned all upon the field of battle; but he does not know whether the Orcs were bringing any prisoners or not. And he does not know of the quarrel between his servants and the Orcs of Mordor; nor does he know of the Winged Messenger."

"The Winged Messenger!" Legolas exclaimed. "I shot him with the bow of Galadriel above Sarn Gebir, and I felled him from the sky. He filled us all with fear. What new terror is this?"

"One that you cannot slay with arrows," Gandalf told him. "You only slew his steed."

"It was a Nazgul, 'Lass," Eilish added. "Remember what I said then? I said, 'I thought the Balrog was bad, but the Nazgul take the cake.'" -leaf-

"Yes," Gandalf nodded. "He was a Nazgul, one of the Nine, who ride now upon winged steeds. Soon their terror will overshadow the last armies of our friends, cutting off the sun. But they have not yet been allowed to cross the River, and Saruman does not know of this new shape in which the Ringwraiths have been clad. His though is ever on the Ring. Was it present in the battle? Was it found? What if Theoden, Lord of the Mark, should come by it and learn of its power? That is the danger that he sees, and he has fled back to Isengard to double and treble his assault on Rohan. And all the time there is another danger, close at hand, which he does not see, busy with his fiery thoughts."

"Treebeard," Eilish said, almost gleefully. "Saruman is in big trouble."

"Yes, Treebeard," Gandalf smiled, his eyes twinkling at Eilish.

"Now you speak to yourself again," Aragorn complained, though he smiled. "Treebeard is not known to me."

"But the hobbits!" Legolas broke in. "We have come far to seek them, and you seem to know where they are. Where are they now?"

"With Treebeard and the Ents," Gandalf supplied.

"The Ents!" Aragorn exclaimed. "Then there is truth in the old legends about the dwellers in the deep forests and the giant shepherds of the trees? Are there still Ents in the world? I thought they were only a memory of ancient days, if indeed they were ever more than a legend of Rohan."

Eilish couldn't keep from laughing.

"A legend of Rohan!" Legolas cried. "Nay, every Elf in Wilderland has sung songs of the old Onodrim and their long sorrow. Yet even among us they are only a memory. If I were to meet one still walking in this world, then I should feel young again! But Treebeard: that is only a rendering of Fangorn into the Common Speech; yet you seem to speak of a person. Who is this Treebeard?"

"Treebeard is an Ent," Eilish told him. "They still exist. But they've been asleep."

"Yes," Gandalf agreed. "Treebeard is Fangorn, the guardian of the forest; he is the oldest of the Ents, the oldest living thing that still walks beneath the Sun upon this Middle-earth."

"And Merry and Pippin are with him, safe and sound," Eilish added.

"Yes," Gandalf agreed. "Fangorn himself, he is perilous, yet he is wise and kindly nonetheless. But now his long slow wrath is brimming over, and all the forest is filled with it. The coming of the hobbits and the tiding that they have brought have spilled it: it will soon be running like a flood; but its tide is turned against Saruman and the axes of Isengard. A thing is about to happen which has not happened since the Elder Days: the Ents are going to wake up and find that they are strong."

"What will they do?" Legolas asked, wide-eyed.

"Take revenge," Eilish suggested.

The group fell silent then, sitting, watching the clouds go by as Gandalf drifted in deep thought. After some time he sat up straight and looked up at the sun.

"The morning is wearing away," He said. "Soon we must go."

"Do we go to find our friends?" Aragorn asked.

"No," Gandalf replied. "Come, Aragorn son of Arathorn! You must go to Edoras and seek out Theoden in his hall. For you are needed. The light of Anduril must now be uncovered in the battle for which it has so long awaited. There is war in Rohan and worse evil: it goes ill with Theoden."

"Then are we not to see the merry young hobbits again?" Legolas asked, clearly disappointed at the prospect.

"Don't worry, 'Lass," Eilish told him. "You'll see them again soon. But we're needed elsewhere right now. And this is going to be bad. The worst we've been through so far," She said seriously. -leaf-

"It is a long way for a man to walk, young or old," Aragorn spoke up. "I fear the battle will be over long ere I come there."

"We'll see, won't we, Gandalf?" Eilish winked surreptitiously at the Istari.

"Yes," Gandalf's eyes twinkled mischievously. "We shall see, we shall see. Will you come now with me?"

"Yes, we will set out together," Aragorn agreed. "But I do not doubt that you will come there before me, if you wish."

"Yes, together we will follow you," Legolas seconded. "But first, it would ease my heart, Gandalf, to hear what befell you in Moria. Will you not tell us?"

Gandalf outlined as briefly as possible what happened after he fell, from the fight with the Balrog to being borne to Lorien by Gwaihir.

"Messages I bring to some of you," He finished. "To Aragorn I was bidden to say this:

Where now are the Dunadain, Elessar, Elessar?

Why do thy kinsfolk wander afar?

Near is the hour when the Lost should come forth,

And the Grey Company ride from the North.

But dark is the path appointed for thee:

The Dead watch the road that leads to the Sea.

To Legolas she sent this word:

Legolas Greenleaf long under tree

In joy thou hast lived. Beware of the Sea!

If thou hearest the cry of the gull on the shore,

Thy heart shall then rest in the forest no more."

"Then she sent me no message?" Gimli asked, drooping in disappointment.

"Dark are her words," Legolas mused, "And little do they mean to those that receive them."

"They are dark," Eilish agreed. "And, unfortunately, I know what they mean," She said softly, wrapping her arms around herself, looking unhappy.

"Your pardon, Gimli!" Gandalf apologized, shooting a glance at Eilish. "I was pondering the messages once again. But indeed she sent words to you, and neither dark nor sad: 'To Gimli son of Gloin, give his Lady's greeting. Lockbearer, wherever thou goest my thought goes with thee. But have a care to lay thine axe to the right tree!'"

"In happy hour you have returned to us, Gandalf," Gimli exclaimed ecstatically. "Come, come! Since Gandalf's head is now sacred, let us find one that is right to cleave!"

"That will not be far to seek," Gandalf said, getting to his feet. "Come! We have spent all the time that is allowed to a meeting of parted friends. Now there is need of haste."

Gandalf wrapped himself in his grey cloak again and led the group down the stair from the cliff-top, then through the forest, and along the bank of the Entwash. Soon they came out onto the grassy plains once more. There was no sign of the missing horses.

"They have not returned," Legolas sighed. "It will be a weary walk!"

Eilish covered her mouth to smother a laugh. Gandalf winked at her.

"I shall not walk. Time presses," He said. He lifted his head and gave a long whistle. Twice more he sounded the note and Eilish could just make out the whinny of a horse. The group waited a while and finally there could be heard the steadily louder sound of hoof-beats.

"There is more than one horse coming," Aragorn observed.

"Duh," Eilish rolled her eyes. "One horse can't carry five."

"There are three," Legolas said, looking out over the plain. "There is Hasufel, and there is my friend, Arod beside him! But there is another that strides ahead: a very great horse, I have not seen his like before."

"Nor will you again," Gandalf told him.

"It's Shadowfax," Eilish smiled. "He's beautiful, Gandalf."

"He is the chief of the Mearas, lords of horses, and not even Theoden, King of Rohan, has ever looked on a better. Does he not shine like silver, and sun as smoothly as a swift stream? He has come for me: the horse of the White Rider. We are going to battle together."

"Now I understand a part of last night's riddle," Legolas said, helping Eilish onto Arod's back, then leaping up himself. "Whether they fled at first in fear, or not, our horses met Shadowfax, their chieftain, and greeted him with joy. Did you know that he was at hand, Gandalf?"

"Yes, I knew," The wizard said. "I bent my thought upon him, bidding him to make haste; for yesterday he was far away in the south of this land. Swiftly may he bear me back again!"

Gandalf took Gimli with him on the horse, then spoke to Shadowfax and the horse set off at a good pace. The other two horses followed.

"He is steering a straight course now for the halls of Theoden under the slopes of the White Mountains," Gandalf called. "It will be quicker so."

"Meleth," Legolas spoke quietly so the others wouldn't hear, "You know what Lady Galadriel's words to me mean?" -love-

"Yeah," She replied. "But I don't think now's a good time to talk about that."

"Of course, Caran," Legolas agreed. -red-

"There lies the Gap of Rohan," Gandalf called, pointing in the distance where smoke gathered, turning the sun an eerie red. "It is almost due west of us. That way lies Isengard."