Chapter 15:

AN: Hey there! Sorry it's been so long since I last updated. That last chapter was pretty hard to top so it was taking a while to try and write this one, not to mention I'm working now (*cheers, jumps up and down*). I'm doing a lot of gardening, landscaping, roofing (re shingling), building decks, staining, sanding, and digging A LOT of holes for planting vegetables in the market garden (and loving every minute of it, I might add). Basically, I get up at 6am and don't get home until 6:30pm and then I try really hard to write a bit but by then my brain is mush so it gets a bit hilarious... Sooooo, after that longwinded explanation, I sum it up with I'm really busy and so it's going to likely be a bit long between updates until planting season calms down. Finally, due to being so busy, I haven't had the chance to reply to all of you who have reviewed, so if I missed you, then know that you where not forgotten or unappreciated. I love you all and if there were specific questions you wanted answered just bug me and I'll try and reply asap. Thank you so much for the contained interest and to all of you have been continuous support and encouragement. A special note actually goes out to the Guest reviews who have been asking when I'm going to update next; these lovely people have gotten this chapter here faster, so thank you! OK. I'm done now. Enjoy.

Grassy fields of green, warm gentle sunlight and swaying branches stirred in Emily's mind as she dreamed. All she knew was peace and happiness for the present moment as she sat on the hillside gazing at the expanse of beauty before her.

A lady sat with her and though she didn't know who this lady was, she felt certain that they knew her.

"I have asked, and the request was granted, little light. Though I am the least among them, they happily listened. They agreed that it was the will of Eru. We do not wish ill upon you, but there are always things in motion that even we cannot see. Great trial awaits you, and free-will is a terrifying gift. All the same, I have great hope you will be strong." The lady sighed a little and continued gently. "But you lack trust, little one. You do not believe. So, please accept the gift and know you are not a helpless as you feel. The unseen will always be there to guide you even in the darkest moment."

Then Emily watched as the lady rose from beside her, smiled down radiantly and then bounded off with the great speed of a deer as the dream faded back into darkness and Emily slept on, leaving the memory of the dream to sit waiting until it would be remembered at the proper moment.

It was not uncommon to hear the merry voices of elves singing jubilantly at all hours of the day, nor was it surprising to Emily that such things were so usual among the good folk since she had quickly discovered the normality of it on her first visit in Imladris. She had, however, quite forgotten the extent to which it could occur...that is, until this morning.

Up to this point since her arrival in the Woodland Realm, the elves had been on the more serious side and only on occasion did voices raise somewhere in the great halls or amid the trees in cheery tunes. Initially the people had been most exuberant with the return of their lost princess and her family, but when Aewnith fell ill a grey cloud descended over the realm and though they still remained cheerful and kind folk, it would seem their spirits had been most dampened by the sudden misfortune and the singing lessened for a time.

Therefore, we can appreciate the pleasant surprise that Emily had when she was woken that morning by clear voices ringing through the caves accompanied by much laughter (well, actually she might have been annoyed at first for being woken up before she was ready, but it passed quickly).

Instantly upon setting foot out of her room, Emily could feel the change in the air around her. It was as though a rain storm had lifted and the sun was shining through for the first time in over a week. It made her almost giddy with its bright spark and she hummed happily as she skipped down the hall to grab something to eat before her lesson that morning.

She was greeted by an exuberant puppy, a guilty looking Clare and a half asleep Joel who was hunched over his food like a vulture and unceremoniously shovelling it into his mouth.

"Morning, kid." Joel slurped between bites.

"Hey, Em." Said Clare, smiling at her a little and acting as though she wanted to ran across the room and grab her sister into a hug while bursting into tears.

Emily smiled brightly, laughing a little at her brother's eating habits as she sat next to them. "Morning!" She replied happily. "Promises to be a beautiful day!"

"You're pretty chipper for someone who woke up screaming last night." Joel stated, before downing his mug of hot tea and then grimacing as though he greatly regretting drink the hot beverage so fast.

Somehow, even though it was an embarrassing thing to be reminded of, Emily couldn't stop the exasperated yet fond laugh that escaped her lips as she shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Joel. You really don't know how, do you." Said Emily.

Joel paused in devouring his meal so he could raise an eyebrow at his little sister. "Don't know how to what?"

"Exactly, but, I love you anyway."

He responded by giving her a weird look, and blushing a little from the spoken affection. Then he hunched back over his food, crammed the rest in, mumbled something about going to help Farvel with something (around his food, I might add) and took off. As he passed his youngest sister, he reached out and tugged the ends of her hair fondly the way he used to when she was much littler.

Once their brother was gone, Clare pounced on the opportunity to speak.

"Em...I...I'm really sorry about yesterday. I...still stand by what I said, but I shouldn't have said it the way I did, and I'm sorry. The horses mean so much to you, and I can only imagine how hard all of this must be for you...what with the nightmares and all." Clare fidgeted, wringing her hands and then brushing her hair back briskly. "I just, I want you to know that I'm here for you and you can talk to me. Ok?"

"And who do you talk to?" Emily asked quietly, picking at her food.

"What?" Clare sounded puzzled.

Emily gave her sister a pointed look. "I know you aren't doing well either, Clare, so don't go all 'you need to be talking to someone about this' on me and then not do it yourself."

Clare gave an airy laugh that did really reach her eyes. "Emily! I'm-"

Interrupting Emily said, "You're not sleeping, you stay up all night and come back at all hours of the very early morning, I don't see you hardly at all, any time you look at me you get this haunted look in your eyes the same way Joel does...and you're irritable and borderline unreasonable...crabby as can be...need I go on?"

Clare's eyes flashed with anger, and her fists clenched tightly as she and her little sister stared each other down.

"And I hope you realize that snarling at me and denying it will only further prove my point..."

Emily braced herself for the explosion, but was relieved when Clare sighed, and rested her forehead in her hand with her elbows on the table.

"Okay." She murmured, sounding defeated. "Alright. I've been better...I'll admit that, but it's nothing I can't handle and I don't want to discuss it because there isn't anything you can do about it. Besides, you need help more than I do."

"Excuses me?" Emily's brow disappeared beneath the wisps of bangs that had fallen from her French braid.

"I'm not the one waking everyone else up by screaming in the dead of night and don't be like that, Em, it's not a criticism. You have every right to be struggling like this! What happened that day...was the worst for you."

"The worst for me?! It's not a bloody contest!" the other exclaimed with an incredulous laugh. "For pete sake, Clare!-"

"Fine! Be like that if you want to." Said Clare stiffly as she rose from the table. "I just thought I'd offer, but clearly you don't care and are more interested in sticking your nose where it isn't wanted!"

The older girl all but stormed off, leaving behind a bemused Emily.

"What spaze, eh Reisa?"

Reisa snorted as if agreeing before she casually tried to chew the leg of the chair Emily was sitting on, earning a glare and scolding from her mistress.

Emily huffed as she stared after her sister and tried not to feel a little guilty for how things had gone. It wasn't her fault that Clare was being like that, right?

Glorfindel strolled into the room a short time later as Emily was finishing her breakfast, slowing his springy step when he approached and throwing a puzzled glanced over his shoulder in the direction Clare had vanished.

"Is everything well this morning, penneth?" He asked as he warded off the 'attack' of Reisa saying hello to him.

"Well...it was excellent at first, but then Clare...Clare happened. She'll all mad because I suggested that instead of getting all 'overprotective big-sister' about my nightmares and such maybe she should worry about her own issues."

"Ah." Glorfindel nodded. "I would not imagine that went over well."

"Not really. She's kinda miserable to be around these days and anything I say just sets her off...I feel like I'm twelve again."

"Give her time, penneth. Like you...perhaps worse than you...she has this idea that she has to be 'fine' all the time and isn't allowed to seek aid when struggling with dark things. I seem to recall your mother having the same trait...in fact it was one of the things that Thranduil found so familiar about you...that streak of stubborn pride. It gets the lot of you into trouble..."

Emily huffed and folded her arms. "I'm not that bad! Besides, none of you really give me the chance to be 'fine'...vede is the worst for tricking me into talking to him...and daerada gets scary when I don't spill the beans."

"Yes. And your poor old teacher hardly finds you confiding in him at all these days. Perhaps I should try the same approach as your grandfather...I almost wonder that you don't trust me..." Glorfindel said with mock dejection.

Despite the joke, Emily looked a little mortified and hurriedly babbled, "No! Nononono! Of course I trust you! I- I just-"

The elf lord laughed brightly and held up his hand to stop the flow of anxiety. "I am not serious, penneth. I know well that you trust me, and I do not expect you to 'spill the beans' to everyone who cares about you. It would not be practical. That being said, I will warn you of the likely increase loving inquirers of others after last night."

"Oh my goodness...last night." Emily covered her face with her hands, finally embarrassed by it all. "I can't believe that happened..."

"Do not feel too badly about it. There are many of us who have wakened in the night with hair raising cries on occasion...myself included. You should see the way everyone fusses." Glorfindel told her lightly. Emily peeked at him through her hands and then quirked a smile. "Now, let us go. Legolas and I have something special planned for today."

Emily let out a piteous whimper as she trailed after her mentor, earning her mock injured look and she smiled.

Being the good rural Ontarian that she was, Emily of course took note of the weather when she set foot outdoors with Glorfindel and found that it was hot and sticky, both tall tail signs that it was going to storm later. Whether it would be that day or at the end of the next, Emily didn't know. It would surely be a real whopper!

As they moved along the paths outdoors, Emily recognized almost immediately that they were not going to the training field as she had expected, but rather were headed towards the clearing where archery practice was held. Before she had time to ask Glorfindel any questions, however, Legolas appeared from the lower branches of one of the trees by the path. Moving long before the two came beneath the branches he thus drew attention to himself so Emily didn't get startled as was so often the case.

"Good morning, Vede." Emily greeted.

"Morning? It is very nearly the noon hour!" Legolas teased, ruffling her hair with affection. Emily huffed and gave her uncle a look. "Do not look at me like that, penneth! It's not as though you brushed that wild head of yours when you woke. If anything I have tamed some of those more curly parts."

"I did too brush it! And it's in a braid!" Emily wailed half seriously, "It isn't my fault that it falls out, gets all fluffy, fuzzy and curly in the humidity! I wish I had hair like Clare. She has proper, well behaved hair."

"No, you don't." Said Glorfindel with a chuckle. "I suspect you secretly enjoy it when it gets wild...in fact I heard you telling Merenith the other day that you let it be wild because it's as close you can get to having 'super' curly hair like hers!"

Emily grimaced, not for the last time, at the fact that someone always seemed to hear things she said or did. It was true that Merenith's wild mane was much curlier than her own, a seemingly rare trait in the elf population, though no unheard of. Emily lacked the thicker ringlets and her curls were always fine wispy ones amid beach waves (if she didn't brush it after swimming or bathing). Where she to brush or comb it, then it would sometimes condescend to fall flat and neat for a while before getting windswept and wispy again. There just wasn't any middle ground and it was very frustrating. Only on rare occasions did it do what she wanted it too.

Sometimes I wish I could chop it all off...or that it was more like Clare's straight, glossy locks with the ends just curling a little...ugh...she's so pretty...

"I happen to greatly enjoy the way your hair is, Emily." Said Legolas quietly, making her quirk a funny questioning glance at him. His eyes twinkled knowingly at her and she squirmed inside with the knowledge that he actually wasn't just guessing when he said things like that...that he somehow just knew!

"So! What are we doing!" She asked brightly, hurriedly avoiding this disconcerting turn of events and not yet desiring to know how about her uncle's 'super power' worked.

"We thought that perhaps we would do something a little different for the lessons today." Legolas announced as they walked towards the archery field. The feeling of mild dread in Emily's gut immediately grew and she looked pleadingly at her uncle who merely laughed brightly at her response. "I must say, penneth, that I am beginning to understand why Glorfindel takes such enjoyment in surprising you thus. It is truly most amusing."

"Vede...you said you can read me better than most anyone...so read this." Emily threw a dirty look up at him which only made him laugh harder so she pretended to sulked instead for a few steps. Finally she asked, "Fine. I know better than to try getting out of this...so I'll ask again, what are we doing?"

"I thought it might be entertaining to have a little archery competition against a few others..."

As they rounded the corner, Emily caught sight of five elves waiting for them and each armed with a bow. She instantly recognized Merenith and relaxed somewhat, however she wasn't sure how she felt about Tirnel, Rusgon, Sidhel and Gurador being the other participators in this scheme.

"Emily!" Merenith cried with great enthusiasm. "Save me from the company of these boring ellons!"

Tirnel rolled his eyes and Rusgon gave an injured exclamation of mock outrage.

Nervousness took a back seat the moment Merenith caught her arm and dragged her up the steps to 'their side' of the platform. Emily couldn't help the grin that formed on her face as she listened to her cousin ramble away about how dull the boys were and how she had grand schemes for later, babbling away until Tirnel swatted her on the back of the head to quiet her so they could begin. Merenith didn't take kindly to that and if it weren't for the look Glorfindel shot her, she would have started a min brawl with her brother.

Legolas explained the rules of the contest quickly, for it was all simple enough, and all too soon Emily had a bow in her hands and was waiting for things to begin.

Despite the support of Merenith by her side, Emily was not at all comfortable with competing against the four males. Surely they would beat her outright. After all, they were out on patrols and had much more experience and expertise than she possessed. Her concern was evident in her posture and expression, thus prompting Tirnel to commented upon it while Glorfindel and Legolas were returning from setting up the course.

"Tis a friendly match, cousin. Try not to look so worried about it!" Tirnel said as he confidently stepped up to start things off once his prince and the great warrior had stepped up along side them, giving the signal to begin. The other's formed behind, allowing the bigger elf to lead them by example.

Sidhel, who was standing just next in the line between Tirnel and Gurador, smiled a little and added, "Besides, you haven't seen any of us shoot yet. You might be surprised how bad some of us are."

"I beg your pardon!" Rusgon squawked indignantly. "I've much improved in recent years!"

"Only because the king demanded that you be drilled unceasingly until he was confident that same incident did not happen a second time...hir nin Farvel was not pleased..." Sidhel laughed.

Laughing merrily, Legolas chimed in brightly, "Understandable, seeing as he couldn't sit down for a week. But you have much improved, Rusgon!"

"Only because I was under your great tutorage, hir nin." Replied the smaller elf with a bow, then added cheerfully with utter sincerity. "I have little doubt that I will soon become proficient! Just a few more centuries..."

Tirnel took his shot, hitting the first target that was swinging in the breeze with ease and perfection, however to Emily's surprise he did not hit the target dead centre and he seemed to be a bit put out by that. He continued until each target, with increasing difficulty, had one of his arrows embedded in it. Again, not all of those arrows had perfectly found their mark and Emily felt a bit grateful for this since it meant what Sidhel had said was actually true. Not all of them were very good yet. That being said, they were still elves, and experienced or not, he shot with deadly precision just not perhaps as well as Legolas or an older elf.

Sidhel took his turn next, firing with a bit more speed than his friend and with even more precision which Tirnel made comments on, gruffly stating that the wind was stronger moments earlier and Sidhel was just lucky. Then it was Gurador's turn. Much to everyone's amusement, he took great pains to vocally analyze exactly where the other two's arrows had flown and which direction the wind was coming from and at what intervals. He then proceeded to theorize ahead of time before each shot where his arrow would end up and was mostly right. So far out of all of them he was the most accurate, although he lacked speed. It was very closely matched already.

Rusgon stepped up with a bouncy grin and fired off his arrows in record time. Unfortunately it also meant that he missed two of his targets and only just managed to hit the rest in the right order. The final one whisked off into the trees and wasn't see again.

"Well...that could have gone better, Rusgon, had you remembered to focus." Sighed Legolas with a laugh. "I had been beginning to think you had outgrown your hyperactive inattentiveness..."

"I do apologize, hin nin." Said Rusgon with a mildly embarrassed grin, though it was clear he was not terribly upset with any of this. "I believe I am just not meant to be an archer."

"No. I would be inclined to agree. Your skills lay in other areas and daggers have been one of your talents from the beginning." Legolas nodded, eyes twinkling when the younger elf was already quickly distracted by Merenith starting her turn. The red haired ellon bounded lightly behind the elleth and began to whistle an annoying cheery tune. Merenith spun round and soundly smacked him in the head with her bow before turning back to the targets and firing. She was rather good, however Emily could tell her cousin was getting too easily irritated by Rusgon that she wasn't doing the best she could have.

Tirnel leaned over to Emily and muttered softly, "Rusgon can hardly use a bow properly because he isn't interested in learning yet. But daggers? He is lethal with those. It's a bit frightening seeing him throw them. And for a bouncy, fidgety active creature...he is by far the stealthiest in the realm. Only very few can ever find him when he is hiding in the woods."

"Are you one of the few who can find him?" Emily asked.

"Oh no. Sidhel can on occasion. The king always does, as does hir nin Legolas. I am a fair tracker, make no mistake, but my true talents are in other areas." Tirnel replied.

Gurador snorted as leaned against the post of the pavilion, crossing his arms. "What he isn't saying is that he likes to be in charge and throw his muscle around rather than 'waste his time' with pursuits that would better his intellect and make himself useful later in life."

Tirnel rolled his eyes and said with an air that could almost be called arrogance, "Gurador on the other hand lacks the understanding that we cannot stop every time we come close to humans or dwarves or some other fascinating creature just so he can study them and make notes! Someone has to keep the rest of us on the right track, or all decays into chaos and disorder!"

"And of course the loudest should be the one to do that." Gurador said with no small degree of sarcasm. "Yes, well I have done some observing about that and if you would pay attention then you might notice that neither our king nor our princes and commanders are nearly as bossy and loud as you get when the opportunity arises for you to be in charge."

Emily glanced at her uncle with a mute plea for help as the two friends quickly became adversaries before her eyes, but Legolas and Glorfindel were engaged with convincing Rusgon to leave Merenith alone and hopefully prevent bloodshed.

Tension between the two males flickered dangerously with annoyance until Sidhel stepped in calmly.

"I believe we have debated this once before, good people, and the conclusion was to agree to disagree. I also recall that the other agreement was that you would both stop picking away at the other's differences...or shall we settle this debate the way we did last time? I could arrange it easily if you so desire..."

Both males quickly exchanged a look of dread and hurried to make peace with one another, Tirnel laughing lightly that it was just a friendly argument and that neither was truly serious...even if he was right that Gurador spent too much time thinking and less time practicing his combative skills. Gurador shrugged and said quietly, "And who is it that has all the knowledge about the maps, and also is kind enough to write up all the reports not to mention the number of times my 'useless' knowledge has saved you from unpleasant experiences?"

"I admit that it was you, mellon nin. However, I in turn have saved you when you where paying less attention to the dangers around you and more to the newest fascination you discovered..."

"I shall agree with that." Gurador replied, and the pair clasped forearms to seal the peace they had forged.

Emily released a tiny breath of relief and Sidhel shot her a knowing look.

"Worse than an old married couple, those two are...sometimes I think they argue for fun..." He muttered so only she heard.

"Are they always like that?" Emily wanted to know.

Sidhel nodded and quirked a smile. "It varies in degree. The heat doesn't help things, however I have my methods for keeping them from each others throats. But it's embarrassing that they choose to squabble in front of you. They should be ashamed." The ellon levelled a mock stern look at the other two and they laughed as they apologized to Emily for their behaviour. By that time, it was her turn and she hadn't even had time to get worked up over having to go last and be nervous.

She grinned at Merenith as she took her place and then took her shot at the first target without really thinking about it or considering her form. The instant the string released and the arrow flew, she wished she had thought about it. Yes, the arrow found it's mark with retentively fair accuracy, but her left forearm was snapped soundly with the string upon release, drawing sympathetic noises from the spectators.

"Shoulders a little more square, Emily. And fix your hand...yes. Good." Legolas murmured. "Are you alright?"

Emily nodded, jaw clenched tightly in pain as she blink quickly to rid her eyes of tears that had surfaced. She drew another arrow and aimed again, this time working hard to stand properly so she didn't make the same painful mistake. She missed the next one when the a gust of wind moved the target that was hanging from a line. The next three she did well with and was actually pleased with herself for doing so well. It wasn't easy to focus with so many people watching and the targets where becoming more and more difficult.

Then a new distraction came in the form of her grandfather and two hooded figures. They came quietly, Thranduil returning the greetings of his young people warmly and drawing Emily's attention away from her task for a moment.

Only partially successful in ignoring the newcomers, Emily drew the bow again and focused on her final target. She steadied her breathing and tried not to think about how painful her arm was throbbing from where the string had struck or the fact that her drawing arm was weakening quickly. All was quiet around her and Emily couldn't take it.

"Stop watching me!" She exclaimed with a partial laugh as she lowered the bow again and faced her audience. "Or talk or something! I can't take the pressure!"

Glorfindel laughed loudly above the others and said cheerily, "Just shot, Emily. Never mind the rest of us."

Grumbling, Emily faced the target again and focused, thankful this contest wasn't one of speed and agility while shooting. She had watched some of those contests and decided she would never be able to do that. If Glorfindel ever knew of this, he would undoubtedly make her do it, so she wisely kept it to herself.

She steadied once more, concentrated as she lined up the target, paying attention to the wind and angle of the arrow she was trying get close too.

It still isn't fair that I have to be the one to do this. I think this contest was rigged.

Just before she released the arrow, a comment carried to her ears from the hooded spectators behind.

"I will wager a month's worth of weapon cleaning that she is going to only just miss the centre."

"HAH! I accept. You have so little faith in her, brother. And you never have had as good of an eye for the bow. She is obviously going to hit her mark!"

The arrow flew true at the same moment, embedding itself so closely to the centre arrow that it grazed the wood on the side of the shaft, splintering it a little. But Emily didn't see this great victory, for she was already spinning around to face those two voices, hardly daring to hope it was who she thought it was-

With a joyous cry, Emily drop her bow with a clatter and launched down the steps towards them, flinging herself into the twin bear hug with a squeal of delight. She tried to speak, but her words came out in unintelligible nonsense instead, which of course entertained the twins immensely.

"Look at that, Elrohir! We've rendered her speechless!" Elladan laughed as they released her.

"It isn't surprising. We often have that affect on people! Especially pretty young ladies." Responded the other with mock seriousness.

"I can't believe you're here!" Emily blurted out finally, clasping her hands together in front of her with barely contained enthusiasm. "No one even said that you were coming!"

"They didn't!?" Elladan exclaimed, looking hurt. "I would have thought the kingdom would be buzzing with whispers of dread at our impending arrival..."

"Brother...we told them to keep it a secret so we could surprise Emily." said Elrohir, rolling his eyes and looking exasperated.

"Oh! Yes. I suppose we did, didn't we." Elladan agreed with a grin. "Even better. We can surprise everyone else as well, for our arrival was swifter than we had anticipated!"

"I fear that my people may not be nearly as enthusiastic about your arrival as Emily is." Thranduil droned coolly, eyes laughing merrily at Emily as she danced about with glee.

Behind them, the others stood with enjoyment at the reunion, merrily taking it all in...until, that is, Rusgon leaned over to Sidhel and whispered something into his ear, causing the other to draw a deep calming breath before turning to look at his slightly shorter friend with stern exasperation. Rusgon just gave a toothy grin and wiggled his eyebrows innocently before Sidhel snorted and looked away. Rusgon muttered something else and this time Tirnel heard it and gave Sidhel an odd questioning look. He ignored Tirnel and elbowed Rusgon sharply in the ribs. This of course did nothing to improve the situation and it wasn't long before, presence of guests and their ruling nobles not withstanding, Rusgon and Sidhel were engaged in great deal of snorting, sniggering and a not so stealthy wrestling match on the ground.

Conversation quieted briefly as attention was drawn to the scuffling in the background. Thranduil watched them with mild interest for a moment before turning away with a tiny smirk not giving them a second glance. The twins merely laughed, as did Glorfindel and Legolas. Gurador looked alarmed and Tirnel seemed to be torn between breaking it up for the sake of good manners before the king, and wanting to see how it played out. Emily and Merenith, however exchanged a look that clearly said, 'Boys are sooo strange.'

Privately Thranduil was pleased to see such silliness from them, particularly when Sidhel and Gurador had grown too serious in the past thirty years...though that was to be expected after what they had witness on the battle fields of Erebor, and so young too. They should never have been there...not for the battle. Thranduil shook his head, brushing aside the deep regret for the time being and returning to the joy of life before him.

"But alas, dear Emily," Elrohir was saying, "We must off to discuss some matters with Lord Thranduil and his advisors. We do promise to hunt you down in a few hours though, for we have-"

Elrohir was cut off by his brother.

"We have a gift for you!" Said Elladan cheerily.

"Actually, we brought one and picked up some more along the way..." Elrohir corrected mysteriously after giving his brother a warning look for interrupting. "But until then, you must remain in suspense."

"Yes! And if I am not mistaken, there were plans for swimming now, is that not so, Merenith?" Legolas added, turning to the elleth who was just about to dump water on Sidhel and Rusgon who were still wrestling and snickering like the fools they looked.

"Indeed! I felt it would be prudent in this heat!" Merenith told them, straightening up and standing at attention while innocently hiding the water pitcher behind her back.

"Swimming!" Rusgon exclaimed, partially muffled from where his head was stuck in the crook of Sidhel's elbow. "Oh good! He smells awful!"

Tirnel burst out laughing. "He is no better than you are!"

Thranduil smirked softly and said, "I think perhaps the lot of you could benefit from a swim..."

Emily looked hurriedly at her grandfather with a wild unease and obvious worry that she also smelled bad. His smirk grew and the briefest wink occurred before he returned to his regal, imposing self and lead the twins away.

Merenith dashed over after Emily had reluctantly bid her friends farewell and seized her hand.

"COME ON! The boys are already headed down to the river!"

"What about vede and Glorfindel?"

"They said they would come later, now come, come come!"

"Where is Estel? I thought that you meant to find him and escort him here for shear entertainment. Did you not find him?" Legolas asked, as he walked with the son's of Elrond and his father back as far as the gates before returning to swim with the youths. "And it was also thought that you would be arriving a few from now, not today..."

"We found him, however he was deeply engaged in gathering some information concerning missing human children from the surrounding areas near here. The matter caught his attention and he wanted to contact one of his people who has been serving in one of the villages of the woodsmen." Said Elladan. "He bid us to go on ahead, for the contact he was seeking out is wary of elves. As for our early arrival, we travelled in fine weather and the nights were so enticing that we could not help but travel beneath the stars, saving time...besides, now the surprise is for everyone, not just Emily!"

"How considerate of you to include us all in your scheme...when do we expect to be graced with Estel's presence?" Thranduil drawled with light humour.

"A few days, we hope, and un-harmed would be ideal."

"What of these 'gifts' you brought with you..." Legolas wondered aloud.

The twins grinned broadly. "The 'gifts' are safely in the stables at the moment, and I think that Emily will be beyond joyful to see them..."

Thranduil laughed then, a light merry one. "Indeed. For once your arrival has been greatly appreciated. It has brought the solution to a problem I have been pondering these many days...and I know for certain it will bring Emily some comfort and relief. Though, I am immensely curious to hear of how these 'gifts' came to you..."

Back at the river, Emily shifted uncomfortably on the tree line, deliberately looking anywhere but the four males. She had seen them leaping off into the water without shirts and looking...well...lets be honest...rather fine. However Emily also was easily flustered by these kinds of things so it is well in keeping with her character when she said, "Mer...maybe we don't need to go swimming right now..."

"What? Why ever not!?" Merenith looked up from pulling off her boots.

"Just...cause..."

Her cousin folded her arms impatiently. "Emily. You have to tell me now! And hurry up, look, the others are already having fun without us!"

Emily reluctantly glanced back to where Merenith was pointing and immediately went pink, looking away quickly again.

The sharp eyed elleth beside her noticed the action and change in color instantly and her eyes went big with glee.

"Emily...are you scared of a little skin?" Merenith asked with minor mocking. Emily went a shade darker and the other exclaimed in a hushed tone, "YOU ARE! You're shy! Aww, that's so cute! I've heard that humans are often shy about these things, but you had told me about the lack of discreteness and outright tendency towards not keeping things that should be kept private private in your world...I just assumed you didn't have trouble with something as harmless as this! I mean, it's not as though you're going to see anything!"

"Well...technically I don't have a problem with topless boys...but...but..." Emily trailed of abruptly as Glorfindel and Legolas sauntered up the path, coming to join them as promised.

"What seems to be the trouble here, hmm?" Glorfindel inquired. "Emily, why are you all rosy cheeked? What's embarrassed you now?"

Merenith grinned broadly and before Emily could stop her blurted out, "Emily's feeling reluctant to join the ellons at the moment...I think she's shy and for some reason cares about the amount of skin being shown. I don't see what the trouble is. The important half is covered."

"Oh? Emily, you didn't have troubles like this at the cottage. What's changed?" Legolas wanted to know, puzzled by this sudden show of embarrassment.

"Because that was different..." Emily mumbled, going an even deeper shade of red. Glorfindel exchanged a look of amused and gleefully delighted comprehension with Legolas and Merenith.

Leaning down closer to Emily's ear, Glorfindel crossed his arms casually and said in a low voice, "So...which one are you having trouble not looking at? Or is it all of them?"

If it were even possible, the poor girl went a shade darker and quickly covered her face with her hands with a soft whimper.

She muffled through her fingers. "I'm really over this conversation. Can we just not?"

Merenith laughed and put an arm around her shoulders, "Awww, didn't I say you were cute!? Don't feel bad. They all do look rather nice, but you get used to it and then it just becomes something you don't notice anymore..."

Inside Emily's mind she experienced relief but also the brief thought of 'Oh, that's kind of a shame...'

"Yes. Tis unfortunate that the elleths so quickly overcome being affected by the dazzling splendour of males..." Glorfindel lamented. "But you still haven't told which one it is, dear Emily..."

"Glorfindel! Go AWAY!" Emily growled, releasing her face from her hands and teetering on the edge between laughing and crying.

"It's a simple enough question to answer, is it not? Penneth?" Legolas wanted to know, joining shamelessly in the teasing. "Besides, we need to know ahead of time so we can have a...friendly chat with the boy..."

"There wasn't exactly one specifically...more of just a general noticing..." Emily muttered so quietly that they almost didn't hear.

"Ohhhh...a general noticing." Glorfindel said in sing-song. Emily immediately looked to her uncle and gave him just one look that communicated everything she wanted so badly in that moment. Legolas smiled with gentle teasing and then nodded mutely to her request.

"Enough, Glorfindel." He said quietly. "Since it was a 'general noticing' we should really just go and have a long chat with all of them about not running around topless and embarrassing poor Emily..."

"VEDE!" Emily cried and shoved him hard so that he rocked back somewhat while laughing down at her. "You were supposed to make the teasing stop, not make it worse! Don't you dare go do that!"

Merenith put her hands on her hips and exclaimed, "Yeah! Don't tease my Emily!"

"It's your fault I'm being tease in the first place, Mer!" Emily grumbled good-naturedly.

"Oh right..." Merenith gave a little giggle. "Sorry."

"No you aren't." Emily glared.

Glorfindel sighed and then said seriously. "I have the solution to your problem Emily. You just need more exposure to the situation!"

And he then did the predictable (for it was so hard to resist when she was so entertaining to toss in water), snatching Emily up over his shoulder and marching off to the water with her protesting very loudly the whole way and drawing the amusement of the four boys.

"Let me go, you fiendish turd blossom!" Emily squealed. "I'll...I'll...I bite you!"

"Will you, little warg?" Glorfindel asked with a laugh.

"Fine. No I won't. But I'll do this instead."

She grappled his upper body tightly with her own arms so that he couldn't toss her in without also going in the water himself. It was a trick that Estel quietly mentioned to her not long before her departure the last time she was in Middle Earth, and until now she had quite forgotten about it.

"Oh ho!" Glorfindel cried. "Do not think that will stop me."

And he launched in without any hesitation. Emily shrieked at just the wrong moment and ended up getting a face full of water, which resulted in her coughing and spluttering rather dramatically when she surfaced.

"You alight there, Em?" Tirnel called. Emily glanced at him and was relieved that he was easier to face than the others since he was related to her. Still coughing she smiled and nodded only then realizing that Glorfindel was nowhere to be found. She scanned the shore...the depths around her...and still saw nothing for the water though clear was very deep in this part. She finished clearing her lungs and then began to swim for shore, secretly anticipating what happened next. Her mentor surfaced directly in front of her with a flurry of animated splashing and thus driving her back again towards where the boys were.

I kinda hate him sometimes...

"Glorfindel!" Emily cried in annoyance. "Go provoke someone else!"

He stopped splashing, brow furrowed in mock confusion. "Why, dear Emily? This is all just part of today's lesson!"

"It...what?"

"We are going to have some fun with water combat!" Glorfindel said with a grin.

Yes. I hate him. Well...maybe not hate...that's a strong word...but actually though! "

"Water combat." Emily repeated, clearly unimpressed.

"It's either that or you jump from the rope swing twice and from the first ledge of that rock face once."

"I don't like either of those options." Said Emily, still swimming slowly backwards away from the balrog slayer. Just then something grabbed her toes, as though something big was about to bite them off and Emily gave a muted scream as she kicked out and swam back to her mentor for safety. Rusgon surface seconds later, grinning from ear to ear.

"Oh, I do apologize, Lady Emily!" he said innocently. "I thought you were Merenith!"

"I'm not." Emily growled. "And don't even do that again!"

This didn't seem to deter the fox faced elf, for he just grinned more and swam off.

Moments later Merenith leapt out of the branches of the tree above and flattened him under the water with vengeance. This resulted in a wrestling match between the elleth and ellon that ended with two bloody noses and a bruised jaw.

The swim was everything Emily needed, and the merriement and fun lasted for a long while until thunder rumbled it's warning in the distance and Legolas ordered everyone inside. Emily was rather overjoyed by this because Glorfindel had yet to make her pick which 'lesson' she wanted to do and so she got away with just not doing either for once. Somehow, Emily knew he would 'make it up to her' though, and she didn't overly look forward to that.

By the time they reached the gates, it was pouring rain, the wind raged and lightning illuminated the dark sky. Emily was so focused on getting inside she hardly noticed that Legolas had quietly taken her elbow as they crossed the bridge. They all parted ways then, each going to their own locations to change and continue about their day.

Upon scampering into her room to hunt for dry clothing, Emily slowed to a stand still when she spied a difference by her bedside and thus failing to close her door. The candle had been replace with the loveliest lamp she had ever seen. It was intricately designed with a sturdy base and a mechanized component that lit the lamp instantly. No longer would she have to fight with making light on her own when her hands were shaking with fear.

"Ah! I see that Farvel finished it." Said Legolas with a smile as he glanced in her room on his way past.

"Vede Farvel made it?" Emily asked, still in awe of the masterpiece.

"Yes."

"For me?!"

"Yes!" Laughed Legolas.

"Where is he?" Emily wanted to know, tearing her eyes away from her new treasure.

"The training ring, I believe. He was helped by-"

But Emily was already gone, leaving her uncle to shake his head and laugh fondly at her leaving wet foot prints in her wake. She would have to wait till later to find out that her brother also had a hand in finishing the lamp...

Not once did Emily consider that flying across the indoor arena (still very damp, I might add) in front of a sizable crowd of elves would be a bad or embarrassing idea. All she could think of was her desire to express her gratitude. And she did. She went straight for Farvel where he stood giving instructions at the front of the group, launched into him and nearly catching him off guard with the hug. His eyes widened in surprise and he catch her just in time, holding her close with a small laugh.

"Penneth?"

"Thank you for the wonderful lamp." She whispered, before letting it registered that the observing elves were highly entertained by all of this, some even calling out merry teasing remarks to their prince and commander. She released him hurriedly, though he was not as quick to let her go.

"You are most welcome, penneth. And I must, in turn, thank you for cooling me off so kindly in this heat!"

Emily pulled away, immediately going pink and looking rather mortified at the damp outline from where she had hugged him. Farvel's eyes smiled down at her though and she flashed him a quick smile in return before deciding the best plan of escape from this increasingly awkward situation would be blasting off the opposite direction as fast as she had come, very purposefully ignoring the merry laughing of the good people she parted from.

She of course promptly nearly ran straight into Elrond as she rounded a corner too fast, skidding to clumsy halt before him and feeling as though this had occurred before.

"Penneth." said Elrond quietly, eyes fixed on her left shin. "May I ask what it is that causes you to limp slightly in your left leg?"

"What? Oh. That." said Emily, tugging up her pant leg to look. "It's not that bad! I-"

She trailed off with an, "Oooohhh. Oh dear. Well, that is a big bruise."

"Yes. It is." agreed Elrond, eyebrow lifted as he stared at the ugly, extremely swollen mark on her lower shin. "And what transpired to caused this?"

"Well...ya see." Emily laughed a bit, "I was doing handstands and Reisa tried to help. Long story short, my leg and her head collided rather spectacularly."

The healer shook his head at her with a rueful smile. "You should go to the healing wards and have it tended to."

Emily was about to brush it aside and claim that it really wasn't necessary to do so, when she remember that this was Lord Elrond she was talking to...and his 'suggestions' were usually commands that should not be ignored for too long.

"I guess so." Emily answered.

"And perhaps you should leave the ever helpful Reisa out of the handstand excitement next time...and did my sons throw you in water again? You seem to be wet again..." Elrond commented mildly.

"Yes...well...no. Glorfindel did that, but we were going to swim anyway, and now it's raining."

Elrond raised his brow amusedly and then continued on his way, reminding her as he went to ensure she went to the healing wards for the bruise.

Having sufficiently embarrassed herself for one day, and feeling suddenly peopled out, Emily ventured off alone after changing into something dry. She somehow found herself in the music chambers and stranger yet...found herself seated alone in a side practicing room with a guitar like instrument staring off into space and playing as she had not done in a very long time.

Plucking the strings absentmindedly, Emily let her thoughts wander. The lightness she had felt most of the day was channelled into a more quiet, pensive and creative area inside her. It was the place in her heart that she seldom ever went. The place heartfelt music came from. The kind that she didn't have to think about. The kind that bubbled from deep inside and flowed without fear of imperfection. It moved with total acceptance and freedom.

Without really taking time to consider and forgetting the dread she had of someone listening to her, Emily's fingers began to play the chords for one of her favourite songs (Dream, by Priscilla Ahn) and she sang:

I was a little girl
Alone in my little world
Who dreamed of a little home for me.
I played pretend between the trees,
And fed my houseguests bark and leaves,
And laughed in my pretty bed of green.

I had a dream
That I could fly
From the highest swing.
I had a dream.

Long walks in the dark
Through woods grown behind the park,
I asked God who I'm supposed to be.
The stars smiled down on me,
God answered in silent reverie.
I said a prayer and fell asleep.

I had a dream
That I could fly
From the highest tree.
I had a dream...

She trailed off into the wordless melody that came next, enjoying the way it bounced off the walls and was about to finish with the last verse of the song when the eerie feeling of being watched settled over her. Quickly she glanced over her shoulder and flinched violently at seeing figures in the archway. The music fell silent and she sat frozen.

"Oh, Emily, that was lovely! Why did you stop!?"

The one in the forefront stepped into the full light of the room and Emily gasped.

For an instant she thought it was Clare, but-

"Mummy?" Emily whispered with awe.

AN: Due the length of my beginning AN I decided to spare you all and only say, thanks for reading and please review if you can :) Anything you like, a comment, what you liked (or didn't :s ) or questions...speculations? Right. Until next time, stay safe my friends!