Hi everyone!

This chapter is brought to you by the beautiful strains of Queen, who for some reason were my inspiration. Predominantly Who Wants To Live Forever, We are the Champions, and Kind of Magic for reasons that weren't really apparent at first but wove themselves into my heart.

Enjoy, and I look forward to your reviews!

Lots of love,

MM -x

Mirkwood was strange.

That was the first thought that hit me as I became accustomed to finding my way around, the caves and the woods and the paths that wove seemed to be designed to purposefully make finding anything harder.

The trees were different too – where in Lothlorien they had been tall and reaching, giving a sense of freedom as you walked beneath them, the trees of the Greenwood still felt close. They sheltered and protected, arching and weaving. It sometimes felt close and cloying, and in a matter of days I'd already made an escape in to the more open parts of the forest, letting the heat of summer warm me.

Despite that it felt achingly familiar, and as my fingertips grazed across cool and glistening rock I felt the ghosts of my past lick at me tantalisingly. Twice already Legolas had found me in some corner or laid against the foot of a tree, book in hand, and he had asked me with a strange look if I was remembering those times past.

I wasn't, but I desperately wanted to.

One afternoon, I'd stolen J for a walk and we sat at the foot of one of my favourite trees where the sunlight streamed through, and she pulled up the skirts of her dress so the light could hit her legs. I did the same, tugging down the neck of my dress so I could tip my head back and let the sun onto my shoulders too.

"Wanna talk about it?" I asked her finally, not really needing to go into much more detail than that. Her head tilted towards me and she ran her fingers through the grass.

"What do you think the answer is?" J asked finally, eyes to the sky.

"I think Lady Galadriel's right." I answered after a moment. "Like she said, we can't truly be sure. Only the Valar could be truly sure I suppose, but it isn't like we'll really get that opportunity until we go to Valinor." I shrugged.

"So you'll still marry Haldir, and fuck the consequences?" her voice held a little laughter, which pleased me hugely.

"We talked a bit about it; he's still in and I'm still in." I waved the hand with the ring firmly in place. "I can't help but think though; I fell in love with him so completely and so quickly... I sometimes think I feel him. Feel his heart." I pressed my hand to my chest, the flutter of my heart answering the unspoken question.

We sat in silence a little longer. "I wrote to Glorfindel." J blurted out.

Good, and about bloody time too. He'd asked her when we left for Mirkwood, the Greenwood, and I'd seriously hoped she would take him up on it. "And?" I turned myself, crossing my legs and letting our knees touch as she did the same. Her hands reached for mine and I could feel a little shakiness.

"I got a letter back this morning from him." She fished it out of a pocket in her skirts and I read it, feeling truly happy for her as a little blush crept up her cheeks. "He's right, you know. About everything."

I put the letter down and looked at her in the eye, her fair hair was catching the rays of the sun and lightening a little day by day when we wandered into the light. My own hair stayed quite stubbornly as dark as the night, but the sunlight had clearly done a little more than simply brighten her hair.

"J, what do you want?"

"I don't know." She didn't look me in the eye, and I took her hands again.

"Not true. I know you've made a decision, I just don't know what it is." I was matter-of-fact about the whole thing, and her head popped up with a look of wry amusement.

"When did you get to be so wise, Ben? When did I miss you change so much?" Her words were quiet and I reached out to cup her cheek, my heart warming as she nuzzled into the touch.

"I always have been. You just didn't need me to be for you, because you've always been so sure of yourself."

"I... I suppose that's true. We never needed to see you that way, so we didn't." She stopped short. "I'm stalling. Yes, I know what I want and bloody hell Ben, it scares me."

"So you want him, then." I sat back, content that I was correct. She chewed her lip and cheek for a moment before she nodded.

"I'm so full of doubt. I know he over-heard what I said to Galadriel, and my heart says that he's still waiting for me but my head... I don't want him to ever doubt that he is the only one who has really, truly captured my heart, you know? I don't want the thought that I've been held by someone else that way, that I've known that intimacy and that closeness before, to persuade him otherwise."

"It's so different, J. Mum explained to me a bit about how it will be and it's nothing like you've ever known before. Yes, the mechanics are the same, and don't forget that you're essentially in a whole new body." I tried hard not to blush and she laughed as I failed quite thoroughly. "Er, yes, anyway. But there's another level to it that isn't just the physical, it's a blending of who we are too – our spirits, souls, whatever you want to call it."

"You know, for all the wonderful things about leaders like Lady Galadriel and Lord Elrond, there's far more to be said for someone who can put it into simple terms." She leaned into me, and our foreheads touched. "There's a lot to be said for a big sister." She murmured.

"Hmm, though if my little sister could give me tips on feeling sexy and not falling over myself the first time, I'd genuinely appreciate it."

Her purely filthy laughter echoed in the trees around us, and I settled down next to her as she gave me a rather detailed description of the whole ordeal, leaving me flushed and bright-eyed.

xxxXxxx

The days passed in a glorious summer blur, filled with books and laughter and an ongoing betting pool as to when Legolas and Tori would cave in. More times than I could count I'd spotted them walking together, heads bowed as they did so, or out on the archery range where his hands would gently guide her shots.

I knew she didn't need to do it, and her pleased smirk when he wasn't looking assured me that I was on the money.

Wherever I could, I was out of the caves as soon as it was light with a basket of food, my flute, and a wide selection of books to trawl through. I was sleeping poorly so the thought of having to simper to the pretentious Lords who bowed to me wherever I went made my stomach turn. Apparently, the sparkling silver ring on my hand wasn't enough to persuade them that I wasn't at all interested in their stories of times before.

All in all, it only served to make me miss Haldir more than I thought possible, and in a fit of frustration I'd written Haldir a letter explaining about my exploits so far, my maddening encounters with arrogant Lords who thought themselves charming, and the way the King looked at me. It was as if I was a caged animal: a curiosity, something he wanted to prod and examine, but otherwise gave little care for except to look at me with that curl of his lip.

His letter back, which arrived eight weeks in to our stay, gave me a little light in my darker moods, and I kept the parchment with me wherever I went.

My love, my Benny,

King Thranduil clearly has poor taste in his choice of companions; either that, or he is rankling you on purpose to test your mettle and to see if he is able to coax memories from you. My heart tells me it is the latter but I know that you will believe the former. Do try to ignore him as best you are able, and try not to get yourself into further mischief.

Lothlorien is remarkably quiet without you. I think we have all rather become accustomed to the hubbub, chatter and song that follows wherever you pass. Osellë sends her best wishes, and she expresses her hopes that the spiders which remain still in the woods happen across you and enjoy you for their evening meal should you not keep your wits about you.

I rather think this means that she misses you and asks you to stay safe, but I confess that I cannot be entirely sure.

A small gift I have enclosed with this letter, just in case these 'Lords' forget their place any further. I do rather dislike a lack of manners and I would not have you feel at all uncomfortable. I would have you wear it whenever you are out, and it should ensure that all who gaze upon you know that you are under the protection of Lothlorien. My bow shall be swift and sure if any so much as look at you with lusty eyes.

As well you know my wayward love, only I get such a pleasure – in private, of course, as once you said. I cannot deny how greatly I desire to hold you in my arms once more, and have our souls alight with that same passion which stole us in the great gardens of Minas Tirith. My dreams of late have been most disturbed and I begin to fear that only our binding will sate these feelings, for such wanton yearning has never burned within me until now.

Do you feel the same, I wonder? Do you feel my heart beat within you, rushing though your veins, as sometimes I imagine I do in the stillest parts of the night?

May swift winds and bright sunlight guide your path back to my arms, and know that wherever you walk you are in my heart.

Always,

- H

With a chuckle I unwrapped the deep red cloak Haldir wore as a Captain of the Lothlorien Wardens ceremonially, and as part of his full battle armour. As I flicked it out a flash of gold caught my eye and something landed in the grass before me. In my hands I grasped the delicate chain which bore elegantly spun golden Mallorn trees, bringing a smile to my lips as I thought of the golden woods I called a home. A smoky green jewel rested at the centre with what appeared to be a bow inlaid in the large, smooth stone in a sparkling gold leaf.

The cloak was to make me laugh, but the beautiful pendant was the true gift.

"It appears someone is staking his claim to you a little more thoroughly." I looked up and Legolas peered down from a perch in the tree above where I was sitting. "Does your Father know how scandalously your betrothed writes to you?"

I flushed, clutching the letter against me so he couldn't read it further. "Legolas! Go away, this is private."

"Yes indeed, if such a blush is to capture features otherwise so fair." He teased, dropping to sit beside me. "Fear not – you shall not be the first lady to exchange lusty letters with their betrothed, nor shall you be the last. You know that you have my absolute secrecy."

"Speaking of secrecy." I looked at him long and hard. "When are you going to tell my sister how you feel?"

He looked awkward himself, which gave me a moment to collect myself. The great river which cut through Mirkwood was rushing nearby, and this little glade reminded me of the one where all things in my life now seemed to stem from. "I wish for her to remember of her own accord, if she can. I would not impose upon her that which she does not recall."

"Hmm, if you say so." I frowned at him. He was going to end up hurting her if he wasn't careful, and he looked away with a cough.

"All will be as it should in the end. So I ask you this: what causes such a letter to be sent from my dear friend?"

I huffed, not appreciating the return to the topic in hand. "A little unwelcome attention, that's all." I assured him. "Here, make yourself useful and fasten this." I held out the gold chain and lifted my hair so that he could fix the clasp about me. It came to nestle directly over my heart, as clear an indication as any silver ring that my heart had well and truly been lost to the Captain of the woods, and I held his own where mine once had been.

"Well, he certainly has a flair for the dramatic." Legolas chortled as I folded the letter I'd been sent and held it tightly in my palm. "Now to my true task, Benny. Why are you secluding yourself so? It is not unusual, I confess, but even before you would spend a little time in the great halls with your family. Your music is missed, my friend."

I squirmed uncomfortably under his gaze. "I feel like everyone keeps looking at me, like I'm some strange experiment gone terribly wrong." His brows rose, but he said nothing. "The way your Father insists on looking at me doesn't help matters either." I confessed finally, and he reached out to swat me about the head.

"I knew that was the true reason for your seclusion. I do not pretend to know my Father's mind, but he really is not quite so boorish as you think him to be. Again I say he was very fond of you and your mother, and the music you brought to our halls gave solace to him in the difficult times after my mother sailed."

I said nothing then for a time, simply staring at him with a slow blink. "Legolas, I don't remember any of this. It is as if everyone seems to forget it. Maybe the twins are happy to carry on as they were because they don't look any different to how they did. I'm alien in comparison."

"It will come in time." He assured me then. "No elf here expects anything of you, and yet you seem to place such a heavy weight upon these memories which have not yet returned. All we would have is to see you smile, and for you to return to Lothlorien not hating the time you have spent here."

"Is that what you think – that I'm unhappy?" I laughed. "I've really grown to love my time here, and odd memories do come from time to time with no rhyme or reason. If I was really, honestly unhappy I would be gone like a shot."

"Would you really?" Legolas asked, blue eyes inquisitive.

"Being human changed me." I leaned back against the tree and rested my head on his shoulder comfortably. "I don't have the same fear I did of leaving home. My parents played quite the hand in damning me to the life I've had." I stopped suddenly, not quite knowing where the angry outburst had come from or what it actually meant.

He looked amused then. "You say that you do not remember, but I think you do in your heart. What are you so fearful of?" I brought my knees up to my chest, touching the pendant that sat there reverently. "Ah, I see. You fear that he will not want you as he does now?" he nodded to the letter that was still caught between my fingers.

"Maybe. There are a few other things playing on my mind too." I stopped, shaking my head. "It doesn't matter. I'm thinking myself into a hole, aren't I?"

"Of course you are and you know truly that Haldir's heart will not be so easily changed, for you are not so very different – this I swear. Come, dear one. I hate to see such a look of absolute desolation upon your face." He stood and offered an arm to me, pulling me up and taking Haldir's cloak in his free hand as we wandered aimlessly. Or what I thought was aimlessly, because I found myself at the archery range with a bow in my hand before I had a chance to blink.

"Er, this won't be good." I winced, running my hands over the smooth wood reverently but also respectfully aware I would be hideous.

"Humour me, my friend. You need some occupation whilst you are here that does not include secluding yourself under some bough or another with a book." He laughed at my incredulous look.

"Legolas, I like sitting on my own with a book. I'm perfectly happy in my own company." I patted his arm and tried to give him the bow back.

"No, that look will not work with me. Here, let me show you how to hold yourself, and how to draw the bow."

It turned out that my form was perfectly fine, but the minute an arrow was placed in my grasp all hell broke loose. I dropped the arrows, I shot them in entirely the wrong direction, and finally in a fit of anger two weeks later I'd walked up to the target, shoved the arrow in with my fist, then stormed past Legolas who was almost in tears from laughter. My sisters were no better, and I threw the bow at Tori with a little more force than was strictly necessary before taking my leave of the archery fields permanently.

"Bernadette?" Legolas followed me, realising his mistake. I threw my hand up as he got close.

"No."

"Benny, please." I heard the upset in his voice and I spun, stopping abruptly so he almost ran in to me. "I am sorry – I feel like I have done you wrong somehow but I do not know what it is that has distressed you."

I closed my eyes, breathing in and counting to five before breathing out and answering him. "I am never going to be an archer, Legolas. Two weeks of practicing every single day for hours has proved that quite thoroughly. Give me a book, give me an instrument, give me flour, water and yeast. These things I can do something with, without being make fun of and laughed at."

He looked a little like a wounded puppy. "It isn't your lack of effort, Legolas, but I have no coordination whatsoever. I can probably get away with defending myself with a sword but..."

"Then would you give that a try?" He looked eager again, and I sighed in defeat.

"Okay, maybe a lesson or two. But today, I might go for a run, and then sit under a tree with a book." I bargained, finally relenting.

Legolas wrapped me in an excited hug before he disappeared into the trees. With a short laugh I tied my hair back in a thick braid and then set off at a steady run, the pounding of my feet against the forest floor grounding me. Around an hour later J joined me, a look of distaste on her face.

"Legolas is teaching Tori again." I grimaced along with her. "Is there any reason they aren't just together already?"

"He wants her to remember." I confessed, breathing through my nose and out through my mouth as I began to feel the steady burn in my chest. Collapsing at the foot of a tree together after walking a little further, I rolled on to my back and rested my head on my hands.

"Bunny cloud." J pointed out and I snickered. "Oh, there's one that looks like an egg."

"You know, Rumil once told me a cloud couldn't look like an egg." I smiled, thinking of that fateful day. J opened her mouth to respond, but someone spoke over her before she had the chance.

"Bernadette?"

I glanced to the side with a frown as we were rudely interrupted, and found my father gazing down at me with a singular raised brow.

"Father dear?" I mocked his formal tone and he rolled his eyes, holding out a hand to me to help me stand.

"We have been summoned to dinner this evening by Thranduil along with Legolas and other dignitaries from the wood." I blanched and frantically looked for a way out of the situation. "You are really going to have to get over your dislike for the King. We have been here two and a half months already and each time you've run away."

"That's because he looks at me like I'm scum." I said pointedly. "He's excellent at making me feel unwelcome."

"You don't try to involve yourself in day to day life at all!" He cried, and I turned to J.

"Sweet, you don't want to be around for this." She nodded once, grimacing as she stood, squeezing my shoulder. "I'll see you later, okay?" She was gone quickly into the trees and I turned back to Dad, eyes blazing.

"Okay, now you've insisted on embarrassing me in front of my sister – thank you for that." I snapped. "What do you want?"

"Then desist in being quite so childish." He returned in kind. "What issue have you taken so thoroughly with King Thranduil?"

"His cold arrogance, his hard stares, is decidedly cool attitude towards me whenever his eyes sweep past me? Like I've done him some great wrong. Does he even know I can't remember anything? I refused to look at Dad, I refused to cry in front of him. I'd cried enough tears to last a lifetime over him and the King was right, it was time I grew a backbone.

"I... I always assumed he knew." He sounded remarkably unsure then.

"Either way, I rest my case. If he does know then he is an ass of the highest order, and if he doesn't then someone should inform him before he succeeds in making us feel even more unwelcome than he already has." My vision blurred. "This isn't my home, Dad. Not any more, no matter how much I love you and no matter how much I wish it could be. I don't know if it ever was anyway, but I've changed. I'm not the girl who was here before, and I'm not even the girl who you left at fifteen. I'm someone new, and I'm just starting to figure that out."

"Benny, seriously!" He hissed, eyes wide. "How can you say that, after everything we've gone through?"

"I say it because I've been through it. Don't forget, you had the opportunity to escape all the hard bits and you didn't have him torturing you in your own head!" I tore my hand away from his before he could see my tears, legs propelling me easily despite my earlier run.

I let my feet and hands guide me in the late summer light – it was September now, and the days were beginning to cool. I missed Haldir, I missed Orophin and Rumil, and I missed my easy friendship with Osellë. I loved my family, but it came upon me now more than ever that I was my own person now and I didn't need to rely on them in the way I had before.

The way I had before?

I stopped dead, looking around me, and then dropped to my knees as something slammed against my head. I gasped, reaching out with my hands to steady myself against the floor. I was in a clearing. A strangely perfect circle, with stones lining certain parts. I heard the vague sound of someone calling my name but I was too far gone into the recesses of my mind.

Childlike voices echoed. Laughter and tears and tantrums drove into me from every angle, emotions flooding me in a way I couldn't control or even begin to truly process.

I remembered faces, songs, instruments and nights spent with a glass of wine and good company. I remembered friendships, joy, sadness and heartache. I recalled with startling clarity the heartbreaking choice as I stepped into this clearing once before, a little over five hundred years ago.

I lost all concept of time and space as I laid there, staring at the sky unseeingly as I was assaulted by memory after memory, thought after thought until I began to see faces swimming before my vision.

"Benny? Benny, are you okay?" Dad's dark hair fell around me, casting shadows that warped into faces and scenes. I was on my back with the sunset above me as I tried, and failed, to sit up.

"I must find Legolas. How could you let me forget? Valar, he must hate me." I looked at him, but his features swam before my eyes again as pain and nausea took a hold when something felt like it was lodged firmly in my chest.

"I never made you do anything... Aerlinn? Bernadette?" I heard the names and I knew that he was speaking to me, but I was gone once more into memory and devastation. I barely felt the arms which lifted me from the floor as my head lolled back, and my eyes rolled into darkness.

x*x

I giggled from high in the tree, laid on a branch as I watched older elves pass before me with inquisitive eyes.

"I hear laughter, could it be my little 'Linn? Where is she, now?" I scuttled back near the trunk of the tree, trying to breathe quietly as I waited for my prey like a great hunter. As soon as he was there, I flung myself from the tree and landed upon his back, his arms capturing my legs.

"I have you, Legolas!" My childish voice said with glee to the young Prince, who looked remarkably less troubled than his older counterpart.

"I did not even see you!" He gasped, spinning me around to try and catch a glimpse. "Where were you hiding, little one?"

"I am not little!" I cried, thumping his shoulder once. "I was in that tree there." I pointed upward and he became very still.

"Little 'Linn, you must be very careful in the tall trees. What would happen if I were not there to help you and you became stuck? What if you were to fall?"

"I will not fall." My voice was as sure. "I never fall."

"You must not say these things, for they will often become true just so the Valar may teach us a lesson!" He admonished me, and I placed my chin on his shoulder with a sigh. "Do I have your word, 'Linn?"

"Yes, Legolas." I promised, but crossed my fingers behind my back with as much of a smirk as a child could manage.

"Good, now let us hurry! You know how my Father gets when I am late for dinner."

"Do you know what I say to that, Legolas?" I blew a raspberry right in his ear, earning a laugh that carried us all the way home in giggles.

x*x

I was hidden in the same tree again that I always did, higher this time and forty years older for the passing of the seasons. Seventy one winters I had seen and I was full grown so I was steady and sure, balancing upon the branch with my fingertips offering a little reassurance as I watched from above.

It was a long way to the forest floor, but I was certain I would be well as I heard the voices of a travelling party coming through. Guests were coming from Lothlorien and Imladris, and I wanted to see Legolas again. All the others were interested in playing with swords and bows, and I wished dearly to speak of the great things he had seen on his travels instead.

"Do you think you will be ambushed today, my son?" I heard the King speak with a laugh, and I blushed knowing that he referred to our usual greeting.

"I do not doubt it, Father. Let us hope that she does not fall upon your lap again!"

"Yes, let us! I have quite grown to like her strange ways, though it would make all our blessed lives easier if she would stay closer to the caves and not find herself near the Lonely Mountain one day."

"Of what do you refer, my friend?" A third voice spoke, one that I did not recognise and I shrank back against the branch, suddenly nervous. I was in a dress today, and it would not do for guests to see me as a delinquent running errant about the woods with twigs in my hair and dirt upon my cheek.

"The daughter of one of our Captains has a fond habit of launching herself from a tree whenever I return. She is quite the lady and I rather think she has become a friend quite dear to my heart. Perhaps even dearer than you!" I smiled then, and made to turn back and climb down the tree silently. "She is free of spirit and, unfortunately, a little too free of fear or good sense for her own wellbeing."

As I turned, my shoe caught upon the hem of my dress and I stumbled backwards, losing my balance completely. I scrambled to grab a branch but I was nowhere near close enough to reach even if I swung a little harder. Perhaps Legolas had a point when he referred to my fear, or rather my lack thereof, for despite the hammer of my heart within my chest there was a strange thrill that came with the feeling of falling free.

With closed eyes I embraced my fate and the pain that would come, becoming quite accustomed to the agony of a fall from this height. Legolas had been correct – it was better not to test the Valar, for they would surely find a way to teach you that lesson you avoided threefold. I tucked my arms close around me and blew out my breath, waiting for the impact of body against forest floor, but it never came.

Instead, strong arms captured me with ease and my eyes snapped open, wild and searching for my rescuer. Amused silver orbs met my own green ones, and my heart began to thud in my chest with both relief and new-found panic. The stranger placed me upon my feet and I saw his hair was fairer even than my own in the summer light, and his shoulders were broader than even Legolas'.

"I see that this is your assailant then, Legolas?" His voice was deep and smooth, and had I been of a more sound mind I would have curtsied. Instead, my eyes darted from person to person, and Legolas was reaching out to me to calm my nerves.

"I am so sorry." I felt my mouth go dry after that and before any other could I lifted my skirts and ran into the distance, not harking to the cries of my friend as he made to chase me. I stopped dead only a few moments later, collapsing at the foot of a tree as I dropped my head into my hands.

"Well, she is rather skittish!" I heard the laughter and my face burned with embarrassment as I pressed myself to hide within the deep roots.

"Oh, you have truly no idea. What a welcome to Mirkwood you have had, good Captain! Father, please excuse me whilst I find my poor friend."

x*x

"Mama? Is there another baby?" I pressed my hands to my mother's stomach, feeling the blessed kicks of the life inside her with a frown. "This is not just one babe!"

"You have a keen sense, my Aerlinn. You are correct, there are two girls within me. I cannot wait to bring them into this world for I know already that they will be quite a handful!" Her mother laughed, and her swelling abdomen shook with the action. "You have the healer's touch. Why not follow it, my darling?"

"I feel yet that there is more for me to do with my music, Mama. One day the Healing Arts may call to me, but song yet holds its sway upon my soul." I spoke, but placed my hands on her stomach again, closing my eyes.

"Hello, little ones. I am Aerlinn, and I am your sister. I shall protect you from all harm in this world and in Aman, you have my promise. I love you both with all my being." I kissed the skin, and felt their kicks in response. I looked up and Mother's smile was also mixed with joyous tears. I could not wait to be that happy one day, to be that content.

"You are beyond your years, my love. You are already full grown in stature and also spirit, and I am blessed to have such a daughter."

I rested my head against her stomach again, and listened to the hubbub within her with a watery smile of my own. I would look after these two little lives and keep them safe from all and any harm, and I would write songs that would bring joy and laughter to their eyes. I pressed my lips to the skin again in a promise to the two little lives within her as well as to the Valar themselves.

x*x

"Lalaith, no, come back here you little demon!"

Her childish laughter filled my ears as I chased after her, infant legs carrying her remarkably quickly as Lillawen clung to my back with squeals of delight. I captured the fair child and swung her in my arms – I had become as a climbing tree for my darling girls.

"What shall we do today, my little ones?" I asked them, and Lillawen gave my hair a tug.

"We could climb trees!" Lillawen tried to clamber up by back to reach for the trees and I flung her down to sit by her twin.

"Or we could play hide and seek in the caves!" Lalaith piped up. I pinned her down just as she went to run again, giggling myself.

"Oh no, little lady, you must stay still for half a moment whilst I may catch my breath." I pressed my hand to my chest. The two looked at each other with identical smirks, and then before I'd had the moment I so required they had launched themselves at me and sent me flying backwards. Their fingers attacked my ribs, feet, knees, and wherever else they could reach to tickle me.

"No! No! Stop! I surrender!" I was weeping with laughter, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Legolas leaning with his back to a tree, arms crossed and one foot propped against the trunk. "Good Prince, I have been overcome!" I cried out dramatically, flinging out a hand for assistance.

"Legolas!" they squealed together and were off me in a second, hugging the Prince's legs with childish delight whilst he rolled his eyes, picking one up in each arm as if they weighed nothing and then plopped them back in my lap.

"It suits you. I hope one day you find a love which is fully deserving of you."

x*x

"What do you mean, you will be gone?" I spoke, suddenly flustered. "How can this be so?"

"I have been granted a post further south, big sister. I shall be gone for two months and then I shall return, safe and sound as I always am." She assured me. "I am a second-in-command to that group, and Legolas commands our patrol."

"Oh, I see." My heart clenched uncomfortably. I knew that a threat and a shadow was growing, spilling blackness through the woods, but I had not realised that such action needed to be taken.

"Ai, 'Linn, do not look so forlorn!" Lalaith wrapped her arms about me in a friendly embrace. "Occupy yourself. I expect a new song when I return, speaking of my valour and my courage in the face of absolute danger!" She tickled my ribs then, and I escaped her questing fingers with a giggle. "There, now that is much better."

"Oh, go on my littlest one. I shall see you at dinner this eve – which Lord and his son do we dine with tonight? I confess their faces and names are all a blur..."

x*x

I stood next to my mother, flute at my lips as she played a harp for the crowd, my eyes closed as my spirit soared. It was a great feast after a successful hunt, and deep within the caves the joyous music echoed.

"Aerlinn, Aurae, a pleasure as always." Thranduil spoke and I dropped into a low curtsey, daring to look up at him.

"Thank you, my Lord." I clutched the flute to my heart. "Should you have any requests of us, you must only speak them."

"Ah, in that case I would have you sing. It is not so often we are truly graced with your voice and it makes all who hear it glad. As you will, however." His eyes challenged me, and not for the first time I remembered the day that I fell out of a tree and into his arms.

"I am extraordinarily good at doing exactly as I will." I spoke quietly so that no other might hear it.

"Indeed." A single brow rose, and then into the crowd he went. With a quirk of my own lips I sat down next to my mother again, and began to sing a gentle air of love and of valour, looking for my sister in the masses as I did so. My song was for her – they always were. I might not have been able to take a sword to protect her, but I would give my very last to see her safe.

x*x

"'Linn?" A knock on my door startled me and I looked up to see Lillawen peering around the frame. "Have you a moment?"

"For you, always. Come, what troubles you?" I reached out my arms and she collapsed into them, a sob escaping her.

"Father has told me of his vision. I am so scared, Aerlinn." She wept into my shoulder, and I guided her to sit next to me on the edge of her bed, rocking her back and forth until the fear began to subside from her trembling frame.

"What do you wish to do, my little one?" I asked her once her sobs had ceased.

"My heart begs to stay, but truly I know that the only real option is to go and to hide. He spoke of seeing Lalaith gravely injured, some great demon of fire upon my back like in the tales of old, and some reincarnation of the Dark Lord Sauron hurting even you, Aerlinn. I dare not take that risk."

"Then do not take it. If we go, we should all go together – we are a whole, and to take away any of those parts would be to take away out hearts."

"Have you chosen if you will remember?" She asked, voice hushed.

"I will forget. It would destroy me too thoroughly to think of those that I have left. The guilt would destroy what little happiness we may find in this time unknown. Have you chosen?"

She grasped at my hand, cool fingers locking with my own to find some sort of strength. "I will forget."

x*x

I heard Lalaith's cry and Legolas' desperate plea to her, and agony clutched at my heart. At the same time, I began to feel a shocking cold like I had never known before and it captured my entire being. I tried to reach out but nothing was there except for devastating isolation.

"No! Mother? Father? Lalaith, Lillawen?" I cried, and felt a hideous tear right within my chest. It was beyond pain, beyond suffering, for it felt like the very end of my life as I knew it before the world became still.

I sobbed, feeling detached and empty and wrong, as if a great part of me had been stolen away with no recourse to return to that which I had known, and where I had felt whole. Blackness enveloped me, and I was floating then in the great emptiness that had already engulfed my soul.

"Where am I?" I asked, my voice felt as if it was not within me but without, thrumming against the skin I could not see.

"You are waiting. Rest." A cavernous voice answered me, dark and rich but powerful and kind all at once. I heeded the call and let the blackness eternal take me, until it was my time to be born again.

It was the first time that my eyes closed in sleep, and with the shutting of my lids the life that I had lived, so joyous and full of life, was reft from my mind. It was in the swathe of darkness that I unknowingly took my first steps to humanity.

.