~Please leave a review. enjoy!

-Ladystarlet09, P.S I don't own any of the LOTR characters, just Acadia.

(Chapter Forty-Nine)

(Ăšllothel's POV)

I saw Acadia from afar before she even stepped off the bus a few blocks away from where I sat in a chair outside a nice grill restaurant. She seemed nervous based on how straight her shoulders were set and the thinness of her lips. To be honest, I was more nervous then her about this meeting. It wasn't often that a second-born such as myself would be meeting the person responsible for everything that was happening back at home, much less holding the heart of a certain march-warden in the balance.

I took a sip of my ice tea before glancing down at my current attire. Liam had picked out my wardrobe of a very light long sleeve shirt with a blue tank top underneath, matching jeans and sandals. I didn't feel right in them just yet since I had almost toppled over myself on my way here. I smirked at myself. Our parents would be having laughter fits if they saw me dressed thus. I kept my black shades on to hide the fact that I was still observing the girl as she came to a stop in front of the cafe. She looked around in confusion. Of course she wouldn't know how the twin sister of Liam would look like since all we did was talk for a brief moment over the phone.

Standing up, I waved my hand in the air from where I sat at a table in the corner of the patio underneath a large umbrella. "Acadia, over here!" I called out. Her head snapped towards my direction. I waved again at her, pointing down at the table. "Here."

Acadia hurried over. "Sorry I'm late." She apologized while shaking my hand before taking a seat. "The bus wasn't running on time today."

I smiled at her, hoping that it would put her at ease. "Don't worry about it." I replied.

A waitress came up to our table. "What will you have to drink, Ma'am?"

"I'll take some raspberry ice tea."

"Aright. I'll be back with your drink and a menu." The waitress nodded before going away for a few minutes. We sat for a few minutes in silence. The waitress came back with Acadia's drink before departing once more. I was the first one to break the silence by clearing my throat loudly. "So you are the young woman my brother was talking about." I said, leaning one arm on the edge of the table. Acadia blushed lightly in the cheeks. "I heard that you have quiet a mouth for a woman."

"Uh, something of that sort." She replied. She reached for her drink and took a long sip as I stared at her silently. "So you are Liam's twin? You don't really look exactly like him, if you don't't mind me saying."

"We have always gotten that comment over the years. Its old new to my ears." I laughed. "But the only way you can know that we are twins is by our eyes."

"Really?" Acadia lifted an skeptical eyebrow at me.

"You want proof?" I told her while reaching up for my shades. I took them off and placed them on the table. "Nothing much, but you can tell."

The girl stared at me for the longest time before she gave herself a shake. "I wouldn't have known if I was ignorant of it. So why are you here anyway and how come I never knew about Liam having a sister?"

"I'm here of my own accord which I will not tell you why." I said while sitting back in my seat. "Let's just say that my brother and I have had a very long rift between us that will take time for us to be able to come to full term. However," I paused for a moment to allow my words sink into her head. "It has come to my notice that you have already been touched by our world and people, am I not right?"

"And even if I have,' Acaida snapped irritably at me. "Whats it to you anyway?"

She doesn't remember me. Oh, well. I already knew that that part was going to play itself out. It not like I can even tell her who I really am unless she becomes suspicious of what my intentions are. "Its just interesting to hear about what you experienced in Middle Earth." I replied casually out loud. Her eyes narrowed slightly at me. "Then again, remember that twins don't often keep secrets from one another. I've already seen and heard from Liam what your life story is about. Intriguing, isn't it?"

"I suppose." Acadia admitted. She opened her menu up. After studying it for a few minutes, she closed and set it down before waving over our waitress who happened to be nearby. "I'll take the grilled salmon with white rice."

"Ok, and what about you as well?" The waitress turned towards me. I glanced down at my menu before spotting the one I wanted. "I would like the grilled Cesar chicken salad please." I replied before handing her my menu."

"Ok, I have one grill salmon with white rice and one grill chicken Cesar salad. I'll be back with your orders in a little bit."

"You don't seem all that bad considering that Liam told me you've only been here for a short while." Acadia spoke up first. She leaned her face in the palm of her hand while she studied me. "If I didn't know that you were Liam's sister, I would think that you perhaps had come here from Europe or something of that sort on vacation."

"Looks can be very deceiving." I replied with a tight smile. "Yes, I've been here for only perhaps a full week and already I've been sporting battle wounds upon myself." I added in a lower voice so others wouldn't' overhear our conversation. "I'm concern about your welfare since you don't have any protectors to keep you from harm."

"Why would I even need that?' She huffed. "As you may be well aware if he is indeed staying at you're brother's place, Haldir isn't one to keep his damn mouth shut. If anything, he was better off there then here."

"Is that so?" I laughed softly to the point she gave me a slight scared look. "If its anything at all, it would be of your own doing. Haldir chose to be with you, despite all the bitterness that would come with his decision. He wanted what very few can ever obtain among our kin. Weather or not he was thinking straight when you two first met, that isn't any of my business. But what is my business is how you are going to fix this situation between him and you. I've seen the look within your eyes just at a mere glance before you came over here."

I briefly touched her hand with my fingertips. Acadia jumped slightly at my touch before calming down when she saw I didn't mean any harm. "You love him more then he is willing to admit of his own heart." I continued. "How much longer will you allow yourself to be filled with regrets and self-hate when Haldir is the one who is suffering the most here. He doesn't know how to love properly or how to use soft words around you but you can see his feelings through how he's interacting with you on a daily basis."

"I wanted to help him so much after he had rescued me." Acadia told me in a small voice that belied how frail and innocent she was in my eyes. "How much death and pain must one gentle soul such as himself go through before thinking death is the only option left to help ease it all?"

"Acadia, look at me." I prompted her. She wiped away her tears with the back of her hand and sniffled. I smiled kindly while squeezing her free hand within mine. "You must be willing to go beyond yourself in order to help Haldir realize there is still hope for him, despite all the pain and suffering. I've always done it for my own brother before he had chosen to go to Middle Earth with our kin and left me behind out of anger because I refused to part our shores of our birth. Whatever you say, whatever Haldir says, the both of you need to try to reconcile these differences if you either one of you want to have a future together."

"But even he says he's not sure how it would be since I'm a mere mortal and he is an immortal elf."

"Even then, the choices you two make is whats going to determine the future or possible demise." I added grimly. "You already know the outcome of our future, Acadia." I stared directly into her eyes, seeing past them and into her soul. "Haldir doesn't. All he knows is that the free people of Middle Earth are still dying amid a war of which a single ring hangs everyone within its balance. Even the white shores of Valinoir isn't safe against the Dark Lord if he is ever to be able to obtain the ring. That is why I need for you to try and at least re-establish the trust that you've failed to uphold to Haldir's heart and make things right again."

"I'm sorry, but I can't do that." Acadia protested with a shake of her head. "There is nothing that can possibly undo the horrible things I told him weeks ago."

"You don't know until you at least give it another shot." I countered, sitting back as our waitress came back with our orders. "Thank you." I told her with a smile as she placed my plate down before me.

"No problem, enjoy your food, ladies."

I turned my attention back to to the conversation at hand while I began cutting up the chicken. "Listen, I'm not forcing you into doing anything you don't want but understand that now that Haldir has his sights on you and has already fallen in love, he won't allow any other mortal man to come near you. The emotional bond, if not physical, has already been established between you and him. Will you reject at least the possibility that you may still have a chance to make up for what you did, Acadia?"

"How in the living hell am I supposed to do with him when he's being fricken stubborn with me!" I watched her slam her hand down hard on the table, startling the other patrons around us. "Sorry, she's just a little upset." I apologized to them. "Acadia, did my brother not tell you to be mindful on what you say to Haldir, least you should break the trust that he worked so hard to give to you of all people? I don't know him personally, but one can already tell that he's scared emotionally from more then just all the battles and deaths of so many kin. He doesn't trust anyone easily, save for the people who cared for him and his brothers. You know this and yet you are so quick to judge him like any other mortal."

Acadia's cheeks turned deep red with humiliation. She picked up her fork and began to angrily stab at her plate. I took a small bit of my own food. Not too bad. I thought. At least the meat is flavorful and tender and the greens are fresh and crisp. "So what are you going to do?" I asked her again. "All I am asking is that you try to open up to him and understand where he is coming from. A few weeks in the golden forest of the Galadriel isn't enough to tell me that you know the in and outs of her most trusted captain, outside of my brother of course."

"I-I-I'll think of something then." She finally relented. I have her an encouraging smile. "But I'm not making any promises if it doesn't fucking end up working out." She added with a hint of her sharp tongue.

"I never said I was hoping that you would keep a promise. I'm only asking that you try just once and if it doesn't work out, then it doesn't and he can depart with me back home with only the memory of you in his heart." Acadia's spin stiffened at my words. "Just don't think I'll let you off easy if the march warden's emotions get the better of him." I warned her softly. "This is your own problem. I'm merely here to help as much as I can before the lack of his presence back in Middle Earth start to unravel the final outcome within the pattern of our own time and world."

I quickly switched the serious conversation to Bianca's upcoming birthday masquerade ball. Acadia fell of course into the lighter part while steering completely from any more mention of Haldir. That was fine with me. I was only happy with myself that I had somehow manage to convince her to try and fix the holes in her relationship with him. For all I knew, they were perfect for each other and that was what the Valar intended from the very beginning of this whole affair. Everything up to the point of when she was brought back to her own world, all had been by their own hand. Whatever happened afterwards, was totally up to Acadia and the people who became involved with her. The same goes for Haldir, he deserved so much more then just being the cold, indifferent elf he was trying to project towards everyone else. He was just as scared for her future then for himself so he did the only thing he knew that could keep her safe.

He pushed her away from him.

And that is what sparked this heated feeling of resentment, anger, and possibly for the both of them, regrets that no one can no longer take back.

"Let the past go or else it will be your own downfall." I whispered underneath my breath while she excused herself to use the ladies-room. "I just pray to the Valar that Haldir is willing to take the time to listen to her at the ball."