Hello guys!

In this chapter a new character will appear which will be very important in the future.

I want to thank Celridel for her immense help in the editions.

Waiting for your reviews, guys!

Chapter 29: Learning to Live in Gondolin

*Six Months Later

The day was warm and the breeze that blew in from Tumladen's field playful, bringing a sweet, dewy scent to the Upper Market. It blew Laura's hair towards her face, and she let it hang there. The fewer Elves who saw her face, the better. She knew what they considered her: 'mortal', 'child', 'stranger.' But neither would she stay in her cottage any longer: the period of confinement had made her restless as a cooped hawk.

So for half a year, she had spent her time wandering around the city, watching its inhabitants, and in her own way, learning what she needed to know of their culture and language.

Little by little, Turgon began to trust her, and over time, he removed her guards. She was still brought food, but Ecthelion had told her this would soon cease, and she would have to learn a trade to buy her own food. That had not pleased Laura very much, since what she knew was being a mercenary and an assassin, and neither of those seemed variable career options at this point.

Another change had come, the worst one of all. Since her cottage was no longer guarded, Glorfindel would no longer come. Those nights they had spent enjoying each other's company, even reluctantly, were over, and she was lonely.

She was so very lonely: a rocky meteoroid in a cosmos full of stars. There was Idril, beautiful beyond beauty, the Lords, especially Ecthelion, with their cold, courteous kindness, the Elves who looked at her and then looked away. So she carried her loneliness in her heart, not noticing it because she was used to its taste.

On this day, the Upper Market was crowded, for in two days, a marriage was going to take place between Vendelle, lady-in-waiting to the Princess; and Ermehtar, a soldier of the Heavenly Arch, and there was much preparation.

Laura watched the Elves, buying an array of beautiful gifts, thinking: Here I thought human weddings were a big deal. She was walking away from a booth selling metallurgy when a loose paper caught her eye. She picked it up and saw that the characters there were completely foreign to her. She had crumpled the paper in her hand to examine it later, when a sweet, effervescent voice from behind her said, "Pardon me, but that's mine."

Laura turned to look into large and earnest eyes. It was a young Elf-woman, small and slender, with blue eyes and pale hair.

"Excuse me, but that note is mine. Please give it back to me, " the Elf repeated. Laura sighed and pushed the note at her, but the elleth only smiled.

"Thank you."

Laura nodded shortly and was about to walk away, when the elleth continued, her eyes widening. "Oh! You're…you're the guest!"

Laura nodded again, waiting for the elleth's eyes to say: So this is what a mortal looks like. So small. They didn't.

"It's a pleasure to meet you…."

" Hwa -Young," Laura replied, surprised at her enthusiasm.

"It is all my honor!" she exclaimed. "I am Alassë! Oh! Is this not wonderful? At last, I have met a daughter of Men! Come! Come come!" She took Laura by the hand and led her back to a booth stocked with exquisite fruit, whose beautiful colors and sugar-sweet scent made even Laura's mouth water. Alassë took up a cluster of grapes, large, firm, and purple-black, and handed them to Laura. "Here, taste them. What do you think?"

"It's very good," Laura answered, after trying one.

Alassë's smile grew like a spring flower. "Oh! I am so glad! Here, take them and eat!"

Laura began to eat slowly, with some suspicion but no real worry. She was immune to poison, only confused at the Elf's excitement. When she had finished, she was given an apple as large as her hand, and so large Laura was sure Snow White would have been jealous. But when Alassë gave her a peach, Laura gave it back. The fruit was delicious, but she did not have a single penny to pay for it. "Thanks, but that's more than enough, Alassë." She paused, sighed, continued. "How much do I owe you?"

Alassë looked at her with astonished disappointment. "Did you not like the fruit?" she asked flatly, all the sparkling joy that had characterized her voice stolen.

"No, no, no, not at all," Laura said quickly. "It's only that….it's only that….I can't pay you for fruit that must be worth a fortune."

Alassë's smile returned, so frankly sweet with a hint of shyness that unexpected warmth rushed through Laura. "This is the courtesy of the house! It is my welcoming gift to you."

"Welcoming gift," Laura repeated slowly.

"Yes," Alassë replied. "I would have liked to have done the night the King introduced you, but I could not find you. You are special, and you are a stranger, and you need more than welcoming words."

Laura studied the elleth in silence for a minute. "You're welcoming me…because I am different?" she asked, at last, her voice shocked in softness.

"Yes! The children of Men are different, but that does not mean they are not beautiful. It is only that we blind ourselves because we do not want to see. Sometimes, those who seem the plainest have the most beauty, and I think you, my friend, are one of those."

A smile crossed Laura's face, and she was helpless to stop it. "How did you say your name again?"

The elleth smiled. "Alassë."

Since meeting Alassë, Laura had gone to the market every day, for Alassë's company was pleasant, even for Laura, who thought she was a lover of loneliness. Alassë was bubbly, sweet, full of life while Laura was taciturn and often coarse, but the mutant liked to be with Alassë. There was something about the elleth that brought magic and life to the most mundane things: her childish joy infecting. From her, Laura learned the history of Gondolin: from how Turgon had been told to build it by the Vala Ulmo to the birth of the most recent child. To Laura's question who was named the 'Unnamed One ', Alassë had said only that he was a terrible enemy.

That had not been enough for Laura, so she had asked Alassë to teach her Tengwar.

"Do you want to learn Tengwar?" the Elf asked. "For what reason?"

"I'm curious what that paper said. The one I found the day we met," she elaborated. She wasn't so interested in what the paper said: she wanted to know a fuller history of the Elves.

Alassë laughed. "Oh! You would not want to read those-they would bore you to tears! They were only my sale notes for the day." She paused, looking at Laura. "Hwa-Young, would you care to sell fruit with me?"

"Sell fruit?" Laura repeated blankly.

" Yes, yes!" Alassë clapped her hands in excitement. "You and I could sell fruit, and I could teach you Tengwar so you can tend to the accounts!"

Laura stood still, searching for words and coming up empty.

"We would be together, my friend! And you would also have a trade!" Alassë was smiling, still dancing from foot to foot.

Laura had discovered the word "no", and was about to say it when Alassë's words finally reached their mark. "What did you say?" She asked slowly.

"I said that it would be most wonderful if you and I could sell fruit together," Alassë answered.

"No. You said we would be together."

"Oh, yes! We would be together, my dear friend! That makes even more wonderful, do you not agree?"

Laura's surprise crystalized into the cold, calculating suspicion that had been bred into at the Facility. "So you consider me your friend?"

Alassë was child-like in many regards, but she was also observant and kind. She smiled sweetly and took Laura's hand. "You are my friend, Hwa-Young. Never have any doubt about that."

"But you barely know me."

"I know you enough to know I want you for my friend. Believe me, you can count on my friendship forever, Hwa-Young," Alassë answered simply, and Laura felt her throat tighten. Alassë was telling the truth, telling it true because she could not do anything but.

Carried by a strange impulse, she returned the handclasp, something she had never done before with anyone but Glorfindel. When she did not feel the electric sensation, she filed it away for later thought, but the moment was too important. She swallowed her emotion, and answered, "Alright, but having me as an assistant is the worst decision you have ever made."

"Oh, no matter," Alassë said brightly. "Stay to help me sell the fruit and I'll teach you Tengwar."

Laura smiled. "It sounds like a square deal to me,"

Laura's POV

'It's a strange thing to say, but I am honestly grateful for Alassë. I still don't know if she is my friend….after the way Glorfindel pushed me away. I guess don't know friendship anymore. So I'm afraid to get too attached to Alassë, in case she does it.

Alassë is like a girl, in my opinion, bubbly and full of life, things that I will never be, but Alassë makes me laugh. Glorfindel can't be as cheerful as Alassë. God no, he's the first born of Zeus. But still, he was patient and kind, and we could talk together for a long time….

Alassë's funny and talks a lot, sometimes too much, but conversations with her won't be like…

Oh, shut the fuck up. Moving onto more important matters: the King called me a few weeks ago and gave me his ultimatum: I have to find a job because nobody lives for free in Gondolin.

' Work makes you worthy,' according to him. The only problem is that I have tried to learn several trades and failed each, like when they took me to the Houses of Healing to put under dear Nestaë. I didn't like her very much, but I guess that makes us square because she doesn't like me either.

Flashback

"Hwa -Young," Nestaë said when Laura entered. She was small in body, but large in spirit, even Laura could sense that. "The Princess has asked me to teach you the art of Healing. In time, you will come to understand, that this is not only a science but true art." She paused, beckoning for Laura to follow her out of the room. "First, I will get you the garb of an apprentice. And you must pull your hair back from your face. Tie it back, or braid it, cut it if you like."

Laura arched her eyebrows with sardonic amusement and stood where she was, arms crossed over her chest. No nurse was going to order her around, that was all.

Nestaë turned to look at her, an equal sardonic smile playing around the corners of her mouth. "Do you not like what I said, Hwa-Young? I am sorry, but it is important for cleanliness's sake to keep your hair away from your face; it identifies us as practitioners of the art-"

"Of the art of Healing," Laura replied, with studied disinterest.

Nestaë's smile grew hard and very cold. "If you do not care, you do not have to be here. Last I saw, the door was wide open."

End of flashback

Laura's POV

'After this, they tried to make me a clerk and have me transcribe books for Lord Nolandil. It wasn't a total waste of time: I learned a lot about Elven history and culture, and other things. Did you know that Elves write books about how a baby should be made and how is it developed within the elleth matrix? Jesus!

But anyway, I learned a lot, but let's say that I could never get along with Lord Nolandil. The good elf was very jealous of his work.'

Flashback

"You will work here, Hwa -Young," Lord Nolandil said, showing her a beautiful study with a desk carved of some rich wood. On it sat a large white quill in a glass inkwell and a ream of thick, cream-colored paper. Sunlight flooded the room.

The Elf, a tall, capable-looking Nando with dark hair and cool grey eyes, motioned to the chair. "Please, sit," he said, his voice modulated and musical. "Your task, as I am sure you already know, will be to transcribe the books I give you. I've heard you can read Tengwar. I would like to see you write it "

Laura took a sheet and dipped the quill in ink. It was easy to write with Alassë because she had taught her through simple sentences, but to write a literary work was another story.

When she finished, Nolandil looked at it and said, "We should begin with writing lessons, I believe. We will start at dawn tomorrow,"

With the help of Nolandil, she managed to learn a style of writing, if not beautiful, was fluid and perfectly legible. However, it was never enough for the master of the library, and little by little, both lost patience with each other.

Finally, after a severe argument, Nolandil dismissed her, saying her calling was decidedly not being a scribe.

Laura only left. She had got what she wanted, so the experience had not been so bad. But once again, it left her without an occupation.

End of the flashback

Laura's POV

'I also tried selling fruit Alassë, but it never worked. I'm not a people person, and I know that, but these goddamn Elves would make hard for even a friendly person. The way they look at you like you're a cute little terrier learning new tricks. My god, I couldn't stand it. So I'm looking for another trade.

Gardening? Boring as hell.

The Princess suggested music, and I'm sure friend Ecthelion loves to teach that art to anyone who is interested in it, but I do not think he and I would get along well in that situation. And really, I don't want to lose another friend. I can play the harp and sing one song, thanks to Glorfindel, but it's one thing to play a song and the other to be a musician. So no. The only thing I really want to do is be a guard and that's off the list. They would never accept me and, even if they did, I would have to use my mutant skills to keep up with the soldiers. That would never work. I need answers, not questions. I need a damn good answer for why I'm immortal.

If only I would find a job that I like ...!

It seems that the friend Goth-Elf is coming, if my nose doesn't deceive me. I doubt he's looking for me, he's not like that. Let's see what he wants.

Waiting for your reviews, guys!