Buckle in folks, this is going to be a rollercoaster.

"Right child. The good news is that you will survive." Lord Elrond smiled grimly as he bandaged her torso, "The bad news is that it is going to hurt for a good long while."

Lostoriel grimaced as the pain flared again when he tightened the bandage.

"Sorry about that." Elrond apologised with a sheepish look. For the past half an hour the two had been in the House of Healing. Elrond had insisted that he look over her wound to which the young elf had no objections because of the pain that she was in.

Lostoriel had told him what she about her unexpected "reappearance" in Middle Earth. From when Gandalf had found her up till the fight against the orcs that morning. He tied off her bandage, his eyebrows furrowing together whilst he contemplated the new information along with what he had seen months ago.

"Thank you Lord Elrond." Lostoriel rolled her top down, looking about the room as she did so. The sun streamed in through the wide open windows and door ways that lead onto a balcony. The room itself was a creamy white, a sink and bin stood to the far side from the window, whilst the bed stood directly opposite the window and medicine cabinet.

Elrond walked back to the small table that stood by the bed, putting away the supplies he'd used. There wasn't much to clear, though Lostoriel was sure he was itching to remove his armour which creaked every so often.

"You are welcome to stay here as long as you need Lostoriel." He ended with a squeeze of her shoulder, pausing to study her young face, "It's wonderful to have you back little one. You have missed much, but I believe that you have been given time."

She merely nodded her thanks, still feeling her way with being around him. As he led her away from the House of Healing she tried to recall memories of Lord Elrond. She knew there were countless in number, but they refused to make it into her consciousness.

They walked for some time in companionable silence she could sense that he had something to ask her but waited for him to broach the subject. They passed out of the healing house and over a high narrow walkway, protected by a high tunnelling arch. Streams of water passed beneath it, running down into the Valley below. Gaps in the arch allowed for light to pour in and cast dancing shadows along the walls. Lostoriel caught glimpses of the Hidden City as they strolled along. She saw streams running under the houses and falling down the mountain sides into magnificent, ginormous pearl white fountains. The vast mountain ranges which wove their way through the Valley caught her eye as the sunlight bathed their peaks in gold.

"So you do not remember how you returned?" Lord Elrond finally broke the silence, clasping his hands behind his back.

"Not a single clue. I had been taking a morning stroll in the woods along the usual route and I went along a different path from the paved path I normally walk." She paused, her tongue sticking out her mouth as she concentrated. "I made it to the waterfall at the end of the path, but that is where it gets blurry. When I woke up I was soaking wet in a forest with a wizard claiming to know me from a lifelong passed."

The Elf-Lord laughed at the exasperated tone she spoke of Gandalf with, but was quiet for some time before he spoke again. "This is very strange indeed, but not surprising… The Valar have an unusual way of doing things." His voice held something cryptic in it but she couldn't place it.

"And you do not remember how you left?"

Lostoriel opened her mouth to answer but was cut off by hurried footsteps coming from behind them. They did not slow down as they flew passed the pair sending their hair flying in a gush of wind.

"Why the hurry!?" called Lord Elrond after the elf whose long, shimmering robes trailed behind him.

"Your son!" was all that the Elf threw back over his shoulder as he hastily turned left and called out a string of words that Lostoriel thought was most unbecoming.

Lostoriel grinned as she recognised the voice, "Was that Erestor?" the surprise in her voice caused Elrond to laugh as he nodded. "I don't think I've ever seen him run like that before!"

"Yes it was. Running seems to be his new pastime these days."

"…is Orcrist, the Goblin Cleaver. A famous blade, forged by the High Elves of the West, our kin." He paused giving Lostoriel a meaningful look that she did not see, "May it serve you well." Lord Elrond's voice knocked its way into her consciousness, she had been purposefully ignoring the awkward conversation for some time. More interested in the colourful salad on her plate after not eating after three entire days. Her stomach had been growling so loudly that she was sure Lord Elrond could hear it from his place at the head of the table.

The air around them was not thick with tension, however it was not full of lively chit-chat either. Thorin for one had sat quietly nibbling disappointedly at his salad. Only speaking when spoken to and adding nothing but his facial expressions to the conversation. He hadn't seemed to notice her presence at the table and she was content with not having to speak to him.

He handed the silver blade back to Thorin who received it with a thankful Nod, Lostoriel's eyes followed it with new found respect. She had only heard stories of the skill of the blacksmiths of the First Age and was humbled to be in the presence of their works.

"And this is Glamdring, the Foe-hammer, sword of the King of Gondolin. These swords were made for the goblin wars of the First Age..."

The King of Gondolin, she wondered which one, remembering ancient history had never been one of her strong suits.

"May I?" the question left her mouth before her brain had time to process what had happened. Her mouth a little open in awe as Gandalf handed the long, silver sword to her. In the background she heard Lord Elrond asking how they had found them.

The blade was narrow and light, the pommel reminded her of an upside down perfume bottle. It was round at the top and curved downwards, growing narrower towards the hilt. Which was tightly bound in what looked like tanned and dyed blue leather, the cross-piece was what immediately caught her eye. It was inscribed with silver runes. She ran her fingers over them as she studied it. Lostoriel recognised the script as Quenya, she had been taught the ancient Elvish language when she was younger. It was a beautiful flowing language that she had admired and respected, but had never really bothered to become fluent in it.

And now as Lostoriel struggled to translate the script she wished that she had paid more attention in her language lessons as an elfling. She re-sheathed the weapon and handed it back to Gandalf with a grateful nod.

"We found them in a troll hoard on the Great East Road, shortly before we were ambushed by orcs." explained Gandalf as he dabbed the side of his mouth with a white serviette. He poured himself another glass of wine, refilling Lostoriel's when he was done.

"And what were you doing on the Great East Road?" Inquired Elrond with no ounce of trepidation in his voice.

An uncertain silence swept over the table as no one answered. Now that Lostoriel thought about it, she realised that she had no clue what Thorin and his band of Dwarves were doing or where they were going. Her curious gaze moved from Thorin to Gandalf before settling somewhat hardly on Thorin.

The dwarf politely excused himself from the table leaving Gandalf to his own devices. His salad remained untouched, as did most of the dwarves' for that matter. Lostoriel stole a glance at the rowdy group as they loudly complained about the "green food" and funeral music. She had been listening in on their conversation for some time and nearly fell off her chair when she saw the eyes that Kili was giving the harpist from where he sat. Any chance that he had had with the she-elf was destroyed by his loud comment about elf- maids not having enough facial hair. And plummeted into disrepair when he pointed out that the elf who had been playing near them was "not so bad," and ended up not as a matter of fact being an elf-maid.

Lostoriel swallowed another mouthful of greens around the laugh that threatened to choke her when she heard that. Gandalf was struggling to answer, he instead took a drawn out sip of wine.

"We... You must forgive me mellon-nin, it is not my place to tell you."

Lostoriel listened intently as Lord Elrond spoke again, "Thirteen dwarves, a Halfling and an elf. Strange travelling companions Gandalf." He remarked giving Gandalf prodding look before sipping at the wine.

Lostoriel stopped him before he could say more, "I'm not entirely part of their company. Gandalf sort of just found me."

Elrond and Gandalf shared a serious look, she took note of the silent conversation they were having. "I do not believe your part in this tale is over so quickly Lostoriel." Came Gandalf's gruff voice.

"You were brought back for a reason. Though what that reason is may be yours to find out. But this conversation is not one for the dinner table. We may yet have time to discuss it." Elrond leant back in his chair his face the image of calm. But internally his heartbeat fluctuated, he clutched his golden cup of wine white knuckled. What he had foreseen and what he had remembered did not bode well with his body nor his mind.

Lostoriel did not know what to make of the way the only two people who could help her were acting. The nausea began to build in her stomach, the uncertainty filled her just as the air grew heavy. She took a deep sip of the bitter wine and almost choked on it when a soft, but powerful object hit her squarely on the forehead and vibrated with a dull cluunk on her plate. The cherry tomato innocently laid there whilst Lostoriel looked up and met Kili's mischievous eyes. The dwarf bowed with flourish, a look of victory upon his grinning face.

"These are the descendants of the House of Durin!" Gandalf changed the subject, hoping to lighten the air around them, "they're noble, decent folk." The irony of his words could not have been more apparent when cheers and the clatter of falling dishes erupted from the dwarves as Bofur clambered onto a stump in the middle of the pavilion. "Right lads!" silence settled over the small dining are, "There's only one thing for it!"

Gandalf as if sensing what was to come dropped his head int his hands, grumbling something unintelligible before giving Lord Elrond an apologetic smile.

"There's an inn! There's merry old inn beneath an old grey hill!" Bofur began to sing a merry old drinking song as he danced atop of the stump. As he sang, he moved his hands like a conductor and the rest of the dwarves joined in. Singing loudly, shouting at each other across the table and banging out a beat with the silverware. Even Thorin joined in lifting his cup in salute and tapping his foot to the beat of Bofur's voice.

Lostoriel laughed as the male elf that Kili fancied, ran and ducked behind a pillar, clutching his harp to his chest as a fruit was flung in his general direction. Pastries, vegetables and fruit flew in all directions as the dwarves hijacked the dinner to their own preferences. Lostoriel found them to be fun, rowdy group. She liked it.

A cream pie whizzed past Lord Elrond's face narrowly missing him and Lindir and landing with a squelch on a bronze statue behind them. The servant looked utterly afraid and mortified, he could not believe that this was happening.

Gandalf's expression only deepened as a morsel of food flew between him and Elrond. The old wizard nearly choked on his food, all his talk of tact and charm had clearly flown out of their heads and into the air.

Lostoriel tried to hide her smile as she looked at his expression and chanced a glance at Lord Elrond who did not look impressed at all. His lips drew themselves in a thin line and his eyebrows curved towards the top of his head as he watched the merriment happen. Truthfully, he was not as mortified as Lindir and was rather amused, Rivendell had not seen such fun in many years.

The elleth couldn't hold her laughter back until her cup was knocked over and the deep red wine spilt onto her leggings. The two other occupants both jumped at the clatter as the glass fell onto the stone. She sent a withering glare in the direction of the dwarves and saw Fili flinch under her gaze, a widening smile pulling at his lips. That was the last straw. She was not impressed.

The elf calmly picked up her cup, placing the white napkin on spilt liquid and rising from her seat made her way over to the table of dwarves. Her hands clutching two scones topped with cream behind her back, she felt horrible for wasting the delicious looking pastries. But justice had to be served.

The brothers were distracted by throwing other food across the pavilion and did not notice Lostoriel behind them until she smashed the scones on their heads with a squelch. She moved the crumbling cake in their hair to bury it deep in their hair. Laughing along with them as the pair gasped and swatted her hands away from them. "It's a shame that they had to suffer such a fate; do you not agree?"

She grinned at Bilbo's expression, his face had seemed to age with the chaos, but he did not seem surprised by it as he simply sat back and let the party happen.

"Well played Princess…Well played." Came Kili or was it Fili's reply from within the rowdy laughter that broke out amongst the group as the brother's faces grew crimson. Lostoriel could not discern who it was as the Dwarves congratulated her on her skilful revenge.

Once the laughter died down the dwarves raised their glasses together for a toast, the wine spilling down their hairy beards as they chugged down the liquid. Lostoriel quietly excused herself to search for a new pair of pants. She was happy to get as far away from the mess that had been created by the dwarves and even more so to have some peace to try and figure out what Lord Elrond and Gandalf were talking about.

By the time Lostoriel emerged from her long bath the stars were glittering in the sky and the moonlight casted pearl silver shadows across the stone city. Her room was the same one she had been using since she was an elfling. It overlooked the same grand fountain, a women bending down to fill her bowl, the bed was still in the same place. And much to her delight, the array of clothes and armour she had left behind in Rivendell were still in the oak cupboard she had left them in. Though she could tell they had been washed recently, the rich scent of flowers and soap greeted her nose as she pulled on a knee-length black top. It was embroidered with silver beaded flowers along the neckline and sleeves, she was grateful to be in clean clothes. Wearing the same clothing for two days after laying in the rain for who knows how long and running for half the morning, she was happy to wear whatever Aerinniel had laid out for her.

Tugging on the black tights she had found she began to muse on what Gandalf and Lord Elrond had told her. My part in this tale is not over… Why was I brought back? What if I don't want to be a part of whatever this is!?

She was tired of not knowing and was tired of asking around their answers for the answers that she wanted to hear. Lostoriel was so lost in her thoughts that she nearly fell over when a loud knock came from the door. She quickly slipped on the pumps she had found in the cupboard, "Come in!"

Aerinniel stepped into the room, her robes moving with her body as she strode towards Lostoriel. "Well, don't you look lovely!" she smiled gently as the elleth in front of her, a casual sort of friendship had begun to build between the two. Well that was until after Lostoriel had told the red head to stop calling her "princess" or "my lady."

"Thank you Aerinniel though I feel more tired than anything else." And she looked it too. The skin beneath her eyes was dark, her bright eyes were dull, and her usual smiling face seemed to sag under the weight of her worries.

The maidservant merely smiled sympathetically and ushered her towards an armchair near the crackling fire she had set before she had drawn Lostoriel's bath. "Tonight, you can rest, under strict orders from Lord Elrond and yours truly." She laughed softly and whipped out a brush from nowhere and began to brush out Lostoriel's wet, curling hair.

"I am most grateful for your considerate orders. I shall obey them without question." Lostoriel's answer had them in a fit of laughter. Their musical voices died down into a comfortable quiet, the cracking and sparking of the fire mingled into rushing waterfalls outside and the Elven voices that arose from around the Valley in song. For a moment the world felt at peace. Lostoriel took the opportunity to close her eyes and breathe. In…and out…

She had a feeling in her bones that she was not going to be able to experience this peace for much longer.

And she was correct, the peace was disturbed by raucous roars of laughter that arose from only one place she could think of. The dwarves. She heard Aerinniel quietly sigh behind her, "Already tired of them?"

"Almost. Apparently, the kitchens stock of sausages has been raided." Her eyebrow rose.

"Is that so? I can't imagine why!" Lostoriel laughed to herself as she imagined just what they must be doing.

"I'm not entirely sure that I want to, though I suspect it was the salad." She looked inquiringly at the blond who gave her a look of innocence. "I am supposed to be investigating because Lindir had to go sort out some pressing issue, but I've been avoiding them and I know he has been too. They are …much to handle." She ended with an exasperated snort, her pale hands resting upon her waist.

Lostoriel rose from the comfortable armchair with a huff of pain as her bruised torso ached. "You know, they're not so bad once you get to know them. Come, I'll go with you, I can almost smell the frying sausages from here." That and I need to make things right.

The mouth-watering smell of cooking pork sausages greeted their noses long before they entered the balcony the dwarves had established as a common room. A fire danced happily in the middle of the balcony, made from what Aerinniel futilely hoped was not broken pieces of furniture.

Silence fell over the cheerful dwarves as the elves walked in. Bombur stopped eating for the moment whilst they all stared at them. Lostoriel did not feel as horrible as she had when they had given her such wounded looks earlier.

"I see that you are all settled in and comfortable," began Aerinniel, "There are extra blankets in the cupboards in your rooms and access to hot water in your bathing chambers. Please do not hesitate to ask me or Lindir for anything. We are at your service." Ending with a smile she turned to leave but forgot an important piece of information. "Oh! And breakfast is at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

She bowed to a content chorus of thank you's and made for the doorway, "Please make sure that they do not burn down the building." She whispered jokingly to Lostoriel, but fully believing every word she said and praying that she would still have a job tomorrow.

"I will. Go rest."

After Aerinniel left Fili called Lostoriel over to sit with him and Kili. The warmth from the fire as she passed by was welcome as were the smiles, however hesitant that they gave her. Sitting on the edge of the bench Lostoriel regarded all of them, "I owe you all an apology. I suppose that in a way I was not…Completely honest with you. When Gandalf found me that night, I had no idea who I was or where I was. I hadn't realised that I was in Middle Earth until I saw you and the trolls and I just." She paused frowning and trying to find the right words.

"There is a lot that I still cannot remember, and it is going to take some time. But had I known; I would have told you."

Her voice grew quieter as she spoke, unsure if she should be apologising in the first place. To her surprise is was burly Dwalin who strode towards her, albeit cautiously and laid a large, tattooed hand upon her shoulder. "No lass. It is us, we were wrong to act as such after what you did for our people. We are indebted to you. And we ask for your forgiveness your Highness." He stepped back and bowed. Dwalin may have had a deep-set hatred for Elves, but his late mam did not raise a disrespectful son. The rest of the dwarves followed his lead, rising and sweeping into bows.

A sticky lump formed in her throat, "No please don't bow or call me your highness or anything like that. I may be royalty, but I'd prefer if we stood on common ground. After all it was all of you who allowed me to travel here with you after all and who took care of me." She gave an appreciative nod towards Oin. What had she done for their people? Lostoriel's mind went to work as she tried to recall any information on what she had done.

Resuming their seats, Bofur skewered another two sausages on a spit fork and hovered it above the licking flames of the fire. They busied themselves with cleaning out their pipes or smoking them, the scent of the pipe weed caused Lostoriel to sneeze a few times.

"Thanks to you princess I have to wash my hair out again tomorrow. I'm still pulling cream out from my roots." Whined Kili with a smile as he lit his pipe.

"Well if it wasn't for you and Fili, over here I wouldn't have a ginormous red stain on my legs. Though I must say your aim is impressive, that wine glass was a difficult target."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Sheepishly smiled Fili.

"And thank you. We learnt from the best." Kili ended with a grin and nod in the direction of Dwalin.

"It's alright, I'm sorry about your hair but it was all in good fun." She looked around the room noticing a few of them were missing.

"Where's Bilbo, Balin and Thorin?"

Bofur gave her a quick smile, holding out the fork with the sausage to her in a silent offering. "Oh, thank you Bofur."

She waited for the sausage to cool off before eating it, the wailing monster had awoken again in her stomach.

"They had a meeting with Lord Elrond and Gandalf. Something about tryin' to figure out how to read the map that Gandalf couldn't." Blurted out Kili before he had time to stop himself. Dwalin and Fili gave him a cold stare. Whether or not Lostoriel was supposed to know what they were doing was still unknown to them.

"What map?" she asked before finishing off the sausage. The warm, juicy taste satisfied her, she hadn't realised that she was little hungry.

"This one." Came Thorin's baritone voice from the doorway as he brandished the rolled yellowing parchment in his hand, "Though exactly what it is for does not concern you."

"Thorin!" called Gandalf as he pulled the dwarf out into the hallway and hopefully out of earshot from the curious ears of the dwarves and Lostoriel. The reflection from the firelight in the doorway dimmed suspiciously.

Though she heard it all.

"Have you already forgotten what Lord Elrond has seen? Or are you so stubbornly prideful that your head refuses to accept it!?You would do well to remember what Lord Elrond has told us. I don't understand what your issue is but, you no longer have any reason to behave as such. She took a great risk for your people and may well be an asset to us on our journey and so I suggest that you start acting like it. You are a King. Not a petty child!" Lostoriel went through a range of emotions as she listened to Gandalf rattle off to Thorin in one quick and harsh breath. The wizard's wrath was not something she wanted to experience.

A long silence followed, "Fine. We'll do this how you want to. But I will not be responsible for her should she willingly join us." Thorin sounded like a child conceding to their parents' wishes.

She heard Gandalf sigh wearily, "I am not asking you to be responsible for her. Lostoriel is more than capable to take care of herself. All I ask is that you remain open to the possibility of adding a fifteenth member to the company. I will speak with her first…"

Lostoriel then heard nothing but the shuffling of feet further down the hallway until she couldn't hear them anymore. Gandalf must have known she would be listening.

The flickering reflections of the orange firelight shone through the doorway as Gandalf and Thorin entered the balcony again. This time the wizard looked a bit too satisfied and Thorin even more miserable than before.

"Right, we need to talk." Fili got up to let Thorin sit in his spot, Lostoriel moved to sit on the balcony railing.

"We have spoken with Lord Elrond and he translated the text for us. It was written in moon runes which was why we would have never understood it. But Fate is with us and our quest for the same moon that it was written under shines down upon us tonight." He paused to let that sink in whilst a muffled cheer rose from the small crowd.

"What does it say?" asked Gloin, his face showing every ounce of excitement from within him.

He unfurled the map in his hands, tracing over where the silver runes had been, "Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the keyhole."

"Durin's Day grows nearer as summer is passing. Will we have time to reach the mountain before then?" asked Fili, worry thick in his voice whilst he twisted his two beard braids between his fingers.

Lostoriel began to try and piece together what they were talking about. A quest, Durin's Day, a hidden door… The fog in her mind was clearing, these were Dwarves of the House of Durin. Durin dwelt under the mountain.

"Aye we will," he nodded reassuringly at his nephew, "there is plenty of time for us to rest and to plan our next move. I'm not sure when we will get moving again, but for now get some rest, regain your strength and enjoy the peace. Once we leave here we'll be entering into the Wilderness, after that we have a dragon to kill."

The blood freezing realisation hit her then, "You're going to reclaim Erebor."

Silence fell over the Company.

"Yes princess. And I believe that you may be joining us. With or without blessing or aid from the Elves we will carry out our mission. Are you with us?" his annoyed tone mingled with the determination in his voice.

The astonishment and fear in her voice was apparent as she fiddled with her hands, trying to distract herself from the cold tendrils of fear that flickered in the back of her mind.

"I… I do not... Excuse me." The elf strode out of the room, blindly walking through the halls. The name Erebor had stirred up a darkness that gnawed at her mind. Images of great pillars of fire and roars louder than thunder echoed in her mind. She needed space to process this. Her mind fuzzed over, a static sound built up in her ears until all she could hear was the pounding of her heart against her ribcage. She unconsciously rubbed her left arm, flexing her fingers as a sharp pain faded in and out of numbness. She was beyond terrified.

This was what Lord Elrond and Gandalf had been acting so cryptic about. They wanted her to join their quest, she had no idea how she even got back to Middle Earth and had only been there for two days and they wanted her to go frolicking off on some suicidal mission! The dwarves were either mad or stupidly brave to think that they would succeed. That place was best left alone, no matter how much wealth laid beneath the earth. It was stupid and beyond dangerous.

Lostoriel did not want to join them, all forms of bravery fell from her being. She remembered how Thror had been driven mad by the gold beneath the mountain, she remembered the fell beings that had tried more than once to make their way into the dwarvish ranks and she remembered the beast that had settled upon the treasure.

The elleth suddenly found herself wishing that she could not remember anything. Wishing that she had never come back, that she lived in that non-magical world again.

"Why do you think the orcs were so close to our borders?" asked Elladan stopping outside their little brother's room. He had been waiting with Glorfindel for hours for he and Elrohir to return from the hunt and had decided that he would spend the rest of the evening with them since he hadn't seen them for almost three days.

"I'm not sure. Though I suspect the party of dwarves who entered the Valley today have something to do with it." he held the door to Estel's room open for Elladan to pass through.

"Did Ada say what they were doing here? It is strange that they are so far from the Blue Mountains. I wonder what has drawn them out to the edge of the Wild. " the older twin asked as he carefully tucked Estel under the covers, he brushed the unruly waves of shoulder length brown hair from the child's face. The twins shared an amused smile as small puffs of air and bubbles emerged from the small form on the bed.

"He didn't, but I'm sure we'll figure it out soon enough." Elrohir turned and winked at him as he drew the light summer curtains. They were impeccably skilled at finding out what they weren't supposed to know.

The routine had become familiar to them on the nights their father spent pouring over his books in his study. Tonight they had found him behind a stack of tall dusty manuscripts, written in at least three different languages. He had barely sneaked them a second glance before he plunged back into the musty books. They had learnt long ago not to disturb him when he was in one of his investigative moods.

Satisfied with their work for the evening the pair exited the room, quietly closing the door behind them.

"You know, he really does look like an angel when he's not wreaking havoc."

Elladan did not get to reply when someone slammed into his brother from behind. Elrohir lurched forward with a yelp of surprise, dropping the story book he had taken from Estel's room and stumbling over his feet whilst Elladan grabbed his flailing arms steadying him.

"I'm so sorry!" Looking up after he had Elrohir standing upright again, he wished that the stone walls would swallow him whole.

The feminine voice belonged to the short, Elven body walking to picking up the book. "I didn't mean to knock you over. I wasn't watching where I was going. I'm sorry again."

It was her.

She held the book out to Elrohir and the two froze. Two statues of the past. He could feel what Elrohir felt. Every ounce of joy, heartbreak, confusion and love that he felt in the moment, Elladan felt within his bones, making his stomach churn.

"Los- Lostoriel!" he whispered, his grey eyes studying every inch of her, searching her face as if he would find his answers written there. He carefully stepped towards her, his hand reaching out to caress her flushed cheek.

But Lostoriel took a step back. She couldn't handle this on top of everything else. Lostoriel took in deep breaths as she stared at him, but it didn't help. She didn't know what to do, her arms dropped listlessly to her side as he stood in front of her.

He had not aged, everything about him was familiar to her. His tall, lean build, his dark-chocolate brown hair. Her words were stuck in her throat, unwilling to articulate themselves as her Elrohir stood before her. Every bit as real as he was before she was not.

"Elrohir…" was all she managed to say. This was what toppled her calm façade. The anxiety had been building up in her for days now, the uncertainty, the memory loss and the sudden revelations of the past day alone had her feeling like she was a bomb waiting to explode. Her breathing quickened and her head spun.

Without another word Lostoriel spun on her heels and hastily walked away keeping up the pace until she made it to her room at the end of the corridor and was behind the safety of her door. She wiped the burning, hot tears tumbled down her cheeks but they wouldn't stop. Locking the door behind her she stumbled over into the armchair by the fire. There Lostoriel curled into herself, her legs folding underneath her as she buried her face in her arms.

It was all too much to absorb at once. She was far away from her family, she was taken from a new life and into her old one, she had walked away from the one she loved, and she had no singular idea of who she was or what she was doing. She found herself longing for her Ada and Legolas or Thalion and the comfort of their arms. They had always guided her, they had always been there and she had left them. She had left Elrohir, she had left an entire life behind. And now she may have given up the chance to be with him again.

The darkness and haunting memory that penetrated her mind when she thought of Erebor made her everything freeze in fear. Though she had no intention of stepping foot in that mountain again , the fear of what lay in its depths toyed with her mind.

Lostoriel sat there for hours, letting the tears drip down her face and into the thick fabric of the chair until she had no more to cry. Her body ached just as painfully as her mind did. Whatever determination she had had before to find her answers had flowed away with the tears. It wasn't long after staring blankly into the fire that she finally closed her eyes and let the warm blackness of sleep take her.

Hii Everybody!

I'm so sorry that this one came so late, things got hectic last week but it's finally up! I hope you enjoyed all that drama...

Thank you for all the reviews! You will get the answers to your questions soon... perhaps.. *laughs evilly*

Lancelot 2.0 you have my thanks once again.

Thank you to everyone who has followed and favourited this story! Drop a comment below if you enjoyed this chapter!

I know the song that Bofur sings is from TFOTR, but they used it in the extended edition of AUJ and it fits in really well... Anyways I shall see you all later this week for chapter 7... Stay safe..