Disclaimer: Wanna be Your hands, I wanna be Your feet, I'll go where you send me, go where you send me… -Audio Adrenaline

I own my inspirations. I own my ideas. Christ owns me.

I DON'T OWN: Lady Macbeth, Othello, or any other Shakespearean character or plot(although he didn't exactly come up with original ideas, if ya know what I'm talkin' about, can we say formula-writing? heh heh); Dave Barry material, Charlotte Perkins Gilman stuff, or Lewis Carrol stuff;

A/N: I have the worst writer's block in the history of long, horrible cases of writer's block. Thus, my writing may get a little weird here. Enjoy the thinly veiled references to speech competition! I've acted every one of those pieces except Jabberwocky. That one belongs to Lauren.

PS: Doesn't it bug you when the elven gowns that OC's dress in always fit perfectly and show off their womanly attributes? Blech.

4

"What are you doing?"

Silence.

"Sarah… Sarah? What are you doing?"

Still, nothing.

Then he heard humming. A slow, creepy rhythm, methodical and tuneless. Then he heard words.

"I've got out at last… hmmmm… in spite of you and Jane… and I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back! Yeah, that's it."

Alder frowned and finally stood, accepting that she was going to make him come and actually find her. He followed the open doors, and she kept taking so he knew he was getting closer. Each elven room was more ethereal than the last, every object and piece of furniture seemingly designed for the sole purpose of bringing peace and rest to those present. Light penetrated every nook and cranny, due to the broad windows and cheerful day. But as he followed the rooms inward, things seemed to grow more shadowed. Alder followed her voice.

"Let's see, sophomore year… Contrary to what many women believe, its easy to develop a long-term, intimate, and mutually fulfilling relationship with a guy. Of course this 'guy' has to be a Labrador retriever. Heh."

Alder could tell she was reciting, but he had no idea what.

When they arrived at Rivendell, an elf named Narindrel had met them and recognized Sarah immediately. In this last homely house, Alder could be sure finally that Sarah was the woman she claimed to be. Even if she'd only claimed it in his sleep. Now, after two days, Alder had made sure he never left her side.

In fact, after Sarah found out he was a Ranger, he felt that maybe she kept close to him as well. No matter how kind and good the elves were, both Alder and Sarah felt very… below them. They were strangers, welcome but wary.

After two days in Rivendell, Alder had not spent an hour away from the sight of this woman.

"'Twas brillig- oh, heavens. I miss you all so much… 'Twas brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble, in the wabe…"

Finally, Alder came upon the young woman in a room deep inside. She was trailing her fingers along the wall, walking steadily with her head held high.

"What are you doing?" he asked one last time.

She looked at him, grinning wistfully. "I'm just remembering stories… from my land. Many memories… Oh, you mean what am I actually DOING? I'm mapping out Rivendell in my mind. What you do is you trace the walls, going from room to room, and eventually you should get back to where you started, after you've gone through the entire place. Its fun, if you have a lot of spare time and you really want to remember something."

Alder smiled. "You look very different, Lady Sarah, almost as though you belong here."

Sarah twitched slightly, letting him know he was supposed to follow her since she certainly wasn't going to stop. "You do not lie very well, Alder! We both know I much prefer and belong in the rugged wilderness. Dresses, well, they don't suit me."

She was dressed uncomfortably in a light, pastel green gown, in the fashion of an elven guest of honor. Her hair was clean and braided, her skin was perfumed, and the dress was supposed to be a special gift. The elves beamed whenever they saw her wearing it (even though she'd been forced to neatly rip off one of the sleeves to accommodate her broken, bandaged arm). However, since Sarah was neither as lithe nor as tall as a normal elf, she felt extremely mismatched. Apparently, female elves weren't supposed to have any muscles at all- they were skinny as string. Or spaghetti. Or twigs. Or-

"Sarah…" Alder began, interrupting her thoughts. He'd taken to walking next to her, silently, with his hands behind his back. "Have you seen your brother yet?"

She slowed, but didn't even turn her head. "That's a great question. That is a really great, great question. And do you know what the answer is? Huh? The million-dollar-who-wants-to-save-Middle-Earth answer? He doesn't want to see me." She lowered her head slightly, and Alder didn't dare look at her. He was flabbergasted.

"How could he possibly not want to see you? You are his sister! You have been separated for almost ten years! I cannot believe this!"

She laughed. "I reacted kind of the same way. But, no. Narin told me straight off, the minute we got here. Ryan is not feeling well, he's worried, I'm distressing him, and he doesn't want to deal with me." She said it lightly, but he saw right through that. Sarah was close to tears.

He put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her. "Listen to me." He made sure she was looking straight into his eyes, so she could see his sincerity. Alder spoke with intensity, trying only to stem the swell of emotion welling up inside of him.

"You are brilliant. You are resourceful and intelligent and kind and beautiful. You surely will never lack for wit! Your soul is strong and good, and the way this hurts you brings me such regret it takes my breath away! Ryan is his own man, and you are Sarah. And one thing that you may hold on to, years passing like the frost melts in spring, whether your brother wants to see you ever again or not: you are loved. Heartily and with a whole heart." His face was wide and hopeful- just waiting for her to return the sentiment.

Frankly, Sarah didn't have the stomach to deal with all of this sappy emotion. But she also didn't have the heart to crush him. Darnit. She never had to deal with this in high school- guys enjoyed telling her that they 'would have' asked her out, but she was 'such a good friend'! So this was completely new to Sarah, and she didn't really know how to handle it.

Sarah put a consoling hand over his, hoping to soften the blow she was about to deal, when she heard a pattering of feet in the hallway. Both turned simultaneously, and saw a rather short figure disappear from the doorway.

Sarah bolted, and poked her head out just as someone turned the corner. "Hey- wait!" she cried. Elves normally didn't run like that. Sarah had an inkling that she knew who it might be…

The mysterious person hesitantly walked back into her line of view. She gasped, then shrieked.

"MERRY!" A broad grin replaced his uncertain demeanor in a flash. They ran at each other, and Sarah fairly leapt into his arms.

It was one of those moments in life- where it seems like, for just a second, holding onto another person is the most important thing in the world. Sarah wrapped her arms around him and Merry dug his fingers into her back.

Alder had to clear his throat to break the moment.

Merry pulled back and searched her face in amazement. "I thought I heard your voice- and here you are! I can't believe it! Sarah, oh-"

She bit her lip and shook her head. "It has been much too long, Meriadoc Brandybuck! Tell me you're real. Tell me its really you, right here, in front of me! Because I'm not sure if I can really believe it. Its almost too good, too wonderful to be true! Grace of Valar…"

His eyes welled up with tears, and he held her head in his hands, at the base of the neck.

He said, "Pippin mentioned that we might find you here, but frankly I was trying to find a storage room to raid! How lucky that I found you instead, though I don't think I can eat you."

But he thought: I couldn't be more real if the soaring in my heart was the only power to breathe life into the world.

Sarah grinned until her face hurt. Then, she found her head again. "Oh! Merry, this is Alder! Alder helped me get here, and he's been protecting me. Alder, Meriadoc Brandybuck is a hobbit I've known for a very, very long time." She beamed at the man standing behind her.

Alder had been hanging back, feeling very out of place during this joyful reunion. He noticed that as soon as Sarah mentioned him, the hobbit looked between the two and the joy in his eyes faded just slightly, and returned to uncertainty. Sarah didn't notice.

"I am honored to meet you, friend of Sarah. I'm sure we'll be getting to know each other better." He tipped his head. Then he grinned conspiratorially. "I think the elves are keeping their food in a storage room on the other side of the river, young Brandybuck, if you'd care to investigate."

Merry laughed just a little too cheerfully. "Oh, and miss the reunion between Sarah and the rest of the hobbits? Never!" With that, he bellowed with all his might, "PIPPIN! OI! PIP!"

Less than five seconds later, there was a thunderous pattering of feet on bare wood. A living ball of energy rounded the corner, paused verily a second, then threw itself at Sarah with all its might.

She laughed her head off as he bowled her over, then stiffened suddenly with a loud "OW."

Everyone froze as she lifted her arm gingerly. Pippin clapped a hand over his mouth and crawled off of her. "This seems to be a tradition for us, Sarah! We meet, and you hurt yourself!"

Sarah laughed weakly, remembering how she sprained her ankle at her first meeting with Merry and Pippin. "No, no, honey, I broke my arm over a month ago! Don't worry- its worth it to see you! Actually, I should say, to experience you!"

They all relaxed, happy that Sarah wasn't more injured. "Okay, now you have to tell me: where are Sam and Frodo?" She hoped she sounded cheerful enough- she wasn't suppose to know that Frodo had been stabbed at Weathertop.

Merry scratched his eyebrow and glanced at Pippin. "We ran into a little bit of adventure on our way here. Frodo is recovering wonderfully, though! Sam won't tear himself from Frodo's side."

Pippin bounced around, teeming with energy. "I offered him mushrooms, he wouldn't budge. I offered him potatoes, he only laughed at me! I offered him a nice, hot bath (something I've needed for quite a while), and he only told me that he didn't think I could get him clean enough!" Pippin stroked his chin quixotically, giving everyone a comical image.

"Well," said Sarah, scrambling to her feet (elven dresses aren't exactly made for tumbling), "I'd like to at least find Gandalf. Do you think I could do that? That is, after we've eaten and talked for hours, of course!"

She joined hands with a hobbit on either side, and they sailed down the corridor with Alder right by their side.

"Gandalf has been very cheerful lately, talking about death and doom and evil things! He's very wonderful to be around, I'm sure you'll enjoy him!" Pippin giggled.

Nothing had really changed, but in Sarah's mind's eye, the whole world shone.

~~~Ihavewriter'sblockIhavewriter'sblockIhavewriter'sblockIhavewriter'sblock.

Ian: Don't blame me. I don't know what to do for her. I think she's been writing too many different plots- she's spread to thinly! And finals are coming up…