A/N: Good news! My evil writer's block is gone! My thanks to my dear friend ArwenAria who helped me overcome the block.

Chapter 19: Interlude in Lorien

Eventually the noise lowered enough that the friends could hear each other speak.

"After that reaction I'm not sure I wish to tell them any more," Elwing said nervously.

"I don't blame you," Aria agreed wholeheartedly. "You wouldn't expect Elves to react so rambunctiously."

Falagorn smiled. "I must apologize, we Elves do not usually behave such, but this matter is so important to them that they forget their manners," he explained apologetically.

Aria smiled. "It's okay," she said sweetly. "I can understand their surprise, I was surprised myself when I heard it."

"Still, I'm worried how about they will take our wanting to go after the Fellowship," Elwing said, obviously nervous.

Erestor put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll be okay," he said with a smile.

Elwing smiled in spite of her worries. Behind them, Galadriel rose and quietly lifted her hand. One by one, the Elves fell silent. Galadriel then turned her gaze towards Elwing.

"Lady Elwing, am I right in assuming that this is not the only matter you wished to speak to us about?" Galadriel asked gently.

Elwing gulped. "Yes Lady Galadriel," she said meekly.

"Then please, tell us what else you wished to say," Galadriel said.

Erestor leaned over to Elwing. "Would you like me to tell them?" he whispered.

Elwing nodded, very relieved. Erestor smiled, and turned to face Celeborn and Galadriel. "Elwing, Aria, and myself wish to go after the Fellowship and join them," he said boldly.

The commotion now was different, but still noisy. Gasps and whispers filled the air along with statements of surprise about Erestor's boldness.

Celeborn raised his hand. "Silence!" he said firmly. The noise dwindled, but whispering could still be heard. Celeborn look at Erestor, an almost unfriendly look in his eyes.

"There is no chance that I will put the fate of Middle-Earth in more danger than it is now," he said a bit icily. "We walk a knife's edge, the slightest thing could mean the death and destruction of all."

"Lord Celeborn," Aria said boldly. "Why do you think we were brought here? The King Sunstar himself said we would come to help overthrow Sauron. We will not stand idly by while our friends fight our battles."

Elwing shot Aria a thankful glance. Aria always knew what to say.

Celeborn was about to respond, when Galadriel whispered something in his ear. He frowned, but turned to the three nonetheless.

"I will think this matter over and tell you my decision tonight," he said firmly.

The three bowed and walked quickly back to where Galareal awaited them. "That went well," the Elf said sarcastically.

Elwing pouted. "I saw you were quick to help," she said dryly.

Galareal blushed. "Well, uh, I did not want to be in the way," he said.

Aria smiled. "Nice excuse."

"Come on guys, why don't we get changed?" Erestor asked anxiously.

Elwing grinned wickedly. "Eager to get out of you're tights?"

"They're pants!" Erestor cried in frustration.

Aria saved Erestor. "Either way, why don't we get off this flet?" she asked, heading for the ladder.

"Yes, let's," Erestor said, quickly following suit.

Galareal chuckled. "You are never going to let him live that down, are you?" he asked Elwing.

"Nope!" Elwing grinned as she headed towards the ladder.

When the four were safely on the ground, Erestor ran to change, and the others waited for him.

"I never thought you would want to stay dressed up, Elwing," Aria said.

Elwing smiled and fingered the silver-blue dress she wore. It was simple, clinging to her form loosely, but it held a certain hidden beauty. The material shone like silk, yet was as soft as velvet. It caught the sunlight and seemed to glow, highlighting the silver trimming and pale blue flower designs.

"I guess I just like this dress," Elwing said with a shrug.

Erestor came jogging into view, dressed in the clothes Aragorn had given him. The pants were a little to big, but he had a belt holding them up. The boots fit well, as did the shirt. He stood before them, a broad grin on his face.

"That's much better!" he said cheerfully. "Now, why don't we get something to eat?"

There was unanimous agreement (both for the food and his clothes) and they set off in search of food.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Erestor let out a contented sigh and leaned back in his chair. "You can't beat Elven food," he said with a grin.

Elwing rolled her eyes. "You would say that about any food if it got you more."

Galareal rose from the small table around which the friends were seated. "Well no matter what he says, I will give him no more food until his stomach resumes it's normal size," he said with a grin.

Erestor frowned. "Meanies," he mumbled.

A guard approached and spoke quietly to Galareal and then left.

"What was that about?" Aria asked.

"Lord Celeborn wishes to speak to me," Galareal said with a small grimace.

Elwing grinned. "Have fun," she giggled.

Galareal frowned. "Oh yes, I am sure we will have a lot of fun," he said sarcastically. After saying goodbye to his friends, Galareal quickly made his way to the large mellorn.

When he was gone, Aria turned to the others. "So, what do you guys want to do now?" she asked.

"I wanna go have a little talk with that Elf, Falagorn," Elwing said, rising to her feet, "You guys can do what you want, I'll catch up with you later." She said goodbye then walked away.

"I'm gonna go for a walk in the woods," Aria said. "Want to come?"

"Nah," said Erestor. "I think I'll stay here."

"Okay, see you later," Aria said, making her way into the woods.

Erestor stayed where he was, wondering what to do. Looking up, he saw an Elf approaching. He had long black hair and brown eyes, and Erestor thought he looked very familiar. The Elf stopped in front of Erestor.

"You are the one who spoke in the council," the Elf said, more fact than question.

Erestor looked at him closely. "Aren't you the Elf with the big mouth?"

The Elf laughed. "You could say that," he said, still laughing. "My name is Keso, I did not hear your name."

"Erestor."

"A pleasure to meet you, Erestor," said Keso. "Would you like to come and meet my friends?"

"Will you yell?" asked Erestor dryly.

Keso laughed. "Only when I am in debate do I yell. This is not a debate, just a gathering of friends."

'He reminds me of Gollum,' Erestor thought. 'Sometimes Slinker, sometimes Stinker.'

"Sure, why not," he said aloud.

Keso grinned. "Great! Let us go."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Elwing walked through the woods, a hunch telling her she would Falagorn here. She stepped into a clearing and found Falagorn sitting on a rock with a book next to him. Hearing Elwing, he rose and turned to face her.

"My Lady," he said with a bow.

Elwing grimaced. "Please don't do that."

Falagorn smiled, amused at her request. "As you wish," he said, sitting back down.

Elwing sat on a rock across from him. "So you are my last living relative in Middle-Earth," she said, more a statement than a question.

"And why do you say that?" Falagorn asked with a smirk.

"Simple," Elwing said, also with a smirk. "You cannot be pure Sunstar, or else the stone would have turned green when you held it. However, you have green eyes, a trait only found in Sunstars. Also, you are not short, as far as Elves go, but you are not the normal Elf-height, either. If what I heard is correct, the Sunstars were short."

Falagorn smiled. "Well done, you are very observant. Yes, I am part Sunstar; half to be exact. And yes, the Sunstars were short, but not as short as you. That is the Hobbit blood in you."

Elwing smiled. "I always thought my height had to do with being part Hobbit." Elwing looked at Falagorn's hair, a perplexed look on her face.

"What is it?" Falagorn asked.

"For a minute I thought your hair was red," she replied.

Falagorn smiled. "It is."

"But it looks brown!" Elwing exclaimed.

Falagorn's smile broadened. "My Sunstar blood allows me to do simple magic," he explained. "Lady Galadriel asked me to be inconspicuous, and bright red hair would not exactly fit that description."

"So you cover it up with magic," Elwing finished.

Falagorn smiled. "Precisely. You only saw it because you are a Sunstar, no one else notices," he said with a sigh.

Elwing smiled knowingly. "You miss your red hair, don't you."

Falagorn laughed. "Yes, I suppose I do," he mused.

"Why not stop hiding it?" Elwing proposed. "You only had to blend in because no one was supposed to know a Sunstar relative lived. I think that's been taken care of," she added with a wink.

Falagorn smiled. "Good point. Very well, back to red it is."

He had no sooner finished the sentence than his hair turned into a vibrant, bright red.

Elwing blinked. "That's some bright hair."

Falagorn laughed. "I know. But we have wasted enough time, we have much to do and not much time to do it in."

Elwing cocked her head. "What do we have to do?"

"Teach you magic of course," Falagorn replied calmly.

Elwing blinked. "Teach me what?"

"Magic. You are a Sunstar you know," Falagorn said with a wink.

Elwing leaned forward excitedly. "You mean you'll teach me how to do magic?"

Falagorn smiled at her eagerness. "Not quite. Elves themselves are magical, I will just teach you how to use your magic."

Elwing jumped to her feet. "What are we waiting for? Let's get started!"


End Chapter 19
Please Review!