Individual Meetings
She quickly sat up, wiping the tiredness out of her eyes. Where was she? It appeared to be a regular forest. How did she get here?!
Panic and fear grew within her and she jumped to her feet, ready to run. But where would she go? She had no idea were the forest began, and where it ended.
" Another dream?" she whispered. Her eyebrow raised and she crossed her arms. Why was it always a dream that she thought she was in?
" Nay," came a voice somewhere from within the shadows. Victoria turned in the direction of it, afraid of what she might see. Her voice didn't seem to want to work.
The figure moved out, illuminated by the moon. It was an… Elf? He had dark hair that stopped at his waist, and scattered bangs, obscuring some of his face. He had handsome features delicately accentuated by ruby eyes. Victoria didn't know whether to step forward, or step away.
" You do not remember me?" He moved closer and more fully into the light. His attire was fully black, giving him an eerie, yet attractive look. " 'Tis fine. A long while has passed since we have last met."
" I… do not know you," she tried very hard to calm her voice. " Don't I?"
He smiled, and it looked predatory. " Perhaps not now."
She slowly backed up to a tree, thankful for the support it gave her. Riddles again. " Why am I here?" she asked slowly.
" Why not? We need a Savior. You are the one."
She shook her head. " I have no mission. They have explained nothing to me."
" Do they need to? You already understand what is happening. You need only to accept it."
" If it is true then they desire from me what I cannot give them. I know nothing of what they speak about."
" Do you understand that you will?" He inched closer, taking advantage of the situation. " You are slowly returning, Annil. Can you not feel it?"
How could that be true? Victoria still felt the same way she always did. Perhaps a little more sophisticated, but nothing serious. Time would eventually change that, she knew.
He studied her for a while. His eyes never left hers as she fought to look away. Who was this person? And why did he keep such an intense gaze? How much was he reading from her, and how much did she give away?
Victoria wanted to look elsewhere. ANYWHERE except for there: into the ruby eyes that she could feel she recognized. Her head tilted and she studied the dark color. There was something about them…
Suddenly, he smiled slowly, seemingly satisfied with something. . " We will meet again. You are weary from the day." His right hand gently stretched outwards, and Victoria fell drowsy and then asleep..
Even in Middle-earth, she still faced the sun. Victoria opened her eyes and stretched, realizing that she was in her bed, in her room. She sat up, her vision incredibly blurry.
" Oh no," she groaned and ran to the full sized mirror. She opened her eyes wider, and took out her contacts, completely forgetting that she had them on. " Oh please tell me that I am not blind!" However, when she did remove them, her vision cleared, and she saw perfectly. A little too perfectly.
Stepping back from the mirror, she realized that she also grew several inches, and her hair was longer. The shade looked like a black red. Her dark brown eyes had specks of a bright red in them. " What is happening to me?" The question was rhetorical yet again, though. For she knew. It looked as though she had aged four years ahead. Taking in her surroundings, and then a flash from the night before, she peered around her room. " How did I get in here?"
The previous night appeared still in her mind, and she shakily sighed. What had happened after she fell asleep? Had that person taken her up here? Who was he? His features were like that of an Elf, but he had a dark aura about him, and wasn't like any of the other Elves she had encountered. Why was he there? Why was SHE there?
" Too many questions." Sighing, she went into the bathroom.
" You have grown."
Victoria met Gimli on the way to the Dining Hall for breakfast. She vividly remembered the path from last night with Legolas, and retraced their steps. The Dwarf walked along with her.
" I have," she replied simply, not knowing what else to say.
" You gave us quite a fright, last night. You disappeared."
" I was over by Nimrodel for most of the night." Her eyebrows drew together. " Didn't one of you find me there?"
" Nay. You were in your room, sound asleep. Aragorn found you there the second time he looked. Strange actually…"
She wasn't sure if she should tell anyone what had happened. It would have complicated things and she would need to explain everything. " Is anyone upset?"
"Aragorn seemed like it. Lady Galadriel looked worried. The rest of us were distressed. You shouldn't wander around alone. Boromir received most of Aragorn's wrath for letting you leave." Gimli sighed. " The poor Steward."
Victoria felt guilty immediately, knowing that she had to apologize to Boromir, and then to everyone else. She shouldn't have gone out. But they didn't give her any precautions! What was she, a mind reader?
" I am sorry, Gimli. I did not mean to wander off. There was just a lot on my mind…"
" 'Tis all right, young lady. It is only Aragorn that I worry about."
Okay, well, thanks. Because of Victoria's own impulses she always got into trouble with Aragorn. Maybe it only happened once, but here she was again, afraid to face Aragorn and the fact that he would be furious with her.
All too soon, they entered the Hall, where only Gandalf, Legolas, and Boromir seemed to be eating. Victoria stood beside Legolas. Where was Aragorn?
"Look," she began softly. " I apologize, Legolas, and Gandalf. I should not have gone off and worried you all." Her eyes fell to the Elf and Wizard. She turned to Boromir. " And to you, Boromir, I am sorry. I understand that Aragorn was angry with you." She fought not to move her head to cover her shame.
" I am just glad that you are safe, Victoria." He said and smiled. " I deserved it though. My thoughts were entwined too closely in my own head. I did not realize what I had done."
Victoria shook her head. " No, you see, I should have understood -"
" Hush now," interrupted Gandalf. " What was done is done. Eat and then start off your day. Forget it."
" But last night, Gandalf, I-" She stopped. Something in the Wizard's eyes told her that he understood somehow. As if he knew what had happened..
" Hm," he looked as though he just noticed her for the first time. " You have grown."
" Indeed," added Legolas. " I assume that by tomorrow she would have fully taken her physical changes."
Victoria sat down beside the Elf. " Somehow, I still don't understand. Nothing was explained to me, yet I know what is happening."
The Hall turned silent.
As Aragorn wasn't there for breakfast, she wondered if he was avoiding her. Gandalf had mentioned that there would be a small meeting that afternoon intending on answering everything. Victoria began to think that she wouldn't want to learn anything. Instead, she would rather walk around in Lothlorien, enjoying what serenity she could before anything would haunt her. The encounter last night was beginning to.
He kept insisting that she knew him, or she WOULD. And he implied that she should embrace this change and the fate in which she has to follow through. Who was he? He seemed too gentle to be a servant of Sauron, yet too dark to not be. It was frightening, though. Even as he said they would meet again, she oddly looked forward to it.
" Have you not learned your lesson?"
Aragorn's voice was colder than ice, and Victoria inwardly winced at the sound. She wasn't familiar with it ( though she knew she would be) and hoped that whatever would come after this would not be what she feared.
" I'm sorry." She turned around and looked at the ground. " I did not mean to worry any of you. I only wished for time to myself."
" Do you not care for anyone else around you, then?"
Feeling a spark of rage, she looked up and met his gaze. " I do! " she replied defensively. " Of course I care." She sighed, and her voice was softer. " Matters were just getting worse for me. I wanted to sort things out."
The Man briefly closed his eyes. " Why didn't you seek council?"
" From whom? I needed only myself." More quietly, she added: " Where could I turn?"
" Anywhere but away," Aragorn responded quite gently. " Where were you? I - we searched everywhere. It must have been past midnight when I looked into your chambers and found you asleep.." For a moment, his expression held sadness. " How…?"
Victoria shrugged. " I… went somewhere." She tried to smile reassuringly. " But I am here now. What does it matter?" Her gaze drifted on his neck. There, as expected, was Arwen's necklace. It's funny, she guessed, how the closest things in life were out of reach. And the more you brood over it, the closer it will be and the farther the distance will stretch. Funny, isn't it? Victoria couldn't bring herself to laugh though.
" Are you well?"
Raising her eyes, she nodded. " Don't mind me. I am only thinking."
" Care to tell me?" He stepped forward. Victoria recoiled unconsciously.
" I'm sorry," she said as she saw the hurt look in his eyes. " I fear that I cannot share this with you."
" Why not?"
" It's complicated. You wouldn't understand."
" Tell me, and we shall see."
" No." She held out her hand. " No, thank you." Feeling uneasy, she excused herself and left in the direction of Nimrodel to seek solitude. Was she a coward, or just someone who wanted to prevent ill things from happening? It was obvious that she was in turmoil. Aragorn sensed it, she was sure. But did he know who was the reason of everything?
She sat under a large tree and hugged her legs. So much would be expected of her. How could she respond to all of that? What would happen tomorrow after everything was done?
Lost in her thoughts, she drifted off to sleep…
Victoria was surrounded by complete darkness. She seemed to be in a void dressed in black. Even as she closed her eyes and opened them again, the vision was of the same thing. She could not even see her outstretched hand.
" What is this?" she asked. The next sentence that flew from her mouth dared to contain the word, " dream".
` Annil…`
Victoria spun around. " Lady Galadriel? I cannot see you." The Elven Lady's voice seemed to be everywhere at once.
She laughed lightly. ` Would you like to?`
" It would bring me comfort," replied Victoria. She sounded like a lost child, almost like Frodo in times of his uncertainty.
` I am afraid, then, that you will receive no comfort.`
" Why?"
There was nor response.
" What is to become of this, then? If you have sought to frighten me, you have succeeded ten times over. I fear such darkness. "
There was no reply from Galadriel still, but Victoria somehow knew that she was there, perhaps watching her with amusement, if she could see the young lady.
The silence seemed to urge Victoria to talk. It's own dead sound pierced her senses, and she could not stand it. " If not to frighten me," she turned blindly, " then to punish me for last night. If it helps any, I am sorry. I… was taken, I believe, " Victoria sank to the ground and sat there, continuing. " maybe by a male Elf… He could not have been human. No, not human." The thought of Aragorn flashed in her mind. " His name wasn't revealed to me. 'Twas only that he spoke to me as if he knew me. And… for some reason… I felt that I have known him too."
Silence dragged on for a while. Victoria greatly wished that she could at least see herself, if nothing else.
` I know of last night, dear girl.` Galadriel's kind voice startled Victoria. ` I knew he would come, but not even I could stop him.`
Victoria looked around once again. " You knew? Why could you not stop him?"
` His powers greatly exceed mine. And I knew that he would not harm you.`
" He has harmed me with his words. He confuses me and speaks to me with such mockery. I feel as though he knows more of me than I do of myself."
` Perhaps he does.`
" What do you imply? I have never seen him before in my life."
The Elven Lady laughed lightly. ` Not this one, maybe.`
There it was again, the answers that made her use what sense she had to solve their riddles. " Then I have met him before?"
` You will remember.`
" When?"
` Tomorrow, or even as soon as, tonight.`
Silence reigned once again. But then:
" How do I know him, Lady Galadriel?"
` I have no place or right to tell you. The full details of your past are unclear to me. If I were to explain who you were, it would be incomplete.`
" Just an idea, if you will. I need something that I can grasp, and something that could help sort things out." Victoria hung her head. Her hands felt the hard tile of the floor, tracing invisible lines. How do you react to the fact that the life you once had, the one that you have known for as long as you can remember, was ripped from underneath you, and torn to shreds in your face? How do you like the idea that you know nothing about what was to come your way, and that when it came, you had no power over it because it was driven by someone else?
For the umpteenth time in her stay at Middle-Earth, she wondered why it had to be her.
` Rest now, Victoria. I hope you will sleep peacefully.`
Victoria laid on the hard surface and closed her eyes. She dozed off at once…
" Victoria… wake up. It's half past noon."
She opened her eyes and found Boromir knelt next to her. She smiled. " Boromir?"
" Come, lunch is waiting for us." He stood and helped her up. " Why did you not seek the comfort of your chambers?"
" I did not intend to take a nap." She rubbed her eyes and returned her gaze to Boromir. She was able to see his lips at perfect eye level. " Hm," she sighed curiously.
" If you grow any taller, I might have to live on the tips of my toes to maintain my dignity!" jested Boromir as they headed to the Palace in the tree.
" I don't think I'll be growing anymore." She thought of herself to be quite tall if she would only look up for a couple of inches to see the Man's eyes.
They walked on for a short while in complete silence, finding nothing to say at all. What did they have in common?
" I assume you have no experience with weaponry." It sounded like a half question.
She laughed. " No. I have none. Should I have a sword in possession I would fear for your foot, and my own."
" Would you like me to teach you then? Perhaps after this council following our afternoon meal."
" Sure, that would be great!" Hm, learning how to wield a sword, or maybe she could learn archery. Legolas would be better at that. She doubted that Gimli would have the patience to give her lessons on the ax. It really didn't fit her anyway, she thought.
" All right, then," concluded Boromir. They headed up the spiraling staircase.
Aragorn was there for this meal. He sat beside Gandalf and seemed to have a conversation with the old man. Legolas and Gimli sat across from each other, completely keeping to themselves as they ate silently. Victoria sat beside the Dwarf as Boromir moved beside Legolas.
" So glad you could join us. It's about time," said Gandalf suddenly. " I was beginning to worry."
" I haven't strayed off again, Gandalf. My lesson was well learned." She briefly glared at Aragorn and began to fill her plate. Her pride felt somewhat ruined earlier that day. Not only that but he made assumptions about her.
" I see," sighed the Wizard and returned to his meal.
Victoria dropped her fork. " Look, I'm sorry." She looked at Gandalf. " I've been a pain in the ass."
" No, no, dear girl," assured the old man. " The conversation was concluded."
" I'm not hungry anymore. Excuse me." She left the table and headed for her chambers in a slight rush. What was wrong with her? What the HELL was wrong with her?
Shutting her door and jumping on her bed, she clutched her pillow and wept.
TBC...
Author's Notes:::: Yea, took forever. SORRY!