Author's Note: Thanks to Queenie for her reviews! Hope you enjoy the new
chapter.
Disclaimer: Don't own nothing.
Chapter Four
Colleen woke the next morning, exhausted. Her sleep had been troubled. Tear tracks had dried and stained her face, a mark of the sadness and confusion that lived inside her. She lay staring at the ceiling, thinking of everything and then trying not to think of everything.
Her door was pushed aside and Colleen sat up as the man who had captured her in the forest walked into her room.
He stood, staring at her silently as she wondered what he was doing here, had they finally decided she was a threat, when he spoke.
"Haldir." He pointed to himself. Colleen's faced showed her confusion as he repeated the action. "Haldir."
She quickly caught on to what he was doing but almost had to laugh at the expression of mild suffering on his face. She pointed to him. "Haldir," she repeated with a suppressed grin.
He seemed relieved that she had grasped the easy concept, almost as if he had feared that one that is not an elf would not be able to understand. She pointed to herself.
"Colleen."
He nodded. "Colleen," he repeated. She smiled at him and that was the beginning of her lessons.
It seemed that Haldir had been appointed her tutor. Why him specifically, Colleen never did find out. He seemed almost annoyed at the demotion of captain of the guard to teacher, but Colleen soon guessed that Galadriel had appointed him to such a task and Haldir could never find fault with the Lady of the Wood.
Soon, she became accustomed to the routine of Haldir coming every morning and taking her about to practice learning the Elvish language in addition to what they called the Common Tongue. Her vocabulary grew each day and Haldir seemed delighted with her excellent memory.
She had not met again with Galadriel and it almost seemed as if the Elf Queen was letting her mind be diverted from her problem, concentrating all her efforts on learning to understand the language of those around her than concentrate on the sadness of leaving her world and not knowing the purpose of why she was here.
The weeks passed, her ability to speak the languages and understand them was amazing in it's capability. If she did not know a word, somehow her subconscious would provide it, and before long, she found herself conversing with those around her like she had always spoken the language and had grown up in the city of Lothlorien.
The sunlight lit upon her face as she slowly woke up to a new day and she smiled as she saw Barandelothiel enter with her breakfast tray. The elf who had tended to her wounds when she first arrived had grown to be a fond friend of Colleen's, one of the few that she felt comfortable speaking with.
"Good morning," she said softly and watched as Barandelothiel smiled in return as she placed the tray laden with fruit and bread on the table that rested in the corner of her room.
"Fair morning to you as well, Colleen." She looked upon the girl who laid in the bed. Though Colleen had become slightly accustomed to living here at Lothlorien, Barandelothiel could see the stress that still lingered in her face and in her eyes. She knew that Colleen did not sleep well, her nights often plagued by disturbing dreams and images, though of what, she did not know.
Though she considered the girl a friend, Colleen was still mostly a mystery. She socialized little, often being found in corners reading books of the history of Middle Earth or else just sitting, lost in her own thoughts. And while she was friendly, Barandelothiel knew that were was much of the girl kept hidden and internalized.
"Galadriel bids good morn, and asks that you join her after you have finished your exercise. There is a visitor that has arrived in Lothlorien that she wishes you to meet."
Colleen nodded her understanding and after Barandelothiel left, quickly got up and opened her wardrobe. She reached for a pair of gray breeches and a white shirt and her soft brown doe skin boots. When she had first been given clothing by her host, they had consisted of long dresses with complex laces and bindings. But they quickly found out that she would prefer the clothing of men. It made it much easier upon Colleen, especially when she would practice her katas in the early morning, leaving more room for kicks and blocks.
It grew to be her favorite time, the time where she could center herself and lose herself in the precision and technique of Tae Kwon Do. It gave her time to reflect and search for the reason to her being here. Though the pain had dulled and slowly her longing for her old life had lessened, the question of how she came to be in Middle Earth still hung in her heart.
She walked to her normal spot, the clearing on the hill that lay next to her dwelling. There she did her stretches and then lost herself in the calculated and energetic movements of the martial art, her mind reviewing the events of past months.
She had been there for around three months by her calculations, she did not know for certain if time and seasons were measured the same as home. Often, she had what she liked to jokingly call, only to herself because no one else would understand, therapy sessions with Galadriel.
After the period of time that Galadriel had deemed her time for adjustment, she had called the girl before her and shown her, her mirror. Colleen would look into the water and view the images of past and present, and interestingly, the future. The images never gave a full story and most of the time, Colleen had been left more confused then before. But the fact was, that every glimpse she had of her time to come, it had been in Middle Earth.
The Lady and her husband, Lord Celeborn had been a great source of comfort to her, always patient, always understanding as befit their many years of acquired wisdom. They had never made her feel as if they were burdened by the presence of this non-elf, never made her feel as if they expected return upon their hospitality. But she tried to return their efforts with a willingness to help wherever she could.
So Galadriel had permitted Colleen to work with their records of history, sorting and arranging the time lines and lineage in order. She enjoyed her job, for it gave her free reign to the wealth of information and history that was behind Middle Earth and the long lived creatures that are elves. She would work herself tirelessly, wanting to pay back Galadriel for all that she had done and also wanting to be busy enough not to think of never returning to her old life. So every night, she would fall in bed, exhausted and needing of sleep, wanting to refresh herself. But then the dreams started.
She thought back to when the dreams first appeared as she raised her arm to block a imaginary punch. Images of elves and of wars that she had no knowledge of, faces and stories that she had never heard would visit her throughout the night. And she would wake reaching for something that always seemed beyond her grasp. But the nights when she would wake, more exhausted and feeling more incomplete than ever were the dreams of the man.
The balance of her front kick faltered for a moment as her thoughts touched upon the man. He came often, his face never seen, his features never clear. But his hands, his hands were always there. They were sensual dreams, of hands that she knew as well as her own, stroking her body, caressing her skin as his lips echoed her name and tortured her further. Her hands also moved, touching skin that she wanted, memorizing the texture of his hair as she ran her fingers through it.
And always, in every dream, she would whisper in his ear, "Forever." And he would whisper it back.
She did not know the meaning of these dreams, did not know why they came to her in the middle of the night and left her aching, needing fulfillment in the morning. But they came nonetheless. She made her thoughts turn, the ache of being incomplete troubling her and making her wish to think of something else. So her mind searched for another subject as her fighting grew faster.
As she practiced her movements, two sets of eyes watched. They watched her as she went at amazing speed from one kick to the next, fighting an imagined enemy and winning.
"And you say that she just appeared at the edge of the wood?" Gandalf the Grey watched the girl and saw the intensity and drive in her face.
Galadriel stood next to him, her face calm as ever. "Yes. She did not know how she came to be here and she knew nothing of Middle Earth. She said that in her world, we are but words on paper, beings of fiction that never lived and only came to be known through stories written by a man." She turned to face Gandalf, her watchful gaze falling upon the wizard, looking for confirmation. "You sense it, don't you?"
Gandalf turned to meet her gaze and nodded. "Yes, she has power." Leaning upon his staff, he looked back at the girl who stood fighting invisible foes on the hill. "She has a potential for greatness, an ability not unlike my own though how that is possible, I do not understand."
Galadriel nodded. She turned and led the way back to the dais where she settled herself in one of the two chairs that had been placed there. "Yet, she has no idea. There have been signs of a gift. She learned the language of the elves and the Common Tongue in less than two moons."
Gandalf's eyebrow rose. Galadriel continued. "Haldir has spoken to me of how she would know words that he had not taught her, uses and sayings that she did not learn but somehow flowed easily from her lips."
He nodded. He reached for his pipe and begin to fill it with weed. "And I suppose that she hasn't noticed that things she really needed or wished for seemed to happen and appear conveniently." He lit the pipe and after taking a puff, looked expectantly at Galadriel who smiled.
"No. Though they were not large things, only a lighting of a fire here and clearing of the weather there, I could feel the small disturbances of the atmosphere. She will not be able to do anything of importance unless she is trained." She looked to him. "And that is why I would like to offer the hospitality of the Wood to you, Gandalf the Grey."
He smiled. "I expected as much."
Colleen wiped the sweat from her brow, her face red with exertion and her muscles humming from the strenuous workout she had given them. She gathered her things from the hill and made for her dwelling. Taking a change of clothes and other necessities, she headed towards the bathing pool.
Quickly, she bathed, relishing in the cool water that wiped the sweat away and soothed her body. But with her mind on Galadriel's wish to see her, she dressed and binding her wet hair up, walked to the meeting area.
No one was there but Colleen took a seat on the stairs, next to Galadriel's chair, her usual position. She was concentrating on lacing her boots that she had not finished tying in her hurry to be here, when a voice interrupted her movements.
"So you prefer breeches to dresses, do you?" a voice asked her. Her head shot up and her eyes took in the sight of an old man dressed in gray, carrying a staff with a white jewel set in the head, and wearing a pointy hat that immediately made her think of witches and Halloween.
"Gandalf the wizard." She stated calmly.
His eyebrow rose. "So you recognize me? I am told of in the stories of your world?" He walked towards her and she had to tilt her head backward as he towered above her in such close range.
"Yes." She felt invaded by his presence. "You are very important in the stories, a significant figure and one of the most known characters," she informed him, watching to see his reaction to the knowledge of his fame.
He grinned and moved to sit beside her. "Strange thoughts, to think of being known by a world that is not familiar to me." He placed his staff down on the floor and began to root around for his pipe. "So you knew the story of Middle Earth well before you appeared in this time?"
She watched his movements, slightly amazed at being faced with talking with a fictional character again. "No, not well. I had only seen the movie in my time. I had never read the books." She looked at his face. "But it's amazing how you all look exactly alike."
"Look exactly alike? To whom do I resemble?" he asked, taking a puff of his lit pipe. "And what is a movie?"
She laughed and thought back to her world, to things that been normal and insignificant in her reality that never needed to be explained, things such as movies. "I guess you would say a movie is a story told with pictures, pictures that move. And for your other question," she looked at his face once more. "You look exactly like the people who portrayed you, in my world."
He nodded, smoking his pipe as he mulled over these facts. "So you know what is going to happen? In the future of Middle Earth?"
"I know of the One Ring."
Gandalf started as those words left her mouth, choking on his pipe smoke as he turned to gaze at the girl sitting beside him. "You know of the One Ring? Of Sauron's ring? It has been found?"
Colleen sighed and drew her knees up against her chest. "No, it has not been found." She thought of the time and events that she learned and figured out from the information in the library. "It will not be found for a time. But I wish say no more."
Gandalf sputtered. "You have to say more, you have to tell what you know, any advantage concerning Sauron needs to be used."
Colleen shook her head. "No, that's just it. I'm afraid. I know how it turns out, though everyday I lose knowledge and my memory of the information grows dimmer and fades away, I know the overall outcome. And I can't say anything, for fear that I may change that outcome, may cause someone to do a different action and affect the entire timeline."
Gandalf calmed as he took in her words. He stared into the distance, thinking over her position. "Drop one pebble in a large pond, you cause many ripples."
Colleen nodded. "Exactly, a flutter of a butterfly's wings in Paris can affect the weather in Costa Rica." Gandalf looked confused as he had never heard of such a place but she went on.
"I don't know much and I don't know if I have a role in this. I only saw the story twice, well one and half, the second time I fell asleep and ended up here. But I never read the books, I don't know the intricate workings of Tolkien's story. What I do know is, if I act wrongly on it, it may change everything."
Gandalf turned suddenly towards her, his mind on a specific thing that she said.
"Tolkien?"
She looked at him. "Yes, Tolkien. He wrote the stories of Middle Earth."
"J.R.R. Tolkien?"
"Yes." She watched as Gandalf started to laugh.
"So he did find his way back."
Colleen lurched forward at that. "Who found his way back? And found what way back?"
Gandalf seemed to remember his pipe and reached to take a puff. "Why J.R.R. Tolkein, of course."
Her eyes widened. "He was here? He came here in truth? That's how he knew the stories?"
Gandalf nodded. "It must be. He appeared one day in The Shire, an excited look on his face and a keen sense of curiosity in his spirit. I was visiting my good friend Bilbo Baggins, who had just returned from his adventures when we found him, curiously examining a hobbit. He somehow spoke our language and was forever scribbling away in a pad of paper that he carried with him."
Her mind was racing with her thoughts. "What happened? How did he get here? How did he return and write a story that hasn't happened yet?" She tugged on the arm of his robes. "And most importantly, how did he get back?
Gandalf looked at her calmly, puffing on his pipe. He turned and blew a smoke ring that took on the shape of a frog which hopped away until it faded. Colleen was distracted by the sight for a moment but she quickly returned to the conversation.
"Well?"
Gandalf smiled. "He stayed for a couple of days, since he only spoke Common Tongue and was interested in the language of the elves, I gave him a book containing a collection of elvish words and their translation to Common Tongue. He told me that he had found a mysterious phrase in an old dusty book at someplace called Oxford. Do you know of such a place?" He looked at her.
"Yes, it's a college." At his questioning look, she explained further. "A place to learn. Anyway, let's return to the story. He found a phrase."
Gandalf's eyebrow rose at her impatience but he understood. "He said the phrase and it brought him to Middle Earth."
At this Colleen's face grew excited. "It brought him to Middle Earth? That must mean there is a way back, I mean he went back. Do you know the phrase?" She thought Wishes of returning home, to a place where she knew the rules and things were normal to her excited her. But it also saddened her spirit. At least here, she had a few people who cared for her. At home, she was by herself. Her musings were interrupted by Gandalf.
"I'm sad to say that I do not know the phrase. He never revealed it to me." He thought back to that time. "But I do know that it did not take him back." Her face fell at that information. Gandalf continued.
"He was stuck here for a few weeks, but during that time he wrote down everything, every detail, every word, and he studied that book I gave him inside and out." Gandalf shifted position, his back weary from sitting on hard ground for so long.
"He was always asking questions, wanting stories of Middle Earth. I talked to him about Bilbo's great adventure, Rivendell and Lothlorien, of Galadriel and Elrond, and most especially about Morgoth and Sauron."
Colleen turned to face front again, looking out at the city and trees, pondering the story of Tolkien. "But how did he know about the future? Is it just a made up story?"
Gandalf shook his head. "I do not think so. I remember one night, I told him the story of Galadriel and her ability to see the future using the mirror. I did not think of it for a few days, but one night I caught him attempting the same thing. I think he succeeded. I think that is where his knowledge came from, that he had an ability beyond Galadriel and all to see the future. I do not know where his ability came from though."
Colleen shrugged. "Maybe it's like Superman. People from our time are strengthened by the power of your sun."
Gandalf looked lost. "Superwho?"
"Never mind."
Gandalf shrugged, strange girl. "Maybe people of your world who visit do get granted with powers."
Colleen shook her head. "I wasn't serious. If that were true, I would have powers."
Gandalf just stared at her.
"I don't. I would notice if I could manipulate the things around me."
He continued to stare.
"What? Why do you look at me that way? I don't have any special ability." She noticed his pipe went out. "See, if I could use magic, I would be able to wave my hand and light your pipe."
He continued to say nothing but look at her.
She rolled her eyes and sarcastically pointed to his pipe. "Fire." She was the one who jumped and screamed as suddenly his pipe exploded, fire flaring from it's bowl and proceeding to singe inches off of Gandalf's beard.
He just calmly looked at the pipe. "Pity, that was my favorite one.
Chapter Four
Colleen woke the next morning, exhausted. Her sleep had been troubled. Tear tracks had dried and stained her face, a mark of the sadness and confusion that lived inside her. She lay staring at the ceiling, thinking of everything and then trying not to think of everything.
Her door was pushed aside and Colleen sat up as the man who had captured her in the forest walked into her room.
He stood, staring at her silently as she wondered what he was doing here, had they finally decided she was a threat, when he spoke.
"Haldir." He pointed to himself. Colleen's faced showed her confusion as he repeated the action. "Haldir."
She quickly caught on to what he was doing but almost had to laugh at the expression of mild suffering on his face. She pointed to him. "Haldir," she repeated with a suppressed grin.
He seemed relieved that she had grasped the easy concept, almost as if he had feared that one that is not an elf would not be able to understand. She pointed to herself.
"Colleen."
He nodded. "Colleen," he repeated. She smiled at him and that was the beginning of her lessons.
It seemed that Haldir had been appointed her tutor. Why him specifically, Colleen never did find out. He seemed almost annoyed at the demotion of captain of the guard to teacher, but Colleen soon guessed that Galadriel had appointed him to such a task and Haldir could never find fault with the Lady of the Wood.
Soon, she became accustomed to the routine of Haldir coming every morning and taking her about to practice learning the Elvish language in addition to what they called the Common Tongue. Her vocabulary grew each day and Haldir seemed delighted with her excellent memory.
She had not met again with Galadriel and it almost seemed as if the Elf Queen was letting her mind be diverted from her problem, concentrating all her efforts on learning to understand the language of those around her than concentrate on the sadness of leaving her world and not knowing the purpose of why she was here.
The weeks passed, her ability to speak the languages and understand them was amazing in it's capability. If she did not know a word, somehow her subconscious would provide it, and before long, she found herself conversing with those around her like she had always spoken the language and had grown up in the city of Lothlorien.
The sunlight lit upon her face as she slowly woke up to a new day and she smiled as she saw Barandelothiel enter with her breakfast tray. The elf who had tended to her wounds when she first arrived had grown to be a fond friend of Colleen's, one of the few that she felt comfortable speaking with.
"Good morning," she said softly and watched as Barandelothiel smiled in return as she placed the tray laden with fruit and bread on the table that rested in the corner of her room.
"Fair morning to you as well, Colleen." She looked upon the girl who laid in the bed. Though Colleen had become slightly accustomed to living here at Lothlorien, Barandelothiel could see the stress that still lingered in her face and in her eyes. She knew that Colleen did not sleep well, her nights often plagued by disturbing dreams and images, though of what, she did not know.
Though she considered the girl a friend, Colleen was still mostly a mystery. She socialized little, often being found in corners reading books of the history of Middle Earth or else just sitting, lost in her own thoughts. And while she was friendly, Barandelothiel knew that were was much of the girl kept hidden and internalized.
"Galadriel bids good morn, and asks that you join her after you have finished your exercise. There is a visitor that has arrived in Lothlorien that she wishes you to meet."
Colleen nodded her understanding and after Barandelothiel left, quickly got up and opened her wardrobe. She reached for a pair of gray breeches and a white shirt and her soft brown doe skin boots. When she had first been given clothing by her host, they had consisted of long dresses with complex laces and bindings. But they quickly found out that she would prefer the clothing of men. It made it much easier upon Colleen, especially when she would practice her katas in the early morning, leaving more room for kicks and blocks.
It grew to be her favorite time, the time where she could center herself and lose herself in the precision and technique of Tae Kwon Do. It gave her time to reflect and search for the reason to her being here. Though the pain had dulled and slowly her longing for her old life had lessened, the question of how she came to be in Middle Earth still hung in her heart.
She walked to her normal spot, the clearing on the hill that lay next to her dwelling. There she did her stretches and then lost herself in the calculated and energetic movements of the martial art, her mind reviewing the events of past months.
She had been there for around three months by her calculations, she did not know for certain if time and seasons were measured the same as home. Often, she had what she liked to jokingly call, only to herself because no one else would understand, therapy sessions with Galadriel.
After the period of time that Galadriel had deemed her time for adjustment, she had called the girl before her and shown her, her mirror. Colleen would look into the water and view the images of past and present, and interestingly, the future. The images never gave a full story and most of the time, Colleen had been left more confused then before. But the fact was, that every glimpse she had of her time to come, it had been in Middle Earth.
The Lady and her husband, Lord Celeborn had been a great source of comfort to her, always patient, always understanding as befit their many years of acquired wisdom. They had never made her feel as if they were burdened by the presence of this non-elf, never made her feel as if they expected return upon their hospitality. But she tried to return their efforts with a willingness to help wherever she could.
So Galadriel had permitted Colleen to work with their records of history, sorting and arranging the time lines and lineage in order. She enjoyed her job, for it gave her free reign to the wealth of information and history that was behind Middle Earth and the long lived creatures that are elves. She would work herself tirelessly, wanting to pay back Galadriel for all that she had done and also wanting to be busy enough not to think of never returning to her old life. So every night, she would fall in bed, exhausted and needing of sleep, wanting to refresh herself. But then the dreams started.
She thought back to when the dreams first appeared as she raised her arm to block a imaginary punch. Images of elves and of wars that she had no knowledge of, faces and stories that she had never heard would visit her throughout the night. And she would wake reaching for something that always seemed beyond her grasp. But the nights when she would wake, more exhausted and feeling more incomplete than ever were the dreams of the man.
The balance of her front kick faltered for a moment as her thoughts touched upon the man. He came often, his face never seen, his features never clear. But his hands, his hands were always there. They were sensual dreams, of hands that she knew as well as her own, stroking her body, caressing her skin as his lips echoed her name and tortured her further. Her hands also moved, touching skin that she wanted, memorizing the texture of his hair as she ran her fingers through it.
And always, in every dream, she would whisper in his ear, "Forever." And he would whisper it back.
She did not know the meaning of these dreams, did not know why they came to her in the middle of the night and left her aching, needing fulfillment in the morning. But they came nonetheless. She made her thoughts turn, the ache of being incomplete troubling her and making her wish to think of something else. So her mind searched for another subject as her fighting grew faster.
As she practiced her movements, two sets of eyes watched. They watched her as she went at amazing speed from one kick to the next, fighting an imagined enemy and winning.
"And you say that she just appeared at the edge of the wood?" Gandalf the Grey watched the girl and saw the intensity and drive in her face.
Galadriel stood next to him, her face calm as ever. "Yes. She did not know how she came to be here and she knew nothing of Middle Earth. She said that in her world, we are but words on paper, beings of fiction that never lived and only came to be known through stories written by a man." She turned to face Gandalf, her watchful gaze falling upon the wizard, looking for confirmation. "You sense it, don't you?"
Gandalf turned to meet her gaze and nodded. "Yes, she has power." Leaning upon his staff, he looked back at the girl who stood fighting invisible foes on the hill. "She has a potential for greatness, an ability not unlike my own though how that is possible, I do not understand."
Galadriel nodded. She turned and led the way back to the dais where she settled herself in one of the two chairs that had been placed there. "Yet, she has no idea. There have been signs of a gift. She learned the language of the elves and the Common Tongue in less than two moons."
Gandalf's eyebrow rose. Galadriel continued. "Haldir has spoken to me of how she would know words that he had not taught her, uses and sayings that she did not learn but somehow flowed easily from her lips."
He nodded. He reached for his pipe and begin to fill it with weed. "And I suppose that she hasn't noticed that things she really needed or wished for seemed to happen and appear conveniently." He lit the pipe and after taking a puff, looked expectantly at Galadriel who smiled.
"No. Though they were not large things, only a lighting of a fire here and clearing of the weather there, I could feel the small disturbances of the atmosphere. She will not be able to do anything of importance unless she is trained." She looked to him. "And that is why I would like to offer the hospitality of the Wood to you, Gandalf the Grey."
He smiled. "I expected as much."
Colleen wiped the sweat from her brow, her face red with exertion and her muscles humming from the strenuous workout she had given them. She gathered her things from the hill and made for her dwelling. Taking a change of clothes and other necessities, she headed towards the bathing pool.
Quickly, she bathed, relishing in the cool water that wiped the sweat away and soothed her body. But with her mind on Galadriel's wish to see her, she dressed and binding her wet hair up, walked to the meeting area.
No one was there but Colleen took a seat on the stairs, next to Galadriel's chair, her usual position. She was concentrating on lacing her boots that she had not finished tying in her hurry to be here, when a voice interrupted her movements.
"So you prefer breeches to dresses, do you?" a voice asked her. Her head shot up and her eyes took in the sight of an old man dressed in gray, carrying a staff with a white jewel set in the head, and wearing a pointy hat that immediately made her think of witches and Halloween.
"Gandalf the wizard." She stated calmly.
His eyebrow rose. "So you recognize me? I am told of in the stories of your world?" He walked towards her and she had to tilt her head backward as he towered above her in such close range.
"Yes." She felt invaded by his presence. "You are very important in the stories, a significant figure and one of the most known characters," she informed him, watching to see his reaction to the knowledge of his fame.
He grinned and moved to sit beside her. "Strange thoughts, to think of being known by a world that is not familiar to me." He placed his staff down on the floor and began to root around for his pipe. "So you knew the story of Middle Earth well before you appeared in this time?"
She watched his movements, slightly amazed at being faced with talking with a fictional character again. "No, not well. I had only seen the movie in my time. I had never read the books." She looked at his face. "But it's amazing how you all look exactly alike."
"Look exactly alike? To whom do I resemble?" he asked, taking a puff of his lit pipe. "And what is a movie?"
She laughed and thought back to her world, to things that been normal and insignificant in her reality that never needed to be explained, things such as movies. "I guess you would say a movie is a story told with pictures, pictures that move. And for your other question," she looked at his face once more. "You look exactly like the people who portrayed you, in my world."
He nodded, smoking his pipe as he mulled over these facts. "So you know what is going to happen? In the future of Middle Earth?"
"I know of the One Ring."
Gandalf started as those words left her mouth, choking on his pipe smoke as he turned to gaze at the girl sitting beside him. "You know of the One Ring? Of Sauron's ring? It has been found?"
Colleen sighed and drew her knees up against her chest. "No, it has not been found." She thought of the time and events that she learned and figured out from the information in the library. "It will not be found for a time. But I wish say no more."
Gandalf sputtered. "You have to say more, you have to tell what you know, any advantage concerning Sauron needs to be used."
Colleen shook her head. "No, that's just it. I'm afraid. I know how it turns out, though everyday I lose knowledge and my memory of the information grows dimmer and fades away, I know the overall outcome. And I can't say anything, for fear that I may change that outcome, may cause someone to do a different action and affect the entire timeline."
Gandalf calmed as he took in her words. He stared into the distance, thinking over her position. "Drop one pebble in a large pond, you cause many ripples."
Colleen nodded. "Exactly, a flutter of a butterfly's wings in Paris can affect the weather in Costa Rica." Gandalf looked confused as he had never heard of such a place but she went on.
"I don't know much and I don't know if I have a role in this. I only saw the story twice, well one and half, the second time I fell asleep and ended up here. But I never read the books, I don't know the intricate workings of Tolkien's story. What I do know is, if I act wrongly on it, it may change everything."
Gandalf turned suddenly towards her, his mind on a specific thing that she said.
"Tolkien?"
She looked at him. "Yes, Tolkien. He wrote the stories of Middle Earth."
"J.R.R. Tolkien?"
"Yes." She watched as Gandalf started to laugh.
"So he did find his way back."
Colleen lurched forward at that. "Who found his way back? And found what way back?"
Gandalf seemed to remember his pipe and reached to take a puff. "Why J.R.R. Tolkein, of course."
Her eyes widened. "He was here? He came here in truth? That's how he knew the stories?"
Gandalf nodded. "It must be. He appeared one day in The Shire, an excited look on his face and a keen sense of curiosity in his spirit. I was visiting my good friend Bilbo Baggins, who had just returned from his adventures when we found him, curiously examining a hobbit. He somehow spoke our language and was forever scribbling away in a pad of paper that he carried with him."
Her mind was racing with her thoughts. "What happened? How did he get here? How did he return and write a story that hasn't happened yet?" She tugged on the arm of his robes. "And most importantly, how did he get back?
Gandalf looked at her calmly, puffing on his pipe. He turned and blew a smoke ring that took on the shape of a frog which hopped away until it faded. Colleen was distracted by the sight for a moment but she quickly returned to the conversation.
"Well?"
Gandalf smiled. "He stayed for a couple of days, since he only spoke Common Tongue and was interested in the language of the elves, I gave him a book containing a collection of elvish words and their translation to Common Tongue. He told me that he had found a mysterious phrase in an old dusty book at someplace called Oxford. Do you know of such a place?" He looked at her.
"Yes, it's a college." At his questioning look, she explained further. "A place to learn. Anyway, let's return to the story. He found a phrase."
Gandalf's eyebrow rose at her impatience but he understood. "He said the phrase and it brought him to Middle Earth."
At this Colleen's face grew excited. "It brought him to Middle Earth? That must mean there is a way back, I mean he went back. Do you know the phrase?" She thought Wishes of returning home, to a place where she knew the rules and things were normal to her excited her. But it also saddened her spirit. At least here, she had a few people who cared for her. At home, she was by herself. Her musings were interrupted by Gandalf.
"I'm sad to say that I do not know the phrase. He never revealed it to me." He thought back to that time. "But I do know that it did not take him back." Her face fell at that information. Gandalf continued.
"He was stuck here for a few weeks, but during that time he wrote down everything, every detail, every word, and he studied that book I gave him inside and out." Gandalf shifted position, his back weary from sitting on hard ground for so long.
"He was always asking questions, wanting stories of Middle Earth. I talked to him about Bilbo's great adventure, Rivendell and Lothlorien, of Galadriel and Elrond, and most especially about Morgoth and Sauron."
Colleen turned to face front again, looking out at the city and trees, pondering the story of Tolkien. "But how did he know about the future? Is it just a made up story?"
Gandalf shook his head. "I do not think so. I remember one night, I told him the story of Galadriel and her ability to see the future using the mirror. I did not think of it for a few days, but one night I caught him attempting the same thing. I think he succeeded. I think that is where his knowledge came from, that he had an ability beyond Galadriel and all to see the future. I do not know where his ability came from though."
Colleen shrugged. "Maybe it's like Superman. People from our time are strengthened by the power of your sun."
Gandalf looked lost. "Superwho?"
"Never mind."
Gandalf shrugged, strange girl. "Maybe people of your world who visit do get granted with powers."
Colleen shook her head. "I wasn't serious. If that were true, I would have powers."
Gandalf just stared at her.
"I don't. I would notice if I could manipulate the things around me."
He continued to stare.
"What? Why do you look at me that way? I don't have any special ability." She noticed his pipe went out. "See, if I could use magic, I would be able to wave my hand and light your pipe."
He continued to say nothing but look at her.
She rolled her eyes and sarcastically pointed to his pipe. "Fire." She was the one who jumped and screamed as suddenly his pipe exploded, fire flaring from it's bowl and proceeding to singe inches off of Gandalf's beard.
He just calmly looked at the pipe. "Pity, that was my favorite one.