*Author's note: To CocoBeans, don't worry, Deidre DEFINITELY won't be a MS. She's the exact opposite, in fact, as you will find out later. Besides, I have waged a lifelong fight against the horror that is Mary Sues, and would never write one in. I might write a killer manatee into a LOTR fic, but never a MS.

*To escapistone, don't fret, there will be lots more character development. Deidre is a VERY complex Elf. She's make some psychiatrist a lot of money, that's for sure, and she gets one, kind of, as we see in this chapter.

*And as promised to some friends, you see what happens when Elrond gets to Lorien, as well as a bit about Arwen.

*Disclaimer: See chapter one.

*Before the story starts, Charlie the Naz-Bunny would like me to tell you to please review, and says thanks to escapistone for asking about her in the latest chapter of her fantastic story, A Sense of Fate ;)

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Elrond was saddling his horse, Firemane, when he heard a tiny voice cry "Ow!" Peering behind a stack of saddle blankets, he saw Arwen trying to heave a saddle on to Blackie, her pony.

"And just what are you doing, little one?" he asked with mild amusement. "I'm goin' to find Deidre," Arwen replied solemnly. "I gotta bring her back so Naneth will stop saying it was her fault and be happy again. And besides, Deidre's my big sister, no matter what, and sisters watch out for each other. So I'm goin' to find her."

"This a job for me and Glorfindel, Arwen. I need you to stay here and make sure your brothers don't get into trouble, all right?" Seeing the disappointed look on her face. "C'mon, if you go, who's going to plan her welcome home feast?"

Arwen's eyes light up. "Okay, Ada," she said, nodding her head. "I'll stay here. When you find Deidre, can you tell her I miss her? Tell her she may be my cousin, but to me, she'll always be my big sister."

Elrond was touched by his daughter's words. "Don't worry," he said, hugging her. "I'll tell her. Now, you'd best get to your lessons. Run along." He finished saddling and met Glorfindel in the courtyard.

"Are you sure only you and I should go?" he asked his friend.

"Positive. She won't come easy, and she'll go farther if she suspects something's up. We want stealth, not arms. If she's anything like her grandmother, we'll be in for a tough hunt," Glorfindel replied as they rode off.

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Meanwhile, Deidre was eating a breakfast of lembas, washed down with some berry juice. Lembas was getting a bit tiring, but it was food, at least, and although she was quite good at campfire cooking, Fangorn Forest was not necessarily the best place to look for something to eat.

"What it lacks in food, it makes up for in beauty," she murmured as she climbed up in a mossy old tree that looked like it had been there since the Valar first created Arda.

Fangorn was not graceful and elegant, like the forests outside of Imladris, with their willow trees that bent over the river, nor extrordiarily lovely, like the Mallorn trees of Lorien. And yet, the forest had a wild, untamed beauty to it. It had never been conquered or shaped by anything other than nature itself, and the trees were free to do as they wished; free to grow and produce leaves in whatever way they chose.

"This is paradise," she said lazily as she leaned against the trunk of the tree, forgetting her troubles.

"Glad you think so," came a deep, rumbling voice from behind her.

"Wh-Who's there?" Deidre asked, drawing her dagger from her belt and cursing herself for leaving her bow, quiver, and sword with her other belongings.

The tree astoundingly rose and lurched, nearly knocking Deidre from its branches. "No reason to be frightened," it said slowly. "I don't mean you harm."

"Who, and what are you?" she asked cautiously, sheathing her blade and trying no to fall off.

"I am an Ent, and the Elves call me Fangorn, so you can call me that. Who are you?" came the reply.

"Deidre, daughter of Celebrandor son of the Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn of Lorien. I have some here seeking refuge."

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"Deidre left three days ago, at noon. You barely missed her," said Elrond's mother-in-law.

Elrond cursed inwardly. "What do you mean Deidre has left? Where did she go? Why didn't you keep her here?"

"She arrived here a while ago, having ridden nonstop from Imladris. She rested for a few days, then left," replied Celeborn. "She said she was going south, near Rohan, and that she hadn't figured out the rest yet."

Hadn't figured it out yet my foot, thought Elrond. That child's always got a plan, she just never tells anyone. "We'd best be going, then," he said.

"You cannot go after her, Elrond," said Galadriel. "If you bring her back to Imladris against her will, she will only run away again. No matter how you might try to restrain her, she will break free. She is a wild spirit, son-in-law. She said that she would be back by Midwinter, and I know that she will come. She just needs time to sort things out. Some may call her running away cowardice, but it is the exact opposite. She loves her family, and does not wish to hurt them, so she hides until she is not angry anymore, for she fears that in her anger, she will hurt those she loves most. I was the same way when I was her age. Trust me. Now, rest here tonight, and leave for Imladris in the morning. We shall speak of this no more."

"She's right, you know," Glorfindel said as they walked to the rooms they were staying in for the night. "Deidre will be back when she said she would. You know how she is with promises, she wouldn't break one, especially one to her family. She just needs time to sort out her feelings. Of course, she'll probably have harder time than ever trusting people, she'll be even warier than before, but she was going to find out sometime."

Elrond grimaced. Deidre could be more wary than a fox in a field of hunters, and she did have ha hard time trusting people. "I know," he said, sighing. "I love her as much as I do the twins and Arwen, and she'll always be a daughter to me, even if she is my niece. I'm worried about her. Why did she say she was going near Rohan, anyway? What would she do there? There's no settlements of ours that far south, our people haven't been in Ithilien in centuries."

"I know you're worried, Elrond," Glorfindel said, placing a hand on his friend's arm. "It's natural to feel like that. Deidre's a strong maiden, she can more than take care of herself. As for why she went south, I have no idea. Maybe she was curious about mortals, or she just wanted some escape. I have no idea how she thinks, except for the fact that like her grandmother, she's very cunning and hard to fathom. And The Lady was right, you do need to get some rest. I, for one, am very tired. Goodnight."

And with that, Elrond was left to figure out how he was going to explain to his wife and children that Deidre wouldn't be back for a while, and why in Varda's name she had wanted to go near Rohan.

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*Next chapter: Deidre has a talk with Fangorn, and Elrond returns to Imladris.

*Also, I would like to extend my deepest sympathies to the friends and family to those killed in the destruction of the space shuttle Columbia.

*And, in case I don't get around to posting until after Valentine's Day, happy Valentine's Day, everybody! Don't overdose on candy!