Author's Note: HEY! Welcome back to my story! This is a sequel to "Judgement" so if you haven't read that, go do it now because I'm too lazy to re-introduce my characters and other stuff.
Life Goes On Chapter One
It had been two years since the six friends had forgotten Gabby. Memories had slowly begun to filter into dreams and similar happenings from the day it happened to today. When Virginia had been adopted by the Bolgers, Diamond remembered a young elf sewing her wedding dress. When Virginia became Estella and married Meriadoc Brandybuck, they all remembered an elf falling asleep during the ceremony when Diamond got married. By now, they all remembered most unimportant things about her. They still didn't know her name.
"Good morning to ya today Mrs. Brandybuck." Diamond commented.
"And a lovely morning to you too, Mrs. Took." replied Estella. Both giggled and began to walk off towards the pond. Estella launched into a memory she had of water with the strange girl when she used the name that was forgotten, and with that name came the missing link.
"Once I was swimming in a lake with Gabby when-" she cut herself off. "Oh my goodness! Diamond, her name was Gabby!" she stood up with Diamond and ran back into town, searching for Merry and Pippin as they went. The two women burst into the room where Merry and Pippin sat smoking their pipes, out of breath and wide-eyed.
"Does the name 'Gabby' mean anything to either of you?" Diamond asked when her breath was caught. Merry and Pippin felt their breath stop moving as the name reached their ears.
"It does. It's that elf's name, isn't it?" Pippin asked. Diamond and Estella nodded furiously. Merry hummed a low note and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Perhaps we should tell Legolas." he said. Pippin nodded and stood up, stretching his legs and arms. He cracked his neck and grinned, something "Gabby" had taught him. The four ventured to their rooms and packed their things. Soon they were saying goodbye to Samwise and his wife, Rosie. Diamond and Pippin left their child, Faramir, in Sam and Rosie's care. They left for Rivendell that evening, hoping to catch their dear friend, Legolas, before he left for Mirkwood.
The road was long and treacherous as the four hobbits ventured forth, hellbent on asking Elrond about this absence of memory until now. They met no fate or danger on the way unless you want to count the many times Pippin tripped on anything that was big enough to trip a ladybug in the path. When they arrived in Rivendell they saw Legolas gearing up a horse and mounting. Merry and Pippin raced up to their elf friend, shouting Gabby's name. Legolas stopped dead in his tracks and leapt from his steed, glaring misty-eyed at his hobbit friends.
"Gabriel." he said, his voice cracking. "Her full name was Gabriel." he looked up at Elrond and Galadriel who were smiling at him down on the ground from the tallest bedroom balcony. Galadriel motioned with her head for Legolas to bring his friends with him to her quarters. Legolas complied, not having to drag the curious hobbits into the room.
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"Oh come on Colin, stop looking at me like that! I'm staying, not going to drift away again, I promise! Life goes on after these types of things!" Gabby cried exasperatedly at her older cousin, Colin. He shook his head and spoke in his unconcerned, monotonous voice.
"Well, you know I am worried, I'm starting to forget about Virginia and that friend of yours, what's her name?" Colin asked. They had disappeared and some of her relatives had began to forget she'd even existed.
"Lisa." Gabby said hotly. She was irritated by this, even Virginia's parents had been surprised when they found her birth certificate in their filing cabinet. Gabby felt like the parent, explaining that they once had two children, one had disappeared.
"Right. Sorry but I can't help it if I forget!" he said coolly. Gabby snorted.
"If I hadn't hid that book I'd drag you off there right now, you'd remember her if you saw her. She's married and happy." Gabby insisted. Colin rolled his eyes.
"Okay, Gabby. Steve'll be in later. Act happy, for him." he begged. He kissed her forehead and left the small padded room.
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"We have found Gabby's position, Legolas. She is unhappy, we could bring her here. The only problem is, your memories. She will not understand that you forgot, you must not become frusterated." Galadriel handed Legolas a fat book. "Read the fifty-first page twice. Say her name in the appropriate places and she will be here. Or so Elrond and I believe." she instructed. Legolas ran out to the very tree he remembered her disappearing under and sat down. They joined hands as Legolas spoke in a form of Elvish no one could identify.
The mist he barely remembered filled the small area and engulfed him in a familiar scent. Gabriel's shady form was across the room in a chair, head down and gown of some kind drifting across the floor. The walls consisted of large, square pillows that were of pure white. He stood up and said her name. She looked up and frowned.
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~One minute, local hero. Brought little Maureen back, then I tell what happened, and now I'm a looney. At least they still visit me.~ Gabby grumbled to herself. An odd smell filled her nose making it wrinkle in curiosity. She heard her name being called as if from a long distance. She looked up and saw Legolas and her friends in a circle watching her carefully. She frowned and shook her head furiously, trying to get rid of this odd hallucination. She let her jaw drop as Legolas walked into the room and held his hand out expectantly. She stood up and followed him into the mist that she had conjured up once before. Everything went black.
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"It is her! I would know her face anywhere! It has haunted my dreams on many occasion." Legolas whispered urgently to Elrond as he checked her physical condition. He ran his hands curiously over her wrists. They were cut roughly across the veins as if with a crude tool. She had tried to kill herself, incredible as it sounded, an elf had tried to take her own life.
"Legolas, I don't believe it was wise to take her from her facility quite so soon. She is unstable." he told Legolas worriedly. Legolas knitted his brow and shook his head.
"She looks fine to me." he argued. Elrond pointed to her wrists.
"If one was cut I would agree, but since both are cut in the same manner, I have to disagree." he insisted.
"What does that mean?" Legolas asked, knowing the answer.
"She tried to take her own life."
"If she did, she did to ease her suffering!" Legolas shouted in her defense.
"Easy there, boyo! You don't even remember anything about her quite yet, right?" Virginia asked, stepping into the room. Legolas was defeated.
"Well no, but I remember I was close to her." he said softly. Virginia snorted.
"If MY memory serves correctly, you two were in love. That doesn't give you a free ticket to keep a crazy girl on her feet with knives and things around." Virginia pointed out. "She wasn't always like this. I know that." she said reassuredly. Gabby groaned on the bed and sat up suddenly.
"OH COME ON!" she cried to the hobbits and elves in the room. "Will someone throw me a frickin' bone here, huh? I mean all I want to do is live in my nice, warm, padded room for a while!" she hit the bed with a flurry of feathers. Evidently she had been beating the pillow on the bed with every syllable until it burst.
"You weren't happy though." Diamond said, knowing that even a crazed person wants to be happy.
"Whoop de doo. I was better off there." she said with a chuckle. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going back." she snatched the book out of Legolas's hands and stormed out to the forest. She stopped as the familar settings regained their positions in her head. The beauty of Rivendell was not forgotten, just pushed out of the way.
"Wow." she muttered. Legolas walked in front of Gabby and looked her in the eye.
"Your body is still there! You can go back and forth again. It will be fine." he tried desperately to stop her. If she was going to exist in the flesh, he was going to relearn everything he could about her.
"Legolas, sweetie. I can't stay, there is something everyone is supposed to be doing, and I am not part of your life. Zip, nada, zero percent of your life. Not even supposed to be here. Virginia and Lisa are. They are now Estella and Diamond, right? That's who Merry and Pippin were supposed to marry. YOU are supposed to be having a wonderful time all over the world with Gimli." she explained. Breaking into song she explained more. "Don't waste your heart on me!" then she pushed past him and walking, flipping pages, she plopped down in the still misty area she had reappeared in.
"What are you doing?" Diamond squealed.
"Going home."
"That's not home, Gabby! That's a Mental Hospital! You know you don't belong there." Estella whined. Gabby laughed and bared her wrists to her cousin.
"You're right. I don't," Gabby said reasonably. "I just keep insisting to the unbelievers back there that I've been to Middle-Earth, then I try to kill myself with a butter-knife. I just made myself a permenent reservation at Moonwalk Hill Mental Hospital."
"You don't belong there anymore. Your whole life you've wanted to see it for yourself! Wanted to live in Tolkien's imaginary world, and now you choose an Insane Assylum over your childhood dream?" Diamond argued.
"Look, what do you want me here for? I'm just in the way!" Gabby countered.
"We need you." Estella said.
"Life goes on." Gabby said, but threw the book to the ground.
Life Goes On Chapter One
It had been two years since the six friends had forgotten Gabby. Memories had slowly begun to filter into dreams and similar happenings from the day it happened to today. When Virginia had been adopted by the Bolgers, Diamond remembered a young elf sewing her wedding dress. When Virginia became Estella and married Meriadoc Brandybuck, they all remembered an elf falling asleep during the ceremony when Diamond got married. By now, they all remembered most unimportant things about her. They still didn't know her name.
"Good morning to ya today Mrs. Brandybuck." Diamond commented.
"And a lovely morning to you too, Mrs. Took." replied Estella. Both giggled and began to walk off towards the pond. Estella launched into a memory she had of water with the strange girl when she used the name that was forgotten, and with that name came the missing link.
"Once I was swimming in a lake with Gabby when-" she cut herself off. "Oh my goodness! Diamond, her name was Gabby!" she stood up with Diamond and ran back into town, searching for Merry and Pippin as they went. The two women burst into the room where Merry and Pippin sat smoking their pipes, out of breath and wide-eyed.
"Does the name 'Gabby' mean anything to either of you?" Diamond asked when her breath was caught. Merry and Pippin felt their breath stop moving as the name reached their ears.
"It does. It's that elf's name, isn't it?" Pippin asked. Diamond and Estella nodded furiously. Merry hummed a low note and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Perhaps we should tell Legolas." he said. Pippin nodded and stood up, stretching his legs and arms. He cracked his neck and grinned, something "Gabby" had taught him. The four ventured to their rooms and packed their things. Soon they were saying goodbye to Samwise and his wife, Rosie. Diamond and Pippin left their child, Faramir, in Sam and Rosie's care. They left for Rivendell that evening, hoping to catch their dear friend, Legolas, before he left for Mirkwood.
The road was long and treacherous as the four hobbits ventured forth, hellbent on asking Elrond about this absence of memory until now. They met no fate or danger on the way unless you want to count the many times Pippin tripped on anything that was big enough to trip a ladybug in the path. When they arrived in Rivendell they saw Legolas gearing up a horse and mounting. Merry and Pippin raced up to their elf friend, shouting Gabby's name. Legolas stopped dead in his tracks and leapt from his steed, glaring misty-eyed at his hobbit friends.
"Gabriel." he said, his voice cracking. "Her full name was Gabriel." he looked up at Elrond and Galadriel who were smiling at him down on the ground from the tallest bedroom balcony. Galadriel motioned with her head for Legolas to bring his friends with him to her quarters. Legolas complied, not having to drag the curious hobbits into the room.
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"Oh come on Colin, stop looking at me like that! I'm staying, not going to drift away again, I promise! Life goes on after these types of things!" Gabby cried exasperatedly at her older cousin, Colin. He shook his head and spoke in his unconcerned, monotonous voice.
"Well, you know I am worried, I'm starting to forget about Virginia and that friend of yours, what's her name?" Colin asked. They had disappeared and some of her relatives had began to forget she'd even existed.
"Lisa." Gabby said hotly. She was irritated by this, even Virginia's parents had been surprised when they found her birth certificate in their filing cabinet. Gabby felt like the parent, explaining that they once had two children, one had disappeared.
"Right. Sorry but I can't help it if I forget!" he said coolly. Gabby snorted.
"If I hadn't hid that book I'd drag you off there right now, you'd remember her if you saw her. She's married and happy." Gabby insisted. Colin rolled his eyes.
"Okay, Gabby. Steve'll be in later. Act happy, for him." he begged. He kissed her forehead and left the small padded room.
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"We have found Gabby's position, Legolas. She is unhappy, we could bring her here. The only problem is, your memories. She will not understand that you forgot, you must not become frusterated." Galadriel handed Legolas a fat book. "Read the fifty-first page twice. Say her name in the appropriate places and she will be here. Or so Elrond and I believe." she instructed. Legolas ran out to the very tree he remembered her disappearing under and sat down. They joined hands as Legolas spoke in a form of Elvish no one could identify.
The mist he barely remembered filled the small area and engulfed him in a familiar scent. Gabriel's shady form was across the room in a chair, head down and gown of some kind drifting across the floor. The walls consisted of large, square pillows that were of pure white. He stood up and said her name. She looked up and frowned.
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~One minute, local hero. Brought little Maureen back, then I tell what happened, and now I'm a looney. At least they still visit me.~ Gabby grumbled to herself. An odd smell filled her nose making it wrinkle in curiosity. She heard her name being called as if from a long distance. She looked up and saw Legolas and her friends in a circle watching her carefully. She frowned and shook her head furiously, trying to get rid of this odd hallucination. She let her jaw drop as Legolas walked into the room and held his hand out expectantly. She stood up and followed him into the mist that she had conjured up once before. Everything went black.
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"It is her! I would know her face anywhere! It has haunted my dreams on many occasion." Legolas whispered urgently to Elrond as he checked her physical condition. He ran his hands curiously over her wrists. They were cut roughly across the veins as if with a crude tool. She had tried to kill herself, incredible as it sounded, an elf had tried to take her own life.
"Legolas, I don't believe it was wise to take her from her facility quite so soon. She is unstable." he told Legolas worriedly. Legolas knitted his brow and shook his head.
"She looks fine to me." he argued. Elrond pointed to her wrists.
"If one was cut I would agree, but since both are cut in the same manner, I have to disagree." he insisted.
"What does that mean?" Legolas asked, knowing the answer.
"She tried to take her own life."
"If she did, she did to ease her suffering!" Legolas shouted in her defense.
"Easy there, boyo! You don't even remember anything about her quite yet, right?" Virginia asked, stepping into the room. Legolas was defeated.
"Well no, but I remember I was close to her." he said softly. Virginia snorted.
"If MY memory serves correctly, you two were in love. That doesn't give you a free ticket to keep a crazy girl on her feet with knives and things around." Virginia pointed out. "She wasn't always like this. I know that." she said reassuredly. Gabby groaned on the bed and sat up suddenly.
"OH COME ON!" she cried to the hobbits and elves in the room. "Will someone throw me a frickin' bone here, huh? I mean all I want to do is live in my nice, warm, padded room for a while!" she hit the bed with a flurry of feathers. Evidently she had been beating the pillow on the bed with every syllable until it burst.
"You weren't happy though." Diamond said, knowing that even a crazed person wants to be happy.
"Whoop de doo. I was better off there." she said with a chuckle. "Now if you excuse me, I'm going back." she snatched the book out of Legolas's hands and stormed out to the forest. She stopped as the familar settings regained their positions in her head. The beauty of Rivendell was not forgotten, just pushed out of the way.
"Wow." she muttered. Legolas walked in front of Gabby and looked her in the eye.
"Your body is still there! You can go back and forth again. It will be fine." he tried desperately to stop her. If she was going to exist in the flesh, he was going to relearn everything he could about her.
"Legolas, sweetie. I can't stay, there is something everyone is supposed to be doing, and I am not part of your life. Zip, nada, zero percent of your life. Not even supposed to be here. Virginia and Lisa are. They are now Estella and Diamond, right? That's who Merry and Pippin were supposed to marry. YOU are supposed to be having a wonderful time all over the world with Gimli." she explained. Breaking into song she explained more. "Don't waste your heart on me!" then she pushed past him and walking, flipping pages, she plopped down in the still misty area she had reappeared in.
"What are you doing?" Diamond squealed.
"Going home."
"That's not home, Gabby! That's a Mental Hospital! You know you don't belong there." Estella whined. Gabby laughed and bared her wrists to her cousin.
"You're right. I don't," Gabby said reasonably. "I just keep insisting to the unbelievers back there that I've been to Middle-Earth, then I try to kill myself with a butter-knife. I just made myself a permenent reservation at Moonwalk Hill Mental Hospital."
"You don't belong there anymore. Your whole life you've wanted to see it for yourself! Wanted to live in Tolkien's imaginary world, and now you choose an Insane Assylum over your childhood dream?" Diamond argued.
"Look, what do you want me here for? I'm just in the way!" Gabby countered.
"We need you." Estella said.
"Life goes on." Gabby said, but threw the book to the ground.