A chapter Re-cap:
"Father, what can I do for you?" Aragorn asked the elderly man, stepping forward. But no sooner had he done so, the figure vanished from sight.
A Sunset Love
Chapter 16: Remembrance
Mithdelothwen and Legolas stared with surprise at the spot where the man had been only seconds before. Gimli came to the spot and stomped on it.
"He's really disappeared! I wonder what his hurry was?" Gimli wondered aloud to no one in particular.
Mithdelothwen put her bow and arrow back in their rightful places, but sighed heavily. Over the past few days, nothing of importance had been accomplished and she felt any other little events popping up here and there were tedious.
She walked over to where her blankets were and un-lady-likely plopped down on them. She was just as tired as the rest of the group and wanted to sleep worry-free for once.
The rest of them lay down also, and since on one wanted to keep watch… no one did. As the various sounds of men breathing lulled her to sleep, Mithdelothwen began to dream…
Mithdelothwen's dream…
Mithdelothwen looked around her… she was in the garden of her home some 2000 years or so back, when her brother was just born and she was only 500 years old, a young child by Elf standards. Lumenthien, her older brother came running outside excitedly.
"Pen-neth! [Little one!] Come! It's a boy!" He called. Mithdelothwen was excited, but deep down felt bored.
'Another boy?! Now's there's going to be two boys against one girl! How unfair…' Mithdelothwen thought as she made her way up the stairs to see her little brother. She peered over the edge of the crib, and a little baby stared back at her. She cocked her head to one side, and the baby mimicked her movements. She made a funny face and the baby laughed.
"It looks like he likes you, Pen-neth! [Little one]" Her mother said, laughing slightly.
"What's his name?" Mithdelothwen asked, still making funny faces at her little brother.
"Eothien… Eothien Silverwood." Came her father's proud reply.
'Eothien…' She thought. Maybe having a little brother wouldn't be so bad.
~* End of dream
Mithdelothwen awoke promptly, sitting up straight. She tried to figure out why she was dreaming of her past.
'Perhaps… it is because I miss my family… When we used to be a whole happy family.' She thought sadly. Ever since her mother's death, the family became more distant from each other. A snorting sound from Gimli made her look in his direction.
He was mumbling unintelligible words in the dwarf tongue while he slept face down. This made Mithdelothwen smile. She looked at each of the sleeping men around her. Aragorn, Gimli, Boromir… and Legolas. They were very dear to her, almost like a mismatched 'family' to her. As her eyes drifted to Legolas' sleeping form beside her, she remember the first time they met… the moment their eyes locked, she felt… as if they'd met before. However, she had dismissed the feeling of déjà vu, and now, they were in love. Lying down again, she gently caressed his sleeping face with a light touch of her hand.
"Lammen nesto nin 'westlos illle míriel?" [Where have I met you before?] She whispered, closing her eyes. Mithdelothwen fell asleep once more.
Dream…
Mithdelothwen and her family were journeying along the Anduin river heading for the mountains of Mirkwood. This was especially exciting for Mithdelothwen because she'd never been outside of Loriá before. She was leaning over the side of their boat, looking at the water.
"Mithdelothwen! Do be careful!" Her mother called, while holding Eothien, who was now 100 years old.
"Don't worry mother. I'm sure she'll be fine." Lumenthien laughed as Mithdelothwen continued to stare at the glistening water. When they reached the shores of the Mirkwood forest, Mithdelothwen was the first to jump out.
"Mithdelothwen! Wait for Mother and Father!" Lumenthien called, catching up to her and forcing her to wait.
"But I want to see the trees and stuff!" Mithdelothwen protested.
"so do I, but we can't without Mother and Father." Lumenthien said gently, to calm the overly excited child. When nightfall came, Mithdelothwen and her family were singing songs around a camp fire. Finally, after finishing the last song, her parents decided it was time to go to bed.
"But I'm not sleepy yet!" Mithdelothwen protested again. Her parents just sighed, not knowing what to do with his little bundle of energy anymore.
"You may say that now, but you'll be tired tomorrow." Lumenthien said.
"No I won't." Mithdelothwen shook her head.
"Just come on… don't give Mother and Father a headache… they've already got Eothien for that." Lumenthien scolded, bringing her into the tent they'd be sharing. Her parents and Eothien would be in the other tent.
'Hmm…' Thought Mithdelothwen, and a mischievous plan began to form in her mind. She waited until she was sure her brother was sound asleep. Then she crept out of the tent to wander around the Mirkwood mountains. However, it was dark, and before long, Mithdelothwen was lost. Mithdelothwen tried not to panic, but she didn't recognize anything around her. Little did she know, she had wandered far from her family and was very near the main part of Mirkwood. She sat at the base of a large tree and began to cry.
Moments after, she felt she was being watched. She looked to the side and saw another elf, slightly older than her, kneeling next to her. It was a male elf, clothed in greens and browns, bearing a quiver of arrows and a bow. Clearly, this elf was an archer. He had light blond hair and bright blue eyes that looked upon her with concern.
"What's wrong, little one?" The boy asked. Mithdelothwen had been taught not to speak with strangers, but this boy seemed kind and genuinely concerned.
"I'm lost. I was wandering around, and I lost my family." She squeaked, almost starting to cry again.
"Sshh… don't worry." The boy said. He disliked seeing people upset, and especially girls, crying.
"Maybe I can help you." The boy said, standing up, offering his hand to her. She looked at his hand and at his face, trying to make sure he wouldn't lead her somewhere else, and accepted his hand. He began to lead her towards to village, but she stopped him.
"I don't live in Mirkwood. I'm on vacation with my family. We were at the Mountains of Mirkwood." She said.
"The Mountains of Mirkwood?! You journeyed quite far from there if you're down here." The boy replied as he began walking with her in the correct direction. It was now dawn, and Mithdelothwen could start to see the beauty of the forest. The trees were tall and dominating, with great canopies of rich green leaves.
She noticed that some of the leaves were changing colors, from reds to yellows and oranges. She also noticed that the boy was watching her, amused, from a distance, as she was fascinated by the trees around her. She stopped looking around, and hurried to catch up with him.
Their journey was in silence until Mithdelothwen could see her family, about 100 yards away, looking frantically for her.
"Thank you!" She exclaimed, throwing her arms around the boy, who was quite surprised by her actions. She then ran off to her family. While her family was hugging her, and telling her how worried they were, Mithdelothwen looked back to where the boy had been… only to find he was gone.
~End of dream.
"Mithdelothwen! Wake up!" Legolas said, shaking her gently. She was in an unusually deep sleep, and it was starting to scare him. Mithdelothwen blinked a few times, looking up to Legolas' concerned face.
'How could I not have recognized him?' Mithdelothwen wondered. Legolas was a little confused when Mithdelothwen began running her fingertips along the planes of his face.
'His eyes, the nose… the hair. They were the same as before.' She thought.
"Melamin [my Love] is there something wrong?" Legolas asked as she sat up. Shaking her head, she asked instead,
"Legolas, do you recall an incident about 1900 years ago, where you found a lost little girl in the woods of Mirkwood?" Legolas had to strain his memory.
"… Vaguely.. yes. Why?" He asked.
"I guess I was sadly mistaken when I said I never visited Mirkwood… Because that little girl was me." Legolas stared at her face trying to compare hers to the face of the little girl from long ago. A look of recognition passed over his face.
"Well, what do you know! It is you! What brought about this deduction?" Legolas wondered.
'It was her that I found so long ago?'
"It had been bugging me every since I met you… you seemed so familiar, although I couldn't exactly remember from when. Then, last night I had a dream about it." Mithdelothwen explained. Legolas had a thoughtful look upon his face.
"Hmm… I also remember feeling that as well upon our meeting. Funny that I should find you crying in the forest not to long ago, like I did when we were mere Children." Legolas laughed. Mithdelothwen smiled.
"Perhaps it was fate, that we were to meet back then, and again many years later." Mithdelothwen said softly. Legolas smiled at her, placing his hand over hers.
"Maybe."
"Oh now we're going to have to listen to them reciting poetry and love songs to each other." Gimli complained to the two humans, after observing the elves in their 'lovey-dovey' mood.
~*A/N: Ta-Da!!! : ) amazing, I managed to get out another chapter before March break! LOL… Whew… I actually had 4 different versions of this chapter, each one different. I don't know why, but after chapter 15, I have at least two different versions for any of the future chapters. Chapter 17 for instance, I have 3 different plots… I can't seem to like what I write the first time! LOL…
Alrighty, so Mithdelothwen and Legolas have met in the past long ago… An interesting concept! : ) Hope you liked this chapter! Please Review! :) make me happy!!!
~Feathers of the Wind [12.26.02]
OH, and a note: The ff.net word counter is messed. My actual word count for the chapters thus far, is 20937 : )
