Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Authors Note: I want to apologize for the recent short chapters. It's just that I'm getting rather near the exciting part of the story, which has scenes I KNOW will be long and I want them in their own chapters and stuff. Like, say, the revelation of who Elisandra's father is...which was SUPPOSED to be in this chapter. Somehow, things just happened, however, and it's been pushed ahead a chapter...or maybe two...I dunno! We'll find out when we get to it! *runs off cheerfully before her reviewers tie her down and make them tell her who Elisandra's father is*
Also, just thought I'd mention, if you check the appendixes in 'Return of the King', Lord Celeborn stayed behind in Middle-Earth after Galadriel left for Valinor, and eventually went to Rivendell because he was lonely. Or something along those lines. Anyways. Finding that little note saved my arse, because I needed some wise important person in Rivendell, and Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel were all gone to Valinor. So Celeborn it is! Though Elrohir made an unexpected character development on me and sorta took over part of what I was planning on having Celeborn do.
...
I really don't know why I just explained that...Ah well, consider it your random bit of trivia learned for the day, if you didn't know the part about Celeborn already.
------------------------------
-No Eyes Needed-
------------------------------
-Chapter XX-
-10 Points If You Run Into Celeborn!-
------------------------------
There was silence as Elisandra and Elrohir walked to lunch, but even without flicking her eyes closed for a moment to see Elrohir's fëa, Elisandra knew there was something on his mind. He was silent, for one thing - Elisandra couldn't remember Elrohir ever being silent for more than five minutes, unless somebody else was talking. And Elisandra was being just as quiet as Elrohir.
"Uncle, what is on your mind?" Elisandra asked finally.
"To be brutally honest," Elrohir said after a pause, "Your ears." Elisandra looked at him blankly for a moment, then suddenly remembered that her ears were now pointed.
"Ooooh!" she said, then smiled, "They mysteriously changed on the way here. I haven't managed to discover why, yet."
"And have you managed to discover why you can see now?" Elrohir asked, arching an eyebrow. Elisandra stumbled slightly and looked at her uncle in shock.
"How...?" she asked, slightly stunned, and Elrohir grinned.
"Really now, you don't think you could flawlessly navigate several rooms full of furniture that you've never been in before and me not notice?" he replied.
"I suppose Elladan's noticed, as well?" Elisandra asked, slowly recovering from her shock.
"I think he was too busy being hugged the first time to notice, and the second time was just now in your room. So unless he was hiding somewhere nearby, he didn't see the second time." Elrohir replied. There was a pause, then he spoke again. "So? HAVE you managed to figure out why you can see now?"
"Uh, no." Elisandra said, then coughed lightly when Elrohir gave her an I-don't-believe-you look. "Alright, I have an idea, but I'm not saying." Elrohir took one look at the blush creeping up Elisandra's neck and grinned mischievously. Fortunately for Elisandra, at that moment, they reached the hall where they were to be having lunch and Elrohir had to hold back whatever he was going to say.
The hall was large, and filled with many of the Elves from Rivendell. Most of the hall had tables with benches beside them, but at the far end, a taller table stood, with chairs behind it. All but three of the chairs were filled, mostly with advisors and other important Elves of Rivendell. Near the center of the table of important Elves, from left to right, sat Gimli and Legolas, followed by two of the empty chairs, and then Elladan, Lord Celeborn and the remaining empty seat.
"We are almost the last to arrive." Elrohir commented as they walked to their seats in-between Legolas and Elladan.
"Only at the head table and only because you were walking slow." Elisandra mock scolded in reply. Elrohir shook his head and grinned, then pulled out Elisandra's chair for her before sitting down himself.
"Have a nice bath?" Legolas asked Elisandra as she sat down.
"It was wonderful." Elisandra replied with a dreamy look on her face.
"Apparently, if it made you one of the last ones to lunch." Legolas teased.
"Speaking of lunch, when are we going to get to eat?" Elisandra asked, looking around.
"Ask your uncles. This confounded Elf refuses to tell me." Gimli grunted from the other side of Legolas.
"I refuse to tell you because I do not KNOW when we are going to get to eat!" Legolas said, sounding distinctly annoyed. Elisandra's lips twitched in a smile, and she turned to Elrohir.
"So when are we going to get to eat?" she asked.
"Soon, there is yet one more to arrive. Ah, here he is." Elrohir said, nodding towards the entrance. Elisandra glanced up to see another Lothlorien Elf entering the hall, and, realizing that he was heading for the head table and there was only one place left, she turned her attention back to Elrohir.
"Who's he?" she asked.
"Haldir, once the Marchwarden of Lothlorien. He is now one of Lord Celeborn's advisors, and a good friend to Elladan and I, besides." Elrohir replied. Elisandra nodded, having heard tales of Haldir when Aragorn and Legolas had gotten going about the War of the Ring. She gave him a cursory look-over, decided he was OK, and turned her attention back to the hall. There were so many Elves, all new to her, that Elisandra found watching them fascinating.
Elisandra watched the general interactions of the various Elves through most of the meal, in-between conversations with Elrohir or Legolas, and near the end, out of curiosity, she let her eyelids slide closed so she could look at their fëa's. When she took a look around, she froze in shock. She knew very well that all the Elves in Rivendell could not be only part Elven, and yet every single one of them had what she knew as a normal fëa. She looked back to Legolas, and saw that, yes, he was his normal, whole self. She looked back out at the Elves of Rivendell. Then back to Legolas. Yep, Legolas was the only one she could see entirely.
"Elisandra?" Elrohir's concerned voice startled Elisandra, and she whipped her head towards him without opening her eyes. To her surprise, she found that beyond Lord Celeborn she could see another solid figure - one ex-Marchwarden of Lothlorien, to be exact. Sucking in a breath, Elisandra opened her eyes with a snap, focusing on Haldir more closely with her normal eyesight.
"Elisandra, what is wrong?" Elrohir asked again. Elisandra tore her attention away from Haldir and frowned at her uncle for a moment.
"Nothing." she said, shaking her head to clear her spinning thoughts. "Well, something, but I shall tell you about it later."
"I am done lunch, as are you, so how about we go for a walk and you tell me now?" Elrohir suggested, motioning to their two empty plates as proof.
"Sure." Elisandra said, and she and Elrohir rose from their seats. They made polite excuses to the others at the table, then went off, with Elrohir 'leading' Elisandra. Soon, they were away from the House of Elrond and into one of the gardens, silence reigning around them except for the sounds of nature.
"So what is wrong?" Elrohir asked after a time, seeing that Elisandra was too lost in her own thoughts to start explaining without prompting. Elisandra pulled herself out of her thoughts at Elrohir's question and sighed.
"I really don't know where to begin." she said. "But I shall try." Elisandra paused before continuing. "You already know that I can now see. But one thing I did not mention was that I can still see fëa's if I close my eyes."
"Must be hard trying to sleep." Elrohir commented.
"No, I sleep in Elvish fashion now." Elisandra said dismissively.
"Really? Another thing that mysteriously happened on your journey here?" he asked with curiosity, and Elisandra nodded.
"Back to the explanation," Elisandra said. "One of the things that first drew me to be friends with Legolas was that even before I regained my normal sight, I could see him even as I see him now, only with his fëa glittering around him like an outline. I had always assumed that this was because he was an Elf." Elisandra frowned slightly as she continued, "However, back in the hall, I closed my eyes to look at the fëa's of some of the Elves in the room. I found, to my surprise, that even though they were all entirely Elf, like Legolas, I could see no more of them than their fëa's, like with all other creatures. And when you called my name, I was so startled I turned to look at you without opening my eyes. I discovered that I could also see all of the Lothlorien Marchwarden - Haldir, was his name?" Elrohir nodded, and Elisandra continued. "It's just made me more confused."
"More confused?" Elrohir asked with a small smile.
"Yes. Ever since Legolas came to Minas Tirith, it has just been one confusing thing after another." Elisandra replied with a scowl. "It's getting so I don't know which way is up anymore."
"Well, perhaps we should try and sort out some of the things that are confusing you." Elrohir said practically. "We shall start with the fëa's of Elves. I, myself, have no knowledge about such a thing, but grandfather is not called Celeborn the Wise for nothing!" Elrohir finished on a cheerful note, and Elisandra couldn't help but smile.
"It really is very nice to see you again, Uncle." she said, and Elrohir grinned back at her impishly, then got a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"So, if you can see now, does that mean you can run?" he asked. Elisandra nodded warily. "Then I'll race you back to the house!" Elisandra blinked and stared after her uncle as he took off down the path, then, with a laugh, took off after him.
---
"And you say that this all happened on your journey here and you do not know why?" Lord Celeborn asked with interest. After lunch, while Elrohir and Elisandra were having their walk, Celeborn, Elladan and Legolas had gone for a walk of their own. Elrohir, it seemed, had not been the only one to notice Elisandra's newly pointed ears - both Elladan and Celeborn had also noticed them. And, since Elrohir had snatched Elisandra away right after lunch, they'd decided to corner Legolas about it. Legolas' explanation of Elisandra's ears had, naturally, lead to the revelation of her being able to see again, which sparked Lord Celeborn's comment.
"Yes, it was quite strange." Legolas replied. "She just woke up one morning and could suddenly see."
"For no particular reason that you could tell?" Elladan asked with curiosity.
"Yes." Legolas said.
"I wonder - could it have had something to do with the land?" Celeborn asked with a frown.
"The land?" Legolas asked in confusion.
"It might be possible that there was something in Gondor that was making her lose her sight. Though highly unlikely. If that was the case, her vision should have slowly returned to normal, and not just returned overnight, when she wasn't moving." Celeborn replied.
Legolas opened his mouth to comment on that, but closed it again in surprise as something came hurtling around the corner and dashed in-between him and Elladan. Moments later, another hurtling shape followed, this time dashing in-between Elladan and Celeborn. The two Elven Lords and one Elven Prince stopped in surprise, turning to stare after the hurtling shapes. The first of the hurtling shapes, as it turned out, stopped about ten feet past them. The other shape, unable to stop in time, ran into the first shape, causing both to fall to the ground in a tangled heap. When the shapes sorted themselves out and stood up, the three watching Elves raised their eyebrows as they recognized Elrohir and Elisandra.
"Ah, Grandfather! We were just looking for you!" Elrohir said cheerfully as he and Elisandra backtracked so they were now standing in front of the three surprised elves.
"Really? It looked more as if you were endangering the wildlife to me." Celeborn said.
"Endangering the wildlife, looking for you, what's the difference?" Elrohir asked with a grin.
"Lots." Elisandra commented.
"Hey, you were the one that needed to find him." Elrohir replied.
"It wasn't my idea to race, though." Elisandra said.
"AHEM." Elladan said, drawing his brother and niece's attention back to the three elves. "What did you want to find grandfather for?"
"Elisandra has a question about fëa's." Elrohir said, motioning to Elisandra.
"Then perhaps we should find some place to sit down." Celeborn said. "Questions about fëa's are usually as long and complicated as the answers." Elisandra nodded, and Celeborn offered her his arm before they headed off back towards the house, leaving Elladan and Legolas to pester Elrohir about what Elisandra wanted to ask.
"So what is this question you wanted to ask?" Celeborn said as he and Elisandra walked out of hearing range of the three Elves.
"Weren't we going to find some place to sit down first?" Elisandra asked.
"Well, we can do that, yes. That was, however, more of an excuse to have a private conversation." Celeborn replied. "Discussions about fëa's are usually better done in private."
"Hmm, yes, they are." Elisandra said. "But you were right about the question being long and complicated."
"Then take all the time you need to sort it out in your head." Celeborn said kindly, and Elisandra smiled gratefully at him. They walked in silence for awhile, and then finally, as they entered the House of Elrond proper, Elisandra spoke up again.
"I guess this is more of a question about my sight than about fëa's, but Uncle Elrohir seemed to think you'd be able to figure it out, so I'll just trust his judgment." she said. "First, you need to know that I can see normally now -"
"Yes, Legolas told us." Celeborn commented, and Elisandra looked at him in surprise.
"He did?" she asked.
"Yes, Elladan and I forced it out of him after asking him about your ears." Celeborn replied with a small smile, and Elisandra chuckled.
"I should have known Uncle Elrohir wouldn't be the only one to notice them." she said. "Anyways. What I'm sure Legolas DIDN'T tell you - mostly because he doesn't know - is that I can still see fëa's if I close my eyes."
"Really?" Celeborn asked with interest, and Elisandra nodded.
"It's really quite nice to still be able to see fëa's, as I think I would be completely lost, socially, if I couldn't still see fëa's in some manner." she said, and Celeborn nodded. "Now, here's the interesting part leading up to the question. I have not seen many full Elves in my life - at least until I came here. In fact, Legolas was the first full elf that I can remember ever seeing clearly."
"So you do not remember Lord Elrond's visit?" Celeborn asked with interest. Elisandra blinked.
"No, I remember it." she said. "But he's not fully Elf."
"He may have been born Half-Elven, but as soon as he made his choice to remain of the Eldar kind, he became fully Elven." Celeborn replied, and Elisandra sighed.
"Figures." she said. "I didn't know that until now. Well, I THOUGHT Legolas was the first full elf I have ever seen, then. Anyway," and Elisandra went on to explain for the second time that day about how she could see Legolas, and now Haldir.
"And you want to know why you can see Legolas and Haldir like that?" Celeborn guessed with a small smile as Elisandra finished. Elisandra nodded.
"It's confusing me a great deal." she said.
"Well, I'm not sure I can sort it out much for you." Celeborn said, frowning lightly. "Matters of the fëa are generally very confusing, and nothing like your sight has ever been recorded. But I can tell you this. Whatever is happening, it is the will of the Valar. Elrond, Galadriel and I had a long discussion about you before they left for Valinor, and Elrond said that he tried to heal your eyes when he visited you."
"He did?" Elisandra asked in surprise, and Celeborn nodded.
"He did. However, he discovered that your eyes were perfectly fine. There was just something there that was shifting your sight so you saw fëa's. He said he was too surprised at the time to closely examine whatever it was - and he doubted he would have gotten far, anyways, as it was much more powerful than him - but he said that it felt good. In fact, the more he thought over it, he became sure that it was the doing of the Valar." Celeborn continued. Elisandra looked at Celeborn in amazement, walking by instinct, too stunned to do anything other than run Celeborn's words over in her mind.
"So my sight is due to the Valar?" she asked finally, her voice almost a squeak.
"As far as we know." Celeborn replied with a smile.
"So the return of my sight and my sudden Elvish gifts surfacing are due to the Valar?" Elisandra asked, dazed.
"Perhaps." Celeborn said, his smile turning secretive. "Still, you have been touched by the Valar, and given a gift by them. That makes you very special indeed."
"That's why you bowed to me!" Elisandra exclaimed suddenly, and Celeborn nodded.
"That, and you are the foster-daughter of not only the King and Queen of Gondor, but my granddaughter as well." Celeborn said.
"Well that makes sense." Elisandra mumbled, causing Celeborn to chuckle.
"You will find a lot of things make sense if they are explained." Celeborn said, stopping walking outside a door. Elisandra found, to her surprise, that it was the door to her room.
"Well, I shall have to start asking for explanations, then." Elisandra said with a smile, and Celeborn nodded in approval.
"You do that. And if you ever need anyone to talk to, my door is open to you." Celeborn said with a smile. Elisandra thanked him, and they said goodbye before Elisandra returned to her room and Celeborn continued off down the hall.
\/---Reviews are really really nice things that help feed authors. So won't you help feed an author today and write a review?---\/
Authors Note: I want to apologize for the recent short chapters. It's just that I'm getting rather near the exciting part of the story, which has scenes I KNOW will be long and I want them in their own chapters and stuff. Like, say, the revelation of who Elisandra's father is...which was SUPPOSED to be in this chapter. Somehow, things just happened, however, and it's been pushed ahead a chapter...or maybe two...I dunno! We'll find out when we get to it! *runs off cheerfully before her reviewers tie her down and make them tell her who Elisandra's father is*
Also, just thought I'd mention, if you check the appendixes in 'Return of the King', Lord Celeborn stayed behind in Middle-Earth after Galadriel left for Valinor, and eventually went to Rivendell because he was lonely. Or something along those lines. Anyways. Finding that little note saved my arse, because I needed some wise important person in Rivendell, and Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel were all gone to Valinor. So Celeborn it is! Though Elrohir made an unexpected character development on me and sorta took over part of what I was planning on having Celeborn do.
...
I really don't know why I just explained that...Ah well, consider it your random bit of trivia learned for the day, if you didn't know the part about Celeborn already.
------------------------------
-No Eyes Needed-
------------------------------
-Chapter XX-
-10 Points If You Run Into Celeborn!-
------------------------------
There was silence as Elisandra and Elrohir walked to lunch, but even without flicking her eyes closed for a moment to see Elrohir's fëa, Elisandra knew there was something on his mind. He was silent, for one thing - Elisandra couldn't remember Elrohir ever being silent for more than five minutes, unless somebody else was talking. And Elisandra was being just as quiet as Elrohir.
"Uncle, what is on your mind?" Elisandra asked finally.
"To be brutally honest," Elrohir said after a pause, "Your ears." Elisandra looked at him blankly for a moment, then suddenly remembered that her ears were now pointed.
"Ooooh!" she said, then smiled, "They mysteriously changed on the way here. I haven't managed to discover why, yet."
"And have you managed to discover why you can see now?" Elrohir asked, arching an eyebrow. Elisandra stumbled slightly and looked at her uncle in shock.
"How...?" she asked, slightly stunned, and Elrohir grinned.
"Really now, you don't think you could flawlessly navigate several rooms full of furniture that you've never been in before and me not notice?" he replied.
"I suppose Elladan's noticed, as well?" Elisandra asked, slowly recovering from her shock.
"I think he was too busy being hugged the first time to notice, and the second time was just now in your room. So unless he was hiding somewhere nearby, he didn't see the second time." Elrohir replied. There was a pause, then he spoke again. "So? HAVE you managed to figure out why you can see now?"
"Uh, no." Elisandra said, then coughed lightly when Elrohir gave her an I-don't-believe-you look. "Alright, I have an idea, but I'm not saying." Elrohir took one look at the blush creeping up Elisandra's neck and grinned mischievously. Fortunately for Elisandra, at that moment, they reached the hall where they were to be having lunch and Elrohir had to hold back whatever he was going to say.
The hall was large, and filled with many of the Elves from Rivendell. Most of the hall had tables with benches beside them, but at the far end, a taller table stood, with chairs behind it. All but three of the chairs were filled, mostly with advisors and other important Elves of Rivendell. Near the center of the table of important Elves, from left to right, sat Gimli and Legolas, followed by two of the empty chairs, and then Elladan, Lord Celeborn and the remaining empty seat.
"We are almost the last to arrive." Elrohir commented as they walked to their seats in-between Legolas and Elladan.
"Only at the head table and only because you were walking slow." Elisandra mock scolded in reply. Elrohir shook his head and grinned, then pulled out Elisandra's chair for her before sitting down himself.
"Have a nice bath?" Legolas asked Elisandra as she sat down.
"It was wonderful." Elisandra replied with a dreamy look on her face.
"Apparently, if it made you one of the last ones to lunch." Legolas teased.
"Speaking of lunch, when are we going to get to eat?" Elisandra asked, looking around.
"Ask your uncles. This confounded Elf refuses to tell me." Gimli grunted from the other side of Legolas.
"I refuse to tell you because I do not KNOW when we are going to get to eat!" Legolas said, sounding distinctly annoyed. Elisandra's lips twitched in a smile, and she turned to Elrohir.
"So when are we going to get to eat?" she asked.
"Soon, there is yet one more to arrive. Ah, here he is." Elrohir said, nodding towards the entrance. Elisandra glanced up to see another Lothlorien Elf entering the hall, and, realizing that he was heading for the head table and there was only one place left, she turned her attention back to Elrohir.
"Who's he?" she asked.
"Haldir, once the Marchwarden of Lothlorien. He is now one of Lord Celeborn's advisors, and a good friend to Elladan and I, besides." Elrohir replied. Elisandra nodded, having heard tales of Haldir when Aragorn and Legolas had gotten going about the War of the Ring. She gave him a cursory look-over, decided he was OK, and turned her attention back to the hall. There were so many Elves, all new to her, that Elisandra found watching them fascinating.
Elisandra watched the general interactions of the various Elves through most of the meal, in-between conversations with Elrohir or Legolas, and near the end, out of curiosity, she let her eyelids slide closed so she could look at their fëa's. When she took a look around, she froze in shock. She knew very well that all the Elves in Rivendell could not be only part Elven, and yet every single one of them had what she knew as a normal fëa. She looked back to Legolas, and saw that, yes, he was his normal, whole self. She looked back out at the Elves of Rivendell. Then back to Legolas. Yep, Legolas was the only one she could see entirely.
"Elisandra?" Elrohir's concerned voice startled Elisandra, and she whipped her head towards him without opening her eyes. To her surprise, she found that beyond Lord Celeborn she could see another solid figure - one ex-Marchwarden of Lothlorien, to be exact. Sucking in a breath, Elisandra opened her eyes with a snap, focusing on Haldir more closely with her normal eyesight.
"Elisandra, what is wrong?" Elrohir asked again. Elisandra tore her attention away from Haldir and frowned at her uncle for a moment.
"Nothing." she said, shaking her head to clear her spinning thoughts. "Well, something, but I shall tell you about it later."
"I am done lunch, as are you, so how about we go for a walk and you tell me now?" Elrohir suggested, motioning to their two empty plates as proof.
"Sure." Elisandra said, and she and Elrohir rose from their seats. They made polite excuses to the others at the table, then went off, with Elrohir 'leading' Elisandra. Soon, they were away from the House of Elrond and into one of the gardens, silence reigning around them except for the sounds of nature.
"So what is wrong?" Elrohir asked after a time, seeing that Elisandra was too lost in her own thoughts to start explaining without prompting. Elisandra pulled herself out of her thoughts at Elrohir's question and sighed.
"I really don't know where to begin." she said. "But I shall try." Elisandra paused before continuing. "You already know that I can now see. But one thing I did not mention was that I can still see fëa's if I close my eyes."
"Must be hard trying to sleep." Elrohir commented.
"No, I sleep in Elvish fashion now." Elisandra said dismissively.
"Really? Another thing that mysteriously happened on your journey here?" he asked with curiosity, and Elisandra nodded.
"Back to the explanation," Elisandra said. "One of the things that first drew me to be friends with Legolas was that even before I regained my normal sight, I could see him even as I see him now, only with his fëa glittering around him like an outline. I had always assumed that this was because he was an Elf." Elisandra frowned slightly as she continued, "However, back in the hall, I closed my eyes to look at the fëa's of some of the Elves in the room. I found, to my surprise, that even though they were all entirely Elf, like Legolas, I could see no more of them than their fëa's, like with all other creatures. And when you called my name, I was so startled I turned to look at you without opening my eyes. I discovered that I could also see all of the Lothlorien Marchwarden - Haldir, was his name?" Elrohir nodded, and Elisandra continued. "It's just made me more confused."
"More confused?" Elrohir asked with a small smile.
"Yes. Ever since Legolas came to Minas Tirith, it has just been one confusing thing after another." Elisandra replied with a scowl. "It's getting so I don't know which way is up anymore."
"Well, perhaps we should try and sort out some of the things that are confusing you." Elrohir said practically. "We shall start with the fëa's of Elves. I, myself, have no knowledge about such a thing, but grandfather is not called Celeborn the Wise for nothing!" Elrohir finished on a cheerful note, and Elisandra couldn't help but smile.
"It really is very nice to see you again, Uncle." she said, and Elrohir grinned back at her impishly, then got a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"So, if you can see now, does that mean you can run?" he asked. Elisandra nodded warily. "Then I'll race you back to the house!" Elisandra blinked and stared after her uncle as he took off down the path, then, with a laugh, took off after him.
---
"And you say that this all happened on your journey here and you do not know why?" Lord Celeborn asked with interest. After lunch, while Elrohir and Elisandra were having their walk, Celeborn, Elladan and Legolas had gone for a walk of their own. Elrohir, it seemed, had not been the only one to notice Elisandra's newly pointed ears - both Elladan and Celeborn had also noticed them. And, since Elrohir had snatched Elisandra away right after lunch, they'd decided to corner Legolas about it. Legolas' explanation of Elisandra's ears had, naturally, lead to the revelation of her being able to see again, which sparked Lord Celeborn's comment.
"Yes, it was quite strange." Legolas replied. "She just woke up one morning and could suddenly see."
"For no particular reason that you could tell?" Elladan asked with curiosity.
"Yes." Legolas said.
"I wonder - could it have had something to do with the land?" Celeborn asked with a frown.
"The land?" Legolas asked in confusion.
"It might be possible that there was something in Gondor that was making her lose her sight. Though highly unlikely. If that was the case, her vision should have slowly returned to normal, and not just returned overnight, when she wasn't moving." Celeborn replied.
Legolas opened his mouth to comment on that, but closed it again in surprise as something came hurtling around the corner and dashed in-between him and Elladan. Moments later, another hurtling shape followed, this time dashing in-between Elladan and Celeborn. The two Elven Lords and one Elven Prince stopped in surprise, turning to stare after the hurtling shapes. The first of the hurtling shapes, as it turned out, stopped about ten feet past them. The other shape, unable to stop in time, ran into the first shape, causing both to fall to the ground in a tangled heap. When the shapes sorted themselves out and stood up, the three watching Elves raised their eyebrows as they recognized Elrohir and Elisandra.
"Ah, Grandfather! We were just looking for you!" Elrohir said cheerfully as he and Elisandra backtracked so they were now standing in front of the three surprised elves.
"Really? It looked more as if you were endangering the wildlife to me." Celeborn said.
"Endangering the wildlife, looking for you, what's the difference?" Elrohir asked with a grin.
"Lots." Elisandra commented.
"Hey, you were the one that needed to find him." Elrohir replied.
"It wasn't my idea to race, though." Elisandra said.
"AHEM." Elladan said, drawing his brother and niece's attention back to the three elves. "What did you want to find grandfather for?"
"Elisandra has a question about fëa's." Elrohir said, motioning to Elisandra.
"Then perhaps we should find some place to sit down." Celeborn said. "Questions about fëa's are usually as long and complicated as the answers." Elisandra nodded, and Celeborn offered her his arm before they headed off back towards the house, leaving Elladan and Legolas to pester Elrohir about what Elisandra wanted to ask.
"So what is this question you wanted to ask?" Celeborn said as he and Elisandra walked out of hearing range of the three Elves.
"Weren't we going to find some place to sit down first?" Elisandra asked.
"Well, we can do that, yes. That was, however, more of an excuse to have a private conversation." Celeborn replied. "Discussions about fëa's are usually better done in private."
"Hmm, yes, they are." Elisandra said. "But you were right about the question being long and complicated."
"Then take all the time you need to sort it out in your head." Celeborn said kindly, and Elisandra smiled gratefully at him. They walked in silence for awhile, and then finally, as they entered the House of Elrond proper, Elisandra spoke up again.
"I guess this is more of a question about my sight than about fëa's, but Uncle Elrohir seemed to think you'd be able to figure it out, so I'll just trust his judgment." she said. "First, you need to know that I can see normally now -"
"Yes, Legolas told us." Celeborn commented, and Elisandra looked at him in surprise.
"He did?" she asked.
"Yes, Elladan and I forced it out of him after asking him about your ears." Celeborn replied with a small smile, and Elisandra chuckled.
"I should have known Uncle Elrohir wouldn't be the only one to notice them." she said. "Anyways. What I'm sure Legolas DIDN'T tell you - mostly because he doesn't know - is that I can still see fëa's if I close my eyes."
"Really?" Celeborn asked with interest, and Elisandra nodded.
"It's really quite nice to still be able to see fëa's, as I think I would be completely lost, socially, if I couldn't still see fëa's in some manner." she said, and Celeborn nodded. "Now, here's the interesting part leading up to the question. I have not seen many full Elves in my life - at least until I came here. In fact, Legolas was the first full elf that I can remember ever seeing clearly."
"So you do not remember Lord Elrond's visit?" Celeborn asked with interest. Elisandra blinked.
"No, I remember it." she said. "But he's not fully Elf."
"He may have been born Half-Elven, but as soon as he made his choice to remain of the Eldar kind, he became fully Elven." Celeborn replied, and Elisandra sighed.
"Figures." she said. "I didn't know that until now. Well, I THOUGHT Legolas was the first full elf I have ever seen, then. Anyway," and Elisandra went on to explain for the second time that day about how she could see Legolas, and now Haldir.
"And you want to know why you can see Legolas and Haldir like that?" Celeborn guessed with a small smile as Elisandra finished. Elisandra nodded.
"It's confusing me a great deal." she said.
"Well, I'm not sure I can sort it out much for you." Celeborn said, frowning lightly. "Matters of the fëa are generally very confusing, and nothing like your sight has ever been recorded. But I can tell you this. Whatever is happening, it is the will of the Valar. Elrond, Galadriel and I had a long discussion about you before they left for Valinor, and Elrond said that he tried to heal your eyes when he visited you."
"He did?" Elisandra asked in surprise, and Celeborn nodded.
"He did. However, he discovered that your eyes were perfectly fine. There was just something there that was shifting your sight so you saw fëa's. He said he was too surprised at the time to closely examine whatever it was - and he doubted he would have gotten far, anyways, as it was much more powerful than him - but he said that it felt good. In fact, the more he thought over it, he became sure that it was the doing of the Valar." Celeborn continued. Elisandra looked at Celeborn in amazement, walking by instinct, too stunned to do anything other than run Celeborn's words over in her mind.
"So my sight is due to the Valar?" she asked finally, her voice almost a squeak.
"As far as we know." Celeborn replied with a smile.
"So the return of my sight and my sudden Elvish gifts surfacing are due to the Valar?" Elisandra asked, dazed.
"Perhaps." Celeborn said, his smile turning secretive. "Still, you have been touched by the Valar, and given a gift by them. That makes you very special indeed."
"That's why you bowed to me!" Elisandra exclaimed suddenly, and Celeborn nodded.
"That, and you are the foster-daughter of not only the King and Queen of Gondor, but my granddaughter as well." Celeborn said.
"Well that makes sense." Elisandra mumbled, causing Celeborn to chuckle.
"You will find a lot of things make sense if they are explained." Celeborn said, stopping walking outside a door. Elisandra found, to her surprise, that it was the door to her room.
"Well, I shall have to start asking for explanations, then." Elisandra said with a smile, and Celeborn nodded in approval.
"You do that. And if you ever need anyone to talk to, my door is open to you." Celeborn said with a smile. Elisandra thanked him, and they said goodbye before Elisandra returned to her room and Celeborn continued off down the hall.
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