Disclaimer: See previous chapters.
Authors Note: Well, I wasn't gonna upload this until tomorrow, but oh well.
Y'know, I had the terribly evil urge while writing this chapter to suddenly change who Elisandra's father is, despite the fact that I've had it figured out since I started this story. Well, ok, chapter 3. My other option at the beginning of the story was Glorfindel, but I scrapped him in favour of writing an entirely OTHER FanFic starring him...eventually. But anyways. Elisandra's dad is the same one that I've planned for from the beginning. But oooooh, the temptation to make it Orophin...Anyways, short chapter, because it really just needed to be short. Enjoy the last scene, I enjoyed writing it...Why do I always seem to make wise Elf Lords even more goofy than the rest of the characters? *ponders this while wondering off to jump in an icy cold pond*
------------------------------
-No Eyes Needed-
------------------------------
-Chapter XXII-
-DADDY! (aka, the I KNEW IT! chapter)-
------------------------------
Haldir and Elisandra walked for quite awhile in silence. Haldir, it seemed, was lost in his thoughts again, and Elisandra was still enjoying the sights of Rivendell. It wasn't until they had turned back towards the House of Elrond that either broke the silence.
"I knew your mother, you know." Haldir commented suddenly as they walked. Elisandra faltered slightly and looked up at him in surprise.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes, I met her when she was visiting Lothlorien." Haldir replied. Silence fell again.
"What was she like?" Elisandra asked quietly after a time. Haldir thought for a moment before replying, a soft smile playing across his lips.
"She was adventurous," he said, "And independent. She never let anyone tell her what to do, and the Valar help anyone who told her some trip she had planned was too dangerous. She went where she wanted to, and you could either help her or move out of her way."
"You sound as if you had experience with that." Elisandra said.
"I was the stupid one who tried to stand in her way when she decided to leave to visit Ithilien." Haldir replied dryly. "She did not take kindly to me at first, I'm afraid."
"At first? I take it she warmed up to you eventually?" Elisandra asked, arching an eyebrow.
"You could say that." Haldir said. "It was hard to tell if she warmed up to me or simply got distracted."
"Distracted? By what?" Elisandra asked.
"Who, not what." Haldir corrected. "And the answer is my brother, Orophin." Now Elisandra stopped walking completely to stare at Haldir, who looked back at her, slightly amused.
"They were not lovers, if that is what you are thinking." he said. "They just made life interesting - for everyone in Lothlorien." Haldir finished on a wry note, and Elisandra arched an eyebrow at him as they started walking again.
"How did they make life interesting?" she asked.
"They took the utmost delight in squashing egos that had, in their opinion, grown too large, and in generally leaving those they ran across utterly confused." Haldir replied. "None were immune to their antics, neither I nor my other brother Rúmil, not even the Lord Celeborn or Lady Galadriel."
"So my mother terrorized the Golden Wood with your brother. Wonderful." Elisandra said as she rolled her eyes, causing Haldir to laugh.
"That is the simple way to put it, I suppose." Haldir said, still chuckling.
"So was there anyone else she made friends with during her stay?" Elisandra asked, smiling slightly at the thought of her mother 'terrorizing' the Golden Wood.
"Made friend with? Plenty." Haldir replied dryly. "Despite her and Orophin's antics, no one could ever seem to stay mad at her - or my brother. All of the Galadhrim loved them."
"Anyone more than friends?" Elisandra asked, glancing at Haldir. At any other time, she would have been content with just the information about her mother that Haldir had already told her, but tonight...Tonight, something was telling her that Haldir knew the answer to her quest to Rivendell, and if she was persistent, she could get it from him.
"I...would not know." Haldir said hesitantly.
"You had to have heard SOMETHING. Your brother was her best friend, how could you not?" Elisandra replied practically.
"Somethings, Eneira told no one." Haldir said cryptically, and Elisandra arched an eyebrow at him.
"And you would know this how?" she asked. Haldir didn't answer, however, instead tilting his face up to the sky and looking at the stars, an unreadable look on his features. After a long silence, Elisandra reached over and poked Haldir. "Well?" she demanded.
"Well what?" Haldir asked, blinking as he looked back at her.
"How would you know that my mother told somethings to no one? After all, if she told them to no one, then no one should even know she's not telling about them, so how can you know?" Elisandra replied. "Did she tell you?"
"No." Haldir replied flatly. "No, she did not have to tell me. I already knew." A sneaking suspicion grew in Elisandra's mind, and she decided to take a wild guess.
"You were my mother's secret lover, weren't you?" Elisandra said, and promptly had the pleasure of being one of very few people to ever see and Elf trip over their own feet. Under different circumstances, she might have found this amusing, but now she simply arched her eyebrow again as Haldir regained his balance and blinked at her with a stunned expression. After a moment, he smiled wryly and shook his head slightly.
"You are your mother's daughter." he said. "No one could hide anything from her, either. Not even their own feelings." The last part was said slightly bitterly, and Elisandra suddenly wondered what could have happened between her mother and Haldir. Since she was wondering, it took her a moment to realize that Haldir had basically told her that her guess was correct. Which meant that there was a very strong possibility that the Elf walking beside her could be her father, and suddenly Elisandra felt something she hadn't in a long time - nervousness. She suddenly wished she could see fëa's again, and closed her eyes, trusting Haldir to guide her, so she could watch him.
She watched Haldir for some time as they walked in silence, but she found that she was just as lost - and more confused - when she could see his fëa. He seemed to have picked up the same ability as Celeborn to hide what he was thinking and feeling, though not as strong, so that she caught only snatches of feelings. Finally, with a sigh, she opened her eyes and looked down the path.
"Why did my mother leave Lothlorien?" Elisandra asked after a short silence, and beside her, she heard Haldir sigh.
"Ultimately? She could not handle loving an immortal." he said, his voice quiet. "She did not want to be the cause of the heartbreak that would inevitably come to the one she loved when she died. So she left, assuming that separation would be easier."
"And it wasn't." It was not a question - the tone of Haldir's voice gave the answer away even before the question could form in your mind.
"No, it was not." Haldir said. "It took the combined efforts of most of the Galadhrim to stop me from fading. In the end, only the reminder that she was still alive and could some day come back to me worked." Silence fell again as Elisandra absorbed this new information, and then Haldir spoke again. "None of us heard from her again - not even Orophin. The messenger that came from Minas Tirith two weeks ago with a copy of her portrait was the only thing any of us had heard of her since she left Lothlorien."
"So in one fell swoop, you found out not only that she was dead, but that she left behind a daughter." Elisandra said softly. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Haldir said, shaking his head. "You cannot be held responsible for the deeds of your mother."
"No, but I DO feel sorry that you had to learn such news from a stranger." Elisandra replied earnestly. Haldir smiled back at her, and they remained silent for the rest of their walk. Not far from Elisandra's room, they ran into Legolas, and Haldir said goodbye before disappearing so quickly Elisandra had to wonder if he ran.
"Have a nice walk with Haldir?" Legolas asked as he took over Haldir's previous job of escorting Elisandra to her rooms.
"Yes, it was very...interesting." Elisandra replied thoughtfully, not quite ready to share what she'd learned until she'd had a chance to absorb it. "What did Celeborn want?" she asked, to distract Legolas when he started to look curious.
"I am actually not quite sure." Legolas said, scratching his head slightly in confusion. "We talked of nothing of importance, and he seemed to have no particular reason to want to talk to me."
"Strange." Elisandra said.
"Indeed." was Legolas' response.
---
Haldir, after leaving Elisandra in the good care of Legolas, found himself running through the corridors to...well, he really didn't know where. He just felt the sudden urge to run. It wasn't until he ended up not far from Lord Celeborn's quarters that he started to think about what had happened, and then he made specifically for Lord Celeborn's quarters. He found, as he expected, that Celeborn was still up, and sitting in the reception room of his quarters as if expecting someone.
"Ah, hello Haldir." Lord Celeborn said warmly when Haldir entered. Haldir simply crossed his arm and stared back at his former Lord. "Did you have a nice chat with Elisandra?" Celeborn continued.
"It was unsettling." Haldir replied flatly, letting none of his emotions show on his face or in his voice.
"I thought it might be." Celeborn said. "Did it bring up some unpleasant memories?"
"Remind me why I turned down Lady Galadriel when she invited me to come with her to Valinor again?" Haldir said, giving Celeborn a withering look.
"I believe you wanted to stay because of Eneira?" Celeborn replied cheerfully. "And now, since you are still in Arda, you will be able to help look after Eneira's - and your - daughter!" Haldir rolled his eyes.
"I am beginning to think that Lady Galadriel was the conservative meddler out of you two." he said, causing Celeborn to chuckle.
"Come now, I do not meddle! I only encourage people to do the right thing." Celeborn said, and Haldir snorted in disbelief.
"Your type of encouragement is called meddling, m'Lord." he said. Celeborn just smiled, and Haldir shook his head. "I am going to bed." Haldir said, and after a cheerful goodbye from Celeborn, Haldir left. As he walked to his room, he shook his head again at what Celeborn had managed to pull off that night to get he and Elisandra alone for a walk. It was admirable, really. But he was still going to tell the twins that he would help them with that intended dyeing of Celeborn's hair to some unnatural colour.
\/---Hmm, I could almost write an entirely different FanFiction about Elisandra's mother and Haldir. O.o Anyways, please leave a review and tell me what ya thought!---\/
Authors Note: Well, I wasn't gonna upload this until tomorrow, but oh well.
Y'know, I had the terribly evil urge while writing this chapter to suddenly change who Elisandra's father is, despite the fact that I've had it figured out since I started this story. Well, ok, chapter 3. My other option at the beginning of the story was Glorfindel, but I scrapped him in favour of writing an entirely OTHER FanFic starring him...eventually. But anyways. Elisandra's dad is the same one that I've planned for from the beginning. But oooooh, the temptation to make it Orophin...Anyways, short chapter, because it really just needed to be short. Enjoy the last scene, I enjoyed writing it...Why do I always seem to make wise Elf Lords even more goofy than the rest of the characters? *ponders this while wondering off to jump in an icy cold pond*
------------------------------
-No Eyes Needed-
------------------------------
-Chapter XXII-
-DADDY! (aka, the I KNEW IT! chapter)-
------------------------------
Haldir and Elisandra walked for quite awhile in silence. Haldir, it seemed, was lost in his thoughts again, and Elisandra was still enjoying the sights of Rivendell. It wasn't until they had turned back towards the House of Elrond that either broke the silence.
"I knew your mother, you know." Haldir commented suddenly as they walked. Elisandra faltered slightly and looked up at him in surprise.
"Really?" she asked.
"Yes, I met her when she was visiting Lothlorien." Haldir replied. Silence fell again.
"What was she like?" Elisandra asked quietly after a time. Haldir thought for a moment before replying, a soft smile playing across his lips.
"She was adventurous," he said, "And independent. She never let anyone tell her what to do, and the Valar help anyone who told her some trip she had planned was too dangerous. She went where she wanted to, and you could either help her or move out of her way."
"You sound as if you had experience with that." Elisandra said.
"I was the stupid one who tried to stand in her way when she decided to leave to visit Ithilien." Haldir replied dryly. "She did not take kindly to me at first, I'm afraid."
"At first? I take it she warmed up to you eventually?" Elisandra asked, arching an eyebrow.
"You could say that." Haldir said. "It was hard to tell if she warmed up to me or simply got distracted."
"Distracted? By what?" Elisandra asked.
"Who, not what." Haldir corrected. "And the answer is my brother, Orophin." Now Elisandra stopped walking completely to stare at Haldir, who looked back at her, slightly amused.
"They were not lovers, if that is what you are thinking." he said. "They just made life interesting - for everyone in Lothlorien." Haldir finished on a wry note, and Elisandra arched an eyebrow at him as they started walking again.
"How did they make life interesting?" she asked.
"They took the utmost delight in squashing egos that had, in their opinion, grown too large, and in generally leaving those they ran across utterly confused." Haldir replied. "None were immune to their antics, neither I nor my other brother Rúmil, not even the Lord Celeborn or Lady Galadriel."
"So my mother terrorized the Golden Wood with your brother. Wonderful." Elisandra said as she rolled her eyes, causing Haldir to laugh.
"That is the simple way to put it, I suppose." Haldir said, still chuckling.
"So was there anyone else she made friends with during her stay?" Elisandra asked, smiling slightly at the thought of her mother 'terrorizing' the Golden Wood.
"Made friend with? Plenty." Haldir replied dryly. "Despite her and Orophin's antics, no one could ever seem to stay mad at her - or my brother. All of the Galadhrim loved them."
"Anyone more than friends?" Elisandra asked, glancing at Haldir. At any other time, she would have been content with just the information about her mother that Haldir had already told her, but tonight...Tonight, something was telling her that Haldir knew the answer to her quest to Rivendell, and if she was persistent, she could get it from him.
"I...would not know." Haldir said hesitantly.
"You had to have heard SOMETHING. Your brother was her best friend, how could you not?" Elisandra replied practically.
"Somethings, Eneira told no one." Haldir said cryptically, and Elisandra arched an eyebrow at him.
"And you would know this how?" she asked. Haldir didn't answer, however, instead tilting his face up to the sky and looking at the stars, an unreadable look on his features. After a long silence, Elisandra reached over and poked Haldir. "Well?" she demanded.
"Well what?" Haldir asked, blinking as he looked back at her.
"How would you know that my mother told somethings to no one? After all, if she told them to no one, then no one should even know she's not telling about them, so how can you know?" Elisandra replied. "Did she tell you?"
"No." Haldir replied flatly. "No, she did not have to tell me. I already knew." A sneaking suspicion grew in Elisandra's mind, and she decided to take a wild guess.
"You were my mother's secret lover, weren't you?" Elisandra said, and promptly had the pleasure of being one of very few people to ever see and Elf trip over their own feet. Under different circumstances, she might have found this amusing, but now she simply arched her eyebrow again as Haldir regained his balance and blinked at her with a stunned expression. After a moment, he smiled wryly and shook his head slightly.
"You are your mother's daughter." he said. "No one could hide anything from her, either. Not even their own feelings." The last part was said slightly bitterly, and Elisandra suddenly wondered what could have happened between her mother and Haldir. Since she was wondering, it took her a moment to realize that Haldir had basically told her that her guess was correct. Which meant that there was a very strong possibility that the Elf walking beside her could be her father, and suddenly Elisandra felt something she hadn't in a long time - nervousness. She suddenly wished she could see fëa's again, and closed her eyes, trusting Haldir to guide her, so she could watch him.
She watched Haldir for some time as they walked in silence, but she found that she was just as lost - and more confused - when she could see his fëa. He seemed to have picked up the same ability as Celeborn to hide what he was thinking and feeling, though not as strong, so that she caught only snatches of feelings. Finally, with a sigh, she opened her eyes and looked down the path.
"Why did my mother leave Lothlorien?" Elisandra asked after a short silence, and beside her, she heard Haldir sigh.
"Ultimately? She could not handle loving an immortal." he said, his voice quiet. "She did not want to be the cause of the heartbreak that would inevitably come to the one she loved when she died. So she left, assuming that separation would be easier."
"And it wasn't." It was not a question - the tone of Haldir's voice gave the answer away even before the question could form in your mind.
"No, it was not." Haldir said. "It took the combined efforts of most of the Galadhrim to stop me from fading. In the end, only the reminder that she was still alive and could some day come back to me worked." Silence fell again as Elisandra absorbed this new information, and then Haldir spoke again. "None of us heard from her again - not even Orophin. The messenger that came from Minas Tirith two weeks ago with a copy of her portrait was the only thing any of us had heard of her since she left Lothlorien."
"So in one fell swoop, you found out not only that she was dead, but that she left behind a daughter." Elisandra said softly. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry for." Haldir said, shaking his head. "You cannot be held responsible for the deeds of your mother."
"No, but I DO feel sorry that you had to learn such news from a stranger." Elisandra replied earnestly. Haldir smiled back at her, and they remained silent for the rest of their walk. Not far from Elisandra's room, they ran into Legolas, and Haldir said goodbye before disappearing so quickly Elisandra had to wonder if he ran.
"Have a nice walk with Haldir?" Legolas asked as he took over Haldir's previous job of escorting Elisandra to her rooms.
"Yes, it was very...interesting." Elisandra replied thoughtfully, not quite ready to share what she'd learned until she'd had a chance to absorb it. "What did Celeborn want?" she asked, to distract Legolas when he started to look curious.
"I am actually not quite sure." Legolas said, scratching his head slightly in confusion. "We talked of nothing of importance, and he seemed to have no particular reason to want to talk to me."
"Strange." Elisandra said.
"Indeed." was Legolas' response.
---
Haldir, after leaving Elisandra in the good care of Legolas, found himself running through the corridors to...well, he really didn't know where. He just felt the sudden urge to run. It wasn't until he ended up not far from Lord Celeborn's quarters that he started to think about what had happened, and then he made specifically for Lord Celeborn's quarters. He found, as he expected, that Celeborn was still up, and sitting in the reception room of his quarters as if expecting someone.
"Ah, hello Haldir." Lord Celeborn said warmly when Haldir entered. Haldir simply crossed his arm and stared back at his former Lord. "Did you have a nice chat with Elisandra?" Celeborn continued.
"It was unsettling." Haldir replied flatly, letting none of his emotions show on his face or in his voice.
"I thought it might be." Celeborn said. "Did it bring up some unpleasant memories?"
"Remind me why I turned down Lady Galadriel when she invited me to come with her to Valinor again?" Haldir said, giving Celeborn a withering look.
"I believe you wanted to stay because of Eneira?" Celeborn replied cheerfully. "And now, since you are still in Arda, you will be able to help look after Eneira's - and your - daughter!" Haldir rolled his eyes.
"I am beginning to think that Lady Galadriel was the conservative meddler out of you two." he said, causing Celeborn to chuckle.
"Come now, I do not meddle! I only encourage people to do the right thing." Celeborn said, and Haldir snorted in disbelief.
"Your type of encouragement is called meddling, m'Lord." he said. Celeborn just smiled, and Haldir shook his head. "I am going to bed." Haldir said, and after a cheerful goodbye from Celeborn, Haldir left. As he walked to his room, he shook his head again at what Celeborn had managed to pull off that night to get he and Elisandra alone for a walk. It was admirable, really. But he was still going to tell the twins that he would help them with that intended dyeing of Celeborn's hair to some unnatural colour.
\/---Hmm, I could almost write an entirely different FanFiction about Elisandra's mother and Haldir. O.o Anyways, please leave a review and tell me what ya thought!---\/