SW- Hey yall! Hope u like the chappie! It's good! Now I pass it on to my bf Horse Crazee.

HC: Just to clear up a few things~Kat is in the future all ready. As to who she is there, well…….you will be told in the future. Or, when I think of it, to be more exact. Something using Galadriel's power, her mirror, and Gandalf.  Another thing, this story takes place after the ring, as most of you might have figured out because of chapter two. Something else mildly important: HALDIR IS ALIVE IN THIS FIC-just in case you were wondering! I haven't read the books, just seen the movies, but I have read fics by people who have read the books, if that helps at all. So…...I completely made up Melethron and all the elves there, and well, if you don't like that then I am sorry. On with the story R/R!!  J

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize belongs to Tolkien, anything you don't belongs to me (Horse Crazee) with the exception of Tenchi, who belongs to my best friend, Shadow Wolf.

Chapter 3: Internal Clock Malfunction

         I sighed as I finished grooming Ms. Richards' mare, Penalty Play, or Penny, for short. I gave her a pat and spoke softly, "I bet you wish you were out there in the field with all your pals, huh?" "I would miss my friends, too. I wonder why she kept you in today; I mean it's not hard to catch you or anything."

          "Hello, dear. I kept her in because I have a student riding her today. Otherwise like you said, I would have turned her out," said Ms. Richards.

          "Sorry Ms. Richards," I replied, my face getting hot.

          "It's quite alright dear. Call me Jen; I'm more used to it. Say, who are you riding today?" she asked.

          "Oh, I'm probably going to ride Gus once I get my chores done," I replied.

          "Well seeing as you're pretty near done and my student isn't here yet; would you like to ride her?" Jen asked.

          "Oh, I'd love to!" I replied, hardly believing my ears.

          "Alright then, since you work here, you most likely know where her tack is, right?" said Jen.

          "Yes, ma'am," I said as I put Penny in the crossties and scuttled off to get her tack.

          Ten minutes later I was on Penny trotting around the indoor arena and waiting for Jen to tell me to go to the outdoor jumping ring. "Okay, my student hasn't come yet, so come on Sally let's go do some jumping," she said watching the enthusiasm on my face.

          Unfortunately for me, just as we left the indoor, Jen's student showed up. He was very rich, considering the truck he was driving- a 3500 Silverado, and it was almost new. He was also very cute. His skin was fair, with bright blue eyes and seemingly golden hair.  He apologized sincerely, "I'm sorry I'm late. Traffic was a pain, and so was my mom."

          "Maybe you should try leaving earlier next time Pete," was Jen's comment.

          "Yes, ma'am." Then he seemed to notice that somebody was on Penny-me. "Hello. Sorry to spoil your fun. My name's Pete Talontun by the way."

          I laughed and replied, "Yeah, well I'll just ride Penny some other time. And you're not spoiling my fun, 'cause now I get to go get Gus out and spoil his fun. I'm Sally."

          He just laughed and said, "Well, you saved me the trouble of warming her up, so now I can get to the good stuff."

          Jen interrupted, "Uh-uh. You're not getting off that easy," which got a groan out of Pete, "and Sally, you can join Pete's lesson if you like."

          "Nah, that's okay. But thanks though. I'd like to use the jumps though," I said, dismounting Penny and handing the rains to Pete.

          "Have fun!" I said as Pete got on.

          "I always do," was Pete's reply.

          As I was leading Gus in, I noticed Pete warming up. He was good, and like I said before, very hot as well. I spoke softly to Gus as I tacked him up, but I was thinking about Pete. 'He's a good rider, hot, and seems very nice.' As soon as I thought that, 'He wouldn't even notice me on a bad day, if at all.' By this time I had Gus all tacked up and had wrapped his legs, too. He tugged on the bridle, pulling me out of my mental argument. I smiled, "Okay boy, let's go!" and led him out of the barn and swung up, just as Pete was getting ready to canter.

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          Yawn I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and glanced at my clock. It read 6:35. "Ugh," I said, "Too early to wake up on a Saturday." "Ah well, gotta go riding." 'Gotta get new boxers, Taz looks worn out.' I thought to myself as I turned on the water for a quick shower.

          Half an hour later, I was eating a bagel when my mom came into the kitchen and almost fainted. When she recovered she exclaimed, "Um, Pete dear, did your internal clock malfunction, or do you have a date?"

          "Huh?" I stared at her blankly.

          "I SAID WHAT ARE YOU DOING UP SO EARLY? IT'S 7:15! DID YOUR INTERNAL CLOCK MALFUNCTION, OR DO YOU HAVE A DATE?!"

          "Mom, it's Saturday," I said, "I'm going riding today remember? I have a date with a horse!"

          "Well, excuse me. I'm just looking out for you. I mean, you don't date, you spend most of your weekend at the barn and your week's clogged up with school *and* the barn!" my Mom argued.

          I groaned, "Mom-how many times do we have to go through this? I mean, I do have college over the week and I only get to ride on the weekends. Besides, I don't date because I just don't like anybody right now, okay?"

          "Pete, let me remind you," I groaned silently, "You attend a horse college- you can ride practically anytime you want- and then you come home and go to the barn."

          "Mom," This was really starting to get annoying, "Nobody I know wants to go out with a guy that hangs out around horses 75% of his average week!" I was going to continue when she cut me off.

"Make that 90%. Look, I just want you to be happy, okay?" my mom sighed.

          "I am happy. Really," I explained, glad this was almost over.

          "Okay. Oh my gosh, you gotta go!!" she exclaimed looking at the clock. It was 7:30.

          I ran out the door, "Bye mom, have a good day!!"

          "You too, dear!" Mom sighs, and says, "The right girl would make you happier than you ever thought you could be."

          I backed my Silverado out of the driveway and sighed. 'Why doesn't my mom understand that I just haven't found anyone yet? Well, no one that likes horses anyway.'

          Ten minutes later I was stuck in traffic, with at least another twenty minutes worth of it in sight. 'Oh great," I thought, "now I'm gonna be late.'

Sure enough I was late, my Silverado pulled into the barn at ten after eight. As I grabbed my helmet and gloves, I noticed someone was on Penny-a very pretty girl at that, but I showed no emotion whatsoever walking over to them practically ignoring the girl that was on Penny; at least I hoped it looked that way. If I did, and somehow it showed on my face that I thought she was pretty, and Jen found out, she'd most likely tell my mom who would then drive me bonkers. I'm quite serious.

I walked up to them and apologized, "I'm sorry I'm late. Traffic was a pain, and so was my mom."

          "Maybe you should try leaving earlier next time Pete," was Jen's comment.

          "Yes, ma'am," was my reply. Then I turned my attention to the girl that was on Penny-and wow, she was pretty, not to mention the fact that she looked like she could ride pretty damn well. I looked her over, while appearing to look at Penny. Her eyes were green and in the sun, they looked like they had dots of silver in them, her skin was fair, but what caught my eye was her hair. It was long, so she wore it up, but it was a brown-gold color that shown like mahogany. I said, "Hello. Sorry to spoil your fun. My name's Pete Talontun by the way."

          She laughed and replied, "Yeah, well I'll just ride Penny some other time. And you're not spoiling my fun, 'cause now I get to go get Gus out and spoil his fun. I'm Sally."

          I just laughed and said, "Well, you saved me the trouble of warming her up, so now I can get to the good stuff."

         Jen interrupted, "Uh-uh. You're not getting off that easy," at which I groaned, "and Sally, you can join Pete's lesson if you like."

          "Nah, that's okay. But thanks. I'd like to use the jumps though," she said, dismounting Penny and handing the rains to me.

          "Have fun!" she said as I got on.

          "I always do," was my reply.

          As Jen and I went out to the ring, I saw Sally go get a horse which I assumed was Gus and asked, "Does Sally normally ride with you on Saturdays?"

          Jen glanced at me and replied, "No, she works here on the weekends and goes to school during the week."

          "Does she own a horse?" was my next question.

          "No, she doesn't, although she could. She rides Gus pretty well-well; actually she could probably ride any horse well."

          "Where does she go to school?" Where are all these damn questions coming from all of a sudden? Jen must've thought so too, because she looked at me again.

          "I have no idea Pete, why don't you ask her yourself?" Jen said, raising an eyebrow. Oh, so now it's her turn to ask questions. I get it.

          By this time we had reached the ring and Sally already had Gus in crossties. Jen's voice interrupted my thoughts, "Okay, Pete, pick up your posting trot!" The next time I looked up, I was getting ready to canter and Sally was leading Gus out of the barn and mounting up.

A/N: So, how'd ya like it? If it is slightly confusing, I am sorry, tell me in a review and I will try to explain it. But, you can always just review anyway, even if it's not confusing! That was a big hint there! *winks* Thank you to all who have reviewed so far! Any and all suggestions are welcome, but that does not mean that I will actually use them. And if you flame me, hmm.. trials off into deep thought paying no attention whatsoever to anything else………. snaps to attention well, I don't know what I will do with flames. Enough rambling-R/R!