The Fellowship left Lothlorien the next day. Eleriel was present when Galadriel and Celeborn gave each member of the Fellowship their gifts, and she was present when the boats departed for the final time. She was courteous and polite as was expected of her, but she was not warmly kind to all of them. In truth, she had, in fact, gotten quite close to Boromir and Frodo during their stay in Lothlorien, and she was truly sorry to see them leave.
However much she liked having the Fellowship stay in Lothlorien, the fact remained that Legolas' presence was... distracting to her, to say the least. So to keep her cool Eleriel was polite but distant.
Eleriel watched the boats float away down the river. She chewed on her bottom lip, an unfortunate habit from her youth. Celeborn came and laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You'll see them again someday, my dear."
"That's what I'm afraid of," she muttered to herself. Celeborn's sharp elven ears picked up the words but he said nothing. Eleriel turned and walked away from the river bank.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When Eleriel started to tell herself that her life would go back to normal, she was once again proved wrong. Merely a day after the Fellowship departed, a great eagle swooped down upon Caras Galadhon. Eleriel's eyes opened wide and she ran for her grandmother, but Galadriel was already greeting the eagle and its rider.
"Gwaihir!" Eleriel cried, but she forgot her excitement when she saw his rider. "Gandalf?" she said, her mouth hanging open.
"Hello, my dear," he said pleasantly.
"Eleriel, run and get Gandalf some clothes!" Galadriel said sharply. It was only then that Eleriel noticed that Gandalf had returned to this world completely unclothed. Blushing, Eleriel rushed to do her grandmother's bidding, but she heard their words behind her back.
"She saw Legolas again, did she not?"
"Yes. It did not go as well as we hoped."
Eleriel wondered at their words but thought no more of it. She found some robes made of the same ambiguous gray of the cloaks now worn by the Fellowship, but then she remembered Gandalf. He was different somehow, and Eleriel found herself returning the gray robes to their box. Instead she opened a tall wardrobe and pulled out a long white robe; it glistened in the sunshine. Smiling to herself, Eleriel hurried back to the flet on which Gandalf stood with her grandparents and the eagle. In her short absence he had already managed to bathe and clothe himself in an ill-fitting brown robe which had hastily been pulled from a storage closet. Eleriel politely turned her back while Gandalf changed into the splendid shining white robes. When he was done, Eleriel turned and threw her arms around his neck, although she was not normally given to such displays of affection. "Gandalf!" she cried. "What happened to you?"
He laughed merrily. "Calm down, my dear," he said. "All will be revealed in time, I assure you."
The small group moved into a largish room nearby, as Gwaihir took his leave, with many thanks from the elves and the wizard. Eleriel, Galadriel, Celeborn and Gandalf sat themselves in elegantly carved chairs, padded with silvery gray cushions. The elves listened in fascination as Gandalf told them his story.
For nearly twenty minutes he told them of his fight with the Balrog, and what happened after the battle. When he was done, the elves sat in stunned silence. Galadriel recovered first. She stood and said, "you are weary, my old friend. You must rest." A look from her convinced Eleriel and Celeborn not to ask any questions. Galadriel summoned an elf to show Gandalf to a place where he might rest, then took her leave, saying that she, too, was tired.
Eleriel and her grandfather, however, were not tired at all. They remained awake for several hours, talking cheerfully. Eleriel had always been closer to her grandfather than she was to her grandmother or either of her parents. Grandfather and granddaughter spoke for awhile, for they had not had much time to do so in the past weeks. Eventually the talk shifted to Legolas.
"Granddaughter, I know that you still pine for your life with him. I have seen you."
"I am too tired of it, Grandfather," Eleriel said wearily.
"I know you are, Eleriel," Celeborn answered gently, "but perhaps that will change someday." He smiled gently at her. "I will take my leave now, for it is late at night. Get some rest, my dear." He kissed her forehead gently and left her to her thoughts. After a few minutes, Eleriel stood and retired to her chambers.
~~@ @~~ ~~@ @~~ ~~@ @~~
The next morning Eleriel slept late. When she woke with a start close to eleven in the morning, she dressed quickly and rushed down to the Main Hall, where Galadriel and Celeborn would probably be with Gandalf. As she approached the doors, she slowed when she heard her name.
"So Eleriel saw Legolas again." It was Gandalf's voice.
"She did," answered Galadriel's voice. "It didn't go as planned."
"We shouldn't be forcing this," Celeborn broke in. "They should work their problems out on their own time."
"Their own time? Celeborn, we don't know how much time remains for the elves on Middle Earth! You know as well as I what is needed." Galadriel's voice was soft and sad.
"But is it necessary?" Gandalf asked, his deep voice resigned.
"I think it is," Galadriel replied, as Celeborn spoke at the same time.
"Of course it isn't!" he exclaimed. "Haven't they been through enough already?"
"It is a heavy price to ask of them, but you both know in your hearts that it might be vital. Of course, there is always that chance that it will not, but all the same... can we take that risk? Isn't it better to be safe than sorry?" Galadriel sounded jaded, tired of her life on Middle Earth, and Eleriel was struck anew by the realization of exactly how old her grandparents were. At the same time she wondered. What were they speaking of? What did this have to do with Legolas? And why was her grandfather so reluctant?
"Your Lady is right, I'm afraid, Celeborn," Gandalf said mournfully.
He sighed. "I know it. I just... I was talking with her last night, and I did speak carefully to him while he was here. But I do not think they are ready for this!"
"Why?" Gandalf asked.
"You did not see them. They are still both so afraid of their emotions..."
"'Afraid' isn't the word I would use for them, Celeborn," Galadriel interrupted. "But I know what you mean. Reluctant, perhaps, is a better word." She paused. "But it will be hard enough for her as it is... and this will most certainly make it harder. And the matter of Aragorn and Arwen adds heartache to it as well." Galadriel hesitated again, and continued, "and do you know how close she is to her brothers, Gandalf? I fear that this could be much more difficult than we originally anticipated. We shall have to speak to her father again."
Gandalf mumbled something that Eleriel could not hear, and the talk moved on to the plight of the Rohirrim. Eleriel moved away, her mind swimming. What could be so serious that all three of them were worried?
Eleriel walked for a few minutes before returning to the Main Hall. She knocked politely and entered when she heard Celeborn. "Enter."
Eleriel curtsied politely. "Hello," she said cheerfully, not betraying her worry. The faces of the wizard and her grandparents remained equally neutral, not betraying the fact that they had just been planning her life for her. The four of them spoke politely for awhile, until Eleriel excused herself. It was time for her patrol.
Eleriel returned to her chambers and changed into her patrol clothes. For the next few hours she searched the trees around Caras Galadhon with a few other elves, but her mind was not on the patrol. Nor, it seemed, were the minds of her companions. Eleriel listened absently to their conversation.
"Have you heard?" one said excitedly. "The ships in the Havens are more crowded than ever! Our people are truly leaving these shores, my friends... perhaps I will make the journey soon."
"That's old news," his friend said scornfully. "What about the news of the Rohirrim? Have you heard about their King? I hear that he has become an ally of Saruman himself."
"Ha!" laughed the third derisively. "Don't be silly. The Rohirrim would never do that. The Gondorians, though... I've heard that they've become increasingly aggressive. Do you know that I think they might be planning an all out attack on Mordor? If you can believe it..."
Eleriel's eyes widened slightly at the mention of Gondor but her companions did not notice. After an uneventful patrol they returned to Caras Galadhon. Eleriel headed back for her chambers and contemplated the events of her day.
As she wandered the flets and walkways of Caras Galadhon, Eleriel's jaw tightened and her eyes glared in determination. "I'm tired of letting them control my life!" she muttered to herself, and stormed to her rooms. For the first time in years, she was going to leave Lothlorien. And she knew where she was going...
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Haha! Wouldn't you like to know where she's going! So would I… ha ha, no just kidding. Feel free to send me your guesses, maybe I'll be inspired and change the story line. I PROMISE that she isn't going to a) Join the Fellowship or b) follow Frodo and Sam to Mordor. I swear she won't do that….
Ummm yeah sorry it took me so long to update! I have been having some serious computer problems here, guys. I'm sorry this chapter was short, but at least it was an important chapter, not just a fluff space-filler. At least I think it was important… kind of… maybe? Oh well. Tell me what you think! Or not, either way. By the way, thanks for the good reviews I've gotten already… they make me very happy J.