Chapter Two: Then all of a sudden...

Elrohir frowned. "And what do you suppose we do with it?" he asked.

"Him," Ancalimë corrected, "Not it. Was he not made by Eru, just as we?" They spoke in Elvish, for Cali and I had taken Drogo to Elrohir our captain to ask what should be done with him. It became clear, however, that we couldn't just return him to his home.

The hobbit stood between us and Elrohir, not understanding but turning to us with wide eyes as we spoke. Every so often we would hear the quiet sound of him nibbling on the food we'd given him.

"Even so," said Elrohir, "What should we do? Mithrandir told us not to disturb the peace of these halflings, and here you have stolen one?"
"He was lost in the woods!" Cali replied, beginning to sound offended. "We helped him! Mithrandir will understand. He is an Istari, after all." Elrohir sighed again. I had never seen him frown so deeply as he did then.

"What do you propose we do?" he said again, this time as a question rather than an exasperated statement. All were silent for several long minutes. Then a thought struck me.

"Why don't we ask him?" We looked at one another in silence for a moment and then watched as Cali knelt before Drogo. He looked again on her in wonder and before she could ask her question, he spoke.

"Are you elves?" Cali looked up at Elrohir, to me, and then back down at Drogo.
"Yes we are," she said softly, giving him a curious look. The halfling smiled broadly.

"You do exist!" he cried merrily, looking around at us. "My cousin has told us many tales of his adventures with elves, but no one ever believed him!" He looked right at Cali. "He said they were the most beautiful people he'd ever seen." I saw her face flush as if embarrassed and felt a sudden jealousy at the implication of his words. I knew that he had said it innocently enough, but I couldn't control my reaction. Cali was like a little sister to me and that necessarily meant that I was a little protective of her. However, she seemed more flattered than anything by his words and smiled back at him. "You don't suppose," Drogo continued, looking around himself as he did, "I couldn't spend the night with you, could I?" Cali looked up at me and I saw the hopeful look in her eyes. "I'm quite lost, you see, and I won't be able to find my way back until it's light out..."

"We could show him the way back in the morning," said Cali, "the others need never know we're here."
"He does," said Elrohir, pointing to Drogo. "He'll tell the others and they'll come into the woods looking for us." He looked down at the halfling and sighed. "We can't let him go back now. Not while we're still here. We'll have to keep him with us."

Later that night, as most were out on the borders of the forest on watch, a few of us, Cali and myself included, remained in the camp to watch Drogo. It was a beautiful clear night, and a few of us started singing. Cali and her friend Tyssa, who was also from Imladris, sang a song to Yavanna and we all listened in awed silence. To the rest of us it was beautiful, but to Drogo, it seemed almost a heavenly experience. He very literally saw us all as angels, the way we would look to the Maiar, or even the Valar. For a long time after their song ended, Drogo still sat with his eyes closed and a peaceful smile on his face. When he finally opened his eyes again, he looked up at us as if for the first time. He finally blinked, as if coming out of a wonderful dream.

"Can I sing?" he asked softly. Cali in particular, was delighted at the idea and Tyssa also encouraged him. I was sitting a little way off watching it all and I smiled as Drogo volunteered to share a song with us. He stood, clasping his hands behind his back and began his simple tune.

I met an elf maiden fair,
With eyes like jewels and raven hair,
When I was lost in dark of night,
She rescued me in the twilight

I asked if I could stay with her,
And I was filled with awe and fear,
As I had never met before
The elves as told in Shire lore

So beautiful with eyes so bright,
I see in them an inner light,
She must have been sent from above
And right away, I fall in love

I met an elf maiden fair,
And I'll follow without a care,
To leave my home and all my kin
To spend my days with my maiden

The song went on for several more verses, but I didn't hear the rest, and neither did Cali. I saw the tears forming in her eyes as she listened to the little man pouring his heart out to her in song. She looked up to the stars to hide it from us, of course, but I'd seen it and so had Tyssa who put an arm around her friend. Drogo finally finished his song and several who had been listening, oblivious to the real meaning of his words, applauded the halfling and he sat down again, his face a deep scarlet. Another elf, Cuinan, began his song as Cali got up and headed alone into the woods. I got up and followed her.

I stayed a distance away from her at first, not sure exactly why she had left the circle. I looked back and saw that Drogo was sitting with Tyssa and the two were talking quietly. I saw Cali not too far into the trees, struggling to keep from crying. My heart went out to her and so I went in and hugged her. But I had misunderstood. I had thought that his words had hurt her in some way, but when she looked up at me she was smiling.

"Cali?" I asked. For the first time since we'd met, I didn't know what she was thinking. Her smile widened as she tried to tell me what she was feeling.

"His song, it's...." She shook her head. "But he's a halfling, I could never..." She began pacing, sorting things out in her own head, only fragments of her thoughts being spoken aloud. "But then he said it himself...maybe we could...no, he'd never allow it..." then she stopped and looked at me. "Lindir? Do you think we could take him with us? To Imladris?"

"You're not serious," I said. "Mithrandir-"

"They already know about elves, Lindir, you heard him. You can't use that excuse again. And besides, he-" she stopped herself, not wanting to admit it to me. I of course knew what she was going to say anyway.

"He loves you," I said, "And you love him, don't you?" She looked down as if ashamed, and then very slowly I saw her smile again.

"And you think that's bad?" she asked. I shook my head, and for a long time could not think of a response.

"No," I said finally, "I think it's impossible. It will never work! You're too different."

"Nothing is impossible if you want it badly enough," she whispered. I sighed.
"Fine. You go explain to Elrohir why we're bringing a hobbit to Imladris. I'll have no part of this." As I look back on this, I should have been more supportive of her at the time, but it was only because I cared for her that I had protested. I knew that this could only end with her getting hurt and I wanted to prevent that. As it turned out, however, I may have been part of the cause. She stared me down and then turned and left without a word.

Several hours later I heard that Elrohir had agreed to bring the halfling to Imladris. I didn't hear it from Cali, though, but from Tyssa. Cali, she said, was also leaving but there was no mention of the reason why she was going, even though Tyssa and I both knew it. The next morning Cali and her team left the woods, without even a goodbye.