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Thanks to all those who reviewed- keep em coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so dark, and cold. I could feel a breeze blowing forcefully across my skin. It wasn't a comforting breeze, like those on a summer day, it was a harsh wind that chilled me to the bone. I stood carefully, not wanting to get any colder, but no wished to remain in the dark either. I stretched my arms out, desperately searching for something to hold onto. My bare feet were painful on the frozen floor. I could feel my teeth chattering. My hand brushed up against something and a light flew on.

I gasped as I looked around.

I was in my old bedroom, everything still in its place. It was just as I had left it. My bed made and the curtains drawn. I felt tears welling up in my eyes. It had been so long since I had been here. I had missed it, actually, no I hadn't. I had hardly thought about home. I didn't want to think of what I'd left behind. To think of my mum and my brother and sister made my heart clench. I heard the front door slam.

I stretched my hand towards the door, but my hand went straight through the handle, I tried again, but again it went straight through.

Tentatively, I shut my eyes and walked through the door.

I opened one eye and carefully looked around, the door to my sisters room was open and low music was floating down the hallway. It was Bach, she loved classical music. I made my way to her room to find my sister lying on the floor, curled up. Her face pale and her eyes red rimmed as if she had spent hours crying.

"Susan, Susan". No response. I walked over to her and bent down, "Susan!" I shouted. But nothing.

I desperately tried to figure it out. I'm dead here, I killed myself, or did I? How come she can't hear me. Or am I not dead and this is just a dream. But everything seems so real, except for the fact that I can't touch anything, which is weird.

Shaking my head I left her and went downstairs.

I could hear the TV blaring. Jerry Springer was chatting away about some useless subject as usual. I walked into the kitchen to find a scene that I never though I'd have to see.

My brother Matt, was sprawled on the small couch which we kept in the connected dining room. That in itself was nothing new. But the leggy blonde, crawling all over him and he bottle of Vodka that he had clutched in his hand were. Never in all my life had I thought that this is what would become of my brother.

Where were mum and 'dad'. I turned sharply on my heal and went back into he living room. My eyes scanned every inch of the room trying to find a clue as to where they might be.

As I was about to give up my eyes rested on the coffee table where a spread newspaper lay, a half filled coffee cup keeping it open.

" Mother of two killed by wayward husband "

the headline filled me with panic, but when I saw the picture I snapped. Big fat tears making their way down my cheeks and splashing onto the paper, smudging the words.

"…whose twenty one year old daughter committed suicide earlier this year", my eyes read on, "…multiple stab wounds in the chest".

Oh my god, he'd stabbed my mother to death. What about him,

"…was found hung in his cell in the early hours of the morning".

I was numb. The tears had stopped. He'd killed her and killed himself. Part of me felt relief, but the vengeful part of me felt cheated. He killed himself, he didn't have to live with what he'd done. That's not fair.

If this was home and I'd been given the chance to come back for a little while, I wanted to know why. It was just cruel. To see my brother and sister like this and to find out that my mum was dead.

I backtracked. Does that mean that she'll come to Middle-Earth like I did? But if she does, doesn't that mean that he'll come to.

My thoughts went to Legolas. My elf. I know that he'd protect me, and I'd love for him to meet my mum. She'd love him. But if he found my dad, I'm so sure I'd wan to be around to witness what happened. Or Adar or Haldir…and the twins, for that matter. It wouldn't be pretty.

I felt tired and my eyes lids started to close against my will. I wanted to stay behind and help, or just have one last look at everything.

I looked down at myself- I was back in Middle-Earth. It was as if I was floating above me and Legolas.

We looked so sweet. The sun coming through the windows. His arms tightly wrapped around me. His golden hair flowing down our shoulders. A small and very sexy smile was playing on his soft lips.

The covers had come down while we were sleeping and were now tangled round our waists, revealing more that I'd normally care too. But I had changed while I had been in Middle-Earth.

I didn't deserve him. He looked so angelic lying there. And there was me, in his arms, with scarred arms and a hideous chest. The scars stood out a mile to me. Legolas assured me that when I had become elven they had faded a little, but they were still there, plain as day.

My eyes were watering again. And I was beginning to wonder whether this was a dream or not, well course it's a dream, normally, people don't float on mid air!

But I did want to know what was going on, why had I gone home.

I felt a jolt and then everything went black again.

---

I felt Thalia shoot up from the confines of my arms. Her shoulders shook violently and her breath came in ragged succession.

I got up and sat in front of her. Her face was ashen and her eyes wide. She put her hand up and grasped mine.

"I…can't…breathe…Elrond"

ignoring the cold stone against my bare feet, I quickly threw on a robe and asked the nearest person to go and retrieve Elrond. And then raced back into our room.

Thalia was now sat with her back against the headboard desperately trying to catch her breath. Her eyes found mine. I could see that she was beginning to panic as tears gathered at the corners of her eyes.

Her long hair fell from its binding, shrouding her face. I was by her side instantly. I couldn't come up with any solutions. I reached for her and gently put my hand on her back, rubbing in large circles, hoping to somehow soothe her. Her arms weakly gripped mine in a frantic bid for help.

"Shh, shh. It's alright Elrond's on his way. Shh".

My words were not having much effect and I was not sure whether they were to soothe her or me.

The time seemed to pass very slowly. Thalia was getting no better and Elrond had not yet arrived.

My head shot up as Elrond, clad in his normal robes of deep red, burst through the door, followed by Haldir and a dishevelled Glorfindel.

Elrond set to work immediately. He motioned for me to move, and he gently pushed her, face down into my chest. His hands roamed around her back searching for something. I could feel the front of my robe become wet with her tears as she tried to breathe.

I watched as he pushed on the bottom of her back, it seemed to help her a little but she still could not draw breath. He pulled her up and laid her torso on his. He put his hand under her breasts and pushed until her breathing became normal.

She closed her eyes as her tears ceased. I felt my heart jump as she opened them slowly, the remaining tears falling from her lashes. She tiredly held out her arms and I instantly gathered her into my arms.

I looked over her shoulder at Elrond.

"What happened?"

"She has moved through the Realms"

"What do you mean?" Haldir asked from his seat next to the bed.

"for some reason the Valar had given her a chance, for some unknown reason, to let her go back to her home for a short while"

"And she did that, in her dreams?"

"But how? She does not bear a ring of power. And is it not true that only those who bear a ring can travel through the realms", I frowned at Glorfindel's words and looked down at Thalia, who still had her head buried in my chest.

Elrond stood and made his way to the door.

"I can say only this. There will be trials ahead, however, it is not my place to tell you".

And he left, giving us no further indication of the meaning behind his words.

Glorfindel approached the bed and sat down behind Thalia. putting one hand on her back he asked her whether she knew what Elrond had said.

She looked up at me wearily and sat up.

"Alright. I'll tell you".

Haldir rose from his seat and joined us on the bed.

"In my dreams I went home. My room was the same, nothing at all had changed, and it was as if I had never left. I left my room and found my sister. She was huddled in a ball on her floor. Her room was a mess, there were clothes on the floor and books on her bed. That wasn't like her.

I went downstairs and found my brother, he was sat on the couch in the dining room. Some blonde slut was all over him. And he'd been drinking. He never used to drink".

Her eyes glazed and she moved away from me, drawing her knees up and resting her head on them. My body already missed her heat and I yearned to hold her again. I managed to restrain myself as I reminded myself of the situation. I had thought my love was going to die. I could not stand to lose her. I had felt her desperation and pain through our bond, yet I could do nothing.

"I went into the living room and I saw the paper. There was a picture of my mother on it," her voice cracked as she struggled to maintain her composure, " she'd been killed. It said multiple stab wounds, so that means that she could've been stabbed anything from five to at least fifteen times. And he killed her".

A sharp jolt of pain passed through our bond as her composure broke and she sobbed. I could not move, her pain was too much for her handle.

"But what if she's here, I came here when I killed myself, so does that mean that's she's here as well? And him, he must be here, it said that he'd killed himself while he was in prison. He'll come and get me, he'll get me. And he'll kill me or take me away".

Glorfindel reached out to her and she moved away from him. My eyes followed her broken form to the bathroom. I heard the lock click and water begin to run.

"I shall go and ask Elrond about this, he will know what has become of them, maybe they are here. I shall inform you as soon as I know".

"We should leave her to bathe". Haldir said as he rose from his seat, I will come by later and see how she is".

"Will you send word when you can, I do not wish my daughter to succumb to grief"

I nodded my head in understanding. I felt the same. Already I could feel her grief for her mother setting within her

---

I couldn't believe that my mum was dead. Part of me was happy and hopeful, maybe she had come here. It's possible. But if she was here, he was probably here with her. And he'd come and get me. He wouldn't let me stay with Adar and Legolas.

Legolas, I wanted so much to go and crawl into his lap and just hug him and never let go. But I had put him through enough and it wasn't fair to tell him.

I crawled over to the washbasin and got my make-up bag. There was a spare razor in there. Once again, as I had done many times before, I drew the blade across my skin. And it hurt. It actually hurt. It hasn't hurt me in years. It felt delicious. Some part of me wanted to hurt, wanted to punish myself for something. I had hurt my family and my friends and I should be punished for it.

I cut slowly and deeply. Each cut getting a little deeper than the last. Until finally I felt exhausted.

I set the razor down and took off the night-dress I was wearing.

The bathroom was gorgeous. It was a beige colour with light grey tiles on the floor and the same cloud-like painting on the ceiling.

I sat in the bath for a least an hour, I was too occupied with my thoughts to notice the time. I was quite happy sitting there, until Legolas knocked on the door and startled me out of my thoughts. It's not his fault, it's just that he interrupted a really good brooding session.

"Glorfindel has news of your family",

I immediately got out of the bath and threw on a bathrobe. I nearly stormed out of the room and ran through Adar.

I gave him a quick hug before he could say anything. His smell comforted me. His broad shoulders gave me a sense of being protected, and as long as Adar was around, nothing could get me.

Reluctantly I moved back and let him talk.

"Thalia, your mother is in Middle-Earth. Scouts have been sent out to try and find her. However, this also means that you father is also here.

I could feel my legs starting to fail me and Legolas appeared from nowhere and grabbed me before I could hit the floor.

I felt tired and I wanted to sleep. I just wanted it all to stop. I had finally been happy. I had an elf that loved me. A father and three new brothers. I was happy.

Was that not good enough for them- stupid Valar.

I broke away from Legolas and got into bed, not bothering to get changed.

I closed my eyes and gave into sleep- where hopefully, nothing would get me.

---

I watched her let go of Legolas and crawl into bed. She looked so young and I was reminded how young she actually was. Yet she had been through much.

She looked angelic. Her face bathed in the soft light, hair spread about her face.

I turned back to Legolas. This was important. I knew how I felt and had no doubts to how he felt.

"Her father is here Legolas" I spat out the word father. He was no father. A man who beat his child, who drove his child to suicide, he was no father.

Legolas' eyes widened and a look of malice and hatred appeared in his eyes. The mask of indifference slipping for once.

"Scouts have reported seeing a male of the same description that Thalia gave us. He is also wearing clothing of similar fabrics to those which she has arrived in. We are sure that it is him".

"What will be done?" he hissed. I had rarely seen Legolas show such contempt for another being.

"He will be found, and he will be brought to trial"

I walked over to my daughter and kissed her brow before turning to leave.

"He will be found Legolas"

and with that I bid him good night, I very much doubted that they would be joining us for dinner this eve. Elrond would postpone the feast.

Unbeknownst to them all. A dark figure stood among the trees, watching and waiting.