AN: Well, this is late, but I've been sick! Ha! So there. I'm going to try to get things moving, so there might be huge time jumps in the next chapter or two, but it's all good. A very big THANK YOU to breenNbloom and Ryoki, my only reviewers for the last chapter! Not to mention that bree reviewed every single chapter! Yey!

breeNbloom: I'm so glad you like my story, thank you so much! In answer to your questions...a candlemark is like an hour; since they don't have clocks, they have candles which have lines that mark off each hour (or they have different colors and each color represents an hour) and as the candle burns, time passes...I have never found anything that says Haldir isn't gay and to me he just always has been gay...Gil-galad was the last High King of Noldor, he died when he and Elendil (and Elrond and bunch of other elves and men) marched on Mordor.

Ryoki: I know, I sorta liked it...being deep that is. We'll see how it all turns out, but maybe I'll do it again.

"English talking"
'thinking'
~Galadriel mind-speaking~
*Elvish talking*

Time continued to pass, years went by and Verdi forgot her old life. She remembered stuff, obviously, her friends, her family, but it was all distant, like someone else's story. Occasionally something would stir a memory, a scent or the way someone said something, yet she felt just as at home, if not more at home, with the elves as she had ever felt with her own people. Her desire for music grew stronger with each passing day. She practiced for hours, by herself and with others; the better she became, the more she enjoyed playing and the harder she worked to improve. Unfortunately, her desire for other learning was not so strong. Never one for languages, after the initial easiness, she found learning Westron to be awful. It seemed that she couldn't remember anything from one day to the next, despite the variety of teachers and teaching styles she was given. Her lessons were a chore more than any other work she had to do and often wondered why she was being tortured, but no answers were given.

Thankfully, not all her time was spent with such intellectual pursuits, she continued to play with the elflings and do her share of work around Lothlorien. She became close friends with Enelya and the two often enjoyed playing tricks on others. A favorite target (besides the other elflings) was Haldir; after experiencing various hair colors (including blue, green, red and pink) and missing random pieces of clothing at important times, he began to relax and laugh at their antics. Not that he found them immediately funny, but a few weeks later he would smile (and grimace) at the memories. Verdi actually developed a good relationship with the Marchwarden, once and a while they could be found riding together. When he had time, he tried to teach her some basic self defense, at Galadriel's request, though the practices often ended up being more fun than work. After all, who could not enjoy beating on Haldir?

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'Twenty-five! I am twenty-five today!' At least, Verdi assumed it was her birthday; her watch had used up its batteries long ago, but, judging by the seasons, she had approximated her birthing day. Not that she ever did anything, the elves lived so long that celebrating such a thing every year would become tedious. 'I feel so old! But I feel restless too, I feel like I'm not doing anything. Everyday is the same.' For the past week, Verdi had been more frustrated than usual with her lessons and a gloom had come over her. In some ways it was that she was being treated like she was still young, even though she felt mature. The elves distorted view of time led them to occasionally forget Verdi's relative age; still a baby to them, she was in reality about a quarter through her life. Back home she would probably have a real job, be living on her own and supporting herself; the lifestyle she had grown up in could not be forgotten so easily and she thought herself well below her old society's standards.

'Oh no, it's time to go to my lesson again. I hate it! Why do I have to go? This is so stupid!' Then it hit her, why should she go? it wasn't like they were going to do anything to her if she didn't go. 'I'll go for a walk instead, it's a nice day and it'll be much more fun. Then if they get mad at me, I'll just say I got lost.'

That decided, Verdi left her room and walked out into the forest without looking back. She wandered around, following the trails she had walked many times before with Enelya or Haldir, or even Galadriel occasionally. She stopped a few times to pick some berries or drink from a stream, but mostly she just walked and thought.

After two hours, she realized she was lost. 'I could've sworn I knew where I was, how did I manage to get lost again? Maybe I'll go home...' Verdi wasn't sure she wanted to go home; five years ago she would've been happy, but now she wasn't so sure. Would she fit in? There was so much she must have missed. 'I don't know if I could even hold a conversation in English anymore.' She remembered very little German, and rarely talked in English. Sometimes she sang in English, but it was weird to talk with no one to understand.

'Well, someone will find me. All these elves and their super senses, they'll find me.' But Verdi wasn't sure she wanted to be found and she inadvertently kept walking in the same direction she had set out in. With the setting sun to her back and a previous unknown wanderlust, Verdi hiked through the forest, confident in the elven ability to rescue her.

Little did she know that back in the city, the elves were frantic. No one could find her and even Galadriel couldn't sense her presence. It was as if the forest had consumed her.