Author's note: I was blown away by the amount of feedback I received with the last two chapters. It really makes an author want to write and update quickly. I don't think you guys know how much I appreciate your words and how much I really take them to heart.
As for why I'm late again this week. This weekend, my car died on my so for the last three days I've been going crazy trying to get it fixed. I haven't even taken the time to check my email yet. It's still not fixed lol so you're lucky I just decided to post this anyway. Anyway, I apologize for being late, but it couldn't be helped.
On another note, it's come to my attention that I have been missing some things that need to be corrected. I don't know how the crazy I miss these things because I read each chapter at least twice before posting it for you guys, but I do lol. So, in an effort to make sure my chapters are as good as they can be, I am requesting a beta reader. I've never really had one before, but I think I could use one on this story. I could use a good editor hehe.
As another request, if someone volunteers, I would really hope that you have a fairly large understanding of grammar and that you have access to such instant messengers as AIM or Yahoo so that we could discuss your thoughts on the chapter and you can show me what I've done wrong. This is just a thought and if nobody is willing to do this, that's ok too. I just thought it might be a good idea to have someone else looking at the story before I post it. Fresh eyes might see things that mine don't lol. But, anywho …enjoy this next installment.
Side note: I didn't have time to write you all individual thank you's, but that doesn't mean I appreciate you any less. You guys are awesome and I look forward to reading your replies regarding this chapter.
Chapter 12Legolas carefully re-kindled the flames of the fire placing each stick and log in it's correct place in an attempt to stoke the fire enough to keep the halflings for the rest of the night. He could tell they were cold by the way they huddled closely together with their elvish cloaks draped over their small bodies.
They were sleeping fairly peacefully considering there wasn't much comfort to be found on the stony ground. It had been a long, somewhat uneventful day, yet even such days were enough to wear their bodies and minds. Legolas himself felt a great deal of exhaustion himself and that was saying a lot.
He placed the last log and made his way next to his dwarvish friend, taking a seat on the hard ground and leaning his back against a fallen tree. He leaned his head back and glanced up at the stars, wondering if it was possible that the one he loved was looking at the same stars at that same moment.
It warmed his heart to think it possible and made a night without her manageable.
Aragorn and Boromir stood stiffly beside a large boulder near the river. They were facing each other and it was obvious by the stiffness of their shoulders that there was an argument currently going on. There was no idea in Legolas' mind what their argument topic was. And his suspicions were confirmed when Aragorn's last words echoed through the camp causing both Legolas and Gimli to wince.
"I would not lead the ring within a thousand leagues of your city." He spat out angrily before turning and walking away from a very red faced Boromir. There had been an evident wall between the two since leaving Rivendell and it was obvious that Boromir had great pride in his city. He was in denial about Aragorn's heritage and unwilling to think of him as king.
Legolas shook his head and turned to Gimli who had chosen to ignore the escapade between the two men. Instead his attentions were drawn to the newly kindled fire and a freshly lit pipe, filled with an elvish pipe weed that he was growing quite fond of.
"This is no way to be traveling together. I wonder if Lady Galadriel had this in mind when she sent us on our way by the river." Legolas wasn't speaking to anyone in particular, mostly just vocalizing his thoughts. Yet, Gimli felt compelled to reply all the same.
"The Lady of the light is wise in all things. She would have known that this was a difficult path to take, but she must also know something that we do not." He lowered his pipe and looked at the elf fully, the tone in his voice changing with the topic. "Aragorn is fighting himself. His quarell with Boromir has more to do with his feelings about becoming king than his doubt in the white city itself."
Legolas nodded his head in agreement. "Aye, I know. It's just that their arguments could not come at a worse time. We have enough enemies roaming near us without fighting amongst ourselves."
"You are right, Legolas." Aragorn said as he stepped into the light, his footsteps not making a single sound. His shoulders were slumped slightly as he felt a sense of shame weighing upon them, though quickly straightening as Boromir himself walked up to the fire. "We should not be arguing about trivial things when there are more heavily weighing matters at hand. I apologize for my gruffness, but not my words for I meant them completely."
Boromir nodded his head in agreement, though he remained quite. Deep down he agreed with Aragorn's decision of not taking the ring to his city, but he was struggling to keep control over his growing urges and taking the fellowship to Gondor, where he felt his strength dwelled, was the only way he knew how to make sure he maintained his control.
He looked down at the halflings and sighed audibly. "We make it seem as if this journey is harder on us than anyone else and yet, looking at them, spending time with them, I am reminded that it is the halflings that have it the hardest. Yet, they never complain. I admire that." Boromir's eyes briefly glanced at Frodo and his eyes faintly caught the discerning gleam of the ring just peeking out of his shirt. He quickly deflected his gaze and focused on the fire, hoping his companions had not seen him look.
Legolas had seen his gaze and he could still see the glazed look in Boromir's eyes at the thought of possessing the ring, but he chose to remain visibly unaware. Voicing his thoughts would only spawn other disagreements and he would not willingly be the cause of them.
There was silence between them now and though under normal circumstances it might be seen as awkward, they relished the silence and considered it a moment of well earned peace. It was probably the last time of peace they would have to enjoy for many days to come.
(The next day in Lothlorien)
Her eyes were closed as the warmth of the sun shined down upon her darkened skin. The elf sitting behind her, braiding her hair was still fair of skin. But, not Julia. No, her skin was beginning to tan in the pure sunlight and she frowned the when she saw the contras in color when she held her hand up against the ivory skin of her handmaiden, Kylia.
"I'm am so different from all of you." Julia spoke, her voice breathy with a somewhat lazy tone. "Do you think it's odd that I look like this and yet I am the granddaughter of she who is most fair?"
"You're different, yes. But is that truly such a bad thing?" Kylia ran the brush delicately through Julia's silky tendrils. "I think that instead of thinking you odd, the other elves, including myself, think of you with great admiration. You have a beauty that no one in this land can rival."
"I do not wish to rival anyone. I just want to understand why I look so completely different and why no one will tell me anything about my parents."
The brushing was paused as Kylia leaned down and embraced Julia gently. "Perhaps you should focus more on the present time and future and let the past remain where it belongs." At Julia's loud sigh she continued her speech. "Your past will make its presence known when you are truly ready for it. You need to trust in your grandparents, who are older and wiser. Trust that they know what is best for you."
"I don't know that they do. They haven't even made an attempt to talk to me since the fellowship left the woods. While it doesn't surprise me that my grandfather doesn't care to speak with me, I am surprised that my grandmother doesn't wish to my company."
"Do you assume so much?" resuming her brushing, and knowing that she was stepping out of her boundaries as a handmaiden, Kylia decided it was best to speak truthfully in that moment. "When last I checked the last words spoken between you and Lady Galadriel were less that pleasant. Maybe instead of waiting for her to come to you, you should go to her. You make first contact and resolve the uncomfortable wall that stands between you."
"I know that you are right, but I can't seem to convince myself to actually do what you're suggesting. I feel like she overreacted and that I was not in the wrong. Why should I be the one to resolve this when I don't think I did anything wrong?" She easily pulled away from Kylia's grasp and stood up, wrapping her arms closely around her body and thinking back on the day she and her grandmother stopped talking. It had only been a couple of days and yet it felt like an eternity, at least as far as Julia was concerned.
There had never been such uncomfortable silence between them before. Then again, Julia had never once gone against Galadriel's wishes before so it was a new experience for both of them.
"Sometimes we must do things that we don't like to rectify situations, Julia." Kylia stepped closer to Julia and touched her arm gently. "Sometimes even the wisest people allow their pride to get in the way of themselves. It is true, Lady Galadriel is the wisest of the wise, but even she is not perfect. She allows her feelings for you to affect her more deeply than you know."
Julia quickly turned, her eyes flaring briefly. "That's just it! I don't know anything. No one will speak with me."
"Then make them speak. GO to them, Julia. Tell them what you feel."
"Do you honestly think it would do any good?"
"I wouldn't say it if I didn't." Kylia felt badly for the position Julia had been forced into, but the loyalty she held towards Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn was also fueling her words and giving her the incentive she needed to get Julia to make the first, most difficult step.
With a slight nod of her head, Julia exhaled loudly. "Alright. I'll go talk to my grandmother. She would be the easiest first step." She glanced at Kylia and smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "I'm afraid there's much too far a distance between my grandfather and I for me to even attempt a reconciliation between us today."
"You can't do everything at once, Julia. Your relationship with Celeborn will heal eventually. Until then, your grandmother is your greatest adversary aside from Haldir. She will not turn you away and she will do everything in her power to do as you wish if she thinks it will help you."
"I know." Julia closed her eyes and listened to the sounds reverberating inside her head. "She's at the mirror." Her eye lids fluttered briefly as she sensed something that had not been there before. Her grandmother's heart was heavy with worry and that was very unlike her.
"What is it, Julia?"
She frowned and her head tilted to one side as she worked her way through some of her own cluttered thoughts to gain a clearer view of Galadriel. "My grandmother is filled with sorrow." Her eyes snapped completely open. "I must go to her."
Kylia nodded her head vigorously. "Of course. Go, quickly!"
Julia headed upstairs and down numerous passageways, walking through the halls she had explored and memorized easily as a child. Though she wasn't even paying attention to them now as she swiftly made her way to the one place she had never been allowed to visit on her own. The mirror of Galadriel was something that she had feared as a child. She had never once looked inside of it and still, even now, she had no will to look into its crystal water. Her fear of it still remained.
True, the ability to see into her past or future appealed to that questioning area of her mind, but sometimes, though verbally out loud she would proclaim differently, it was best to remain unaware of certain things. There was no going back once something was learned and the knowledge would forever dwell in the mind long after it had first been acquired.
Even now, though she was anxious to reach her grandmother, she worried about what she was going to be walking into. It caused curiosity to sprout as she wondered what could possibly be the reason for Galadriel's outbreak of sorrowful emotions. To be honest with herself, she had never once seen her grandmother less that perfectly composed and it was a bit startling to think that no longer to be true.
But she had no time to dwell on the issue as she reached the staircase that lead to the mirror. Each step was cushioned with grass and made no sound as she quickly stepped upon them and effortlessly made her way to the bottom with ease.
Galadriel stood next to the mirror gazing into it's center, her head was bent down and yet her shoulders remained straight and strong.
"Grandmother?" Julia spoke softly, as she walked caughtiously, taking each step as slowly as possible to her grandmother's side.
"Julia." Her shoulders relaxed a bit as she turned to face her granddaughter; her eyes were glistening as she stepped forward to wrap her arms securely around Julia. "I'm so sorry."
Bewildered, Julia tightened her arms around Galadriel offering an unspoken comfort. For what she did not know. "There is nothing to be sorry for, grandmother. Why do you cry?"
Galadriel pulled away and smiled sadly, cupping Julia's face affectionately in her hands, noting the way her face no longer fit into the palm of her hands. She could remember the first moment after her birth when she had held Julia in her arms. She'd been so small. So innocent. So untouched. But, as she stood before her grown granddaughter, she realized that Julia had grown up without her truly realizing it. She had formed into something spectacular and it was time for Julia to know what other purposes her life held.
Galadriel felt a sharp tug at her heart when she thought of all the moments she'd missed in her granddaughter's life. So much of her life had gone unseen to Galadriel's eyes and yet Julia still loved her with every breath of her being.
It bothered Galadriel to think that she had done nothing in return. Aside from loving Julia, she had done everything in her power to make sure she remained safe and out of harms way. Yet, here they stood, the world in peril, and Julia knew nothing about what was to come. Nothing about what sick plans the strings of fate held for her. But, she would know some of it now. If she chose to see.
Galadriel pulled away, her eyes suddenly serious with a hint of what looked to Julia as pity. "I need you too look into the mirror." At Julia's immediate withdraw, Galadriel grabbed her arm and held Julia in her place.. "I know that you fear what you will see, but what you ask I cannot tell. You must see with your own eyes what you seek."
Julia glanced at the mirror and a crease formed between her eyes. "I don't want to." She said, turning back to her grandmother. "Why can't you just tell me?"
Galadriel sighed and lowered her head and her voice softened to an almost inaudible volume. "Because it has to be your choice. You have to choose to see." She could see her granddaughter's nervousness as she met her eyes once more. "If I could I would tell you everything you want to know, Julia. But, this is not in my power. It is not my right."
"What will I see?" Julia asked, unknowingly asking the same question Frodo had presented when he was given the choice to look into Galadriel's mirror. He too had felt a strong hesitancy and like Frodo, Julia knew she would look.
"For each person it is different. The only way you will find out is if you look."
Julia's found her bottom lip between her teeth as she nervously weighed her options. She could walk away, now. She could live without knowing the answers to all the questions she'd asked since childhood. Or she could look into the depths of her past, present, and future and possibly grasp some form of closure.
When she thought about it that way, there really was no other option for her. She must face her fears and take a glimpse into her grandmother's mirror.
She took a single step towards the mirror, pausing to glance at her grandmother, as if asking if she was making the right decision. Galadriel remained silent, but Julia took it as a sign that she must continue. There was no turning back for her now as her hands softly grasped the sides and she leaned forward to gaze into the water.
For a moment nothing happened, but quickly that changed as Julia felt as if she were being tugged into another room. As if she was suddenly teleported to a place she'd never seen before.
The first thing she saw was a she-elf sitting in a delicate rocking chair, holding a small bundle in her arms, rocking back and forth to sooth the tired cries of the small baby. She could hear the soft humming of a familiar song and it was in that moment that she realized what she was witnessing. It was her mother.
Tears began to form in her eyes as she saw the woman who had given her life for the first time. She was beautiful and everything that Julia had dreamed she would be. Her hair was long and the color of pure sunshine while her skin was the purest of white and her smile was enough to light up the room completely. Yet, a sadness dwelled deep within her eyes and Julia had a good idea where that sadness had started.
The door opened to the right of her and she watched as her friend and teacher entered room. She'd never seen such a look upon his face before, but found it comforting to see the look of love upon his face. When he spoke, his words were laced with that love and yet her mother remained unaffected by it.
"How is she tonight?" He asked softly.
Julia's mother ran her finger down her tiny cheek and smiled. "She's more beautiful than she was yesterday."
Haldir walked to the chair and kneeled down beside it, leaning to glimpse his loves tiny baby. "She is more beautiful today." He glanced up at her mother and gave her a look of such affection that it made Julia want to cry. She hadn't known that he'd felt that way about her mother. "You may have a rival, Jelah."
"I am no rival to my daughter. She will fill the world with beauty long after I'm gone."
Haldir's facial expression changed to sadness. "He meant that much to you?"
Jelah stood and carefully walked across the room to place her child in the bassinet. "We've had this discussion many times, Haldir. My heart is filled with void. It is only my love for her that has kept me whole for so long." She carefully placed a blanket over Julia and turned to Haldir. "I feel my strength leaving with each passing day."
"Do you not wish to see her grow?"
Her eyes flared at his words. "OF course. I do not wish to leave my child, but I don't know how I can stop it from happening." Her lip trembled and Haldir immediately walked to embrace her. "I loved him so much. It was already too late for me before I realized what he truly was and that he didn't love me back."
"He's not worthy of your love, Jelah. Please stay."
Jelah took a deep breath and sighed into Haldir's chest. "Take care of her for me, Haldir. Keep her from harm." And that was the last thing she heard from her mother's mouth before that scene faded and a new one began.
Julia could have screamed in aggravation as the vision before her changed, but instead of being annoyed, as the picture unfolded before her, she found herself confused at her newest surroundings.
Trees. She was surrounded by endless, evergreen trees. She could smell the fresh piney scent and listened to the sound of the leaves falling airily to the ground, a sudden unease creeping into the mind. She found no sense of safety in her surroundings and she could sense an evil presence that left a bitter taste in the back of her mouth.
Suddenly she heard the sounds of sword crashing and numerous growls and yells coming from behind her. She was immediately transported to a different part of the woods. A part of the woods that held strange looking creatures, at first glance she thought them to be orc, but now she saw they were a much bigger breed. And they were the same creatures that had been in her dreams.
It was then that she saw something that threatened to stop her heart from beating. Legolas. He was running over the rise, firing his arrows with the perfect precision of a master archer, every arrow meeting its mark. His face was strained in concentration as well as a large trace of worry. The creatures surrounded him completely and she wanted desperately to call out to him, but it was impossible. He had no idea she was watching.
She saw Gimli at his side, slashing viciously with his axe. Every swing connecting with blood and bone causing his opponents to fall ungracefully at his feet. Her merely stepped over them and continued to fight.
She looked quickly around them and noticed that Aragorn and the hobbits were nowhere to be seen and a feeling dread grew in her mind as she realized that Boromir was nowhere in sight either.
The trees whizzed by her and once again she was standing in a different part of the forest. This time she saw, with dread, Boromir standing, sword in hand, with two arrows piercing his body. Yet still he fought the seemingly endless beasts charging forward in an effort to possess the hobbits. She gasped loudly when she saw two of them standing directly behind the injured man. Their swords were drawn, but she knew they could not protect themselves and that Boromir was going to die trying to do just that.
Tears filled her eyes and she sobbed as a third and final arrow imbedded itself in Boromir's chest. Then feeling incredibly helpless, she watched as Merry and Pippin were scooped up into the arms of the brutal creatures and carried quickly away. She knew that in their hands, the likely hood of them living was very small.
Her shoulders slumped and it didn't even phase her that the scene had changed once more. This time she was on a battlefield. Inside a large fort filled with fighting men and once again the creatures appeared. This time they were making their way inside the walls of the great fort.
Fallen bodies littered the ground where she walked and she winced with disgust as she carefully stepped over each and every one of them, until she reached a set of stairs leading up to the next level of the fort. If possible, the vision before her was even worse as there was nowhere else for her to step except onto the bodies themselves.
She could feel her body shaking as she practically crawled over the corpses, but she knew that there was something she was meant to see and she had to find it. Her hand slipped on a puddle of blood and she fell forward onto one of the fallen and as she lifted her head, her eyes met a set of glossed over eyes. Eyes that she herself knew better than anyone else. Eyes that obviously belonged to his newly dead body.
Julia struggled to her feet a scream of horror lodged deep within her throat. She clumsily moved backwards, hitting the wall behind her and placing her shaking hand against her mouth. She could feel the air shifting and knew that her vision was over.
The moment she stepped away from the mirror, Julia hit the ground on her knees, sobs racking her body and sorrow filled her entire being.
Galadriel kneeled next to her. "I'm sorry, Julia." Her voice quivered with emotion as she pulled her grieving granddaughter into her arms. "I wish there could have been some other way, but you had to see."
Julia's breath hitched as she pulled away from Galadriel. "He's really going to die?" She received a nod from her grandmother and her head lowered. "Is there nothing I can do to save him?"
"If it is his fate to leave this world and move on to the next plain of existence then there is nothing that you can do. I'm sorry." Galadriel said softly, though she knew that those words held no more weight than they had the first time she'd spoken them.
"What do I do?"
Placing her hand briefly against Julia's face, Galadriel smiled softly. "You continue to walk the path placed before you. You are meant for great things, Julia. Do not let the loss of someone dear to you derail you from your own fate."
Julia shook her head and began to stand; her legs were still shaky from the experience of the mirror. Her arms lay tightly against her stomach, she could feel it's unsteady fluttering and closed her eyes against the feeling.
"In all my time in this world, since the first moment I myself gazed into the mirror, I have never seen or felt anyone drawn into the mirror. Not with enough strength to come back on their own." Galadriel could see the weariness on her granddaughter's face and it worried her. "You did that, Julia. Not even I have experienced that."
Julia frowned. "What do you mean?"
"You're only supposed to see through the reflection of the water. Not be drawn into the vision itself."
Julia shook her head in frustration. It had been her experience that Galadriel never spoke clearly. Her words were often in rhymes and riddles, allowing those with whom she was speaking, to sift through the words to find her true meaning. But, Julia was in no mood and had none of the patience to figure out what she was saying.
"I don't understand. What are you trying to tell me? And please, in plain words this time."
Galadriel sighed. "Julia, you are becoming more powerful than even I foresaw. Starting with the after effects of your dreams manifesting themselves in this reality, and most recently sending you into the vision brought by the mirror. There is none who have experienced as much as you have these last few days."
"Why is that? What is so special about me, grandmother?"
"Everything about you is special, my child. You've received the best, most powerful traits from both your father and your mother. The Valor have great plans for you." She closed her eyes briefly as if listening to a silent voice that only she could hear and turned to face the other direction. "I will say no more tonight." Galadriel said as she began to walk away from Julia.
Julia didn't reply, she just stood staring at her grandmother's retreating figure and felt the sudden weight of grief beginning to weight heavily upon her heart. She couldn't remain this way. The grief was too strong and she knew it was quite possible she would fade if she did nothing. And that was something she refused to do.
Well, that's all for now folks. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It may be a little while before I get the next chapter out, but if you'll be patient with me I'll post more as soon as I have it written. And remember...I always work faster when I have tons of feedback feeding my inspiration fire.