Same disclaimer. Carrie is mine. Nothing else is.

Here is the chapter I affectionately refer to as the Chapter O' Fluff. Read. Enjoy. Review.

Carrie lay on her bed crying. It had been almost a week that she had been in Rivendell, most of which she spent sleeping or crying. She had given up hope that this was a dream. It was going on far too long, and she had never had a dream before that she couldn't wake up from when she really wanted to. So she had begun to accept the fact that this was reality. This was her life. She was who knew how far away from everything she had ever known and all the people she cared about.

Well...not all the people she cared about.

Why, at a time like this, were her thoughts returning to him? He was the least of her problems right now, and he most likely wasn't even thinking about her. Which, she had to admit, was probably good for him. As best she could figure he, Aragorn and Gimli were currently running over plains somewhere, chasing after a bunch of Uruks who stole their Hobbit friends.

"So even the people who I care about here are not anywhere near me," she said bitterly to the pillow. Just then there was a knock on her door. "Go away."

"Carrie Waters, Lord Elrond wishes to speak to you."

"Tell him I'm not interested in any more of his stories."

"Not a story, milady. I believe he has news of your friends." Carrie ran to the door and opened it. Standing before her was a beautiful lady elf in long flowing gowns. 'Why do they all have to be so beautiful,' Carrie wondered.

"Where is he?" she said out loud to the elf.

"Follow me, milady." The elf led Carrie out into the gardens. She found Elrond sitting on a bench under a tree. He stood up when she got there. The lady elf bowed slightly to him and turned and walked away. Elrond indicated to Carrie to sit next to him on the bench as he sat back down.

"You wanted to speak to me?" Carrie began as she joined him on the bench.

"I thought you would be interested to know that Lord Aragorn and his companions arrived safely in Edoras."

"Yes, thank you." Carrie tried to calculate in her head how many days that gave her to get there and back safely. She had no idea.

"I have summoned the messenger who has arrived from there. He will be able to talk to you in more detail." He stood up. "He approaches." Another tall, dark haired elf appeared and greeted Elrond. "Carrie, this is Calenes. He can speak to you further." He turned to the younger man and said something in elvish and then walked away. Carrie stood up to greet the elf Calenes.

"You are Carrie Waters?" the elf asked her.

"Yes." She hesitated. "Pleased to meet you." This was so uncomfortable. What do you say to an elf that you don't know?

'I don't know, Carrie, why don't you touch his ear? Worked well for you last time....' There was that little voice again. She wished it had a body so that she could kick it.

"Elrond told me you would be interested in news from Rohan." He looked at her questioningly.

"Yes!" She exclaimed. "Tell me, how are Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas? Are they ok? Did you tell them that I'm here? No, wait; never mind on that last question. That's just silly. I mean, why would you tell them that?" Carrie knew she was sputtering, but she was so eager for any news, the words came out before she could control them. Luckily the elf ignored her mannerisms.

"Lord Aragorn was quite happy, although a bit surprised, to find out that you were in Rivendell with us." He seemed to not understand Aragorn's surprise. "The dwarf," and there was quite a bit of dislike in his tone when he said that, "was overly excited that you were here." He most definitely disapproved of Gimli's reaction. "They both asked that I relay their greetings to you and said that they look forward to seeing you as soon as circumstances permit."

Carrie waited. She looked at the elf. Was that it? What about... She was almost afraid to ask.

"What about Legolas?"

"I delivered the message to him as well, that you were here with us."

"And...." What was this? Carrie was not getting a warm fuzzy feeling.

"And," the elf looked positively uncomfortable. "He thanked me for my message and said he was confident that you would be well taken care of here."

Carrie put her fists on her hips. "That's it?" Calenes looked at her. "That's what he said, huh? Not 'Tell her I say hello' or 'Tell her I'll see her soon' or 'Tell her...tell her...anything!" Carrie could feel the blood rushing to her face. "Or...or how about 'Tell her I'm really sorry that the last time I saw her I ran out of her house like a scared child, leaving her SITTING there, wondering WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPENED!'"

Carrie completely broke down and started sobbing. She sat back down on the bench and put her head in her hands and cried. Calenes just stood there and said, "My lady Carrie, you are apparently quite distressed over something else, for nothing in Master Legolas' message was reason for upset."

"Nothing in his message... reason for upset?" Carrie choked out angrily between sobs. And then reality hit her. "No...I guess you're right. It wasn't his message. It's me. I'm upset because I'm a fool. I'm a fool for giving any of this more than a second thought."

"Why do you think you are a fool, my lady?"

"Because he's an elf. And I should have known better." Calenes was looking at her questioningly. "Please, just leave me here. I want to be by myself." He lingered a moment longer before turning and slowly walking away.

So wow, I got a much better reaction to that chapter than I had expected. Which is good, considering the future bombs that Elrond will drop on Carrie. Oh, --gasp-- did I say too much?

nap-003: Thank you for the lovely compliment. I wonder what will happen to her too! Ok, no I don't. I know what will happen, but it's exciting anyway!

Empress Guinevere Sparrow: I'm glad you like my twist. As for how Carrie ended up in M.E., that is the mystery I was talking about in my A/N in the last chapter. Let's call it my homage to Tom Bombadil, since he was left out of the movies. Or we can call it what it is: Plot Contrivance. Honestly, I have no idea, but it had to happen, so it did. Ah, the beauty of fiction!

XxgemxX: Thank you, thank you, again, thank you!

alice: I'm glad you like my story. I try to keep it interesting and update quick for you all.

rain137: Aren't little brothers the worst? I just didn't want to see you get walloped.

Shadowfax04: Did you really think it was different? Well, it was the first chapter in M.E. Hopefully you will like where it goes from there.

PsychoPixie: Thank you, thank you! --bows-- Thank you.