AN: ::dances around ecstatically:: For a long time I have been searching for the meaning of Celebrian's name. I knew it meant 'silver' something, but I had no idea what 'rian' meant. But finally, with the book I bought, I have discovered and it is perfect! Celebrian means 'Silver Maiden'!!!! ::dances happily:: How much closer to Selenity could we ask for her to be?

And I've reached a compromise with the Grey Company website. I'm not mad that they simplified Tolkien's language (as it is complex) or that they expanded it (as it is not entirely complete). I'm annoyed because they combined two different languages. I've purchased several books by Tolkien and elvish experts to try to learn and write elvish (Sindarin and Quenya separately) on my own. However, the Grey Company site is still more complete than anything else that I've found. So I'm going to use a mix of both Grey Company elvish (which is still mostly Tolkien's elvish, just revised and combined) and my own true Tolkien elvish. (i.e. I can't seem to find Tolkien's word for 'small', but the Grey Company says the word is 'ai', so until I find otherwise, I will use 'ai').

I'd also like to make it clear with this chapter about Haldir. One of my complaints about the movie is that his character was distorted almost as horribly as Faramir's. In the books, he is much kinder and welcoming (as Faramir is wiser and able to resist the Ring, unlike his brother). Therefore, in this fic you will not see Haldir and Faramir as portrayed in the movie. You will see, as I happily call them, book!Haldir and book!Faramir. ^_^'

See the bottom for replies to reviews. Thank you and enjoy! "..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN or definition, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted.

************************************************************************************************************************************

The golden sun was sinking as the Fellowship continued their trek across the woodland realm of Lorien. Finally free of the blindfolds, they looked in awe at the golden and silver trees reflecting the last light of the fading sun. Aragorn smiled sadly to himself as he walked along, lost in a memory of the last time he visited the fair land, forty years before. After all the sorrows of Moria, the eight companions felt their hearts uplifted as they walked in the land that seemed to be a memory of the Elder days.

Haldir paused and smiled as he reached a ledge. The Fellowship gathered and gazed in awe at the timeless land below. A great city rose from the midst of a forest, and in the twilight the tall mallorn trees appeared to be living towers. Green and gold and silver lights gleamed from the fair city, and they could catch hints of lovely song and music.

"Caras Galadhon," said Haldir proudly, "the heart of the Elvendom on earth, realm of the Lord Celeborn and of Galadriel, Lady of Light."

~o~o~o~o~o~

An elven girl lay on her back on her bed as the sun's last rays desperately reached out above the trees for one final attempt before sinking below the world. It seemed as though the girl had layed there for hours, if not longer. Yet, she did not move as her room darkened and continued to stare blankly at the ceiling, waiting... waiting...

The stars winked into existence above. Finally, far below the great tree-palace, a silver horn rang out. The girl sat up quickly. An answering horn from above rang out once, twice, three times.

By the third call, she was gone.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~

Celebithil lifted her skirts and sprinted through the corridor towards the center of the palace. Some of the older elves looked at her disapprovingly as she flew by, but others smiled at her impatience and eagerness and moved to leave her a cleared path.

As she sped into the spacious central room, a familiar pale golden head finished the long climb up to the palace. "Haldir!" she cried out as she ran to him.

He looked up with surprise but smiled as she glomped him. [For non-FAPers, glomp means to hug with enthusiasm. Couldn't think of another word to describe it here. ^_^']

"Suilad, Aikuu. ['Little Crescent Moon' -endearment of Haldir for Celebithil]. I've only been gone for a year, you know." [AN: I'm assuming Elves handle time very differently from Men].

Celebithil gave him a final squeeze before releasing him. "But it's not the same as before you were a Vakha. Then I could see you every day. And we'd explore and fish and play and learn together. Which reminds me," she said teasingly, "you still owe me those advanced archery lessons."

He laughed. "Then you shall get them. Shall we plan for tomorrow morning?" He paused and smirked. "But you would probably not awaken until the afternoon."

Celebithil stuck her tongue out at him. "So I'm not a morning person! Nothing much happens in the morning anyways."

Haldir didn't reply. He looked at Celebithil strangely, blinked, and then stared at her. "Kuu, are you *actually* wearing a dress?"

Celebithil put her hands on her hips. "What?! Why does everyone think I hate dresses! I don't hate them, I just hate how you can't properly do anything in them. When you wear a gown, you're not socially allowed to run or climb trees or fish, let alone even hold a bow."

Haldir was barely listening as he spun her around. "Plus," she continued as she turned, "if I wore a dress every day, it wouldn't be special when I did finally wear one."

"Lle maa lirima," [You look lovely] Haldir murmured as he looked at the simple white gown with a silver hem and flaring sleeves. "Like fair Nimrodel of old." Celebithil blushed.

Someone panted for breath behind them as he struggled to complete the long climb. Celebithil turned to see the smallest man she had even laid eyes on slowly standing and walking towards them.

"The Periannath," she whispered.

"Forgive me," Haldir said to her. "I have forgotten my duty." He left her and walked towards the seats of Galadriel and Celeborn.

"My Lord and Lady," he said, bowing. "I have returned, leading the Company of Imladris to Caras Galadhon."

One by one, the Fellowship of the Ring entered the tree-palace of the fair city in Lothlorien. The Halfling, whom Celeborn greeted as "Frodo of the Shire", was soon followed by seven others- Aragorn, and elf of Mirkwood, a dwarf of Durin's line, another man, and three other Periannath. Celebithil watched expectantly for a pointy hat to come climbing up to the talan and the Grey Pilgrim to return to the palace.

Celeborn seemed to share her thoughts as he looked at the Fellowship standing before him. "Eight there are here, yet nine there were set out from Rivendell. Tell me, where is Gandalf? For I much desire to speak with him. I can no longer see him from afar."

The company lowered their heads and sorrow returned to their faces. "He has fallen into shadow," said Galadriel softly, looking at the downcast faces.

In the back of the room, Celebithil looked up quickly, her eyes wide with shock. "N'ume," she whispered. "No, it cannot be. Not Mithrandir."

"He was taken by both shadow and flame," explained Legolas of Mirkwood. "A balrog of Morgoth. For we went needlessly into the net of Moria." Many of the elves cried out in surprise at the sudden loss, but in the back of the talan, Celebithil stood motionless in shock, unable to form words.

"Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life," replied Galadriel. "We do not yet know his full purpose."

"What now becomes of this Fellowship?" said Celeborn desperately. "Without Gandalf, hope is lost."

"The quest stands upon the edge of a knife, stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all," said Galadriel, and she looked into the eyes of each of the company. Her eyes were piercing as they stared into the soul of the person, and in their minds she offered him what he most wanted as compared to the hopeless quest before them. None could hold her gaze for long, and many tore their eyes away to break down almost to tears.

"Yet hope remains while the company is true," she said after searching them and knowing that all were resolved to go onward, and her words lightened their heavy hearts. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Go now, and rest, for you are weary with sorrow and much toil. Tonight you will sleep in peace."

But Celebithil heard none of this. In the back of the room, her mind had closed off the present world. In her mind's eye, she found herself in the forests of Imladris, centuries ago, dancing merrily around the Grey Pilgrim as he walked with her on the way back to the citadel. He was old even then, but she was barely a century- young, happy, and completely naive. He smiled at her constant joy in learning the tales of lore, and he happily told her the tales of the Two Trees of Valinor and the early ages of the world many times. She remembered the numerous times throughout her nearly two thousand years that he had always been there for her- teaching, listening, and guiding.

She suddenly found herself in the great talan of Lorien again and realized that never again would she see his smile or hear his happy laugh. Like a weighty lead hammer, it hit her heart suddenly and heavily. She felt as if her entire mind, heart, and being was about to collapse.

"N'ume," she murmured desperately, breaking free from the trance. "Gilthoniel! A Elbereth! Please no! Not Mithrandir!" [Elbereth is the Lady of the Stars of Valinor. Along with Earendil, elves and elf-friends of Arda most often cry out to her for help. Long story. Read the Simarillion. ^_^']

She cried out again, a strangled sob of an aching heart, and fled down the western corridor.

************************************************************************************************************************************

AN: Gomen nasi for the shortness. Unfortunately, this and the last chapter had to be kinda dull to establish the foundations of the story. Here's the Review Replies I promised:

Tomoyo Sakura- Thank you again for constantly being such a loyal reader. Your reviews always cheer me up. ::gives Sakura-chan the shiny badge that reads "Calli-chan's Most Devoted Reader":: ^_^' Also, I had been using the Grey Company website, http://www.grey-company.org/ Their elvish is based in Tolkien's works, but has been simplified and adapted. For Quenya tutorial, you might try Ardalambion, http://www.uib.no/People/hnohf/ I've also purchased a book called The Languages of Middle Earth (I believe it is by Ruth Nole) to learn more in a non-online addition. And there are several sites out there that have attempted to translate the non-subtitled movie elvish too. Good luck and have fun!

Li Raeth- *bounces higher* Eek! Thank you for reading! Thank you! Is the sequel to 'Always with you' coming out soon? ::glares:: ^_^' Hennaid! (I picked this up from Aragorn in FotR. Apparently it means 'thank you', but I'm not sure if it's Sindarin or Quenya. I'm assuming Sindarin).

shinigami no baka- ::winks:: I'm so pleased that some people are back from the original. But don't give it away to everyone else! :D The pairing is basically the same, but a lot of complications have been added. The basic story is still here, but greatly enriched, and towards the end of where I left off before, everything will change from what I originally planned. Glad you like it!

Sunshine Fia- Actually, Aragorn is a man, but as a man he is mortal. But, ::tries to shorten a very long explanation::, his forefathers were the great leaders of men, almost super-humans. The "Rangers" as they are called are the remnants of these super-humans. Their lifespan is 3x that of a normal man. So actually, according to the timeline in RotK, Aragorn is 88 when the Fellowship was formed. (But he lives to be 240-ish). Does this make any sense?

moon- Gomen, but I doubt this pairing will happen. Keep reading though! There's a chance, and you might find you like other pairings even better! ::winks::

alexz- I'll try to keep updating quickly, but unfortunately delays will be frequent. Gomen nasi! Enjoy the new chappie!

Solus Nox- You should be getting an email soon if you haven't already. And yea, I agree this chapter was slow. I needed it, but I didn't like writing it very much because while my mind was already far far ahead at Helm's Deep, my fingers had to write about what happened thousands of years before. ^_^'

Gionna- Yep! Celebithil is Usa. You will probably be able to guess most from their names or descriptions. (Hotaru is Kemenuial- this was probably the toughest name to guess). And though I adore Legolas/Usa pairings as much (if not more) than everyone else, it seems like that's all there is anymore, so I must be different. Of course, all things are liable to change, but I wouldn't count on it here. There might be a side pairing with one of the other senshi and Legolas, though.

Tenshi-chan- Thank you! Thank you!

****************************************

Thank you everyone for your devotion. Next time, I promise you shall learn more about the pairing, if you haven't guessed (some of) it already. Hennaid, Diola lle, and domo arigato for reading, and please review. Namarie, mellonae!

~Calli-chan