Kendra moved forward, cautiously. She looked down onto the pedestal into the bowl that was on it. There was water in the bowl and it rippled slightly. Kendra looked over at Galadriel, questions getting ready to come.
"Look into the mirror. All will be told."
Kendra looked down again and this time, the water stirred. Instead of looking at her own face, Kendra saw the streets of her home. There were her sisters and brother playing in the front yard. Her mother was on the porch watching them. Kendra smiled a little. That's what she wanted to go back to. The scene suddenly changed and she watched as Aragorn, Boromir, and Legolas were suddenly paddling boats. She was sitting with Legolas and Gimli. They pulled onto a beach and the scene changed again. There was a battle. Several more scenes flashed before her eyes before she closed her eyes with a soft cry.
"Is that how I am supposed to get home?" she asked when she could talk without choking.
"There is no easy way to get you home. You must finish this quest. Then you will be free to return to your home."
"Finish? We don't know how long it is going to take to finish this quest. It could be years before I return home," Kendra said softly.
"There will be several paths that you can take. You will know them when they show themselves to you. Pick a path and stick with it. The end of the path will lead you home."
Kendra looked up into Galadriel's face. The Lady wasn't smiling. It looked like it pained her to tell Kendra just the same as it pained Kendra to hear it.
'I want to go home. I want to be with my family. And yet, I need to finish what I have started. I can do this. I can see my family once I finish,' Kendra thought to herself.
She looked at Galadriel and nodded. Then she turned and walked back the way she came. Her heart was breaking because she wouldn't see her family soon. She might never see them again if she died on this quest. That was her greatest fear. And that fear would make her fight harder to stay alive.
Galadriel watched Kendra go. Her head was high and her back was straight, but you could see the pain in her eyes. She knew that Kendra would continue with the quest. One of the paths had just been offered to her. She could have stayed here in Lothlorien, in peace. But she would never go home. Kendra had taken the first step in seeing her way back home. Galadriel knew that Kendra would stop at nothing to go back and nothing would get in her way.