Dear Readers: Here is part two of the three-part super-long chapter I had originally planned! As you can see, there is nothing short about this part! I actually wrote much of this chapter a few days ago and was not pleased with the direction in which it was headed. With the help and encouragement--not to mention brilliant suggestions--of the best beta in the world (i.e. Kris!) I was able to revise it and now, I must say, I am quite pleased with the results. I hope that you are too! Let me know what you think. I will address individual reviewers at the end of the chapter.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: SHADOWS FROM THE PAST
Soul mates…Ellie had never heard the expression before. But as she climbed the smooth, slatted steps of her family's talan and pondered Legolas' words, she recognized the truth of what he said. They were two halves of the same whole. Their souls were already mated, even if their bodies were not. And for her, at least, there would be no other love, regardless of the choice she made.
Suddenly overcome with the need to see him one last time, she leaned over the slender railing, but Legolas was no longer there. Ellie felt bereft, and chided herself for feeling that way. What am I going to do when he leaves if I cannot even stand to be parted from him for one night?
And then, What am I going to do if I ask him not to come back?
It was truly maddening. She was reluctant to choose a life with him if she could not trust him, but she could no longer imagine a life without him.
"Ellie…" Haldir's deep voice called softly from above, drawing her out of her thoughts. She looked up to find him perched on a branch, just outside the window where she had seen him earlier. He smiled and bowed his head, placing his hand over his heart, in the traditional Elven greeting.
Yet there was nothing proper or formal about Haldir's behavior now, the girl mused. Not only was he standing precariously on what to her seemed little more than a twig, he had a carefree, almost playful air about him that she had never expected to see in her father. His handsome face, normally serene, was alight with barely suppressed joy and anticipation. His deep blue eyes glinted with affection and humor--and some other emotions she could not decipher. Ellie could scarcely recognize him as the same quiet, dignified Elf she had met yesterday.
He delighted her.
And just as she was about to rush up the remaining stairs, he astonished her.
With a nimbleness and speed that would do any squirrel proud, Haldir the Elf jumped from his perch, at least thirty feet above, and landed gracefully a few steps below her.
Ellie started and gasped out loud, her hands flying to her chest. This…is my father? He was incredible. Magnificent. More than she could ever have expected. She laughed gaily, and lifting her skirts, started to run down toward him. But she had barely taken a step, when he grabbed her by the waist and swung her into his arms.
"I can hardly believe that you are here," he said, his eyes sparkling, as she wrapped her arms around his muscled neck. "On the very same steps your mother graced so long ago."
His words hit her with stunning force and Ellie's eyes grew huge. My mother…She became very still, but Haldir did not seem to notice. "I welcome you, Ellie," he continued. "I welcome you into my home, my life, my heart!" Then he kissed her forehead and the tip of her nose, and squeezed her so tightly against his chest that she thought her ribs would break.
It was overwhelming. He overwhelmed her. She was touched by her father's warm welcome, enthralled by his sudden passion…yet, at the same time, Ellie was badly shaken by the sudden memory of her mother. Naia…Naia had gone up these very steps in the arms of the same Elf who now held Ellie. The girl could almost see her, could feel her warm presence wrap itself around her as she joined Haldir in embracing their daughter.
Ellie found herself at a complete loss for words. One tear, and then another, rolled down her cheeks. They were not tears of sadness, but of remembrance and sentiment.
Haldir gently set her on her feet, and caught the errant drops with his fingertips. His face still glowed with happiness, his eyes shone with excitement, yet as he took in his daughter's mellowing mood he too became calmer, quieter. Haldir instinctively knew what had caused the change. Clasping her hand in his, he spoke softly as he led her up the remaining steps. "Naia left nearly three hundred years ago, Ellie, taking my love with her, but her memory remained. In all those years of heartbreak and loneliness, I tried to take comfort in that memory, and clung to it, as one would a lifeline…"
Ellie was amazed, humbled, by her father's admission. She had done much the same thing after Naia's death--sitting for hours on end in her mother's room, constantly searching for her in the shadows, and listening keenly to catch the echo of her voice. But to no avail. When Naia died, nothing of her spirit lingered in Ravenwood.
The girl finally understood why a short time later when she crossed the threshold into her father's house.
"She is here, Ellie, all around us," Haldir reverently whispered, as if hearing her thoughts. "Now you are here too. You bring life back into our home…and love."
Haldir's family talan was made up of five separate dwellings. Each of the buildings was slightly different from the other, but they all had graceful, tracery walls painted pale green and white, high-pitched golden roofs with many gables, and pane-less windows with sheer gold-green drapes that fluttered in the breeze and, to Ellie's eyes, resembled dragonfly wings. A suspended bridge led to the first two houses, while slatted steps spiraled around a smaller truck to the third house. Two narrow stairways without railings climbed to the remaining dwellings, located so high in the tree that their rooftops cleared the leaves.
Ellie saw all this in the space of a few seconds, as she scanned the talan from the staircase landing, but her thoughts had not lingered on the beauty of her new home. In a trance-like state, she had silently followed Haldir across the bridge, past the first little house--"Nev's rooms," he had told her--to a second, much larger house, which had once belonged to her grandparents. It had been her father's dwelling for more than a thousand years.
It had been her mother's for only three. But as Ellie walked through the open door, she knew without a doubt that it was the only true home Naia had ever known.
Now it was Ellie's.
The girl's eyes immediately sought Jamie, and she moved quickly to his side. He was lying fast asleep on an upholstered divan set next to a window. Ellie gently adjusted the boy's blanket, for the night air was cool, then trailed her hand across the carved, swan-shaped backrest of the couch, briefly marveling at the beautiful workmanship.
"We will find him a proper bed tomorrow," Haldir whispered, as he came to stand next to his daughter.
Ellie looked up at him with large, luminous eyes and smiled. "He has been sleeping on the ground for months. This is more than he could have hoped for." As if to confirm her words, Jamie sighed contentedly in his sleep and rolled over.
Ellie now slowly looked around the candlelit room--the room that still echoed with the distant sounds of her mother's footsteps and gentle laughter. Through a blur of unshed tears, the girl took in the tall, narrow front door with its delicate leaf carvings and the two sconces on either side, each lit with three slender tapers. The candles bathed the room in a soft dreamy light, a light that yellowed the white walls and the white brocade of Jamie's divan, as if with age. Ellie looked down at her own gown, and it too seemed aged somehow, a memento from days long past.
Her gaze shifted to the two large windows that faced each other across the room. Their lovely dragonfly drapes blew in the evening breeze, caressing the back of Jamie's divan and that of its counterpart on the opposite side. The second divan was upholstered in green and had a scroll-shaped headrest on one end. Just as Ellie turned her face away from it, she thought she saw, out of the corner of one eye, a cloud of black curls billowing down from that headrest to the wooden floor below. Black curls, just like mine…
Her breath caught in her throat and her heart began to pound. In the next instant, the wisp of a memory was gone, but the image lingered in the girl's mind. Naia had lain there many, many times.
Ellie approached the green divan with shaky legs, and sat down on it. She felt more than saw her father stiffen. Then she met and held Haldir's gaze.
"My mother was the last person to sit here," she said, her voice quavering with shock.
Haldir nodded his head slowly. How did you know that? he wondered, as he stared at his daughter with cool, appraising eyes. The green divan had been Naia's; he always used the white one. Ellie must be incredibly sensitive, surprisingly perceptive--even for an Elf--if she had guessed that.
"Except for me, and Lord Celeborn yesterday, you and Jamie are the only ones to have entered this dwelling in nearly three hundred years," he now admitted.
And make of that what you will, my daughter, he added to himself.
In the first few years after Naia's departure, Haldir had kept the house exactly as she had left it, in the hopes that she would one day come back. As time passed and he grew more bitter and disillusioned, the house ceased to be a home and instead became a tomb for his heart.
Ellie's eyes filled with compassion as she contemplated her father. My gods, that you should have grieved so deeply that you shut all others out from my mother's home--even your own kin! Ellie had loved her mother dearly, had mourned her loss deeply, but she had moved past it and had learned to live again. Despite her occasional loneliness, she had been happy. Haldir apparently had not.
The girl caressed the pretty green fabric one last time and stood. "Father, forgive me for sitting in my mother's divan," she solemnly said. Ellie knew it was sacred to him.
The Elf shook his head. "It is no longer hers. It is yours," he replied graciously, although he could not help but feel a twinge of sadness. And yet, as he continued to gaze into his daughter's concerned eyes, Haldir realized that he did not need Naia's trinkets anymore to remind him of his wife. All he had to do was to look at his daughter, for a part of Naia now lived in Ellie, and always would.
Haldir's spirits lifted once again. He reached out to gently stroke Ellie's cheek with his knuckle. "This is your home, Ellie. Everything in it is yours to use freely--save for my bow," he added with a chuckle. "You do not have to ask my permission. You do not have to make any apologies."
Ellie gave him a warm smile. "Thank you for saying that." She had needed to hear those words.
And Haldir truly meant them. If anyone had a right to Naia's possessions, it was his daughter. Already, unbeknownst to the girl, she was wearing one of her mother's gowns--the one that Haldir had brought back from Rivendell just before Naia left, but had never had the chance to give her.
With a small sigh of pleasure, the girl turned away from him and walked slowly toward the back of the room. In addition to the two divans, Ellie took note of a small writing table and a three-shelf etagere overflowing with books, some of them ancient. Her mother had not been a scholarly woman--although she saw to it that her daughter was well tutored. As she paused in front of the bookcase, Ellie knew that Naia's hands had never touched a single volume or picked up the plume that sat in the glass inkwell on the desk. This corner of the room was her father's domain. And yet, the girl could sense Naia's presence here too--smiling indulgently and waiting, just beyond Ellie's range of vision, for Haldir to finish reading a text or writing a letter--nearly three hundred years ago. I wish I could see you, Mother. I wish I could have been here back then with both of you…
Ellie now shifted her gaze to the back wall and the two doors that stood there side by side. One was open and the other closed. Haldir joined her, and nodded toward the open doorway.
"That is my room, Ellie," he told her. Until a few moments ago, he had intended to put her in it. It was sparsely, but comfortably, furnished, and held very little memories. Indeed, he had only begun to use it himself after Naia left, when he could no longer bear to sleep in the same room they had once shared.
Haldir's room was in shadow, but from the open doorway Ellie could make out a small, neatly made bed next to the window and a chest of drawers across from it. A looking glass hung on the wall above the chest and a wooden chair stood in the far corner with pillows and blankets stacked on top of it. The room had an empty, uninhabited look about it, like a guest chamber. Ellie raised questioning eyes to her father.
"At first, I meant to let you have this bedchamber, Ellie, and so I moved my belongings out. But I have another room for you to use. A more fitting room…" He paused and cupped his daughter's chin, smiling tenderly at the girl. "Your mother's room…if you prefer. I…I can find no rest there, but I am sure it will be comfortable for you." He gazed pensively at the closed door for a moment, and quietly added, "I think Naia would approve."
"I think she would too," Ellie replied, as her beautiful eyes filled with pity.
To think that my mother's memory could haunt you even at rest! she thought. Suddenly, Ellie's heart swelled with affection for her father, and the same tender, protective feelings she felt for Jamie. And she stepped forward to embrace him. You are not alone anymore. Together, we will remember my mother with happiness, not sadness, she silently vowed. Haldir rested his cheek against the top of his daughter's head and closed his eyes. They stood like that--still and silent, taking comfort in each other--for a long, long time.
Finally, Haldir whispered, "Would you like to see her…your room now?"
Ellie smiled and nodded her head. "Yes. I am ready." And she was. For too long she had yearned to see her mother, and Ellie sensed that she would find her there.
Haldir placed her small hand in the crook of his arm and patted it with his own, as if trying to reassure her. Then he walked her to the closed door. "You go first, dear one."
A storm of emotions made her hand tremble as she reached for the doorknob. With one last look at her father, Ellie turned the glass handle and entered.
Like a sudden burst of sunshine breaking through dark clouds, Naia's presence enveloped her daughter in brilliant, blinding light. Ellie closed her eyes, breathed in deeply, and smiled--a sublime, blissful smile such as had never graced her face before. So many memories, so many echoes--she could feel them, and hear them, all around her--and inside of her. The casual brush of Naia's tiny hands and shoulders as she walked in and out of the room. The flowery scent of her homemade soap--lemon verbena, Ellie recalled with a start--she had not smelled that scent in many long years. The comforting sound of her mother's voice, whispering loving words in Elvish--to my father?--and humming a sentimental tune. Ellie had glimpsed wisps of memory in the other room, but here…here they were everywhere, and so vivid that the girl could almost believe Naia was alive and present.
Two hundred years ago Ellie had scattered her mother's ashes on a lonely hilltop far, far away. And the girl never felt or saw or heard from her again. But all this time, Naia's heart had continued to beat inside these walls. The ghost of her memory had continued to dwell here. Tears came unbidden to Ellie's closed eyes, and trailed slowly down her cheeks.
Haldir lit one of the tapers in the wall sconce next to the bedroom door and walked up behind her. He placed gentle hands on her shoulders and whispered, "I feel her too. I have always felt her here. Long before you said she died. I come in here sometimes to remember." And always, he would leave in tears. But not this time. This time he had his daughter with him.
Finally, Ellie opened her eyes as she glanced back at her father, and then, with her heart beating rapidly in anticipation, turned to face the room once more. She expected to instantly see her mother standing or sitting, perhaps even sleeping, somewhere before her, but she was not there. The girl frowned, her shoulders slumping in disappointment. She could feel her mother all around her--why could she not see her?
She will come. The images will come to me when I least expect them. Willing herself to relax, Ellie took her first good look at Naia's room, and set aside the memories for a moment.
The bedchamber was larger than Haldir's and more elegantly furnished. The walls were painted pale lavender--her mother's favorite color. A white wooden bed--large enough to comfortably sleep three, with flowers and vines carved into the headboard--was set before an equally large window. Unlike the other windows in the dwelling, this one was trimmed with white woven drapes made from the same fabric as the bedding. Both were decorated with colorful satin ribbon in lavender, pink, yellow, blue, and green, skillfully knotted and embroidered into flowers and leaves. With a pang in her heart, Ellie recognized her mother's handiwork. Naia had once made similar curtains and bedding for her daughter's room in Ravenskeep.
On either side of the bed stood matching night tables, also painted white. A small pile of books and a brass candlestick, with only a stub of a candle left in it, sat atop the table on the right side. A dainty glass vase with the skeletal remains of long-dead flowers and a sewing basket, with a tangled clump of embroidery thread spilling from the open lid, lay atop the table on the left side. A bittersweet smile touched Ellie's lips. Now she knew on which side of the bed each of her parents had slept.
The only other furnishings in the room were a large wooden trunk at the foot of the bed and a beautiful dressing table and chair placed against the left wall. Made from a polished dark wood with inlays of lighter-colored wood and mother-of-pearl, the vanity was adorned with carved pilasters and a pretty bowed front. The attached beveled mirror was almost as tall as Ellie and framed by intricate leaf and scroll carvings. The matching chair was just as ornate, with a cushioned seat covered in rich blue velvet. It was furniture fit for a queen. Or a much-loved wife, Ellie thought. She peered at her father's reflection in the mirror, caught the distant memory in his eyes, and knew that the beautiful dressing table had been a wedding gift for his bride.
Haldir walked past Ellie and approached the dressing table. "It took all three of us--my brothers and I--to haul it up here," he told her, as he softly ran his hand over the pearl inlay, "and even so, Rumil lost his grip and the full weight of it crashed down on his foot." The girl winced, but Haldir smiled at the recollection. Although his back was to her, Ellie could still see his reflection. "He was not hurt badly, but Rumil made quite a commotion. Your mother bound his foot in the way of traditional healers, and fussed over him as if he were a small child. But I wonder…" Haldir turned to face his daughter, his expression thoughtful. "I wonder if Naia did not secretly use some of her healing magic. The next day Rumil danced with every maiden present at our wedding celebration."
"It is possible that she did," Ellie said, her voice thick with emotion. She was deeply moved that her father had shared that memory with her. It was a happy memory, and it had made him smile.
Now the girl lowered her gaze to the collection of feminine toiletries and trinkets arranged--or rather, disarranged, for Naia had not been the neatest of women--at the base of the mirror. Curious, Ellie took a step toward the vanity, intending to examine the tiny bottles and boxes and brushes, when she noticed a piece of purple fabric peaking from beneath the trunk lid. It was the sleeve of a woman's dress. Naia's dress, carelessly left hanging out nearly three hundred years ago--of that, Ellie was certain.
Hasn't he moved anything in this room since my mother left? She was suddenly stuck by the incongruity, the impossibility of what she was seeing. Except for the bow and quiver, and the masculine garments piled hastily in one corner, Ellie knew without a doubt that her mother's room remained unchanged, left exactly as it had been the last time Naia had set foot in it. Even the flowers she had picked so long ago had not been replaced. And, yet, the room was immaculately clean. Not a speck of dust, not a single cobweb, could be seen anywhere. The linens looked freshly laundered; they had not yellowed with age. The furniture gleamed with polish.
Shaking her head in disbelief, Ellie once again looked at her father. Haldir's face was grave and his blue eyes--as they met hers--were guarded. He knows that I suspect…And, at last, Ellie's mind accepted what her heart had been telling her from the moment she stepped through the door.
Naia's room--now her room--was a shrine.
A shrine to Haldir's lost love.
Legolas' face suddenly came unbidden to her mind. Oh, Legolas, you were right! My father has not only lost his soul's mate, but his very soul! His very life! How can I ever bear to do this to you?…And then, with a quick glance at her father, she thought, How can I help him?
Ellie shuddered, choked back a sob, and turned to face the wooden trunk. She would put the wayward sleeve back inside. She would change things in this bedchamber. Rearrange them. For her father's sake, and for hers.
Under Haldir's watchful gaze, she carefully lifted the trunk lid and, at the sight of the exquisite Elven gowns inside, was momentarily awe-struck. The gowns were not only beautiful they were also pristine. "Oh, my…" she said.
"They are yours now. Every one of them--if you want them." her father said quietly, taking Ellie by surprise, as he stood beside her and looked down at his late wife's clothing. "They fit you perfectly."
"How do you…" she started to ask, when a suspicion formed in her mind. The girl delicately fingered the lovely white dress that she wore. "My mother's," she said, and raised puzzled eyes to Haldir. No memories of Naia clung to the dress.
"She never wore it, Ellie," her father said. "She never even saw it. Naia left before I could give it to her."
"A gift for my mother…" Ellie reverently ran her hands over the soft material one more time, before turning to look at her father. "But why give it to me? You had only just met me…"
Haldir smiled. "I gave it to you because you are too small to fit into anything else and there was no time to make you new clothes. Lord Celeborn fetched the gown from my room yesterday afternoon."
Of course. His room. Naia had never seen the dress, so it had never been in her trunk. It had never been a part of her shrine. Ellie pursed her lips. Back in you go, wayward sleeve, she silently said, as she removed the gauzy, purple gown from the top of the pile in order to fold it correctly.
And that was when it happened.
Suddenly, Ellie was deluged with the images of Naia that had eluded her earlier. Naia, younger and more carefree than she had ever seen her, with a girlish figure not yet stretched and distorted by childbirth. Naia, standing before the open trunk rummaging through her clothes, making a mess of them, before selecting the purple gown. Naia, laughing happily, being chased by Haldir in an open field, tripping over the hem of her skirt, and tearing it. Naia, sitting on the floor with her back to the trunk and the sewing basket at her side, hemming her gown.
The same purple gown that Ellie now clutched to her chest, as she dropped to her knees beside the memory of her mother. If she reached out her hand, she could touch her…
And the girl did just that.
Naia turned to face her daughter and smiled. Ellie began to sob.
"What is it?" Haldir asked worriedly, for he could not see what his daughter was seeing.
The girl lifted wet, dazed eyes to her father and pointed toward the image. "My mother…Can you not see her?" she said in a broken voice.
"I can feel her, but I have never seen her. I see only you," he replied gently. "And I see her in you."
All those years of grieving and you never once saw her? Stunned, Ellie gaped at her father and wept even harder. Her heart lurched painfully in her chest.
"Do not cry for me, Ellie," Haldir pleaded, his own eyes starting to shimmer as he kneeled down beside his daughter. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close to his chest, the purple gown now crushed between them. As he softly rocked her back and forth and stroked her back, he whispered, "The time for tears has passed. Now that…you are here," and his own voice caught on an errant sob, "there will be no more tears for either one of us."
Ellie calmed and rubbed her wet face against his tunic. "No more tears," she echoed, hiccuping once. Then she pulled back from his embrace and sat looking at him for a moment, at his bittersweet smile and still-wet eyes. One wayward drop fell and rolled down his cheek and Ellie wiped it with her finger. "No more tears, huh?" she scoffed. And they both laughed.
With the remnants of a smile still on her face, she shifted her gaze to Naia again, only to find that her mother's memory had faded away like a whiff of cloud. Ellie was not surprised, and she was not disheartened. She had seen her mother! She had seen her mother, and would see her again. In the room they both now shared.
But even more importantly--and more dear to her heart--Ellie knew that her father would heal. She would heal him. Haldir may have lost his soul's mate, and with her, his soul. But Ellie would see to it that he got it back. She would love him more than any daughter could. Together, they would breathe life once more into this room…into this home. They would remember Naia with joy and laughter. And she would forever be a part of their lives, but not the most important part, and not the only part.
Suddenly, and once again, the image of Legolas' beautiful face came unbidden to Ellie's mind. For the first time, she was able to truly empathize with his feelings. All along, Ellie had selfishly dwelled on what her choice might mean for her, without really considering what was at stake for Legolas, what he might stand to lose if she did not choose him. But now, she finally and fully understood how much damage--how much unendurable pain and unspeakable sorrow Naia's commitment to her faith had inflicted on those she left behind. On those she had loved. "Oh, Legolas…" she mumbled, unaware that she had spoken out loud.
"What did you say, Ellie?" Haldir asked, as he stood and helped his daughter to her feet. He took the crumpled dress from her hands and started to fold it.
"I was thinking of Legolas. Of what his life will be like if I am no longer a part of it."
Ellie's father nodded thoughtfully. "It would be like mine, only worse."
The girl looked up at her father with quizzical eyes. "Why worse?" Haldir's life had been horrible enough. She could not imagine anything worse.
"You have redeemed me, Ellie," he explained. "Because you are a part of me. Because you were born out of my love for Naia. But if you leave Legolas now, you leave him utterly bereft and alone. Hopeless…"
Haldir placed the purple gown back in the trunk, taking care to tuck the sleeves inside, and closed the lid. He had taken the first step toward the future. The Elf glanced at his daughter with a small smile, walked around her to the other side of the bed, and up to Naia's night table. Ellie silently followed in his footsteps.
Haldir picked up the tangled mess of embroidery thread that spilled from the open sewing box and pushed it back inside. "You will have to untangle it. I have no patience for such things!" he told her.
Ellie smiled slightly. "I will do it." Then she gathered the crumbling, long-dead flowers from the vase. "And I will pick some more elanor tomorrow at Cerin Amroth!" the girl said more forcefully, then started and chuckled at the sudden memory of Naia doing just that almost three hundred years ago. Ellie was indeed her mother's daughter.
"Come, dear heart. I will show you the rest of our family's talan," Haldir now said, taking her arm. He blew out the taper next to the door and stood aside to let her pass.
And as she walked out of Naia's room with her father close behind, Ellie made a promise.
Legolas, I will not destroy you the way my mother destroyed my father, she vowed. Somehow, she would have to learn to trust him again…
To anonymous: I'm sorry that I took so long to update! (Actually, it has only been a week!) But after I wrote the chapter, I found myself having to revise it. I hope you think it was worth the wait! :-)
To Mmacgyver70: Thanks for your input. My inclination is to leave E.C. as one loooooooooong story, but I wasn't sure if my readers would like that or not. It seems that y'all don't mind!
To Crecy: Thanks for coming on board! For the sake of your sanity, I will try to update every 1-2 weeks. ;-)
To obsessed-lote-girl: I like to make my heroes work hard for their kisses! Legolas did bad--he needed to do all that groveling!
To elfiehead: Your reviews make me blush and simper with pleasure! And they ALWAYS leave me grinning from ear to ear. Many thanks, mate!
To Wicklowe: Well, now…Christmas in Ireland sounds divine! Lucky you! I am surprised that you are not yet frustrated by the lack of mushiness between Lego and Ellie. Heck! I'm TERRIBLY frustrated myself, and I'm the writer! ;-)
To Nevasaiel: I am SO pleased that something I have done has actually inspired another writer with their work! Thank you for sharing that with me. As for hardtack, it is a type of hard bread that keeps for a very long time. In the past, it was often used in military rations and sea voyages.
To Avian Lee: you cannot imagine HOW FOND I have grown of that katana of yours!
To beth: Fear not! Ellie is heading in the right direction!
To Exile of Numenor: Love your nickname! So I write a lot, huh? Are you trying to tell me that I'm long-winded? (just kidding!!!) Actually, I agree with you--I do write a lot! And, like you, I rather feel like kicking Ellie's butt! But I DON'T want Legolas to do anything rash…
To Briamber: Glad you liked the humor in the last chappie! Unfortunately, this is an angsty story, so there are not many humorous moments in it. But I think there might be a few more such scenes coming your way.
To Nimthoron: Make-up scene (sort of) coming up in the next chapter!
To anon-101-6: So, you think Lego might get into trouble all by himself in the woods, hmmmm? Now there's a thought…heh, heh, heh
To nap-003: Lego and Ellie reunion coming up soon!
To maybe tonight: Glad you don't think the story's too long! (I think it's too long, but I can't help myself! LOL!)
To lady vendea: Thanks for reviewing. Hope you liked this chapter too!
