DEAR READERS: I lied! I expected a return of angst and torment in this chapter, but it did not happen! I simply did not have the heart to destroy Ellie's newfound happiness quite so soon. This chapter was a joy for me to write--it brought to mind the morning of my own wedding, when my room overflowed with cousins eager to help me dress and look my best! I hope that you enjoy it too! Please continue to leave feedback and suggestions. Once again, I will address individual reviewers at the end.

Many thanks, as always, to my dear beta Kris, for her support and encouragement.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: PREPARATIONS

"You're going to get married…today? Really?"

Jamie's voice was a mix of excitement and disbelief, and Ellie could not help but laugh as she warily lifted her gaze from Naia's trunk to the bed beyond it and the boy, who was happily bouncing on his knees on the soft mattress.

"Actually, Legolas says that just by agreeing to marry, we are already married," she told him. "The ceremony this afternoon is simply a…well…an affirmation before our friends. I want the Fellowship to see us exchange vows before they leave, Jamie, even if it is only a formality." Then Ellie started in astonishment for the hundredth time that morning and smiled. Good gods! I am Legolas' wife! The thought boggled her mind, exhilarated her, and at the same time, filled her heart with a sense of profound peace and contentment. After so much doubt and tribulation, it was done.

Jamie stopped his bouncing and tilted his head to one side, eyeing Ellie skeptically. "Uh-huh…" he muttered. How can they really be married? He had never heard of anything so preposterous in his entire life! Everyone knew that to get married you needed to wear fancy clothes and walk down a long, red carpet in a cathedral to be blessed by Eru Iluvatar's priests. Still…Jamie hadn't seen any cathedral in Lothlorien, at least none that he could recognize. Nor had he seen any red carpets or heavily robed priests. Perhaps Ellie was right, and Elves married in a different way. In fact, they most probably did, the boy decided. If Legolas said they were already married, then surely it must be so…

"Why, Ellie, now you are a Princess!" Jamie suddenly exclaimed, delighted by the thought, as he resumed jumping on the mattress.

"A Princess?!" she repeated, astounded. It had simply never occurred to her before, and as she dropped back from a kneeling position to sit on her heels, the girl raised her hands to her face in shock. With mouth agape, she stared blankly at the open trunk before her. I am a Princess?

Jamie plopped on the bed and leaned over its edge to point at the colorful gowns piled inside the trunk. "You're going to have to find something royal-looking in there for your pretend wedding, now that you are a Princess," he warned, "And you're going to have to wear a crown. Princesses always wear crowns." Ellie looked up at him with bewildered eyes.

"And that is precisely why I have come," an amused voice said from the doorway. The girl whipped her head around and Jamie looked up in surprise to find an Elf maiden smiling at them. "I am Azziel," she announced, as she stepped into Naia's room with a white wicker basket in her hand. For a moment she scanned the pretty chamber and her brown eyes became wistful, almost sad. They were lovely, expressive eyes, the color of warm honey, and Ellie took an instant liking to the Elf.

Does she feel my mother too? the girl wondered, closing her eyes briefly as Naia's comforting presence surged and swirled about and seemed to embrace them, before Azziel spoke again.

"I have not entered this room in many long years, but it has not changed at all," she said thoughtfully, as she took in every detail, from the sewing box on the night table to the bottles and trinkets cluttering the beautiful vanity. Then the Elf seemed to give herself a mental shake and smiled brightly once again. "I was your mother's attendant at her wedding ceremony nearly three hundred years ago," she told Ellie. "And I was also her friend."

Ellie immediately rose to her feet and approached the tall maiden. This is my mother's friend! "I am pleased to meet you, Azziel, and I would like for us to be friends too," she said with utmost sincerity. Then she stood on her tiptoes and shyly kissed the Elf on the cheek.

Azziel laughed. "Oh, Ellie…I may call you, Ellie, yes?" And at the girl's prompt nod, she continued, "You and I are going to be much more than friends! I am your Uncle Rumil's betrothed. By summer, I shall be your Aunt!" And she gave the girl a quick hug before sashaying to the bed, and putting her basket down. Her long brown hair swung from side to side whenever she moved, keeping rhythm with her hips. Azziel did not walk like an Elf. She ruffled Jamie's hair and winked conspiratorially at the boy. She did not act like an Elf. "Ah, Prince Errol James, Jamie, between us we shall make a true Elven Princess out of Ellie here! So majestic that she will knock Prince Legolas flat on his royal behind!" Azziel vowed with another laugh and a wide sweep of her arm. And she most certainly did not talk like an Elf.

Jamie giggled.

Ellie was enchanted.

"What say the both of you?" Azziel asked. "Hmmmm?"

"I say, 'let's do it!'" Jamie cried enthusiastically with a clap of his hands, as he jumped from the bed.

"I would like to be beautiful and…majestic," Ellie admitted, looking herself over somewhat dubiously.

"And so you shall be, Ellie, that much I have promised you," the Elf reiterated, pleased that Naia's daughter was so different from her future--and very vain--sister-in-law. Thank the Valar for that! Azziel did not think she could stomach two Nevs in the family.

The three of them settled in front of Naia's trunk to sift through the exquisite gowns, and Ellie braced herself for the bittersweet memories each one was sure to evoke. But she was in high spirits.

"Naia had such beautiful things," Azziel said with a reminiscent smile, as she removed the purple gown on top. "Haldir saw to it--he was such a devoted husband, Ellie, lavishing your mother with gifts--trinkets and garments and perfumes! There are gowns here I am sure she never even wore." The Elf held the purple dress up in front of her. "But not this one. This was her favorite, even though Naia was forever tripping on its hem!"

"I know," the girl replied, smiling at the memory. Azziel turned to look at her curiously, and Ellie met her gaze with a shrug of her slender shoulders. "I see things, Azziel. Pictures of events past and those yet to come. And since arriving in Lothlorien, I am even more sensitive to these visions."

The Elf nodded in understanding. Haldir had told her about Ellie's special gifts and unique heritage. To think, Naia was Ilissan! And her daughter is too! she thought, amazed, as she gazed at the girl who was the living image of her mother. Ilissan! You kept your secret well, Naia! And Azziel could not help but feel a pang of regret, and anger, that her closest friend had chosen not to confide in her. If only she had…

"There is much magic to be found in Lorien, Ellie. It is only natural that your Sight would be enhanced here," Azziel said then looked away. If only Naia had confided in me…With a shake of her head, she folded the purple gown neatly, and set it aside.

"Purple is a royal color," Jamie observed.

"Nevertheless, Ellie cannot wear that dress," the Elf decided.

In the next hour, they discarded gown after beautiful gown--some because they were not modest enough for a bride, or because Jamie deemed them "not royal looking," others because Ellie found them too ostentatious for her simple tastes.

Sometimes, disturbing memories clung too deeply to them--as in the case of a shimmering blue dress that Ellie fell in love with at first glance, for it was dainty and frothy and the color reminded her of a summer sky. "Oh, it is perfect!" she exclaimed in utter delight, only to drop the gown the instant she touched it, for her hands had captured an intimate moment between Haldir and Naia--a very intimate moment.

Ellie blushed bright crimson, and Azziel lifted an elegant brow in speculation as she stared at the girl and retrieved the garment. "Apparently, it is not," she said drolly, before adding the blue dress to the growing pile of castoffs.

They had nearly reached the bottom of the trunk. After discarding yet another confection, Ellie reached in and pulled out an exquisite pale yellow gown then fell back on the floor in wide-eyed wonder. She heard Azziel gasp beside her and reverently whisper, "Naia's wedding dress."

The Elf did not have to say so for Ellie to know it. She had realized it the moment she touched the delicate lace fabric. Suddenly, the walls of the bedchamber fell away before her, vanishing into mist, and Ellie was no longer in Haldir's talan with Jamie and Azziel. She was no longer in the present day. Instead, she found herself hovering like a cloud before a gated, moonlit garden with a paved, brick path leading up to a white latticed gazebo. Bright luminaries lined the path, casting their golden glow over beds of sleeping roses, freesias, and wild grape hyacinths. Just beyond the gazebo, she saw the white fizz of a cascade that emptied into a small pool adorned with lily pads. The evening was thick and sultry with the scent of flowers and the surrounding summer woods. Ellie breathed in deeply, and was lulled by the soothing sound of singing crickets and cicadas and falling water. The garden was truly a place of enchantment.

As if by magic, a company of Elves appeared right before Ellie's eyes--warriors and maidens dressed and bejeweled in all their finery walking down the brick path and gathering around the pool. She immediately recognized Azziel, and Nev arm in arm with Erethon, and Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel. Even the Elf who had assisted Ellie with her bath on the night of her arrival.

Ellie dropped to the ground unseen and followed them until she reached the steps of the gazebo, and lifted her gaze. There, inside, right where she had expected them to be, stood her parents face to face. Haldir, handsome and noble beyond compare in a cream brocaded jacket with his hair unbound and unbraided, falling like a silk curtain about his broad shoulders. And Naia, looking radiant and happy in the beautiful yellow lace gown, cinched at the waist with a beaded and embroidered golden belt that matched the veiled headband on her head. The veil reached to the floor, wrapping around her dark curls like a golden mist. The sleeves of her dress draped elegantly down beyond her knees, framing the bouquet of elanor in her hands with flounces of yellow lace. Ellie had never seen her mother look so exquisite.

The girl's breath caught as her parents began to speak, exchanging vows in Quenya--Quenya!--the Ancient Speech of the Eldar, of which Ellie could grasp little. "My mother speaking in Quenya," she muttered aloud, so enthralled by what she was hearing that she did not notice at first when Naia started in surprise and looked her way.

And then it happened. For a heart-stopping moment, Ellie's and Naia's gazes met…and held.

Mother and daughter looked upon each other, as if the years and lifetimes and distances separating them were naught. As if Ellie were really there, nearly three hundred years ago, a guest at her parents' wedding.

Naia smiled and spoke, "I bid you welcome, Elanae, child of my heart."

Entranced and awed, Ellie returned her mother's smile, and started to climb the steps. She saw Haldir frown in puzzlement, cup Naia's chin and turn her face back toward him. "Whom are you speaking to, Naia?" he asked, for he could not see and he could not hear his unborn daughter. Ellie saw her mother smile sadly, regretfully, and shake her head. "A dream, my love. Only a distant dream…"

In the next instant, they were gone. Her parents, the moonlit gazebo, the elegant guests, the sleeping garden…the past. Azziel's hand was on Ellie's shoulder, shaking it, her voice laced with concern. "Ellie, are you all right?"

The girl blinked, turned to look at the Elf, and nodded slowly. Then she shifted her gaze back to the yellow lace gown.

"Don't worry about Ellie, Adzeel," Jamie reassured the maiden. "She always gets spooky like that when she has one of her visions."

"Azziel," Ellie corrected absently.

"I see…" the Elf replied with a nervous laugh. In truth, she had been quite unsettled by the girl's strange behavior. In the space of a breath, she had seen Ellie's face lose its rosy tinge, her skin paling to the same deathly white color of Nevladiel's. Ellie's eyes had glazed over as if in a trance, distant and seeing only what others could not see, and she had gone so still that Azziel swore her chest no longer breathed. 'Spooky,' the boy had called it. But Azziel thought, downright scary. She rolled her eyes skyward and sighed. This is going to take some getting used to!

A tad reluctantly, she asked Ellie, "Would you like to wear your mother's wedding gown to your own ceremony?"

Ellie would have loved to, but she did not want to risk hurting her father. The Valar only knew how Haldir would react to seeing his daughter looking every bit like his bride had looked on their wedding day so long ago. "No, I had better not," she said, unable to keep the disappointment from her voice. She carefully folded the delicate garment and handed it to Azziel with a deep sigh. "What else is left?"

Jamie leaned into the trunk and threw out the golden veil. "There's just one more dress, Ellie, but it's a beauty!" he exclaimed.

Ellie and Azziel peered in simultaneously and gasped at the same time. Nestled at the very bottom of the trunk was a silk velvet gown, the color of autumn scarlet. It should have been hopelessly crushed by the weight of all the other gowns that had rested on top of it, but it wasn't. As Ellie lifted the dress out of the trunk, the wrinkles and creases eased and fell away as if they had never been. Unlike the heavy, stiff fabrics worn by the noblewomen of Ravenwood, this velvet was fine and flowing, and as light as the sheer white silk of the dress Ellie now wore.

The scarlet velvet gown had a rounded neckline, sitting wide across the shoulders, two-part Elven sleeves, and a tight bodice that flared out into a full skirt, trained in back. The gown laced at the sides with gold cord. Both the neckline and the top sleeves were edged in heavy gold bullion trim. The top sleeves were of the same velvet fabric as the dress and they were tight fitting, ending just above the elbows. The bottom sleeves were made of two layers of shimmering gold silk with burnished-gold leaves embroidered throughout. They were very wide and very long, draping down almost to the floor. Jamie had been right. The scarlet dress was a beauty. The rich autumnal color and the simple style flattered Ellie's dark hair and slight figure.

"It is a gown befitting a Princess," Azziel proclaimed. She turned to smile at the girl. "It is a gown befitting you."

Ellie pressed the dress against her body, took hold of a sleeve and extended her arm, and reverently caressed the soft material. Not a single wisp of memory clung to it. Naia had never worn this gown.

"It's almost as if she left it here for me," Ellie mused. That was fanciful thinking, to be sure, for Naia's gift of foresight had never been as clear as her daughter's was, but still Ellie thought, what if…

"Whether she did or not, it is perfect," Azziel said again. "And now, Jamie, I must ask you to wait outside while I get Ellie dressed."

"Awwww, can't I help? I've seen Ellie in nature's garb plenty of times!" the boy protested.

"That he has," the girl laughed.

And so Jamie stayed. While Azziel emptied her basket and searched the small pile of petticoats for the fullest one, he unlaced the back of Ellie's white dress. The girl stepped out of it, letting it puddle at her feet, and reached for the petticoat now draped over the Elf's arm.

"No, Ellie. We must powder you first."

"Powder me?"

Jamie giggled. "Ellie is not a baby."

"No indeed. And this is not baby powder." Azziel approached the girl with a round container in her hand filled with a fine, dusting powder the color of molten gold. "Smell it." Ellie did, and was surprised at the soft, sweet scent. She had expected talcum.

"Taste it," Azziel now urged. And the girl's eyebrows shot up in surprise. She poked a finger into the golden dust and cautiously brought it to her mouth.

"Why it tastes just like honey!" she exclaimed, delighted.

"Let me try some!" Jamie cried, and stuck his whole hand into the small container.

Azziel laughed and pulled it away from the boy. "You must leave some for the bride!" Then she leaned over and whispered softly into the girl's ear, "Just imagine, Ellie, what Prince Legolas will do when he gets a taste of that on your skin."

The girl's jaw dropped open and she blushed furiously. Azziel's eyes twinkled with mischief as she took a feathery puff in hand and proceeded to powder Ellie from her neck all the way down to her toes, sprinkling some on Jamie's nose and chin and hands at the same time, amid the boy's happy squeals and sneezes.

At last, Ellie stepped into her petticoat, adjusted the ties at her waist, and was ready to don the velvet gown.

"Lift your arms," Azziel said.

The girl started to comply, but dropped them almost immediately when she saw the Elf's curious gaze fix on her armpits. Her hairy armpits. "I'll just step into the gown like I did the petticoat. It's easier," Ellie mumbled, suddenly feeling self-conscious.

"Ellie is embarrassed by her armpit hair 'cause Legolas doesn't have any!" Jamie informed the Elf.

"Be quiet, Jamie!" the girl hissed out of the corner of her mouth.

"Legolas doesn't have hair anywhere except for his head!" the boy continued.

"I am sure Azziel knows that," Ellie muttered through clenched teeth.

Jamie's eyes rounded on the Elf. "Why? Have you seen him naked too?"

Azziel laughed. "No, I have not," she replied as she retrieved a small case from the bed. "Elves do not have body hair."

"Oh, yes, that's right!" Jamie said, recalling what Legolas had told them at the bathing pool. "Except for Ellie, that is. She's got plenty."

The Elf suppressed another laugh as she faced the girl once again. Ellie was fuming and looked about ready to box the boy's ears, although Azziel was certain she had never and would never lay an angry hand on him.

"Your mother shared your concern, Ellie," the Elf tried to reassure her. "And I came prepared." With a quick flick of a wrist, she pulled out a small paring knife. "We do not have razors in Lorien, but many years ago, I saw Lord Aragorn use one. When Naia confessed to me that she found her hair distasteful, I suggested she simply scrape it off. And she did, for her wedding and afterwards."

"You mean I should shave my armpits?"

The Elf gave a careless shrug. "If the hair bothers you."

The idea was intriguing, and all of the sudden, Ellie understood why her mother had owned so many sleeveless gowns. Gowns that Ellie herself could never wear, unless she shaved. The girl was tempted to accept Azziel's offer, for once giving in to vanity. Shaving would certainly make me look more like an Elf, she reasoned. But then she thought, Why would I want to? Legolas loves me just the way that I am. Her body hair certainly hadn't bothered him last night or the night before.

And so, in the end, Ellie declined with a small, sheepish smile. "Legolas loves me--hairy armpits and all, Azziel. I have no cause to feel insecure or inferior."

The Elf nodded thoughtfully. "Your mother never quite understood that. I am pleased that you do."

The girl raised her arms again, and with Azziel's and Jamie's help, donned the beautiful scarlet gown. Swathed in yards of rich silk velvet, she truly felt like a Princess. By the time Azziel finished with her, Ellie would look like one.

With Jamie holding on to the cords on one side of the gown, the Elf pulled and tugged the gold cords on the other, grunting in a most un-Elflike way from the effort. Then she switched places with the boy, and pulled again, until the bodice was cinched tight to Ellie's body.

"I cannot bend!" the girl gasped. The truth was, she could barely breathe.

"But you look, splendid, my dear. Just make sure you do not run. And try not to belch! I promise to loosen the laces before the feasting begins." Because Elves wore such loose-fitting gowns, few maidens ever acquired the lovely, curvaceous figures of their human counterparts. In fact, most Elf maidens could pass for males were they to don tunics and pants. But despite her small size, Ellie would never be mistaken for anything other than female. Azziel had much admired Naia's tiny waist; Ellie's was even tinier. Without a doubt, Prince Legolas would be able to span it with his hands.

"Your mother was a smart woman, and your father an even smarter Elf, to choose a wardrobe so flattering to her body. And yours!" Azziel said approvingly, before whipping out yet another small case.

"Face paints!" Ellie exclaimed, with a look of abject horror when she saw the small bottle of rouge. "Oh no," she protested, waving her hands wildly, "I do not want to resemble a harlot!" She backed into Naia's bed, recoiled when she saw Haldir next to her start to unbutton his pants, and nearly bolted out the door.

But Azziel grabbed her by the hand, swung her around, and laughed yet again.

"What's a harlot?" Jamie asked excitedly. "Why don't you want to be one, Ellie?"

And Azziel laughed even harder, so much that tears spilled from her eyes. Naia's daughter and the little princeling were too precious.

"Trust me, you will not look like a harlot!" the Elf said, trying to control her laughter. "I simply mean to add a touch of color to your face to complement the red of your gown. I am not trying to change your appearance, Ellie. I am only trying to enhance it."

The girl scowled, unconvinced, but Azziel was determined. Within minutes, she had added a trace of rouge to Ellie's cheeks, lightly dabbed berry balm on her lips, and feathered soft kohl onto her eyelids and lashes.

"Perfect!" she exclaimed when she was done.

Jamie squinted and peered closely at Ellie. He could hardly tell that Azziel had applied any face paint at all, and yet, he had to admit Ellie certainly looked prettier. "How did you that?" he asked with a puzzled frown.

"Magic!" the Elf replied.

Ellie blinked nervously. But when Azziel turned her around to face Naia's mirror, the girl's eyes widened with pleasure. "Oh…"

"Oh, indeed. You are beautiful, Princess Elanae," the Elf told her, as she embraced her from behind. "Take a seat, and we will work on your hair next."

While Azziel searched through Naia's vanity drawers for combs and hair clips, Ellie sat stiffly--and very carefully--on the small, cushioned chair. The girl studied her reflection, awed by the subtle changes she saw. She still looked like herself, of course, only better. The rouge had added a most becoming blush to her cheeks--a shy, maidenly blush--that accentuated her fine bones. Her lips were soft and lush, looking as if they had just been kissed, inviting further kisses. Legolas' kisses, the girl thought dreamily, anticipating the Elf's reaction when he saw her red mouth. And her eyes…

Her eyes were the most astonishing of all! Ellie had big, beautiful eyes--Legolas often told her so--yet they were round and waif-like, a child's eyes. But not anymore. Azziel had applied a faint line of kohl to the upper lids--so faint that it was not readily noticeable. Yet Ellie's eyes now looked elongated, mysterious and beguiling, like those of the veiled women of Harad. Her kohl-enhanced lashes were so thick that one could scarcely see between each lash, and so long that their tips touched her brows. Incredible. Ellie raised a hand to them, but Azziel caught her wrist.

"You cannot touch them, Ellie, or you will smear the kohl."

"But what about when Legolas and I…" the girl bit her lip, and said no more.

Azziel smiled. "By then, you will no longer care." Then the Elf tilted her head to one side, and raised a finger to her cheek. "Now about your hair…"

"I think she should keep it loose," Jamie said. "Legolas likes sticking his hands in it, and getting them all tangled up and everything." The ladies turned to stare at him. The look of mild disgust on the boy's face told them he didn't quite understand why Legolas would want to do that, but Jamie nevertheless reasoned, "Seeing as it's his pretend wedding day too, I figured you might want to let him."

Ellie and Azziel burst out laughing.

In the end, Azziel wove a herringbone braid on either side of her head--just like Legolas wore, only thicker--in order to keep Ellie's wayward curls from her face. Then the Elf pulled back the braids and fastened them together with a beautiful gold hair clip, shaped like a mallorn leaf, and encrusted with green and white gemstones. The rest of the girl's curls fell freely down her back.

"There is enough left for Prince Legolas to sink his hands into, should he wish," Azziel told Jamie. The boy nodded his approval. "And now for the finishing touch…" The Elf moved back toward the bed and started to carefully unwrap a thin, cloth package.

"Is it a crown? Did you really did bring a crown, Adzeel?" Jamie asked excitedly.

"Not only did I bring a crown for her to wear this evening, I brought one of Lady Galadriel's!"

It was a coronet, a hair circlet, such as Elven royalty wore. And when Azziel held it before them, both Ellie and Jamie gasped out loud and cooed in admiration. The circlet consisted of several slender, intertwining bands of gold and silver in the shape of leaves. Azziel gently set it on the girl's head. The front of the circlet came to rest at the top of Ellie's forehead with a small teardrop-shaped diamond dangling at the center. The rest of the circlet sloped downward past her ears until it reached the base of her skull, where several more diamonds dangled from seed-pearl chains.

Except for her dainty ears and small stature, Ellie looked every inch an Elven Princess. She was happy and in love and exquisitely garbed, glowing with the shimmering light of the Elves. A light that, until this moment, Ellie had not known she possessed.

She stood up gracefully and smoothed down her skirts. "I cannot thank you enough for all you have done," she told Azziel. "And you too, Jamie."

"You are the prettiest Princess I have ever seen!" the boy exclaimed. And he had seen plenty in his young life.

"Beautiful and majestic," Azziel proclaimed proudly. Not even Nev could outshine her now.

Modest as she was, Ellie still knew they spoke the truth…

~ ***~

Haldir waited for his daughter on the branch bridge outside his dwelling, in the same spot where he had waited to escort his bride to their wedding nearly three hundred years earlier. The Elf was dressed in the same cream brocaded jacket he had worn then, his hair unbound and blowing in the crisp autumnal breeze. In one hand he held Ellie's bouquet--a bouquet of bright elanor he himself had picked on Cerin Amroth a few hours ago. The Elf had done as much for Naia on their wedding day. Inside the lavender-painted bedroom a few short paces away, Azziel was attending his daughter, just as she had attended his wife.

Naia and Elanae. Both of them brides. Both of them happy and hopeful and eager to begin new lives in the company of Elves. Both of them forever branded in his soul.

So little had changed, so much was different. The past mingled freely with the present, and Haldir's heart was filled with bittersweet emotions, as he leaned back against the balustrade and stared at the closed door of his dwelling.

Naia and me. Ellie and Legolas. Two marriages begun with so much promise, but only one fated to succeed.

Even had Naia stayed with him, they were destined for heartbreak, doomed from the very beginning by the passage of years--by the ravages time wreaked on fragile, mortal beings. Naia would not have lived to see this day. Oh, my love, what I would give to have you at my side now, to share this moment with me. Naia, I miss you so…Haldir closed his eyes and waited for the old sorrow to wrap around him like a cloak. He waited for the familiar pain to cut him like a knife. And it came, only this time it was blunted, its sharp edges dulled by the knowledge that he was no longer alone. Would never again be alone.

He had lost a wife, but he had gained a daughter. A lovely, gifted daughter, who offered him hope for the future, hope for days filled with laughter and companionship. Ellie, now he was certain, would not make the mistakes Naia had made. She would never abandon those she loved for an antiquated faith.

And with her marriage, Haldir also gained a son, although he nearly chuckled at the thought. Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood, would never look upon him as his father.

With a ghost of a smile touching his lips, Haldir opened his eyes, and through a sheen of unshed tears, beheld his daughter standing serenely in the open doorway. Princess Elanae, beautiful and majestic, smiling warmly at her father, extending loving arms to him.

Haldir of Lorien had come around full circle…

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To maybe tonight: I envision a very painful end for Nev! But I haven't worked out the details yet. Do you have any suggestions?

To Silmarwen: At one point, I thought about letting Nev redeem herself, but I just could not do it! I am glad you liked the last two chapters--it is not easy for me to write about such intimate moments. LOL!

To Kwannom: Thanks for reminding me of Ellie's armpit hair! I had completely forgotten about it. As for how she will rejoin the Fellowship, I just can't tell you, girl! But I do have a pretty good idea about where the story is heading…

To AngelQueen: Thank you very much for your WONDERFUL review. I will be following the plot of the original version closely. HOWEVER, I am not sure yet what Haldir's fate will be. My beta has developed a wicked crush on him, and she might very well convince me to spare him!

To Demonic Pyro Freak: I really appreciate your description of the katana. I just need to know one more thing: how long is it? Can someone hold it behind his/her back and not have it be seen by another person facing him/her?

To Lara Roberts: I'll join you for a happy dance---especially now that Lego and Ellie are getting married! In my original version of the story, there was NO wedding.

To ACE: For the record, I do NOT like Nev either! I truly wish I had portrayed her differently from the start.

To sweetazzhoney: Well…what do you think of your alter ego? My beta REALLY LOVES her! Thanks for the inspiration! ;-)

To Selayawen: I always cringe when I have to write mushy chapters for fear that I might offend someone. So I truly thank you for your encouraging comments!

To Daisy Princess: It always pleases me to read feedback from a first-time reviewer--and yours was GREAT. Thank you so much!

To DesolateAznVamp: I am seriously considering writing the prequel. And, I am also seriously considering killing Nev in the most horrific way possible! :-)

To anon-101-6: Rest assured, future love scenes will not refer to Ellie as a "girl." As for what the future will bring--I simply CANNOT imagine Legolas not being there for the birth of their child. :-)

To CalypsoAntigone: I agree that dear Legolas' body is FABULOUS. Swoon…And as for love--it will come to you when you least expect it! In my real life (as opposed to my fantasy life--hah!), true love struck me like a lightning bolt when I was 25--and not before then! So hang in there! Romance is still alive and well in the real world.

To luvin it: Glad you are loving it--my story, that is! :-)

To the last fallen angel: Wedding coming up soon!

To Kat Greenleaf: I like cheesy reviews! Yours was fun to read. :-)

To elvesmagic010: Oh dear! I hope you like long stories because E.C. is NOWHERE near complete!

To briamber: I think you are my number one fan! I LOVE your detailed reviews, and I always look forward to receiving them! Thank you very, very much. There will be a lot of angst and turmoil coming up, and I hope that you continue to feel the same way about the story in future chapters.

To Crecy: Did I really make you cry? I think Lego and Ellie will DEFINITELY be due for a happy long life, after the troubles they have endured and are about to endure AGAIN (Oh no!). But I honestly don't think that hundreds of children are going to be in their future--no matter what Ellie thinks! ;-)

To dragonfly: Haldir was most certainly surprised by all the changes one night wrought. Thank goodness the surprises were pleasant!

To nap-003: Glad you liked the love scenes--they are never easy to write! LOL! And, yes, it will be sad when the Fellowship leaves, but except for poor Boromir, Ellie will be seeing all of them again!