Though the last one was short, the information in it was important. Well, all the information is important of course, but this makes up for the length and is also very informative. :)

Gandalf sat nearby watching Sam closely. He woke slowly at first, looking about at the land of Ithilien that they had traveled through, one of the last green lands they had known. Frodo's peaceful sleep seemed almost unnatural after the last hours he remembered. The mere fact that the breeze was cool and refreshing and not filled with smoke and ash was a wonder to the Hobbit.

Gandalf had watched as Eomer returned with Aragorn, who hurried into the tent to prepare medicine for the two. He noticed in passing that Legolas did not follow for some while, but turned his attention again to Sam who was now talking to Frodo who'd woken again. Gandalf left them momentarily to assist Aragorn and found that he had already been joined by Legolas, who was going to leave again to bring more athelas.

Aragorn, though, seemed to be content with what they had already collected and Gandalf agreed that much would not be needed now. "I think that our small friends will not need so much care now as perhaps our most recent guest will. You should be able to find her, Legolas, no where near the companies from Rohan."

Legolas raised an eyebrow, unintentionally mirroring a frequent gesture of curiosity shared by both the Lord of Imladris and the King of Mirkwood. He agreed with Gandalf's assessment though and went outward to find Lómëmir again.

Legolas paused just before leaving though, and turned to Gandalf. "How comes it that i did miss the fact that Frodo was awake early this morning?"

Gandalf smiled. "Do not be concerned, young Legolas. Hobbits can be very nearly as quiet as elves and would not be noticed, especially when one is called to other attentions," he said mystically.

Legolas, though, knew what he meant. His thoughts told him that he just needed a little rest. A little time of peace under the trees would surely clear his mind. For now his mission was to find Lómëmir. He guessed that she would possibly be more contented in the company of peaceful trees than the crowds of men.

It did not take long for Legolas to find her where she was talking to Merry and Pippin, listening to their remarkable tales of their parts in the battles that had been fought by the free peoples of Middle-earth. Lómëmir, for her part, was particularly amazed that they had been guests of Fangorn the Treehearder.

For a while Legolas sat with them listening to the two Hobbits speak of the Ents and the destruction of the evil at Isengard. It could be noticed that Legolas's eyes flickered with the desire to return to Fangorn forest again, there was so much to be learned from such ancient beings as Ents. It wasnt until Lómëmir asked him of Sam and Frodo's condition that Legolas realized that he had not even mentioned to Merry and Pip that their friends were indeed awake again and doing well. At the good news the cousins raced off toward the further end of the camp.

"Perhaps i should have made that introduction when i had the chance, then at least i could have warned you. Once they start talking, not all the mushrooms in the Eastfarthing would quiet them," Legolas said with a somewhat apologetic smile. Lómëmir only laughed.

"Híril Lómëmir, would you care to accompany me for a walk through Ithilien's more peaceful region?"

Lómëmir nodded, "I would be very glad to, my lord Legolas."

It was then Legolas's turn to laugh. "I am lord of none, dear lady, nor should i wish to be."

Lómëmir smiled. "Very well, I would still enjoy going along with you."

"No other company could make a walk through the trees more satisfying than it would already be," he said, returning her smile.

For some while they strolled on in quiet, listening to the birds, the sound of rushing water in the distance, and the voices of the trees and the land itself. In time they came to the water and decided to stop for a while at it's bank.

"To take rest under green trees again was all that i had hoped for the last months," Legolas said with a distant voice when they had reclined against a tree.

Lómëmir looked at him, reading the expression in his eyes. "You are called by the sea, are you not, Legolas?"

His sigh spoke for him. "I am called, lady. I can still hear the cry of the gulls in my heart. I have heard that they are the messengers of the Vala, Ulmo. They call for elves of Middle-earth to take to ships and find the Undying Lands of Eldamar and beyond. It seems Ulmo wishes that I go there as well."

"I, too, am called. I have resisted the call for much longer than i should. I greatly desire to look upon Avallónë, though now... there may be very little for me to stay in Middle-earth longer for."

Legolas then turned his gaze from the water to Lómëmir's quiet grey eyes. There again he saw the pain that her permeated her earlier in the day when she spoke of how she traveled alone. A silent sadness came to Legolas that this lady elf was in genuine peril of finding the Halls of Mandos long before any ship could bear her to Eldamar.

He could not help but wonder why she wandered and stayed in Middle-earth if she was so alone. He wondered too why she said that she needed to find Lord Faramir of Gondor. Furthermore, he wondered why he could not bring himself to simply ask her these things. He felt that there was surely some way he might be able to help her, if he only knew what it was she sought.

In the gentle peace of the forest and immersed in his thoughts, Legolas barely heard the small sound of Lómëmir's breath catch in sorrow. When he glanced to her again it was as though a shadow had fallen about her. Although he was not altogether aware of his actions, Legolas put an arm around her shoulder and let her gradually lean against him. He sensed that what she needed the most was someone to be near her. No more, no less, would bring the natural light of the Eldar back to her eyes.

At first she did not relax so easily, but after a moment she could feel only comfort and compassion radiating from Legolas's hold and she slowly rested alongside him. Long were her days since she found a pervading peace and security near another.

Afternoon carried through into evening and dashes of color began to tint the forest about the peace-filled elves. Before long night would fall, bringing with it the renewal of the light of the stars. Legolas noticed that Lómëmir appeared to glow more again, but that she was also seeming to be in need of rest.

"Do you wish to return to camp, hírilLómëmir?" he asked in a soft voice, not wishing to disturb the newly returned tranquility of Ithilien.

Lómëmir's voice was barely above a whisper either in her declining. "I am much more comfortable here than in the camp."

Legolas smiled, agreeing with her. "As am i, my lady," he said moving out from under the tree to see the stars they rested under. "Eärendil is alight again," Legolas said to her, beckoning her to see.

Lómëmir's voice then seemed to be that of ages past as she spoke, "Eärendil shall ever be the hope of the eldar yet in Middle-earth, and the rejoicing of those who have found the West, for it was Eärendil's supplication that won the breaking of the curse of the Noldor when no other could."

It was then that Legolas began to wonder of Lómëmir's ancestry. Her name, though wholly Sindarian, spoke to Legolas as a name of a royal maiden from long ago, though he knew not who, nor how he distinguished the name as such.

"Lady Lómëmir?"

"Yes, Legolas?"

"I remember in the tale that Eärendil was called by Eönwë "jewel in the sunset" upon his arrival at Valinor, and that is the meaning of your name. Are you of the line of Eärendil?"

Lómëmir did not answer immediately. Rather, she thought for a moment how she might best reply. "I am of many different lineages, Legolas. I am partly of the house of Fingolfin, yes. But i have never been at ease in the great elven cities as i am among the woods and the sea."

Legolas wondered if it could be at all possible that this lady was indeed a royal maiden trying to conceal her status, as he so often did himself and as Aragorn had for more than 60 years. His smile spoke of understanding, something that Lómëmir was more than appreciative to see in another of her own kind.

"Before i found you with Merry and Pippin, Gandalf advised me that i would find you well away from the companies of Rohan. Have you had the displeasure of a traditional Rohirrim welcome in the Mark as well?"

At the mention of Rohan, Lómëmir's eyes seemed to be set ablaze. "Their manner of men must not have known Númenor."

"Your words are more than gentle to their condition, lady. They were outrightly rude when Aragorn, Gimli, and i were there. Moreso to myself and Gimli as for many years Aragorn was known to their people in his guise of Thorongil."

"Their king is a corrupted man and his corrupter sends innocent men to their deaths for false crimes."

Legolas felt a certain heaviness in his heart at her statement. He knew by this that her dealings with Rohan had been nothing but hurtful. He sensed that it was this hurt that had a large blame in diminishing her elven glow.

"You will be glad to know, then, that Wormtongue is no more a threat in Rohan and that Saruman's hold over the king was broken by Gandalf. Though i am sorry to say that King Theoden did not survive the battle at Pelennor."

Lómëmir nodded silently but her attention, as did Legolas's, became focused on the light of Earendil in the west as it outshone all the other stars in the sky. Neither mentioned mortals for the rest of the night.