HANDS
Author: coulduseprozac or simon22cat depending on my mood
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Crossover BtVS/LoTR; Het Romance
Pairing: Willow/Haldir
Warnings: Dropping an Elf from a tree
Summary: Someone has wandering hands
Time: BtVS: after season 7; LoTR: The Third Age roughly 200 years after the capture of Celebrian making it about 300 years before the Ring War
Feed Back: Always welcomed
Spoilers: Season 7 BtVS
Disclaimer: All things from the BtVS belong to the Joss Whedon dynasty. All things from LoTR belong to the great J. R. R. Tolkien. No profit is made from this venture. I own nothing except any OC's that might result of this. Most of this was written in the bathtub. So if it's a little soggy, my bad.
Beta: Wasn't that one of those little bitty VCR type things from the 80's?
Chapter Eleven: Cabor
Stormy gray-eyes stared out the window of the talan. Lost in thought, he did not see the vista that was open before him. Elrond did not see the mallorn trees gently swaying in the wind or the sun filled pathways of Lothlorien. He barely heard Celeborn speaking with the twins, their voices a low mummer in the distance. Instead his thoughts rested on another, the wife of the Marchwarden. Willow. The trials she had gone through were difficult for him to wrap his ancient mind around. To have spent so much time in the foul company of the Orcs and still have the desire to continue living was incomprehensible. His own beloved had sailed across the sea to escape from her memories of the time she had spent with the Orcs. Celebrian had lasted only a year after her rescue, that dark day forever leaving a stain upon her soul.
"Adar?"
"Yes, my iôn," Elrond replied as he turned to face Elladan.
"What troubles you? Where do your thoughts rest?"
"I was thinking of Willow."
Elladan smiled before answering his father. "She is rather amazing, is she not?"
"I think she is," was the reply. It did not come from the Imladris lord but from the Marchwarden. Haldir had just stepped through the doorway of the bedchamber after seeing to his wife.
"How is she?" Asked the Lord of Lothlorien.
"The memories were too much for her. I sent her to sleep. She should sleep for rest of the afternoon." Haldir had known this would happen, it did every time she spoke of her arrival. It has been nearly seventy years but the memory was still strong, regardless of what Willow might say. But she was strong and with time the memory would fade.
They were going to be parents. The very thought frightened him to no end. The darkness that was settling over Arda was not the most desirable condition in which to bring forth a new life. It took a year from the time of begetting to the time of birth for the Eldar but with Willow's human heritage the time span might be less. Haldir was sure he could speak to Lord Elrond on this matter. As a Peredhil, and a father of children of mixed blood, surely he could shed some light on the matter.
The only problem Haldir was having was, that during the time Willow carried his elfling he would have to spend less time at the fences. During a pregnancy both parents nourished the fea of the unborn and to be sundered from each other would deprive the unborn the support of each parent. He was going to have to talk to Lord Celeborn about this, hopefully between the two of them they could come up with a suitable replacement. But not right at this moment. There was still plenty to tell of the tale they had begun this morning.
"My lords, if you will join me on the terrace, I will continue with the tale. This way we do not disturb Willow's slumber."
Following Haldir to the terrace, the Elven lords found seats and waited for Haldir to pick-up where the narrative had been left off.
"She required assistance to bathe for a second time..."
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Although he had rolled his eyes at the young woman, Haldir still helped her to bathe for a second time. After once again stripping down to his leggings, Haldir walked out into cold flowing stream with Willow in his arms. This time was different, she was awake.
Sitting her down, Haldir looked over her head at the shore, eyes focusing on anything but the woman before him. A small gasp of surprise escaped her lips at the coldness of the water. A faint flush colored her skin as she was naked before him.
"Could you please turn around?" was the almost silent question asked of him.
Nodding his head, Haldir turned and faced the other bank of the stream. He knew that Rumil and Orophin guarded the shore he had stepped from. His brothers would not allow anything to come within range of himself and the redheaded woman that was in his charge. He just hoped his brothers behaved and did not gaze upon the bathing woman.
He listened to the quiet sounds she made as she tried to wash the memory from her body. After spending several minutes listening to the sound of her teeth chattering , Haldir turned.
"I think it is time we returned to...," his words were cut off as he beheld her gaze.
She was crying again. Haldir muttered a small prayer under his breath, praying for patience to deal with the weeping woman.
"Come. You are finished." Haldir took her arm and guided her back to the shore. Then the strangest thing happened.
A small cabor swam up to Willow. Her eyes went wide with fright
"What is the matter with you?" a confused Haldir asked.
Stuttering, Willow had difficulty getting her words out.
"Frroogg. Fffrrroogg. Frog! Get it away from me. Get it away!" she ended with a scream, backpedaling as fast as she could.
He pulled her coughing and sputtering form from the water after she went under from slipping on a moss covered rock. The little green colored frog swam off, unknowing and uncaring of the chaos he had caused.
"Look. See, it is already gone." Haldir told the trembling woman. He swept Willow up into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to the shore.
"I hate frogs," she said after he had stood her on her feet. "It's not enough that I had the misfortune of meeting those smelly, evil things, but there are frogs. I couldn't have landed somewhere with out frogs..."
Haldir stopped Willow by placing a hand over her mouth. "It is gone. Do not worry over one small harmless frog."
"You don't understand," Willow said as she jerked her head aside, dislodging his hand. "They are just creepy."
"Creepy? That is a word I am not familiar with."
"Creepy. Icky. They are icky with their slimy little bodies and big ol' eyes. And that tongue! Who knows what kind of evil a frog can think up! You know, they're just plain creepy!"
Silently Haldir was pleased, for this was the most spirit she had shown since being rescued. But at this moment he needed her to get dressed. Standing there shivering, Willow's lips had started to turn blue from the time spent in the cold water.
Willow hugged her arms across her body in a vain attempt to stay warm when Haldir handed her the gray tunic she had worn earlier. It was then that she remembered she was naked in front of this stranger. Blushing, Willow snatched the tunic from his hands and turned to put it on. She looked over her shoulder at the tall being and raised and eyebrow. Haldir turned, allowing her some privacy.
She was having trouble pulling the garment over her wet body. Her head was stuck. Willow was almost to the point of asking for help when without warning the tunic seemed to glide effortlessly over her body. The gray cloth fell past her knees. 'Great goggley moggley, these guys are tall,' she thought to herself while rolling the sleeves over her hands. A feeling of being watched made her raise her head. There. Something was in the trees. But what? Closing her eyes, she reached out with her magic, in an attempt to discover whatever was spying on her...it worked! Kind of worked. Her eyes snapped open. Willow stared at the surrounding forest, she knew something was there but what she did not know.
Haldir had listened to her struggles while she dressed but now she was quiet. Almost too quiet. He turned, intending on offering his assistance, but it was unneeded. His brother's tunic fell well past her knees, the sleeves covering her hands. She was staring at the woods, her gaze focused on something he could not see.
"What is it? What do you see?"
"There is something there. We are not alone."
That statement did not concern him but when Willow looked over her shoulder at her him, he was startled. The woman's eyes had gone completely white, not one sign of their original color was present. She cocked her head, and the tips of her red hair slowly bled to black.
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Orophin had been watching over his brother and the woman they had rescued. He had shaken his head at her reaction to the small cabor. Such a small thing to cause a big reaction. But sometimes ones fears were not all that reasonable. After Haldir had moved her back to the shore, he had averted his gaze, but not before he saw a small amount of her exposed skin. Even from his distance he could see the angry looking bruises that gave her body such a colorful hue.
He started to climb down from his perch while the woman was dressing. Moving from branch to branch, Orophin intended to make his presence know to Haldir. He must not have been as silent as he thought, for when she had redressed in Rumil's tunic, her head snapped up. The vision before him was one that made him worry for his brother. Her hair was slowly turning from its red shade to one of black. And her eyes. Sweet Eru, her eyes were white.
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"Willow, what is it?"
"There is something moving in the trees. I can feel them."
"It probably nothing more then one of my..."
The rest of his answer was cut off when she murmured words in a language he did not understand. A white light streamed from her hands towards the tree.
"Ai!" Was heard, followed quickly by the sound of a body dropping the last few feet from the mallorn tree.
"Brothers," Haldir said as he finished his sentence.
"Whoops, my bad." Willow said as her hair and eyes faded back to normal.
Haldir would not think about the light that shot from her hands, right now he was concerned for his younger sibling. He stalked across the forest floor to where his brother had fallen with Willow following behind him the best she could.
They stood over the downed Galadhrim, waiting for him to open his eyes.
Orophin cracked open one eye and groaned.
"Ai, my head. What happened?"
"That would be me." Willow waved to Haldir's brother.
"You?"
"Me."
Haldir cleared his throat, to gain their attention.
"Willow meet my brother, Orophin. Orophin meet Willow."
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A/N: Thanks to everyone that has waited patiently for this chapter (I hope it was worth it). I apologize for the length of time it took to update. But sometimes things get a little crazy and it's hard to sit down for any length of time in front of the computer.
AdarFather
IônSon
PeredhilHalf-elven
Feaspirit
CaborFrog
From LACE (The Laws and Customs of the Eldar): The fea, though unbegotten, draws nourishment from the parents before the birth of the child: directly from the fea of the mother while she bears and nourishes the hrondo (bodily form), and mediately but equally from the father, whose fea is bound in union with the mother's and supports it. To be separated during this time would deprive the child of some part of its fathering.