Disclaimer: Yes, I still own nothing. Whoop dee freakin' doo.

Chapter Four: Adjustment

The sun was low on the horizon when I finally got out of bed, having spent the last few hours of daylight contemplating my current situation. Edna would certainly be worried sick about me. I assumed they would search the surrounding area; what would they do when they found no body? Or maybe I had died and gone to some sort of heaven (though why it would be centered on a book was beyond me). I tested this theory by pinching myself on the forearm. The pain convinced me that I was definitely in some sort of physical form. Whatever had happened, there was no way for me to go back. And if I could, would I want to?

The impatient growling of my stomach forced me out of bed. The stone floor was cold beneath my feet and the light nightgown I wore flapped gently against my legs as a cool breeze swept through the room (I had no idea how I had gotten into the nightgown, and frankly, I think I'm better off not knowing). My clothes were nowhere to be found (and I doubt Elrond would have been pleased if I showed up to dinner in Converse sneakers and jeans), so I meandered over to the bureau in the far corner of the room and opened the doors. A large array of dresses and gowns hung neatly in their places, all immaculate and incredibly medieval. I pawed through the folds of fabric, searching for something relatively plain and simple, comfort being my highest priority. This proved to be a difficult process. Whoever put together this wardrobe was definitely into flowing gauzy dresses. Most of the gowns appropriate for dinner were of the former description. Wearing one would definitely cause trouble, if not stains. I finally settled on a wine-colored dress with gold embroidery at the waist, neck, sleeves, and hem. It was similar to velvet, but much more comfortable and significantly lighter in weight. I dressed quickly, and struggled for nearly ten minutes with my hair (which was still quite a mess from my earlier fall) before deciding it wasn't worth the effort and pulled it back into a rather messy braid.

I rose from the vanity and stood in front of the full-length mirror. The dress fit well enough (I can't say the same for the shoes, which were about two sizes too small), and I suppose I looked half-decent, considering the circumstances. I squinted at my reflection. Long dark hair, brown eyes, a mouth I'd always felt was too small, fairly ordinary nose smattered with a few freckles, and pointed ears. That's me. I shrugged, figuring it was the best I could do, turned away from the mirror, and waltzed out of the room. I shut the door behind me and realized something very important:

I had absolutely no idea where I was going.

I contented myself with wandering aimlessly for a few minutes, hoping that I might somehow stumble into the correct room. Instead, I nearly ran into a passing servant, who happened to be looking for me.

"There you are. Lord Elrond was wondering where you'd gotten to," she greeted as I struggled with the hem of my dress (floor-length gowns, I quickly discovered, are not for me). She was a young, severe looking woman of substantial height. She observed me with a steely gaze, a somewhat quizzical expression on her face. "Who dressed you?"

"I did," I replied. Her eyebrows rose in slight surprise.

"Oh." She did not easily mask the shock in her tone. "I'll make sure that doesn't happen again, my lady." My lips quirked up at her last two words. Chivalry lives on in Rivendell.

"No problem," I chirped happily, pretending to be unaware of any issue regarding my attire.

"We must hurry now," she stated, walking briskly down the hallway. "You're terribly late and Lord Elrond is expecting you." I trotted after her as she nearly flew through a maze of corridors, cursing my choice in footwear with every step.

She eventually stopped in a doorway leading to a larger room, to the relief of my pinched feet. Without so much as a warning, she gave me a gentle shove forward, propelling me into the room. The polite chatter came to a halt as I stumbled into the room. Well aware of the eyes upon me, I cast my gaze downward and walked as quickly as I could to the one empty chair near the head of the table, trying not to limp exceedingly. I finally took my seat, and gave an apologetic glance in Elrond's direction.

"We welcome Haley Logan to our table tonight," Elrond said as I fumbled with my napkin, my face turning the same shade as my dress. "She is…a guest." He turned his gaze in my direction. "We hope your stay here is pleasant." I nodded in response, trying to avoid eye contact with the other guests. There was a brief moment of uncomfortable silence before the conversation started back up again.

"Erm…sorry about that," I apologized. Elrond gave a small half smile.

"No need for apologies," he replied.

"Oh…well…thanks…I guess," I said, feeling rather confused and embarrassed all at once.

Dinner, awkwardness aside, was lovely. The food was very well near perfect, like everything else in Rivendell. I did not know the names of nearly half the stuff I ate, but it all tasted fantastic and I cared less and less about whether or not it was something I would have eaten had I been anywhere else (I later learned that the meat was rabbit, which was something I avoided religiously on the grounds that it was originally cute and fuzzy with big floppy ears. I learned to ask about the meat after that).

Most of the conversation I participated in was either with Elrond or the woman—or Elf, I suppose—who sat across from me. She introduced herself as Arwen and I later learned that she was Elrond's daughter. She, in short, was a person you would love to hate, but can't. She boasted a fair, flawless ivory complexion, piercing blue eyes, and long brown hair so dark it appeared to be the color of ebony at a first glance. She possessed an inner grace nearly impossible to describe to those who have not seen her. It was unique—it made her stand out from the others as something special, while also making her appear even more beautiful. I felt quite plain and childish sitting across from her, and wanted desperately to find some fault in her, to justify my envy of her looks. But she was gracious and kind, as well as beautiful and I found myself admiring her as the evening progressed.

I excused myself early from dinner, hoping to get a good night's sleep in me so I would be fully prepared to tackle the coming day. I wasn't feeling tired, but I figured it would be better to rest up rather than wait up the whole night.

"I would like to speak with you in the morning," Elrond requested after I expressed my desire to retire early. I nodded, having more than a few questions that needed to be answered. "I will send for you an hour after breakfast."

"Sounds good," I said in parting, rising from my chair. Elrond instructed a nearby servant to escort me to my quarters and I prepared myself for another agonizing walk.

Once back in my room, I kicked off my slippers and shed my dress, draping it over the back of a chair. I crawled into the nightgown I had worn before and climbed into bed, looking forward to getting some sleep.

Many hours later, I was wide awake. It must have been well past midnight, but I felt no more tired than I had been before. I shifted in my bed, burying my face in the pillow, and sighing loudly, muttering an occasional curse.

I never fell asleep that night. The very closest I came to actual slumber was lying with my eyes shut on the border between sleep and awake. It was more of an intense daydream than anything. By the time the sun rose I was more than a little irritated and very much confused. Whatever the explanation might be, Elrond was going to get an earful about this one.

"Why can't I sleep?" I demanded, bursting into Elrond's study the next morning. He was sitting quite calmly at a desk, poring over an immense volume. He did not look up from his work.

"Haley, have a seat," he greeted, writing something down on a piece of paper. I plopped down in the nearest chair and glared fiercely at the tall Elf.

"You cannot sleep because you no longer need to," Elrond replied after a moment, shutting the book and moving the various papers and miscellanea aside. "Elves do not need to rest as Men do."

"Well, that information would have been really helpful last night," I snapped, too irritated to care about general courtesy (and the fact that I was addressing someone of superior class and station). He did not seem to mind much; on the contrary, he seemed to find my irritation amusing.

"It is best that you found out for yourself," he explained. I grumbled for a moment, put off by his calmness as well as the logic of his decision.

"So is there anything else that you'd like to tell me?" I asked after a moment, the sharpness still present in my tone. "Or do I have to 'find out for myself?'"

"There is much I can tell you. The question is where you want to begin," he responded, seeming to enjoy speaking in riddle.

"I would really like to know more about this whole Elf thing," I requested irritably.

"There is much to tell about the Elves," Elrond stated, folding his hands upon his desk. "They are unlike Men in many respects. They do not need to rest, as you have discovered, and their endurance is far greater. Elves do not die or age as humans do; they are blessed with grace that permits them to live many, many years—"

"How many years?" I interrupted.

"Centuries if—"

"Whoa, wait a minute…" Elrond stopped in mid-sentence and looked at me oddly. "Elves are immortal?"

"In some respects, yes. Death…" He looked slightly uncomfortable, as though something was paining him, "…can result from great wounds—both internally and externally."

"Oh." I was silent for a moment, trying to absorb what he had just said. I went from feeling as though I didn't have enough time to live to feeling like I had overly much.

There was a brief moment of silence and Elrond went on to explain more about the Elves. He used many names and places I had never heard before and it was incredibly easy to get lost in what he was saying. I won't repeat everything he said—I understood very little of it and consequently, most of it has since departed from my memory. What I did learn was that Elves are pretty much superior in everything to Men—better eyesight, better hearing, better endurance. I was most surprised when Elrond informed me that basically, I could talk to plants and animals because Elves have a special relationship with pretty much everything (or at least that's what I got from it).

"Wait…so I could go up to…a tree, for instance, and be like 'what's up?' and the tree could understand me and be like 'not much. How are you?'" I asked, nearly on the edge of my seat. This only happened in Disney cartoons—besides, I had a bone to pick with some of those mosquitoes.

Unfortunately, Elrond explained it was much more complicated than that.

The meeting ended on a rather low note when Elrond explained to me that Elves also have their own language—and he wanted me to learn one of the forms called Sindarin. I was very vocal in my protestations.

"I'm really, really, really bad with languages," I explained. Elrond was unmoved and explained why it was imperative that I learn it ("Because I said so," was the general message I got). Plagued with flashbacks of my horrible French teacher, I left his study in a rather poor mood. However, a spring soon came back into my step as I realized that there were no tape players and I would never be forced to complete the conversation with Jacques or help Claudette shop for clothes again.

My first week or so in Rivendell, I didn't do much of anything. I spent most of my time either cooped up in my room or in one of the gardens, thinking. The first part of the week I spent agonizing over the life I'd left behind, Edna being my primary concern. She had just lost her best friend—my disappearance certainly wouldn't help her in any way. The police would find no evidence to help explain what had happened, which could create a sense of false hope as well as despair. I didn't want Edna to spend the rest of her life hoping that I might somehow return. I worried about the friends I'd left behind—how would they react to this? Would I unintentionally be a negative effect on the rest of their lives? I cried almost constantly during this time—I eventually brought my concerns to Arwen, who managed to somewhat reassure me. I guess she mentioned something to Elrond, because he took me aside one day and said some very philosophical things that made complete sense when I heard them, but afterward I could not recall a single word he said.

On top of all that, I was still grieving for Aunt Kate. The knowledge that she would have wanted me to move on and learn to love the world she had so often praised, did not provide me with much comfort. There was a void in my life that was nearly impossible to ignore or try to live with it.

I slowly began to come out of the cocoon I had built around myself and began to start a new life in Rivendell. I spent a lot of time with Elrond and plagued him with endless amounts of questions. When he grew tired of me, he would send me off on an errand, usually something along the lines of "Go bother Arwen." Consequently, I spent a lot of time with the aforementioned Elf, as Elrond's patience began to fray. She didn't seem to mind me much—it might have had something to do with the fact that I found it much more entertaining to bother Elrond rather than her.

Amdir was a different story.

Of the two Elves who accosted me in the woods, he was the gruff one. I found him to be an arrogant and egotistical ass, whereas he saw me as a smart-aleck with an attitude problem. Naturally, we often informed each other of our views, which often led to Amdir saying something incomprehensible in some form of Elvish, to which I replied "Bite me."

"Ignore Amdir," Arwen would often advise as the aforementioned Elf would exit the scene, looking either put out or smug, depending on the outcome of the argument. "His head is too big for his shoulders."

"Trust me, he deserved that," was often my response. Arwen would simply sigh and shake her head, sometimes offering me a few words of wisdom before I tuned her out.

Amdir aside, life was peaceful in Rivendell, and I gradually fell into a serene routine that changed very little as the days passed, unaware of the changes time would bring.