Part Two-The World Is Changed . . .

"Lle lakwenien?"

"N'uma! Ma' ie' he loske."

"Tanya naa il-faarea ten' amin."

"Magh-lle dol! He loske naa vee' nim vee' Gandalf-"

"Ta naa il'faarea!"

Willow groaned in her sleep, wishing whoever was arguing would go and do it somewhere else. She wasn't up for having one going on so close to her. It was waking her up, and she didn't want to be woken up. It was far too nice to be sleeping, all nice and warm, safe from the storm she knew was coming.

"Nim ve' tanya naa poika val!"

"Ar' tanya naa mankoi amin dele!"

The redhead frowned in her sleep, shifting slightly in hopes of getting away from the angry voices. It was a bad move. The second she moved, she became aware of a fiery sensation creeping across her side. Willow moaned in pain, moving her hand to clutch at her ribs. She felt a few tears leak out of the corner of her eyes, stifling a sob. Immediately, the voices stopped their screaming and she heard some hushed whispers.

"I'nim Seldarine cuiva!"

"Uuma yela he tanya!"

"Why won't you shut up already?" Willow demanded, her voice very weak. The voices stopped once more, though she thought she heard some disgruntled grumbling. Willow felt herself being moved a bit, her body kind of tilting to one side. She quickly figured out she was lying on a bed and that someone had just settled down beside her. A warm hand pressed itself against her forehead and Willow grimaced.

"No," she whined, trying to twist away from the hand. "Wanna sleep. Go away; come back in ten minutes, or years. Take your pick."

"Re quena I'numenenya lambe."

"What did I say about the talking?" Willow muttered unhappily. The redhead screwed her eyes shut, trying desperately to keep herself in some sort of state of sleep. But she was becoming more and more aware as the seconds ticked by, and her gibberish-talking friends were not helping in the slightest. Why weren't they going away? Didn't she just say that she wanted to be left alone? She wanted to sleep and to dream of much more pleasant things than reality. Waking up meant having to deal with what had happened before.

And that had not been of the good.

"You need to wake," came a gentle voice, near her left ear. Whoever this guy was, he seemed pretty concerned with her, trying to slowly coax her out of her slumber. Willow groaned and tried to turn away from the sound of his voice, bumping her nose into a firm chest. Great, the guy was leaning over her. His hair was tickling her cheek and his hands were gently shaking her shoulders. He seemed pretty damn determined to wake her up. Too bad for him that she was equally determined to stay awake.

"Perhaps we should call some of her friends," came another voice from further away. The voice was rougher than the first one, and certainly less friendly. But she decided not to focus on that, but on what he had actually said.

"My friends?" she murmured, raising a hand to rub at her closed eyes. "Where are my friends? Who are you people?"

"We found you and your group in the forest," came the whispered answer. "You were injured, we brought you in for healing. Some of your friends have awakened, some have not."

Some have not. Willow felt a shiver of fear shoot down her spine. She felt there was much more to that statement than she wanted to know.

"We can take you to them once you awake," the man sitting on her bed promised. There was a sharp grunt of protest from the other man.

"Legolas, amin uuma merna-"

"We can't keep her locked up-"

Okay, now that woke her up. Locked up? She didn't like the sound of that. Why would she be locked up? She hadn't done anything wrong. Well, lately she hadn't done anything wrong. That she could remember at least. Since the Hellmouth swallowed her whole, she hadn't done anything but sleep and feel pain. The pain was still there, but it looked like sleep was no longer an option.

"All right, I'm awake," she announced, slightly defeated.

"Your eyes are still closed."

Damn, what a stickler for the details. The redhead sighed and reluctantly opened her eyes. It wasn't the most pleasant experience. Her eyes felt dry and red, her vision incredibly blurry. Those first few seconds where she tried to regain her focus, things swam in and out of her vision. Willow suddenly felt sick to her stomach and shut her eyes once more.

"She needs a healer," the man sitting next to her insisted.

"Legolas, you know how dangerous it is having her-"

"I know she is not evil Aragorn!"

She wasn't liking the direction this argument was taking. Willow turned onto her left side, gripping at the ends of her blanket as she willed her aching head to stop throbbing. The two men were still having their argument and she couldn't care less. Some of her friends were around here and she needed to get to them. Sleep was long gone now and it was time to face facts.

Things had gone wrong in the Hellmouth. They had gone very wrong. She felt her heart rate pick up as her mind envisioned what could have become of her friends, of her allies. And the First. She remembered the First very distinctly. What had happened with the First? Did they do it? Did they stop it? Or had they failed, and the world fallen to the evil of the Hellmouth?

So many things to find out, so many concerns to address. Willow forced her dry and tired eyes open, glaring down at the white sheets covering her body. The fighting continued somewhere behind her but she paid them no mind. She hefted herself up on the palms of her hands, shrugging off an attempt by the man sitting on her bed to help her. The redhead scrambled into a sitting position, biting her bottom lip as another wave of pain rolled through her body. Her side still hurt way too much.

Willow bent over, resting her head on her knees for a second as she tried to work through the pain. She felt like her body had been put through the wringer, twice. Whatever had happened, none of them could have come out of it unscathed.

And according to these guys, some of them didn't.

She raised her head, her eyes open and focused for the first time. She immediately saw the two men. The one on her bed was incredibly beautiful, long blonde hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. He watched her with a certain amount of awe, his perfect face open and welcoming.

The man by the door was the complete opposite of the blonde guy. He was dark, tanned, and much older looking. But it was not to say he wasn't handsome, because he was. But Willow felt a bit uneasy under his untrusting gaze. He seemed like something else, almost regal but also very intimidating.

"Who are you people?" she asked, her voice weak and filled with tears. "What happened? Where is everyone? Where is this?"

"Many questions you have," the man by the door observed. "And we have just as many. Your group has been housed in my palace, my healers tending to your wounds. Several of your comrades have awakened, but it is you dear lady that I wish to speak with."

"Who are you?" Willow repeated, eyes wide. The blonde man got off her bed, placing his hand over his chest and bowing low to her.

"I am Legolas, Prince of the Mirkwood Realm," he replied smartly. "And this is Aragorn, or King Elessar of Gondor. You are in the city of Minas Tirith, white lady."

"Huh?" Willow shook her head. "Okay, none of that made sense to me. Goddess, where is Giles when you need him? And why am I so special that the King only wants to talk to me?"

"Are you not the power that brought so many across the boundaries of time and space?" demanded Aragorn, stepping closer and closer to the redhead. Willow recoiled from his approach, not caring that Legolas had stopped him and was now whispering in that gibberish language again.

"I didn't do anything!" the witch insisted. "Well, I did some stuff, but that was before everything went bonkers. Listen, I don't know what happened, or why you're all angry-guy, but if you just take me to Giles, I'm sure we can all figure this-AHHH!"

Both men jumped at her scream, Aragorn actually withdrawing his sword. But Willow could care less about them at the moment. Her wandering eyes had travelled the room, landing on the small vanity table in the corner. It was a simple dresser, but Willow's concern with the mirror attached to it.

Or to be more specific, her reflection in that mirror.

"What happened to my hair!"

A/N: Yes, shorter than the last part, but I write as much as I can manage. Minor cliff-hanger, though I'm sure you all must realize what happened to her hair. More later, including an appearance by Giles, Xander, and Faith-maybe Buffy if I feel up to it. And of course, our heroes discover the lovely race of Elves.

Translations (again not the best, but the best I can manage. Forgive me the overly bad grammatical errors) :

Lle lakwenien-Are you joking?

N'uma! Ma' ie' he loske-No! Look at her hair.

Tanya naa il-faarea ten' amin-That is not enough for me
Magh-lle dol! He loske naa vee' nim vee' Gandalf-Use your head! Her hair is as white as Gandalf's.

Ta naa il'faarea-It is not enough!

Nim ve' tanya naa poika val-White like that is pure power!

Ar' tanya naa mankoi amin dele-And that is why I'm worried!

I'nim Seldarine cuiva-The white Goddess awakes!

Uuma yela he tanya-Don't call her that!

Re quena I'numenenya lambe-She speaks the Western Tongue.

Legolas, amin uuma merna-Legolas, I don't want

Translations from http: