Okay, I'm sorry about taking over a week to update, but I have two chapters. That works, right? Basically there are two because they're so entwined around the same issue I didn't feel quite right making you wait between them.

Zeriae: Um, well, not so much. There's really just a lot of interaction they have to get through. The 'ancient's trials' was the most active thing, thus far.

sharon: Legolas isn't fading. Hasn't been fading since he came west. He did almost fade before making the journey, and hasn't fully recovered yet, though most don't really notice.

Animir: : ) Yes, let's. Telling her who they are is very minimal. She had enough of the memory to draw them, so he can give her a name. After all, a name without a body is pretty worthless.

LadyJadePerendhil: Why would we want him to be cured?


Chapter 25

"Lunian? May I enter?"

"Of course, Carathwan."

Carathwan opened the door cautiously, unsure what she would find this time. Last time she had found Lunian in leggings, covered in mud, dirt, and blood. The time before, the room had been disheveled, clothing and books everywhere—as if a great storm had taken place between the four walls. She peered around the corner, pushing some of her hair away from her face to check before fully committing herself to entering. "Lunian! What are you doing?"

"Sketching."

"I can see that. Why?"

"Because it's helping me piece my memories together. If I put them in order, I'll know what I'm missing… right?"

Carathwan looked at the scores of papers in confusion. "Lunian… how are you going to go through all of these?"

"What…" Lunian paused as she looked around. She laughed softly. "I suppose I'll just ask a good friend to help me…" she trailed off, looking hopefully up at Carathwan.

Her eyes widened, the pupils dilating slightly. "Me?" she squeaked. "Are you kidding?"

"Well…" Lunian wilted slightly. "I can do it… It'll take a while, but I'll do it."

Carathwan looked to the ceiling. "Lunian," she sighed. "You are utterly hopeless." She sighed again when Lunian looked up at her. "Where should I start?"

Lunian brightened considerably. "I think time order would be best… so grab a stack and start sorting."

"How do I know where they go?"

"I'll tell you. Some things will be obvious—you can use Estel as one way to tell approximate age, as I saw him grow old. I didn't see dwarves until I was in Mirkwood, and saw Lothlorien only twice… Imladris, then Mirkwood, and Fangorn is how they will mostly go. There are some of Lothlorien before and after Mirkwood, of course, and Gondor mixed throughout once the quest was complete."

Carathwan blinked a few times. "Umm…"

Lunian laughed. "Like I said, I'll tell you."

"Oh…kay…" Carathwan shook herself. She gathered the paper into three large stacks, and sat with them beside her. Picking up the top sheet, she paused for a long moment to study the being she found. The energy and life he held was stunning, and he was actually quite attractive. She blinked to see his rounded ears. Human, then? "A human."

"Man or woman?"

"Man."

"What type of hair?"

"Shoulder length."

"As were they all. Dark? Light? Straight? Wavy? Is he old, young? Wearing a sword? Bow and arrow?"

Carathwan blinked at the picture again. "Young… sword and bow… I think dark and wavy."

"Estel, then. If he's wearing either elven clothing or something black and worn, it's before the quest."

"Before, then," Carathwan declared, setting the picture into a spot she mentally designated 'pre-quest'.

"What's next?"

"A very lovely elf. She has long dark hair—"

"Arwen. What's the background?"

"None."

"Then put that in a pile of it's own, for faces."

With a lifted brow, Carathwan did as told. "All right. The next one is… King Thranduil?"

"That would be at least after moving to Mirkwood, and before Fangorn. Background?"

"Legolas is standing slightly to the side, I believe."

"A day in court," Lunian mused. "Rather random within that time, then."

"Oh." The page was carefully set aside. "Next we have—" she flinched. "A very wicked looking human."

"Calmacil. After the first time to Lothlorien, long before Mirkwood." Lunian looked up briefly. "The next ones are likely of him, unless you've messed the order of drawing up. I wanted to be done with him as quickly as possible."

Carathwan swallowed heavily as she went through the pages. "I can see why," she finally murmured, scooting the pile somewhat away from her. She smiled slightly in relief to see one of Arwen next. "Arwen holding out a dagger?"

"After Calmacil—the same day."

"All right. Gimli on a horse?"

Lunian lifted her head. "A dwarf on a horse?" She turned, glancing back to see Gimli was indeed there, looking out with such solemn sorrow that her chest squeezed. "Just before the end of what I have remembered," she breathed, dragging in air carefully. She closed her eyes and pushed the image from her mind. "Next?" she asked, a bit shakily as she opened her eyes.

"Lord Elrond in a study of some sort. He looks rather angry."

"Is anyone else there?"

"Your father is off to one side."

"That would be before leaving for Lothlorien. I met Legolas for the second time not long after that."

"Why was he so angry?"

"I was insisting I would not marry a human I didn't know."

Carathwan gasped, the paper dropping from her fingers. "He wanted you to what?"

"I was human at the time, Cara… but he changed his mind when we met with the human again."

Carathwan looked at the faint hint of color showing through the sketch of Arwen with a dagger, shuddering. "Please tell me it wasn't that human Calma… whatever."

Lunian looked up at her for a telling time. "What's next?" she asked, looking back down at her drawing.

It took Carathwan a long moment to start moving again. "Um… I don't know. It looks kind of like a man… but the ears are slightly pointed, and the bare feet are really hairy."

"A hobbit. Either Sam, Merry or Pippen, and any one would be after moving to Fangorn."

Carathwan set it aside. "Plump?"

"All of them."

"Eating?"

"All of them—they're hobbits."

"Oh. How do you tell them apart, then?"

Lunian looked up, then frowned faintly and shrugged, looking down at the picture. "That's Pippen."

With a lifted brow, Carathwan went back to work. "Large, dark forest?"

"Mirkwood. First view."

"Thin branch across the path?"

"Mirkwood, riding through."

Carathwan paused at the next one. "A human woman, dressed as a male elf?"

"Me, on my way through Mirkwood."

Carathwan pulled back slightly, looking at the human. Yes, Lunian had said she was half-human before, mortal… but hearing it here and seeing it from there were very different things. Lunian's hair was much darker before, her ears rounded. Her skin was dirty, small cuts and scrapes along her exposed skin. Her darker hair was flying behind her along with her cape, her fairly long hair whipping and tangling in the wind. Still, the same fire and fervor for life that had been captured in Estel's eyes was within those pictured, along with determination and some fear. "How could you draw yourself?"

"I remember looking in mirrors… I kind of filled in what I think I must have looked like, between that and what was happening." Lunian glanced at the picture for an instant. "I felt a bit odd, though, drawing what I hadn't seen. There aren't many of those."

Carathwan looked down at the girl in the picture, studying those captivating eyes. She hadn't understood an elf loving a human until seeing those eyes. "Why were you scared?"

"Galadriel, Elrond, Elladan and Elrohir all said goodbye to me so solemnly, then sent me racing off to Mirkwood with no explanation. I thought there was something wrong with them, so I was trying to get to Legolas as quickly as possible."

"What's in the paper?"

"A letter to Legolas from Elrohir, explaining that they were going west and couldn't bear to tell me." Lunian sighed softly, before her eyes lightened as her mouth quirked up. "At least I got to see Mirkwood, that way."

Carathwan lifted a brow curiously, but moved on to the next picture. She stared at it uneasily. "Lunian?"

"Hmm?"

"This one isn't finished." Having all the detail there but the face was quite disturbing. The eyes—the only detail for the elf's head—caught her attention. She glanced away after a moment, feeling those eyes were never meant to be seen by her. She held it up for her friend to see.

"I know." Lunian sighed. "I can never remember the rest of his features. I'm a bit surprised I knew enough to detail in the room. Usually I see his eyes, hear what's going on, feel what I felt… and that's it. That's in Gondor, after moving to Mirkwood."

Carathwan sighed, setting the paper aside. "How long shall this take?"

"It is a life, Cara. My life. I need to put it together."

Carathwan looked back at the faceless elf and sighed. She would want to find those eyes again, too. "I could go get Lina. She already knows part of this."

Lunian looked up, then slowly nodded. "Thank you, Cara."

With a nod Carathwan got to her feet, moving quickly down the hall. "Nallina?"

"Yes?"

"Are you busy?"

"Unless you have a more interesting alternative than a book I've read a hundred times, yes," Nallina replied dryly.

"Lunian has a puzzle to be put together."

"A puzzle?" Nallina asked, confused.

"Yes… She is drawing images from her past life to try and fit things together."

Nallina's eyes dimmed slightly. "I don't know that I can help—"

"We're just helping her organize the images, Lina. She needs the help."

Nallina sighed. "You don't know how true that is."

Carathwan frowned, glancing at her occasionally as they walked to Lunian's room. "You know who he is, don't you?"

"Yes. As should she, if she would but admit it to herself."

"Not knowing is eating her up. She's drawn thousands of images… and continues to draw."

Nallina frowned. Opening the door she paused, seeing the paper everywhere. She glanced back at Carathwan, who held up the image of eyes in an otherwise blank face. Nallina swallowed. "I'll be right back."

Carathwan frowned slightly, but returned to her seat among the papers. The next several were simply pictures of faces, so she studied each before setting them aside. "Legolas with a bow?"

"You'll have to be much more specific, Cara. Legolas was rarely outside without a bow."

"After her first trip to Gondor, three years after the quest."

Lunian's head snapped up. "Legolas?"

"You drew it. Don't you remember it?"

"Of course. You were nearly too furious to control it. If Arwen hadn't killed him, you would have."

"And Elrohir would have as well. If not Elladan and Lord Elrond." Legolas lowered himself to the floor, sitting in a triangle with Nallina and Carathwan. "I can help them for all but your first score of years… and a little bit there, since I heard many stories of you, Milady."

Lunian paused. "I… thank you."

He nodded slightly and picked up a page. He smiled faintly and set it with the previous one of himself.