Haldir arrived at their talan to find it was almost completely dark, except for the dim flickering, betraying the presence of candle light. He went in, curious as to what candles were doing in their talan, and why Ardenia was home so soon. The sun made it's way slowly beneath the horizon, and in the pink light, he saw Ardenia sitting upon a chair in their entrance hall, looking lost, the innocence and pain of a thousand worlds playing upon her features. He stopped in the door way, breath-taken at the sight of her. She rose from her place, before calmly walking over and shutting the door behind him, before turning to him, and throwing herself at him, her arms pulling his head down to hers, her body pressing wantonly against his, as he felt himself become instantly aroused, albeit a little curious at what was the cause for this sudden onslaught. There was more to Ardenia's passionate embrace than raw passion. Although, he wasn't about to stop what she was doing with her hands and lips to ask her, he thought, as he felt her hands tearing what clothing he had off, buttons flying, and the clasp on his tunic becoming twisted out of shape in her eagerness to divest him of what he wore.

He stood there, naked from the waist up, and she stepped back for a second, removing the thin satin robe she wore. She drank in the sight of him, determined to remember every detail of him, for the long months ahead when she would be without him. He felt himself harden further under her intense scrutiny; a look filled with such hunger that he wanted to take her right there upon the floor. But she, it would seem, had other ideas. She threw herself at him again, her naked body throwing them both back against the wall, his back against the living wood. She knelt before him, her lips leaving a trail of kisses down his exposed chess, tasting him, consuming him, as though she would never touch him again. Her hands ran down taught stomach, to rest on the band of his leggings, pulling them off, to release his hardened desire to the rapidly cooling evening air. She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his, his that were smoky in there desire, as he watched her slowly take him within her mouth, keeping her eyes on his the whole time. The intimacy of such an act was nearly enough to send him over the edge by itself, and together with her skilled touch and hot mouth, sent him reeling so far over the edge of sanity, he would have been content to never return. But he did, to take her back with him.

He pulled her up so her mouth met his, his ardour now matching hers, as their tongues duelled in a vigorous battle of passion, a duel that neither could lose, but both come out the victors. He was hard all over again, as he reversed their places so she was against the wall, and he swept his hands down to rest on her hips, lifting her, so he was poised at her entrance, ready to take her. She pushed herself off of the wall, throwing them both to the ground, her lips firmly on his, as she landed firmly on top of him, before holding his wrists above his head, the same way he had all those weeks ago, when they had first made love. She looked down at him, before lowering herself on to his hardened member, making him arch his head back at the heated torture she was visiting upon him. He, who was so used to being the hunter, the provider, the giver, the seeker, suddenly found himself the taker, the hunted, and in a state of ecstasy he had never thought to find in this world. Determined that she should share in the numbing sensations he was feeling, he thrust up in to her, as she rode against him, bent low over his chest, her lips bare inches from his. He flipped her over, thrusting harder in to her, as she lay upon the floor, not caring about the hardness of the floor, for there was something much harder that had her attention. She arched her back against him, as they, together, found themselves once again in the pure state of oblivion that they had been in the first time they had made love. But now, it was different. They made it last longer, using a hundred different tricks both had learned through their numerous joinings, to draw out the pleasure, to let them stay in this world of light and void of all sound but for the others endless breathing, moans and whispered words, until both of them screamed, a sound of complete joy, and he collapsed over her, as she held him firmly to him. He lifted her from the ground, his own knees hardly strong enough to hold them both, as he carried her to their bed, where he wrapped her firmly in his arms. From there, they made love countless times, her ardour for him never wavering, determined to give him as much of her, and to take as much of him with him as he possibly could, in the long absence she must spend without him. And she hated herself for not being able to tell him, knowing that her unexplained absence would hurt him much more than the truth ever could.

She paused in her position a top of him, where she slowed down the pace of their eager thrusting, making this last time slow, gentle, a tender building of passion that would leave them both satisfied and exhausted. She lay a top of him, both of them shaking in that final release, her body demanding to lie down beside him and rest, but knowing that she could not.

She saw the sun beginning to reach in to the window, near tears at the thought that their last night was over.

She lay looking at him, he as exhausted as she, barely able to move in his state of contented bliss, happy to just drink in the sight of her naked body against his. She reached over to the nightstand before their bed, and handing him a glass of wine. He took it gratefully, parched by his recent exertions, pleasantly exhausted.

She watched him drink. "Haldir," she whispered, as he lay back down, his vision filled with the sight of her, his head awhirl at her scent. Or was it something else? He couldn't focus. She leant down to kiss him softly one more time, her tears falling on to his face, and he knew something was very, very wrong. But why couldn't he move? Why could he not speak? And then he heard, before the drug overtook his senses completely,

"Know that always Haldir, you are my soul, and that without you, I shall be nothing. I am lost without the light of you in my darkness. Farwell, my love."

And then, there was silence, a sound that no matter how hard he tried, he could not get rid of, and it was the most terrible sound he had ever heard. For in that terrible silence, he could not find her anywhere.

She turned her head away from the city of Lorien, spurring her horse on in the early dawn, leaving Lorien, Haldir, and a large part of herself behind her, leaving her the cold assassin she once was without his love. Her heart stopped beating. Her blood stopped flowing, without Haldir there to make it beat. She was this person once before, except, now, she knew what it was like to breathe, and have blood flow through her veins. She felt Haldir slowly awaken, shaking off the after effects of the drug, and feeling his soul rendering anguish that filled both her and he as he realise he had lost her. She collapsed over her horse at the pain that filled her from Haldir's realisation she was gone. She turned her face from the rising sun, tears flowing freely from her eyes, now dead of their former light, as she rode away from the fences of Lorien. To Mirkwood, and her past. And somewhere, deep under the boughs, Malanion laughed at the pain that filled the two, and in anticipation, as every step her horse took brought her closer to Mirkwood and his destiny.

A/N: okay. Not finished, but I am nearly in tears after writing that. Poor Haldir. And I know that elves can't actually be drugged, but this is a special circumstance, as how else was I gonna get Ardenia out of there whilst he slept on? He's a damn light sleeper. Now. Story's not over. Don't worry. As if I'd leave these two soul mates alone in darkness. Be ready for serious confrontations. Malanions gonna get it! Next chapter will be a conversation between Malanion and Celeborn, that Haldir will 'happen' to over hear. And introducing Rumil and Orophin. (hopefully!) Now, where has that coke gone? Must…keep…writing…But you don't get the chapter until I see those little review numbers tick over to 28! Lol (But I'll probably give it to you anyway! lol.) Now. Who wants Malanion soup for supper?