Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize as Tolkien's.

Le Suze: Thanks. :)

Laer4572: No, Legolas isn't. Yes, Elrond does. And no Tolkien isn't Bilbo nor is he in disguise. :)

MysticalMonaLisa: I'm surprised no one has done it. It is the perfect explanation for the books. :) Don't you think so?

Raz 42492: Sorry. But someone else had to get the axe. I thought about Christy but that would have been the obvious choice and I didn't want to go for the obvious.

BlueEyedGunSlinger: Thanks.

Okanim: Of course I miss my readers when they've been gone for a while. You've been with me since Prisoner. :) And I completely understand the long hours. I've been there and done that. (And completely hated it.:) )

brownie24: I think this chapter explains your question but if not let me know and I'll explain it better.

"Lord Elrond, may I ask how you know that we're from Earth?" Professor Jones questions and they all look at Elrond curiously.

Elrond smiles. "You are not the first to come here. There have been many others before you. Come, I would like to introduce you to someone." He leads them through several hallways before stepping out onto a balcony where a man in his mid twenties and a very short old man are sitting and chatting goodnaturedly.

"Pardon me for interupting but I would like you to meet some other guests." Elrond introduces the men or rather man and hobbit as Bilbo Baggins from the Shire and John Ronald Reuel Tolkien from Earth. Alexis' eyes go wide and she glances at her friends to find they have the same expression on thier faces.

"Hello," Tolkien smiles. "It's nice to see others from home. What time period are you from? It was 1916 when I arrived here several years ago."

"We're from 2004," Professor Jones says being the first to gain his voice.

Tolkien grins. "Interesting. I would like to hear what the world is like in your time, one of these days."

"You are well known in our time for your writings about..." Alexis motions around her. "All of this."

Professor Jones massages his temple as if trying to rid himself of a headache. "I don't understand. You said that you have been here for years and from what I can figure, I assume you will be here many more. But I don't recall ever having heard of you disappearing for years or even having disappeared for any time at all."

Elrond steps forward. "Perhaps I can explain. We have discovered that there must be some sort of portal in your world that is connected to Middle Earth. And when traveling through this portal something causes time for the travelers to stop. While here for hours or even years you will not age and when you return to your world you will return to the same time that you left."

"So you're saying that even though we are mankind, we could spend one hundred years here and look exactly like we do now? And then return to Earth at the exact moment we left?" James questions in disbelief and Elrond nods.

Alexis shakes her head and looks over at Tolkien. "That would explain why no one knew you were ever gone." She turns to Elrond and looks up at him sadly. "What about the ones that die here?"

"Those that die here do not return and it is like they never existed at all," Elrond tells her sympathetically.

"I just want to go home," Christy says on the verge of tears.

Melinda sighs. "Me too. I thought this would be an interesting adventure at first but then my friends started dying. This isn't fun anymore."

The others nod in agreement and Elrond smiles in understanding. "I will have Gandalf make the necessary arangements to return you to your home as soon as possible."

Two hours later the small group is standing in front of Gandalf on one of the large balconies. Gandalf begins saying a spell in Elvish and the air around the group begins to get thick with fog that starts swirling faster and faster around them. Alexis closes her eyes as she begins to get dizzy. Suddenly the dizziness goes away and the air around her is still. She opens her eyes expecting to be back on the plane but instead she's looking at a confused wizard and the equally confused Lord of Imladris.

"Why didn't it work?" she questions.

Neither say anything but give her a sympathetic look at first. Then Gandalf speaks up. "I don't understand why you remained behind. I will try again though."

"Remained? Behind?" she looks around for her friends as worry begins to set in. "Where are they? Where did they go and why am I still here!"

"Child, calm down. It will do you no good to get upset. I will do the spell again," Gandalf tells her. He tries the spell again with no success.

"Why am I still here!" Alexis exclaims as tears come to her eyes.

"Calm down, I will figure this out," Gandalf sighs. "Until then I'm sure Lord Elrond will be more than happy to let you..."

"Calm down? I'm stuck here and I should be calm about it!" Alexis screams at him and storms off yelling about stupid wizards.

Elrond watches with a raised eyebrow as she runs down the hallway and then turns to Gandalf. "I think she took that as well as could be expected. What happened?"

Gandalf shakes his head and sighs. "I don't know. This has never happened before."

As Alexis starts into one of the gardens the narrow path is blocked by Legolas who is coming out of the garden. "I thought you were going back to your world," he says coldly.

"Yea, me too," she snorts and starts around him.

He reaches out and grabs her arm. "Why did you lie to my father?" he questions and then adds, "and to me?"

"I'm sorry we lied to you and your father, Legolas. We were afraid of what he would do if we told him the truth. But I can't deal with you right now." she says and tries to pull away from him.

He grips her arm tighter in anger. "You WILL deal with me now."

"Owe," she yelps and his grip imediately loosens. She yanks out of his grip and glares at him angrily. "I just found out I'm stuck here," she yells as tears begin to spill out of her eyes. "Two of my friends are dead and the others have gone home. I'm left alone here not knowing if I'll ever get to go home again. So excuse me if I don't feel like inflating your ego by begging for your forgiveness right now."

Alexis turns and runs into the garden. She sits under a tree in a secluded spot and begins crying over everything that has happened since the plane crash. She feels someone sit next to her and glances up to find Legolas looking at her apologetically.

"I'm sorry. You're right. I let my pride get in the way and did not see that you were hurting," Legolas says softly and hugs her to him trying to offer what little comfort he could to her.