Elladan led the group toward the main hall to bring their father news of Estel's return.

"Your accent is unusual," Estel was saying to Katie. "Where are you from?"

"That's, uh… kinda complicated," she answered vaguely.

Elladan decided that this was not he best moment to be going into that subject, and was going to divert Estel's attention, but his twin beat him to it.

"Did you two come on foot?" Elrohir asked.

"No, we left our horses with Glorfindel. He said he'd send them on after us." They had gained the hall by this time. "Where is Adar?" he asked as they crossed it.

"I am here, my son," Elrond said from the top of the stairs.

He had appeared soundlessly as usual, and seemed to have startled Katie, who jumped a few inches. Elladan couldn't help a little smile, and when Katie saw his expression, she grinned back. "Your father's gonna give me a heart attack," she whispered.

Elrohir heard her and chuckled. "If he does, you'll be in the right place," he answered quietly. "Father's a healer."

"But I bet people don't heal very well if he causes a relapse every time he enters a room!"

Although Estel and Elrond were occupied in greeting one another, Legolas had caught this aside and joined in the conversation. "Are you not accustomed to the company of elves, that our quiet ways should startle you?"

It took Katie a moment to untangle the clauses in that question. "No, I'm not. There aren't any where I'm from." She laughed suddenly.

"What is funny?" Elrohir asked.

"I'm sorry; I just got this mental image of elves walking down the streets of Manhattan," she chortled. "It's just a funny image."

"Funnier than you being here?" Elladan asked in quiet humor.

"No, not really. I'm sure I seem very strange to you."

"Where are you from?" Legolas asked, having watched this exchange with some bewilderment.

"Harrisburg, Pennsylvania," Katie answered promptly. When Legolas frowned she added, "Don't try to find it on the map."

They hadn't noticed that Elrond and Estel were looking on until the Lord of Imladris broke in. "Yes, a strange thing has happened this morning. But we will speak more of this after dinner tonight."

Estel and Legolas went to care for their horses, and Elladan went along. Elrohir was about to suggest that he show Katie around some more when Elrond beat him to the punch.

"Katie, Elrohir, come walk with me," he suggested. Elrohir rather believed his father had something he wanted to discuss with their guest, and had asked him to come along so that she would feel more comfortable. As they passed under grace arches and overhanging branches, Elrond said, "You have seen some of how we live; tell us about yourself."

"Well… I'm a senior in high school," she began tentatively. "I'm an only child—I live with my mom."

"Did your father pass away?" Elrohir asked gently.

Katie looked surprised. "Noooo, no, no, no! No, my parents divorced when I was eight. My dad lives in D.C., so I don't see him much."

"D.C.?"

"Washington D.C. The capital. It's a little more than an hour's drive away. I only see him once every few months."

A few months was not long between visits for an elf, but Elrohir knew it was for a human. "I am sorry," he said.

Katie shrugged. "I'm actually closer to my grandma than I am to my dad. Dad was kind of a workaholic; that's part of the reason my folks split up. So Grandma kept me a lot."

Silence fell again, and after a moment, Elrohir could hear a clicking, clinking sound. Elrond seemed to have noticed it as well. "What is that sound?" he asked.

"Oh!" Katie laughed. "Sorry. I was tapping my tongue-ring on my teeth. Bad habit. My dentist and I have had words."

Elrohir was bewildered. "Tongue-ring?"

Katie stopped walking and opened her mouth, sticking her tongue forward a little. And sure enough, there was a silver barbell through a small piercing in her tongue.

Underneath his elven tranquility, Elrohir could see that his father's expression was a mix of fascination and disgust. "Why is your tongue pierced!"

Katie shrugged again. "Why do people pierce their ears?" she countered. "It's the fashion. Plus, my mom didn't want me to get it done." She grinned. "So I went and did it."

Elrohir shuddered delicately. The idea of sticking a sharp piece of metal through one's tongue disturbed him. Katie laughed a little at his reaction, clearly enjoying getting to shock an elf. "I had my cartilage pierced, too," she said, pointing to the top of her ear, "but it's growing shut."

They started walking again. Elrond seemed to want to change the subject, and Elrohir was grateful when he asked, "What do you study in school?"

"Eh, the usual." Katie lifted her skirts to climb gracelessly up a shallow flight of stairs. "Science, math, language, that kind of thing. This semester I have chemistry, trigonometry, government and economics, Spanish, and English literature. And study hall and gym, of course."

"What is 'gym'?" Elrond asked.

"Physical education and health." Katie made a face. "They make us do sports, most of which I'm no good at. I still don't understand the rules of ultimate frisbee."

"If you don't enjoy games, what do you enjoy?" Elrond prompted.

"Poetry. And acting," Katie answered promptly. "Surfing the internet, talking on instant messenger, watching movies, hanging out with my friends."

"Tell us about them," Elrond prompted again when she stopped.

"What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?" Katie laughed.

Elrond smiled at her exasperation. "You may be here in Rivendell for some time. I would like to know you better. And when you answer my questions, you may ask me anything you like."

"Deal," Katie said, shaking his hand. "Okay, my friends. My best friend is Kara Bowler. We've been in all the middle school and high school plays together. Her boyfriend's name is Andrew Felix. There's Kylie Pyotrovych—she's in almost all my classes this semester. My good buddy Brian Helmer, that I've known, like, forever… And we all eat lunch with Sarah Scott, Alicia Fitzgerald and Josh Armstrong. That's about it. Now it's my turn. How old are you?"

Elrond, surprisingly, laughed. "Do you really want to know?"

"Yes," she replied firmly.

"I am six thousand, four hundred and eighty-three," he said.

Katie whistled quietly. "I'm not even gonna be able to think about that. Okay, new question. What exactly is Rivendell?"

"A settlement of elves and a refuge for travelers," Elrond answered. "It is one of the last dwelling places of elves on Middle Earth, along with Lothlorien and Mirkwood, of which Legolas is a prince."

Katie was silent for a moment. "Do you have a map I could see?"

Elrond led her to the library and found her a map of Middle Earth written in Common. Katie asked him a number of questions about it. Then she happened to glance at a map written in Elvish.

"What language is that?"

"Elvish. Sindarin Elvish, to be exact," Elrohir answered.

"We sometimes speak in Elvish here, my friend," Elladan smilingly said in Sindarin, as he entered the room.

"No te entiendo," Katie answered sweetly in a language that was completely strange to them. "No hablo este elvés."

Elrohir smiled at the bewildered look on his brother's face. "Is that Spanish?" he asked, remembering what she had said about her classes.

"Sí." Katie nodded.

"I have come to tell you that luncheon is ready," Elladan said formally, bowing to his father and their guest.

Lunch was very merry. The twins were quite glad to have their little brother back, and they joked with Estel. Legolas was definitely the quietest of the four, but even he eventually joined in the jests. Elrond and Katie looked on, smiling.

After the meal, they sat back and chatted some more. Katie nudged Elladan. "Challenge you to a thumb-war," she said mischievously.

"What is that?"

"Give me your hand," she said, and showed him now to play. "You try to pin the other person's thumb… Like this!" she said suddenly, and pinned him.

Elladan laughed. "I wasn't ready!"

"Alright." Katie let go. "For real this time. One, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war!" She eluded him for a minute, but then his elvish reflexes and longer fingers gave him the advantage, and he pinned her easily. She gave his fingers a squeeze, digging her long nails into his hands. He yelped and let go, and Katie laughed, "You didn't hold to the count of three! Draw!"

Elladan chuckled and grabbed her hand. "You have nails like my grandmother," he growled.

"Your grandmother!"

"Yes. I have never seen a human woman with nails that long. How did you make them grow like that?"

"I stopped biting them off." She smirked, then held out her hand again. "Rematch?"

"Is this what you do with your friends at home?" Elladan asked as he easily bested her again.

"Darnit! Yes, sometimes. What we really like to do is go to the movies. We all get together and see one once every couple of weeks."

"What are movies?" Estel asked, curious. Everyone else's conversations had petered out as they watched Katie and Elladan thumb-wrestle.

"They're like… gah!" She evaded an attempt to pin her thumb. "They're like plays." She smiled happily. "I love the theater." Elladan took advantage of her distraction and pinned her again. "Geez, you're good!" She playfully stuck out her tongue at him. Elladan saw her tongue-piercing and recoiled in disgust.

It took her a moment to figure out what was bothering him, then she went off in a shout of laughter. "Tongue piercing: 40. Silver barbell tongue-ring: 25. The look on your face just now: Priceless. There are some things money can't buy."

000

After dinner, Lord Elrond ushered Katie, his sons, and his seneschal Glorfindel into a withdrawing room. "Prince Legolas, I would have you join us a well, for what I have to say concerns you as well," he added when the archer turned to leave.

When everyone was settled on the sumptuous armchairs and couches around the fireplace, Elrond tented his fingers and solemnly contemplated the middle distance. Elladan and Elrohir had already acquainted their brother and his friend with the events of that morning, so there was no need to go into that.

Finally, Lord Elrond spoke. "Katie Johanson of Harrisburg," he said solemnly, "Do you know the purpose for which you were drawn hither?"

"Uh… No, Sir," Katie answered, puzzled.

There was a pause. "With my gift of foresight, I have seen your purpose here," he declared. "You will save a life—either the life of one of my three sons, or that of yon Prince of Mirkwood. One or more of these four must live long enough to fulfill their purpose on Middle Earth in the battle against the darkness, an you must insure that they survive to do so. Only then will you be able to return to your own Ëa, your own world. Do you understand, Katie Johanson?"

Katie had listened wide-eyed. She swallowed hard. "Yes, Sir," she said, her voice so low it was almost a whisper.

AN: I know that's kind of a funny place to end a chappie. Sry. I've already started on the next though, so be of good hope:) Oh, and PS: I screwed up in the last chapter. Elladan and Elrohir would be 2,824, not 2,884. Whoops. Don't feel like going back to fix it, though. -grins- I'm a lazy bean.

Not sure why this is so important to me, but I'd like you all to know that Katie is NOT me! Okay, some aspects of her (like loving poetry) are me, but a lot aren't. For instance, the idea of putting a sharp piece of metal through my tongue disgusts me as much as it disgusts the elves:)

Faeruvan: Yeah, I don't know what's so appealing about "people from our world end up in Middle Earth" stories, but I love 'em, too! Thanks for reviewing!