DISCLAIMER: see previous chapters.

Matrixelf: Thanks soo much! This chapter is definitely darker than my others are and I can't say if that pleases me or not. I know by now you want to just kill me right now for not updating for a few months but well…I don't have an excuse so…oops…sorry. Thanks again!

Kamui Gaia 07: Hehe…um…if you count this as soon I made it fast. Sorry for the wait.

Jousting Elf with a Sabre: Lucky! No exercises yet staying thin at the same time! Life is so cruel! Well back to my soccer practices. I just hope they'll do the job. Thanks for reviewing.

IwishChan: I hope its intresting. Thanks.

Faeriekittie 306 animelover: thank you!

LegolasnDcolorblueinterestme: interesting name. Thank you.

Chapter 13: A piece of the Past

We're trudging up this mountain. Everyone is keeping to themselves, concentrating on maintaining the pace. We finally are able to stop for a rest. It's a good thing that Boromir thought to bring the firewood with us. It's getting chillier by the minute and little flakes of snow are starting to pour from the sky. The wind picks up, whipping our coats around us. Deor is resting on my lap. He is a nice warmer if I do say so myself.

Boromir, Gimli, and Aragorn are desperately trying to burn the firewood for us without success. They're grumbles can be heard above the wind, which is an achievement. I am currently deaf, blind, and mute due to the conditions and myself. I can't stand it anymore! I need heat.

I charge over to the men, gently but firmly pushing them out of the way. Aragorn shouts to me over the roar of the wind something that comes out sounding like this:

"Vaiymaa! Whamme amme ymeee doinnnme!"
I sign and brush the wind away to create a bubble enfolding the whole fellowship. Now their clothes were no longer moving with the force of the breezes. Their faces were ones of surprise and I could actually see what I was doing.

"I'm sorry Aragorn I couldn't hear you. What did you say again?" I wait a minute for him to reply.

"What did you do?" he asked quietly. Because of my bubble the whole fellowship was able to hear him. I placed my hand on the firewood, calling heat into the logs. I removed my hand and a moment later orange flames sprouted from the timber. The Hobbits gasped in surprise. Gimli shifted closer to the fire but no one else moved.

"Oh you mean this?" I gestured to the still air. "It was simple. I just sewed the threads of wind together."

"You sewed the wind together?" Aragorn repeated in astonishment.

"This is not natural," Boromir said with eyes that showed fear.

"What is wrong if it is?" Gimli barked at him. "We now have a fire and no wind. I am grateful for that."

Did I mention that Dwarves are now my most favorite species of all time?

"Vaitya," Gandalf turned my attention away from Boromir's comment. "You are not allowed, unless under dire circumstances, to use your magic. Do you understand that?"

"Then what the flip am I doing here?" I twirl around on Gandalf. I am careful to keep my gaze on Gandalf instead of the elf by his side. "This makes no sense! I want to be able to protect the hobbits if I need to and if I am only here to protect them from the elements then so be it!"

"If the enemy were to capture you they would use your powers against us. We must keep you hidden as well," he calmly stated.

"Then I am more of a hindrance then an actual help on this mission!" I turned to Aragorn. "Why didn't you just leave me in Bree! At least there I knew where I stood!"

"You were in danger in Bree. The people there knew too much of your magic. I had to get you out before something horrible befell you," Aragorn said.

"I can take care of myself! Besides my father taught me a little about sword work."

"No he didn't," Aragorn said calmly. "He died when you were eight, before you were old enough to learn."

My breath went on a standstill, as my ears seemed to pop with pressure.

"How do you know that?" I was desperately trying to hold on to the little control I had left.My hands had started to shake with the effort of it. Aragorn said nothing. He just quietly waited to see what I would do next. "I said how do you know that?"

"How much do you know about your father?" he asked.

"How do you know that he died when I was eight!"

"I know a lot about him."

"I will ask you again. How do you know that he died when I was eight."

"He was a member of the Dunedain and as good as any friend could be."

The fellowship had not moved a muscle. They seemed to sense that an important moment was about to happen.

"I know because I was there." His eyes never left my face. He was waiting for a response, any response from me. I was so stunned that I was unable to sign. He had been there? There, on that fateful night? I could not help it I traveled back to the past; I could smell the blood, the pain, and the tears. I struggled against the senses that overwhelmed me. Where's ada? Doesn't he hear how naneth screams? Make it stop! I don't want to hear how she begs them to release me! I hurt. I don't want to hurt anymore.

My own sobs snap me back to the present. I had fallen to the ground. There is a sharp contrast between the icy snow and the warmth from Legolas's body. His arms were wrapped around me as he brushed my hair back from my tear-streaked face. Aragorn took a step toward me, a serene expression printed on his face.

"I had received warning that your family was in danger. When I got to your home it was destroyed. I could not save your mother and father but you were still alive." He paused in his speech. "The men who had…They were… I have never been so enraged in my life. I took you to Tilly after. I could not keep you with me and I doubted that you would want to be in the presence of a man."

I lifted my head from Legolas's shoulder to look Aragorn in the eye. I don't remember him being there. There were the cries, then the silence that was broken by my captor's laughter. That is all I remember. It is a space in my life that I wish not to recall.

"My guess was right. Every time I came to see how you were faring you refused to stay in the same room as me. It was not until recently that you tolerated my presence." I still hadn't moved. How could I? The most unpleasant night of my life was smacked in my face so suddenly.

"You knew my father?" I had to ask. I needed to know about my family. It was always only been the three of us. I have long since forgotten what my parents have said to me, along with the sounds of their voices and presence's.

"We were friends. I was even there at your birthing. He was very nervous." Aragorn's eyes crinkled at the memory. "Your mother eventually banished him from the room. She said he was making her antsy."

I smiled at the thought. "And my mother?"

"Very open. She would go out of her way for anyone. Especially you. I know more of your father then of your mother. Legolas would know more of her then me." When I looked at Legolas I could see he was confused.

"You knew my mother?" I asked. He silently questioned Aragorn with his eyes.

"Her name was Salme," Aragorn said. Legolas's features instantly snapped into one of surprise.

"Your mother was Salme?" He asked me with the shocked expression still intact. I nodded my head. When I was little I loved to just say her name. It has a way of rolling off your tongue smoothly. "Little Salme?" A grin spread across his features. "Her family would always try to get her to act more like a lady. She would trample after her brothers wherever they went." The grin faltered. "She disappeared twenty-five years ago. We all presumed she was dead."

"She is dead. Though she did not die at the time you thought," I said.

"You have her eyes. It is funny that I never noticed that before," He said. His gaze slid over my face searching for other characteristics that I shared with my mother. "Her hair was blond though, nothing like yours."

"You have your father's hair." Aragorn smiled at me. "You spoke not a word after the incident. I remember that you refused to look me in the eye when I was carrying you away. You were expecting me to harm you."

"Tilly stopped trying to get me to speak years ago. Every time I opened my mouth to utter a sound I choked. It was a constant annoyance for her," I said, my face toward the snow. "I don't remember much. Everything was a blur." I gave Gandalf my entire attention. "I won't use my magic unless there is a desperate need of it."

"I think it is for the best," he replied solemnly.

With that I unwove my winds and the fellowship became dark silhouettes in the swirl of white.

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