Chapter Seven

"Elbereth, Dara. I thought I had lost you." Legolas was speaking with a stern look.

"I know, father." Daralis was looking abashedly at her blanketed lap.

"That is not true. You do not know. I lost your mother," Daralis winced, but still he continued. "To lose you would kill me, Daralis. It would end my endless life. Why would you be so stupid?" Hot tears, full of hurt, pricked Daralis' eyes at these words.

"I didn't want to hold us up. I knew we were in a rush, the Orcs were coming, and I didn't want-"

"Dara, nothing is more important to me than your safety. I cannot believe you would do something like this. I was beside myself!"

"I lost her too! Stop scolding me, for fuck's sake," she snapped sharply back at him.

"Utter all the curses you want, I am one of the few here who knows what that word means- and plenty of others as well."

Daralis rolled her teary eyes at Legolas, who was sitting at her bedside in her room in Rivendell.

A balcony spanning one wall gave her a stunning view of the delicate building and intricate constructions of Imladris, and her cream colored room with the filmy canopy bed let in enough light to create the illusion of perpetual summertime. The dark clouds of Legolas' fury filled the space at the time, however, completely darkening the mood of both father and daughter.

She was staring at her lap again, this time fury on her own visage, until she was pulled out of her fuming by Legolas' regretful voice.

"I should have known. I saw it, and I should have known. Rhiannon would be so disappointed in me." Daralis looked up in surprise even as the hot tears filled her eyes.

"I was just thinking that," she husked, her voice raw with emotion.

"I just want so much to please her, it is all I have ever wanted, and Dara, you are all I have left. All I have left to make me happy, because I did not think I could go on any longer. Imagine having a burning, striking, hollow pain in your heart always. When you reach the kind of grief that leaves you with physical pain, always there. I loved her more than anything. I would have died for her. And just think, my sweet Dara, think for just a moment, going on, because you have not a choice, knowing there is no point to doing anything, going on, day by day, doing the same things, what you are expected to do, without question, all the time feeling that pain, feeling empty inside. And having no other option, because every time you close your eyes for more than just a second, you see her, you see what you had, you dream what your child, who you have never seen, held, heard, kissed, encountered, you dream what she could look like, and these thoughts, these thoughts give you such happiness, that to be without them would suck you dry."

She was crying openly and tears began to fall down his ivory cheeks.

"Atar" Daralis began, just as he said to her, slight choked up,

"I have not cried since the night I came back, Daralis. Not since then."

She sat up and reached to wrap her arms around him and place kisses on both his cheeks.

"I missed the funeral," She said flatly into his shoulder.

"What?" He sat her back up.

"God, I missed it! My last chance my last chance to say goodbye"

"You were too busy saying hello," Legolas filled in for her. "Do not blame yourself for it, Dara, I know she would rather you be happy here than miserable there."

"I know she would too, but that's not important. I should've been there, I should've paid my respects. And besides.. knowing I missed it makes me miserable. Can you imagine? My own mother's funeral and I wasn't even there! Aunt Melissa must be beside herself. I hope Uncle Matt is alright with her. God, Atar, what's going on? All the people I left behind.. there must have been some kind of search for me I can't believe I'm just thinking of this now."

"Miire, they would understand and be happy for you. They would also want you to be healthy. Right now, you have to rest. And eat. And everything else you so conveniently forgot to do."

"Alright, but tell me first- how was the battle?" Legolas laughed.

"It was more of a skirmish than a battle, Dara. But it went very well. We were victorious, and had few casualties. "

"Why are the orcs here, anyway?"

"We are not sure. Their master is gone and their numbers are few- with time, they will easily be wiped out. They are a vile race and even one is too many, especially when it threatens my realm or the realm of my allies." He changed the subject.

"The Imladris troops are returning later, Daralis. I left early to see if you were awake yet."

"Can I go and see them when they come back?"
"Yes, but only if you have rested enough."

She rolled her eyes again, but this time they were dry. "Okay."
When Legolas left, she arose from her bed and went to run a bath and take out a pure white gown. She'd heard about a feast, and she wasn't going in her nightgown.

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After Daralis rose from the tub and got herself into her gown, she sat at the vanity and brushed her hair, with a goal of one hundred strokes. Somehow she knew that Imsiriel would know if she didn't.

She was rubbing a moisturizing salve on her face when she heard the fanfare and cheering coming from outside. She stood like a shot and rushed to the window to look outside, where she saw horses approaching and Elves waving, heard their cheers and yells. She slipped on her shoes and quickly left the room.

Daralis rushed to the bridge above the gates of Rivendell to watch the battle party come in. Her father, Lord Elrond, and various other officials were at the gates to meet them directly at their arrival, and the other citizens of Imladris were crowded on a lower platform, closer to the heroes. She saw two riders bearing a body between them on a rigged cot.

She stood alone, a light breeze picking up her dark silky locks, which were left down, and crisp with curl at the ends from the brushing. The wind picked up her ivory gown, casting it around her figure in a sort of sensual attack. The sun behind cast a glow around her and through the delicate gown, making her shine and seem godly. Her excitement made her blue eyes sparkle and her smile bright.

It was in this way that Elladan of Imladris first saw her as he looked up, shining above all the others in flawed perfection as she laughed and clapped. Their eyes met, and she smiled only for him, at him, which sent a shivery feeling down his spine and through his stomach. She waved, at him and then all of them, and then turned quickly to go and prepare for the welcoming feast. He watched her as far as he could and stared at the spot, feeling utterly bothered and not a little alarmed.

I know, I know, way short, but like I said before, I want to get this thing on the road, and plus I don't think that the stuff from the next chapter will fit well.

REVIEW!!! Or something dark this way will sure as shit come.