The elves mobilized faster than thought and pelted the short distance down the hall to Liz and Dana's room, Estel on their heels. But as they reached the door, they heard that the screaming was interspersed with laughter.

"Helpmesavemehelpmesavemehelpmesaveme!" Katie shrieked, barely able to catch her breath between gales of laughter. "Megaaaaaaaan!" Dana seemed to be trying to tickle her.

Legolas recovered first, and with a laugh, he and Estel hauled Dana off their young friend.

"Thank you!" Katie gasped, rushing over to hide behind the twins. Dana growled between chuckles.

"Yeah, you have to get your army to defend you!" she called to Katie.

"Wench!" Katie called back.

"Harlot!"

"Broad!"

"Hussy!"

"Harpy!"

"Tomato!"

"Jade!"

"Minx!"

"Doxy!"

"Siren!"

"Wanton!"

"Tramp!"

"Bimbo!"

"Floozy!"

"Jezebel!"

"Delilah!"

"Slattern!"

"Libertine!"

"Strumpet!"

"Tart!"

"Tramp!"

"Trollop!"

Katie paused to think. "Vixen," Legolas supplied. Dana, whom they had released, back-handed his arm, hard.

"Are you callin' me names?" she asked belligerently.

"Come on, let's go before she gets even more violent!" Katie cried, leading them out of the room. "Lost in five minutes!" she called back to Dana.

"I'll be there… Witch!" Dana answered.

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!" Katie cried back, then turned back to her guests and answered their unspoken question in a normal voice. "Lost is a TV show we watch. I'd better introduce you to TV before Liz and Dana come down to watch…"

000

Elrohir awoke and blinked in the darkness. He could hear his brother's steady breathing beside him. It was a comforting sound. He had heard it many nights, as they camped under the stars.

The room was quieter than it had been in quite awhile. At least it was quiet while they watched the TV. The show held all of them, Pennsylvanians and MElings alike, captivated: the MElings for the wonder of the TV itself, the others for the plot. But the noise level rose during the "commercials", culminating in a small barrage of candies being thrown at each other across the room.

Elrohir shifted and tried to go back to sleep, but his restless thoughts would not allow it. Finally, he stood and slipped silently out of the room.

The lounge was empty, which was not surprising: it was after two in the morning. With his harp hearing, he detected some noise coming from the hall below them, which Megan had assured them was much louder. "Except for our room, and Liz and Dana's," she had added in dry amusement.

Elrohir settled himself on the couch before the TV. There was a remote control on the end table next to him, and he picked it up. On a whim, he pressed the button to turn on the TV as Katie had demonstrated.

The program that was showing appeared to be about man's negative effects on nature. Elrohir watched the entire thing. He was sick at heart two hours later when he stumbled back down the hall to bed.

000

The alarm went off at seven, and Katie groaned. "I hate Thursdays," she muttered.

All six of the residents shifted and began to climb out of bed. Katie pulled some clothes out of her closet.

"Elrohir?" she heard Elladan say. She glanced over at the twins. Elrohir was still laying on the mattress on the floor that he shared with his twin, and Elladan was kneeling over him. "Elrohir, it's time to get up."

Elrohir answered him quietly in Elvish. Legolas and Estel turned and watched in concern. Katie shrugged and went to the bathroom to change clothes. When she returned, Elrohir and Elladan were sitting on one of the beds, Elladan speaking earnestly to his twin. Legolas and Estle still stood watching occasionally saying something to one another in hushed voices. After a moment, Elladan put his hand on Elrohir's forehead, then shook his head and said something in a tone that was half-resigned, half-scolding. His next statement sounded like a directive, and Elrohir nodded, climbing under the sheets. His brother gently tucked him in and murmured to him. As he walked away, Legolas moved out of the room, motioning him and the others to follow. Katie obeyed, completely mystified.

Legolas shut the door behind her. Elladan leaned against the wall and covered his eyes with his hand.

"What's wrong?" Katie asked in apprehension. No one answered. "Is he sick?"

They didn't seem to know how to answer her. "Elves do not become ill as men do," Legolas finally explained. "But although we do not show our emotions as much as men, we feel more deeply. Elves can grow heartsick and world-weary, and it can undermine our health."

Elladan seemed to have pulled himself together. "Elves have been known to fade away and die of broken hearts," he said softly, speaking what the others had not wanted to. His grey eyes were dark and full of ancient sorrows. "I will speak frankly. I fear for him."

"What could've depressed him so badly?" Katie asked, wide-eyed with horror.

Elladan shook his head. "I am afraid to say, I think it is being here that is doing it. This world, being away from Middle Earth, is killing him." He turned to go back in the room. "I would like to… keep an eye on him," he said quietly and left them standing in the hall.

"I don't understand," Katie said, shaking her head. "You and Elladan are both elves, and being here hasn't hurt you."

"Elrohir has always had a softer heart than Elladan," Estel said gravely. "And I fear that the incident the other night really shook him."

"What incident?"

"He means when there were so few stars visible in the sky," Legolas clarified.

"Elves have a special affection for the stars… And it is much more true in my foster family than in many," Estel explained. "Do you remember what my brothers told you about the Silmarils?"

"Some of it."

"Well, Elrond's father, Eärendil, tried to sail to Aman to get help from the Valar in the war against Morgoth. The sons of Fëanor discovered that Elwing, Eärendil's wife, held one of the Silmarils that they were bound by oath to recover, so they attacked her. She leapt with it off a cliff, intending to take it with her to the bottom of the ocean, but the Valar took pity on her and changed her into a great seabird. She flew to Eärendil's ship, and the light of the Silmaril lit the way to Aman. The two of them persuaded the Valar to help the people of Middle Earth, and Eärendil and his ship were set in the sky with the Silmaril to guard the world. When it first rose, it was so bright that it dimmed out all other stars in the sky—much as your city lights do. It is now known as the morning and evening star."

"You mean… Elladan and Elrohir's grandfather is the morning star?" Katie asked in bewilderment.

"Yes. And my many-greats grandfather, as well. I am descended from Elrond's twin brother, Elros, and as is the custom with the Chieftains of the North, I was fostered in Lord Elrond's house."

Katie attempted to digest this information, and also to reconcile what she knew of the planet Venus with this other idea of the heavenly body. Storing it all in the back of her mind to ponder at a more auspicious time, she attempted to bring the conversation back to the original subject. "So the fact that he could see no stars really disturbed Elrohir," she said, putting it in terms she could come to grips with at the moment.

"Yes." Estel ran a hand through his hair. "There are other reasons, as well."

Legolas took up the telling. "Elves are very close to nature. For some, we must be near to it, or we eventually sicken. I believe the…" he gestured, trying to find the word, "atmosphere of this place has compounded the problem."

Katie puffed out her cheeks and put a hand to her forehead. "And there's nothing we can do for him, is there?"

Estel and Legolas shook their heads. "I do not know," Legolas said sadly.

000

Katie tried to be as quiet as possible while she was in the room that morning, so as not to disturb the others. When Megan returned from her shower, she filled her in on the news, and Megan sort of tiptoed around as well until she had to leave for her equine anatomy class.

Elladan sat deep in thought on the floor by Elrohir's bed, and Legolas and Estel sat cross-legged on the other bed, speaking quietly in Elvish. Katie felt awkward and helpless. And she even—yes, she had to admit it to herself, she felt guilty. Here she had been trying to, in her thoughts, show her friends the wonders of technology and how much fun her world was, and she had only compounded Elrohir's problems. Just like playing "Du Hast" for the elves. It was obviously not to their taste, and she had known that. She just wanted to shock them; she didn't know why. And now this.

Maybe she had wanted to shock them to show them how great her world was—to show off, somehow. She sometimes felt so inadequate around them. Elves were just so… so… perfect. And even Estel was almost more like an elf than a human most of the time. And what she had seen of Middle Earth (which basically consisted of Rivendell and the immediate area) was fabulously beautiful, with a different kind of beauty than Katie had ever experienced. Her own world seemed somehow inadequate in the beauty department in comparison.

So to compensate for lack of beauty, she had tried to introduce thrill. It obviously had not had the intended effect. Much the opposite.

But all of her world was not like what she had shown Elrohir. There were beautiful things here, too.

Her train of thought was stopped when she looked at the clock. She stood and gathered up her backpack. "I've got to go to class," she said quietly to the rest of the room. They glanced up and nodded. Elrohir, who had been laying with his eyes closed, opened them and made the effort to give her a small smile. Impulsively, she darted over to him and gave him a hug.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "Please get well soon."

His arms tightened around her for a moment, and then she slipped away and was gone.

TBC

AN: —sniff—

EresseElrondiel: Oh, yes, Tennyson rocks. I'm a Dickinson nut, myself. Nothin geeky about loving poetry… Why do you think so many of my fics have titles from Shakespeare?. :) Thanks!

Chibi Chingo: Thanks! I figure if somebody criticizes me, it's because they think what I'm doing is worth correcting. And now you know why she screamed!. :)

Ravens Destiny: I know, I just adore "Depressed Elrohir"… As is obvious from this chapter…

Arlindor: I assume you meant to say 7000 and 6000 rather than 70 and 60. Well, some people believe that the earth is only 6000 years old because the Bible only tells 6000 years of history, but science and many of their fellow Christians disagree. Yes, it was a fast update, wasn't it? And here's another one!. :)

Hermione at Heart: Ah… The cliffie is the pride and joy of the writer… heh heh

Laer4572: lol! Well, if Haldir shows up, you may have him. You might have to fight some of the other reviewers for him, though…

theycallmemary: Yep, an Elvish word is fine. I'll give a translation the first time I use it, just like with MElings. Thanks!

Thank you all!

Please review!