AN: Hey! Hope you're still with me! I feel so lucky to have readers like you all who've stuck with me even though I take months to update. I just get so busy, ya know? With band and newspaper and all my other homework, it's just crazy! Anywho… I'll let you get right to the story since you've all waited so patiently!

Oh, for those of you who care, I've posted the poem that Legolas sings to Aliana in my messed up version of elvish in my prequel. So, if you're so inclined, read and enjoy!

Oh, I've made a slight change to Chapter Four: Friends of my previous fanfic. It was necessary for me to continue on with this fanfic, so I hope ya'll don't mind too much. It's nothing major and I probably could've gotten by without fixing it, but I've noticed that some of you out there are very picky and want everything to fit together perfectly. I'll type up the original and the altered part.

Original

Rina and Ben sat down beside Aliana, none of tem saying anything for a long while. Finally, Aliana spoke. "How did you all get here!"

"When you disappeared, everyone was looking for you," Rina explained.

"Everyone was looking for...me?"

"Yeah, your dad was furious!" Ben put in. "I don't think I've ever seen him so mad!"

"Anyway, Ben and I went to your room to look for clues. We found your diary open on the floor. We both read it and it asked us where we wanted to go. We both wrote in the word 'Alexus' and we ended up here."

"You can't stay here!"

"What! Why not!"

End

Altered Edition

Rina and Ben sat down beside Aliana, none of tem saying anything for a long while. Finally, Aliana spoke. "How did you all get here!"

"Well, you know… I'm not really sure," Ben said, scratching his head.

Rina appeared just as confused. "We just happened to run across your diary while we were over at Jessica's and all of a sudden…"

Ben continued for her. "Words began to appear on the page. It said 'Where would you like to go?' So, just to be funny, I said Middle Earth."

"And all of a sudden, we ended up in Mirkwood."

"It was the weirdest thing."

"Yeah, I mean… How on Earth did that happen!"

All was silent for a moment before Aliana spoke up. "You can't stay here!"

"What! Why not!"

End

Hope that wasn't too big of a problem for anyone!

Rusty

Ps- Oh, and we're having more internet problems at my dad's, so I must yet again change my e-mail address. It is now Five: The Feather of Gwahir

Aliana's foot caught a deep hole in the dirt and she fell against a large tree, her arms stretched out in front of her. She didn't have the willpower to move, so she stood for long moments embracing the tree as tears streamed down her face.

"Why! Why did you have to go! God dammit! Why!"

Her sobs were long and heavy. Every woodland creature had long since flown or scurried away, leaving Aliana completely alone. She slammed her fist against the tree, still screaming in bitter frustration.

"Curse you all! Curse this damn place! I wish I'd never come to Middle Earth! What a terrible place this is! If only I'd stayed home! If only I hadn't written in that damn journal! Ben would still be alive and I never would've met you!"

As she lay against the tree weeping, a warm breeze blew across her face. Her hair swayed calmly in the wing and her tears began to dry. Aliana was almost sure she could feel Legolas embracing her, his smooth skin pressing against her chest, his soft hair brushing across her face. She could hear his sweet voice whispering to her. But no… She must be dreaming.

But though she told herself it wasn't real, she still couldn't shake the familiar presence she felt when the wind blew across her face. It was like he had died, but his spirit had lingered on to say goodbye. She could hear him calling to her, whispering in the breeze.

"I'm not gone yet, you know."

"Yes, but they say you haven't got long to live," she sobbed.

The breeze grew warmer, more comforting. It swelled up around her, helping to ease the choked cries that were causing her to lose her breath.

"Do you know where you are?"

Aliana looked up. All she could see was a huge tree in front of her, the one she'd fallen on. Nothing important about a stupid tree…

"This is the place where we first met, where I saw you lying on the ground, angry and wounded."

"So this is where you choose to say goodbye!"

"No… This is where I set you free. Go now. Go home, Aliana… I will always… love you…"

Slowly the wind died down and she felt the strange presence leaving her. She felt a slight tickle along her arm and looked down to see what had touched her. A grey feather lay on the ground at her feet.

Aliana picked it up. Although it was a simple bird's feather, there was something different about it. This was no ordinary crow's feather. This was a feather from the great Gwahir, Lord of the Eagles, given to Legolas to save her own life. How it ended up here, she would never know.

"What one earth…"

The world around her seemed to crumble before her feet. It was like she was falling from a great precipice with nothing below her but air. She opened her mouth to scream, but no words came out. Around her, colors swirled in a huge spiral. Her dress fluttered about her feet and her hair whipped across her face. But the feather was still clutched tightly in her hand.

Faces whizzed by her, none of them seeming to realize that she was falling-or was she flying-at the speed of light. They were all busy carrying out their normal lives, unaware of what was going on around them. Some she recognized, most she didn't. But there was one in particular that caught her gaze.

A familiar face was staring straight at her, smiling lovingly. His eyes shone brightly at her. She could tell he was in pain, but nonetheless he lifted up his hand in a silent goodbye.

Aliana screamed at him, but no words came out. She kept on yelling at him regardless of whether he heard her or not. She told him how stupid he was for getting wounded and how stupid they had been for fighting. But most of all she told him how much she loved him and how much she didn't want him to die.

He couldn't hear her, but somehow he knew. The bond between them was so strong that he could feel it in his heart. He knew she would be alright back home. He knew he'd made the right choice sending her back.

(AN: OK, please tell me if that made no sense. It makes perfect sense to me, but that doesn't usually mean it makes sense to anybody else in this un-Rusty-like world…)

Alexus awoke with her head spinning and her heart pounding loudly, emitting echoes in her brain. She sat up with a sudden jolt, her hair flying out in front of her. Sweat dripped down her forehead.

"Where the heck am I!"

She opened her eyes slowly, almost afraid of what she might find. She was shocked to see that she was lying (AN: Oh my gosh! My stupid computer! I told me to put lying instead of laying, but then it said to put laying instead of lying and it won't make up its friggin mind!) on a bed under thick purple blankets. The part of the walls that weren't covered in posters of Legolas and Gollum and various other pictures were painted purple and blue.

"What the-"

"Oh, good, you're up!"

Alexus jumped out of bed, reaching for the sword that was usually on her nightstand. Instead, her hand brushed across a picture frame, knocking it to the floor with a loud clash. Alexus looked towards the doorway for some sign of the person who'd spoken.

Leaning up against the wall was a tall girl wearing Capri pants and a blue t-shirt. She had a wry smile on her face and dark blue eyes that went perfectly with her black hair, worn in two short braids on each side of her face.

"Nikhila!"