Chapter 6: Visits and Dreams

By Elerrina

Linwë and Rachel spent the next few hours in her room. Rachel then decided that she would need some paper so that she would be able to study when Linwë wasn't there. Linwë agreed and left to find some parchment.

For the next few days Linwë and Rachel spend a lot of time in Rachel's room and in the library. Rachel caught on quickly; she had always loved foreign languages, but since Sindarin did not resemble English in any way it was difficult for Rachel to learn.

About a week later Rachel was out exploring the gardens when someone called her name. She spun around and much to her surprise she found that it was Legolas who had called.

"Heru en amin." (My lord)

"Why do you call me my lord now when you insisted on calling me Legolas before?" he questioned.

"I guess I just decided to reply in elvish."

"I am glad that you took my advice. How much elvish has Linwë taught you?"

"A little. I have only been studying for a week. Only since the day after you were attacked. How are you feeling?"

"A lot better. The healers told us what you did. We are all very appreciative. Diole lle, Rachel. No one was sure if we would all live. I thank the Valar that we did." (Thank you)

"Is everyone out of the healing ward now? Or is it just you?" Rachel asked.

"Gildor and Aragorn are still there. Gimli and Amras are also out. Amras is speaking with Linwë now. Arwen is worried sick about Aragorn. She has not left his side since he has been injured."

"I can understand her concern. Her husband, the king, almost died. You five were very lucky. I feel sorry for the other fifteen and their friends and family. Will you bury them?" Rachel asked, wondering about elvish customs.

"They have already been buried. I heard that they were buried three days ago. They waited for as long as they could, they wanted the five of us to be there, but the bodies started to decay."

"Amin hiraetha. I am sure that you would have liked to have been there."

"It may be better that we were not there. We were not able to save them. For that, we will be eternally sorry. Do you know what it is like to watch someone die?"

Rachel was silent for a moment. "Yes, Legolas, I do. I had to sit by and watch one of my best friends die. The doc—healers couldn't do anything more to save her. I felt like I should be doing... something, to help her, but I couldn't. I was so helpless. I felt like she was right on the other side of a glass wall. We were so close. I could see her but I couldn't reach her."

"Amin hiraetha, Rachel. I did not mean to bring up memories of yours," Legolas apologized as he noticed the tears gathering in Rachel's eyes.

"It's alright. It's just... I haven't talked about it with anyone. It feels good to talk, but... it's hard."

"I understand. I know exactly how you felt. I felt powerless to help them but knew that I had to try."

"It wasn't your fault. You do realize that, don't you?" Rachel inquired. "You did everything that you could."

"I do realize that, yet I feel like I should have been able to do something more. I have not yet visited their graves. I think that I will do that now. Thank you again."

"Lle creoso. Namarie." (You're welcome. Goodbye.)

"Namarie." (Goodbye.)

Legolas headed back the way that he had come while Rachel carried on her way. With Legolas's news she had decided to go visit Gildor and Aragorn.

"My lady, it is nice of you to return. You may enter," the guard that was standing outside of the healing ward greeted her.

"Diole lle." The guard opened the door to admit her and Rachel walked in. It looked so much different from the last time she had been in that room. The healers must have removed the beds of the three who had been released. Now the remaining beds were positioned on either side of the large room. It had seemed so much smaller before since it had five beds in it before and there had also been more people crowding the room, taking care of the wounded. Now there was only the two patients and Arwen. When Rachel walked in everyone turned to look at her.

"Um... 'Quel andune," Rachel greeted, remembering some of her elvish. "I just came to talk with Gildor and Aragorn." (Good afternoon.)

"You must be Rachel," Arwen deduced.

"Yes. I am. And you are Arwen? It's nice to meet you."

"And you. Would you like me to leave?"

"No. You're fine. I understand that you must be worried. I would be too." Rachel grabbed one of the spare chairs that were pushed up against the wall and dragged it over to Gildor's bed.

"Vedui' Rachel. Is Linwë teaching you Sindarin?" (Greetings)

"Yes, she is. I don't remember much other than greetings and things but I'm learning. Linwë is a good teacher. I'm glad that she agreed to this," Rachel answered.

"It will make your stay more enjoyable, I believe. Why did you come?"

"I thought, you know, since you saved me, I might as well come talk to you. I didn't have anything else to do today. You don't mind, do you? I mean, if you would rather rest, I'll leave."

"No, Rachel. I only wanted to know why you came by. I do not know you well. I have only spoken to you a few times. Do you not have something better that you could be doing?"

"No, not really. Linwë is talking to Amras, I believe and seeing as how I don't know many people well other than Linwë and Amras. Next in line are you, Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli. I already spoke with Legolas. I have no idea where Gimli is. So, that leaves you and Aragorn, who are both conveniently in the same room for the time being."

"You are here to take up time then?" Aragorn asked.

"Well... in a way... yes... but no... Well... Oh, never mind. I came here to talk to you because you are my friends and I am worried about you. Can I do that without you giving me the third degree?" Rachel complained.

"The third degree? What is that, Rachel?" Gildor questioned.

"It's something that we say where I came from. You say it when someone asks you a lot of questions. Don't worry about it."

"Was there something specific that you came to say? Or did you only wish to talk?" Aragorn wondered.

"I just wanted to talk... is that okay?"

"Yes, of course. I believe that I am going to my room. I have gotten little sleep since I arrived here and the rest I did get on my journey here was uneasy. I will speak to you later," Arwen told everyone before gracefully getting to her feet and seemingly gliding out of the room.

"She's beautiful. You're lucky, Aragorn," Rachel commented.

"Yes, I truly am lucky. Every day I awaken and realize that she will be next to me. It is a blessing that I thank the Valar for every morning. Are you also lucky enough to have someone to love?"

"Well... kind of. I'm dating someone. His name is Kyle."

"You and this, Kyle, are... dating?"

"Oh, um... dating is another term we use where I'm from. I suppose it would be like... courting, here. I don't know if we're really in love, per say, but we are... were, pretty close."

"You court at your home without loving?" Gildor speculated. "Why do you do that? Why do you not wait until you find the one person whom you love and court only them?"

"Well... where I'm from love is... a relative term. I don't know if anyone is ever sure if they're in love or not. How would you explain love? How do you know if you are in love or not?"

"Love... Love is... well it is... it is very difficult to explain," Gildor told her.

"What about you, Aragorn. How do you know that you and Arwen are really in love?"

"I am not sure that I could describe it if I tried, Rachel. It is easy to tell when you do fall in love with someone, but it is very difficult do describe to someone who has not experienced it before."

"Well... if it's a distinct feeling then I guess I'm either really dense and don't realize that I'm in love, or not in love with him. Nothing has hit me like that... I always thought more of love as growing on you. You don't know it right away..."

"When I first laid eyes on Arwen, I knew that I loved her. I had seen other elves in my lifetime, I lived in Rivendell for most of my childhood, but somehow... she was different. She was more beautiful than any I had ever seen. It was not only her beauty that I was drawn to. It was her eyes, her wisdom, and her personality. Now that I know her, I could not live without her, and when I did not know her, there seemed to be something missing in my life that it was impossible to place, but when I met her, that gap seemed to fill, all at once. It was almost overwhelming."

"That was the same way I felt when I met Faerlain. It was the most amazing feeling..." he trailed off.

"Well, I sure haven't felt that way yet."

"You are missing out on something then. Legolas too. I cannot believe that he has not found anyone yet. There are many maidens that would be pleased to court him, but he has no interest in them. I do not think that he will meet anyone for him before he sails across the sea," Aragorn said.

"You mean Prince Legolas isn't in love with anyone?"

"That is correct. I feel sorry for both of you," Aragorn said.

"Well, thank you... I think..."

The three of them spoke for another half an hour or so until both Aragorn and Gildor decided that they needed to sleep. Rachel didn't want to delay their healing so she left them in peace.

For the next week or so Rachel studied Sindarin with Linwë, visited Gildor and Aragorn in the healing ward, and explored Mirkwood. She took up the habit of watching the men practice their archery and fencing. They were amazingly good at it. She felt the urge to ask if they would teach her, but she decided against it, reasoning that they would think that she was only a silly woman. She had always wanted to learn archery but her parents had discouraged her. They would never allow her to take lessons even if she offered to pay for it with her own money that she earned at the local grocery store.

She wrote in her diary every night, but the pages were only half full when she finished. She wished that she had more to write about. She had aspired to become a writer and decided to start by recording everything that she did here, but she was never one for very much description. She tried to work on it, but it always ended up sounding wrong and drawn out. She hoped that it would get better with time, so she continued to work at it.

Every few days she would meet up with Amras, Legolas, or Gimli and speak with them for a few minutes, but never anything extensive. She still felt that she was out of place even though she was able to understand bits and pieces of their conversations. Legolas and Amras spoke to her in elvish but only short, easy phrases. She was improving... slowly.

Linwë knocked on Rachel's door soon after the sun rose. Rachel was getting used to the early hours. She would rise and sleep with the sun following the same routine of the elves.

"Would you mind if we skipped lessons today?" Rachel asked. "I'm feeling really tired for some reason. I guess I didn't get that good of a night's sleep or something."

Rachel didn't tell Linwë the reason she hadn't slept well though. It was because she had had another dream. This time, she was in her room, lying on her bed, writing in a notebook when her dad walked in. He completely ignored her, just walked around, looking appraisingly at the different items in her room. She yelled and screamed, tried anything and everything to get his attention. She could feel him, her hand didn't pass through him as she touched his shoulder, but he seemed not to feel anything.

She had followed him out of her room and found her mother sitting on the sofa, her head in her hands.

"Are you sure that you want this?" her mom asked.

"Yes. Why? Aren't you?" he had replied.

"I suppose. This is for the best, I think..." It was then that she woke up. She tried and tried to think of what they could mean, but nothing came to mind. She hadn't been able to sleep for the rest of the night.

a/n: So, how did you like it? I actually enjoyed reading this. I'm getting into the groove again. I keep getting ideas. I'm hoping to update every two weeks now. The chapters should stay about this length; at least, I hope they will. Just so you know, Faerlain, Gildor's wife, is the name of an author on here. She's an amazing author! You should read her stories! Well, that's all that I can think of for now, so on with the review responses!

Heather Martin: I'm glad you like my stories! I love getting reviews! I will keep writing on this!

Faerlain: Sounds like fun! Well... except for spending all of your money... yea... it was kind of needed... in a way.

Emiliana Keladry: I'd be homesick too. Thanks for reviewing!

Rayame: Yep, she's told... me? If that makes any sense. I'm glad that you like the diary parts. It lets me explain things without going into a lot of detail. Thank you!