thanks for all the reviews guys! haven't figured out this whole thing about review responses yet, so i'll just answer a few questions that were asked now:

sorry if i confused anyone but somehow this got cut out in the editing process - lena and leggy are back in mirkwood now, they've travelled back cuz there's nothing elrond can do anymore. while lena is talking with her mother, her body isn't really dead, but more like braindead. she does however, "die" in this chapter.

shattered serenity / iloveorlando08 - right idea, her life is flashing before her eyes, and her memory has completely re-established itself. good guess!

myri78 - i swear to god, girl i will get the french fries in for you. i have a chapter planned out for that

loveroflegolas - u and nilfalath are coming out soon (and since u suggested it u will be caught in the act!)

alasse - no insults or offense taken. i love thranduil too, and i don't think there are enough good stories about him!

Disclaimer: you know the drill. thanks for not sueing me!

Chapter 40

Standing in the corner of the room nervously did not suite Legolas. The healer was desperately trying to find out what was wrong. He'd been called in out of his slumber when the Princess had stopped breathing, but he could find no reason as to why her breath had stopped or how to resuscitate her. With a heavy heart he turned to his awaiting lord.

"I am very sorry, sire. But there is nothing more I can do."

Legolas paled rapidly, yet somehow managed to muster enough strength to set out on a tirade. "That is not good enough! She is your future Queen, and you will do everything in your power to make sure she remains well! You are a healer…"

"Precisely, my lord. A healer. I cannot perform miracles. I am sorry for your loss. Deeply sorry."

Legolas stood still by the window as the healer quietly left the room to inform his father of the ill tidings. This could not be happening again. Was he truly doomed to lose everyone he loved? Would his ada be next? More importantly, what would he do now? Elenayave was gone. Mirkwood was once again without a princess. Legolas edged over to the bedside and took her cool hand in his own. She felt so insubstantial, like a handful of snow in his own wavering grip, and she looked frail and delicate like never before. His Lena…gone. Unexpected rage built deep within his chest at her loss, but it was quickly quelled with unfathomable pain and anguish. A heart wrenching sob was torn from his lips, so full of hurt and longing, that the Elvenking knew what had happened before the healer ever reached his quarters.

Elenayave shifted nervously next her mother. She was to have an audience with Mandos, warden of the halls of the slain, and his spouse, Vairë, the keeper of time. It had been said that Mandos forgets nothing and knows all things that shall be, save for things deigned by Ilúvatar. But Elenayave clearly thought that he must not know of Legolas's future quest with the Fellowship. Without him, the quest might fail. In fact, if any of the members of the Fellowship were to be missing, history would be forever changed. She wasn't about to let that happen. The Free Peoples must prevail in the end, and Legolas would be key in that. He needed to survive, even if there was no way that she could. And that was why she was seeking counsel with Mandos and Vairë.

The Halls of Mandos stood on the western shores of Valinor, overlooking the Encircling Sea. The view she had was spectacular, but she snorted in indignation. What was it that the Elves found so fantastic about the sea? She'd lived in California for all her life. It wasn't any great thing. Just a big expanse of water that stretched in all directions. She turned away, determined not to feel small against such an immense and powerful sight. She was of Rivendell, and the sea-longing was not in her blood, but she knew one day, Legolas would set eyes upon it and sail from the trees that bore him. Pulling her eyes away from the gently churning water, she glanced at the tapestries that covered the walls. It was said that Vairë herself had made them, capturing the images of history past as they unfolded.

She ran her fingers over the delicate looking wall hangings to find that they were not quite as fragile as they seemed. Each stitch, she could tell, had been painstakingly placed to make the complete picture flow beautifully into the next. No mere being could have ever produced such a work.

"Right after I first passed, I came here to these halls to mourn the separation from your father. The pictures and landscapes soothed me, as I could still see how my family grew and made do without me."

Eliant's soft voice seemed almost otherworldly, but Elenayave knew she was right beside her, real enough.

"We never forgot you," she whispered. "Especially Ada."

"Your father is a good ellyn. He possesses the patience of wisdom of a sage. Never once did he ever lose his temper. But stubborn as a mule and more than set in his ways. No, he would not forget. I am glad that you found one like him."

"Legolas is my world, Naneth. I can't bear to be apart from him. I know I should feel happy that I'm in a better place and that one day I'll see him again, but I just can't. I miss him so much."

"I know, penneth. But we must be off, lest we be late for our gathering."

Elenayave followed after her mother quietly, hoping that she would make a good impression and plea her case convincingly enough. Legolas needed to live, that much was clear. The rest was up to the Valar.

As she entered the double doors before her, she lowered her eyes, not wishing to make direct eye contact with either of the powerful Vala in front of her. But soon enough, their aura of authority demanded it. Both were imposing figures, quite possibly the most beautiful people Elenayave had ever set eyes on. But her nerves had control of her at the moment and she didn't trust her mouth, so she merely bowed her head in a solemn greeting.

"What is it that you have come for, child?" Mandos questioned.

Elenayave had heard that Mandos was known for being stern and dispassionate, but she truly hadn't expected such a cold tone from the all-powerful Vala that she had been taught to revere.

"My…my husband fades, my lord. And it is of my doing." She found she had a hard time stringing together the words.

"This I know," he replied, giving her a hardhearted glance. "And?"

Elena closed her eyes momentarily and thought. He was supposed to know everything, wasn't he? How was she to word this? "I know for a fact that he is not supposed to die."

Mandos raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow in slight annoyance. "And how would you know this?"

"She has traversed through another time and dimension," Vairë supplied for her husband. "Somehow this has been made known to her."

"And why is it that this prince should not pass into my realm and keeping?"

"Well, sir," she started, not really knowing how to address a Vala, "he's to be in what's called the Fellowship, to help destroy the Shadow of Sauron the Deceiver in the East."

Mandos glanced at his wife with an unreadable look and the lady nodded ever so slightly. He paused for a moment before speaking again.

"It is not entirely clear to me how you can by this information, nor is it clear to me how you have passed through an alternate dimension. But I do agree with you that this Elf's life must be spared, for it is predestined to be so. However, I do not believe for one moment that this is all you have come for. Do you not know that as a Vala, I already know what is to become of Legolas Thranduilion? You are meddling with affairs that are not your own."

Elenayave felt as if she had been slapped in the face. And this was the Vala she had learned to respect? It was incredibly difficult for her to hold her tongue in such a situation, so rather, she repented. "I apologize, my lord. It was not my place."

"Nay. It appears not."

Vairë gave her mate a chiding look and said softly, "She is just a child, Námo. And she loves her husband dearly."

Mandos harrumphed and shot Vairë another glance, before looking back to Elenayave. "What is it that you want?"

Elenayave looked to her mother, who stood next to her, for encouragement, but received none. Eliant simply stared at her with an impassive face, waiting for her response. She could not possibly ask for what she truly wanted: to go back and live out her days in peace with her husband and maybe a child or two. Mandos would never allow it. Apparently Eliant had already gotten that impression. No, she would never return to Legolas. She had not appeared 'worthy' enough.

With a sigh, she replied, "I only want for him to be happy and safe. Nothing more. With that, I'd be content."

Vairë smiled condolingly and nodded. "Well said, Elenayave."

"Yes, yes. Now, please. Leave us in counsel. You are dismissed," Mandos replied, waving them off.

As Eliant left with her daughter in tow, Vairë spoke quietly to her husband. "Now what do you intend to do?"

Mandos shrugged and shook his head. "I cannot just send fëas back to Arda, Vairë."

The lady scowled at her husband and stood. "Well. I still insist that it was not her time. But you just plucked her right up! She is young yet and the two of them cannot be separated. He will die without her."

"There are others younger than she that have passed! And many sundered mates withstand the grief of loss." he argued. "And those that don't are quite happy here. Besides, she never asked to return to Arda."

"No. Instead of thinking only of herself, she asked that he be happy. Not her. That was very unselfish of her, especially when you know that is what she truly wanted!"

"Vairë…" he sighed. "I can make sure he lives in order to achieve his purpose. He will be able to manage his heartache, and move on."

"If she is not returned to him, he will not retain his purpose. He has no will, Námo! Furthermore, so much could come from a marriage such as theirs. They are so young yet, and they've had so little time together. And they've already gone through so much grief as it is with their mothers."

Mandos straightened his shoulders and rose to his full height. "She is with her mother now, isn't she?"

Vairë glared him. "Eliant passed when the girl was four. Although they carry the bond of family, they do not know each other. Námo, please do this for me. Let them be what they could be."

"It is not my decision, Vairë! I simply do what I am told. I get my orders from Eru."

She narrowed her eyes with another frown. "Well, you've both made an enormous mistake."

"Never."

"I can't believe you!" she hissed as she stormed off.

oh, oops. another cliffie. sorry guys. i've made a bad habit of that. only 3-5 more chappies left in this story, and then we're on to the sequel! yea!

linilya elf