Elves of Rivendell appeared on the path and greeted them, leading them down to cross the river.

"The House of Elrond is simply filling with guests!" one of them exclaimed chattily.

"Oh? Who else is here?" Legolas wanted to know.

"Galdor from the Havens, and Glóin the Dwarf," the elf began to recite. "Mithrandir, and the Dúnadan, and four Halflings! They arrived yesterday."

"Four halflings?" Legolas exclaimed. "That is strange news! I had the impression they preferred staying home to embarking on journeys."

"Strange news indeed, and stranger to come, I think," the elf replied enigmatically. "But one of them is wounded and under the care of Lord Elrond. They say the wound is poisoned, and the situation grave."

Erestor met them at the house, messengers having told him that a party from Mirkwood had arrived. Katie grinned and hid behind Legolas before the counselor saw her.

"Greetings, Legolas Thranduilion," Erestor greeted the prince formally. "What brings you to Imladris?"

"I bear a message from my father for Mithrandir and Lord Elrond," Legolas answered, saluting. "I hear that Mithrandir is here, though Lord Elrond is indisposed."

Erestor nodded. "There will be time for all messages to be delivered soon enough," he answered. "Come, taste the hospitality of my lord's house once more." He also greeted the two guards, then looked expectantly for the person behind Legolas to make herself known.

Katie stepped out from behind her friend, grinning from ear to ear. Erestor registered surprise for a moment, then delight. "Katelyn Elvellon!" he exclaimed, putting his hands on her shoulders. "I did not expect to see you here again! But when did you arrive?"

"March, in Mirkwood," Katie answered. "King Thranduil sent me with Legolas because he thought Mirkwood might be too dangerous."

Erestor nodded in understanding. "Come in, all of you!"

"Are the twins here?" Katie asked Erestor as he led them down a corridor.

"No; they are off on errantry," Erestor said offhandedly. "But Arwen is in residence.

"Here we are," he said, opening the door to a guest room. "The guards may stay here, and Legolas, there is a room for you across the hall."

"What about me?" Katie asked as they continued down the corridor.

"I thought you might like your old room back," Erestor said with a smile.

"Oh, yes please!" Katie replied.

000

Pippin tossed a pine cone high up in the air with one hand and caught it with the other. Then he tossed it up again and caught it with the first hand. On the third toss, he dropped it.

"Oh, let the poor pine cone be," Merry said from nearby, sitting back on a stone bench, his feet dangling above the ground. They were out in the gardens, amongst the trees.

Pippin left the cone where it was and walked over to take a seat beside his cousin.

"Have you heard any news about Frodo?" he wanted to know.

"No, Pip!" Merry exclaimed fondly, though with exasperation. "I know no more than you."

In the silence that followed, both hobbits thought they heard footsteps, and looked up. A young human girl was approaching, walking down the path with an expression of quiet contentment on her face. She was dressed in elven manner, her long, brown, curly hair pulled back from her face and her green eyes shining. She didn't see them, her attention drawn to the late summer flowers on either side of the path. When she did look up and see them, she paused suddenly, as if startled, then walked over.

Merry and Pippin hopped down from their seat and bowed. "Greetings, Miss," Merry said cordially.

The girl dropped a curtsey. "Hello. You must be the Halflings!" She had a very strange, rather flat accent.

"That we are, Miss. Or rather, Hobbits, as we call ourselves," Pippin replied. "Peregrin Took, called Pippin, at your service; and my friend here is Meriadoc Brandybuck, called Merry."

"I'm Katelyn Johanson, called Katie," the girl replied.

"Won't you have a seat?" Merry asked, gesturing to the bench.

"Thank you," Katie answered, and sat down. The hobbits sat down beside her. There was plenty of room for the three of them.

"I didn't know there were any women in the House of Elrond at this time," Merry said when they were comfortable. "There are some Rangers about, but no female humans."

"I just arrived a few hours ago with the ambassador from Mirkwood," Katie explained.

This just raised more questions in the hobbits' minds, but they didn't think it polite to ask what a woman was doing in Mirkwood.

"The elves told me there were four hobbits visiting Rivendell," the girl continued. "Where do you come from?"

"The Shire," Pippin answered promptly. "A couple of weeks' journey west of here. We arrived yesterday." He fell silent, thinking about the manner of their arrival, and of Frodo.

"I hope your friend gets well soon," the girl said sympathetically. Pippin looked up, surprised that she had read his thoughts so easily. "They said one of your companions was wounded," Katie clarified, seeing his surprise.

Pippin nodded. "Our other friend is with him, as well. Hasn't hardly left his side since yesterday," he added quietly.

Katie nodded. It seemed she understood and sympathized.

Merry hopped up a moment later. "Well, I think it's time for supper!" he said enthusiastically. "Won't you join us, Miss Johanson?"

"I'd love to," Katie replied, and followed him back toward the house.

"There you are!" Legolas exclaimed as Katie walked in the door, trailing two excited and hungry-looking hobbits. "I thought you would return for a meal," he added a little smugly.

The hobbits looked in surprise between the strange elf and their new acquaintance, but she just laughed.

"Katie!" someone exclaimed from behind her, and she turned around.

"Lithorniel!" she said happily, and hugged her friend. "And Glawar. How are you?"

"Quite well," the elf replied with a smile.

"And this," Lithorniel said, gesturing to a young ellon behind her, "is our son, Húnvel."

Katie's jaw dropped, but the elf didn't see it as he bowed to her. "Pleased to meet you, Katie Elvellon," he said politely. He looked like his father, with straight blond hair and his mother's agate-grey eyes.

Katie managed to drop a curtsey. "And you," she replied, then turned wondering eyes on Lithorniel, who laughed.

"You look shocked. It has been more than sixty years, you know," she teased gently.

Katie nodded, her eyes still wide. "I keep being reminded of that fact!" she said.

The hobbits, who had stood by to watch this reunion, were extremely puzzled. Katie glanced down and remembered them.

"Oh, but I'm keeping us all from supper!" she exclaimed. "Come, let's go eat."

The hobbits looked relieved.

000

Katie sat between the hobbits and Legolas at dinner, with Lithorniel's family opposite her. Because she was by Legolas, she didn't meet the dwarves, who seemed to want to remain as far away from the Mirkwood elves as possible. Legolas, knowing the delicate diplomatic situation he was in with them, avoided their company as well, only nodding courteously if he happened to pass them.

Katie, he was gratified to see, was most certainly reverting to her old self. Her resilience continued to surprise him. A combination of her natural optimism and the Hope that she now seemed to exude had made her a strong person. She was not so strong physically, but her emotional strength was impressive. Some humans, when faced with the things she had undergone, would have withdrawn or become depressed, but she managed to shake everything off and continue as she had always done. Legolas suspected that Lalorn's death was the first she had ever experienced of someone close to her, and was most certainly the first she had ever witnessed. He also guessed that she would not have been able to deal with it this well when he had known her before. But she was different now. A couple times lately he had seen her voluntarily help someone rather than standing back and looking a little shy as she might've before. He wondered what it was that had changed her.

"Are you glad to be back in Rivendell?" Lithorniel was asking her.

"Oh, yes!" Katie agreed emphatically, but then looked down at her plate again.

"But?" Glawar prompted gently.

Katie looked up and shrugged with a self-deprecating smile. "I miss the twins, that's all."

TBC

AN: In case you're wondering, Glawar and Lithorniel named their son after Gúrvel. Húnvel and Gúrvel both mean the same thing. And in case you're curious, they're translations of "Howard", my dad's middle name—"brave heart". Although in Gúrvel's case, his name could also be translated "brave death", which seems appropriate. :)

My classes start today! I also (probably) have a job tutoring for work-study. English (duh), Spanish, possibly psych or computers. Yay!

ElvenRyder: You're lucky, I almost missed your review again! Bad Ashley!

Princess Siara: Well, the prayer is certainly helping! I'm not sure if they knew the Necromancer was Sauron, but I kind of think so. I'd have to look it up. Legolas has no siblings mentioned in canon, but it also never said he didn't have any! We know a startlingly little amount about Legolas, really.

Madd Hatter: She got sick of her tongue ring after her freshman year of college and took it out. I don't remember, did I say she had a pet rat?

Laer4572: —smiles mysteriously—

Ravens Destiny: Yeah, I love the name Will, and William's okay, but Willy, Bill, and Billy are all out. James is a cool name. We have over ten generations of Johns in my mom's family.

Darkened Dreams: Yeah, I know some people whose last name is Dick. I feel sorry for them. I'm sure you'll be able to keep up! Surely school doesn't take up all your time, does it?

theycallmemary: Thanks! I'm glad you found it funny; it's meant to be. Oh, I'm always so happy when people read my website! Finwe did indeed have two wives, and it made his son Fëanor rather bitter, and Fëanor made the Silmarils, and we know what came of that! That's why the Valar will never allow elves to remarry anymore. Yeah, the switching family members thing could happen in theory, but remember, it's sometimes a very long time before elves get reincarnated, and the time varies, if they ever get reincarnated at all. So I think the Valar would try and avoid that.

Calime07: Thanks! Yes, twins are on their way (eventually).

Erasuithiel: The college thing is going great; I'm glad to be back, and I like my dorm room! On the subject of the moths, in The Hobbit Tolkein says, "Worse still the watch-fire brought thousands of dark-grey and black moths, some nearly as big as your hand, flapping and whirring round their ears. They could not stand that, nor the huge bats, black as a top-hat, either; so they gave up fires and sat at night and dozed in the enormous uncanny darkness." Yick. Also, above the trees there are hundreds and hundreds of butterflies like purple emperors, except "dark dark velvety black without any markings to be seen." Squirrels in Mirkwood are also black. Does anybody see a pattern? What does "avuncular" mean? Come on, girl, grab a dictionary! Or dictionary dot com! Oh, alright, I'll save you the trouble. It means, "like an uncle". (Also finally looked up your name: a single current of cool air? Am I close?)

Thanks also to Tara, IwishChan, Fk306!

Review! Review like a llama! ("Do llamas review?" "Does it matter?")