By the end of the first week of December, the scouts began to return. Katie watched impatiently for the twins, although she knew their journey would be one of the longest and they were not expected for some time. But the days passed and there was no sign of them.

One morning, Arwen found Katie on a little-used balcony that looked toward the road. Katie was leaning on the railing with her chin in her hand, looking wistfully off into the distance.

"They should be returning in less than a week," Arwen said.

Katie stood and turned toward her quickly. She hadn't heard Arwen's approach, but she hadn't been precisely startled. Arwen reflected on how much more Katie had become accustomed to the company of elves since Arwen had first met her. Katie had used to just about jump out of her skin every time someone suddenly and silently appeared beside her.

Katie smiled self-deprecatingly. "Is it that obvious?" she asked.

"That you are eager for my brothers' return? Yes," Arwen replied truthfully. "I am, as well."

"But it's not as noticeable."

"Well no, it wouldn't be. Remember, I see the passage of time as the Elves see it, and two months is not long for me. Also, I am quite accustomed to being in Lórien for decades without seeing them, or watching them ride off on errantry for months at a stretch. I am quite used to this."

They both watched the road in silence for a time. Katie yawned and stretched tiredly, then turned to lean her back against the rail and regarded Arwen.

"Was it a difficult decision for you to make—whether to marry Estel or not?" she asked out of the blue.

Arwen smiled at her. "What a question!"

Katie laughed. "Sorry, I guess that was rude."

"No, no," Arwen replied, "Just unexpected. It is not wrong to be curious." She paused, gathering her thoughts. "When I first met him, I thought it would be a difficult decision. I knew he was in love with me, and I was attracted to him, but my mind was not made up. He seemed so young, compared to myself! But then…" She smiled, and her eyes glowed with the memory. "When I stood in Caras Galadhon, and he was walking toward me, a young warrior, arrayed like an Elf-lord from the Isles of the West, with wisdom and strength in his right hand and gentleness and compassion in his left, my decision was made. I loved him, and there was no turning back. And the yellow flowers on the trees danced about us and we pledged ourselves to one another and to the opposition of the Shadow. We dwelt for a time in bliss under the golden trees of Caras Galadhon." The light in her eyes became more subdued. "But it is hard, having made that decision… I must eventually say goodbye to my father, and never see him again." She dropped her head. "I love him dearly," she said almost to herself.

"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood," Katie murmured. Arwen glanced up at her quizzically, so Katie continued. "I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference."

Arwen smiled gently. "You must teach me that poem someday."

Katie smiled back, then sneezed suddenly.

"Oh, dear!" Arwen exclaimed. "It is cold out here; I forget that you feel it more than I."

Katie pulled her handkerchief out of her sleeve and blew her nose, waving off Arwen's exclamations of concern. "I've just got a little cold, is all."

"And you are not even wearing a wrap!" Arwen said in a half-scolding tone. "Come, let's go inside." She led her back into the house.

000

The days grew slowly chillier, although they weren't nearly as cold as they would have been in Pennsylvania at that time of year. Regardless, Katie continued to spend a good deal of time outside with Legolas, or Húnvel, or both. They didn't feel the cold like a human would. Katie felt it, but she ignored it.

The only drawback to being out in the cold so much was that it was causing her nose to run quite a bit. She chalked it up to her cold, which was also giving her sporadic headaches.

Katie, Húnvel, and Legolas were standing chatting in the stable yard when the scouts returned from Mirkwood. Legolas greeted them excitedly, pleased to hear the news from his home.

"Your family is well, and they all send their love," one of the scouts informed him. He paused and smiled. "And Lady Feriniel sent to tell you that she knows it was you who hid her second-best comb, and that she will get even with you when next she sees you."

Legolas laughed. "I wondered how long it would take her to find it!" Katie laughed along, her laugh turning into a cough, which she quickly repressed.

"Your father sent a letter as well," the other scout added, handing the missive to Legolas. "And one for Lord Elrond. And," he said, turning toward Katie and producing a piece of parchment with a flourish, "one for Katelyn Elvellon!"

"Ooh!" Katie exclaimed excitedly, making the others laugh.

"Who is it from?" Húnvel asked, laying his hand on her shoulder and looking down at the letter she held.

"Feriniel," Katie replied, looking at the seal.

Húnvel noticed something and looked down at his friend a little concernedly. "Katie, you are shivering! You should not be out in the cold so long," he admonished. "Why did you not tell us you wished to go inside?"

"Because I didn't wish it," Katie replied, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"We should all go inside now," Legolas interrupted, heading off a possible argument. "I am sure you two would like a good meal!" he added to the scouts, gently pushing everyone back toward the house.

000

At Húnvel's behest, Katie began to be more careful about wearing a shawl out in the cold, but none of his scolding or reasoning with her could induce her to remain inside. Whenever he mentioned the subject, even in passing, she would become snappish. She had been feeling quite tired lately, and that, added to her occasional headaches, increased her irritability.

"I don't want to be cooped up inside," she told her friend in exasperation. Besides, she wanted to be on the scene when the twins returned, although she didn't say as much to Húnvel.

One afternoon, Katie decided to take a walk down the road. She had felt particularly stifled by Húnvel the past couple days, ever since the scouts had returned from Mirkwood, so she slipped out of the house by a side door, hoping to escape his notice.

By the time she had left the stable yard and had gotten out into the woods, Katie was beginning to regret her decision to come out. She wrapped her shawl more closely about her arms and shivered. It had become decidedly cold out. She had misjudged the temperature, and her wrap was too light.

All this walking was making her tired, too, and her head had just begun to pound. Perhaps she should go back? But she could just imagine meeting Húnvel, and how he would shake his head at her and ask her why she had gone out with such a light wrap in the first place. The very thought irritated her, and with a scowl, she bent her head down and kept trudging. She would have a good long walk before she turned around again and went back to the house.

The sound of hoofbeats brought her head up, and she stopped short. Her heart jumped in her chest. Was it who she thought it was?

Then the two riders rounded the bend, and Katie ran forward to meet them, all cold and discomfort forgotten. "Elladan! Elrohir!"

Twin cries of "Katie!" and "Gwathel vuin!" greeted her, and the sons of Elrond dismounted lightly from their horses, smiling widely.

Her shawl blew off and Katie caught it distractedly in one hand, flying to embrace both of her friends at once, exclaiming, "Mae govannen, gwedyr-nín!" They returned her hugs and her greeting.

"I'm so glad you're home! I've missed you!" she declared.

"Oh, I am sure you managed to while away the time!" Elladan replied, putting his hand on her head in his accustomed gesture of affection. "You probably spent the entire two months tormenting Legolas, did you not?"

Katie laughed, and the laugh turned into a cough. But this time, she couldn't repress it. The twins' expressions of happiness turned to concern as Katie fought to catch her breath again. Her face was flushed as she rasped a few times, pulling air into her starved lungs.

Elladan dropped his hand to her forehead to feel for a temperature. "You are feverish, gwathel-nín," he said, troubled.

Elrohir pulled Katie's forgotten shawl out of her fingers and wrapped it warmly about her. She thanked him hoarsely and tucked her arms in its folds. "It's just a cold," she said with a shrug.

He didn't remove his hands from her shoulders. "How long have you had this cold?" he asked seriously.

"Oh, a couple of weeks, I guess," Katie answered, brushing off his concern. "It's just gotten a little worse in the last couple of days."

"I do not think that is just a cold, Katie," Elladan said.

"I'm fine!" Katie snapped. As the twins looked at her in surprise, she rubbed her temple. "I'm sorry," she said after a pause, in a more temperate voice. "Two minutes back and I'm yelling at you! I'm just a little tired."

"That is alright," Elladan answered.

"But we should probably all get back to the house," Elrohir finished in a would-be casual voice. Not waiting for Katie's reaction, he picked her up and set her gently on his horse, jumping lightly up behind her.

Katie thought about protesting, but gave up on the idea as they began to move. She was awfully tired, after all, and would be glad to get back into the warm. She leaned back against Elrohir with a smile.

"I'm awfully glad you're home," she said, glancing over at Elladan as well.

The brothers exchanged smiles. "We are glad as well," Elladan answered for the both of them.

TBC

AN: Don't you just hate writer's block?

I feel honor-bound to point out, the parallel between Frost's "The Road Not Taken" and Arwen's situation was not originally drawn by me. I have a wallpaper that I downloaded from the internet that has that written on it over Arwen's picture, and I thought it was amazingly appropriate. Plus, I adore Frost. :)

Ravens Destiny: I'm surprised you haven't found more mistakes! I was reading back through Something Rotten this week, and it was full of typos! I think Elrohir has actually been more of a punching bag than Elladan. Elladan got beat up a lot in the first part, but Elrohir got it in both the second and third.

Laer4572: You must wait to find out! Although I don't think Vivian will ever be interacting that much with Gandalf; sorry. Why don't you ask Arwen to make you that drool cloth? She's been embroidering that magical banner for Aragorn for years; it seems she's pretty handy with a needle! A magic drool-cloth—what an idea…

Contia Mirian: Thrilled to see a new name! Yes, it's great when Tolkein leave little bits out; it gives us fanfic writers a place to fiddle with the plot!

IwishChan: I thought "Robin Hood" was getting a little old. At least I didn't have her call him diphthong, like I call my friend Jenn! No, she hasn't told Legolas yet, has she?

Darkened Dreams: It's too bad about not making the cut, but crew can be a blast, too… I was on crew for "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and we had a blast, in between the stressful moments. Actually, the last one wasn't a filler chapter, although the first passage in this chapter was filler! Last chapter was development of the theme!

The Reviewing Llama: I think Legolas and Katie have gotten a lot closer over this sequel. And you're right about the secret flower place needing a name. At your suggestion, I went out and made one. You shall see the name appearing later!

Tara: Well, I didn't actually say where the twins are, but if you want to know, they've ridden down to Lothlórien to let Galadriel know the Fellowship will be coming. Yes, stage fright is a strange thing. I had to do two speeches the last week of my senior year. One of them was in front of about thirty people, and I was shaking terribly the entire time. The second was in front of a few thousand, and after the first paragraph, I was perfectly serene. Weird.

theycallmemary: In the book, the Council of Elrond takes place on Oct 25, and the Fellowship leaves Rivendell on Dec 25, so I'm covering two months. I wasn't thinking so much alternate endings as deleted scenes. :) I would like to put in Lindir, but most of my experience of him comes from "Don't Panic", and I hate to copy. Also, I've got enough characters to juggle without putting in a new one! Ditto for Glorfindel. I'm having enough trouble trying to fit in meaningful conversations with hobbits, Legolas, Erestor, Estel, Gandalf and Arwen! Not to mention the newly-returned twins!

Saltwater: Yes, I laugh at your pain. I'm mean like that. And I may have said this before, but I'll say it again: that thing with Gimli is freaking disturbing.

Hikari: Thanks! I didn't update quite so fast this time!

FallenTruth: It would be kind of weird to be romantically involved with someone whose parents you knew before they were married, though. But I guess that happens to elves sometimes. Yes, I'd like her to interact more with Estel, although he's been off up north a bit lately. You're right, she hasn't yet had a proper conversation with Gandalf, although I'm not sure I'll be able to get around to it! I don't think I'll get much Glorfindel into this one, although he might appear a bit more in the sequel.

Princess Siara: Yeah, it's the 15th chapter, but there's still quite a lot of ground to cover! This might end up being the longest part of the series, which is funny, because I have the least amount of significant plot to unfold in it! Most of the really really important stuff was smushed into the last sequel.

Thalion: That's a good question. They must have told Elrond about it, but I'm not sure if they ever let Arwen know. I rather doubt it, though, because of her utter sadness at the end of her life. Although, I suppose that could be chalked up to her not being ready to leave the world yet and having to taste "the bitterness of mortality" before her time. And Aragorn would just nod along the whole time, since his very name means Faith!. :)

Erasuithiel: Do you have something against romance itself, or against Mary-Sues? Any particular reason you don't want a romance? Yep, I thought that Katie influencing Legolas would further validate Katie's presence in Rivendell during the War of the Ring. I adore the random yams! That cracked me up so loud my roomie wanted to know what was so funny…

Thanks also to Fk306 and ElvenRyder! Every one of my readers deserves a Little Debbie of their choice! —munches on a pumpkin cookie—

Please review! Every time a review is writ, another… fanfic author… 's heart is lit? …by inspiration is hit? …doubles her wit? …gets bit? Oh, whatever.