Remember

Playing In Winter Snow

Disclaimer: I have decided not to buy Lord of the Rings with my thirty billion dollar inheritance, so no, I don't own it. XD

Authors note: Hmm... This chapter may be interesting. I'm not quite sure what I want to do with it... Guess we'll all find out what happens at the end of it won't we. Isn't it reassuring, the author doesn't know what they're doing!

How long Rebecca had been there, she didn't remember, and she didn't care. She was having too much fun to care. Yes, she had missed the Fellowship, but the elves of Rivendell were making up for it. Elrond had reassured her he would do all he could to help her get back to her world, but again, she wasn't concerned at the moment.

"So, what do you want to do today?" Elrohir asked her.

"Don't you have anything else to do besides entertain me?" Rebecca replied.

"Not today!"

"That's what you've said everyday since I've gotten here! Surely there is a ton of work for you to do somewhere!"

"Are you saying you do not want my company?"

"I'm saying I don't want your dad to nail you to a desk because you're off with me all the time. But, since you seem totally unconcerned and irresponsible, I want to ambush somebody with snowballs."

"How about Elladan, he has been restless lately. He's complaining that Father will not let him go gather news."

"Sounds like a plan!" Rebecca grinned. She parted company with Elrohir in the library and agreed to meet him outside in a few minutes. She went to her room, changed into a thick pair of leggings with a warm tunic, and wrapped herself in a thick cloak. She had begged for the hunting outfit, and eventually got it. She found her boots, pulled them on, and went outside. While walking towards one of the exits, she ran into Arwen.

"Greetings Rebecca. May I ask where you are off too?" Arwen said.

"Elro and I are going to ambush Elladan with snowballs. Do you want to join us?"

Arwen grinned, she was up for a little mischief. "Yes. I shall go get a cloak and join you outside."

Rebecca nodded, and the two parted company.

"Elro, there has been something that has been bothering me," Rebecca asked. Her snowball pile just beginning.

Elrohir packed another snowball as he answered. "What is it Mirë?"

"Well, what did you mean when you said my eyes shown like jewels?"

"What do mean? I was simply stating my observation," he replied.

"Well, where I'm from, if you tell a girl her eyes shine like stars or jewels, the girl assumes the guy likes her," Rebecca replied.

Elrohir suddenly burst into laughter. "Forgive me! I have been rightly accused of being a poet. If Elladan had been there, he would have simply called you Luinhen, Blue eyes. Excuse me, that is a lie, he would have called you Rebecca. He sees the world and the people around him just as they are. He was telling me about a, what do you call it, girlfriend, and he said she was elven fair. I laughed at him for ten minutes solid. I still tease him about it."

Rebecca laughed. "He really said the elfmaid was elven fair?"

"Yes!"

Just then Arwen came out. Rebecca quickly mentioned the fact she had invited her, and the two waited a few seconds for her to make an armful of snowballs for herself.

She finished up the last of her snowballs, and all three began carrying them inside to Elladan's room. They had to move fast lest the ammunition melted. Elrohir led the way, and within a few seconds they were at Elladan's door. Elrohir knocked, was bade enter, and then the three began chucking snowballs at him.

"Aaah! What are you doing? Elflings!" Elladan yelled. "I'm going to get you all!" he said catching a snowball and chucking it back at them. Elladan began to run at them.

"RUN!" Elrohir yelled. The three ran off trying to get away from the twin. Arwen ducked into her room and the other two darted around a corner and disappeared in Rebecca's room. Elladan, not seeing or hearing them, gave up and went back to his room, a slight laugh on his lips.

In the mean time, Rebecca and Elrohir were inside her room, pressed against the door and breathless.

"We did it!" Rebecca smiled.

"Yes, we did," Elrohir replied, smiling back. "That was fun."

Rebecca laughed. Her laughter was cut off when she heard a knock at her door. She cracked the door open and saw Arwen standing there. She bade her enter.

"I think it has been entirely too long since we have done something like that!" Arwen declared. "The last time I think we did, Estel was twelve."

Elrohir smiled at the memory. "Yes, but if I recall, it was you and Elladan getting me."

"Yes, it was wasn't it. Come, let us go get something hot to drink from Ivanneth the cook," Arwen said, her hands still red from the cold.

A few days later, January the ninth to be exact, Rebecca was in a library, curled up with a book on a large couch in the library, her long skirts hanging down over it's edge.

"May I speak with you a moment Rebecca?" a voice asked.

She shoved a strip of paper she used as a bookmark in the book as she turned to face the speaker. "Certainly Lord Elrond," she replied.

"As you know, I have the gift of foresight, and I have foreseen your return to your world."

"Do you know when it shall be?" Rebecca asked. She felt rather crestfallen. She didn't really want to leave just now, she hoped her departure was months and months away, but she braced herself for the worst.

"March first," Elrond replied. He could tell she was a little depressed at the news, but he had other matters to deal with. "Now, you must excuse me, I have other matters to attend to."

Rebecca nodded and returned to her couch. She picked up her book, opened it, and stared blankly at it. Why on earth was she so sad at this news? Yes, she was enjoying her time there, but she had enjoyed her vacation to San Antonio too. Maybe it was the fact she had fallen into Middle-earth and she didn't want to lose it? Well, that was a good possibility. Perhaps it was the fact that she was still upset about the move to England. She still hadn't adjusted, she had just begun to come out of her shell. Everything was suddenly shaken up again. She randomly found out one day she would move across the Atlantic, away from her friends and the world she had known, she had randomly fallen into Middle-earth, the setting of her favorite book and movie trilogy, and now she had just learned she would have to return to Jolly old England on March first.

She gave a sad sigh and took herself and her book to her room.

Dear Journal,

Lord Elrond told me today that I shall have to return to England March first. Grrr! I am just starting to get settled here, and suddenly I learn I am to be torn away from this too! Why is it, whenever I get settled somewhere, just when I get comfortable, I'm jerked away again! ARRRGG! How unfair! Why, why can't I be like other kids that live in one country their whole lives! Most people live in the same state their whole lives! Me? No! I'm not allowed! I'm not allowed to have friends, to have boyfriends, to stay in one place... Well, I always kind of know I am to move again, this place in particular, but I was hoping it would be years and years from now. I guess I am asking for the impossible. I know most people don't get everything their way. Why? Why is it I must leave everything I love so quickly and close together? I loved my house in Indiana, I love Middle-earth, and now I find I must leave this too! Well, okay, I may be a little dramatic about all this. I know no one ever can get everything they want. I know I am asking the impossible out of life, I know it is selfish. I know this. I can't have the world. This is the attitude that put me in that rut in England. Even so, I just wish I could stay in one place! I really do!

She sighed as she put away her journal. Writing in her journal always helped her feel better. "Journals have therapeutic value," she said to herself. "Well, if my days here are numbered, I might as well get to know the elves as best as I can before I leave."

She left the room and headed off to find Elrohir. She found him in his study, reading a book.

"Hello Elro!" she greeted.

"Greetings Mirë! What brings you here on this cold winters day?" He cheerily asked. The minute the words came out of his mouth, he saw her countenance fall.

"Well, your father told me I am going to leave March first. That's why I'm here. I want to spend as much time with my new friends as I can before I leave."

"Oh. I see. Well I am sure I shall miss you when you go, but let us not think of it again until the time comes," he said with a smile. It was a half hearted smile. He liked her, she was a good friend, fun to be with. That was one of the draw backs of living in Rivendell. People come, people go, and sometimes your most favorite people to be around leave the fastest and never return. "You know, you have not told me much about you. I know the tiniest bit about you! For instance, what do you like to do, besides attack my brother with snowballs, read, and eat."

She grinned sarcastically and said, "Well, I like doing a lot of things. My hobbies and interests are many."

"I see. So, do you want to go take a walk?"

"Inside or outside?"

"Outside."

"Are you insane? It is freezing out there!" Rebecca cried.

"Just wear a warm cloak!" Elrohir grinned. "Come on, it is beautiful out there! The snow is falling nicely, the tree branches are heavy laden with snow. It is beautiful! Let's go!"

Rebecca reluctantly agreed, not that she had much choice outside of being rude, because Elrohir was already flinging on a cloak and heading out the door. Rebecca ran back to her room, grabbed hers, and joined him.

It really was beautiful outside, the sky was unbroken grey, and soft white snowflakes were lazily falling from the sky. Everything would have been silent, if they hadn't been in Rivendell, however, they were, and the sound of elven voices singing was heard. She didn't see anyone at first, so she entered a wooded garden, only to be scared out of her wits as Elrohir jumped out from behind a tree and grab her.

"What on earth was that for!" She screamed with surprise.

Elrohir just smiled. "I wanted to scare you, and I did!"

She smacked him on the arm. "You're horrible!"

He offered her his arm and they began walking about together through the garden. The snow was six inches deep at the moment, and they both left deep footprints in the fluffy snow. A few times she tripped on the root of a tree, and each time she was caught by Elrohir. Soon enough, he led her away to a place where the trees made a circular clearing. All the branches of the trees reached out and formed a canopy over it. In the summer it was a green dome, in the autumn, a ball of fire, but in winter it was an intricate lace of black against a grey sky. Quiet and peaceful was the feel of the place. A sense of solemness took Rebecca as she stepped into the clearing.

"What is this place called?" she whispered.

"It has no name," Elrohir softly replied.

"I like it here. It is the outdoor Hall of Fire," she whispered back.

Elrohir smiled. "I am glad. I like this place too. Did you know... it doesn't matter."

"Maybe not, but I'd like to know anyway."

"This is the place Aragorn first saw Arwen. Arwen was walking just where you are standing when she heard Luthien's name being called. She was wondering who would possibly be calling that name, so she looked about, that is when she saw him. It was humorously romantic when it happened."

"That is interesting," Rebecca replied. There was a pause then she asked, "How old are you?"

"Well, I was born in the 130th year of the Third Age, and this is the 3,019 th year, so that puts me at...2,889."

Rebecca gave a low whistle, then teased, "You're an old man!" She began to walk into the center of the clearing.

"And you are an elfling," he teased back. He looked at her, standing in the middle of the clearing and his mood changed. She no longer like an elfling, but like a girl, on the verge of womanhood, maybe a woman already. She turned and smiled at him, her smile as beautiful and bright as any he had ever seen. Her blue eyes flashed as she called out to him.

"So are you going to just stand there like a statue, or are you going to duck?"

He was shaken out of his musings and before he could figure out what she meant, he was smacked in the face with a snowball. He didn't retaliate, he just laughed and came at her. "No, I shall not duck. Nor shall I return fire. But, I shall give you a white wash!" he grinned as he came upon her.

"NOOOOOO!" she playfully screamed as she tried to run. Elrohir caught her though and took her to the ground. He had her right arm pinned to the ground and with his free hand he was rubbing snow in her face. "ACK! It's cold! TRUCE! TRUCE! I SURRENDER! IT'S COLD!"

He stopped and cleared her face of the now slushy snow. When she saw the gleam in his eyes she laughed, then before he knew it, she shoved a handful of snow in his face, the loose bit falling on herself. "Good, very good Rebecca. You caught me off guard!"

"And now, if you would be so kind as let me up, I shall head back inside and change clothes before they freeze over."

He let her go, and then assisted her up. They walked back in, laughing the whole time. She always laughed when she was around him. He accompanied her back to her room and before he left her at the door he said, "I enjoyed the walk with you today. I thank you for accompanying me." There was something a little off in his tone, but Rebecca payed it no heed. Almost too impersonal for normal.

"It was a pleasure," she replied with a smile. He left and she shut the door behind him. She peeled the half frozen, wet clothes off of her and wrapped herself in an elven bath robe and called for a servant to draw her a hot bath. This was something she had grown quite accustomed too, hot baths that she didn't have to lift a finger for.

As she soaked in the tub, the water steaming and curling around her, she reflected on the days events. No, nothing unusual today, nothing but the fun events of the day to record in her diary. Suddenly Elrohir's last words to her at the door rang in her ears, the tone was suddenly noticed.

"He did sound a little, impersonal when he departed didn't he? A sharp contrast from the few minutes earlier when he had pinned to the ground. But still, why should I think anything of it? I'm reading too much into all of this. But why? Why am I reading so much into all of this? Do I like him or something? Nah, why in the world would I fall in love with an elf! I know I can't keep him. To love him would be absurd! I'm just being silly!" she said to herself. "Just being silly."

She ended her bath and put on a warm nightgown and a silk robe. The elves sure live richly! She had borrowed a few books from Lord Elrond, rather, all the books in the common tongue, and was reading them. She had even sampled parts of Bilbo's red book. If she was only to stay in Rivendell such a short time, she was going to cram every spare minute full of learning about Middle-earth. She was partway through a new chapter when she heard a knock at her door.

"It's open!" she called out.

The door slowly opened and in stepped a figure. She finished the sentence she was on and looked up to see Elrohir.

"Greetings Mirë! Again. I was just walking by your room and wondered if you needed anything?" Elrohir asked. His tone sounded lame.

"No, I'm fine Elro. Was there anything else?" she asked.

A strange look flashed across his face before he spoke again. "N..no. Nothing. I was just wondering."

Rebecca nodded and gave a smile. The smile caused a strange look to glitter in his eyes for a mere second. He excused himself and left the room.

The moment the door closed Rebecca was whipping out her diary and writing in it.

Authors note: Okay, I so didn't see that coming! Hello! I hope this one was a little more interesting. If not, I think the next one will be! I promise, action will come! Oh well, I beg thee all to REVIEW!