Epilogue II

Ian McKellan paced impatiently outside of the emergency room whilst police guarded the doors outside. He seemed unaware that the entire population of the London paparazzi was outside trying to find out why Elizabeth Gunner had been taken to the hospital. Had he known, Ian would have told them that he would like to find out why his granddaughter was at the hospital also.

Stella sat patiently, but obviously worried, on a bench. The emergency door slid open and an Indian surgeon walked out.

Stella jumped to her feet and Ian spun on his heels and met the surgeon halfway.

"What's the diagnosis?" Ian asked immediately.

"Well, I have good news and bad news." The surgeon said.

"Good news first." Stella said quickly.

The surgeon eyed Stella, but complied.

"The good news is that Miss Gunner has no major injuries. Her head wound required some stitching and her right ankle was badly twisted, but aside from that, she is out of danger."

Ian sighed, relieved. Stella was overjoyed and clasped her hands together.

"And the bad news?" Ian asked wearily.

"The bad news is…" the surgeon trailed off, not wanting to continue.

"Just say it already!" Stella snapped.

"Well…I'm afraid, sir, that we found traces of a drug known as a Ruphee or Ruphees in Miss Gunner's blood. And I'm very sorry, sir…but your granddaughter has indeed been raped."

The surgeon waited for the news to sink in. Ian turned away, his hands in his pockets. Stella covered her mouth, her eyes wide in shock.

"How?" Ian asked abruptly.

"Most likely she went to a party; someone slipped the drug into her drink and raped her." The surgeon replied. "A rape kit is being completed as we speak."

A nurse peeked out of the emergency rooms and nodded to the Indian surgeon.

"It's just been completed. The nurse found some hair samples and several fluid samples that will be sent to a lab for analysis." The surgeon informed. "You may see her now."

Ian practically bolted into the room and went to his granddaughter's side. He took one of her hands in his own and brought it to his cheek.

Elizabeth smiled weakly at her grandfather.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

"No, I'm sorry," Ian said, "for not being there for you to talk to me. For not making sure that you were all right."

Elizabeth bit her lip to quell her oncoming tears and sobs. Ian shook his head, telling her silently, without words, that crying was ok. He embraced her as she allowed her sobs to take control. Her frail body shook and trembled in her grandfather's arms.

"Do you remember anything?" her grandfather asked. "Anything at all?"

Elizabeth shook her head and cried even harder. Ian realized that his questioning had not helped at all. Stella, meanwhile, was outside, talking to the surgeon.

"We won't know, ma'am, not until the rape kit comes back."

"But what if she's pregnant?" Stella asked. "You wouldn't be able to tell now, would you?"

"Actually ma'am, we would. The technology now can tell whether you're pregnant or not. It doesn't matter how much time has passed." The surgeon answered.

"Then hurry up. We need to be prepared for the worst case scenario."

"Ma'am, if I may be frank, the worse case scenario would only be experienced if Miss Gunner had turned up dead, murdered by the rapist." The surgeon said.

"I don't care. Since she's alive, the worse case scenario has changed. If she's pregnant, she'll have to hide!"

"I understand ma'am. But you'll just have until tomorrow morning at least." The surgeon explained.

"Very well," Stella said, and huffed back into Elizabeth's room.

Ian lifted a finger to his lips. Elizabeth had fallen asleep holding his hand.

Elizabeth opened her eyes. It was dimly lit in her room, but she could still see her grandfather sleeping in a chair next to her bed. Her hand was encased in his.

She carefully took her hand back and looked around the room. A nurse walked in.

"Oh!" she exclaimed softly, as to not wake Elizabeth's sleeping visitors. "You're awake. Would you like anything to eat?"

"Sure." Elizabeth answered. The nurse smiled and left the room.

She returned a short while later with some breakfast on a tray. Elizabeth ate quietly, then slept some more. When she awoke again, it was to a loud gasp in the hallway.

"How is this possible?" she heard her grandfather ask.

"Well she's 16, sir, and started her menstrual cycle long ago. It's entirely possible." The doctor answered. "We'll need to schedule several appointments for her. Where will she be staying?"

Elizabeth's mind whirled. What were they talking about? What was wrong with her? Her grandfather entered her room again and seemed a tad bit surprised that she was awake.

"Elizabeth," he breathed, smiling. "Good, you're awake. There's something I need to tell you."

Elizabeth's mind beheld fear for a few moments. Was she going to die? Was she sick?

"Just tell me and get it over with." She ordered.

Ian sighed. "I'm sorry, dearest, but I'm afraid you're pregnant."

Elizabeth threw up.

Within the next few days, Elizabeth was released from the hospital at an ungodly hour, to avoid the press. She walked far ahead of her grandfather, and insisted to take a taxi instead of his car.

"Elizabeth would you like to talk about it?" Ian asked, once the two were home.

"No, I would not like to talk about it!" Elizabeth snapped. "I'm pregnant; my life is ruined, big deal, right?"

"It is a big deal, Lizzie." Ian said, using Elizabeth's old and long-abandoned nickname.

"Don't call me Lizzie." Elizabeth shrieked. "I'm so sick and tired of everyone ignoring me in this fucking house! The only time you ever even acknowledge me is when I'm hurt, sick or emotionally down – or if I'm in danger. Other than that, all you care about is your publicity!"

"Elizabeth Gunner, that is not true and you know it!" Ian barked. "Now you stop being so—"

"News flash, old man, you don't control me and I don't belong to you. I'm not some dog that you can order around or put on a leash! And come to think of it, I'm not sure I even want to be your granddaughter any more!" Elizabeth yelled. And she stormed out of the house, car keys in hand.

"Stupid…fucking…asinine old geezer…" Elizabeth muttered to herself as she drove down the highway.

She found herself driving towards the airport. Why she was headed that way, she didn't know.

"Stupid old man…thinks he can control my every move…" Elizabeth grumbled. She dropped her lipstick. "Shit."

She bent down to grab her lipstick and retrieved it. She turned to face to road in front of her, and closed her eyes just as she crashed head-on into a semi-truck.

Elizabeth opened her eyes. She was not dead; in fact, she was better than she had been before her crash. She looked around. Her settings were fairly recognizable. Could she have been taken back to Middle Earth? No, she couldn't have been. This had to be a dream, for it was too good to be true.

She took a step forward. Yes, this was it; the place where she had performed the ritual to take her to Earth five years ago. It was almost six years ago now. Did she still remember the road home?

Elizabeth frowned as she peered into the forest before her. It all looked the same. She sighed and closed her eyes. There was no way in hell that she'd get herself out of this forest without some help. She opened her eyes and frowned. Something was different, but what? Elizabeth shrugged her suspicions away and continued in the direction that she thought would lead her to her former home.

3 Hours Later:

"Bloody hell," Elizabeth muttered. "There must be some way out of this damn forest."

She pulled her hooded sweatshirt around her, zipped it up and covered her head with the hood. It was getting colder. Feeling sort of bored, Elizabeth decided to make up a song.

"This forest sucks, it really does, this forest sucks, I hate its guts…" Elizabeth trailed off, feeling as if she were being watched. "Ok…"

Seeing nothing but the darkness of the forest around her, Elizabeth shrugged and continued on her way, still singing a bunch of incoherent sentences strung together.

"I think I'm gonna freeze out here, and freeze to death." She sang loudly. "There are pancakes dancing…around my head…I like to watch them throw syrup at each other…"

Elizabeth froze as she heard a strange noise and again felt like she was being watched.

"This forest is so bloody creepy…" she muttered, walking into a small, small clearing.

She heard another noise and began to get a little scared.

"Ok…" she said, calming herself down. "There's nothing in this stupid, freaky forest but bugs and birds. Bugs and birds, that's the ticket. Just remember: bugs…and birds."

Her knees were shaking, though. She stood in the middle of the clearing and closed her eyes.

"Ok, if I close my eyes, all the scary, freaky, creepy stuff from hell will go away and I'll be here again, alone in this abnormal, dumb forest."

"Abnormal, indeed." A voice said, not at all impressed with Elizabeth's comments.

Elizabeth froze and opened her eyes just a bit.

"Oh boy," she said, mostly to herself. "Gosh, closing my eyes is supposed to chase away the scary blonde chicks from hell, not invite them to haunt me."

"I am not a chick." The voice said.

"Ohhh…" Elizabeth moaned. "They're talking to me…what do I do, what do I do?"

She opened her eyes and saw that she was surrounded by several "blonde chicks" in the dark, dark forest. And all of them, coincidentally, were pointing arrows at her. She touched one with her finger and let out a little cry of surprise.

"Oh!" she glanced at the leader of the pack of evil ferocious blonde chicks and grinned sheepishly. "Heh…very, very sharp…"

"What are you doing in our forest, human?" the lead blonde chick asked.

"Wow, for a dumb, blonde chick, you sure sound like a dude…" Elizabeth muttered. For that, she earned a poke in the back by an arrow. She yelped meekly.

"You were asked a question, I believe." The leader of the blondes said.

"Listen, I don't know how the hell I got here." Elizabeth said. "All I know, is that, the last thing I was doing, was crashing my beautiful Mustang into a stupid semi-truck because my frikkin' lipstick fell onto the floor. I closed my eyes and when I opened them, I was stuck in this nightmare."

Even in the darkness, Elizabeth could tell that the lead blonde was shooting her an ever-so incredulous look. The silence made Elizabeth feel uncomfortable.

"Hey, you got any flashlights? Or candles? Anything to help me see through this darkness?" Elizabeth asked.

A torch was lit behind her. Elizabeth swallowed nervously.

"That works too." She said.

The torch was brought closer to her, but it was given to the blonde leader. When the leader held it up for Elizabeth, she saw that the leader was not a chick, but a man with long blonde hair and pointed ears. He also had some faintly familiar bright blue eyes.

He held up the torch so he could examine Elizabeth's facial features a bit more. His eyes widened the same moment that Elizabeth's did.

"Holy mother of cheese!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "It's you."

She held out a small finger that pointed to the leader, and then fainted dead away onto the ground. The leader's eyes followed her body as she fell to the ground; he made no move to catch her. In fact, he still didn't quitebelieve what, or who, he was seeing.

"What shall we do, my lord?" one of the archers asked.

"You shall complete the orders I gave you earlier. I will take her to the Wood." The leader answered. Two other archers came towards him.

"Shall we accompany you?"

"No, I need you two to stay behind and help the others complete our task. I will return tomorrow afternoon." The leader answered.

He hoisted the girl's fallen body onto his horse and climbed on himself. Leaning her body against him, he urged his horse forward silently and rode off into the night.

As he rode, he studied the girl's face, as her head lay against his shoulder. Slowly, recognition crept into his features and he knew who it was that had fainted.

He wanted to smile for her, to show her kindness, to show her that he was happy to see her again. But her eyes were still closed and her breathing was shallow. Worry replaced his recognition and he forced himself to look away.

She had grown beautiful since he had last seen her. He remembered the bonding ceremony that he had taken part in so many years ago. Elizabeth had been eight years old then, and now, here she was, a young lady. He was proud of his sister.

Elizabeth opened her eyes and felt the vague familiarity of riding a horse. Her head was leaning on someone's shoulder and strong arms were around her, holding her firmly. Then she remembered what had happened. She could not turn her head to see who it was that was riding the horse behind her.

Panicking, she stiffened and tried to sit up quickly. Whoever was holding her, predicted her movement and tightened their hold. Elizabeth struggled a bit and then decided to scream. But the minute a sound even peeped from her mouth, it was muffled and the horse stopped.

Whoever's hand covered her mouth, began shushing her quietly. Elizabeth ceased her screaming and began to calm down.

"Lle tela?" a voice asked.

Elizabeth couldn't answer, firstly because her mouth was covered, and secondly because she had no clue what had been said. Realizing this, the phrase was reworded into English.

"Are you finished?" the voice asked again.

Elizabeth nodded weakly, frightened that whoever was holding her might kill her if she said anything else. The hand left her mouth and the horse began to move again.

Elizabeth dared not say a word or move a muscle. She saw that the forest had gotten even darker, if possible. Feeling there was nothing else to do, she lay her head back down and fell into restless and nightmare-filled slumber.

He was aware that she had fallen asleep again. But he sensed that her slumber was not restful as it had been before. Her body didn't fully relax and remained tense throughout the rest of the journey.

As he entered the Wood, he was approached by three guards. One held his horse and the other two took Elizabeth from him. He dismounted and held his horse by the reins as he instructed the two guards that held Elizabeth.

"Take her to the High room in the Lady's vicinity." He instructed.

The guards looked shocked. "But my lord, the High room is reserved for the Lady's granddaughter, should she return ever."

"I know that. Take this young lady there and have some of the Lady's personal attendants tend to her needs, whether she is conscious or not." He said. "I will make my way to the High room once my horse is taken care of."

The guards bowed. "Yes my lord."

Haldir was surprised to see the Lady waiting for him down at the horse stables. He bowed graciously to her and then began putting his horse away. She remained silent.

"You have brought someone with you to our Wood." She said after a few moments.

He was hesitant to answer, but did eventually. "I did. Have you seen her yet, my lady?"

"I have not. I was planning on allowing you to be the first to welcome her home when she awakens. I will welcome her personally myself in due time." The Lady answered. She watched him expectantly as he finished his tasks with his horse and turned to face her. "If you wish to ask something, ask it."

He sighed. "How long will she be here?"

The Lady smiled. "We can no longer force her to stay with us. It is her choice. Now that she has made the journey here, the gateway will open for her whenever she calls upon it. She will not be here long. But she will return with two special gifts before the year has ended."

He looked at the ground. The Lady smiled.

"Go to her. She will awaken soon."

He bowed. "Thank you, my lady."

The climb up the stairs to the High room seemed agonizingly long and he feared that Elizabeth would wake before he arrived. But when he walked into her open room and into the bedroom portion of her new chambers, he saw her eyes were still closed.

He went to her bedside and brushed a loose strand of hair away from her face. She was no longer his little sister. He could no longer pick her up when she fell and scraped her knee. He smiled fondly as he twirled the hair in his fingers and sat down in a chair next to the bed.

The hair fell from his hands and he stroked her cold, pale cheek. She seemed to snuggle into his touch and smiled in her sleep. Her eyes opened and her smile faded. She sat up and watched him silently, an unreadable expression about her face.

"Am I dead?" she asked finally.

He smiled. "Dearest sister, you are in Valinor."

"Is that another name for heaven? You look like an angel to me."

Haldir chuckled. "No, little one. You are in the Undying Lands. Your father is on his way."

"My…father?"

Haldir frowned. "Do you not remember?"

"Sorry…no. In fact…I barely remember you. I only know that you and I were close." Elizabeth answered honestly.

Haldir drew away, slightly, from Elizabeth. He frowned, stood and then exited the room. He called an elven nurse to fetch Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn.

Elrond was anxious to see her. So was the rest of his rather large company. Celebrian was there along with Elladan and Elrohir. They were to meet Galadriel, Celeborn, Haldir, Rumil and Orophin in the Lady's Wood.

But something felt off. Elrond knew that Elizabeth returning just had to be too good to be true. Celebrian looked to her husband worriedly.

"Elrond?" she asked softly, putting a hand on his arm.

He looked to her. "Something is not right with our daughter. I can feel it."

Celebrian smiled gently. "I am sure that everything is well. My mother will take care of her."

They rode into the Lady's Wood silently, and were surprised to see that Haldir, Rumil, Orophin, Celeborn and Galadriel were standing at the bottom of some stairs, waiting.

The horses stopped and the party dismounted. They bowed to each other.

"What is her status?" Elrond asked, breaking the silence, as his party approached the waiting elves.

"Her status is disappointing." Haldir answered simply. "She has forgotten us all."

Author's Note: so...ok...well...whilst writing the third epilogue, I've found myself slightly ill with Writer's Block. You have any ideas whatsoever about what should happen? I've got a solid plot, but I still have to figure out what goes between there and now. Eh...I hate life...it's getting so complicated now...all my life focuses on is homework, homework, homework, please your parents, homework, try to desperately fill the need of a social life, homework...did I mention that I've got lots of homework? NEVER take as many advanced classes as I'm taking and plan to dominate your leisure time with writing.

Wish me luck as I try to get out of Writer's Block.
Music is my Muse

P.S. My dad took my CDs away - my writing inspirational CDs (soundtracks of LotR and others) for no good frikkin' reason and won't give 'em back unless I give up me laptop - whichI don't plan on doing. This leads to the reason why I'm no longer speaking with my father because he's a ruthless, backstabbing, old-fashioned, git that enjoys punishing without reason. AND I HATE HIM WITH A PASSION. OK, enough venting. Good night, and please wish me luck that I get my CDs back...and my inspiration...