A/N: Due to popular demand...

Orli: What? You're popular?

Me: *ahem* due to popular demand, This part of the story is about...FANYA! *hears cheering and such from audience*

Orli: You are so not popular.

Me: Hey! I go back to Tae Kwon Do this week, I'll soon be fit enough to whip your ass.

Orli: and why haven't you been going for the past two months?

Me: Volleyball. Where I get an even stronger arm.

Orli: *starts sweating* *wishes he had his bow and quiver with him*

Me: *evil grin*

Disclaimer: I own: Fanya, her family, her life, this story, and my stomach ache. I do not own *lists everything in lord of the rings*. There you go. Tolkien owns all that stuff.

And BTW, this chapter might be a bit boring, but I had to put it in there, or stuff wouldn't make sense in the end... if it makes sense at all.

Chapter Seventeen: Retellings

"Ana?" Fanya repeated, dumbstruck. The woman nodded and Fanya rushed into her arms. However much she didn't want to see the rest of her family, she was overjoyed to see that Ana remembered her.

"My, you've grown! The last time I saw you, you were two!" Fanya said. Somehow, she couldn't believe that she was here, with the one human relative that she actually loved.

Ana beamed" Oh don't stand there, come in! Come in!" She ushered them in while starting to bustle around making tea. "Gerin, be a dear and get a few cups out of the cupboard, would you?" she asked. The woman nodded and started to help.

"I see that you've met my daughter and granddaughter," Ana commented.

"Is she older than you, Grandmother?" Asked Terra innocently from where she was sitting in a chair. "She doesn't look old."

Ana smiled at Terra and said, "Of course she is older than me. If I have my math right, she is about 70. Am I right, Fanya?"

Fanya nodded, and almost burst out laughing at the response that Terra gave: Her eyes grew all wide, and her jaw almost dropped to the floor. "That's old!!!" she gasped, "That's older than...than...than..." she seemed to be lost for words.

"Your grandmother...?" Fanya prompted gently.

"Yeah! You're older than Grandmother!"

"Actually, I'm quite young for an elf..." Fanya commented offhandedly. Ana finally finished the tea and passed a cup to Fanya, while Gerin busied herself cleaning up.

"So, Ana, what has happened since I left? And what of Ata? What of the rest of our family?" Fanya asked her; suddenly curious about she had missed in the fifty years that had passed.

"Well, after you left, you were never mentioned, and if you were, it resulted in severe beatings. I grew up, and Father slowly married off my other 6 sisters. I however had my own plan. When I was 12, I met a young boy, about my age in the square. Barthon and I spent the next few years seeing each other in secret, while father searched for a man to marry me to. One day, Father spotted me with Barthon kissing before I had to go home, and he punished me. He had apparently found a husband for me that day, so I followed in your footsteps, and ran away, to live with Barthon and his family. They were overjoyed to have me there, and finally when Barthon announced that he wanted to marry me, his family did the best they could to keep the wedding a secret.

"When I was 16, Barthon and I married, and I was soon carrying a child. Mother was furious. She seemed to have forgotten that people fall in love. She and Father had gotten in a fight, and Father left Gondor soon after. I do not know where he went, probably to Rohan, though. Years passed, and our mother grew older. She died about thirty years, ago, when I was carrying a second child.

"On her deathbed though she said something I would not have believed possible. Her last words were, 'If you ever see Fanya again, Tell her I love her, and I made a terrible mistake for letting her go...'"

It took a few seconds for this statement to sink into Fanya's brain. She would have never believed it possible for her mother to ever love her like her siblings. She was no treated no less than a slave. No more than dirt on the rug. Had she not actually been a living, breathing person, she would have been considered invisible.

When the words actually started to take effect on her, she felt an emotion she had never felt before: Pain. Pain that she had never taken time to consider that her mother had loved her, even if she had never shown it. Pain that her selfishness had come off worse in the end. Pain that she had never really loved her mother, as she should have.

"And after that...?" Fanya asked Ana.

"Nothing. All of our brothers and sisters died, Ghengad died last spring. After that, our family started to break up and go our separate ways. Most of them were convinced that you were gone for good; that you would never come back to see us."

"And you?"

"I was the youngest one. I barely remembered you, yet somehow I knew that you would come back, for one reason or another."

Fanya smiled and hugged her sister. Glad that she was in Gondor for the first time in her life.

"Fanya," asked Terra, "Did you live here?"

"Yes Terra, I did."

"Then why did you leave?"

"That is part of the past; A past I would rather not live again."

"You can't have spent..." she considered what she was going to say, "...a bazillion years doing nothing though!"

Fanya burst out laughing at the child's ignorance. "A bazillion years? No, my child, I have spent a mere fifty away from my birthplace."

"Well that's still a lot!" she said indignantly.

"Yes, that's still a lot."

"What did you do?" asked Ana. "Like my granddaughter said, you can't have done nothing for fifty years."

"Well, I went to Mirkwood, if you didn't know." Ana shook her head.

"No. Mother said nothing of where you went, though I think she knew herself."

"I lived with my Ada-"

"Ada? What's-" interrupted Terra.

Gerin hushed her daughter with a gentle tap on the shoulder.

"I lived with my Ada, my father, for three years. Then I got my own home closer to the village. A while ago, Ada asked me to deliver a message, and so I took up the offer. He didn't want me to be untrained for war however, so my good friend Lenwë started to train me." She held up Nessme'a. "This was the sword that Ada gave me right before I left." She traced the elvish writing up and down the sword slowly before continuing.

"I left Mirkwood about a month ago, and was accompanied by Legolas, the prince. For most of the trip I did not like him, yet towards the end..." she trailed off.

Ana seemed to know what she meant. "You fell in love."

"No!" Fanya replied quickly; too quickly. "I...I didn't fall in...in love! It was n...no more than a childish crush!" she stammered. But Ana smiled and replied,

"It doesn't seem a childish crush. I can see it in your eyes. You love him." She stated firmly.

But however much Fanya knew it herself, she wouldn't admit it. She stood up and crossed her arms, acting like a child. "No, I don't love him. I just like him as a friend."

"Did he kiss you?" Ana asked.

Fanya nodded.

A squeal erupted from the corner. "Eeeeeeeeeeew! That's gross!" Terra made a face as if she was sick.

"Terra! Be quiet!" came a rushed reply from her mother.

Silence echoed within the kitchen again. "And did you kiss him back?" Came the slow question from Fanya's sibling.

Fanya closed her eyes, trying her best to remember the night when they had kissed. It was a blur, and she couldn't remember much, but before she could come to her senses, her body had started moving without her consent, nodding up and down.

Before Terra could squeal again, her mother had clamped a firm hand across her mouth.

Ana was analyzing the information. She came to the conclusion finally. "I can't say this as a fact without much proof, but as far as I can tell, you love him."

Fanya was about to argue, when Gerin said, "Well, I'd say that I've had enough today, and it's nearing supper. I guess I better get home to start dinner. Terra, come along!" Gerin turned to Fanya. "It was very nice to meet you, Fanya. I do hope we see more of each other."

"Bye bye Fanya!" piped up Terra, hugging Fanya. "I want to play with you tomorrow, do you promise?"

"Yes, I promise I'll play with you tomorrow." She said giving her a little kiss on the forehead. Gerin and Terra left, leaving only Ana and Fanya.

Ana cleared up the dishes, and Fanya slipped off into her little world. Was it true that she loved Legolas? Had she felt something different? She'd never had more than a crush before, and that was when she had been very young. What was so special about Legolas?

Maybe she would just have to wait for the answer. She made a mental note to ask him about it next time she saw him...if she saw him. For now she would just have to deliver the message and enjoy herself at Ana's house.

A/N: Several things: 1) Read "The Ending of Ellasar" and "The Ardonelle Chronicles" by Ardonelle Celebrindal. Why? Because they're good. Why're they good? BECAUSE I SAID SO. 2) Read my hobbit stories (Hobbit Truth or Dare, Bored Hobbits, and Flashlight Tag and Whatnot) because nobody reviews them!!! *sniff* and my other story "Secrets". Soon to come are: Another Hobbit Story (Bramble's birthday party!), and a story that was based on one of my dreams...It should be pretty good!

Review Responses:

Feanen: Thanks.

Harmony99: I'm glad that you like what I did with Legolas' character. Honestly, it wasn't intentional, but this is fiction. And some people don't seem to get that. Lol.

Digital-Tiffany: NO DON'T SEND GOLLUM TO ME! NOOOOO!!! *runs away from review*

P3gurl: Well. Violence can achieve some things...

Lady Justine Greenleaf: Wow. Your review was great. I honestly agree that NHOI doesn't deserve a 'he/she' title, but your 'it' was hilarious. I am so glad that you like my story, and I was flattered at all that nice stuff! Thanks a bundles, that review made my day!

Inweofnargothrond: I know what you mean, but I slipped something in in the last chapter that would prove you wrong. "Legolas immediately thinks that she's the prettiest of them all" I never said that she was the prettiest elf in the land, I said that Legolas thought that she was the most beautiful. And that's simply because he is in love. Don't was all think that way when we're in love?

I like this story: Thankies! =)

KnowInsight: Thanks! I'm glad you like it! ^^ and you seem to smile a lot... =) =D 8) Ooh! Fun!

Kathy8: Ya, I agree, those stories where they 'meet and fall in love instantly' are pretty annoying. Lol. Sorry about the update time (it was only a week...don't hurt me!!!). Hope you liked this chappy! And about the mystery person, you'll just have to find out, won't you! =)

Nyctophobia: I emailed you already, and you know what I feel about your review, all that is left to say is Thanks!

A/N: I have officially come to a decision about mary sues: They are NOT BAD. Authors who make them up are NORMAL PEOPLE. The thing about mary-sues, is the authors who make them up and use them, make them everything that they want to be, making up for things such as being fat, a terrible singer, a klutz, etc. So, there's no point in flaming stories for peoples imaginations going wild, honestly!

Super thankies to my beta, Ardonelle! (READ HER STORIES, OR YOU'LL ANSWER TO ME AND MY BUTT-KICKING WRATH!!!!!)

-The Hobbit Ivy 11-4-03