A/N: OMG, can it be, I'm actually updating?  Yes, this chapter was a bee-atch.  I kept getting stuck, and then D wouldn't talk to me.  (Andy said it was because he was angry with me for not watching his movie in so long.)  But anyway, here it is, and the next would should be *much* easier to write.  D's already been talking to me about it.  So anyway, here goes.  Thanks to Andy for proofreading, and I feel I should warn you, that parts of this chapter are rather fluffy.  Yay!  Fluff!

Falling Into Grace

Chapter 4

"And the pain falls like a curtain

On the things I once called certain,

And I have to say the words I fear the most…

I just don't know."

-Steven Curtis Chapman

            Three days.  Three days of searching and no sign of Dynariel had been found.  D was running out of ideas.  Aéllanwen knew this because she had begun to feel something in him that had never been there before.  Frustration.  And, even more unnerving, just a little bit of fear.  Fear of what she wasn't sure, but it made her all the more grateful for his presence at night, when sleep seemed to be more and more elusive.

            If she were taken, would he be able to find her?

            She shuddered, feeling suddenly cold despite the sunlight that surrounded her on her balcony.  Below her, she could see elves readying their horses to go out once again and search.  D had said that daytime was the best time to look, since the vampire was most likely unable to move about.  She supposed it was also a time when it was acceptable for her to be out of his care.  When she would be safe.

            It was true, she felt safe enough.  But part of her, the selfish part, still wanted him with her.  She had gotten so used to the way it felt when he was around.  When his mind was near hers, she could block out everything else.  There were times when the emotions of those around her were overwhelming.  There were times when it all seemed to jumble together, and she felt as if she would burst.  But D's mind…it dominated.  And even though it was not truly at peace, it was…quiet.  And gentle.  And kind.

            She picked him out among the shapes below.  It wasn't difficult.  He stood out starkly, all in deepest black, his armour shining softly in the light, surrounded by the gentle greens and browns of the wood elves.  She leaned on the railing and rested her head in her hands, her sharp, elven eyes picking out the details below even from so far away.

            Tall, taller than most of the elves, slender, but far from scrawny.  Lithe, rather, elegantly muscled.  Skin so white it seemed tinged with blue, exposed only at his face and hands.

            His hands.  Long and graceful and delicately boned.  And strong.  Strong enough to wield that sword… His hair.  Long and gently waved, ebony in the shadows, but almost auburn in the bright sunlight, always tucked behind slightly pointed ears.  Her brows knitted together in thought.  He looked so out of place in the light.  She knew he was a creature of the night.  His father's blood had secured that fate.  Though the sunlight perhaps was not lethal to him, he would never really be comfortable in it.

            They were such opposites, she and he, she thought as she watched them ride away, just as they had every day since Dynariel had vanished.  She was a child of light and life, he of shadows and death.  She thrived on emotion, held nothing back, while he…she wondered if she would ever be able to read him without her gift.  But all their differences…they seemed right.  All elves knew the value of balance, and they…they balanced beautifully.  She could take care of him, she could…

            Gasping lightly, she pushed away from the rail, tearing her blue eyes from the point on the horizon where he had disappeared from her sight.  What was this?  She couldn't be thinking this.  Elves did not fall idly in love.  They loved for life, and for them, life meant eternity.  Even death did not separate them, only parted them for a time before their souls returned again to be with their mate.  Her mother had taught her that every Elf had a soulmate, somewhere, waiting for them.  Hers was waiting for her, somewhere, and surely he was an Elf as she was.  It was simply not possible that this…enigma of a hunter from a world not even her own was the one intended for her since the creation of her spirit, since time unfathomable.

            She took a shuddering breath, placing her hands on her cheeks.  Then why did she feel this way?  Why had she felt this way from the moment she laid eyes on him?  The first thing she remembered of him was that devastating lonliness…was that all this was about?  She wanted to help erase that lonliness, that was certain…but how?  What did that mean?  That she would be his friend, or that she would be his…  She swallowed hard.  His what?  His lover?  His…*wife*? 

"In the name of Elbereth, I know nothing about him.  He doesn't even belong here!"  A sob escaped her and she sank to the floor, burying her face in delicate hands.  "This is not how it is meant to happen!  I am not meant to be left wondering over my own feelings like this!"  Desperately, she rose to her feet and hurried from the room.  "Where is my mother?  I must speak to my mother."

*****************************

"Ai, Aéllanwen, what is the matter?" her mother asked when she burst into the bed chamber, looking frantic.  "You are so pale!  Are you ill?"

Aéllanwen shook her head.  "No, not…ill, just…confused.  Atara, I have to ask you…when you met Ada, how did you know he was meant for you?"

Andrenel smiled, gently, knowing already why her daughter was asking.  She had felt the stirrings within Aéllanwen at the mere sight of the hunter since the day he had first come before their council.  She had been shocked at first, had denied it even, for it was so strange that he should be the one…but she had listened carefully to the feelings of her daughter, as well as to those of the hunter, and had since been convinced.  Elves did not fall in love but once, and then only with that being they were meant to be with forever.  If Aéllanwen was in love…and after careful consideration Andrenel believed that she was, then D was the One.

Andrenel even ventured to believe that he might return her feelings.  She had searched his mind as much as possible, in the times she had been with him, but it was difficult to get past the immense despair.  But she was certain she had felt something…  At the very least, he was immensely protective of Aéllanwen, and perhaps that would develop.  It was possible that his human side slowed the process, hid his feelings even from himself.  She had always been amazed at how little humans knew of their own emotions.

But she would worry about him later, give him a thorough talking to when and if he needed it.  He was much, much older than her, she was certain of that, but she was still Aéllanwen's mother, and she had the distinct feeling this was something he did not have much experience with.

"Tinuamin, I know why you are asking me this.  I could tease you and ask if some young elf-lord has struck your fancy, but I know this is not the case."  Aéllanwen's clear blue eyes grew impossibly large, and she began to tremble just slightly.  Andrenel pulled her to sit on a soft couch, holding her hands tightly in support.  "Oh, melamin, you are so young!  Barely a century have you walked this earth."  She smiled ruefully.  "I admit I had expected it to be a little longer before I lost you in this way."

Aéllanwen looked slightly horrified.  "Atara!  How can you be so easy?"

Andrenel gave a graceful shrug.  The truth, Aéllanwen?  I've had a lot of time to come to terms with it.  I began to feel it from almost the first.  I am psychic, after all."

"But…" Aéllanwen looked as if she would weep again.  "But he is not elfkind!  Atara, he's not even human!  How could we possibly have been created for each other?"

"Aéllanwen, I do not pretend to know the answers to the Universe.  But I…I think this is right.  Look, you came to me because you felt you were falling for the Hunter, yes?"

Aéllanwen nodded.

"Well, I've felt it too.  It's…strange, but…I think it's right.  It just feels right, somehow."

Her daughter took a shaky breath.  "Then…I trust you Atara.  Even if I was not certain I could trust myself, I always trust you."  Leaning forward, she rested her face against her mother's shoulder.  Andrenel embraced her gently.  "But…what will I tell Atar?  What will I tell D?  He'll think I'm a fool."

"I'm afraid you'll have to discover D on your own.  As for Legolas, I will deal with him."  She smiled playfully.  "I imagine he won't be too pleased."  She laughed.  "If there's one thing I've learned in a thousand years of life, it is that fathers are all the same, when it comes to their precious daughters.  Do you know my father nearly took off Legolas's head when he caught us kissing in my garden?"  She laughed again.  "It mattered not at all to him that your father was the Prince, soon to be the King, of one of the most powerful kingdoms in Middle Earth.  I think he would have disemboweled him without a second thought if I hadn't thrown myself between them."

Her tale had the desired effect.  Aéllanwen laughed through her remaining tears.  "Atara," she smiled.  "Is that true?"

"Of course!" Andrenel declared.  "I could never make something like that up.  But, my father came to terms with it, eventually, as all fathers do.  Your Atar will fuss and through a fit, especially considering your…unusual circumstances…but you must be grateful for it, for it only means that he loves you, a'mael.  I will be behind you, but you must simply weather it as best you can.  As for D, I'm sure he can take care of himself, and should Legolas indeed try to take out his heart, he will be more than capable of defending himself."  She smiled gently.

Aéllanwen closed her eyes, pressing herself closer to her mother like a small child.  "Oh Atara, you have made me so happy.  I feared…I feared that you would be angry.  I didn't know what to do, and I thought…it was not possible that I could be feeling what I was, and…" she trailed off, then added quietly, "I am just so very happy that I was not forced to choose.

Andrenel took her by the shoulders and pushed back to look her daughter in the eye.  "We would never ask that of you, Aéllanwen.  Such a deprivation, from either your Soul Mate or your kin could be enough to kill you.  We would not be so foolish."

Aéllanwen bowed her head.  "I am sorry, Atara, I did not mean to upset you.  But what am I to do now?  I cannot simply inform him that we are to be together for eternity.  He does not know our ways."  She put a hand to her forehead, looking suddenly rather faint.  "Aiya!  I barely even know him!  Here I am talking as if we are to be wed, and I feel as if I know nothing about him."  She sighed.  "I wonder, is it this confusing for the other races?"

"Worse, I imagine," replied Andrenel wryly.  "Especially for Men.  It is possible, you know, for a Man to fall in Love several times within his short lifespan."

"N'uma!"  Aéllanwen laughed.  "Very well, you have convinced me.  I have nothing to complain about.  Still…what am I to do now?  How am I to know what to say to him?"

"Talk to him," Andrenel said with conviction.  "And listen.  Not just to his words, for they are few, but to his mind as well.  Listen to his heart, and it will tell you what he cannot.  You will find your way."  She grinned.  "We'll deal with your father later."

********************************

Dusk was approaching.  The hunting party would be home soon, for D never allowed Aéllanwen to be unprotected once darkness fell.  She waited for them near the doors to the Great Hall, feeling first nervous, then excited, then guilty for being so self centered in a time of such crisis.  She sighed, shaking her head at her own foolish emotions, scanning the horizon for any sign of them.

There.  Horses in the distance, lit by the red-orange glow of the setting sun as it streamed through the ancient trees.  Several white horses, one black.  Aéllanwen closed her eyes and concentrated on that black rider, her mind reaching out for his, savouring the sensation as he came closer to her, and she became more and more aware of his consciousness.  When she opened her eyes again they were almost upon her.  She watched as they stopped in the courtyard and dismounted.  Elves took the horses to cool them and stable them.  Aéllanwen greeted her father.

"Atar," she said, giving him a gentle kiss on the cheek.  "I am grieved to see your search has once again been without success."

The King nodded wearily.  "Yes.  We have now searched for four days.  I am beginning to despair of ever finding her."  He sighed, but managed to smile at her.  "I am grateful, though, that you continue to be well, melamin.  I do not know what I would do if I lost you."

"Atar," she smiled gently back.  "You will never lose me."  At least, not like this.

He sighed.  "I hope not.  Where is your mother?"

"In your private chambers," Aéllanwen gestured vaguely with one hand, smiling at the affection her father held for her mother.  She had always hoped to be as they were some day.  Turning back to see D gliding towards her, she smiled.  Maybe…she would be.

She frowned when she saw how worn he looked.  "D?" she said quietly.  "You look exhausted.  Are you all right?"

He looked at her blankly for a long moment, but she felt that he was surprised at her question.  She bit her lip.  Had no one ever asked after his well being?

"I'm fine," was his eventual, succinct answer.

He wasn't.  Even if his body was fine, which she was not so certain of, his heart was not.  Like Legolas, he was beginning to despair.  Unlike Legolas, he had no one to go to for comfort.

Or so he thought.

"D," she said, stepping very close to him, "It will be all right.  No one holds you responsible."  Oh there was guilt there, as well.  She had felt it.  Smiling with the force of her newfound feelings for him, she reached up and pressed a hand gently to his cheek.

He pulled immediately away.

For a moment she was hurt, but almost before the emotion could register she was bombarded with D's thoughts.

Sadness, of course…loneliness, embarrassment, and…fear?  Regret?  She understood, and wondered how many times he had been touched in kindness.  But suddenly something registered, and she reached up again to touch his cheek, brow furrowed in thought.

"Aiya!  D, you're burning up!" she jerked her hand away in surprise, but replaced it quickly enough.  She had seen a sick Man once, when she was a girl.  He had felt unnaturally hot to the touch, and her mother had explained that he had a "fever."  Now D felt the same, but…more, much more.  Had he fallen ill while they were out?  "Are you well?" she voiced her question.

"I am…fine," he said again, but he glanced surreptitiously at the setting sun, and added.  "I will be better once we are inside."

"The sun."  She looked hard at him.  "You said vampires are susceptible to the sun, and you are half vampire.  Does the sun cause you harm?"

He nodded slowly.  He actually looked reluctant to admit his weakness to her.  She shook her head, as if denying his embarassment, and he continued.  "I can…stay in the sun for a time, but…too much exposure is detrimental."

Shaking her head again, she took him by the hand without thinking and dragged him through the castle and up the stairs to her bed chamber.  "I will be taking dinner in my rooms tonight," she informed an elf hovering near her door.  "And I require cool water and clean cloths."  The elf nodded and left to do as she had bid.  Turning back to D, she pushed him onto the long couch against the wall near the foot of her bed, removing his wide brimmed hat in one sweep.

"What are you doing!?"  Shock actually registered in his voice and on his face as he jerked back to look up at her through steely grey eyes.

"Taking care of you, as you have cared for me these past weeks," she replied matter-of-factly.  "You're much too warm."  She brushed a delicate hand along the armour at his shoulder, running her fingers up to the wicked point that graced it.  "Can you remove this?" she asked, shyly.  "The armour, I mean.  It will help you be cooler.  You'll…well, you'll certainly be more comfortable…"

D looked at her for a long moment, then finally, with a sigh, he brought his hands to the clasp that held his cape, undid it, and removed the garment.  The sword was removed and laid next to the couch.  His gauntlets were next, then the boots, and soon he had been divested of all armour.  Underneath he wore a shirt of soft white linen, and fitted black pants.  His forearms were wrapped, to prevent chafing from the armour.  Aéllanwen was shocked by how…normal he suddenly looked.  Still powerful, still otherworldly, but so much softened.

By the stars, she loved him.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the knock at the door.  It was two elves carrying her requests, dinner, and cloths with cool water.  Thanking them, she directed the dinner tray placed on her bedside table, and the water set next to D's couch.  Once they were again alone, she went to D's side and, placing her hands gently on his shoulders, jumping slightly at the feel of his overwarm skin through the shirt, she pushed him back so that he lay on his back.  He did not resist, but continued to look at her warily.

"You are still too warm, D," she explained, wetting a cloth and bringing it to his face.  His eyes flickered oddly at the use of his name, but they drifted closed in pleasure when she put the cool water to his face.

It was not long before he was much cooler to the touch, though he had managed to turn the water in the bowl lukewarm, and Aéllanwen left his side briefly to get the tray of food.  Bringing it back, she sat crosslegged on the floor and ate quietly.  She offered some to D, but he refused, as always.

"Don't you ever need to eat?" she asked, genuinely puzzled.

"Yes, but very rarely," he said.

Half an hour later she had convinced him to eat some bread and take some wine, saying that he was still unwell and needed to keep up his strength.  Another hour after that, he had finally managed to convince her that he was feeling much better, and that she should go to sleep.  He would keep watch.  She protested, saying that she could stay up with him.

"Elves don't need as much sleep as humans," she insisted, but he shook his head.

"Go to sleep.  I will be fine."

In the end, she had been forced to admit that she was rather exhausted.  (It had been a trying day, though he hardly knew that.)  She was asleep almost the moment her head touched the pillow.

When she woke the next morning, he was already gone.

******************************

His mind was not on the search.  His mind was back at the castle, with a gentle elf girl who had touched him so gently, treated him with such kindness.  It had been so long since he had been touched, even longer since he had been touched without the intent to hurt.  Not since his mother…and now he couldn't erase the feel of her hands on his face.

It was dangerous.

And he, Hunter D, mysterious and powerful, the man who had tamped down his primitive need for blood through sheer force of will for nearly thirty thousand years, could not force his thoughts away from her voice when she said his name, "D."  And he could not stop thinking how much, in that moment, he had wished she would call him by his true name.

Had he been anyone else, he would have shaken his head to clear it.  As it was, anyone who may have been watching him would have seen only a slight narrowing of the eyes and a subtle tightening around the mouth, and he finally managed to force his thoughts to the problem at hand.

They were trying something new today.  Andrenel had chosen to accompany them, pointing out that if Dynariel was still alive, as they continued to hope, she would be able to feel her presence.  If they were close to her, Andrenel would know it.

            Aéllanwen would be very angry when she discovered she had been left out.  He was not empathic, but he had been around long enough to recognize guilt when he saw it.  He knew she felt that it was her fault the other elf had been taken.  Even were that not the case, she hated being left out, always wanted to help if she felt she could…

            He blinked.  Since when did he know so much about her?

            He was distracted this time by a gasp behind him.  Andrenel, who was riding next to her husband, had pulled up short, her eyes closed in concentration.  "Here…she's here."  Her eyes opened.  "Very close.  I…I think…"  She urged her mount forward, moving slowly, lower lip caught between her teeth.  They had left the forests of Mirkwood completely, and now she moved toward the sheer face of a cliff, coming finally to a cave, hidden by short trees and easily overlooked.  Legolas took his wife's arm and held her back, motioning for one of the elves to accompany D into the cave.  D dismounted, drawing his sword.

            It was very dark in the cave, but his eyes were sharp, and it didn't take him long to pick out the figure huddled in the corner.  "Stay watchful," he said to the elf, and moved to kneel next to her.

            "Dynariel," he said gently, seeing that she was awake.  She turned clouded dark eyes on him and screamed, backing up against the stone wall of the cave.  He did not react, but his heart lurched when he saw the marks on her neck, and her face, pale and sickly.

            "Oh God," he murmured.

Elvish:

Atara- mother

Atar- Father

Ada- "Dad"

N'uma!- No!

Aiya!- (Exclamation of surprise)

Tinuamin- my daughter

Melamin- my love

A'mael- Beloved