Disclaimer: Lord of the Rings belong to J.R.R Tolkien, the only people I own are Alenor, Talagand, Bréil, Sebastian and Victoria.

REVISED and EDITED

Fate's Paths-Chap3-A Piece of the Past-

"Tinúviel, you're going to miss the evening meal."

"Leave me alone Elladan!" Alenor screamed in the general direction of the door, burying her face into her pillow, hoping that the Elf would get the message and leave her to her false peace.

Instead, against her will that the door remain shut, it creaked open and quiet footsteps whispered across the floor, as Elladan came to her bedside. For a moment he stood at the edge, watching his sister, as she continued to ignore him, before he shook his head, and seated himself beside her.

"Tinúviel," he reached out to gently clasp her shoulder in his firm grip, Alenor shrunk away. He tried again: "Tinúviel, do you remember the first time I called you by that name?"

Alenor nodded, pulling farther away from the hand on her shoulder. "I said to leave me alone! Do you not you understand the Common Tongue? Or should I speak the Black Tongue since it seems that is the only language you understand?" she added waspishly

"You know I'm not going to leave," Elladan stated. "You know you can't get rid of me as easily as Elrohir. You have known that since the first time you threw a tirade at me. Do you remember that day?"

Alenor canted her head against the pillow, in reluctant agreement, knowing that she was not going be to rid of Elladan's presence anytime soon. Resignedly she pulled her knees under her and sat up, still determinedly clutching the pillow tightly to her. "What do you what? You've already changed the subject on me twice now."

"I want nothing, unless that is just to see you smile," the Elf replied, a wistful smile trailing across his handsome face. "You're pretty distressed about what you heard." It was a statement, not a question.

"Wouldn't you?" Alenor grumbled, reaching out to pick at a thread on a blue butterfly's wing. The old cover of her bed was full of these loose threads, and if need be she should pick at them all, and remain silent until Elladan left. As if hearing her silent plot his hand reached out, covering hers, stilling her fingers.

"Of course I would be upset and confused. I would probably be taking it no better then you."

"Good. Now that you understand what I'm trying to deal with you can leave me alone," she snapped, pulling her hand away, but didn't make the attempt to get off the bed and storm away. She suddenly felt too worn out to even attempt such an act of rebellion. What kind of angry sixteen year old am I? She thought, mentally frowning at her behavior.

"I'm afraid I'm not going to leave any time soon Tinúviel," he said gently. "And I can see you are not leaving any time soon either, so we are both stuck here, together. However if you are so eager to get rid of me, I will say this: I'm not leaving this room until I know that our little sixteen year old sister isn't going to destroy Middle-Earth."

"Fine. I won't destroy it too badly. Happy?"

"Not really," he replied, frowning at her sarcastic response. "Alenor, remember you are talking to! Mind your tongue." He paused for a moment, giving her a stern glace that frighteningly looked identical to Elrond's warning glare. When she looked down, muttering a 'sorry' under her breath, he continued "You haven't been this upset since...since you well... when you discovered the fact that you couldn't walk quietly as the Elves."

"I was five," Alenor replied snappishly. "And that was after the first time I tried to give Glorfindel grey hairs."

Elladan tried to hide his laugh behind a cough. He failed miserably. "I remember that," he seated himself on the bed, crossing his legs and leaning against the headboard, still trying to hide his grin.

"You're trying to cheer me up, stop it."

The grin remained on Elladan's face despite her dangerous tone. "I'm not trying to cheer you up Tinúviel, I'm trying to get you to understand that nothing is different, even though you know something more about who you are. It is all part of growing up, learning things, even things that you don't want to hear, but it doesn't change how we view you, and how much we care about you." He leaned forward, no longer grinning; but he had the serious tight-lipped look to him.

Somehow it reminded Alenor of Erestor when he was upset at her for skipping a class. It was not a very reassuring mental picture and she mentally shuddered. Elladan really had to stop mimicking the scary looks the Elf Lords of Rivendell gave.

Elladan reached out to grasp her hands. "Tinúviel," he murmured, stressing the word with audible urgency. "I will always love you as my little sister, nothing will ever change that."

Alenor attempted to set him at peace with a smile, but a smile just did not want to come. "I know," she murmured, squeezing his hand back. "My mind's just a mess right now; all my thoughts and emotions are crowding together. I'm a little unpredictable."

"Well we need some of that unpredictableness in Ilmadris! It's getting a little boring here, everything's too predictable."

Alenor was forced to laugh at the comical grin that had spread across Elladan's face. "Fine! You win! But first you need to find a dictionary! Unpredictableness is not a word." Still laughing she shoved him backwards, knowing that he had said a made up word just to make her laugh.

"But Alenor! Did you know that I rewrote the dictionary?" He grinned, jumping off the bed as she reached out to swat him with her pillow. "Now come downstairs and have some dinner with the family."

"Not tonight," Alenor said, withdrawing to clutch the pillow against her. "It's too crowded down there. You know I hate crowds and with the state I'm in, I wouldn't be able to take it."

"Then you'd better eat breakfast in the morning," Elladan crossed his arms stubbornly. "Promise?" He slowly started backing up toward the door, facing her with a mock frown on his face.

"I promise! Now get out of here!" Alenor called; tossing her pillow at Elladan as ducked out the door. She shook her head as it missed its intended target and landed harmlessly on the ground.

Glaring at the pillow lying innocently on the floor, she decided that she was too lazy to go and get it and instead rolled over onto her back to stare at the richly carved ceiling beams. A smile trailed across her face as she began to silently read the Lay of Luthien that was carved into the wooden surfaces. Her mind drifted off into slumber.

"Mommy, I'm scared."

"Hush my baby," she whispered, her voice trembling slightly as she cradled my form in her arms, clasping my tiny hands. "Don't be scared, I'm right here."

"Always Mommy?" I asked, resting my cheek against her arms, shivering with cold. "I love you."

"I love you to baby but you must be quiet," my mother urged, brushing a strand of tangled hair from my face, before releasing me with one hand to rub warmth back into my arms. Her breathing trembled for a moment as I glanced up confused.

"Mommy you fine?"

"Yes, I'm fine baby," she assured me, trying to show me a smile. It was dark, so I couldn't see that the attempt had failed. "Please honey be quiet."

Hearing the underlying note of urgency in her voice and though not understanding it, I complied, snuggling closer, not hearing the wince of pain as I bumped against her injury. "I'll be quiet Mommy. Don't worry."

"I know honey," she said, holding me closer. "The Saviors will come and we'll see Daddy again."

"Daddy?" I looked up, smiling hopefully, forgetting I was supposed to silent. "Mommy I'm cold. Can Daddy come now?"

"Not now honey," she answered. "A bit later. I promise."

"Alright," I answered, burying my face in her side. "Mommy you fine?" I queried hearing an unfamiliar note in her breathing. It scared me.

"I'm fine honey, can you stop talking now?" my mother asked.

"Yes Mommy," I replied dutifully, struggling to remain silent.

The quietness lasted for only about a few initial seconds before I could not stand the frightening silence and I moved. "Mommy why did those people hurt us?"

My mother's breathing hitched as if for a moment she was unsure of how to answer my innocent question. "'Cause they were bad men honey," she answered at last, trying to explain it to me in a way that I would be able to understand.

"Bad men?" I looked up, confused. "But why was Daddy with them?"

"What do you mean?" my mother asked.

"I saw Daddy. He was with the bad men," I replied. "Was he pretending Mommy?" I put my head down, shivering again, the warmth seeping out of me.

"He was pretending. Just like we're pretending to be Elves."

"Elves?" I lifted my head for a fraction of second, eagerness shining in my worn face. "I want to be an Elf!"

"Then we'll be Elves, but you must be quiet because you can never hear the Elves talk because they're so quiet."

"Okay Mommy," I whispered, my voice going quiet.

"Now we must close our eyes and try to picture what kind of Elf we look like," my mother encouraged me. "And if we're quiet enough, I will tell you another story."

"Alright!" I squeezed my eyes shut and instantly the day caught up to me and I fell asleep.

Alenor shot up, tangled in a net of blankets, a scream clawing in her throat, as she struggled to breathe normally. She clutched her hands over her heart, struggling to get her mind to find a state of relaxation. For a moment of confused panic she forgot what her dream had been but slowly it came back to her and she almost stopped breathing again. It hadn't been a dream, it was a memory.

Adar, didn't tell me everything. He left out the reason why my mother is dead! the realization, slapped her across her face, stringing with betrayal. Why did he do that to me? Getting unsteadily to her feet, she stumbled to the balcony, accidentally knocking a vase off her dresser. She hardly heard the crash as she sagged against the door, her shoulders shaking with understanding. Taking a deep breath she swung them open, leaning on the handles as the wind whistled over her face. She shivered with fear, the wind was howling fiercely. She was afraid of any stormy surge of air when it whistled strongly; to her it was a forewarning of a later threat to come.

A sense of unease, of incompleteness tugged at her heart and Alenor found herself gazing towards the distant and invisible eaves of Mirkwood. A lump snagged in her throat as she relived the memory that had showed itself before her eyes. The trees from the memory were not of a familiar nature to her but she felt with a growing knowing that she had been on the other side of the Misty Mountains.

My Daddy was not pretending, he really tried to hurt us. A horrified gasp pushed past her lips as the world crashed down upon her shoulders. She turned around and rushed back into her room. She was packing her bags and wrapping her sword belt around her waist, before she even fully realized what she was doing.