"Leya? It is time for you to wake up, we have arrived."

I opened my eyes and went out after Eärwen, Arafinwë was waiting for us outside. As soon as I set foot on the ground, two things struck me. The first was the sea breeze and the good smell of salt water in the air. The second thing was a blonde tornado that grabbed me like a koala tree. I froze for a few seconds before looking down and meeting Artanis' sparkling eyes (I guess. Ellons and elleths are tricky to figure out) (But well. Since Eärwen told me that her sons already had their own house, it can only be Artanis). Oh mon dieu. Too much cuteness. I lowered myself to her level and hugged her back. Oh mon dieu. I'm hugging Galadriel!
She can't be older than seven-eight human years. Hallelujah. I wouldn't live long enough to end up with a raging Fëanor. Because I'm sure she's an adult by then. But let's avoid her family anyway. You never know.
Her little voice stopped my thoughts and I couldn't resist her, slightly toothless, but too cute smile and the words she spoke.

"Welcome home new sister! I am Aratnis and you are Leya! Come on in! You have to visit the house!"

She grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards the entrance with all her might. I glanced at Arafinwë and Eärwen to see if it was normal for her to kidnap me like that, but the only answer I got was a shrug from Arafinwë and a smile from Eärwen. We had not yet entered the building when Artanis kept babbling and I only understood every other word. Thank you my quenya. But once inside, I stopped her to admire what was before my eyes.

"This is just amazing."

Even though Manwë's residence was much larger, here there was more of an air of comfort and warmth.

"I hung the banner by myself!"

Artanis tugged on my sleeve to show me a large banner that read "Greetings Leya and welcome home!"

"Wow, that's really cool Artanis! Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome. But what is 'cool'?"

Aww her accent on English is so cute! And... crap. I forgot that here they don't have translation for words like that.

"Awesome. That means awesome."
"Okay. Now let's go check out the rooms first! I chose to give you the one next to mine so we'll see each other all the time! And then the guest room, you couldn't take that because you're not a guest. Because you're going to stay here forever since you're my big sister now."

Actually I didn't know it but I got kidnapped. I can already see the headlines. Young human girl kidnapped by a little elf and sequestered in her palace. The scoop of the century.

"You are my big sister? And you promise you're going to stay and not do like our big brothers and leave Artanis all alone in this sad place?"

Am I supposed to resist her gaze? No, because I can't. This kid kidnaps me and manipulates me but I don't care. And I don't want to care about. Having Galadriel/Artanis proclaim me her big sister is a dream, I'm not going to refuse to live that dream. And then staying here is the best solution to not die in the time I have left to live. So...

"If Arafinwë and Eärwen want me, and you still want me to be your big sister, then yes. I want to be. And don't worry, I'm not your big brothers. I plan on staying here with you forever!"

Well. Until I die of old age.
Her smile returned immediately and she gave me a quick hug.
Manipulative. But I like her. It's Artanis after all. Who wouldn't like her.

"Yeah!"

She took my hand in hers and led me to the rooms while explaining the paintings that were hanging on the walls. I was able to admire the family portraits (elves are really too bg. It should almost be considered as a crime), sea landscapes and passages from the creation of Aman. In short, all pretty stuff. We arrived in a corridor with six doors, all of a different green, followed by a multitude of others, just in white.

"This is Mom and Dad's room. After that is Finrod's, Angros' and Aegnor's. But they're rarely here, and when they do come, they don't want to play with me."
"Rarely?"
"Yes. Not often."
"Ah okay."

She gave me a suspicious look before continuing to walk.
God, the rooms must be super big to be so far apart! Artanis stopped and turned to me, hands on hips. What did I do wrong?

"What exactly are you?"
"Uh... a human? Mortals is what I believe you call us. If we are already born. In fact, I don't think my race is even born yet."
"What's Mortals?"
"It means that I will die one day. That I'm not like the elves who don't die."
"Die?"
"One day I'll fall asleep and I'll never wake up."
"Like Uncle Fëanor's mom? Dad's not-mom?"
"Uh... yeah. You could say that. Except that I'm not going to live as long as your uncle Fëanor's mom. I'll only live a hundred years."
"But that's not much!"
"Yes. At least for an elf. For a human it's a lot."
"Then you're not an elf."
"That's right. I'm human."

Artanis nodded but seemed surprised by what she had just heard.

"But that's horrible! You're going to die!"
"That's how it is."
"Humans suck then. I don't want you to be human. Become an elf and you can stay with me forever."
"I can't. It's not something I can change."

She came over and gave me a hug, probably to reassure me. She raised her head to me and tilted it to the side.

"But... is that why your ears are all weird? And that your skin is weird in some places?"

Ouch. Rosted by a child. My ego is in trouble.

"Yeah. My ears are round and I have... pimples in certain places on my skin, it's a lame thing that pisses me off but it can't go away right away."
"Oh... lame. Nasty pimples."
"Yeah. Nasty pimples."
"But... is that why your Quenya is dodgy too and your name means nothing?"
"Here it has no meaning, but in my world it does! It's the name of a princess."

Fictitious and with a spelling mistake, but I still need to find some cool stuff about myself because this child has to stop throwing the harsh truth in my face or I'll die of shame and innutility. Fortunately Eärwen saves me from this little monster.

"Nerwen, be nice to Leya, it's hard enough to lose your family and to find yourself in a place you don't know. You don't need to say mean things to her."
"But Mom, it's not mean things. It's the truth."
"Nerwen..."
"But Mom! Leya's name doesn't sound like an elf! And you told me it was a secret that Leya is not from here."

Secret? After all, I wouldn't go around shouting that I'm not an elf and getting attention from the wrong people. Here you go. Is Melkor still locked up? And Mairon? I never know when he becomes Sauron. Bruh. I'm really useless.

"My dear Leya, do you have another name? Given by your mother or by your father? An ataressë, amilessë or epessë that we could use?"
"Uh not really. I have other names but they still don't sound more elven and don't have the same meaning as you. Why?"

Eärwen took my hands in hers and squeezed them tenderly.

"Well... Artanis is right, your name could draw far too much attention to you and get you into trouble... Would you mind if I asked you a few questions with Artanis and I would give you an amilessë. A name given by the mother that reflects your personality. Of course, if you accept that... we are a family. To tell you the truth we... almost adopted you. We just need your approval to make it happen. Of course, you can refuse. There's no problem."
"Oh no, I... I miss my family but... two years have already passed and I know I won't see them again. I need to move on and... You and Arafinwë have already been generous to welcome me and it would be a real pleasure to grant me a place in your family."
"Thank you Leya. Thank you so much."

Artanis gave us back one after the other with big eyes and took our hands before ushering us into what must be my room.

"Now that Leya has said yes, let's start asking her the questions!"

Eärwen laughed softly before shaking her head and ruffling her daughter gently.

"We don't need it anymore, Nerwen. My heart has already decided on the perfect name for my new daughter."

Already? That was quick. Even a bit too much quick. Is she sure she doesn't have choose a name long before? Anyway. Oh mon dieu. I'm getting an elven name! How cool is that! I don't care if it doesn't reflects my personality, I want to know!

"And?"

Eärwen smiled tenderly at me and put a lock of my hair back before gently placing her hand on my cheek.

"Nenlissë is the amilessë I chose for you. For I have watched you since we met and you are a gentle being. You are generous and quiet but you remain alive. But you have a little sparkle that lights up your face when you talk about what you like and that is what led me to choose this name. Do you like it?"

Sweet Water. Nenlissë. It's nice. I like it.

"I love it. Thank you Eärwen. With all my heart."
"But nothing. It is my pleasure."

Artanis took me in her arms and I put a hand on the top of her head.

"It is too beautiful, Nenlissë! And mom is right! It suits you!"

She was about to say something else but a backslider entered the room.

"My lady, Miss Artanis and Miss..."

She cast an inquiring look at my person, expecting me to give her my name.

"Nenlissë."

My tone sounded more like a question than anything else but it passed. Eärwen squeezed my hand and gave me a bright smile, pleased that I was publicly accepting the name she had bestowed upon me.

"Miss Nenlissë. Lord Finrod has returned and your husband, my lady, asked me to warn you."
"Finrod is here? I thought he was not due to come until next week?"
"I know nothing, my lady. I am only the messenger of your husband's words. I merely believe they are in the living room."
"Thank you. Tell them we are coming. And be sure to state our names."
"Yes, my lady."

Finrod. Finrod is here. And I'm going to meet him. Oh. Mon. Dieu.

French Translation:

oh mon dieu = oh my god
bg = It is the abbreviation of "beau gosse" which means handome. For a woman, we say "belle gosse", but I don't really use it since the pronunciation is not very nice and I use "beau gosse" for men and women.

I'm not going to use Quenya words in my fanfiction (e.g. Mom and Dad) because I'm not sure about the translations at all. Then for the elven name of Leya... I had to think about it for a long time with my best friend and that's what we agreed on. (We used an English-Quenya dictionary (but if I don't translate mom and dad in Quenya it's because the dictionary proposed 5 or 6 different translations so...)). Anyway, here it is.

See you next time!