healer figuring that the work will be intensive enough to take up a large chunk of her time.
Years have passed and Charlotte is 116 years old. Her father has finally agreed to allow her to swim to the ocean. When Charlotte arrives at her destination she looks around at the sea, and sees an abundance of beauty all around her. She looks over her shoulder longing to share the beauty of the sea of Arda with her friend, but finds that Cleo is not there making her mourn sorrowfully for this precious thing that she has lost. Ulmo watches as joy fills Charlotte's face at the beauty of his realm. He sees her look for something over her shoulder, and grief fills her when she does not find what she is looking for. The whole situation perplexes Ulmo; What could she be looking for that would cause her such grief at it's absence. Ulmo thinks over the circumstances surrounding Charlotte while his Maiar try to pull her from her grief. Ulmo remembers The daughter of the sea that gave Charlotte a gift before she came here to Arda. Ulmo resolves to ask Charlotte if that is the cause of her sadness. When Charlotte's crying has lessened he says.
Charlotte daughter of the sea why are you crying?
I see all this magnificent beauty around me, and long to share it with my friend, but Cleo is not here to share it with.
There was a great falling out between you. How can it be that you miss her so much?
It is true that we had a falling out with one another. She is also the best friend that I have ever had, and she is gone from my life. If only I had appreciated what I had sooner then I wouldn't be as sad as I am now.
Ulmo thinks over everything that Charlotte has said, and comes up with an idea to ease her sorrow. He turns his attention back to her, and says.
Would you like to give her a similar gift to the one she gave you to show her how much you care about her?
Oh yes! That is an excellent idea.
Charlotte begins thinking about what kind of gift she could possibly give to her dear friend. Then a thought comes to her mind. The only thing that made her different from the others is the amount of power she possesses. The reason behind this has been bothering her ever since she came to Arda. Maybe Ulmo will know the answer, and that could tell her if the gift she has in mind will work. She turns her attention to Ulmo, and says.
Ulmo why do I have more power than the other girls?
You jumped into the moonpool by yourself, but the other girls jumped in together so the power was divided between them.
So you are saying the amount of power I have is what a single sea-child should have on their own.
Yes.
Ulmo can you give the other girls what should have been theirs to start with.
Yes I can. Is that what you want your gift to be.
It is.
You are very generous giving a gift not just to Cleo, but to the others as well.
They are all my friends, but Cleo is the most dear to me.
Then I shall start with her. Please allow the beauty of the sea to bring joy to your heart instead of sadness.
I will Ulmo; Thank you for everything.
You are welcome Charlotte daughter of the sea.
Charlotte swims around enjoying the majesty and wonder of the sea with nothing but pure joy in her heart. It has been a very long time since she has been this happy, and Charlotte knows that she has many years of happiness ahead.
Meanwhile back on Earth Cleo and her remaining friends are discussing Charlotte's disappearance the previous year. All of them are sad, but Cleo is the most sad of the three of them. Emma and Rikki had picked up Charlotte's letter off of the coffee table as soon as Annette and Cleo had left the house. They went to Cleo's room, and read the letter. They immediately felt ashamed of themselves for not realizing what was happening in time to help her themselves before a god from another world had to intervene. It did not take very long for them to realize that their blindness had caused them to lose their friend forever. They called Lewis, and told him exactly what had happened with Charlotte. He was every bit as distressed as the girls at the loss, because even though they were not romantically involved he still values her friendship greatly. And here they are a year later talking about the friend they had before everything went bad. It takes awhile, but the girls decide to go for a swim to cheer themselves up. A little while into their swim they hear a voice coming from the sea that only Cleo recognizes say.
Cleo daughter of the sea go to the moonpool by yourself.
Why should I Ulmo?
Because I have a gift for you and your friends from Charlotte.
Why can't you give it to us all at the same time?
Because this gift must be given to you individually. Now do as I say.
Cleo stops arguing with Ulmo, and swims in the direction of Mako Island while the other girls remain where they are.
When Cleo gets to the moonpool she surfaces, and waits for Ulmo to give her Charlotte's gift. In moments the moonpool begins reacting like it does on the full moon, and Cleo begins wondering what is going on. After the amount of time that it takes the moon to pass over the pool the reaction stops. Ulmo's presence waits outside of the pool, and says.
I am finished. You may send Emma to the pool.
Cleo leaves without saying anything on her way back to the others. When she gets back to the girls they ask her what happened, and she tells them. They are equally perplexed by this turn of events as Cleo is herself. Cleo tells Emma to go to the pool which she does though somewhat cautiously. When she gets there the same thing happens to her. When the reaction stops she power-swims back to the others before Ulmo has a chance to say a word. Emma reports that her experience was the same as Cleo's. Emma tells Rikki that it is her turn to visit the pool. Rikki does so quickly wanting to get on with figuring out what exactly it is that Charlotte has given them. She experiences the same thing as the other two girls, and when she gets back to her friends she says.
"Now that we have all received our gifts all we have to do is figure out what exactly Charlotte has given us." Rikki
"Well since the gift was given through Ulmo it probably has something to do with our powers." Cleo
"Well considering the gift that was given to Charlotte why don't we try each others gestures, and see what happens. Rikki and I will start with Cleo's." Emma
Rikki and Emma use Cleo's gesture, and it turns out that they have her power now as well as their own. Cleo jumps right in, and uses Emma's gesture showing that she has Emma's powers as well as her own. Rikki does the same and gets the exact same result. Emma uses Rikki's gesture on one of the columns of ice, and it melts then evaporates it into steam. Cleo does the same thing and gets the same result as Emma. It is obvious that each of them now have all three powers, but what they can't figure out is why Charlotte would do this to them. They realize that there is only one person that has the answer to their question so they dive under the sea once more.
As they are swimming around Mako Cleo says with her thoughts.
Ulmo what's going on? Why would Charlotte do this to us? Why would she give us the very thing that drove her mad?
Because those powers should have been yours to begin with.
Then why didn't we already have them in the beginning, and Charlotte did?
The three of you jumped into the moonpool together so the power was divided among you where as Charlotte jumped into the pool by herself.
The three girls look at each other as they realize exactly what it is that Ulmo is saying. Ulmo goes on to say.
I told this to Charlotte when she asked me a similar question; After I gave her the opportunity to give you a gift to show you how much she cares about you.
What happened next?
She told me that she wanted me to give you what should have been yours to start with. I asked her if she wants this to be her gift; She told me that it is. So that is what I have done.
The girls are really glad that they have a friend who cares for them as much as Charlotte does. Emma addresses Ulmo for the first time saying.
Ulmo.
Yes Emma daughter of the sea.
Can you give Charlotte our thanks for the gift, and express our desire to see her again?
I will convey your message to Charlotte; As for seeing her again I will give each you the opportunity to come to Arda when the time is right.
We will wait for that day.
I must go now. Use your gift well.
With that Ulmo is gone from Earth's oceans, and the girls head home happier than they have been in a long while.
Back on Arda Charlotte is swimming up the AndĂșin on her return journey home to Lothlorien. Charlotte can hardly wait to tell her father all about her trip to the sea. She arrives at the section of the river that borders the forest of Lothlorien, and sees her father and Silwen waiting for her. She surfaces in front of her father, and puts her arms up for him to pull her out of the water. Which he does, and is rather shocked by what he sees when he looks at her. After setting her on the ground that seemingly random statement from years ago suddenly makes perfect sense now. After Charlotte has dried herself off the three of them head back to Caras Galadhon. When they arrive home they go their separate ways each of them deep in their own thoughts. When Charlotte gets home she tells her father all about her trip to the sea. Haldir is very intrigued that one of the Maiar of Ulmo told her that only a single year has passed on Earth where as a hundred years has passed here. After the evening meal Haldir and Charlotte go to their rooms for Elven revelry. The next morning after breakfast Charlotte and Haldir go about their days as they always have for the last century.
It makes Charlotte happy that her friends like her gift, and want to see her again. Since Charlotte got back from her trip she has been telling Silwen about her friends from Earth, and to say that it fascinates the other elleth is putting it lightly. Charlotte makes sure to incorporate stories about her friends into their conversation, but she is careful to do so in a very tasteful way. The two are careful to only discuss this topic when they are sure that the other elleths are not around to overhear their conversation. They are considering asking the Lady Galadriel if she could help protect their conversations from prying ears. Neither one of them wants to experience the kind of bullying the other elleths are capable of when they get it into their heads that they don't like something that makes you different from them. Charlotte will often take Silwen swimming in the river with her when both of their fathers are busy at the same time. They are enjoying their picnic lunch on one such occasion when they hear a rustling in the bushes. Out of the bushes walks this disgusting looking monster. Charlotte looks to Silwen, and asks.
"What is that?" Charlotte
"That is an Orc they live to kill and destroy." Silwen
"Not if I destroy it first." Charlotte
"What are you going to do?" Silwen
Charlotte smirks at her friend, and uses her power to form arrows with one hand while freezing it with the other. Charlotte shoots them at the orc with so much force that they bury themselves in it's body right up to the fletching. Silwen has a very shocked look on her face as the Orc falls down dead. Silwen decides that she is going to tell Haldir about this so that they can come up with a way for her to use her powers in combat against these foul creatures.
Haldir is shocked by everything that Silwen has told him about their encounter with the stray Orc. He will have to think long and hard about how these skills can possibly be used in battle. He remembers Silwen mentioning arrows, and gets the perfect solution to this conundrum. Haldir then goes in search of Charlotte. He finds Charlotte and Silwen about to engage in some kind of mischief. He interrupts them by saying.
"Silwen I have a few ideas about what we discussed earlier." Haldir
"Well that's good then. I'll just leave you two alone." Silwen
Silwen leaves to find something else to do. Haldir turns to his daughter, and says.
"Charlotte come with me." Haldir
Charlotte nods, and follows after her father. They come to a stop in the training grounds, Charlotte looks around, and says.
"Why are we in the training grounds?" Charlotte
"We are here because I want to train you to use your powers in battle." Haldir
"So Silwen told you about the incident with that Orc didn't she." Charlotte
"Yes she did, and I must say that I am quite intrigued by your gifts." Haldir
"So we are here so that you can train me to be a warrior using my gifts." Charlotte
"Yes Charlotte that is exactly why we are here. By the time your training is finished you will be as strong a warrior as the best of the wardens." Haldir
"When do we start?" Charlotte
"Now." Haldir
Haldir takes Charlotte to a lake at the very edge of the training grounds, and they begin a very rigorous training regimen. The first thing he trains is her strength and endurance. Next he trains her speed and agility. Then finally after many months of training they begin training her powers. Haldir has noticed that she shows much promise as an archer. Charlotte's skill with a blade is going to require a lot more work before it is up to his standards. It amazes him that Charlotte has not complained once since the training began, but then again she didn't complain when she was getting bullied either. Charlotte and her father continue training as the months pass. Charlotte is making great progress toward becoming the warrior that her father is teaching her to become. Every time they stop for some much needed rest Charlotte looks forward to the day that her training will be done, and she will be able to protect the ones that are dear to her. She will be the one to protect the girls instead of harming them like she did last time. Charlotte is still very much ashamed of herself and the behaviour that she displayed the last time she saw all of her friends. It turned out that she was the weakest of them all, because she was unable to stop herself from succumbing to power madness. She hopes that her friends will be able to make better use of their powers than she was able to with hers. Charlotte is pushing herself so hard because she wants to make up for the mistakes of her past by making better use of her powers than she did before. Maybe then she will be worthy of the gifts that the moonpool has given her. It has helped her immensely that her friends have forgiven her. Having Silwen there is helping her to forgive herself for causing things to go so wrong between her and her friends. Silwen has become every bit as important to her as Cleo, Rikki, and Emma are. Silwen is the first person in this world who has wanted to be her friend. That was when she took the first step down the road to moving on from that horribly traumatic event. Charlotte will always be grateful to Ulmo for all that he has done for her. She truly believes that he was correct when he said that she will find more happiness on Arda than she ever could have imagined having on earth. She knows that even without her there her mother is having a good and fulfilling life. It gave her closure to be able to say goodbye to her before she left. Many times she has found herself wondering how many centuries she will have to wait before she gets to see her friends again. No matter she will wait as long as she has to for that reunion to take place. Silwen is also very excited at the prospect of meeting her friends from Earth. Charlotte knows that the four of them will be the best of friends in a very short amount of time. Although Charlotte finds that she no longer measures
