Welcome back! I trust you all enjoyed the previous chapter? Thanks for sticking with me. Here's another chapter for you too enjoy.

Disclaimer: I am not associated with Tolkien Enterprises, nor do I claim ownership to Lord of the Rings.

ooOoo

To Be Forever Faithful

By: Ponytail Goddess

Chapter 18: 'It'

Sitting up against the mallorn that housed an all too familiar healing talan, Haldir silently watched the smoke wafting into the clouds above him. His mind was racing; he knew he should be thinking about how they were going to clean up the mess of dead bodies and trees, but his thoughts kept slipping away to other places.

It was Belegwen; he could not seem to stop thinking about her. He had feared for her life so greatly a couple hours ago, but grace had allowed her to come out of her lifeless state and back into the world of the living. Haldir had never felt such a great wave of relief as he had upon seeing her eyes moving once more. Internally, he rejoiced knowing that breath was still filling her lungs, bringing life into she who had been seemingly lost.

Her waking moments with him had been very brief before sleep overtook her once again. Rather than feeling any concern for herself, she had been worried about him! Haldir could scarcely believe how selflessly she had acted, coming back from the brink of death only to reassure him rather than the other way around. It made no sense to him that she would care for him when she was hurting so badly, but indeed she had. Haldir had gladly accepted the comfort too, grateful for the Valar brining her back from the brink of death to live once more.

After speaking with him for a spell, Belegwen had quickly drifted back to sleep. True to his word, he had crept out and alerted Eltirwen of the occurrence when he felt confident that she was indeed just asleep. Immediately, Eltirwen had snapped into her normal, bossy self and ran up to check on her. When Haldir had followed, she proceeded to shoo him out, not wanting him to be in the way of her work.

Haldir lingered at the healing talan, hoping to get the chance to go back in and see her once more. The pathway in front of him had a much more relaxed feeling now, as most of the wardens who had been taken care of. No longer was there a great line of wardens outside of the healer's talans. However, there were ellyn still laying on the ground in makeshift beds. They were being treated there because full occupancy had been reached within the healer's talans. They would be placed somewhere soon though. Haldir knew the situation was being addressed as quickly as possible.

There were other situations that would soon need tending to on his part. In the forest, there were dead corpses strewn about the entire Northern border. Most of the deceased were orcs, though there were also a few Eldarin casualties. This saddened Haldir to no end. What would become of their families as they were riddled with the grief he understood all too well?

The smell was starting to drift through the forest and into Caras Galadhon. The orcs would need to be burned and the other bodies buried. Plus, the dead trees would need to be disposed of and new talans would have to be built into different mellyrn that had survived, for most of the ones they used previously had been scorched by the inferno.

For now though, Haldir needed to sit and wait on Eltirwen. To occupy his time, he found himself cleaning off the sword he had battled with during the long night. Nimrodel had served him well on the previous night and he hoped to return the sword to Belegwen when he was next allowed to see her.

He did hope he could see her again soon; he could not seem to stop worrying about her. She had appeared to be so pale when he had last seen her. Her skin was normally quite fair, but it was not meant to be a pallid white. Her eyes too, had not shimmered with their usual determination. Even Belegwen's hair had been dull, having lost its silvery luster.

Would she make it? Haldir knew not. He sighed with this realization. Gracefully, he sprang up from the base of the tree onto his feet, holding the cleaned sword carefully with his fingers. He would have to check on her before he could go about doing anything else. It was time to try and enter once again.

It took him but a brief moment to walk up the stairway that led to the entrance of the healer's talan. He opened the door and entered the dark room again, which was still a mess with papers flying every which way on the desk, scattering themselves about as the wind blew them around the room.

Haldir totally ignored this, however, and started down the hallway. Just as he was about to enter the room, a tired healer suddenly popped into his way from inside of the room. "You are just the elf I am needing..." Stated a disheveled-looking Eltirwen. Her hair was falling out of its braid, pieces streaming down her face in disarray. Haldir noticed that she was still in her pajamas, which were now bloodstained from the work she had been doing. Was this truly the respectable Eltirwen that he enjoyed annoying to no end?

"There are wardens laying on the ground outside that we healers have already tended to. I need you to bring them up here and put them in the rooms." She ordered him quietly, then quickly went back into the room to finish what she was doing.

Haldir stood there for only a few seconds before going and doing as he was told. One by one, he carried them all up the stairway and placed them on the beds that were in each room. His arms began to ache again from carrying so much dead weight after the water carrying he had done the previous night. The wardens were quite grateful though, for their makeshift beds in the soil had been rather uncomfortable. After being thanked by them for it, he did not feel as fatigued and was in better spirits.

The gray skies, however, stayed put as if they did not wish to let any sunlight shine through the dreary clouds. The sky was filled with a murky, melancholy light. Haldir longed for the fresh air and warm sunrays of yesterday as he climbed up the stairs with the final injured warden from outside. Once the ellon was settled into his temporary bed, he headed back down the hall to Belegwen's room, only to be stopped by Eltirwen again.

"Are you finished?" She questioned, sounding terribly weary. One of her hands rested on the side of the door and the other hung down at her side limply. Then, suddenly, the healer in her burst into life again as she gasped at him. "You have not been taken care of yet! And here I had you doing errands with that shoulder!" She exclaimed, hustling him into Belegwen's room before he could react.

He glanced down at his shoulder for the first time and wrinkled his nose with disgust. Haldir had not noticed that he had been slashed with a weapon during the battle. When had this happened?

No wonder his shoulder had hurt so badly while carrying those wardens up the stairs.

Eltirwen rushed over with a homemade antiseptic and a bowl of warm water, complete with a rag in it. Haldir cringed inwardly as she wiped away the dried blood that was encrusted on top of his wound. Nevertheless, he managed to keep a straight face through the whole thing, refusing to show any pain on his face.

"How is she doing?" He asked as she poured antiseptic into his injury, assuming Eltirwen would know of whom he spoke.

"Better," she muttered as she busied herself with analyzing the severity of the slash on his shoulder. "She is still going to need some time off of work though." She stated firmly, already knowing he would try to get her out early.

Eltirwen then got up off of her small wooden stool, walked over to the cabinets on the far side of the room and proceeded to rummage through them for something. Haldir's eyes drifted away from her to Belegwen, lying in her bed. He could see the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she slept, proving she was still there. It was quite a relief to know that she was doing a bit better, though he was still not really sure why he felt thusly.

"Whatever that feeling was, I must have just imagined it." Haldir thought to himself as Eltirwen returned with a needle and started to stitch him up.

"Looks like you are going to have another battle scar, mister tough elf." She stated sarcastically as she stitched. Obviously she was not too badly off, otherwise she would not have her sense of humor.

Finally, the annoying pricking ceased as Eltirwen bandaged him up. "Was that the only one?" She questioned, not really directing it towards him though. She circled around him a couple of times before deeming him good to go.

Then, she surprised him with a new request. "Wait. Haldir, will you watch over these wardens for a little while so I can clean up a bit?" She inquired, looking him straight in the eyes, awaiting an answer.

Haldir found himself unable to say no. Eltirwen had done so much for him, his wardens, and his elleth in the last night that he could not refuse.

Wait a second... His elleth?!

Haldir's confusion slapped him in the face yet again as Eltirwen exited, saying something about being in the Northern bathhouse in case he needed her. He paid her no heed though as his thoughts had already went back to Belegwen.

What was he going to do about this? No matter how much denied it, 'it' was still there! He was not even sure of what 'it' really was though. All he knew was that he was feeling more concern than was normal over his second in command. What was happening to him?!

Still mystified over this, Haldir grabbed up Eltirwen's stool and set it down by Belegwen's sleeping body. It was there he sat and began to inspect the damage that was inflicted upon her. Not wishing to look as if he had bad intentions, he chose not lift her blanket. One of her small feet was bandaged though; he could tell because of the size difference. He could make out a few purplish bruises on her fair shoulders, which were not covered by the blanket.

Surely these things were not life threatening though. What else could be wrong with her?

He wished he knew so that perhaps he could do something for her. When she awakened from her slumber, he would have to inquire about what had happened the past night.

He stared at Belegwen's limp body and watched her only movements, the rise and fall of her chest. Gently, he placed his hand in her drab hair and stroked it soothingly. She did not react to it at all, her ashen features remaining still. In a way, this was a relief to him. He did not wish for her to know about whatever this was between them. At least, not yet... Not until he understood it.

Whatever 'it' happened to be.

ooOoo

Edited by P.G. on 5/22/20.

Did you enjoy it? I hope so. Sorry, I was at camp last week, so there were no updates. I'll try to get the next one up soon, as nobody else seems to really be updating their Haldir fics at (At least, not the one's I normally read. If someone recommends me a fic to read, I would highly appreciate it as I have grown quite bored lately.). Have a nice day!

-Ponytail Goddess