Author's Note:

Thanks to Certh, Raider-K, feathered moon wings, BrightPath2, guest, Pip the Dark Lord of All, Jesus' girl 4ever, OlivierMiria89, horseyyay AKA Morgoth, Mirkwood Warrior and SmileyXs Ice-cream Sprinkles for their reviews!

Thanks to Certh for her help in correcting the errors in previous chapter.

Chapter 7

They met later in the Room of Thousand Fountains, after they went to their rooms to wash and dress. It was a greenhouse of sorts, lovingly cared for and open for all Jedi for meditation. All forms of trees from various planets grew there, even the ones that were most sensitive to weather, sunlight and soil. Thranduil fell in love with the Room when he was a Padawan. He used to linger inside it, especially when he missed his planet terribly. It was a refuge.

The Room consisted of an outlay of numerous waterfalls, streams and fountains with bridges made of stone, metal and wood. There were scattered benches and clearings for anyone who wished to meditate or work in the green environment. He found Celil in a visible clearing near the entrance. He heard the low whistles of birds that inhabited the Room, the sounds of which soothed him. He walked up to Celil on the grey pebbled pathway leading him to the clearing she was in. His footfalls pattered over the stones and he saw Celil's head angle slightly towards the sound.

"You are here at last, Master Thranduil. Join me."

Thranduil frowned a bit.

"How did you know it was me?"

Celil's smile was a small phantom lurking about her lips.

"You have distinctive footfalls." She answered. But Thranduil looked at her with doubt and felt as if there was more to it that she wasn't telling him. Still, he sensed it wasn't the time to press for more detailed answers so he silently accepted it. Celil gestured him to sit. He sat down in front of her, cross-legged in a single fluid motion. The grass below him was soft and the ground sank below him luxuriously. The gardeners that tended the Room of Thousand Fountains were ordinary people who only served the Jedi out of respect. They gave their entire devotion to the Room and Thranduil had to admit they turned the Room into a beautiful masterpiece.

"And my name is Thranduil," Thranduil added as an afterthought. "I prefer not to use the title 'Master'." Celil seemed surprised but thankfully she didn't comment on it. Instead, she gestured towards something that lay beside her. It was half-hidden but clearly of polished silver metal.

"I have here a database of all known criminals that could be possibly being our unknown assassin. You should look into it." Celil passed it to him.

"I should do it?" Thranduil repeated. He was surprised but he accepted the database nevertheless. Celil gave him a small smile; it was among the few he witnessed since they worked together.

"You may have noticed," Celil said dryly. She raised her hand, her index and middle finger gesturing towards her eyes, "I am somewhat short for the errand." Thranduil snorted in amusement.

"You do realise there is nothing for us to narrow down this assassin with." Thranduil said as he switched on the database and stared at the brightly lit blue letterings.

"Not true," Celil corrected. "The assassin was barely five foot and sturdy."

"He prefers a sniper rifle," Thranduil said. His hands flew over the keyboard as he keyed in the specifications. "There is a slouch in his posture, so he may have some form of deformity or impairment."

"Hm," was all Thranduil could say. His entire focus was on the search.

"That should narrow down the results." Celil concluded. Thranduil finished and let the system run the searches.

"Nothing," Thranduil said. He gave a loud exhale and fought back the frustration building within him. Celil seemed to sense it, even if she wasn't looking at him. Instead, she sat calmly with her legs tucked under her and her back straight but relaxed. Her gaze was unseeing towards the tree in her line of sight.

"We'll find him." Celil said. Her voice was marginally colourless, so Thranduil wasn't sure if she was trying to assure him or not, nor did she gave him the time to consider her words when she continued, "What about the dart you pulled free from Brysin's wound?"

"Not in this database," Thranduil said. He held up the dart and turned it about between his fingers. "The Republic doesn't keep records of the weaponry belonging outside of the Republican domain. This undoubtedly belongs to the Outer Rim. I am not sure from where, however."

"Is there any way for you to find out from where?"

"Yes, I can, back at Arda system," Thranduil agreed. "If I am to be dismissed from here, then I will follow it." Thranduil lowered his head and he stared down at the grass blades. His fingers tug through the soil mindlessly, as he watched the ants track their way through the grass.

"He was afraid." It was a declaration, but it was softly spoken, no higher than the voices of birds. "Brysin didn't run just to escape us. He ran because he was afraid. But he wasn't afraid of us. He was afraid of someone who hired his friend." Celil agreed wordlessly by the dip of her head. "That doesn't mean good for us."

"Yes, it doesn't." Celil agreed.

"How did you lose your sight?" Thranduil asked. He was then surprised when he heard her give a small laugh. It was feminine, but muted. He would've missed it if it was any lower.

"You are the first Elf I encountered who didn't ask me about my sight immediately after meeting me." Celil said. She opened her eyes, but curiously, she didn't face him. Her fingers trailed over the soft grassy bed they were sitting on and curled around some grass blades. "It was the Trial of the Flesh," she said. Thranduil said nothing, though he understood perfectly. The Padawans needed to pass Jedi Trials to attain the position of Jedi Knights. "My mentor and I were assigned a mission to track down a potential artefact and dispose of it after learning its secrets." Her hands returned to her lap and folded together over the blue garment covering her thighs. "It was a difficult mission, and the artefact was destroyed during the fight against a group of acolytes worshipping the Sith. There was no safety, and no protection. I lost my eyesight in that fight. But I recovered in the rest of my body. I was declared a Jedi Knight once I reached the temple." Thranduil didn't know what to say.

"I am sorry," Thranduil said finally. Celil gave a short laugh.

"Do not be," she told him. "You couldn't have known and I have long since made my peace with it."

Thranduil and Celil fell into a long companionable silence.

"You struggle with restraint."

Thranduil looked up. The Shadow sat across from him, cross-legged. The underside of her boots were wet, stuck with soil and dotted with broken bits of grass. Her facial features were relaxed and yet there was something about her, as if she was ready to spring free at any moment. She wasn't looking at him, as usual, but staring straight as if she was looking into an unseen void.

"How do you know?" He asked, returning his eyes to his task.

"Emotions change the Force. I can feel it shift within you. You fear that one day you will overuse your powers and slip to the dark side." Celil said.

There was a long pause.

"Forgive me." Celil said quietly. "I did not mean to offend you."

"I am not." Thranduil denied. He rubbed his hands over his thighs. A songbird perched on a low branch beside him and sang a low note. He shifted lightly. He wasn't offended, but he was certainly uneasy at the thought that Celil discerned so much about him when he only met her for a couple of times. He didn't like when some strangers learned more about him than sometimes he knew about himself.

Celil, on the other hand, turned her attention completely elsewhere. Her expression was thoughtful. Her fingers dipped to her side and she lifted a containment box and set it between them.

"It's such a curious thing." Celil murmured. Her fingers began working on the locks without any hindrance and she continued to speak as she did so. "I've never seen the like of this one before. To embed the dark side of the Force into a gem is possible, and yet it has little function. And there is something else." She lifted the gem free and held it up in one hand, one tip of the gem captured between her fingertips. "And there is something else about this that is different." Thranduil said nothing and watched her in wary fascination. Celil let go of the gem. Thranduil immediately protested but it died in his throat when he saw the gem hovered in the air. Thranduil eyed the Elleth and found she was half-distracted.

"Celil-"

Celil didn't react. She completely immersed in what she was doing. He watched her for a moment. She was trying to seek the nature of the dark side within the gem, he realised. Then he felt ripples through the Force. The Force was considered like a fabric; if one shook a part of the cloth then the waves until it reached all the corners. The songbird gave a sharp cry and flapped away.

The sight of a small crack in the edge of the gem was all the warning Thranduil truly got. It began to shine into a brilliant white beam.

"Celil," he cautioned. But he got no further.

The gem broke with a blinding white light. He instinctively drew back from it. The shards fell everywhere but as it was mostly powder, it barely hurt Thranduil. The disruptive Force released from the gem swept through them like shockwaves through them. It wasn't powerful, but it was certainly noticeable.

He looked up and found Celil prostrated on the ground. Her hair was freed from its restraints.

"Celil?" Thranduil called to her. He shook her shoulder. Celil's head flopped to the side like a limp ragdoll. Thranduil's heart picked up a pace. His finger found her pulse. It was steady, but slow. Thranduil's hand pulled back sharply. He sensed her reserve of the Force was significantly depleted. "Celil!" She remained unresponsive. With one arm behind her shoulders and underneath her knees, he hoisted her up and ran to the infirmary.

The infirmary was full of cold, crisp air. The light was unforgivingly bright; the walls were white paint and polished steel. The floor was spotless and smooth. Cubicles lined either side of the infirmary and Mace saw the medical droids hover past him.

The healers were both Jedi and otherwise. The Jedi healers were dressed in long flowing robes of dark brown, with a light brown mantle over their shoulders. Their hoods were pulled up until their faces were shadowed. Mace stepped out the open cubicle completely.

Mace finally rested his eyes on the long muscled figure of the Elf beside him. Thranduil stood with his back pressed against a wall. His arms were folded in front of him. As Mace neared him, he caught a whiff of fresh soil and crushed grass. Mace turned to him.

"You have a way of causing trouble, Master Thranduil," Mace said mildly. Thranduil gave him a bleak, jaunty smile.

"This time, it was completely unintentional," Thranduil quipped. Mace chuckled deep from his chest. Thranduil's smile slipped off his face and he tilted his chin towards the open cubicle.

"How is she?"

Mace looked over his shoulder. Celil lay prone on her back on the long bed with stark white bed sheets. Her face was pale, but it gained some colour after the healers tended to her. She was dressed in a fitted brown suit, the blanket pulled to her waist. Her black hair covered the pillow.

"The damage to her body is only slight bruising to her hands and arms." Mace said. "But the damage is more severe to the Force within her." Thranduil shook his head.

"Is that even possible?" Thranduil wondered.

"It's hard to say," Mace said. "But there was something about the gem that wasn't natural."

"I know," Thranduil said. "What do you think about the gem?"

"Normally, the dark side of the Force is poured into the gem." Mace said. "But the gem felt… different. I never felt anything like it before. As for Celil, she will recover." Mace glanced back to the unconscious Elleth. He turned his attention back to Thranduil. The Elf held himself so well that Mace wondered if he felt tired. "Senator Galadriel left a message for you." Mace told him. Thranduil pushed himself off the wall.

"Then I must go and speak to her."

"It's late," Mace commented. "I think politicians retire early."

Thranduil lifted a single shoulder in a shrug.

"Not Senator Galadriel," Thranduil said. Before he left, the Elf hesitated briefly. "Am I needed for a report?"

Mace stared at him with partly opened lips. He couldn't believe it but Thranduil looked like he was actually asking him.

"Uh," Mace uttered intelligently. Then he chided himself and inwardly shook his head, "No, not tonight. You can speak before the council tomorrow morning."

Thranduil grimaced when Mace mentioned the council. The Elf wasn't fond of facing authorities. He turned into more of a hermit. The idea amused him enough to nearly betray his lips. Thranduil's forehead creased lightly in a confused frown.

"Go," Mace said solemnly. Thranduil opened his mouth as if to say something, but he nodded in farewell and left.

"Full of surprises, he is," Yoda said. Mace gave a noncommittal grunt. Yoda looked up at him with large eyes.

"Good heart, he has."

The call from Senator Galadriel didn't surprise Thranduil at all. But it did surprise him to see that his friend was restless.

"You seem restless," Thranduil observed mildly when Galadriel paced in front of him the fourth time. He sat casually on the sofa facing the window, basking in the warmth of sunlight. Galadriel stopped in front of him with a whirl of green and golden dress. Thranduil gave a small noise of protest when her shade fell over him but it stopped short in his throat when he looked up at her face and saw her frown.

"What is it?" Thranduil asked finally. Galadriel placed her hands on her hips, her fingers absently playing with the golden sash wound tightly about her waist, enhancing her figure. Her dress was essentially deep green in colours with whorls of airbrushed golden along the hem of her skirt and edges of her sleeves. Her collar was high, with one yellow stone of her pendant peeking through the folds. Galadriel still didn't reply. "You know, that is a pretty dress." He commented.

"The aide just dressed me in whatever they pleased," Galadriel remarked distractedly, waving a hand in the air. Thranduil sighed when she began to pace again. Thranduil uncrossed his legs and stood up. He blocked her way when she came back and captured her wrists lightly.

"What is it?" He asked sternly. "And answer me clearly."

Galadriel sighed and pulled back, the silky fabric of her sleeves whispering through his fingers. She sat down on the sofa Thranduil vacated and patted wordlessly the space beside her on the sofa. Thranduil narrowed his eyes at her for a moment. Whatever was Galadriel's mind, he doubted he would like it. Still, he obeyed and sat down beside her casually, with one leg curled underneath him and the other stretched out.

"The meeting," Galadriel began. She looked up and met Thranduil's eyes directly. "It didn't go as well as I expected it to. Chancellor Palpatine wasn't happy with my little stunt just like I predicted."

Thranduil was certain he wasn't going to like the news.

Galadriel began carefully and kept her hand on his, probably to make sure he didn't leap up and stride off. Thranduil was slightly insulted by her notion, but then he knew she wasn't far from the truth. He listened quietly, until her voice began to fade out with the angry roaring in his ears. He heard her still, but her words didn't sink in.

"Thranduil, say something," There was a plea in Galadriel's voice, mixed with some wariness. He slowly became aware with his tightly pursed lips and his hard facial features. He got up, and her hand slipped off his. He walked over the window, walked back before repeating the motion.

"You seem agitated." Galadriel said mildly behind him. Thranduil whirled on his heel and glowered at all. Galadriel's lips twitched upwards dangerously. The smile was contagious and Thranduil found himself responding to it. Then Galadriel's news returned in his mind and his lips curled into distaste. Galadriel's smile faded.

"One thing that the council should learn is that the Jedi aren't here to answer everyone's back and call." Thranduil said, his voice dangerously low.

"I know." Galadriel said softly. Thranduil barely heard her as he continued.

"I don't what game the chancellor is playing but binding me down to only protect a senator from harm rather than investigate this case is nothing but a foolhardy thing to do-"

"I know, Thranduil, but-" Galadriel tried to break in but again, Thranduil was too fumed to stop.

"Thranduil!" Galadriel cried. She rose to her feet and in small seconds covered the distance between them. She placed her hands on his arms and looked up at him to console him. "I know you are upset-"

Thranduil scoffed. Upset wasn't the word he preferred. He was downright incensed. Galadriel closed her mouth and shook her head tiredly.

"I met Glorfindel yesterday," Galadriel said. It was tactic to change the subject and Thranduil saw right through it. Still, he took it eagerly. Thranduil looked at her. She was tall, almost as tall as he was though she was slightly shorter. "Did you know that he was bonded?"

"I did." Thranduil acknowledged. "But I wasn't expecting it, and it took me a while to see it." Galadriel was quiet as she pondered on it.

"It's dangerous, isn't it?" Galadriel asked in a low murmur. Thranduil nodded, confirming it.

"Jedi couples are famous for children stronger in the Force than their parents, and also for ending in tragedies."

Galadriel looked at him sharply.

"I won't have this marriage fail," Galadriel said sharply. Her features softened slightly with a small smile. "He looked so happy and content when he came here."

Thranduil gave her a smile that matched hers.

"Yes, I saw it too," Thranduil nodded. Then he clicked his tongue against his teeth in mild annoyance. "I can't believe he married without inviting us to the wedding."

Galadriel gave a sensuous, throaty laugh.

"I agree. I wonder if Elrond knew." Galadriel's hands ran over the sash. "The two of them are such close friends they are nearly inseparable."

"If he is, he and I will have strong words," Thranduil said jokingly. He placed his hand against his chest with mock hurt. "I am truly wounded Glorfindel didn't tell us." His smile faded.

"I am no use standing guard for you, Galadriel," He said. "I can function better investigating your assassination out there rather than check reports over here."

Galadriel smiled in understanding.

"I know." Galadriel raised a pale hand and stroked his cheek. Then her smile widened into a flashing white grin. "That is why I spoke to Senator Organa and we agreed that since you are here to protect me, then I can decide the best way to protect me is by going out there to investigate my assassination."

Thranduil raised his brows at that.

"The Chancellor will not be pleased."

"The Chancellor's displeasure is neither my concern nor yours." Galadriel's voice was smooth. "He has put you to my disposal, and I intend to use the advantage." Thranduil's eyebrows climbed higher.

"The Chancellor is smart. He won't be fooled twice."

Galadriel laughed. She patted Thranduil's cheek twice.

"Oh, Thranduil. If you ever enter politics, you will have so much to learn!" She said. "Of course, he expects me to do something. Then he will come up to me, all victorious, and he will realise that I knew all along and then he will know I am not yet to be outwitted and then the game will go on." Thranduil gaped.

Galadriel's smile turned sweet and innocent. Her eyes, on the other hand, were mischievously smug. She turned around and fluidly sat down on her couch. Her expression remained the same.

"You frighten me sometimes," Thranduil voiced. It came out more strangled than he anticipated. Galadriel smiled languidly, leaned back and bit the tip of her strawberry. Thranduil wondered if his friend knew how much she looked like a highborn woman who knew the true extent of power and was well-adapted to it. She crossed her legs for an effect, the green silk reflecting the light as she moved. He decided she looked more like an unattainable princess, comfortable with her power and beauty.

"It would do well for the Chancellor to realise it as well." Galadriel said.

Author's Note:

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Guest: It does in British Language. :)