Elves Do It Better

Warnings: Explicit content, discussion of suicide and suicidal tendencies, violent scenes and physical injury

Disclaimer: I own nothing connected with either LotR or Twilight. They belong entirely to their respective owners.

Bella burned in a fire, every inch of it permeating her skin, in the very centre her being. Memories filled her head, of Forks, of James, of Renee and Charlie…

Edward…

Alice, Carlisle, Esme, Jasper, Emmet, Rosalie…

Jake…

She knew she must have cried out but she no longer cared. All she could see was the forest glade where Edward had left her. She watched over and over, again and again, as he left her in the forest, his words ringing in her ears.

'You're not good enough for me…'

A black void approached, cold and encompassing, and she couldn't get away. She just lay there, and waited for death to come.

Death was so much easier.

'Wait, young one…come back to the Light. Come back to us…'

That voice pulled herback, but she was too weak. Bella fell into the void.

It was another voice that pulled her back, a voice so musical and strong, yet tinged with an edge of command, she couldn't help but listen. It became her anchor in the crushing darkness.

'Who are you?'

Bella felt something brush her hand, and she could feel again. The fire had burnt out, but she was still too weak and she could see no way out of the dark. The voice was the only thing worth holding onto.

'Who are you?' it, he, asked again, and she recognised a man's voice. But no-one, not even Edward, had possessed a voice as lovely as his.

'Bella Swan…' she whispered back.

'Bella Swan', he mused, 'you are lost young one. And broken. I do not know why you have come to me, but I can feel you. Where are you?'

'I don't know' she answered, as she felt the darkness creep up on her again as she remembered home, and remembered Edward.

'Hold on, Bella. You are safe here, and no-one will ever harm you again, little Alphwen. Go back to the light and live, and maybe we shall find one another…' the voice soothed the pain and chased away the darkness.

'Who are you? she asked, as a beam of light shone into her aching eyes. She turned towards it, away from the darkness, and reached for it with newly greedy hands.

'Come back to the light, little Bella, and come home, it…he continued and Bella followed, feeling the shadows leave her as she walked towards the light. 'Leave the shadows of your past behind…'

Just as she reached it, she asked again, 'Who are you?'

The light receded a little, just enough that Bella glimpsed a shining figure, with long pale hair that reached down his back, tall and imposing. His face was veiled her, but she sensed his soul brush her own as she instinctively reached for him.

'Haldir…'

That name echoed in her mind, as Bella left that crushing void behind and felt life return to her weakened frame.

Keen grey eyes opened, the image of the brown haired woman still strong in his mind. Haldir, Marchwarden of the Hidden Land, stood on the borders of Lorien, within the branches of a tree, his bow ready in hand as he guarded the watchful night.

The woman's despair and pain resonated in his soul, and he was forced to breathe deeply to dispel it. He felt her leave the void, felt their newly formed bond sleep. For now.

Already he could sense its strength, its enduring power, still forming but tangibly present in his mind. He knew not who she was, or why he felt her so keenly in his mind as then, but he felt he was the only one who could free her from the darkness haunting her.

Haldir exhaled raggedly, feeling infinitely weary, immortal Child of the Eldar that he was, as the watch marched on. But his mind was still filled with the image of the young woman.

'Bella…Alphwen…'

'Haldir…'

"She is free. The fever has broken," a strong male voice spoke above her, as she felt her mind freed from the darkness it had been lost in. It had been like a tidal wave of shadow had overwhelmed her, and she was helpless in its currents until he came. "Can you hear us, child?" the male voice spoke again, near her ear as she struggled to lift her eyelids.

"Perhaps she is still too weak, Adar," a musical, feminine voice spoke from somewhere to her left. Bright light penetrated her eyelids, almost too bright, as she slowly won the fight with her body, and levered her eyes open.

She felt like she had just gone five rounds with James again, except this time at least she didn't have a broken leg. Small mercies.

She felt weak and tired, but she was undeniably alive.

Bella opened her eyes to stare up at a carved ceiling of pure white, crisscrossed with dark wooden beams. Somewhere nearby, a fire crackled in a grate, and she felt something soft both beneath and covering me.

It wasn't that which surprised her.

Sitting either side of the bed on which she lay were two of the most beautiful people she had ever seen, even more beautiful than-

Bella gasped, a pain flaring in her chest like someone had reached in and torn her heart away anew. She felt a firm hand against her back, supporting her in her pain.

"Arwen, fetch her some water," the male spoke, as he steadied her when she rose up, grasping her hand comfortingly as the pain receded. "There, young one. Don't think too much now."

"Here," the woman, Arwen she guessed, returned to her side, proffering a crystal glass, so delicate Bella was frightened to touch it.

She lifted the glass to Bella's lips, and water trickled down her throat, cool, clean and fresh. She lay back, supported by the man as he rearranged the bedcovers over her shrunken form, and she studied him. He had a strong, yet handsome face, but it was somehow ageless; framed by ruler-straight raven black hair. A pair of dark eyes sat below a high, noble-looking brow, before a stern nose and mouth. He was dressed in a high-necked robe of midnight blue and silver, and she noticed a ring of gold and sapphire on his hand.

He noted her interest, with a spark of amusement in his eyes.

"You are perceptive as well as strong, young one," he breathed, still holding her hand gently.

"W-where am I?" she asked, her voice weak and hoarse. The man frowned slightly.

"You are in Imladris, my dear Bella. We found you nearby in the woods, half-dead," he murmured, and his voice was strong and beautiful.

And yet it was not the voice she had heard in her dreams.

"Can you tell us how you came to be there?" Arwen asked, leaning forward as Bella took in her appearance. She possessed the same dark hair as the man, with his piercing eyes but she was heartbreakingly lovely, her pale skin seeming to glow from within. She was clothed in a long gown of pure white, the long sleeves falling down her lithe arms like water over sculpted marble. She wore a luminescent jewel around her neck, and her gaze was kind and warm when Bella looked at her. Inwardly, she reflected she was more beautiful than Rosalie.

At her question, the young woman remembered home and Charlie. She had to get home. She struggled to sit up. "I have to go home. My father will be going nuts right about now," she gasped urgently, but the man simply pushed her back down, his hair falling forward, and she gasped.

His ears were pointed.

"Bella, you are still very ill. You must rest-" he began before she cut him off, as fear and hysteria almost overwhelmed her senses.

"What are you? Who are you?" she babbled, almost incoherently.

"Adar, let me," Arwen murmured gently to her companion, as she leant forward and took her hand. "My name is Arwen, and this is my father, Elrond. You ar safe in the Last Homely House and we are of the race of Elves."

Her skin was warmer than mine, and soft to the touch, like the finest silk. Bella stared at her, aghast.

"Now I know I'm delirious," she muttered, as both of them looked at her in confusion but also with gentle amusement. She could feel herself growing weaker again, and she slumped back on her pillows, exhausted. She really was tired.

Elrond frowned. "We have exhausted you. You must rest, and we shall talk later. Our questions can wait for another time," He motioned to his daughter to follow him, as they both stood.

"Sleep well, child," Arwen breathed, bending over her and brushing her forehead with her lips. "You are safe here."

As Bella fell into a dreamless slumber, she felt those words resonate in her soul, as her mind conjured up the image of the pale-haired figure.

'Haldir…'