AUTHOR'S NOTE Hope you all enjoy! The jig is up for Obi-Wan here, plus he gets a look at some of the major events of the future, specifically Episode III. Hehe, poor Aragorn.

This story's for Lauren, since she and I came up with some of the ideas. I hope she and the rest of you enjoy!

DISCLAIMER I made up Andrial as a citizen of Caras Galadhon for another story I wrote, so I guess she's my creation. Everyone else is not.

…

Obi-Wan could sense the guards watching them from the trees long before they appeared on the path. Aragorn also did not seem surprised when several blonde, bow-and-arrow wielding Elves suddenly materialized in front of them. He put a hand to his chest and bowed. "Suilanna, Haldir o Lórien."

The tallest one in the middle bowed his head lightly. "Mae govannen, Estel o Rivendell a mellon."

"Please," Aragorn said. "My companion does not speak the Eldar tongue."

"Very well," Haldir said. "We will speak only in Westron. What brings you so far from the borders of the Last Homely House?"

Obi-Wan stepped forward and bowed as Aragorn had. "I am Hyarion of a distant land. Gandalf the Grey referred me here to speak with your Lady Galadriel about my very difficult return home."

Haldir studied him critically for a long moment. Finally, he nodded. "Mithrandir would not send an enemy into our land. Neither would Aragorn lead one." He motioned to the other Elves and they melted back into the forest. Haldir then turned. "Follow me," he said.

The wood was quiet. Only the rustling of leaves in the breeze and soft trilling of birds could be heard over their steady footsteps. Obi-Wan felt the same sense of peace in Lothlórien that he did in Rivendell.

Soon they reached the top of a bluff. Haldir stopped and motioned down into the valley. "We're almost there."

Obi-Wan looked down at the sight below them in wonder. Towering silver trees with golden leaves grew in a tight cluster, with platinum-haired Elves barely visible moving gracefully among them.

Aragorn came up behind him. "That's Caras Galadhon," he said. "That is where Galadriel and her husband Celeborn live."

"Caras Galadhon is not open to strangers," Haldir said. "But Hyarion, you are a friend. You will be welcomed."

"Hannon le," Obi-Wan replied. Aragorn gave him a proud smile.

The journey into the valley was not as far or as steep as it looked. Soon, Obi-Wan found himself surrounded by gold and silver trees and grinning elves. He leaned over and whispered, "Why are they all staring at me?"

Aragorn suppressed a grin. "They can feel your power. And Elves are naturally curious creatures." He reached for Obi-Wan's hand and squeezed it. "I suppose you'll just have to deal with being interesting."

A female Elf met them at the bottom of a magnificent staircase that wound around one of the huge trees. "This is Andrial," Haldir said. "She will bring you before the Lord and Lady. They are waiting." Aragorn and Obi-Wan bowed and thanked Haldir before the guard Elf left once again for his post.

Andrial looked the same as the other Elves, but somehow Obi-Wan could tell that she was still young. She did not speak as they climbed higher and higher around the tree trunk. Obi-Wan did not dare to look down.

Then suddenly the staircase opened up onto a great platform. The molding of the beams that formed the open walls spiraled in graceful organic curves that made the whole structure seem as though it were growing out of the tree itself. Later Obi-Wan mused that there was a good chance that it was.

Standing at the center of the small staircase was the most beautiful woman Obi-Wan had ever seen. He recognized her from the painting that Gandalf had shown him, but Galadriel of Lórien was more radiant and lovely than any image could possibly portray. Beside her, a male Elf with pale blonde hair and similar silver robes stood silently. Obi-Wan bowed deeply. "My Lady Galadriel," he said.

She waited until he had risen his head, then stared into his eyes with her piercing blue gaze. "Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi. You have traveled far to stand before us."

Beside him, Aragorn's jaw fell open. Obi-Wan was also surprised. "I, uh, you know my name."

She smiled. "The Valar have given me sight into many things."

"The Valar," Obi-Wan repeated. "Then you can help me? They can help me?"

Sadly, she shook her head. "No. We can only show you."

Intense disappointment fell onto Obi-Wan like a smothering blanket. "But the Valar lifted one into the Heavens before."

She nodded. "This much is true. But Eärendil does not sail through the stars in the way that you wish. He could never travel to your distant worlds."

Obi-Wan was suddenly aware of Celeborn standing beside his wife and Aragorn beside him on the platform listening to every word with increasing disbelief. He was sorry that Aragorn had to find out this way, but he could no longer afford to be secretive. "What about the Force?" he asked. "I can no longer sense anything past your world. Why can I not reach anyone anymore?"

"The Power of the Elves is drawn from the Power that created Arda itself."

"So they are the same," Obi-Wan muttered, more to himself than Aragorn and the Elves. The suddenly it sank it what she had said. "You're telling me that Arda was created by the Force itself?"

Mutely, Galadriel nodded. Obi-Wan did not know what to say. Meeting Anakin Skywalker had been a shock – a human born out of the Force – but this was a whole world of life created by it. The concept was almost too much to handle.

"There is one way to see how you may return home," Galadriel said, startling him out of his thoughts.

Eager, Obi-Wan replied, "Anything!"

She glided don the staircase and said, "Follow me."

She led Aragorn and Obi-Wan all the way back down to the forest floor and into the hollow of a monstrous tree root. There, a plain silver basin stood atop a stone pedestal. "My mirror shows many things to those brave enough to look in it," Galadriel said. "If you are willing, it will show you – "

"It will show me the future," Obi-Wan said. "Yoda once told me that Jedi could see into the future, but it was not a talent I ever had the opportunity to fully develop." Memories and old mild resentments stirred as Obi-Wan thought of his days as a Padawan.

He felt Galadriel's cool hand on his cheek. "Qui-Gon Jinn did not hold you back," she said gently. "And you are a better person to have known him."

Not breaking her gaze, Obi-Wan said, "I will look into the mirror."

She did not nod or say another word. Instead, she filled the basin with water from a small pool and motioned Obi-Wan to step up. She placed both of his hands on either side of the cool silver and stepped away.

At first, Obi-Wan saw nothing but his own wavering reflection at the bottom of the bowl. Then slowly the water began to ripple and darken. An image began to form of an entire planet engulfed in angry red lava. The air trembled and Obi-Wan could feel the heat searing his face.

He felt the basin trembling beneath his hands as the image changed. Aragorn now smiled up at him from the water with two toddlers on his lap. The boy had brown hair and silent eyes while his sister had fiery red hair and bright green eyes. She was strong in the Force. Her brother was not.

It shimmered and changed again. Padmé was lying on a table, her face twisted in agony. He was holding a baby – a boy with blue eyes and an incredible strength in the Force. A midwife droid held another baby, this one a brown-eyed girl with only a touch of Force-sensitivity. The scene dissolved into a man and a woman with those same eyes and power. He was in the beige clothes of a Tatooine moisture farmer. She was dressed as Alderaanian royalty.

The picture faded to black. Obi-Wan watched out the bridge window as Arda got smaller and smaller as it faded behind him. Then he was engulfed in the blackness of space. From somewhere far away, he heard Aragorn's anguished cry and a sinister mechanical breathing.

Pulling his mind back to the hollow, Obi-Wan jerked his hands away from the basin and stumbled backward. He gasped for breath as he met Galadriel's eyes. The regal Elf woman looked back at him with intense sorrow. "Your world is in danger," she whispered.

Obi-Wan nodded, knowing it was true. He turned back to Aragorn, but recoiled when he saw the look of horror on his lover's face.

"What are you?" Aragorn whispered. Before Obi-Wan could answer, Aragorn fled up the stairs and away.

…

Elvish (Sindarin) translations

Suilanna, Haldir o Lórien

Greetings, Haldir of Lórien

Mae govannen, Estel o Rivendell a mellon

Welcome, Estel of Rivendell and friend

Hannon le

Thank you