It proved incredibly difficult for Elsa to come up with enough words to describe her feelings when entering Rivendell. As they descended down the path from the pass, she gazed around in silent wonder at the ancient, yet elegant beauty of the place, unlike anything she had seen before, as if Heaven had left a present to earth. Crossing a stone bridge over a rolling stream, the company entered and gathered in a circular pavilion, where ivy had been allowed to grow freely over the statues and sculptures of the gardens. For a moment, Elsa noticed that Bilbo had fallen behind; he had paused for a moment at the entrance, gazing in wonder at everything around them. She didn't blame him at all, having been entranced herself.

"Mithrandir," a voice spoke.

Gandalf turned, and seemed to recognize the owner. "Ah," he said, "Lindir!" Elsa turned to see a dark haired man cloaked in dark colors passing by a pair of armored guards and descending the staircase in front of them, giving a friendly gesture to Gandalf, who moved forward to speak with him. She noticed an unearthly beauty about him, something she had seen before in the woods near her dwelling…

"An angel?" she said quietly.

At the sound of this, the closest dwarves to her turned and gave her a funny look, as if she had gone insane.

"Angel?" Balin said, "Hardly. That's an elf, miss."

"Aye, they're not a race to be trusted," Glóin concurred, "Just ask Thorin, and everyone driven out of the Lonely Mountain."

Elsa felt somewhat embarrassed; she had been in this place for so long, and yet knew very little about it. The vision had been right; she really needed to get out more often. Then, somewhere in her mind, there was a memory of reading from some of the old pagan texts in her library of such beings; the light elves, and the dark elves, or so she remembered. Which of these were they?

Kili, meanwhile, leaned closer to her and whispered, "Just between you and me, I don't blame you for thinking that. Not that I fancy them, mind you."

"Lastannem i athrannedh i Vruinen," the elf called Lindir said to Gandalf. She did not recognize the tongue at all, but she admired how fluid and pleasant it was to the ears.

"I must speak with Lord Elrond," Gandalf said.

"My Lord Elrond is not here," Lindir reported.

"Not here?" Gandalf asked, "Where is he?"

Just then, there was the sound of a horn blast behind them—a very familiar sounding horn blast. Elsa turned with the others to see a large cavalry of riders dressed in armor and wielding spears and flags approaching very swiftly. Almost immediately, Thorin shouted something in Dwarvish, and Elsa found herself pulled into the center the group. As the horsemen (horse-elves?) came in, they started riding around the ring in circles, while the dwarves growled and grimaced, brandishing their weapons and baring their teeth, ready to go into battle—the last thing Elsa wanted to do. But then, almost as soon as it had happened, it was over; the riders ceased their circling, though the dwarves still remained wary.

The foremost of them, an elf with long dark hair wearing mahogany-colored armor, and astride a dark horse, came forward. "Gandalf!" he said.

"Lord Elrond," Gandalf greeted him, clearly relieved at his presence. He bowed, and asked, "Mellonnen! Mo evínedh?"

Again, more of that pleasant but strange language.

"Farannem 'lamhoth i udul o charad," Elrond replied as he dismounted and walked towards Gandalf, "Dagannem rim na Iant Vedui." He greeted Gandalf with a light embrace, and then held up a crude-looking weapon, something she recognized as being carried by one of the orcs from earlier. "Strange for orcs to come so close to our borders," the elf Lord remarked, while he handed the weapon to Lindir, "Something, or someone, has drawn them near."

"Well, that may have been us," Gandalf replied, motioning to the rest of the company. Thorin stepped forward, calmly but cautiously. The Elf Lord seemed to recognize him.

"Welcome, Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin," Elrond greeted him.

"I do not believe we have met." Thorin replied.

"You have your grandfather's bearings," Elrond explained, "I knew Thrór when he ruled under the Mountain."

"Indeed," said Thorin, "He made no mention of you."

Elrond then turned back to Gandalf. "Stranger still," he said, "is the winter fog that came with the orcs. I can't imagine that you were responsible for that as well."

Elsa's heart nearly skipped a beat; she hadn't realized how much of her powers she had exposed during the past day alone and how little thought she had given to the reactions of others. The dwarves had been one thing, since she had saved them and became an official part of the company, but what of the elves? Would such people react the same as her own did? Did she dare expose herself any further?

As if in answer to her own thoughts, Gandalf looked in her direction with comfort and assurance in his eyes, and Elsa felt much of the fear in her ebb away, though some degree of reluctance still lingered. She stepped forward, saying, "Actually…that was me."

She felt herself burn with the words. Never before had she actually admitted to something like that in her life, and doing so felt so against her.

The Elf seemed more fascinated than surprised. "Welcome, Lady…"

"Elsa," she responded, "of Arendelle."

"I have not heard of such a realm, before," Elrond remarked.

"It is…fairly distant. I wouldn't be surprised," she said.

To her relief, the Elf Lord did not bring up the fog again. He did, however say something else.

"Nartho i noer, toltho i viruvor. Boe i annam vann a nethail vin," he said.

Whether or not it was a complement, Elsa could not say.

"What does he say?" Glóin growled, "Does he offer us INSULT?" The other dwarves yelled out at the perceived slur.

"No, Master Glóin," Gandalf assured, "He is offering you food."

After a moment of brief deliberation amongst themselves, the dwarves turned back, looking somewhat more pleased, with Glóin himself replying, "In that case, lead on."

Dinner, it turned out, was a fairly pleasant experience; Elsa, having secretly conjured up an outfit more fitting for such an occasion, was offered up a seat alongside Thorin and Gandalf at the head table with Elrond. She listened intently as Elrond looked over the swords that Gandalf and Thorin had claimed from the Troll-hoard and described their history, and was lulled by the harps and flutes of the elven musicians. True, she wasn't the center of attention (and for that she was grateful), but it was the closest she had ever felt to being back home in Arendelle again, to feeling like an actual Queen...

Holding Thorin's sword in hand, Elrond analyzed the weapon quite closely. "This is Orcrist," he declared, "The Goblin Cleaver, a famous blade forged by the High Elves of the West, my kin. May it serve you well," he said as he handed it back to the Dwarf King. Taking the long, straight sword that Gandalf had claimed, he looked over it and said, "And this is Glamdring, the Foe-Hammer, sword of the King of Gondolin. These swords were made for the Goblin Wars of the First Age…"

However, Elsa didn't hear any more of it. She found her attention drawn to Bilbo, who sat with the rest of the dwarves at the table below them; she noticed him draw out his little blade somewhat, a look of envy and curiosity growing on his expression. Balin, however, said something to him, and he drew it back in his scabbard. Elsa knew that he had overheard Elrond's analysis of Thorin and Gandalf's swords, and could understand what he felt—personally, however, she didn't care much for swords, having learned to weaponize her own magic in this land. However, she could confess to having an admiration for the gracefulness of melee combat…

"How did you come by these?" Elrond said, shaking Elsa out of her thoughts.

"We found them in a troll hoard on the Great East Road," Gandalf replied, "Shortly before we were ambushed by orcs."

"And what were you doing on the Great East Road?" Elrond asked.

However, he failed to get a definite answer from him or Thorin, who walked away, grumbling. Instead, he turned his attention to Elsa. "If I may be so inclined to ask, Lady Elsa," he said, "I cannot help but be curious as to why someone would journey so far away from their homeland."

Elsa wasn't sure how to respond to this question. Clearly it had been a mistake to bring up Arendelle, no matter how polite it was in context. Her heart pounding, the goblet in her hand begin to frost over. "I…I needed to get out of the house," she quickly answered, "Get some fresh air, get some traveling in…" Not quite a lie, but not quite a truth, either.

Elrond nodded, apparently buying it, and didn't bring it up again, to her relief, allowing the frost to recede. The rest of the evening went on quite pleasantly…right up until Bofur decided to 'liven up' the meal with a raucous drinking song, and the resulting flurry of flying food that followed.

After dinner, Elsa was led by Lindir to her own private room, whereas the rest of the company elected to stay elsewhere. "This room," Lindir explained, "previously belonged to Arwen, Lord Elrond's daughter."

"And where is she?" Elsa asked.

"Staying with relations in Lothlorien for the time being," he answered.

"It's very kind of Lord Elrond to offer this to me," she mused, "Please send to him my compliments and gratitude." The elf bowed politely as he made his way out the door. Once he was gone, Elsa took a moment to take a big sigh of relief and collapse on the huge, soft bed. She really did feel like a real Queen again…then her thoughts turned back to Elrond's question from earlier. Why had she left Arendelle? Out of panic, of course. Her thoughts turned further back to that fateful coronation day, and all the terror that had accompanied it. She thought back to the look on everyone's faces, on Anna's especially…she couldn't have stayed there. There was no way that she could have…

And yet, she was Queen. As much as it did to her, tossing aside the crown didn't change the fact that an entire kingdom had depended on her.

Am I a coward? She thought, the words piercing her soul.

Getting up onto her feet, she walked toward the balcony and looked over the valley, bathed in the soft light of a crescent moon. She wondered what state her own kingdom was in. She prayed that it hadn't fallen to ruin…but if Anna was there, then surely she was taking care of things…assuming that it hadn't been her ghost she had seen the night before.

Her eyes wandered to an outcropping of rock a good distance away, veiled by the spray of several waterfalls. She could see at least five figures standing before a large slab of white crystal; Elrond, Gandalf, Thorin, Balin, and even Bilbo were there. But why?

Then, the clouds unveiled the crescent moon, allowing it's beams to fall upon the crystal and causing it to glow with an unearthly beauty. But still, the question remained: why? Did it have to do with the "questions that need answering"?

The next morning, Elsa went to search for Bilbo; for some reason, she felt comfortable discussing such things with him. She found him wandering around outside through the gardens, already in a pleasant state, which only seemed to increase when she came. Upon inquiry, the hobbit explained that Gandalf was off discussing things with Lord Elrond, while the dwarves were still busy eating breakfast. He then told her the events of the night before:

"Well, Gandalf has this map," he explained, "that shows a hidden passage where we can get inside the mountain. The thing is that neither he, nor any of the dwarves, could read the writing on it—which seemed strange to me, I mean they are dwarves, so they should be able to read their own language, but that's beside the point—so we had to take it to Elrond. He found these moon runes on it, which can only be read on the same night and under the same shape of moon they were written."

"And what did they say?" Elsa asked.

"Apparently we have to find a place where this thrush is supposed to knock on the last day of autumn, and the first moon of winter" he said.

"Then we don't have very much time then, do we?"

"No, and I don't like to think very much about it," he admitted, "to tell you the truth. That's also why I stepped out here; to get my mind off of things for a while."

"Do you mind if I join you?" she asked.

"Not at all," he smiled.

The rest of their day was spent wandering the halls and gardens of Rivendell, taking in the scenery and all the works of art that it had to offer. Over time, Bilbo came to tell her of the Shire, a land of rolling green hills and small streams, humble farms and fruitful fields, and of Bag End, the place that he called home. She in turn told him of Arendelle and its vast, snowcapped peaks, its fjords and forests, and many other things, but chose to leave out the palace of her birth.

They then came to a certain hall where there stood the statue of a woman holding in her hands a cloth cradling pieces of a broken sword. Across from it hung a painting where a human warrior swung a broken blade, possibly the same as the one on display, to strike the hand of a monstrous figure in black, skeletal armor. While beautiful and masterfully done, it only held Elsa's interest for a few moments before she felt compelled to move on, only to realize that Bilbo did not follow. She turned to see his gaze fixated on the hand of the dark one; on closer inspection, a golden ring could be seen on one of the dark one's fingers.

"Bilbo?" she said.

The sound of her voice seemed to shake him out of his trance. "Sorry," he said, "Don't know what got over me."

They then found a balcony overlooking the valley again, as the golden light of the sun shone in the afternoon sky. Their conversation then returned to their homes.

"Do you ever think of home?" he asked her.

"Why? Do you?" she replied.

"Well…of course I do. Sometimes I feel like I rushed out the door far too soon; everything that's happened to me thus far, it boggles my mind. What about you?"

"I'm not sure…" she admitted, "Honestly, I've been away from Arendelle a lot longer than you'd think, but I do think of it fondly, sometimes."

"Then why did you leave?" he asked.

"It's complicated," she replied, "I don't like to talk about it."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

Silence followed after that. They stood there for a long time, watching as the sun went its course in the sky. Eventually, Bilbo said that he was going to check on something, and left her alone, probably something that she needed at the moment.

It wasn't long after he left, however, that Elsa was joined by someone else. "Not with your companions?" the Elf Lord asked.

"Lord Elrond!" Elsa exclaimed, "No, I just…forgive me, I was not expecting anyone."

"It's quite alright," he said. "I understand your desire for solitude." He then added, "I would imagine it to be very lonesome, being the one person in a world not of your birth."

She looked over at him again in shock and surprise. "How did you…?"

"Exerting one's will over winter itself," Elrond explained, "is a strange and beautiful power not found in Middle Earth, a magic that I have not felt before. Your presence is also not of this world, and yet not of the next. I suspected it the moment you arrived here."

"Please, don't speak of this to anyone," she begged of him.

"I do not desire your misery, Elsa" Elrond assured her. "However, I am curious as to how you managed to come to Middle Earth."

After a moment of internal struggle, Elsa went on to tell him of how she had ran for miles and miles away from her homeland, and of the showers of glowing shards that had facilitated her coming to Middle Earth. As she told her tale, he nodded knowingly and analytically. At last, he spoke, saying, "In the five thousand years that I have walked this earth, I have heard rumors of gateways to worlds other than our own."

"Little wonder that they were rumors, then," Elsa responded. "I can't imagine that these 'gateways' were used very often."

"Perhaps," Elrond said, "however, the fact that you are here is testimony to the fact of their existence. However, these rumors also held that these gateways could only be opened by rare powerful gems."

"Then," Elsa started, "If someone has the gems…"

"Then they can travel through the worlds with ease."

Elsa allowed this to sink in for a moment; she had abandoned the thought of returning home for ages, but now, the possibility had opened up again. She could go back to Arendelle, back to the palace, back to Anna…

No. She couldn't. She shrugged the thought off, saying, "Well, I would assume that no one would know where these gems would be, given how valuable they are."

Elrond nodded.

"That's what I thought," she said. "It's probably better that way."