A/N: Alright! So I'm definitely excite about this chapter! Thanks so much for all of you who have sent me amazing reviews so far! They really keep me going, guys! I was like WOW! I did not expect this story to be this popular but I suppose surprises always sneak up at the most unexpected of times!

Disclaimer: Try again. When I'm dead.

I amar prestar aen…The world is changed.

Han mathon ne nen… I feel it in the water.

Han mathon ne chae… I feel it in the Earth.

A han noston ned gwilith. I smell it in the air.

Much that once was is lost. For none now live who remember it.

~~~Chapter Six~~~A Mirror To The Past

Legolas stared at me deeply for a moment, taking in my heart broken, crushed state and the deadness I felt in every bone. Why did thing have to be this way? He gave me a small smile and did something that he had never done before since our first meeting. He brushed a strand of my loose dark hair behind my ear and took my tearful face in both hands. His silver eyes pierced my own and against my own control, my pulse sped and my heart began to hammer in my chest for a whole reason apart from the fear I'd felt in Moria.

"You are not to blame. Far from it, Valo. Gandalf went back to protect you." He said softly.

He smelled of green leaves in the depths of the rainy wood.

"If he hadn't gone back for me, he would still be here…" My voice sounded as hopeless as I felt.

I sounded defeated.

"Gandalf wanted to keep you safe. He went back because he saw something in you that no one else did. Something I was too blind to see at first. Take your time to mourn but to let it blind you to the journey around you would only disgrace his sacrifice."

He gave me another gentle smile before pulling me to my feet. Aragorn was at my side as we headed to Lothlorien though none of the other members of the Fellowship were eager to come anywhere near me. I was the official pariah, an outcast. Aragorn didn't give any hint that he minded at all. He had once been an outcast too.

`~o~`

The hillside of the Dimroll Dale was awash with the red rays of the dying sun. It brought a sharp reminder of the heavy loss they suffered. The woods of Lothlorien were just ahead, it's leaves reflecting the last light of day. Any other time, Valo would have taken the time to appreciate the wide array of colors but everywhere he looked there were reminders of Gandalf. Not even the beauty of the forest could dispel the ache in his heart. They passed beneath the trees in silence, none willing to break the unnatural quiet of the woods.

"Stay close! They say a great sorceress live in these woods. An elf-witch of terrible power. All who look upon her fall under her spell." Gimli whispered to the hobbits in his harsh deep voice.

Valo sighed, wrapping his arms around himself. He was trying to find some relief from this aching sadness inside him. He'd never experienced these feelings before. He had spent the rest of the journey in silence though no one was quick to make conversation with him anyways. No doubt that they were all still thinking him the next Dark Lord or something ridiculous. That would never happen. After all, his Master was immortal.

Your coming to us is as the footsteps of doom. You bring great evil here, Dark One.

Valo jerked as the whisper flowed through his mind like water over steel. It was a female voice, one he did not recognize. A word came to mind that he couldn't seem to make sense of. Legilimancy? What was that? He shrugged it off as one of the strange things he didn't understand about himself. Who was in his mind? Was it the sorceress Gimli spoke of? The Lady of Light? He hurried to catch up to the rest of the group, hiding like some sort of scared child at Aragorn's side. He reached over to take hold of the Man's finger, for once taking notice of how different the two of them were. Araorgn's hands were large, tanned and hardened by life in the wilderness and years of swordsmanship. Valo's hands were small and soft, pale. Legolas gave him a strange look that Valo could not decipher but did not comment. Thank goodness. He note that Frodo was looking around with a frown as well. What had he heard? Had it been the same thing that had flown through Valo's mind as well?

He was suddenly staring at the wrong end of a very pointed arrow. Behind that arrow was an elf that did not look pleased to have met up with them. They were probably trespassing on their home land after all. Their company was surrounded. Each archer had on a shimmery grey cloak that whispered against the ground like a dream. An elf with cold grey eyes and the long blonde hair that Legolas shared stepped to the front, eyeing the Ranger down stoically. Valo's grip around Aragorn's pointer finger tightened ever so slightly but the strange elf general caught the motion like a hawk. His eyes widened in horror before his face collapsed into a look of unadulterated disgust. Valo felt his stomach turn to ice. What had he done to earn such a reaction from a total stranger? He had never even met an elf before Legolas, let alone had the opportunity to offend this one! He took and instinctual step back. His great protector though, took note of their short-lived, silent interaction though and stepped in front of him, shielding him from the hateful general's view. Valo couldn't think of a way that he could even begin to repay Aragorn for all of the things he had done for him. He would try and find some small way though. Maybe with all of the silence lately, he could use it to think of something nice to do for the Ranger.

"Come." The strange elf said sharply.

~o~

We were taken to a high place in the largest trees I had ever seen before. An Elf city called Caras Galadhon. From what I could see, it was every possible meaning of the words "breathtakingly beautiful". I wished I could always be in such a place. It took ones breath away just to look out at the outskirts of the city in which we had been lead. It was so different from where I had lived ever since I could remember. The view from my room in Minas Morgul was dark and secluded, nothing like this. It looked out over the poisonous waters of the Morgulduin and the Stairs of Cirith Ungol. The only break in the black scenery were the horrible statues lining the road and the white flowers along the banks of the river, giving off their sickening scent. The Mountains of Shadow surrounded the stronghold on all sides. What was Mordor compared to this magnificence displayed all around me? It was like a dream. A dream I never wanted to wake from.

"Welcome Legolas son of Thranduil," The elf said in a more friendly tone though it was still stoic and calm.

It was an odd mirror to the Mirkwood Prince's own actions though there were distinct differences. Legolas had this nervous habit that I had noticed over the last few months. When he was deep in thought he would finger the end of his bow and this small frown would crease between his pale eyebrows. When he was frustrated, the stubborn elf would pace like a great caged feline. These were all things I had started to notice about Legolas that, as silly as it sounded, made me think better of him, despite his careful avoidance of me. It made him more real, more human in my mind. Legolas gave the general a small smile and a nod of acknowledgement.

"And Aragorn of the Dunedain, you are known to us."

Aragorn gave the same polite smile and small head bow that Legolas had.

"Haldir." The Ranger greeted.

So the elf's name was Haldir. Good to know finally. As if my thought summoned his attentions, Haldir swiveled his suddenly frigid gaze to me and an expression of foul loathing settled onto his face. I couldn't help but shrink inside myself at his gaze. I had never had someone immediately hate me on sight. Even Legolas didn't try to shoot me until I had told them that I lived with the Witch King. If they knew that I was the Dark Consort…Did Haldir know or suspect? Is that why he was disgusted with me? Legolas put a gentle hand on my shoulder in an uncharacteristic show of support. I looked up at him with widening eyes. He had stood up for me…to his own kind? Why? Haldir's eyes turned back to Aragorn with a hardened look in the grey depths.

"You bring great evil here, Ranger. You claim to be traveling to destroy Isilidur's Bain and yet you travel with the Dark One's own. You bring him among us. To be in his presence is to be in the presence of the Dark Lord himself." Aragorn looked taken aback and seemed as if he would say something but Haldir did not give him the choice, "You may go no further with that thing in your midst."

My heart felt as if it were breaking. I would have to leave this otherworldly beauty, all because I was…what? What did he mean by 'to be in his presence is to be in the presence of the Dark Lord himself'? Why they all…hate me? There were so many things that I didn't understand. I just wanted to belong somewhere, that's all. I didn't want the world, I didn't care for riches or power. I just wanted a home. I was starting to think that the only place that came even relatively close was back in Mordor. Back with my Master. Was it selfish of me to want more?

Aragorn took Haldir off to the side and I could hear them arguing heatedly. I was too busy staring at the ground though. I didn't want to look up and see the looks on the Fellowship's faces. Did they secretly agree with him? Legolas's hand left my shoulder at last and I though he would pull away like he had after the incident in Moria. I did not expect a soft hand to tilt my chin up. I was suddenly staring into his soothing silver eyes.

"Let no one put you down without your consent, Valo. You are different but no different than anyone else in this world. Show them that you do not fear them. Smile for them no matter how they treat you or hurt you. Show them that their words wash right off you like rain on a flower petal and that you are the better for it." He whispered in my ear lightly.

I hadn't realized that their were tears in my eyes until he reached over and brushed them away with a tenderness that I was unaccustomed to. A soft blush crept up my cheeks and I watched him walk back to his place at the front of our party in Estel's absence. I couldn't believe it. Was this a…a crush? By the Valor, help me. Haldir and Aragorn return momentarily, the argument dissolving. The elvin general looked none too please and he leveled me with a look that belied every ill feeling he had for me.

"You will follow me." He said, his voice calm and not betraying every reflection her had on me that was to obviously shown in his eyes.

A/N: Yay!! To Lady Galadriel next and Valo learns of his past, some of what's to come for his future and more about his nature that he never knew!! So exciting!