Hey all!

First of all, many, many apologies for the long time I haven taken to upload...there are a few reasons for that which I will enumerate upon! The biggest problem was a growing dislike of my story. The problem with writing is that you are never satisfied, and each time you leave writing for a little while and come back to your old stuff, you think that what you have written previously is horrendous. Coming back to this story, I'm almost embarrassed by it... I just have to remind myself that I'm a growing writer, just like everyone else!

The second major problem with my dislike of Rilla... I think I may have matured over the months (hopefully, anyway!) and now she irritates me...a lot... Also, her name irritates me, but I know that my own lack of originality caused me to just choose a name of Tolkien's. Last of all, I moved away from home for the first time in my life to go to university for the second semester, deciding external studiesy wasn't helping me much... That's taken up a lot of time and attention, as you can understand!

However, here I am again posting... I thought there was no harm in finishing the story (all the chapters were written from the time I put chapter one up, you see), just for those few people out there who appreciated what I had been attempting to write!

Sorry about all the problems that are inevitably in my writing...(these including grammar, inconsistencies, non-canon tendencies, or non-purists lapses. I am *not* a Tolkien purist. I have neither the time nor dedication to study all of Tolkien's writings to such depth as many others have done, though I admire them.)

Varne

Chapter 12: Uh Oh (How Expressive Two Words Can Be)

It was the air, more than the light, that informed the group of the oncoming dawn. A fresh, dewy smell soaked the scenery, and the exhausted elves relished in it as they woke. All night they had danced, played games, talked - and spent some time in peaceful, joyous reverie. It was Elladan who got them all up.

'All arise, dear elves, the dawn comes to greet us! Also, it will take us some time to make our way back, and into bed!'

'Oh, I do not know how I will get up before twelve!' Yolande murmured into the grass, before Elrohir hauled her up unceremoniously. 'Unfeeling creature!' she reproached, which he acknowledged with a grin.

The breaking up returned Legolas' uneasy feelings to him in full force, but he attempted to forget them, as he dangerously provoked Rilla and Varya into arising by pulling their hair.

'You will have to be more forceful than that, Legolas!' called out an amused Orophin, as Rumil and Elladan came up, and lifted the two girls to their feet without a thought, steadying them while they found their balance.

'Cruel, cruel thing!' complained Rilla to Elladan, who grinned.

'Dear me! And here I was under the delusion that it was you who decided we must leave at this time!' he replied with a grin.

'And I am sure that it was Rumil's idea to have an all-night party!' exclaimed Varya, who was being steadied by Rumil.

'And you would be so bold to say you did not enjoy yourself greatly?' challenged Rumil, with a knowing smile.

'Oh, I do not know whether I would be 'bold' enough…but I may be cheeky enough!' Vari replied with a laugh.

'Oho!' cried Rumil, 'An ungrateful she-elf, she is!' as he placed her over his shoulder and ran off towards the track, with Vari complaining as quietly as she could. The other ellyn finding this manner of getting the elleth up and awake and out of there quickly amusing, did the same. Vincere quickly picked up a still sleeping Neminari before Jorluin could come close, and Elladan took off after Rumil and Vari with Rilla. Elrohir snatched up Yolande and Hwestawen was exceedingly surprised to find herself lifted off the ground by a cheekily smiling Legolas.

'It seems to be the only way to move you elleth quickly!' He whispered to her, laughing.

Lenodarin, Jorluin, Querdin and Orophin sedately followed the crazy pairs, laughing and shaking their heads, before they overtook them to prepare their passage back over the wall.

The landscape was rosy pink by the time they had made it over the wall, but the sun had still not shown as yet. Orophin, the last of them, had just jumped down when the group had an awful shock. Out of the shadows walked Haldir and Glorfindel, both looking scarily grim and stern.

'Uh Oh.'

Haldir was icily cool.

'If you would be so good to return immediately to your flets and catch up on your sleep. When you wake, I expect every one of you to come to my flet. I will not say anything now but that I am exceedingly displeased with this obvious show of disrespect and disobedience for Lothlorien's laws. Go now, but would my brothers and sister please stay.'

Quietly, the eleven others disappeared, leaving three very wretched young elves behind.

Haldir came up to the three, and looked at them. None of them were able to meet his eye. He shook his head.

'Would you come to my flet, now, please. Glorfindel, would you accompany us?'

Glorfindel nodded - hating to be there, but feeling the necessity of it.

The five of them silently made their way to their tree, and then on upward, to Haldir's flet.

'Sit' Haldir commanded the three. With his eyes he offered Glorfindel a chair next to him, both of them looking at the young siblings sitting together.

Orophin, as the eldest of the three, felt he had to speak.

'Haldir, I am truly sorry for having led Rumil and Rilla into this venture.'

Haldir snorted. 'I am afraid, Orophin, that your bravery does no good. I know very well who encouraged this venture.' This was said very pointedly, and Rilla quietly lifted her head up.

'Yes, I know. I did it. I encouraged them. I made them promise they would do it.'

'I know that very well, Idril. I would not have expected less from you.'

A faint blush painted Rilla's cheeks.

'That the others were led by an elleth who is barely into her majority is disturbing, however. I would have thought that you would have known better - Orophin, Rumil?!'

Orophin and Rumil were feeling as low as low…All along they had known they were doing the wrong thing, in breaking Lothlorien's laws. However, they had pushed it out of their minds, thinking only of 'fun'.

Haldir, understanding what they felt, yet not willing to give them a reprieve too early, continued.

'Why did you deliberately break the laws of Lothlorien, Orophin? Rumil? You both knew that it is not permitted for anyone but those in authority to leave Caras Galadhon by night. You deliberately disobeyed this law.'

Haldir stopped. He glanced at the trio, and believed that he needed to change the circumstances slightly.

'Orophin, Rumil, will you go to your flets. I will be in to speak to you both after I speak to Idril.'

Both the ellyn blanched - understanding only slightly what may be coming for Rilla.

'Haldir, she is practically still an elfling! She may have encouraged us, but she is not the most guilty! She was the youngest there!'

Haldir, though he was pleased by Rumil's defence of his sister, merely repeated his wish for them to leave. They obeyed, sending worried glances to Glorfindel, who looked impassively back.

Rilla, left alone with Haldir and Glorfindel, felt shaky. She did all in her power to stop herself, and only just succeeded. She had been too busy trying to control her shame and fear to truly notice that Rumil declared her still an elfling.

'Rilla. Look at me.' Haldir's voice was stern and unyielding.

Rilla slowly lifted her head up, and looked with an as-yet expressionless face at him.

'Glorfindel told you why it was wrong to leave Caras Galahon during the night, did he not?'

'Y-yes…' Here Rilla's spirit came back to her suddenly, making her frown and blurt out suddenly, 'But he would not tell me the other reasons! He only told me it was wrong to leave because of Lothlorien's laws. He did not tell me the other reasons, and he said there were other reasons! I think it is stupid that he would not tell me the other reasons, if there truly were other reasons!'

Glorfindel was slightly taken back by this outburst, but Haldir was experienced and unimpressed.

'But he did tell you that it was against Lothlorien's laws to go out?'

'Y…yes…' the wind had been taken out of her sails, and once again she was unsure of her.

'Why then, did you encourage your friends to disobey this law?'

'Because there was no other time to have a celebration…'

'No time during the day?' Haldir's eyebrows were uplifted almost satirically.

Idril blushed slightly, having always feared Haldir's satirical words, and faltering replied, 'We…we could not have it during the day for R….someone suggested that we would have a chaperone forced upon us and we wanted to be…in our…secret place.'

'Did you not think that if you had consulted me I most probably would have deemed Glorfindel a suitable chaperone?'

Both Rilla and Glorfindel were surprised by these words. Glorfindel had not thought of it, and regretted it, thinking of all the trouble there had been when it could have been solved so easily…Idril was equally surprised but kept her face expressionless.

'Obviously you did not.' Haldir said, taking her silence as a confirmation, and smiled the tiniest smile as he registered Glorfindel's expression.

'Not only do I find you happily disobeying Lothlorien laws, Idril, you seem to have had an amazing lack of forethought. But I do not blame that on you - but I would have thought the others might have had the sense…'

This only increased Rilla's feelings of shame and littleness. She had been imagining, since she had come of age, how she was a mature elleth now. But here was Haldir being lenient on her because he still considered her and elfling…It was so humiliating! It was then that Rilla made a decision that she would have much reason to regret later…She would prove to Haldir that she wasn't an unthinking elfling anymore!

'I did think of that, but I decided it would be much more enjoyable to have the excitement of having it at night…'

Both Haldir and Glorfindel were dumbstruck. They look at the tiny elleth sitting in front of them, so boldly stating this utterly shameless statement that she had deliberately chosen to disobey the law not because there was nothing else to do, but because she rathered too.

'You what?' thundered Haldir. It was at that moment Rilla received the feeling that her move had been unwise.

Without waiting for a reply, Haldir went to her swiftly and lifted her out of the chair to stand in front of him, with his heavy hands holding her shoulders.

'Answer me! Do you speak the truth, Idril?'

It was the use of the formal name that did it.

'Yes!'

In a mere moment Glorfindel saw a multitude of emotions and intentions on Haldir's face, but drew Haldir's eyes to his with a slight movement and begged him with his eyes to consider a moment. Haldir, controlling his anger, sat, and made Rilla sit in a chair directly in front of him, while holding her hands tightly.

'Rilla, I can not tell you how much I am disappointed in you. To think that you deliberately, calculatingly disobeyed a law made by the Lady Galadriel herself!'

Idril had not thought of that…she felt so ashamed, what would the lady think? What was worse, Glorfindel was less than a metre away, watching this spectacle.

'Do you know I was tempted to send you away from Lothlorien?'

Idril gasped convulsively, incredibly dismayed, and her cheeks burned.

'And do you know why I did not?'

His eyes compelled her to answer.

'N-no.'

'Because even if you are no longer an elfling, you have behaved as rashly as one.'

Idril, overcome, dissolved into mournful, heartbroken tears.

She slid to her knees in sobbing gasps,. Haldir, who hated to reprimand his darling sister, but knew it to be necessary, knelt down beside her and held her, as she sobbed into his tunic.

'Shh, my darling. It is all well. Do not cry so. I am sorry I was so harsh.'

'T-then why were you!' she sobbed out.

'Because otherwise you would not have understood how displeased I was with your actions.'

'Haldir.' Glorfindel felt it necessary for him to speak…he had found it excessively hard to see Rilla so distressed…

Haldir turned his head towards him.

'I believe Rilla has something to admit to you…'

Rilla lifted a tear-stained face to Glorfindel, shock clearly written all over it.

'How did you know?'

'I was watching your face at the time. You had not thought of it, either.'

Haldir, confused, demanded an answer. He lifted Rilla's chin and made her look at him.

'Rilla, what do you have to confess to me?'

''Dir…' Haldir could see she did not wish to tell him, but made her continue, falteringly, 'I did not think about having Glorfindel as a chaperone. I only decided to cross the wall because I thought there was no way we could do it during the day.'

Haldir was shocked.

'Rilla! Why did you tell me then that you did!!'

'B-because…I…wanted you to stop thinking of me as an elfling who did…not know what she was...doing!' Her words ended in a wail into his tunic.

Haldir gave a disbelieving shake of his head and fought a grin.

'You little idiot! Give me a kiss, darling, and all is forgotten and forgiven!'

Idril, sniffing dolefully, lifted her head and kissed Haldir's cheek, and said with down turned eyes, 'I am sorry, 'Dir. I will not do it again.'

'You had better not!' Haldir lifted her up in his arms, and then remembering Glorfindel, set Idril down on her feet.

'Rilla, I believe you owe Glorfindel an apology.'

Glorfindel interrupted.

'I do not need an apology. May I have a kiss too?'

With a blush, Rilla complied, kissing him on the cheek before turning to Haldir, who picked her up and carried her to her flet.

Returning, Haldir collapsed on his couch. Shaking his head his gave a wry grin to Glorfindel.

'Elleths!'

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The rest of the chapters should hopefully follow quickly - I want to get this over and done with...lol... It's going to be an impressive summer if this is what spring feels like...!!!