kohakumiyu (km): weeeeeee the third chapter, sorry for the wait! Oh and in reply to one of my wonder reviewers (thank you thank you) I'm sorry about the Eomer couple thing

but I just have to do it, so pretty pretty please! Just ignore the standard for once, awright? okee now onwards with the story, oops sorry disclaimer first right?

Skyler: I don't like Haldir he's annoying

km: So?

Skyler: so why can't I have Rumil and Orophin back, they're nice! (pout).

km: Because I like Haldir, it's too bad I don't own him or anyone except you and Ashlocke of course.

Skyler: Hey you don't own us either, we're your best friend...well your best friend/cousin(Skyler)and aunt (Ashlocke) really.

km: Okay anymore whining from you I will let you marry the Balrog.

Skyler: Wahhhhh! Kohakumiyu is mean!

km: (sigh) see what I have to deal with everyday?

Ashlocke: thank God I'm not really your mother. By the way why did I just disappeared?

km: ehhh, because you've done your job and you're finished?

Ashlocke: kohakumiyu if you do not put me back into the story I will personally kill you.

km: but but but...

Ashlocke: NO BUTS

km: okay how 'bout I write another one for you eh?

Ashlocke: (glare) you better

Chapter 3

"Allo, you're here early." Skyler said sarcastically as she trudged into the archery range.

Haldir smirked slightly, "It is not that I am early, it is that you're late."

Skyler glared at him, "Well excuse me… I just happens to need sleep." Then she caught sight of a new bow in Haldir's hand and her eyes lit up, "Ooooh, is that for me?"

"What do you think?" Haldir asked coolly.

Skyler grinned madly, "Excellent! I finally have my own bow, what about a sword now!" Haldir glared at her and Skyler laughed, "Sorry, just joking." Haldir shook his head good naturally and motioned her to come closer then gave her the bow.

"I will give you the quiver tomorrow."

Skyler stared at him, "Did you make this?"

Haldir didn't answer and Skyler took that as a yes, she laughed and gave him a quick hug, "You're adorable."

Haldir glowered at her, "Fine, fine, not adorable," Skyler grinned sheepishly, "Nice, you're nice, okay?"

A faint smile appeared on Haldir's face and Skyler gave him a punch good naturally, "You just like making fun of me, don't you?"

"And that is only because you are 'adorable' to make fun of." Haldir said and Skyler rolled her eyes, "Come we have to continue Sindarin today."

"What? We're not practicing?"

"Lady Skyler, you already put off studying for a week now, I would deem it reasonable for you to continue it today."

Skyler pouted but she sighed, "Alright."

An hour later…

"Funny, I never noticed how exceedingly difficult it is to learn elvish." Skyler grumbled as she poured over the vocabulary on the table with Haldir.

"It is called Sindarin, not elvish."

"Same difference."

"I believe I can finally understand why Rumil and Orophin gave up on you."

Skyler raised her head and glowered at him, "Excuse me, they did not gave up on me! The last time I heard some Marchwarden decided to send his brothers back to the borders just because they played a trick on him, and a quite insignificant trick for that matter. They only 'misplaced' your sword!"

Haldir responded indifferently, "It was for their own well being, they lack discipline."

"They do not, they're just interesting!" Skyler retorted as she went back to her Sindarin lessons, a few seconds later she smack her head against the wooden table, "Oh by Valar somebody please kill me!"

Haldir sighed, "Come, we shall stop for the time being, I fear for my own health if we should continue."

"Yes!" Skyler grinned as she jumped up and gave Haldir a hug, "You are my best friend!" Haldir stiffened then relaxed as he accepted the unexpected assault.

"And just a few moments ago someone believed I was boring." Haldir said dryly.

Skyler ignored the jib and started hopping away from the garden, "Come on, you don't honestly expect me to sit here studying the whole day willingly! Especially on such a nice day!"

"You always said that." Haldir remarked as he followed Skyler out of the garden.

"Truly, don't be so nit picky, I mean, do you just memorize everything I ever said?"

"It is not hard, you are very repetitive."

Skyler stopped to turn around and made a face at him, "Really be nice! I have just come to a conclusion that you're not unfriendly. You just sound like you are, but inside, you are just a big softy, so do try to live up to my conclusion."

Haldir laughed, and Skyler said triumphantly, "Ha, see, you laughed, therefore you're not really a bad person after all."

"I'm afraid I don't have to live up to anything because I resent your belief that I am a big softy on the inside since I am not."

Skyler grinned and jumped back beside him, "Of course you are, you're nice enough to give me a break!"

Haldir smirked, "Yes in exchange for me to live longer."

Skyler threw up her hands in defeat, "You are absolutely hopeless, can't you be pleasant for once?"

"Oh but I am, Lady Skyler."

"Yeah, probably, comparing to the way you talk to Rumil and Orophin. I swear, you enjoy making them sweat. And stop calling me that!"

"First of all, there is nothing wrong exerting my authority over my brothers, and secondly, why should I stop?"

"You're the most annoying elf ever! You do realize that no one and I do mean no one calls me a lady except for you!"

"That's because you don't want them to." Haldir responded deadpanned.

"Well yeah, I told you that too, but do you listen? No, you don't you stubbornly arrogant elf." Skyler said stomping her feet.

Haldir glance down amusedly which made Skyler angrier, "You just like to make me mad, don't you?" she said as she punched him lightly on the arm.

"Not really Lady Skyler." Haldir replied but a small grin on his face betrayed his thoughts.

"Yes you do," Skyler snapped, but her face softened, "However, it is nice to see you smile, makes you look less like a statue."

"Pardon?"

"You know, you always look so cold and stuff, kind of like a statue, a marble statue."

Haldir stared at her for a while then turned away and whispered something. "What?" Skyler asked.

Haldir turned back and to Skyler's surprise, he gave her a small smile, "Nothing Lady Skyler, nothing at all."

Skyler shook her head at him, "Whatever. Come, I heard Lady Galadriel's daughter has arrived yesterday or maybe it was the day before that? Anyways, I want to see what she's like. If she's anything like Lady Galadriel, she's probably very pretty. But all elves are very pretty anyways, sometimes it makes one feels kind of lowly just to look at them, at least for me it's like that." Skyler said the last part while wrinkling her nose as she started to walk again.

"You don't really have to debase yourself so, you do quite well for a human." Haldir said offhandedly.

Skyler laughed and looked at him, "Why thank you Marchwarden Haldir, I do believe the sun has risen from the west today, seeing as someone has charmed your tongue to allow you to produce something eloquent and complimentary."

Haldir's mouth twitched but his cold façade held, "I reserve my compliments until I see fit."

"How quaint." Skyler muttered said tugging her hair, "Where are we going anyways?"

Haldir glanced at her, "You mentioned you wanted to see Lady Celebrian, daughter of the Lord and Lady."

"Oh yea, but can I really? Won't she be busy?"

"No, Lady Galadriel has said that she wants you to meet her daughter also."

"Oi, excellent then." Skyler grinned, "Are you going to stay though?"

"Why?"

"Well, it would feel kind of weird for me to be alone and talk to her, I don't really know her, after all."

"You had no problem conversing with me."

"Well you're different."

Haldir raised his eyebrows, "Oh really."

"Oh shush, don't get all weird. I could hardly be shy around a person who carried me all the way from the edge of Lothlorien to the city."

"Hm, and who told you that?"

"Rumil."

"He must be exaggerating then."

"I doubt it, after all he said he didn't carry me, and neither did Orophin. And I honestly doubt I flew here. Admit it I am a lovable person, while at least not despicable, right?"

"No you're not despicable."

"So we're friends then?"

Haldir look at her coolly, "Why else would we be conversing?"

Skyler laughed, "I don't know, you could be…oh I don't know, I do like you though even if you're not as funny as Orophin or Rumil. You are more fascinating, I think."

"I see."

"Okay…I think I'll retract that statement…"

"Come, Lady Celebrian is currently with Lady Galadriel." Haldir said as he winded up a stair.

"Excellent." Skyler grinned as she followed him.

"Ah greetings Haldir and Skyler." Lady Galadriel smiled when she saw them. Her daughter Celebrian inclined her head in a modest greeting too. It was clear that she inherited more from her father, for her hair was silver and her eyes were grey; to Skyler she looked like a star twinkling in the sky.

"Greetings my ladies, I shall leave Skyler here with you now." Haldir said, Skyler could have sworn she saw him smirked as he left.

Skyler held back a wince and looked at Celebrian nervously.

"Come here my dear, I promise my daughter won't bite." Lady Galadriel said amusedly when she sensed Skyler's nervousness.

Skyler blushed but she walked closer to the sofa that the two were sitting on.

"Would you care to sit beside me?" Celebrian asked kindly patting the sit between her and Galadriel. Skyler nodded and sat down, "Do tell me about you, for mother often brought up your name."

Skyler blushed again but said, "Well, my name is Skyler Evans, Sky for short. Ummm, currently twenty-years-old, I think. I ummm, came here three years ago, and I've always wanted to have a twin." Skyler winced, "Sorry that just kind of got blurted out randomly."

Celebrian smiled, "my dear I would think your mother would absolutely blanched at your last words."

Skyler laughed, "She did when I told her that, and she went on ranting for another hour about how hard it is to take care of twins."

"Indeed," Galadriel added, "my grandsons are twins, I'm afraid they gave Celebrian numerous headaches."

"They did, I still remember the time when they decided to go on an adventure to slay a dragon. It took Glorfindel, their tutor, nearly a week to convince them to stay. And they were only children then." Celebrian smiled in remembrance.

"But isn't it awesome though, I mean having someone who look exactly like you?"

"Not at all," Celebrian said shaking her head, "A lot of times Elrohir and Elladan gets dreadfully tired to getting mixed up. I'm afraid even Arwen, their younger sister, gets confused when she was young."

"Oi," Skyler said making a face, "I guess that's true, I look kind of like my mom, and some times people gets us mix up even though we look nothing alike. And it is kind of annoying." Skyler's face grew slightly downcast as she thought of her mom and she look away sadly.

"It's alright my dear, I'm sure your mother is fine wherever she is, and she would want you to be happy too." Celebrian said kindly.

"It's not that, I mean, I just miss her, that's all." Skyler said trying not to cry.

Galadriel sighed and patted Skyler's head, "Shh, it's quite alright."

Skyler wiped her eyes and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to spoil your good time."

Celebrian shook her head gently, "No, it is good for you to talk of your mom; it might help you fell better."

Skyler smiled weakly, "yeah, probably," then she added brightly, "Do you want to come with me to the kitchen; I've wanted to try this new dessert for days!"

Celebrian turned to her mother, "Do you want to come?"

"No, you two can go, I'm afraid I have to convince your father to brush his hair again," Galadriel sighed, "What am I going to do with that elf, waking up with the messiest hair in all middle-earth, and never having the patience to even comb it!"

Celebrian giggled as she stood up, "Come on, you would not want to be here when mother brushes father's hair. They get into terrible arguments about it."

Skyler looked at her incredulously, "All for a mop of hair? Gosh." But she followed Celebrian towards the kitchen anyways.

That night after she returned from the kitchen she decided to walk around in the garden. She can't quite go back yet, there's this barrier, this dam inside of her that is threatening to explode. The past few hours she spend making bread and desserts with Celebrian had reminded her of the time she spend with her mother. Her mother who had always been there for her; who had raised her almost entirely on her own. Her mother who had taken the place of both parents.

She sat down on the side of the fountain and looked into the reflecting water. In its calm surface she saw a girl with a slightly tanned face that had just begun to pale in the deep woods of Lothlorien, dark brown eyes, and a stubborn chin. A lot of people said she looked like her mother but she knew that's not true because Ashlocke had soft graceful curves and delicate features that she could never hope to have. And although her mother never said it Skyler knew she was more like her dad with the boyish features and the proud tilt of the head.

Let's face it she would probably look a lot better as a guy than a girl with the high cheekbones and the slightly round stature.

Yet Ashlocke always scold her for lack of self-confidence and when she complained that she's not like her, Ashlocke would just smile and tap her heart and said, "we're more alike than you would ever know, I was just like you when I was your age."

A drop of water disturbed the peaceful water and it was soon followed by a stream as the tears fell unceasingly from her face. It wasn't fair, her mom was all she had and now the Valar had taken her away from her mom. Skyler bit her lip, trying to stop crying but years of hiding away her loneness and pretending everything was alright just surfaced and would not be suppressed.

Mom…please…I miss you…mom…her shoulder was shaking and trembling as she struggled to contain herself. The elves would never cry, she thought bitterly. Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder, she swiveled around to find Haldir standing behind her. Skyler quickly lowered her head and wiped off the tear stains on her face but her eyes were still watery.

"Yes?"

Haldir gazed at her, a hint of softness entered his eyes, "You can cry if you want to," he sat down beside her, "my should is not just good for hitting." Skyler stared at him in surprise then tears began falling again. She collapsed into his arms, "I miss her, Gods I miss her so bad…why, why does it have to be me! Why!...oh god…I need her here, please!" she sobbed as she held on to Haldir as if he was her only anchor on this world. Haldir returned the embrace just as tightly while stroking her hair lightly.

After a while her weeping finally cease and she raised her head to look at Haldir.

"Thank you." Skyler said softly, "I'm sorry, you didn't have to be here to see me like this. I'm twenty years old and I'm crying for my mother, how pathetic is this."

Haldir shook his head, "No don't ever say that, it is natural for anyone to miss their parents."

"Even elves?"

"Even elves."

"Thank you." Skyler whispered fiercely as she gave him a hug again.

"I will always be here for you, you know that do you not?"

"I know." Skyler nodded. Haldir reached over and gently wiped the tear stains off her face, "Come, I will walk with you back to your talan."

The incident was never mentioned again, but Skyler could still remember the utter tenderness that was in Haldir's eyes when he was looking at her. It was something that reached down deep inside of her and spread a feeling of warmth.

For the next few days Skyler spend most of her times with Celebrian and in that time she grew quite close to the Lady of Rivendell. Of course spending most of her time with Celebrian doesn't mean she's neglecting Haldir. She would never do that, because he is part of her now, a part that cannot be separated. And if it wasn't for the fact that Skyler knew Haldir couldn't get jealous, she would have sworn he was.

"I take it you are going to Lady Celebrian's talan again?" Haldir asked coolly.

Skyler grinned at Haldir and said, "Oh really Haldir, is that jealousy I hear?"

Haldir just glanced at her coldly and said, "Why should I be jealous, it is an emotion relatively unheard of in elves."

Skyler shrugged and walk up to him to gave him a pat on his arm, "Don't worry, you are irreplaceable. After all, you are my best friend."

Haldir's mouth curved up slightly, "I'm honored."

"You should be! And talking about friends, when is Rumil and Orophin coming back? I swear it's been months!"

"In about two or three years."

"What?"

"If I had my ways they would be spending their whole lives on the border."

"Are you kidding? Two or three years?"

Haldir just looked at her nonchalantly.

Skyler winced, "Oh yes, the good ol' elven immortality," she shook her head, "Blah. Anyways, I will see you later. Alright?"

"Fine." Haldir replied curtly.

Skyler smiled, she had long learned to ignore that freezing façade of his because she knew deep inside he's not like that. She turned around and set off toward Celebrian's talan.