Title: LOTR The Beginning

Chapter 3: Garden

Pairing: Gandalf/Galadriel

Genre: Ship/Romance/AU

Rating: Pg-13

Warning: Language, Threat of death (no character death)

Spoiler Alert: LOTR and the Hobbit (books, maps and movies)

Summary: Gandalf saves Galadriel's life after she fled Eregion by way of Moria to get to Lorien in the Second Age after the Rings of Power were created. Gandalf and Galadriel take a stroll around her garden.

A/N: If you don't like the idea of Galadriel falling for a younger version of Gandalf, then you might not want to read this. I am using the books, maps, letters, notes and movies as a frame to make my romantic fiction. This is not a Canon-Fanfiction. You were warned that this is Alternate Universe.

Gandalf strode down the steps following Galadriel into her garden. He was mesmerized by the fluttering of her long hair that had a faint wave that seemed to beckon him.

He allowed himself a moment to glance around and saw that he was walking between twin gray statues of elves that held bowls filled with flame. There was a seeing stand in the center of a thicket with massive tree roots that vaulted up like walls. He descended the last few steps thinking that they would go over to the center of the area, but she turned left walking under an archway.

Gandalf whispered to the stones and saw the flicker of green runes glow then fade. "This area is inside blocks those outside from seeing and hearing?"

Galadriel moved to the other side of the stone room gliding as if her bare feet did not touch the mossy ground. "That is true."

He stood transfixed upon her as she raised both hands to the stone wall and her voice flowed out as if in song. Before her, part of the wall waved like water ran down it, and she stepped into it. "Follow me."

His eyebrows rose then he moved forward extending his hand to feel the texture of the moving surface. He felt nothing, so he walked forward after a minute of study.

Gandalf opened his eyes on the other side to see a massive chamber with walls of stone and golden ferns three times his height forming a canopy that light could not penetrate. The stalks of the ferns put off a bluish green glow that fluctuated periodically like light shining under water.

Off to his left was an area covered with the same kind of large leafy plants that he lay on earlier. To the right, was a small but elaborate flower garden complete with statues and flowered vines.

Gandalf moved forward not seeing Galadriel. The center of the chamber was covered with the same soft moss from earlier, but here was a white marble pathway that led down to a good sized pond where a low lying waterfall lazily fell into it.

"Galadriel?" He paused at the water's edge seeing her dress lying across a bolder. He took another step then saw her in the water.

"You have found me." She grinned at him knowing that there were different plants under the water that softly glowed in different colors allowing him to see the outline of her body. "You appear shocked. I did not want to get my gown wet, but I can assure you that I am wearing something. Are you going to join me?"

Gandalf did not have the power of speech. He was too astonished at the sight of her nearly naked form moving under the water.

She laughed then went under and swam to him. She emerged near the edge and stood up since the warm water was only to her waist. She was a little disappointed that he did not disengage the spelled rune on his arm yet even though they were in a doubly protected area. "Trust?"

Gandalf tried not to look at the white material that was wrapped around her chest then hung down clinging onto her slender yet toned body to disappear under the water. "My Lady the only thing that you may trust at this time is that your current appearance may slay this old man." He put his hand over her heart. It was beating frantically in his chest, and he was convinced if she climbed completely out of the water at this point increasing his view that it would explode with exertion.

Her grin became mischievous. "Mithrandir, if you trusted me, you would not be an old man to fall to such disasters."

He knew it wasn't just her physical state that was causing his distress, but it was also the understanding that she had chosen him to depart such a gift too. When elves find a true mate, it is for life and that is a very long time for an elf. He knew she understood his situation in that the mission that caused him to be stripped of his god powers and sent to Middle Earth did not include taking an elf as mate. Even a secret one.

Gandalf took a deep breath while he gazed at her electric blue eyes. "My Lady, to proceed with this would mean that outside your garden we will not be able to show any signs of our affections. And, as you have already told me, you would remain here guarding your people. I on the other hand will be traveling far and wide trying to tip the scales for good. There is no way to know how often we may see one another. Years could pass. Hundreds of years may pass before we set sight on each other. This is moving very swiftly in the short time since we have met and I don't want there to be regret on your part."

Galadriel broke the eye contact and peered down at the white flower shaped ring of power on her hand. "I have not had this ring long, and am just now finding out its ways. In time, something like the incidence with the birds will no longer tax me. A swarm will only take a few whispered words or thoughts to dispatch. But now while I have been at my weakest, you protected me. You did so almost at the cost of your own life. It may have taken you some time to know who I was, but when you did then you knew that it was not the first time we have met. They may have washed your mind of some memories, but you managed to hold on to your memories of me even if they were repressed. Am I correct?"

He nodded.

She continued. "You may ask how I know this. If you did, I would say that during the hours I was healing you something happened. My ring glowed and memories from my childhood returned to me. I do not know why they erased all traces of you, but it appears that they did not do a very good job or my ring is assisting me where it perceives I need it. I remember when I was young that I would leave my dwelling in the morning and racing across the fields to a stream where a little Maiar with white hair that shone silver in the sun would be waiting. He would make small toy ships for me that we would sail together through the pretend perils of the stream till it reached the lake."

Gandalf added while taking his hat off and tossing it at the foot of the bolder. "He would get up very early. Even before the sun to insure he had a ship almost ready by the time his play companion would arrive."

She interjected. "I would push air at it causing it to sail around fish that the boy would conjure. We had many happy days playing by the lake creating our own worlds. Before I left Valinor, I saw a vision of the companions grown and once again playing in a body of water." She tipped her head back and wrung out her hair then flung it back watching him. "I can only conclude that when I left, they must have taken my memories of us away to stop such a thing from happening, but here we are."

"Here we are." He chuckled then spoke a few words of a spell that he remembered she enjoyed as a child. "My Lady likes glowing butterflies if I recall correctly."

She grinned while dozens of glowing lavender butterflies emerged from rocks and fluttered around the flowers. "You do remember correctly."

Gandalf placed his staff next to his hat and removed his outer cloak. "This will still be complicated if we consent to this."

She smiled, reached down getting a handful of water and splashed him with it. "Don't play coy with me. When I invited you to my garden and you stepped inside, I believed we had already consented."

He had closed his eyes just before the water made impact. He opened them now seeing the merriment in her expression even as he wiped the water from his face and long hair. "Very well."

Gandalf gripped his bicep and chanted several phrases till light shone from under his fingers and his body misted then reformed.

Galadriel gasped at the transformation. He was an aged man and then before her was a young man with shoulder length silvery white hair. She focused on his eyes, which were the same sky blue mixed with the gray of storm clouds. He removed the satchel from over his shoulder and his leather belt.

When he undid the belt for his sword, she spoke. "A conjurer with a sword?"

He gripped the fabric of his wizard's robe and pulled it off over his head.

Galadriel was surprised to see the knitted gray sweater that had long sleeves which had a cut out for his thumb and went just over his knuckles. "A sweater and pants. That's also unusual for one such as you."

He pulled off the sweater to reveal a thick muscular frame that was more consistent with being a warrior. "The sword, shirt and pants are practical when traveling. Riding horses and slaying dragons and all that." He undid his pants and let them drop. "Don't forget the plain cloth shorts." He left them on then sat on a smaller bolder to take off his boots and socks.

"Practical." She knew that he had a phenomenal looking form, but found herself drawn to his eyes. They were exactly the same, but encased in a younger vibrant body. She knew he felt the weight of her stare because he kept glancing up at her.

"What is it my Lady?" He stood.

"Your eyes. They are always kind and wise. Your voice…It's closer to what I remember." She winked. "I would sometimes ask you questions just so I could hear your voice as you took your time answering."

He did a shallow dive into the water and flipped over turning to her when he surfaced. She was gone. "Where?"

Metal clamped on his ankle pulling him under. Strong hands gripped at his body climbing up him as if he were a ladder.

He didn't kick or fight back knowing it was her.

He opened his eyes feeling that they didn't sting under the crystal water. Galadriel let go and hovered slightly over him with her golden air fanned out while lights from above danced over it. The multicolored plants in the water had her skin glowing with different colors. He would have happily drowned to look upon her a few more moments in this splendor, but she surfaced and he followed. He remembered that from when he was young. He always followed her.

They swam closer to the edge where they could stand up.

"At first, I thought a Watcher in the Water had me." Gandalf commented as she ran her fingers in his hair.

"I could not resist Mithrandir." She let him take her hand and place a kiss on her knuckles before he turned her hand over and kissed her palm. "I adore my forest, but love the water."

He murmured into her hand. "I remember." He pulled her closer to him. "I remember falling in love with you as we laughed and watched fish jump from the water."

Galadriel's mouth was mere inches from him and her body pressed against his asking for more, but she held still and drown in his eyes. "I remember thinking we were an unlikely pair, and I lost my heart to you while talking over the beings in the deep waters as we sailed those little boats. And now here we are."

They wrapped their arms around each other in an embrace as their hearts reverberated with the understanding that their love that was lost from memory so long ago had found a way to return. They could feel the joy exchanged between their souls as they griped tightly together…their lives and hearts becoming mingled once again.

He scooped up his love and laid her on the mossy ground then climbed out himself.

She rose to her full height and extended her hand to him, which he took without hesitation. He let himself be drawn to the soft plants which were the same fragrant kind he lay on when she healed him.

She made herself comfortable and he moved beside her facing her. With their heads resting inches apart on their arms, they watched one another as they let their minds relax their barriers more.

Her thoughts freely flowed with his. Feelings. Memories. Emotions. Desires. They held nothing back in complete trust.

His hand toyed with silken strands of her hair that had landed on her waist. In turn, she traced her hand over his neck toying with his unimaginably soft hair. They had no use for words or formed thoughts as everything that was one was now also a part of the other.

Galadriel pushed his shoulder back, hiked up her thin slip and straddled him in the same way that her heart had taken over his. She laid her body over him taking a first sampling from his giving lips. It was a slow caress that brought a hum of approval from him as his hands ran over her incandescent skin causing shivers of delight. Giving. Taking. Their bodies glided together bringing to fruition the desires that smoldered then burned.

Over the next few hours, their bodies melded together in love even as their minds, wills and destinies became intertwined even more intimately into one.

Gandalf woke some time later in a splash of water. He was submerged and thrashed to break the surface. He stood up in water to his waist seeing Galadriel smiling widely drying herself off. "What? Why?" He wasn't just flustered that she had dumped him into her pond, but he was also confused because she had the barrier back up around her mind and he couldn't sense anything.

"You needed to get cleaned up. We need to depart." She tossed her towel over the bolder and fanned out her gown preparing to put it on.

He was momentarily dazed by her unabashed state of nakedness. When her dress was on, he came back to himself remembering that he was upset and still standing in the water. "You can't just go around dumping people in water."

She laughed. "You are not people. You are a wizard. And from what I hear, wizards are always precisely where they mean to be. Just like you were earlier." She smoothed the fabric down from her waist over her hips making known exactly what she meant by her statement. "Besides, that grumpy expression works better when you are in your older fake form."

He shook his head and got out of the water. "I suppose you're right." He dried off and clothed himself.

Just before they reached the archway back into the rest of the garden, Gandalf gripped her hand stopping her. He looked down then at her hand. "Even as I touch you now feeling your warmth, I miss you already." He felt the tears building in his eyes and didn't care that he showed her his feelings because they were so comingled earlier.

She pulled his hand up and over her heart. She let herself float into vision then back. "I see many visits from Gandalf the Grey for there are many reasons for you to seek our people's counsel in days to come. You will become a part of our existence here. Do not fear. It will not be hundreds of years before we embrace again."

Gandalf listened to her melodious voice and felt the beat of her heart beneath his hand. "Thank you. That will be enough to hold me for now. And may I ask how far of a reach your communication may travel?"

She thought of her ability to send her thoughts into another's mind. "Past the Misty Mountains, but the more I wear my ring the farther the distance. Here." She reached out her hand and a moth landed. She whispered a few spell words to it. "Take him with you." She lifted up on the side of his hat and the moth flew inside.

He raised his eyebrows.

"It's spelled and will not need for nourishment. Your hat is safe. If you have need to talk to me, whisper to him and I will hear. I will then try to connect to your mind. Over time, I may be able to sense your location based on him."

Galadriel knew he had to reactivate the rune, and they had to leave the garden. "Cormamin niuve tenna' ta elea lle au'." (My heart shall weep until it sees thee again.)

Gandalf bowed then kissed her hand slowly knowing it was a safe place for his heart to rest. "Tenna' ento lye omenta." (Until next we meet.)

A/N: To let someone hold your heart in their hands with trust is not something to take lightly. Oh I enjoy them as a couple, but I am trying to stay away from anything too overly physical. I think this might have hit the right balance. Ok, now I need to watch Hobbit again, so I can write the next chapter. I used Grey Company elf phrases for fun. What do you think of the fic so far?

…..