Hey everyone! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has been following the adventures. It has been so much fun writing these and sharing them with you. Things are going to start moving a little faster for our heroes in the next few chapters. I have tried very hard to write each story in the same style as the original so please bear with me! As always reviews are appreciated!
From her place several feet behind them Artemis watched and asked her own questions. "So Gandalf, is there a way to break the Bonding?"
He frowned. "Why would you want to?"
Artemis gave him a hard look and he sighed. "You can but it usually kills one or both."
She sighed. "Ok… so what happens when we get sent on to the next world that needs fixing? Does the bond travel between worlds, will it break when we leave or am I gonna have a heartbroken magically traumatized woman on my hands?"
He pulled his pipe out and packed it with pipe weed. "I don't rightly know. It's not a situation I've ever encountered before. We can always ask Galadriel."
Artemis nodded and turned her attention back to Tracey… Adessa, she had to remind herself. At this moment Tracey was the figment and Adessa was real. "Oh shit… how much of Tracey is in there right now? How much of Adessa is going to stick around if she gets her memories back?" She was talking to herself and Gandalf let her keep it up, he always learned something fascinating when she rambled.
"Shit… What happens when… if... she gets her memories back and she's not Adessa anymore, like at all. Legolas fell in love with Adessa, Bonded with Adessa, if there's no Adessa left in Tracey after the Amnesia is gone then he'll be stuck, bonded to a woman he doesn't love…"
"You aren't worried about her not loving him?" Gandalf asked.
Artemis laughed and it made Adessa and Legolas look back at them. "Tracey has loved Legolas for years in our world. This is a dream come true for her." She sobered. "I need to find out how much of Tracey is present in this new person."
Gandalf tried not to smile. "You should have been the advisor to a Great King of Men instead of a traveling saleswoman." He remarked, she'd shared some of her history with him while they traveled. "You have a keen mind and a dangerous one."
"Awww, thank you." She grinned at him and nudged her horse forward to ride beside Adessa.
"So… Adessa…" She sounded like she was reminding herself not to call the woman Tracey. "What have you remembered?"
Adessa gave Artemis a sideways glance and then looked her in the eye, still a little irritated with her for what she did to Legolas. But taking a deep breath, she pulled what little she could remember together and then spoke quietly.
"I don't remember much. There have only been a few instances where actions done by others, including myself, have brought about small portions of memory." She answered before taking a breath and looking thoughtfully to Legolas with a smile. "My recent memories and nightmares have brought back your face, but you seemed darker and fighting an entity of great evil. It wasn't a pleasant thought when you spoke sweet lies and laughed most cruelly."
She gave a shudder despite the warm weather and shook her head, not really wanting to talk about it,but knowing that she should because she needed to understand what she was missing. These recollections shouldn't end on a sour note so Adessa continued.
"Other times you would be singing, we would be laughing too... That's all I really remember, not much else." She sighed and looked at Artemis again, wiggling her ears. "You should know that you breathe so loudly we could have found you in the dark... so imagine your conversation to yourself behind us. Our ears don't miss much." She smirked and pointed to her ears as they wiggled again.
Artemis laughed her head falling back, it surprised Adessa since she had taken Artemis for a woman who wouldn't like having such things pointed out. Artemis's face was alight with the humor and her dark eyes sparkled but it didn't last very long, a small smile played at the corners of her mouth when she spoke again. "If I had wanted to keep the conversation private I'd have let you two get much further ahead. Even before you got pointy ears you could hear a coin drop from 100 paces through a crowd. Although you usually have the good manners to keep anything you overhear to yourself." She glanced over at Legolas who was ignoring her.
"I'm not sure how to explain the snippets you've seen in a way that you could understand without your memories. I'm not trying to be condescending," She held up a hand to forestall any protests. "If all you remember is this world then you're not going to be able to grasp concepts like a television or time travel. It's probably better if we just get to Galadriel quickly and see if she can restore your memory…" She looked at Legolas and Adessa who were holding hands as they rode. "Or if you even want to."
Adessa heard her but didn't want to respond right away, how could she? She squeezed Legolas's hand gently, it was mostly to comfort her, but as she looked at their road ahead she was starting to feel uncertain about getting to their destination. Having him there calmed her a little and she tried not to let anything else bother her while they rode, but she wasn't really successful. New questions bloomed through her thoughts now, as much as she would like to keep them at bay. What if everything this woman was saying was true? What if their shared Bond was broken when she regained her memories? But if she really was this Tracey person Artemis kept talking about would the Bond really change at all? She didn't see how if it could be true and her fears only grew a little more with every stride their horses took.
''Whatever happens in Lothlorien... choices are going to be made and it is going to hurt someone badly.' Adessa thought, letting out a deep sigh. 'What am I going to do? What will Legolas do? Would it kill him... me... or both of us?' She couldn't help but let out another quiet sigh and hope for the best.
Legolas squeezed her hand trying to comfort her then looked at Artemis his eyes blue steel and Artemis lifted her chin her own eyes firm and Adessa had the feeling she'd seen that before. "Even without her memories she cannot be so different from this Tracey you speak of."
Artemis snorted and shook her head. "This," She motioned at Adessa. "Is worlds different from Tracey. I don't know Adessa so I can't really speak to her personality but Tracey hates dresses, she's outspoken, sarcastic and take charge. She's a forceful personality not this demure quiet woman."
She looked at Adessa. "You're sweet but you have to remember, I'm used to Tracey. You're not her and if she does reemerge;" She paused and looked at Legolas to emphasize her next point. "She's going to be a completely different person, and you might find that you miss Adessa more than you like Tracey."
Adessa's facial features started to contort from worry to fear at the words Artemis spoke and she looked at Legolas, trying to study his expression. Summer Breeze picked up on his rider's uneasiness and whinnied nervously and sidestepping a little from their path. Instantly Adessa let go of Legolas's hand to comfort her horse, soothing him with smooth strokes and pats on his neck until he calmed down again. He tossed his head for a moment and then bobbed, flinging his mane up and shaking it wildly.
'You can sense what I feel can't you?' She questioned, glancing back at Artemis and choosing not to speak. 'I wonder what you would do if our roles were reversed.'
Artemis looked back at Adessa and there was something in her eyes, a weight of experience but she simply shook her head. "I'm not saying these things to be cruel, I want you both to have all the information. I might be totally wrong and I pray to my various gods that I am."
She spurred her horse forward and trotted ahead of them her shoulders set. Gandalf rode ahead of Legolas and Adessa to ride beide Artemis but neither of them spoke any further.