Estella's eyes slowly fluttered open before closing again. Next to her somewhere, she could hear a soft voice calling to her to wake up, but her body refused to obey. Her eyes felt heavy, every inch of her body felt like dead weight, and her head felt like it would split open. "Estella, pen neth, you must open your eyes now child." She heard the voice calling to her once more. Why did it sound so familiar?

Ever so slowly she opened her eyes and tried to turn her head toward the one calling her name. "Where am I?" Estella asked weakly.

"You are in Rivendell, Estella. You have been asleep for three days. I was beginning to think you were lost to us," the mystery voice replied as he caressed her forehead gently. "Come now, let me help you up so you can drink some water. You must be very thirsty."

At the word Rivendell, Estella opened her eyes wider and saw sitting in a large chair next to her Lord Elrond pouring a glass of water with a soft smile on his lips. "Lord Elrond? Wh…what happened? How did I get here? I cannot remember anything except I was fleeing from those…those creatures," Estella said as she placed a hand on her head trying to remember what happened.

"Easy child. I will answer your questions in time, but right now, I think you should drink this." Elrond helped Estella sit up, and at first, she nearly collapsed again, but fortunately, Elrond had a good grip on her, and she was steadied.

"Thank you," Estella said as she took the glass of water and drank it greedily not realizing just how thirsty she really was. When she finished, she sighed in relief.

Elrond laughed and took the cup, filling it again. "Easy there, you have not drunk in a very long time. You were severely dehydrated and barely alive when you were found and brought here."

Estella retook the cup and this time took her time in drinking it. When she finished, she again went to ask her earlier questions, but before a word could pass her lips, Elrond began to speak, knowing what it was she wanted. "I am not entirely sure what happened to you, Estella. My Elves were on patrol out in the High Pass when they heard someone running and screaming for help. When they arrived, they saw you on the ground trying to protect yourself from a band of Orcs. The Orcs fled when they saw the patrol and then you fell unconscious. When they brought you to me, you were barely alive." Elrond looked at Estella who had a look of fear and a hint of sadness in her eyes. "What I would like to know is what you were doing out in the High Pass all by yourself."

Estella swallowed hard. What did she tell him? Would he allow her to stay or would he send her away? As she repositioned herself, her mother's sapphire necklace came into view. At seeing the jewel, Elrond's eyes grew wide. It cannot be, he said to himself feeling his breath hitch.

Estella noticed the change in expression on Elrond's face and became worried. "Is everything all right?"

Elrond looked at Estella and smiled. "Yes, my dear, everything is fine. Would you excuse me for one minute? I need to go and grab some items from my study. I will be back." Estella nodded as Elrond got to his feet and quickly left, leaving her more confused than ever.

Elrond swiftly strode down the hall, his blue robes swishing as he turned the corners. Where was his son? He had to find him. Elrond could barely believe it, and he would not have if he had not seen the necklace. Now he was beginning to realize why she looked so familiar. She looked like her mother: Luiniel! He knew he had seen those eyes before. The question was, where was her mother.

As he was pondering these thoughts, he saw his sons further down the corridor and called out to his eldest. "Elladan. I was just looking for you. Please, you must come with me. There is something you need to see."

"Father, is everything okay? What is it?" Elladan asked, concern in his gray eyes.

"Everything is fine, but I must show you something that concerns…that involves your wife."

Elladan winced in pain at the mention of his wife. "Luiniel?" Elladan was barely able to speak her name for the very mention of it was a dagger cutting into his heart. "Father, you are not making any sense." Elladan was almost ready to call a healer himself.

Elrond sighed. "Do you remember the young elleth rescued in the High Pass three days ago?" His son nodded and looked at his brother before looking back at his father. "She has finally woken and as she sat up a necklace came into view," he sighed again and looked into his son's eyes, "Elladan, unless I am mistaken, it is the very same necklace you had made for Luiniel before she disappeared."

Elladan's face whirled through a myriad of expressions, shock, pain, anger, confusion; before settling on a neutral blankness which only served to show his family how strong the swirling storm of emotions inside was. "That is impossible. Luiniel vanished without any trace. It cannot be hers," he replied angrily and began to walk away before his brother grabbed him by the arm.

"Brother, perhaps the Valar brought her back? Maybe you should take a look," Elrohir said softly, trying to calm his brother down.

After a brief moment, Elladan nodded and rushed with long strides to the healing room Estella was occupying. Behind him, Elladan could hear the footsteps of both his brother and father following him. When he got to the room, he halted, suddenly unsure. What if this was her necklace? What if his Luiniel was back? If that is the case, then who was this mysterious elleth? He felt his father's hand on his shoulder. "Go to her, ion, talk to her, but be careful not to frighten her. She has been through a lot already."

Swallowing hard and taking a deep breath, Elladan walked in and noticed Estella partially asleep, breathing deeply. She looks so much like her; he thought to himself.Tears began to fill his eyes as all the memories he tried so hard to keep hidden started to resurface, and he felt her loss as strongly as the day they had given up all hope of finding her. Steadying himself, he walked closer to get a better look at the necklace so he could know, so he could go back to forgetting. When he got to the edge of the bed, he saw a bright flash of blue. It was a shade of blue he knew intimately, one he had seen many times before and in that moment, he knew; this was her necklace––Luiniel's necklace. A small part of him was not surprised; perhaps he had known the moment he saw his wife's likeness lying in bed. Elladan felt his heart beat faster with each passing second as the realization came to him. This must be Luiniel's daughter––his daughter.

As he reached out to touch the necklace, almost in a trance, Estella's eyes flew open to see a strange ellon standing next to her. Before she could scream, Elladan put his hands out to show her he meant no harm. "I am sorry; I did not mean to scare you. My name is Elladan Elrondion. My father asked me to check on you."

Estella took a deep breath to calm herself, shaking slightly, yet intrigued by the tears in the ellon's eyes. "What were you doing, reaching out…like that?" she asked, still unsure of this strange Elf standing before her. However, the more she stared at him, the more she felt as if she knew him, but that was absurd. The only Elf from Rivendell she met was Lord Elrond. Yet, she could not shake the feeling she knew him. Maybe it was because he was his father's son but she could not be certain.

"Forgive me, I saw the necklace around your neck, and I only wished to look at it closer. Where did you get such a trinket?" he asked not taking his eyes off the band.

Absent-mindedly, Estella fingered her mother's necklace. Why did he wish to know this? "This belonged to my mother. Why do you want to know?"

Sucking in a sharp breath, Elladan felt tears beginning to form as he looked at this young girl who looked so much like his wife. "Who was your mother?"

Estella's eyes widened in confusion. Why was he so interested in her mother? "My mother's name was Luiniel." Taking out her heart shaped pendant which held a picture of her mother inside she opened it up and handed it to Elladan. "This is her right here."

Shakily, Elladan took the pendant from Estella's hand and looked at the picture. The world dropped out from beneath him, and he nearly fell to his knees as he was sent reeling through nothingness by the image of his beloved Luiniel. Nothing existed anymore but him and the locket with that tiny sliver of his wife, perfect, laughing. Holding back the tears he reluctantly handed Estella the pendant, wanting nothing more than to secrete it away, to treasure forever. He took a deep breath, dreading the answer to the question he had no choice but to ask. To not ask would throw him into an agony of not knowing, of wondering and torment. "Who is your father?"

Estella was plunged further into confusion as an ellon she had never met held her pendant as if it was a precious diamond, staring at its contents as if his heart were breaking a thousand times over and only the locket could dull the pain. At his question, she could only wonder further, a small spark of hope flaring. What if…she cleared her throat. "I––I do not know. My mother never married. She told me my father was from a different country, but she never told me where." She looked at the devastated ellon in front of her, at his father and brother with their grave expressions and felt as if there was something she was missing, some major point they were not telling her. "What is going on here?"

Looking at Estella and then at his father and brother, Elladan took a deep breath. "Nineteen years ago, my wife disappeared without a trace. We searched everywhere, to no avail. She was gone." His eyes took on a faraway cast as if he were reliving those days. "No one has seen anything of her, until now." Elladan turned his eyes back to Estella, and she saw something new there, something that could be hope and joy. "Her name was Luiniel, and the necklace around your neck is the one I had made for her, many years ago." There was a small pause as those facts, now so much more real spoken aloud, sunk in. A tentative smile snuck across Elladan's face. "Estella, I believe I am your father."

Estella was dumbfounded at those words, which hit her like sledgehammers. This was her father? Had she finally found him? She felt the wave of emotions threatening to drown her. Confusion, excitement, pure unadulterated joy. She wanted to jump into his arms and never leave for fear she would wake up, and this would all be a dream. "Really?" she asked, her voice cracking.

He nodded, too choked up with emotion for words and they enjoyed a brief moment of unspoken joy before Elladan asked the question he was almost too terrified to ask. "Where is your mother? Is she with you?"

The tone of his voice, so full of hope, nearly broke Estella's heart and tears began to fill her eyes as she shook her head and stammered. "She died a year ago, from a broken heart. She missed you terribly, and I guess…she could not live without you." Spoken aloud, it suddenly all made sense, everything that happened to her and her mother. When she looked up, she saw the pain and shock on all three faces but none compared to the look on her father's face. His whole body began to shake with silent tears, and suddenly, as if felled by an ax, he dropped to the floor, his father leaping across the room, catching him and murmuring quiet words of comfort into his child's hair.

There was silence for a time, and then Elrond found his voice. "How did you find yourself in Middle-earth?"

Estella shook her head softly. "I do not know. After I had buried my mother, I came home and went to her room. I was angry and hurt. I was raised without a father…" She paused for a moment, tears streaming down her face, "and then I lost my mother. While in her room, I came across this necklace and I cried myself to sleep. When I woke up, I found myself in the forest of Mirkwood."

"Mirkwood?" Elrohir asked in shock.

Estella nodded to this new face whom she figured was her uncle as he looked identical to her father. "Yes. I was lost and scared, but fortunately, I ran into Prince Legolas and his patrol. I passed out, and when I woke up again, I was in his father's healing wards."

At the mere mention of Thranduil, Elladan came out of his stupor. "Thranduil was there?!" he asked angrily, shocking Estella.

"Elladan peace! If it were not for Thranduil, your daughter would probably not be here." Looking back at his granddaughter, Elrond smiled apologetically. "Please, continue."

Not sure why her father did not like Thranduil she continued her story. "Well, at first Thranduil did not trust me and was not too sure about letting me stay, but after Legolas had convinced him I meant no harm he allowed me to stay. I was treated as a royal guest, and over time Legolas and I became very close friends. Thranduil became something of a father figure to me, teaching me the ways of this world. I am very grateful for both of them. If it were not for Legolas, I would have succumbed to my grief long ago."

When Estella had finished her tale, Elrond asked the same question he asked when she woke up. "Estella, you never told me what you were doing up in the High Pass all by yourself."

Elladan had completely forgotten about that, and like his father, he wanted to know what she was doing all by herself. "Yes, what were you doing all by yourself? You could have been killed."

Estella frowned as she remembered her encounter with the ellith a fortnight ago. She was not sure she wanted to relive that memory and found herself stuttering. "Well, I...I..."

Her grandfather sat on the bed and placed his granddaughter's shaking hand in his. "Estella, you do not have to be afraid. What happened? Did someone hurt you?" He could tell something happened, for he knew she would not just run away into danger unless she had been forced to flee.

Estella looked up at her grandfather, and as the tears fell from her eyes, she shook her head. "Yes. Thranduil had called me into his office to talk to me about something but was called away to fight some Orcs near his border. He told me to come back later, and as I was going to my room, some ellith backed me up in a corner and said that Legolas and his father were only being kind to me out of pity, that they did not like me at all. They said I was a nobody and if I ever told anyone what they said or did I would be sorry. So, I ran away. I remembered you told me I could come here if I wanted to, so I grabbed a map and my horse and fled." She did not say it had been specifically Legolas the ellith had attacked her for, or that she loved him. That was something she had not yet quite admitted to herself, and she was far from revealing it to anyone else.

When Estella had finished, she buried her head in Elrond's chest and cried. She could no longer hold back all the emotions from the past weeks, and now that she found her family she just let herself cry. As Elrond held her close, he looked up at Elladan whom he saw was trying to not lose his temper at seeing his daughter hurt. He could only imagine what he was feeling at this moment. Here was his daughter he never knew existed and she had nearly died from the very creatures which hurt his mother, all because of some petty ellith. Elrond could only hope his son did not lash out in front of her. "Shhh. It is all right Estella. You are safe now. No one can hurt you while you are here. You are now among family, and that is where you will stay."

Estella's sobs slowly slowed to hiccups, and she looked up at Elrond and then at her father and uncle. "Really? I can stay? You will not send me away?"

Elladan looked at his daughter in shock. "Send you away? Of course, I will not send you away. Why on Arda would I do that? You are my daughter, Estella. You are all I have left of your mother. I will never let you go. Ever. And if anyone tries to hurt you, they will have me to deal with."

"That is right. Not only will they have to deal with my brother, but they will also have to go through your grandfather and me," Elrohir chimed in with a smirk on his face.

Estella laughed despite herself, and for the first time in a long time, she felt loved, wanted and safe. Holding out her hands towards her father she cried out. "Oh Ada, how I have missed you!"

Elladan reached out and enveloped his daughter, and for the first time in nineteen years since his wife vanished, he let himself cry.