AwkwardlyQuietThespian: Even if he did change his mind, will Sarah want to return with him to Mirkwood?
Guest: Here you go.
pink bunny: There's actually a few sequels I'm planning. The one explaining who Edana is will probably be the last one I publish.
booksfoodmusic-minion: Thanks.
Disclaimer: I do not own "The Hobbit."
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Chapter 18: Returning to Rivendell
Sarah woke up and immediately noticed that she was lying on a cot. She opened her eyes and, looking up, saw the ceiling of a tent. Since she was obviously not in Rivendell, and she had traveled too far to make the journey back in one day, she concluded that she hadn't been asleep for very long. She turned her head to the side and was immediately met with a sight that both surprised and confused her.
Thranduil was sitting in a chair right next to the cot, fast asleep, a worried look on his face.
Sarah attempted to sit up, but a sharp pain in her head caused her to lay back down. She moaned as the pain faded to a dull throbbing. Her moan woke up Thranduil and he looked at her, the worry replaced with relief.
"Are you alright?" he asked as he placed one hand on her head and took her own hand in his other one.
"What do you care?" Sarah spat out. "You were the one who wanted to get rid of me."
She knew she was probably being a little too harsh, but she wasn't in the mood to be nice to this man who wanted to leave her behind in Rivendell.
Thranduil's face fell and the relief was replaced with hurt. He opened his mouth to say something, but the tent flap was pulled back just then and Edana entered, followed by Gandalf, Elrond, and Legolas.
"You're awake!" Edana cried, and she and Legolas ran over to Sarah's side. Thranduil stood up and stepped back, knowing that he wasn't going to get the chance to talk to Sarah alone now. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. I never should have let you go off by yourself. I should have gone with you. I thought you'd be fine."
"I'm okay," Sarah answered. "I thought you were going to cover my tracks," she said with a playful smile.
"I was," Edana said with a guilty smile, "but Thrandy started asking where you were, and I got mad and started yelling at him, and Gandalf had to cool me down. Literally. He had to dump ice water on my head when I went to attack Thrandy. I actually burned two elves who tried to hold me back."
"Did your fire get out of control?" Sarah jokingly asked.
"Kinda sorta."
Sarah laughed as Elrond came over to check the wound on her head.
"What happened after I passed out?" she asked while Elrond removed the bandage and applied a salve to the wound before covering it again.
"We took care of the orcs and wargs," Legolas said. "We tried to get you back to Rivendell before you woke up, but it was too far. We rode hard for two days, only stopping to make camp an hour ago. You slept the entire time and did not react to anything."
He didn't think it necessary to mention that it had been Thranduil she was riding with during that time, considering he was the main reason for this whole mess.
"I'm surprised that you're awake so soon," Gandalf commented, "considering how much magic you used to heal the animals that fought for you."
"I couldn't just let them die," Sarah said with a serious face, "not when I could do something to save them, not after all they had done for me."
"You are lucky we arrived when we did," Elrond said as he finished rewrapping the wound. "If we had gotten there a minute later, you would have been dead."
"That would certainly solve a lot of my problems," Sarah replied bitterly. "Or, rather, it would solve my father's problem."
All was silent after that, and no one made a move to stop Thranduil as he walked out of the tent.
"He was just trying to protect you," Elrond said after the tent flap had closed behind the Elvenking.
"The only thing I need protection from is him."
They camped where they were until morning and then rode the rest of the way to Rivendell, Sarah riding double with Edana. They arrived there mid-afternoon. Thranduil disappeared almost immediately. Sarah didn't care. As far as she was concerned, the less he was around her, the better.
After dinner, Sarah and Edana met with Elrond in his study to discuss the girls' plans for the future.
"Are you absolutely sure the two of you do not want to return to Mirkwood?" he asked them.
"I can't go back there," Sarah said, "not until my father gets some sense knocked into him."
"I go where Sarah does," Edana told Elrond before turning to her cousin-turned-sister, "unless of course you've changed you mind about letting me knock that sense into Sir Sassy-pants?"
It took every ounce of self-control Elrond had to not burst out laughing.
"You are not going Rafiki on my father," Sarah told Edana for the thousandth time. Edana pouted.
"If you are absolutely sure," Elrond said, and the girls could hear a hint of amusement in his voice, "then I believe I have the solution. I received a message from Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel."
"You mean your in-laws?" Edana asked with a smirk as Elrond rolled his eyes.
"Yes, my in-laws," he confirmed. "They say that you are most welcome to live in Lothlorien if you wish to do so. You do not have to give an answer right away, but they would like a definite answer within a week."
"We'll think about it," Sarah said. "Thank you for telling us about their offer. Good night."
Sarah turned and walked out of the study and towards her room. As she walked out of the door, she heard Edana ask "So what's it like having the Lady Galadriel for a mother-in-law?" Sarah couldn't have held back her giggles even if she tried.
She thought about everything she knew about Lothlorien, playing the scenes from the movies in her head, as she walked to her room. Her mind turned blank, however, when she opened the door and saw Thranduil standing in the moonlight by the window.
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Cliffhanger! Next chapter, those two finally have the talk that they've been needing to have for the past ten chapters.
Please review and tell me what you think of this one.