Chapter 15.

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(Sophie)

"You know, you could just learn elvish..." Collin suggested one night before dinner.

"Neverrrr!" I shouted as I set out plates and silverware for the meal that night.

Collin sighed. "Well, then, stop complaining you nut! Honestly, if you want to understand what they're saying, you're gonna have to learn their language. If they've gone thousands of years without learning ours, then I highly doubt they'll learn now."

In the past few months, not much has changed. Except for my birthday. Yeah, I'm twenty now. Whoop-dee-doo-dah-dee. Other than that, nothing. Elves don't change much, and they're complete sticks in the mud, unless there's a party.

Then they're awesome!

Still, it's not like they throw parties every night. Nothing ever changes with these people! If they're married, they're married for like, a billion years! There's no cute one hundred year anniversaries. If they like someone, they wait like, a decade to make a move. By the time anything fun happens in this place, I'm gonna be dead.

Living with elves is definately not my thing.

I told you that Kristy and I were working in the kitchens, right? Clearing away dishes after dinner, and setting them up before; that's our job. Kristy's adapted far better than me in these months; she knows some basic elvish, just enough to get her through. I, on the other hand, suck with languages.

"Sindarin is difficult, confusing, and unhappy." I declared. "No Sindarin for me!"

Collin shook his head. "You're too stubborn for your own good."

I smiled and continued setting the table. "And that's what makes me so loveable."

At that moment, elves began flooding the dining hall, and the cooks began to bring out all of the food. Sweet aromas filled the hall, and Collin's friends (Glorfindel, and the twins), called out for him to join them.

With a sigh, I nodded over to his friends. "Go on, Collin. I know you want to hang out with them."

But my friend simply smiled and sat down across from me. "No, I think I'll spend the rest of the day with my beautiful girl."

"You don't need to sit with me, just because you feel bad for me." I was the only one of our group of friends who hadn't gotten settled in the world of elves. I was friends with Arwen, decently acquainted with Collin's friends, and that's about as far as I go. Kristy was hardly around anymore, so basically my only real friend these days was Collin.

"I'm sitting with you because I want to." My friend gave my hand a small squeeze. "You're way cooler than a couple of old male models with bows and arrows. Besides," A mischevous smile spread across his lips. "You're never gonna get rid of me."

Well, at least I know that I've still got Collin. Kristy's still there, too, but like I said; she's got friends other than me, now.

Dinner passed by quickly, and before I knew it, it was time for me to get back to work.

"Thanks for sitting with me, Col." I stood with a tired sigh. "You can go run back to your friends, now."

"Actually," Collin stood up. "I think I'm gonna go head over to the training grounds."

"It'd dark outside, Collin."

He shrugged. "Monsters aren't gonna stop attacking you just because it's dark, Soph."

Good point. "Well, don't get yourself killed."

"No promises!" He called back before running out of the hall. I shook my head, and began to clear one of the tables.

When I carried a pile of plates into the kitchen, I saw Kristy standing around with some of the cooks, laughing and joking around with the limited elvish she knew. A small pang of sadness crept into my heart. Soon enough, my friends would adapt to this world completely, and I'll be left alone.

Kristy turned when she heard me set my stack of dishes down, a smile on her face.

"Hey, Soph!" She waved me over, and I reluctantly made my way over to her and her elvish friends. They all greeted me with warm smiles. "This is Sadron and Alya. They've been married for over four thousand years! Isn't that amazing?"

Very cool, but tonight I wasn't in much of a mood to be impressed.

"That's awesome. Congratulations." I gave them the best fake smile I could muster, a fake smile that only Kristy, James, and Collin could catch.

Kristy's eyebrows furrowed, and she put a hand on my shoulder. "You alright, Soph?"

"Yeah." I lied. "I'm alright. I'm just not feeling too great. Do you think you could take the rest of my table, tonight? I need to go clear my mind."

My friend studied me, unsure as to whether she should let me go off alone. "Is this about that Romeo guy? I thought you were over him?"

I was. Thanks for bringing up more sad things, Kristy. Instead of blurting out the truth, I just shrugged. "I'm good. I just need some fresh air."

Kristy thought this over for a short moment before she finally let me go. "Alright, lovie. Let me know if you need to talk about anything, alright?"

"You got it!" With a small hug, I left the kitchens and made my way to the training grounds. If anyone could cheer me up, it'd be Collin.

I thought that I'd find him swinging his sword around, or shooting his bow, but instead, I found him leaning back against a tree, looking up at the stars.

Quietly, I made my way towards him, hoping to scare him. Unfortunately, he knows me too well.

"Shouldn't you be working?" He asked, his gaze remaining on the stars.

"Technically, yes." I sat down by my friend and looked at the night sky with him. Clusters of stars illuminated the dark training field around us, the cloudless sky making this night even more beautiful than usual. We sat in silence for a while, enjoying the sounds of nature, and the distant roar of the waterfall. This really is a beautiful place; why do I feel so alone?

Collin was the first to break the silence. "So, did you just ditch your job for the heck of it, or do you need some cheering up?"

"A little bit of both..." Collin remained silent, so I continued. "I don't like it here."

My friend looked down at the ground with a sigh. "I noticed..." He began to pick at the grass below us. "Is there anything I can do?"

I thought about this for a moment, but nothing came to mind. "No. Not really." After a moment of silence, I turned my gaze to him. "Are you happy, here?"

Collin seemed to think about this for a moment. It was strange; I expected him to announce his love for this place in a heartbeat.

Finally, he gathered his thoughts and came up with an answer. "Rivendell is cool and all, and I've gotten a lot of good training, here, but..." He sighed, and seemed to struggle with his words. A rare occurence, for him. "I would rather be in Rohan, or Minas Tirith. Things just seem to be better, when we're with our own people. You're happier, I'm happier... Kristy seems to like it here, though."

"I feel like we're losing her..." I had to admit it sooner or later. "She's got a life, here. What if Gandalf and Strider come back, and she doesn't want to leave?"

Collin shrugged and looked back to the stars. "We'll deal with it if that day comes."

Silence fell upon us once more. Just being with Collin like this made me feel better. We used to go out and look at the stars all the time, back home. In the dark, you could hardly tell the difference between this world and our world. It felt like at any moment, my mom would bring us some hot chocolate and some blankets. Like at any moment, Collin's cooky old grandma would come outside and tell us old legends about elves and dwarves, and of old battles and legendary heroes. Just like the story we were in, now.

But they would never come. We'd been gone for a year, now, and we were never going back.

"Sophie, look!" Collin pointed to a bright light in the sky. "A shooting star."

As quickly as it had come, the light was gone.

"Did you make a wish?" I asked quietly, smiling at Collin's awed expression.

"Yes ma'am!" He leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes. "I wished for you all the happiness in the world."

My smile grew bigger and I shook my head. "You should have wished for something, better."

Collin shrugged. "Nothing can be better than that."

(James)

Deep breath.

Exhale.

Blink.

Right foot, left foot.

I had to literally tell myself what to do, I was so nervous. My brain wouldn't process anything. I was a wreck.

Today was the day. The day I was going to ask Maerwen to marry me. My heart was thumping noisily in my chest, and I could hardly breathe. I was about to ask the girl of my dreams to marry me, which is basically me asking her to sign her death wish.

Elves live forever, unless they're killed, or if they lose their loved one.

In this case, I'm the loved one.

But what was I going to do? Just sit around and do nothing? Heck no! I loved the woman!

I have to admit, I had no idea how to go about this engagement. Her parents were in the undying lands, so I couldn't ask for their permission to marry her. It's moments like these where I hate myself for refusing to watch chick flicks with Sophie and Kristy. I'm no romantic.

So, I did all I could do.

"Hey Legolassss?" I went to someone who might actually know a thing or two about women.

Legolas was sitting in his study, reading some giant book. He looked up to me as I entered the room.

"Having woman problems, I presume?"

My jaw dropped. "How'd you know?"

Legolas smiled that cocky smile of his and shut his book. "You look terrible."

I sent him daggers. "I'd like to see you attempt to ask the woman of your dreams to marry you."

Legolas shrugged and stood. "I guess that it's a good thing that there is no woman of my dreams, then."

"Just wait. You'll fall for a girl sooner or later, and when you panic about proposing, I'll laugh, and you'll be the one looking terrible."

"Ah, but you are forgetting something. I am an elf. I can't look terrible."

Man, I really hate him, sometimes.

"Look, will you just help me, already?"

The prince sighed and sat back down. "Well, I would. Unfortunately, I'm just as lost as you are."

"What?" Legolas was a stud! How could he not have any experience with women? After thousands of years?

"I'm sorry, Adan." My friend shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Why don't you just be straight-forward and ask her? Maerwen knows that you're awkward and unromantic."

Ouch. Thanks, Legolas. "You don't understand. You've never been in love."

"No, I haven't been." Legolas re-opened his book and continued his reading. "And I'll be content to live the rest of eternity without a woman. I don't need a woman to make me happy."

"Well, you're no help." I sighed and left my friend.

Ainion's out on patrol, so I can't ask him for help.

It looks like I'm alone on this one.

.

.

Heart racing, hands sweating, and holding a big bouquet of flowers; I knocked on Maerwen's door.

Crap.

This is the moment when I panic. Do I go through with it, or do I chicken out and run away?

No, that'd be a bad idea. I've got to go through with this.

But when Maerwen opened the door, I blanked.

"James, hello." She smiled at me, and I just stared at her, wide eyed. She frowned. "What's wrong?"

More staring.

"James?" Her gaze fell onto the flowers, and her expression softened. "Flowers, for me?" She asked.

I nodded.

"Nervous?" She looked at me, urging me to go ahead and ask the question. But for some reason my mouth had gone dry, and I couldn't bring myself to speak, so I nodded once more. Maerwen smiled and took my hand in hers. "I am nervous, too. But, my answer is yes."

I blinked at her. "Really? Even if it means you will die?"

Maerwen nodded. "I would die, without you." She pulled me close and kissed me gently. "You are ridiculous, James."

I sighed, ecstatic and hardly able to breathe. "I love you, Maerwen."

"I love you too, James."

FIVE YEARS LATER.

(Sophie)

Gandalf and Strider were dead.

At least, that's my view on it.

Collin thinks that they're still alive, but if they were still alive, wouldn't they have come back for us?

It's been FIVE YEARS. Five. Bloody. Years.

My guess is that they got attacked by orcs and died. Tragic, but I've already done my shar of sulking about it. Kristy didn't want to believe that they were dead, and the thought of Strider and Gandalf dying made pretty much everyone laugh.

Evidently, those two were pretty kick-ass when it came to fighting.

Anyways, the year was three thousand and eighteen. How's it going?

Well... It's going.

"Kick his ass, Collin!" Kristy and I cheered for our friend from the sidelines.

Collin was now sparring with Elladan, for the first time in five years. Our tall friend was skillfully blocking and countering the elf's attacks, thanks to his commitment to learning the art of sword fighting. His faux-hawk was still intact, and he had some facial stubble, just as always.

Nothing much has changed for any of us, really. Kristy speaks decent elvish, now, and Collin can get by if he had to. I never bothered to learn, though.

Life had actually gotten a lot better in Rivendell. I'd become better friends with Arwen, Glorfindel, and the twins, so daily life got easier and more unpredictable. With friends like Elladan and Elrohir, life was unpredictable.

"Kill him! Kill him!" I called out, and Glorfindel gave me a strange look.

"They're sparring, Sophie, this isn't a fight to the death." He chided me.

"Send him crying to the Undying Lands!" I changed my approach, slightly.

Glorfindel smiled and nodded his approval. "Much better."

Suddenly, Arwen came gliding across the field. (Elves don't run, if they can help it)

"They're back, they're back!" She called out. "Aragorn and Gandalf are back!"

Collin stopped fighting and looked over at Arwen. "Who's Aragorn?" While he was distracted, Elladan nailed him in the shoulder with the flat of his sword. Collin grabbed his arm and turned to the elf with a glare made of daggers. "Hey!"

He tackled Elladan to the ground, causing the elf to drop his sword.

"Yeah, who is Aragorn?" Kristy asked, ignoring the wrestling match that was now going on between our two friends.

Arwen laughed. "Oh, yes. You don't know his real name. Aragorn is Strider."

"He lied to us?" I frowned. "Where is he? I'm gonna kill him!"

We ran to the front gate where our two old travelers were speaking with Elrond.

"It's about time you showed up!" I shouted pulled them both into a group hug. "Where were you guys?"

"Mirkwood." Aragorn (a much better name than Strider) gave me a smile. "Forgive us, we had much to attend to."

I shrugged. "I thought you were dead, so I'm just pumped that you came back at all!"

At that moment, a dirtied Collin and Elladan came strolling up. By the looks of their faces, Collin had won their wrestling match; he was smiling proudly.

"Hey, strangers!" He called out to them. "Gandalf! Has your hat gotten more blue?"

The wizard smiled and gave Collin a firm pat on the back. "It is good to see you again, Collin."

Kristy gave our old friends small hugs, a happy smile brightening her face. "Your mission went well, then?"

"Well enough." Aragorn shrugged. "I return to Bree in one week."

"Aye, and I am heading back to the Shire." Gandalf added. "Would you like to accompany me?"

Collin and I jumped on that offer. "Freak yes!"

Kristy, on the other hand, was more hesitant. "I don't know..."

"Oh, come on!" Collin gave her a slight push on the shoulder. "You'll be able to come back! Don't you think that your old hobbit friends miss you?"

Kristy looked torn for a while, but after a while, she sighed. "I guess it'll be fun."

"WOOOO!" Collin and I hugged our friend and began to jump up and down. "Road trip!"

Author's Note:

I ended up skipping the five years to the Fellowship. I tried writing like, a million different ideas out that would keep me from just flat out skipping so much time, but I hardly got any reviews, and I got impatient with writer's block. So. I hope you like it! :)