Oh my gosh, guys… I seriously need to thank all the lovely people who left a review on the last chapter. AshleyLeigh, leeward1992, Rogue's Queen, durinsdaughter2469btw, Doria Nell, winter1990, MotherAiya, Cricklewood16, leelee202, WickedGreene13, SmallLittleCagedBird, Auriene, and Blue1258. I've never received this many comments before. You guys made my week.

When I first embarked on this fanfic journey, I was quite nervous. I didn't quite know what to expect. Your continued interest has meant the world to me. To all who have taken the time to read this story, I wish to thank you for your valuable time. For those who plan on following Haldir and Annalyn's story, know that I will continue to work very hard to keep a steady pace going.

Again, a thousand times thank you!

PS: This chapter is pretty short, but the next ones will be longer.


CHAPTER XXII

FALLING SLOWLY

It was silent up in the treetops, the night cold and still.

A gibbous moon hung in the sky, its pale light reflected upon Haldir's mirror-like blade. With slow, steady motions, he ran a polishing cloth over the curved steel, the repetitive movement helping to anchor some of his thoughts.

Earlier, after three silent passes around the periphery of their camp, he had sought the highest branch able to bear his weight, and settled upon it. Whether he had longed for seclusion or the tranquil beauty of starlight, Haldir could not say. Perhaps it was a little bit of both.

His thoughts were tangled. So too, were the stirrings in his heart.

Annalyn had kissed him earlier in the night, at the close of a long and trying day. Judging by her reaction—the way she had struggled to meet his gaze afterward, and the haste with which she had sought her makeshift bed—the kiss had been spontaneous and instinctive, taking them both by surprise.

His heart and mind still reeling from it, Haldir laid Silverwind across his lap, and looked westward into the sky, to the Star of Eärendil, the most beloved of all the jewels in the heavens. In the past, this holiest of light had often served to ground him. Not tonight, though. His thoughts were in full flight. They kept circling around that kiss and the way it had unfolded.

It had started with a touch to his shoulder. A simple kiss to his cheek.

When Annalyn had withdrawn, Haldir had thought it was ended, that the kiss had been but a token of her gratitude, but then she had closed the distance once more, pressing her mouth to his, and lingering.

Rendered motionless, Haldir had blinked a few times, had felt his pulse quicken in time with hers—he knew for he had heard the delicate pounding of her heart, the sound similar to the hurried wingbeats of a bird.

From beginning to end, the kiss hadn't lasted very long. Nevertheless, before their lips had parted, something had stirred within him, causing him to close his eyes, and return the kiss she had quietly bestowed upon him.

Indeed, Haldir could not deny that he had grown incredibly fond of Annalyn. But with his thoughts bent on his appointed task—and on keeping her safe—he had not fully acknowledged just how close they had become.

He should have realised it. He should have recognized the ripening nature of the bond they had formed.

Tilting his head against the bole of the tree, Haldir recalled the nights he and Annalyn had spent hiding from the Orcs, the two of them huddled beneath his cloak. He also remembered the times he had held her hand, or the night he had lingered by her side, trying to keep her warm.

There were other times as well. Other things. Shared looks, attentive gestures, and the crushing embrace they had shared in the aftermath of her first victorious battle against two blood-thirsty Orcs. That night should have been a revelation in itself. Perhaps he had chosen not to see.

After fleeing the vicinity of that vile encampment, they had fought the Orcs side by side. But before that final wave of riders had ensnared them, Haldir had asked her to flee, to go on without him. She had outright refused. It had frightened him. More than he had ever thought possible.

While Annalyn had never asked him to be her protector, and never would, it was a role he seemed to have fallen into nonetheless—not because she was helpless, but because he could not bear the thought of anything befalling her.

To be sure, something had changed between them. That he hadn't foreseen it was quite unusual for Haldir. Normally it was not in his nature to fall inadvertently into a situation. Yet he seemed to have done so with her.

How did I not see it? he wondered, before the answer suddenly came to him. Haldir had done something he almost never did.

He had let his guard down.

He had allowed himself to get closer to a maid he should and could never be with. Regret settled in his being. He closed his eyes.

Haldir was immortal. He was Elf-kind. Annalyn was not. Therein lay the insurmountable difficulty. That, and he had set his heart aside long ago.

With growing sadness, Haldir bent his gaze on the circle of orange light below, on the slumbering form beside the low-burning fire. Given her own turmoil, sleep had evaded her for nearly half the night. But in the end, her weariness had taken hold, drawing her into much needed dreams.

Annalyn was now curled on her side, her breathing slow and even, her delicate features tinged with firelight.

She is so young.

Men and women always were in his eyes. Even those who were withering away, with bent backs, frail limbs, and grey hair.

Though they were both part of this world, Elves and Men were destined for separate fates. It had always been so, and forever would be. You would do well to remember this, he told himself.

Yet tonight, when Annalyn had kissed him, he had kissed her in turn.

What's more, he'd felt something.