THE FORGOTTEN

A Week and an End

Author's note: The chapter in which – The Elves play tourists and two families meet … Honestly, when I started this chapter I really wasn't sure exactly what all I wanted to include. I debate heavily having Lynn show up and decided in the end as none of her other friends would know that at least one of them should… for her sake. Oh, and fluff alert! Grab a fan.

If there is one consistent downside of going to a sandy beach, verses the far more common stony or grassy Michigan beaches, it is that the sand winds up everywhere and in everything. This is why Sue and Richard put in an outdoor shower, why Lothril then Legolas took advantage of it, and why despite their best efforts of thoroughly shaking out everything, showering, and leaving everything they brought to the beach in the mudroom, Lothril still woke up with some sand in her bed.

Lothril headed downstairs with her bed sheets balled up and threw them in the laundry basket in the mudroom then went into the kitchen and got herself a glass of orange juice. This was the first time she had been the first one up since they had arrived up north. She supposed this meant she could make whatever she wanted for breakfast… what did she want for breakfast? To be perfectly honest, she wanted fruit, bacon, and a bagel.

She rummaged through the fridge and pulled out some strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries, bacon, and the cinnamon raisin bagels she had. The moment she set the frying pan on the stove she heard Legolas singing as he came down the stairs.

"Good morning, melethel nin!" he greeted as he entered the kitchen. He came up beside her and put a kiss on her cheek.

"Good morning! You see seem happy today," Lothril said.

"Of course I am! Do you not recall yesterday? Your sweet words on the beach could set any ellon to smiling for weeks," he replied.

"So I need not repeat them?" she teased.

"Every minute of every hour of every day," he teased back. "What are you making?"

"Nothing much. Just some fruit, some bacon, and a cinnamon raisin bagel," she replied. "Should I put some bacon on for you?"

"Yes, please. I think I should like some eggs also though."

"You're on your own for that. I can't make eggs to save my life."

"So I have noticed," Legolas replied with a chuckle. "Would you like me to teach you the secret of making eggs?"

"Not this morning. Today I just want to be lazy."

"Well I'm sorry to hear that," Grandma Sue said as she came into the kitchen. "I had a notion we could grab the guys and maybe spend a little time in Traverse City and then head up to my winery. When I came back last night, my brother had left a message on the answering machine saying he wants me to come up there today and look at a few things."

"Anything serious?" Lothril asked.

"No, not at all! This is actually all stuff we'd generally do before Memorial Day, but everything went crazy, nothing arrived in time, and it's all shown up this last week. Everything from bottle labels to branded merchandise to new syrups we're trying at the coffee shop and bar," she answered. "And, since you seem to be quite the connoisseur, Mr. Legolas, I wouldn't mind you tasting a few of our newer wines and telling us what you think."

"I would be delighted to do so," Legolas replied.

"I thought you might be. Say, what is your last name anyway, Legolas?" Sue asked.

"Last name?"

"Family name," Sue clarified.

"Oh, like Erickson? We do not have such names," he replied.

"Then how do you tell one Legolas from all the other Legolas's?" she asked.

"We do not have repetitions with names as you humans do. Fathers create a name when the child is born, and there are very few of us that share names. However, if I am introducing myself to someone, I would say I am Legolas son of Thranduil, or Legolas Thranduilion if I am speaking to another elf. If it is an official or auspicious occasion I might be introduced as Ernil Legolas Aran Thranduilion od Eryn Lasgalan. That is, Prince Legolas son of King Thranduil of Eryn Lasgalan," he answered.

"Oh, that's interesting," she said. "And I keep forgetting you are a prince! You are so down to earth!"

"I shall take that as a compliment," Legolas said with a smile.

"I certainly meant it as one. Well, why don't we call the guys and see if they want to come with us before we start breakfast, and sorta play things by ear. I want to stop in Traverse City on the way to pick up a few things for George, and then we'll go to the winery," Sue said.

"George?" Legolas asked.

"My brother," she said as she went to the phone and started to dial. A short phone call later she hung up and said, "They said they'll be here in ten minutes. What do you suppose the odds are they have already eaten breakfast?"

"Rather good," Legolas replied. "All three are early risers."

"Then let's have a quick breakfast," Sue said.

They had a quick breakfast of bagels, fried eggs, and fruit which they were finishing up when Elladan, Glorfindel, and Elrohir walked up. Sue let them in and they joined them for some fruit as everyone else finished up their breakfast. They threw the dishes in the dishwasher and Sue and Lothril grabbed their purses.

"Umm… Grandma Sue," Lothril said as they headed out the door, "How are we all going to fit in your truck?"

"We won't. So I guess we won't be taking the truck," she replied with a grin. She led them over to the garage and pressed her remote garage door button to open it up to reveal a turquois and white 1956 Bel Air convertible.

"I completely forgot you had this," Lothril cried. "I remember when I rode in it last, I couldn't have been six and we were all up here on vacation and you took me and Anne and Avery to go get ice cream while our parents were off doing something else."

"That's right! I'm surprised you remember that," Sue said with a smile. She looked at the guys and said, "I hope you all have a hat or something, because this baby doesn't have air conditioning and I intend to ride with the top down. If you don't, I'm sure I have a few baseball hats around. Otherwise, your hair is gonna be a giant tangle by the time we get to Traverse City."

"Will we get enough air flow if we leave the top up and all the windows down?" Lothril asked. "With how bright the sun is today, that might be cooler in the end anyway."

"Well, we'll give it a go, but if it gets too hot in here, we'll pop the top down," Sue said. "Pile in, everyone!"

With that they all climbed into the car, Legolas, Lothril, and Sue in the front, twins and Glorfindel in the back. No seat belts, leather seats, no air conditioning, but with five elves it was neither here nor there. Sue slid into the driver's seat, cranked the engine to life, and off they went, garage door closing remotely behind them.

The whole drive to Traverse City was spent skirting Lake Michigan and everyone fully enjoyed the view. As they drove along, the elves sang a variety of the more ridiculous songs one might have heard in Rivendell, and Sue loved hearing it. Especially when they put a couple into the common tongue and she could hear how utterly ridiculous they were.

They made good time and arrived in the city right around ten o'clock. Sue told them she supposed her in town errands would take about two hours and they agreed to meet at the little coffee shop on the corner that faced the bay in two hours. She dropped them off there and then drove off to work on her errands.

None of the elves except Lothril had been to Traverse City before, and Lothril hadn't been there since she was a little girl so none of them had any opinion on which direction to head first except they all agreed they wanted to keep within sight of the bay. Not for fear of getting lost, but because it was such a gorgeous day! The sky was a clean, clear blue and cloudless, the water a perfect darker blue, tipped with little white crested waves out beyond the bay, but the bay itself fairly flat. There were sail boats going to and fro with their tall white sails, gracefully cutting through the water though most bobbed peacefully at their docks. A handful of gulls were about lazily throwing out the odd squawk just to keep the morning from being too quiet and peaceful. Otherwise, the city was fairly quiet. Most of the tourists were gone for the week, though there were some about, like themselves, and most of the locals were at work.

They walked down the street looking like five long haired models in T-shirts and shorts. Lothril had her hair in a short braid with a long tail, Legolas had his in a low ponytail still to keep it from blowing around in the car, Glorfindel had had his hair in a ponytail in the car, but promptly took it out as soon as they got out of the car, Elladan had some of his hair pulled back in a top layer braid but the rest of it down, and Elrohir had a short braid like Lothril. They only walked past one or two shop doors before something inside caught Legolas' attention so they went in. It was most definitely a gift shop that boasted of everything being made in Michigan, and more than that – locally. There were mugs, etched glasses, oven mitts with maps of the state printed on them, decorative wall hangings, plenty of cherry themed things, drink coasters, shirts, books of local history and lore, and more. The elves were more than happy to take their time looking at everything and making the odd comment to each other. What had caught Legolas' attention from the window though, was the very thing he made a bee-line towards the moment Lothril seemed distracted by something Elladan was looking at also.

Legolas looked at the wall that had various sizes of copper Michigans hanging on it, all polished and gleaming. He wanted her to have a piece of home to take back with her… Twenty minutes or so later, they all walked out of the shop, Elladan with a blue hand thrown mug that had a raised relief of the state on it in a dark sandy color that he claimed was a gift for Elrond, and Glorfindel with what he claimed was a replacement serving dish for one that they had broken, and everyone else with nothing. They popped in and out of several more shops including a bakery, a fudge shop, a place that sold custom screen printed shirts, pants, and hoodies, a place that rented and sold paddle boards (which all of them suddenly wished they were going to be in town longer because that sounded like a whole lot of fun), and a place that sold fifty different flavors of popcorn, which baffled all five of them exceedingly. Why would you want pear flavored popcorn? Why not just eat a pear?

The other shop they stopped at for a considerable amount of time was a spice shop that had, amongst a large variety of other things, three different varieties of cinnamon, whole cloves, whole nutmeg, and vanilla beans. They had tall shelves of large glass jars of spices lining the walls and all of them took a very long time perusing it as it had all manner of spices both familiar and exotic. After a few minutes of them perusing the shop and chatting in elvish, one of the workers came over to them.

"Is there anything I can get for you today?" she asked with a polite smile.

"Yes, I would like to get cinnamon," Lothril said.

"Which kind?" the lady asked.

"All of them. Ground and sticks," Lothril answered.

"Oh, okay," the lady said with a smile. Lothril began to suspect she was either the manager or the owner with how her face lit up. "How much of each?"

Lothril looked at Legolas and asked, "How much do you suppose your father would like?"

Legolas looked back up at the shelf holding all the cinnamon and said, "As you plan on giving some to Elrond also, I think we could safely take all of it."

"All of it?" the lady repeated, eyes wide and sounding doubtful.

"Yes," Legolas said.

"Hold, ernil! We want to bring some back for our Ada also. He enjoyed it and it has been a few decades since he used up the last of it," Elrohir said.

"I want some also," Glorfindel said.

"Fair enough, then get what you want and we will take the rest," Legolas said.

"Are you sure you want that much? Not to talk you out of a sale, but that's going to be very expensive and it's a lot of cinnamon. You can always come back and get more," the lady said.

"We appreciate your consideration, but we are not from this country and though we can get cinnamon where we live, it is very expensive and even at your prices, it is still cheaper than what we pay," Legolas explained. "And we do not have the varieties you offer."

"Ah, well as long as you're sure, I am very happy to sell it to you," the lady said.

"Out of curiosity – what shall you put it in?" Lothril asked.

"For this quantity, I'm honestly probably going to have to put it in Ziploc bags. The biggest bags we have are only four ounces and I can't sell the glass jar to you," the lady answered.

"Probably best," Lothril said thoughtfully. "We shall want to get some sort of jars to take it back with us so we need not fear it opening nor getting rained upon," she said in elvish to Legolas.

"I agree," Legolas replied.

Meanwhile, Elrohir and Elladan were discussing how much of which sort to get Elrond and settled on a quantity that was far more manageable to the shop's usual methods of packaging, and Glorfindel got what he wanted also along with one or two other things he had come to enjoy in this world. Once the cinnamon was all doled out and settled, Legolas proceeded to inform the lady that he also wanted an appreciable quantity of whole cloves and whole nutmeg and then Lothril chimed in that they should get vanilla beans and they proceeded to get a pretty fair quantity of that too.

The lady rang them out and after seeing the singularly highest total she had ever seen on that cash register, she told it to them and half expected to see them either cringe or ask to put something back, but instead, Legolas casually pulled out a billfold, counted out the money and handed it to her, thanked her with a smile, and they left.

At the end of two hours they returned to the coffee shop to find Sue recently arrived herself and sitting in her car with all the windows rolled down.

"So, you guys have fun wandering around town?" Sue asked as they piled in. "Certainly looks like you found some stuff shopping."

"We did," Elladan said with a smile.

"Did you finish all your errands?" Elrohir asked.

"I did, and I've got everything loaded up in the trunk," Sue answered. "And we even got a discount for everything being so late. Now, it's another forty-five minutes or so up to the winery and it's noon now. You guys want to eat lunch here or when we get a bit closer?"

"It is all one to us," Glorfindel said. "It is really up to you."

"Well, I'm pretty hungry at that, so let's get something here. You guys have any opinions on what we get?" Sue asked.

"Whatever you like," Elrohir said, with a general agreement from the others.

"I could really go for a burger," Lothril said. "I'm gonna miss burgers, I think."

"Alright, burgers it is," Sue said.

After lunch they went the last forty-five minutes up into the Leelanau Peninsula. The rolling hill country was dotted in wineries and orchards, and at length they turned down a tree lined dirt road and after passing several acres of vineyard and orchard, they came up to what looked like a beautiful house and series of barns and attractive outbuildings.

"This is it!" Sue said as they pulled up. She drove around to the back of the house looking building and parked and immediately out came a man who looked roughly Sue's age and bore a reasonably strong resemblance to her.

"Sue, did you get the stuff from the print shop?" the grey haired man asked as he walked up. He was about five-foot-ten inches tall, with thick grey hair and a goatee. His overall build was stocky, but it was clear he was very active because his arms were still quite toned and muscular looking and he otherwise looked quite trim. In fact, if he dyed his hair back to its original dark brown, he could have easily passed for forty and not sixty-something.

"Sure did," Sue replied as she got out. "And I brought some friends with me. They've agreed to help us taste test the new stuff."

George raised a brow but said nothing. They didn't look old enough to have their tastes developed past knowing if they like wine at all or not, but if Sue thought they could be helpful…

"And I'm sure they'd be more than happy to help us carry this stuff in," Sue said with a smile.

"Indeed, we are," Glorfindel said. "My name is Gary, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," George said with a handshake.

"And I am Elroy and this is my brother Dan," Elrohir said as they got out of the back seat.

"Oh, identical twins," George said, sounding a bit surprised as he finally paid attention to them.

The twins looked at each other quizzically then at George and said in unison, "What are you talking about?"

George burst into laughter and said, "Nice to meet you both, but you'll have to remind me which one is which."

"Nice to meet you as well, and never fear – we are used to it," Elladan said.

"And you remember Jenny, don't you George?" Sue said, gently pulling Lothril over by the elbow.

"Oh yeah! Do you remember me though?" he said to Lothril.

"I do," Lothril said with a smile. "It's been a long time."

"It has. How are your folks?" George asked.

"They're doing well," she answered.

"And who is this young man hanging on your arm?" George asked, looking at Legolas.

"This is Avery, my boyfriend," Lothril answered.

"Boyfriend? Oh my! You really are all grown up now, aren't you?"

"Yup," Lothril said a little awkwardly with a smile. What are you supposed to say to those kind of statements?

The day at the winery proved to be rather fun for the elves and highly productive for Sue and her brother. They ate dinner with Sue's brother and his family and returned home just as the last vestiges of twilight faded into night. Everyone helped her carry in the case of wine her brother had given her along with a more than generous amount of fruit and other goods from the orchard and winery. Once everything was in, Sue said she was tired and sore from all that driving and was going to have a soak and then turn in for the night but everyone else was free to carry on and stay up as late as they wanted. Elrohir offered to help her with her sore muscles, but she said it wasn't necessary as she had her regular massage appointment in the morning and then headed upstairs.

"As she will be gone tomorrow morning, you are both welcome to come join us for breakfast," Elladan offered as they all went into the family room and sat down.

"Absolutely not," Legolas replied with a smile. "I regret to inform you all, that I am going to be very selfishly keeping Lothril to myself until her family arrives up here this weekend. That Sue will be gone tomorrow morning is simply an added convenience."

"Your family is coming up?" Elladan asked, sounding excited at the prospect.

"Yes, they are," Lothril answered. "And they shall be every weekend until we depart."

"Oh this is an exciting prospect," Elrohir said with a smile. "We get to meet the rest of our family!"

"Our family?! Since when is my family yours?" Lothril asked with a raised brow.

"Since the moment we were offered a chance to come here. As soon as that happened, we determined if we met your family we would adopt them too and all of us would be one big happy peredhel family. And we promised Ada that if we did meet them we would give him a full account of them," Elrohir answered.

"He nearly came himself, you know," Elladan said. "And mostly so he would have a chance to meet your kin."

"Why didn't he?" Lothril asked.

"That was my fault," Glorfindel said. "I told him he owed me a chance for this adventure as he decided to send Legolas on the quest with the Ring and not me like he originally intended. He got it into this head that there was some sort of attachment between you two and that it would be best to send Legolas off with you instead of me. Something about encouraging love and attachments."

"Remind me to thank him later," Legolas said.

Glorfindel laughed and said, "I certainly shall!" He then looked at the twins and said, "You two may do as you please, but I am going to head back to the house now. Goodnight, all!"

"Goodnight Glorfindel," the others replied.

The twins and the lovers fell into conversation together and after a little while Lothril asked, "How many years from the parting at Isengard did you say you two came from?"

"Seventy-five more or less," Elladan answered.

"Do you two sail with Elrond?" she asked.

"We considered it," Elrohir said, "but then we decided to stay around for a little while longer and help you two get established in Ithilien. But then Ada-nana decided to sail about forty some odd years after Ada and Nana-nana. You two were doing fine and we decided it was time so we left with him. But that is all we shall tell you of your futures."

Lothril only nodded in reply and Legolas put his arm around Lothril and pulled her a little closer to his side.

"That reminds me," Elladan said, "Why did Ada tell us not to tease you when we were all in Minas Tirith?"

Lothril looked a little confused and asked, "I'm sure I did not ask him to. When did he tell you that?"

"The same night after your betrothal," Elladan answered.

"Oh," Lothril said quietly.

"I think you have forgotten, it has only been two months for us since we were betrothed," Legolas said, his tone still friendly but with options on turning rather stern.

"Oh! Forgive me for asking, I have forgotten it is so recent for you," Elladan said apologetically. "It is hard to keep time straight with all this traveling between worlds."

Lothril took a deep breath and said, "Don't worry about it. In fact, I've been debating telling you guys since then." She paused then muttered, "Oh, what the heck." She took a deep breath and said, "It's a bit of a long story but the short version is that I was abused and grossly misused by my cousin Matilda growing up, but I didn't fully grasp the scope of what happened until Ada sort of… well, in a way he had seen hints of what was wrong for weeks, but in a way he also sorta stumbled into it one day during our lessons together. Anyway, I wound up dumping all my memories out for him and he helped me figure out and sort out what happened. As to why he told you not to tease me – I did not ask him to say anything to you, though I do appreciate it. But the reason I imagine he did is because..." she drifted to a pause and then took a deep breath and said, "the nature of the abuse I suffered isn't exactly something known to elves and quite frankly, it has ripple effects that impacts things between us." She gestured to both herself and Legolas. "That was why Ada kicked you out of the house that first morning. We were talking about how the past is impacting the present. That and we were trying to give dear Legolas here an idea of how wide the scope of the damage is. And that's why we kept meeting with him privately the whole time we were in Minas Tirith together. To help me continue sorting things out and to help him understand the depth and breadth of things as well as discussing how he might help me heal."

The twins both looked at her very gravely and Elladan said quietly, "Lothril, we had no idea. I am so sorry for forcing your confidence."

"You forced nothing," Lothril said with a little smile. "Like I said, I was debating telling you for a while and… well, honestly, I'm still trying to work up the nerve to tell my mom and dad. They know some of the abuse, but not all of it. Only Ada and Legolas know all of it."

"Then I shall not ask you any more about it," Elladan said.

"My heart is breaking at the thought of what you have suffered. Your dark hints though are worrisome to me," Elrohir said.

"It was… well, I don't want you imagining things worse than they were. Some of it was just things like twisted arms and such ilk. Some of it though was…" she trailed off and took a few deep breaths trying to steady herself as she started feeling choked up.

"Lothril," Legolas said mentally, "I will tell them if you wish it. You need not tell them more than you are willing to share either."

She looked at Legolas and nodded in reply then said to the twins with a shaky voice, "Some of it was sexual in nature, but not avaeth. So I'm sure you can sorta guess from there the rest, but if you want more specifics you can ask Ada when you get back."

Both Elladan and Elrohir looked at her with the most sober and grave expressions. "Oh sister…" Elrohir said quietly, words failing him.

"That you endured such evil is a marvel and a horror to me," Elladan said quietly.

"I wish I knew what words of comfort to say to you," Elrohir added.

She took a deep breath and calmed a little and said, "I do not need words of comfort, but I could use a hug."

Legolas had to jump out of the way as her brothers nearly tackled her with hugs. Every time he thought about it, it made him see red and it had taken every inch of his self restraint and Lothril's leading him away to keep him from thrashing Matilda at her graduation, especially after she tried slapping Lothril on the back. Even now it was painful to hear and made him angry, but there was a certain measure of relief that came into her face as she said it aloud again and found that she could. He still hoped she would tell her family, but he understood… trust had been fractured between them and though each party was admirably trying to fix it, time was not on their side and trust takes time. He was, however, very glad there were those she could and did trust implicitly and that they were the ones she was going to spend a very, very long time with. He was glad she trusted Elrohir and Elladan. He was glad she trusted Elrond. He was very glad she trusted him. He hoped as time went on there would be others she could trust like this. He hoped some of them might be amongst his own kin, but he wouldn't press her on it. She needed to come to these things freely and not out of obligation. She has had too much forced love and loyalty and he would never have her feel she had to love, trust, or be loyal to anyone ever again unless she wanted to.

But as these thoughts ran through his head, Lothril had two gwedeir (sworn brothers) who were hugging her and apologizing and promising all manner of violence upon anyone who ever so much as lays an unwelcome finger upon her ever again and asking if there was anything they could get for her and was she sure she was fine? and generally trying to comfort her and love on her.

"Really, gwedeir, I am fine. I promise. It's still a little hard to talk about, but it's getting easier. Though my heart and mind still bear scars, I am healing. Truly. I have the best of healers attending me," she replied and gave a warm smile to Legolas who was focused solely on her and how she was doing.

"And I think it is time we leave you to his care," Elladan said. "Again, my apologies Lothril for-"

"No need, Elladan. I am honestly glad you asked. Part of my problem is that I keep everything bottled up too long," Lothril replied. "But I do think I am quite ready to be done for the day. Goodnight, brothers!"

"Goodnight, sister," both of them said and each gave her a kiss on the cheek and then left.

As soon as they left, Legolas said, "If you are tired, I will let you go upstairs by yourself, but I wish to remain up a little while longer."

"Oh, I'm not tired for sleep. I'm just… I need to be alone with you," she replied.

"In that case," he said and resumed his place at her side, "what would you like to do?"

She smiled and said, "Tell me of our people, Legolas. Tell me what elven lovers do on fair nights like tonight."

"The married ones make love until the only thing they know is each other and starlight. The betrothed stray together in some private place and speak in soft voices of their love for each other and the courting ones find a quiet place and speak of their coming betrothal," Legolas answered with a smile. "And here we are in a private place. Shall I speak to you of my love?"

"Let me speak first," she said with a smile.

"By all means!"

Wednesday after she got back from her massage, she called up Glorfindel and the twins to see if Legolas and Lothril were over there and if she should expect them for lunch or dinner, only to be informed they hadn't seen them all day.

Glorfindel, who had answered the kitchen phone, told her, "Do not worry about their absence, even if they are gone until her family arrives up here. It is not uncommon for us to wander for hours or days, even weeks in the woods. We can well take care of ourselves, never fear."

"Yeah, but what if they… you know, mess around? I mean, I realize Legolas is five thousand whatever years old, but Jen is still younger than me and I'm still responsible for her while she's up here," Sue said, sounding a bit worried.

It took Glorfindel a moment to string together what exactly her concern was, but when he did he replied, "Oh, you need not worry on that score! Legolas would not risk upsetting his family nor his future family by marriage by marrying her here, and she seems just as keen on following tradition as he is. You have naught to worry about, I promise."

"Well I'm not worried about them getting married here, though good luck finding someone to marry them besides the pastor at my church. The nearest justice of the peace is forty minutes away, at least," Sue said.

"Marry them?" Glorfindel asked.

"Yeah, my pastor wouldn't marry them without marriage counseling first, and unless Jen is suddenly into car stealing, they can't get to a justice of the peace. But that's not what I'm worried about… though Legolas does seem to have a rather high view of sex," Sue replied, trailing off. "I'm probably worrying for nothing."

"Your traditions are different than ours, I think, Sue. Strictly speaking, we need not have a third person involved at all in order for us to wed. We need only exchange certain vows, name the Name, and consummate. We have no need for a justice of the peace, a pastor, or anyone else. And yes, you are very much worrying for nothing because Legolas does hold our customs and traditions very highly and would not insult his family so by marrying without celebrating the occasion with them first. So rest your mind on this matter, for Legolas will not insult his family nor will she insult Elrond and his family who have adopted her," Glorfindel said, trying to ease her mind a little.

"Oh. But how would they even know unless she gets pregnant? Seems to me like this could be a perfect opportunity to try getting away with something," Sue said sounding worried and possibly suspicious.

Glorfindel shook his head and said, "We would know immediately because we can tell if another elf is married or not by simply looking at them and talking to them. As for anything shy of them marrying – as far as elves are generally concerned, that is their private business and none of our concern. I am sure neither of her brothers are worried, nor Elrond, nor Thranduil, therefore you ought not be concerned either."

"Oh. Well, if you say so, but if something happens, you get to tell Ed and Donna that elves don't care," Sue threatened.

Glorfindel covered the mouth piece on the phone and chuckled a little before he held the phone up to his ear again and replied, "I am sure no explanations will be needed, but if they are I will leave it up to her brothers."

"Oh… elves! Thanks Glorfindel, bye," Sue said.

"Goodbye," Glorfindel returned.

"Oh yes, leave it up to us to explain elven will and our betrothal customs and our attitudes about their romantic lives. Thank you, Glorfindel. I am sure a bunch of mortals living in a mortal world shall understand it perfectly," Elrohir said sarcastically as he began putting blobs of cookie dough down on the parchment lined baking sheet.

"At least we know there is little chance of it," Elladan said as he stood and casually came over to his brother. "Unless Legolas has gotten completely careless. Recall how well he would hide himself at times just to be alone with a good book."

"That is true enough. His woodcraft skills are formidable," Elrohir conceded as he put another dollop of cookie dough down on the baking sheet with a teaspoon. Elladan took the opportunity to make a grab for the mixing spoon Elrohir had been mixing with only to have Elrohir reach out and grab his brother's wrist faster than thought. "Do not try it! You know the mixing spoon is mine!"

"See? Naught to worry about," Glorfindel said as he casually strolled past the baking sheet and pinched off some cookie dough from one of the cookies. "And I call the bowl."

"Then I am left with the teaspoon," Elladan said with a frown.

"Make a batch of cookies yourself and then you can have whatever you wish," Elrohir said.

"Only if we wish to eat naught but cookies for the next two weeks. Goodness Elrohir! How many dozen cookies are you making?"

Elrohir quickly counted how many cookies were on the two baking sheets he had filled as he slid them into the oven then eyeballed the remaining cookie dough and said, "I reckon four dozen. Maybe four and a half."

"Eighteen cookies each then," Elladan said. "Do you suppose it enough?" he teased.

"As I plan on sharing with Sue, Lothril, and Legolas also, I reckon it quite sufficient," Elrohir replied with a straight face.

"Hmm… do you suppose if we set them out on the porch we shall attract our dear sister and her betrothed?" Elladan asked with a grin.

Elrohir looked rather ponderous and answered, "You know, I do not know our sister's opinion on desserts. We ought to figure that out. You would not happen to know, would you Glorfindel?"

"I know she favors using her left arm for a shield arm and she is very good at using her shield both defensively and offensively," Glorfindel answered.

"We will bear that in mind next time we spar with her," Elrohir replied.

Meanwhile Legolas and Lothril had found a quiet little corner of the world that was seldom touched by hikers or wanderers and was within yards of a stretch of the shore that had only a narrow strip of driftwood covered rocky sand before being abruptly cut off by a six foot high wall of earth that looked like it had been eroded away by storms and the steady pounding of the lake and was choked by a mess of roots and twiggy and leafy undergrowth that was nearly impossible to get through unless you were willing to carve your way through it. The view of the lake from there was not particularly good as it was obscured by the trees and undergrowth and the shore was inhospitable. Though the forest there was nice enough, there were places on either side of it that afforded a better view and easier access to the water, leaving that quiet little stretch undisturbed.

When they left the house that morning, they brought their cloaks from Lothlórien with them, and when they found this somewhat isolated and more pine inhabited stretch of forest, they wandered into it and were soon concealed by the pines. They spread their cloaks out beneath one that was on the edge of a more open space, so its branches grew low and they had to crawl to get beneath it.

"I think we should be undisturbed here," Legolas said as he settled down beside Lothril who was sitting cross legged on her cloak. "At least, undisturbed by any passing hiker."

"You do not think one of the others shall come seeking us, do you?" Lothril asked.

Legolas smiled, "No, they shall not. Not unless something happens and we are needed."

"I am glad you know Elladan and Elrohir so well, or else I would doubt you," Lothril said.

"I believe I am safe in saying they are as interested in intruding on our time together as we are having them do so," Legolas replied. "Therefore, you may be perfectly at your ease, melethril nin. The wind is soft today and sweet, the lake is peaceful, and we are very much alone." His voice was soft and gentle as he spoke and it made Lothril want to do nothing more than melt into him and let him speak sweet words to her all day. He could see her start to lean a little towards him and he could just feel the tension that kept her upright so he said softly, "Draw near meleth nin, and let us watch how the sun and wind dance in the pine boughs and show us all its colors."

She moved a little closer so her head could rest easily on his shoulder as he leaned against the trunk of the tree. As soon as she was settled beside him she gave a contented sigh and smiled. Legolas smiled also and moved his arm around her so she was against his side. "Legolas, if I ask you something, will you be perfectly honest with me?" she asked, her tone fairly light, but he strongly suspected something with a little more seriousness was beneath the surface. Nothing grim or dark, just serious.

"Ui, meleth nin." (Always, my love.)

"Felig îr sí na nin vi sen lem? (Do you feel aroused here with me in this manner)" she asked, her tone amazingly neutral given the question.

"Felin îr na gin vi sen lem (I do feel aroused with you in this manner)," he answered, his voice almost as neutral as hers but not quite.

"How much?" she asked, her tone turned to careful and a little bit of tension formed in her body and he could feel it as she sat beside him.

"Hmm… more than enough to desire to kiss you and have you yield yourself to my touch, but not enough to so much as shift one thread of clothing. Why? Are you aroused?" he replied.

She gave a little nod and said almost bashfully, "I am."

"How much?" he asked in a low voice that nearly made her heart skip a beat. If the queen of understatement was using a strong word like 'aroused' he was determined to see… What were the odds this was an overstatement?…

"Enough to begin wondering if my desires press the boundaries of our betrothal customs," she answered

Legolas arched a brow as a smile teased his mouth as he looked down at her and she but briefly looked up at him before turning pink and stared at the lightly dancing pine boughs in front of them again. Press the boundaries? Really? Could she even fathom reaching them? Well this certainly seemed like a prime opportunity for finding out. "Would you care to find out?" Legolas offered sounding just a little mischievous.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm curious as to why."

"I am an ellon, you are an elleth, we are betrothed and we are secluded in the woods. What more reason do you need? Do not study this like a book Lothril; feel it. Experience it," he replied, his voice equal parts inviting and teasing.

"Is this how it shall be every time we are in the woods together?" she asked, undecided if she was hopeful or overwhelmed at the prospect.

"It shall be if I have any say in the matter," he replied as he leaned down and kissed her. He broke the kiss and added in her ear, "Let us explore this together."

He noticed that slight shudder that ran through her as he said those words. It only took the space of a breath for her to shift and wrap her arms around him and pull him down on top of her as she kissed him. She began kissing him and letting her fingers trace little curling patterns with her fingertips across his shoulders and down his back. Suddenly Legolas was a fan of modern world clothing… the t-shirt he was wearing was thin enough that it nearly felt like he was wearing nothing as her fingers left warm trails up and down his side. She slid her hands up around his neck and began gently playing with the hair on the back of his neck as she kissed him deeply. Lothril gently drew him down further until he was pretty much laying on top of her and only supporting himself enough to not crush her. Had he thought 'aroused' was an overstatement? He ought to have known better…

Legolas had started to pick up on something the night after the battle and decided to test it out and began muttering her praises and how much he loved and adored her between each kiss, slowly moving his lips from hers to her neck and ears and back again. She didn't say much in reply and when she did, it sounded a bit absentminded, like she couldn't focus. How he loved it!

And so they carried on for a long while until at last they found themselves sitting again with her on his lap and she was giving him the most delicate string of kisses up and down his neck that very nearly tickled and she muttered the odd compliment or loving sentiment to him. Then she buried her face in his neck and smiled.

After a few minutes of peaceful silence between them she said, "You know, I feel oddly content."

"You do?" Legolas asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. Do you?"

"Yes, I do. You have never said you feel that way before after we have kissed," Legolas said.

"Probably because I haven't really felt quite like this before. It's nice though," she said, nuzzling into his neck and shoulder.

He reflexively held her a little closer and replied, "I almost think I ought to congratulate you, Lothril."

"Congratulate me?" she asked, raising her head just an inch before deciding she really was too comfortable to bother and settled back down. "Whatever for?"

"You have taken an important step forward, melethel. You felt arousal, you acted upon it, you reacted to me, and without stopping yourself short or pulling away and to the full satisfaction of your desires and will," he answered.

"Oh, I suppose I did. And really, that was all the more I wanted to do. I partially understood what you and Elrond have been telling me all along, but I didn't realize how effortless it could be," Lothril said. "I suppose that just figures though – me making things harder than I need to when I could just relax and let it be."

Legolas smiled and gave a soft chuckle. "A little, but do not be too harsh upon yourself. After being here a month, I can see why you felt the need to be that way, especially after all those sermons. Also, I want you to know that I shall understand if you are not perfect in this going forward."

"Thanks," she said before giving him a soft little kiss on the neck.

Legolas gave a happy sounding little hum.

"Legolas, out of idle curiosity, how close did we get to the boundaries of our customs?" Lothril asked, her head still nestled on his shoulder.

Legolas smiled. "If love making is the seventh level of Minas Tirith and doing nothing is being outside the gate of the first level, we probably went so high as just inside the gate of the fourth level and our customs would have us stop at the gate to the sixth level. Does that answer your question?"

"Very nicely," she answered.

Wednesday and Thursday Legolas and Lothril were hardly seen. In the mornings the only sign they had awaken was some hot coffee left waiting for Sue, and then they would come back, help her make dinner or at least the set the table, and after dinner disappear again. Sue was still mildly concerned about them being alone all day together like this, but she kept her mouth shut as she reckoned if the others weren't worried there probably wasn't anything to worry about… probably…right? She should so make the twins explain it to her folks…

Friday early afternoon found Lothril and Legolas over at Sam Johnson's old house with the twins and Glorfindel. They were in the sitting room which was in the front of the house and had a large window that looked out into the front garden and the woods beyond. The room itself looked to Lothril like it was lifted straight out of an episode of Poirot and a very clean Art Deco look from the stained glass Tiffany table lamps and silver wall sconces to the perfectly oval glass coffee table and clean lined furniture. The five of them were scattered amongst the love seat, the couch, and one of the arm chairs all situated around the coffee table, casually discussing a delightful jasmine green tea Elrohir had picked up at the local coffee shop when Elladan looked at the clock and said, "Lothril, ought you head back now to Sue's house now? Your father and mother should be here soon."

"Sue said she'd call me when they get here," Lothril replied, staring down into her tea cup before taking another sip.

"I would think you would want to be there when they arrive, but clearly I am mistaken," Elladan replied.

"To be perfectly honest, I'm nervous," Lothril said in a casual tone, which was contradicted by her rigid manner and betrayed by her refusing to look up as she sipped her tea. Legolas, who was sitting beside her, casually slipped an arm around her.

"Why should you be nervous about seeing your very own family?" Elrohir asked.

"Well," she said slowly, "It's a bit strange really, I'm going to be introducing my adopted brothers to my blood relations. This isn't exactly a situation I ever thought I would be in."

"I suppose I can see the awkwardness of it," Elrohir said. "But truly, you need not worry. We are very much set on loving them as kin."

Just then the phone rang and Glorfindel got up and answered it. A few moments later he hung up and said, "They are here, Lothril. You should all go on ahead. I will clean up things here and then follow right after."

They thanked him and as they got up to leave, Glorfindel gently put a hand on Lothril's shoulder and said, "Breathe, calm, focus – remember? And enjoy yourself. We all love you, mellon nin."

"Thank you, Glorfindel," she said with a smile.

Lothril the whole way back was torn between wanting to babble on incessantly about her family and keep utterly silent. Legolas, who was holding her hand as they walked, kept glancing over at her. After the fifth or sixth time of her starting to speak but stopping herself before actually saying something Elladan looked at her and said, "Lothril, if you do not speak soon you shall burst!"

"So speak your fill and be excited," Elrohir added, taking her free hand.

Immediately she started going on and on about how she was sure they would like her family and about how her mom likes music and her dad likes to make things and her sister loves horses and her brother likes playing games; all the while she walked briskly and kept walking faster and faster until she was nearly jogging. As soon as they got out of the forest and were in full view of the house, she saw the mini-van sitting in the driveway and saw the front door on the house was open and Jules and Eddie were hauling in their bags. She broke into a sprint and started calling, "Jules! Eddie! I have some guys I want you to meet!"

"If we can catch up!" Elladan cried as he jogged up behind her.

They came up onto the porch and Lothril introduced them. "So, to my shock and surprise, the Valar sent a few more elves to help me. This is Elladan and Elrohir the sons of Elrond. They're sort of my adopted elven brothers."

"Are you guys like identical twins or something?" Eddie asked.

The twins looked at each other confused and replied in unison, "What are you talking about?"

Jules, Legolas, and Lothril all burst into laughter.

"We are identical twins," Elrohir said with a smile.

"How do we tell you two apart?" Eddie asked.

"We usually wear different colors," Elladan replied. "Today Elrohir is wearing a grey shirt and I am wearing green."

"Hey Jen, there's something you should know," Jules started, but just then there were footsteps on the stair and everyone heard a female voice calling.

"JENNY!"

Lothril whipped her head towards the open door and to her wide eyed surprise saw a five-foot-two dark blonde with green eyes jogging down the stairs and out the door.

"Lynn! What a surprise!" Lothril said, taken aback.

"I know! But it was all last minute!" Lynn said. "I called your parent's house last night to see if you wanted to hang out this weekend and they told me you were up here for the summer, and this is the last free weekend I'll probably have all summer before I leave for college in the fall, so they suggested I come up here with them and here I am!"

"Oh," Lothril said with a smile. "I'm really glad you made it up here! I wanted to hang out with you before I left, but everything was chaos."

"Yeah, I know. I'm so glad this worked out though," Lynn said. "And it's nice to see you again too, Avery!"

"It is nice to see you again also," Legolas replied with a smile. This may prove to be quite the interesting weekend!

"And who are your friends here?" Lynn asked, eyeing the twins.

"Oh, this is-" Lothril hesitated half a second and decided to heck with it all. She wouldn't know who they are anyway. "Elladan and Elrohir. Elladan is wearing green today."

Elladan, Elrohir, and Legolas all looked at Lothril with various looks of surprise and Lothril tossed them the thought of, "I shall explain myself later."

"It is very nice to meet you," Elladan said with a smile.

"Indeed it is," Elrohir added.

"It's very nice to meet you both too," Lynn replied with a smile. Were they hot or were they hott?! How the heck did Jenny suddenly get all these super hot guy friends?! "So how do you guys know Jenny?" she asked.

"We have a couple mutual acquaintances, including Avery here," Elrohir answered.

"We have known her for nearly a year though," Elladan added.

"Oh, that's cool. So Elladan and Elrohir… those are kind of exotic names. Are they like family names from the old country or something?" Lynn asked, in more or less a cross of curiosity and wanting to make small talk.

The twins looked at each other with a slight grin and Elrohir answered, "They are, more or less. Where we are from it is not uncommon for names to be created borrowing elements from one or both of the parents' names or creating a name of the same sort of theme."

"So Lynn, are we going to be sharing a bedroom this weekend?" Lothril asked before Lynn could ask where the "old country" was.

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind. I'm sure Grandma Sue would have warned you, but we decided to surprise you with me showing up," Lynn said.

Lothril smiled, "That's fine. I'm pretty sure I've got all my stuff put away anyway."

"Yeah, it was fine. So what is there – oh hey, there's someone coming out of the woods over there," Lynn said.

The others turned and Lothril said, "Oh, that's Glorfindel."

"He lives with us at the house through the woods there," Elrohir said.

"Oh, okay," Lynn said with a nod. "Just wanted to make sure he wasn't some random stranger just wandering around."

Legolas had to suppress a smile. His interactions with Lynn prior to this had been brief, and he wondered if she had only come across as so blunt because she was in a familiar setting surrounded by friends. No, no! To his delight she was simply blunt and honest. Oh, this weekend might be very fun indeed.

Glorfindel came onto the porch and Lothril said, "Glorfindel, allow me to introduce you to my friend Lynn. Lynn, this is Glorfindel."

Glorfindel cocked an eyebrow at Lothril, but then quickly smoothed his face into a pleasant grin and said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lynn."

"Pleasure's all mine, I'm sure," Lynn replied.

Just then Ed and Donna came out onto the porch and told the younger siblings to go put their things upstairs then Lothril introduced them to the twins and Glorfindel by their right names.

Grandma Sue came out and announced the lemonade was ready and if anyone was hungry to speak up because she could start dinner sooner than later and had some cherries and blueberries they could snack on in the meantime. Lothril was careful to ask Glorfindel and the twins, by name, if they wanted to stay for dinner also. Sue was a bit surprised, but hey – whatever.

The consensus was that an earlier rather than later dinner would be agreeable to all, and so Sue asked Ed if he'd come start up the grill for her as tonight was going to be a ribs. It was about two in the afternoon, ribs usually took her two or so hours, and as they were prepped and ready to go and the sides were all done, except the corn which wouldn't go on until near the end, she supposed at absolute latest they'd be eating by five. Assuming Ed had no problems lighting up her grill.

Everyone got down off the porch and headed to the back of the house where the grill was. The remains of the pyre from earlier that week were pretty much just some scorched grass that was already recovering a little thanks to the efforts of the elves, and all the armor by now had been gathered up and was back at the house with the twins being melted down into shapeless iron lumps that they had every intention of chucking in the swamp later. They had no use for it and they doubted anyone else who might live in the house after would either.

Jules and Eddie began begging Legolas to play with them as they wanted to show off their cartwheeling (which they had been practicing). The twins, thinking this looked like fun decided to join them. The rest of them though went over to the adriondack chairs under the big sprawling oak tree Legolas had been in during the fight and sat down.

"Oh my word," Lynn said as she watched Legolas execute a perfect carwheel, "I thought he looked really athletic but I didn't expect him be a gymnast."

"Oh that's nothing," Lothril said offhandedly. "You should see him when he's trying to show off."

"Give it a few minutes and all three of them will," Glorfindel said, sounding amused.

"So Glorfindel, where are you from?" Lynn asked.

Glorfindel glanced at Lothril and asked with ósanwe, "How much exactly are we telling her?"

"Let us conceal the fact we are elves for now until I can better read things with her, but be as honest as you like while concealing that fact," she answered.

"I am from an island called Eressëa," Glorfindel answered.

"Oooh! That a pretty name! What's it like there?" Lynn asked.

"It is a beautiful place. The clime is not too different from here and it is covered in trees and rolling hills and fair valleys," he answered.

"Sounds lovely," Lynn said. "Is that where Ella- what are their names again?"

"Elladan and Elrohir. And yes, we all come from the same place," Glorfindel answered.

"So did you guys immigrate here or are you here on business or something?" Lynn asked.

Glorfindel tossed a quick smile to Lothril and answered, "Business, and it is nearly concluded so we shall be leaving for home in a few weeks."

"Aww, well I'm sure you guys are excited to be going home," Lynn said with a smile.

"Very excited," Glorfindel said. "And there they go."

They looked over towards the others and saw Legolas doing a string of aerial cartwheels and backflips without using his hands.

"Geez! He's gonna break his neck!" Lynn said, watching with wide eyed wonder.

Glorfindel and Lothril both laughed and Glorfindel said, "Very unlikely."

"I was gonna say you and I should go over there and join them, Jenny, but I think we'd look pretty pathetic next to him," Lynn said.

Lothril grinned, "We might at that, but we could still go join them."

"Well maybe in a minute, I'll be right back," Lynn said and scurried into the house.

As soon as Lynn shut the back door behind her, Lothril called everyone over quickly and said, "Okay, here's the deal – Lynn's never read the Lord of the Rings, she's only watched the movies, so she doesn't know about Elladan, Elrohir, or Glorfindel. She's also going to have pretty limited knowledge of Middle-earth geography, so if it's somewhere the Fellowship went, you can't really talk about it because she might recognize it. Except Rivendell. If you call it Imladris she won't have a clue. Anyway, that's why I used the twins' and Glorfindel's right names. That and, I wanted to introduce them to you guys with their right names."

"If we had known they were here, we wouldn't have invited her," her mom said.

"No, I'm really glad you did, and it's fine. And if we slip up and she finds out, oh well. We've managed to keep this pretty mum, so I'm not terribly worried. But I wanted to get us all on the same page," Lothril said. "Oh, and since I couldn't introduce them properly a little bit ago – Mom, Dad, Elladan and Elrohir are Elrond's sons, so my adopted brothers."

Her parents were just starting to say how happy they were to meet them when Lynn came back out. The afternoon was relatively chill and some loose plans were made for the weekend which included a trip to Verne's Beach, a trip to the local ice cream place, and if they were feeling extra crazy, perhaps a trip to a local brew pub that, according to Sue, had fabulous fish and chips. In the meantime though, Julie and Eddie played with Legolas and the twins and were intermittently joined by Lothril, Lynn, and Glorfindel and after dinner there was a bonfire and as it grew dark, the younger ones began catching fireflies and putting them in an old mason jar that had holes punched in the lid. The elves joined them and soon they had a whole jar of them which they kept for about an hour or two before setting them free a little ways from the bonfire.

S'mores were made, conversations had, and after a while the mortals all went to bed and the elves volunteered to put the fire out. Eventually. As soon as the humans were in the house, the elves began to sing summer songs and eventually everyone decided it was quite late after all, so the others went home and Legolas and Lothril put out the fire.

They were just about to go in the house when Legolas pulled Lothril over to the corner of the porch where they couldn't be seen from any windows and began kissing her.

"Legolas!" Lothril whisper protested.

"Your parents know… Grandma Sue knows… your siblings know… Lynn half knows… unless you do not want to," he said, punctuating his words with kisses that trailed from her ears to her collar bone.

"That's true," she said thoughtfully, sounding far too coherent for his liking.

"Besides, I will not be long," he whispered in her ear. "They all may know, but I still prefer privacy with you."

Roughly twenty minutes later Lothril was sneaking into the bedroom as silently as an elf ever did to not wake up Lynn. She sneaked her clothes out of the dresser and crept to the bathroom down the hall where she got ready for bed. She returned a few minutes later to the room to see Lynn had rolled into the middle of the bed. Hmm… What to do? She knew there were some spare blankets in the hall closet… there was a thick rug in the room… she had slept on worse.

She sneaked back into the hallway and met Legolas heading back to his room from the bathroom. "Fancy meeting you here," she said with ósanwe.

"What strange fates are ours," he replied in kind, his thoughts sounding horribly amused. "What are you doing with all those blankets?"

"Lynn is taking up most of the bed, so I am going to sleep on the floor," she answered.

"I would offer to let you sleep in my bed with me, but I think you have enough blankets there to create a softer bed than mine," he replied.

"Probably best. We have begun fostering many bad habits we cannot continue when we return."

"At least not as easily as we have here," Legolas replied. "If we are imaginative though, we shall not suffer too much."

"And here everyone kept telling me how proper and respectable you are," she returned with a raised brow.

He kissed her and replied, "And so I still am. That we have fostered a few unusual habits changes nothing. We shall only need to be more imaginative because certain nobles and courtiers like to gossip and I like to give them as little fodder as possible."

She shook her head with a disapproving frown that looked like it was trying very hard not to turn into a grin. "Goodnight Legolas."

"Goodnight Lothril," he smiled.

The next morning after Legolas showed off his cooking skills at breakfast, Lynn mentioned something about wanting to take a hike through the woods and after a little discussion Lothril's parents declared they would rather relax at the house and Julie and Eddie decided hiking sounded dull so stayed behind to explore the yard and her barns and things. Grandma Sue also told them she'd let them drive her lawn mower around the yard if they wanted.

Lynn, Lothril, and Legolas set out into the woods. They walked along rather aimlessly for about an hour and chit-chatted before Lynn said something about heading back and seeing if the others wanted to do something. Though none of them meant to, they wound up wandering into into the backyard of the elves who had a forge going and were working on destroying orc armor and weapons. As they worked they sang and it was the song that drew them. As Glorfindel saw the three draw closer, he said something to the twins who both acknowledged they heard him, but kept working. Glorfindel, who now had what was once a shield beaten down into a shapeless metal lump he was hammering on, quickly grabbed the tongs and dropped it into the barrel of oil to cool it off. It was misshapen enough that no one would ever guess what it had been originally. He casually grabbed the taurpaline they were keeping the remaining armor and weapons under and spread it over them before Lynn got too close.

"Good morning," Glorfindel casually greeted as they drew near.

"Good morning," Legolas returned.

"What brings you here today?" Glorfindel asked cordially.

"We were just out for a walk and wandered over," Lynn said. "Then we heard you guys out here and decided to drop in and say hi."

Glorfindel smiled, "And I am glad you did."

"What are you guys working on?" Lynn asked.

"We are melting down some metal," Glorfindel said.

Lynn nodded, "I guess that's what you do with a forge, right?"

"Generally," Glorfindel smiled.

"We should probably head back and see what everyone else is up to," Lothril said.

"Oh yeah," Lynn said. "It's getting pretty warm out now. Maybe we can talk them into a trip to the beach. Nice seeing you guys!"

The twins shouted a quick, "Nice to see you!"

As they headed back Lynn said, "I wonder what they were melting down?"

"I really couldn't say," Lothril said. "Though, if I had a forge, there's a pretty good chance I'd be melting every bit of scrap metal I could find."

"Remind me to keep you away from the smith's forge," Legolas said with ósanwe.

Lothril's only response was to toss him a quick glance out of the corner of her eye.

"So level with me Jen – how long have you two been dating?" Lynn asked out of the blue.

"Come again?" Lothril asked, taken off guard by the blunt and random question.

"It's obvious you two have been a thing longer than a month, so were you long distance dating or what?" Lynn asked.

Legolas and Lothril glanced at each other and Lothril said, "It's been like a year." …Okay, technically more like eight months, but she had been crushing on him since shortly after they arrived at Rivendell, but Lynn didn't need to know that.

"A year? I can't decide if that explains why you two act like an old married couple or not," Lynn replied. "I think if I was long distance dating a guy for a year I'd be all over him when we finally got back together."

"Well I'd make out with him non-stop but I'd hate to be responsible for people drowning in sap," Lothril replied with heavy sarcasm.

Lynn laughed and said, "Suuuure you would, Jen! I can't imagine you doing more than hand holding and kisses on the cheek."

Legolas violently bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Oh how very wrong Lynn was! Not yesterday they were back in their little pine grove, Lothril sitting on his lap, fingers tangled in his hair, her lips giving him an education on the expressiveness of a kiss… and by the stars could she express with a kiss! To say nothing of the songs she had been giving him since that day at the beach. Not that he wasn't perfectly comfortable with who he was and his looks, but her words were certainly the ego boost he didn't know he needed. There were times when he began to anticipate the weeks right before their wedding when they could begin expressing those desires…

"Oh good grief, Lynn – I'm not that big of a prude," Lothril defended.

"Okay, okay – you hold hands and hug and kisses on the cheek," Lynn teased.

Legolas did his best not to grin as he mentally added, "…and the lips, and the neck, and the ears – and do not think I did not notice what you did last time your mouth was near my ears…"

Lothril blushed ever so slightly and Legolas caught it but Lynn didn't seem to notice.

"But I'm sure Avery is a perfect gentleman," Lynn said, slightly more sincerely but still teasing a little.

"He is at that," Lothril said with a smile then tacked on in a voice low enough that Lynn didn't hear it, "Usually."

"You've been quiet for a while, Avery," Lynn said after a moment of silence.

"I am enjoying seeing how one of her oldest friends perceives her," Legolas replied with a grin.

"You've known her about as long as me," Lynn replied.

"Ah, but I am not a girl," Legolas replied.

"That's true. So Avery, am I right? Are you a perfect gentleman and you two only hold hands and hug and kiss on the cheek?"

"I do not hold hands and tell," Legolas replied looking particularly innocent.

Lynn laughed and then pretended to be disappointed and said, "Alright, alright! Keep your secrets. I was just hoping for a few juicy details."

"Such as?" Legolas asked.

Lothril only shook her head. She knew exactly what her cheesy chick flick watching, Hallmark movie loving, Christian romance novel reading friend was looking for… and she was certain if she told her the whole long story she would have Lynn sighing and going, "AWWWW!" for days. But of course though, her story was better because it was true.

"Oh, you know - how it all happened, who said they liked the other first, did you hold hands or kiss or something when you finally saw each other after you got it all out in the open… that kind of thing," Lynn answered.

"That is a long and complicated tale," Legolas answered.

"I like long stories," Lynn said. "And it's not like we don't have all weekend."

Legolas looked at Lothril who looked surprisingly contemplative.

"Well, you see," Lothril started, "We were kinda dancing around our feelings for a while then one night we had a long talk and he kinda realized, I think, that I felt more for him than I was willing to say."

"It was written in your eyes," Legolas said.

"Awww!" Lynn said with a smile.

"And then two days later he took me on a picnic and," she glanced up briefly at Legolas who was smiling and continued, "he told me he loved me and I told him I loved him too."

"Aaawww! But like, not to be a Debbi Downer, but are you sure it's love?"

"Quite," Legolas said.

"Aww! So do your parents know? I mean, I know they know you're dating but do they know you love each other?" Lynn asked.

"They know," Lothril said.

"So you two are pretty serious then?" Lynn said, sounding a bit more serious herself but looking happy for her friend too.

"Very serious," Legolas said then looked at Lothril with a warm smile.

"Wait, are you two already planning on getting married?" Lynn asked, wide eyed and looking back and forth between them.

"We intend to marry as soon as we may," Legolas said.

"Do your parents know about that too?" Lynn asked, looking quite serious.

Lothril and Legolas looked at each and Lothril said, "Oh, they know and everyone has given their blessing."

"So, if you guys are already planning to get married, are you waiting to kiss until your wedding day or have you kissed already?" Lynn asked.

"I knew she was blunt but is she always this forward?" Legolas asked with ósanwe.

"Always and always, but that is what I love about her," Lothril replied in kind, her thoughts sounding amused and wrapped in love for her friend. Truly, she wouldn't want Lynn any other way.

"We've already kissed. In fact, we kissed when we told each other we loved each other," Lothril said.

"Aawwww! That's so romantic!" Lynn said. "I don't think I could wait for my wedding day either. Just seems like it would be embarrassing having my first kiss in front of everyone I know. Well thanks for telling me, guys! That's so romantic – and at a picnic!"

That night after an afternoon at the beach and a cookout for dinner and dessert at the local ice cream shop, Lynn and Lothril were in their shared guestroom sitting on the bed and talking.

"I sorta felt like maybe I was embarrassing Avery earlier with all my questions. He seems like he's kind of a private person," Lynn said.

"He can be rather private, but I don't think you were embarrassing him," Lothril said.

"Oh good," Lynn said. "I really like him, by the way. And I think you two look perfect together."

Lothril smiled, "Oh good, because I like him too and I think he's kinda perfect."

"He really does seem like he's the perfect gentleman," Lynn said.

"He is very honorable and upright and very well respected," Lothril said, almost absentmindedly. Didn't Elrond say as much several times? And Elladan and Elrohir, and Glorfindel, and Aragorn, and pretty much everyone she met…

"I half expected you to say he has a good fortune of ten thousand pounds per annum," Lynn teased.

Lothril snorted a laugh and tried to stifle it so she didn't wake anyone and said, "I'm sure I have no idea what his annual income is, but he is in possession of a good fortune."

"Umm… he's seventeen, he has like three siblings, and his dad is an engineer," Lynn said, dropping a reality check.

"Huh? Oh, yes, well… Is your Sarah still dating that guy?" Lothril asked, changing subjects.

"Oh, David? Yeah. They got engaged over Memorial Day weekend," Lynn said and then relayed the whole story of her older sister's engagement.

It was a sweet little story and Lothril really wished she could share more of her own because she knew her friend would love it, but she couldn't really. Could she? That note said to hide her true nature and purpose as much as possible… but she was done with her mission, they were going back soon… And she trusted Lynn. She was pretty good at keeping secrets…

"Hey Lynn, I've got a weird question for you," Lothril said.

"Okay, what is it?"

"How does Avery look to you? Does he look like Avery? I mean, like how you remember a couple years ago?"

"So it's not just me! I thought he looked a bit different! And not just the fact he grew up over the last couple years either. I mean, he was always pretty cute but now he's like freaking beautiful… which sounds weird, but really!" She paused a moment and with knit brows and a slight tilt to her head added, "Why do you ask?"

"Do I look different?"

"Yeah, actually. You have ever since Avery showed up. I mean, I miss seeing you two weeks and church and when I see you again and you're dating Mr. Gorgeous and you look like a – like a-"

"Elf?" Lothril suggested.

"Yeah, actually. You remind me a lot of an elf from Lord of the Rings or something. Put you in a long flowy dress and you could play what's-her-face's sister… You know, the one played by Liv Tyler."

"Arwen. Funny you mention that…" Lothril started but then was cut off by Lynn.

"Wait, let me see your ears? Are your ears pointed? Don't tell me she-who-does-not-wear-makeup is putting on pointy ears every day!" Lynn said, getting a little loud.

"Shh! The others are asleep. And yes, my ears are pointed and no, these are my natural ears," Lothril said.

"Whaaaat? You've never had pointed ears before," Lynn said, sounding like she was convinced this was some sort of joke.

"No, I didn't. They didn't turn pointed until I met Legolas," Lothril said.

"Umm… Jen, Legolas is a fictitious character in a book. I don't know what you've been smoking, but you couldn't have met Legolas," Lynn said, sounding a little serious and concerned.

"Let me show you a few things," Lothril said and immediately got off the bed and went into the closet and brought out her elven pack and her weapons. "This pack was given to me by Thranduil, the king of the Woodland Realm and Legolas' father. And this," she opened up the pack and pulled out the wooden box that contained her healing herbs, tinctures, and balms, "was given to me by Elrond who adopted me as his daughter shortly after I arrived in Rivendell, so I am, in fact, the adopted sister of Arwen."

Lynn took the box and opened it up. The little glass jars with corks, the small tins, the variety of strange herbs… it all gave off serious vibes of being not modern though she couldn't place her finger on why. The labels were all hand written in looped and flowing script she couldn't read.

"This is the set of long knives Legolas gave me in Mirkwood so I could learn how to defend myself," Lothril said, pulling those out of the pack in their sheath still. Lynn reached for them and Lothril said, "Be careful, they are very sharp."

Lynn looked at the leatherwork – it was definitely quality and though she was sure she didn't know what something like that would cost, she imagined it would be well out of her friend's price range. "These are heavy!"

"It's because they're real."

Lynn pulled one of the knives out and looked at the blade, and as she held the blade against her palm she managed to split her hand open, but the knife was so sharp she didn't even feel it until after she realized she was bleeding. "Oh my gosh! This is sharp! I've split my hand open! I think I need stitches."

Lothril quickly took the knife from her friend and set it safely aside and reached into her healing kit which was still open, and pulled out the roll of bandages she had in there and began tending Lynn's wound. "You definitely do not need stitches. This is just a nasty scratch and nothing more."

"When did you go to nursing school?" Lynn snapped, wincing a little as Lothril began cleaning up the better part of the spilled blood on her palm.

"Keep pressure on this for a second," Lothril said she while she opened up the balm she had Legolas use on her cut and then removed the bandages. "And I didn't go to nursing school, obviously. More like trained as a healer and battle field medic." She quickly slathered a layer of the balm in split, singing all the while.

Lynn watched her friend work, feeling a little woozy at first but rapidly regaining a feeling of normalcy while simultaneously wondering if she could believe her own eyes. As soon as the balm was slathered into the wound, it seemed to stop bleeding and she noticed it didn't sting anymore, but rather felt slightly warm and soothed and clean. Her friend kept singing as she ripped off the soiled bandages from the roll and wrapped her hand in clean bandage and then held her hand between hers. Her hands felt warm and for all Lynn was worth she swore she could nearly feel her hand healing.

After a minute or two Lothril stopped and said, "There, your hand will be completely healed by morning."

"When I saw the cut I swore I was going to need stitches but… I think I believe you," Lynn said, staring at her hand and realizing she wasn't seeing any blood seeping through the bandage, even though she only wrapped it in maybe three layers. She looked back at her friend who looked very much like the Jenny she had always known and very much like something more. "What happened to you?"

Lothril launched into the whole long tale, starting with her dreams with Legolas. When she reached the part about their confessing their love on Cerin Amroth, Lynn was almost past any skepticism because her hand still hadn't bled through the thin bandage and this whole tale was – honestly, it was making too much sense of how her friend had been acting all through May, the weird accent of Avery's, er Legolas' she had noticed, and the way that her parents had so readily agreed to let them date, and not just date but do so much stuff alone and come up here for theoretically the whole summer – it was honestly the only thing that made sense of it all. Well, sorta… she was plenty confused about most of the Middle-earth stuff because she had only watched the movies like once, but she understood the basics of weird stuffed happened, Jenny is an elf, Jenny went to Middle-earth, Jenny fell in love with Legolas, and Legolas is now here with her along with a bunch of other elves she knows nothing about.

"So we reached Cerin Amroth and he took my hands in his and asked me if I was sure I wanted to live in Middle-earth and if so, would I want to live with him? Then he told me that he loves me and that he wants to be with me always," Lothril said.

"Aww! So what did you say?" Lynn asked.

"I told him I love him too and I want to be with him and then we kissed."

"Aaaaawwwwwwwww! Is he a good kisser?"

"I certainly think so," Lothril answered with a grin.

"So then what?" Lynn asked.

"Well, we talked for a long time and I asked him how long he knew he loved me and he said all the way back in Rivendell before we left and I told him I loved him since right before I asked him to name me. We spent a lot of time just walking, talking, and kissing and then headed back into the city and went to bed," Lothril said.

"Aww! That's so sweet! But like, something I'm confused about – are you guys going to live here now or go back to Middle-earth?" Lynn asked.

"Well, honestly, this is why my parents wanted you to come up with them – we're going to go back to Middle-earth," Lothril said. "Right after the Fourth."

"Will you be able to come back and visit?" Lynn asked.

Lothril shook her head. "No, it's a permanent one way ticket back to Middle-earth."

"So, that's why you were so insistent about trying to hang out," Lynn said. "I wish I knew…"

"Don't worry about that. You're here now and well, I probably wouldn't have told you all this then, but now that we're done killing the orcs and a departure date set, well… I decided it was safe enough to tell you. But you really can't tell anyone. You'll be locked up as crazy for one thing, but I don't want any trouble caused for my family either," Lothril said.

"No, I won't tell. I'm not exactly looking to spend my college years in a rubber room. You said your folks know, right?" Lynn asked.

"Yeah, they know," Lothril said.

"So when we leave tomorrow afternoon, it's goodbye… for like, forever," Lynn said, the weight of the realization sinking in.

Lothril nodded.

"How can you leave like that? I mean, how can you leave everything you've ever known?" Lynn asked sounding almost grief stricken now.

"It's not easy but… I'm not sure how to explain it to you, really. Going to Middle-earth, everything felt natural and almost…effortless. I hadn't been there before, but it felt like going home. Everything just felt right and for the first time in my life everything made sense. I really wish I could convey this to you better," Lothril said with a sympathetic frown. "But Legolas cannot stay here and neither can I. We belong there."

"I'm really gonna miss you, Jen," Lynn said, sounding a little choked up.

"I'm gonna miss you too, Lynn," Lothril said, feeling a bit choked up herself.

The next day was a little weird for Lynn as she now knew the truth of everything, and if she had been tempted to think it all a dream when she awoke, that was dispelled as soon as she saw the bandage on her hand. She unwrapped it and sure enough – the wound was healed and the scar very faint. Lothril had gotten up and dressed and left the room before her, which Lynn was kinda grateful for because it meant she could get dressed and think things through a little. This was the last time she was ever going to see one of her oldest friends… at the same time, she was literally going to live happily ever after as a princess with prince charming… Lynn really couldn't decide if she should be excited, devastated, or both.

At breakfast, everyone was normal. They had decided last night to skip church this week so Lynn and Lothril could have more time together, and that morning Lothril told Legolas she had told her about everything, and he suggested that maybe they should spend time together alone before she left and that he would stay back with her family. However, when Lothril suggested that to Lynn she said she would rather spend time with everyone together so everyone sat around for a while talking and eating and then talking and playing Uno, then lunch and then… it was time to leave.

Lothril said goodbye to her family until next week and then came to Lynn and said, "I'm gonna miss you Lynn. And I won't forget you."

"I'm gonna miss you too, Jen," Lynn said quietly.

"Can we take a picture before we go? I'm putting together a photo album," Lothril said.

"Yeah! Of course! Can I get a copy of it?" Lynn asked.

"Sure! I'm getting doubles of everything so there's a set of pictuers here and with me," Lothril said.

"Legolas, get in this picture too," Lynn said. "I want to remember the time I met an elven prince."

Legolas smiled and said, "If you like."

Grandma Sue whipped out her camera, which had been kept handy all weekend, and snapped a couple good pictures of the three of them and then a couple of the two of them.

"Alright, alright, I'm sure your dad wants to get back home before it's too late," Lynn said, trying to keep a light tone despite the fact this was a final goodbye. "Goodbye, girl! Take care of yourself!" She said as she gave Lothril a big hug.

"Goodbye Lynn, and take care of yourself too," Lothril replied, blinking back tears.

"Nice to meet you, Legolas! Take care of her for me, will you?" Lynn said as she gave him an awkward side hug.

"I will take very good care of her, never fear. Farewell, Lynn," he replied.

And with that, Lynn grabbed her duffle bag, slung it in the rear of the mini-van and climbed in and with a last quick goodbye from her family they all got in and drove away.

Lothril watched the mini-van drive away and sighed and Legolas put his arm around her.

"I hate goodbye's," she said quietly. "And I've got five more."

"Do you want to talk or perhaps solitude?"

She turned towards him and wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder and began to cry.