Meeting an Elf
A/N: Disclaimers in first part of story. Basically, I don't own anyone but Lauren and other original characters.
Chapter Six - Meeting an Elf
Looking over to where Legolas had suddenly appeared in the midst of the dream world, Aragorn stood up and walked to the elf's side. "What are you doing here?"
"I do not know," he replied with some confusion. "I assume this is the dream world you have told me about?"
"Yes," Aragorn answered. "I was just telling Lauren that I wished you were here to talk to her, that you would love to hear all that she can tell you. Did I summon you here?"
"You must have," Legolas said as he looked around in interest. "You were correct. This beach is beautiful." A wistful smile crossed his face as he looked at the sea.
Aragorn realized that it might have been a mistake to bring Legolas here. He had apparently succeeded in re-awakening his sea longing. He looked around for Lauren, to have something to distract Legolas with. Lauren was still sitting in the chair where he had left her, gazing at Legolas with a slack-jawed expression.
"Lauren?" Aragorn asked in amusement. He knew that she had never seen an elf, and he was rather enjoying her reaction. "Would you like to come over here and meet Legolas?"
She closed her mouth abruptly and walked slowly over to them as if in a daze, never taking her eyes off of Legolas' face. She stopped about an arm's length away from them, and her eyes roamed over Legolas, seemingly studying every detail.
"Lauren?" Aragorn said again. "Are you not going to say anything?"
"Oh…my…God," she breathed softly. "He's absolutely gorgeous! I don't think I've ever seen anything so…perfect in my life." She walked slowly around him, studying him from every angle. She stopped back in front of him, and the awe in her face made Aragorn suddenly have to stifle a chuckle. Legolas was looking increasingly uncomfortable under her scrutiny.
"Lauren, this is my friend, Legolas. Legolas, this is Lauren, my granddaughter."
"Suliad. Greetings. It is a pleasure to meet you," Legolas said. "I have heard much about you from Aragorn." He glanced sideways toward Aragorn when she did not respond. He had certainly not expected this reaction, and he was unsure what to do now.
She just continued to stare at him, her eyes wide, until Aragorn reached over and poked her in the arm. Snapping out of her stupor, she glared at Aragorn, rubbing her arm. "That wasn't necessary."
"You seemed to be in a bit of a trance," Aragorn said with a grin. "I could think of nothing else to do to break you from it." He was truly enjoying watching her reaction, and Legolas' discomfort.
"This is your best friend?" she asked in amazement. "How do you ever get anything done without getting distracted? Or maybe that works a bit differently for you, also being male. But honestly, I don't think I could string together two coherent thoughts when he's around. Is there any way to bring him to my time from yours? Or better yet, he's immortal right? How about if he's still around in twenty thousand years or so, you have him look me up?" Her face was alight with her enthusiasm and that mischievous glint in her eyes.
Aragorn could not help it; he burst out laughing, and even Legolas was looking amused, if a bit embarrassed. "He is right there," Aragorn finally said. "I do not believe it is polite to talk about him as if he were not here."
"No he's not," Lauren insisted. "It's not possible that he's here."
"Why not?" Aragorn asked in confusion. Lauren's reaction was rather confusing to him. Legolas was now watching them both with amusement.
"You said the only reason that you and I could talk is that we're blood related. There was nothing in anything you've said to indicate that I'm any relation to Legolas. Therefore, he can't really be here, and you're just having fun at my expense, knowing how I'd react to seeing him for the first time." Lauren crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at Aragorn. "Not that I can blame you. I'm sure my reaction was quite humorous."
"I would not attempt to have fun at your expense, Lauren. The rest of your argument is logical, but for one thing. Legolas is an elf, and as such, can control his dreams to an extent unheard of for humans. He likely heard my summons and responded, finding his way here to join us." He glanced sideways toward Legolas to see if he agreed with that. Legolas just shrugged, not really sure how he had ended up here.
Lauren's face blanched. "You mean he's really here? That isn't just an image of him?" She turned away and walked slowly back to the platform, slouching down in a chair and pulling the towel over her head.
Aragorn and Legolas exchanged confused glances before Aragorn walked over to join Lauren, gesturing for Legolas to stay where he was. "Lauren?" Aragorn asked tentatively as he sat down beside her. "Are you all right?"
"Is it possible for a person to die from embarrassment?" her muffled voice came through the cloth of the towel.
"No, I do not believe so," Aragorn chuckled, suddenly understanding why she had reacted as she had.
"Too bad," she said softly. She took the towel from her head and looked at Aragorn. "Are you sure he's really here? So far, you're the only other person to find this dream world. And you have talked about Legolas before without him appearing. So is it possible that he's just an image, and because you know him so well, his reactions seem real?" She was practically pleading with him to tell her that Legolas was not really there.
"It is possible," Aragorn allowed. "I know Legolas as well as anyone, so I can accurately predict how he would react in certain situations. There is a small chance that he is simply an image, but it is also a very real possibility that he is here. Until we know for sure, however, I believe we should treat him as if he truly is here."
Lauren nodded miserably. "Fine. But I’m so embarrassed at how I reacted. I did tell you that I have a weakness for blue-eyed blondes, didn't I? He looks like my fondest dream, and I don't know if I can face him again." She rubbed her hands over her face. "OK, I can do this. I think I'm ready to try this again." Dropping the towel from her lap, she stood up, looking down at her clothes. In moments, she was wearing a long flowing dress that fell to mid-calf.
Noticing the look of surprise on Aragorn's face, she explained. "You had a problem with the swimsuit at first, and I didn't want to make him any more uncomfortable than I already have. So, I thought something just a little more traditional was called for."
Aragorn nodded and gestured back toward where they had left Legolas. "Are you ready?"
"Not yet," she said. "Can you show me an elven gesture of greeting or respect or something? I somehow doubt they shake hands in greeting. I want to try to make up for my horrible first impression." She shook her head in embarrassment as she wondered what Legolas must think of her.
Aragorn smiled and showed her the most common gesture of greeting among the Mirkwood elves.
"Thank you," she said before taking a deep breath. "OK, let's do this."
Aragorn was amused at how nervous she was about facing Legolas again. He held his arm out to her to provide a source of support.
She latched on to his arm with a very firm grip in her nervousness and he led her back over to Legolas.
"Is everything well, mellon-nín?" Legolas asked as they approached him. Looking them over, he noticed that Lauren was wearing different clothing than she had been a moment before, and he remembered that Aragorn had told them how easy it was to change their surroundings and other elements of this dream world. As he studied her, he noticed that Lauren's knuckles were white where she clung to Aragorn's arm. Moving his gaze to her face, he noticed that her expression hovered somewhere between nervousness and outright terror. Surely he was not that terrifying, was he?
"Yes, Legolas. All is well," Aragorn assured him. He patted Lauren's hand reassuringly, then met Legolas' eyes and nodded, with a small smile on his face to let him know that things were fine.
Lauren let go of Aragorn's arm and bowed her head, placing her hand over her heart and then sweeping it out to the side. "Greetings, Prince Legolas. I apologize for my earlier behavior. Please forgive my inappropriate comments."
Legolas smiled at her, easily hearing the embarrassment in her voice. That was the cause for her nervousness, then. "Think nothing of it. You are certainly not the first to react unexpectedly to seeing an elf for the first time." He did have to admit to himself that her reaction was quite unique, though. None had ever ogled him so openly before. Perhaps that was a difference between their cultures.
She raised her head and looked him in the eyes. Seeing no condemnation there, she began to relax. "Thank you for being so understanding. I've never seen an elf before, and nothing Aragorn told me prepared me for this. My brain seemed to have temporarily disconnected from my mouth. I certainly meant no disrespect, nor did I wish to make you uncomfortable."
"Enough," Aragorn broke in, rolling his eyes. "You have been forgiven, Lauren. Stop apologizing."
She shot him a sheepish grin. "OK, fine. I'll let it go."
"Thank you," Aragorn said. He noticed the confused look on Legolas' face. "Her manner of speaking is not like we are accustomed to, but is not usually too difficult to follow." He looked back and forth between Lauren and Legolas. Lauren seemed to be doing her best not to stare at Legolas. Having Legolas here seemed to be creating a feeling of awkwardness. She finally seemed to give up the battle and studied Legolas intently.
"Is there something you would like to ask?" Legolas asked her, trying to put her more at ease. Also, if he could get her to stop staring, he would be more comfortable.
"Yes, actually," she replied. "Aragorn said that elves are immortal. I know this may be rude, but I have to ask this. How old are you?" She tilted her head slightly to the side as she studied him, apparently trying to find some clues to his age.
Legolas smiled at her. "That is a question that the race of men always seems to ask. I am still considered young by the standards of my people. I am not yet three thousand." His casual tone made it clear that he did not find anything unusual about that.
Her mouth dropped open and she just stared at him for a moment. After she found her voice again, she pressed the question. "Well, how far from three thousand are you? A few centuries, a few years, two thousand years?" She gestured with her hand, her palm up in inquiry.
"Two thousand years?" Legolas asked in confusion, brows knitting together. "Would I not then have said that I was not yet a thousand?" Her question did not quite make sense to him.
She shrugged. "I don't know. For all I know, three thousand is some kind of milestone marking adulthood or something, and you were saying you hadn't reached that mark."
Legolas could not fault her reasoning. "I am less than fifty years away from turning three thousand."
"Wow," she said. "And that's considered young?" The incredulous expression on her face made it clear that she certainly did not consider him young.
Laughing, Legolas answered her. "Yes, many elves are much older than that. Aragorn's brothers are a little older than I am, and their father is over six thousand years old. And Lord Elrond is far from being one of the oldest elves. Lord Glorfindel has been alive since before the fall of Gondolin. He is much older than Elrond."
"But he was not alive the whole time," Aragorn added, raising a finger to make his point. "Do not forget, he died during the fall of Gondolin and spent many years in the halls of Mandos."
"How could I possibly forget, considering the many times I have heard the tale?" Legolas said, rolling his eyes. That was a favored tale at Imladris, and he had heard it more times than he could keep track of. "He was not dead for long, though, comparatively, so I still count him among one of the older elves." Aragorn had to grant him that point.
Lauren was watching them in utter confusion. "He came back from the dead?" This sounded like a story she would love to hear. Raking her memory of the tales Aragorn had told her, she did remember him mentioning a Glorfindel who had died, and also a Glorfindel that he had known as he grew up, but she had never thought they were the same elf. How did one come back from the dead?
"Yes," Aragorn explained. "It is a long story, but the short version is that the Valar sent him back from the Halls of Mandos to help protect Elrond, his family, and Imladris. His job was not yet finished." Aragorn knew that it would take some time to try to explain the story more fully, and he did not want to spend the time on that story just yet.
"Oh," she nodded as if that made sense, but they knew by the crease in her forehead that to her, it did not. She dropped that line of discussion and returned to her original line of questioning. "I know you must hear this all the time, but you don't look any older than me." She scrutinized Legolas' face, looking for lines or other signs that he was several millenia old. The only sign that she could see of his age was in his eyes. They seemed to hold much more experience and wisdom than she would have expected.
"And how old are you?" Aragorn asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
She gave him a dark look. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's not polite to ask a lady that question?" She tossed her head as if he had offended her, but the twinkle in her eyes made it clear that she had taken no offense.
"You broached the topic and invited the question," Aragorn said, smiling and crossing his arms as he stared at her.
She frowned, thinking that over. "Yeah, I guess I did. OK, I'm between twenty-five and thirty." She followed Legolas' example and left them to guess at what her exact age was. For some reason, she didn't want to admit that she would be thirty on her next birthday. It was something that was actually bothering her a little bit. "And that's as much of an answer as you'll get, so don't push it. And while we're on the topic, how old are you?"
"Almost one hundred twenty five," Aragorn said, raising an eyebrow and smiling slightly as he stared at her. He had a feeling that she would not believe him.
Her mouth dropped open again in what was becoming a rather bad habit. "You're human. You can't possibly be that old and look that good." She now started scrutinizing Aragorn, looking for signs of his age. He did have more lines on his face than Legolas, but she would have sworn that Aragorn was only in his forties, at the latest.
Legolas and Aragorn both started laughing. Aragorn explained once more about being descended from elves and the longer life that came along with their heritage.
She shook her head in disbelief. "This is just too strange." Tilting her head, she studied Aragorn as intently as she had been studying Legolas. "Maybe that's why our family never seems to show their true age. We don't live much longer than other people, but no one ever believes we're as old as we are. This could explain it." She looked back at Legolas with a curious expression on her face. "Living for that long must be amazing. What is it like?"
Legolas did not know how to answer that question. She would have to be more specific. "What would you like to know?"
"What kind of advances in technology have you or even some of the older elves seen? What kinds of knowledge have you been able to accumulate, in medicine, art, history, astronomy, or understanding of the laws of nature? How many skilled artists have you known? Have you noticed any major architectural changes over the years, or just improvements in building techniques? What kinds of changes have you seen in the land and the animal life around you? You've probably been around long enough to see some major changes in the growth of forests. Have you seen any changes in the sky? I realize that on cosmological scales, a few thousand years is the blink of an eye, but have you observed any explosions or sudden brightening of stars in the sky? If you've observed a supernova, that would be awesome." Her words left her in a rush as her mind jumped from one topic to the next. She had more questions than she even knew how to articulate.
Legolas looked at Aragorn for help. He did not know where to start trying to answer her questions. He had a helpless, somewhat trapped expression on his face as he shrugged and tried to determine how he could answer even one of her questions.
Aragorn thought he could best help Legolas by getting Lauren to talk about something she found more interesting than Legolas. And he knew only one thing to try.
"Lauren has spent a great deal of time studying the stars," Aragorn said. "And it seems that humanity has made many discoveries in the last few centuries. When she was telling me about those discoveries, I found myself wishing you were here to hear it. It was as we were discussing these topics that you arrived." Aragorn smiled to himself as both Legolas and Lauren's eyes lit up.
Legolas turned to Lauren in excitement. "I would truly enjoy hearing about these discoveries. Elves have always loved the stars and the night sky. If you have learned things about them, I may have as many questions for you as you have for me."
"And I would love to tell you about them," Lauren replied, her eyes sparkling. "In my opinion, astronomy is the most interesting science there is." She paused for a moment in thought. "But where in the world would I start? The solar system, stars, supernovas, constellations, galaxies? There is so much that has been discovered in the past few centuries, and even in the past few decades. I honestly don't know what to talk about first."
Aragorn smiled as he watched the two of them interacting. This was what he had hoped to achieve. When Lauren was discussing one of her interests, all awkwardness vanished from her mannerisms and any other topic flew from her mind. He stood back and watched them talk.
"How about we do this," Lauren said. "You tell me what you know about the stars, movement of the heavenly bodies, and anything else you can think of on this topic, and we'll go from there." She was already trying to think of all the topics they had to cover.
"Very well," Legolas said, nodding slightly.
"Would you like to sit down?" Lauren asked, gesturing back toward the chairs. They had been standing for some time now, and with the hot sun beating down on them, Lauren thought they could all use a rest in a shady area.
Legolas simply inclined his head and gestured for her to lead the way. As she turned away to walk over to the platform, Legolas looked over to Aragorn and raised an eyebrow. Aragorn joined Legolas and they began to slowly follow Lauren. "She is quite different than the maidens in our time," Legolas commented lightly, keeping his voice low enough so she would not overhear.
Aragorn laughed. "That is more true than you know. She has no qualms about speaking of whatever is on her mind. I have met few women as bold in her speech as she is."
Legolas chuckled. "That I have seen for myself. No others have called me 'gorgeous' to my face at our first meeting." Actually, none had ever dared to call him gorgeous to his face at all, much less as early in their acquaintance as he and Lauren.
"She did say that under the assumption that you are not actually here," Aragorn pointed out. A grin spread over his face as he thought of something to tease Legolas about. "And before her admiration swells your head even larger, I should tell you that she said much the same to me at our first meeting."
Legolas frowned. "She called you gorgeous as well?" Legolas had always thought Aragorn rather scruffy, especially in his Ranger persona as he now was. Of course, there had never been any shortage of women who seemed to find him attractive, though. But Legolas did not think that even those women would have applied to word gorgeous to Aragorn.
"I believe her words were 'gorgeous ancient warrior'," Aragorn said. He had the great satisfaction of seeing Legolas' face fall.
"Stop teasing him, Aragorn," Lauren's voice broke into their conversation. They had not realized that they had reached the platform where she was waiting for them. "I'll admit it. You're both gorgeous. Of course, finding out that you were my great-whatever grandfather kind of put an end to any attraction I felt. But I'll readily admit that you have that dark-haired, brooding, ruggedly handsome thing going for you. Legolas on the other hand, has a radiance and grace to him that I've never seen in a human. And I've already told you that I have a thing for blue-eyed blondes. That preference goes back to the time I was about six, I think. I had a bit of a crush on my next door neighbor. He was seven."
Aragorn and Legolas both blushed at her honest appraisal, then had to laugh when she told them about her neighbor. She certainly did know how to keep them both remarkably off balance.
Aragorn shook his head in confusion. "You seem much more comfortable around Legolas than you did mere moments ago. How did you overcome your embarrassment so quickly?"
Laughing, Lauren conjured up a third chair and sat down, gesturing for the two of them to take the other chairs. "It started with my curiosity. In case you hadn't figured this out yet, I have an insatiable curiosity about…well, everything, I guess." As she spoke, she also conjured up a table with three glasses of lemonade on ice. Reaching out, she took a glass and took a long drink, enjoying the feel of the cool liquid going down. There really was nothing better on a hot day like this.
"Like someone else I know," Aragorn muttered, glancing at Legolas. Following Lauren's lead, he also reached out and took a glass of lemonade, then gestured for Legolas to take the remaining glass. Legolas took it somewhat hesitantly and took a cautious sip. His eyes widened as he tasted the bite of lemon, then he took another sip. Deciding that it was actually refreshing and quite tasty, he sat back in his chair with his glass in hand and just watched Lauren and Aragorn interact.
Lauren ignored Aragorn's comment and continued. "Then I heard you teasing each other, just like my friends and I do. You did tell me that you wanted me to treat you like I do my other friends, right?" At Aragorn's nod, she continued. "If two of my friends had been carrying on like that, I would have jumped right into the fray. I meant what I said, don’t get me wrong, but I just can't be uncomfortable around you two when you act like that." She shook her head as she thought of what she might have said with some of her friends. Aragorn and Legolas were lucky she had kept her comments so mild.
"Then I am glad that you overheard us," Legolas said. "I would not have you feel uncomfortable around me." He took another drink of his lemonade.
"Good," Lauren said. "But I'll have to apologize in advance. If you catch me staring at you, please just ignore me." She laughed and changed the subject when Legolas just gave her a bemused look. He really did not seem to know how to react to her. "So, you two were going to tell me what you know about astronomy?" She conjured up a pad of paper and a pencil to take notes.
Legolas nodded in relief as the conversation moved back to a more comfortable topic. He started telling her about the creation of Arda, and how the sun and the moon had been created as vessels to hold the last golden fruit and silver flower from the trees of Valinor and were placed as lamps in the heavens.
Lauren looked up at that point, her forehead crinkled in concern. "Do you two still believe that?"
Legolas looked at her in surprise. "Of course, why would we not?' He did not quite like the way she had phrased that.
Biting her lip, Lauren debated about whether or not to continue with this. "Will it bother you too much if I tell you something that completely contradicts everything you believe? This knowledge caused much controversy when it was first discovered, and the knowledge was suppressed and discounted for a long time, until people were able to handle it a bit better. If this will cause problems for you, we can drop the whole subject." She thought back to the many years of house arrest that Galileo had been subjected to when he had tried to make his discoveries public knowledge.
Aragorn and Legolas exchanged glances. After a moment, Legolas spoke up. "We treasure truth. If what you tell us is true, we will accept it." He was more hesitant than his voice showed, but he did truly want to know what Lauren might tell them.
Aragorn wondered what, exactly she could tell him that contradicted what they had been told. The story of the Valar and the trees of Valinor were true, but perhaps that knowledge had been lost in the intervening years. It would be quite interesting to hear what Lauren thought about the creation of the world and the sun and moon.
Lauren nodded in relief. "Good, let's get back to it then." Legolas and Aragorn started telling her what they knew of the stars and the morning or evening star, Eärendil. Lauren asked a few questions and took copious notes on what they were telling her.
Legolas glanced over and was surprised at what he saw on the paper. He could not understand a single mark that she had made. He stopped what he was saying, and looked at Lauren. "What are you writing? I cannot read that at all."
She gave him a wry grin. "Is that a comment on my penmanship, or are you trying to tell me that you don't recognize the language I'm writing in?" She tilted the pad of paper toward them to help them see her writing better.
Aragorn and Legolas were now both looking at the paper. "I do not recognize the words," Aragorn said. "What language is that? The lettering is vaguely similar to both Rohirric and Westron, but I can not read what you have written."
"It's English," Lauren said. "It's the same language I speak."
Aragorn shook his head. "I have never heard of that language, but I understand your words when you speak." Now that he thought about it, it was unlikely that they spoke the same language with so many years between them. How, then were they understanding each other?
Lauren just shrugged easily. "If you recognize the lettering, I can assume that English has evolved from the languages you use. I'm writing in cursive, a script form of the lettering system. Maybe if it were printed, it would look more familiar. As for understanding each other, this is a dream, and anything is possible. I'm just grateful that we do understand each other." She looked back over the notes she had made. "Oh, I have got so much to teach you two. We'll have to start with a stargazing session. I'll bring a telescope, you bring your curiosity."
"What is a telescope?" Legolas asked. There were so many of her words that he did not know or understand, but could understand from the context. There was nothing in her words to indicate what a telescope was, though.
Lauren grinned. "Something I think you'll love."
Aragorn was about to ask a question, but as he looked down, he saw that his body was beginning to fade.
"Lauren."
She looked up and saw that he was becoming transparent. "Don't worry about it," she said, waving a hand. "We can do the stargazing thing next time."
Aragorn struggled to stay in this world for just a moment longer, and reached out to Lauren, placing his hands on her shoulders and ignoring the startled look on Legolas' face. "Before I leave, you must promise me that you will not give into despair while I am gone. You have much to live for, and you cannot give up hope that you will awaken and return to your life."
"OK," she said softly. She could see the concern in his eyes and sought to ease his worries about her. "You have my promise. I won't give up hope. You're right. If Jeff is fighting to make our world safer and come home to us intact, the least I can do is fight to hold on to my life. My family would expect no less from me. Besides, I have an astronomy lesson to prepare, don't I?" A grin spread across her face as she spoke the last line.
Aragorn nodded in relief. As he relaxed, he lost his hold on the dream world and faded away.
Lauren turned to look for Legolas, but found that he had disappeared as well. "Huh," she remarked. "Either he was never truly here, or Aragorn was his connection to me, and when Aragorn woke up, he had to leave too." She thought about that for a moment before shrugging. "Nothing I can do about it right now, anyway. It sounds like I should get busy." Turning the radio back on and cranking up the volume, she tapped her foot in time to the music and began making a list of all the topics she wanted to cover and any notes that she wanted to remember when they came back. If felt nice to have something to concentrate on.
-----
When Aragorn opened his eyes, he found Arwen and Gimli staring at him in concern. "What is wrong?" he asked, pushing himself into a seated position. He looked back and forth between Arwen sitting on the edge of the bed and Gimli standing nearby.
"I was hoping you could tell me," Arwen said. "I could not wake you. Gimli had gone to fetch Legolas for breakfast, and was unable to wake him as well. He came here hoping that we could help him to wake Legolas, only to find you in the same state. Gimli was beginning to come up with battle strategies to somehow hunt Lauren down and force her to break the spell she put on the both of you." Arwen's voice held mild amusement at the thought, but Aragorn could hear her concern underlying the humor.
Aragorn placed his hand over hers in reassurance, and glanced over at Gimli with an amused expression on his face. "And tell me, Master Dwarf, just what great plan have you contrived to find someone separated from you by thousands of years?"
Gimli harrumphed. "Well, Master Human, I hadn't quite figured that out yet." He held up a finger to emphasize his next point. "But I was working on it."
"I do not doubt it," Aragorn remarked, shaking his head. If there were a way to do such a thing, Gimli would have tried it. He would do anything it took to save a friend.
"Why were you so difficult to wake?" Arwen asked in concern. They had not run into this problem before.
"I could not leave her before I had extracted a promise that she would not give up hope." Aragorn' eyes darkened as he remembered how he had found Lauren standing on the rocks at the edge of a storm-tossed sea.
"I think this is a story that we need to hear," Arwen said. "But there is someone else who needs to join us. Gimli, if Aragorn is awake, I believe Legolas will be also. Please bring him here." She nodded toward the door.
Gimli nodded and left the room to go retrieve Legolas.
Arwen and Aragorn quickly got up and dressed. By the time Legolas and Gimli arrived, they had arranged for their breakfast to be delivered to the King and Queen's chambers, and were seated at the table in the sitting room adjacent to the bedroom.
When Legolas entered the room, Aragorn knew by looking at his face that he had indeed met Lauren last night. His first words merely confirmed it. "Your granddaughter is quite…interesting, Aragorn."
Aragorn gave him a small grin. "That is one word for it."
"So, you met the witch?" Gimli asked gruffly.
Legolas gave Gimli a stern look. "She is not a witch, Gimli. I sensed no malice from her. She my be different from anyone I have ever met, but I knew from the moment I saw her that she is related to Aragorn and Arwen; the resemblance is unmistakable."
Legolas and Gimli took seats at the table, and Gimli began pressing them for the full story. Arwen had something else she wanted to ask first, though. "Why is she in danger of giving up hope?"
"She has not awakened since the accident," Aragorn said. "It has been several days now, and she has begun to fear that she will never wake again."
"That is a possibility, is it not?" Legolas asked seriously, hating the idea that such a lively person could succumb to death. "You told us that you did not know how she had survived the accident. If her injuries were that severe, she may not survive."
Aragorn shook his head. "It is a possibility, yes, but the healers of her world can do amazing things. You missed the portion of our conversation where she told me about the medical advances of her time." He proceeded to tell them all that had happened that night.
Once Aragorn explained Lauren's behavior at first meeting Legolas, the elf had to endure several minutes of teasing, mostly from Gimli.
"Do you plan to go back?" Arwen asked Legolas.
"She is planning to tell us both about the discoveries her people have made concerning the stars. That is something I would not wish to miss," Legolas said, a far-away look in his eyes as he contemplated what it was that she could tell them.
Gimli grumbled for a few minutes about both of them falling under the witch's spell, but he was secretly comforted that Legolas sensed no malice from the woman. He would never admit it, but he trusted the elf's instincts completely.
The food arrived just then and Gimli's stomach grumbled loudly, breaking into the conversation. "What?" Gimli growled self-consciously. "This is much later than I normally eat. Can you tell me that you are not hungry?"
The others had to admit that they were also hungry, and the conversation changed to other topics as they all helped themselves to the food in front of them.
Chapter Six - Meeting an Elf
Looking over to where Legolas had suddenly appeared in the midst of the dream world, Aragorn stood up and walked to the elf's side. "What are you doing here?"
"I do not know," he replied with some confusion. "I assume this is the dream world you have told me about?"
"Yes," Aragorn answered. "I was just telling Lauren that I wished you were here to talk to her, that you would love to hear all that she can tell you. Did I summon you here?"
"You must have," Legolas said as he looked around in interest. "You were correct. This beach is beautiful." A wistful smile crossed his face as he looked at the sea.
Aragorn realized that it might have been a mistake to bring Legolas here. He had apparently succeeded in re-awakening his sea longing. He looked around for Lauren, to have something to distract Legolas with. Lauren was still sitting in the chair where he had left her, gazing at Legolas with a slack-jawed expression.
"Lauren?" Aragorn asked in amusement. He knew that she had never seen an elf, and he was rather enjoying her reaction. "Would you like to come over here and meet Legolas?"
She closed her mouth abruptly and walked slowly over to them as if in a daze, never taking her eyes off of Legolas' face. She stopped about an arm's length away from them, and her eyes roamed over Legolas, seemingly studying every detail.
"Lauren?" Aragorn said again. "Are you not going to say anything?"
"Oh…my…God," she breathed softly. "He's absolutely gorgeous! I don't think I've ever seen anything so…perfect in my life." She walked slowly around him, studying him from every angle. She stopped back in front of him, and the awe in her face made Aragorn suddenly have to stifle a chuckle. Legolas was looking increasingly uncomfortable under her scrutiny.
"Lauren, this is my friend, Legolas. Legolas, this is Lauren, my granddaughter."
"Suliad. Greetings. It is a pleasure to meet you," Legolas said. "I have heard much about you from Aragorn." He glanced sideways toward Aragorn when she did not respond. He had certainly not expected this reaction, and he was unsure what to do now.
She just continued to stare at him, her eyes wide, until Aragorn reached over and poked her in the arm. Snapping out of her stupor, she glared at Aragorn, rubbing her arm. "That wasn't necessary."
"You seemed to be in a bit of a trance," Aragorn said with a grin. "I could think of nothing else to do to break you from it." He was truly enjoying watching her reaction, and Legolas' discomfort.
"This is your best friend?" she asked in amazement. "How do you ever get anything done without getting distracted? Or maybe that works a bit differently for you, also being male. But honestly, I don't think I could string together two coherent thoughts when he's around. Is there any way to bring him to my time from yours? Or better yet, he's immortal right? How about if he's still around in twenty thousand years or so, you have him look me up?" Her face was alight with her enthusiasm and that mischievous glint in her eyes.
Aragorn could not help it; he burst out laughing, and even Legolas was looking amused, if a bit embarrassed. "He is right there," Aragorn finally said. "I do not believe it is polite to talk about him as if he were not here."
"No he's not," Lauren insisted. "It's not possible that he's here."
"Why not?" Aragorn asked in confusion. Lauren's reaction was rather confusing to him. Legolas was now watching them both with amusement.
"You said the only reason that you and I could talk is that we're blood related. There was nothing in anything you've said to indicate that I'm any relation to Legolas. Therefore, he can't really be here, and you're just having fun at my expense, knowing how I'd react to seeing him for the first time." Lauren crossed her arms over her chest as she stared at Aragorn. "Not that I can blame you. I'm sure my reaction was quite humorous."
"I would not attempt to have fun at your expense, Lauren. The rest of your argument is logical, but for one thing. Legolas is an elf, and as such, can control his dreams to an extent unheard of for humans. He likely heard my summons and responded, finding his way here to join us." He glanced sideways toward Legolas to see if he agreed with that. Legolas just shrugged, not really sure how he had ended up here.
Lauren's face blanched. "You mean he's really here? That isn't just an image of him?" She turned away and walked slowly back to the platform, slouching down in a chair and pulling the towel over her head.
Aragorn and Legolas exchanged confused glances before Aragorn walked over to join Lauren, gesturing for Legolas to stay where he was. "Lauren?" Aragorn asked tentatively as he sat down beside her. "Are you all right?"
"Is it possible for a person to die from embarrassment?" her muffled voice came through the cloth of the towel.
"No, I do not believe so," Aragorn chuckled, suddenly understanding why she had reacted as she had.
"Too bad," she said softly. She took the towel from her head and looked at Aragorn. "Are you sure he's really here? So far, you're the only other person to find this dream world. And you have talked about Legolas before without him appearing. So is it possible that he's just an image, and because you know him so well, his reactions seem real?" She was practically pleading with him to tell her that Legolas was not really there.
"It is possible," Aragorn allowed. "I know Legolas as well as anyone, so I can accurately predict how he would react in certain situations. There is a small chance that he is simply an image, but it is also a very real possibility that he is here. Until we know for sure, however, I believe we should treat him as if he truly is here."
Lauren nodded miserably. "Fine. But I’m so embarrassed at how I reacted. I did tell you that I have a weakness for blue-eyed blondes, didn't I? He looks like my fondest dream, and I don't know if I can face him again." She rubbed her hands over her face. "OK, I can do this. I think I'm ready to try this again." Dropping the towel from her lap, she stood up, looking down at her clothes. In moments, she was wearing a long flowing dress that fell to mid-calf.
Noticing the look of surprise on Aragorn's face, she explained. "You had a problem with the swimsuit at first, and I didn't want to make him any more uncomfortable than I already have. So, I thought something just a little more traditional was called for."
Aragorn nodded and gestured back toward where they had left Legolas. "Are you ready?"
"Not yet," she said. "Can you show me an elven gesture of greeting or respect or something? I somehow doubt they shake hands in greeting. I want to try to make up for my horrible first impression." She shook her head in embarrassment as she wondered what Legolas must think of her.
Aragorn smiled and showed her the most common gesture of greeting among the Mirkwood elves.
"Thank you," she said before taking a deep breath. "OK, let's do this."
Aragorn was amused at how nervous she was about facing Legolas again. He held his arm out to her to provide a source of support.
She latched on to his arm with a very firm grip in her nervousness and he led her back over to Legolas.
"Is everything well, mellon-nín?" Legolas asked as they approached him. Looking them over, he noticed that Lauren was wearing different clothing than she had been a moment before, and he remembered that Aragorn had told them how easy it was to change their surroundings and other elements of this dream world. As he studied her, he noticed that Lauren's knuckles were white where she clung to Aragorn's arm. Moving his gaze to her face, he noticed that her expression hovered somewhere between nervousness and outright terror. Surely he was not that terrifying, was he?
"Yes, Legolas. All is well," Aragorn assured him. He patted Lauren's hand reassuringly, then met Legolas' eyes and nodded, with a small smile on his face to let him know that things were fine.
Lauren let go of Aragorn's arm and bowed her head, placing her hand over her heart and then sweeping it out to the side. "Greetings, Prince Legolas. I apologize for my earlier behavior. Please forgive my inappropriate comments."
Legolas smiled at her, easily hearing the embarrassment in her voice. That was the cause for her nervousness, then. "Think nothing of it. You are certainly not the first to react unexpectedly to seeing an elf for the first time." He did have to admit to himself that her reaction was quite unique, though. None had ever ogled him so openly before. Perhaps that was a difference between their cultures.
She raised her head and looked him in the eyes. Seeing no condemnation there, she began to relax. "Thank you for being so understanding. I've never seen an elf before, and nothing Aragorn told me prepared me for this. My brain seemed to have temporarily disconnected from my mouth. I certainly meant no disrespect, nor did I wish to make you uncomfortable."
"Enough," Aragorn broke in, rolling his eyes. "You have been forgiven, Lauren. Stop apologizing."
She shot him a sheepish grin. "OK, fine. I'll let it go."
"Thank you," Aragorn said. He noticed the confused look on Legolas' face. "Her manner of speaking is not like we are accustomed to, but is not usually too difficult to follow." He looked back and forth between Lauren and Legolas. Lauren seemed to be doing her best not to stare at Legolas. Having Legolas here seemed to be creating a feeling of awkwardness. She finally seemed to give up the battle and studied Legolas intently.
"Is there something you would like to ask?" Legolas asked her, trying to put her more at ease. Also, if he could get her to stop staring, he would be more comfortable.
"Yes, actually," she replied. "Aragorn said that elves are immortal. I know this may be rude, but I have to ask this. How old are you?" She tilted her head slightly to the side as she studied him, apparently trying to find some clues to his age.
Legolas smiled at her. "That is a question that the race of men always seems to ask. I am still considered young by the standards of my people. I am not yet three thousand." His casual tone made it clear that he did not find anything unusual about that.
Her mouth dropped open and she just stared at him for a moment. After she found her voice again, she pressed the question. "Well, how far from three thousand are you? A few centuries, a few years, two thousand years?" She gestured with her hand, her palm up in inquiry.
"Two thousand years?" Legolas asked in confusion, brows knitting together. "Would I not then have said that I was not yet a thousand?" Her question did not quite make sense to him.
She shrugged. "I don't know. For all I know, three thousand is some kind of milestone marking adulthood or something, and you were saying you hadn't reached that mark."
Legolas could not fault her reasoning. "I am less than fifty years away from turning three thousand."
"Wow," she said. "And that's considered young?" The incredulous expression on her face made it clear that she certainly did not consider him young.
Laughing, Legolas answered her. "Yes, many elves are much older than that. Aragorn's brothers are a little older than I am, and their father is over six thousand years old. And Lord Elrond is far from being one of the oldest elves. Lord Glorfindel has been alive since before the fall of Gondolin. He is much older than Elrond."
"But he was not alive the whole time," Aragorn added, raising a finger to make his point. "Do not forget, he died during the fall of Gondolin and spent many years in the halls of Mandos."
"How could I possibly forget, considering the many times I have heard the tale?" Legolas said, rolling his eyes. That was a favored tale at Imladris, and he had heard it more times than he could keep track of. "He was not dead for long, though, comparatively, so I still count him among one of the older elves." Aragorn had to grant him that point.
Lauren was watching them in utter confusion. "He came back from the dead?" This sounded like a story she would love to hear. Raking her memory of the tales Aragorn had told her, she did remember him mentioning a Glorfindel who had died, and also a Glorfindel that he had known as he grew up, but she had never thought they were the same elf. How did one come back from the dead?
"Yes," Aragorn explained. "It is a long story, but the short version is that the Valar sent him back from the Halls of Mandos to help protect Elrond, his family, and Imladris. His job was not yet finished." Aragorn knew that it would take some time to try to explain the story more fully, and he did not want to spend the time on that story just yet.
"Oh," she nodded as if that made sense, but they knew by the crease in her forehead that to her, it did not. She dropped that line of discussion and returned to her original line of questioning. "I know you must hear this all the time, but you don't look any older than me." She scrutinized Legolas' face, looking for lines or other signs that he was several millenia old. The only sign that she could see of his age was in his eyes. They seemed to hold much more experience and wisdom than she would have expected.
"And how old are you?" Aragorn asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.
She gave him a dark look. "Hasn't anyone ever told you that it's not polite to ask a lady that question?" She tossed her head as if he had offended her, but the twinkle in her eyes made it clear that she had taken no offense.
"You broached the topic and invited the question," Aragorn said, smiling and crossing his arms as he stared at her.
She frowned, thinking that over. "Yeah, I guess I did. OK, I'm between twenty-five and thirty." She followed Legolas' example and left them to guess at what her exact age was. For some reason, she didn't want to admit that she would be thirty on her next birthday. It was something that was actually bothering her a little bit. "And that's as much of an answer as you'll get, so don't push it. And while we're on the topic, how old are you?"
"Almost one hundred twenty five," Aragorn said, raising an eyebrow and smiling slightly as he stared at her. He had a feeling that she would not believe him.
Her mouth dropped open again in what was becoming a rather bad habit. "You're human. You can't possibly be that old and look that good." She now started scrutinizing Aragorn, looking for signs of his age. He did have more lines on his face than Legolas, but she would have sworn that Aragorn was only in his forties, at the latest.
Legolas and Aragorn both started laughing. Aragorn explained once more about being descended from elves and the longer life that came along with their heritage.
She shook her head in disbelief. "This is just too strange." Tilting her head, she studied Aragorn as intently as she had been studying Legolas. "Maybe that's why our family never seems to show their true age. We don't live much longer than other people, but no one ever believes we're as old as we are. This could explain it." She looked back at Legolas with a curious expression on her face. "Living for that long must be amazing. What is it like?"
Legolas did not know how to answer that question. She would have to be more specific. "What would you like to know?"
"What kind of advances in technology have you or even some of the older elves seen? What kinds of knowledge have you been able to accumulate, in medicine, art, history, astronomy, or understanding of the laws of nature? How many skilled artists have you known? Have you noticed any major architectural changes over the years, or just improvements in building techniques? What kinds of changes have you seen in the land and the animal life around you? You've probably been around long enough to see some major changes in the growth of forests. Have you seen any changes in the sky? I realize that on cosmological scales, a few thousand years is the blink of an eye, but have you observed any explosions or sudden brightening of stars in the sky? If you've observed a supernova, that would be awesome." Her words left her in a rush as her mind jumped from one topic to the next. She had more questions than she even knew how to articulate.
Legolas looked at Aragorn for help. He did not know where to start trying to answer her questions. He had a helpless, somewhat trapped expression on his face as he shrugged and tried to determine how he could answer even one of her questions.
Aragorn thought he could best help Legolas by getting Lauren to talk about something she found more interesting than Legolas. And he knew only one thing to try.
"Lauren has spent a great deal of time studying the stars," Aragorn said. "And it seems that humanity has made many discoveries in the last few centuries. When she was telling me about those discoveries, I found myself wishing you were here to hear it. It was as we were discussing these topics that you arrived." Aragorn smiled to himself as both Legolas and Lauren's eyes lit up.
Legolas turned to Lauren in excitement. "I would truly enjoy hearing about these discoveries. Elves have always loved the stars and the night sky. If you have learned things about them, I may have as many questions for you as you have for me."
"And I would love to tell you about them," Lauren replied, her eyes sparkling. "In my opinion, astronomy is the most interesting science there is." She paused for a moment in thought. "But where in the world would I start? The solar system, stars, supernovas, constellations, galaxies? There is so much that has been discovered in the past few centuries, and even in the past few decades. I honestly don't know what to talk about first."
Aragorn smiled as he watched the two of them interacting. This was what he had hoped to achieve. When Lauren was discussing one of her interests, all awkwardness vanished from her mannerisms and any other topic flew from her mind. He stood back and watched them talk.
"How about we do this," Lauren said. "You tell me what you know about the stars, movement of the heavenly bodies, and anything else you can think of on this topic, and we'll go from there." She was already trying to think of all the topics they had to cover.
"Very well," Legolas said, nodding slightly.
"Would you like to sit down?" Lauren asked, gesturing back toward the chairs. They had been standing for some time now, and with the hot sun beating down on them, Lauren thought they could all use a rest in a shady area.
Legolas simply inclined his head and gestured for her to lead the way. As she turned away to walk over to the platform, Legolas looked over to Aragorn and raised an eyebrow. Aragorn joined Legolas and they began to slowly follow Lauren. "She is quite different than the maidens in our time," Legolas commented lightly, keeping his voice low enough so she would not overhear.
Aragorn laughed. "That is more true than you know. She has no qualms about speaking of whatever is on her mind. I have met few women as bold in her speech as she is."
Legolas chuckled. "That I have seen for myself. No others have called me 'gorgeous' to my face at our first meeting." Actually, none had ever dared to call him gorgeous to his face at all, much less as early in their acquaintance as he and Lauren.
"She did say that under the assumption that you are not actually here," Aragorn pointed out. A grin spread over his face as he thought of something to tease Legolas about. "And before her admiration swells your head even larger, I should tell you that she said much the same to me at our first meeting."
Legolas frowned. "She called you gorgeous as well?" Legolas had always thought Aragorn rather scruffy, especially in his Ranger persona as he now was. Of course, there had never been any shortage of women who seemed to find him attractive, though. But Legolas did not think that even those women would have applied to word gorgeous to Aragorn.
"I believe her words were 'gorgeous ancient warrior'," Aragorn said. He had the great satisfaction of seeing Legolas' face fall.
"Stop teasing him, Aragorn," Lauren's voice broke into their conversation. They had not realized that they had reached the platform where she was waiting for them. "I'll admit it. You're both gorgeous. Of course, finding out that you were my great-whatever grandfather kind of put an end to any attraction I felt. But I'll readily admit that you have that dark-haired, brooding, ruggedly handsome thing going for you. Legolas on the other hand, has a radiance and grace to him that I've never seen in a human. And I've already told you that I have a thing for blue-eyed blondes. That preference goes back to the time I was about six, I think. I had a bit of a crush on my next door neighbor. He was seven."
Aragorn and Legolas both blushed at her honest appraisal, then had to laugh when she told them about her neighbor. She certainly did know how to keep them both remarkably off balance.
Aragorn shook his head in confusion. "You seem much more comfortable around Legolas than you did mere moments ago. How did you overcome your embarrassment so quickly?"
Laughing, Lauren conjured up a third chair and sat down, gesturing for the two of them to take the other chairs. "It started with my curiosity. In case you hadn't figured this out yet, I have an insatiable curiosity about…well, everything, I guess." As she spoke, she also conjured up a table with three glasses of lemonade on ice. Reaching out, she took a glass and took a long drink, enjoying the feel of the cool liquid going down. There really was nothing better on a hot day like this.
"Like someone else I know," Aragorn muttered, glancing at Legolas. Following Lauren's lead, he also reached out and took a glass of lemonade, then gestured for Legolas to take the remaining glass. Legolas took it somewhat hesitantly and took a cautious sip. His eyes widened as he tasted the bite of lemon, then he took another sip. Deciding that it was actually refreshing and quite tasty, he sat back in his chair with his glass in hand and just watched Lauren and Aragorn interact.
Lauren ignored Aragorn's comment and continued. "Then I heard you teasing each other, just like my friends and I do. You did tell me that you wanted me to treat you like I do my other friends, right?" At Aragorn's nod, she continued. "If two of my friends had been carrying on like that, I would have jumped right into the fray. I meant what I said, don’t get me wrong, but I just can't be uncomfortable around you two when you act like that." She shook her head as she thought of what she might have said with some of her friends. Aragorn and Legolas were lucky she had kept her comments so mild.
"Then I am glad that you overheard us," Legolas said. "I would not have you feel uncomfortable around me." He took another drink of his lemonade.
"Good," Lauren said. "But I'll have to apologize in advance. If you catch me staring at you, please just ignore me." She laughed and changed the subject when Legolas just gave her a bemused look. He really did not seem to know how to react to her. "So, you two were going to tell me what you know about astronomy?" She conjured up a pad of paper and a pencil to take notes.
Legolas nodded in relief as the conversation moved back to a more comfortable topic. He started telling her about the creation of Arda, and how the sun and the moon had been created as vessels to hold the last golden fruit and silver flower from the trees of Valinor and were placed as lamps in the heavens.
Lauren looked up at that point, her forehead crinkled in concern. "Do you two still believe that?"
Legolas looked at her in surprise. "Of course, why would we not?' He did not quite like the way she had phrased that.
Biting her lip, Lauren debated about whether or not to continue with this. "Will it bother you too much if I tell you something that completely contradicts everything you believe? This knowledge caused much controversy when it was first discovered, and the knowledge was suppressed and discounted for a long time, until people were able to handle it a bit better. If this will cause problems for you, we can drop the whole subject." She thought back to the many years of house arrest that Galileo had been subjected to when he had tried to make his discoveries public knowledge.
Aragorn and Legolas exchanged glances. After a moment, Legolas spoke up. "We treasure truth. If what you tell us is true, we will accept it." He was more hesitant than his voice showed, but he did truly want to know what Lauren might tell them.
Aragorn wondered what, exactly she could tell him that contradicted what they had been told. The story of the Valar and the trees of Valinor were true, but perhaps that knowledge had been lost in the intervening years. It would be quite interesting to hear what Lauren thought about the creation of the world and the sun and moon.
Lauren nodded in relief. "Good, let's get back to it then." Legolas and Aragorn started telling her what they knew of the stars and the morning or evening star, Eärendil. Lauren asked a few questions and took copious notes on what they were telling her.
Legolas glanced over and was surprised at what he saw on the paper. He could not understand a single mark that she had made. He stopped what he was saying, and looked at Lauren. "What are you writing? I cannot read that at all."
She gave him a wry grin. "Is that a comment on my penmanship, or are you trying to tell me that you don't recognize the language I'm writing in?" She tilted the pad of paper toward them to help them see her writing better.
Aragorn and Legolas were now both looking at the paper. "I do not recognize the words," Aragorn said. "What language is that? The lettering is vaguely similar to both Rohirric and Westron, but I can not read what you have written."
"It's English," Lauren said. "It's the same language I speak."
Aragorn shook his head. "I have never heard of that language, but I understand your words when you speak." Now that he thought about it, it was unlikely that they spoke the same language with so many years between them. How, then were they understanding each other?
Lauren just shrugged easily. "If you recognize the lettering, I can assume that English has evolved from the languages you use. I'm writing in cursive, a script form of the lettering system. Maybe if it were printed, it would look more familiar. As for understanding each other, this is a dream, and anything is possible. I'm just grateful that we do understand each other." She looked back over the notes she had made. "Oh, I have got so much to teach you two. We'll have to start with a stargazing session. I'll bring a telescope, you bring your curiosity."
"What is a telescope?" Legolas asked. There were so many of her words that he did not know or understand, but could understand from the context. There was nothing in her words to indicate what a telescope was, though.
Lauren grinned. "Something I think you'll love."
Aragorn was about to ask a question, but as he looked down, he saw that his body was beginning to fade.
"Lauren."
She looked up and saw that he was becoming transparent. "Don't worry about it," she said, waving a hand. "We can do the stargazing thing next time."
Aragorn struggled to stay in this world for just a moment longer, and reached out to Lauren, placing his hands on her shoulders and ignoring the startled look on Legolas' face. "Before I leave, you must promise me that you will not give into despair while I am gone. You have much to live for, and you cannot give up hope that you will awaken and return to your life."
"OK," she said softly. She could see the concern in his eyes and sought to ease his worries about her. "You have my promise. I won't give up hope. You're right. If Jeff is fighting to make our world safer and come home to us intact, the least I can do is fight to hold on to my life. My family would expect no less from me. Besides, I have an astronomy lesson to prepare, don't I?" A grin spread across her face as she spoke the last line.
Aragorn nodded in relief. As he relaxed, he lost his hold on the dream world and faded away.
Lauren turned to look for Legolas, but found that he had disappeared as well. "Huh," she remarked. "Either he was never truly here, or Aragorn was his connection to me, and when Aragorn woke up, he had to leave too." She thought about that for a moment before shrugging. "Nothing I can do about it right now, anyway. It sounds like I should get busy." Turning the radio back on and cranking up the volume, she tapped her foot in time to the music and began making a list of all the topics she wanted to cover and any notes that she wanted to remember when they came back. If felt nice to have something to concentrate on.
-----
When Aragorn opened his eyes, he found Arwen and Gimli staring at him in concern. "What is wrong?" he asked, pushing himself into a seated position. He looked back and forth between Arwen sitting on the edge of the bed and Gimli standing nearby.
"I was hoping you could tell me," Arwen said. "I could not wake you. Gimli had gone to fetch Legolas for breakfast, and was unable to wake him as well. He came here hoping that we could help him to wake Legolas, only to find you in the same state. Gimli was beginning to come up with battle strategies to somehow hunt Lauren down and force her to break the spell she put on the both of you." Arwen's voice held mild amusement at the thought, but Aragorn could hear her concern underlying the humor.
Aragorn placed his hand over hers in reassurance, and glanced over at Gimli with an amused expression on his face. "And tell me, Master Dwarf, just what great plan have you contrived to find someone separated from you by thousands of years?"
Gimli harrumphed. "Well, Master Human, I hadn't quite figured that out yet." He held up a finger to emphasize his next point. "But I was working on it."
"I do not doubt it," Aragorn remarked, shaking his head. If there were a way to do such a thing, Gimli would have tried it. He would do anything it took to save a friend.
"Why were you so difficult to wake?" Arwen asked in concern. They had not run into this problem before.
"I could not leave her before I had extracted a promise that she would not give up hope." Aragorn' eyes darkened as he remembered how he had found Lauren standing on the rocks at the edge of a storm-tossed sea.
"I think this is a story that we need to hear," Arwen said. "But there is someone else who needs to join us. Gimli, if Aragorn is awake, I believe Legolas will be also. Please bring him here." She nodded toward the door.
Gimli nodded and left the room to go retrieve Legolas.
Arwen and Aragorn quickly got up and dressed. By the time Legolas and Gimli arrived, they had arranged for their breakfast to be delivered to the King and Queen's chambers, and were seated at the table in the sitting room adjacent to the bedroom.
When Legolas entered the room, Aragorn knew by looking at his face that he had indeed met Lauren last night. His first words merely confirmed it. "Your granddaughter is quite…interesting, Aragorn."
Aragorn gave him a small grin. "That is one word for it."
"So, you met the witch?" Gimli asked gruffly.
Legolas gave Gimli a stern look. "She is not a witch, Gimli. I sensed no malice from her. She my be different from anyone I have ever met, but I knew from the moment I saw her that she is related to Aragorn and Arwen; the resemblance is unmistakable."
Legolas and Gimli took seats at the table, and Gimli began pressing them for the full story. Arwen had something else she wanted to ask first, though. "Why is she in danger of giving up hope?"
"She has not awakened since the accident," Aragorn said. "It has been several days now, and she has begun to fear that she will never wake again."
"That is a possibility, is it not?" Legolas asked seriously, hating the idea that such a lively person could succumb to death. "You told us that you did not know how she had survived the accident. If her injuries were that severe, she may not survive."
Aragorn shook his head. "It is a possibility, yes, but the healers of her world can do amazing things. You missed the portion of our conversation where she told me about the medical advances of her time." He proceeded to tell them all that had happened that night.
Once Aragorn explained Lauren's behavior at first meeting Legolas, the elf had to endure several minutes of teasing, mostly from Gimli.
"Do you plan to go back?" Arwen asked Legolas.
"She is planning to tell us both about the discoveries her people have made concerning the stars. That is something I would not wish to miss," Legolas said, a far-away look in his eyes as he contemplated what it was that she could tell them.
Gimli grumbled for a few minutes about both of them falling under the witch's spell, but he was secretly comforted that Legolas sensed no malice from the woman. He would never admit it, but he trusted the elf's instincts completely.
The food arrived just then and Gimli's stomach grumbled loudly, breaking into the conversation. "What?" Gimli growled self-consciously. "This is much later than I normally eat. Can you tell me that you are not hungry?"
The others had to admit that they were also hungry, and the conversation changed to other topics as they all helped themselves to the food in front of them.
Subtitles