Disclosure:  Twilight and Lord of the Rings are owned by their respective writers and holders to the rights.  I own nothing.  Perhaps if I did, this would have been what happened, but since I don’t hold a candle to Tolkien, yeah.  This is my own humble try. 

Pre-Edit Count –   2,084 Words

Song I listened to for this chapter: All of Me by John Legend.

Previously:

And with that statement, Bella looks down, then opens the app to her Kindle version of the book, and starts to tell the tale of the Lord of the Ring, hoping that this is not a mistake.

Now:

In the flet that was now Haldir’s and hers, there is no calm to be found. Restlessly stirring in her bed, Bella slightly starts sweating as she twists and turns in the sheets under the worried gaze of her brother and other half. It has been awhile since she has fully rested and the two are growing more concerned as each day passes and sleep eludes her, not allowing her the rest she desperately needs.

Unknown to them, she is being removed from the recurring nightmare of that day that shattered her, and she finds herself standing with her father and another man, who glows too brightly to actually be seen. Bella looks down and sees herself in a filmy gown which is slightly shining.

The tall man bows his head to her. “Welcome, Bella.” The light he is enveloped dims to the point that she can see that he has short curly blond hair and kind blue eyes that are gazing upon her. While his strong face would have many women swooning after him, in her mind comes Haldir.

She bows her head to him and hugs her father. She relaxes in her father’s arms, feeling engulfed by his love for her and a sense of complete safety. His kiss on the top of the head makes her smile, wishing that this man who sacrificed everything to make his wrongs right could be a permanent fixture in her life.  She might be the one working towards it, but knowing how much he suffers and has suffered not being able to be in her life has her wishing for them to be able to meet more often and just talk.

Backing away from her, Oromë takes her face in his hands, staring down at the woman his daughter has grown into.  “My dear, Eru wished to meet you. He has some information for you, thinking it may help you.” He notes the dark eyes and other signs of her not sleeping and glances at Eru, hoping he can help her.

Turning towards Eru, Bella notes that he is dressed as though he is a man coming from her time. It is his smile that makes him even kinder to her, as he nods to her.  “My dear Nieliqui, I have two more people coming. They are both entrusted to help you with your task.” Looking her over, his heart breaks for this slight woman.  No matter what he gives her to help, there is nothing that will make this any easier. She is the one being to face everyone which makes him work even harder to give her all the benefits that she can possibly have.

Chuckling, Bella asks, “Is this a test?” Does he want her to guess?  There were so many people he could have come help her.  Literally, all history is open to this man in front of her.

The kind man just smiles at her.  He is amused with her comment, guessing what she is thinking. “No. You are aware of the Dwarven King Thorin Oakenshield?” His voice is deep but very kind as he speaks with her.  He is also hoping that she is willing to give these two a second chance. They have earned it with their hard work, but now it is up to them and Bella.

She sadly nods, her mind thinking over the Hobbit, how Bella hated its ending. While Thorin did everything to make up for his mistakes, it seemed nothing mattered since his bloodline died that day.

Eru informs her, “He died to protect this world, as well as repenting for his mistakes. Because this was heartfelt and he is needed in this world, I stepped in the last possible second. I gave him a chance and sent him to your time. He needed to know what his decisions have done, and the consequences of falling prey to his weaknesses.” Eru looks down, thinking about all Thorin had seen and done in his time in her world.

The man sighs, and waving his hand, he conjures seating for them. Only after making sure she is sitting, he seats himself while her father drifts to stand behind Bella with his hands on her shoulders.  “He needed to learn this, and I foresee without him, you will have had a much harder time than needed to be. You already have a full plate of trouble, and for you to succeed, you required him. So I made it possible.”  He looks up at her.  “I may have given you a hard task, but I am trying to make sure you have all the tools to succeed.” He hates more than everything what her being here will bring. But, the alternative was that world she had been living in.

Taking in the information, Bella catalogs it.  But then she swallows, and asks, “Haldir?”

Eru chuckles and explains to Bella, “He has been waiting for you for so long, my dear.  Edward was a mistake. And never meant for you, but your smell was sweet and compelling.”  He shakes his head.  “Did you know that Thorin has spent most of his time in your era looking for you?  He has no idea what or who he was looking for, but I tried to help you out. But the man is pure trouble. He ended up becoming a spy.” He marvels at the idiocy of the dwarven king, but in a way it made sense.  He needed to find Bella, and the way he went about it gave him access to all the resources necessary for his quest, and if Thorin had known more he would have been by her side.

Remembering everything that happened in Bella’s short lifespan in that time, Eru looks up at her full of sadness in his gaze. Then he rubs a hand over his face.  “I tried to fix everything and even thought of sending Haldir to you if you hadn’t come out of the depression. My poor Nieliqui, I am so sorry. But allow me to aid your company. It will take a quick trip for you to retrieve Thorin. I cannot tell you if he will remember who he was or if he may think he is another.  But he will be one of your companions.” He watches her try to understand what is being offered to her.

He informs her of the other, “The other companion will reach you first and will be the signal that all is about to begin. I won’t tell you more than the fact that he was the so-called evil side in the Hobbit. I will inform you that he too visited the future. He learned more than even I expected from him, but it has made him self-aware in a way that shocked me with his requests. I granted them, and only hope that you too will understand what he is saying.” He cannot help but chuckle with how the mighty have fallen. All on his own, without any help from Eru, he has come to the best solution.

Then Eru looks at her father, judging if he thinks it will help her to learn this.  Once he gets the nod, Eru tells her, “All of you that I have touched, including Haldir, will be different. It is unavoidable. While you can die, it will take more than reasonable means to accomplish this task. Even time will ignore you for the most part.” He watches her and feels for her. But since this task won’t be for one day or even the events he knows of, for now, they will need her skills. And like others who had come to help, those that join her company for the purpose of only helping her, will be rewarded.

Thinking of all that will happen with this blessing, he smiles gently at her, “Daughter, this will be a blessing to you since for the Valar time ignores you for the most part. But, the others would have been taken from you far too soon. I give this gift freely, as I have already given you a task for the ages to bear already.” Eru stands up, waving her to stay seated as he straightens his pants.

Once done, Eru looks to her smiling, then gently steps to her. “Would you allow one more gift from me?” He will not force this upon her, but he feels guilty for the pain she suffers from. In addition, it had been something that Oromë had begged for, telling Eru of the suffering and the sleepless nights she has because of the mistake that came from her past. His Huntsman is a proud man. But for his daughter, he will beg on his knees for anything to help her.

She looks up to him and lifts an eyebrow in question.  Eru chuckles as he looks towards her father. “I can see you in her so much.” The tone was teasing and familiar for the two of them.

Oromë chuckles but watches eagerly for the moment that she will not be hurting. No father wants their child hurting as she has been since the Cold One left her in that forest.

Turning back to her, Eru reaches out and bringing her closer to him, tells her. “This will help you with your pain caused by the Cold One. He no longer belongs in your heart daughter. I wish to heal you of the pain, since it is caused from what and who you are. If you had been human, the pain would have been less. Will you allow me this, to fix my own mistake?”  No Valar would typically fall in love with any but their soulmates. Somehow this vampire managed the impossible and had their daughter fall in love with her. Since the Valar were not built as humans to fall in and out of love, it has caused much pain to the woman before him.

Looking into his eyes, Bella asks, “What else will it do? Will it make it where Haldir is suddenly more important than anything?” She has read enough tales since Edward left her to make her weary of them. Bella likes the pace that she and Haldir have been taking. She might even want it a tad faster, since it doesn’t feel fair to have him suffer for her pain, but she doesn’t want him suddenly be the end all for her.

A smile crosses his face, as Eru gently advises, “No, my dear. It is not like those books of your days gone by. My gift will allow you to no longer be in pain every day. It will ultimately help with your nightmares, allowing you more rest, and also give you information that you will need, such as  where to find Thorin as well as some others for your group. The fellowship may or may not be necessary by the time you are done. But this group will be as diversified as the one that formed it.”  He is interested to see where she will lead Middle Earth with the information she has. Will she build the fellowship, or would she not? Either way, he is confident that she will succeed in her tasks.

Thinking about what he is saying, as well as being encouraged by her father telling her softly that this is only to help not hinder, Bella finally sighs, then nods. She does not need the distractions that the nightmares can cause by frightening any members of her group when they sleep at night, for she knows that her screams would be dangerous out of the safety of Lothlórien.

Eru looks down at her, and marvels at the daughter that will save them all.  He also wonders how she will take all the information. There is much he hopes to accomplish. And with that, he gifts her, in the form of a kiss, all he promised and a little bit of his grace to help her.

Outside of the world of dreams, a worried Guardian and brother await for her to come out of her night dreams. Suddenly, there is a flash of light and Bella is sitting straight up. Both are on each side of her, trying to see if there is anything they can do to help her. They had been here when her terrors had started then suddenly they stopped as she slightly glowed.

The relief they feel that the nightly torture of her mind is over hopefully for the night is short.  They look at each other in amusement and shock as she begins cursing in both the language of Middle Earth and another that they figure is from her own time. So far the words are very imaginative since both Haldir and Legolas had been attempting to learn more of her time and words. Some of the curses have them saying them in their mind to remember at a later time.

This continues for a few minutes until the names Smaug and Thorin come from her mouth, which has the two look at her with more interest. Legolas is remembering his meeting with both, and Haldir recalls the stories of the two. Both were powerful in their own right.  Why was Bella saying their names while cussing up a storm?

It takes more time, but eventually when she calms down, Legolas asks her with amusement, “What is it?” While his father might not be happy with the cussing, Legolas loves that his sister has no airs nor does she act in any way different from when he met her on the journey here.

Looking up at him, she growls out, “Nothing more than gifts to help me. Though I am not sure what Eru calls gifts, the rest of us would even consider it as such. For instance, did you know that Smaug is not dead?”  She can see so much more issues which will arise from this situation in spite of any help that may come from that wyrm. The tales about him are clear about how quick he was to anger, as well as how destructive he was.

The two look at each other then back at her. “I assure you, milady I was there. He is dead.” Legolas had made the trip later to look at his body in the water. It had not been pretty, but per his father’s request, he had done it to lay to rest the worry of him coming back. To find out that Bella is saying he is coming back is nothing either elf want to even consider.

Bella shakes her head again as she explains.  “Eru decided to meddle even more. He yanked Thorin out of his body when he was dying, he also gave Smaug an additional chance and sent him further along time even than my own experience. When both agreed to his question, Eru gave them another chance. We will need to go to where Thorin will appear, but first, we need you to train me and wait for Smaug to come here. Furthermore, there will be other people coming from my past to join us sometime in the future.” That had bugged her, but the information she received is that this is a choice yet to be made at a later time. Though both Eru and her father believe that these beings will come for her. He believes her to be a sister to him, as well as his brother. But there might even be a chance that they won’t arrive.

The two look at each other, wondering what had happened in her meeting. But they will respect her privacy and nod. Haldir respectfully asks, “When do we need to be ready to journey?” His mind is already busy with seeing what supplies they might need, as well as what additional training she may require. She is quick to pick up lessons, which is good with all the lessons that have been passed to her.

She sighs. “One of the people needs to arrive here. From what I can see it should be Smaug, but what he looks like is blurred to me.  I have been promised that he will be humanoid.”  Bella frowns, wondering what exactly had Eru chuckling as he had walked away from his blessing.

The days that pass from that night are quieter, which Haldir is pleased about. He hated watching Bella in pain even in her sleep. It is already bad with her not accepting him completely as he wishes. The pain he feels he hides from her, because Haldir is aware of her heartbreak from Legolas, who told him all he knows of her and of what the issue may be.

In addition, he has had a visit of his own from her father. Seems that Eru had thought he should know what Bella had suffered from in order to understand her pain now. He was taught that the Valar are made to love only one being that is not their family. Somehow, the Cold One had interfered, so she was feeling something out of the realm of the elves to fully understand. She had always been meant for Haldir, the fates themselves had declared that. The upstart had derailed that plan and it was only her strength that had allowed her to move forward. Even her meeting him had only helped some. Her soul knows him, but it was confused since it thought there was another mate.

All he could say is that if he had the Cold One in front of him, Haldir would certainly make sure he paid for the pain his words had caused. His actions were bad enough, but what Haldir could not fathom is why he would leave Bella out in the woods by herself. It had been enough to make the Elf warrior hurt for his Bella. To know that on top of that, somehow, her soul thought that that selfish cold one was her other half? The only one for her to love?

There was nothing he wouldn’t do to get revenge for her suffering at his callous hands.

Then there was the fact that her world is so different from the one they lived in now.  He thoroughly understood her terms of the air being stale. It lacked color, substance to it. There was something vitally missing from it. It felt as if it was tired and worn out from living.

And the smells! They were not of the living; they were of the dead machines inhabiting that world. The stench of the machines overrode the natural smells even in the areas that were called never touched by man.

He had been horrified, but Eru had told him, that this is because they left. Elves, working with the Dwarrow and Men would make sure that this never happened. That there is nothing wrong with progress, but once you strip the world of the wonders, then there was nothing to make anyone think of magic. The Dwarrows with their machines were living beasts of the land. It didn’t tear up the ground, they used them to help them out in their mines. Humans just didn’t think long enough ahead of time to think of what they are doing as damaging their Earth.  And there were none to help them realize this until it was too late.

When he had woken that morning, he had looked upon his Bella and understood so much more than he did in the past. With that, he had worked harder, yet became more patient with her.  She needed the time, and though she was healed of the worst of the pain, Eru told him he did not want to do, nor could make it all go away. She had, in fact, asked that it wouldn’t be so. Haldir agreed with Bella. She deserved to be healing on her own terms. And, more important, to be sure her feelings for him were real. They both deserved that gift.

So he walks by her side, or slightly behind her if they are in one of the meetings about the information she had brought. He watches, or even trains her himself in weapons. He is there when Galadriel and Gandalf work with her with the powers she has. He is close to her in order to be at her side the second she needs him. Haldir wishes nothing would hurt her, but at the same time, he allows her to live her life. He is there to help, not hinder.

Then there is the item she calls an iPad and how they are all so very careful with it. No one is allowed to learn her language except for him and Legolas. When learning that Eru is sending others that will know it, there is a lot of debate if they should even know the device is here.

Bella is the one, upon finding of the argument, who laughs at them all. “Do you really think it matters? Every one of them knows this story. It is one of the great ones and one that everyone has read at least once in their life. They may not remember every detail, which is what the iPad gives us. But they know enough to be dangerous in the way you are worried about.” Her mind dances with the information that there were plans to make a movie which would only catapult the story to the forefront of everyone’s minds again.

She shakes her head at them all. “There is nothing that you can do anymore to prevent these people from coming. They are all here at Eru’s insistence.  And I am not one who will willingly tell him no. Are you?” She lifts an eyebrow at them and waits for them to come to the same conclusion as her.

That had been the end of that argument.

Haldir smirks as he watches Legolas teaching her archery. That had been one of the few times he had a smile on his face for everyone to see. He is proud of his mate. She often outstrips the one acknowledged throughout all the elves as one of the best archers. And then she demands more practice making them both better. All of the people who have been teaching her have seemed to get better trying to keep up with her.

And she is slowly healing in other ways. She glows more often, and not just in the way of the Valar. Her skin now is very healthy, along with her body. She has gained muscles on top of the ones she already had. She is much more confident to the point hardly anyone sees her watching her feet. She leaps and jumps along the branches as though she had been doing it for thousands of years with Haldir.

Then there is her damned horse. Haldir shakes his head at the beast often. Like right now, he is feeding behind where they are practicing. Most of them are very close to their horses, but this is taking it to another level.

The master of the horses here has asked if he could have Urúvion cover some of the mares when they go into season. Bella had only laughed and told him that it was up to the horse. If the horse wanted to, then he would.

As elves, they understood the bonds that can come about, but these two are something else. Anything that Bella learns to do on her feet, she seems to instinctively know how to do it on her horse.

She is the premier rider. None can match her on horseback, nor does anyone really want to. Her abilities are enough to put them to shame just by watching her.

Indeed, his One is amazing. And he will be patient to be with her as he wishes. It will all be worth it.

Already, she is warming to him more and more.

Final count: 4,107 words.

Fairfarren~