Elrond had chosen to leave the traditional paths today, and instead headed towards a peaceful little known pool in the curving path of the river. It would be silent there, except for the gentle rush of the river, and he would be able to think, free from distractions or overzealous counsellors.

He munched on his lunch as he walked, a tasty bread roll filled with cheese, herbs and slices of warm venison. The combination of a full stomach and the quiet of the ancient woods quickly eased the frustrations of the morning, and soon he was humming a tune happily as he walked through the trees and scrambled over fallen branches.

It had been a while since he had last walked this path, and the narrow way through the trees was almost covered by last season's dead leaves, small branches and acorns. The leaves were still damp underfoot from the rain in the night, and water dripped occasionally from the leafy canopy.

It smelt green and earthy in the stillness of the trees, sounds muffled by the leaves and tree trunks until all he could hear was the birdsong from the trees. The shady woods had a subtle eerie beauty, and he briefly considered inviting Celebrian to come with him to enjoy them, before deciding that compared to Lorien these woods would be nothing to admire.

"Oh! Lord Elrond." A female voice, almost gasping with relief, sounded through the trees, and Elrond turned to find Celebrian running lightly over the leaves towards him. "I. . . I. . ."

She was rather pale and frightened looking, her blue eyes appearing far too large for her face. Her blonde curls were loose and tangled with bits of twigs and dirt, and there was a dusty green mark across her nose and one cheek. Dead leaves were sticking damply to the knees of her leggings, and the embroidered border of her tunic was torn.

As she reached the Lord of Imladris, Celebrian paused, feeling rather silly. She had been so glad to see another elf - anyone else who could rescue her from this awful predicament - that she had not stopped to think before calling out and running to him. Perhaps she should have stalked after him, and followed him in secret - he would have to return home eventually. He might not want her company for he must chosen to set out alone, and now he would pretend that he was not annoyed and actually glad to see her. And she hardly looked her best. Despite his mortal blood, not even a half-elf could manage to have lustful thoughts about an elf-maiden in grubby leggings and a scruffy tunic.

"Lady Celebrian." Elrond's face lit up with a smile reminiscent of an elfling handed a syrup-dipped apple, and he held out his hand to the hesitating elf-maiden. "Please join me."

A hand slipped into his, and Celebrian fell into step at his side with a murmured thanks.

"You are cold." Elrond turned the slender hand over in his, noticing that her nails had turned slightly blue. "You have been in the woods a long time?"

Celebrian blushed to a pleasant shade of strawberry, and shivered slightly. The woods were shadowed and damp after the rain, and she had neglected to bring her cape with her this morning.

"A little time. I. . . I went to the butterfly glade, but then I took the wrong path back and. . ." Celebrian trailed off, looking down at the ground as the flush on her cheeks deepened further. What sort of Lorien elf became lost in the trees anyway? And now Master Elrond, the esteemed lore master, would be thinking that she was really rather dim.

"Ai, I am sorry." Elrond bit his lip and shuffled awkwardly. He had failed to have these poorly frequented paths cleared of fallen leaves or maintained, and it seemed that there had not even been anyone to guide her home. What sort of host allowed his guests to wander frightened amongst the trees? Celebrian must be thinking that he was incredibly rude and ungracious.

"Here." Elrond hastily unfastened his thick green cloak, and gently draped it around the elf-maiden's shoulders.

Celebrian gratefully folded the warm woollen fabric around her shivering body, and tried to persuade numb fingers to fasten the small mithril brooch at her neck.

"Let me." Elrond bent down slightly to fasten the brooch with practised fingers, uncomfortably aware of how close he was to Celebrian's flushed cheeks and proudly held chin. He could feel her warm breaths against blowing a wisp of dark hair on his forehead.

"There." Elrond stood up hastily, his limbs seeming awkwardly gawky and angular. "That is the insignia of Imladris."

"Oh." Celebrian murmured quietly, her face still burning rather too much to think up any intelligent conversation.

"It looks well on you." Elrond commented, not quite meeting his companion's eyes.

"Oh." Celebrian fingered the ornately crafted brooch, tracing her finger around the star. "It is pretty. . . I mean. . . beautiful."

Somehow it did not seem right to compliment an elven warrior's brooch as pretty. But it was.

"It is." Elrond looked appraisingly at the brooch, his gaze shifting upwards slightly until his eyes met a shy blue gaze.

"You are staring." Celebrian said quietly, surprised at how calm she sounded despite her pounding heart.

"Aye. Aye, I was." Elrond gave her a small smile, then shook himself slightly and reached into his leather pouch and removed a second sandwich and tore it roughly in half. "Are you hungry?"

Half relieved and half disappointed, Celebrian nodded. She was not really hungry, for her stomach was fluttering nervously, but it would help to have something to do. Long silences made her uncomfortable.

"Thank you."

~*~

The pair strolled together through the woodlands for a while, munching contentedly on their sandwich, the comfortable silence occasionally punctuated by one or other pointing out objects of interest. The woods were filled with the signs of spring, patches of pale primroses blooming in the shade of the oak trees and yellow buttercups growing among the lush grass of the glades. Blackbirds and thrushes sang from branches hidden by the year's new growth, and here and there they would find fragments of eggshell or soft downy feathers nestling in the dead leaves under the trees.

"It is always surprising." Celebrian said softly, bending to pick a few primroses and daisies. "These little flowers have pushed their way through the fallen leaves - it has not choked them. But a few months ago all that was here was dead leaves and the bare branches of the winter trees."

"Aye." Elrond looked a bit worried, and rubbed the toe of his left boot against the heel of his right foot in embarrassment. It might have been an innocent comment, it had sounded as such, but then it may have been a gentle hint. He was sure that a lady such as Celebrian would hesitate before risking hurt to her listeners. "I should have. . . I will have. . . the paths shall be cleared. I should have not allowed them to become so overgrown."

Celebrian paused in squinting at the thin stem of a daisy to flash him a curious look and a mischievous smile. She was beginning to warm up by now, and her cheeks had regained their usual rosy flush. "It matters not, but you must beware my father. He cares deeply for me."

Elrond made a noncommittal murmur, judging that airing his opinions on the Lord of Lorien was perhaps not the wisest move at the present time.

Celebrian looked at him, only just managing to hide her mirth at the expression of panic that crossed the elf-lord's face at mention of her father. It was strange how all the elves that she had entertained with her company had displayed the exact same response to any mention of the elf- lord. She supposed that they were just shy. Some of them had even resorted to meaningless babbling and nervous twitching when faced with the elf himself. Young males could be sweet at times, although she viewed them with more of the indulgent eye of one admiring nervous, pink-eyed baby rabbits with fluffy white fur and damp snuffly noses, than with the feelings that she felt sure should be attached to matters of the heart. Not that she was not exceedingly fond of baby rabbits, but she did not wish to marry one.

"He sought her ever, wandering far. . ." The elf-maiden murmured with a mischievous glint in her eyes, watching her chosen elf-lord's face carefully as she pretended to be absorbed in threading the stem of a primrose through the green eyelet that she had cut in the other stem.

Elrond smiled a little ruefully, managing to suppress a shudder as he remembered the conversation in the boat, and quoted the ancient words quietly. ". . .Where leaves of years were thickly strewn."

"You know it!" Celebrian squealed in delight, and gifted him with a beaming smile. "It is a favourite of mine."

"As it is one of mine," Elrond grunted a little apologetically, and gave her an embarrassed look as she failed to conceal her surprised smile. "You did not expect that."

"Oh. . ." Celebrian blushed and covered her mouth with her hand. "I did not mean. . . it is somewhat unusual. . . I mean. . . you are. . ."

"I am a warrior?" Elrond supplemented blandly, then stuck his fists firmly into his pockets and began striding rapidly down the path. "But have you not heard them speak of me? 'Wise in all lore is Master Elrond' - a fine lore master I would make if I knew not of the history of my family."

Suddenly aware of his sharp tone, the Lord of Imladris halted and turned round to face Celebrian, speaking apologetically with a distinct hint of weariness. "I will fight to protect my people, but I do not wield my sword through choice. I wish that this did not have to happen."

Celebrian looked at him in silence for a few seconds, biting her lip slightly as she watched the half-elf.

"I am sorry." She offered timidly, one hand subconsciously fingering the chain of flowers that hung loosely around her bare wrist. She could not imagine what it must be like to have to stride into battle for the sake of your people, especially if your soul was that of a healer.

"No." Elrond relaxed with a great sigh of defeat, and walked back over to her side. He dug his hands deeper into the fabric of his leggings and spoke with honest regret. "I am sorry. I should not have burdened you so."

Celebrian looked at him a little dubiously, her brow furrowing slightly.

"I mean. . ." Elrond hesitated, thinking how best to phrase his concerns. "You should not know of such things. You shall be protected always."

Celebrian's eyebrows rose in two elegantly sculpted arcs, but she allowed Elrond to blunder on for a few moments before intervening. Drawing herself to her full height she halted, waiting for the half-elf to turn to her.

"Do not underestimate me Elrond Peredhil." The blue eyes narrowed warningly, and her usual gentle tones took on a distinct firmness. "I may not wield a weapon, and I may not match you for brawn, but I have a heart and it shall match yours beat for beat. I may seem but a maiden to be protected and cosseted from the evils of this world, but even I have ears. Do not seek to hide things from me, merely because you wish that they were not there for you to hide."

"Ai. . . I. . ." Elrond frowned deeply and shook his head slightly. "I did not mean that. . . no offence was meant."

The working of the minds of elf-maidens was beyond him. If one took a good elf such as Gil-galad or Glorfindel for instance it was possible to predict how they would react to certain situations. They would certainly not become angry over a simple act of kindness. Unsure of how to proceed, Elrond let his shoulders slumped and he absent-mindedly attempted to drill a dry leaf into the dirt.

"No." Celebrian's face fell guiltily, and she suddenly seemed smaller and more fragile. "I am sorry. I should not have. . ."

"No." Elrond suddenly felt overwhelmed with guilt as he saw how uncomfortable the elf-maiden had become. "I was wrong. . . I should not have tried to. . ."

The pair paused in silence for a moment or two, looking at each other anxiously, then Elrond grimaced apologetically and held his hand out to the elf-maiden.

"Let me show you a favourite spot of mine."

~*~

Elrond led her through the trees and thick brambles and undergrowth until they reached the banks of the river. Here the heather and rough grass grew in tussocks around the craggy grey stones that jutted out into the fast flowing water, creating small waterfalls and swirls of busy white froth. The trees extended far down into the valley at this point, growing almost to the water's edge, and providing a tall green wall behind them.

The two elves moved rapidly upstream, leaping lightly from stone to stone and scrambling up the steep inclines and small cliffs. Much as Elrond would have liked to help the maiden with the more difficult leaps and footings, he was abashed to find that Celebrian was well able to look after herself - and indeed even had to wait for him at some points. He had spent endless hours of practice to ensure that his movements were as smooth and precise as any of his kin, but next to this maiden he felt slow and clumsy. Celebrian's feet seemed to dance over the stones and purple clumps of heather, and she climbed the boulders and muddy banks with an ease that the half-elf did not expect.

"Here." Elrond caught her arm for a moment and inclined his head towards a small stream that rushed down some water-smoothed rocks towards the main flow of the river. "It is a little way along here. I think that you shall like it."

The half-elf frowned suddenly, causing Celebrian to quickly reassure him, "I am sure that I shall, it is nice to have a chance to stretch my legs after all."

"Aye." Elrond held out a hand to steady his guest as they made their way down a slippery slope. He had no wish to try and explain to the Lady Galadriel why her daughter had returned covered in mud. "You often wander from your halls?"

"Oh, yes!" Celebrian did not release the half-elf's hand immediately, and swung it gently with hers as she hopped over a marshy patch of ground. "Adar and I often go off into the wilds together. He would often take me swimming or fishing as a child, and even now we accompany each other."

The elf-maiden paused for a moment, and peeped up at Elrond from under her lashes with a slight smile. "He likes to keep me safe."

"Aye." Elrond agreed perhaps a little too wholeheartedly, then hastily added. "Here, this is a spot that is a favourite of mine."

At this point the stream widened into a lagoon, the water bubbling around a large flat stone that extended into the water like a low bench. A spindly young birch tree that leant over from the opposite bank shaded the seat, and the thick encircling trees protected the spot from harsh gales or gusts of driving rain.

"It is beautiful." Celebrian smiled at Elrond's rather anxious expression, and allowed herself to be ushered to sit on the end of the boulder. This place had an air that made her feel as if she was the first visitor to the place for years and although it was rather wilder and more than remote than she would have liked alone, she felt safe with Elrond next to her.

"I often see deer here, and birds and butterflies." Elrond sat down awkwardly beside her, shifting nervously as he tried to assess what distance would avoid crowding her without making her feel as if he was avoiding her. "Last spring I saw a doe drinking here with her fawn and in summer there are dragonflies."

"Oh!" Celebrian beamed in delight and leant unwisely far out over the lagoon as she peered into the clear water, a handful of blonde curls falling down over her face. "Look at the fish!"

A number of small silver minnows darted across the pool, perhaps seeking to avoid the maiden's shadow as Celebrian teetered over the icy waters. Panicking, Celebrian grabbed at the rock with slipping hands. Surely she would not humiliate herself in front of the one person she most wanted to think her interesting, beautiful and graceful. Surely Iluvatar had some sense of mercy.

Moving quickly, Elrond leant forwards and caught her arm before she could tumble into the pool and helped her to safety. Blushing until she resembled an overripe raspberry, Celebrian hurriedly adjusted her position into a more secure seat.

"How do you like my realm?" Pretending not to notice his guest's discomfort and blatant relief Elrond waved vaguely around at the trees and rapids with a rather embarrassed air. "I hope that in time it shall become a place that you too consider your home."

Celebrian smiled very sweetly at him. "Thank you. I love Imladris, and I think I shall be very happy here. While I stay here. With Ammë and Ada, of course."

Fortunately Elrond did not seem to notice her hurried additions to her statement, or the increasing amount of warmth being emitted from her flushed cheeks, but was wearing a rather troubled expression.

"But you must miss Lorien," Elrond wondered aloud, "Your father was telling me how fond you were of the woods, and that you would live there with your husband and children."

"Oh no!" Celebrian shook her head rapidly then seemed to remember to whom she was talking and added more diplomatically. "I mean, should I choose to bind myself to a kinsman in Lorien then there I shall stay. But if I should marry an elf from another realm then I shall move to live with his people, such is the tradition in my culture."

The elf-maiden touched her chin with the index finger of her right hand and stared down rather dreamily at the running water. "I rather hope that that shall happen. I wish to see more of the world."

"But. . ." Elrond stumbled awkwardly over the words, digging his fingers into his thighs. "But. . . will you not live with your father after marriage? In the same halls?"

"For the love of Mandos, no!" Celebrian made a poor attempt at stifling a shudder then looked at Elrond with rather pitying curiosity. Who knew what half-elves got up to when with others of the same kind. "What made you think that? Is that the tradition in your culture?"

Elrond's face twisted into an expression reminiscent of one that had mistaken the vinegar for the wine, and he began coughing violently. "No. . . No! It. . . I. . . No!"

Adopting a politely concerned expression, Celebrian patted his back gently. A few fisher-elves were passing by on their way home, and gave the pair some rather strange looks as they passed.

"He is fine!" Celebrian called cheerfully, thumping the half-elf's back with great enthusiasm. "Are you not, Lord Elrond?"

His face puce from coughing and tears streaming from his eyes, Elrond nodded mutely, causing Celebrian to give him a proud smile.

"See." Celebrian nodded towards him with a maternal air and whispered conspiratorially. "I fear that he may have swallowed something disagreeable."