Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Say There's No Future

By the time the group was gathered around the fire later on that evening with food, Aisling was seriously starting to think they were on a casual camping trip and had not been trekking for several weeks to find a wizard who couldn't actually send her home. Though in that respect, she was really starting to relate to Dorothy and all the shit she went through.

Gandalf and Aragorn were smoking pipes while Aisling sat in between Legolas and Haldir, listening in to the conversation going on around her. It seemed that Gandalf really did know a lot of things.

After her initial breakdown, Ailsing was starting to make some peace with the news that the wizard couldn't send her home. Haldir helped by telling her perhaps Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn or even Lord Elrond would be able to look into things and find some information that could help her. That she shouldn't give up hope just yet. And the more she thought about it, the more she figured Haldir was right.

It wasn't time to give up. And it wasn't the end of the world. Surely they would find something that could help her get home. And in the meantime, she was eager to finally see Lorien for herself, though she wasn't looking forward to separating from the others. She wasn't sure just how long they would stay together before they took off on their own.

Her eyes drifted over to Aragorn, picking up on him mentioning something about going back to Imladris. Gandalf was nodding slowly.

"I believe that would be a sound decision," he replied, which was accompanied by the slight raise of a brow. "I shall likely be heading that way soon after I have completed my task." Aragorn didn't react at first, but then nodded once.

Okay, Aisling was starting to get a feeling something wasn't being said in front of her. But she brushed it aside as she turned to Legolas.

"What about you?" she asked, finally joining the conversation.

"I shall return to Mirkwood," he said with a sigh. "No doubt my father and his company are already there, waiting for me."

Aisling nodded as she turned back to look at the fire. Made sense. It was time for everyone to return to their lives. Well, except her, that is.

"And you, Aisling?" Gandalf asked. Her eyes widened as she looked over and met his gaze.

"I'm going to Lorien with Haldir," she said. "Figured we could talk to Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn a bit more. See if they could find something that could help me."

Gandalf's eyes shifted over to Haldir and a slight twinkle appeared before he looked back at Aisling.

"Lorien is a beautiful place," he commented. "I feel you will find it quite comfortable there, while you search for answers." Aisling shrugged.

"Not like I have a ton of choices," she replied. "I don't have a home here. And it's not like I know a ton of people."

"Yes, but even though it has not been long you've been in this world, I can see that you've already created a great circle of friends. Friends that will stand by you through any trial," Gandalf replied.

Aisling thought it over and knew he was right. Yes, she hadn't been here long, but she felt rather close to this odd group. Perhaps a cross-country trek did that. She looked over at the prince, seeing him smiling at her. She then looked over at Haldir, who was watching Gandalf closely, a slight look of suspicion on his face. Whipping her head around, she found the wizard smiling warmly as he chuckled, likely at Haldir's expression.

She then shook her head. Haldir was a friend. Yes, just a friend. Though even she knew at this point it was getting hard to continue trying to convince herself. A lot had changed between them on this trip, and she was both excited and scared about how things could change further as they set off on their own and then arrived at Lorien.