Remember How I Love You (Sequel to 'Through Fire and Water')

Tomorrow

Ana's P.O.V.

I fell asleep to the sound of rain beating down against the house, but when I wake up the rain has stopped completely and the outside is calm.

I want to go home. Hellebore has been nothing but good to me but I want to go home. I need to go home. And so I drag myself up and hop out of my room, using the furniture for support. I don't bother trying to be quiet and so by the time I reach the door, Hellebore is already stood on the other side.

"I told you to stay off your feet" he chastises me, trying to take my arm and help steady me on my one leg but I shake him off, choosing to lean on the doorframe instead.

"The storm's over" I say simply.

"That's some wonderful observation on your part" he replies dryly, clearly a little annoyed at my refusal of help and the fact I ignored his instructions.

"You said that when the storm was over you would take me home"

"I said that when the storm was over we'd talk about it" he replies in a steely voice.

"Well can we talk about it please?"

Hellebore looks like he's about to reply but he bites it back, gesturing instead to the chairs over by the fire. He offers to take my arm again "Need help getting over there?"

"I'm fine thank you" I reply and he shrugs, walking easily over to slump in the further of the chairs. I take a lot longer to get there. At first I think about heading straight across the open space in a dash, but soon realise that taking that course will definitely end in me face planting the floor, and so I take the much slower route, using the wall for support and hopping right around the edge of the room to reach the fireplace. Hellebore only offers to help me once more before he finally accepts that I am set on doing this myself.

When I finally slump down in the chair he has the good grace not to show even a hint of amusement. "Let's talk then, shall we?"

"Take me home, Hellebore. It's not raining anymore and I have a family who need me"

"Ana, listen" he begins but I cut him off.

"No Hellebore, you listen. I have a 2 year old and a 6 year old who have no idea where I am or why I left, and the love of my life who is probably out of his mind with worry. Every second I am away from them is one of the worst seconds of my life. I need to get home. Now"

I don't know how I expect him to respond, but it's certainly not the way he does. Hellebore looks at me for a long moment, no hint of compassion or sympathy on his face.

"No" is all he says.

"No?"

"It's out of the question Ana. The storm's over but the ground is still cut up and appallingly muddy, and we can't guarantee that this isn't just a brief break in the weather"

"The sky is perfectly clear, Hellebore! There isn't a single cloud up there and there is no wind!"

"I have lived out here all my life Ana, I know how swiftly it can change"

"Don't talk rubbish. You just don't want to go near Thranduil"

Hellebore's eyes flash for a moment, before he seems to calm again. "Ana, I told you of my issues with the King because I trust you, please trust me when I say that I would not let my personal feelings about one man get in the way of helping you. I genuinely want to help, I just don't think it is safe. We will talk about this again tomorrow, the ground may have dried out enough by then"

He stands up and turns to leave.

"But Hellebore, my kids" I begin to beg, my voice little above a whisper.

"Tomorrow" is all he says.

Legolas' P.O.V.

Of all the things I expected from today, a knock at the door and my father behind it was definitely not one. Doorway conversations tend to fit into one of several categories: joyful, confrontational, functional and awkward. Visits from family members should really fit into the first of those categories, however home visits from my father are rare enough for this to end up in the last, awkward.

"Father! What are you doing here?" I ask, my voice sounding just a little harsh in my surprise.

"Is it so unusual for me to want to visit my own son and grandchildren?" he asks.

"You have not done so in a long time" I reply, motioning for him to enter.

"Yes, well, under the current circumstances I thought a visit might be appropriate" he replies, walking in.

I just look at him for a moment, unimpressed with the lack of emotion in his voice. He soon gets my message. "And I wanted to see how you were" he says, this time the cold tone in his voice is gone and I can see a real person showing through.

"I would tell you that we were alright only you've always been able to tell when I'm lying"

Father nods in reply and then says "Legolas, if there is anything I can do to help, just ask"

I nod my silent thanks before saying "I imagine Thalion would enjoy some time with his grandfather, and I would certainly appreciate someone new trying to keep his mind off worrying"

"I think I can probably manage a few hours of distraction"

When Thalion sees his grandfather his face lights up and his toys are forgotten as he throws himself at father, who happily swings the toddler into his arms. Father tries to keep up a slightly detached façade with most people, but with the children it all drops away. I asked him about it once, and in a rare moment of open emotion he told me that they wouldn't understand how a king must show no weakness and that they didn't deserve to grow up thinking he didn't care.

"How are you, little lord?" father asks Thalion, who just snuggles his face in his grandfather's shoulder in reply.

"Are you going to find Mummy?" he asks. "Daddy says you're looking for Mummy"

Father's eyes flicker over to me before he answers the question, knowing that his answer will mean just as much to both me and my son.

"Yes. I'm doing absolutely everything I can" comes the reply. And that seems to be enough for Thalion, because in his mind his grandfather can do anything.

With his fears abated, Thalion happily allows himself to be distracted all day.

Father leaves after a few hours and the light is just starting to dim outside when we get another knock at the door. This time when I open it I find the leader of one of the search parties stood on my doorstep.

"My Lord" he says, with a small bow.

"Do you have any news?" I ask, dismissing his bow with a wave of my hand.

"I do, my lord. We have not found your wife, but we believe we found where she has been"

"What do you mean? Explain"

"A few miles away, at the bottom of a crevice, we found signs that someone was trapped there recently"

"What kind of signs?"

"The recent storm destroyed most tracks but we found the body of a warg, deceased only a few days, and a small tree which appears to have been ripped from the ground above the crevice and fallen in, most likely hit by the warg which was carried by its own motion and fell after it. The tree had a branch sawn off but not taken, it had not been used for firewood but to free something, it seems"

"And you think that thing was Ana?"

"It seems likely"

"Ana wasn't carrying anything she could have used to saw off a tree branch. So if she was trapped there, then someone else freed her. Who?"

"We don't know, my lord"