An Acceptance

It was the early hours of that morning, and most of the Fellowship was all comfortably asleep in their shared room. Raina stirred, the events of the night before replaying in her mind in the form of a dream. Outside, Legolas stood facing Mordor, thinking of the same things as he watched the Eye.

In the Hall, Aragorn had been speaking with Eowyn. Once she had fallen back asleep, he joined Legolas outside the Fellowship’s room.

Pippin was restlessly awake, his thoughts continuously going back to the Palatír, and he was rendered unable to sleep.

Outside, Aragorn looked at Legolas in concern. The Elf had been outside all though the night, staring into the distance in distraught.

“What bothers you, Legolas?” he asked, turning to face Mordor as well.

Legolas didn’t turn to face Strider when he spoke. “Raina,” he whispered to the wind, his words carried off in an instant. He could hear her soft breathing in the room, as well as her fast heart beat, and he knew that even in her dreams, she was thinking of the same thing as he. Aragorn nodded, not fully understanding, but he would not press either of his friends for more information unless they wanted to give it.

“The stars are veiled,” the Elf said, changing the subject. “Something stirs in the East. A sleepless malice. The Eye of the enemy is moving."

Back in the room, Raina woke with a start after one more of her dreams. She opened her lids slowly, her keen eyes instantly adjusting to the dark room. Behind her, she could hear whispering.

“Pippin!” Merry hissed. “Are you mad?”

She could hear Pippin breathe his response. “I just want to look at it. Just one more time…”

Someone, presumably Pippin, unwrapped a glass object before resting his hands on it. Raina realized what exactly he was doing before she heard his yells and Merry’s cries for help.

Raina threw her covers off and leapt up to the Hobbits. Pippin was yelling as the black glass lit itself on fire, and he writhed around for a moment before Raina snatched the Palatír from his hands.

The breath was knocked out of her the second her skin touched the burning glass. She coughed for breath, but was unable to bring any air in, only to exhale. When she tried to drop the glass ball, it would not budge.

Then the feeling of the fire overwhelmed her. No longer could she hear anything except the awful language of Mordor, laughing and telling her that she would lose everything. Her fingers felt like the flesh and muscle were being melted off the bone, and the hissing in her mind made her ears feel like they were bleeding. She didn’t notice when she collapsed on the stone with a single, shattering shriek for help, but when she caught a glance of what was going on around her. She saw Legolas and Aragorn run in the doors, standing six feet above her.

Soon, someone knocked the burning glass from her hands and she could breathe once more. She took in a rasping breath, her eyelids then too heavy to keep open. She felt familiar arms wrap around her and lay her flat. Her next few breaths were deep and shaky, and she soon broke out into a cold sweat, chills spreading through her body before she was shuddering with each breath. The arms brought her close to the person, and their body heat helped.

Around them, Raina could hear and some-what comprehend that everyone was rushing around in their chamber.

Pippin seemed to be having the same issue as Raina, and Gandalf was speaking to him in another language. Raina could understand it to be some spell that was giving Pippin his strength back and expelling the evils that were in his system.

After a few shared words between them, Legolas called for Gandalf, his voice from right beside Raina’s ear.

Gandalf moved over to her side, forcing Legolas to let go of her limp body and rest her on the cold stone floor. Legolas’s hand remained behind her head, supporting it as Gandalf watched her closely.

“She is an Elf,” he said finally. “And thus stronger than a Hobbit. She will be awake in a few moments.”

And with that, he moved back to Pippin’s side.

Raina shuddered again, but not from the chills this time. This time it was because she was regaining full consciousness. She opened her eyes to meet Legolas’s grey ones as he stared down at her intently.

“I thought… I thought we said we knew nothing could happen,” she breathed, so soft that she knew no one but Legolas would have been able to hear. He grinned down at her.

“That doesn’t mean that you can’t be my little sister.”

Raina grinned back at him, pure joy in her tired eyes.