No Place for Women

When I opened my eyes, I noticed that I was in a bedroom that I had never seen before. The sheets on the bed where white, with a light grey blankets covering my body. Not only that, but I noticed that my clothes had been changed. I was now in a pale green dress instead of my brown pants and corset.

With a sigh, I ran my hand over my dark colored hair, and walked towards the door. I hadn't even noticed that I had a pair of shoes covering my feet. It was something that I definitely wasn't used to.

"My lady!" Haldir exclaimed, seeing me come from the bedroom. "I would've thought that you would sleep for a while longer." Once more, I sighed, "Haldir, please drop the formalities. I'm not above you, nor am I your equal." He silently nodded his head, and moved to stand next to me. "Well, Lady Galadriel asked to see you as soon as you woke up. She's currently in a meeting with Lord Thranduil of Mirkwood."

"And she still wants me to come see her?" I asked. Haldir simply nodded, before holding his hand out in the way of where we should be walking to. He was simply walking next to me, with his back straight, and his eyes forward. His long silver hair was down to his shoulders; making me feel self conscious about my long dark hair.

Calili's PoV

The night had been long and cold, especially now that Kila was gone. I felt so alone without her here, and Thorin was blaming himself. Not just that, but everyone was blaming him for it too. That didn't come as a shock to me; seeing as it was his words that pushed her to make the decision to leave completely.

Kili hasn't gotten any sleep all night. No matter how many times I told him that he needed his rest before we moved on, he just wouldn't listen to me. He wouldn't listen to Fili either.

We were currently on break, on our way towards Mirkwood. It's not somewhere any of us wanted to be, but we had to go through there to reach our destination. I was sitting on a tree stump, while Fili was crouched down next to me. Everyone was just standing around in a big circle, while Kili was separated from everyone. He was a few feet back from us the entire time. Still close enough to help protect everyone from danger, and still enough space between us to be alone.

"I can't believe that Kila actually left. It obvious how much it effecting Kili." I sighed. "Yeah I know. What could've been running through her mind? I mean, obviously other than what Thorin had said. " Fili agreed with me. I slowly moved my eyes down to my hands, and watched my fingers fumble over each other, trying to get dirt out from under my nails.

"You know." I laughed slightly, "I remember all the times she would sing me to sleep while we were out in the woods. " Fili moved just a bit closer to me now, while all the other men seemed to look over to us. "Really? What would she sing?"

"The song of the Lonely Mountain." I whispered. "Our father sang it to us once before bed one night, just before his disappeared. She would sing it all the time when we felt like we didn't have a home. When we felt like we had no place to go. We felt like that all the time....but we never cared. Why? Because we had each other, and that's all that mattered. We didn't need a home, because we had each other and that's all that mattered. Because we had family."

By now all the men, except for Kili, were standing around me. They had been listening intently to what I had to say, and were now taking it to heart. Bofur had a look on his face to say that he felt quite foolish; what about I have no idea. "I wish she wouldn't have left. I wish she would come back to us." I whispered.

"It is my fault that she's gone." Thorin spoke up, "And I will make sure of it that she comes back to you. I promise." With that, he walked away from everyone else.

Kila's PoV

"Kila! My dear!" Lady Galadriel smiled upon seeing me. She had her arms out towards me. I noticed the taller man with long silver hair standing next to her. There was a crown of berries, and branches on his head; and a younger man standing behind him. "My lady." I nodded my head slightly.

She put her arm around me gently, and brought me closer. "My dear, I have called you in here because I wish you to sing for us. Can you do that?" Can I sing for her? Silently, I took a deep breath and nodded my head, causing her smile to grow. Can I do it? I've only ever sang for Calili...could I sing for someone else now?

I could feel eyes on me from the people in the room as I walked over to the side of the room so I wasn't in the way of anything they were doing. There was a handful of other people where I was standing, with musical instruments. I based what I was going to sing off of what they had already been playing.

"Sing now ye joyful, now sing all together!
The wind's in the tree-top, the wind's in the heather;
The stars are in blossom, the moon is in flower,
And bright are the windows of Night in her tower.
Dance all ye joyful, now dance all together!
Soft is the grass, and let foot be like feather!
The river is silver, the shadows are fleeting;
Merry is May-time, and merry our meeting."

When I looked up again, the younger blonde male had his eyes on me. He had moved to where I could see him now, and could tell that he definitely was looking at me. There was no doubt about it.

That's when our eyes met. I quickly looked down to the ground, and brought my hand up to push a piece of my dark hair out of my face. I could slightly hear the conversation that was taking place. "She really is something special isn't she? Why is she so different?" The man asked Galadriel. "Her father was a Dwarf. She got most of her features from him, while her sister got their mothers looks. She's always been out casted from many Elves. Especially in Rivendell."

"Well it seems that she has caught my young Legolas' eye." The older man gave a slight smile, before looking at me once more.

"Sing we now softly, and dreams let us weave him!
Wind him in slumber and there let us leave him!
The wanderer sleepeth. Now soft be his pillow!
Lullaby! Lullaby! Alder and Willow!
Sigh no more Pine, till the wind of the morn!"

Galadriel and the two male Elves seemed to make their leave from the room; Galadriel and the elder of the males still talking amongst themselves. While the younger male was trailing behind them, looking back ever so often.

"Fall Moon! Dark be the land!
Hush! Hush! Qak, Ash, and Thorn!
Hushed be all water, till dawn is at hand."

I felt as if I was no longer needed in this room, so I walked out the door. Haldir was standing there, as if waiting for me to walk out and meet him. He immediately turned and looked at me. "Kila, you have such a beautiful voice; one such as I've never heard before." He seemed as if he was shocked. Blushing slightly, I looked down at the ground, and walked down the hall with Haldir by my side.

"Why did you choose to come here?" He asked suddenly, looking down at me. His long hair was fallen over the backs of his shoulders, and he had his hands holding each other behind his back. "What do you mean?" I questioned, returning the same look that he was giving me.

"I mean, you've never been the kind of girl that does as she's told. I know you Kila, I have since you were a young Elf. Do not try to tell me that you're doing something that makes you happy." He sighed, "I can tell that you are not truly happy here. You are happy when you are with your sister, and the rest of your family."

"I don't have a family!" I couldn't stop my voice from getting just a bit louder. Haldir suddenly stopped, and grabbed my arm, just a bit too harshly. "You are not with your family right now. Those men you were with, the Dwarves. They are your family, they accept you and your sister for who you are, for what you are. Do not think me uneducated, Kila. I saw the way one of them was looking at you." He sighed, releasing his grip on my arm.

"Haldir, I-" I could feel my heart literally breaking. "Why did you leave them, Kila? I know you didn't want to, so why did you come here?" His words seemed very bitter and angry. "Haldir, I can't deal with this right now." With that, I walked away from him. I just left him standing there with a hurt and sorry look on his face.