"There. You should be able to walk again, but be careful; you sprained your ankle and shouldn't stress it for three days at the least."

"Thank you." Sarah sat up, looking around the room, marveling for the hundredth time at how beautiful the architecture was.

"Am I really in middle earth?" She whispered to herself, staring out the windows.

"Are you awake, strange girl?" Glorfindel seemed to appear in the doorway.

At first she felt annoyance at being called strange, but found it hard to resist the twinkle in his eyes and smiled back at him, nodding. He smiled and sat down on a rocking chair.

"Are you feeling better?"

Sarah nodded, sitting up and leaning on a pillow. "Thank you for carrying me here. I'm sorry I fell asleep."

He chuckled and shook his head, smiling, "I did not mind. You are not so heavy. I'm afraid your bracelet fell from your wrist on your way here."

He stood, producing the watch she had put on the night before. As he leant down to hand it to her, the alarm went off; a high-pitched beeping noise. Glorfindel jumped, reflexively dropping the watch and barely managing to catch it as it fell. Sarah took it and dismissed the alarm.

Glorfindel looked at her questioningly.

"Uh.." Sarah stammered, not wanting to explain electricity and other technologies to the elf, "A magical toy, from Gandalf the Grey." She paused, "Mithrandir."

The elf looked confused, but nodded. "You carry it with you?"

Sarah nodded, quickly coming up with an explanation; "He said it would help to ward illness," she tried to speak as the elf did, assuming a slightly different speech pattern.

The elf blinked, "The sound this charm made, what does it mean?"

Sarah sighed, trying to stop the curious elf's line of questions, "It's not important," she finally said.

Glorfindel nodded, standing up and holding a hand out to her, "Very well. Would you like to join me for a walk about the valley's gardens?"

Sarah smiled warmly. "Of course."

They walked and talked for hours, discussing Middle Earth's history, specifically consisting of Glorfindel telling stories of his people's history. When he came to the fall of Gondolin, he fell silent.

Sarah looked up at Glorfindel, placing a hand on his arm, "What happened at that battle, Glorfindel? What happened to the elves defending the city?"

Glorfindel grimaced, subconsciously clenching his fists.

Sarah stepped back away from him, looking away, "I'm sorry. We don't have to talk about it."

Glorfindel shook his head, motioning toward a bench.

"When the city was surrounded, I took half the defending forces to flank Morgoth's soldiers; a desperate attempt to save the city."

Sarah leaned forward, "What happened?"

Glorfindel frowned, "The enemy regrouped, reinforcements came in, and my forces and I were, ourselves, flanked. We had no chance."

Glorfindel sighed.

"I ordered a full retreat; an attempt to buy the citizens some time. They fled, and I took command of what was left of the garrison. With the survivors having escaped, I ordered the warriors to fall back and protect them."

"And everyone got away alright?"

Glorfindel sighed and smiled, "No, not everyone."

At Sarah's questioning look, he elaborated.

"We were on a mountain pass, far from the orc armies. We were almost out of the area; a giant shape of shadow and flame suddenly alighted on the cliff face. While I stayed behind and did battle with it, the others managed to escape. We fought for a tenday and more."

"What happened?" She asked, knowing full well Gandalf's disastrous fight with one of these creatures.

"The balrog; a lord of his kind, made a crucial error, slipping off the side of the mountain. I leapt down after him, smiting him as I did
so. We tumbled down the mountain, trading blows, until the demon was slain, falling freely down the mountainside."

"You fell?" She placed a hand on his arm, wearing a concerned expression.

Glorfindel nodded, "I fell. Two days later, the king of the eagles bore my body up to the peak of the mountain."

"You died?!" Sarah's eyes went wide, squeezing his arm.
He smiled, looking down at her hand, "Yes, but I was sent back to aid in the effort against Morgoth's successor, Sauron."

Sarah nodded, her expression grave, but not so grave that she couldn't gulp self-consiously and remove her hand.
"You'll have to go fight?"

Glorfindel nodded, eyes sad, "Yes, I must. It is my duty and purpose here. Come. I'm sure you're tired."

She nodded and accepted his hand to help her up.

He grinned, stepping back and bowing, "My lady, would you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you back to your room?"
He finished his question in a mocking, stuffy voice mocking those who concern themselves with such questions.

Sarah giggled, nodding, "Of course, my lord Glorfindel."

He offered her his arm, which she took, and they walked back to the room where she had been sleeping.

Glorfindel waited outside while she went in alone, "There are sleeping clothes on the bed," he called after her.

Inside, she called back her thanks, finding a white nightgown trimmed with blue and green flower patterns.

Slipping into it, she walked out to the hallway.

"Glorfindel? I just wanted to thank you for talking with me today. You have such an exciting history."

The tall elf smiled, saying only "It was an honor to find someone who would listen. I am afraid, however, that we shall not meet
tomorrow; I must leave the city for a day or more, to bring news to the Grey Havens."

"Oh.." Sarah looked sad.

The elf smiled, "Do not despair; I shall be back soon. With that being said, I shall take my leave of you. Goodnight, my lady,"
he finished, once again bowing and adopting a the voice of a stuffy noble. He took her hand in his, and-smiling the whole
while-softly kissed her knuckles. "Sleep well."

With that, he swept off, his silver cloak billowing out behind him.

Sarah stood in her doorway, trying to sort out what had happened. Glorfindel had just kissed her hand. What did that mean?

Sarah sighed, shaking her head. She was tired.

As she lay in bed, she pondered her own feelings, along with her apparent relocation to Middle Earth. Perhaps it wouldn't be so
bad here, with Glorfindel present...

With that thought, she fell asleep.