Disclaimer: I own none of Tolkien's creations and only lay claim to my own humble creatures.

Author: Allora (aka) Elessar-lover

Genre: Angst/Mystery/Romance

Rating: T- for extreme violence and mild language

Beta: Kiann

Safe in My Arms Ending Notes

These notes are basically little tidbits of information on the Characters of Safe in My Arms, as well as a final note on the story itself. This is, all in all, my good-bye letter to both this story and all the wonderful reviewers who have followed me so faithfully over the years. Thank you!

Notes Index:

Character Summaries

Plot Notes

Author's Notes

Upcoming Projects

A Gift For My Readers

Characters:

Index of Characters:

Victoria

Legolas

Faerlain

Zach

Aragorn

Thranduil

Cudir

Ana

Araviniel

Gimli (Honorable Mention)

Mr. and Mrs. Knightengale

Talorta

Mirlaic

Mirlaic and Tatharion

Celebas

Victoria Knightengale: Victoria was one of the most challenging characters I have ever created. All of my main characters in my stories usually share something in common with me- for Victoria it was her stubbornness. :) This story was one of my more complex ones and each part (1, 2, 3) showed a different part of Victoria's character.

Part 1 introduced her and showed her lighter, more naive side of her nature. Part 2 showed her dark character and how torn she was over her guilt and who she had become. And, finally, Part 3 was more introspective as Victoria thought about all she had done and as she slowly changes as she falls in love with Legolas. Part 3 was very much in Victoria's thoughts and had a lot of the angst of the story. All in all, I think Victoria was one of more realistic characters and I'm very proud to have created her. :)

Legolas, Son of Thranduil: Legolas was my very first LotR crush. When I first watched the cartoons way back when the trilogy was first coming to theatres. Ever since I have wanted to write a fanfiction involving a romance with him. In this story I wanted to explore a dark side of Legolas- he was very light- or at least lighter then he is in the films. And I wanted to explore a side, almost a bad side of him. I believe I succeeded.

On a separate note, it is true that I was never overly fond of Legolas played by Orlando Bloom. Though I felt Orlando did an excellent job- he still hasn't captured the Legolas of my dreams. So yes... even some things movies can't justify. :)

Faerlain: What can I say... I seem to be fond of tragic love affairs... Billy from my PotC fic to Matthias in my other LotR fic (poorly written btw the way... don't EVER read it.) :) But I have to say, it was the hardest thing I have ever done to kill Faerlain off. I knew he was going to die from the very beginning when I started this fic way back in September of 2004. I tried really hard not to make him so wonderful- but I failed. Faerlain loved Victoria so much that he made the ultimate sacrifice- he died for the man she loved so she would be happy. Jesus said that 'there is no greater love then when one gives his life for those whom he loves' (not exact words). That is what Faerlain did for Legolas.

So forgive me, Faerlain/Vic fans... but he did do something beautiful for Victoria when he realized she would never be happy with him in the end. Faerlain, as with many of my male fanfiction characters, posses some characteristic that I dream of when I think of my dream husband. For Faerlain, it was his undying loyalty to the people he loved. Not forgetting of course, how plain wonderful he was. :)

Zachary Knightengale: Zach, though he made what... three appearances in this sixty-three chapter novel, was important for this reason: he showed that, Victoria was terrified of death. She was terrified of it until the end when she realizes that it isn't something to be afraid of... but only an acceptance of the evitable and a journey we all take in the end. A farewell and a journey to a better life. So, even though he was dead, Zach ended up playing Victoria's big brother after all. :) And, I seem to have this strange fascination with older brothers. For some reason I always thought it would be awesome to have one... I don't know why... but I seem to have this recurring obsession with creating older brothers in my fanfictions. (Shrugs) What can you do:)

Aragorn: Though he wasn't really even in this story, Aragorn is one of my all time favorite LotR characters... so I managed to squeeze him in here in the end despite all. :)

Thranduil: He really wasn't a bad guy- a little stern perhaps... but not a bad guy. I wanted to show in this fic that he really was a worried father and that he really does love Legolas. That factor seems to be missing in a majority of fics I read about Legolas. I just felt he deserved a little tribute. :)

Cudir: Again, not a major character. Just an all around good guy. He was fun to work with- uptight... a very good soldier, faithful friend, brother, and husband. (His wife, child, and Ana are all alive at the end of the story- in case I failed to mention it before. :))

Ana: Ana played two extreme sides of herself in this story. A living, little girl, who sorely misses her parents who passed. And an older version of herself, embittered, creepy, and stern. Not the mention the fact she was a ghost all the time she was with Legolas and Victoria. A fun character to write- a very unyielding person. Great character. :)

Araviniel: I don't know how I managed to miss her in the end... but I never did end up writing her reunion scene with Victoria in the end... even though she largely deserved one. But she got a happily ever after in the end... and she married the young warrior she healed. She talked about him with Victoria in one of the earlier chapters in Part 1. A great best friend. :)

Gimli (Honorable Mention): I have always loved Gimli and Legolas' friendship and even though I couldn't manage to get him in SIMA... I did manage to get his little 'Legolas can't hold his liquor' line in there. Though I thought Legolas was a little out of character in that scene of RotK... I thought Gimli was freakin hysterical. :) Yay for dwarves!

Mr. and Mrs. Knightengale: Very bland characters... I really didn't put much work into them. Only in the end... I based Mr. Knightengale's personality (not his looks. :)) on both my own father and my grandpa. And I sort of based Mrs. Knightengale on Martha Kent from Superman... don't ask me why... I just did. :)

Talorta: Anyone who has read my past stories knows that I'm an avid horse fan. I own them, ride them, compete with them, love them... so in every story I've written horses, in one way or another, always make it into my fanfictions. Talorta was based on my former horse, Tuffey. Who now is retired and in the good care of my younger sister, Ashley. Who has been a faithful reader of this story from the beginning. Thanks so much Ash:) Talora, based on Tuffey, is just a wonderful being and is a written tribute to one of God's most wonderful creations. :) I'll miss you Talorta!

Mirlaic: The faithful foster mother. Mirlaic was a wonderful character to play around with and she really helped Victoria to mature- great to write. I don't have much to say about her... so I'll end it there. :)

Mirlaic and Tatharion: Tatharion was Mirlaic's lover who passed to the Havens before they married. I just wanted to mention this because Mirlaic's relationship with Tatharion sort of mirrored the ones Victoria had with Faerlain and Legolas. This was an intentional part of the plot. :)

Celebas, Legolas' brother: He really only had a part in the last few chapters... but I really enjoyed writing about him. Tolkien never mentions Legolas' having any other family besides his father... but I've read some pretty convincing stories by other gifted fanfic writers to suggest otherwise. A wonderful character and I had a lot of fun writing about him while he was around! He gave me a chance to lighten Legolas up a bit- which was fun as well. Another awesome older brother... I seriously have an obsession with them. Older brothers I've always fantasized as being awesome... younger brothers suck. What can I say? I'm just strange that way. :)

Plot Notes:

SIMA was supposed to be a plunge and exploration into the darker parts of Middle-earth... and as an angst writer I believe I have succeeded in that respect. It is, by far, the most popular fanfiction I have ever written with over 700 reviews and over 63,000 hits. It was one of my well-written stories even though the beginning was a little more of my more inexperienced work. It was a joy to write and I finished it bitter-sweetly.

I believe I have written a successful Legolas because, much to my surprise, I was never once flamed for it. Believe me, I am shocked still. I know the name, Legomance, has been tarnished by smutty female fanfic writers who can't control their hormonal urges- so I wanted to redeem this aspect of LotR fanfic genre and I hope I have done that in all of your eyes :)

Author's Notes:

I will miss SIMA very much... but I'm also glad it's over. 1 and 3/4 years is a long time to be writing anything. I don't know how Tolkien managed to stay interested with LotR when it took him a whopping 12 years to write the trilogy! That is INSANE! And my hat's off to him. :)

SIMA will be my first story without a sequel. In a way, it in itself is like a trilogy. It is, after all, broken up into three parts. I might reformat it one day and post each part as a separate story... who knows? I'm fine with it the way it is now. :)

The only thing I might add onto this is a one story as a girl for my cousin, Cailey, and is devastated that Faerlain and Victoria didn't get married and have lots of elven/mortal babies. So you can look for that in the far future... Cailey will probably kill me if I don't write it. So you have something to look forward to any Victoria/Faerlain fans!

Again, I don't think I mentioned this before, if anyone has a desire to write a fanfiction off my fanfiction- if you ask permission you are more then welcome to. I sort of left the story open ended but I would love to read any one-shots of Victoria and curly-haired Laurie together if anyone felt that particular urge. :)

Ok, and I know there hasn't been much humor in this fic... in fact there is probably less then 1 humor in the entire story, but wasn't the last chapter funny? I mean... curls and Laurie? I don't know where the inspiration for that came from... but now it's here all the same. :)

Upcoming Projects:

Hmm... I'm working to finish my Fantastic Four fic, Fire May Burn, before my semester starts. After that, I'm planning to work on my PotC sequel, When the Tide Comes In, and my two Narnia Fics: Amid the Burning Plains, and, The Lion, the Door, and the Campbells. As well as my Batman Begins Fic: One Dark Knight.

Yes... I do have my work cut out for me. I'll be taking a break from LotR fics for a while... I've been writing nothing but LotR since I first started writing fanfiction and I'd like to see some new faces. :) As far as new fics go... I'm obsessed with the new Superman movie, Superman Returns, and have been brewing ideas for two fics of that genre for weeks now. So... we'll see what happens there. :)

So far my other fics aren't quite as popular as this one was. (What can you do?) But if you would like to support my work... please read and review some of my other fics! Sometimes the only thing that keeps me wanting to work on them is the fact that people really do want to read my work. :) So keep that in mind:)

Author's Gift to My Reviewers:

The story is over. Anyone who reviews I will reply to... I'm not allowed to in this chapter so if you are an unregistered reader, leave your email in your review if you want a reply:) But, as a thank you to everyone who has reviewed and read this story, I've made two banners and a wallpaper to commemorate SIMA. I don't know if the links will work when I post it here... but if now you can view the banners at the SIMA website, Star-Flowers. The link to Star-Flowers is available on my author's bio. :)

I have to tell you, there were so many times for this fic that I just wanted to quit... thank you all so much for keeping me energized enough to finish:)

Remove the spaces:

Gah... the links aren't working... so go to the website to view the banners. :)

Banner #1:

h t t p / i 1 0 . p h o t o b u c k e t . c o m / a l b u m s / a 1 1 1 / d r a g o n r i d e r / F F P i c s / s i m a b a n . j p g

Banner #2:

h t t p / i 1 0 . p h o t o b u c k e t . c o m / a l b u m s / a 1 1 1 / d r a g o n r i d e r / F F P i c s / s i m a b a n 2 . j p g

Wallpaper, 800x600 px:

h t t p / i 1 0 . p h o t o b u c k e t . c o m / a l b u m s / a 1 1 1 / d r a g o n r i d e r / f f p i c s / s i m a w a l l . j p g

Finis

Started: 9-4-04

Completed: 7-30-06

Good-bye darlings! I will miss you all:)

-Allora

"Parting is such sweet sorrow."

- Romeo and Juliet