Estel closed his eyes with a seraphic smile as a cool breeze washed over him, bringing with it the scent of warm earth and old leaves.

"Here is a good place to spend the night," Legolas was saying, dropping his pack on the ground.

"It is indeed," Elladan agreed as he and Elrohir followed suit. The four of them were on a short hunting expedition not very far from Rivendell. The day had been fine, and Estel had enjoyed stretching his legs in the great outdoors. It would be another four hours of walking the next day before they reached their destination, where they had been told the herds were passing this year.

Estel dropped his pack on the ground and stretched his arms. "I will go gather the firewood," he volunteered, and headed into the trees.

"Just don't fall in any rivers, little brother!" Elrohir called after him gleefully. Estel smiled and shook his head in half-feigned exasperation. He hoped his brothers would soon tire of that joke. It had been a few months since Katie Johanson had saved him from slipping and falling into the Bruinen, and the twins still found it amusing.

The thought of Katie made him wonder how she was doing back in her homeland of Pennsylvania. Had her mother and grandmother been terribly worried about her when she disappeared for ten days? And had she continued to have nightmares, or did they fade as she left Middle Earth?

He returned to the campsite with his arms full of branches. It seemed the mention of Katie's act of heroism had sparked the same discussion among the other three, for Elladan was saying,

"I suppose we'll never see her again. I would have loved to learn more of her Ëa, of her world."

Estel deposited his burden on the ground. "You don't know that we never will. Eru works in mysterious ways, as Erestor is so fond of saying."

Elladan chuckled. "I am sure he was sorry to find that he missed all the action during his visit to Lorien."

"What was that?" Legolas interrupted suddenly. They all listened.

"It sounds like—" Elrohir began, then stopped as a strange, subtle feeling flashed over them and, so fast and smooth that they couldn't tell when the change began and ended, the four of them were no longer in the forest of Imladris, but a strange room, painted a pale bluish-green, with white basins on the wall and mirrors over them.

"…bells," Elrohir finished weakly.

There were two people standing before them. The first was a girl about eighteen years of age, very short and with curly red hair. She had witnessed their sudden entrance and stared at them wide-eyed. "Oh… my… God," she said in shock.

At the same time, the other figure squealed, "Ohmigod!" and hurtled at them. She threw her arms around the first one of them she encountered—Legolas.

"Katie?" he asked in wonderment.

"Legolas! It's so great to see you!" Katie exclaimed, hugging the other three in quick succession. "And Estel! And Elladan! And Elrohir! Ohmigod!" she repeated. "What are you guys doing here!"

"I cannot tell you," Elrohir answered with a half-smile, still in a state of shock. "But it is very good to see you again, Penneth."

"Pen who?" The redhead had watched the scene in complete befuddlement. "Who are you people? And how did you just… like…" Words seemed to fail her.

Katie looked suddenly serious and ran over to the door. She peered both ways up and down what appeared to be a corridor. "The coast's clear," she announced. "I can't explain everything here; let's go to our room."

She led the five of them down the hallway. Estel observed that it was painted a pale mauve, with doors along both sides in a slightly darker shade. But he didn't have long to look around before Katie was quickly herding them all through one of the doors.

When the door was shut behind them—Katie turned the lock for good measure—she turned back to the redhead and her four visitors. "Guys, this is my roommate, Megan Westerna." Megan looked half-angry at being denied an explanation. "Okay, Megs. You remember I told you about that crazy dream I had last year? About the elves and stuff?"

"Yeah?"

"Well…" Katie looked kind of sheepish. "It wasn't a dream."

"WHAT!"

As Katie attempted to convince her—what was the word?... roommate—that she was telling the truth, the others took the moment to glance around the room. It was small enough that the six of them were a bit crowded, and the lighting seemed strange to their eyes. It was painted the same pale mauve as the hall, and contained two beds, two of what looked like dressers, two doors to what were presumably closets, and two desks with strange objects and devices on them that Estel couldn't even begin to guess the purpose of.

They looked back at the redhead as she approached them. Katie had apparently convinced her. "You're… elves?" she said hesitantly.

"We are. Estel isn't," Elladan clarified, indicating his human brother. Megan opened and shut her mouth, unsure what to say. Elladan smiled, guessing what she wanted to know. He leaned toward her, turning his head. "Yes, my pointed ears are real," he assured her. "Go on."

Megan reached up a tentative hand and touched his ear while Elrohir looked on in some amusement. "Wow," she breathed. "But wait!" she exclaimed as Elladan straightened up again. "Do you guys all have to stay here until you save someone's life?"

"That's a good question," Katie said, biting her lip. "Probably not. Just until they change whatever it is they've been sent to change."

"In other words," Megan said, turning back to her, "probably quite awhile."

"Katie." Elladan caught her attention. "Where are we?"

"Oh! I'm sorry. You're in Pennsylvania. Welcome to Watson College!"

"College?"

"Yes. I graduated high school, and now I'm a freshman in college."

Elrohir frowned. "I thought you had a number of months of high school to complete first?"

"I did," Katie answered, not understanding his confusion. "I completed them."

"But it has only been three months since you left us," Elrohir explained patiently.

"Really? Wow." Katie looked thoughtful. "It's been a year for me. It must be like Narnia."

"What is that?" Estel asked.

She waved her hand vaguely. "It's a place in a book. What I mean is, the time must run differently between our worlds or something. I should've guessed when my entire ten-day stay with you guys only took me a couple of hours here."

"So your family did not become worried about you?"

She shook her head. "Nah. Mom had gone to work already by the time I left, so I just told her I skipped school because I felt sick. It wasn't a problem."

"Good. I was worried that it might have distressed your family."

"Kate," Megan said in the pause, "They can't run around here dressed like that!"

"Why ever not?" Legolas asked, looking down at his clothes. He and the others were dressed as they always were on hunts, in tunics, leggings, boots, and capes. They also still had their bows and hunting knives, and Elrohir and Estel carried swords.

"Because, my dear Robin Hood," Katie said, falling back into her habit toward him, "in the words of Kate and Leopold, you look like psychotic escapees from a Renaissance faire." At their confused expressions, she clarified, "No one dresses like that around here. Trust me."

"So where can we obtain clothes?" Estel asked.

Katie and Megan looked at each other and nodded decisively. In unison, they answered, "Wallyworld."

"Where?"

TBC

I know the "elves come to our world" theme is overdone—about as much as the "girl from our world goes to Middle Earth" theme. In a way, I think this one will be even harder to keep from becoming tacky or clichéd. I'm trying to solve part of that problem by doing what I did in the last fic, and trying to put everything in the POV of the Middle-Earthlings, not Katie. If you have any suggestions or can point out any place where this becomes extremely tacky, please do. Tackiness is the LAST thing I want!

Megan is my actual roommate. I didn't make her personality completely like my Meg's, but some things will be based on her. It's a lot easier to take the personality of someone you know, and think, what would they do in this situation? than to actually invent a personality for them, which would probably end up like any other teenage girl's.

crazycatluver: Megs says you're welcome. :)

Ravens Destiny: —grins— I'm glad I have the power to shock! Kudos for guessing she would have to save Estel in the end! Does Christopher Paolini write fanfic or original fiction? BRIGADOON! I am freaking going to kill you and steal your part. I was so mad this year because I just graduated from high school, and what play does my high school do the first year I'm gone? Only my favorite musical! BRIGADOON! GAH! lol Wow, the CAA Guild sounds like fun! And I didn't even think about the fact that Legolas always sleeps with his eyes open… Hee hee. I made a funny!

Darkened Dreams: Well, I can't guarantee that the elves+Estel will be in PA for very long—I think we would all soon get tired of their constant amazement! But in the third fic (Yes, I plan to write even more!), maybe I can make Katie lengthen her stay a bit. I seriously feel sometimes that I'm not in control of my stories…

theycallmemary: Nope! Not till the next one! As you can see, they've come to visit her. :)

Thank you also to werewolflemming, Hermione at Heart and fk306!

Everybody who reviews gets a practice shot at Elladan! JK Besides, he and Legolas got the brunt of the beating-up in the last one, so I think someone else should have a turn, don't you? —laughs maniacally—