As the Council of Elrond ended, the night had fallen. Míriel was not very hungry but she forced herself to eat something before retiring since she was certain that food would not be easily overcome during the journey. She spoke to none of her newfound companions during the evening, not even Legolas, for she knew she had to be alone.

Míriel spent the night packing and pondering. She had no clue what this journey would be like but she had a feeling it would be even harsher than her adventure to Erebor. With the wraiths still in the wild and Sauron's potential spies everywhere, they would never be able to feel calm.

Míriel sighed and sat on her bed, hiding her face in her hands. She began wondering if this was all a big mistake. She had been in a company before and the scars it left her had taken decades to heal. Míriel did not know if she could survive a battle like the one of the Five Armies again, or if she could allow herself to care for a group of people as she had done with the Dwarves.

At the same time, Míriel felt it was her duty to watch over Frodo. She had followed Bilbo on a mission before and she loved that Hobbit dearly. Doing this could perhaps soothe Bilbo's nerves a little.

Míriel raised her head as someone knocked on her door. Arwen stepped in carefully and the morning sun lit her beautiful cousin. Míriel smiled and motioned for Arwen to come closer as she stood up. Míriel sighed as she looked at her cousin, the one person she had always admired and looked up to. Arwen was like the elder sister Míriel never had, and it would hurt the most to say farewell to her.

"So you will take your leave," Arwen said sadly and stepped closer to Míriel. Míriel nodded slowly and smiled to cheer her up a little bit, she did not want Arwen to be sad or she would be crying her eyes out. "I will miss having you here Míriel."

"And I will miss being here Arwen," Míriel said and smiled. It had only been very recently that they had started living together, and she had enjoyed being with her these past years. "If I'm completely honest I don't know what I'm doing joining the Fellowship. They don't need me, what help can I give? I am weakened, still hurt from the last time I decided to leave Rivendell for a cause."

"You aren't weak, Míriel," Arwen insisted and grabbed her hands. "You are the strongest person I know and the Fellowship will need you, I know it. You have a role in all this, as do we all. This is your battle as well as anyone else's."

"Do I?" Míriel questions. "Sometimes I feel like I just like to meddle in other people's businesses."

"But this is your business Míriel," Arwen said and chuckled lightly. " I know you will bring joy, happiness and protection over this Fellowship - they will not soon regret having you with them. Do not ever listen to what anyone else has to say about you because you are stronger than people realise. And a little scary, actually."

Míriel smiled and embraced Arwen in a tight hug. She closed her eyes and hoped that she would soon be able to embrace her dear cousin again. Elrond was trying to convince Arwen to leave for the Undying Lands with his people, but Arwen was refusing since she wanted to stay with Aragorn. That was why Elrond could not accept Aragorn fully, he was the one who kept his daughter from going somewhere she would never suffer the heartbreak of losing the man she loved. Arwen was hoping that they would be able to defeat Sauron, for the Ring to be destroyed and then for Aragorn to be king.

"I hope you will be here when I return," Míriel said and looked into Arwen's eyes. "I hope your father doesn't convince you of leaving, I don't want you to give up on hope."

"Well..." Arwen said and her eyes were starting to fill with tears. "As a matter of fact, Aragorn has decided to end things... He wants me to leave, he told me that our love and all that we wanted was just a dream. He even wanted to give back the Evenstar that I gave him, but I did not let him. But I will not let him crush our dreams just because he wants to protect me. I know my father has something to do with this, he has probably talked to Aragorn and told him to say these things. I know the man I love would never push me away."

"Oh Arwen, I am so sorry," Míriel said and frowned.

The next time she saw Aragorn, she was going to hit him hard in the head for saying such things to Arwen. Míriel could in some ways understand him, though, for he was trying to let Arwen go to spare her heart from the pain of losing him if he died. But she knew him better than to think that he would give up as easily as that, the journey had not begun yet and already he had given up any thought of winning this. Míriel knew they could succeed, Aragorn should know it too.

"Don't worry, cousin, I will be here when you return," Arwen said and smiled tearfully. She wiped the tears that had escaped her eyes and tried to appear strong again. "I will not give up because I know that you will all return." Míriel smiled and hugged her again, almost as a promise to succeed in their task so that Arwen would be happy with Aragorn.

"Will you come and say farewell to us?" Míriel asked hopefully as she released Arwen from their hug. She knew that Elrond would, and all of her friends would like to bid the fellowship farewell.

Rivendell had offered them all some time to rest, but they would have to be on their way before the night fell, for they had a long journey in front of them. Míriel sure wanted to get going because if she stayed much longer she would change her mind. Rivendell had that kind of effect on people, one never wanted to leave once one entered.

"Yes, of course," Arwen answered and nodded.

Míriel grabbed what she needed from her chamber and stepped outside with Arwen behind until their ways parted and Míriel went to find her companions. It was not easy getting away, though, for wherever she went she was stopped by people who wanted to talk to her. Lindir tried to convince her to stay and Mirima did the exact opposite. Míriel paid a visit to Bilbo's chamber as well to bid her old friend farewell which was lucky since he was much too saddened to join the others when they bid the Fellowship farewell. Míriel vowed that she would take care of Frodo as much as she could and hoped that when she returned Bilbo would still be the same, happy Hobbit that she loved.

After leaving Bilbo's chamber, Míriel knew she had to hurry to the courtyard. When Míriel saw Glorfindel leaning against a wall, waiting for her, she knew she had to say her farewells to him personally first.

"I almost thought you had forgotten about me," said Glorfindel and smiled.

"Never," Míriel said and chuckled. She stepped closer to him and sighed as she realised that she would miss this Elf. "One would have thought that you would join the Fellowship as well."

"Gandalf says my power would not have been much use in this mission," Glorfindel said. "It is better the fewer people you are, though I would have wanted to come along just to make sure that you were safe."

"I will be," Míriel promised and grabbed his hand. "We will see each other again, I am certain of it Glorfindel."

"I will make sure of that," Glorfindel said. He lifted his hand and placed it on her cheek before carefully pressing a kiss to her forehead. Míriel embraced him quickly before making a gesture that she had to leave.

Míriel finally spotted Legolas with Bill the pony when she arrived at the courtyard. Bill was a brown, strong pony with a yellow mane and would carry some of their gaskets on his back during their journey to Mordor. Legolas was alone and patted the horse softly as the animal lover he was.

The people Míriel really wanted to talk to, though, were Gimli, Frodo and the rest of the Hobbits. Frodo knew everything about her adventures with Bilbo and the Dwarves which made it crucial that neither him nor Gimli spoke of it to Legolas. If they were to be in the same Fellowship they would have to keep her secret for Legolas' sake. It would be for the best so that they could focus on what was really important - the One Ring.

"Good morning," Legolas said.

"Good morning," Míriel greeted with a smile.

"I'm surprised that you decided to join us," Legolas said and grinned. "Are you a good fighter?"

"Excellent," Míriel snapped.

Legolas had no time to answer him for Gimli's heavy steps approached them as he cleared his throat.

"So we're not having one but two pointy ears with us," muttered Gimli and interrupted their conversation. "But I have at least heard much greatness of you, my lady. And you've been kind to us, much different from that pointy-eared rat that calls himself king."

Míriel grabbed Legolas' arm before he could do anything to Gimli. It was his father, after all, whom Gimli was offending. They were both much like their fathers when it came to the grudges between Elves and Dwarves. They needed to put the past behind them or else they would all be miserable if they were to be in the same Fellowship.

"How come you would ever defend a Dwarf like him," Legolas said loudly enough for Gimli to hear.

"I would have you know that-"

"Gimli," Míriel interrupted quickly. "I need to speak to you, come."

Gimli looked at Míriel confused and walked with her as far away from Legolas as possible. On her way to a safe place, she grabbed the Hobbits and hurried away. They all questioned her as they were due to leave soon enough, yet Míriel ignored them.

"What is it, Míriel?" Frodo asked and frowned.

"You all know of Bilbo's adventures to the Lonely mountain with the Dwarves, right?" Míriel asked and looked at Gimli, Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry slowly.

"Of course," Gimli said and seemed offended by the mere implication of him not knowing if the great adventures. "I grew up hearing those tales."

"So did we," Merry said and smiled.

"Then you know about my role in the story," Míriel said with a sigh. "Yet I do not know if you are aware of the damage I caused to Legolas during that time." The five were quiet and said nothing as she looked at them. "Legolas was a part of the battle and the two of us became close. Yet at the end of the battle I accidentally hurt him using my powers and he forgot all about it. He has no memories from that adventure and I do not want you to speak of it or he will hurt even more."

"We understand," Frodo said and Míriel knew that she could trust him. "We will say nothing, will we?"

The others mumbled in agreement and Míriel sighed in relief, smiled at them.

Legolas called them over, and they hurried toward the others who had gathered at the courtyard. Elrond was now there, so were all the others of the Fellowship and a small group of Elves that had come to say goodbye to Míriel, their friend. Mirima was there, so were Adanessa and Alya. Lindir was standing right next to Arwen and Míriel could tell that her cousin was still very hurt as her eyes showed signs of an earlier cry. Arwen still had tears in her eyes and they were slightly red, but she smiled a little when she saw Míriel approaching. Míriel was sure that Arwen was not crying because Míriel was leaving, but because she had been more hurt by Aragorn than Míriel had first realised.

"The Ringbearer is setting out on the Quest to Mount Doom," Elrond spoke to the members of the Fellowship now as his last words to them before they left. Míriel hoped that his voice would follow her through the journey because it had always been what made her feel safe. "On you who travel with him, no oath or bond is laid upon you to go further than you will. Farewell. Hold to our purpose. May the blessing of Elves, Men and Free Folk go with you."

Míriel, Aragorn and Legolas simultaneously placed their right hands over their heads and bowed their heads as a farewell to Lord Elrond. Míriel's eyes met her uncle's and she noticed how sad he seemed. He was not her father, but he was the closest thing Míriel had to one. She had grown very close to her uncle during the past years and leaving him, the comfort of his safety, was perhaps the hardest of all.

Míriel turned to watch Arwen one last time but it was evident that she only had eyes for Aragorn now. Her eyes were filled with more tears and now Míriel could comfort her no longer. As she glanced at Legolas she saw that the ranger was sad as well, but he smiled faintly toward Arwen. Míriel hoped they both knew how much they loved each other.

"The Fellowship awaits the Ringbearer," Gandalf said and Frodo soon had everyone's eyes on him which put him on the spot.

A little nervously, he started walking out of Rivendell's gates, leaving the safety behind for an adventure that no one knew the ending of. One by one, the members were starting to follow him, Legolas went and soon Aragorn and Míriel were left alone in the courtyard. Aragorn was holding Arwen's gaze and Míriel decided to leave them to it. She followed Gimli but they had stopped very suddenly.

"Mordor, Gandalf, is it left or right?" Frodo whispered up to the wizard. Míriel chuckled and wondered why no one had told him which way he was going to go.

"Left," Gandalf answered quickly, but quietly so Frodo would not have to feel embarrassed in front of them all. Míriel smiled a little, thinking that perhaps Gandalf was the one who should lead the way instead during the rest of the journey. He seemed to have a little better sense of way than the rest of them which was lucky because if it was Míriel she would have no idea where to go either.