The year was T.A 2980. Deep in the forests of Lothlórien, in the capital Caras Galadhon, Míriel Veryaniel lived with her grandmother Lady Galadriel, grandfather Lord Celeborn and cousin Lady Arwen, daughter of Lord Elrond of Rivendell. Míriel and Arwen were the children of Galadriel's lost daughters and therefore the lady of Lórien had taken upon the task of caring for her now adult granddaughters as much as she could. At this age, Míriel knew no other maternal figure in her life but her grandmother, and she was grateful for her presence in her life.

The spring was blossoming in Lothlórien and the forest seemed more at peace than it had done in a very long time. Any threats of violence or evil minds seemed so distant that they might as well have never existed. Míriel was enjoying her life in the same place that she had been born, but which had not truly felt like home ever since she returned from her great adventure east. Now, she shared her home between Lórien and Rivendell, and only returned to the latter at the insistence of her cousin Arwen. It had been a time of recovery ever since Míriel decided to Lothlórien another chance, but also of fun and happiness.

"My lady Míriel!"

Míriel turned to the sound of her own name and saw Haldir, the captain of the guard, standing at the bottom of the tree. He was waiting for her as Míriel made her way down the staircase to meet him. She smiled as she saw her friend and hurried down the last steps, holding her dress so that she would not slip on it.

"Is all well, Haldir?" Míriel asked and stopped in front of him.

"It is," Haldir said and nodded. "Though I was wondering if you would like to come riding with my brothers and I to the border? It has been long since we last did so."

"Of course," Míriel said and beamed.

At times she did grow rather tried of the little there was to do in Lórien in comparison to her great journey, though doing nothing could perhaps also be relaxing at times. She enjoyed the times she got with Haldir and his brothers, though, when she could ride and feel free. Somehow it reminded her of the adventures she had once in what would have been considered long ago for Men, but it had merely been a blink of the eye to her.

Together Míriel and Haldir walked to the stables, and Míriel did not bother to get changed into riding attire. Her dress would get ruined and perhaps Arwen would scold her, but that was not something she cared about. Míriel saddled her horse and mounted it swiftly. Haldir's brothers knew her well enough not to complain that she was going with them, though they might have done if she was still the annoying little Elfling she had been the first time she went with them. Míriel had followed them around since she was merely five years old.

Míriel rode next to Haldir in the back, not too fast since they were not in a hurry. Haldir was telling her a funny story from when he was a child and his brothers threw him into the lake to teach him how to swim. He had been scared of the water until the age of ten and refused to learn how to swim. His brothers got tired of it and cruel as brothers could be they took care of it themselves.

"I almost drowned, stop laughing," Haldir said and smiled at Míriel.

"He is exaggerating, my lady," Haldir's brother Rumil, the oldest, said with a smug smile. "He swam like a fish as soon as he met the water."

Míriel chuckled and grinned at Haldir teasingly, and then turned her gaze forward. What she saw surprised her because at the end of the forest stood a Man - an adult man who seemed young enough to the Elves but probably fairly mature in human eyes. His hair was brown and stopped right by his jaw, and his blue eyes shone in the sunlight. He had a light beard across his jaw and chin and to some, he might have been handsome.

"Who are you?" Rumil demanded to know and rode forward toward the man.

"I am called Thorongil by some, but my name might be more familiar as Aragorn, the sixteenth Chieftain of the Dunédain and the rangers of the North," said the man.

The way he spoke their language fluently put the Elves at ease, but Míriel knew that this was not a mere Man. She urged her horse forward to take a closer look at this ranger and when their eyes met his eyebrows rose slightly and Míriel knew that they had met before. Those eyes were not ones to forget easily, and his voice was just the same as it had been very long ago, only deeper of course.

"Estel," Míriel said slowly, remembering a young boy who had been quiet, yet not shy when one had gotten to know him. "Is that you?"

"Yes, my lady Míriel," Aragorn the Ranger said and bowed his head deeply for he recognised her as well. "That was my name once and I have walked under many other names since last we saw each other."

Estel, or Aragorn as he was now called, had been raised at Rivendell for many years, twenty to be precise. His mother had left him there and most Elves had not known why, and it was not until much later in his life that Míriel understood that it had been for the boy's good. Aragorn's heritage had remained a secret for it tied him to the throne of Gondor which put him in immense danger.

When Míriel had first met him she knew nothing of this, though, and Estel had been the first Man that she had ever liked and befriended. To see him age beyond adult state had been strange and Míriel had been glad when he left for she had not wished to see him grow old and eventually die. It was a terrible fate that all Men had to face, and Míriel did not want to be part of seeing the little boy she once knew die.

"This man is welcome here," Míriel said. "Come with me, I will ride with you back to Caras Galadhon."

Aragorn rode forward and the Elves looked at him suspiciously. Haldir asked if Míriel should really ride alone with a stranger, but she assured him that this man was a friend of Elrond and of Lady Arwen. As soon as knew that they were out of sight and hearing from Haldir and his brothers, she turned her eyes to look at Aragorn.

"I cannot believe that you remember me," Míriel said with a smile. "We were friends once I know, but then again you had many friends."

"Of course I remember," Aragorn said and chuckled. "Many years have passed since my upbringing in Rivendell, but I remember it all, nonetheless. It is a second home to me."

"We have that in common," Míriel said and nodded to herself.

Míriel never found out why Aragon left Rivendell once he had gotten a bit older, but it had surprised her greatly when she found out that it was the same boy that had once lived there that her cousin Arwen was now so secretive of. She was in love with the ranger, very much so, but she never wanted to speak of it. Míriel now assumed that Aragorn had come to see Arwen. She hoped that she could befriend him once again, this ranger who had once been called Estel.

"You must have travelled a lot in your life, I assume?" Míriel asked and looked at Aragorn. She suddenly realised that Aragorn belonged to the same rangers that Thranduíl, King of the Woodland Realm, had asked his son to find many years ago. Míriel did not remember if he was the same ranger the prince was sent to find for she only remembered his nickname. "You wouldn't happen to know anyone named Strider?"

"Well, of course, I do," Aragorn said. "That would be me."

Míriel gasped slightly. A day did not pass that she didn't think about the Prince of the Woodland Realm and how his life had been when she left him. Perhaps he did travel despite the unfortunate events at the end of the Battle of the Five Armies, and met Aragorn. Her heart started to beat at a much faster pace when she realised she would hear the first news of the prince since she left him behind.

"I have been at every corner of Middle-earth," Aragorn joked and he smiled for the first time since they had met.

"Then perhaps you've met a friend of mine?" Míriel asked slowly. "Prince Legolas of the Woodland Realm, he was sent to find you many years ago and I always wondered what happened to him."

"Legolas is a good friend of mine," said Aragorn and nodded. The look on his face made Míriel realise that he was remembering a time when he and Legolas had been together.

"You know him?" Aragorn asked curiously.

"I used to," Míriel mumbled and looked away slowly. "Anyway, it seems you made an impression on my cousin." She grinned and could not wait to see Arwen's face when she brought Aragorn, son of Arathorn, to Caras Galadhon.