Miril somehow found herself in a beautiful garden area. Beautiful, of course, being a relative term as everything in Lothlorien was considered beautiful. Elanor and Niphredil sprinkled the patches of earth. Other flowers, some blue, some purple, some yellow, were interspersed expertly.

She remained in the garden, wandering among the flowers, for several hours. It gave her time to think. She thought about many things, but mostly about Mithrandir. She was deeply, deeply saddened by his death. She felt lost, hopeless. Miril wondered how they would succeed in their quests without him as their guide? He was their foundation. Gandalf was the rock on which they built their hopes!

And now that rock was gone.

"What are we going to do?" she sighed as she surveyed a particularly pretty set of pink flowers.

Back at camp, part of the Fellowship was having a similar conversation about a different person.

"What are we going to do, Strider?" Pippin asked the ranger. "She was obviously really upset!"

"We haven't seen her in hours." Merry nodded.

"I'm sure she's fine," he reassured them. "She's an adult. She can handle herself."

However it wasn't long before Aragorn went out to look for his friend. He wasn't exactly concerned about her, after all, she was in Lothlorien. She wasn't about to wander off into some dangerous situation.

But Aragorn knew she was rash and quick tempered, much like her forefather Caranthir who was known for exactly those characteristics. It was something she must have inherited from the Feanorian side. And more often than not those traits got her into trouble.

"Excuse me," Aragorn stopped a guard. "Have you seen another Dunedain, a woman? She's a half elf with dark hair. She should stand out among your blonde kindred."

"Indeed." The guard nodded. "She passed by this way several hours ago, heading towards the palace gardens."

"Thank you," Aragorn said in relief.

He continued along the path to the left as the guard had instructed. The path was covered in small pebbles that were quite smooth and made a pleasant sound as they crunched beneath his boots. On either side of the pebbled path was grass so green it surpassed even the grasses of Rivendell. Only the grass on Cerin Amroth was of a richer hue and sweeter scent.

Soon Aragorn came upon a large, arching trellis covered in white roses and green vines. It was the entrance to the gardens of Galadriel. To either side now were beds of beautiful flowers, some exotic, some native to that area of Middle Earth. Blues and whites and reds richer than those even found in the Shire added to the overall beauty of the path.

The sound of splashing water alerted Aragorn to the presence of the large swan fountain before he even saw it. Surrounding the fountain and covered by a Mallorn tree for shade were several flat, marble benches. Upon one sat Miril, her face turned away from Aragorn as she surveyed the swan fountain.

"Miril."

She straightened up but didn't turn to face her friend. In response, Aragorn walked forward and sat next to her on the cool stone bench. The chill surprised him at first touch, but it did not deter him.

"He should not have died, Aragorn," she whispered in a hoarse voice. "There is too much left that he needs to do."

Aragorn sighed. "I know, my friend. I know. I fear this as well. I... I do not know what course of action to take now. All I knew of Gandalf's plan was that he intended for us to shelter here after Moria. Past that..."

As he trailed off, Miril nodded in understanding. "You should seek the counsel of Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn. Surely they know what to do."

"I will." He paused. "However something tells me they are just as in doubt as we are. After all, it is said 'go not to the elves for counsel, for the will say both no and yes.'"

Miril bent down and picked up a smooth, white stone. She fingered it in her hand, the cool, flat surface pleasing to her. She smiled a small, sad smile at the little pebble.

"Aragorn, what are we going to do?" She finally made eye contact with him and he saw the fear and doubt in her bloodshot eyes.

"We shall stick together. You can rely on me to always tell you the truth, my friend. All is not lost, I assure you. Times are dark, but things shall become clearer, this much I am confident of."

Miril nodded before looking down again at the stone. She could trust Aragorn. He had never lied to her, and she was confident he never would.

"Come." Aragorn stood after several minutes of comforting silence between them. "Let us return to the others. Merry and Pippin were especially concerned for you!"

"They have such kind hearts." Miril smiled. "They should not be wrapped up in such danger. Pippin least of all. He's so young! He's not even of age yet."

"It was their choice. And Gandalf seemed to think it was a good idea. Or at least not a bad one." Aragorn shrugged.

"I suppose you're right."

They continued to walk back to the tents that had been erected for them in a large green space within Caras Galadhon. It took very little time and soon enough they had reached the couches. The hobbits were there along with Boromir though he was intently watching the elves that came and went about him with suspicion and wasn't focused on his companion's return.

"Where has Gimli gone?" Aragorn asked the group upon their arrival.

"Legolas came back to show Gimli around Lothlorien." Pippin smiled as he saw Miril. "Miril! Why are you here?!"

Miril smiled back. "I was tracking something and lost the path outside the forest so I decided to come here."

Frodo stared at her questioningly. "What were you tracking?"

"The creature Gollum," she said. "I picked up his trail outside in Mirkwood and tracked him all the way to and through Moria until I reached the edges of Lothlorien."

"You were in Moria?" Merry asked her in surprise.

Miril nodded. "I spent many days in that Eru-forsaken place. The depths are full of many horrendous creatures and the darkness is palpable. I will not speak right now of what I saw there."

They respected her silence but she could see that the two younger hobbits were more than a little curious. Pippin was all but squirming in his attempt to keep from asking further questions about Moria. Miril nearly laughed. Boromir finally walked over to her and nodded his approval.

"It is good to have another capable warrior with us," Boromir told her.

Miril nodded in agreement. "Just wish I was here under better circumstances."

Suddenly an elf came up behind them and cleared his throat. They turned to face the newcomer, finding themselves facing yet another blonde. This time, though, instead of a warrior they were faced with what seemed to be a scholar based on the book he was carrying and the air about him.

"Honored guests of the Lord and Lady," he nodded. "I have been sent to you to act as a guide. Though you do not all seem to be here?"

Aragorn looked around before responding, "Legolas took Gimli with him to explore Caras Galadhon."

The elf nodded. "Alright. Well my services are at your disposal should any of you like to be shown around our magnificent city."

"I'd like a tour!" Pippin leapt up from the ground excitedly.

"I'd go," Frodo agreed.

Soon both Merry and Sam had also decided to join them. Eventually with some prodding, Boromir was convinced to go along. Aragorn and Miril declined the invitation politely. They insisted they had some significant business to attend to and already knew their way around Caras Galadhon well enough for their purposes.

"So what is this business you need to attend to, Miril?" Aragorn asked her.

She smiled. "I need a nap." More solemnly, she continued, "And then I need to speak to the Lady about something that has been troubling me for a long time."

Aragorn looked at his friend in confusion, "What is that? You've not told me."

She shuffled her feet. "It's nothing. It's just that I spoke to the Lady Galadriel about it with the Twins last time I was here, several months ago, and she encouraged me to follow up next time I was in Lorien."

"So the Twins know?" Aragorn asked, somewhat surprised.

She sighed in exasperation. "Yes. Well, I know that Elrohir knows, and he tends to tell Elladan everything so... in fact I'm quite certain Elladan knows."

Suddenly his gaze dropped to the way she held her arm. If was under the cloak of Lorien she wore. He looked at her in suspicion causing her to shuffle her feet and get ready to leave.

"Wait. Show me your arm," Aragorn demanded.

Miril glared but eventually she sighed, relenting. Shrugging off her cloak, she revealed an ad hoc bandage that had been tied around her arm. It was stained fed with blood, but the blood was very dark and likely a few days old.

"Were you not going to get it looked at?" He frowned. "Sit down, Miril. We're doing this now."

Miril sat on the couch as Aragorn went to his pack and fished out medical supplies. He shook his head. It was just like when she was younger.

"I'm fine, Aragorn. Trust me!"

Aragorn looked at the 25 year old woman who, to normal eyes, appeared little older than a late teenager. Her face was covered in mud and her arm was bleeding.

"You are not 'fine'," someone told her.

They turned to look at the newcomer. It was Miril's foster father, Halbarad. He had a stern look on his face.

"You two just enjoy ganging up on me," she protested. "It's barely a scratch!"

"Miril, you got a sword to your arm! You need medical attention!" Aragorn insisted, sitting her down and having a woman bring him his supplies.

"Does it need stitches," she asked in a low, worried voice.

"Is that what you're worried about?" Halbarad nearly laughed, but thought better of it. "It'll hurt less than if it gets infected."

Miril looked to Aragorn.

He sighed. "Yes it needs stitches."

Aragorn undid the bandage she had put on in Moria. He looked at the cut and grimaced.

"Stitches?" Miril asked him with a sigh.

Aragorn nodded. "Yes."

"Get on with it then," Miril barked at him, looking away.

Aragorn took out the needle and thread from his pack. He wiped the cut of dried blood and the oozing new blood before getting ready to begin.

"Ready?" He asked her.

She nodded, biting her lip.

He drove the needle into her reddened skin. Her quick intake of breath was proof of the pain it caused her. Pulling it through was just as bad. The thread slid through the holes in her skin causing more blood. Again and again Aragorn thread the needle through to pull together her broken skin.

It wasn't until after several minutes that he had finished and did the final loop.

"There." He smiled. "That wasn't so bad now was it?"

She glared at him. "Yes. It was."

"Can't be as painful as getting slashed with whatever caught you," he pointed out.

Miril argued that, "Actually, a sword wound hurts mostly for only a split second. The pain later, if wrapped well enough, diminishes. Whereas getting stitches hurts like the one cut, for an eternity it seems. "

Aragorn rolled his eyes. "Any other injuries?"

"Nothing treatable. I had a fall in Moria and landed on my back. Just bruises, though." She quickly assured him this. "Blasted Gollum pushed me off a ledge."

He looked at her in surprise, "Really? You'll have to tell me about that some time."