Galadriel's Mirror

Title: Galadriel's Mirror
First story in the Child of Prophecy Series
Author: Haldirsbaby/Balrog
Fandom: LOTR
Type: FCHET
Characters: OFC/Haldir, Elves From Middle Earth
Rating: PG
Genres: Romance/Adventure/Supernatural/Mystery
Disclaimer: I do not any of the Tolkien characters, just borrowed them for a while. All OCs are mine. No monetary gain is being received. Strictly for enjoyment.
Timeline: AU-4th Age and Present
Setting: Lothlorien-Earth Modern day

Ana and Hal arrived outside the ancient city of Caras Galadhon. It had taken quite a while to battle through all the overgrowth of the woods. Life had deserted the woods millennia’s ago leaving behind a mess of brush and bushes that had overtaken the once beaten paths leading from the borders to the city. Upon a hillside, Hal and Ana had stopped to look at the valley that lay below. Hal and Ana both gasped at the beauty of the view.

Hal looked at Ana in awe. Hal thought her beautiful standing there. Her body was different from those of the elleths. She was athletic and slightly toned with olive colored skin. Her face had high, rosy cheekbones. Her eyes twinkled with delight in the sun as they looked down at the ancient city. Her beautiful dark brown hair hung past her shoulder blades, gently blew in the wind. Hal just stood and looked at the roundness of her hips. However, her face is what he loved the most. His love for her welled up inside of him. 'She loves it as much as I do,' he thought.

They finally reached the gates to the city, which had overgrown heavily with vines. Hal took out a knife from his backpack and began to cut away the vines. The vines were thick on the gates and had thorns. From the areas that the vines did not cover, Ana could see finely crafted metal. However, she did not recognize the type of metal. It was shiny but looked light and durable. She laughed out thinking that it matched the description of mithril from Tolkien's books. 'How absurd,' she thought. She noticed Hal was looking for something inconspicuous.

"Aye, there it is." he said aloud to himself.

"What? There is what?" Ana said standing beside him.

"Nothing just looking for a lock," he said looking at her.

"Hal, you sure did find it with ease. How odd. It’s almost as if you been here before,” Ana said chuckling at him.

He laughed out at what she said and turned away from her. He began to fiddle with the lock. After a few minutes, he got the ancient lock open. He seemed excited about their little adventure. Almost like a teenager who could not wait to go to a concert. He pushed the gate open, cutting away the vines and turned to face her. He gingerly grabbed her hand in his and pulled her through the gate. The touch of the hand sent tingles of fire through both of them. Hal turned to her and smiled. He looked so handsome in his cargo style blue jeans and black sleeveless t-shirt. His fit and athletic body heavily accented. His silver blond hair hung down to his waist, almost silver in the light of the sun. His eyes were crystal blue and opalescent in the sunlight.

Once inside the gates their jaws dropped in amazement. Ana was ahead of Hal a little. She saw buildings up in the trees and on the ground still standing. She stopped and turned in circles looking amazed with her mouth open. She looked up at the tree she was standing under and saw a massive platform. At the bottom, she noticed a set of stairs leading in a spiral up the trunk. She just stood there. "Oh, my, how beautiful!" she said almost in a whispered wonderment. She was unaware that Hal stood right behind her. She felt his body heat standing so close. She quickly turned around to look at him. He looked at her expression. She nearly collided with his chest.

"Look at this place. It is so beautiful. I would have loved to have seen it in its glory days," she said as she turned back around.

"It is amazing isn't it? It is a miracle that the city still stands after all these years with the wars and weather. I am surprised it is in such good condition," Hal said looking around and then back at her. Her back was to him.

"Hal, what I would not give to see it as it once was." she said wishing.

Hal thought for a moment and a light bulb hit him. He knew exactly how to do it. He stepped closer to her and stood right behind her. He slowly put his hands on her waist and slowly turned her to face him. He knew she was innocent and did not want to scare her. She looked up at him and smiled. He looked at her intensely for a moment. She looked at him oddly then asked him, “Why are you looking at me like that?"

He did not say a word. Only stared at her. Her face entranced him. He slowly lowered his face closer to hers. Ana pulled back a little, but then realized she was with Hal and he would never hurt her. She was a little curious as to what he was about to do. His face was mere centimeters from hers. "Just relax, Ana, trust me," he whispered. He felt her relax a bit as his lips touched hers tenderly. He gently grazed her lips with his. In a moment, her eyes closed and she reveled in the taste. The whole time his lips touched hers, his hands gently caressed her cheeks. His tongue lightly brushed across her lips wanting access. She parted them and his tongue ever so gently entered only getting a small taste of her. Even though the kiss was not passionate, it was tender and timid. Ana's head swooned.

Her vision blurred a bit. She looked away from him and a glimpse of something came to view. The surroundings changed. Everything was new and bright: the homes in the trees well cared for, flowers graced all the window boxes, songs played in the trees, and voices sang. It bustled with people. Horses ran in the field. Children played in the streets and young girls danced merrily in the tall grass. Then the vision faded. Ana shook her head. Hal looked at her with concern.

"Ana, you okay, sweetheart." He asked worried.

"Yeah, what was that all about?" she asked smiling.

"I don't know. It felt it was the right thing to do. You sure you are okay?" he said a little concerned.

"Yes. Do all girls see visions when you kiss them, Hal?" she asked arching a brow and still shaking off the vision. ‘Why was I having a vision now? He’s kissed me before,’ she thought.

"No," he said chuckling, "You are the first. What was in this vision?"

“I saw a city that was alive! There were children playing, people working and music that filled the air. How did you do that?”

“I will tell you later. Right now let’s explore before the sun goes down.” Hal grabbed her hand and led her to a platform that graced the floor of the forest.

~~~~~~~~~~

Ana reached the platform and stopped suddenly. Another vision took over her thoughts. It was as if she was looking from someone else's eyes. The raised area was enormous. It had four long tables covered in linen with a row of chairs on each side of the tables. Massive curtains surrounded the platform. At the far end of the room were two chairs and a table by themselves. She saw a woman and a man sitting in the chairs looking out over the room filled with ghostly figures. The image stopped. She shook her head and looked around. The room was the same only without the linens and curtains. The platform looked a little run down. She turned and found Hal standing next to her looking out over the room. He glanced over at her and grabbed her hand to lead her to a set of stairs that lead up into trees.

“They look safe, let’s go up and see what else we can find. You okay, Ana?"

"Yeah, let's go. I see a set of bridges leading to some of the houses. Maybe we will find something interesting," she said feeling very adventurous.

They both climbed the stairs and made their way across one of the many bridges that littered the trees tops. They came upon one of the platforms. Hal tested the door and found it unlocked. The door opened with ease. Inside, it looked as if time stood still. Another vision ensued. There were multitudes of colors that looked like new. The rugs on the floor looked heavily woven. The chairs were painted and comfortably cushioned. They both walked into the bedchamber. Again, Ana felt she was looking through someone else’s eyes.

In the bedchamber, there stood a neatly made bed and an armoire. In the corner of the room, leaning against the wall stood a bow and quiver. It was a warrior's home. As the vision cleared, Ana saw a massive chest at the foot of the bed. Curiosity got the best of her. She walked away from Hal who was looking around the room in awe. There was a lock on it. She looked at Hal.

"Hey Hal, can you get this open for me?" she said looking like a child in a candy store.

"Sure," he said happily.

"Man, this chest is huge. I have never seen one this big before. I wonder what is in it," she said in anticipation.

"I don't know, could be anything." Hal said struggling to get the lock undone until finally it popped open. "There we go."

Hal opened the chest. Ana gasped at what was inside.

Inside the chest was a whole assortment of treasures. Hal and Ana sat on the floor with their feet tucked under them, looking attentively to the contents. Ana watched Hal’s reaction. He seemed quite taken with everything. He looked like someone who was seeing something that belongs to him from a long time ago. Ana looked back into the chest and started to rummage through the contents.

She stopped when she came upon an old hand painted portrait. It was about the size of an eight by ten photo. The picture depicted three of the most beautiful men she had ever seen. They all wore ancient uniforms and in their hands, they carried bows and quivers. They all had silver blonde hair done in intricate braids on the sides. All three had the most beautiful blue eyes. The one in the middle had the same eyes as Hal. Ana turned to Hal who flipped through a book or a journal of sorts very intently. She stopped for a moment. She looked back and forth several times and noticed a definite resemblance. 'There is no way. I must be imagining things,' she thought. She shook off the feeling. She looked back down at the painting and noticed that the three men had strangely pointed ears. She knew then that there was no way. Hal looked up at her.

"Ana, what is that face for?" he said wondering.

"Nothing, lets keep looking," she said giving him a smile.

They continued looking through the chest. Something at the bottom caught her eye. There was a very large shiny metal box in the bottom. It took up the entire length of the chest. Ana began to take the items out of the chest to get to it.

"Hal, can you help me lift this out of here?" she said pointing to the chest.

Hal did as she asked. The box was heavy. She realized that the box was made of gold and silver. They laid the box gently on the floor. Ana noticed it was unlocked. Hal helped her open the box. When they opened the box, she found that there was a silk material covering something in it.

After unwrapping the object, Ana gasped at the site of it. It was a suit of armor done in a style of elvish design from one of Gary’s books. It was beautiful. It still had a shine to it. All the other items in the chest looked like thousands of years old. Ana began to see yet another vision that astounded her. She saw a man before a mirror with no face clad in gold and silver armor with a crimson red cloak attached to it. Her feeling that she got was that the one that wore the armor was of great importance and had seen many battles wearing the armor. She took a deep breath and looked up at Hal who was looking worried for her.

"Ana, are you okay? You look ill," he said taking her around the waist and pulling her toward him.

"Yeah, I am okay. I just had another vision. A great warrior of high rank wore this armor. I think I need some air. Help me put all this back in the chest please," she said shaking her head and trying to clear it. This was a little overwhelming for her.

After she and Hal put all the contents back into the chest, Hal had to assist her back down the stairs. She looked back over her shoulders at the house and could not shake the feeling that all that she saw meant something. She felt Hal’s arm tighten around her waist. They continued to walk around the city. You could see a massive clearing, in that clearing there were small farms and homes. They stopped by a tree only to grab a small bite to eat and then continued their explorations, which wound up at a labyrinth of gardens that were overgrown and decayed.