That night, it rained.

The earlier day had been favourable, with only a slight breeze, until Legolas decided to inform us that there would be a rainstorm and it would be best to camp for the night.

Naturally, he was right, and we sat huddled under a thin outcropping of rock as the raindrops began to fall.

"How far are we from the ruins?" Faewyn asked, languidly stretching.

"About a week, maybe less if it stops raining," he replied, gravely looking out into the misty dusk.

"A week?" I intoned disbelievingly. "How do we know I even have that long?"

"We don't," Legolas sighed. "That's why I didn't exactly recommend this."

"But you said yourself we need to find the documents anyway," I pointed out.

"Indeed," he replied, glancing at me. "If it stops raining early in the morning, we should set out then to make the best time."

I nodded and attempted to find a comfortable position to sleep in without getting wet. Regardless of my attempts, it failed, so I irritably announced, "I am sleeping in the rain."

"Are you sure?" Legolas said from his side of the rock shelter. "You'll just get wet and get some kind of sickness."

"Just because I'm mortal doesn't mean I constantly get sick," I said with annoyance. "Legolas, look, the rain is stopping anyway."

Most of the moisture had dissipated into a prevalent mist.

Maldor was watching the whole thing interestedly from a relatively dry spot near the end of the shelter.

"Fine," Legolas said, cocking his head. "Sleep in the rain."

Faewyn turned over.

"I'd rather be wet than have no place to stretch out," she admitted. "Come on, Legolas, Gia's right. It'll probably be clear by morning."

Legolas started a small, cheerfully crackling fire and we all gathered around it, pulling a few blankets onto the ground from one of the horses.

"Losto vae," Legolas said softly from the quickening darkness.

I turned to him, watching the flames reflected in his eyes.

"You as well," I murmured sleepily.

I pulled closer to the fire and watched the blue and orange sparks flick towards one another, spinning off to vanish into the night.

********

Then I choked, I couldn't breathe. There was a heavy film covering my face and my lungs screamed.

Not a film, smoke. It was fire, everything wreathed in golden orange flames. My eyes stung as I tried to look around. I scrambled around, coughing, and came up with a handful of sheets, already burning at the edges. I heard sirens and I caught the familiar shape of my door through the blazing flames.

I had gone back. And my house was on fire.

I tried to scream and roll out of my bed, but already I could feel the heat searing my skin into bubbling blisters. I couldn't see or breathe or think, and as my vision blurred, I heard the door collapse.

"Hurry!" someone shouted, distantly. "There's another person somewhere!"

I was going to tell them, here I was, I was going to die here, covered in burning sheets and suffocated by smoke.

With another silent scream, my lungs failed.

I woke up, and yet didn't. I could feel the very essence of air, all the life around me, and yet I simply...wasn't. I became vaguely aware that I was being held by someone and someone's urgent tone said "I don't know what else to do."

I was burning up into a hopeless fever, surely evaporating into an essence of pre-existence and nobody could save me.

"Gianna, please," said the voice, who now I figured sounded like Legolas.

"Gianna, it's only a nightmare," Faewyn's voice came out of the gloom.

"What happened," I moaned, my voice cracking. I tried to sit up as a wave of heat washed over me. My hair was sticking to the back of my neck, and I could tell my cheeks were flushed.

"I cannot say," Legolas said, looking extraordinarily concerned. I was still wrapped in his tight embrace, with Faewyn hovering nearby.

I noticed that Maldor was making some sort of tea over the small flames. I instinctively shuddered at the once jovial fire.

Faewyn haltingly spoke: "Gia?"

"What happened over here?" I asked finally.

Maldor turned to me and explained.

"Your whole body tensed up and then your breathing quickened. You were translucent, like a mirage, and it looked like you were fading."

"But then you didn't," Faewyn added. "Legolas tried to help with the fever but there was nothing either of us could do. Do you remember anything?"

"I did go back," I said hollowly. "But my house was on fire, everything was on fire, I was burning and I couldn't breathe and then, I just woke up here. I don't know if I...died, back there, or if I even have any family anymore, or anything. I'm so sorry for constantly being a crisis case." I looked down, picturing what my parents would look like if they were dead, and hastily wiped away tears. As more kept falling, I realised in fact that it was rain mixed with tears.

"Drink this," Maldor said encouragingly, handing me a small cup of whatever he was making. "It should help revive you a little."

I nodded numbly.

"It's raining," Legolas said automatically.

"Gianna," Faewyn said pleadingly. "Please don't think you are a burden to us. You're the reason we're all here. I don't think we would ever doubt your significance to this endeavour."

Maldor nodded, giving me a reassuring smile. I looked up at Legolas, expecting to see something similar, but instead, he looked into the pale darkness, his eyelashes framed by raindrops.

As the rain steadily increased, I didn't bother moving. The heavy drops pelted my face, soaking me to the bone. Legolas still had not left my side, and although he generally was a man of few words (or, an elf, I suppose), I could see that this whole ordeal bothered him a lot more than he let on. Comforting myself with this thought, I held onto it and tried to sleep.

I woke from an uneasy sleep a few hours later, and the sun was just starting to come up over the horizon. I tried to focus on going home and flinched as nothing happened. It was like a barrier had been erected within our worlds, no longer able to coexist in the scheme of things.

Maybe I've died, I thought rather dismally, blinking away the sunrise.

"How are you," Legolas murmured, facing me.

"Fine," I said, attempting a lighthearted tone.

"You mustn't make things into something they aren't," Faewyn said rather severely from my other side.

"Well, I might actually have a long time here," I said thoughtfully. "For now, that's as positive as it gets."

Maldor had already roused the horses and Legolas stood up, reaching into one of the saddlebags.

"Here," he told us, breaking a piece of bread with a barely audible snap. "Have a piece for breakfast."

The lembas was heartening after the shock of last night, but even that wore off as we trudged through the mud. A beneficial aspect of this was that everyone's boots were waterproof, being made by elven craftsmen and all.

Maldor was interestedly looking at a folded map as the morning wore on, and simultaneously talking to Legolas.

"What is it?" I asked Maldor, riding up beside him.

"We're going to take a detour to Gondor," he explained, showing me the map. "There lie the Archives of Isildur as well as the Great Library."

"Could there be anything of importance there?" I asked interestedly, pushing all other thoughts aside.

"It's possible, even likely," Legolas answered. "We'll just have to see."

As it turned out, the rain kept coming, in torrential floods that made our boots and the horses hooves sink into the grass.

"This mud is not good for the horses," Legolas said worriedly, stopping to examine Arod's hooves, which oozed mud. The stallion flicked his ears forward tiredly. "Gia, can you walk?"

"I still have legs," I said, raising an eyebrow. "They didn't burn off, yet."

Faewyn laughed but Legolas looked coldly at me.

"That is not amusing," he intoned. "I dearly hope you still have legs back in your realm."

"I wonder," I said to his retreating back, "if my legs burn off there, do they disappear over here? Legolas, what if suddenly my legs--"

Faewyn was doubled over laughing and even Maldor had cracked a smile but Legolas looked at me and said, offhandedly, "Please don't."

Suddenly I just felt rather ashamed.

"Forgive me," I mumbled.

Legolas inclined his head and continued stepping ahead, through the foggy marshlands that the rain had created.

Away from his gaze of daggers, my wit returned.

"Well," I said dryly. "Looks like it's raining on our parade."

It happened, of course, that apart from Legolas being cross about my leg jokes, it actually was raining on our little parade.

"Indeed it is," Faewyn smirked, making a face at Legolas.

Although finally the rain had slowed to a drizzle, nobody really cared, since last time that happened, it proved to be a false alarm.

Everyone's hair was dripping wet.

Well, I thought it was, until I looked closer and saw that throughout the downpour, the elves' hair was almost damp, whereas mine was soaking, straight down my back and tangled. I could just tell I was the ugly duckling in this group of handsomely groomed ducks, with not a feather out of place in the water or otherwise.

At any rate, at least the horses were also annoyed at the lack of food and dry land. All the way up to their manes was somehow splattered with mud, and they stomped along heavily.

"It is unlikely the horses will make it for much longer unless they have a place to rest," Legolas said.

"I agree, Captain," I replied seriously, trying not to laugh. At this point, I was so wet and tired that anything was funny.

"The horses and Gianna," Legolas amended, surveying me with mild amusement.

"I'm not tired," I protested. "Just very wet."

Legolas motioned to the weather, as a distant rumble of thunder announced its presence.

"I cannot help you with being wet," he said. "But come, let us rest."

After a few minutes of useless searching, Legolas chanced upon a small grove of trees, all of which seemed to be struggling to make ends meet in the middle of nowhere.

"They remind me of myself," I told nobody in particular, suppressing a yawn.

"What, frail and old?" Faewyn teased, giving me a light shove.

"Tall and green?" Maldor said, looking at my dress/tunic/item.

"Um, no and no, they're actually more brown," I answered, glaring at each them. "Useful and beautiful!"

"I disagree," Legolas said from the front.

"You hurt my feelings, Prince," I said in an injured tone. "I try to succeed at these goals."

Legolas looked back briefly, his eyes flickering with wry amusement.

"I never said I disagreed with both of them," he reminded me. "In fact, on some level, I agree. You're quite useful at spreading mud everywhere and making sure that we all stop to rest."

"Wow, you're so funny, I'm dying of laughter," I said sardonically.

Faewyn leaned over to me conspiratorially. "I'm not entirely sure that's what he wanted to say," she remarked.

"Of course it was," I snapped, feeling peckish. "Prince Legolas has no time for peasants."

"Do you mean me or my father?" Legolas asked lazily. "Because I happen to like peasants."

"What a surprise," I said, acknowledging his comment then rolling my eyes at Faewyn. "I don't believe it." 

"You should," Maldor said in a hushed tone. "You're still here, aren't you?"

The whole lot of us laughed.

At least Legolas was getting over his leg-joke OCD.

"Hopefully the trees will give some shelter until the rain ends," Legolas thoughtfully continued.

"We can only hope," Faewyn agreed. "We'll see how this night goes. Hopefully nobody lights on fire."

"I really hope so," I said worriedly. "I'll keep first watch."