GypsieRose - Debbie Does The Two Towers 13

Dusk was falling as a white horse bearing two riders trotted into the shade of the mallorn trees of Lothlórien. One of the riders was Lord Elrond Halfelven, elegantly attired in purple garment resembling an elvish version of jodhpurs. Debbie the Purple sat comfortably in front of the Elf-lord, leaning back slightly against him. "Strange...."she thought to herself. "Riding like this gives me the oddest feeling of déjà vu."

Just then a voice whispered in Debbie's mind: "Debbie. So nice to see you've arrived at last. I've sent an escort to bring you in." Then the voice turned more severe. "And as for you, Elrond, I want to have a word with you about your daughter as soon as you get up here."

"Yes, Galadriel," Elrond muttered into Debbie's hair.

The horse reached the base of a wooden structure which Debbie recognized as a flet. A handsome but rather haughty-looking blond Elf was waiting for them.

"My name is Haldir," he said, looking impressively down at Debbie. "Lady Galadriel has told us much of you."

"How does she know?" Debbie asked in surprise.

"Lady Galadriel knows many things," Haldir said mysteriously. "The Elves of Lothlórien are all eagerly awaiting your...arrival." He quirked an eyebrow in a way that could only be called flirtatious.

Debbie allowed Elrond to help her down off the horse and they followed Haldir up a seemingly endless spiral staircase which wound around one of the gigantic mallorn trees. "Wow," said Debbie appreciatively. "A natural Stairmaster. No wonder you Elves are all so fit."

Elrond made a peculiar and undignified snorting noise.

At last, the party reached the summit of the tree. Two very regal-looking and slightly luminous Elves whom Debbie recognized as Galadriel and Celeborn were waiting there. Debbie dropped her best attempt at a curtsey. "Nice to meet you," she said cheerfully.

Galadriel smiled benevolently. "Debbie. You have traveled far, and you must be weary."

"I am," Debbie admitted. "But not because of the travel. Lord Elrond--"

"Er, yes, I'm sure you'd like to freshen up," said Elrond hurriedly.

Galadriel glanced knowingly sideways at Elrond and Debbie suddenly remembered that Elrond's wife was Galadriel's daughter. "Oh don't worry, Galadriel, he still loves your daughter. But she's been gone for a long time, and, well, every guy needs to blow off steam once in a while, you know?"

Celeborn looked oddly hopeful at this statement but was quelled by a sidelong glance from his wife. "Not *every* guy," said the voice in Debbie's head.

Galadriel then gestured toward a knot of three male Elves who stood to one side. Two were blond and bore a strong family resemblance to Haldir, while the third was red-haired. "These Guardians of the Wood will see that you have...all that you require," Galadriel said with a smile. "Haldir you have already met. May I present Orophin, Rúmil, and Amanthon." Each of the Elves bowed in turn. Debbie smiled at them and allowed them to lead her away.

As she left, she heard Galadriel's voice: "Now, Elrond, we have many things to discuss. The current military situation of course, but let's begin with your daughter...."

*******

Time in Lothlórien is very difficult to measure. It would have been hard to say how many hours passed before Debbie found herself at leisure again. The Golden Wood was blanketed in a silvery predawn twilight as she wandered through the clearings at the base of the great trees, having left her escorts resting peacefully in a heap on one of the lower flets.

Eventually she came to a clearing with a high stone basin in the center. "Must be the Mirror," she thought to herself as she walked over to it. There was a stone step at the side which Debbie used to lift herself high enough to look in. She inspected her own reflection and smiled. "Hmm, I kind of like the mussed look on me," she said aloud. "Mallorn leaves in the hair are really pretty."

A low voice behind Debbie made her jump and turn away. "Would you look into the Mirror?" Galadriel asked.

"I just did," Debbie said. "Sorry."

Galadriel gave her a knowing smile. "No...I mean would you...*look* into the Mirror?"

"Ohhhhh, you mean like Frodo did? Sure, why not?"

When the Mirror was filled with fresh water, the image on its surface changed. A series of strange visions appeared...

Debbie saw herself in a stone-walled room, wearing a long white dress that was rather too tight in the bust and laughing with a golden-haired woman who seemed to be wearing a set of sheer white baby doll lingerie. A pair of swords leaned against the wall behind them.

She saw herself, wearing capris and what she recognized as a hobbit shirt, entering a deserted campsite. Her shadow self looked around and called out--silently in the image, but clearly--for Frodo, Sam, and Sméagol. She picked up Frodo's coat from the ground, then bent down as if searching for a trail.

The image swirled and dissolved into another picture. At first, Debbie could not make out what was happening. "Oh, that's me in the red lace thing...What am I *doing* with that tree?" she asked aloud as she gazed at the surface of the water. "And wait...there's Merry and Pippin...and other trees...Oh, I guess they're Ents." Then her eyebrows climbed upward in an expression that even Elrond would have been proud to duplicate. "Wow. Those Ents give a whole new meaning to 'morning wood', don't they?"

But the vision was not yet over. Debbie next saw three of her selves--one clad in white, one in red, and one in purple--clustered around a very familiar figure. And then the Mirror went dark.

"I know what it is you saw," said Galadriel solemnly. "You are a very, very brave woman, Debbie."

*******

After leaving Galadriel, Debbie wandered deeper into the Golden Wood, admiring the twinkling lights in the trees. "Just like the Christmas displays back home," she said to herself. Being intent on looking up at the effect, she did not notice when a dignified, silver-robed Elf stepped out in front of her. She gave a shriek as she bumped into him.

"Celeborn!" Debbie cried when she had recovered. "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

"I need to blow off steam," he said simply.

Debbie considered. "Well, I guess what Galadriel doesn't know won't hurt her."

"Oh, she'll know," the Lord of Lothlórien replied. "But it'll be worth it."

*******

Dawn was breaking by the time Debbie returned to the flet where she had left the other Elves. Although she knew that Elves did not generally sleep--at least, not without the help of miruvor--their glassy-eyed looks told her that they were spent and oblivious to their surroundings. She crept over to Haldir, pulled a mallorn leaf from her hair, and tickled his nose with it lightly.

"Haldir!" she whispered loudly. "We need to talk..."

He blinked and focused on her face. "Again?"

"*Talk*, Haldir."

"Oh. Right."

"Listen, I just looked in Galadriel's Mirror, and that reminded me of something. There's a battle coming up and Galadriel's going to send some troops. I want to show you something." She crawled over to where her computer bag lay, retrieved the Crystal Window, and inserted a silvery disc. "It's a *really* good thing I had The Two Towers DVD with me," she said as she clicked a few buttons. "This may be a bit upsetting for you, but they say a picture's worth a thousand words."

Haldir's eyes grew very large and round as he looked at the screen. "That red cape is *so* not me," he said. "I see what you mean by upsetting."

"Um, that wasn't it. Keep watching."

Haldir sat in complete silence through the rest of the scene. When it was over, Debbie waved a hand in front of his face. "Haldir?"

"I...I...I have to die in the arms of...Aragorn? He's filthy enough when he *hasn't* been fighting orcs."

Debbie nodded solemnly. "So you see, you mustn't volunteer to go. You must let me take your place."

Haldir grabbed her hands. "But...then you'll die."

"No, I don't think I will."

The Marchwarden sat back against the tree, still looking a little shaken. "I can't believe it..." he said, half to himself. "Aragorn. Dirt. Blood. This was not the ending I had envisioned for myself."

"Haldir, snap out of it! It's not going to happen now, so you don't have to worry about it!"

He looked slightly affronted. "Still, seeing one's own death is rather traumatic." He quirked his eyebrow again. "I think I might need...comforting."

Debbie smiled.

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