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Valadhiel woke early the next morning, as she always did, then went about getting herself ready for the morning. She dressed into a long, flowing, purple dress with flowing, purple sleeves. As usual, she didn't bother with any shoes.

Once she was dressed, she brushed out her hair, then braided it into a waterfall braid. After inspecting it in the looking glass, she smiled before she walked out onto the balcony and looked out over the scenery. The sun was now rising, making the waterfalls sparkle, and the morning birds were singing their merry songs.

Valadhiel leaned on the rail and gave a soft sigh. She had missed and enjoyed the beauty and peacefulness of Imladris, and she was so glad that Thorin had decided to stay at least a little longer. Elrond had agreed to not pester him with any doomsay, so convincing Thorin to stay hadn't been too difficult for the elven reptile.

After a moment, she looked away from the waterfalls and looked out over the garden and a few other places to see if she could spot anyone she knew. Lindir and Elrond were walking, and most likely talking, down below, and she spotted Bilbo in the garden. She wouldn't be surprised if many of the dwarves were still asleep, though it also wouldn't surprise her if a few were awake.

She stood upright, turned, walked back into her bedroom, then made her way to the door. She opened it and was about to walk out, only to be startled when she nearly bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry."

The elf, blonde haired, blue-eyed, tall, and thin, smiled and shook his head. "No, I am the one who is sorry." He replied, backing away to allow the elleth out of her room.

Valadhiel, recognizing his voice, looked up and then smiled widely. "Glandur! I was hoping to see you soon. Bilbo mentioned that you were here. What brings you to Imladris?"

Glandur smiled and gave a bow of his head to Valadhiel. "I left Mirkwood and came here awhile ago. The Elvenking is becoming a little unbearable." He explained, then offered his arm to her. "May I escort you to the gardens? They're beautiful this time of morning."

Valadhiel smiled and took the arm offered. "I was just making my way there, and I would be happy to catch up with an old friend."

Glandur smiled merrily in reply and began leading her down one of the halls. "It has been quite some time." He commented after a moment, hoping to strike up a conversation.

"It truly has been. I wish it hadn't been so long." Valadhiel replied with a smile, then it faded some. "I would have visited had I been able to."

"I know you would have."

Valadhiel looked up at him as they walked along, then looked ahead of her when they turned a corner. "What made you decide to leave? Other than Lord Thranduil becoming unbearable. He has always been a little so, therefore you have to have had another reason to leave."

"Darkness is spreading in the wood. I'm sure you've heard it's new name; Mirkwood." Glandur commented as he looked over at Valadhiel after turning around the corner. He then looked ahead of him as he continued. "And my time in Middle-Earth has been long. One day fairly soon, I will be leaving for the Undying Lands. Until that day has come, I will live here."

"I see." Valadhiel replied, nodding softly as she walked down a flight of stairs with Glandur. "I will certainly miss you when that time comes."

Glandur smiled once more and, once down the stairs, led her to the door. Once they were outside and making their way to the gardens, he began speaking again. "Perhaps by that time you, too, will be making your way across the sea as well."

"I doubt it, honestly." Valadhiel replied, looking around at the beautiful flowers. She noticed Bilbo was in the part of the garden she was in, Balin now with him, and smiled. "Good morning, Bilbo. And good morning to you, Balin."

"Good morning, Vala." Bilbo replied with a smile. He seemed to be enjoying his stay in Rivendell, and was no doubt glad that they would be staying awhile.

"Good morning, lass." Balin replied, also giving the elven maid a smile.

After the hobbit and dwarf had spoken, Glandur looked at Valadhiel. "What makes you say that, hiril nin?"

Valadhiel looked at Glandur once more. "I have a feeling that my time in Middle-Earth will not end until a new era has come." She explained. "I have had a few visions that perhaps confirm this, but I'm so far uncertain. I'm sure I will know when the right time to leave is, but I don't believe it will be anytime soon."

Glandur was about to speak again, though another elf came over to him and began to speak.

"I apologize for the interruption, Hiril Vala, Glandur, but you are needed." The male elf told Glandur, bowing to Valadhiel in apology.

"No need to apologize, mellon nin." Glandur replied, then he released Valadhiel's arm and bowed to her. "I hope we get the chance to talk later."

"As do I." Valadhiel replied with a smile, bowing as well before she stood upright and watched the two elves walk away. She then sighed softly and looked up at the blue sky before she turned her attention to Bilbo and Balin, who were walking towards her.

"What was that about?" Bilbo asked curiously when he reached Vala. "Him calling you 'hiril', that is. Isn't that the feminine of 'hir'?"

"And from what Bilbo has told me, it's a title for elven royalty." Balin commented, stopping beside Bilbo in front of Valadhiel.

Valadhiel looked at Bilbo curiously. "I didn't realize you knew Elvish."

"Oh, no, no, I don't... I don't know Elvish." Bilbo replied, and when he noticed the confused look on Vala's face, he began to explain. "I had noticed that the others, when addressing Lord Elrond, use the words 'hir nin'. I have heard 'nin' before and managed to figure out it was 'my', since I do know that 'mellon' means 'friend', and I often hear it as 'mellon nin', which is, well, 'my friend', of course. So I eventually deduced that 'hir' means 'lord', and someone confirmed it for me."

Valadhiel nodded after Bilbo's explanation. "You pick up on things quickly, and the deductions are impressive." She replied, then sighed before continuing. "Yes, 'hiril' is the feminine of 'hir', so it means 'lady' rather than 'lord'."

Balin raised his eyebrows. "Well, then that must mean you are royalty, lass." He commented. It was the only conclusion he could come up with. Why else would someone call her by that title, after all? Unless it was the male elf's way of flirting, but it had appeared that the two were simply old friends.

Valadhiel shrugged her wings and her shoulders simultaneously. "Well... I suppose you could say that." She replied before she looked away from them and over at one of the waterfalls. "Yet, I don't have a people, so I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be."

Bilbo gave her a confused look. "Surely you have a people. I mean, I realize there aren't really any dragons anymore, and... there aren't really any other shifters, but you have the other elves."

"I doubt I'm to rule over elven-kind, though." Valadhiel replied with another sigh. "I mean, I know everyone respects Lord Elrond even if he is half-elven, but how could one accept me as a leader? I'm part dragon! As far as others are concerned, I am a mongrel."

Balin and Bilbo looked at each other, then they looked at Valadhiel again. Bilbo remained silent, as he wasn't sure what to say in response. He knew little of these affairs anyways. Balin, however, spoke up.

"They should come to realize that it doesn't matter. What matters is that you're not evil, and you're a good, strong leader. Don't despair or worry over it. All that is supposed to happen will come to be so."

Valadhiel smiled at Balin after he spoke. "Thank you for the words of encouragement, Balin." She replied, then she looked over when many of the other dwarves walked over, including Dwalin, Ori, Gloin, Bofur, and Thorin. The others weren't too far behind them. "Good morning."

"Morning, lass." Bofur and Gloin simultaneously replied.

"Morning." Thorin said shortly after, giving a nod to the reptilian elf. His gaze lingered on her a moment before he turned his attention to Balin, after making sure all the other dwarves were gathered around him. "I've decided that we'll stay for two weeks. That should be plenty of time to rest up and get proper meals before we continue along on our journey."

As the dwarves murmured amongst themselves and began talking to Thorin, Valadhiel looked over and grinned at Bilbo, getting a smile from the hobbit in response. She knew that he'd been wanting to stay for awhile as well, and he knew that she'd also wanted to stay awhile. It would be a restful, peaceful, and wonderful time.

There wasn't much to tell during the two weeks they spent there. Valadhiel woke early every morning to watch the sunrise, then she would go out into the gardens on a stroll either alone, with Bilbo, with Glandur, with Gandalf, or with Elrond. She'd gotten to meet Estel, Elrond's adoptive son, as well as the boy's mother. She had taken a great liking to them, and she'd ended up spending a fair amount of time with Estel who, for being Man, was fairly mature. No doubt because of his upbringing around Elves. She had not only pretend sword dueled with him, but they had a little friendly competition with their bows, which Kili had joined in on.

Aside from the sunrises, gardens, sword dueling, and bow competition, there was also much singing. Valadhiel had ended up singing for the Elves and Dwarves one night, and her voice had, apparently, rather surprised the Dwarves, who had never really heard her sing before. There were also many things to read, so the Elven reptile had found herself reading some as well. Their time at Rivendell was somewhat lazy, but it was peaceful and relaxing. Something they would need before they began their journey once more.

One particular morning, Valadhiel was walking through the gardens as the sun rose, and Thorin had actually come out and joined her for an early morning stroll. They'd chatted, and after a moment's silence, Valadhiel smirked at him a bit.

"So, the Elves are more pleasant than you'd thought they'd be, aye?" She questioned him with an amused tone.

Thorin rolled his eyes at her question and didn't look over at her. "Despite some of them being annoying, yes, they are more pleasant than I thought they would be. And the peacefulness of this place has been rather nice."

Valadhiel smiled and looked over at him for a moment before she looked at one of the glistening waterfalls. "It sure is peaceful, and very relaxing. I have a feeling it's just what we need after our journey, and before we no doubt face more trials."

"No doubt. Our biggest danger is yet to come, lying beneath piles of gold in my mountain." Thorin commented, bitterness in his tone.

Valadhiel let her smile fade. "Aye, there is that. But I have no doubt that we will get that mountain back. One day soon, Erebor will be yours again. I promise you that."

Thorin looked at her when she so solemnly spoke. "You make it sound as if you owe us."

Valadhiel looked at Thorin, then she smiled a little and shook her head. "I guess it's because it is a dragon that's taken it from you. One of my kind. So, I suppose I do feel as if I owe you even my life."

Thorin took ahold of Valadhiel's hand after he stopped walking, forcing her to stop as well, and he looked her in the eye. "Vala, you owe us nothing. A dragon may have taken Erebor from us, but that doesn't mean anything. You are not that dragon."

Valadhiel had stopped and turned to face Thorin when he took ahold of her hand, and she felt her face flush as her heart skipped a beat. She looked away after he spoke. No, she wasn't that dragon, but she still felt that she owed him. And if he found out one of her darkest secrets, would he still be saying the same thing?

Thorin reached up and gently grasped her chin, turning her head so that she would be looking at him again, his deep blue eyes staring down into her yellow reptilian ones. "Please, do not think that you owe us any debt because of the dragon blood that flows through your veins. None of us think you do, and none of us hold a grudge against you just because you are one."

Valadhiel listened to what he said, almost feeling as if her cheeks were growing hotter, then she smiled at him. "Alright, Thorin. I will keep that in mind." She replied quietly, then pushed a strand of hair behind her pointed ear with her free hand. "I am glad that none of you hold what I am against me."

Thorin returned the smile she gave him, then he gently squeezed her hand. "It isn't as if you can help who your parents were." He commented, then he let go of her hand when he saw Dwalin, Balin, Bofur, and Bilbo walk over.

As they began to chat, Valadhiel noticed Bilbo giving her a smug sort of look. She rolled her eyes at him and looked away, turning her attention to the mountains not so far from there. She knew that look all too well. Only the day before, Bilbo had been telling her how he thought that Thorin had taken quite a liking to her. She'd acted all casual about it, but then got a little flustered when he said he thought she rather liked him as well. She had a feeling that the hobbit wasn't going to let this go, but what could he know? There was no way that Thorin liked her. At least, not in that way. Right?

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