Hello all of you wonderful people who have decided to read my story!! It is sort of a sequel to my poem The Lady of the Evenstar but you don't need to read it before you read this. This story pretty much explains itself. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Lord of the Rings nor shall I ever…

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The chill of the water had seeped through my clinging robes. Warm arms pulled me into an embrace and I leaned my head onto his chest. He smelled slightly musky, like the earth, mixed with the sharp tang of leaves. I looked up at him and soft lips caressed mine. I pulled back as the absurdity of it all hit me, though I tried to suppress my smile, I failed quite miserably.

"What is it?" Just hearing his deep voice sent warmth throughout my body.

"You look funny dripping wet," I said and laughed. His dark hair flopped in his eyes, dripping water down his face.

"As do you milady," he said grinning.

"And whose fault is that?" I asked with mock seriousness.

He smiled, "I believe it was yours, my fair Evenstar," his face fell suddenly as if he had realized something…it turned out he had realized something.

"Lady Arwen, I apologize. It is cold, please, let us go in."

"Estel, wha-" He bowed to me then and I understood. What we had done was improper behavior for the daughter of Elrond, Lord of Rivendell. "Estel please…" I did not want it to end like this.

He took my hand and kissed it then together we managed to wade back to shore. As we climbed up the bank I tripped over my now heavy clothes. A hand grabbed me but it was not Estel's. My father's angry face came into view…his very angry face. The last time I had seen him this furious was when I "borrowed" his bow and in the process of lighting a flaming arrow, lit his bow on fire as well. He was rather attached to that thing. That and after the event that led him to finally come through with his threat and send me off to Lorien…he thought that I needed a "womanly influence." I still say none of it was my fault...it was all because of my brothers…

I felt like my arm was going to be yanked off as he dragged me behind him, he was muttering angrily. "Arwen whatever possessed you…I thought that you would have learned something from Galadriel…did you not think of what you were doing…in a lake…"

Estel was forced to follow behind us. I felt rather sorry for him, my father was absolutely livid. It was a bit scary seeing as how he led armies into battle and at the moment had the same expression on his face.

I was confused about where he was taking us. He kept dragging me down halls until finally he opened a door and as soon as Estel and I entered he shut it behind us. It was a large room with murals painted on the stone walls, the shards of Narsil in the center. I knew exactly why he had chosen this spot. Elrohir, Elladan, and I had found out that no matter how loud we screamed, the sound did not penetrate through the walls, plus it echoed. It was supposed to be a kind of sanctuary…considering the blade of kings…the blade that had released Middle Earth from Sauron's grip, was sitting in the middle of it.

"Sit," my father commanded the both of us. I sank down into a hard chair and Estel sat down in one near it. I could tell my father was trying to figure out how to yell at us and actually sound coherent. He was normally soft-spoken, not exactly soft-spoken but not the kind to yell. When he did it sometimes came out slightly amusing. I had the feeling that this was not going to be one of those times.

"Arwen, what on Middle Earth possessed you to behave as you did?! I sent you to Lothlorien for a reason; I thought that Galadriel would be able to teach you how to act like a proper elf maiden and instead you come back and I find you in a lake with a human."

"Father, please…let me explain at least."

"I saw it all," luckily my father is a fair person, "but speak if you must."

Now what? There really was not anything I could say to make the situationbetter.

"It was an accident. Estel slipped and fell and he grabbed onto me because I was the only thing near him. We both fell into the lake and then…"

"Then you kissed him! He is a human, Arwen, and you are not!"

I was beginning to get tired of the whole part about Estel being a human…I was well aware of that fact.

"What does that have to do with anything?" I asked in a low voice.

"It has everything to do with it. You are immortal, he is not. You are my daughter, he is a…a Ranger." He had hesitated on the last part. At the time I did not notice his eyes flicker over to the broken blade before he said it.

"Lord Elrond, I apologize." Both my father and I looked over at Estel in surprise. "It was not Arwen's fault, it was my own."

"I thought as much," my father said with a sigh. "Estel, you are like a son to me and as such I will punish you as I deem fit."

"He is not a child to be punished!" I was the angry one now.

"You have both acted like it, and both of you will face consequences."

"Father!" I could not believe it. He was treating us as if we were children; we were both old enough to make our own decisions.

His anger seemed to have dissipated, at least the worst of it, and he just looked at me pityingly for a moment. "Come, we will discuss the rest of this later. It is time for the feast."

I looked at him puzzled. "Feast for what?"

He smiled then, "For your return home."

Father escorted me back to my room and made sure that Estel went back to his. My hand maiden, Alatriel, was waiting for me with a questioning look. Over the years she had become more of a friend than a maid to me and I knew what was about to come.

"Lady Arwen, what happened?" she asked. "Who was that man?" She had accompanied me to Lorien and so had no idea who Estel was.

"His name is Estel. He resides in Rivendell."

"How did you meet him?" she asked me, her dark eyes shining.

I felt my cheeks redden, "I was playing under a waterfall…with my robes on of course. When I finished I found him standing by the shore. He asked for my name and I did not want to tell so I ran and he came after me. I told him that if he could guess then he would receive a prize."

I should have known that he would have guessed. My resemblance to my father and brothers mad it obvious.

"He guessed and so I asked who he was and this time it was he decided to run. I chased him until we came to the bridge and then he told me. I could tell that he was waiting for his 'prize' and so I pushed him off the bridge, it was just too good to pass up."

Alatriel was staring at me, "You pushed him off the bridge, into the lake?!"

I blushed, "Well…yes."

"What happened after that?"

"He pulled me in with him…" I decided not to go into to much detail.

"So that is why Lord Elrond looked so angry."

"Yes, well, he was a bit angry," that was an understatement. "So, what was it my father was saying about a feast?"

I entered the dining hall slightly nervous. The dress Alatriel had picked out for me to wear was pale grey with a silver sheen about it, the sleeves were long and as I walked the dress swirled around my feet. She had combed my hair dry and twisted half of it into an elegant knot entwined with white flowers. Everyone's eyes were fixed on me, I saw Estel look away and my heat dropped. My father hooked his arm through mine and he gently guided me to my seat.

It turned out that since the feast was in my honor, I was placed at the spot that Elladan usually occupied, right next to my father…and Estel. After the little "talk" that he had given us the feast was a bit tense. Estel was seemingly entranced with his food while my father kept a watchful eye on us. Luckily my brothers seemed to sense this and while Elrohir engaged me in conversation, Elladan spoke to Estel. I must say that it was actually nice to talk to my brother once again. As much as I hated to admit it, I had missed him.

"Did you enjoy your time in Lothlorien?" he asked.

"It was alright…it was your fault I got sent their in the first place you know."

"What?" He was looking at me with a puzzled expression.

"You know what I speak of."

He looked guilty for a moment, "We were not expecting you to go through with it."

"Well I did, thanks to you, and it's your entire fault…well, yours and Elladan's."

"May I ask what exactly is my fault?" Elladan had apparently overheard the last part.

Estel and father were now looking at me with interested expressions. "Nothing Elladan," I hissed. He shrugged and went back to speaking with Estel. At that moment a rather handsome elf with long blonde hair and grey eyes came towards me…he looked vaguely familiar.

"Lady Arwen, I am pleased that you have returned," his voice was soft and for a moment I was not sure he had even spoken.

I remembered him now. Before I had left, well, before a certain "incident" happened, he had been somewhat infatuated with me. He did not know that I knew, but I often saw him gazing at me and occasionally I would wake to find flowers strewn in front of my door. When I finally made an attempt to talk to him he muttered a hello and then ignored me. The whole ordeal, while a bit romantic, was not something I wished not to repeat.

"It is good to see you again…" his name failed to come to my mind.

He was apparently still shy for after a hasty bow he retreated. Estel had seen the whole thing and was now gazing from him back to me with an unreadable expression.

Elladan seemed to find the whole thing amusing. "You've only been back for one day and already everyone seems to be falling in love with you."

His comment caused me to glance at Estel who began to choke on his drink but after a moment he was back to normal. I tried my best to ignore him but every time my conversation with Elrohir lapsed, I found myself looking at him. His dark hair was dry now and fell softly around his handsome face. He had changed out of his sopping clothes into a dark blue tunic with silver patterns embroidered on it. They seemed to dance in the light of the hall. He looked up and his eyes connected with mine for a moment before he went back to his food.

"Arwen, what exactly happened between you and Estel?" Elrohir hissed in my ear.

"Do I have to repeat it to everyone?" I snapped but proceeded to tell him anyways. When I finished I expected him to have some sly remark but instead he nodded.

"It is clear why father was so angry."

I could feel my normally calm demeanor about to shatter, "So you agree with him?!" It was hard to keep my voice down but I managed.

"I do not believe I ever said that," he was studying me now, his eyes had taken on a strange glint and he was grinning. Whatever he was thinking, it was not going to be good. "So you like him do you?"

I had to stomp on whatever he was planning now before it was too late, "Of course not. Why else do you think I pushed him in a freezing lake?"

"But you kissed him," Elrohir persisted.

He had me their, "It was just a kiss, nothing special. I believe the combination of freezing water and shock caused me to hallucinate for a moment."

"Whatever you say little sister."

"I am not little!"

"You will always be to me," he said with a grin.

Father finally stood up to make the announcement that everyone could adjourn to the Hall of Fire. I nearly sprang out of my seat with anticipation; the Hall of Fire was one of the things that I had missed most about Rivendell. The singing and the stories of old, as I child I had always managed to force myself to stay awake so I could listen to them all, the golden voices and the tales of the valiant deeds of men long past.

I situated myself next to my father and near to Estel. The firelight was warm and comforting and I sighed with content, unfortunately it would not last long. I should have known that my father had not finished with Estel and I…after all…he had promised there would be "consequences".

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