I own Eva Chen, nobody else. I don't make money from this - please don't sue me...

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Chapter 1 - In the Beginning

Eva Chen sighed heavily as she got up from the slightly damp grass. Touching the tombstone lovingly, she picked herself up and made her way slowly down the graveled path toward the main entrance.

Her beautiful boys…. All of them taken before their time. Her husband, Liam. Her eldest son, Connor, and her twin baby boys, Andrew and Orson. The landslide had wiped out almost all of their tiny town and had left her the sole survivor of their little family.

Two years…. how can it be so long, yet seem so short?

Pulling her coat closer to her, she kept her head down in a bid to protect herself against the rain that was slowly becoming heavier. With a quick glance to one side, she thought she glimpsed a pair of very finely made, but very worn boots.

Looking up, she saw an old man sitting on one of the benches near the main driveway. A full length grey cloak was folded beside him - the type that Liam loved to wear in the winters. An ornately carved staff rested on top of the cloak. The man himself looked like he had just come out of a Live Action Role Play event. But it was his eyes that drew Eva's attention.

She knew that look well, as she had worn it for almost a year after her boys were taken. His eyes were full of grief and regret; mourning wrapped around him like a stifling blanket. Putting aside her own grief and self-pity, she walked over to the man.

"Sir?" Eva began softly.

He looked up and she saw his face fully. Dark marks under his eyes spoke of nightmares and stress. His large reddened nose spoke of many tears previously shed, though his eyes were currently dry.

"I didn't get to them in time…." he began brokenly "Maybe if I had, then..."

Eva's motherly instincts took over as she knelt in front of the man in the steadily growing rain. "Sir," she began quietly "I know that the loss hurts, and the regrets will never end…but we are here for a reason. We are left behind for a reason."

The old man looked at her "I've lived many years, young lady." he began, though not unkindly "How can you know this truth and speak it so keenly?"

His manner of speaking was odd, but the mother in her demanded that she offer comfort where it was so clearly needed "I-I am the only one left of my family." She gathered herself in a bid to explain to the old man - what though, she wasn't quite sure. "The landslide took everything from me. My husband, my sons-"

He turned to look at her fully, his eyes suddenly sharp despite his almost pure white hair.

"-but I am here still. I am here to remember and grow strong once again, so that one day I can do their memories justice."

The old man took her hand gently, the underlying strength humming through the gentle touch surprising Eva. "Thank you, young lady." he began "There is much truth in what you say."

"My name's Eva, sir."

He patted her hand gently before letting her hand go "You may call me Gandalf, Lady Eva."

She stood back up and nodded her head to him. As she bid the old man goodbye, a thought crossed her mind quite suddenly.

Gandalf…...I wonder if it's the same Gandalf from Tolkien?

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It was quite late when Eva decided to finally turn in for the night. Her well-loved copy of The Hobbit was placed on the pillow beside her, marked at the point where she had decided to stop for the night. She placed it carefully on the pillow beside her ... where her husband should have been.

She brushed her hair and teeth, then slowly returned back to her bed. Her empty bed.

I miss you, Liam. I miss you so much it hurts.

Eva pulled the covers to her chin and tried to drift off to sleep. After what seemed like hours of tossing and turning, she finally succumbed to Morpheus' call.

She didn't see her copy of The Hobbit glow a soft blue on the pillow beside her.