In Stars: Prologue
by: Asuka
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He remembered the planet from his youth. It had seemed like a dream back then, a world completely separate from the high paced technologically ruled universe he was used to. Wild and free, unknown to anyone but its inhabitants. A haven.

That's why he had chosen it as his exile.

He set the freighter down in a clearing of sorts and covered it quickly with a camouflage net. There would be plenty of time to move it later, once he found a good enough hiding spot for it, but there was someone he had to see first.

He only hoped that they still remembered him.

He knew that he would never forget them.

He paused only long enough to gather packed duffel from the hold and to settle the squirming toddler into a sling across his back. Then he was off, traveling as quickly as he could across the uneven terrain of the forest. The child cooed in delight, clapping her hands once before tangling them in his curly striped hair.

He stopped once to feed the girl and to search in the bag for something, frightened that he had forgotten it even though he knew he hadn't. He sighed in relief when he found it, smiling when the girl reached for the artfully twisted and shaped piece of jewelry. The only souvenir she had allowed him to keep.

Laughing lightly he leaned his forehead against hers, feeling more at ease than he had in years. Soon they would be safe from the universe. No enemies would find him here.

A few minutes later they were moving again, the delicate looking brooch held tightly in one hand.

He never knew when he crossed the border; all of a sudden the forest around him was different. It was quieter and the trees around him seemed to be listening.

He paused for a moment to take in the familiar sights and smells. Even though his own world had become dangerous and filled with darkness, this place hadn't changed at all.

He doubted it ever would.

He closed his eyes remembering how happy they'd all been. He could almost hear their laughter floating through the wind. The last peaceful days, before the world had descended into chaos.

The hair on the back of his neck stirred and he looked up to find several arrows pointed at him despite the child on his back. Several pale tall figures watched him carefully; nearly human except for the wisdom in their eyes and their odd almost pointed ears.

Elves.

Their leader asked him something in an odd lyrical tongue that was like music to those who heard it. The man shook his head to show that he didn't understand. He'd never been able to learn it like his leader had all those years ago. Instead he held out the silver brooch, tinted green in areas and shaped like a leaf.

"Please," He asked in stumbling westron, "I need to see the Lady of the Wood, Galadriel."

The elves drew their bows even tighter and the man was forced to continue on. "I'm a friend, I've come here before. I was with two others then, we had come in search of another of our order." He pulled down his hood carefully, so it did not cover the child's face, to reveal his hair, still black and stripped with silver. "I was the apprentice, Jalaal Firrerreo, a Jedi."

*~*~*~*~*~*

"So, all that Master Kenobi told us is true then," The golden Elven queen regarded him with wise blue eyes. Her blonde hair was loose for the most part and she shone with an inner light. "The Jedi have been destroyed and Mistress Fatin is dead."

The man looked up at her in surprise. He vaguely remembered the Jedi whose search for her apprentice had brought them here so many years ago. "Master Kenobi told you?"

Galadriel nodded and Celeborn continued for her, "The apprentice, the girl, Aine, felt it when she died. Her screams nearly woke up the entire wood, she left soon after Master Kenobi did."

Jalaal nodded and turned to watch the child playing with several Elven women not far away. She laughed as one held her up so she could touch the she-elf's hair. Her own hair flashed coppery in the sun, stripped like his own it showed that they were no more human the creatures around them. He sighed, wondering what, his daughter, Nifeera would think of this place. So many hopes and dreams destroyed by one man, one they had considered a friend.

"Such a wonderful child," Galadriel murmured as she surveyed at the man before them. "Why did you come here, Firrerre? Mistress Fatin had said that we would be left alone. Any documents of this place would to be destroyed, so we could be forgotten."

"They were..." The Jedi sighed and turned back to them. He raised his hand and tapped a knuckle against his temple. "Memories, however, are another matter entirely. I had no choice, Palpatine would not have stopped until he found Nifeera and ...and she was already growing weak." He blinked back tears remembering the last time he had seen his granddaughter. She'd been so pale and tired, nothing at all like the laughing girl he remembered. "She made me take Anagha and promise to keep her safe.

"We won't be in Lothlorien long...I just need to find someplace else to stay until we can return..."

The Lady of the Wood's gaze flicked back and forth from him to the girl, Anagha. Finally she glanced at her husband. "There is a place...."

*~*~*~*~*~*

Fourteen Years Later

They buried the still form in a grove deep within the heart of the wood near Rivendell. Arwen watched the body as it went into the ground, finding it hard to believe that it had ever been Jalaal the wanderer. She gave the shoulders of the girl before her a squeeze meant to be comforting, but doubted Anagha felt it.

Jalaal's niece made no sound as she watched the burial ceremony before her. Her face was as stone, showing no emotion, her black eyes cold were days before they had been shining with laughter. Arwen had heard of people being stoic, but there was something about the human's manner that scared her. Ever since finding her uncle on the trail three days previously, Anagha had wandered the halls of Rivendell looking at the world around her as if she was saying good- bye.

Arwen Evenstar had spoken with her father, Lord Elrond, about it once, worried that the human might try to do something rash and stupid like taking her own life. But the Lord of Rivendell had merely waved it off, telling Arwen that the girl was much more intelligent than that. She was merely in shock and worried about her own mortality, he had continued. The old man had been the center of Anagha's world; they had traveled all of Middle-Earth together. All she needed was some time and the child would snap out of it, he was sure.

But Elrond wasn't around the child daily like Arwen was now and had been whenever Jalaal and Anagha visited Rivendell. The elf sighed, wishing there was more she could do or say.

Someone tugged on her sleeve and she found Anagha looking up at her, silent and watchful.

"Will you promise me something?" The girl asked in elvish, her voice little more than whisper.

"What?" Arwen asked, deciding to humor the girl who was nearly sixteen now.

"Will you put flowers on his grave and care for it when I'm gone?"

"Anagha, you'll have years to do that...." Arwen's voice died off as she caught the look in the girl's eye.

"Promise me, please?"

"All right," The elf tried to smile in an effort to humor Anagha. "If it'll make you feel better."

The girl sighed in relief and turned back to the funeral. "Thank you."

Arwen stood for several moments after the ceremony ended and watched the girl nervously. Never had she worried this much over a human, not even over her love, Aragorn. Hesitating slightly she asked the girl a question. "Anagha, where are you going?"

The youth stared straight ahead, barely even blinking, her hair as black as the night sky.

Soon the cold night air drove everyone inside, but Anagha remained by the gravesite.

Almost to herself she murmured, "To the stars."

The next day, Anagha didn't come to breakfast or lunch. When Arwen went to the girl's room to check on her, it was empty. A search of Rivendell and the woods and hills surrounding it revealed nothing of the human's whereabouts. Messengers were sent to the villages and towns Jalaal had been known to frequent with Anagha, they returned with no word of the human girl.

It seamed Anagha had simply disappeared off the face of Middle-Earth.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and months to years. Remembering her promise to the odd girl, Arwen tended to the gravesite.


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