One Day You'll Know

Chapter 32- Looking in the Wrong Places

Noelle frowned at the news. "Why?"

"Pippin saw in the palantir a glimpse of the Enemy's plan. He moves to strike the city of Minas Tirith. Someone has to warn them."

Noelle crossed her arms. "Why do you think I should go with you?"

"Because I think you need some quiet, Noelle. Less distractions," he replied, putting emphasis on the word "distractions."

Noelle shifted uncomfortably at his words, suspecting that they had a double meaning.

"Gandalf, there's something else," she blurted out to the wizard, who had begun to wander away.

He stopped abruptly and turned around. "Legolas?"

Noelle felt herself blush. "No! Well... yes. But that wasn't what I was going to tell you."

Gandalf sat back down beside her. "I'm here."

Noelle didn't know how she was going to make herself say this aloud now. She couldn't do it before. She couldn't even accept the possibility. Why was she even bringing this up? "It's Anakin."

Gandalf raised one bushy eyebrow, but stayed silent as he waited for her to continue.

"Maul. Dooku. They both implied something about him- something that I could never believe, and it's still something I don't believe but-"

"You don't believe, or you don't want to believe?" Gandalf asked softly. "There's a difference."

Noelle bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes. "I can't say it," she whispered.

~~~~~~

Noelle had decided to skip the trip to Minas Tirith. She really didn't feel like the long three-day ride, and if Sauron was mustering his army to strike the city, war would undoubtedly be coming, although Noelle knew she couldn't avoid it anymore even if she wanted to.

"If the Beacons of Gondor are lit, Rohan must be ready for war," Gandalf had said to Theoden.

Four days after Gandalf and Pippin departed from Edoras, Aragorn had spotted the beacons alight.

Then Théoden mustered the Rohirrim. Noelle was going to Minas Tirith anyway. They were riding to Gondor's aid.

"Things are now in motion that cannot be undone," Gandalf had also said before he left.

Noelle wondered if those words were supposed to apply specifically to her or to everyone in general.

They rode hard for two days until they reached the encampment at Dunharrow in the late afternoon, which was a small valley beneath the White Mountains. As soon as they stepped into the valley, Noelle could sense Flash's skittishness.

"Hey are you alright there, buddy?" she asked, patting his shoulder.

"Not really," he answered. "Something feels off about this place, Noelle. You can't sense it?"

Noelle shifted in her saddle. The fact that he could sense something she couldn't made her uncomfortable. By this point they had reached the camp. There were thousands of soldiers.

It was weird to Noelle. She literally felt like she was back in the Clone Wars, even though this was such a different environment. The feel of it was familiar. The banter of soldiers. The tension before the battle. The somberness of the situation.

Noelle was getting Flash all untacked and tethered up beside Arod, when they heard piercing whinnies hit the air. She exchanged a look with Legolas and Gimli and dropped what she was going to follow them and see what was going on. They spotted Éomer who was carrying a saddle.