My eyes search the plain recovery room, that I lay in, I am haunted by the ghastly pictures of war in my mind.

Never, in my long life, had I seen such a frightening site. We had been at peace for so long that I never thought I would never need my fighting skills to kill another living being.

I had never known the pain of sickness, and I had never known the terrors of war.

But here I lay, a caged spirit, in this bland recovery room, not able to rise from my bed or even dress myself. I have been damaged and I shall always walk with a jerking limp. Perhaps I will even be pitied by my own kind and pity is one thing that I do not want!

I sigh deeply and my eyes vacantly stare out the window my bed rests next to, never in my life had I expected to be caged in a room of sickness.

My fingers touch the long jagged scar, that runs from the corner of my left eye to the edge of my jaw, marring my fair, elven features.

"I cannot live like this!" I moan quietly. I am surprised by my own voice, that is now scarred just as badly as my face. It will never be the same light voice that it once was.

In the next bed there lay an unconscious man, his dark hair reaches to his shoulders and his face was pale with sickness. On his arm there is a bandage that reaches from his hand to his elbow. Next to him sits a young woman with red hair, muddy brown eyes and there is an expression on her face that shows of many untold horrors.

She looks at me, her eyes dull and her pale lips twisted in bitterness towards the war. She looks as if she hadn't slept in days and her face is covered with tear stains.

With a quiet grunt she stands to her feet and drags her chair next to my bed and sits down on it again. "You will recover." Her voice fills the room like the scent of flowers. It was as if she had read my mind! "Perhaps it will take time to get used to your scars of war, and perhaps you never will, but soon you will hardly even notice them."

"What?" I ask. Was it so obvious? Were my feelings written so plainly on my face? "How did you know what I was thinking?" I finally ask.

She smiles bitterly, "I have seen the same look, that is on your face, on the faces of many others, and they have all gotten on with their lives in one way or another." Her words were said in a cold and ironic tone. "Many have lost more than you. You should be grateful to be alive and grateful that you only have a limp and a scar, you shouldn't be grieving over such a small loss."

My mouth drops open. How had she known? Instead of asking I change subjects to the man who lies on the next bed. "Is he a member of your family?" I ask.

"He is my promised," She says to me sadly, "We were to be married today, if it had not been for the war we may have actually followed through with our plans." She sighs heavily and examines the wooden floor, "I suppose it isn't right to start a family in war time anyway, so . . ." Her voice trails away and she shrugs. She looks at her promised and I can see in her eye that she cares for him deeply.

"What is his name?" Someone coughs from somewhere in the building.

"Rob." She doesn't look at me as her voice cracks, but out the open window. Her eyes grow vacant, and she looks as if she is seeing something else instead of what is in this room, perhaps she was remembering her past, perhaps she was thinking of something that might have been if the war had not ruined it. Suddenly she shakes her head and smiles foolishly as if she were a child caught thinking of a fantasy that would never come true. "My family is all dead, if he dies I have no one." She rubs at her eyes as if she has gotten dust in them and then looks at me curiously. "What about you? Do you have someone you love? Perhaps back home where you live?"

I smile sadly and shake my head.

"Don't worry about it," Her eyes brightened and they seemed to forget the worries of war for a moment, " you'll find someone to love someday."

I shake my head in disbelief. Who would want me? I was scarred and I would always walk with a limp.

She laughs, right out then. It is a merry sound, that seems to break through the gloom, that rests over us all. "Listen! My mother married my father and he was missing a hand! I don't think a limp and a scar will get in the way of love if it is true."

I have always thought of humans as weak minded, but perhaps they were stronger than I had believed them to be. They seemed to be able to get over their hardships no matter how terrible! I am sure that this girl must have scars, deep within herself, that she keeps hidden away, and they are probably worse than my own.

We didn't talk any longer then, each of us lost in our own thoughts.

The girl returned to watching over her promised, lest he should wake, and I returned to staring out the window, all I could see was the blue sky and an occasional bird that would fly by.

I was surprised to find that I no longer felt sorry for myself. In fact I felt as peace for the first time in a while. Yes, I still had terrible images of war in my mind, and I probably always will. But I would move on, I would live out my life.

A day later Rob regained consciousness, what a day that was! The girl, whose name I found out later was Rose, broke down in tears and started sobbing uncontrollably. It was awhile before she calmed down enough to even speak! I couldn't really blame her though. If someone I loved had been in that bed instead of Rob, I probably would have cried too.

Four days later I was able to return to my home, before I left I gave Rose an elven necklace.

"Thank you." I say bending over and kissing her on the forehead.

"For what?"

"For more than you know." I held out the necklace for her to take.

"I can't take this! It's far too valuable!" Her eyes go wide with wonder.

"Yes, you can," I close her small fist around it, "Think of it as a wedding gift."

She smiles then, "They say that the war has come to an end."

I smile too, "I heard. Perhaps things will go back to the way they were now."

She shakes her head, "Things will never go back to the way they were."

She was right, nothing would ever go back to the way it was. "Let me help you put this on." I say as I take the necklace and fasten it around her elegant neck. "May you and Rob have a long and happy marriage and may you both live to see many years. May all of your children be healthy."

We parted then, Rose returned to Rob and I returned to my home in the forest.

Rose was right about everything she said. I shall never forget her, for she is the reason that my life is the way it is.

A/N: So that was it guys. I hope you all liked it.