The water was wide and deep, and the journey was long—but that did not bother the occupants of the boat. The two elven could be seen, ever wakeful, staring across the water in quiet contemplation, the Lady Galadriel especially as she thought about the familiar shores that would soon appear before them.
The two hobbits sat, often lulled by the movement of the boat into a dozing state between sleep and wakefulness. Fond looks were cast to them by the wizard, who sat near the stern of the ship in watchful silence, occasionally lighting his pipe and blowing a few smoke rings.
As the hobbits once more drifted to sleep at the setting of the sun and Gandalf fell into his eyes-open rest, finally words were exchanged by the two ancient beings, one of whom stood upon the helm, looking out over the water, and the other at the side of the boat doing much the same.
"How much longer," the younger of the pair said, looking to his mother-in-law briefly before turning once more to the sea. "do you believe it will take us?"
Galadriel did not turn to face Elrond, still focused on the water and the path ahead but not so, for though her eyes rested upon the waves her mind was clearly somewhere else, and behind her the distinctive golden waves of hair fluttered in what was near a reflection of the starlight itself.
"Not much longer," she said softly, though her voice rung across the space with power and strength despite the lack of volume. "A few hours at most. I suppose you are eager to arrive?"
"Indeed," Elrond said softly, and in the moment there was an understanding between the two, for both of them had lost much and many people close to them, and this journey would finally give both a chance at peace. The half-elf's hands tightened on the wood beneath his fingers and he heaved a soft sigh before pulling his dark hair together and tying it to keep the thick strands from dancing across his face and tickling his cheeks in the salty breeze.
"I do not know how I will tell her," Elrond admitted, looking out to the horizon to avoid meeting Galadriel's gaze as the elder elf turned to him. "How I will tell her that her daughter will never arrive."
Galadriel's gaze softened, if only slightly, and sadness filled her eyes, for as much as Elrond had lost a daughter, she had lost a granddaughter, who she had watched grow from child to beautiful lady. And the thought that her own child would never again see her child made her heart ache.
"She will understand, Elrond," she said, and looked at him, finally focusing on him fully and not the contents of her own mind, as she was wont to do. "She understood when she married you that these were the consequences, and that someday her children would choose. Though she will be saddened beyond measure, she will understand."
Elrond nodded, though he did not appear completely convinced, before continuing.
"I know 'tis selfish of me…but at the moment I wish for nothing more than for Elladan and Elrohir to choose the path of eternal life. I do not know if I could bear to lose them as well, and I dare not think how crushed she would be if we were told she would never meet any of her children again. And we may never even know—they may choose mortality and fade from the world and we will be unaware and remain waiting for them upon the shores."
A ghost of a smile crossed Galadriel's lips. "I do believe they will choose the same path as you, Elrond," she said softly. "For they would not wish to never see her again, and no matter how much mortality may call to them they would dare not leave you, for they care for you too much. And they could not be separated, for they are even closer than you and your own brother were. I suspect they will follow you to the Havens soon enough. And whatever they choose, you will know of it, from either those who remain in your realm, Celeborn, or the son of Thranduil, for he will most certainly visit them before he gives into the sea-longing and sails as well."
Elrond seemed to relax slightly, the logic behind the Lady's reason bringing some peace to his mind, which had been whirling with worry and fear for his sons since before they had even left. And Galadriel was right, the twins had been far more attached to their mother than Arwen had, even as children, and even more attached to each other.
"I suppose. Your words have eased my mind somewhat, so I thank you," Elrond said, giving the briefest of smiles before his face once more fell into its usual position of calmness and depth, much like the water before them. Galadriel watched her son in law for a moment before turning once more to the sea.
The night passed both slowly and quickly, as all time did to Galadriel and Elrond and their kin, and by the time the sun rose they had covered quite a lot of distance. In the distance, those blessed with elven sight could see the beginning of the land, and Elrond turned with a relieved smile to the other occupants of the ship.
"The shore is in sight. We should arrive today," he told them, and Gandalf's lips quirked up on one side as the two hobbits rushed over to the side of the boat to look, albeit Bilbo's "rushing" being significantly slower than Frodo's.
"The shore? I can't see a blasted thing but more water!" Bilbo exclaimed, and Frodo laughed softly.
"Neither can I, Uncle. But I believe you know better than to accuse Lord Elrond of lying—I know I dare not."
Elrond laughed at Frodo's comment, coming to Bilbo's side and putting a hand upon his shoulder.
"I do not expect you to see it, mellon-nin; even I can barely do so, and it is quite far away yet. But do believe me when I say we will be arriving soon."
The old hobbit looked up to the elvenlord with eyes that sparkled as if he was a young adventurer still and nodded. Elrond smiled down at him, patting his shoulder lightly before drawing away once more, going to stand beside Galadriel, who had not moved from her spot at the helm.
"Did you and Celeborn speak of his sailing?" he asked softly, looking to the fair face of the elleth beside him. "I knew he wished to wait some time, but surely he does not wish to be parted from you and her for long."
"Still you cannot speak her name," Galadriel commented, ignoring the question completely and focusing entirely on the last part of the sentence, and a small, teasing smile came to her lips, her eyes alight with the joy at finally, finally having home within her grasp again. "How do you expect to greet her?"
Elrond's lips curled into a somewhat sad and anticipatory smile, and he gave a soft snort.
"I do believe I'll regain the ability to say her name when I see her," he said wistfully, staring at the shoreline that was growing within his view. "But until then I shall not speak it."
Galadriel caught the undertone to the statement, the 'for it hurts too much' that accompanied so many of Elrond's words, especially as of late. She placed a soft hand upon his cheek to force him to look her in the eye, and smiled once more.
"You'll feel much better once you do, penneth," she said, for though Elrond was old and she knew it, to her he would always be a child as much as her own daughter would be. "And I cannot wait to see the two of you reunited—too see some of this sadness leave your face."
"And I will be glad of it, as well." Elrond smiled slightly, grey eyes alight with excitement. "And I wish the same for you."
Galadriel smiled at that before drawing away and turning back to the horizon.
"Celeborn did speak of sailing, though he would like to stay a while longer to make sure Arda is secure in its peace. He said that perhaps he will stay in Imladris with your sons for a time, to check in on them, before he comes. I told him you would be grateful for that."
Elrond nodded for he would, indeed, be overjoyed to hear news of his sons no matter how or when it came, and to have some of the pain of leaving them ease. The boat fell into silence once more, until, nearly an hour later, Bilbo proudly proclaimed that he could see the beginning of the shore as well, and Frodo let a small whoop of excitement in response that made Gandalf laugh for a few moments.
It took several more hours, tense and poised like an animal waiting to strike, before they finally did arrive, and several elves upon the shore called out to them and grabbed the ropes that hung over the edge of the boat and pulled the ship in to the docks, tying it to them and murmuring among themselves about the two small creatures in the boat, who were whispered to be periannath, who many of the elves had heard naught but tales of from those who had sailed from Middle Earth.
Childlike glee and curiosity filled the eyes of the elves upon the docks who had never seen a hobbit, and several were quick to help the two small creatures down from the boat and onto the shore, greeting them in musical voices and welcoming them to Aman, excitement in their tones.
Galadriel and Elrond, in the meantime, required no help getting down from the small boat and were soon upon the sandy shore, and Galadriel found herself looking around frantically for familiar faces, for there were so many who she missed and needed to see, and all of them were here somewhere, and—
Suddenly, with force, someone collided with her, and she let out a small sound of surprise that was rather undignified for an elven lady but she could not bring herself to care. She looked down as arms held her tight against the warmth of a smaller body. Her breath caught as she saw the familiar silver curls, and for a moment she could not breathe.
"Ammë," the familiar voice whispered, and as the tears blurred her vision Galadriel let one arm come around the person hugging her, and the other hand came to gently pet the silver hair. It had been so long since someone had called her that, and she had missed it so very much, and the sound of the word filled her heart with peace.
"Hello, butterfly," she whispered, the pet name for her daughter slipping from her lips as she held her close, ignoring the hot tears as they rolled down her cheeks. "I missed you."
Celebrian's form was shaking, and she could tell that she was crying. Galadriel gave a small smile, continuing her soothing movements in her child's hair, burying her face in the soft locks and breathing in the sweet smell.
"Elrond is here as well," she murmured, the words barely a rush of warm air from her lips, and Celebrian's head jerked up, eyes wide and tearful. Galadriel smiled down at her and kissed her forehead softly before moving to the side to reveal the perelda behind her. And Celebrian ran to her husband and Galadriel watched their reunion with a smile, wiping the tears from her eyes with her sleeve and giving a watery laugh as Gandalf approached her.
"No one's called me ammë in a thousand years," she murmured by way of explanation to the Istari for her tears, still letting out soft sounds that were a mixture of both laughs and sobs. "I had forgotten how much I missed it."
Translations:
mellon-nin: my friend
Ammë: Quenya for "mother" or "mama"
perelda: Quenya for "half-elven" (I used this instead of the Sindarin "peredhel" because Galadriel's native language is Quenya)
periannath: hobbits
Based on this tumblr post: my tumblr URL (found in bio)+/post/124418821854/elrondfucker69-ok-but-the-moment-galadriel (remove spaces and parenthesis)
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