He stood in front of the low, ivy wrapped garden gate. How many times had he stood and waited by this gate?
But that was before, he reminded himself.
So long ago that it seemed like another lifetime, HAD been another lifetime, before he left Valinor, before he left her.
He had never stopped loving her, that wasn't why he went away. He could not now clearly pinpoint a reason why he had gone, but could not say he was sorry.
He had accomplished so much, had befriended and loved so many- even now, knowing the high cost of it all, he would do it again.
But this was another life, a second chance with the one he had loved for so long.
And so, he stood outside the garden gate, hesitant, fearful, elated, all at once.
Movement in the far end of the garden caught his attention.
Amarië!, his heart sang.
He watched as she crossed the garden, the moonlight setting her hair aglow. His breath caught in his throat as she reached out......but not to him. She did not see him there, in his spot by the gate.
His heart sank as Amarië's new love stepped from behind a fruit tree and wrapped her in his embrace. He watched as she tilted her head to receive a kiss from this stranger....a stranger tasting the lips he had loved, the lips that smiled sadly at him as he marched away with his kin.....the lips that had mouthed "Forever" so long ago.
He turned then and fled, letting out a stifled sob as he ran.
Away from the gate, away from the flood of memories and emotions that threatened to drown him.
No more in times of despair would he have her love to fall back on. No more could he take comfort in the memory of her touch. No more did he have a place by the gate.