Last Goodbye
Author's note: Any paragraphs with "~*" in front of them are from Elrond's perspective. The rest are third person.
"Yende" and "selde" mean daughter, "-nin" means my
"Lle naa ullume" means you are always. "Ada" means father, but is a term of endearment (similar to "daddy")
*****
~* The time before, when I saw you, you were graceful and beautiful. Your hair was full and dark, your face aged but eternally young. It was clear why you were known as the greatest beauty in all Middle-earth. I expected that the year would have passed as many for an Elf, as the years had when my Estel was growing, but this was not so. You were as beautiful as ever before. You were not the same, but you were just as ageless, just as beautiful.
~* Something in your eyes had dimmed, and been replaced by a different light. Youthful exuberance it was that had left you and true happiness had come. I remember your mother looking like that. You will never see her again, Arwen. I remember saying those words to you. "What of your mother? You would not see her again if you stayed with him." Did I hurt you when I said that? I'm sorry.
~~* You had a baby in your arms and a husband by your side. For a moment scorn covered my heart, turned me against him. How is it that I raised you both, and you both claimed to love me, and yet you both disobeyed me when it mattered most? I no longer blame myself for this. It is difficult to say who I blame, but not myself. The baby hardly squalled, but stirred when you embraced me in that one-armed manner children adopt when they become parents.
~* One tear rolled down your cheek then and landed on the child in your arms. "Eldarion," you said to him, "ro naa Adar-nin." [He is my father.] It was then that I realized you were no longer mine. We were each other's, in relation, of course, but you had left my care for that of another. Again I looked angrily to Estel, who blushed and turned his face away. You whispered to your child, but said also to your father and to your husband, "Your younger siblings will never get to meet him. You must remember him for them, yes, my son?"
~* "Younger siblings?" I asked, for the child seemed very young and none other was around. You placed your hand on your belly, and I noticed the roundness of it. You made love to him. The thought raced through my head. For years I had known you would marry, in time, but I had never even considered children.
~* "Lle naa ullume Ada-nin," you whispered as you embraced me fully, Eldarion having been relocated to the arms of his father. Looking over at Estel, I saw for the first time that he had become the man I glimpsed on occasion: strong, able, confident. He was a King. He was a father. He was a lover.
~* And you were these things as well.
~* I would not cry then, but I may as well have. I saw you as lost, for no longer were you mine. I missed you. My heart ached for you, although you were beside me. I envied Estel and Eldarion, for you would be theirs for the rest of your years. "Namaarie, Arwen," I said to you. "May your days be blessed always."
~* "And yours, Ada," she replied. "Good luck. Bring my love to all those I know in the Undying Lands." I promised to, but meant not to do so. I was angry then, Arwen. Selde-nin. I hope you can forgive me.
The Grey Havens grew smaller in the distance. Frodo Baggins had intended on watching until the Havens were gone from view, but he could not do this, for another stood clutching the rail already. Frodo knew better than to disturb the Elven lord. Instead the hobbit turned and strode away, saying to himself, "I fancy he doesn't want to forget the land as he knew it. Nor do I! But it is deep in my memory. I will not disturb him."
A single tear slid slowly down Elrond's cheek. "I promise," he whispered, "yende-nin."
Author's note: Any paragraphs with "~*" in front of them are from Elrond's perspective. The rest are third person.
"Yende" and "selde" mean daughter, "-nin" means my
"Lle naa ullume" means you are always. "Ada" means father, but is a term of endearment (similar to "daddy")
*****
~* The time before, when I saw you, you were graceful and beautiful. Your hair was full and dark, your face aged but eternally young. It was clear why you were known as the greatest beauty in all Middle-earth. I expected that the year would have passed as many for an Elf, as the years had when my Estel was growing, but this was not so. You were as beautiful as ever before. You were not the same, but you were just as ageless, just as beautiful.
~* Something in your eyes had dimmed, and been replaced by a different light. Youthful exuberance it was that had left you and true happiness had come. I remember your mother looking like that. You will never see her again, Arwen. I remember saying those words to you. "What of your mother? You would not see her again if you stayed with him." Did I hurt you when I said that? I'm sorry.
~~* You had a baby in your arms and a husband by your side. For a moment scorn covered my heart, turned me against him. How is it that I raised you both, and you both claimed to love me, and yet you both disobeyed me when it mattered most? I no longer blame myself for this. It is difficult to say who I blame, but not myself. The baby hardly squalled, but stirred when you embraced me in that one-armed manner children adopt when they become parents.
~* One tear rolled down your cheek then and landed on the child in your arms. "Eldarion," you said to him, "ro naa Adar-nin." [He is my father.] It was then that I realized you were no longer mine. We were each other's, in relation, of course, but you had left my care for that of another. Again I looked angrily to Estel, who blushed and turned his face away. You whispered to your child, but said also to your father and to your husband, "Your younger siblings will never get to meet him. You must remember him for them, yes, my son?"
~* "Younger siblings?" I asked, for the child seemed very young and none other was around. You placed your hand on your belly, and I noticed the roundness of it. You made love to him. The thought raced through my head. For years I had known you would marry, in time, but I had never even considered children.
~* "Lle naa ullume Ada-nin," you whispered as you embraced me fully, Eldarion having been relocated to the arms of his father. Looking over at Estel, I saw for the first time that he had become the man I glimpsed on occasion: strong, able, confident. He was a King. He was a father. He was a lover.
~* And you were these things as well.
~* I would not cry then, but I may as well have. I saw you as lost, for no longer were you mine. I missed you. My heart ached for you, although you were beside me. I envied Estel and Eldarion, for you would be theirs for the rest of your years. "Namaarie, Arwen," I said to you. "May your days be blessed always."
~* "And yours, Ada," she replied. "Good luck. Bring my love to all those I know in the Undying Lands." I promised to, but meant not to do so. I was angry then, Arwen. Selde-nin. I hope you can forgive me.
The Grey Havens grew smaller in the distance. Frodo Baggins had intended on watching until the Havens were gone from view, but he could not do this, for another stood clutching the rail already. Frodo knew better than to disturb the Elven lord. Instead the hobbit turned and strode away, saying to himself, "I fancy he doesn't want to forget the land as he knew it. Nor do I! But it is deep in my memory. I will not disturb him."
A single tear slid slowly down Elrond's cheek. "I promise," he whispered, "yende-nin."