Elrond stood at the gates of Rivendell watching the Fellowship trek down the path toward their destiny. Toward Mordor. He sighed, and it was the sound of a man who had no hope left. Turning slowly, he caught a glimpse of the tears in his daughter's eyes, before she hastily wiped them away.

"Estel," he thought. "Come back to us soon. I do not know that I can bear the pain of her heartbreak if you do not." He smiled then, almost bitterly, as he thought of the boy, now man that had come to him so many years ago. It would be so hard to leave here, to leave Rivendell, to leave Arwen, his precious Evenstar, and even to leave behind the man who will be king.

Turning back toward his home, he made his way slowly, lovingly, up the stairs, savoring each moment as if it were his last.