This is to be a series of short stories (relatively) following Gift of the Stars. The main pairing remains Thorin/Bibo; though others will be added in time, like Kili/Tauriel, Aragorn/Arwen, among others. Still, the main point of these stories isn't so much the romance (though there will be some of it), but all the ways Eleana's choice changes the future, and not just hers anymore, but Bilbo's, Thorin's, Gandalf's... (you get the picture).
Each short story will be focused on one character. None will be in 1st person POV, but still, the fact remains.
For the first fic we'll have Gandalf. Everything mentioned here that predates the Hobbit is heavily based on the Silmarillion (with slight modifications here and there to fit this universe).
Enjoy!
Guardians
Gandalf had known Eleana for as long as she'd walked the world, beginning at a time when he had a very different name, an ancient one, truer to his essence, his own origins; she, for her part, had always been Eleana, child of the Stars, their messenger and gift.
He could still remember back then, a time shortly after the lighting of the stars, the same that had put the light in the eyes of the Firstborn, when the odd creature had taken form before their very eyes. No one in Valinor had ever seen a child, all the Firstborn to exist at that point had woken up fully grown, and there would be a while before the Secondborn (all three races of them) joined them in the world created by Éru's will and the Valar's songs.
Yet there she was, a starling, most called her, though from the very start, the very moment her eyes had opened, Varda, Valië, wife of Manwë, Lady of the Stars and Queen of Valinor, had given her the name of Eleana, which meant Gift of the Stars...
It was odd, with Eleana being so much smaller than everyone else in the world, and not only that; there was also her absolute fascination with everything around her, even the simplest of things, like rain, the sky, the flowers and trees. She would take turns following anyone she could around, asking all kinds of questions about the things they did, their lives and even just the world around them. And somehow, the bright smile that illuminated her face whenever one of her questions was answered made it so they never tired of doing so.
She hadn't stayed a starling forever. With time she'd grown, her body becoming that of a mature woman, even as she gained the ageless factions of the immortals. Her skin was an almost luminescent white, her hair shining silver; but it was her eyes that truly gave her away, as they shone with the light of her star-self. She always wore white or shades of blue, her favorite colors, and a self-reminder of what she knew to be her true home. Most called her a Maia, as none but those who'd been present on the day of her arrival knew the truth of her origins; the fact that Eleana had once been (and at her core still was) a star.
She was a gifted child in many ways, all the Valar adored her, and after the Awakening of the Elves, she seemed to focus on passing on all that love. It came as no surprise then, when she became so close to them, especially Alatariel, a blonde, blue-eyed she-elf. The real surprise, though, came after the Teleri massacre, when the elves were exiled to the land of Arda, on the other side of Belegaer (the Great Sea), and Eleana chose to go with them.
Gandalf, known as Olórin back then, had tried by all means to convince Eleana to stay but it was impossible, she'd grown to love the firstborn so much she couldn't bring herself to letting them go and, in the end, no one tried to stop her from going.
Still, Eleana proved that she wasn't one to forget her origins either, or her first family. And all the way to Arda she sang, for the Trees that had been consumed by Ungoliant, for the darkness that had threatened her home, and once the Moon lit up the sky, for that as well; her song reaching all the way to the Halls of the Valar and to Nienna, the Valië in charge of saving what could be saved of the Light of their world. Nienna's Hope, some came to know Eleana as, for that fact.
Little was known of what Eleana did during the following Ages, from her arrival to Arda with Alatariel and the elves, all through to the coming of the Sun, the Awakening of the Secondborn (men, dwarves and hobbits). She'd been known throughout the land by many names, though most still agreed on Eleana; she was also called Messenger of the Stars, for the message of love she carried with her from Aman.
Olórin did not get to see his friend again until sometime during the Second Age of the Sun, after the War of Rage and the banishment of Melkor into the Timeless Abyss. She didn't seem to have changed much in that time, still the same kind, compassionate starling; though her skin had gained a golden hue, the kiss of the sun, she called it; and her eyes had gained the shadows that could only be earned after witnessing too much pain, death and suffering. It was only to be expected, kingdoms had risen and fallen in the ages since the lighting of the moon; and yet the Ístari couldn't help but feel there was something wrong about a being like the starling losing the innocence that had been so characteristic of her. Back in Aman. And yet, she was still so full of kindness and love, it seemed almost impossible.
Gandalf would be the first to admit he had never truly bothered to know Eleana. Back in Aman she'd been the Valar's protege, the Starling... and since the Awakening of the Elves she'd been so devoted to them, it was almost impossible. The other Ístari called her Cundoheri, the Guardian-lady, for the way she looked after the Children of Ilúvatar.
Her attachment to the elves was no surprise, considering her friendship with Alatariel who, at some point, had changed her name to that of Galadriel. Her regard for the first race of the Secondborn, Men, could also be explained with Elros, the first of the Númenorean Kings being a descendant of another of Eleana's old friends: Melian (the Maia). Her love for the other two Secondborn races, Dwarves and Hobbits, was another matter entirely. She'd tried to explain it to him once, how amazing the hobbits could be, with their simple lives, their love for the land and all things that grow (and how much they reminded her of the Valië sisters Vanna and Yavanna)... and the dwarves, who loved the land just as much, except the stone, rather than the trees, their need to create marvels from all kinds of stones (and their own reverence for Aüle, whom they called Mahal, their creator).
All races were equally important and special in the eyes of Eleana, and even if it hurt her, every time one of the Secondborn she'd come to know and care for, passed on; that didn't stop her from doing it all over again.
It was during the War against Sauron, at the end of the Second Age, that the wizard finally got the chance to know her better. He also learnt what it was that fueled her almost-need for guarding over all of Éru's children.
"Remember do you, the day I was given life?" She asked him softly, in that ever-serene and so-soft voice only she had.
"I remember." He nodded.
"Remember do you, the gifts I was given that day?" She inquired next.
"All of them..." He began, then revised. "Except..."
"Except that of my Lady Varda and the Lady Vairë, no one knew what they'd given me." She said with the hint of a smile.
"What does that have to do with anything?" The Wizard asked her, confused.
"What can you remember of the day before the elves and I left Aman, before the Rising of the Moon?" She went on, ignoring his own question.
"It was chaos. The loss of the trees hurt greatly, and then with the Firstborn leaving and..." He stopped abruptly, as if noticing something. "You were nowhere to be found."
"I was called to Valmar shortly before we were to leave." Eleana answered simply. "They wished to reveal to me more of my Destiny, in a way they hadn't been able to explain before."
"Your Fate?" He asked, with them speaking in a mix of elvish and the Ancient Tongue it was easy to confuse words sometime.
"No, destiny." She corrected him. "It was not an imposition, nor woven for me. It is something I chose of my own free will."
"What was it you chose?"
"You know what I find very interesting?" Once again she was ignoring his questions to explain things at her own pace. "You Ístari have called me Cundoheri..." She stopped when seeing the surprise in Olórin's eyes. "Yes, I am aware. Few things get past me, if you ought to know, Olórin. I have been blessed by Lord Irmo, as well as the Lady Vairë, after all." She smiled at him. "What I find interesting, is how accurate your chosen name for me is... for I am indeed a Guardian. By my own choice, I have been tasked with guarding the Children of Éru to the best of my ability, and how could I ever chose otherwise after knowing Alatariel, Melian, Lúthien... after seeing their children? And what's more, I am also the Guardian of the Marked Ones..."
"The Marked Ones... Those Marked by Fate?!" He took a deep breath. "It was my understanding that only the Valar could identify them..."
"That is usually how it is, but I've been granted the Sight, it allows me to identify Marked Ones, as well as bonds."
"I see. What does that have to do with anything?"
"What is going on right now around us, what happened at the end of the First Age of the Sun, and time and again before that... every time the Darkness has tried to take over the light... Lady Vairë has known. It was all written in her Tapestries. That's also how I know this won't be the Final Battle, not yet. Battles will keep coming, and Heroes will be chosen to fight them. Marked Ones will come and go, shaping the world as they go."
"Of course. What has any of that got to with you Eleana?"
"I am to watch over the Marked Ones, make sure the Darkness doesn't find them before their time comes and..."
"And?" He had a feeling what was coming was the truly important part.
"And one day, I am to tear the Tapestry of one of them."
"What?!" He hadn't seen that one coming, no one could have.
"That is my mission, my destiny. To choose the Marked One who shall be freed of their Fate, and hope that they will, in turn, tip the balance once and for all."
Hope that someone, after being freed from the Valar-given-Fate, instead of running away, would choose to stay and fight by their own free will, and possibly save the world? Those were high hopes for anyone, and in all his years the Ístari couldn't say he'd ever met anyone that would be that brave and selfless (or perhaps just foolish).
"Why you?" He asked her, almost as an afterthought.
"It is my Destiny." She reaffirmed simply.
He probably wouldn't have understood, if she'd tried to explain him that she loved all of Éru's children so much that she was willing to do anything to help them. Even if that meant having to witness so much pain, grief and death... because she hoped that, one day, she would be able to take at least some of it away. And it would be worth it.
He still hadn't understood it, not really, and he wouldn't for several thousand years...
xXx
The next time Gandalf saw Eleana (and by that time he was properly Gandalf, no longer Olórin, though the elves would usually call him by another name, Mithrandir), was a little over three thousand years after what was called the Last Alliance of Men and Elves, which had happened in the battle against Sauron at the end of the Second Age, the same which had robbed him of a body and decimated his armies.
Many had hoped that would be the last they would ever hear from the old servant of Morgoth... though some knew better, like Gandalf, and Eleana.
"You are not the only guardian to stand watch over Middle-earth."
Those had been Elrond's words, when Gandalf himself, the hobbit Bilbo Baggins, and a thirteen dwarves lead by Thorin, son of Thrain, son of Thror (the last King Under the Mountain) had shown up in Rivendel after a number of near-misses with trolls, orcs and wargs. Even then, the wizard hadn't fully realized the implications of those word until hours later, when he came face to face with the White Council.
He'd presented his concerns and his suspicions before the members of the White Council there reunited, even though deep down he'd always known it would be for naught. The group wasn't what it'd been at the beginning, right after Sauron's Fall and the loss of the One Ring. Formed by the five Ístari, Lady Galadriel and Lord Elrond, for the realms of the elves, as well as Lady Eleana, as the Guardian-Lady. Gandalf knew that the brothers, the Blue Wizards, would have listened to his suspicions, they always had; Radagasts's own words would have been more than enough proof, regardless of how... quirky, the Brown Ístari might have become in recent years. Then again, there was a reason they'd both been lost for many years. Rumors had it they'd died in battle against Gundabad, centuries prior.
So all that remained of the one great council was two elven lords, two Ístari (for the other one, while still alive, hardly ever left his forests) and one lady of the stars who'd seen fit not to reveal herself through the whole discussion (though Gandalf knew she was there).
He'd known from the stars they wouldn't believe him, just as he'd known things needed to be told anyway. The Council needed to be aware of the danger...
The sudden departure from the dwarves got everyone moving; Elrond and Saruman leaving the meeting, deciding all that needed to be said, had been said, and still not convinced that there was really any danger they needed to worry about.
"You will follow them?" Galadriel asked Gandalf, when only they remained in the pavilion.
"Yes." There was no hesitation in the Gray Wizard as he answered.
"You are right to help Thorin Oakenshield." The Lady of Lothlórien declared. "But I fear this quest has set in motion forces we do not yet understand. The riddle of the Morgul blade must be answered. Something moves in the shadows, unseen, hidden from our sight. It will not show itself, not yet. But every day it grows in strength. You must be careful."
"Things have been set in motion, yes, but it wasn't Thorin, son of Thrain who did so, no, they were set in motion much longer ago..." A soft voice announced.
The two turned in time to see Eleana, in her traditional garb of metalic-looking overdress and white pleated skirt, hair cascading lose down her back.
"Eleana..." The two whispered, bowing their heads at her arrival.
"Yo did not reveal yourself to the other two." Galadriel chided her gently, showing she too had known the Guardian was there.
"I did not." Eleana confirmed. "I wished to know their thoughts, without having them depend of what I might know for fact." She shook her head gently but with lingering sadness. "Never had I known Elrond to be this blind..."
"You speak of Elrond, but what of Saruman?" Gandalf couldn't help but ask.
"He's not being blind, only stubborn." Eleana deadpanned. "He wants so much for Sauron not to be back, that he refuses to accept he might be. Believes that if he denies it long enough that will be enough to stop the darkness. It's the same with Pallando's and Alastar's disappearance; as long as he doesn't declare them dead, they're just missing."
"So they are dead." The words coming from Gandalf weren't really a question.
"You know the answer to that already." Eleana replied.
Indeed he did, they both did.
"Know you do, anything else about what is to come?" Galadriel asked her oldest friend suddenly.
"Alatariel..." At times Eleaa would revert back to the old names, as if looking for comfort in them. "You know better than to ask such questions."
"You know a great many things..." Galadriel began.
"... and from those you do, you reveal very little." Gandalf finished for her.
"Silence can be as revealing as a hundred words, sometimes more." The Guardian whispered.
They would make of that what they may, it wasn't like Eleana was revealing anything more. Still, they knew the truth: she knew, she knew and wasn't telling them. But that was alright, there was a reason she had the gifts she did, may she make good use of them.
"I must go now." Eleana announced then, turning to look at Gandalf. "May we meet again before the end, my friend."
It would be until much later that Gandalf would realize that the words had been meant just for him; a different message had been shared with Galadriel, one he wasn't privy to.
Eleana disappeared then, as swiftly as she'd arrived (it seemed to be a talent of hers), leaving Gandalf and Galadriel once again alone. He made to take his leave, when the elven lady called him back one more time.
"Mithrandir?" She murmured, turning to stare at him. "Why the Halfling?"
"I don't know." The Ístari admitted, even as he thought it over. "Saruman believes that it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I found it is the small things, everyday deeds of ordinary folks, that keeps the darkness at bay." Eleana had taught them that, taught them both. "Simple acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps it is because I am afraid, and he gives me courage."
"Do not be afraid, Mithrandir." Galadriel whispered to him, suddenly very close.
A promise to be there for him when he needed her followed, not that Gandalf had ever doubted it. In the years he'd had to know Galadriel he'd come to hold her in very high regard; he could see why Eleana's friendship with her might have pushed her to choose to leave Aman.
It was something Gandalf had tried to do in the last three millennia. He'd traveled across the land, trying to get to know the beings living all around, trying to discern what it was about each of them that made Eleana so devoted to her duties, to her destiny. In that time he'd come to see the growth of the Elves, how they were no longer the same war-loving beings that had destroyed themselves over blood, jewel and land; they'd learnt, had grown. Men, so painfully young, with such short lives, the wizard doubted they would ever truly learn and be able to move beyond their violent ways. Dwarves, with their hearts of stone, their passion for jewels, and at times the sickness that clouded their minds and turned their hearts to ash; and even then, if one were to see them while shaping stone and jewels, they would see in their eyes the same passion that existed in those of their creator, Aüle. And then there were the hobbits, halflings as others called them; never before had Gandalf met such wondrous creatures, with such small, soft bodies, yet there was such strength in their hearts, minds and souls that Gandalf couldn't help but admire.
Yet, he could have never imagined the depth of love and bravery that could be in the heart of a hobbit, until he heard the speech given by Bilbo one day:
"Look, I know you doubt me, I know you always have." He told Thorin calmly. "And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back... cause you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can."
Gandalf was sure in that moment that he would, no matter how much it might cost him. And it was in that moment he realized, with wonder, how amazing even the smallest person in the world could be. He may have chosen Bilbo Baggins, being one of the few hobbits who had a wish for adventure in their blood, the build to be useful as a burglar, and hopefully the strength he'd known their race capable of. But it was until that day, after hearing him speak those words in response to Thorin's question of his return (when apparently the halfling had been planning to leave the company just before they fell into that goblin cave). There was indeed more to Bilbo Baggins than anyone knew, even he, and even Gandalf...
xXx
It was less than a season before he saw Eleana again... and even then, he didn't fully realize what it might mean, what her last words to him back in Rivendel might mean.
She was in the ruins of Dale, playing with a bunch of children in clothes so big for them it was obvious they were cast-offs of some kind (it would be until much later that he would learn that Eleana had arrived to Dale the day before, carrying a spell-lightened pack full of second-hand clothes she'd collected along the way and had handed over to the children and the elderly to better protect them from the biting winds of the coming winter).
The Guardian-Lady saw him right away, yet didn't pay any attention to him, instead choosing to continue playing with the children for a while longer, until their mothers called them for supper. One even offered her a place, which Eleana declined graciously before finally approaching Gandalf, face flushed with the recent activity.
"I don't think I'm surprised at all to see you here." He declared.
"Indeed, you should not." She declared, with the same serenity as always.
Gandalf knew she was right. So much had happened in recent days. He still felt shivers whenever he remembered Thrain, the Wraiths and everything else that had happened in Dol Guldur. Lady Galadriel had kept her word, assisting him when his need was greatest, as did Elrond, Saruman and Radagast. Eleana hadn't been then, but considering what had happened in LakeTown with Smaug, that was probably understandable. Already he was hearing people talking about all they owed to the blonde lady that had arrived just in time to help them. Even Bard Blackarrow, who some had taken to calling Dragonslayer (for he'd been the one to take down the fire-breathing creature), and seemed to be acting as temporary leader to the survivors of LakeTown, looked to her for council every so often.
Things hadn't been made any easier with the arrival of the elves, only more complicated, Gandalf might say. Thranduil was so focused on recovering what he believed belonged to him and his people... at least Bard had a right in saying that he and the people deserved a share from the treasure inside that mountain. Thranduil was just being difficult.
Gandalf had actually been hoping that Eleana would help him convince them to stand down before they all ended in a useless war, when he found her playing with the children.
"It does my heart good to see you well." Eleana told him quietly. "My apologies that I wasn't there when you needed help the most."
"The way I see it, the people here needed help as well, and I had assistance already." Gandalf told her calmly.
It didn't occur to him until after he'd said the words, but she probably had known that beforehand, and had made her own choices accordingly.
"What now then?" He asked her. "Smaug is dead, Thorin is King Under the Mountain..."
"Not yet." Eleana interrupted, an odd glint in her eyes. "Not until the Arkenstone is found..."
The Ístari wondered briefly what it was she knew that he did not (A lot, as it turned out. He would never forget the shock he felt the moment the halfling placed that small package on the table, in between Thranduil, Bard and himself, revealing the Heart of the Mountain).
"I wonder, if we were to call others for assistance, might we be able to prevent this upcoming storm?" He asked, more to himself than to her.
"A storm is coming, whether we may wish for it or not." She answered him anyway. "And while some of the parties are still on their way, no one else you might wish to call will get here in time to change the outcome any. No, the one who can tip the balance at all is already here, though the right moment for that hasn't yet come."
It was Bilbo, as he would find out that night, when the hobbit revealed himself, having slipped away from Erebor with a level of sneakiness even Gandalf hadn't believe him capable of.
"So, what then can we do now?" He asked, his old friend.
"Wait." Eleana admitted with a sigh. "It's all we can do at this time."
Gandalf didn't like it, obviously; but he was wise enough to realize she was right. There really was nothing else that could be done for the time being.
His thoughts strayed then, to his recent past, his time in Dol Guldur, Thrain's death, but most of all, he couldn't help but think about Galadriel's defense of him. All she'd done, all she had risked, especially using the power of one of the elven rings against Sauron and his Wraiths... she was no Warrior, or at least, he did not think he was...
"Is she a Marked One?" The question passed his lips before he was fully conscious of it.
"She?" It seemed to take Eleana a moment to understand. "A... Galadriel?"
The Ístari nodded.
"In a sense." She nodded, before elaborating. "Those marked by Fate can be meant for two tasks: a Warrior and a Guide. Most of the Warriors who survive their quests go on to become Guides for the common-folk, or even other Warriors. Except Alatariel, she's special in the sense that, while Marked, she was never meant to be a Warrior, only a Guide. She knows it too."
Yes she did, and still she'd chosen to fight, for her friend...
"Do those Marked always know it?" The Wizard couldn't help but ask next.
"Not always, not even most of the time; unless they are gifted by especially keen Sight or told by someone who knows." Eleana shook her head.
"And what about me?" Gandalf inquired. "Could I be Marked and not know it?"
"No, though for entirely different reasons than the ones I'm sure you're thinking right now." She told him. "You cannot be a Marked One, for you are not one of Eru's children... at least not in the same sense elves, dwarves, men and hobbits are. You are part of the Choir, an Ainur; and as such Fate cannot bind you. It's what makes you capable of so much good... yet also the same degree of evil." She let out a breath. "It's how Melkor became what he wished, by his own will, with most Valar being none-the-wiser until it was almost too late. Same with Sauron. It's the risk that goes with every Maia and Vala; having as much potential for evil as they do for good. Not many are capable of standing up to temptation."
"What about you? Aren't you the same as a Maia?"
"Not at all!" She laughed lightly at that. "You and some others may choose to view me as such; but deep down we both know what I truly am. I'm a star, and I live for my Destiny."
Gandalf got the feeling she'd just shared something vital with him, but couldn't fully grasp what it might be. He wouldn't until the moment the choice was made, Destiny was fulfilled and a certain star rose back to the skies...
"Do you know why I like so much playing with the younglings?" She asked suddenly, a wistful tone in her voice. "And not just here, but everywhere I go?"
Gandalf did not answer, though he was sure the answer was obvious in his expression.
"They're free, and innocent." She answered softly. "They see the world in simple terms. Know nothing of the cruelness so many are capable of. As long as they have something to eat, a roof over their heads and are able to play, that makes them happy. They have no need for treasures, great lands, titles, or anything else adults complicate their lives with."
"Hobbits are much the same." Gandalf couldn't help but point out.
"Indeed." She agreed. "It's one reason I like them so much, even if their own rather closed society makes it harder to be welcome there. I am much too different from them..." A sigh escaped her. "I have seen much in my life Olórin... some might say too much. War, hunger, pain, grief, death... and things even worse than any of those. There is so much darkness in this world... it tires me out sometimes. Saddens me, that after all these years, all these ages, darkness is still so strong, and all of Eru's children keep suffering. Wish I could hold them all in my arms, keep them safe from everything. But I know I cannot." A single tear slid down her cheek. "It's at times like this when I feel most my age. I'm older than any elf, older than all but those who came into this world after Ilúvatar created it!" She shook her head. "It's also at times like this that I seek the younglings, their simple outlook on life and easy laughs make me happy. Remind me that no matter how terrible the darkness might be, there is still Light, and it's just as strong. And it's for this Light that we must continue fighting."
Indeed, that was a good reason to fight.
xXx
The next day had been chaos, in more ways than one. Bilbo was supposed to be safe! But of course he wasn't. Of course the foolish hobbit would slip out of the bed Bard had given him in the remains of Dale and slip back into the Lonely Mountain to face Thorin when he realized who exactly it was that had given the men and elves his precious Arkenstone. If Gandalf hadn't been so terrified for the halfling's life he would have wrung Bilbo's neck himself!
And, of course, Eleana was nowhere to be found. That one didn't really surprise him actually. She had stated, more than once even, that she was no warrior, had no training at all; therefore staying around when a battle was taking place was more likely to make her a liability. He also suspected she was somewhere nearby, watching and waiting.
That last thought at least was confirmed hours later. Gandalf was still reeling with everything going on: Thorin and his Company had finally left the mountain where they'd guarded themselves since the night before, going out and fighting alongside the dwarves of Iron Hill, elves of Mirkwood and the men of Laketown. Then Thorin himself had lead a small party to Ravenhill, intent on slaying the Pale Orc, hoping that would give them an advantage against their enemies. What no one could have expected was how a new hoard of enemies was approaching from the North, they would be entering the battlefield from Ravenhill of all places!
Gandalf had gone looking for Thranduil, wanting him to send elves there, least Thorin and his kin die (as would the rest of them afterwards, most likely); only to find the King of the Woodland Realm giving orders for his people to pull back! To retreat and leave the men and dwarves to their fate?! How could such a thing be?
Then, as if that hadn't been enough of a shock, there was Bilbo's latest show of bravery (though the wizard was beginning to wonder if it wasn't more foolishness instead), when he announced he would go to Ravenhill, to warn Thorin and the others of the coming enemy.
"You'll never make it!" The Wizard snapped, practically terrified for the halfling's life.
"Why not?" Bilbo truly seemed to take offense to that.
"Because they will see you coming, and kill you!" Gandalf tried to reason with him (even though he knew it would be next to impossible).
"No, they won't. They won't see me." He sounded oddly certain about that, enough to make the Ístari wonder, not for the first time, about what the hobbit might have found in the goblin cave.
"It's out of the question!" The Ístari snapped, choosing to push other thoughts aside for the time being. "I won't allow it!"
"I'm not asking you to allow it, Gandalf." Bilbo told him softly.
And that was that. There was really nothing the wizard could do to stop him, and he knew that, always had. Still, he worried. After all, it was his fault that Bilbo had ended up involved in any of it, he was the one who'd gone looking for the hobbit, calling on his Took curiosity and thirst for adventure. And how many times had the hobbit almost died because of it? It was also unlikely that the Company would have ever been successful without him.
In the end, there was no time to think much about it. A battle still needed to be won...
The first thing Gandalf did as soon as the battle was over (mostly, some were still hunting down the stragglers, but the worse was past) was look around for the company. It took him no time to realize that at least a third of them was still missing, Bilbo included. It was also in that moment that he caught a glimpse of light on the stone steps leading to Ravenhill, like the reflection of light on metal... it could have been a sword, armor, or a number of other things, and yet, his instincts (quite sharp after so many years) told him it was none of those.
He arrived to the top of Ravenhill, to the edge of the frozen fall, to witness something that he never, in all his years, would have imagined possible:
Light called him to that spot, ribbons of light in every color of the rainbow... he knew what those were, how could he not? Bonds, sacred bonds... the thought made him rush even more. When a soft, melodic voice cut through the wind:
"Ah Elbereth Gilthoniel! Listen to me Great Mother of the Stars. In this place, and at this hour I call upon you, to allow Vairë's tapestries to be rewoven, Mando's pull to be canceled. A call for this life to be blessed, for this change to be made. This is my choice, my fate, the gift given to me, to pass on to whom I will! This is my choice. As I will it, so mote it be!"
The Ístari just stood there, behind a number of dwarves and two elves, all frozen in shock as well (though they did not notice him). They all stood there, watching the blonde star-eyed woman who had just pronounced those words. And then, to their further surprise, Thorin sat up, and while his clothes were reddened with blood (no little of it obviously his) there was no wound on him. The shock was so great by that point that there apparently none left when dwarven-king and hobbit-burglar decided that was the best moment to kiss.
"What have you done...?" Gandalf wasn't even conscious of his own words until they were out of his mouth, that was how far his shock went.
Dwarves and elves turned to look at him in surprise, though he paid them no mind, focused as he was on his old friend.
"I've made my choice..." Eleana stated quietly.
Her voice sounded odd then, almost as if fading, as if she were fading... and it was then that the wizard noticed that she truly was; her body slowly turning into tiny sparks of light.
"The Tapestry of Fate shall be rewoven by the Hand of Destiny..." She murmured, her tone completely at ease, as if she weren't vanishing right then, or maybe as if what was happening had been part of her plan all along. "Arda's future is in your hands now..." Her face turned to the sky, eyes wide open and the brightest of smiles on her lips. "I go back to my home..."
Her body fully turned to stardust then, and it rose into the sky, truly returning the Gift of the Stars back to her place of origin, her true home...
Abruptly Gandalf remembered so many things she had said over the years. About her being a starling, her Destiny, her tiredness, and home... she truly felt that way. There had been a time when he hadn't understood how Eleana could be expected to one day fulfill her mission, if it would mean ceasing to exist. Except she didn't see it that way; and even if she did, she was tired, had said so herself. She was going home indeed...
"Namarië Eleana Cundoheri, Gift of the Stars, mellon nîn (my friend)..." He whispered softly, his own eyes to the sky. "I will look after them now, I promise..."
If only Gandalf had known what his promise (and others being made) would bring...
And unknown to him, in several point across Arda, individuals left whatever it was they were doing to turn their own eyes to the sky, sending prayers for the safe deliverance of their once Guide, Colleague, Friend, back home...
Every short-fic from here on will focus on one character and the way they see the world that is being created anew by Eleana's choice. You're welcome to suggest people you might like to see. Also, if there is any specific idea or scene you would like to see (or see me change), I'm open to them!
While this fic (as all others in the last few years) is being posted both here and in AO3 at the same time, here I'll be keeping all the short stories in one single story to make it easier for my readers to follow. Hope you'll enjoy!
I'll try to update regularly, every week, but I promise nothing. It'll all depend on my muse.
Please don't forget to review!
Next chapter: Tauriel!