I cause you pain, my child.
I can see the etch of your tears on your cheeks, Arwen. I can see
the depth of anguish in your eyes; I see it in the paleness of your
cheek; I see it in the struggle for breath. I hear it in your
silent, stifled gasp of sadness. Don't you know, dearest child, that
if I had the power to remove this pain from you I would? Your eyes
show your disbelief of the words I utter, but you know the truth that
is there. You know the truth I speak.
Aragorn will not come back, my love. He will never return to you.
If he attains the kingdom you so fervently wish for him, and you join
him, you'll be parted from him again. It is the evil of the love you
seek, Arwen. The love I see between the two of you is powerful and
soul-deep, but seeded within its fertile ground is the kernel of
equally deep anguish. It is a two edged sword that threatens to cut
you in two, my dear. I would save you from this if I can.
But I know I cannot.
Do I have your love too, my child? Of all the futures and histories
afforded this world, of all the battles and ages and fates and
destinies that I have foreseen, I do not know if I have your love.
The mysteries of your heart are hidden to me. I only see the depth
of your love for Aragorn in the profound anguish on your
countenance. But of your love for me, I have no evidence. To give
you to my foster son for eternity would be to deny you the peace that
can be granted you. But to hold you to me would be to slowly kill
you as a bird in a gilded cage would die regardless of the splendor
in which it is imprisoned.
And that would kill me as surely as it would kill you, my child, my
daughter.
I have seen haunting images of you under dying trees in an Earth that
is no longer friend to you. I have seen you clothed in black,
mournful in your eternal youth. The pain I see breaks my heart. But
I've also seen the years of happiness you will enjoy. On the golden
scale of life that the fates so lovingly balance, the light and love
you will have will outweigh the pain and loneliness of the barren
time when Aragorn will no longer stand at your side. You will surely
see your eternal life in the dying embers of this world as just
returns for your happy life; I will see it as a pain worse than death
for it means you will be eternally separated from me, from your kind,
from all that you hold dear. That is my pain, my knowledge and I
strive to separate it from you.
Although I talk of the path I see as set as stone, I know that it is
not. I must as your father impart the knowledge, though I know it
will only make you stronger in your resilience to be with the Son of
Arathorn. I must live with your choice.
I love you, my daughter. And I hold to the knowledge that regardless
of your choice of path, I will see you again one day.
I can see the etch of your tears on your cheeks, Arwen. I can see
the depth of anguish in your eyes; I see it in the paleness of your
cheek; I see it in the struggle for breath. I hear it in your
silent, stifled gasp of sadness. Don't you know, dearest child, that
if I had the power to remove this pain from you I would? Your eyes
show your disbelief of the words I utter, but you know the truth that
is there. You know the truth I speak.
Aragorn will not come back, my love. He will never return to you.
If he attains the kingdom you so fervently wish for him, and you join
him, you'll be parted from him again. It is the evil of the love you
seek, Arwen. The love I see between the two of you is powerful and
soul-deep, but seeded within its fertile ground is the kernel of
equally deep anguish. It is a two edged sword that threatens to cut
you in two, my dear. I would save you from this if I can.
But I know I cannot.
Do I have your love too, my child? Of all the futures and histories
afforded this world, of all the battles and ages and fates and
destinies that I have foreseen, I do not know if I have your love.
The mysteries of your heart are hidden to me. I only see the depth
of your love for Aragorn in the profound anguish on your
countenance. But of your love for me, I have no evidence. To give
you to my foster son for eternity would be to deny you the peace that
can be granted you. But to hold you to me would be to slowly kill
you as a bird in a gilded cage would die regardless of the splendor
in which it is imprisoned.
And that would kill me as surely as it would kill you, my child, my
daughter.
I have seen haunting images of you under dying trees in an Earth that
is no longer friend to you. I have seen you clothed in black,
mournful in your eternal youth. The pain I see breaks my heart. But
I've also seen the years of happiness you will enjoy. On the golden
scale of life that the fates so lovingly balance, the light and love
you will have will outweigh the pain and loneliness of the barren
time when Aragorn will no longer stand at your side. You will surely
see your eternal life in the dying embers of this world as just
returns for your happy life; I will see it as a pain worse than death
for it means you will be eternally separated from me, from your kind,
from all that you hold dear. That is my pain, my knowledge and I
strive to separate it from you.
Although I talk of the path I see as set as stone, I know that it is
not. I must as your father impart the knowledge, though I know it
will only make you stronger in your resilience to be with the Son of
Arathorn. I must live with your choice.
I love you, my daughter. And I hold to the knowledge that regardless
of your choice of path, I will see you again one day.
