DISCLAIMER-I'M NOT PRETENDING TO OWN ANYTHING, THIS STORY IS FOR ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY. :) I only write because I love to write.
WARNING-This story contains light and non-explicit mentions of femslash between two elf-maids. If that offends or makes you uncomfortable in any way, please do not read this story, as I do not wish to offend anyone. If you are all right with this, then by all means continue, there is nothing inappropriate or dirty, unless you consider two females being in love with each other a bad thing, I respect that everyone has different opinions. You have been warned. :))
"Aras," Laerien giggled conspiratorially as Thoron disappeared from sight down one of the carefully maintained paths of Imladris, glancing at her friend fiendishly from where she was busily washing a tunic, "I think that Thoron likes you."
Arasseth looked up indignantly from where she was hanging said clothes on a line suspended between two old trees, wet garments causing the line to sag pitifully towards the grassy turf below.
"Do you like him?" Laerien prodded, brushing a lock of dark hair from in front of her eyes as she contemplated the Laiquende, as if trying to picture her and Thoron together.
"And be a fence-maker's wife?" Arasseth scoffed indifferently, throwing one last glance at the admittedly very handsome Sinda who was quickly becoming only a smudge in the twilight as he made his way over to the kitchens to undoubtably pick up some dinner.
"But you do like him," Laerien insisted, splashing the green-elf with suds to make her point, snickering as the elleth squeaked in surprise at the sudden cold on the back of her neck.
"I do like him, and I should like to remain close comrades with him until the end of days and I would be very sad if anything happened to him, he is a very good friend of mine."
"That is what you say about all the men who like you! Ai, mellon nin, you are hopeless!" Larien sighed melodramatically, stirring the cloudy water in her nearly empty bucket with a slender white foot, watching it swirl in the light.
Arasseth laughed at her friend's frustration, hanging up one last pair of leggings before joining her where she was leaning against one of the trees employed with drying clothes, explaining matter-a-factly: "I am not hopeless, just not in love with any of them, is it wrong to have several close male friends you do not wish to marry?"
Laerien did not answer, asking instead: "Aras, have you ever been in love? Being in love is wonderful, you know, I am so very happy now that I am married to dear Noruinir."
"Yes, I have been in love, Laerien, a long time ago, and it was-still is, wonderful." she replied, a dreamy look coming into her big brown eyes as if she was seeing something else.
"Who was it?"
"It was back so long ago, when I was a child living with my people in Ossiriand, shortly before Beleriand was sunk in the War of Wrath and my people's kingdom was turned into the great elven refuge and civilization of Lindon, where we were forced to relocate, my family and I in Harlindon.
Her name was Glieth, and she was about my age. I lived down by the river Legolin, in the middle of Ossiriand, and she lived up by the Ascar, two rivers above me."
"She?" Laerien echoed in a mix of confusion and understanding.
"Yes." Arasseth whispered, gazing out into the bright sunset, lighting up the wide skyline with its soft but insistent colors. "She was named Glieth because of her hair, for it was like honey. It was thick and fell in great waves, and was a soft golden-brown, quite miraculous among my people, who tended to have hair ranging from dark to light brown. She had soft warm eyes, a lovely slender form, and always smiled, she always had a way of making me feel so happy.
On festival days, when all the green-elves would send each other flowers and candles and little gifts down the river, she would float me down little things, and I would send her up little trifles by bird, wrens always worked particularly well for that sort of thing, I remember.
When we were little and had barely wet our feet in the ways of the world, and did not know, I promised her I would marry her, and she promised me that she would always wait. When we got older, and we knew more about the world, we gave each other secret looks and winks, silent I-love-you's that always were enough.
Only my mother ever knew, and she allowed it, she understood. I am aware that some of the other elven kindreds are much stricter about that sort of thing, and that mine was the loosest. There were never any big marriages or commotions over a relationship like that, but there was a very peaceful coexistence, a quiet acceptance. It was not very rare for two men or two women to live together in my land, as bosom companions, and everyone knew, and there were no questions asked.
Ai, Laerien, how I was in love with her, how I still am! Everything I do to this day still reminds me of her, I cannot go a day without thinking of her, even if I do not want to."
"What happened to her?" Laerien asked quietly, this new information about her friend beginning to make more and more sense the more she considered it.
"I do not know. If we ever both make it to The Blessed Lands, maybe then we could be together, but this world is so turbulent that I doubt we shall ever see each other again in Middle Earth." Arasseth explained shakily, kneading the rough tree-bark she was leaning against in between long dextrous fingers.
"I believe you will see each other again, Aras, the Valar are not cruel, and I do not think you will have to wait for Valinor to do it."
"Whatever to you mean?"
"You say you used to send her things with wrens, you have a way with them perhaps? There is that one that always sings outside your window in the morning, can he understand you somewhat?"
"Yes..."
"Write a little message to her, tell her that you are in Imladris, and that you still love her more than ever."
"But what if she is dead?"
"Then the wren will bring the message back, if he is at all worth his salt."
"I am not sure I want to."
"Why ever not?"
"What if she is not still in love with me? I would rather think that she is, instead of being told otherwise, for that would break my heart."
"I think that she must still love you, Aras, in fact, she probably pines for you wherever she is just like you pine for her. Wrens are smart little things, and have relations all over, I am sure he will find her, but first you must show him her likeness, could you draw it? Or has it been too long?"
"I dream about her every night, Laerien, I have her likeness burned forever in my mind. Do you have any paper about?"
"I do in my rooms. Come on, I will not see you unmarried and suffering any longer, mellon nin, I am most determined!"
:::::::::::::
The next morning Arasseth launched the little wren up into the air from her window, watching as he slowly disappeared over the trees, a little rolled piece of parchment hastily torn from the last page of Laerien's journal, just a little note, but somehow, Arasseth knew it would find its way into the hands of the one she most loved, and somehow she knew that she would be seeing Glieth again sometime soon.
~fin~
Thanks for reading! I am sorry if anybody was offended by elleth/elleth, but I warned you, and if you are offended by that sort of thing you shouldn't have read it, and I would thank you for not reviewing. :)
Since this was a story comprised entirely of OCs, here is a little explanation of them:
Arasseth-Doe(Aras is her nickname). She is a Laiquende, or green-elf, of the secretive people of Ossiriand. When Beleriand was sunk at the end of the war of wrath, only a part of Ossiriand and Ered Luin(the blue mountians and end of Ossiriand)survived, and it was turned into Lindon/Mithrim, Gil-Galad's elven kingdom/refuge of the second age against the forces of darkness. Harlindon is were Arasseth and the remnant of her family relocated after the War of Wrath, it is the part of Lindon where the surviving green elves mostly settled. This story is set after the last alliance of elves and men, after the fall of Gil-Galad and the decline of Lindon, in which Arasseth is now living in Imladris, where she is a maid.
Laerien-Daugher of Song. She is a Noldo, and a friend and fellow maid of Arasseth who was recently married to an ellon named Noruinir(which means sunny man)
Thoron-Fence-Maker. He is a fence-maker, and is good friends with Arasseth, at the beggining of the story he had just said hello to her and her friend, before going off to find dinner.
Glieth-Honey. She is a green-elf of unusually dirty-blonde hair who is Arasseth's lover.
The idea of elves floating flowers and candles and things down the rivers to each other as a festival greeting is not my own original idea, though it is now a part of my headcannon. It was the idea of spiegelscherben on DeviantArt, in her/his painting Spring Ritual. spiegelscherben's art is all very beautiful, and I recommend taking a look. :)
Yes, they do see each other again, the message goes through, and let it suffice to say the matchmaker!Laerien is sufficiently pleased.
Thanks for reading, please review!
Have a great day,
Thurin