The warmth of spring soon lured Gimli outside. He took up a post in a little courtyard near the main entrance to the caves and told the sentries to send word as soon as the elf was sighted.

On the fourth day, the sun was warm and it wasn't long before he nodded off over the book in his lap. His slumber was interrupted as a voice said, 'A fine greeting this is, Master Dwarf!'

Struggling to throw off his sun dreams, Gimli finally managed to lift his head to find Legolas grinning down at him. The elf appeared virtually unchanged from the first day Gimli had met him. Oh, there might be the faintest of creasing around the eyes, but that was it. The dwarf felt each and every one of his years just looking at him.

'How did you get past the guards?' he asked grumpily. He hated to give the elf the upper hand even after all these years.

Ignoring the question, Legolas asked one of his own. 'How have you been, my friend?' He didn't say anything, but the change in Gimli shocked him. Although they kept in touch through letters, it had been at least twenty-five years since they had met in person. The dwarf before him had no red left in his bushy hair and although his shoulders were still broad, there was a frailty to his body.

Gimli's vision had cleared and he could see the surprise in the elf's eyes. 'I feel as old as you are some days, but I'm not dead yet!' he growled.

'Obviously,' Legolas replied. 'Will I need to prepare a cart to carry you on this journey? Or have you decided it is wiser to sit by your fire for a few more years?' He kept the tone light, but now that he had seen Gimli, he wondered about the wisdom of more travel.

Gimli snorted. 'A cart? How dare you, elf. You will be many years gone before I ride in a cart!' As a twinge of pain shot through his neck, he said more seriously, 'I will not let you down, my friend. I have no desire to end my days as a burden at Thorin's hearth.'

Although he knew the answer, Gimli still asked, 'And you, you still wish to leave Middle-earth? No change of heart?'

With a smile Legoals stated, 'No, no change of heart. My work in Ithilien is done and all my kinfolk have already departed. Men now rule and with the passing of Aragorn, it is time.'

'What of your father? Will Thranduil be joining you?'

'No, we have said our goodbyes. He and a few of others will move deep into the Greenwood and have no intention of leaving. They have never heard the sea and do not feel its pull,' the elf sighed. The same note of longing that always crept into his voice when he talked of the sea was still there.

'And you, Gimli? You are certain you wish to journey with me? There is a change of plans that may make the journey more arduous.'

'Oh? What change? Are you not sailing down the Anduin?' Gimli asked puzzled. 'The last I knew, you were busily building a ship.'

'Yes, I was and it was all but finished. However, some fool of a workman got careless with his smoking and started it on fire! There is nothing left but a charred ruin and I do not have the heart to start anew. I intend to go to the Grey Havens instead and take ship from there.'

'Well, I must admit that it is further than I expected, but the roads are safe now and I have all the time in the world,' Gimli replied.

'What of Thorin and the Caves?'

'Thorin has already assumed most of my duties, Legolas. He will probably be happier when I am gone,' Gimli replied quietly.

Knowing of the friction between father and son, Legolas still said, 'I doubt that, Gimli. He is still your son.'

'Yes, but he has his own ideas, and we constantly argue over them. It will be better this way. He needs to be free to rule as he sees fit. Now let us go and find some lunch and decide on the best route to take!' Just the idea of being on the road again reinvigorated the dwarf.

Gimli knocked gently on the door and pushed it open. Thorin sat at a desk piled high with paper and parchment. 'Do you have a minute, Thorin?' he asked quietly.

Sighing, Thorin replied, 'Yes, but only one. I am very busy as you can see. What is it?' He knew that 'only a minute' with his father was often quite long.

Gimli smiled sadly and nodded. 'Not much really. I just wanted to tell you that I will be leaving in another day or two.'

Only half paying attention, Thorin said, 'Oh, taking Legolas off to visit King Elfwine?' Gimli occasionally went to Meduseld to visit Eomer's heir for a few days.

'No, not this time. I will be leaving with Legolas and not coming back.'

Thorin's head jerked up, all thoughts of work forgotten at these startling words. 'Not coming back? What do you mean? Where are you going?'

'I am going with Legolas to the Grey Havens. He is leaving Middle-earth and I wish to see him off. It is the least I can do for an old friend.'

Thorin looked puzzled. 'You mean to go with him into the West? Do you want to? What about the Caves?' he asked in confusion.

'You are Lord of the Glittering Caves now, Thorin.' Ever since Ailie's death, Gimli had relinquished more and more of the running of the Caves to his son. These days, he was content to attend the ceremonial events and nothing more.

'I believe things will be easier for you once I am gone. You and I both know that as long as I am here, the people still tend to see me as their lord no matter what.' This was all too true. If Thorin tried to make the least change, folk would often ask, 'What does Lord Gimli think?' or at least have a look on their faces implying it. 'And besides, now you can make all those changes that we always argue about! And as for going into the West, you know as well as I that a dwarf would never be allowed to go. No, after Legolas leaves, I intend to continue on to the Blue Mountains. It was my childhood home and I would like to see it again. Perhaps I will remain there or visit Ailie's people in the Grey Mountains.'

'And if neither of those pleases you in the end, you will return?' For some reason, Thorin, who had frequently chaffed under his father's presence, could not bear the thought of never seeing him again.

'No, I shall not return, Thorin. This journey will already be long. I will find somewhere else to spend my last few years. And who knows? Maybe the Elves will relent and take me after all! They took hobbits, why not a dwarf? I should dearly love to see the Lady again, and perhaps Frodo or Sam still lives. They say time flows at a different rate in the Undying Lands.'

He placed the velvet bag on Thorin's desk. 'I wanted you to have this.'

Thorin reached out, opened the bag and withdrew the crystal box. 'But this is your pride and joy, Adad, I can't accept it.' He had grown up with tales about the box and its contents.

'No, it is part of the Glittering Caves, Thorin, and will remain here. Use if for your own treasures. Besides, I am not leaving everything.' He gently stroked the leaf brooch that he had pinned to his shoulder and thought of the other items he had stowed in his pack. 'I have all the treasures I need.'

Thorin stroked the fine crystal. Opening the lid, he found the battered Book of Mazarbul. 'What about this? It does not belong to the Glittering Caves. I know you always treasured it.'

'Yes, I did. I treasured it as a reminder of my cousin Balin but also as a reminder not to be too stubborn. Balin was warned against Moria by Dain and others. He chose to ignore them and paid the ultimate price. The diary is his only memorial. I always swore to myself that I would not fall to greed as Galadriel wished for me, and this book helped with that. I hope it will do the same for you,' Gimli explained.

Thorin smiled wryly. Most of the trouble between himself and his father had boiled down to one or the other (usually Thorin) being too pig-headed to listen. 'I wish I had been a better son, Adad.'

'I could not have wished for better, Thorin. We had our troubles, but so do all fathers and sons. I would not be leaving the Caves in your care otherwise!'

Thorin put the box back in the bag, rose and hugged Gimli tightly. 'I will make you proud, Adad, I promise.'

'You already have, Thorin, never doubt that.'

Two days later, Gimli rose early. He found Legolas in the dining hall, and they made a quick breakfast of bread and tea. Quietly they walked toward the main door. Gimli had hoped to depart before too many people were up and about, but it was not to be. As they entered the hall where Galadriel's Crystal was displayed, Gimli saw that it was packed with as many dwarves as it could hold and then some.

The group burst into thunderous cheers as their lord entered for the final time. Turning to Legolas, Gimli said, 'Why do I think that this is your fault?'

'Because it is,' the elf replied, 'mine and Thorin's. Everyone deserved a chance to say good-bye, old friend, and you deserve to hear them.'

He spent the next half hour or more exchanging head butts and back slaps, but finally all had been greeted and his head rang with good wishes and thumps. With one final hug for Thorin, Gimli roared, 'Farewell good people! Take good care of my son and his Caves!' He quickly turned away and crossed the threshold one last time without looking back. It wouldn't do for anyone to see the tear in his eye.

Outside, Legolas watched in astonishment as Gimli was assisted into the saddle of a small horse. He had expected to share his mount as they had all those years ago. 'You ride? Didn't you once say 'I would sooner walk than sit on the back of any beast so great?'

'Marca isn't that big, and I have lived in Rohan for nearly a hundred years. The horse boys decided after a few years that I could be trusted with a horse after all, and I got tired of walking. Of course I ride!' With that, he urged his horse into a trot and left the astonished Legolas to follow in his wake.

They rode in silence for a while and then Gimli said, 'So where to now, my friend? Do we head straight to the Grey Havens or shall we make a few visits along the way? Perhaps Rivendell.'

'No,' Legolas said, 'there is no one there now. I would prefer to remember it as it was.'

'Your father in the Greenwood?'

'No, as I said, I have made my goodbyes. Those who remain are now hidden from the world. I do know of one place I wouldn't mind seeing again,' he looked over at the dwarf with a wry grin.

'Oh no you don't!' Gimli exclaimed. 'I went to Fangorn once and that was enough. We can wave as we ride by.'

'I just thought I would ask in case you changed your mind. About the only thing left then is the Shire. Do we drop in on some hobbits?'

Gimli's face grew sad. 'There is no one there any longer that we know or who knows us. That is the trouble with having a longer life, Legolas. We have had to watch our friends pass on before us. How did you do this for centuries?'

'You get used to it,' Legolas replied. 'Well, actually, you don't, but it is the way it must be. I always try to cherish their memories. They say that by remembering, the person lives again.'

So they did just that. Instead of visiting places, they visited the memories of their friends to pass the time on the road.

After many days, they finally arrived dockside in the Grey Havens. A tall bearded elf bowed in greeting. 'I am Cirdan, and you are Legolas and Lord Gimli, I presume? At last you have come. Long have you fought the pull of the sea. You are the last.'

'I had to finish my work, but I am ready now, my lord,' Legolas said.

'And you Lord Gimli?' When Gimli bowed in acknowledgment, the elf continued. 'What of you?'

Puzzled Gimli answered, 'Me? I have come to say good-bye to an old friend.'

'It does not have to be. Word has come that an exception will be made for the last member of the Fellowship and a loyal elf-friend.'

Legoalas asked, 'He can join me?'

'If he wishes,' Cirdan said, 'he may. Lord Gimli what say you?'

Shocked, Gimli stammered, 'I must think about this for a moment.' While in the occasional daydream he had seen himself boarding a white ship for the West, when confronted with it as a reality, it was a lot to take in.

Cirdan said, 'You have until the sun is just above the water. Then the ship will follow her into the West.'

Gimli nodded solemnly. 'I will let you know.'

As the elf walked up the gangplank, Legolas exclaimed, 'What is there to think about? This is a chance for us to have another adventure together. You told Thorin not to look for your return. And who knows who you will meet? We may find that Frodo and Sam still live. Hobbits can have a long life and time passes more slowly in the Undying Lands.'

'Yes, I know all that, but it is still hard for me. While I may not have many years left, I always thought I would spend them in Middle-earth. To do this….' His words trailed off. He remembered yet another individual that he would like to see again. 'Leave me for a bit, Legolas.' He turned and walked slowly away from the ship.

Legolas waited as the sun climbed and then began to descend across the sky. At last, the stocky form of Gimli appeared trudging along the shore. When he stood again beside the elf he said, 'I will go.'

'I am glad to hear it, Gimli. Leaving you behind when I knew that you could come…well, it would have been very difficult,' Legolas replied.

Arching one eyebrow mischievously, Gimli said, 'You could always stay here with me.'

Startled, the elf had to check to make sure the dwarf was joking. 'Yes, and we could go hunting dragons together also! Now let us go. We sail within the hour.'

When all was ready, Legolas watched as Cirdan boarded and the gangplank was pulled up. 'My lord, you intend to join us? Is this truly the last ship to the West?'

Cirdan smiled, 'Yes, it is, Legolas. Did I not say that I had waited a long time for your arrival? There are few elves left in Middle-earth, and they, like your father, have chosen to stay.'

'But what if they change their minds? Is there no chance for them?' Legolas hated the thought that his father might someday decide on a different path only to find it impossible.

'If they truly wish to leave, there will be a way. But you know as well as I that it is unlikely,' Cirdan explained, 'and they will have to find a shepherd other than I.'

Legolas nodded and moved to the bow of the ship to watch it exit the harbor. Gimli sat silently on a bench beneath the mast. The sudden change in his life was still hard to digest. As the day turned to evening, he moved to the stern of the ship to watch as the last lights of Middle-earth faded into the distance.

Cirdan watched him for awhile, then approached and asked, 'Having regrets already, Lord Gimli? Trust me when I say once you see your destination, all doubt will fade.'

Startled from his thoughts, Gimli said, 'But will I really be welcome; a single dwarf among elves?'

'Of course you will be welcome! Any member of the Fellowship would be. For even though Sauron attempted to rule Middle-earth had he succeeded in regaining his power, eventually his shadow may have spread into the West. Besides, did I not say you were invited? Such an invitation ensures a sincere welcome.'

The next morning, feeling slightly better about his decision, Gimli joined Legolas in the bow and looked forward rather than back.