The sun was warm over the Valley of Imladris, where beneath a tree in the grounds of the House of Elrond, the Lord of Imladris and the Lady Celebrían rested, basking in the early afternoon warmth. They had finished an afternoon picnic a little while ago and were enjoying each other's company. Celebrían had fallen asleep against Elrond's shoulder while reading a bit ago.
Elrond lightly kissed the top of her silver head resting on his shoulder. "Meleth nîn" he whispered. Her eyes fluttered and she sleepily smiled up at him.
"We should go soon, before your parents arrive." Celebrían's parents, Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel of the Golden Wood were arriving today.
"Mmm. I suppose it would not do to be late meeting them." Celebrían said, stretching. She and Elrond had only recently spoken of their feelings for each other, though they had both loved one another for quite a long time, even by elven standards. Celebrían had extended her current stay at Imladris once they had spoken instead of returning home, and had instead invited her parents to come here. Now, about a month later, they were.
"Not today, of all days." Elrond smiled. Their visit today was especially important, as Elrond was to ask for Celebrían's hand in marriage.
"Are you nervous?" Celebrían asked him, turning her face upwards to his.
"Am I nervous. I am to ask for the hand of the only daughter of Celeborn the Wise, one of the highest Elf-Lords in Middle-Earth, and Galadriel, Lady of Light, one of the most respected and feared Elves in all Arda. Yes. A tiny bit." Elrond teased.
Celebrían's laughter rang softly though the garden around them.
"I will not allow them to refuse your proposal." She said, running a slender hand through his ebony hair.
"But do not fear; I do not think they will. You know they respect you, and more than that, they like you." Celebrían stood and offered him her hand to join her.
"If you say so." Elrond smiled and kissed her hand gently as he took it before allowing her to pull him up. Celebrían wrapped her arms around him and he leaned to kiss her, before they were interrupted by the sound of footsteps. Elrond sighed softly before releasing her, and they turned to watch Glorfindel approach.
He gave them a knowing and apologetic smile.
"I have come to inform you that Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel with their company are just about at the borders of the Valley. You may want to hurry, they will arrive here soon." Glorfindel glanced at them, still wearing informal attire. "Already? They are early!" Celebrían said, and the three of them headed swiftly back inside.
In his chambers, Elrond heard the horn off in the distance, announcing the arrival of the company from Lorien crossing the borders into the valley. His elven eyesight allowed him to see far into the distance, and from where he looked out a window, he could clearly see the small figures still a distance away. He felt a jolt of nervousness watching Celeborn and Galadriel riding proudly side-by-side in the front of the company. He told himself he was being foolish, they both respected him, and he had no real reason to fear that that they would not approve of the union between him and Celebrían, especially given her feelings for him. To be honest, Galadriel probably already knew this was coming. Gifted as she was at sensing the hearts of others, she must know about his long love for Celebrían, and given her closeness with her only child, she probably had known how Celebrían had felt about him before Celebrían had even said so herself.
Elrond hurried down to the front of the House, meeting Celebrían on the way. She, too, had changed quickly, and was now wearing a beautiful formal dress. Smiling at how beautiful she looked he offered her his arm, and they walked together down to the courtyard. They stood waiting with some of the other well-known elves of Rivendell, Glorfindel, Erestor, and others. Until the Lord and Lady and their company got closer, Glorfindel kept giving Elrond subtle looks, teasing him about his nervousness, much to the amusement of Erestor and Celebrían.
When the company stopped before him Elrond greeted them formally, bowing in the elven way, and they both returned the greeting, before he stepped back and Celebrían went to greet both of her parents. As they exchanged news and talked, Galadriel was subtly looking between Elrond and her daughter, a knowing smile on her face. No one said anything yet, though. The Lorien company was shown to their rooms before the evening meal would be served.
Before dinner, Galadriel and Celeborn were waiting outside the dining chambers for Elrond. He entered the room nervously looking between the two of them; his hands clasped behind his back, not sure how to begin. Galadriel smiled kindly at him.
"You have come to ask us for our daughter's hand in marriage." She started for him. Elrond visibly relaxed with a small sigh of relief. They did know.
"Yes." He said. "We have gotten to know each other a lot better during her stay at Imladris these past few weeks. I love her very much, and she has accepted my proposal, given your permission, of course."
Galadriel was looking at him kindly, but Celeborn was harder to read; standing tall and emotionless as he was, he was very intimidating.
"And what do you think makes you worthy of our daughters hand?" Celeborn asked.
"I…" Elrond's mind worked fast grasping for words. He wasn't worthy of her. Would Celeborn agree and refuse him Celebrían's hand? Unable to quite look the elf lord in the eyes, he started talking. "I…am not." He finally said. "I could not ever compare to her, nor could anyone else... But I love her with all of my being, and by some miracle she seems to feels the same way about me..." He finished slowly, his pulse racing, wondering if he should say more.
Galadriel smiled at him, her eyes sparkling, and she nudged her husband, who dropped his intimidating demeanor with a chuckle.
"Good answer." He said, smiling at Elrond, whose eyes were still wide and nervous.
"You have our blessing." Galadriel said.
"I do not think Celebrían would allow us to feel any other way." Celeborn said with a laugh, and Elrond finally smiled, too. "Shall we go find her?"
"No need!" Celebrían said brightly, stepping out from where she was hiding behind a stone pillar on the side of the room.
"Why am I not surprised to see you here?" Celeborn laughed to his daughter.
She didn't answer, coming over to stand beside Elrond and taking his hand. "There are plenty of reasons you are worthy of my love, uuiswa. " She said, leaning forward and kissing him swiftly. He returned the kiss, and then blushed a little with a glance at Celeborn and Galadriel still watching them, but the Lord and Lady were both smiling happily at the younger elf couple.
"We have ceremony plans to begin making now, iell nin." Galadriel said to Celebrían, taking her other arm. "But now, it has been a long journey today, and enough discussing things."
"Yes." Celebrían said, kissing her mother's cheek. "We will have plenty of time later, we have a whole year!"
"I can not wait to be Lady of Imladris." Celebrían told him after dinner as they stood on the balcony where they had had their first conversation of love, those weeks ago. They listened to the sounds of elves singing throughout the house. "And your Lady." Celebrían added.
Elrond answered with a smile, wrapping his arm around her to pull her closer as she leaned in to kiss him.
"Melon le." Elrond said softly.
"I love you, too, Elrond." Celebrían smiled softly and nestled against him as they watched for Eärendil's star, Elrond's father's star,to appear.
Elrond smiled at it wistfully once it did.
"I do wish he could be here, now." He said quietly. He wished his family could be here to celebrate with them.
Celebrían squeezed his hand and said nothing, knowing there was little she could say that he would not have already heard or told himself.
"And my mother. And especially Elros." Elrond smiled a little, but sadly. "Gil-Galad… even Maglor and Maedhros. I know what they were to many, but they were always kind to Elros and I…" They were both silent for a few more minutes, Celebrían running her thumb comfortingly over Elrond's hand in hers. He had rarely talked about those he had lost with her, or anyone, Celebrían knew. For being such a great healer who helped so many others physically and spiritually, Elrond could be very quiet about his own pain. The war had not ended long ago, and Elrond was still freshly recovering from losing his mentor, Gil-Galad, and many others. Not to mention the losses he had suffered early in his life since childhood. The half-elf had lost so many.
"I am sorry." He said finally. "I did not mean to start listing the dead. Not when the living deserve my attention far more."
"Do not apologize." Celebrían told him kindly, turning his head to face hers, and she saw the grief in his expression soften slightly in her gaze. "I understand. Just know that you do not need to suffer alone in silence anymore, I am here for you."
"I know. Thank you." He told her. "I do have you now."
"That you do. And you will not lose me, I promise." She said fiercely.
Such promises can hardly be useful, circumstances always present unforeseen. Elrond thought, but he said nothing and simply tilted his head to kiss her gently.
Meleth nin- my love
uuiswa- closest thing to "silly" or "foolish" I could make in Elvish, it's Quenya and literally means "un-wise" which Elrond certainly isn't, so it doesn't work as well as I wish, but, oh well.