One morning, in Legolas' 32nd year, my wife left.  I knew it was just a matter of time.  Ever since she'd left to go see her brother's new child, she'd had the sea-longing.  Yet, it was still a shock when she told me that she needed to leave.  I begged and pleaded, but the sea-longing had been within her heart for a while.  It had grown strong – too strong for her soft spirit to resist.  We had just been discussing it, when the next morning, I found that she had gone.

Two notes had been left on the nightstand that stood next to the bed.  One note was for me, the other for Legolas.

Please give this to Legolas.  Please try to explain things to him, read another, smaller note that she had clipped to his letter.

I opened mine and sat down to read the letter that she had left me.  In it, she talked about our long life together and how much she loved me.  Another section was devoted to trying to apologize for leaving, but although I wanted nothing more then to have her back, I understood.  The sea-longing was as long standing as the elvish culture itself.  There was nothing she could have done.

It broke my heart to have to tell Legolas.  Oh, but how to explain!

I found him in his room, straightening the blankets on his bed.

"Morning ada!" came his cheerful greeting.

"Legolas, sit down here with me," I said, and he took a seat on his once made bed.  "I have something to tell you."

"What is it?" he asked, taking note of the sadness in my voice.

"Your mother…She left Mirkwood this morning."

"Where did she go?  When's she coming home?"

"Legolas…she's not going to come home.  She left for Valinor."

His eyes shot open in alarm.  "Is she okay?"

"Yes," I reassured him, "she had to go.  She longed for the sea."

Legolas' eyes fell from my face and looked down at the floor. "Oh."

He knew what I was talking about.  Several older elves in the kingdom had left just a few months earlier.  Talk of the sea-longing spread like wildfire, and Legolas had asked us about it, his natural curiosity taking over.  And we had given him straight answers, knowing that he would have to know about it sooner or later.  All elves know about the sea-longing.

"She left this letter for you.  Here, let's read it, okay?"

"Ada?" he asked, suddenly looking at me again, searching my face.  "You're not going to leave too, are you?"

I could see the tears welled up in his eyes.  "No, of course not.  I'm going to stay here with you.  It's going to be just the two of us from now on, but we'll be okay.  As long as we have each other, nothing bad can ever happen to us.  Okay?"

"Okay," he finally said as he hugged me tight.  Then he looked at the letter with his name on it.

"My dearest Legolas," I read, "You mean the world to me.  Leaving you and your father is the hardest thing that I have ever done.  I know that you might feel anger towards me.  I hope that someday you find it in your heart to forgive me."

I continued to read the letter, with Legolas snuggled close to me, tears streaming down his face.  In all the years prior and since, I have never seen my son as sad as he was that day.