Rarely was it that he did such things for he had little time to indulge such…feelings. But he was only elven, though he was not as young as he had once been, as young as when they were first wed.

'Has it been that long?' He thought to himself. 'If you need to ask that then it truly has been you fool.'

Elrond sighed, though he and his wife were rarely far apart, they were rarely truly together. Imladris took far too much of his time and he knew it.

"What will you do when we have children? Will you allow Glorfindel to become their father?" Celebrian often chided him.

The sky outside his study window was dampened by a heavy cloud of gray, threatening rain. It was not his favorite weather but he took pleasure in it this time, enjoying the change from bright sun, the smell of rain and the bite of the breeze.

Without even truly thinking, Elrond dropped his quill and stretched his cramped hand as he lifted himself from his chair. His robes rustled lightly as they ran across the floor, their wearer approaching the one who often caused the shedding of them. Celebrian was not startled by her husband as she never was but she did blush as he wrapped his arms about her waist and whispered to her, "Nîn meleth." Her maidens gathered around her would have sighed as they watched the couple. Elrond was not openly romantic with Celebrian merely because he did not have the time. It seemed to the maidens that for the first time in many years, he was making the time.

"Pardon me." Celebrian excused herself to her maidens ere she turned into her husbands embrace and came face to face with him. "What are you doing, nîn melethron?" She asked of him silently.

"I grew cold in my study and I wished for your company with dinner, then I thought myself silly for my wish could be reality with ease." He then kissed her lightly, the brush of his lips almost unnoticeable to her. Celebrian reached up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"What did you have in mind?" Celebrian had now caught on to his mood as she whispered close to his ear.

"Dinner, alone. Perhaps retiring to bed early…" His tone was suggestive, never mind the words.

"Hervenn!" She whispered in mock ferocity.

"I merely meant to sleep in one another's arms, I am unaware of what you had in mind in place of that." Celebrian let her light laughter drift throughout the hallway as Elrond led her back to their chambers where the smell of a freshly prepared meal drifted to them.

Their faces were lit to one another by a single candle and the moons glow, softened by the deep gray cloud cover. Elrond watched his wife eat, admiring the way her silver tresses sparkled even in the dim moonlight. Celebrian watched him also, equally enjoying the way his hair allowed him to melt into the shadows.

When they had finished eating, Celebrian led her husband out onto the balcony even though the stars were not visible. Elrond stood, looking up into the night sky, praying for his father's star to appear as he observed it every night he could, feeling a connection to his family.

"Do you seek Eärendil's star?" Celebrian asked of her husband as she leaned deeper into his arms that were wrapped about her waist.

"I seek it when I can, but it seems my father will not show himself to me this night." She heard the almost imperceptible yearning in his voice and felt the depression that came whenever he thought of his family washing over him. Celebrian cast her gaze to the sky, to the place where the mariner's star usually hung and wished for it to show, if even once, if only for a second. Just as she thought about turning inside and casting her husbands depression away, a tear in the swirling black masses passed beneath the area, allowing the brightness of the star to shine upon the couple for a second as a smile crept across Elrond's face. Celebrian smiled with her husband as well until the crack of thunder announced the rain promised earlier in the day. They continued to stare at the starless sky for a moment, getting soaked until finally a chill crept across their skin and they turned inside for the night.

The couple shed their sopping clothing and went quickly under the covers of their bed. They did it with the speed they had used when they were first wed and a hunger for each others body drove them. Now they merely wished for the warmth of the covers and one another's arms. After a while, Celebrian, her head upon the chest of her lover, began to sing as she often did at night when in his arms.

"Nîne pedhu an enni peth ned meleth,

naud enni ah a celeb lam

an în gûr dalhaew ardhon to dicadu."

Her voice was soft and sought to bring the Lord of Imladris to dreams, but he would not go willingly, wishing to hear the very last of her words before he drifted off. Celebrian would often create a song for no other reason than to sing it to him and Elrond never minded it.

"Ned nîth iô taen io,

Ind I ardhon er harn,

Ha thia sîdhpant li ne

Tíriel ed o în nef."

He did not, however, succeed as those were the last of her soft words that he heard ere he drifted to sleep. His dreams brought to him a memory of a time when the flowers of Lorien were in bloom and a their fragrance hung heavily in the air. Before him stood a maiden, dressed in a white gown that accented the soft glimmer of gold in her silver hair. He was leaning to kiss the maiden when a soft melodious voice brought him from the depths of sleep. He was slightly agitated until he saw the same face before his eyes when they opened.

"I wondered how long it would be ere you woke, I thought you might wish to eat breakfast." Celebrian whispered to his ear when she had stopped singing and began to lay soft kisses upon his cheek. Elrond let a light sigh of contentment leave his lips ere they curled into a smile.

"Your singing brought me such wonderful dreams, of the day we were wed." Celebrian smiled as her husband did and proceeded to place kisses all over his face, neck and shoulders as he responded by doing the same, both caressing one another's skin. Finally, with one last deep and long kiss, Celebrian lifted herself from Elrond's reaches.

"Come, we can come back when we have eaten and more energy is in us." Her sly smile was teasing and Elrond could not help but follow.

As he came up behind her, Elrond encircled Celebrian and whispered in her ear, "Balch adaneth."



Nîn Meleth -my love

Nîn Melethron-my lover(masc.)

Hervenn-husband

Balch Adaneth-cruel woman

You spoke to me words of love, Nîne pedhu an enni peth ned meleth

Bound me with a silver tongue naud enni ah a celeb lam

To your heart until the world is unmade. an în gûr dalhaew ardhon to dicadu

In youth so long ago, Ned nîth iô taen io

Though the world was wounded, Ind I ardhon er harn

It seemed peaceful as I Ha thia sîdhpant li ne

Gazed out from your side Tíriel ed o în nef

Note that Nîne is not actually you, at least I don't think it is, because I was unable to find you in sindarin but I could find youth, so I just shortened it… Same thing happened with spoke, couldn't find it but I did find speak and yoke(don't ask me why they had that in sindarin). Peth is actually word, couldn't find the plural- screw it, not all of the words in the little song actually match what I have said they do, but they're as close as I could get them, sorry all you sindarin nuts out there, I tried.

Another lil' romance ficlet because…I can!:)