I don't own, I don't own!
A/N: I told a guy in my class about my autograph Hugo Weaving card and he had to ask who he was. Then, he had to ask who he played. Then he goes "Elrond? Oh, he was like a prince or something?" GRRR Have to remind myself that not everyone spent their summer memorizing elvish names.
Isa: Thanks for your reviews. I'll try to work in a little flashback scene with Celebrian and the letter although it might take a while to find the right place.
Collision T.: One angry Celeborn for you in this chapter. Although, I'm not sure its what you had in mindJ The Celeborn/Elrond Confrontation will be coming in a later chapter.
Little she-bear: I really felt the same way about the title. I just couldn't come up with a better one and I already had the story started.
Nemis: Thanks so much for the review! I have to say that I'm honored to have your review. Then again, I'm awed by anyone that can speak elvish.
Watch out for spelling mistakes in this chapter, my spell checker went a little nuts.
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Celeborn stomped through the pathways of his elven home. Unlike the rest of the frenzied elves around him, he was looking for the golden not silver haired lady of Lothlorien. Typically, he found her at her mirror.
"If you hadn't been staring into that thing in the first place, she wouldn't have left! "
His wife looked up at him, "It was the best decision. It is still the best decision."
"The best decision would have been to not interfere. Were you truly surprised that she went after him?"
"A path with Elrond will bring her to death. Do you truly wish that for our child? She will be safe in Mirkwood. Being near Elrond will only make the enemy hound her. I have seen it."
"I do not doubt what you saw. Only what we did about it. She loved him, she loves him still. To deny her him will only allow cause her deep misery, let alone making her marry another. It is not fair to them."
"It is the best for both of them! Bearing the pain now will only help them in the future. Elrond will not have to go through the death of his wife, Celebrian will not have to die, and we will not bear the weight of a dead child."
Celeborn heaved a frustrated breath. "These words were convincing before, but she still feels the same about him after all the time they have been separate. I do not think that we should condemn her to a life she does not want."
Galadriel fixed a hard look at her husband, "I cannot see her with the mirror, but you can find her by searching the woods. I suggest you do so. She needs both her parents support to marry, and I have not intention of selling her life for a moment of pleasure. No matter how distinguished an elf Lord Elrond might be."
Celeborn spun and stalked out to the stables. There, he found his horse already saddled with provisions. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a golden haired elf who did not call Lothrien his home. "Glorfindel, I am going to search the path towards Imladris. Perhaps you would be so kind as to assist me."
Glorfindel froze. He had planned to join a search, but joining a search party with the father of the bride was not exactly what he had in mind. Least of all towards Imladris. It was especially not wise if what he thought had happened really happened. However, one could not exactly say no to Celeborn. "It would be an honor to ride with you."
Celeborn nodded, "Be ready in fifteen minutes, I will gather the rest of the party."
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Elrond grinned despite himself. He was in very deep trouble. He was probably doing the wrong thing in taking Celebrian back to Imladris. But still, he couldn't help but feel content in her presence.
They had ridden steadily since the day before, only stopping to rest their horses and sleep for a few hours. It was fast approaching noon, so he suggested that they pull over to eat and rest.
He swore that lembas had never tasted so good. The reason, he supposed, had more to do with his company than the actual food. He watched fascinated as she let her hair down and began to braid it with her fingers. Her eyes flashed up abruptly and caught his staring at her. She quickly looked down, a blush covering her face.
He smiled. A perverse part of him liked the fact that she blushed in response to his gaze. That she had any sort of response to him at all astounded him. That her heart truly belonged to him made him giddy with waves of ecstasy. Unwilling to be separate from her, even for a couple yards, he moved over to her side. Deftly, he disengaged her hand from her hair. Her blush deepened as his lips brushed across her knuckles.
Celebrian closed her eyes, allowing the feel of his skin against hers to warm her. A few seconds before, he had been the happiest, carefree elf in the world. Now, his eyes burned with a passion that had to have torched the depths of his soul. She pulled her hand out of his grasp to brush her fingertips against the tip of his ear.
Elrond groaned low in his throat, his heart was pounding so fast that it felt like it would fly out of his mouth. He grabbed the back of her head leaning in to capture her lips against his own. It was by far the longest kiss they had shared, if not the most intense. It continued until Celebrian pushed gently against his chest.
"I believe, Lord Elrond, that we should be on our way."
Composing himself, Elrond nodded and offered her a hand to take her to her horse.
"A gallant gesture, perhaps I should kiss you more often."
"It is a highly motivating act m'lady, but I do not think it would be conducive to use it often. I believe it would only distract me towards more pleasant ventures."
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Close to sunset they reached the top of a hill and stopped to watch as the sun lowered in the sky.
Suddenly, Elrond's mouth twisted into a frown. "Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"The sound of…"
"… horses."
Elrond turned around quickly to look back down the path they had just come.
"It's a search party isn't it?" Celebrian's voice was quiet, not really wanting the answer to her question.
"Yes, about twenty of them."
"We can't win. They'll hurt you and take me back." Celebrian's voice trembled but had an edge of steel to it. "Ride down to them. Tell them that I followed you. Tell them that you tried to convince me that I should return."
Seeing Elrond about to protest, Celebrian continued. "We haven't a choice. There are too many of them to fight, and we are too far away from Imladris to reach its havens."
With a short nod, Elrond rode off to greet the search party.
He reached them in short order and to his horror found that Celeborn headed the group. Telling the falsehood in his most convincing manner, he was surprised when the party accepted it. The search party minus Glorfindel who was giving him a look that basically said "Lying Guttersnipe."
"Lord Celeborn!" A cry erupted from one of the Lothlorien elves. A quick look at the hill showed a quickly retreating Celebrian, her horse running at full gallop. With a quick command, the party was after her.
It took them awhile to find her. They weaved through many trees until they found her horse, standing by the edge of a ravine. There were skid marks in the dirt from the horse sliding to a stop. Her travel bag was laying on the precipice its contents having burst open from the impact of their fall from the horse.
"Celebrian?" Her father's voice rang through the air. "Celebrian!" His voice was gaining a panicked edge to it.
"Lord Celeborn, over here."
He strode over to see a splotch of blood on a rock. He could see nothing below. It was a straight drop. No ledge hang onto, no bottom that would give any hop of a safe fall.
A strangled cry erupted from his throat, he pushed away the consoling elves to cradle the last of his only child's belongings.
Elrond simply stood frozen. His mourning for her had been done before. There was simply nothing left inside of him. He was no longer man nor elf. He was stone.
His voice was strangely hoarse as he spoke to Celeborn. "Perhaps we should return to Lothlorien. I believe that the Lady should be informed as soon as possible."
Celeborn slowly nodded his head, gathered what was left of Celebrian's pack, and tied the pack to his horse.
Glorfindel quietly approached Elrond. "Elrond, I should like to beg my leave to return to Imladris. They will be expecting our return. It would be best if I could discretely explain what has happened while you give your respects."
"It is a fine proposal Glorfindel, you have my leave." Elrond's look was pale, his voice hollow and raspy.
Glorfindel watched as the entourage slowly made their way down the hill, back to whence they came. A determined look crossed his face as he went back to a strand of trees he had spotted earlier.
"You realize that this will be the second time Elrond has fallen for such a ruse."
"Where do you think that I obtained the idea from?" Celebrian's voice came back from where she hid. "I am truly sorry that I had to hurt him so, but it was the only solution that keeps his head attached to his shoulders."
Celebrian alit from the tree she was nestled in. Her arm was bandaged with a swath of cloth to keep the bleeding in check. A makeshift bag was strung across her shoulders keeping only the items she needed or wished to keep.
Glorfindel shook his head. "Elrond should learn not to tell such stories to impressionable young ladies. You were very lucky to find a ravine to pull this stunt in."
"The facts are, Lord Glorfindel, that I am not an 'impressionable young lady' and I was not 'luky' to find this ravine. I have studied the paths to Imladris for months. I know every beaten path and ninety percent of the terrain around them."
"Ah, so I take that to mean that you are not going to go companionably back to Lothlorien?"
"I am not going back to Lothlorien at all. I am going to a destination that man calls Rivendell. Do you know of it?"
Glorfindel frowned at her, "You will make many sorrow unnecessarily."
"And I will make one very happy when he sees me again. Your loyalty lies to him does it not? Does it not follow that you should do what is in his best interests?"
Glorfindel sighed. She would not come, and he couldn't very well leave her out in the wilderness alone. "I know of this place called Rivendell. Mayhap my lady would care for an escort?"
"It would be very much appreciated Lord Glorfindel."