Groan. "Five more minutes."
"No." Somebody pulled on my arm.
"Yes."
"Gliriel!" The person snapped.
"Whuh?" I shot up and whacked my head on the wood of the bunk about me causing me to rubb my soon-to-be egg, and blink hard to clear the sleep from my eyes. I heard another groan from above me, signifying I had woken Rúmil up again by hitting my head on the bottom of his bed.
The person who had grabbed my arm to wake me soon shuffled over to the window and flung the shutters open, my hands flying in front of my eyes to block out the light of the sun reflecting on the ocean. Rúmil and I both groaned and fell back onto our backs, refusing to wake up.
"Come on, you two! Don't make me throw water on you like I did yesterday. We're here. Up you get, up! UP!"
"Well, we can't be any other place than here, can we?" I grumbled sarcastically causing Rúmil to snort.
"You're always the early riser, Phin, Let the lying elves lie." Beri (short for Beriadil) murmured good-naturedly but tiredly from across the cabin, accruing mumbled assents from the other two late sleepers.
SPLASH.
"OROPHIN! You - " Rúmil started.
"It wasn't me!" He yelled back. "They tossed anchor!"
"WHAT???" I shot up again, also hitting my head on the wooden bunk this time. My eyes opened wider than ever before, and I had to blink hard to get rid of the salt from the water. I burst out laughing when I saw Orophin, though.
He was drenched; having been standing in front of the window (they told us to call them portholes. I liked window better.) when the wave came in. His hair, clothes and face were dripping wet, and he had the look of a cat who had unexpectedly been pulled onto a small child's lap and was now being manhandled.
The other three of us were no drier, just suddenly and momentarily in better spirits than Orophin, who now was blabbering nonsense.
"So, brother.?" Rúmil hopped off of his bunk and landed with a splash next to Phin. "You got us soaked like you intended, now where's our coffee?" Rú, always the joker, wrapped an arm around Phin's neck and shoulders and shook him slightly, causing drips to rain from his hair, nose and fingertips.
Beri laughed as she wrung out her long, waist length chestnut hair. I stood up, shaking my head, and attempting to do a few stretches. By now, I had gotten used to the gentle rocking of the ship and my knees adjusted automatically to the cyclical tilting of the hull.
"What did you want to tell us that was so important a moment ago?" I asked as I stood on one foot, my hand holding my leg straight out to my side.
"Something with 'we are here,' if I guess correctly." Rúmil deducted.
"WHAT?" Beri and I yelled, suddenly rushing to the window, and squeezing to get to look out first.
"Finally." Beri turned and did a dance around Ru and Phin, singing, "We're here! We're here!"
There was a knock at our doorway, followed by Celeborn looking in on us. He smiled, lost the battle with a snort, and then burst out laughing. We had to have been quite a site, I admit, and I don't blame Celeborn for laughing. There was about an inch of water in our cabin (held in by the ridge on the floor under the door) with rivulets of sea-water falling every- so-often from the ceiling and plinking into the puddle collected on the floor. Orophin still had not moved and the shock on his face was still evident (he had ever been a fan of remaining dry). Rúmil had one arm around Phin's neck and his other hand was in the process of patting Phin's chest reassuringly. Beri, at Celeborn's intrusion, had frozen in what looked to be a very awkward position; one arm over her head, and one leg kicked out to the side so that she looked strangely like a brooding hen. And then there was me. I was hanging halfway out of the window with a look of awe on my face. Of course the four of us were sopping wet and dripping saltwater from everywhere possible.
I really would have laughed also, had I not been transfixed with the view of the land outside. There were green rolling hills and, in the distance, mountains. Or, at least they looked like mountains; I couldn't tell the difference between the mountains of cloud and the mountains of rock.
Valinor.
"Gliri?"
I spun around, aware of a hand on my shoulder. Had I known it was Celeborn, I would have been a little more formal with my speech. but then again, maybe not. "Huh?"
"Tollen I lû." {It is late.} Celeborn repeated over the flurry of three other elves.
I shot him a gratified smile. "Hannad le." {Thank you.} I deftly started shoving my few possessions in the small bag I brought. When I ran out of space, I pushed up the mattress and baseboard from my bunk bed to reveal the storage space underneath. I then grabbed my larger bag (already nearly filled with clothes and my brother's whole quilt) as Rúmil grabbed his from beside mine. As soon as we had finished, we lined up at the door, ready and raring to go.
The next half-an-hour was a mess of blissful confusion and excitement. We walked down a large board - a plank - onto the docks where some elves immediately dropped hastily packed bags to run to loved ones, whom they had not seen in one hundred twenty years. or even longer.
Orophin jogged off in the direction of one blonde she-elf, who kissed him passionately. Rúmil sauntered off in some direction hand-in-hand with Beri.
After Celeborn and a few others had done so, I hugged Galadriel (she had come to see her husband's arrival) before she introduced me to her brother and her father. I was amazed not only by their familial resemblance, but their majesty. their power.. Next (after I could stop staring), I spoke a few courteous words with Elrond who told me what I asked in return for a small bit of information about what had happened in Middle-earth.
Like I requested, Haldir had not been told I was coming (I do not think he knew of his brothers' arrival either, frankly) and he had not come to see the arrival of the last ship. I thanked Elrond immensely for not letting Haldir hear of our coming, and wished him to have a good day.
I slung a bag over my shoulder, and my feet seemed to follow where my heart dictated, to where I knew Haldir was. This was an odd feeling to experience, knowing that he was near. Down this street, around a corner, past these trees. here. I took a deep breath.
Not even bothering to knock - and I knew that there was no bolt on the door - I pushed the door open, praying that it would not betray my presence and creak. I stepped silently though, careful so that even Haldir, with his ears trained for being a Marchwarden, could not hear me.
I stepped through a small hallway - astonished that he had ever adjusted to live in anything but a tree - to find him bent over something at a desk. I leaned a bit to the left to see what it was under his intense scrutiny. I saw a few tattered pages of paper, and a small brown leathery cover, a book.
Keiro's book.
I was touched, to say the least. I couldn't believe that he had kept it even after all these years.
I gathered my courage to break the silence, and speak to him. I didn't want to, he was so. beautiful. The arch of his back, his flowing blonde hair, the slow even breaths he is sure to take every few seconds. I hadn't realized in a long time how much I had missed him. Momentarily, I remembered his feet, how I had thought that they were cute. I grinned.
I let my bags fall and crash onto the floor from my shoulders. "Have you become so idle in these recent days to not even come to the docks to see the last ships arrive? It seems you've missed picking something up."
Haldir spun around so quickly in his chair that he seemed to forget that there was a leg to the desk, and he hit his knee. I smiled as he cursed lightly and rubbed the affected joint, even his whispered voice was a wonderful experience to me.
He stood up, and quickly limped over to me. Holding my shoulders at arm length, he looked me up and down, I'm sure he was checking to see that I actually made the journey, and was not just a dream. I looked carefully into his face, and saw the fatigue that I did not see on any other. He then abruptly pulled me into a rib-crushing hug.
"You're more beautiful than I remembered." he whispered hoarsely in my ear. I couldn't trust myself words, and only stroked his hair as we both shed tears of joy.
"I thought you said you weren't coming." He apparently holds grudges. I don't blame him for this one.
"I'm here now."
With one last squeeze, he pulled back and gently stroked his fingers down my jawbone. "I've missed you so much.." He whispered.
I took his hand from my cheek and kissed his fingertips. "I'm so, so, so sorry. I should never have left Lórien that day.."
"It doesn't matter.." He gave me a reassuring smile and took my other hand. Our gazes met, and I knew that I had already been forgiven for the hurt that I had caused him, caused us.
"I love you." He smiled again, leaning his forehead onto mine, his hand snaking around my waist. "I have waited so long to say that."
"And I love you."
Finis
AN: I will write an epilogue. as soon as my muse comes back from vacation. Well, at least when Basketball is over. prolly sometime in January. but until then, this is the end! Look for me in the Silm. section sometime in the next few months, also!
"No." Somebody pulled on my arm.
"Yes."
"Gliriel!" The person snapped.
"Whuh?" I shot up and whacked my head on the wood of the bunk about me causing me to rubb my soon-to-be egg, and blink hard to clear the sleep from my eyes. I heard another groan from above me, signifying I had woken Rúmil up again by hitting my head on the bottom of his bed.
The person who had grabbed my arm to wake me soon shuffled over to the window and flung the shutters open, my hands flying in front of my eyes to block out the light of the sun reflecting on the ocean. Rúmil and I both groaned and fell back onto our backs, refusing to wake up.
"Come on, you two! Don't make me throw water on you like I did yesterday. We're here. Up you get, up! UP!"
"Well, we can't be any other place than here, can we?" I grumbled sarcastically causing Rúmil to snort.
"You're always the early riser, Phin, Let the lying elves lie." Beri (short for Beriadil) murmured good-naturedly but tiredly from across the cabin, accruing mumbled assents from the other two late sleepers.
SPLASH.
"OROPHIN! You - " Rúmil started.
"It wasn't me!" He yelled back. "They tossed anchor!"
"WHAT???" I shot up again, also hitting my head on the wooden bunk this time. My eyes opened wider than ever before, and I had to blink hard to get rid of the salt from the water. I burst out laughing when I saw Orophin, though.
He was drenched; having been standing in front of the window (they told us to call them portholes. I liked window better.) when the wave came in. His hair, clothes and face were dripping wet, and he had the look of a cat who had unexpectedly been pulled onto a small child's lap and was now being manhandled.
The other three of us were no drier, just suddenly and momentarily in better spirits than Orophin, who now was blabbering nonsense.
"So, brother.?" Rúmil hopped off of his bunk and landed with a splash next to Phin. "You got us soaked like you intended, now where's our coffee?" Rú, always the joker, wrapped an arm around Phin's neck and shoulders and shook him slightly, causing drips to rain from his hair, nose and fingertips.
Beri laughed as she wrung out her long, waist length chestnut hair. I stood up, shaking my head, and attempting to do a few stretches. By now, I had gotten used to the gentle rocking of the ship and my knees adjusted automatically to the cyclical tilting of the hull.
"What did you want to tell us that was so important a moment ago?" I asked as I stood on one foot, my hand holding my leg straight out to my side.
"Something with 'we are here,' if I guess correctly." Rúmil deducted.
"WHAT?" Beri and I yelled, suddenly rushing to the window, and squeezing to get to look out first.
"Finally." Beri turned and did a dance around Ru and Phin, singing, "We're here! We're here!"
There was a knock at our doorway, followed by Celeborn looking in on us. He smiled, lost the battle with a snort, and then burst out laughing. We had to have been quite a site, I admit, and I don't blame Celeborn for laughing. There was about an inch of water in our cabin (held in by the ridge on the floor under the door) with rivulets of sea-water falling every- so-often from the ceiling and plinking into the puddle collected on the floor. Orophin still had not moved and the shock on his face was still evident (he had ever been a fan of remaining dry). Rúmil had one arm around Phin's neck and his other hand was in the process of patting Phin's chest reassuringly. Beri, at Celeborn's intrusion, had frozen in what looked to be a very awkward position; one arm over her head, and one leg kicked out to the side so that she looked strangely like a brooding hen. And then there was me. I was hanging halfway out of the window with a look of awe on my face. Of course the four of us were sopping wet and dripping saltwater from everywhere possible.
I really would have laughed also, had I not been transfixed with the view of the land outside. There were green rolling hills and, in the distance, mountains. Or, at least they looked like mountains; I couldn't tell the difference between the mountains of cloud and the mountains of rock.
Valinor.
"Gliri?"
I spun around, aware of a hand on my shoulder. Had I known it was Celeborn, I would have been a little more formal with my speech. but then again, maybe not. "Huh?"
"Tollen I lû." {It is late.} Celeborn repeated over the flurry of three other elves.
I shot him a gratified smile. "Hannad le." {Thank you.} I deftly started shoving my few possessions in the small bag I brought. When I ran out of space, I pushed up the mattress and baseboard from my bunk bed to reveal the storage space underneath. I then grabbed my larger bag (already nearly filled with clothes and my brother's whole quilt) as Rúmil grabbed his from beside mine. As soon as we had finished, we lined up at the door, ready and raring to go.
The next half-an-hour was a mess of blissful confusion and excitement. We walked down a large board - a plank - onto the docks where some elves immediately dropped hastily packed bags to run to loved ones, whom they had not seen in one hundred twenty years. or even longer.
Orophin jogged off in the direction of one blonde she-elf, who kissed him passionately. Rúmil sauntered off in some direction hand-in-hand with Beri.
After Celeborn and a few others had done so, I hugged Galadriel (she had come to see her husband's arrival) before she introduced me to her brother and her father. I was amazed not only by their familial resemblance, but their majesty. their power.. Next (after I could stop staring), I spoke a few courteous words with Elrond who told me what I asked in return for a small bit of information about what had happened in Middle-earth.
Like I requested, Haldir had not been told I was coming (I do not think he knew of his brothers' arrival either, frankly) and he had not come to see the arrival of the last ship. I thanked Elrond immensely for not letting Haldir hear of our coming, and wished him to have a good day.
I slung a bag over my shoulder, and my feet seemed to follow where my heart dictated, to where I knew Haldir was. This was an odd feeling to experience, knowing that he was near. Down this street, around a corner, past these trees. here. I took a deep breath.
Not even bothering to knock - and I knew that there was no bolt on the door - I pushed the door open, praying that it would not betray my presence and creak. I stepped silently though, careful so that even Haldir, with his ears trained for being a Marchwarden, could not hear me.
I stepped through a small hallway - astonished that he had ever adjusted to live in anything but a tree - to find him bent over something at a desk. I leaned a bit to the left to see what it was under his intense scrutiny. I saw a few tattered pages of paper, and a small brown leathery cover, a book.
Keiro's book.
I was touched, to say the least. I couldn't believe that he had kept it even after all these years.
I gathered my courage to break the silence, and speak to him. I didn't want to, he was so. beautiful. The arch of his back, his flowing blonde hair, the slow even breaths he is sure to take every few seconds. I hadn't realized in a long time how much I had missed him. Momentarily, I remembered his feet, how I had thought that they were cute. I grinned.
I let my bags fall and crash onto the floor from my shoulders. "Have you become so idle in these recent days to not even come to the docks to see the last ships arrive? It seems you've missed picking something up."
Haldir spun around so quickly in his chair that he seemed to forget that there was a leg to the desk, and he hit his knee. I smiled as he cursed lightly and rubbed the affected joint, even his whispered voice was a wonderful experience to me.
He stood up, and quickly limped over to me. Holding my shoulders at arm length, he looked me up and down, I'm sure he was checking to see that I actually made the journey, and was not just a dream. I looked carefully into his face, and saw the fatigue that I did not see on any other. He then abruptly pulled me into a rib-crushing hug.
"You're more beautiful than I remembered." he whispered hoarsely in my ear. I couldn't trust myself words, and only stroked his hair as we both shed tears of joy.
"I thought you said you weren't coming." He apparently holds grudges. I don't blame him for this one.
"I'm here now."
With one last squeeze, he pulled back and gently stroked his fingers down my jawbone. "I've missed you so much.." He whispered.
I took his hand from my cheek and kissed his fingertips. "I'm so, so, so sorry. I should never have left Lórien that day.."
"It doesn't matter.." He gave me a reassuring smile and took my other hand. Our gazes met, and I knew that I had already been forgiven for the hurt that I had caused him, caused us.
"I love you." He smiled again, leaning his forehead onto mine, his hand snaking around my waist. "I have waited so long to say that."
"And I love you."
Finis
AN: I will write an epilogue. as soon as my muse comes back from vacation. Well, at least when Basketball is over. prolly sometime in January. but until then, this is the end! Look for me in the Silm. section sometime in the next few months, also!