A/N: Thanks, as always, for the reviews. Xnemesis pointed out another Silmarillion typo, which I will check and correct when I get the chance. Enjoy!
Chapter 16
For the Elves, the feast held to celebrate their return to Valinor was wonderful. After an excellent meal, they retired to an open air garden to talk and dance. They tried to include Gandalf from time to time, but more often than not, he found a quiet place to sit and reflect. He was not the only one. Frodo sat with Bilbo, who was nearly asleep, but refused to leave the celebration to rest. The Elves talked nearly nonstop, catching up after many years apart, but like the Hobbits, Gandalf had little desire to talk.
Gandalf had slipped away after the Elves left the harbor for the feast and forsaken his physical form, going at the speed of thought to meet with Manwë, but the Lord of the Valar had sent him back to the feast to celebrate with the Elves. He had taken physical form again as Gandalf, the white wizard, but he could have chosen any form he'd wanted. After so many years in Middle Earth, it was comfortable, and he saw no need to change it. It was good to be back in Valinor, but even the Blessed Isle seemed empty to Olórin. He sat on a bench at the edge of the garden and reflected, thinking about the time when the Trees were full and healthy and the Eldar were content living there, and also about what could have been. He knew it was no use to wish for the past, but it was a bittersweet return for him.
The reunion was bittersweet even for a few of the Elves. Galadriel remembered Valinor at its Noon, and she had left her husband behind in Middle Earth. The reunion with her daughter eased the loneliness a little, but Celebrían's attention was divided between her mother and her husband.
Eventually, Elrond insisted on carrying Bilbo to bed, and Frodo followed. He'd only stayed because Bilbo had insisted. After they left, the Elves started drifting off in a variety of directions, most into Celebrían's home to continue their conversations. With nowhere in particular to go, Olórin started walking down one of the paths that lead away from the Elves' dwellings. He could have changed his form to a younger one or even forsaken a physical form entirely, but he didn't bother. He had no need for speed. Moments after he started walking, Olórin turned at a sound behind him, but didn't see anything. Thinking it merely his imagination, he continued walking. A moment later, he heard a twig snap, not behind him as he'd thought at first, but off to his right. He paused for a moment, but the sound had stopped. It could have been an Elf out for an evening stroll, and he didn't pay much attention. Pushing the matter from his mind, he let his mind wander.
Wrapped up in his own thoughts , Olórin didn't see the other form on a path that intersected the one he was on. The other figure was also preoccupied and didn't notice him, either. It was only when they ran into each other that either realized someone else was there.
Muttering an apology, Olórin looked up to see who he'd run into, then stared in utter shock. Elewen stared back at him uncertainly. Both seemed afraid to move or even blink for fear the other would prove a figment of their imaginations. It took a moment for Elewen to convince herself that he was actually there, standing in front of her. During her time in Mandos, Elewen had had a lot of time to think. As uncertain as she'd been when he'd approached her in Mordor, she was now certain that she loved him. Her hesitation now came from not knowing how he'd respond to her presence.
After a long moment, Olórin stepped a little closer. Elewen didn't move away, and after another moment's hesitation, he pulled her against him and kissed her hard. When he lifted his head, Elewen was too dazed to say anything. She just stared up at him, speechless.
Olórin turned his head away. "I'm sorry. I promised you I wouldn't do that again without your consent." He'd assumed far too much in kissing her. Even though she was here and alive, he shouldn't have assumed that she'd return his affections. He'd been too stunned by her sudden appearance to think straight.
Elewen reached out to touch his cheek. She'd been startled, but hadn't meant to give him the impression that she didn't welcome the kiss. She had dreamed about this moment the whole time she'd been in Mandos. Laying her palm against his cheek, she turned his head back and kissed him gently. Olórin was surprised, but soon wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back. Finally, they pulled apart and Elewen laid her head on his shoulder, still trying to convince herself that he was there and they were together.
"How?" Olórin didn't even try to voice the rest of the question.
"I've been waiting in the Halls of Mandos. I was just released. I was on my way to find my parents. I didn't know that you were here." Elewen's voice was muffled against his shirt.
"We just arrived." Olórin paused for a moment, an idea intruding on his thoughts. "I think we've been set up," he chuckled. Elewen looked up at him, confused. "Manwë sent me back to the welcome celebration, even though he knew I wouldn't want to stay. When most of the Elves left, I wandered off, taking this road at random, or so I thought. And now, walking on a road that should be deserted, I find you, newly released from Mandos. The Valar must have planned this. I suppose I shall have to thank them for it, though part of me wonders why it couldn't have been simpler. You could have been released earlier and waited with your parents until I arrived and spared them the grief of hearing about your death."
"It isn't worth worrying over. Speaking of my parents, though, we should go to them."
"Yes. I told them what happened when I arrived, but they'll want to know you've returned."
Neither made any move to leave and do just that, and Olórin looked down at Elewen, wondering why she was hesitating. "What is it?"
"I may have fallen in love with you in the guise of Gandalf, but I don't understand why you keep this form now. Surely you could one with fewer aches and pains. It just doesn't quite suit you—not here."
Olórin's breath caught at the words 'in love,' but he forced himself to focus on what she'd said. Indeed, there was no reason he needed to keep the form of an old man. "And what would you prefer?" He grinned down at Elewen. Now she was the one on the spot, and she didn't know what to say. After a moment, he kissed her again, then stepped back. When Elewen opened her eyes, she saw not an old wizard, but a young man, still with white hair and clothing, but also with the youth she remembered from her first days in Valinor.
Elewen nodded. "This suits you." Olórin chuckled, and she slipped an arm around his waist, and the two of them, Elf and Maia, hurried for Elewen's parents' home. It wasn't a long journey, and it gave them a chance to let what had just happened sink in. They chatted a little on the way, but walked in silence for most of it. They came to the house sometime in the wee hours of the morning, but there were still lights and figures moving in the common areas of the house.
Elewen suddenly found herself nervous. She had left in anger to follow Fëanor, and now she had to face that argument again. She'd been waiting for this reunion for several Ages, but now that it was here, she wasn't sure what to say. Olórin, too, was reluctant to enter. He didn't want to interfere with Elewen's reunion with her family, and he wasn't quite ready for them to know about his relationship with Elewen. He needed time to figure it out himself first.
After a moment's hesitation, Elewen pushed the door open and made her way to the kitchen. Her parents were sitting at the table, cousins and friends sitting with them. Her sword was lying on the table, and no one was talking. Hesitating, Elewen reached up and tapped the doorframe lightly. The sound made the other Elves look up, and for a moment none of them could believe their eyes.
A moment later, the Elves were all hugging and crying. No one was certain how they'd gotten from staring at each other to crowding around Elewen, but they didn't care, either. Olórin stood at the door, not wanting to interfere. After a moment, they all sat down again, and Elewen looked over to the door, realizing that he was waiting there. She motioned him over to a chair beside her, and he sat down uncertainly.
The explanations took a long time, mainly because various relatives kept interrupting Elewen to ask questions she would have answered anyway had they not interrupted her. She told them about her time in Middle Earth and how the War of the Ring had found her. She didn't mention her short-lived relationship with Legolas, nor what had occurred between her and Olórin before the battle that had killed her.
Finishing her story, she continued, "I was released from Mandos earlier tonight, and I met Olórin on the road on my way here. In fact, I quite literally ran into him." She glanced over at the Maia, not sure what to say. As she looked back at her family, she noticed a rather pointed glance between her parents. Elewen looked over at her mother, who smiled subtly. Elewen smiled back, realizing that she wouldn't need to explain after all.
After talking for at least another hour, the cousins and friends who had come to comfort her parents returned to their homes, leaving Elewen and Olórin with her parents. Olórin felt like he was intruding on their personal time, so he mumbled an excuse and slipped out into the night.