Here I Am

The day was drizzly and dark, with no wind to dispel the light drizzle that fell from the grey clouds. Glorfindel rode before me on the road, his silver stallion taking the pathways in easy, high stepping trots. My horse, the one I had taken away with me the day I left, followed suit as we headed down the pathway, through the forests that I had remembered the moment I saw them. I could hardly wait to see her again, but I doubted she would recognize me after all these years, after all...Glorfindel had said he had hardly known me, so how would she? Would Lord Elrond recognize me? After all, it had been 6 years, and in that time I had done a lot of changing.

Soon the archway to Rivendel appeared before us, rising out of the grey mist like a slender tree, rearing above our heads at least ten feet. As we passed under it, my heart leapt at the thought of returning home...to the one place I felt I could always return to and be welcomed openly. And for the first time in 6 years, I was being led back to it, without any worries of being ran out of the city I once called home. A hooded figure was running down the pathway, the deep blue velvet billowing gracefully behind them. Glorfindel dismounted and pulled his hood off, motioning for me to get off my horse as well.

The figure kept coming, rushing down the trail in a hurried pace, as if they were anxious to reach Glorfindel and I in seconds. I began to remove my hood, but Glorfindel gave me a look that meant plainly-'keep it on.' I obeyed, staying my hands near my side as my guide stepped forward to intercept the running person, who's hood had fallen back, revealing a beautiful elf maiden. It was her! She was even more beautiful and graceful than I had remembered, in fact, I was sure that she had grown more gorgeous than even the Goddesses above. Stepping up behind Glorfindel, I held my breath, trying to get her to notice me, but instead of looking at ME, she walked right up to my guide and spoke to HIM.

"Glorfindel! It has been so long! Did you...did you find him? Did you bring him home?" She asked.

His reply, was a nod. The simplest of gestures, but the one that made her face brighten and heart leap with joy. He stepped aside so I could face her. Her eyes finally rested on me, their blue color peering into the darkness that overshadowed my face. With steady hands, I lifted the hood, letting it fall back against my shoulders as she stared at me, her expression quickly changing into one that I had feared. Unrecognition. Her eyes darted from me to Glorfindel, then back to me, searching me over from head to toe, trying to find the boy who had left her. But I was no longer that boy, I was changed, and she just couldn't see through that change, she couldn't perceive who I truly was. In a quavering voice, she spoke to me while shaking her head and taking a step back.

"You...you aren't my Estel..."

Her words broke my heart. The four words I had feared had been said, and my terrible thoughts of her not recognizing me had come true. A fine sheen of tears lined the bottom of my eyes, as they stared at the ground, dark hair obscuring their sight. I just wanted to die, right then and there, my life was ruined. I had no one to love, no one to hold...and it seemed that the memories of our love before the pain was just a foolish boy's dream. A dream that had been cruelly broken before my very face and shattered into a million unrepairable pieces. As I sighed, the pendant, which had rested around my neck, all these years slipped from behind my jacket, resting in plain sight on my chest in the dreary light. As the drizzle alighted apon its graceful shape, the crystals that formed the star in its center glittered brightly, catching her eye.

Her face turned stunned immediately, as her breathing became heavier, I sensed a change in her, and looked up, meeting her eyes with my own gaze. She stepped forwards, eyes wide in acknowledgment, saying but one word in a voice that was hardly above a whisper.

"Estel...?"

I nodded, taking a tentative step forwards; arms open, as she raced into them, arms wrapping tightly about my neck. I buried my head in her shoulder, holding her against me, arms around her slender waist as tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I could feel her crying with me, her dark hair against my face as I just held her. Nothing could have made that moment any more perfect than it was. I was home, holding the love of my life, forgiven by the ones who had convicted me, and welcomed back into my former life freely. My troubles lifted away from me as if blown away by an unseen wind, which carried them far, far away from me...to some distant time and place. She stepped back, holding my head in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks as I wiped one away with my thumb.

"I told you I'd come back..." I said.

She smiled, crying even harder as she moved towards me, her soft lips finding my own. I had waited 6 years for this...6 long years, and our love for one another hadn't dimmed in the slightest bit. We kissed for what seemed like forever, until she drew back and stared up at me, her loving hand sweeping up to my face and pushing a strand of my dark hair back, her lips still showing in a joyful smile. I grinned back, eyes searching the face that I had lusted to see for these past, long years. I knew, then and there, that to make up for my absence, forever may not be long enough to prove how far I would go to show her that I loved her. Forever was defiantly not long enough for our love.

"You've changed so much..." She said.

"Six years can do a lot to a person...I obviously demonstrate that idea.." I replied.

She stroked my cheek, grinning at my newfound scruffiness, I wondered if she liked it.

"You like it?" I asked, "If you don't I can..."

"No! No. I love it, it makes you look so much more handsome, if that's possible." Arwen said.

"The hair's not too much?"

"Defiantly not."

"Well then, that settles it, I'm keeping it all, just for you." I stated.

"You'd better keep it. And you had better keep the muscles, I REALLY like those."

We both laughed, before I put an arm around her shoulder, stepping up besides her as she put an arm around my waist. Her head found my shoulder, and we walked up the path together, Glorfindel following behind us, leading the horses. It was time I faced the man who had banished me. It was time I faced Elrond.