Disclaimer: They're all Tolkien's, not mine.

A/N. Thanks again to those who reviewed and took the time to let me know. There's just one more to go. Please read and enjoy!

REUNION: LOST KIN

Itaril watches as her Fëanorian relatives make their way towards them, and wonders what lies beneath the stern and proud surface. Itaril's POV

I. Fear and Sorrow.

They came with little fanfare: the Fëanorians, two guards, a standard-bearer and a great hound. They wore black, the colour of doom. Royals mourn in white, Atar said once.

Russandol came first. I remembered him well, Uncle's best friend, tall, courteous, strong. He seemed now a candle that's been burning for too long, an empty shell with vacant eyes, someone who has known fear by name and is trying to forget.

Makalaurë was by his side, as if fuelling life into him. The joyful singer who had given me my first harp seemed now a stricken creature, bowed by grief.

II. Pride and hound.

The one behind them looked like one of those proud horses that know too well they're being admired. They're graceful but stubborn, lively but skittish, self-willed and deceitful, they shake their long manes and try to dismount you at the slightest provocation. They need masterful riders who hold them short and tight and show them the way with tender but firm hand.

The hound walked proudly by his side, his yellow eyes searching our faces, his tail coming alive at the sight of my aunt. Uncle was not the only one who had friends in the other camp, I thought.

III. Darkness.

Three and twoº, they came next. Dark heads, dark eyes, pale faces, haunted looks, they reminded me of some of our children: motherless, stunned, groping blindly in search of what they once had, vulnerable, wondering how and why their world was suddenly shattered into pieces, dealing blows to those offering help… The Ice has done that to most of us. Comfort was given as often as taken, among us.

But these Fëanorians… I wondered what darkness had they waded through, what pain and sorrow had they endured that'd turned them so hopelessly sad in my eyes. I pitied them, then.

º: Curufin, Caranthir, Celebrimbor and the twins, three and two.