After Elrond changed her bandages (which were mostly kept on for pressure), Farothwen changed into a dark red dress and put a white fur-collared mantle on and walked out into the snow. Snow was a novelty for her, as the woods of Mirkwood were far too dense and dark for snow to ever fall. She wrapped the cloak tightly around herself as she walked around, observing the bare trees and open skies, snowflakes falling on her face and the wind whipping around her, bellowing her mantle out behind her. From a distance, none could tell where the snow ended and her mantle began. Farothwen had never been in a space so open before. She had never seen naked trees, there were so many things she had never experienced. She made up her mind right there and then to travel around Middle-earth to see what she could see. In her sicker days, she poured over the library in the Homely House, looking at maps and tales of far-off places. She also looked over the stories of old and the history of the Elves and of humans. There were stories of humans, but many were in a language and script she could not read. Elladan and Elrohir were a great help to her, her shaky reading skills much improved with their encouragement, although they were not as well-versed as their father in terms of scripts and language, but they told Farothwen it was an ancient language of men.

All of this information was new to her, and hard to take in. She felt ashamed that she did not know the stories of her race, the stories of her homeland, and the stories of the race of people that were so kind in raising her and healing her. She read in particular the Lay of Leithian, as she had not known who Lúthien Tinúviel was when Elrond referred to her.

She went back to the library and re-read it with tears in her eyes. The story itself was moving and beautiful, but it was not the story that made her cry. What made her cry was Lúthien, the Elven maiden who gave up everything she had for her human love, Beren. Elves do not die - but she had to in order to be with him. Farothwen had no idea that death was the consequence of relationships between Elves and humans. She cried because she knew that she could not let Glorohtar die. It would kill her to let him go, but she had to in order to save his life.

She sat with her head in her hands, crying, the candle burning beside her. A voice called her name. She looked up, tears running down her cheeks. It was Glorohtar.

His smile quickly faded when he saw Farothwen was crying. He sat on the bench next to her, wrapping his strong arms around her.

'My love, what is wrong?'

Farothwen gestured to the parchment. Glorohtar knew the story well.

'The Lay of Lúthien… my love, why do you cry so?'

'Surely you know the consequences…'

Glorohtar suddenly realised why Farothwen was so upset. 'I do know. That story is well known among our people and there have been a few cases in times long gone. I know only too well of what will become of me. But I have accepted my fate.'

Farothwen shook her head. 'I will not accept it. You are an Elf, Glorohtar, I am mortal. I will not let you die.'

'Oh, Farothwen.' Glorohtar drew her close, sheltering her from the draughty library. 'When the long, happy days of your life finally end, mine will too. Even if I lived for all eternity I still will be dead in my heart without you. My life would have no meaning if you weren't here. I thought long and hard about what would happen to me but it's all worth it. I would rather have just a few years with you than spend the rest of all the days of this earth without you. I choose to share your fate, as I share your life and you share mine. I choose to become mortal.'

'You would be willing to do that for me?'

'For you, I'd be willing to do anything.'

Glorohtar wiped the silent tears off Farothwen's face and kissed her. 'I love you, Farothwen. That will never change.'

Farothwen smiled. 'I love you too.' She flicked back the pages to show him one specific verse that struck her, when Lúthien first fell in love with Beren and met her doom. He read it.

'Aw, that's so beautiful. Kind of like us?'

Farothwen nodded and smiled. 'Kind of like us.'