It Grows No More
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings. Somebody else does. This grows bothersome...
Authors note: There has always been an aspect of Arwen's death that has bothered the living daylights out of me. How did she end up in a green grave? The books implied she did indeed have a grave, but how? That and, after reading many, many fanfics of Arwen's death, I decided to try my hand at it.
Aragorn breathed his last breath, and he died. Arwen suddenly felt like her immortality had ended. Somehow she knew her days were numbered, and now she understood the old men and women she had seen in the city.
For a week she stayed after his death, and then she bid her family farewell. A handful of elves that had come with Legolas escorted the elven lady to the land of Lothlorien. As they journeyed, Arwen understood what Bilbo had meant when he said he felt like butter scraped over too much bread. That is not to say she felt as if she had lived too long, but rather, she had lived her life to the end. Each day added to the piece of bread over which she was being spread.
"Milady, are you all right?" an elf asked.
"Yes, I am fine. As fine as can be expected," she quietly replied.
In time, traveling day and night, they reached the empty Lothlorien. The song of her kin was now a whisper in the mellyrn leaves, a soft whisper of what once was. As they reached it, Arwen suddenly gave a small laugh. How ironic? Perhaps that was the word. There she was, the place where she had learned so much about life, in the place where she had grown, in the place where she had given her heart to the man who was now dead, with one last company of elves, but this time, instead of her luggage, they carried her coffin.
"This way," she said, dismounting her horse and leading it towards Cerin Amroth. She laid herself down upon the hill, and softly began to sing.
Tinuviel the elven maid
Danced for Beren in a glade
She gave her heart unto the man
And followed him to Mortal Lands.
-
Arwen the Undomiel
Gave her heart to a man as well.
The recipient was Aragorn
The mighty son of Arathorn.
-
Tinuviel Luthien
Chose the fate of mortal men
And Arwen Undomiel
Chose to do the same as well.
-
These two made their kin forlorn
By choosing death like the Second Born
Yet they would not chose it be
That they should keep their immortality.
-
Luthien of divine race
Bartered for the right to fall from grace,
But Evenstar Undomiel
Possessed the right, and thus she fell.
-
The fairest of the elven maids
More beautiful than misty glades,
More fair than dreams of Mortal Men,
More loved than all their other kin,
-
Cannot be kept by just one race,
To the second born they spread their grace.
For such is gift cannot belong
To just one kindred for too long.
-
Cannot be kept by just one race,
To the second born they spread their grace.
For such is gift cannot belong
To just one kindred for too long.
-
The Silmaril and the Evenstar
Are all that's left of who they are,
That's all that's left for elves to see
Of their treasured, coveted beauty.
Then she finished her song, and spoke. "Tell Ada I love him." She paused, and her eyes saw beyond the physical world, to realms beyond elven sight and said, "I am almost there Estel mel nin. I shall see you in a moment." She turned back to her elven companions and said, "Namarië." Then closed her eyes and died. Two elves laid her body in the casket, and then they all raised a mound over her, and the moment it was finished, the elanor and nimphredil faded and disappeared.
The elves paid their last respects, and they left. As they journed to the Grey Havens, they sang her song, but added one more verse.
The elves shall always sing of them,
Of Tinuviel and of Arwen.
Both sacrificed for their true love.
And now their kin are left with stars above.
In Valinor, beyond the sea, the elves ever remembered Arwen's last song, and it was sung quite often by all that loved them both.
Authors note: Well, is a one shot, I hope you all liked it! Please REVIEW!