Epilogue

As dawn crept over the Havens, larks began their chorus to hail the sun. They soared gaily past the windows of three rooms, in which three good friends slumbered peacefully. It had been a long day.

Elrond stirred as a cool breeze flitted across his face. He blinked in the bright light of the newborn morning, smiling calmly as he spoke to the air.

"You won't get me this time," he told it with a grin. "I'm perfectly happy with my feet on the ground, thank you very much."

The wind only tugged teasingly at his hair in reply. The elf laughed and clad himself in a clean robe (wine-red, with gold embroidery along the cuffs), tidied his dark hair and strolled through Mithlond with a heart as light as a feather.

"Good morning, Elrond," a low voice greeted him as he left his bedroom.

Elrond turned and smiled at his mother-in-law. "You look lovely, Galadriel."

The Lady of Lothlorien was clad in a dress of snowy white, and embroidered along the hem and cuffs with designs in silver thread. Looking harder, Elrond saw that the shapes were swans in flight.

He opened his mouth to comment on this when Gandalf arrived, clothed simply in a smoke-hued robe, and leaning on his knobbly staff. The wizard's pale blue eyes twinkled as he smiled.

"Good morning, my lord… my lady. A beautiful day, is it not?"

"Lovely," they nodded.

"Did you sleep well?" Elrond asked conversationally.

"I did, thank you," Gandalf replied. "But I did find myself scolding the embers in the hearth when I woke up," he chuckled.

Elrond smirked. "I did the same thing to the wind that blew through my window. 'You won't get me this time'…"

All three friends laughed, turning as Cirdan hailed them cheerfully. "Quel aur, mellyn nin!" Good morning, my friends!

"Good morning, sire," the Ring-keepers replied.

The Lord of Mithlond strode calmly up to his comrades, his turquoise robe billowing out behind him. His eyes, which were the exact same color, sparkled in the sunlight.

"There are horses waiting for you in the stables," he said, "but I was hoping you'd join me for breakfast before your departure."

Nodding in acquiescence, the three friends followed the Lord of Mithlond to the main dining hall, which was nearly deserted save for two elves: Aeleth and Daeglir. Cirdan's daughter beamed at them, and her own child smiled at the sound of their voices.

The four companions sat down beside their friends, and were soon engaged in merry conversation. Daeglir was astonished to be able to feel his rescuers' bodies, and pleased to meet Gandalf for the first time.

"I don't believe we've met," the wizard smiled, extending his hand to the boy. "It's a pleasure, Daeglir."

Aeleth guided Daeglir's hand to Gandalf's, and they shook.

"The pleasure's all mine," said the boy, grinning.

A moment later, a group of servants arrived with their meal. Further conversation was somewhat stifled by fresh fruit and buttered toast; they talked a little between bites.

"How exactly did you thwart the Corsairs?" inquired Cirdan, after washing down his mouthful with a sip of water.

Elrond smiled wryly behind the napkin he was wiping his lips with. "With a little time, a little patience, a little inspiration, and a lot of luck," he answered. "And quite a bit of trickery as well. I masqueraded as the spirit of a drowned Corsair, and gave the pirates a 'message from an old crewmate'; and Galadriel did extremely well pretending to be a siren.

"But it was Gandalf who got Daeglir off the ship, by setting it on fire. The last Corsair on the ship had Daeglir with him in a longboat, and Galadriel and I took it in turns to drive him mad – the Corsair, not your grandson."

"And then you led him here," finished Cirdan.

"Yes," Elrond nodded.

"So you have no idea how this happened in the first place?" Aeleth spoke up.

"None whatsoever," the half-elf shrugged. "But looking back on everything, I believe it was worth it."

Galadriel and Gandalf nodded in agreement. "Absolutely."

Their meal finished, the six friends rose and headed out to the stables of Mithlond. It was warm and dim, and smelled of hay. The horses regarded them calmly as they passed each stall.

Cirdan led three horses out into the open, where a stable boy helped to fit the animals with saddles and bridles, and strap on sacks of provisions for the long journey. The three Ring-keepers mounted their steeds and rode eastward, calling out last farewells over their shoulders.

Elrond clung to his steed's reins as the wind blew in his face, whistling playfully in his ears. "Oh no you don't!" he cried.

Galadriel laughed, glancing sideways at her son-in-law. He half-frowned, half-smirked at her in reply, raising an eyebrow as if to say, "Just wait until it starts to rain… what will you say?"

She only smiled, turning back to the front. Laughing quietly to himself, Elrond spurred his mount onward.

----

That evening, the three friends camped beneath a rosy twilight sky. The first stars of night were twinkling overhead, and crickets began to chirp out lullabies for the travelers. It was extremely peaceful.

Elrond was drifting off to sleep when he heard Galadriel's voice murmuring his name beside him. "Elrond, are you asleep yet?"

"I was," he mumbled. "What do you need?"

"I thought you might want to say hello to your father," she replied softly, pointing a slender forefinger toward the brightest star in the heavens: Eärendil.

Elrond smiled serenely up at his father's star. "Hello, Ada."

Turning to his mother-in-law he said, "You know, I don't think our rings covered the fullness of the storm. Wind, rain and lightning, yes, but there was something else…"

"What would that be?" asked Gandalf, glancing over at him.

Elrond smiled as a vision drifted softly into his mind: a young, thin boy, with closely-cropped black hair and two slight indentations in his face where his eyes should have been.

"Shadows," he said softly.

The End