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A soft noise betrayed his approach, so his sudden, "Hey little sister," didn't startle her in the least, though she would guess that had been his intent.

"Good afternoon, Estel," she murmured softly, watching a fat bumblebee charge drunkenly into the middle of a large, bright red flower. She shook her head with a theatrical sigh, though she was partially serious in her annoyance. "I just can't seem to get away from having company today!"

Aragorn chuckled with a lifted brow, sitting so he could lean back against a tree near her. "Who else would dare approach you after your little screaming match with Elrond?"

She smiled ruefully, knowing that despite Legolas's words, at least half the elves in Rivendell had heard her personally, and the rest had undoubtedly been told shortly thereafter. Elves were notorious gossips, and with their hearing, it was hard for them not to eavesdrop. "He did not mean to do so, I believe. Legolas came upon me near the stream not long ago."

"Legolas?" The name seemed to worry Aragorn, for he shifted uncomfortably, opening his mouth every now and again before closing it. Finally he sighed. "Be careful, Luni."

"Careful? About what?" she asked, confusion utmost. Her fighting with Elrond?

Aragorn lifted sad, tortured blue eyes to look at her for a long moment. "Just be careful," he murmured gruffly, before getting up and leaving her in peace.

"Careful," she grumbled. About what? She asked the gray space behind her eyes again, not expecting any answer to pop forward, but she couldn't help letting a sigh escape when one didn't. Finally she gave up, rolling her eyes before laying her cloak beneath her so she could stretch out in the warm sun.

Her mind slipped back to the morning, which had arrived bright and clear with a soft pale pink filling her chamber. She slowly sat up, rubbed her eyes, and smiled as she watched the colorful display for a while before it began to fade. Then she quickly dressed after washing her face, pulling on a simple gown since she had no plans but wandering in the gardens since she had gotten her chores done the previous evening.

After a quick breakfast, she did just that, but was found and sent in to speak to Elrond after she had eaten her simple lunch. It hadn't taken her long to know something was very wrong once she had entered the room. Elrond seemed falsely cheerful, something that just doesn't sit right on any elf, especially one like Elrond.

It hadn't taken her long to lose her temper. She was twenty years old, and had spent all but a few short days of it in Rivendell, and all of it with the elves. Most of Estel's time had been spent with the rangers since she was born, so she hadn't even known humans through him. The idea of leaving Rivendell to marry some strange man both terrified and horrified her, the feelings escaping in desperate and rather childish anger.

Yes, she knew that eventually all the elves would leave Middle-Earth, but it wouldn't happen in her lifetime. How could it? The elves were never very hasty, it seemed, unless they were working entirely with beings of other races, or were hunting evil. Orc hunts do not require the slow wisdom of the elves, so they let their arrows and swords speak for them, moving with a speed and grace she wasn't sure humans could achieve even if they had had thousands of years to practice.

But why should she marry? So, maybe by the ways of men she should already be chained to husband and hearth, but not by the ways of elves. Perhaps it was foolish, but she had always wished to wait to find someone to love, rather than someone she could stand long enough to stay with under the same roof for a night.

Arwen had. Sure, it had taken her a long, long time, but she had.

The slight smile on her face died as she thought about Arwen, and she slowly rolled the stone around her fingers. Arwen would die, eventually. Aragorn wouldn't have to watch it, but he had already seen some signs of her impending mortality, signs no one else in Gondor would recognize. That was one reason for his visit, for his silent torture. He loved an elf, and she had to give up her immortality to return his love.

Lunian had often watched the couple walking when she was much younger, before she knew what it really meant. It was a death sentence for Arwen, for Aragorn to love her. But he did, and there had been no hiding it, no stopping it. Arwen would die.

A silvery tear dripped down her cheek, but Lunian hastily wiped it away. She didn't have even a sliver of the time Arwen had to find love, and truth be told, she rather hoped she wouldn't. How could she truly love a human, knowing how weak and coarse they were compared to the elves? How badly they hurt those children of light by simply being the best that they could, which was nothing compared to the best of the elves?

While her thoughts continued on their circular path, the sun began sinking below the mountain's rim. Loath to miss the colorful display any longer, she leapt to her feet and raced quickly halfway up the mountain so she could watch the rich reds and oranges melt over the valley and settle over the land beyond the cleft in the mountains to the flat lands beyond, draping the world in the last flaming fire of the day.

"It is beautiful, isn't it?"

She spun around, and once more found herself facing the prince of Mirkwood. "It is indeed," she agreed after a moment spent trying to slow her heart. After twenty years, you would think she could have learned to hear them approach. But no, she had to jump and flush every single time.

He smiled faintly and moved to her side, his bright blue eyes soaking up the colors of the landscape before them. "I thought I was the only one who came here to see the sun set."

She blinked and frowned. "I have come here for many years," she said softly, before smiling faintly. "Not many compared to you, but many for me." When had she started this habit? She had been doing it for so long she couldn't recall not doing it.

They remained until the light had wholly fallen away, and then she tilted her head back, watching as the stars seemed to burn brighter in the sky. She found a few of her favorites, closing her eyes to wish them a good night. With a slight smile she turned to the elf where he remained beside her. "Good night, Egola."

She made her way back down to the section of the valley her room was in, and after detouring to the kitchen for something to fill the empty place left by a missed dinner, she went to bed.

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