Elladan crept down the walk in the summer sunlight, just barely suppressing his laughter. It was a beautiful day in Rivendell, the flowers were all in bloom, and he and his young friend were having a bit of a romp.

Stepping as silently as he could, he inched his way toward a patch of Maiden Grass in the flowerbed—he could just barely see the toe of a small boot poking out from between the stalks.

"Gotcha!" he cried as he pounced on his prey. The child gave a shriek of delight, then giggled as loudly as Elladan himself as his older friend began to tickle him.

"Mercy!" the child shrieked amidst his laughter, and Elladan ceased, setting him on his feet again.

"You have made a mess of yourself, Galwion!" he said with a laugh, pulling a leaf out of the child's black hair.

Galwion had his father's gray eyes, but the smile he now displayed was obviously that of his mother. At six years old, he was the darling of Rivendell, and had he not had such a sweet nature, would have run the risk of being spoiled rotten.

"No more than you, Uncle!" Galwion answered with a laugh. "You have grass in your hair!"

"Where?" Elladan felt for it. "I cannot find it."

"Let me," Galwion said, and Elladan knelt for him to pick it out.

Instead, with an impish laugh, Galwion tried to stick a handful of grass into his uncle's hair, and squirmed with giggles when Elladan gave a playful growl and caught him to tickle him again.

When they were both exhausted, Galwion only giving a giggle between pants, Elladan looked up at the sound of footsteps and far-off laughter.

Elrohir was coming, with Katie on his arm. She looked just as young as she had the day she was married, and possibly even a little more beautiful. No one spoke of it, but all of Rivendell knew that the young couple had been blessed. Katie could not have a life as long as Aragorn's, perhaps, but she would stay young for quite some time. The One who had brought her and Elrohir together was seeing to it that they had many years to spend with one another, despite the disparity in their races.

They had been to Imlothurin again, and Elrohir had set brilliant flowers in his young wife's hair. They were talking and laughing over something as they passed between the flowerbeds and ducked beneath the trailing branches of a young willow. They made a beautiful picture.

"Look who is coming!" Elladan said to Galwion, pointing up the walk.

"Ada! Nana!" Galwion cried with delight, and ran to his parents.

Elrohir scooped him up in his arms, and both he and Katie gave their son a kiss. "And what have you two been doing?" Katie asked with a laugh as they drew nearer to Elladan.

"Playing hide-and-seek!" Galwion answered, fiddling with the garnet cross pendant that hung around his father's neck. "I was hiding and Elladan was seeking."

"Did Elladan not get a turn to hide?" Elrohir asked.

"He can't hide everywhere I can, Ada; he is too big!" Galwion answered, shooting a smile sideways at his adored uncle.

"Ah, but my arms are longer, and I can tickle better!" Elladan answered the boy, and they both laughed. Galwion tucked his arms around his father's neck and snuggled his head down beneath Elrohir's chin.

"Are you tired, penneth?" Katie asked.

"A little," Galwion admitted.

"Maybe Grandma will tell you a story?" Elrohir suggested.

"I would like that!" Galwion said with delight, raising his head. "I like Grandma's stories. She makes them so funny!"

"Run along to her, then!" Elrohir said, setting Galwion down on his feet again. His son obeyed, and Elladan soon followed.

Elrohir and Katie walked on alone for a minute. They stopped at the highest point in the gardens and looked down toward the falls and the jewel-like river below.

"Well, Beautiful?" Elrohir said to Katie as the sun glinted on the water. "Are you sorry you married me?"

"Never," Katie answered with a smile. It was something they often said to one another. "And will you still love me when my hair is white and my teeth are all fallen out?"

"I will love you more, and call you Wise-woman, like they call your grandmother," Elrohir chuckled, kissing her forehead.

Then Lord and Lady of Rivendell turned and went into the house, where Vivien was telling a story, and their son had already nodded off in her lap. Death was far-off for both of them, but when it came, it would be nothing but silent and sweet.

Their hearts rejoiced together.

000

What do you think has become of the young and old men?
And what do you think has become of the women and children?
They are alive and well somewhere,
The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,
And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it,
And ceas'd the moment life appear'd.
All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.

The End

AN: Yay! It's taken me just a little less than a year to write this whole story! And I actually it! You have no idea what a miracle that is! Now let's see if I can do the same with my other fanfics, and some of my original fiction…

Galwion is a name I made up myself in Sindarin. Galu-ion: son of the blessing.

Katie's experience would not be the first example of God keeping someone young: Caleb says in Joshua 14:10-11 (NIV): "Now then, just as the LORD promised, he has kept me alive for forty-five years since the time he said this to Moses, while Israel moved about in the desert. So here I am today, eighty-five years old! I am still as strong today as the day Moses sent me out; I'm just as vigorous to go out to battle now as I was then."

The poem is the last part of "Grass", by Walt Whitman.

Now, to my lovely reviewers, who have kept me going on this fic for the last twelve months:

I love you all! If I could give you each a big hug, I would!

I'm going off now to finish up some other fanfics. On the top of the list are "There Is No Applause" and "Depth and Breadth and Height". When I'm done with the fanfics, I think I'll probably try to pick up my orig fic again. I've got some old stuff I intend to revamp. If in the interim I get some more ideas for sequels to this series, I might (might!) write a couple. Might. Originally I was going to tell how everybody eventually dies at the end (pleasant, no?), but I cut that stuff so that there's room for expansion. :)

And let me tell you something, if I ever decide to go back and edit/revise, the karaoke scene will be the first thing to go…

Also, I might do something extra for this fic: not necessarily the "deleted scenes" I originally intended, but some fun trivia stuff. If you'd like to see it, I think it'll be called DVD Extras.

So thank you all, and once more: Please review!. :)