"Mother, are you not going to sleep yet?"

Meiou turned to look beside her to see Ranthoron lying down beside her, his elven mantle covering him like a blanket, his green eyes looking worriedly at her. She smiled sadly as she reached over and tousled his hair, "Not yet. You go to sleep. We still have long journeys ahead of us come morning…"

Ranthoron sat up, "How can I sleep, Mother, when worry keeps clouding your eyes like that?"

Her smile faded, "Forgive me, child…"

"What ails you, Mother?" Ranthoron asked.

"What ails me is what ails your father." She replied, and she turned again to the small window beside her, staring up the silvery light of the moon. She sighed, "I do not know what thoughts wreaks havoc in his mind, and yet he does not tell me what it is." She turned to him, "When we married we vowed to be much more than a husband and wife. We vowed to trust and love each other. For years I have kept my vow, trusting your father… telling him everything that I have kept all my immortal years. Telling him all my sins and secrets." She smiled at Ranthoron as she reached over and drew a strand of hair away from her son's face, "I even told him about the day I dropped you from my arms. Your father was most infuriated…"

Ranthoron looked incredulously at his mother, "You dropped me when I was an infant!"

She laughed, "Yes, I did. Though, mind you, your grandfather caught you before you hit the ground."

Her son visibly sighed in relief as she continued her story, "When he learned of what had happen, I thought that he would punish me… but he didn't. He said, 'I love you, and though you may have sinned, it is my job as your husband to forgive you, and love you until the end. I vowed it to Eru and all the Valars of this Earth, and by Eru, I shall do so.' "

Ranthoron watched as his mother held her head high a bit, as if trying to hold back tears. And in a few moments, her head fell down to her arms and she started crying.

He sat up straighter and put an arm around her mother, "Amil…"

Meiou cried for a while, but finally when the last of her tears dried up, she patted Ranthoron's hand and said, "Forgive me, my son. I did not mean to show you weakness…"

"You did not show me weakness, Mother." He said, still trying to comfort her, "If there's anything you have shown me in this journey, it was bravery and your determination. Taking this journey with you made me realize what I want to be…"

She looked up at her son, "What… you want to be?"

"Yes." Ranthoron said, "I want to be like you, Mother. I want to be strong, not just in my body, but in my spirit too. I want to live just as you have lived… without boundaries and without restraints. I want to learn to find love like you had when you met Father." He looked a bit proud at her as he whispered, "I want to live like you, Mother, because you lived your life like it was a never-ending adventure… and I think it is, and always will be. And for that, I am proud to call you my Mother."

Meiou smiled as she opened her arms to receive her son, 'My dear Ranthoron." She cried as her son buried his face on her shoulder. She pushed him back a bit, kissed his forehead and said, " And I am proud to have you for my son."

Ranthoron beamed as she said this, and she fondly drew the hair away from his face as she said, "My boy is growing up so fast. I think it would be safe to say that soon you'll find a girl to marry…" But her face turned into a mock scowl as she said, "But this doesn't mean you could smoke already. Do you understand?"

Her son looked a bit disappointed, but soon he grinned as he embraced his mother again, "I love you, Mother."

She patted his back, "And I love you too, Ranthoron." Her son drew away from him, his face beaming, as she patted his pillow into place again, "Now go to sleep, child. We have to travel back to Lothlorien by dawn."

He nodded and lay down on his pillow again. Meiou wiped the last of her tears and she lay down beside her son. As her mind slowly drifted off into sleep, she couldn't help but utter a name….

Legolas…