Meiou stood by the riverbank, her hands holding the pouch that contained the ingredients of the spell. She looked behind her to see Ranthoron standing proudly, his injured arm and shoulder in a sling, looking determined at her. At his mother's gaze, he smiled calmly and nodded. She nodded back at him as she turned to look back into the river. Placing a foot before her, she started walking into the river, the cold water making her shiver.
When she was waist deep into the water, she opened up the pouch and took out the Aquamarine, which had already turned into small diamonds, being exposed to the sun just that afternoon. She poured the diamonds into the water, and the effect was immediate, because the water emitted a strange light, and began to glitter.
Feeling a bit more confident, she started to pour the other ingredients. She poured Merry's, Pippin's and Sam's tears, and the Athelas she got from Rosie. She took the Elanor flower she picked up only moments ago and poured it with the Simbelmyne flower Eowyn gave her. Lastly, she took a deep breath and slashed a small wound on her palm. She gasped in pain, and she even heard Ranthoron swallow, as if steeling himself not to charge into the water to heal his mother's pain. A few drops of it fell to the water, and soon the ingredients began to magically mix, creating a small, gentle whirlpool by her waist.
She watched as the whirlpool became larger and wider, and she backed up a few steps as it continued to grow. She wondered why the whirlpool continued to grow, yet it didn't seem to pull her in with its force. The swirling eddy widened and strangely enough, it started to rise up from the surface, forming a tower of water in front of Meiou.
"Mother! Run!" She heard Ranthoron yell from the bank, but she stayed rooted to the spot. She continued to watch as the tower of water grew in front of her, while it continued to glitter.
Then suddenly, a light shone bright from the tower and a strong gust of wind almost knocked her into the water, causing Meiou to shield her eyes with her arms and almost stumble. Behind her, she heard Ranthoron grunt in surprise, the wind knocking him back. A few moment's later, the light dimmed a bit, and she lowered her arms. She raised her eyes to where the tower of water was and gasped.
The tower was gone, and a woman, a being so beautiful that she got lost for words, stood in front of her. Her sleek form was draped in white clothes, which seem to blow with the wind. She had ocean blue eyes, which seemed to sparkle with stars, a perfect nose, and a full, lusciously red lips that smiled at her. Her hair was silver, and was so long that it reached the water by her feet. Her aura was bright, and her beautiful face shone with light. At that moment, Meiou knew who she was, and raised her hands to her lips.
"Varda…" Meiou whispered in reverence as the figure the smiled down at her.
"Meiou Linnadhiel.." The Queen of Stars, Varda, said, her voice echoing through the darkness of Lothlorien, "You wish to seek true beauty, correct?"
She nodded dumb-founded, but she found her voice and said, "Yes, my queen."
Varda seem to stare at her, one of her perfectly shaped brows rising, "Why do you seek true beauty, Meiou? I can see in your heart that you found it before. Why do you doubt yourself now?"
"My… my husband, Legolas, has lost his love for me." Meiou said, her eyes leaking with tears, "He hides himself from me. I… I feared that through the ages, he became blinded… he lost sight of the beauty he found in me. I fear that he even lost sight of the love I have for him." She looked up at Varda again, "I wish to be beautiful, not only on the inside, but on the outside as well, to make him happy…to make him love me again, my Queen…"
Varda's eyes continued to stare at her. She seemed to sigh as she said, "Should your wish be fulfilled, there are going to consequences. The physical change, though not entirely hazardous to your health, maybe hazardous to your relationship with everyone in your life. They will be envious of your beauty, alter their opinions of you, and maybe even don't recognize you. Are you ready to face the consequences of that change?"
Meiou seemed to ponder this, but she looked up at Varda again as she said, "I… don't care… I want to do this for Legolas. I don't care what happens…"
"I care. I care a lot."