"It is too late, now, to go back."
"I would not, even if I could."
"No, you would not. Of all of you, I never thought you would be the one; you seemed so wholly of our people."
"I know. Until then, I never thought I would either."
"You are still not one of them."
"Your father was not of those he chose, either; yet you have never questioned his decision."
"He did not choose death."
"He would have; and then he would not have been sundered from all his kin."
"As you will be."
"Not all. I will have my love, and my children, and others that did not make your choice."
"Yet you would not have chosen this."
"No; my heart, like yours, lies with the twilight; but I could not bear that we should be parted for the eternities."
"Will that be enough for you?"
"Yes, it will; my heart has not changed from the years ago when I swore my oath. And even if it were not, that is not all."
"What else is there, for you, in this city?"
"The city itself, for one. I love it, the strength and power and beauty of it. There will be gardens and trees and towers and it will be made fairer in time; but even as it is, I love it."
"It is nothing to Armenelos, yet she fell beneath the waves an Age ago."
"Only because the unworthy descendants of those who built her were wicked fools. These people are different; not so high, but they do not fall so far, either. There is nothing left that could tear this down."
"Not from outside, no."
"And from inside? The only chance is if the Steward rebels; he is very much loved here. Yet he stepped aside easily enough."
"No, he would not; you are right, my dear. It is just—is there no way you can stay for this time, and then leave with the others of our kindred?"
"We would still be parted. And I would not;—it is not the same."
"You sound like your brothers."
"Have they spoken, then?"
"No."
"I'm sorry. I did not think they would—"
"No, I am sure you did not; but would that have changed your choice?"
"No."
"Very well then. I believe I have business with Mithrandir; but we shall see you tomorrow?"
"I—perhaps the day after? There is a—"
"The day after, then. Farewell."
A/N: The two speakers are, of course, Elrond and Arwen. This is not their final conversation, which I would not presume to write, but simply one of many before their departure; I wanted to catch the desperate love they feel, as well as the bitterness between them. The line about "wicked fools" is of course pinched from her words at the end of "the Tale of Aragorn and Arwen," and the title comes from her declaration to Aragorn: "I will cleave to you, Dúnadan, and turn from the Twilight."