A/N: Alas... it is time.
Orli: FINALLY!
Me: Parting is such sweet sorrow...
Orli: Blah blah Shakespeare blah... LEMME GO!
Me: sigh Alright... unchains him, lets him out of box, out of the safe, and out of the prison. Rips off the duct tape, unties him, gives him one final kiss, and opens the door.
Orli: LIGHT! SUNLIGHT! runs away.
Me: Sigh....
Disclaimer: For the last time... IT AINT MINE.
Epilogue: White Shores
"OW!"
"MAMA!'
"DADDY!"
"HE HIT ME FIRST!"
"Hush! The both of you! Or I will throw you off this boat and you can swim the rest of the way!" Fanya snapped.
"Daddy..." Little Anaria whined, tugging at his tunic. Legolas stooped and swung his youngest daughter into his arms. She was the image of her mother, curly blonde hair and crystal clear blue eyes. "It really was Elfaer's fault..." she whispered into his ear.
"WAS NOT!" Elfaer was heard protesting on the other side of the boat. "I did NOT hit you first." He crossed his arms across his chest and stared defiantly in the opposite direction of his sister and father.
"Oh yes you did, laddie," a low grumble was heard from a certain white-haired dwarf who had apparently been sleeping, spread out across three chairs. "I saw you with my own eyes." Gimli might be old, but he was no less stubborn.
"I thought you were asleep!" Elfaer exclaimed in surprise.
"Well, think again," Gimli grumbled.
"Father! Do you need a break?" called a voice from below deck. Fanya and Legolas' eldest child, Celeblaer appeared, climbing up the ladder and emerging up on deck.
"I would appreciate a break, thank you Celeblaer," Legolas walked across to Fanya and slipped an arm around her waist, observing their three children interacting. Anaria, named after Fanya's sister Ana, who died a few years after they were wed, was the youngest. She was the image of her mother, and their only daughter. She was 15 years old, and looked to be the human equivalent of about 6.
Elfaer, their second child, was blessed with his father's looks, and his grandfather's eyes. He was nearing 30 years of age, and he looked to be about 11 years old. Though he insisted that he was old enough to not be treated like a child, he wasn't above teasing his little sister to tears.
And Celeblaer, their first son, had just turned 60. He had come of age 10 years ago, while living in Ithilien, and he had had the choice before they left of staying with his grandfather in Eryn Lasgalen, or coming across the shores. He had chosen to sail, of course. For he thought that his parent's didn't know about his secret relationship with a maiden of similar age that had sailed the year previous. Celeblaer had dark brown hair and bright blue eyes. His hair, Fanya said, was inherited from his human grandmother.
"MAMA! MAMA!"
"What it is, little Anaria?" Fanya asked, scooping up the little girl into her arms and situating the girl on her hip.
"Land! I see LAND!"
"Celeblaer? Is it true?" Fanya asked her son, snapping her head to face west.
"Yes, I can see it, too!" Celeblaer exclaimed.
The whole family rushed to the front of the boat and peered into the distance. Fanya hugged Legolas when she saw that her children were indeed speaking the truth.
"Oh Legolas, we're almost there!" she said excitedly, kissing him.
"Uh mother... you can't do that somewhere else?" Celeblaer interrupted, sounding disgusted.
Giggling, Fanya separated herself from Legolas and went below deck. "I'm going to go ready our things," she said, disappearing below deck.
"I'm going to go fix lunch," Legolas excused himself a few minutes later. "Gimli is in charge, you three," he peered at his three children and then disappeared below deck to join his wife.
"Fixing lunch... I'll bet my axe he's doing no such fixing," Gimli grumbled, joining the children at the front of the boat. Only Celeblaer seemed to understand the insinuation, and his ears tinged pink. Gimli just laughed.
"You elves never change... that pathetic elf of a Father you have has never held to the rules... no, he's one of a kind," Gimli reminisced. "And he'll never change... of that I'm sure of."
And a few hours later, as the stars were first appearing in the sky, five elves and one dwarf descended the dock to their home.
"Legolas," Fanya said from the deck of the ship, watching as her children started to walk towards a group of elves who were there to greet them.
"Yes, my love?"
"Are you sure this was the right thing to do? This wasn't too soon to leave Thranduil all alone?"
"I'm certain of it. He can handle everything. Come, we have our new life ahead of us... why start it in doubt?"
"You're right," Fanya said. "I'm not afraid of the unknown."
Legolas pulled her in to share another deep kiss. "And you never have been."
Suilad, loyal readers.
This is the end... I hope you have enjoyed it! I have a few things I would like to say. Feel free to read it, for these words I feel I must say. And what better a time to say them than at the end? And then, of course, I will then turn you loose to click the review button one last time for this story.
When I first started writing this story I was young and inexperienced, both age-wise, and in writing terms as well. I had just discovered that God had given me a natural talent of writing and story-telling, and that I was pretty good at it, if a little rough. I hope all of you have seen a noticeable difference in the style and quality of my writing from day 1, August 29, 2003, until day 1257, June 10, 2006. I certainly have, as the author.
After the initial excitement of writing my own, "original" story about Lord of the Rings (All of us experience this excitement... if you write, you know what I am talking about) wore off I realized what I had gotten myself into. But by that time I had jumped into deep water without testing its depth. In other words, I was 15 chapters into the story and I had no idea where I was really going. So I decided to take a step back and take my time finishing the story.
Let me be honest: I think the first half of the story could be written SO much better than it actually is. I actually started to go back and rewrite it in a "better" way. But soon after I started doing rewrites I realized what a learning experience I have had writing this story. I started off raw and unproven in my writing, with no past experience except for school papers and a few cute little short-story essays I had done for English class. And when I found out that I was good, (or so said the reviews) I was ecstatic! All writers jump with glee when they get a review. (Yes, we do... really.) I would sneak into the computer lab at school to secretly check my email some afternoons to see if I got another review or not. And well, 200 some reviews later I still get REALLY excited every time somebody reviews.
So when you read this story, if you ever read it again, please do me a favor and think, "Wow. She has really grown while she was writing this. This last chapter is much better than that first one."
I want to thank EVERYBODY who reviewed. And everybody who read this and thought about reviewing. Those people include:
Abby Rose, aireur, Al, amrawo Anaka Greenleaf, angelofdeadlydarkness0010, anon, Anonymous Areniel, Arwen1481, Arroz, Asyr, Bane of the Mary-Sues, Bb, Bert, bethany wood, blu-eyed-belle, Boy Crazy Magician Chick, Brooke, bruisedSkies, CoOkiE-WiNgS, CourtneyNKay, Crazyniteowl, Crecy, Crystal Moon Magic, crissy dowie, Crystal Snowflakes, darkness eternal (prantis), Destructive Habit, digital-tiffany, drunk off of diet coca-cola, ElijahFreak, Elizabeth, Elvenpirate, evilducktape101, Elerrina, ElwynElanesse, FAIRYofLight, feanen, Following Padfoot's Pawprints, French Pony, Greeneyes616, Guss-Guss, harmony99, I like this story, Idget2301, Idhrenniel, inweofnargothrond, Joy4eva, Kathy2, Kelse, Kika1, KnowInsight, Lady Anck-su-namun, Lady Excalibur, Lady Keshanna of the Night, LadyZane, Lara Roberts, LalaInDeKitchen, Leah's Lovely, loveroflegolas, Lydia A., Meekah Greenleaf, Meow, Mercurial1, Merlinsmagic, Mickey, moonbunny77, Natalie Uzzle, NHOI, Nienna Silmarwen, nilimade, nyctophobia, Obi-wansPatawan, Orangeblossom07, orlandos-gurl13, Orli's babe, Padfoot's love, PaleMoon, potterluvva, p3gurl, Quessealqua, Randi, Regretfully, Kitta, retrodaisy, Riako, Scorchio, Shivvers, Shannon, silverstar188, SilverUnicorn66, Snapes-Prisoner, StarAngel Caelum SunSoar, stargirl719, Sweetpanda, The Contessa, The Cynic, The Little Dragon, ToraNoKo123, Tom, Tracy, Vanwathoniel, WarriorHobbitBex, William, WordNerd, Xnedra, YueMichiruNaragisawaMiko, zelda ll, zoeluver, 4everGlenda:D.
All of you people have considerably brightened my day, even IF you flamed me (Trust me, I had a good laugh).
And second of all, I want to thank some of the world's best people, a girl who started off as a friend and whom I grew to know quite well, Lady Ardonelle, who edited a few of the chapters in the beginning of this story. Ardonelle, I know you've had some hard times, but I appreciate the friendship and support you have shown me. I'll always be there if you ever need me.
And another girl who started off as a writing companion, but has ended up as my best friend: Shivvers. You are the most amazing, quirky, and fun-loving person to hang around. I don't know what I would do without your support and green magic! I know you'll grow to be an amazing writer, and I hope I'll always be there to celebrate with you.
Both Shivvers and Ardonelle stuck with me and encouraged me the whole time, lending their talents to my purpose. You girls are amazing. I don't know what I would do without either one of you.
So as one last note, thank you for reading this story. Your reviews meant the world to me, and even if you did not review my story, the fact that you spent time reading my story means more than I can explain.
Namariƫ!
-Ivy
6/10/06
