Elrond laid comfortably in the grass under the star's constant twinkle, contemplating everything and nothing all at once. Feeling everything and nothing, all at once. This seemed to be his natural state of existence lately, but at least right now he had stars to look while he did it.

He wondered if the stars laid with their backs resting comfortably against the velvety nothing of the night sky behind them, while they contemplated everything and nothing too. Logically he knew that the idea was probably completely illogical, but the smile that crept to his face didn't care what the logical part of him thought.

It really was impossible to tell how much time passed when he was like this, and it was not uncommon for him to remain in the grass until the sun began to rise. Or Glorfindel came out to drag him back inside.

Theoretically, Elrond knew he ought to be behaving a bit more like an Elven Lord while staying in Gondor. Especially as the wedding date drew ever nearer. But that wasn't an aspect of existence his brain felt like contemplating, so he didn't.

Out of nowhere an elf appeared and laid down beside him without a word, his blond hair spreading out in the grass as ink dipped in water. For the first time since he had laid out here, Elrond changed his expression.

To one of surprise, this was not at all the blond elf he had been expecting to join him. In fact, this was potentially the last elf on Arda he would have ever expected to be here.

"Good evening, Thranduil."

"Good evening, Elrond," Thranduil replied mildly as if this was an everyday activity shared between the two of them. "Pleasent sky tonight."

"Yes, it is," Elrond replied automatically if there was anything he could do by instinct it was pleasant and idle conversation. "Very good company."

"Yes, I would imagine so," Thranduil said in that manner Elrond had come to understand there was more depth behind those few simple words than in the night sky the stars rested upon. "I think they are the best company to those who feel like they might belong better up there with the stars, than down on the earth. Stuck where they don't want to be."

Elrond snorted to himself, he should have known that conversation with Thranduil could be either pleasant or idle. Not both. Thankfully this time he seemed to have gone the peaceful route.

"I will be very disappointed if this is not where I want to be, considering the length of travel it took me to get here in the first place."

This time it was Thranduil's turn to snort lightly, "You might want to be here physically to witness this wedding, but that's it. Your soul and heart have long since decided where they want to be, and it is nowhere near here."

Elrond frowned and looked back up to the sky, "Are you suggesting that I want to be back in Imladris?"

Thranduil sighed to the stars as one would do when connecting on frustrations, "I'm saying you want to be with Celebrian, and nowhere else. No matter how much you wish it were otherwise."

Elrond went to argue with the words, but as they burrowed faster than arrows to his heart with the power of raw truth the words of rebuttal were stolen from him. Then all other words followed, so he continued to stare at the stars.

Ignoring the way every single one of them reminded him of Celebrian's smile or her beautiful eyes.

"I'm saying," Thranduil continues after Elrond's non-response, "That you keep waiting for the stars to spell exactly that out to you but forget how to read every language they do it in."

Elrond continued his staring contest with the sky, finally realizing why he hadn't been able to feel anything. His heart and soul had sailed away to Valinor without the rest of him.

"I'm saying-" Thranduil began again but Elrond cut him off.

"I understand what you're saying, thank you." Now he scowled at the sky, like this was somehow all the stars fault, "But what you're saying I do is a lot harder in practice than in theory."

"Yes, I know how hard it would be," The weight of Thranduil's love for Legolas dragging his words down to the dirt, and lower. "But I also know that I would still heavily consider it if I felt fear that my children might blame themselves for me enduring such a dismal excuse for an existence."

Elrond said nothing and settled for hoping the stars would tell Celebrian that her close friendship with Thranduil was continuing to cause him headaches and no small degrees of stress. Almost immediately the stars reminded him of how much good the friendship with Thranduil had brought them too.

A voice in his head that sounded suspiciously like his wife whispered that this conversation was supposed to be among those moments of good. One of few moments where Elrond might be able to catch a glimpse of the Thranduil that only so few on the earth were granted to see.

Elrond settled for asking, "Is it really that obvious?"

"I don't know how noticeable it is to others," Thranduil began, "I just have a lot of experience staring at the stars and pretending that I don't exist for a little while."

Elrond looked back to Thranduil, "Then how do you stay? How do you always make it through?"

"Because at least right now, I had enough purpose or enough spots of joy to overshadow the feelings of needing to be somewhere else."

He could think of nothing else to possibly do instead of closing his eyes and sighing deeply, trying to ignore that he felt emptier than a dry lakebed, "They still have so much to learn about leading, about-"

"And Legolas and I are here to help teach them. Everything and anything they might need, we will provide to the best of our abilities."

Elrond's eyes snapped back open and he sat upright, he was well aware that Greenwood in general but Thranduil in specific kept their promises very seriously, and the one he had just made was no small promise. "What?"

Thranduil sat up as well to be near eye-level, "For as long as Estel and Arwen are on this earth, Eryn Lasgalen will do everything in our power to help them and their realm succeed."

Perhaps sensing that Elrond was once again speechless Thranduil got to his feet, "The choice of what to do is yours, Elrond. But if there is anything further that I can do to make the right choice easier on you, let me know."

Elrond listened as the almost completely silent footsteps retreated away, one last sentence drifting back to him until he was alone under the stars again, "And when you see Celebrian, tell her that I miss her."