Galadriel's Mirror
#94 I Know You But Where
The pool reflected starlight.
Even though he knew that the canopy of the Mallorn trees above him covered the sky as surely as the dark clouds that had blocked the light of the sun for the last days, plunging the land into a grey darkness as desolate as the one in his heart.
Still, the pool reflected starlight.
Silent, tranquil, pure. The gift of Elbereth to the children of Illuvatar.
As he watched a ripple ran over the surface of the pool, never disturbing the waters but changing the image they reflected regardless. Lights flickered and spun, colors swirled in gay patterns, dancing, curling, reforming.
And the pool reflected the past.
He recognized the forest, silver boughs laden with golden leaves and a carpet of gold beneath it. And in the middle of it all, she stood. An elfling, her long silver hair streaming behind her as she raced through the trees, caught up in a game that clearly brought great joy. Her eyes sparkled with mischief and excitement, her cheeks were rosy from exhaustion and her smile - her smile was the most radiant he had ever seen, a beacon of light on a day as gray and forsaken as this one.
Memory tugged at his senses.
He knew that smile.
But before he could grasp the tantalizing thread of remembrance the image flickered and changed. In the place of an elfling was a young elleth. Her silver hair intricately woven, her posture regal, yet her eyes still held the spark of mischief, overlaid with the unmistakable gleam of love. As her smile lit up the waters of the pool once more, the same irresistible expression of joy and life from before now directed at a black haired ellon, Elrohir's mind registered what his heart had known all along.
"Naneth."
A reverent whisper, a bare exhalation of breath, he did not want to chance disturbing the waters.
The image changed again. His mother holding two elflings that he knew to be him and Elladan. The two of them chasing around their mother's skirts while she tried to keep a steady grip on her embroidery. Arwen in her arms. A sunset on one of the balconies of Rivendell, overlooking the Bruinen.
Throughout all the images, visions, her radiant smile was the one constant. The one thing he had always associated with his mother, but that he suddenly realized he had grown precariously close to forgetting. The memory of her joy tainted by the darkness of her last year in middle earth. Tainted by his own and his brother's grief and rage.
The image rippled once more and Elrohir held his breath. His grandmother's pool was fickle at the best of times, rarely showing an observer what he wished to see, but only what needed to be shown. Elrohir knew not if he had the strength to face the images that still haunted his nightmares in the numinous waters.
But the image formed, and the pool showed the present.
Instead of blood and despair he saw a green isle with white shores, his mother, her silver hair framing her face and dancing in the wind as she gazed out upon the ocean. Her smile, though tempered perhaps in comparison to the earlier images was there, content, unburdened, free, as she stood waiting for the ship that would bring her family back to her.
The image shifted and the pool reflected starlight.
Its radiance was a reminder of the smile on his mother's face. And the night seemed brighter for it.
A/N: After a long hiatus (and just when I was contemplating writing a story for another fandom) this plot bunny attacked and wouldn't let go. Inspired by challenge 94 (I know you but where) though it might not be apparent from the finished story - inspiration is mysterious like that.
All thoughts and feedback appreciated.
