Sorry for the delay... But after this week I have more time left for writing!^^

"My Lord!"

Thranduil turned to see Siriann rushing towards him. His heart sank, when he saw Siriann holding a parchment in his hand. He had waited too long. His letter hadn't reached the Peredhel anymore. He had been too late. When Siriann had reached him, he bowed and held out the parchment to him.

"I reached Lord Elrond just in time. He gave me this for you, my Lord."

Thranduil's gaze dropped to the parchment that was offered to him. With a quick movement he snatched the parchment from Siriann and waved him off without saying a word. With trembling hands he gazed at the small parchment he was now holding. There was no seal and suddenly Thranduil feared that the Peredhel might have written something compromising and that Siriann might have read it. He quickly unfolded the parchment, hoping that the Peredhel had been discreet. And then he saw Elrond's neat handwriting. Two words… Disbelievingly Thranduil turned the parchment around. But the rest of the parchment was empty. He turned the parchment again and faced the two words, reading them for the first time.

I am…

Elrond was standing at the railing watching the crowd that stood on the pier, waiting for them to finally dock the boat. He searched the crowd for the familiar silver hair, anxious to see her and the condition she was in. First he couldn't find her in the crowd but then his gaze was caught by two radiant golden haired elves standing in the first row, The resemblance was unmistakable and thus he knew he was looking at King Finarfin, father of Galadriel and his son Finrod Felagund. And next to them stood Eärwen, mother of Galadriel, her hand holding the hand of Celebrian, his wife. Their eyes locked and she smiled at him that smile he knew so well, but hadn't seen in centuries. And he knew that this was a good sign for she had never smiled after the assault. And when they finally docked and left the boat he saw Galadriel falling into the arms of her father. And he saw Celebrian running towards him, laughing, and he awaited her, his beloved, with his arms wide open.

"Elrond!"

She threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly, pressing herself against him, clinging to him like a castaway to a piece of driftwood. Slowly he put his own arms around her small body and buried his face in the curve of her neck, taking in her smell… He noticed that she had gained weight and relief washed over his heart, for when she had sailed she had been frail. The way she had jumped into his arms had showed him, that she had regained her strength and her love of life. And his heart leaped for joy. But as much as he was glad that she had recovered from the ordeal, he also realized that being in her arms felt just utterly wrong. And it finally dawned on him what his heart had known and his mind had ignored all along. The heart that had wept, when Celebrian had left Middle-earth, the heart that had been broken the day she had sailed, the heart that had yearned for her, that had begged him then to follow her to Valinor… this very heart didn't belong to Celebrian anymore… it was now part of the gems that belonged to the King of the Woodland Realm.

She let go of him, put him at arm's length to look into his eyes and her smile slowly died. He knew why. He was too shocked to even try to hide it. She could see it in his eyes, could see that she had lost his heart somewhere along the way. She put her right hand on his cheek, caressing him softly. Her smile returned but it was a sad one.

"Nana, warned me, when I told her that I intended to sail. She told me that I might lose you, that I might lose your heart. But I didn't listen to her. I just wanted this misery I was in to end. I thought she just wanted me to stay. Now I know she had been right. Your heart is not with me anymore… I'm sorry, my love."

"I –" "Don't. I'm so sorry I wasn't by your side, when the darkness had grown again and when you had to let Arwen go."

Elrond looked at her in disbelief. How could she know? He had long thought about how to tell her that she would never see her daughter again. He had feared that moment. And now she already knew.

"How…?"

"Lord Manwe summoned me to tell me about her decision in order to prepare me for your arrival without any of our children. Elladan and Elrohir promised they would follow you, didn't they?"

She looked at him anxiously, waiting for an affirmative answer.

"Yes, they did."

She introduced her grandfather and his son to him and then he found himself in the arms of his king. Ereinion hugged him and Elrond automatically returned the embrace but his mind was elsewhere. It was far away, beyond the Sea where a certain king dwelled, where his heart was. And when later asked what happened after his arrival in Valinor he could only tell that he didn't remember a single thing after being reunited with his wife. He couldn't remember how their company had parted at the piers. He and Celebrian riding to their new home and Galadriel following King Finarfin to his house. He couldn't remember the worried looks Celebrian had thrown at him on their ride to their new home and he couldn't remember his reaction to seeing his future home, a smaller replica of Imladris, for the first time. He couldn't recall how he had ended up in the rooms that had been prepared for him and how he had finally fallen asleep on the comfortable bed. He could only remember that he had constantly asked himself, how he could have been so blind all this time.

Thranduil entered the library. It was empty for it was in the middle of the night and nobody was still awake, since nobody's mind was as troubled as his. He had tried to find sleep but the hole he had felt in his heart upon the departure of the Peredhel wouldn't let him. He felt lost and alone but he knew he would find relief with his books, like always, even if it was just momentary. But he could always lose himself in the stories of the past and they allowed him to forget what he had lost. And as time passed he would recover as he always had. He walked past the numerous shelves of books and read all the diverse titles, many of them he had yet to read. It only took him a few minutes to find a book whose title raised his interest. He pulled it out of the shelf and sat down on a nearby bench. And as he had foreseen, it didn't take long for him to lose himself in the story, to let his mind wander to a past time, where he hadn't been troubled by something so trivial like losing a friend. Thus he banned the Peredhel from his mind… for the moment.

Elrond sat on a bench on the balcony, from which he could overlook the small valley and the forest that lay directly in front of him. It was still early morning but he hadn't slept well on his first night in Valinor. His mind had been too restless. So he had decided to rise early and greet the day on the balcony, taking in the beauty of the nature that surrounded him. Suddenly he heard small steps in the big public room to which the balcony belonged. He turned his head and saw Celebrian coming towards him. She wore a white dress and her long silver hair flowed over her shoulders like water. He had always enjoyed watching her, because she was a fair elf, and he still did enjoy it but his heart wasn't into it anymore. She stopped next to him and for a few moments neither of them spoke a word. Elrond didn't know what to say except for telling her how sorry he was, that he wasn't the husband anymore she had left in Middle-earth and expected in Valinor.

"Do you feel like talking?", she suddenly asked and Elrond nodded.

It wouldn't be just to postpone this conversation any longer. Celebrian had been so considerate and hadn't insisted on talking yesterday for he had been really tired.

"Of course."

Celebrian nodded and went over to the balustrade, leaning herself against it with her back thus facing Elrond.

"I'm sorry, Elrond."

Elrond looked at her in surprise.

"Why? It is my fault. I –"

"No.", she cut him off.

"As I already told you yesterday I knew of the risk of losing you when I sailed. Nana warned me, but I didn't believe her. I was naïve, believing your heart would always belong to me even when we were apart. I thought my injuries were far worse than yours, that they would justify me leaving you. I forgot that you had your own demons to fight and that you needed me by your side to face them. I have risked your heart and I lost it."

"Celebrian…"

She raised her hands stopping him.

"I still love you but I know that I have forfeited every claim on your heart."

"I also still love you, but not like I should. I always considered you as one of my closest friends and confidants and you still are. But you don't own my heart anymore."

She nodded and Elrond was sure he could see some tears in the corner of her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I never meant it to happen. I didn't even realize it myself until you embraced me yesterday."

She nodded again.

"Do you want me to leave this house?"

"No! I want you to stay! As complicated as this situation might be, you are still an important part of my life and you still own a part of my heart. But if you prefer to leave then I won't stop you but I would be glad to have you here as a friend."

She sighed.

"I waited so long to see you again. I won't leave now. But I can't promise you that I will stay forever. Someday the need to move on might grow in my heart as well."

He nodded.

"I know."

"But this house I let it be built for you. It is my wish that you live in it. I have many places to call home here in Valinor."

"Thank you."

There was nothing else he could say. He only knew that he didn't deserve this generosity and that if Celebrian ever left he had nobody to share this big house with.

"Will she follow you soon?", she asked out of the blue and Elrond had to swallow hard.

He wished with his whole heart that he would follow him and yet most likely he never would.

"No, most likely not."

She looked at him in surprise but he could also see compassion in her eyes. He knew full well how ridiculous his situation was. First his wife left him in Middle-earth and for centuries his heart would yearn for her. Then when he finally sailed to see her again, his heart already belonged to someone else. So that now here in Valinor his heart would yearn for the one who had stayed in Middle-earth.

"Why?"

"Several things: duty, dislike of the Valar, fear of pulling me down into the darkness."

She looked at him questioningly.

"Who would dislike the Valar."

"Anyone who has fought against Sauron, who saw his father and kin slaughtered, who survived the madness that was Dagorlad."

"But you did too and you do not dislike them."

"But some of the Sindar do, ever since the First Age. They traveled east and some of them settled down with Oropher, living an isolated life in Greenwood. And if you grow up surrounded by certain ideals it is likely that you adopt them as well."

"So it is a male Sindar then?"

He knew she had concluded that from the fact that no female elves had fought at Dagorlad.

"Yes."

"And he belongs to King Thranduil's court?"

"Yes."

"How did you meet? I thought the Thranduil's kingdom was quite isolated and they kept to themselves."

"He came to me for help. An old wound of his caused by dragon's fire pained him. He was looking for relief. I couldn't treat the wound because it was already too old, but I could at least temporarily ease his pain by touching him with Vilya."

"So you meet frequently and you became friends."

Elrond smiled at Celebrian, remembering the first few encounters with the Elvenking, which had been so tedious but had later turned into meetings he had enjoyed so much.

"Do I know him?"

"Yes, you even mentioned his name in this conversation."

She looked at him quizzically and he was sure that she recapitulated their conversation in her head at that very moment. And he could exactly pinpoint the moment she realized who it was.

"King Thranduil!"

"Yes."

And for a little she just met him with disbelief but then she smiled.

"Of all the elves in Middle-earth he would have been the last I would have considered. You never were particularly close. You told me about that grudge he held against you and Gil-Galad after the Last Alliance. But then he never was particularly close to anyone…"

"He decided to put this grudge aside, because the pain ate him up and he didn't want to leave his son when the shadows were growing again. He didn't want him to experience what he had, fighting twelve years on Sauron's battlefields, making decisions that would result in the death of his kin."

"He was stronger than me…", she simply stated and Elrond didn't answer.

He didn't know what to say. So silence reigned between them for quite a while until she broke it again.

"I heard he is not an easy person to love."

"At first sight? Yes." Elrond had to smile, remembering what a nuisance Thranduil could be if he wanted to.

"But when you look behind this façade of his, built of pride and arrogance…"

She watched him looking into the distance, smiling. This smile had once been reserved for her. But not anymore.

"This wound you talked about, was it an ugly sight?"

He peered at her not sure where this was going.

"For those who have seen the horrors of war it is not, for you having been constantly confronted with injured people in Imladris it is not. For someone who has been sheltered and never saw what wounds the creatures of the shadows could inflict, it is. But he hides it using an illusion and I'm sure not many know of it."

"During one of my stays in Lothlorien after I married you, I heard rumors concerning the fate of the Queen of the Woodland Realm. It was said that after she gave birth to her son, she ran into the forest, screaming that she couldn't face his ugliness anymore. Soon after they found her body deep in the woods."

Elrond closed his eyes while his heart went out to the Elvenking. Even though they had become friends, Thranduil had never mentioned his wife and now Elrond finally understood. It had been too painful. He was sure the Elvenking had shown his face to her, had trusted her but she had breached his trust. Maybe that was why the Elvenking had taken so long to open up to him.

"I always thought she was talking about his character, since he was known for being a harsh and distant king…"

"No, I think it wasn't his character she was talking about…"

She came to him and took his hand into hers.

"Thank you for not abandoning me after…"

She left the sentence unfinished but Elrond knew perfectly well what she was talking about. Tears were running down her cheeks and Elrond pulled her into his arms.

"I would have never, never abandoned you! And I still wouldn't for you are so very dear to me."

Thranduil had feared that it might be worse, missing the Peredhel, but now he was quite relieved, for he had too much to do as the King of the Woodland Realm to dwell in the past and to wonder about what might have been. His responsibilities lay with his people and he would do everything to ensure the endurance of his kingdom. Thus he and his men were combing the Greenwood Forest for the many scattered hordes of orcs that had survived the War of the Ring and the attack on Dol Guldur and entered the Greenwood. Narrow-minded as they were, they thought in doing so they could escape the joined forces of the free people of Middle-earth, for the Greenwood was still known as being a hostile environment and not many dared to enter it. What foolish creatures. Thanduil could only find amusement in their desperate attempt to save their forfeited lives. The Greenwood might be known as being hostile but not to him and his kin, to whom it was home. And he knew that the Greenwood would never hide those foul things from him and his kin but would lead him and his men directly to them. So they spent their days in the forest hunting down the spawn of Sauron and Thranduil almost forgot about the emptiness that lingered in his heart.

I know that I took the easy way out here with Celebrian, buuuuuuut here are my reasons:
1. I like the Elrond and Celebrian pairing (actually) and it's kind of hard to split up a pairing you actually like and I don't see Celebrian as being a bitch. Since I think that elves are very reasonable creatures and compassionate I think that they are not likely to make a scene or very prone to jealousy. And I don't think she would hate Elrond for falling in love again.
2. She was warned by her mother and could prepare herself for what was to come. Thank god, she has Galadriel as her mother, who can look into the future.^^ Made it easier for me... ;-P
3. This story gets longer and longer... -.- and I really didn't want to have to add a Celebrian-is-making-Elrond's-life-a-living-hell-arc. The same applies for the part were Celebrian tells Elrond that she already knew about Manwe. I read a story were somebody also let Manwe do the hard job and since them talking about the children there on the pier I decided to also do it this way.

So please excuse the easy way out here...

And according to the internet Siriann is a Silvan name for a male elf... I hope so.^^