Disclaimer: Nothing herein is mine, sadly. It all belongs to the Tolkien Estate, and anyone else who owns it.
Time frame: This really could be anytime, from Elrond and Celebrían's courtship, all of the way up until Celebrían left for Lothlorien that fateful day.
A/N: I'm terribly sorry that it has taken me so long to get another of these written! I won't bore you with regaling all of my troubles and woes and excuses, however. I do have about 3 of these partially written though, so as soon as I have time to work on them, there should be a few coming out in pretty quick succession. This little one, however, struck me quite forcefully this evening. I was just sitting at my desk, and I looked out my window, and there was this glorious sunset. So I grabbed my laptop, moved over to sit on my bed where I can see out of the window better, and proceeded to write this. Thus the description of the day is pretty much what you would have seen out of my window about an hour ago :) Anyway, I hope you enjoy! And of course, many thanks to all of my reviewers from last chapter: Greenleaf's Daughter, elrond peredhel, dinopoodle, Oleanne, Anagram-Analogy, and AriaMirror1028! (And my apologies, Aria, for not having responded to your review personally! Thank you so much for your support, and I am glad you are enjoying it!) All of your support really means a lot to me. (And now, I think this A/N is longer than the actual vignette...my bad!) I hope you all enjoy this!
~Leaf of Gold~
They simply sat together, motionless, and silent, watching the blazing sun as it sank slowly behind the towering hills all around. The sky, awash with a soft lavender color that paled to pastel blue near the horizon, was streaked with a hundred strips of scudding clouds, whose brilliant rose hearts stood out starkly against the soft hues of the heavens. The startling yellow of the leaves adorning the branches blazed golden in the failing light.
A light breeze rustled through the peaceful valley, tickling the leaves until they danced, and whispering over the two elves' bare feet and brushing their cheeks. A single leaf parted ways from the limb upon which it had grown and flourished, yearning to join the wind in that last blessed moment of the autumn sunlight. It caught the sun's dying rays, and as it drifted lazily to the yellowing grass, it was as if a wing of gold had been lifted up by the wind's breath.
The leaf landed with a small shush against Elrond's foot. With delicate fingers, he picked up the fragile plant, and turned to she who sat beside him. With a deft movement, he tucked the golden leaf behind her hear, trapping a stray lock of hair behind it, to fall in curling waves over her shoulder, swirling about the leaf's fronds. In the fading light, the amber of the leaf brought out the faintest traces of gold in her hair silver-blonde tresses.
Celebrían caught Elrond's hand as he pulled back, and leaned in. With just the faintest of touches, she brushed her lips against his, a smile of thanks and filled with love dancing in her eyes. As she pulled back, Elrond kept a hold of her hand, and pulled her a little closer to him, to his side.
She nestled comfortably against him, allowing her head to fall to his shoulder. He leaned his cheek against the top of her head, and wrapped his free arm around her waist, holding her close. His right hand he kept firmly entwined with hers.
And they simply sat together like that, motionless, and silent, watching the blazing sun as it sank slowly behind the towering hills all around.