Disclaimer: Please see previous chapters.
Rating: K more likely than not.
Time frame: Shortly after Elrond's arrival in Valinor.
A/N: There are a few things I want to say today. First off, thank you so very, very much for each and every one of you who have been reading. I didn't reply to reviews last chapter, and I am terribly sorry for that. Life got in the way, plus all told I had something like a hundred reviews to reply to at that point (all told), and I simply couldn't keep up with it. So I'm moving on and starting afresh. Nevertheless, I wanted to thank you all here and now for reviewing, favoriting, alerting, and really, even just for reading. Unfortunately I don't even have time to personally name all of the reviewers this chapter (again, bad author?) because my dad will probably be waiting to get out on the road as it is, and I'm trying to hurry up and get this posted before we have to leave. Which brings me to my next point. I write a lot of these scenes...I know I do. Please don't judge. Last night, I really just needed something fluffy to write and enjoy, because I'm sick (again), we're in pretty much the middle of nowhere Tennessee as we're driving back home from the scholarship interviews I was just doing. And speaking of scholarship interviews, I have been full of nothing but overwhelming stress of late because of it, and now that they're done it was all of a sudden just like "wham" sudden letdown of stress. Soooo, all of that to say I really just wanted to write something fluffy for my otp, and this came out.
I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I would love a comment or review letting me know how you liked it (and it would really brighten my day, I won't lie). But yeah, most importantly I hope that you enjoy the story.
~Spark~
It had been the little things that she had missed the most, Celebrían decided – his subtle touches and caresses, the way his eyes would spark when he would smile at her, his fingers running through her hair, even his shuffling as he would turn roll over as he slept, accidentally pulling the sheets over to his side of the bed in the process. She had missed his warmth, and his light, and his love. She had missed him so much…and she hadn't even known just how much until the moment he had taken her into his arms on the docks.
Celebrían rolled over, rising up to prop her ear on her hand so that she could look down on her sleeping husband. She smiled softly at the sight of him, a bubble of warmth and joy rising in her chest until she felt that it would burst and take her with it. He was beautiful, Celebrían decided (not for the first time) – beautiful and kind. But above all, he was hers. And he was here.
Even so, nothing was the same. He was older, and not just in the physical sense. There were lines on his face that she had never seen before, and there had been moments earlier in the evening when, just for an instant, his eyes had been different – colder, quieter, and almost alien. The thought made Celebrían shudder ever so slightly. Oh how she longed to be able to simply reach down and wipe those lines from his face; if only she could kiss the pain from his heart.
He even slept different. Since when had he begun sleeping curled into himself? Celebrían had many a fond memory of coming in to find him sprawled out slumbering on their bed, when she had been forced to either wake him to force him to move over to give her enough space to crawl under the blankets, or else she had had to wriggle her way in under his arm. But now there was none of that heedless sprawl, none of his strange ability to take up as much space as was allotted, even if that space was somehow much larger than he was.
Celebrían had a feeling she knew when that had changed.
Silver eyes blinked at her, and then Elrond was shifting. "What are you looking at?" he asked sleepily, the vaguest hint of a teasing smile dancing almost invisibly across his lips.
"You, Love," Celebrían answered, her tone matching his. Her smile widened, however, and then she leaned down to press her smiling lips against his. She had missed his kisses too.
"Come here," Elrond murmured, and Celebrían willingly curled up against him as he tightened his arms around her, pulling her close. She rested her head on his shoulder and draped an arm across his chest, for a moment merely breathing in his scent and enjoying the feel of him beside her.
"I missed you," Elrond said, although his words were muffled as he buried his face in her hair. "I do not care how many times I have said it."
"I missed you too," Celebrían replied. "But you are here now."
"Aye. I am. And I do not intend to go anywhere else for a very long while."
"That sounds like a marvelous plan," Celebrían replied, and that bubble of warmth and joy filled her. "Because I do not want you anywhere else.
She turned her head so she could look up into his face, and for just an instant Celebrían caught a glimpse of her husband's eyes. And she saw them spark as he smiled.