"I do not think that you are being fair to me, my love."
Celeborn's words had been delivered with their usual calm, collected, and respectful manner. It was the words, not the tone, that made Galadriel stop dead in her tracks. Her tactical retreat was thoroughly ruined, as no doubt Celeborn knew that it would be. When it came to his wife, Celeborn always knew.
Which, sometimes, Galadriel could not help but find excessively irritating. Such as times like these. Times where she didn't want to be fair, she wanted to get her way. Which she had almost done, had she managed to get out of the doorway fast enough.
But no, Celeborn had to *know* her well enough to trap her in the conversation more successfully than any spell or enchantment would have been able to do.
There wasn't so much as a rustle of fabric to indicate that Celeborn had moved from where Galadriel had left him by the window, and so she took a few more moments to calm her heart before turning back around.
He waited patiently for her, as Galadriel knew that he would.
Celeborn, like most of his family, was not generally considered to be an extremely patient individual. An aspect of his personality that Galadriel had not believed for many years of their relationship, as he had never shown her anything other than the kind of gentle patience she had not been treated with since her oldest brother had passed to the Halls of Mandos.
Finally heaving a great sigh, Galadriel returned to her previous position next to Celeborn. Who watched her approach with undiminished warmth.
"You are right," she admitted with reluctance, eyes downcast "That was not fair of me, I apologize, dear husband. It is never my intention to cause you harm, emotional or otherwise."
"I know that," taking a small step forward Celeborn gently cupped her face in both his hands, titling it up to meet his eyes, "I am not angry with you."
Perhaps to further prove his point, one of Celeborn's hands dropped to wrap around her waist and pull her against his chest, the other hand staying where it had been placed on her cheek while he leaned in to give her a few loving kisses.
When he pulled away, Galadriel moved further into his embrace and rested he head upon his shoulder, finding comfort when his other arm wrapped around her with equal strength and care.
"I do not understand what it is you enjoy so much about his company, or the company of his father."
She felt more than heard the deep rumble of laughter deep in Celeborn's chest, "I know that, too."
"Nor why you feel so strongly about subjecting our sweet Celebrian to the same fate."
"I am not asking you to understand, not this time. I am asking you to trust me."
Galadriel did her best not to scowl, but judging by the second round of laughter from Celeborn she had not managed that. "And how are you so certain that taking her to Greenwood to meet Thranduil will magically cure all of her problems?"
"I do not think that it will cure all of her problems, simply the one that causes her so much grief; loneliness."
Galadriel fought the tears that suddenly welled in her eyes at the thought of the increasing sense of melancholy that seemed to grow alongside Celebrian ever since a decade before her majority. Which had been several decades ago now.
A melancholy that seemed stubbornly unreachable no matter what efforts her parents made to banish or even lessen it.
"How can you be so certain that Thranduil is the answer to that problem?"
"Because I've watched it happen over, and over again. For many long years Thranduil was the only true friend that Luthien had, for the same reasons Celebrian finds it so difficult, everyone was too afraid of her parents to become close with her. Thranduil was not scared enough of Melian, and he certainly is not scared of you."
She could not help the small snort of laughter, relaxing further into his embrace when Celeborn began to rub one hand in soothing circles on her back. Celeborn continued, "That's to say nothing of the unnaturally unshakeable bond Thranduil has with Ferdan and Galion, perhaps the two most generally unfriendly elves that Eru managed to create. Or how quickly he wormed his way into the hearts of all the Greenwood people, and many of their neighbors. Including the Great Eagles."
"Befriending things is what Thranduil does, he's good at it, and our daughter needs a friend. A good friend. Not even you can begrudge the quality of Thranduil's friendship, even if you begrudge most other aspects of him by reflex alone."
"No," Galadriel admitted reluctantly, "I cannot begrudge the quality of his friendship."
This is why she had tried so hard to retreat, because she knew that if she had stayed Celeborn would be able to convince her to let Celebrian leave their Goldenwood and enter another realm. Not just any realm, Oropher's realm
"Do you trust me?" He asked
"I trust you." She answered.
...0.0.
She had sensed the change within Celebrian the moment she stepped foot back in the Goldenwood, the overhanging melancholy that had been haunting her steps for so long had been greatly reduced. For the first time in years, Celebrian echoing laughter announced her arrival before anything or anyone else could.
Spotting her mother, Celebrian stopped mid sentence to run to her, not stopping until she was in her mothers embrace, "I missed you so much, Nana!"
"I missed you too," Galadriel kissed Celebrian on the top of her head, "How was your trip to Greenwood the Great?"
Celebrian pulled away from her mother, her eyes alight with enthusiasm and pleasant memories, "Greenwood was so much fun! Thranduil showed me so many amazing things that I think it might take days to tell you all of them."
"And I cannot wait to hear all about it," Linking Celebrians arm with hers, Galadriel began leading them back to their home.
"We were there for the 'Feast of Starlight' and Thranduil and his friends spent all night trying to teach me how to do the dances. It was really difficult, and a little embarrassing, but everybody was so kind to me no matter how many times I got it wrong."
Looking over her shoulder, Galadriel made eye contact with her husband, who was looking immensely pleased with himself. Thankfully, Celeborn was not one for 'I told you so's' and settled for a beaming smile.
"And then, later in the week, they took me to the river and were teaching me how to balance on these long pieces of bark and use it to surf the currents down to the lake or one of the slower parts of the river. It is SO much harder than it looks, but it was also so much fun too. By the end of the visit I'd made it down on my own twice without falling into the water. Oh! Thranduil said that in two weeks he and his friends are going to go hunting in the Misty Mountains and invited me to go, if you say yes he'll go the longer route and come pick me up at the border of the forest. Can I go Nana, please, please, please, please, please?"
"Your Ada and I will have to talk about it."
"Fine." Celebrian sighed, then immediately perked back up, "One night, Thranduil, Ferdan, Galion, and I-"
...0.0.0