on seeing the hobbit; but no real spoilers

[tiriel]

Happy are you? [ Elrond takes great amusement in the amount of excitement his mun produced upon her arrival at the theater, and in her chair during the movie. ] Well good.

Perhaps it will give you the proper push to finish what you've started, if you still have the guts to see it finished.

You seem far less worried than you did; perhaps you will succeed yet. It would no doubt be a wonderful thing to see done.

Comments

[ladyofrivendell]

I'm so glad to hear that the movie has given your mundane courage to continue with you, my love.

[tiriel]

As am I. It was time she heeded the words so many have offered her. Her courage waxes and wanes with the days.

[ And he thinks it silly the way she go back and forth - he feels confidant in his place; and is, on most accounts, happy with things as they are. ]

[ladyofrivendell]

I hope that she'll heed the words of others in the future though I know of her plight, my own mundane suffers often from a lack of courage.

[tiriel]

Is that so?

[ From what he's seen of mundanes he really shouldn't be surprised but still. :| ]

Then I would have her know that she too should not allow herself to suffer so. And that is something that my mundane and I can agree on.

[oakenshield]

[ While it's certainly not everyday that Thorin, son of Thráin seems humble, today would be that day. Approaching quietly before Lord Elrond, Thorin bows, albeit stiffly, before the Elven Lord of Rivendell. He won't eagerly state why this reverence comes so late, but at least Thorin shows his respect now.

Thorin's distrust of the Elves is still far too great to quench most of his dislike for them, but at least Elrond was kind enough to offer him and his merry band of dwarf food and shelter for a time.

Thus, he bows somewhat. The wizard had told him to better work on his etiquette before. ]

[tiriel]

[ He is glad to see it from the noble dwarf, no matter the time it comes to him; for he would offer the same respect to Thorin, and he does.

But he is not without mirth - the kind that would turn up the corners of his lips gently and turn his eyes downwards towards his company. ]

Does something trouble you? This is unlike you.

[oakenshield]

[ He scowls in annoyance at the question. Isn't obvious enough why he's here? ]

My only trouble lies in the disrespectful way I've treated you within your home, Lord Elrond. You offered me and my weary company food and shelter during our stay in Rivendell, and I hadn't thanked you for your hospitality.

[tiriel]

[ There are some times in which we know things - and would still like to hear it once, regardless. ]

And yet now you do. [ It seems to bother him little that he had to wait for it; only that in the end, it was given.

If it has troubled you so greatly then I am glad for the change.

i don't care how late i am /hits you up anyway 8D

[therangerking]

Might I ask after those plans, my Lord Elrond?

wonderful 8D

[tiriel]

It would seem that my fate is inevitably to be placed upon a ship of numerous horrors, supposedly.

[ 'Supposedly' indeed. ]

<3!

[therangerking]

[ A small, surprised sound. ]

Ah, 'tis a place I know well. [ He's been there, months ago. Aragorn ponders this for a moment before he smiles slightly. ]

I would not deny its danger, but I warrant the Men will not be ungrateful to have a pair of Healer's hands to aid them.

[tiriel]

[ He imagined nothing less. But since his fate was sealed, he intended to make of it what he could. ]

Then what aid I can offer I shall.

[therangerking]

'Tis no less than what I expected of you, my Lord. [ Aragorn bows slightly. Then he turns away slightly, and sighs. ]

Frodo will be grateful for your aid, if naught else.

[tiriel]

[ ...that sigh worries him. Though he is not surprised, when it is followed with words of Frodo. Elrond's features are shadowed with sadness. ]

And he shall have it. He does not deserve to suffer more than he must.

[ And even that seems so much. ]

[therangerking]

[ It is much. Aragorn worries for him greatly, even as they are parted by space and time and dimensions. ]

He is not yet rid of the Ring.

[tiriel]

[ Dreadful news it is. But all the same it is a comfort then that Frodo's number of allies should grow. ]

And it is not a burden any other can bear for him. [ Though he wished there truly was another. ] We can only try to lessen that burden. I only pray that it is enough.

[therangerking]

[ Elrond is not alone in his wish. There are many who wish they are able to take Frodo Baggins's burden upon their own shoulders, but the lure of the Ring seems too strong for any of them.

Aragorn inclines his head. ]

'Twill be. [ Then, softly. ] 'Twill have to be.

[tiriel]

[ There will be a time when it has to be considered thoroughly. When he'll have to consider what all he can do. But it feels too early to submit to such great sorrow. Thus, he considers a change of pace; to something else he would like to know. ]

...and what of you? How do you fare?

[therangerking]

I fare well, my lord. [ Aragorn smiles lightly. ] There is much I have seen in my times amongst these strange lands where there seems no borders, but I do not regret it. There is pleasure to be found in meeting friends with whom I would have parted with forever more.

[undomiels]

Ada.

I am glad to see you here.

[tiriel]

[ There are few words to capture the joy that the sight of his daughter brings him. ]

And you, my daughter. [ He nods his head to indicate likewise. ]

I have missed you greatly.

[undomiels]

And I, you.

[ she may be old in the terms of this world, but family would always be important. ]

What does your mundane have planned for you, that she seems worried about?

[tiriel]

This would not be my first home. [ If 'home' it could be called. ] So most of her fears are groundless.

But it is a very different world from the one she is so comfortable with now. That which I now call home.

[undomiels]

But, Ada. [ she doesn't quite understand you. ]

None of these places are our home.

[tiriel]

But it is there that I now reside, for however long it is wished. [ He pauses here, for what comes next pains him still and morso to say it. ]

And when it ends I shan't return to the place that was once our home, but to the shores of Valinor. [ For you see... the time he comes from is after he should have seen you for the last time. And it is the reason that your presence is all the more blessed to him now. ]

[undomiels]

[ she is willing to accept this, if only because it is logical. her kin had been known to be adaptable, over time. they'd had to be, considering their lifespans. what he said next caught her by surprise however, and she couldn't help but cry out her dismay. ]

We .. we should have more time! Aragorn has only just become king, peace has only just been won - you have not .. you do not have to...

[ she is a child again, reaching for him. ]

[tiriel]

[ He wishes it were so. It has been some time since he had been forced to think of the inevitability of parting which would come with his departure. But he opens his arms to her and offers her a place in them, as he always would, for as long as fate would allow it.

In his world he had already been parted from his daughter. And it had been because he was here that he was able to see her again. ]

You knew the day would come my daughter. I would only wish now for your happiness.

[ But this here is why he can find comfort in this place, and homes away from home. ]

And still, who knows when my time in this place shall end. Worry yourself not over days not yet come to pass. It is a kind fate that allows me to see you again.

[undomiels]

[ yes, the day has come but she is not prepared! years of waiting and hoping could not have softened the sting of being parted from ones kin forever, even if it is something still yet to come. when faced with a future that is inevitable, rather than simply distant, the pain is all the more real.

going to him, she rests her head on his shoulder, finding the comfort there she had often sought in her childhood & youth. ]

I thought .. Valinor would wait forever for you and perhaps.. Perhaps you would wish to stay and see our happiness.

[ after waiting and dreaming for so long of a life with Aragorn, of confiding those dreams in her father, did he not wish to see them come to fruition? ]

I would have wanted you to meet the child.

[tiriel]

[ He wraps his arms around her and holds her tightly. ]

You know I can not.

[ But he says it with a sorrowful warmth; filled with great fondness. He wished and wanted many of the same things. But he knew that it was his choice that made those things impossible. He had been given the same choice she had - the choice of immortality or mortality; but he had chosen this, the life that his brother had not, and now, his daughter as well.

And for as much as the inevitable departure pained him, he did not regret his choice. Had he chosen mortality... to pass from this world, he never would have been blessed with such a wonderful family. He would have probably ended up with another; with a life so different from this one... No matter how it pained him now, he could not bring himself to regret. The joys far surpassed the sorrows. ]

As would have I. But the time of the First Born in this world... is at it's end. It is now in Men we place our hopes. [ Even the hope of his daughter's happiness, he must now pass on to Aragorn. ]

[undomiels]

[ she was educated well enough in her family's history to understand what a sacrifice she was asking him to make by asking him to accept her choice in the first place. it had been bad enough for her to be faced with the idea of watching Aragorn grow old and wither without her, but for Elrond -- to watch a beloved daughter do the same? how could she ask him to linger here? she knew in her mind what was the right choice.

but her heart was not ready to say goodbye to him yet. after her mother's departure from middle earth, he had raised her; she had filled Celebrian's shoes. but now he had a chance to be reunited with her again. ]

Ada. [ gently, she stroked his hair, breathing in deeply, seeking to control herself. ] I will .. try and make you proud.

[tiriel]

[ He did not want to make her suffer more than she should over that which would come naturally some day. ]

You already have. You are stronger than you know.

[ And he hoped that she would remember it. ]

[undomiels]

[ ordinarily, his departure for Valinor would not be the cause of so many tears or so much pain .. but so suddenly - even though they had time here, the inevitability of the departure struck her as too cruel. ]

I was raised well.

[tiriel]

It is more than that.

[ Even if what she speaks is true, he would have her value her strength of character above all. It is that which will carry her in the years after he has parted, and the strength she will find in the loved ones that will stay with her. ]

You mustn't forget. We draw strength from many places. From our upbringing, from our loved ones... but most importantly, from within. Even when all other strength fails you, you must not forget that which was always there.

[undomiels]

[ but, atar, how can she not consider her strength of character to be something that was taught to her by him? something that she inherited from the strength of her family, from the lore that taught her that she was not from a line of weak, meandering people? ]

I will try, atar. Without you to remind me, I fear I might fail.