Written for the JFA December 2008 Holiday Challenge

Many thanks to my betas:  Istarnie and Dana

Disclaimer: I borrowed from Tolkien to play for a while and he gets back what I borrowed.

********************************************

The lone figure stood motionless in the driving wind, golden hair playing about broad shoulders sodden with snow. For hours he had remained thus, despite her attempts at luring him inside the tiny cozy house.

"My love," she called as she approached, her cloak drawn tightly about her. "You must come in now. Even elves of Valinor have a limit on how long they can handle the blistering cold."

"I crossed the Grinding Ice in the dark before Day," he quietly replied without turning toward her. 

"I know," she replied. "But you were not recovering from injuries and you were made of different stuff so newly come from Valinor."

Tentatively she reached out and placed her hand on his arm. Without a word, he grasped her hand and drew her close into the folds of his own cloak. Quietly he rested his chin on the top of her head. She nuzzled closer to his chest, reveling in his scent and the warmth of his body pressed against hers.

"You long to return to them." It was a statement of fact, not a question for she knew him well.

"I am sworn. It is my duty and I love them. I have to go back. I have no choice." But his words lacked the conviction they usually held.

Slipping her fingers inside of his shirt, she tenderly probed the bandages binding his shoulder and side. He gasped audibly, flinching as she brushed over his wounds.

With a resigned sigh, she looked up into his eyes and asked, "Glorfindel, why were you out alone and why did you seek me out?"

He was silent for a time, breathing shallowly until his pain subsided.  Sheepishly, he met her steady demanding gaze. "I needed to be alone. I...I needed time to think," he finally confessed. "And I was so preoccupied with my thoughts that I did not notice the wolves until they were upon me. I came to you because you happened to be nearby." 

She eyed him doubtfully. "I dwell many miles from the Last Homely House. I find it interesting that you just happened to be so close by." Busily, she adjusted his shirt and retied the laces at his throat. "You used to happen by often. But not anymore. How long has it been? Two years since you last came to me?"

"Two  years, three months, and six days," he whispered looking away.

She felt herself blush as she pointedly avoided looking at his face. "Yes. I know. I...I did not want you to think I was counting. I was trying not to hope I would ever see you again. And...and I nearly succeeded - until you arrived bleeding and half-conscious on Asfaloth's back."

Stealing a glance, she was pleased to see that his face was flushed, too.

He lifted her chin with his fingers, softly chiding. "I see that grin you seek to hide from me."

"You were a fool."

"A fool for what? For not seeing what lay at my hand? For not coming back for so long? For not realizing sooner how much I love you?" 

"For getting attacked by wolves," she commented dryly.

"Ah, yes. I had almost managed to forget about that until you so thoughtfully stuck your fingers in my wounds." 

"Findarato died from wolf bites."

"He was attacked by werewolves. These most decidedly were not werewolves."

"They still hurt you so very badly," she whispered gravely as she glided her fingers over his bandages once again.  

"It was worth every slathering bite to be with you again. Though, admittedly," he chuckled in embarrassment. "This was not how I had wished to present myself to you."

"Why does it matter how you came to be here this time? In a few days, you will be well and will be leaving me alone again," she stated bitterly as she moved out of his grasp and turned her back to him so he wouldn't see the tears escaping from her eyes.

"I was a fool and a very great one to have left you so many times before. I came back because I realized what I truly wanted and how very alone I am without you." He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. "There is no one else here who understands me like you do, who cares...who remembers what I remember."

She nodded still not looking at him for she did remember those things no one else could or wanted to remember, including his horrible death.

"Mirrien, the orphans you saved and fostered after the destructions of Gondolin and the Havens at Sirion and Eregion are all grown and gone with families of their own." He limped forward, putting his bandaged hands on her arms and turning her to look at him. "So tell me, why do you linger here?"

Wiping at her tears with the cuffs of her sleeves, she raised her eyes to meet his. "I lost you once before, but I stayed to care for those children who were alone for I no longer foresaw having any of my own. And in some way, it… it filled the emptiness your death had left in my heart. I remain…I remain now I guess because, even after all this time, I still have hope," she sniffed.

Stooping a little, he kissed her brow and then the two tears her sleeve missed before he briefly brushed her lips. Lovingly, he pressed his forehead to hers. "I do have to leave when I am healed, but I do not intend to leave alone this time. Without you I will never be well or whole again."  He leaned back a bit to look into her bright grey eyes where the subtle memory of the Two Trees still brightly burned. She had been at his side when the origins of that Light were extinguished forever. Why had he waited so long?

"I was on my way here when I was attacked. I wanted…I hoped to... Mirrien, will you marry me? Would you return to Imladris with me and become my wife?"

She pressed her trembling lips together as tears flowed once again. How long had she yearned to hear those words from him? How many thousands of years had she waited for him to ask? Nodding and stuttering over her simple "Yes," she put her arms around him beneath his cloak as he gingerly drew her close. For a moment she listened to his heart beat, knowing it raced in unison with hers. "I love you so much," she whispered.

He pressed his lips to her hair. "Thank you waiting for me, my love. I am sorry I made you wait so long."

When his mouth met hers again, she relaxed, reveling in his warm embrace. He was worth the wait.