Disclaimer: No profit will be made from these stories. All quotes from the works of J.R.R.Tolkien are reproduced here without the permission of The Tolkien Estate or New Line Cinema. No copyright infringement is intended.

To Cairistiona and Estelcontar: my most grateful thanks for their ongoing encouragement and support.

And thanks to Cairistiona for the beta.

Chapter 36: Elrond

None saw her last meeting with Elrond her father, for they went up into the hills and there spoke long together, and bitter was their parting than should endure beyond the ends of the world.

Many Partings                                                                                  The Return of the King

~oo0oo~

                                                                                       21^st August 3019         Dol Baran

   Tomorrow, my son, we say goodbye. This time it will be forever for there can be no reunion for you and I in the Blessed Realm. I shall not linger long in these lands now that my work here is done. With each day that passes, increasingly I find I yearn only to sail from Middle-earth and seek again my beloved Celebrían who awaits me beyond the Sea. Yet parting from those I must leave behind is a grief almost more than I can bear. Already I feel my heart has been torn asunder by my last farewell to my daughter. I fear this wound will never heal and the torment of my loss shall be mine to endure through all the long Ages yet to come.

   And now, my son, my fractured heart must receive a further blow as the moment fast approaches when I must take my leave of you.

   The hour is late; the sun a red haze behind the White Mountains. As I seek my rest for the night, it is no surprise that our imminent farewell consumes my thoughts. Of course, I have always known that as a mortal man, your time here would be brief; I have never truly learned to accept the swift passing of the lives of Men. Yet the greatest sadness has ever been that your long home lies beyond the reach of the Firstborn.  It is a grief I have borne reluctantly for millennia, ever since my brother chose a different fate from mine. Throughout this Age, I have known, and liked, most of his line. Many of his descendents became good friends and all were valued allies. But sorrow has ever been my unwelcome companion as one by one I lost them all to the Gift. You are the last of my brother’s kin and the very last for whom I shall grieve. Yet our parting tomorrow will lie more heavily upon my heart than any previous farewell to your many forbearers.

   For you, Aragorn, are different.

   Your achievements alone bear testimony to this. That Sauron is defeated is in no small part due to your wisdom and your valour. You have restored the line of kings to Gondor and by this, you renew the dignity of your kindred. But it is not for these feats alone that I say that you are different, great achievements though they are. You, Estel, have been touched by a grace granted to very few and, of all your ancestors, yours has proved the greatest heart. Even when first you came into my life as a small child all those years ago, I sensed that a special light had been kindled within you. Then it was only a small, uncertain flicker that could so easily have been snuffed out and lost forever, yet I did not doubt it had been lit by the hand of Eru himself.

   I remember the day when first you came to Imladris as if it were just a couple of seasons that have passed. You were tired from your journey but I still recall the awe and wonder in your eyes at all you beheld. Even from the first, I bound you to my heart. You embraced your new life completely and enchanted us all with your eager innocence and your generous and loving spirit. All that I gave to you in those early years when you were learning and growing was bestowed freely and willingly and you have rewarded my patience and care many fold. None of your forbearers ever captured my heart as completely as did you.

    And as you grew into manhood, I deemed I saw in you an image of Elendil reborn, such was your nobility and your stature. The many faces you were forced to adopt to deceive the treacherous could not conceal the true nature of the man from those with the eyes to look beyond the disguise.

   Throughout your life, your dedication to your duty has been faultless, though I know how hard and lonely your ways have often been. Yet through all your many trials, you lost neither hope nor humanity, and in all your years of sacrifice and service, you never once allowed your goal to become your master. I never feared the power of the Ring would overcome you; so great now is your wisdom and yet slim remains your pride. And even as your long road neared its end, you did not falter. Without thought of your own ends, you would have accompanied Frodo into Mordor, even at the abandonment of all your hopes and dreams. And when the Crown of Gondor was finally within your grasp, still you did not waver in your duty, but rode with little hope to the Black Gate and that dreadful final battle.

   For sure the spirit of Lúthien waxes strong in you, my son.

   And now you have all you have ever desired. None could be more deserving and I rejoice that you shall live to enjoy the peace that you fought so hard and long to win. But for all the trappings and fineries of your new station, I know there has only ever been one treasure for which your heart truly yearned: my Evenstar.

   Oh Aragorn, I can not pretend this has been easy to accept. Perhaps I knew, even before you arrived in our lives that such would be her fate. Why else did none of us speak of her in your presence whilst you were a child? Had she not returned to Imladris when she did, your paths may not have crossed for many years. Perhaps then her fate would have been otherwise; but so too might yours. And so it is that even though the torment of parting from my daughter will burn inside me forever, I can not find it in my heart to wish that your union had never been.

   The joy you have brought to my beloved Arwen is clear for all to see and I rejoice at the happiness you have found together. My heart overflows to behold you thus, even as I grieve for the swift passing of your years. But more importantly, I know that from the short time you enjoy on this earth, fruit shall come forth that will endure down the Ages of Men, eclipsing and surpassing even the long Ages of the Eldar and yet providing a living memorial to their time in Middle-earth.

    From that I take great comfort.

    And please forgive me if it seemed to you at times that I used your love for Arwen as a lure to hold you to your destiny. I confess that this was partly so and, cruel though it may have seemed, I am quite certain that the desire that has always driven you onwards, played its part in our victory. But understand, my son, I acted out of love for you both for only now can you truly make the life together that you so deserve.

   I shall leave then in your care, Estel, my most precious jewel and I trust that you will cherish and adore her all the days of your life together.

   Tomorrow, I shall take my leave of the King of the West. You will make a great king, Aragorn, both wise and just; a man your people will respect and love. In your skilled hands the scars of these war weary lands will be healed. And my heart rejoices that your people will at last emerge from the Shadows and may they now once again be hailed the Kings of Men.

   And then I shall take leave of my son. I shall wrap you in my embrace and hold you to me one last time. I shall wish you great joy and happiness and hope your life may be long and blessed. But this parting, I know, will break my heart for you are as dear to me as any child of my flesh.

   Finally my Estel, I shall bid you farewell. And perhaps, bitter though this separation might be, by the will of Eru, we may yet all meet again at the ending of the World.

~oo0oo~

    I do not look forward to the morrow. Amid all the newfound joy in my life, I have long known this day would come and it saddens me more than I can find the words to say. Tomorrow, I must part from so many of my friends, most of whom I may never see again. But of all the painful separations to be endured, I shall feel none more keenly than my last farewell to you, my father.

    The hobbits at least, I hope, will pass this way again some day and we shall remain good friends throughout our lives. I wish them all great joy and long life in their beloved Shire. Eru knows they have earned it.  Frodo’s fate though is less certain. You have confided in me that you doubt his wound will ever truly heal and I am greatly grieved by this news. If any deserve to enjoy the peaceful days ahead, it is he.

    And for all the joy of our victory and the defeat of Sauron, my heart grieves at the departure of the Firstborn. Middle-earth shall ever be the poorer for your sailing. The Ages yet to come will not recall the wonder of your fair and timeless faces nor the beauty of your lyrical voices. I have so many friends among the Eldar to whom I must bid farewell tomorrow. Many from Lothlórien will sail with Galadriel and how many more, I wonder, will depart from Imladris. Too few, I fear, will remain without their lord. It is my hope that your sons might linger a while yet. Selfish this is of me, yes, as I know how much it will ease Arwen’s heart to have her brothers remain a little longer.

   Ah, Arwen. Of all the innumerable reasons I have to extend my gratitude to you, the hand of your daughter is the one for which I am most thankful even though, for so many years, our love has long cast and impenetrable shadow between us.

   But I get ahead of myself, though I hardly know how I shall begin to express all that I would.

    I probably owe you my very existence. Not only did you generously provide sanctuary for me in my tender years, but had you not fostered all my kin this last millennia, the line of kings would surely have perished long ago. Bereft of leadership and hope, my people would have long since become nothing more than a memory, their distant days of glory remembered only by their allies in Imladris. And without their guardianship, all the valour of the little folk would have been vain.

   For that I thank you.

  But you not only took me into your house and fed and clothed me - you also welcomed me into your heart and as a father you have always been to me. With the greatest skill and care, you raised me every bit as lovingly as I know Arathorn would have done had he lived to do so. And when my travels would bring me once again to your door, unfailingly have you provided a welcome haven and comforting arms for my weary and lonely heart. You taught me so much and it is in no small part due to your guidance that I grew into a man with the confidence and the wisdom to travel the tortuous distance on the long and uncertain road that brought me to my destiny.

   For that I love you.

  And as if all that were not enough, you then gave to me the greatest gift I could ask of any man and at great cost to yourself. Receiving the hand of your daughter in marriage has brought me the greatest joy I could ever know and yet bitter has been the price that you have paid for my happiness.

   For that I grieve for you.

   I take some comfort though in knowing you do not depart these shores alone. Most of all I am glad that Gandalf leaves for the Blessed Realm with you. Oh, how I shall miss him too. I have been amazingly blessed throughout my life to have the guidance and love of some extraordinary beings. I shall greatly feel the loss of you both in the years ahead. But I am not without allies in my new life. Henceforth, I must work with Men for the enhancement of Middle-earth, though it will become but a pale shadow of the land where the Eldar graced it with their presence.

   Be assured though, my father, I will care for the Evenstar all the days of my life. Together we shall raise fine children, though it fills us both with great sadness that you will not be here to watch them grow. May it be a comfort to you that, through them, the lines of both Earendil’s sons will long remain in Middle-earth and so may you still have a hand in the shaping of these lands in the Ages yet to come.

   And in your new life, it is my greatest wish that you may find the peace with your own beloved which you forsook for so long while you nurtured and protected your brother’s line. I only pray I shall prove worthy of your selflessness.

   I have but a small gift, a mere token, to give to you after all the many gifts you have bestowed upon me. When you come to Mithlond, ask Círdan for the Palantír that rests in the tall tower at Emyn Beraid. Take it with you to Tol Eressëa and use it as you will to glimpse again the land than has been your home for so long. And as you do so, remember your kin, whose blood flows in your veins and who dwell here still. Be proud, Adar, of the many sacrifices you have made for us all and know that as long as the House of Telcontar endures, you will never be forgotten.

~oo0oo~

   With that they parted, and it was then the time of sunset; and when after a while they turned and looked back, they saw the King of the West sitting upon his horse with his knights all about him; and the falling Sun shone upon them and made all their harness to gleam like red gold, and the white mantle of Aragorn was turned to a flame.

Many Partings                                                                                  The Return of the King