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Reunion by Larner	9 Review(s)
Linda Hoyland	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 7/25/2006
This was just so beautiful and moving.Frodo and Sam must have been so delighted to see their loved ones again.A very uplifting chapter. I hope your computer problems are soon solved.You are much missed. Author Reply: No, not solved yet. And am glad you like the epilogue and find it uplifting. If I can ever get anything back on an even keel I think I'll fall over from lack of adrenaline. I've lived through nothing but crises for weeks, it feels like. Never become a landlord--I don't think it's worth it.

Lindelea	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 7/25/2006
Wonderful! I love the sense of timelessness, and of no need to hurry anywhere, and of course I love the Feast! To answer your previous reply to my review of the Author's notes, I differ slightly in how I see Tol E. (can't remember how to spell it). After all, it has been changed so that there is no more a straight "road" to get there; a regular ship would never find it. I forget what JRRT called it. It is, however, separated from M-e, and Mandos, if I remember right, is on the far side of the Island. And then the land of the Valar beyond? Don't remember, exactly, but that is the dim remembering that I have, without looking it up. And so, with that separation of sorts, it makes sense to me that the same sense of timelessness would be found over the whole island, and not just where the departed spirits were to be found. Not even that time runs differently there, perhaps, but may only be experienced differently. Time is such a strange and fluid concept. Hours can fly by (goodness, years can fly by!), or they can creep, and in a crisis it can seem as if the world is moving in slow motion. But I do appreciate your explanation of how you worked things out, and I like the way you've extrapolated (if that is the right word) from JRRT's beliefs to his writings and the world(s) he created. Author Reply: In choosing to keep a sense of time in the Undying Lands I was following through on the obvious time sense of the stories set there in the Silmarillion. Tol Eressea was also once part of the mortal lands, and so I see it as possibly more tied to the time of Middle Earth than perhaps the rest of Aman, allowing Frodo and later Sam to realize their bodies are yet vulnerable to the effects of a flowing of time they cannot truly appreciate, not having been born among the immortals. But this is only one possibility, while yours is another. None can be considered definitive, as Tolkien never set that out. However, once one has made the transition between the created world of Arda, whether in the mortal or immortal lands, and the realm set aside for the departed spirits of mortals where they hope to meet the Creator face to face, then true timelessness would be, I think, to be expected. And you know how much what you and others have written has managed to inspire me, and how I tend to write elements of other people's stories into my own. So glad you appreciated the inclusion of the Feast here, and hope you appreciated the reference to it in The Acceptable Sacrifice as well. I can't see Hobbits being confined to a feast in what they might see as a stuffy hall when there is a garden to set it in, so I see Frodo and Sam not entering in to leave their memories there, but not being allowed to bypass their own places in the Feast. And am so glad you appreciate my explanations of how I come to write what I do. Thank you so for the feedback, and love to the girls and your spouse.

Radbooks	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 7/24/2006
Oh, this was a nice ending, to see Frodo and Sam in the Presence like this. I like the idea of Timelessness - it must be like that. I was thrilled at the end to see Elrond there with Elros, that was a wonderful touch. You just know that the One would not keep his children apart forever. I agreed with Frodo, I, too, would want to hurry on into the garden and into the Presence, I think. Glad to see you back online! I've been worried about you. :) Author Reply: Well, am still having to borrow time on the computer at work to get online at all, but that's neither here nor there. I suspect if I ever run out of crises at the moment I'll die of adrenaline deprivation. It's been one problem after another for months until I begin to wonder if I'll ever have time to myself again. Am so very glad you appreciated this epilogue. Decided to put it here rather than in Moments in Time, and am glad I did in the end. Hope to be back online soon, but am uncertain when at this point. Money is a big problem at the moment.

Kitty	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 7/24/2006
Oh Larner, that was a wonderful addition to the story! I was a bit surprised to see it pop up here again, but this was exact the chapter that I missed before a bit. To see Merry and Pippin, Rosie, their parents and all the others again is another reunion for Sam and Frodo, after all. The concept of timelessness in the Presence in connection with Tolkien's universe I encountered the first time in one of Bodkin's stories, and I always thought it the perfect solution, as men, hobbits and elves could be together. So I am very happy you saw it the same way. It was so wonderful to see them all happy together again! And of course the hobbits had to sit at a feast table - I always thought it had to be exactly that for them :) Another thing I loved was to have Aragorn there, too - I was never entirely happy with his decision not even himself to enter the Shire, as I'd loved to see such a visit. Thank you for this chapter! And I hope your bad luck with computers and all has finally run out!! Author Reply: Am so glad this was exactly what you wanted to see. It's abstract enough I fear it will put off some, but am glad those whose feedback I appreciate most have appreciated it. I, too, felt that in excluding himself from the Shire Aragorn in a way managed to deprive it and himself of much joy. This chapter has been inspired equally by Bodkin, Lindelea, and C.S. Lewis, and I must give credit to all of them. The Feast was most inspired by Lindelea, and the reunions in the presence of so many different races from Arda was definitely inspired by Bodkin, and I'm grateful to both of them. That each race would develop its own hall within the Halls of Mandos (or in its gardens) is my own idea, and is an extrapolation of ideas written into Light on the Way. No, computer bad luck isn't over yet. Am beginning to wonder if it will ever do so. Am SO tired of computer problems.

	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 7/24/2006
Oh, lovely! So much joy and just plain gladness. “First time I saw him as King, there at the Brandywine Bridge, I recognized one who’d ridden through the Shire years earlier on his great horse, leading his Men along the Road, seeking out the quickest way to come against enemies to the west to protect us all. Have you written this story? I'd like to read it! Author Reply: I'd begun writing it, but now the Toshiba laptop's internal power supply where power comes from the adaptor is giving fits. Each time I'm reasonably certain perhaps I'll be able to get back online another glitch hits. Am SO tired of glitches! Am so glad you liked this story.

	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 7/24/2006
They stood at the beginning of the Way. There’d been no need to pause at the Gates, no need to cross even the meadow of flowers both had seen before. Before them stood the wonder of the Halls of Mandos, not that he who’d been Frodo Baggins gave the great edifice more than a cursory look. His attention instead was fixed on the shining path that led through the gardens and beyond to the deeper Gardens--the ones beyond the bounds of Arda. Oh, he was ready now to go there, across the silver bridge. He who’d been Sam looked up at the building, smiling in recognition. We’ve been nearly here before, Master. His fellow turned and looked at him seriously. I’m not your Master, not now, and not here. I’ve not been for decades, even. Let us use the proper term for one another--brother. Brother. Yes, you’re right, as usual. All right, brother it is. Do you wish to go in? Whatever for? Do you feel you need to go in? No, but it might hearten some if they found reminders of us here. He who’d been Frodo gave a snort. Those who know and love us--truly know and love us--will know I, at least, will want to go on. He took a step down the Way through the gardens, and he smiled broadly as the shining form that had awaited them reached out to embrace him at last. Oh, Bilbo, I’m ready to go on--to go on now, and not wait. Of course, my boy. However, you will find that time is an illusion. Nonsense! I’ve waited over sixty years.... Oh, have you, now? But what is sixty years in Arda compared to the eternity you will rejoice in within the Presence? So saying, he who’d been known as Bilbo Baggins but who certainly didn’t look anything like he’d appeared during his lifetime in the Shire and Rivendell and on Tol Eressëa, turned to accompany them along the Way. Such lovely descriptions! I saw in a catalogue once "I've always imagined paradise to be a sort of library" which would fit me very nicely, but a garden would definitely fit hobbits. Love it and of course, the part about brothers and Bilbo being there and Olorin. Very nice! Namarie, God bless, Antane :) Author Reply: Am so very glad, Antane, that you appreciated it. Yes, for Hobbits it would be a delightful feast in a garden! And of course Aragorn and Arwen would be part of it for Frodo's sake. But the greatest gift would be to go further, to find indeed time was an illusion, and that all are reunited as they come together in the presence! And here the brothers and all they love come together at the last!

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 7/24/2006
I don’t wish to stay.... She laughed. “Not stay? But you won’t have to stay! It’s but the memory! And what will the Feast be without your sweet voice adding to the singing and without you joining in the dancing? And how can our Lord Elessar join us without you?” Wonderful, Larner! The concept of timelessness is fascinating. It took me some time (LOL!), though, to understand. We are too much depending on time, it seems. To be everywhere you want to be, at the same moment, because there is no time - that's great! Of course, Frodo Baggins belongs to the Feast. And I hope, there'll be much singing and dancing. After all, they have an eternity to celebrate :) And what Olorin said to Bilbo was a perfect conclusion: Well, my beloved friend, we’ve managed to bring them through. Author Reply: What is time but the defining aspect of this creation. And to be able to be all places at least in memory while rejoicing to enter the Presence with those one loves--the greatest blessing of all! So glad you love the conclusion! Thanks for the feedback.

shirebound	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 7/24/2006
no edicts here save to rejoice How lovely. Author Reply: So very glad you approve, Shirebound. But I think that would be the only edict in such a place and situation, don't you agree? Thanks for the feedback.

harrowcat	Reviewed Chapter: 17 on 7/24/2006
Oh my dear Larner this is so, so perfect! What an ending/timeless beginning. I can hardly see to type. The way that you have handled the timelessness is wonderful. I am speechless! Author Reply: Am so glad you appreciate it, Harrowcat. What would time be like there in the Presence? It's part of why I've written as I have in other stories of the memories of various characters left in the particular halls within Mandos's great House they've had ties to--that they aren't tied to time but there is yet a reflection of it there. But as Frodo did live as a Hobbit of the Shire, I think he truly belongs at the Feast, and am glad of those like Lindelea that have made it part of Hobbit expectations for the afterlife, and hope they appreciate my appropriation of it for this story. Hope that Bodkin appreciates it as well.

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