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Aeärwen's Little Bits - 51. The Final Farewell
The day was young, the breezes warm, and the glade private. The horses grazed close by, enjoying the tall, summer-sweet grass.
All they could do was stare at each other.
All arguments were finished, no need remained to revisit that which could no longer be changed. The dreaded choice had been made, the terms he had laid forth had been met. The deed had been accomplished, already she was... diminished... and yet so much more than she had been before.
Time grew short. He left for Imladris the next day.
But how to tell her goodbye - a goodbye as final as the one he'd never given Elros?
He gazed at her, his beloved Undómiel, whom he had believed would travel with him across the sea in the end. She still loved him dearly - but she loved Estel more.
Estel made her happy - and would give her children. And even though constrained to mortality, through her, the life of the Eldar would never entirely vanish from the face of Arda.
Elrond opened his arms to his daughter, and held her tightly. These final moments together would have to last him into eternity.
No words would mar their farewell.