Celebrían left for Aman well before Aragorn was ever born and long before Arwen ever made the Choice of Mortality.
Imagine Elrond, stepping off the ship from Middle Earth, delighted to see his wife again. They embrace, enough tears falling to drown their sorrow beneath their joy.
Once they have returned to the home she has built for her family, she asks him please, please tell me about my children, tell me of all the wondrous things they have done.
So he tells her about Elladan and Elrohir, their part in the War, their dedication to the Rangers, the kind elves they have grown to become.
When their conversation turns to Arwen, he speaks of little Estel, the boy they had taken into their home, the love that had grown between them, the world they had created for each other. Then he pauses and reaches into the wooden trunk he has brought from Rivendell.
There is a portrait, the paint still bright and vivid, of a dark-haired man with a kind gaze and a crown of silver. Beside him, Arwen stands with an ornate circlet resting on her brow. Both of their faces are aglow with happiness, lips curled with mirth.
Between them is a young boy with silver eyes that look so much like Elrond's and she knows the words that he is about to say.
But knowing does not make them ache any less.
She is not coming, Celebrían. She is not coming and I am sorry.
It seemed their family was always doomed to have one soul sundered from the others.
Eärendil from Elwing, Elros from Elrond, Celebrían from her children, Arwen from her family.
Crumpled into her husband's arms, she has only one question:
Elrond smiles faintly and runs a gentle hand over her silver hair.
Oh my darling, they are in bliss. They remind me of you and I so long ago. In love so deep that not even Ulmo could pull them from its waters.
She sighs and presses a kiss to his neck, perhaps we could find that love between us again. It has been hidden for too long.
His soft laugh, tingled by bittersweet memories, makes her own heart soar.
Two pairs of lovers, separated by an ocean and time, each begin a new life together.
izzy806
prguitarman
dededos
theartofmadeline
snowghoul
