The Fourth Age

Chapter Fifteen:- Lyra's Goodbye

Chapter Fifteen:- Lyra's Goodbye

(Micro-chapter #2)

Lyra heard a strange noise sound like the prolonged notes of a bagpipe. She looked outside of her bedroom window and with her keen sight she saw Drominur running outside of the palace. He was running swifter than she's ever seen any elf run. When her brother got too small to see, Lyra used her spyglass and finally saw Drominur heading for the cove: still sprinting. She raised her gaze and saw ships. Ships with a royal purple sails and white flags with a blue shell on them. A golden-haired woman dressed in a pirate-like dress leapt from the deck and began swimming towards the shore. She stumbled onto land just as Drominur reached her, so he caught her.

The woman reached up to stroke his cheek and then the two pressed their foreheads together. Lyra smiled. She knew exactly who it was. Another splash made Lyra return her spyglass' gaze to the water surrounding the ship and she saw a young woman also swimming towards the shore. Her hair was also golden, she had Drominur's eyes, and her ears had a slightly-rounded, but definite point. When she reached the land she looked Drominur up and down, smiled, and hugged him. Lyra also smiled and put the spyglass down.

She smiled for her brother, her sister-in-law, and her niece. She also smiled for Frodo. If Brigit came back, then Lyra would most certainly see him again, too.

That night, it was a full moon, so Lyra left her windows thrown open wide and slept. This was the first time she had ever tried to communicate with someone through dreams, so Lyra was surprised that she could even do it. Lyra laid down on her bed and kissed the side of Frodo's whistle. Almost as if my magic, Frodo went to sleep clutching Lyra's pendant the night he fell asleep on the moon washed deck because it was too stuffy inside of the cabin.

In the dream, Frodo was back in Fál'gileath. He was standing on the shore of the cove at night and Lyra was standing next to him. "The night sky is beautiful tonight," Frodo sighed. He turned to Lyra whose face was relaxed with closed eyes. She was little again and tears were streaming steadily out from under her lids, and they shone in the moonlight.

"You miss your mother?" Frodo asked.

"Too many people," Lyra whispered. She didn't want the dream-share to start out like this, but it was really out of her hands. She just couldn't help it, and she was tired of masking her emotions from everyone. Lyra's eyes opened and the silver in her eyes shone. "I miss you, Frodo. I miss you and Eleanor and Faramir. You are my only friends, and I will most certainly never see you again."

"Don't say never," Frodo replied, and wiped the tears from Lyra's face, "My dad and the Gaffer say that best friends are forever and that the love and special moments you treasure know no time, distance, or space." Frodo took her hands. "The heart goes on forever, Lyra. The shores of Valinor still call me, You and I will meet again." Then he hugged her. Lyra's hands were sandwiched between their beating hearts.

Lyra smiled melancholically. "Frodo Gamgee," she said, as if it was the most special name in the world, "You will always be in my heart." She put her hand to Frodo's cheek, and she unmasked her true feelings. "Frodo," she took a deep breath before continuing, "Frodo, you make me feel alive. You make me feel like no other had made me feel before. You taught me to open my heart and you showed me what it was like to feel childhood." Lyra decided to be brave. "I'm not afraid to tell you this, now. You also taught me what it felt like to be truly cared for and what love felt like. You aren't just my first best friend, Frodo. You're my first love." Lyra swallowed and then smiled. "I love you."

Frodo was shocked. Love? Should anybody have beheld Lyra at the moment that she stood looking at Frodo, with a smile playing on her lips, they would have beheld Arwen Undomiel: one who was not afraid to love anymore. Frodo didn't know what to say. He just looked at Lyra, shining in the moon and starlight, smiling and with tears running down her face.

"I couldn't tell you, but I wanted to," Lyra said. She put one of Frodo's hands over her heart. "It beats for you. You will always be here." Lyra put her hand over Frodo's heart. "Will you let me be in yours?"

As if by a force of their own, the hands of the two met from their hearts and their fingers intertwined. Lyra's other hand moved from Frodo's cheek to his hair, which she let her fingers fall through and her hand settled on his arm. Then Lyra did something that she had wanted to do for so long. She kissed her first love, under the light of the Valinor stars.

A blush crept up both of their faces, and they both felt their breathing and felt each other's warmth. Frodo had always shuddered at the thought of being kissed by anyone, but he didn't flinch or pull away at the touch of Lyra's soft, warm, smooth lips against his own chapped ones, although his eyes were open wide with confusion and surprise. Lyra didn't pull away either. All she could think about was how happy she was to be able to finally tell Frodo she loved him and to be able to show it to him with no regrets. Frodo found himself thinking, 'This isn't so bad.' and they put their arms around each other. Their forever intertwined hearts beat rapidly, and the two relaxed.

Frodo's eyes closed slowly and when he opened them up, he was awake. He was lying on the deck with a stiff back and a crick in his neck with both hands holding Lyra's pendant to his lips. His heart was still palpitating rapidly and his mind was racing in a daze. Was that just a dream? Or was it some of Lyra's moon magic? He absent-mindedly gave a small sigh.

"Good morning!" Faramir chirped, and Frodo yelled in surprise.

"Calm down," Ely insisted, much annoyed. She was in the lowest of the ship's rat lines, hanging on with one hand and one foot. "Whatever crazy dream you were having it's over now. Was it a nightmare?"

Frodo looked at the pendant in his hand. "No," he squeaked, his voice an octave higher than usual. He cleared his throat and repeated, "No," and put the necklace around his neck, letting the pendant show this time. "It was just a dream."

"We'll be home in a few days," Faramir noted excitedly. He gave a sly grin. "You'll get to see Lily again." Ely threw a sponge at him.

"Shh!"

Lily...

Frodo grimly gave a nod, walked into the cabin, and sat on his bunk to stare at the wall. He was so confused.

Lyra was looking at the whistle in her hand and focused on her thoughts and what she felt in her heart. "If this is love," she said and stroked the whistle, "Then I'll take it. I'll take the pain, longing, and deprivation. Until we meet again." She ran to her balcony and called out across the sea.

"Frodo," he heard the voice of Lyra say. "We'll always be friends." The last part was added in her younger voice, "Forever and ever."

"Aye," he answered, and Lyra heard it, "Friends forever."

"You'll be in my heart and I'll be waiting until we meet again. Le melin."

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I was originally just going to let Lyra deal with her heartbreak and remorse, but I decided not to. I made her confess her love instead. Yes: it's very obvious that I have 0% experience with romance in writing and real life, so please cut me some slack on this micro-chapter.

Dedicated to my first crush.