Celeste was given a room to sleep in, Dur of course accompanied his young companion. The two stared at each other in silence for a long while before Celeste finally broke it.
"Dur...I'm not mad. I just want to make sure you're okay. If we should leave then we-"
"No." Dur interrupted quickly, "I okay. I dark with no you. You back. I okay."
Celeste ran and hugged her best friend, "Oh Dur! My mom use to say even if we're not together physically, we're still together, here." She pointed to his chest, "In our hearts."
"I worry. You were bad." Dur held onto his Little Lady as if trying to reassure himself that she was there with him.
"But I'm okay now! Don't worry."
"I sorry."
"I know, and I forgive you." She gave him a kiss on the check with a big smile.
"Lady Harnaril." An elf appeared at the door, not entering to avoid being any closer to the orc, "Lady Galadriel wishes to speak with you...just you."
"Thank you. I'll be right there." Celeste sighed and went to leave but Dur grabbed her hand. She turned with a smile, "I'll be right back! I promise. Wait for me, okay?"
Dur stared at her smile as it was the one thing that lit up his world. He slowly nodded and let her go. Celeste followed the Elf as they guided her around the kingdom in the trees. The elf gestured for her to continue on without them. Celeste was greeted with a soft smile from Galadriel, and she suddenly felt self-conscious. As much as she hated dresses, she felt an urge to put one on. Galadriel radiated elegance and beauty while Celeste felt like a barbarian compared to her.
"Celeste, it is a pleasure to meet you." Galadriel's voice floated through Celeste's head making her flinch slightly, "My apologies. I did not mean to startle you."
"No, I'm okay. It's an honor to meet you Lady Galadriel." Trying to remember her etiquette, Celeste bowed.
"You have been on a long journey and have shown great strength in a fight you did not wish to be apart of. It was your orc companion who convinced you to join the Fellowship, correct?"
"Yes, that's true. But I wish to help Frodo myself now. I still worry for Dur and the affects of the ring on him. He is my family, I don't want to lose him."
"Yes of course. I know you were not always found of Gandalf but losing him could not have been easy-"
"Wait, what? What do you mean we lost Gandalf? Where is he?" Tears filled Celeste's eyes quickly at the thought.
"I am afraid that Gandalf was taken by shadow and fire."
"What? No, you're lying! I dealt with the Balrog! I lost my ability to control fire to protect everyone! Are you saying that was for nothing?! That can't be true!" Celeste argued as angry tears started to pour out of her eyes.
"As I told your companions when they first arrived: Needless were none of the deeds of Gandalf in life. We do not yet know his full purpose."
"He had a purpose in dying? No one has a purpose in dying!"
"What have your parents? Their purpose for dying was to-"
"No! Don't you dare say they died for a purpose! They died for nothing! They let themselves be killed! They left me alone on purpose! They let our kingdom, our people die! Why!? For some ridiculous notion of peace? It was stupid then and it's stupid now!" Forgetting her manners and that this was the ruler of the region she was in, she took off running out of the room. She had no idea where she was running, and the tears in her eyes made it hard to see.
"Celeste?" She heard a voice say as she ran past someone, but she didn't stop. She kept running until she was gasping for breath from both crying too hard and running for so long, "Celeste..." The voice came again. She turned quickly, not realizing the person had run after her.
"Bo-Bor-Boro-" She gasped out as the tears refused to stop. She hated that him of all people were seeing her this vulnerable. He was the one person she wanted to prove that she was strong enough to handle this journey.
"Hey, Hey, it's okay." Boromir reached out and pulled her into a hug, "It's okay." He kept saying as she clung to his shirt and wailed. She had only cried this hard once and it was when Dur brought her back to her kingdom the first time. She only let herself cry that once before refusing to cry again, and now here she was breaking the promise to herself.
"Gan-Gan-Gandalf, my parents-parents, my king-kingdom, what else do I have-have to lose?!" She screamed and Boromir held her tightly, letting the young girl wet his shirt with her tears.
He said nothing other than the occasional "It's okay." and "You're going to be okay." At one point he got on his knees to hold her properly. She cried herself hoarse before finally stopping.
"Celeste?" He whispered softly to make sure that she was done.
"I'm sorr-sorry." She hiccupped while wiping her tears away.
"You have nothing to apologize for."
"Gandalf...is he really dead?"
"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry. Aragorn planned on telling you tonight. Who told you?"
"Galadriel."
"Ah." He held her face and wiped away a couple stray tears, "I wish I had the words to make you feel better, but I am afraid I am not as eloquent as Aragorn."
"Please...no never mind." She went to move away, but Boromir gently grabbed her hands to keep her in front of him.
"What is it Celeste? I wish to help you." He stared at her one ocean blue eye and one orange fire eye. He had no idea the cause of the change but he thought that the orange fit her fiery spirit a lot more. He felt his heart break at the sight of this young girl who was so strong, who risked her life multiple times to save them, just shatter so easily.
"Can you please hold me a little longer?" He nodded and pulled her into another a hug. Still on his knees, she was able to wrap her hands around his neck and she felt safe. Dur hugged Celeste and held her all the time, but she always felt a little self-conscious as he was so much bigger than her. If he squeezed just a little too tight he'd break her in half. Legolas hugged Celeste sometimes, but he did only come around to her kingdom maybe four times a year. It had been a while since she had been hugged and it felt really nice. She sunk into the hug and Boromir continued to hug her until she was the one to back away.
"Thank you." She mumbled, "Please don't tell anyone...They're already worried about me because of what happened."
"I will not. Besides I'll have to keep this a secret until I need you to do something for me." Boromir joked with a small smile, hoping to see her smile.
"So you're gonna blackmail me?" She caught on and did crack a very small smile.
"I wouldn't use that word, sounds evil." She laughed very softly and he smile wider. He was happy that he could make her feel at least a little better.
"Thank you, again." She said as Boromir stood back up.
"Come, we should head back. Dinner should be ready soon, and we leave tomorrow. Are you okay to come with us?"
Celeste nodded, "I am. Don't worry." She smiled and gave him another quick hug, "I can still destroy you with a flick of my wrist."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
YOU ARE READING
An Unlikely Pair *LOTR FanFic*
Fanfiction"If her race was so powerful how come they're all gone?" Boromir questioned as he pointed at young girl. Elrond went to defend the her, but she cut him off by stabbing her knife into the wooden table that was beside her. "My parents wanted peace. Th...
