The Lady of Rivendell

Chapter 32

It felt like Allora's heart was being cleaved in two the day they left for Rivendell, the day she knew she would never see Arwen again for they were to board the very last boat and join the rest of their kin in the Undying Lands.

Lord Elrond hid it well, but even he was emotional at saying goodbye to his firstborn. But they did so knowing that Arwen would love them until the end of her days, and they would love her until the end of time when days came to an end.

For now, though, Allora stood in a pale peach-coloured dress that was the exact colour of the sky as the sun set, an intricate golden crown on her brow as her hair flowed freely, not a single braid in her hair as she stood at the harbour. Her fingers were curled around Legolas' hand as he held it in the air and they awaited the last few members of their group.

The four Hobbits, Gandalf and Frodo's uncle, Bilbo Baggins, had finally arrived as they gazed upon the darling ship that sat on the water, prepared to sail. A single board of wood was the only thing allowing access on and off Middle-Earth as the sun began to sink towards the horizon.

"Well, here's a sight I have never seen before," Bilbo rasped weakly as he beheld the two Elves who were accompanied by Lord Elrond, Galadriel and her husband.

Bilbo bowed his head to the five of them who returned the gesture.

"The power of the Three Rings is ended," Galadriel said, referring to the Rings that the Elves were given back when they were first forged. Their time was up, at least in these lands. "The time has come for the dominion of men."

"The sea calls us home," Lord Elrond said in Elvish as he spread his arms and Bilbo smiled.

"I think I'm quite ready for another adventure," he said as he surged forward with added strength, his cane tapping on the stone dock as Elrond placed a hand on the shoulder of the elderly Hobbit and helped him onboard the ship.

Galadriel gave them a smile before she and her husband followed, and where they thought that Allora and Legolas would follow them next, the couple still held their hands together as they approached the Hobbits.

"Are you truly leaving, Your Highness?" Samwise asked and Allora gave him a pointed grin. "Allora," he corrected with a sheepish smile.

"Indeed, we are. My folk do not belong in the Age of Men. It is time for us to go," she said, for now, leaving didn't seem quite so bad.

"Where will you go?" Pippin wondered.

"Where one adventure ends, another begins," Legolas spoke and Allora's smile was as bright as the sun setting behind her.

"My love is correct. Adventure waits for us beyond the horizon. Not just of settling into our new home, but now I have to settle into my new role as my father's heir."

The Hobbits chuckled and even Legolas smiled at the thought of someone as energetic as Allora sitting through council meeting after council meeting. But they knew she could do it, especially for the people she cared about.

"Live well, dear Hobbits," Allora said. "It has been an honour to fight alongside beings as brave as you, to have been in this fellowship with you all. I know that in your hands, Middle-Earth shall be safe."

"Perhaps one day, we shall see each other again," Legolas proposed.

"But until that day," Allora said as she sank into a curtsey and Legolas bowed. "Farewell, Frodo, Pippin, Merry and Sam."

The Hobbits bowed in return. "Farewell," they chorused as the couple turned around, Legolas mindful of Allora's skirt train as the cloak that was wrapped around him blew with the wind and they made for the ship.

"Farewell, my brave Hobbits," Gandalf said as he leaned on his staff. "My work is now finished. Here at least, on the shores of the sea, comes the end of our fellowship. I will not say do not weep, for not all tears are an evil."

And Gandalf began to follow the future rulers of the Woodland folk as they made it to the gangplank and turned back to the Hobbits.

"It is time Frodo," Gandalf spoke and all his friends turned to him.

"What does he mean?" Sam asked worriedly.

"We set out to save the Shire, Sam. And it has been saved. But not for me," Frodo answered as he faced his crying friend.

"You don't mean that," Samwise sobbed. "You can't leave."

Frodo simply handed him a leather-bound book. "The last pages are for you, Sam," he explained.

And Frodo hugged all his Hobbit friends, friends that had risked their lives for him, fought with him, fought for him, trusted him, believed in him and loved him. And now he was leaving them.

Frodo pressed a kiss to a sobbing Sam's forehead before he made his way towards the boat. And Gandalf reached out his hand as Frodo took it and was escorted onto the boat, giving his friends one last smile goodbye.

And as for Allora, she took one last look at Rivendell, the place that had been her home for thousands of years and the place that would always be her home.

"Are you ready?" Legolas asked as he watched her, as he simply held her hand and let her take the support she needed.

Her gaze returned to his eyes, to the eyes of her best friend who had been by her side for an ages time, who knew her heart in ways that even she did not yet understand. She looked at the person whom she realised that she could not live without, the person she would gladly take on any challenge with, the person she would gladly, happily and whole-heartedly spend the rest of her immortal life with.

"For anything, so long as it is with you."

And Legolas beamed at her before he captured her lips in Middle Earth one final time.

And they were nothing but smiles as Legolas took both her hands and walked backwards across the gangplank, making sure that she didn't fall as she grinned at his silliness.

He helped her down, assuring that her skirts were all on the ship before one of the servants moved the gangplank and the ship began to move.

Together, they stood at the prow, Legolas with his arm around Allora and vice versa as they sailed towards the sunset that still shone on them.

For though they sailed through many nights on this long journey, the day would come when the sun would rise, when the dawn would come and hope would shine down on them as they reached their new homeland.

For the day would come when their lives in Middle Earth would finally be put to bed as their new adventure finally begun, their first adventure of many together, and the first adventure of the rest of their lives.