It
isn’t easy leaving behind someone who you love. It is true that Aragorn
is a fine man, and I want nothing more than for you to be happy. Yet I
do wish you would decide to go to Valinor.
"Father?" Arwen walked into the room.
"Yes?" Elrond asked, looking into her eyes. He knew her true love lay in the man whom she was soon to marry.
"I hope you understand my decision," Arwen took his hand in hers.
Elrond nodded. Yes, he understood, but that
did not mean he was happy. When the time came for him to leave, how
would be able to leave his daughter behind?
A marriage to Aragorn meant she would be
giving up her immortality...how could he leave her, knowing that she
would someday die, just like all mortals? He loved her. Yet, after
leaving, he would never see her again. His only daughter.
He knew Aragorn would take care of her, but
there are some things only a father can provide. A man’s love could add
to a father’s love, but it could not entirely replace it. Of course,
she would still have his love, but there were other things in which
only he could give her.
If she accompanied him to Valinor, she would
have life. She would possibly be a little happy, but she wouldn’t be
whole. Her heart would remain here, in Middle Earth . . . in Gondor.
"I am happy," Arwen told him. "I am sorry that it must be this way, but I love him so much."
"I know..." Elrond agreed. He once knew the
love which she now felt. It was a love for which one would do anything.
A love beyond all hope. She would give up the eternity of her life for
this mortal, her hearts one desire.
He would miss her. She would be happy.
He may not be able to be with her, but she
would be happy. He found comfort in knowing that, and with that
thought, he would always find peace.
"You shall surely be blessed with happiness all of your days," he told her, as the wedding bells began to ring.
~ The End ~
Two things...
I have no idea if Arwen was his only
daughter. It seems, considering how old he would be, that he would have
more...but I don't know.
Also, "He once knew the love which she now
felt." To have children, he must have once been married, but I don't
know about his wife.
