"The sun is up, the sky is blue/It's beautiful and so are you." --The Beatles, Dear Prudence

Elrond had not adjusted to moving about on a boat, and was thoroughly pleased to be once again on solid ground. He disliked falling with every step he took, and suffering The Lady's mirthful glances and occasional chortles. Frodo and Bilbo had gotten on well enough, being larger of foot and closer to the ground, and in some uncanny manner The Lady had maintained a steady glide throughout the trip. Elrond, however, had managed nothing but a spectacular array of bruises.

For many years Elrond had meditated on Valinor, wondering. He had considered what it would be like to walk upon the sandy seashores. He had wondered what the realm would look like, and what it would smell like, and if the air would be crisp in autumn and stuffy in summer, and if there were truly herds of white deer running as thickly as the quaint mountain streams. He had wondered, when he allowed himself, if Celebrían would be there to greet him when he first arrived or if he would have to seek her out, and if she would look different, and if her wounds would be healed, and if she would smile again. All of these things Lord Elrond had wondered about, but not an answer had he been able to find.

Now he breathed deeply, and knew that the evening air in Valinor was quite refreshing, and he caught a glimmer of movement out of the corner of his eye, and saw a herd of white deer dash away, as thick as a mountain stream. The place was so amazing; Elrond had trouble realizing that he was truly awake and that it was real. He stood with his mouth gaping and smiling, blissful. Before he could quite get his mind around the fact that he was truly in the Undying Realms, he heard a shout from up he beach. "Peredhil! Nana! Peredhil! Nana!"

Celebrían was not as beautiful as she had been the last time Elrond saw her: she had grown considerably more so. He turned, startled, to see her running towards him, blonde locks streaming out behind her, blue eyes shining so happily. She was clad in a shift of white with sandals on her feet, and sand flew up with every step she took. Her happiness was so clear that Elrond felt his smile widen, and his breath catch in his throat. At once she reached him, pushing through the crowds of others that had come earlier. "Excuse me," Celebrían said, employing her elbows as she ducked through the drove, "pardon me." At once she found herself standing before two of the people that had mattered more to her than any else in all of her life. For a moment she stood, disheveled and panting, as if torn between two options, then slammed forward and hugged them both at once.

Elrond and Galadriel reacted quite similarly, gasping, then awkwardly returning her hug. Celebrían drew away, and she said, "Oh, it is so wonderful to see you again at last! I am sorry, but I was unable to decide whom I ought to embrace first. It is so wonderful to see you both again!" she repeated, giddy, then hugged them each individually. "I trust your journey went well?"

"Yes, child, and thank you. It is wonderful to see you again, also," said Lady Galadriel, always aware of decorum. She drew her daughter into a third embrace, then released her, saying, "I have a few matters to attend to, and Lord Elrond has. . .many things to say to you." As she said this, Celebrían looked to her in an almost desperately questioning manner. "Do not worry, child, for we are again together, and this will not be changing in the foreseeable future."

"Of course, Nana," replied Celebrían, then gave her mother another hug and watched Galadriel walk towards the community. Only when her mother was out of sight did Celebrían turn again to Elrond and, taking his hand in hers, say, "Come, Peredhil. Will you walk with me along the beach?" He did not reply but meant to say yes, and they slipped away together.

The sun set and the sky darkened. The two Elves walked slowly along the beach, their fingers intertwined. They had left their shoes at a memorable place a while back, and would retrieve them upon their return. "I am sorry I did not come to greet you earlier, or more appropriately dressed," Celebrían said at last. "Word reaches these lands about many goings-on of Middle-earth, and of course I was counting the seconds until your arrival, when a friend sought me to ask if I might assist her with some thing, and she suggested perhaps I should have a bath, as a matter of propriety, and, well, the next thing I knew word reached me that the ship had indeed arrived, and there I was in my underthings without shoes on or hair brushed. . .I was so ecstatic I came as I was." She laughed. "I hope you do not mind terribly."

"Of course I do not," Elrond replied, though it had bothered him in slight.

"It is sweet of you to say," Celebrían said. "It is amazing how much gossip you hear in these lands, but nearly everyone has someone they knew and wonder about back in Middle-earth. I heard every word I could about you. What was this chatter about you and a mortal child?"

"Oh! Estel," Elrond replied, a tinge of sorrow in his voice. "Arathorn, the thirty-eighth heir of Isildur, was slain when his son was but two years old. Gilraen his wife sought to protect her child. . .and so she brought him to me. The child needed a home, and came to see Imladris as just that. For his own safety his identity was hidden; the Enemy was growing ever stronger. We called him Estel, Hope, because that was what he was. In his time he grew into the truth of his identity, won renown in battle and was partially responsible for the overthrown of the Dark Lord."

Celebrían watched her husband's face as the walked, then paused and turned his face to her. "He called you Ada," she said. "I can see it in your eyes." Then she kissed him lovingly. As soon as she had drawn away from him they continued walking. There had been in that kiss everything Celebrían had wanted: love, tenderness, devotion. "I must ask, Elrond. . .I must ask you, what of my children?" It was difficult for her to say this, fearing the answer, and so she stammered at first, scraped together her courage and blurted it out. For moments more Elrond walked in silence, and Celebrían looked to him, but said nothing. When at last he spoke, she clung to his every word.

"Arwen. . .fell in love with a mortal. Despite my efforts to keep them apart they would not relent, and at last they were married. I gave her my blessing and wished her luck, and shortly before departing those shores I saw her again. She was happy and her beauty had not in the least diminished, and there was a baby boy in her arms."

"Oh." Celebrían watched the sand rise as she kicked at it, continuing onwards at a leisurely pace. "I suppose it is well, if she truly loved him. She was sensible, and would not have pledged herself to him if she did not. No, it is for the best that she live out a happy few days." Accepting the shocking fate of her daughter was not easy for Celebrían, but she trusted the girl well enough. Arwen would not have made the wrong choice, for indeed there was no choice for her: there was only her heart. If she was guided to stay for this man, she must truly have loved him. "And what of the boys?"

"The boys. . .were uncertain, when the ship left," Elrond replied, choking down his own grief. "They insisted on staying, at least until Arwen. . ." he could not say it. "Until Arwen was all right on her own."

"Hm." Celebrían nodded. In one blow she had lost all of her children. Tears streaked down her cheeks and she did not try to stop them, but fell to the sand, sobbing. Elrond caught her, crying her name, and lowered her gently to the ground, then sat beside her and held her for a long time, rubbing her shoulder to comfort her. Many minutes passed before she was still again, and cleaned her face roughly with the back of her wrist. "Here, use this," said Elrond, and produced a kerchief from his pocket, giving it to her. "Are you all right now?" With a sniff and a nod she replied, and Elrond helped her to her feet.

For a long time the two walked in silence, returning to the small community in which they would live. Illumination fell from the silver orb, roundly full and surprisingly near in the heavens above. The sky was inky above them and glittered with stars. The ocean was sable beside them, and lapped against the sand with a musical rhythm to it. Wind whistled audibly, though differently than ever Elrond had heard it before. Not a nightbird cried nor a cricket chirped to break the stillness, and two Elves walked silently along the beach.

"Celebrían," said Elrond when the lights of the community were twinkling nearby, but the sound of it was only a whisper upon the air. The water filled the silence as he paused. "Forgive me if I interrupt your meditations, but all this evening I watched the sky, and I did not once see my sire."

Celebrían turned to her husband with a coy look upon her face, her grief hidden wholly within her, and she smiled. Again she leaned up on her toes to caress his face and kiss him. She pulled away from him and patted his cheek, then said, "And do you not think, my love, that there may be a reason for that?"

Elrond felt his jaw drop. "Do you mean. . .truly, Celebrían? Is it truly so?" he gaped.

She only smiled at him. "Come, Peredhil. We are both long over-due for a word with our elders, I think. I will race you to the settlement." Before he could agree or disagree she was off running, sand flying up at her heels and the silver notes of her laughter hanging in the wind.

~*End*~

Just to clarify: the story of Eärendil, to my understanding, was that he sailed across the morning and evening sky and was as a star, but this was only until. Until what I am uncertain, but that was my understanding and interpretation of the story. Eärendil was the father of Elrond, and Celebrían speaks at the end of the story implying that Eärendil no longer sails the night sky because he has found peace and is in he Undying Lands.

Celebrían I portrayed as very youthful purposefully, it was as though the Undying Lands had rejuvenated her. Also, she was very happy.