It is all the Professor's.

Thanks to Viv, Anna, Marnie and Finch, without whom this would never have happened.

Amarie stopped in middle of the square of Tirion. The sparkling cascades of the fountian turned oily, the quiet laughter of their falling water muffled without the light of Telperion and Laurelin. The surrounding gardens stripped of color, all now a shade of gray. The riot of blues, reds, yellows and greens extinguished by Ungoliant and Melkor. She stared, eyes unfocused, as she rubbed the silver ring on her finger.

Finrod found her standing by the fountain. Like everything else, she seemed paler, sickly in the dim half-light. Like everything else, she struggled against this new environment, shocked to jer foundation that things could change.

She heard footsteps and looked up to see Finrod, her betrothed. His anxious look confirmed her fears.

Finrod hesitantly approached her. “Amarie, we are soon leaving, your father said you were here.” He gently took her hand. “Why are you not preparing.”

She did not look up to meet his eyes but said, “So you are following on this fool's quest, against the wishes of the Valar?”

Finrod’s eye’s narrowed slightly but remained firm. “Yes, though I do not consider this quest foolish.”

Amarie looked up into Finrod’s eyes, her own brimming with tears. “Tell me, is it for vengeance or the unknown that you leave your home? Not the Noldor, Findarato. You. Why are you leaving?”

Finrod was surprised by the question, she knew him only too well.

He took a deep breath and replied “No, Amarie, it is not vengeance. It is the unknown, the untamed world. Feanaro's words have stirred something inside me. I would see the Silmarilli returned, Morgoth held accountable, but I do not agree with Feanoro’s motives of vengeance and conquest. I do agree that we are stifled here in Valinor, kept eternally adolescent, never to have earned our own way in the world. Though the Valar seek to keep us safe, it is time for us to leave the nest.”

Amarie cast her eyes down again, her body shaking as the tears flowed. “Yet I do not agree with either of you. And I do know you too well, Findarato and I can not compete with your need for discovery. With vengeance, I had a hope, but not the unknown.”

Finrod hesitated. He knew he must ask the question but feared he already knew the answer. “You are not coming with me, are you Amarie?”

She hesitated and Finrod felt a glimmer of hope. But it was dashed when she set her shoulders and looked him directly in the eyes. “No.”

Finrod blinked at her firm response. He expected her response, but hoped it would be otherwise. “You cannot or will not?”

She bore his questioning stare and said, “Both. I will not go against the will of the Valar and cannot leave my family, my home.”

They both stood looking in each other’s eyes, hoping to see the other yield. Almost with physical force, realization hit them at the same moment. They knew their love was not as strong as they supposed, neither was willing to relinquish what they held dearest for the other. Now stripped of its facade, their fledgling bond evaporated.

Finrod let her hand fall away. Amarie slipped the silver ring from her finger and brought up Finrod’s hand, placing the ring he had crafted in it. She looked into his eyes once more, hoping again that what had just passed could be reconciled. But she saw the dying ember in his eyes that was mirrored by hers.

“Remember me fondly.” Without a second look, she turned and walked away.

Finrod watched her form fade into the gloom. “Farewell, Amarie of Valinor.”

*~*

Findarato- Finrod’s name in Quenya