Title: Farewells

Author: Soledad

Disclaimer: All places and persons belong to Professor Tolkien whom I greatly admire. This was written for the simple joy of writing. No copyright infringement intended, no money made.

Rating: General, suitable for all.

Series: Starlight on Leaves

Archiving: my website and Edhellond. Everyone else: please, ask first.

Summary: Celebwen, Thranduil's daughter succumbs to the Sea-longing.  Double-and-a-half-drabble, 270 words.

Dedication: to Karri, my fellow Thranduil champion, for Edhellond's 5th anniversary.

Beta read by JastaElf, thanks!

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Her father returned from the long war as the new King of their people - fatherless and bereft of his three older sons. Two third of the Silvan archers who had followed Oropher to the war did not return, either. They were dead, gone to the Halls, their broken bodies lying upon the abandoned battlefield. Lasgalen, the Tree City of King Oropher, was empty and without song... like a tomb. Her father, the new King, did not want to live there any longer; he made preparations to move the kingdom further to the North. There they would build a fortress where his people and his family - what was still left of them - would be safe.

Celebwen knew it would sadden her father even more, but she also knew she could not go with them and live under the earth like a Dwarf. The pull of the Sea was getting stronger, and her strength to resist was waning. She needed to be closer to the Sea if she wanted to resist the Call a little longer.

She was welcomed in Mithlond by the people of Círdan the Shipwright, and her heart found some semblance of peace. But not even the never-ending murmurs of the waves could make her forget the grief upon her father's face; she often wished she could go back, at least for a short visit. Yet the Sea did not loosen its hold on her heart, now that it had her close. All she could hope for was a chance to speak her final farewells ere she boarded a ship to the Blessed Land, wearied by the turmoils of Arda.

~The End~