[piosenniel]

Pio walked toward the Way of Running Waters and then down it toward the King's Square.

She stopped briefly at the Fountains of the South and filled her senses with the sounds and sight of the clear, sweet water of Gondolin as it played in the air and then fell to caress the rock. She drank it in and sought to burn it in her memory.

At the Road of Pomps, she turned left and came at last to Gar Ainion, the Place of the Holy Ones. It was a place of exquisitely simple form and harmony, meant, she knew, to give both comfort and a sense of connectedness with the greater plan of Eru. But where were they now, these Great and Holy Ones who loved the Firstborn? They had abandoned them to evil,she thought bitterly, and would come too late for any comfort.

She passed on then and entered the Square, making her way at last to the great fountain which stood before the Tower of the King. It was the heart of the Square, and the most beautiful and beloved of all the fountains in the city. Natural rock rose high in the air and from it fell many streams of pure water, singing their way down the craggy sides to fill the clear, deep basin at its foot. Pio knelt before it, trailing her fingers in the pool and wept, her tears mingling with the waters in the basin. Passerbys thought her overcome by the beauty of their creation, but it was for them that her tears flowed.

Dry-eyed at last, her mind emptied, she sat and listened to the fountain's song in all it's infinite variations.

And when it had grown dark, and no sound save that of water and the low music of softly played instruments filled the air, she stood up and made her way quickly back to Idril's house.