[Imladris]

Lira finished the song of whose words she had made up on the spur of the moment. It was a foolish song, ill sung, ill worded, yet it was true, in a sense. Weariness washed over her and she realized she had not rested for many hours...she did not count the cat nap she had taken earlier on as "rest." Softly, as the elven lady leaned against her horse, nose and eyes buried in the soft mane, silvery mane, a dream came to her, stepping softly into her and taking possession of her mind.

But why do you wish to leave, Middle-earth?" Lira asked her father and mother softly, gesturing widely about her. They stood in the sun lit land of Ithilien and the birds sang merrily around them, quite oblivious to the distressful child below them.

"It is not as if we were darting away like an arrow to the Valinor," her father protested, patting Merkaliel affectionately. "We'll linger on...first visiting the Old Forest, maybe converse with birds and flowers," he went on lightly, his eyes twinkling. "Then we'll drop by Lothlorien and lament that it's golden beauty will slowly fade away until it, too, will no more exist, and then we'll meander through Mirkwood --"

"Not if I know you, my love," interjected Mother. "He'll probably wander from one end of Mirkwood to the other, and then re-visit his old haunts and Thranduil's realm."

"Liralwen," her father interrupted, calling Lira's mother by her full name, "you will enjoy it just as much as I. After that, we'll drift down towards Imladris and listen to merry elves sing under the stars and hear stories told beside a frolicking fire. The whole trip should take six or seven years, especially if we don't rush through the land. And then we will journey to the Grey Havens and wait for you upon the shores of the Blessed Realm."

"Whilst we're gone, you can stay here in Ithilien, marry, and raise a family," Liralwen suggested.

"Or you could just suddenly change your mind while we are traveling, journey to the Grey Havens and meet us there when we reach the lovely spot," her father said hopefully, nodding earnestly.

Lira stared wretchedly at the ground and watched a butterfly flit from flower to flower before she answered, "I am sorry, father...but I cannot find it in my heart to leave just yet. So much has happened and the darkness has just now departed. It is as if an eternal spring has fallen upon the land. But we shall meet again, father and mother, either upon the shores of the Valinor, or in the Grey Havens," said Lira smiling.

"We'll send word, Lira, when we reach the Havens," said her father.

"Namarie!" they cried to each other before they at last disappeared over the ridge of a hill.

Lira awoke with a start and saw that the moon was yet shining; silver pools dimpled the land around the stable. In the night, cricket bards could be heard chirping their mournful tales. It had been seven years, drawing nigh to eight, since that meeting, and no word had come.

[ August 20, 2003: Message edited by: Imladris ]