63 is time to stop

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[Jilly doesn't usually head up to the roof of the castle, but tonight's sky is too beautiful to pass up. She didn't bring her coat, so she's shivering slightly from the night's chill, but she has a mug of hot chocolate to keep her hands warm as she watches the streaks of light raining down from the sky]

It's been a long time since I saw a shooting star. Even back home, it's usually too bright in the city to see them.

...anybody else making wishes, tonight?

Comments

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

Better to ask "who" than "what." They were created by the Valar after the destruction of the Two Trees.

[She pauses for a moment and chuckles.] That means little to you, I am sure. Do you wish for me to explain, or would such talk weary you?

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

I would love to hear.

And this is the condensed version

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

The creator of all we call Ilúvatar, or "All Father," in our tongue. From His mind, it is said, sprang the Valar who are both of Him and not- separate beings and yet a part of Him still. It is they who dwell in the Undying Lands, the ancient Elvenhome, and it is to them that we most often sing our praise and ask for blessings.

One such being is Yavanna, "Giver of fruits," for it is she who cares for all things green and growing. Long ago, she sang into existence the Two Trees, Telperion and Laurelin. Silver was the former and the latter gold. They glowed with a light that was life itself. The sun does not shine as brightly, nor could it give such comfort. They are no more, alas, but a single fruit was saved from each, to be carried across the sky, one by day and one by night. [The sun and the moon. And there you have it.]

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[she listened, enraptured, eyes alight picturing those beautiful trees. They're only in her imagination, but she has too much of a connection to trees and stories back home not to get a hint of the power in this story.

When Galadriel falls quiet, Jilly sighs] Would it ever be possible to grow them back?

[others might take it as a myth or a symbol. To Jilly, there's no reason not to take it as truth]

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

[She shakes her head, a hint of sadness in her eyes] That age of the world is long passed. It died with the First Kinslaying.

[She pauses for a moment, remembering.] There was yet another tree, like unto Telperion but lesser, and its descendent grew once in the courtyards of Minas Tirith. The White Tree of Gondor- it may yet blossom again.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[her brow furrows. Names of the sort of "the First Kinslaying" signaled anything but good.]

It doesn't bloom now?

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

It has not for centuries.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

The...Kinslaying. Is that was stopped it?

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

Nay, the Tree of Gondor is tied to the fate of Kings of Men and the Kinslaying was a sin of the Elves, and long passed at the last flowering.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

Was it just that it was old, then?

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

Mayhaps. Whether it be caused by the diminishment of the line of Isildur or only a symbol of what has come to pass, I cannot say with certainty. It is a matter for Men; they must see to their own fates, for the Eldar will not remain long in Middle-Earth.

Yet I have high hopes that the line will rise again.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

The Eldar...not humans, I take it?

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

[She looks over at Jilly, jerked out of her own contemplation by the question.]

Forgive me, you would not know. It is the name we Elves give ourselves. "People of the stars," it means in our tongue.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

That's beautiful.

...Being here, away from all of that... it must be difficult. [just hearing her talk about her world, Galadriel seemed so tied to the place she'd left behind]

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

[She is, literally. The souls of elves are bound to the land of Arda, which is why they will remain there until the end of the world. But Galadriel will never openly acknowledge how deeply she feels the displacement. It would hardly be gracious of her to speak only of her own woes while others suffer far more greatly.]

I am not alone in harboring a longing for home, surely.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

No, not the only one, but that doesn't make it less real. It's lessened by sharing maybe, but not by comparison.

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

[She smiles, though the expression doesn't quite reach her eyes.] You are wise as you are kind. There is much I miss of my world yet I think I do not suffer here as greatly as some, for there are those here whom I care for deeply and who have come to care for me in turn.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[the denial about wisdom is on the tip of her tongue, but the solemnity of the moment is enough that she lets it slide. Instead, she smiles a little in return] It's one of the boons of being here. We've got some excellent company to be trapped with.

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

[It's just as well she keeps silent, for Galadriel would argue with her. It's a different sort of wisdom than she has, but it's wisdom nonetheless.]

That we do. For all that may be said against this place, it has brought many into my life who have given me great joy. And it gave me the gift of time with my granddaughter. For that I may be grateful.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

You had family here? [she doesn't miss the past tense]

I didn't realize...

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

Not for some time. She was here only a month; it is for the best. I would not have her bound to this place for my sake. Far better that I should bear this burden than for it to fall upon her young shoulders.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

I think we all feel like that. We wouldn't really wish our loved ones into a trap...but that doesn't mean we don't miss them. Or that it doesn't hurt when they're sent away.

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

[She laughs a little] Will you not allow me my small devices of concealment?

I have seen many partings and I will see more yet. I would I could say I have grown accustomed to them, or that they no longer pain me as they once did, but alas, I cannot. I have only become skilled in bearing pain and sorrow.

[A pause] Forgive me, I do not speak of such things often- and with good reason. It is ill for one such as I to show openly all she feels.

[tehoniongirl.livejournal.com]

[even though Galadriel laughs, Jilly is quickly somber] I'm sorry...honestly, you never need to feel like you have to tell me anything.

But...everyone needs to tell their story, sometimes. To someone. Including all the unseemly bits.

[a small smile] Maybe especially the unseemly bits.

[inafadingcrown.livejournal.com]

[She shakes her head] You needn't apologize. You are a gentle heart and more perceptive than most.

But you must understand my position. Since birth, I have been taught the importance of composure. And how much more vital is it now that I rule a land of my own. Many times I have seen my husband off to war, yet never have I wept openly of it. Think of what it would say to my people, many of whom had seen off their own husbands, their sons, to see their Lady despair. Galadriel may weep; the Lady of Lórien may not.

Though I have not the position here, I still feel something of the same. My own feelings are less important than the hope I may offer.