A letter comes for me this morning. I do not often receive any so it is unexpected. My father hands it to me, his face grim but behind his sternness I see something else. I am not sure what it is, so often he is an enigma to me.

"Mail for you Elladan," he says as he hands it over.

The letter itself is plain, the envelope made of heavy, luxurious paper. It is marked only with my name in black ink. I open it with trepidation, something about it seems ominous.

Inside is a single sheet of paper, requesting my presence at the Gardens of Lórien the very next day. No, not requesting, I am left in no doubt it is an order I cannot disobey. It is unsigned.

"Would you like me to accompany you," my father says quietly, "or perhaps your mother would be more suitable, since Elrohir is not here?"

How did he know what was written here?

I look up at him in confusion,

"What is this? Who has sent this? I have no reason to travel to Lórien. I know no-one there."

"No-one?" He asks me, "You can think of no-one you would like to meet there?"

And then the understanding hits me. I drop the letter as if it scalds me. This cannot be happening. So long I have waited for this but now it is upon me I am terrified.

"Why have they asked me?" I cry, "Her family will be there, they will be enough, surely?"

"They have asked the one she most wishes to see. One person only to meet her, more would overwhelm her. You will take her to her family."

I stare at my hands, they are shaking, tomorrow I will see her. Tomorrow she will be here.

...

We stand at the end of the path, my mother and I, which ahead of us winds its way up to the gardens. In the distance the tall white gates block our way at its end. It was my mother I chose to bring me here. She knows her best. She will be familiar.

"Go Elladan," she says gently, "Go and find your happiness."

I turn to look at her and she smiles.

"Mother, I am afraid."

It is a hard confession to make. I should be filled with joy and yet I am frightened. What if she has changed, what if we, together, are different? I know I am.

But she is not surprised by it.

"Of course you are." She replies, "But you will still do this."

She is right, of course. She is so often right. I leave her behind me and start my way down the path.

It seems an age that I am standing there, waiting, in front of the gates which loom overhead. Time is at a standstill and in the end I do not think she will ever come...and yet she does. Slowly they open, ever slowly and I am blinded. The bright light fills my vision and overtakes my world. I can see nothing.

Then as fast as it is there, it is gone and all that is left behind is her.

She stands there, uncertain, all in white, her hair glistening dark, a river of beauty across her shoulders and down her back and I gasp. She is just as I remember her.

She sees me then and calls out my name,

"Elladan!" and she runs towards me. Her voice, oh her voice, how can I have forgotten it? How can I have let go of a sound so lovely as that. It breaks through my inertia and I am running too. I cannot reach her fast enough, is she real? Is this a dream?

And then I am there, I have her in my arms, she is the same, she feels the same, she smells the same, the way our bodies fit together is the same.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," the words tumble out of my mouth over and over. It is all I can say, all I want to say. How many times have I rehearsed this in my head, how many months, years, centuries, have I planned what I would say and this is not it, but all my plans have vanished from my mind. It is all I can say because it is all there is.

I love you.

For she is here,

and nothing else matters.

Authors Note: And that's all folks! Thanks to everyone who has been reading and to Nyx Thranduillion and Nimruzir for your lovely reviews which kept me motivated to get to the end. There is one more last scene in my head I will write as a short one shot if anyone wants to see it...Legolas and his mother of course!

P.s. I posted this and the last chapter in close succession make sure you don't miss the last one!