All he ever wanted

Two weeks later the ship anchored in the harbor of Valinor. A crowd was awaiting their arrival. Lyra saw many familiar faces in the crowd.

"Tyrian!" She cried happily. She would never forget her brother, no matter how old they were.

Then she saw another face among the elves. This one she knew from her dreams. She knew it instantly.

"Nana?" She asked. "Nana, is that you."

"My daughter, my darling daughter." Cimorene said, rushing forward to embracing Lyra. Then she stood back, studying her. "You do look quite feline. Galadriel was right; you do have a cat like quality about you. My darling Lyra,

you must be pregnant. You have a, well, glow about you."

A tall blonde elf joined them. He studied Lyra for a moment. "Galadriel was right in more than one way. You look like your mother. Except for your green eyes. How your eyes are that green, I do not know. Your mother's eyes are silver with a bit of green and mine are blue. Quite--never mind. I am sorry iel-nin.

Lyra's features showed extreme displeasure. There was a frost in her voice that made Caradhras shiver. "I'm sorry too, Lord Glorfindel, but I cannot forgive you yet. We have many years of tension to get rid of. A hundred and ten years of problems, and it just may take that long to fix them.

"Lyra, be nice." Cimorene said.

"No, nice stayed in Middle Earth. He left me. It is strange to be an elf in a city of men. It was not until Arwen left to visit her brothers did I ever meet another elf. I was 75. For 72 years, I felt so alone. Elladan and Elrohir understood me."

Cimorene stared at Lyra and pursed her lips.

"You are a lot different that I was shown. You seemed like a free sprit. Death changed you, and I do not like it." Lyra stormed off after finishing her rant.

"I do not know where she got her temper." Cimorene said, shaking her head.

"Unfortunately I do." Erestor said as he joined his friends. "I seem to remember a certain elf maiden throw a plate at me in a temper tantrum because I was telling her to eat."

Cimorene blushed a deep crimson. "Never mind that, she has people to meet.

"She does not know she is a princess, so let her enjoy her time alone." Glorfindel said.

A small elfling with raven hair and bright blue eyes ran up to Cimorene and tugged on her gown. "'Na, Cat found a kitty." Lórindol, the youngest of Cimorene's children, said. She was holding up a small black kitten. "Cat an' Eli found it. Can Cat keep it?"

"Aroon, be careful, it might scratch you." Cimorene said. "Where is its naneth?"

"Cat doesn't know. It was by itself."

"Give nana the kitten."

"No! It's mine!"

"I need to make sure it's okay."

Cat (Lórindol) scowled and pouted, but to no avail. Cimorene took the kitten and went inside.

"'Na, can I name it?" Cat asked as she walked with her mother into the house.

"Yes you can name it."

"Cat calls it Dú"

"Dú it is. Now let us go inside.

Glorfindel joined them. He picked up their youngest child and swung her around. Cat shrieked with joy until he stopped. Cimorene watched, a smile playing on her lips. She wanted their family to be happy, to be whole.

Cimorene inspected the kitten to see if it had any injuries or diseases. Upon her inspection, she discovered that it was female. The kitten was fine, no sign of anything at all. She put the kitten on the floor and it tottered out of the room. Cimorene followed Dú out of the room all the way to Cat's room. She let the kitten into the room and it hopped up onto the bed.

Cat squealed in delight when she saw the kitten on her bed. "Cat can keep it?"

"Yes, you can keep the kitten. Now take your nap iel-nin."

Cat got into the bed and wrapped herself in the blankets. "'Na, stay with Cat."

Cimorene sat down, and watched over her daughter until Cat fell asleep.

Cimorene left the room and went to seek Glorfindel. He was nowhere to be found. Cimorene grew frustrated and slammed her fist on a wall. Erestor came out and saw Cimorene staring at a painting of her and Glorfindel on the wall.

"Cimorene, what is wrong?" Erestor questioned when he saw her.

"He's gone; he's always gone when I want him here. Can I still trust him?"

"He would never betray you. He is not Linhir. You and the children mean everything to him. Do not fret because he would never do anything to hurt you." Erestor said soothingly.

Cimorene turned upon him, her eyes blazing. "You don't know how I feel. I hear everyone's thoughts, and none are good. Even you, my best friend, thinks I did what I did not. Glorfindel does not believe me, and it hurts me. Even my own children think I did something I did not. That is what hurts most of all. What good does it do me when Glorfindel vanishes for hours upon end?"

"Cimorene, my friend, you do not understand. Glorfindel cannot bring himself to hurt you. It would cause him too much pain to hurt you in any way."

"So is that why he is doing it slowly? He is distancing himself from me. I feel it. It is as if half of my heart is slowly disappearing. That why I have changed. Lyra noticed, she noticed it at once."

"I am always here for you no matter what." Erestor said and he left the room, leaving Cimorene and her thoughts.