Posted: November 2003
Title: Of Dreams and Reality
Author: Iamme
Type: FP
Rating: PG-13 for mention of violence and death.
Cast: Elrond
Beta: Alex
Disclaimer: Belongs to the Masters Tolkien and Poe. I only borrowed them.
Summary. J.R.R Tolkien meets Edgar Allen Poe.

******

Oh! that my young life were a lasting dream!
My spirit not awak'ning, till the beam
Of an Eternity should bring the morrow:
Yes! tho' that long dream were of hopeless sorrow,
'Twere better than the dull reality
Of waking life to him whose heart shall be,
And hath been ever, on the chilly earth,
A chaos of deep passion from his birth !

~~

Elrond watched his brother, saying nothing. For what was there to be said truly to one who should not be dying? Elrond closed his eyes, trying to fight back the tears. He had seen to many of them. He remembered being young in body but had to truly search to remember if he had ever been young in spirit.

This would be but another stone to add to the weight he already bore deep inside. He opened his eyes and took his brother’s hand, watching him as he took his last breath. Letting go and slipping away peacefully into the halls of men.

**

But should it be - that dream eternally
Continuing - as dreams have been to me
In my young boyhood - should it thus be given,
'Twere folly still to hope for higher Heaven!
For I have revell'd, when the sun was bright
In the summer sky; in dreamy fields of light,
And left unheedingly my very heart
In climes of mine imagining - apart
From mine own home, with beings that have been
Of mine own thought - what more could I have seen?

~~

The Lord of Imladris sat in the gardens, his wife in his arms, his hands resting on the bulge in her stomach that was his child. A smile graced his features as he watched his sons sparring back and forth, laughing happily. For the first time he could remember, he was truly happy. The pains of the past were slowly fading and when they were around, the weight seemed so much lighter.

Finally a draw was called and he stood, helping his wife to stand leading them all inside to enjoy their time together.

**

'Twas once & only once & the wild hour
From my rememberance shall not pass - some power
Or spell had bound me - 'twas the chilly wind
Came o'er me in the night & left behind
Its image on my spirit, or the moon
Shone on my slumbers in her lofty noon
Too coldly - or the stars - howe'er it was
That dream was as that night wind - let it pass.

~~

Elrond stared down at the fragile elf on his bed. He could hardly recognize her any longer. He felt helpless once again as he had so many times in his life, the helplessness of being able to do nothing but watch as a loved one slipped away. He slowly caressed the hair stained red by her own blood and hesitated before touching the bruised cheek. He could not add to her pain so he turned to her family...his family standing in the door and walked through them and out.

**

I have been happy - tho' but in a dream
I have been happy - & I love the theme -
Dreams! in their vivid colouring of life -
As in that fleeting, shadowy, misty strife
Of semblance with reality which brings
To the delirious eye more lovely things
Of Paradise & Love - & all our own!
Than young Hope in his sunniest hour hath known.

~~
Elrond stood on the beach of Valinor watching the ocean with Ithil's light shining down on it. For just a moment, he closed his eyes letting his mind believe that when he returned home that all would be right. Arwen and the twins would be joking with their mother. Celebrían would be free from her nightmares and Elros would be waiting to go out hunting with him as they had in their youth. For just a moment, Elrond let his dreams lift the weight from his soul, before coming back to reality and heading back towards the sound and lights of home, a home emptier than it should be but not without love or dreams.

THE END