Story [Tolkien] Roads Taken & Destinies Embraced. Mira_Jade's NSWFF Fic-Gift.

Title: Roads Taken & Destinies Embraced
by WarmNyota_SweetAyesha
Genre: Introspection & family closeness

Disclaimer: Borrowing for the FF Fic-Gift Exchange.
My recipient is Mira_Jade whose request was:
Tolkien fandom with characters: Galadriel, Celebrían, Arwen
Exclude: There are no limits
Include: *All my favourite ladies bonding and being awesome together
*Preferably a younger Arwen, and a coming of age event
*Galadriel being reminded of Lúthien, already
*If you could include a Glorfindel cameo I could think of nothing better.

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Happy reading.

~~~~~~!!!

Arwen loved the times she was able to visit Lothlorien. Imladris, to be sure, was a haven of delights and serenity, but Lothlorien was even more so. Galadriel was a fount of wisdom and firsthand legends. She never tired of hearing of such things.
Glorfindel was another source of such tales.

"You constantly press me for the whys and wherefores." He teased her when she asked for another recounting on one occasion. "Is it grand adventure you crave?" He winked.

"Oh, no." She answered in all seriousness. "I am merely wondering what my place in history will turn out to be. I want to make wise choices. I do not want to bring tragedy on my family and others by selfish and shortsighted decisions. How will I know what the right choice is? Some say follow your heart, but if your heart is devious and self-absorbed, it will only lead to ruin."

Glorfindel replied, all jocularity put aside: "You have your family and friends as advisers and good examples. You cannot go far wrong if you seek their counsel when a pivotal decision arises."

It was with this conversation in mind that Arwen preoccupied herself during one journey in early spring.

Her mother, Celebrian, was regaling her with tales of her courtship with Elrond.
"We were mutually besotted." She smiled, her clear eyes dancing with mirth and affection.

"When I find my love," Arwen responded, "I have a feeling it will be just the same." She was on the cusp of womanhood, when such reveries became increasingly common.

*******

"I believe it is time for Arwen to be introduced to the Mirror." Galadriel said to Celebrian as the sun sset and dappled the meadows of Lorien in multicolored hues.

Celebrian frowned in thought. "Yes. Perhaps she is ready. She has been contemplating weighty things about the past and future."

When they broached this to Arwen, she was excited and thrilled. It made her feel "all grown up".

Anticipation filled her as she gazed into the cerulean depths of the Mirror of Galadriel.
She saw images of potential paths. A warrior of strength and courage, followed by images of desperate conflicts & eventual triumphs.
"Will this one be for me?" She wondered aloud. "I felt a strange tug when I gazed upon him."

"Nothing is set in stone." Her mother replied. "Circumstances have a way of influencing choices in ways we cannot imagine or predict."

"When Celeborn approached me the first time," Galadriel recalled, "I was not won over swiftly. Every woman's path is different."

Galadriel mused that Arwen's path might very well parallel that of Luthien, whom she resembled in more than one particular. Her incredible loveliness was one such and her love of song another.
It had always struck Galadriel that Luthien's heart and loyalty were unswerving once her choice had been made.
She told this to Celeborn as they floated down the River in the swan-barge.
He gazed upon his wife's astounding beauty, how the starlight seemed to be caught perpetually in her eyes, and her golden tresses rivaled the sun at noontide. "A love once chosen is never regretted if it is the right one." He said with tenderness.

***

It was odd, Arwen recalled many many seasons later, that when she encountered Elessar, she remembered this momentous event in her young womanhood, and felt that strange and inexorable connection.
She decided, though not on a whim, to embrace it.
As it turned out, it was the right path to choose.

++++++++++

 

This is a lovely coming of age story about Arwen! I read LotR a long time ago and I don't really remember much other than the major plot points, and I've never gotten to The Silmarillion so I had to look up a few characters as I went to make sure they were who I thought they were, but I don't know that I really needed to. It was lovely even if you didn't know.

I really enjoyed the mirror and the foreshadowing of what is to come in her life.

 

Loved the image of the pair on the Swan Boat!!Discussing Deep Subjects as long time partners will ... Galadriel was a fount of wisdom and firsthand legends. She never tired of hearing of such things. Nice generational relationships, awwww ...

EAD to mention Silm Love, that epic of ages, which gives a tangible presence of the weight of years and eons when you read it, dang

 

Thanks!!! I loved the story arcs of Luthien/Beren and how it paralleled Arwen/Aragorn Galadriel I think is my favorite era-spanning character along with Gandalf The Silmarillion is definitely epic in scope and gorgeously written, very lyrical.

 

Lovely with the mirror and Arwen seeing her path. The Silmarillion is such a vast source of lovely tales

 

This is so true!!! I do believe Arwen must've had discussions with family etc. about past choices and future ones.