Glorfindel reached to the pillow beside his own as he slowly awakened from reverie. Instead of feeling his mate's silken hair spread there, he encountered an unusual object, resulting in his abrupt return to full awareness. The bed was empty, but Erestor had always been of the habit of rising before dawn. He loved watching the sun come up over the sea that whispered endlessly at the base of the cliff below their home.
Glorfindel smiled at the holly wreath he had found on Erestor's pillow. Holly grew far inland in Valinor and was difficult to come by unless they happened to be traveling or had requested it of someone they knew would be visiting the shore to bring a sprig.

When it arrived, the holly would always be left as a surprise for the other, and always upon his mate's pillow.

They had worn holly in their hair at their midwinter wedding, and through the many years since, it had come to represent their own special language of love, not for any special occasion, but "just because."

This holly was different. It was an entire wreath, such as would be worn as a crown, and the many red berries gave it an especially abundant appearance. The presence of the berries was extraordinary, as it was now only the eve of lairë.

Glorfindel loosely belted a robe about himself before gently gathering up the glossy circle and going in search of his beloved. Expecting to find Erestor on the porch as was his usual habit, he was somewhat surprised when he reached along their bond to find him sitting instead on a huge stone that overhung the cliff's edge. Something about the dark one's posture caused him to immediately discard the twinge of discomfort he still felt at times to be on the edge of high places, and he hurried to join his husband upon his unlikely perch.

The strong breeze that always accompanied false dawn had lifted Erestor's ebony mane and tangled it about him, a cloak that was his only covering. Glorfindel was struck anew with admiration for the dark beauty he had loved for so many ages. Erestor's love was to him each day renewed, and he was humbled at such a blessing.

He was bent over his journal, quill in hand, but at the moment seemed to be merely staring at the lines already written there. Sea spray had made splotches causing the ink to run, a discrepancy that puzzled Glorfindel somewhat. Erestor was never oblivious to anything that had the appearance of untidiness, especially when it concerned the written word.

The golden Elf took a deep breath, concentrating his attention upon his mate instead of what lay beyond the edge of the stone. He sank down behind Erestor, brushing the midnight strands away from his lover's face before quietly pulling him back into his embrace, and laid the holly crown across the pages of the journal to mark the place. This served to veil the writing from his own sight, wordlessly reassuring that he would never read what was written there without invitation.

With Erestor's head leaning back upon his shoulder, Glorfindel had his first view of his husband's profile, and was immediately concerned for the tear streaks he found there.
"Beloved, what is amiss?" He murmured.
Fresh tears started beneath the closed lids, and he felt his mate tremble.
Glorfindel sent love and assurance through their bond, masking his concern and deep frisson of fear over the difference he felt there. Something had changed between them. Whatever it was, he would wait until his mate was ready to speak.

When Erestor at last replied, it was not what Glorfindel had expected to hear, and his voice was barely above a whisper.

"Love, do you think it is possible to have too many blessings?"

"I don't understand, dear heart...what do you mean?" Glorfindel asked softly.

"I keep feeling like I will awake one morning and it will all have been a dream, as if this happiness cannot last," was the reply, its underlying anguish vibrating through Glorfindel's heart.

"Then everything we have suffered through the ages would have been meaningless," he replied, gathering Erestor closer, almost desperately. He refused to follow the thought further, grasping for an answer that would ease the dark one's misery. He couldn't fathom where this despair had come from, the shadow that had been ever-present before their arrival in Valinor should have been long past.

"Why does this trouble you now?" he gently asked when Erestor did not reply, hoping for further clues to his beloved's thoughts.

Erestor leaned forward for the journal, yet not entirely breaking the embrace. He moved the crown to rest on the stone beside them. Glorfindel waited for him to lean back, and adjusted the robe to somewhat cover them both, as his mate had begun to shiver.

The book was placed on Glorfindel's hand, and he realized the blurring he had taken for sea spray was instead where Erestor's tears had marked the pages.

"Do you remember when you returned from Valinor?"

Glorfindel thought back through the ages, suddenly realizing the significance of many things he had not before. Gil-Galad's court...midwinter. His only dream for himself beyond his sworn duty had been to again find the one he now held in his arms. Glorfindel did the only thing he could think of to do, and had entwined a sprig of holly in his golden mane, in unspoken hope.

Gorfindel looked now upon the page before him, reading over his beloved's shoulder.

Holly holy I
Dream of only you.

His hope had been answered, his message understood.

Where I am, what I am
What I believe in
Holly holy

Many mistakes and misunderstandings had to be overcome before they found themselves within a bond reaching beyond physical to encompass the spirit.

Holly holy dream
Wanting only you
And he comes
And I run just like the wind will
Holly holy

So many long lonely days and nights, until...

Call the Sun in the dead of the night
And the Sun's going to rise in the sky
Touch the one who can't walk upright
And the lame one, he learns to fly

Broken hearts, crippled souls...

And I fly
And I fly

They had found their wings together...

Holly holy love
Take the lonely child

Lonely no more, forever...

And the seed
Let it be filled with tomorrow
Holly holy

Glorfindel's gasped as realization struck and he thought his heart would burst trying to contain the joy, and he laughed. There were apparently advantages to being half Ainu. Erestor's shock mirrored his own, but his smile, his radiance as he also came to understanding rivaled the rising sun as Glorfindel scrambled to place his ear against his beloved's abdomen.

They would thank Oromë for the crown and their daughter's name...later.

Now, however, was for singing about answered prayers, and the Valar smiled as the happy couple's voices combined with the music of the water.

Sing, sing a song
Sing a Song of Songs...