She had known his heart even without having looked into it. She had known for thousands of years and it hadn't mattered, not until the news of the One. Hearing it aloud, from him, was a terrible confirmation but there is something peaceful in knowing, truly knowing, that they will be parted.

He has already been parted from her.

"You have waited longer, melda nin," she says and leans forward to press a very soft kiss against his lips. It is a fleeting touch and it ends quickly, a precious moment, before she speaks again.

"The ring had merely passed into Imladris when last I saw your face," she explains into the space between them. What she cannot explain was the terror she felt in coming here, in waking to a world so far from Lorien, and fearing that the whole of it had burned down and that he was among the ash.

She runs her thumb across his cheek and reminds herself he is real. Her smile is earnest and comes unbidden to her face.

"Did you fall hard when you came here? It can be unforgiving."