25. Till the World is Mended
For the LiveJournal tolkien_weekly "Water: Rivers" challenge.
His visitors abed, Tom returns to the sweet-scented fire.
"Little folk are doughty folk!" he remarks. "So their War is ended; Tree-herds tore down Isengard, Middle-earth is mended."
"Yet the once-merry Elf-friend is scoured, clear and brittle as glass," Goldberry observes sadly, drawing up her bare feet under her; "he may never be healed, not in this world."
"He'll sail over Sea," Tom agrees, "beyond the grey rain-curtain." He inclines his head suddenly. "Hear old tawny Owl there! He wants his mate, for certain."
The River-daughter smiles; together in the lamplight, they listen to the breeze whispering across the moorland.
~~~
"He [Frodo] may become like a glass filled with a clear light for for eyes to see that can" - Gandalf in "Many Meetings", LoTR.
"I should dearly like to see the old fellow again," [Frodo] said. "I wonder how he is getting on?" "Quite untroubled,"[said Gandalf], "and I should guess, not much interested in anything we have done or seen, unless perhaps in our visits to the Ents." (Frodo and Gandalf discuss the possibility of the Hobbits returning to visit Bombadil when they pause on the East Road on the way back to the Shire in 'Homeward Bound', RoTK)
This is a work of fan fiction, written because the author has an abiding love for the works of J R R Tolkien. The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of the Tolkien Estate, Tolkien Enterprises, and possibly New Line Cinema, except for certain original characters who belong to the author of the said work. The author will not receive any money or other remuneration for presenting the work on this archive site. The work is the intellectual property of the author, is available solely for the enjoyment of Henneth Annûn Story Archive readers, and may not be copied or redistributed by any means without the explicit written consent of the author.
