In The End-The Hobbit

It's okay to let go. Holding on will only destroy the memories that were made, the good and the bad. It'll keep you from moving forward, from telling their story. And so...you move on, not to forget, but to remember. Your life is not measured in the years lived, but in the relationships that are formed. Love, friendship, family...

It's okay to let go...but never forget.

The sound of trumpet fills the air all around Erebor and Dale, humming through the silent valleys and trees. Blood stained ground silently listening to the melodies of song, memory and stories being written in the dirt atop of so many others from times forgotten.

I sit silently on a stone beside the tall gapped opening of Erebor. Deep inside the mountain's body, the Duin folk take their fallen brothers to rest. Their king, Thorin, and his nephews, Fili and Kili...the faint murmur of stories and goodbyes echo through the halls distantly, never quite making it to the surface world outside. Having cried beyond physically possible, the dwarves now reach their grieving, no more tears left, but that gaping hole still hurts beyond repair.

Although there is grief and a heavyweight over Erebor, the celebration of a new King under mountain rains in amongst it. Dain proudly taking over the once great kingdom, in absence of his cousin...

I breathe in, only now realising how clear the air is here, full of so many natural scents, yet so clean and clear. I hope my necklace my Father had given me, running my fingers over the blue gems entwined together. I often do this when I want my mind to be silent, something about the necklace giving me a peace of mind when needed. A way to say connected with my father, but a way to be able to let go of my past. Yesterday is in the past...tomorrow a new day, my father would live by those words. Perhaps that's why I seek the necklace for comfort.

Slowly, the hums of trumpets fade away, declaring the three have been laid to rest. I look out to the south, continuing to rub my necklace to keep my mind at ease. I refused to enter the mountain, refusing to go in and say goodbye when I should be entering Erebor for the first time in joy, not sorrow. Perhaps one day, when Erebor is once again in its greatness, I will come to visit and be shown its halls for the first time properly, with no saddened memories attached.

I catch a figure in the corner of my eye move next to me, taking a seat on my stone. As our shoulders brush against each other I notice the blonde hair, the shine of his armour glaring in the sun. Making sure not to make eye contact, I look out to the distance, away from Thranduil.

"You still have it," Thranduil says, referring to my necklace, still facing ahead.

"Of course," I crock out, my voice out of place after having not spoken for hours "it's the only thing I have left..."

"I know," Thranduil says with a sigh "but that shouldn't be the way it is."

I raise an eyebrow, my gaze now turning to him.

"You should have everything your Father had, you shouldn't have been forced to live the life you have" Thranduil says with hatred in his voice as if coming to a realisation as he speaks "it's because of my foolishness and fear that you don't have the life you have earned so rightly..." he pauses, his eyes now falling on me "I don't know what I was thinking, casting you out into the wilderness. I guess...I was afraid" Thranduil says.

"Afraid?" I ask.

"Afraid that you weren't ready to be queen. I was afraid that Mirkwood would have surely fallen under your rule" Thranduil explains "looking back on it now, it seems all so stupid and childish" Thranduil says with a sigh.

"Yeah, it does," I say under my breath.

"I am sorry. I am sorry that I haven't been able to see clearly until my own people were put in danger to see what the decisions I have made in the past are wrong. Things I have done have caused so much loss, and I see that now...poor excuses I know. I am so, truly sorry. Truly I am Elora-eh-sorry I mean Ivy" Thranduil matter over his own words.