Chapter 4 - Meteor, not meatier!

A lingering kiss under the sky

Returned

A fallen star

Sealed with the blessing of Varda

***

Elves believed that a kiss on the forehead was a form of blessing. Thus, in the Winter Solstice celebration, Mila saw elves greeting each other asking for blessings.

A little innocent kiss on the forehead, granted by the others that they respect–and Mila was still weirded out by all of it.

'Give me a blessing' was all that anyone needed to say in order to get a kiss on their forehead. Of course it can be done between male elves too, as the belief originated spiritually, almost like a prayer. But Mila knew some ellyn or ellith used the excuse of the Winter Solstice night to get a kiss or two from the ones they fancy.

Or the ones they'd like to tease.

"Give me a blessing, fair lady," Ro whispered to Mila in her ear, making her jump.

"Ro!" Mila pinch the elf's side.

"Ouch!"

"I also want a blessing," Elladan appeared, holding a cup of wine, before adding with a low whisper to her other ear, "You can bless me wherever you want."

Mila's face burned with embarrassment at that. She closed her ears with her hands.

"No! My innocent ears!" she cried, blushing to her neck.

"Your ears may be innocent but your mind is not. What are you even implying?" Elladan laughed, turning on her.

"You know you really should not say no. It is bad luck to refuse giving or receiving blessing at Winter Solstice," Elrohir said, bowing his head to her for a blessing, "Please, I've asked for your blessing. If you refuse it means I'm cursed," he whined, "I might get sick or fall from my horse in the next few days."

Mila chuckled, yet a bit worried as well with that scenario. "Okay. To avoid bad luck," she gave in and kissed each Elrohir and Elladan's forehead.

Both ellyn grinned in satisfaction at their little friend, before Elladan's expression changed completely at something that he saw far behind Mila. Dan tapped Elrohir's chest with the back of his hand, gaining his brother's attention.

"How do I look?" Dan asked Ro as he straightened his form.

"Like me," Elrohir answered flatly.

"Disgusting. Wish me luck," he said before nodding at Mila and cleared his throat.

Mila and Elrohir grinned at each other when they saw Dan was walking towards the elleth he fancied.

"He's gonna need it," Mila said before the two of them snorted, snickering between themselves.

"Lord Elrohir, may we have your blessing?" giggled a couple ellith, and suddenly, Elrohir forgot completely about Mila and went about throwing his charm to the unsuspecting ladies.

Mila watched as elves dancing, exchanging blessings under the stars. Ellith wore beautiful dresses; despite the cold, they still managed to wear sleeveless pretty gowns as if the biting winter air at night didn't bother them at all, while she had to wear a cloak to shield herself from the cold due to her humanity. Even then, the cloak she wore still wasn't enough to ward off the cold air completely.

Mila tightened her cloak around her. At occasion like this, she chose to forego her comfort as to not stuck out wearing too much while everyone else acted as if the air was as warm as Summer night.

After the twins left, she was approached by countless elves-her friends, even strangers who asked for her blessings. Mila thought that her lips were going to be sore blessing so many elves' forehead in one night.

She saw another handsome ellon who had been eyeing her. He made his way towards her, before he suddenly made a sharp turn and disappeared in the crowd.

Mila looked at the disappearing form of the particular dark haired elf with confusion, remembering how his smile at her suddenly turned into a nervous frown before leaving.

Behind her, someone placed a warm cloak upon her shoulders, making her turn.

Glorfindel stood in all his glory, the golden threads that was his hair was left unbound, looking almost transparent under the moon light. A golden circlet sat beautifully atop his forehead. His skin gave off a subtle ethereal glow, while shadow flattered the graceful plane of his destructively handsome face.

Among these elves, Mila always thought that her friend was not just intimidating, but also intimidatingly breathtaking. He was tall and big, in a really, really exquisite way.

The Golden One, as Glorfindel was referred to by many, stood towering before her short form. A formal elvish tunic that he wore was designed with leaves embroidery made of the finest silk; the tunic fitted his form just enough to accentuate his broad shoulders. Being a seasoned–legendary warrior that he was, she knew he must be very muscly and well endowed–

Mila halted her wandering thoughts of her best friend's physique.

"Glorfindel! Hi!" she greeted him cheerfully.

"Mila," Glorfindel exhaled, his eyes soften though looking somewhat unhappy, "Didn't I tell you to wear something thicker than what you have now? I don't want you to catch a cold. You barely just recovered from the incident last week," he said with worry in his captivating tone.

Mila smiled at Glorfindel. "Enough worrying about me. I'm fine, I promise."

"I will never stop worrying about you. I did give you an oath to protect you, did I not?" he replied with a fond smile.

"Technically that oath is null and void by now."

"That oath is binding forever as long as I still draw breath," the elf said as he got beside the short mortal woman and encircled his left arm behind her back, leading her to sit by a nearby chair.

"In that case," Mila tapped both Glorfindel's shoulders, as if knighting him, "I release you from that oath."

Glorfindel let out a graceful chuckle, "It doesn't work like that, little one."

"Lady Mila, may I–"

Glorfindel turned, and without Mila's knowing, gave the ellon a dark look, effectively chasing him away.

"Um... may I know where to find a refill? Haha," muttered the ellon.

Mila pointed at the table nearby, "Behind you, Tamin."

"Many thanks. Have a good evening."

Tamin escaped as fast as he could from Lord Glorfindel's murderous eyes as soon as he pretended to refill his wine glass.

When Glorfindel turned his face back towards his friend, his expression was gentle once again.

They resumed their chatting, now freely be themselves after knowing that they both shared the memory of their past lives together. After that incident, Glorfindel seemed to be glued by Mila's side. The conversation flow freely between them as if they were inseparable old friends.

To Glorfindel's annoyance, their conversation got interrupted more than twice after the last one with Tamin. The very third time, Mila noticed how Glorfindel gaze turned cold at the poor ellon that actually interrupted them to ask for her blessing.

She kissed the ellon's forehead before the ellon thanked her and excused himself, soon after realizing the crest that the balrog slayer bore on the sword hilt on his hip.

"Glorfindel!" she chided him, "I see what you're doing. You're scaring those ellyn!"

Glorfindel raised his brows. "What are you talking about?"

Mila playfully hit his arm. "Don't play dumb," she chuckled, "You gave them your death stare. What if one of them is my soulmate?"

Glorfindel frowned, leaning down closer to her, their proximity made Mila smile. "I thought Legolas was your soulmate," Glorfindel said with small voice to avoid people hearing them. "I'm merely protecting you for the prince."

Despite stating it as a mere excuse he conjured, he knew there was truth in it, and he couldn't help but feel that it broke his spirit a little. But Mila's response was something that he didn't expect.

"Why would you do that? Legolas is married," whispered Mila to his ear, as if sharing with him a very juicy gossip, "He has two children now. His wife is hottt-"

Glorfindel grabbed Mila's arm and pulled her a little away from him and deeply studied her face. He knew not how she knew. He had done everything to conceal the fact from her, afraid of breaking her heart.

Yet here she was, tilting her head adorably as she tried to understand his gaze.

"Are you alright, Mila?" he asked with concern, "We are the only ones left in this world to know the secret of our past; you need not hide your pain from me."

"I'm not in pain. Or heartbroken," Mila said truthfully. "Varda told me that changing the past meant changing my destiny. She said I might not cross path with him. I do remember loving him but... I don't know. It feels like a lifetime ago."

Glorfindel's mind reeled with the information Mila gave him. "You met Varda? Varda as in the vala??"

Mila nodded. "Yeah. Super animated lady. She looked..."

The mortal woman looked up to the starry night sky, and Glorfindel followed her gaze, "She looks like that."

"Did you..." Glorfindel's words faltered; he did not have the heart to ask. Glorfindel knew what it took to meet face to face with a vala–death. He knew, because he too knew death.

Despite his silence, Mila knew what he was about to say. "I think I did. But not before I grab hold of the star."

The way Mila spoke of her death with a small smile hurt more than Glorfindel cared to show or admit.

"Tell me everything. I want to know all the details."

Mila visibly grew uncomfortable. Glorfindel too didn't think that he was ready to hear how she met her death, so he rephrased his request, "Tell me of your encounter with Varda."

"Oh! That. What can I say? Varda is hard to explain. She's..."

Mila spent ten minutes just to describe Varda's appearances alone, making Glorfindel grew frustrated with her fascination with the vala's look. Then another five minutes describing how Varda sounded to her. But the golden one sat there silently despite the growing anxiety at not knowing what transpired between them when he was trapped in the limbo. When Mila finally explained what happened to the point that she found herself in the kitchen in Rivendell, Glorfindel was positively shaken.

Mila told him everything, except the part about her death and the star that Varda gifted her.

"You didn't ask to get back to your world, but you asked to turn back the time?" the handsome elf asked with disbelief.

"I didn't ask to turn back time exactly. I asked for a world without the ring."

Glorfindel sat still in silence. Unable to read his expression, and growing uncomfortable with the prolonged silence, Mila felt her anxiety rose.

"Why?" he finally broke the silence.

"Look around," Mila said, and Glorfindel followed her eyes to the elves dancing merrily to the music under the stars. "So we can live happy. Look. Everyone we care about lives. Look at you."

Glorfindel's azure blue eyes met her dark ones, then his eyes fleeted to her small hand that grabbed his bigger one. "You're here."

The way her voice wavered slightly as she said those words tugged at his heartstrings.

"You could have gone back to your world. To your kin," he said with an unreadable facial expression that was almost hardened to Mila's eyes.

Mila didn't know that to Glorfindel, if there was one of thing he missed the most, was his kin in Gondolin–a civilization that no longer exist even at this time.

"But then we won't have tonight. You would have been-" Mila let go of his hand, struggling to find words, "If I ever go back to that place again, I know what would have been playing in repeat for eternity for me. That is leaving you behind in that place."

"Mila, I would have been content knowing you could return to your kin," Glorfindel said earnestly.

Mila shook her head. "I wouldn't. You don't deserve that. No one deserve that."

Now that Mila paid attention, she knew what that impassive expression mean. Why his jaw seemed set and tensed; why his usually open and honest eyes now seemed so guarded and walled.

She had ruined his night.

"I was a spirit so maybe I didn't have a brain," Mila said in defense, "Now that I think about it maybe I could've made a better wish, but it was what I could conjure at the moment. But I don't regret it as long as the outcome is the same as this, or better."

"..."

"...Maybe I should have wished that there is no evil in the world. I mean, turns out after all, orcs still exist in this world, ha-ha," Mila laughed awkwardly, trying to fill in the silence between them in failure.

Glorfindel looked at her as if she had grown a pair of horns on her head. After a while, Mila couldn't take it anymore and decided to extend an olive branch to the obviously upset elf warrior–before he starts considering ideas to murder her with that sword he had on his hip.

"I'm sorry I ruined your mood tonight," apologized Mila. "What are you thinking? Say something."

Glorfindel looked at the sweet mortal woman who bore such strength behind that endearing and meek personality. His heart swelled with pride and hurt at the same time for the things she managed to do on her own; what she was able to achieve, even when he had failed her and left her alone.

"You haven't given me your blessing," was all he could say in return.

Mila's smile pulled at her lips. Him, being much taller than her even when seated, leaned down a bit so Mila could rest her delicate hands on his shoulders and placed her lips on his temple.

That simple act was able to ease the raging storm in his heart. But seeing the still worried look on her face, Glorfindel decided to take advantage of her attention to him some more.

"I think I deserve a more sincere blessing than that."

So she kissed his forehead again.

"What about one more blessing?"

She gave him another innocent kiss on his temple.

"One more, because you made me think you don't remember me."

One more kiss.

"I need a blessing because you made me worry when I found you almost frozen to death again near that lake."

Another kiss.

His heart soared.

"Another blessing because you worry me endlessly."

"I think at this point you are taking an advantage of me," declined Mila, hiding her blush behind her 'I'm so done' look.

Glorfindel knew that doing it was childish, but he stole the lies that he heard Elrohir told her earlier. "It's bad luck if you refuse to give me a blessing on Winter Solstice. I might get sick or fall from my horse in the next few days."

The exact words that Glorfindel said matched Elrohir exactly and made her worry that the curse was actually real. So he successfully tricked her and she fell for it. She gave him another kiss on his forehead, before whining, "My lips feel abused with so much random elves I kissed tonight," she said while touching her lower lips. Glorfindel couldn't help but stared at it longingly, although briefly, before shaking himself inwardly.

"I apologize," he chuckled, the mirth in his eyes returned. "In return, would you like to dance with me?" Glorfindel rose from his seat gracefully and got on one knee, offering his hand, "I happen to be a very good dancer."

"I will step on your foot," Mila mumbled.

"You may."

Mila took his hand and let the handsome elf led her to the floor. The elves around her danced to the merry, fast paced music played by the musicians, but the two of them seemed to be dancing to another tune differently. Their movements were slow. The proximity between them seemed to disappear with time and ended with both holding each other close.

Glorfindel was sad and shaken; and it broke her heart. Mila knew because of the way he held her tight. Just like that night, moments before she left him all alone in that eternal darkness.

But this time, she was glad. Instead of goodbye embrace, this time she knew his embrace was partly to shield her from the cold air, partly to tell her that he was not going to let her go through this world alone again after what they had shared together.

"Blessing," asked Glorfindel for the umpteenth times that night. She pecked his forehead in the middle of the dance floor and smile.

"Now I'm going to bless you too."

Glorfindel cupped Mila's cheek, tilting her face up slightly before placing a lingering kiss on her temple.

Suddenly the whole place erupted with shouts of joy. When they looked around, just as Glorfindel kissed her temple, people were pointing at the sky.

A couple elves, still in each other's arms, danced closer to Mila and Glorfindel, congratulating them, leaving Mila confused.

"Fallen star! You returned her blessing just as the star of Varda fell! You both are blessed by the valar!" the elleth raved.

Glorfindel looked up.

Fallen star.

Then he looked at Mila's face meaningfully. Her face was turned up, bathed in starlight as she studied the starry night sky.

"I guess that means we are blessed. And so another couple there," Glorfindel pointed out lightly.

Mila looked at the kissing couple, then at Glorfindel, then at the sky, then let out a snort.

"You do know that's not a star right?" she snickered, "That's a meteor! It's a rock!"

Glorfindel and the couple next to them glanced at each other confusedly before the couple danced away, not understanding Mila's words.

The elf warrior, feeling much ignored by his partner, gained her attention back from her by pulling her to him by her waist.

"It's a fallen star," he insisted with a charming smile to his friend.

"It's a rock," Mila insisted.

"It's a star," Glorfindel said to her ear, knowing full well that Mila didn't truly understand the elvish meaning behind the blessing of Varda.

"It's a rock falling to the planet but because of how fast it falls, the pressure from the atmosphere burned the rock, lighting it up, and from afar it looks like a fallen star but it's actually a rock. It's called meteor," babbled Mila.

"Star," insisted Glorfindel with the angelic voice of his; his smile and his eyes captivating.

The unsuspecting Mila went on about the disagreement.

"Meteor."

"Star."

"Meteor."

"Star."

"Meteor..."

"Meatier?" teased Glorfindel.

"Meteor!" insisted Mila, annoyed.

***

There's something going on with those two.

Two people don't get so intimate all of a sudden in a week.

Glorfindel never looked at any elleth like that.

Mila is too shy to dance so close to another elf like that.

They look suspiciously disgusting.

This requires a further investigation, brother. You take Glorfindel, I take Mila. Collect intel from them separately.

I will ask ada for any foreshadowing.

If the suspicion is confirmed, what further action should we take?

Of course we must help our ancient uncle get married. It's about time.

How about we move Mila to a closer proximity to him then?

Good idea.

We should also fire her as our servant.

And promote her as captain's assistant.

I shall miss her honey cake.

You should be grateful. You're one honey cake away from being fat.

Hmph! Elladan!!!

***

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