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The battle had been lost and yet the survivors had thrown a party to celebrate the creation of the new settlement.
The dancing had begun after a modest feast when some soldiers and healers brought from Lindon had brought out their instruments and the survivors of Eregion joined in.
They used to do this during the War against Morgoth; to boost morale and show the enemy he had not broken them. Then just like now ran the risk of attack at night, but this small reprieve was worth the risk.
He remembers the first time they danced together like this, her feet bare on the earth and hair down and wild after wearing it braided to keep it out of the way in the healer’s tent while he wore the simple but sturdy garments he wore under his armor and his raven hair braided back for practicality.
Once again, they are faced with impossible odds, and once again, his Flower Crowned Maiden is the first to dance.
“Dance with me, Aran Mhuinl.” It is not a question; it is a command as she glows in the firelight with a light even the Calaquendi couldn’t match. How could they? What were the Light of the Trees to the holy fire of Ilúvatar she was kindled with?
“How could I not, Beren Mhuinl?” he takes her offered hand and joins her in this dance she created that only the two of them know. It was a mix of country dancing, old court dances of Doriath that Erinti created alongside Lúthien Tinúviel before the sun and moon rose in the skies and the dances of his people.
Still as unique as it was, it made a quite the sight and it had nearly two thousand years since they had danced in a war camp like this one. Back then it had been Lindon that formed around the sapling that the Valar gave them as a symbol of Victory over Melkor, now it would be the Homely Home of Elrond and those who wish to live and heal in peace.
The king took his wife by the waist just as he’d done that first time and lifted her high enough to let her laughter fill the air. Erinti had been at Mandos’ Door until the Rings came into their possession, she had been the second thing they had healed that morning when it seemed all hope was lost.
It had been the first time he had tried to heal someone despite being a warrior and seasoned hunter, but it had worked. The rot from the tree that infected the Maia Queen healed and now she danced under the stars as if it had never happened.
“I wish we could be like this forever.” Just like then, she whispers those words for only him to hear.