Parting way
I am so delighted to see you again. Some whispered that you would never come back, just as they had told that you would ploy beneath the Necromancer’s dark will. But I knew better than listening to them and I have been awaiting you.
You are standing in front me and I can feel your hesitant gaze on me, I can hear the slight tremors in your melodious voice and the awkward silence that arises sometimes. Silence was never awkward before. I know why you behave so. I know you so well that I have felt it when you entered the great forest...
Time has come, my little one, and you are afraid to tell me you are leaving.
Young one...Little one... That is how I think of you, not matter how many centuries you have seen.
Is it a tear of yours that has just fallen on the ground? This is not wise, my little one. Do not cry, my child. Please, do not cry. Tears are useless, we both knew that this day would come eventually. So is the fate of Elves, who are not meant to spend eternity on Arda. Their fate dwells in the blessed light of the fair Valinor, where songs are said softer and more enticing. So, please, wipe those tears away and sing to me one more time. Give me that last memory of you...another memory to cherish till I am no more.
I can still remember the first time we met. You were barely more than a tiny Elfling...a tiny Elfling with huge blue eyes and pouting lips. You were a child of the forest, one of those joyful Elves who lived amongst trees. Your blood was not Silvan, but your heart was: your love for those of my race could easily be read in your eyes. I remember the bow that you held in your hand. It was a child’s bow...No more than a toy, but you thought you could use it against the foes that haunted your vivid imagination. You stood in front of me and you told me with that singing voice of yours, "You are not just anybody...We need to talk"
It is true that I am not just anybody. I am one of the oldest souls of the ancient forest. I have seen many races being born then disappearing. I have witnessed war and carnage. I have seen children grow and adults die. Centuries have flowed over me; bearing joy and also sadness. I have seen so many winters and so many springs that I happen to feel old even if, most of the time, I do not feel the passing of years. Yet, then, in front of the tiny daring elfling you were, I felt young again and in the twilight of the fading day, we laughed and sang together.
This memory is engraved within my mind and, today, beneath your tear-laced songs, I still hear your soft childish voice that brought me so much hope all those centuries ago./Do you remember how we parted then? You kissed me and bid me farewell, promising that you would come back. Yet many years passed before we talked again. I thought you had forgotten the promise you made to the ancient being I was. Yet, I did not resent you for your forgetfulness for I knew the carefree and fickle hearts of young Elves.
But I was wrong. You did come back many years later and I did not recognize you till the moment you spoke. Indeed, the tiny plant might have turned into a limber ash-tree but the unique taste for life that surfaced in your voice was still there. You came to me that day, your young body leaning against me and you said, "I am sorry. I would have come sooner but Adar didn’t allow me. He was not happy I went so far into the forest the day we met..." Then, you put your soft hand on me and you added, "But I am here now, Nolaquen. Do you mind if I call you Nolaquen?"
No, little one, I did not care then and I still did not mind. For most of my kind, a name is a name, nothing more, but in the name you gave me this day, you poured all your love and your affection for me, and since then I have become Nolaquen to those who surround me. Nolaquen, the wise one.
I do not know if I am wise, little one. Once upon a time, I thought so. But you taught me so many things...You taught me to enjoy life and to laugh again. I learned so much by watching you grow...More than you will ever guess.
Every day of your youth, you would come to me and we spent hours speaking and sharing stories of a time long gone. I have watched over you, my little Prince of the forest. I have cared for you. I saw you suffer and cry. But I also saw you smile and fall in love, little one. I saw how your first illusions faded away as you reached adulthood. I watched you leave to war and come back to me...
You have seen evil, little one, I can see the shadows in your heart. You have seen evil and you defeated it. There is no shame in this... Be proud of yourself, my little one...Be proud as the prince you are. Prince of the forest... Child of mine, if not by blood then by spirit. You will leave me and it is as it should be. The time of Elves nears its end and the gulls are calling to you. We know that this is no goodbye. Soon, the forest will be deserted as the time of men comes. I am glad you won’t see it.
Images are flashing through me. I think of old times and of what this new age will bring. I will never forget you, my little Prince. I love you so much. I know it might sound stupid for one of my kind to speak of love but it is true. None of the trees that were born from my acorns touched me as you did, little one.
I will miss you...I will miss your laughter and you wisdom. I will miss your stories of lands that I never saw and that you depicted to me.
We were friends, little one...And we will never see each other again. Perhaps, you will forget me when you see the trees in Aman.
Little one, please, do not cry. You have to follow the steps of your forefathers and soon, silence will fall on the forest that was once called Greenwood. Silence will fall on me as you will not be there to share words and songs. Men will walk in your steps but they will ignore us. Men are not wise, little one. I know you have hope for them as you have hope for every living being in that world. But they will deceive your expectations, my little one, and somehow, I am happy that you will not witness their fall. Wars are ahead of us. Men are weak. They kill each other and they do not even know why. They revel in violence and soon, blood will bathe my roots.
Go, my little one, go to Valinor the beautiful and sing a song in memory of me. For my time will be over soon. The trees become silent, their great soul slumbering and they will never awaken. Soon, I will join them because, without you, I have no reason anymore to remain here.Your song is over, little one, and your hands give my bark a last caress. I can feel your grief, my child, but it is nothing that time cannot heal. You have held your oaths and more. You have been the light of my old life.
You are leaving and, soon, I will not feel your sweet presence anymore. I am sad but I have known since the first day this was bound to happen. My time here is over, so is yours, and my shaking leaves send you a last farewell.
I love you, my child. May the Valar protect you from all harm as I will not be there anymore to watch over you.
I love you, my Legolas, and I will never forget you. But only silence greets my words. You are gone.
The end