Frodo and Sam were alive. Those were the only words that were ringing in Ilmarë's head as she walked toward the room that Frodo had been resting in for the last couple of days. He wasn't in his best condition when he came back, carried by the eagles that Gandalf had sent to Mount Doom to search for the Hobbits. The chances that they were alive had been very small, but the Eagles brought them back in a more or less living condition. Sam had been a little better off than Frodo, and Ilmarë and the others had already been to see him.

During the few days that Ilmarë and the others had stayed in Minas Tirith, they had started planning Aragorn's coronation. People had started to travel in from the rest of Middle Earth to attend, and Ilmarë had even received word from Elrond that he was going to bring Arwen. Ilmarë had gotten clear instructions not to tell Aragorn, though, because Arwen wanted to surprise him which was much like her.

Aragorn and Gimli walked ahead of Ilmarë and Legolas as they reached the infirmary where Frodo had received a room of his own. Ilmarë heard excited voices inside the room, Pippin and Merry's familiar laughs and Gandalf's deep laughter as well. It filled her heart with joy and relief - it was a great feeling for her after these times of fear and sadness. Gimli entered the room firstly and Ilmarë heard his booming laugh as he saw Frodo safe and sound. Ilmarë stepped in after the Dwarf and smiled when she saw the little Hobbit lying between the white sheets as he had done the first time she had seen him in Rivendell.

"Míriel," Frodo said quietly and smiled.

Her old name seemed so unfamiliar now, even though it hadn't been long ago that she changed it. She was happy to have Frodo call her whatever he liked, though. Ilmarë stopped in front of his bed next to Gimli with a happy smile on her face. She had never been so relieved seeing someone before as her eyes locked into his blue ones. With the weight of the Ring gone, he looked happy and healthy again, and not much different than he had done the last time she had seen him. When thinking about it she realised that it had been so long since they were all together.

Legolas entered soon after her and smiled towards Frodo too. He slipped his hand through Ilmarë's fingers and grabbed it, and she hadn't seen him this happy in a very long time. She suddenly thought about all the things the little Hobbit had missed, and she was dying to know what he had been through.

Frodo's eyes turned to the door once more when Aragorn stepped inside - clean for once during this adventure - and smiled even wider. For every person that seemed to enter, Frodo seemed to grow happier. Because they were all still alive, everyone except Boromir of course. There would always be an empty hole in them for him and he would live on in their memories forever. Frodo's face suddenly turned serious as he glanced at the last person to enter his room. Sam was now standing there in the entrance behind them all and as they smiled at each other, a weight seemed to fall from Sam's shoulders.

The reunited Fellowship stayed in Frodo's room for quite a while - sharing stories of what had happened when they had been apart. Merry and Pippin insisted on telling their story first about Fangorn forest, Treebeard, Isengard and the other Ents. Pippin made them all laugh when he told them they drank water that made them grow in height and almost ended up being eaten by a large tree. Merry told them all about how he and Éowyn - they, of course, had to tell Sam and Frodo who she and all the other people of Rohan were - disguised themselves to ride to Minas Tirith and fight and how she defeated the Witch King of Angmar.

For the most part of Ilmarë, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas' story, Gimli did all the talking and bragging about how he won the contest of Helm's Deep. Legolas added that he won the drinking game and Gimli protested by saying he had already been drinking before the game and that it should not count. Ilmarë told Frodo and Sam that she won the competition at the Pelennor Fields, and then Legolas told how they walked through the Dimholt road where a specific Dwarf was scared to death. Ilmarë of course told them about being a Maiar and all, her kidnapping by Saruman and the meeting with Denethor.

When it came down to Sam and Frodo's story, they told all the details and in contrary to the others, they had not had much joy in their journey. They had been led to Mordor by Gollum, the creature that had been following them all the time through Moria, only to then be captured by Faramir - Boromir's brother - before setting off again from Osgiliath.

Gollum had deceived them and Frodo almost lost the Ring when he was attacked by a huge spider after sending Sam away. Frodo had almost been taken by the Ring, and Gollum had used this to his advantage. Gollum wanted the Ring back, even if Frodo had seen some good in him at times. Frodo then gave some credit to the creature and discouraged himself as any sort of hero as the true reason for the Ring's destruction was Gollum's need to get it back which caused him to accidentally fall into the fires of Mount Doom. Frodo had been so taken by it that he had been unable to throw it in himself and the whole destruction of it was mostly based on his own greed for it.

Sam and Frodo had been through so much that the others could not understand, and they had done it just the two of them with Gollum's help. That sort of adventure would take a toll on them for the rest of their lives, and it made Ilmarë proud to be able to call them her friends. Finally, the two Hobbits would be able to return to their homes and hopefully live the rest of their lives at peace.

Once the story exchanging was finished they chatted for a while before disbanded - headed for dinner since time seemed to have been flying past quickly. Ilmarë walked out of Frodo's room with Legolas and Gimli, who were unusually quiet. Gimli suddenly winked at Legolas who smiled and grabbed Ilmarë's hand, pulling her away toward the gardens.

"What is it, Legolas?" Ilmarë asked with a curious smile.

"Ilmarë," Legolas said and grabbed both her hands.

"Yes?" she asked.

"What would you say if we married?" Legolas asked and grinned like a child that had been told that they were going on an adventure. "Soon, tomorrow even."

"Tomorrow?" Ilmarë asked and laughed. "Are you mad?"

"Probably," Legolas said and smiled. "We have everyone we could have asked for to be here, and we don't need anything spectacular. All we need are our friends, our family."

Ilmarë could not believe what Legolas was saying - after all this time would they finally marry each other in such haste? Ilmarë had always imagined a wedding filled with Elves - her grandmother, grandfather, Arwen, Elrond and her two other cousins. It would be in Lothlórien and it would have been magical. However, Legolas was right and they had everything they could ask for. The Fellowship was Ilmarë's family as well and they were just as important to her. Therefore she smiled to Legolas, determined to agree with him.

"Very well, then," Ilmarë said and chuckled. "Let's do it."

*

The wedding was thrown together in all haste, but it was no less romantic to Ilmarë. She was going to marry the love of her life, finally, after such a long time of uncertainty and gloom. It had reached the point where she would have married him in the middle of a battle-field if that was what it took, for all she cared about now was Legolas.

Ilmarë received a white gown with a navy blue details embroidered into it, and Éowyn helped her style her hair into something worthy of an bride. All the other's ran around like crazy people trying to arrange for a small feast after the ceremony, which was not hard when Gimli yelled at the staff to hurry up with the cooking.

"Ready?" Éowyn asked and her eyes shone with excitement. "I cannot believe it, my first Elven wedding!"

Ilmarë smiled widely at her friend and she agreed completely - she could not believe it either. Éowyn was stunning this night in her light green gown and her long fair hair styled with a tiara. Ilmarë was very glad that all of their friends would be able to attend and that Aragorn had agreed when she refused a large spectacle by inviting more people than necessary. All Ilmarë asked for was an intimate ceremony underneath the night sky filled with stars. Gandalf and Aragorn, the only ones fluent in the Elven tongue, would officiate the marriage.

Ilmarë grabbed Éowyn's hand as they walked out of the castle to the backyard, right by the gardens which seemed so filled with light from the moon and stars in the sky. Ilmarë smiled widely as she saw all of her friends lined up - Gimli, Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Merry, Éomer, Faramir, Aragorn, Gandalf. In the midst of them, all was Legolas and when Ilmarë saw him nothing else mattered anymore.

Ilmarë joined hands with her future husband and gazed into his icy blue eyes. They spoke no words to each other for they had nothing else to say.

"Even if we are not your parents, we will try to wed you to our best ability," Gandalf said and stepped forward with Aragorn close behind.

Aragorn and Gandalf moved to stand in front of them to give their blessings as was the Elven way of marrying. It was supposed to be Galadriel and Thranduíl, but Ilmarë was glad that her friends could do it in their stead.

"May Varda Star-kindler hear Prince Legolas of the Woodland Realm and her handmaiden Ilmarë, guardian of the stars, and may Eru the Father of All bless them," Aragorn said with a smile.

"May Manwe Lord of Wind watch over Legolas Prince of the Woodland Realm and Ilmarë, guardian of the stars, and may Eru the Father of All bless them," Gandalf said, and it was now that the tears started to flood over Ilmarë's eyes. She wiped her tears away and smiled toward Legolas who too seemed very happy and emotional.

"May Eru Ilúvatar, the father of all, bless my marriage to Ilmarë, guardian of the stars," Legolas said, doing the one thing that was required for them to be married without all the celebrations and traditions.

"May Eru Ilúvatar, the father of all, bless my marriage to Prince Legolas of the Woodland Realm," Ilmarë said after trying to wipe all her tears away.

"The rings, Gimli?" Gandalf said and Gimli stumbled ahead, he wiped his tears away quickly and hurried to bring forth two simple thin gold rings.

Ilmarë smiled toward the Dwarf and patted his shoulder to comfort him, she had never seen him cry like this before. Legolas grabbed the rings, and now Ilmarë wondered where he had gotten them from? Maybe he had asked the smither to make them for him, which meant that he had planned this for at least a couple of days.

"Oh stop it, I'm not weeping," Gimli muttered and hurried back to his place.

Legolas smiled and glanced at Ilmarë who grabbed one of the rings, the larger one so she could place it on Legolas' finger. Legolas started though, grabbing her right hand and threading the ring on Ilmarë's index finger. Ilmarë did the same to Legolas' hand, and that was it. They were married now - well almost at least. They had one final thing to do, but that was something that they were going to do in private later on.

"And now what?" Ilmarë asked with a huge smile planted on her lips.

Legolas beamed at her and stepped forward, cupped her face with his hands and pressed his soft lips against hers. Ilmarë's heart almost leapt out of her chest as their lips connected - their first kiss as husband and wife. None of them could hear the cheering and applause from the crowd around them for they were too taken by each other. Gimli blew his nose while sobbing into his handkerchief.

Ilmarë pulled away from the kiss and wrapped her arms around Legolas, embraced him tightly knowing that they were now bound to be together forever. And she couldn't be happier about it. They turned to their friends, all of them had happy smiles on their faces. Gimli wasn't the only one who had been crying for Éowyn was constantly trying to wipe her tears away from her cheeks. Ilmarë smiled toward her, feeling happy that she was there on the happiest day of Ilmarë's long life.

Legolas started walking toward the Halls again, with Ilmarë's hand tightly in his. They greeted their friends, received tonnes of embraces from all of them and even Gimli agreed to hug Legolas' to congratulate him.

"How come I am crying when I barely understood a word of what was said?" Éowyn said and smiled with a small chuckle. Ilmarë laughed and hugged her friend again, then turned back to Legolas who grinned toward her. Ilmarë assumed that it was time. "How about Ilmarë coming with me so we can get her ready?"

"Get her ready for what?" Gimli asked with a raspy voice.

"I will wait inside then," Legolas said and ignored Gimli's question.

Ilmarë smiled toward them as they parted, walking two separate ways. Ilmarë could hear Gimli continue asking what was happening, what was going on and why they were walking away from the girls. The Dwarf might have been too overwhelmed to understand what was so obvious. Ilmarë was not going to tell him that she and Legolas had to complete their marriage by consummation, someone else would have to do that.

*

The day after Ilmarë's wedding to Legolas still made her head clouded with joy and love for him. They had barely been able to tear themselves away from each other for they were that in love. To keep themselves busy they helped prepare Aragorn's coronation, and Ilmarë awaited the arrival of her family anxiously.

"Ilmarë."

She turned as she saw Legolas walking toward her and he soon pressed his lips against hers. Ilmarë chuckled happily and pushed him teasingly.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I need you to do something for me," Legolas and grabbed her hand befores starting to walk away from the hall.

"Oh?" Ilmarë said confused and wondered what all this secrecy was about.

Legolas stopped in front of her and sighed as a grin spread over his face. "I need you to try and bring my memories back."

Ilmarë widened her eyes; he must have gone mad. There was no way that Ilmarë would be able to do so, she didn't even know how to and if she tried she might completely destroy his head or something. No, it was much safer if they just stayed the way they were. They would create new memories with each other.

"Legolas..." Ilmarë said with a sigh. "It is too dangerous, you know what happened the last time. I could never do something that might hurt you. We should just accept that we will not regain or old memories, I have accepted it and so should you. We have eternity to create new memories."

"I knew you would say no," Legolas said and chuckled. "But you brought down Barad-Dûr, Ilmarë. You are the most powerful Maiar and the strongest Istari on Middle-Earth. I trust you to do this, I know you will succeed. Even though I am happy the way I am now I want to remember everything about you."

Ilmarë sighed, it was not only her that had destroyed Barad-Dûr, it was Gandalf as well. She knew she shouldn't have listened to Legolas, but somehow his words convinced her to at least try. It was the least she could do for him.

"I suppose I could try," Ilmarë said with a sigh.

Legolas smiled widely and straightened his back as though he was preparing himself. Ilmarë placed her hand against the side of his head and closed her eyes. She brought her mind back to that horrible day, the day she had fought in the Battle of the Five Armies, when she had lost four people that she loved. Now she had the chance to give Legolas' memories back. The memories of their time together in Mirkwood flashed before her eyes, but then suddenly she saw something else. The bright light of stars all around her and the beautiful image of her mistress Manwë. The two trees of Valinor - Telperion and Laurelin from ancient times of the Valar. Those trees had been destroyed by Melkor ages ago, Ilmarë would not have seen them ever in her lifetime. At least, not as Míriel.

Ilmarë opened her eyes again and stared into Legolas' eyes. He began smiling widely and embraced her tightly, but Ilmarë could barely move. It was though a flood of memories had rushed into her head and suddenly she remembered everything; everything from the moment she had been born at the beginning of time. Memories of Valinor, Aman; her home, were suddenly there.

"I remember, Ilmarë!" Legolas said and smiled. His face fell when he looked at her. "What is it?"

"I remember too," Ilmarë said as a small smile creeped onto her lips. "I remember my old life, my old friends, my home, my mistress and master. Everything!"

"You do?" Legolas said and seemed slightly worried. "And... how do you feel?"

Ilmarë looked at Legolas, this young Elf that had once had about a thousand years of more life experience then she did. Now Ilmarë was much older than him and she would have expected to look at him as though he was a child. But no, she felt the exact same way as she did before. No matter what happened; she was still Míriel too.

"I feel no older than I did yesterday," Ilmarë joked and made Legolas laugh. "Come, let me tell you everything about the Undying lands."