Things where so much quieter now.

Or perhaps they weren't, Mists days used to be full of laughter and joy with her parents barely leaving her side. Now they where gone forever, it wasn't like a hunting trip where they'd be back in a few hours or days... They where gone, completely gone.

She tried not to be sad. She tried oh so hard not to cry or lie awake at night thinking about what happened but it was so hard. Her aunt Malrin had tried to make her feel better, but it never really worked. She wasn't her mother, she didn't know just what song made her laugh and how to tuck her in at night. She didn't know how her father showed her flowers in the gardens and taught her which herbs the healers used. Nobody would ever be able to do that for her again. Not in the same way. Not in the right way.

At the moment in time she was sat in Rivendell's gardens, under a large oak tree that she used to play under with her parents and her cousins of whom where a similar age. The young Elf watched as the wind blew the shrubs and the flowers, a gentle breeze creating what should have been a calming sensation. The more Estelmist concentrated on an area of the garden, the more she could see herself and her father on their knees inspecting the flowers, mother stood behind them laughing and shaking her head and saying something about how they'd both have dirty knees.

A noise from the other side of the garden interrupted her imagination and she once again fell in to her sad state, however turned to see who had entered the gardens, she had expected her uncle or aunt... They didn't want to leave the little girl alone recently, however on occasion they still gave her time on her own to grieve in her own way.

Hours of riding around under the glaring heat of the summer sun had left Glorfindel a little less presentable than he would have usually liked- His golden locks which usually tumbled freely down to his waist, were sticking out in every direction and Glorfindel was fairly certain that there were still leaves and branches caught in it even though he felt as though he had spent most of the ride back trying to pick all the bits that had flown into his hair out. His blue tunic had been sprayed with a fine layer of dust that had been kicked up by the guardsmen ahead of him (Glorfindel vowed that never again would he take up the rear of a patrol)... And he had yet to look in a mirror but he could feel at least 2 smears of dirt across his face- where he had tried to wipe the sweat of his forehead, forgetting that his tunic sleeve was covered in a film of dust... which proceeded to mingle with his sweat and make something not all that nice.

Though before he went to clean himself, he decided to take advantage of the quiet and take a couple of the flowers he had grown in the tiny corner of the garden that Erestor had let him have all to himself and bring them to Rivendell's fountain.

Though he was disrupted by the sight of a young elleth stood alone in the gardens- instantly recognisable by her long copper hair. Estelmist. Glorfindel stopped for a minute, thinking perhaps that the elleth might prefer to have this moment to herself. But then again- Glorfindel wasn't sure if it was wise to leave her with her thoughts... after what had happened, he gathered that she was still mourning her loss.

He calmly proceeded to approach the elleth, just loud enough so not startle her. "Good day to you Estelmist, how are you feeling this morning? Well enough I hope to help an old elf with a simple task?" He asked, offering his arm for her to join him.

It hadn't been anybody that she expected. Not her aunt or uncle, not even her cousins had come to see how she was doing, not yet at least. Despite it not being somebody that she expected, it was a familiar face, a face she remembered and knew as well as she could with the amount of time that she had spent with the Ellon, Glorfindel. He was well known in Rivendell, and well liked by all of the Elves who resided there. He was a warrior, a great one, at least that's what he was said to be like from the stories that people told about him, Estelmist had never really spent time around the Elf, he was a busy man after all.

He was very tall, even for an Elf, Mist hadn't really grown in to her height yet and had to look up in order to gain eye contact with the blonde haired male. He didn't look his usual self, when around Rivendell he always looked perfect, flawless and extremely well groomed. Today he was covered in a thin layer of dusk and a small amount of mud could be seen on his shoes, the bottom of his clothing and even one or two drops that had found their way to his forehead and cheeks. Perhaps he had just got back from another patrol... A quick look and Mist couldn't see anything that looked remotely like blood, she relaxed, somewhat.

"It's nice to see you, Mister Glorfindel."
She replied with a quite, very much child like voice as she turned herself to face him completely, at least speaking to the Elf distracted her from her mourning at least for a little while. She tilted her head slightly when he asked if she would help him with a simple task, while she was not sure what this task would entail she was pretty sure that it wouldn't be anything that she couldn't handle,
"What would you like me to do?"

"Would you accompany me ellon to Rivendell's fountain?" Glorfindel requested kindly as she asked what he would have of her. From her tone, Glorfindel would have thought that he was conversing with an Elf many years younger than Estelmist- someone who had yet to experience the world outside Rivendell for what it was. And no doubt, it was where he imagined Estelmist longed to be at this moment- still ignorant of reality's harsh sting and still able to enjoy the warm, protective embrace of her mother and father as they let her rest at night.

Glorfindel himself was not alien to that feeling. And there had been many nights when he had wished that time would turn back and bring back those he had lost.

But looking into Estelmist's eyes he still saw there all the gentleness and kindness that most elves would be lucky to possess naturally. And he knew that whilst she may not see life as a world of opportunity anymore, she would go on to do wonderful things and she may not have believed it yet, but there was definitely an elf out there somewhere that she deserved with a heart of gold to match her own.

"I have need to collect a few flowers on the way there and I thought that being so fond of the gardens, you would help me select a most beautiful collection." He gestured to the flowers of all sizes and colours that were to be found in the gardens. And he offered her a small smile as he extended his hand for her to take and join him.

Estelmist was sometimes in awe of Glorfindel, despite how well known he was around Rivendell he always seemed to have time to do the small things, to talk to other elves like herself, it wasn't like he needed to, he had done his duty when he found her, there was no real reason for him to continue to watch over the younger girl. Still, she wasn't going to say no to her elder, he was being kind, trying his best to distract her from herself most likely. That wasn't even half a bad idea even if it was only going to be for a little while,

"I would love to accompany you." She does her best to smile softly up at the tall Elf.

The younger Elf nervously batted down her dress, there wasn't really any dirt on, perhaps a speck from where she had walked through the garden, it was more that he hands felt like they needed something to do. From that they moved up to play with the end of her copper wavy hair, brushing through it with her fingers before looking back up at her companion when he spoke again. Flowers, that was something that she could do for him. She'd been fascinated with the colours and the patterns of the petals even since she was a baby, her mother would often weave flowers in to her hair as a toddler and younger girl. She tried not to think anymore about that, but nodded quickly at Glorfindel,

"I'm sure I could help you pick out a few that are fully bloomed!" She even sounds somewhat excited by the prospect of being able to do something with another person that she genuinely enjoyed, it made her realise there would always be people around her, that she wouldn't be so lonely even with her parents gone. She ever so gently took the tall Elf's hand and began walking to a direction of the garden where she knew the flowers bloomed early and would be at their peak.

"I am most glad to have your help Estelmist," Glorfindel smiled brightly as the young elleth accepted his offer. For not only did she accept his offer, but he couldn't help but manage to pick out the distinct trace of excitement which lined her tone and he saw something akin to passion flash in her eyes as he spoke to her of flowers. Glorfindel himself was not an overly keen gardener- he thought flowers were nice to look at and occasionally had a pleasant scent but he rarely managed to find the time to care for the flowers like Erestor did and was not particularly familiar with the various needs of differing plants.

However he was very familiar with that keen glimmer that he caught in Estelmist's eyes- for he saw it each time he trained the younger elves in the art of combat. And seeing that look in her eyes gave him hope that she might have just found the perfect activity that she could could practice to heal herself. He made a note to discuss the matter of Estelmist taking over a more important role in the gardens later with Erestor. "I've heard that you spend a great deal of time within the gardens of Rivendell, so I am most certain that your aid will be much appreciated." He beamed at her as she approached.

He was not certain just how keen she was on flowers nor whether she would appreciate what he was about to say next. But he felt it was worth a shot- in his experience, there was little that managed to spur on his students or make them forget the darker thoughts that plagued their mind quite like a friendly game could.  "What say you that we see which of us collects the nicest array of flowers in the 60 seconds before making our way down to the fountain?" Glorfindel asked as he ambled along the path slowly with Estelmist. "The winner is allowed to request a song of their choice to be played by Lindir this evening at dinner" Glorfindel quickly announced a prize- after all, there was not much point in a game if they was nothing to play for... The warrior had no doubt that the minstrel would be very upset to have his choice of poetry dictated for him, but how could he say no when Glorfindel explained that this was all for Estelmist's sake?

Speaking of which he turned to look at her and decided that it was best if she didn't have time to think about playing and so quickly spoke up before she had the chance-

"Time starts now-" Glorfindel gave the elleth an almost childish grin before he hurried off to his section of the garden that Erestor had let him have. It was secluded from the rest of the garden and hidden by many of the larger bushes- but there at least Glorfindel was able to grow his favourite kind of flower: Yellow crocuses. They were a little less grand than the flowers that had grown near his home in Valinor but Glorfindel thought they were beautiful nonetheless. And whilst counting down the seconds in his mind, he picked 4 or 5 of the flowers before standing up to see where Estelmist had gone to.

Mist continued to show a small smile, Glorfindel had managed to put her in a much better state of mind than she had been previously. She was very surprised at how quickly he had managed to do it too. But she chose not to linger on the idea for long and instead continued to follow him to an area of the gardens that where right for picking the blooming flowers or at least some of them.

"I like it here, it's nice and quiet. I like the smells of the flowers. Oh and the birds and butterflies!" She explained, it was her own peaceful little place where she could go and relax or just take some comfort in her own company rather than any other Elf in Rivendell, sometimes she even talked to the birds that landed and nested in the gardens.

The game that the older Elf had come up with sounded like quite a fun one, even without the prize of a song from Lindir, she quickly took a look around the area and picked out some of her favourite flowers, roses, daisies, lilies. After locating all of them and putting a picture together in her mind of what a bunch would look like if they where arranged nicely, the colours and the different shapes of the petals together, she was ready for the task at hand. She looked to Glorfindel, really to go as soon as he said so, soon enough she darted off to one side of the garden and picked out two very pretty pale pink roses that where about a day away from being in full bloom and would look nice in the bunch, she picked another that was a brighter colour of pink for the centre piece of the arrangement. She then found some white daisies that would look nice surrounding the roses as a secondary flower, by the time that she had positioned them in the way that she wanted the time was up and she slowly made her way back around the corner to the part of the garden that she had left Glorfindel to find his own bunch of flowers.

"Do you like them Glorfindel?" She raised the flowers above her own head and up towards the tall Elf with a beaming smile on her face, clearly proud of herself for what she had done and in what little time, she also took noticed of the small bunch that the male had managed to get together in the short amount of time that they had.

"Time's up!" Glorfindel called out loudly as he finished his own arrangement of flowers, he stood up to see Estelmist finished with her own group of flowers. Deciding it was best he didn't try stepping over all the flower beds to reach Estelmist as he often did in the gardens, he followed the little path around. He only ever used it really when Erestor was watching, but given that Estelmist loved the gardens as well- he tried to avoid further upsetting her. Though he had to admit it was a nice little path.

Glorfindel looked from her own bunch to his- and given that he had picked seven yellow crocuses and she had decorated hers with flowers of all shaped and sizes, it was quite obvious who had won. Though to be honest, Glorfindel hadn't exactly tried hard to make his any more impressive... He had just collected the seven flowers he always collected before heading off to the fountain. But he feared that even if he had tried, it wouldn't have been anywhere near enough to match Estelmist's chosen arrangement.

"They are very beautiful melloneg, I can see that you have a remarkable talent for this." He answered her question before quickly proceeding to the judging of who won the competition. "Well I think your bouquet is definitely superior to mine in just about every way. It hasn't got any crocuses in, which is a downside but even so I think it's fair to say that you win." He laughed light-heartedly.

"I hope you have a good taste in music melloneg! I had some fairly decent songs myself lined up for Lindir to perform. Let us hope your taste in music is as good as your taste in flowers." He jested as he lowered his seven flowers to his side and offering his free hand for Estelmist to take

"Anyhow, let us go to the fountain before noon befalls us!" He said, looking to the sun to see it almost at it's peak. He had a couple of meetings to attend to later in the day, but he ought to finish the paperwork to send for several new swords for his new recruits before he left off for the meetings.

Mist watched as the tall warrior made his way across the small pathway toward the younger, much smaller Elf. He looked a little out of place walking across the path, such a tall Elf, known for his skill in battle was doing his best not to tread on a few flowers and plants. She wouldn't have minded all that much, but she had preferred for him to do what he did so that he didn't ruin any of the plants chances of growing and blooming.

She couldn't help but giggle when Glorfindel complimented her little bunch of flowers compared to his own. She had gone for a little more diverse of a bunch of flowers to him, and she could see where he was coming from but she didn't expect a man with his talents to know everything or anything about flower arrangements,
"I like the colours that your flowers are, Glorfindel." She comments politely, mother always taught her to be kind even in the small victory that she had won over the older Elf. She quickly looked around the gardens, upon finding the flowers that she was looking for, a very pale yellow looking rose she plucked it, then thought, and plucked another before reaching out to hand them both over to Glorfindel,
"Put them in the centre of the flowers, they will make a nice centre piece!" She explains softly with a smile, feeling somewhat intelligent because she was able to do something that this Elf would not have done without her help.

Estelmist took his hand gently as they began to walk toward the fountain. Her bunch of flowers in one hand and holding on to him with the other she smiled, it was probably the first time since her parents passing since she had actually felt as though today had been a good day, a day worth remembering rather than a day where she simply sat in the gardens and thought about all that she had lost and would never get back.