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At the wide open double door, Elnara and Celebor appeared. Celebor was dressed like Lore, standing proud and tall, and Elnara was holding his arm. Elnara was wearing a dress of red and gold, with a black underskirt, and she had a golden shawl draped around her back, hanging on her arms. There was a matching flower in her hair, but most radiant about her was her eyes and her smile, which were as bright as they had ever been. Even her skin seemed to glow with her excitement and happiness.

The moment she stepped into the room, her eyes were drawn to Lore, standing at the front and waiting for her, and her gaze, if it was possible, grew even brightly, and she stared at him, transfixed, as Celebor led her up the aisle.

Elnara and Celebor walked slowly up the aisle until finally, at long last, they reached the front of the room. They stopped just in front of the king and queen, and Elnara tore her eyes away from Lore, looking instead up at her grandmother.

Lore looked at Atalya, as he watched with interest, and could not help but glanced at Celebor. The person who was going to give Elnara away. It also reminded him of when he first met Celebor and all those talks about being a father and what meant.

It was another memory he could not help but relive with fond joy.

Kara watched with a smile, it was hard to believe it had been over a year since Elnara came to live with them. Since she began to adopt children of her own and now she was getting married.

Yes, even Kara, whom... even knowing that Elnara had her own family felt that connection. She leaned against Donovan.

As Celebor headed off to sit with his family, taking Aras from Serenity's lap and sitting down with her, the queen smiled and raised her hands, and, speaking to the general assembly, she said, "You may be seated."

Once everyone was sitting down again, she smiled at Lore and Elnara.

"My children," she said in a voice that was both loud and soft, filling the hall and being filled with tenderness, "for a long time, you have desired to be wed in the eyes of your family and of your friends."

There was a soft snicker from the general direction of Elnara's blood family. It had been a long time all right - years, for them.

The queen ignored it and continued.

"The responsibilities included in this desire are thus: first, that you be faithful to each other for the entirety of your lives and the life of your spouse; second, that you become and remain a help meet for your loved one; and third, that you raise your children in knowledge and responsibility, unspoiled and moral. You show by this desire that you promise to treat each other not only with love, but with respect and honour. This wedding is a confirmation of this desire."

She paused for a breath, and her smile grew wider.

"Now," she concluded, "what do you vow to your loved one? Lore."

And she turned her eyes to him expectantly.

With every word that Lore spoke, Elnara's heart warmed and her smile grew broader, brightly, until her entire face seemed to be glowing. It was as if the entire room had disappeared, leaving her alone with only Lore, and no one else - though she knew, deep in the back of her mind, that her families - not one, but three - were there, almost close enough for her to reach out and touch.

But that didn't matter - the only thing that mattered to her were the words that were coming from Lore's mouth, the words that she knew had been memorized, but that she knew even more had come straight from his heart, from the depths of his soul, and from the love that the two of them shared, that he had for her, and that she returned with equal passion.

Her eyes sparkled brightly as he brought her hand to his lips, and, keeping her hand raised, she took a deep breath and replied.

"Lore," she breathed, speaking only to him and yet loud enough that everyone else could hear, "I, too, will love you ... cherish you ... and stay with you forever ..."

For this life, and the one beyond, if fate dealt with them as it had her parents.

"Nothing will ever separate us, you and I," she went on, her heart fluttering at the words and knowing that even if they were separated by worlds, they would still be together.

Her fingers tightened slightly around his, and she added, almost in a whisper, "Ever."

And then she drew his hand to her mouth and kissed the backs of his knuckles lightly.

Oddly enough he almost forgot, but he didn't need prodding as he leaned down a bit and gave Elnara a soft but deepning kiss. Their first kiss as a married couple. He made a note in the back of his mind that the old gossping ladies in the library were correct.

No matter how many times you've kissed, the first kiss in married life was something you'd never forget.