Title: Echoes

Prompt: 019. and where I go, you'll be there with me, forever you'll be right here with me

Author's Notes: All Tolkien's characters. Lalaith was Túrin's sister, but died in a plague when she was three. Inspired by a note in Unfinished Tales about Túrin: 'Always he sought in all faces of women the face of Lalaith.'

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'Then Lalaith will not come back?' said Túrin. 'Where has she gone?'

'She will not come back,' said Sador. 'But where she has gone no man knows; or I do not.'

– Unfinished Tales

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From the day she was gone, I have been searching for Lalaith. It has stemmed, I think, from a young boy's inability to accept that his sister had truly gone forever. Some part of me believed that she had gone somewhere far away, and that I would eventually find her again. I was not aware at first that I was doing so, only that I wanted the joy that Lalaith had brought, but the women of my father's house were weighed down by care, and my mother was cold and remote. As I grew older and came to understand death better, I no longer searched for my sister, but I still found myself drawn to women who shared her spirit. I have found Lalaith in many women. Melian shares her deep joy of life, Nellas her love of nature, Finduilas her laughter and Níniel her vulnerability. If I could see my sister Nienor, perhaps I would find Lalaith in her too. Yes, she has gone, but I have found echoes of her throughout my life.