Welcome Home

There is a moment each day of such simple but palpable joy that I am compelled to try and understand it. It is when I return home and exchange greetings with my beloved. I knock on the study door; that voice answers and I enter to receive a smile and embrace. On occasion I am welcomed at the stairs or (if I have done something particularly charming) at the front door.

There are several elements to it that make this daily moment meaningful. The first is a mutual desire for the other’s company. The second is a necessary distance or absence for a time. The final element is the effort made to return to that spot despite difficulty, duration or geographic separation.

The second and third are standard. The first however was not the simplest to encourage, though one might think it would be. Vividly do I recall how often I would engineer ways to spend nights and days away from Tirisfal, both yearning and loathing to return. And when I did, Viere dismissed me again once he had no more need or attention to give. I learned that this was how a pair acted with each other: he could continue his work and I would not interrupt or distract for sentimentality’s sake.

When D.A. and I began to grow close I very nearly upset everything by demonstrating this pattern. I thought I was supposed to keep distant but D.A. desired the opposite. It was extremely confusing. With time and coaxing however I have adopted the same wish and it contributes to the happiness found daily with those common words, “Welcome home.”