QUESTIONS AND INFORMATION
QUESTION: I'm a sucker for a good love-story so I can't help but ask; how did Dúion and Naeriel first meet and what initially drew him to her? Hopefully this isn't too odd a question!
ANSWER: I'll try and summarize it: it’s an “enemy to friends to lovers” trope, but they are not enemies, they simply disliked each other in the beginning. He is the first to fall in love, completely and irrevocably. For her, it takes a long time to warm up romantically to him, but he has always been patient and gave her as much space as she needed. They are two avari, two moriquendi in love with the stars, who wander the lands that have always been theirs.
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Their great tragedy is that Naeriel longs to sail west after the War of the Ring, which is the one thing Duion can never do. He cannot leave the lands to which he has always been bound. But he doesn’t want to keep her away from what she longs for. The decision, as well as his heart, remains in her hands.
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They met at the S-E border of Taur-nu-Fuin, Naeriel was a border guard and Duion was trying to reach Thranduil’s halls with a message from an avar lord. They are ambushed by a small party of orcs from Dol Guldur, but quickly dispose of them. She guides him to the Halls, and that’s kind of it for their first meeting.
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What drew him to her? Everything. Naeriel’s fire, comparable to his, and her knowledge and wanderlust and stories of many traveled places. Her love and talent for the forge and making things with her hands. He was fascinated by how much she has seen and lived, of her stories of the many battles she fought, of her witty remarks and guarded self. Although the feels train hit him hard and fast, it took hundred of years to earn Naeriel’s not only good impression but friendship and ultimately heart.