A Man Who Flies From His Fear May Find He Has Only Taken A Shortcut To Meet It by LadySternchen  

Crowds- Olwë

His heart is racing. There are so many people, too many people. All of Alqualondë is at the quays, welcoming back the fishing fleet. Year after year after year, this has been their second-largest celebration, a day to look forward to.

But that happiness belongs to an old version of himself, a different person, a different king. One that has not had to bury his sons. One that has not had to start anew, and pick himself and his people up from the mess their friends, his kinsmen, left behind.

Olwë cannot help himself from turning constantly, scanning the people around him. Was that a sword drawn? No, only a harpoon that is hurled back ashore. Mentally shaking himself, he forces himself to put on a brave face. He must not show his distress. This he owes to his people.

But he cannot deny that being surrounded by people, the very thing that he has relished all his life, now makes him feel uneasy.