One Fine Day

"Papi!” Maniel left the safety of Celeborn’s lap and flung herself into her sire’s arms.

Erestor noted how Glorfindel’s entire being seemed to relax once he had his daughter back in his arms.

“Hey!” He squeezed her tightly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Have you been good for Papi?”

“Uh-huh!” she chirped merrily. “When we got here Miss ‘Wen stayed ousside an’ Miss ‘Ri said ‘who is she’ but didin let him say anythin’ an’ den I said hi ta Unca ‘Ro an’ Unca ‘Ro said hi back an askeded about ‘da boat ride an I said it was fun an’ we seen fisses and dolphins an da man in da water makin’ da silly faces an who was dat man Papi an why was he makin da silly faces at me?”

Erestor had a dazed look in his eye. //This child…I did not think it possible to be more long-winded than Galdor. How does she do it?//

Glorfindel barely flickered an eyelash. “That was Lord Ulmo, and I do not know, you will have to ask him.”

“Oh,” the little girl puzzled. “Okay but ‘den Miss ‘Ri yelleded at Unca ‘Dan cuz she thought I was his an’ didin tell her an’ he said I wasn’ an’ she said who was I ‘den an’ M’s’r Elr’n said I was yours an’ she said why wasn’ she a gramma yet an’ no one said anythin an ‘den she said oh an’ Unca ‘Ro said Miss ‘Wen gived her lots of granchir’n an’ Unca ‘Dan said dey didin count an’ Unca ‘Ro said dey did an’ dey was arguin’ an’ grampa Ce’b’rn yelleded an’ dey was bofe like sorry an’ Miss ‘Wen came in an’ Miss ‘Ri yelleded an’ cried an’ jumpeded an’ why does M’s’r ‘Rest’r look so sad Papi is he sick an’ dey mus’ be poor cuz where’s da teevee Papi?”

Glorfindel patiently waited for his brain to catch up. “Well, Mani, I will speak with Master Erestor later. But they’re not poor, Mani-love. They just don’t have television here.”

“Huh?” Her lip quivered. “No tel’tubs?” She took a deep breath.

Celeborn’s hands immediately covered his wife’s ears while Elladan and Elrohir covered their own.

“WAAAAH! NOOOOOOOOOOOO……” She buried her head in his shoulder, her legs landing solid kicks to Glorfindel’s stomach.

Celebrian smiled patiently while both Erestor and Elrond discreetly pressed fingers to their ears in an attempt to block out the noise. Glorfindel winced at the vicious tug on his hair. “Sorry,” he mouthed silently. “No nap.”

Enough said.

Elrond leaned over to his law father. “What, exactly, is a ‘tel tub?’ “

“Teletubby,” Celeborn corrected, shuddering. “A vile creation of Melkor capable of bringing the stoutest elf to his knees.”

Surprised at the reaction, as Celeborn was not known for being faint of heart, Elrond took his word for it. These teletubbies must have truly been evil.

There was a collective sigh of relief when the elfling tantrum subsided to sniffling and an occasional hiccup. Moments later, even those disappeared as the nap-deprived elfling nodded off on her father’s shoulder.

“Well,” Celebrian sighed, voice dripping with amusement. “No denying she is your elfling, Glorfindel.”

Glorfindel smiled and joined Erestor on a sofa. “I could not even if I wanted to, Lady. Which, I do not.”

“Good,” Elrohir said. “Well, then, now that we have the reunions out of the way, you, missy,” he pointed rudely at Arwen, “have more than a little explaining to do! How are you here, and where the hell were you?!”

“Don’t you dare snap at me, Elrohir Peredhel,” Arwen retorted. “I still have dirt on you, don’t forget!”

A long silence fraught with speculation

“As delightful as such material sounds, penneth,” Erestor cut in gently. “I believe we would all like the answer to those questions.”

Arwen sighed and curled herself into a chair, smoothing her skirt down over her knees. She thought a moment, wondering where she should start. Or where she could start.

“How is it you are still among us?” Galadriel asked with a hint if impatience.

“I don’t know exactly.” She ignored the frustrated grumbles from her brothers. “I had chosen humanity with a clear mind, and fully expected to pass on after a long life and many children with Elessar. Though I would have missed my family dearly, I was content with my choice.”

Silence.

“I suppose the first sign of fate was when the crops failed.”

Elladan sat straight. “I remember that. Slugs or something, wasn’t it?”

Arwen nodded. “Newts, actually. I am still unsure how they got into our crops, but they burrowed and chewed through most of the roots.” She smiled ruefully. “The crops failed, and many people went hungry that year, particularly the smaller villages on the outskirts of Gondor’s land. Naturally, since the only thing that had changed from the previous year was that they now had a King and his Elven Queen, and it could not be the King at fault, voices began to whisper.”

The Evenstar sighed. “Two years later, the night after we’d had a little…discussion about her interest in my husband, Eowyn was found drowned in a fountain the Osgiliath’s central plaza. I was the obvious culprit, given the fact that I was not one of them, and would never be one of them, no matter who I married or whose blood I carried.” She shifted in her seat. “But since they could not actively accuse the Queen of murder, her death was deemed accidental and the matter was quickly closed.”

Elladan and Elrohir shared a look. The mystery surrounding the Princess of Ithilien’s demise had troubled all of them.

“Less than a month later,” she continued, “Faramir was found knifed in an alley. Officially, it was deemed a suicide, brought on by grief over Eowyn’s death. Again, I was, unofficially of course, the primary suspect, though what their ultimate reasoning for that was, I can’t be certain. My favorite rumor was that I was a scorned lover taking my revenge upon the poor, virginal Faramir.” At the many looks of dismay, she chuckled. “Yes, yes, I know. But honestly, Uncle Elros’ descendents were remarkably…not clever. Not sure what they thought Eowyn was screaming about at night.” And Valar knew Eowyn had been a screamer…

~~~~~~

As Erestor listened to Arwen’s tale, he felt the heavy weight at his side grow heavier and heavier. He looked down, the sight of two bright golden heads against him making him feel warm and fuzzy. He shifted positions, twisting into a more comfortable pose for the exhausted traveler a’snooze against him.

He stroked silky blond hair away from dulled blue eyes with tentative fingers and frowned. He would never have thought it possible, but Glorfindel’s once youthful face was careworn, thin worry lines skating across his brow even in sleep.

Arwen’s explanation trailed off as she noticed her audience’s distraction. “I think, perhaps, we should continue this tomorrow. I imagine many of us are tired and could do with a rest.”

Celeborn nodded, suppressing his own yawn. He looked down at Galadriel. “Where am I going?”

Galadriel kissed his nose. “With me, silly tree-elf.”

Elrond pulled Celebrían to her feet. “Come, we should have rooms prepared for our returned loved ones.”

After promises to return for the rest of Arwen’s tale, Erestor nudged and prodded and bullied Glorfindel down the block to his own modest but comfortable abode. He stripped both Father and daughter, put Maniel in a comfortably oversized shirt, and tucked them both into bed.

Smiling when both seemed to fall asleep instantly, Erestor kissed Glorfindel’s temple, blew out the candle, and slinked from the room.

“Where are you going?”

~~TBC~~


Yes, yes, yes, I know this one was a bore to trudge through, particularly since it's a rough copy with only my own eye for beta-ing. Why do you think it took almost exactly a year to update with it...well, ok, maybe RL did a little b*&ch-slapping, but what else is new, eh?

I can promise it will get better for our heroes. Y'all know me. I like my muses happy and sated...or happily sated...whatever.