Anestel

Title: Anestel
Part: 24/?
Author: Esteliel (esteliel@gmx.de)
Pairing: Glorfindel/Legolas
Warnings: mpreg, d/s,
Disclaimer: All the pretty elves belong to Tolkien, I'm just playing with them and will give them back afterwards.

For those who are wondering... Elrohir will get a short story of his own once this is finished. ;) But for now, read on if you want to finally see what the birth will be like. *g*

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Glorfindel had thought it impossible that Legolas would be able to withstand any more pain, and yet, hours later, the youth was still shaking in his arms, his body feverish and wet with sweat, and still his body wasn't yet fully prepared for the birth. And Glorfindel could do nothing for him but hold him and try to soothe him, although he did not think that Legolas could understand what was being said to him.

Once more Legolas tensed and cried out with the pain, and again Glorfindel tightened his hold of him to prevent him from hurting himself. Elrond sighed and looked up at his seneschal, shaking his head. Some time ago the birth passage had opened, and now the air in the room smelled not only of fear and of pain but also of blood, reminding Glorfindel of the various battlefields he had seen, and also of the many friends he had lost there. But no, he would not lose Legolas, he could not... he had promised the youth to care for him and protect him in return for his submission, and he would keep what he had promised.

"Do something!" he told Elrond. "Something has to happen! You must see that Legolas will not be able to hold out much longer!" Gently he smoothed a wet strand away from the pale face but Legolas kept his eyes closed, no longer reacting to what was happening around him.

"But there is nothing I can do! I already told him, he is too weak for a potion against the pain, those would pull him down and never let him wake again. The only thing we can do is wait."

"But we waited for so long already! How much longer is this supposed to take? He is... he is *pale*, Elrond! He has lost so much blood!"

"I know, my friend... but there is nothing I can do! We must wait for his body to do the work. The opening has to widen more before the birth can begin."

Glorfindel gritted his teeth and concentrated on holding Legolas who once again began to weakly struggle against the pain inside him. Of course it was no use to get angrf cof course he knew that there was nothing they could do to speed this up, but... he could not bear the waiting! Not when Legolas was in so much pain! Yes, Glorfindel might like it to cause his lovers a little pain, but he knew when to stop, knew when he had reached someone's limits. But this was so beyond anything he would ever have asked Legolas to bear for him...

Legolas tensed once more and weakly gasped his name, causing Glorfindel to grow even more agitated. Legolas looked to him for help, he trusted him, and while this was exactly what Glorfindel wanted, there wasn't anything he could do now to help the Sindar. He felt like he had somehow betrayed the youth, and this feeling was something he did not particularly like.

"Damn it!" he finally exploded when Legolas shuddered once more in his arms, more blood spilling onto the sheets between his legs. "He is going to die!"

"Yes," Elrond said calmly. "He will if you continue like this. You are not making this any easier! Just be silent, close your eyes if you have to, and hold him. Don't let him slip away! If you continue like this, he might just decide that all this pain isn't worth it if his only reward is to be being yelled at by you!"

"What?"
Glorfindel stared at Elrond, silenced by his sharp words. He hated Elrond for being able to stay so calm although the situation was becoming more and more dangerous for Legolas, but despite his agitation, he was still able to see the reason behind Elrond's words.
"I'm sorry," he finally apologized, "I know that this is hard for you as well. I'm just..."

"Afraid?" Elrond finished for him with a slight smile. "Have you come to care for him so much?"

"No, it is just..." Glorfindel sighed and shook his head as he watched Legolas relax when the pain lessened for a short while. The youth was so pale that his skin seemed almost translucent, but although his face was reddened and wet with his tears, sweat-soaked strands of hair sticking to his cheeks, he still seemed to touch something deep inside Glorfindel, made him want to hold, to own, to protect.

"He is mine. *Mine*! And although he without doubt thinks me cruel, I care for what is mine. He belongs to me, and now I feel like I have failed him."

"His suffering is not your fault," Elrond pointed out as gently as possible. "You could not have known that he would get pregnant."

"Ah, but this is exactly why I feel this way now! He should not suffer so, only I have the right to decide when he has deserved to feel pain, and only by my hands!"

Elrond laughed. "You, my friend," he said with affection, "are the most possessive and arrogant bastard I have ever met."

"Which is my I have been your friend for millenia!" Glorfindel retorted with a smirk. He felt a little better now -- without doubt Elrond had done this in full knowledge of this, knowing that he would need the feeling of normality their banter brought him. But right now Glorfindel did not mind being manipulated, not when it resulted in feeling even only slightly better.

He pressed a gentle kiss into Legolas' hair, then resigned himself once more to holding the youth through the waves of pain. As he had done before, he tried to soothe Legolas when the pain receded and focused all of his energy on the shaking body in his arms, and now, finally, Elrond smiled up at him when he inspected the opening.

"It is wide enough now... if we are lucky, this will soon be over."

"Ah, thank you, Elbereth," Glorfindel whispered against Legolas' cheek. The young Sindar sighed tiredly in response, his body relaxing for a moment until new pain, worse than before, made his body convulse in Glorfindel's arms and the small room was once again filled with his screams.

Sometimes Glorfindel thought it would never end, that Legolas would die before the child would be born, but somehow, although the time seemed to stretch infinitely, Legolas screamed one last time and then fell back into Glorfindel's arms while Elrond wrapped a white towel around the child. Gently he laid it into the trembling arms of the youth and then smiled at Glorfindel. "You have a son, congratulations!"

"A son..." Glorfindel repeated softly as he looked at the tiny being in rapt fascination, then gave Legolas a tender kiss. "You have done it, little one, see how beautiful he is!"

Legolas smiled at his child, then, with a weary sigh, turned his face against Glorfindel's chest and almost immediately succumbed to his exhaustion.

"Do not worry," Elrond told Glorfindel before his seneschal could even ask. "He is very, very weak, but I think he is no longer in any danger. Let him rest, I will dress the wound before he loses even more blood. You can... ah, just continue what you're doing," he smiled when he realized that Glorfindel had taken the child into his arms and was now gazing into the tiny face with so much wonder and love that Elrond thought it best to leave them undisturbed and returned to his medical work.

tbc...