I wrote something silly today because I had the starting scene in my head for a while now, and I wanted to work it into a little story!
No Archive Warnings Apply
Aredhel/Celegorm (mentioned), Fëanor & Fingolfin, House of Finwë Members & Maeglin
Attempt at Humor, Family Bonding, House of Finwë, Valinor in the Fourth Age of Arda, Fluff and Crack, Banter, Brotherly Bonding, One Big Happy Family, Nothing Hurts, Post-Canon, Everyone Is Alive
Summary:
Several members of the House of Finwë get together to plan the wedding of Irissë and Tyelkormo
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
The final two people standing in the way stepped back, and Elrond himself walked right up to you. Stunned, you gave him a courteous bow. “My lord,” you said, your voice shaking. It was really him in front of you. Your face fell as you thought about how you must look, dirty and tangled. Shame washed over you in waves, each one more powerful than the next. You’d set out to find yourself and found ruin. He’d been generous enough to help you and you’d run away. He knew that you liked him but never mentioned it. You could feel the weight of all your troubles pushing down on you, making you feel alone even in the crowd.
“Y/N,” his voice was soft this time, “what’s happened to you?” You were doing so well.
“I’m sorry,” you said, your voice breaking. “I really just wanted to be better. I think I left before I was ready.”
“Are you certain you didn’t leave because of me? Because of my lack of romantic attraction to you?”
The words hit you like a brick. You wanted the earth to swallow you up or to disappear like mist blowing away. Fat, angry tears rolled down your cheeks. Why couldn’t you just have sucked it up? Why couldn’t you just get over him like a normal person? Why did you have to make a big deal and leave?
“You did what you thought would be best for you,” he said, as if reading your thoughts, “but it didn’t end up being so. Don’t be so hard on yourself, Y/N. Healing is a process.” He took your arm and pulled you into a hug. “It’s all over now. Let’s go home.”
You bit your lip and forced yourself not to cry. The last thing you wanted to do was embarrass Elrond in front of all these people. After a few moments, he pulled away from the hug and guided you to a spare horse that he had brought with him. Helping you onto it, he instructed Elrohir to stay beside you as the group left the town. You gave Elrohir a weak smile. “Thanks.”
He nodded. “I’m just glad you’re okay.
**
Arriving back in Lothlorien after a day’s ride, you apologized profusely to Galadriel for your subtle escape, lamenting that resources were wasted because of you. After you had talked with the lady for a bit, you left to go wash up. Cleansing yourself of all the grime allowed you to have a moment of peace alone. You’d felt like you were under Elrond’s watchful eye the whole time. Stealing glances every minute or so, it was as though he was still ensuring you were behind him and hadn’t run off. It made you feel sad that he had been so worried about you. You hadn’t meant for it to end up this way. You were supposed to make it on your own and get over him, not cause him unnecessary worry. Drying your hair with a towel, you slowed your breathing and tried to shift your focus somewhere else. Going back to Imladris meant getting better again. Just focus on getting better.
After slipping into some new clothes, you headed out of your designated room to see the stars. It took you a while to find a spot where you could see them, but once you did you were proud of yourself for trying. The sky was illuminated in thousands of beautiful arrangements and constellations. You felt like you were lost in them.
“I would have thought you would be anxious to get a good night’s rest after all this time.” You turned to see Elrond beside you, his face turned toward the sky, a small smile on his lips. Seeing him bathed in starlight nearly made you pass out. He was so wildly attractive with his long dark hair cascading over his shoulder, and his reflective mood made him seem gentler and sweeter than ever before.
“I wanted to see the stars,” was all you could think to say as you stood dumbfounded next to him, your eyes refusing to stop staring at his face.
He turned to you and gave you a full smile, churning your insides with only his gaze. The air felt hot all of a sudden and sweat prickled on the back of your neck, making you reach up to scratch it away. Exhaling, you lowered your gaze to the ground beneath you. He was stealing your breath now. Did he have any idea the impact he had on you? Suddenly, his hand took yours and you looked up at him in shock. The smile on his lips turned into a laugh. “Of course you did. You were always one to find something of worth in the small moments, whether it be stargazing or pulling a prank.” You blushed and looked away again, laughter escaping your own throat before you could stop it. His thumb rubbed the back of your hand reassuringly. “I have missed you so much, Y/N.”
“Really?” Your eyes snapped up to meet his. “You missed me?”
“Of course. There wasn’t a day that passed without me thinking of you.”
You smiled. “I missed you too, but I’m assuming you know that.”
His smile faded. “Yes, I did. If you knew leaving would cause you pain and deteriorate your mental state, erasing all your progress, why did you leave?”
“I left because I was hurting, and I thought leaving would make me feel better. I thought if I told you what was going on, you’d be uncomfortable. I would never want to make you uncomfortable, my lord. You mean everything to me. I know you don’t care for me in that way, so I had to do something. I felt like I would lose my mind if I just sat around doing nothing and trying to ignore it. Now I wish that I had stayed so I didn’t end up like this. That would have been the better course of action, I think.”
He sighed. “It takes a true act of bravery to confront our feelings. Sometimes it puts us in a place of discomfort, and we feel we must do something, to act, to balance out that passion with action. I know all to well what you speak of.”
You nodded. “Your wife,” you assumed.
“Well, yes, long ago,” he said, “but that is not of what I speak of now.”
“What do you speak of, then?”
“You felt such great care for me that you did not want to make me uncomfortable. You left because you felt the emotion would drive you insane otherwise, correct?”
“Exactly.”
“I also felt that insanity. When you left, I told myself it was for the better, that you knew what was best for you. Yet after you departed, I longed for you. I longed to see you, to hear you, to touch you. I felt as though my mind was crumbling the more I thought about you. All I could think about was the prospect of never seeing you again. It grieved me so terribly that I couldn’t stop weeping. I felt the only way I could feel at peace again was to be with you. I went to Lothlorien to be in your presence again and to confront the deep emotion I was feeling, but you weren’t there. Do you know how that tortured me?”
Your jaw dropped. Just what was he saying? Shaking your head, you tried to process his words.
“I admit when I first discovered you cared for me, I felt stepping back and creating emotional distance was the best course of action, only because I thought that was the proper thing to do. Would getting involved with someone I was supposed to help be fair to you? Yet I could never bring myself to do that because I delighted in being around you and conversing with you. Looking back on that time, I realized that I care for you also…just as I do now.”
“My lord, what are you saying?” you asked, breathlessly. “Are you admitting that you too care for me? That you love me?”
The smile you’d fallen for once again crossed his lips. “That is exactly what I’m saying.”
Short-circuiting, your brain told you to choke on your own saliva, and you began coughing. Pounding your chest with your fist, you fought to regain your dignity as you hacked in front of the man of your dreams, who had just given you the confession of your dreams. “I…*cough cough*…I…ack!”
“Y/N,” he said, stifling a laugh, “are you alright?”
Your coughs finally subsiding, you wiped your eyes and face with the back of your hand. “I’m so sorry. That’s not what I wanted to do after hearing your confession. I’m always making a mess of things.”
“My dear Y/N, you are too hard on yourself,” he chuckled, unable to keep the laughs at bay.
“I am of course elated by your response,” you said, squeezing his hand.
“I am glad of it,” he said, smiling. “I hope now that we’ve come to this understanding our lives will be less eventful than these past months have been.”
“Is this your way of asking me to prank you less?” you laughed. “That is absolutely not going to happen.”
“Then I hope you’re prepared for some pranks pulled on you, Y/N.”
“Pranks pulled on me?! My lord, I was unaware you knew how to be mischievous.”
He smirked. “Where do you think my sons get it from?”
Laughing, you wrapped your arms around him and hugged him. “It’s so good to be around you again.”
“Y/N, may I kiss you?”
You gasped, stepping back. “Kiss me?”
He smiled. “I’d very much like to.”
“I’d very much like you to.”
He closed the small space between you, wrapping you in his arms and planting a passionate kiss on your lips. It was a brief, but gentle smooch, one that put butterflies in your stomach. “Thank you,” he said.
“Can you…” you stopped talking and laughed before putting your arms around his neck. “Can you keep kissing me? That was too short.”
“Oh, of course!” He leaned back in, but this time you met his lips with yours, passionately kissing him in response. Rarely did things work out for you like this, and you wanted to make sure that you didn’t let this moment get away. He had your whole heart, and you knew you would die loving him deeply as you did now. This wasn’t fleeting, and it was no longer unrequited. He really liked you back. He was even kissing you. His arms were holding on to you tightly, and his lips caressed yours. Under the stars, the two of you had found each other again.
“My lord!” one of his men called from a distance.
The kiss broke apart and you looked at each other sadly. “I’m going to tell him to leave me alone,” Elrond said. “I don’t want to spend another minute apart from you.”
“It’s alright,” you said, shaking your head. “We have the whole ride back to spend together. Plus, I don’t think I’ll be leaving Imladris, even if I do start to show improvement again.”
“So, you’ll stay?”
“Of course.”
He moved back in and kissed you again, gratefully. “Thank you, Y/N. I want you to stay. My home is your home.”
You beamed. “Thank you, my lord.”
“I will see you tomorrow, then?”
“Tomorrow and forever after. I love you, Elrond.”
“I love you, Y/N.” He turned and trotted off in the direction he’d been called.
You turned and began walking back to your room. There was a long road of recovery ahead. Self-doubt still plagued you, unlikely to disappear simply because Elrond had just admitted to liking you. The journey to recovery would only be easier because you were embracing your support now instead of running from it. You were grateful to Elrond for coming to find you when you’d run away. At least one of you was brave. You shook your head. No, now was not the time to belittle yourself. You’d done what you thought was right, given the circumstances, just like Elrond had said. You’d made a mistake, something everyone did from time to time. Harassing yourself about it wasn’t going to make you feel better. The only thing you could do was move forward. It was time to love yourself. If Elrond could do it, so could you. You were always worthy of love from yourself, even if no one else showed it.
A glance back up at the stars filled your mind with peace and hope. Tomorrow, you and Elrond would go back to Imladris. Tomorrow, you would face your doubts. Tomorrow, you would love.
Bursting through the crowd and sending two people crashing into each other, Elladan rushed to you, wrapping you in his arms in a rib cracking hug. You collapsed into him, embracing the warmth and safety emanating from him while sobbing in his arms. He lifted you off the ground, arms still tightly around you, and carried you off, setting you down next to his horse. “Let’s go home,” he said, eyes glistening with tears. You nodded in agreement, and he pulled you back into another hug before helping you onto his horse. Climbing up behind you, he nodded to his brother. “Let’s go.”
**
The journey home was uneventful, with the group only ever stopping when you needed something. Elladan attended to your every need, only leaving you alone when you needed to use the bathroom. He was constantly holding you in some way: an arm around your waist when on horseback, an arm linked with yours while walking, a hand clutching yours at night. His brother had brought you a change of clothes, and they’d stopped by Lothlorien to give you a chance to wash and rest peacefully for one night. You’d apologized profusely to Lady Galadriel for running away, but all was forgiven in the end. Your heart was beginning to feel that same old ache again, the ache you felt when someone was nice to you. It was as though you felt you didn’t deserve it. But even though you were consumed with guilt, you couldn’t stay away from Elladan. He was a stronghold you could hide away in and feel safe.
When the group finally reached the borders of the valley, you requested to stop. Walking to the edge of the border, you looked at Elladan with concern. “Is he mad?”
“Is who mad?”
“Who do you think?”
He sighed and looked away. “No, he’s not mad. Concerned, most definitely, but not mad.”
“Are you sure you’re telling the truth? What’s wrong?” You touched his arm. “You seem upset.”
He looked down at his feet. “You’ve been thinking about him this whole time, haven’t you?”
“I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to say to him and how he’ll react.”
“Did you ever think of me?”
“What?”
“After I left you in Lothlorien, did you think of me?”
You nodded forcefully. “Of course I thought of you. I missed you so much. Painfully so, even.”
He looked up in surprised and touched your arm. “I did not mean to cause you pain.”
Chuckling, you put your arms around him. “It’s not as though you did it on purpose, El.”
“Even so, if thoughts of me were hurting you—”
“Then that’s on me.” You buried your face in his chest. “I’ve never been more grateful to you.”
His strong arms enveloped you. “I have to be honest with you, Y/N. I don’t want to cause you more pain.”
You pulled away and looked at him in surprise. “What is it?”
“The unrequited love you feel for my father...” He released you from his grasp. “I feel it for you.”
“What?” you said, confused. “You feel the love I have for your father?”
“No, no. I feel…no, I love you, Y/N. With all my heart and every fiber of my being, I love you. I never said anything because I knew you loved him and I worried confessing my feelings might put unneeded pressure on you when you were already struggling, especially since I knew your heart belonged to another, but these past weeks we’ve been travelling have made me feel closer to you than ever before. Perhaps I am misreading our interactions and your intentions, but I felt now was the time to say something. If I wait any longer, it might be too late to say anything.”
You blinked back tears. “Oh, Elladan…how long have you felt this way?”
“Four years.”
You gasped. “Four years?”
“Repeating again, are we?” he said, a smile crossing his lips.
You rolled your eyes and smacked his arm. “El, you should have told me sooner.”
“No, Y/N, it wouldn’t have been fair. I know you would have felt guilty about not returning my feelings.”
Sighing, you looked over the valley. “Perhaps you’re right. Still, I would have liked to have known. I might have realized and returned them a lot sooner if you had.”
“A lot…sooner?”
You took one of his hands in both of yours. “You haven’t misread my attentions, El. Ever since we set out for Lothlorien, I have felt a great love for you. A grateful love that turned into a longing love when you left me. A love that left me shaken to my core in devastation, thinking I might not see you again. It was you that befriended me first when I arrived in Imladris. It was you that gave me hope that your father could help me. You were my best friend and greatest ally. Although I found myself pining after your father, there was always love for you in my heart. I left because I knew he would never love me and I knew not having him love me would be painful, but I failed to see that being apart from you would destroy me. And it did. I thought I was dreaming when your brother called out to me in that village. But when I saw you, I knew for certain that it was real. Not just the fact that you had come, but the fact that I loved you more deeply than anyone else, including your father. I couldn’t bear to be apart from you after that. It’s the only reason why I came back. If you hadn’t been there to show me you still gave an ounce of care about me, I might not have had the courage to. And when I saw that you were equally as desperate to be close to me, I knew you felt something for me too. I wasn’t sure how strong it was, but I decided I wouldn’t be letting you go this time.” You pulled the back of his hand up to your lips and kissed it gently. “I love you, Elladan, with every fiber of my being and I never want to be apart from you ever again.”
He swallowed, blinking away the tears in his eyes. “Y/N…”
You shook your head. “Don’t cry. If you cry, I’ll really start crying.”
“I won’t cry then,” he said, softly, pulling you close and tipping your chin upward. You closed your eyes and felt his lips embrace yours in a kiss that brought your confidence back to life. Every fear, every doubt, every thought of hatred for yourself faded into the background as he kissed you passionately. His arms held you against his chest as your wrapped around his back and clutched the fabric of his shirt. You had no idea why you’d been so consumed with thoughts of his father when he had been standing right behind you, holding you up, this whole time. You knew you’d felt gratitude and love for Elrond, but standing here and kissing Elladan made you reconsider every emotion you’d ever felt. Why had you denied yourself this happiness? For four years, he was thinking of you when all you could think about was yourself. But there was no time to beat yourself up now. You had to make up for four years’ worth of lost time. Elladan needed to feel the intensity of the love you had for him, and you were going to show it to him. The kiss you were sharing was passionate, needy, and full of relief at finally being able to be together. One hand had slipped up your back to tangle in your hair, and you were holding onto him for dear life as your lips moved against one another in harmony.
“Um, excuse me,” Elrohir said, coughing, and you and Elladan practically flew apart. The twins refused to make eye contact with each other and Elrohir cleared his throat. “I think we should be going now. We need to make it back before nightfall.”
“O-of course,” Elladan stuttered, turning to you with a slight blush on his cheeks.
You laughed. “The sooner we get back, the sooner we can resume.”
Elrohir sighed. “Yes, think of it that way, if you must.”
Elladan scooped you up into his arms. “Let’s go, Y/N. I still have much to prove.”
“You have nothing to prove, El.”
He kissed your lips sweetly. “I love you, Y/N. I can’t wait to show you how much I love you every day.”
You buried your face in his shoulder. “I love you more, Elladan.”
