His Ada’s Love

By: Amebrindra

Rating: G

Disclaimer: These are not my characters. I just thought to spend some time with them. No offense meant. No money made.

Note: Being thoroughly brainwashed by Cassie and Sio; I now believe that Aragorn was raised as the son of Elrond and the brother of the twins, after the untimely death of his father and mother at the hands of orcs. I am not certain what his age was at that time. In this story it suited me for him to be 2. So he is.

Translation: Ada (Daddy)

Summary: Estel overhears a conversation. What are Lord Elrond’s real feelings about the young human in their midst.

His Ada’s Love

Lord Elrond was enjoying a quiet walk through his home. The halls and rooms were unusually peaceful. His twin sons had left earlier to go hunting. Whether to hunt orc or deer had not been clarified. And Aragorn was…the dignified elven lord chuckled quietly at the thought of his human son. At 12 years of age and with a completely irrepressible nature it was impossible to know what he might be up to.

As Elrond passed the doorway which led to the great room he heard an odd sound. His curiosity pricked he entered to see if he could discover the source. The room was large and airy. The furnishing comfortable and elegant in the way only and elfish home could be. This was the room of choice when the family relaxed together, or on the many occasions that guests were in residence. He saw no one but when the sigh came again he noticed the long dark hair falling over the arm rest of the chair across from him and facing the opposite direction.  Ah, Estel.

Wondering what disaster had befallen the young man this time, Elrond moved to stand beside him, thinking that perhaps it was just the torment of being left behind by his brothers, again. But when he came in sight of the young human his face creased with concern. The boy sat, his knees drawn up against his chest, his arms wrapped tightly about them. His head lay on his knees, eyes closed. His face wore a look of absolute sorrow.

A soft smile touched Elrond’s face as he reached out to gently move the hair from Aragorn’s face.

‘So he grows too old to cry,’ thought the elf, for though the silver-gray eyes that met his were filled with a great sadness, they held no tears.  

“Hello, Ada.” The boy sat up and his hand came up with a gesture born of long habit, to push his hair from his face. The wavy, unruly locks were much longer than he usually wore them. He had decided several months ago he wanted hair like his brothers. Unfortunately he didn’t have the patience to keep it braided, or the inclination to keep it combed. The result was, interesting.

“Hello, Estel” Elrond managed to keep an amused smile from his lips and his expression showed only his concern. “Is everything well?”

“Sure, I’m fine,” came Aragon’s automatic answer. Whether bleeding profusely from an open wound, unable to move from a broken limb, or rendered immobile by wounded feelings Aragorn could be counted on to be “fine”.

“I see,” one eyebrow raised the elven lord considered his son; he turned to leave, “I will be going then.”

A small hand reached out to grab his. “Ada, wait.” Elrond clasped the hand lightly in his. He looked kindly down into the gray eyes that peered up at him; once more peering through shaggy locks of hair.

“What troubles you, my son?” his voice when he spoke to the boy was quiet and kind.

“Am I?” Aragorn asked softly. He sounded much younger than his 12 years as he sought reassurance from the one who had raised him.  “Am I your son?” silver eyes which had grown as dark as storm clouds with worry, searched those of the elven lord seriously. Elrond raised an eyebrow once again, this time in surprise. It had been years since this issue had last been raised. Elrond thought Aragorn had finally worked past the insecurity he had once suffered over the issue of being adopted rather than born into the family.

Taking the boy’s hand the elf pulled him to his feet and led him to a sofa where they could sit comfortably together. He knew from past experience, they might be here a while. As Elrond settled himself, the young human sprawled out next to him. The elf Lord, sighed but said nothing, he had long ago despaired of ever teaching his sons to sit properly on the furniture.

He studied the gangly youth in silence marveling over how swiftly the mortal was maturing. It was with some nostalgia that Elrond recalled how 8 year old Aragorn had sat tight up against his father’s side, cuddled under his strong arm, when last they had this conversation. Too old for cuddling, to old for tears, his boy was around the corner from manhood.

‘A! And what then?’ Elrond could not stop himself from thinking.

“What do you see?” Elrond found himself brought back to the present by the boy’s question. Silver eyes gazed steadily into blue.

"Pardon?” Elrond was unsure what Aragorn was asking.

“When you look at me, what do you see?” Elrond shook his head; with this one the questions were never easy. Elrond paused before answering.

“You may not wish to know Estel, but I shall tell you anyway.” Elrond said softly looking steadily into the gray eyes turned so trustingly up to his own.

“When I look at you I see a small boy, hair in his face, blanket clutched in one hand and an odd habit of keeping the thumb of the other hand in his mouth. I see a somewhat older boy, hair in his face, tagging along behind his brothers begging to go with them, to do what they are doing; no matter what or where. I see an even bigger boy, hair in his face, racing his friends through the trees. I see the man he will become, the hope of his kind.” Elrond paused and a twinkle of mischief appeared in his eyes. “And still his hair is in his face, although he does appear to have left behind the unfortunate habit that involved his thumb.”

Aragorn, who had been chewing his thumbnail and staring into space as he listened to his father speak, jerked his thumb away from his mouth and returned his gaze to his father’s face.

“I see you, my son. And I believe it is time to cut your hair.” They laughed together at Elrond’s comment and then grew serious once more.  A gentle hand pushed the hair from the boy’s face once more and lingered on the dear head for a moment.

“What have they said to you?” the elf lord knew that all of the younger elves were not always kind to the human, but things had improved. He wondered what had brought this heart wrenching subject out of the pit in which it had finally been buried. It was one the young man had always particularly struggled with.

“No one said anything to me.” Aragorn’s voice was quiet with supressed pain. “I heard, I didn’t mean to listen, honestly, Ada.” Aragorn added hoping to dodge a lecture on ‘overhearing’.

“I was in my room and they were talking in the hall. They said…” the boy paused trying to collect himself. He clasped his hands together in a tight grip and just before he dropped his eyes Elrond saw that perhaps he wasn’t too old for tears after all. Aragorn steadied his voice, and continued,

“They said you had to take me because I am of your brother’s line. They said because you feel you are my uncle you had no choice.” His voice fell to a whisper and a lone tear tracked a sliver path down his cheek. “They said they pity you for the obligation that forced you to take me in. That I am a burden that should not be yours.”

Silver eyes lifted once more to him and Elrond sighed silently.

“My son, why do you still let the others torment you so? How is it that you can let the elflings cause you to doubt that you are a son of my heart?”

At his father’s words the child’s face grew even more earnest.  “But Ada, they weren’t children. The others never say such things to me anymore.” The gray eyes flashed, “They don’t dare!” Knowing his human son had been thoroughly trained by his elven brothers Elrond had no doubt Aragorn spoke the truth. The three were remarkably ingenious at retribution.

“Not elflings? Then who were they?” Elrond sat up if adult elves were acting in such a way…’they wouldn’t dare a second time!’ The elven father thought protectively.

“They were…” Aragorn stopped and Elrond knew he would never find out who the elves in question were, at least not without a lot of effort. “Ada, they really didn’t know I was there. They were just talking. But those things they said, Ada, they believed them! They feel sorry for you, because of me! I don’t want to be trouble for you. I don’t want to be an obligation.”

Now Aragorn sat up as well, he clutched the sleeve of his father’s robes and leaned forward earnestly as he spoke. Without a word Elrond enfolded his youngest son into his embrace. Understanding that the words Aragorn had overheard held much more weight in his young mind then the taunts of the young ones ever had.

Even though Aragorn felt he was much too old for such things he snuggled into his father’s arms and laid his head on Elrond’s shoulder. Gratefully accepting the comfort he found there.

“Estel you will find as you grow older that it is unfortunately a common thing for many beings to speak without thinking a matter through first. This is a good example of that. The pair you overheard was thinking of one way of looking at things. For it is true there is a great amount of responsibility in this task I have under taken to parent you. There is a great obligation. Obligations and resposibilities can seem like a burden at times. 

“Another way to think of it is to realize life is filled with obligations. Not all are unpleasant. I have these very same duties in regards to the twins, who are of my flesh. It is the nature of parenting. Elves, unlike humans, choose when to have a child. So it was not much different when I chose to be your father. You were just a little older. I owe it to you to do the very best I can to raise you well. There is nothing you can do to relieve such an obligation, nor would I have you to.” ”

Elrond stopped speaking, remembering once again the big gray eyes that had looked at him so somberly, that day so long ago.

~*~

(10 years previously)

He had clung to Elladan’s leg, for even this slightly known person, was more familiar than the stern one before him. Elladan laid a hand gently on the dark curls that covered the child’s head; he knelt on one knee beside the boy.

“Aragorn,” he said softly, but the gray eyes never left Elrond’s face, as if he were measuring the elf’s worth in his mind. “This is ...” Elladan faltered and raised his eyes to meet those of his father, at a loss for what to say. The boy was a baby, only two, how would they ever help him to understand?

Elrond took a step forward; he scooped the small being into his arms. His eyes filled with compassion as he spoke gently,

“Ada, Aragorn, I am your Ada.”

~*~

Elrond blinked and brought himself back to the present. It wasn’t like him to be so lost in the past; perhaps the human perspective of time was catching. It wasn’t easy watching a loved one grow so fast toward what you knew was to be the end of him. Aragorn sat against him, still, but was looking at him strangely. Elrond simply smiled down into those same gray eyes and laid an affectionate hand on the boy’s cheek.

“Uncle,” Elrond said quietly as if tasting the word, “I suppose before I became your Ada I could have been considered your uncle. Some hundreds of your generations removed” They laughed together. It seemed odd to Aragorn to think of his Ada as his uncle, but sometimes he forgot to remember just how really old his Ada was. It was quite amazing, and incomprehensible to his young mortal mind.

“The relationship seems not so distant to me.” Elrond told him his voice rich with emotion sad interwoven with joy, “Even though Elros has been gone for a very long time.” Elrond sighed softly as he contemplated the millennia he had lived without his twin. Aragorn took his father’s hand in his and held it tightly. He hadn’t meant to make him sad. Elrond smiled slightly at his son, moved by the young boy’s show of compassion.

“I never thought to see again, anything of my brother after all this time.” Elrond continued, “But you, Estel, are very like him in many ways.”

“I am like your brother!” Aragorn stared at his father in complete astonishment. He had never heard this before; impatiently he pushed his hair out of his face, this time tucking it elf-like behind his ears.

“Not in looks, of course,” the elf laughed, “for I see his face each time I look into a mirror. We were as much alike as your brothers are, perhaps more so.”

“More alike than ‘dan and ‘ro?” Aragorn sounded horrified, which made Elrond laugh again.

“The first time you looked at me, I seemed to see him in you. You were so very serious, so controlled even though you were so very young.”

~*~

(10 years previously)

Elrond looked at the small child in his arms. Grey eyes continued to look steadily into his. The elf pushed stray hairs from the little face. Something would have to be done about his hair. And then Aragorn reached up and touched the elf lord’s face with his tiny hand.

“Ada?” he said hesitating slightly over the unfamiliar word. Elrond’s arms tightened around him.

“Yes, I am your Ada.” and if he had not already fallen to him, it would have been the end for Elrond, as a sweet smile spread over Aragorn’s face just before he lay his head for the first time on his Ada’s shoulder.

“Ada.” he said again. The fingers of one tiny hand tangled in the elven hair and the thumb of the other promptly found his mouth. And he slept.

Elrond’s eyes met those of Elladan, his eldest son who had been watching the proceedings in silent amazement. Between them passed the knowledge that nothing in their world would ever be the same again.

~*~

“Ada.” Aragorn unwittingly echoed his father’s memories, pulling Elrond back to the present once again.

“I’m sorry son, I was just thinking.” The love showing on his face as he looked at the young mortal in his arms left Aragorn feeling ashamed that he had doubted his father’s feeling for him at all.

“I see Elros in you everyday. The strength of the Numenorean blood has been reborn in you. I see him in your determination. And in you temper. Even in your most outrageous behavior, my brother had me ever in a fix.”

Aragorn’s eyes shone. What a wonderful gift this was, to think that just by being himself he could ease an old pain in his Ada’s heart. A hand moved once again to his hair. Elrond caught his hand and moved the offending hair himself. He laughed.

“That is another thing; Elros never could keep his hair out of his face.” Aragorn’s astounded laugh sounded with his father’s fond amusement. “It was very unelf-like of him.”

Sitting there in that room wrapped not only in his father’s arms but his love as well, Aragorn felt that nothing he ever faced would be beyond him.

“Never doubt, young man,” the elf briefly laid his cheek on the dark head. “We are your family, this is your home. You must overcome this tendency you have toward self-doubt. I fear it may be your undoing.”

“I know, Ada. I believe you and my brothers love me. It is just,” Aragorn gazed ahead, his eyes focused on nothing as he spoke the words in his heart. As at last he revealed to his Ada his real fear, “Sometimes I wonder...I mean, how is it that you can love me? I am so, so...human.”

A gentle hand lifted Aragorn’s chin so that he was forced to meet his father’s eyes.

“A, Estel, a much better question would be, how could I not?”

At that moment Elladan and Elrohir burst into the room at a full run.

“Ada, have you seen...There you are, Estel! Come on, we changed our minds.” Elrohir said as he grabbed Aragorn’s hand and pulled him to his feet. “We are going to take you riding and to practice your archery.” Grey eyes turned silver with happiness and Aragorn ran from the room at his brother’s heels, his troubles in the way of a child, forgotten. His heart reassured that he was loved beyond measure.

Elladan stopped long enough to look at his father.

“Is everything all right, Ada?” he asked. Elrond smiled and nodded.

“He’s fine.” was the laughing reply. Elladan laughed as well and turned to race after his brothers.

Elrond rose and walked out on the balcony. Rivendell spread out before him, beautiful beyond compare. Then his eyes fell on that which he had come to see.

His three sons ran towards the stables to fetch their mounts. Dark hair streaming behind them, their laughter rang out over the valley. The sound was a song in his heart.

“A, Aragorn, much better to ask, how ever could I not.”

THE END.