Both of the twins owned capes from Lorien, a gift on their eighth begetting day. They were made of the shadowy grey cloth of Lorien, and embroidered along the edges with elvish script made of gold thread. The twins were supposed to take them with them whenever it was likely to rain, but in the summer more often than not they would 'forget', and several hours later two sheepish dripping elflings would traipse into the house, ready for a splash in a hot bath.

~*~

Elrond strode into Glorfindel's study with only a brief knock.

"Glor!"

"Peredhil?" Glorfindel turned in his chair, one blond brow raised. Elrond was carrying neither papers nor books which could generally be considered a good sign.

"Steps. Elladan fell down some steps. You did not tell me!" Elrond sounded inexplicably angry.

Glorfindel set down his pen and twisted his chair around, giving his friend a look that clearly said that he did not understand the sharpness of the Lord of Imladris' tone.

"Sorry." Elrond said apologetically. He was not angry with the blond elf - he was angry with himself. How could he have forgotten to question his friend on this last night. In the excitement of Elrohir's return it had completely left his mind. And why did Glorfindel know when he did not? He was the boy's father after all.

Glorfindel nodded his acceptance of the apology.

"Sit down Elrond."

Elrond perched himself impatiently on the edge of the window-seat, playing his fingers along the edge of the cushion.

"Tell me what happened, Glor."

"I do not know the whole story," Glorfindel warned, "But he seems to be having trouble with some of the other little boys."

"Is he fighting again?" Elrond sighed, wishing for a few guilty seconds that Elladan was a little more like his brother.

Glorfindel grimaced and shook his head.

"I do not think that he started this fight. He is not foolish, and this was hardly a fair fight."

Elrond frowned.

"And then he came to you?"

Glorfindel nodded.

"And he stayed with me after that. I do not think that he sustained anything more serious than cuts and bruises, but it may be wise to check."

Elrond nodded and sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Why did he go to you, Glor?" He asked at last, his tone asking the silent question, "Am I not a good father?"

"He did not want to walk all the way up to the house." Glorfindel said, feeling like he was making excuses. "I had to carry him up the path."

Elrond nodded and said no more on the subject. He did not know what a father should say - what a father should feel. His own father was little more than a dark blur of memory, and the others that they had called father had recognised that by the time the twins had reached them, they held precious little child in them.

Stretching, he got to his feet, then turned to Glorfindel.

"If you are not busy, why do you not come and eat with us?" Elrond asked. It would be nice to have some extra faces around the table. "Erestor too."

~*~

"Race you!" A voice called, and light feet pelted down the corridor.

There was a yelp and another voice, deceptively similar to the first complained, "Elladan."

One pair of feet continued running and Elladan swung round the door-frame and called out triumphantly.

"Beat you!"

"That's not fair, Elladan." Elrohir walked to the door and elbowed Elladan aside. "I'm telling Ada."

Elladan scowled at his brother and sulkily said, "I didn't do anything."

"You pushed me." Elrohir gave Elladan an upset look. "You cheated."

"I did not cheat!" Elladan's voice increased in volume.

"Boys!" Celebrian said warningly.

The twins turned to the table, and simultaneously beamed with delight at the sight of Glorfindel and looked slightly less enthusiastically at the sight of Erestor.

"Sorry, Ammë." The twins spoke together, then Elrohir ran to one of the empty chairs. "I'm sitting next to Glorfindel!"

The younger twin scrambled onto the chair next to the blond elf and smiled at Elladan, satisfied at having got his own revenge. Elladan chewed on his lip and was about to protest when he saw his father's look.

Silently he climbed onto the last remaining chair and put his elbows on the table, resting his chin on his clenched fists.

"Elladan." Celebrian looked hard at her son.

Elladan silently removed his elbows, and was about to wrinkle his nose at Elrohir when he noticed how hurt Erestor looked. He remembered how he had felt when nobody would sit with him at snack time.

"I am glad to sit by you, Erestor." Elladan said, hoping that he sounded genuine.

Erestor murmured something and Glorfindel smiled at Elrond.

"Well, who is hungry?" Celebrian said briskly, serving out onto the plates. She had seen the glint of mischief in the blond elf's eyes, and did not want to wait and see how he would tease Erestor if he was not distracted. "Glorfindel?"

The meal proceeded happily, with the usual chatter, reminders to cut up meat and requests to pass the water.

"Did you have a good morning?" Erestor addressed the twins, making an effort to get them talking to him.

The twins looked at each other and sighed. Every visitor their father had asked something similar, and each time they had to invent a suitably polite response.

"We had lessons." Elrohir said kindly, as if talking to a small and particularly slow human child.

"Boring lessons." Elladan said with a mischievous peep at Glorfindel. "Spelling."

Glorfindel pretended to bare his teeth at Elladan and chuckled.

"Spelling is very important." Erestor put down his fork and spoke seriously. "Nobody will understand what you have to say if you do not express yourself correctly."

Elladan scowled at his plate, feeling betrayed. He had been nice to Erestor, and now Erestor was being mean to him.

"Yes, Erestor." Elladan yawned loudly, and put a whole potato in his mouth so Erestor could not expect him to make any further comments.

Looking disappointed, Erestor returned his attention to his plate and the table lapsed into awkward silence. After a few moments, Elrohir took advantage of the silence to make sure his requests were listened to, something quite rare when you spent your life next to a noisy brother.

"Ada. When can we have bows of our own?" He asked hopefully. "Lots of other boys' Adas have got them bows of their own."

Elladan began chewing as fast as he could to be able to join in the conversation.

"Bows of your own. . ." Elrond paused and thought for a few moments while two little faces stared at him intently. "Well, you will soon be ten. Perhaps you will get bows for your begetting day."

He looked at Celebrian and she smiled and nodded.

"Yes, wait until your begetting day. When you are ten." She confirmed.

Elrohir sighed, and Elladan continued chewing and swallowing with urgent speed.

"That is months away." Elrohir said with a pleading look at his parents. They did not celebrate their begetting day until late in the autumn, when frost and ice had already touched the garden. On a blazing hot day at the height of summer, it was hard to even imagine their begetting day, let alone contemplating waiting for it.

"Ammë!" Elladan spluttered through a mouthful of potato. "Tha. . ."

"Do not speak with your mouth full, Elladan." Celebrian said calmly.

Elladan rolled his eyes and finished chewing, tapping his feet impatiently on the floor.

"Ammë!" He burst out when he had finally managed to swallow the potato. "We need new bows now! There is this one boy in my group, and he has this bow that can shoot so far!"

"Your bows are perfectly adequate for the distances you are capable of shooting." Elrond said, earning an impatient look from Elrohir. "You do not yet need new bows."

"But Ada!" Elladan protested, despite the fact he knew from experience that his father would not be moved. "If I had a new bow I would do better in archery, do you not want that?"

Elrohir and Elladan exchanged smirks, clearly thinking that this was the blow beyond all others, the one that would make their father change his mind.

"I would like both of you to do well in archery." Elrond said, pouring his wife another glass of wine. "But I feel that is better brought by practice, than by equipment that you cannot do justice to."

Elladan scowled and was about to protest when Glorfindel broke in.

"I remember that I once felt the same way that you do, Elladan." The blond elf said seriously, not missing the 'now-you've-got-us-a-lecture' look that Elrohir gave his brother. "I soon learnt better."

He closed his eyes for moment to remember the feeling of being pushed defeated into the dirt, his beautiful sword clanging to the ground before him. He had been so sure that he would win; he knew that he was the best at fencing, at he had the finest sword of all the children in Gondolin. So he had not bothered to practice.

Sighing, he looked down at his left wrist to look at the pale scar that he had gained as a result of that skirmish, but it was not there of course.

"Weapons are useless you can wield them, Elladan. You could take your father's bow if you wished, but I doubt that it would do you any good."

Elladan looked down at his plate and prodded his broccoli. It always came down to this. He was not as good as his brother at archery, he was not good enough to be praised and he was not even good enough to use a proper bow.

"Yes, Glorfindel."

~*~

Elrond sat at his desk, supposedly working, but actually watching his boys as they played in the orchards prior to going down to training. Celebrian was coming towards them now, holding a towel and a few stray arrows and once again saving her sons from reprimands for being ill-equipped, or late, or both.

Watching the twins stand on tiptoes to kiss their mother goodbye, his thoughts of the morning came drifting back to him. Elladan had been hurt, and he had gone to Glorfindel.

Pushing his chair back so hastily that it nearly tipped over, Elrond sprang to his feet and strode down to the gardens. He quickly caught up with his sons, just before they split up to go to their different training sessions. They looked so similar from behind.

"Elladan!" Elrond called, causing both boys to turn around and look at him. "I am heading in your direction. Why do we not walk down together?"

Elladan smiled and skipped to his father's side, leaning his head against his father's thigh. Elrohir gave his father a miserable look, and continued down his path alone, his shoulders slumped.

Elrond sighed regretfully. It was impossible to be fair when parenting two boys who were so very different. Perhaps he could find something special to do with his younger son tonight.

Elladan transferred his bow into his other hand, and reached up to slip his hand into his father's larger one.

"How is training going?" Elrond asked casually, glancing at the bruises on his son's outstretched arm.

"It is going well, Ada." Elladan said rather less cheerfully than might have been expected. Then more optimistically added, "I heard Glorfindel talking about a special move! Will you show it to me?"

"Which move was this?" Elrond asked curiously, wondering what exactly Elladan had overheard, and hoping that it was not the punch line of one of Glorfindel's jokes.

Elladan cocked his head and bit his lip as he thought.

"I think. . . I think that it was. . . Ecthelion?"

"Ecthelion's Block?" Elrond queried.

"Yes, that was it!" Elladan jumped excitedly down some steps, pulling his father with him. "Will you show me, Ada?"

"It is a difficult move. . ." Elrond began, then looked down into his son's eager, upturned face. "But I am sure that you will manage well."

Elladan beamed, and each step became a joyous bounce. Elrond smiled at his son's exuberance, then grimaced slightly as he attempted to broach the awkward subject of the steps.

"Glorfindel told me that you slipped down some steps yesterday." He said casually. "I would like to examine the wounds after dinner."

"Why?" Elladan asked suspiciously, wondering if Glorfindel had told on him.

"Well, I want to make sure that they are healing properly. And I do not want you to be hurting if you do not have to be." Elrond said patiently.

"Oh." Elladan relaxed. "It does not hurt much, Ada."

"Good." Elrond smiled, then feeling that the conversation was going quite well. "Do you like the boys in your new training group? They were not your usual friends, I know."

Elladan stiffened and scowled at the floor. Glorfindel had told.

"I do. They all are my friends." Elladan said defensively, quickening his pace so that they would arrive at their destination sooner.

"Elladan." Elrond sighed and tried to stroke his son's hair, but Elladan pulled away.

"I did not mean to fight! I did not mean to." Tears sprung up in Elladan's eyes.

Elrond frowned, then seeing that they had reached the deep pool used for swimming, knelt and gave his unwilling son a hug. Elladan remained stiff at first, then relaxed into his father's body.

"You know that you can talk to me at any time?"

Elladan mumbled a reply, then ran off to join the throng of elflings, pausing to look back at his father as he got back on his feet and walked away.

~*~

"I shall count to one hundred!" A young dark-haired elfling called, covering his face with his hands, and turning to face the tree that had been designated the home base. "One. . . Two. . ."

The group of elflings, comprising some twenty boys from the two training groups, exchanged a few quick glances before fleeing in varying directions. They pelted through the woodlands, their light steps barely making a sound over the soft grass and remains of last year's fallen leaves.

It was a sunny day, and the golden light of late afternoon filtered down through the leaves and branches, giving the ground a dappled effect that rippled as the evening breeze blew the leaves to-and-fro.

Elrohir ran with some of the other boys at first, but as they went further from the den they separated to crouch inside hollow trunks, hide in the overhang of boulders, or to scramble onto the lower branches of some of the smaller trees, and soon he was running alone.

Eventually he heard the bubbling song of one of the small rivers that meandered along the base of the valley. In the distance he could hear voices calling and laughing, indicating that the chase had begun. Since the voices were coming closer, he looked around desperately for a hiding place. There were no convenient trees that he could shin up, and no bushes to hide behind.

Half scrambling and half falling down the bank to the river in his haste, he stumbled upon the perfect hiding place. The river had cut a small overhang over a patch of shingle, and he was shielded from view by the bank above him. Unless somebody chanced to follow his path down the bank they would never find him.

Secure in the knowledge that he would win this game, Elrohir lay silently on the shingle and waited.

~*~

"It is getting late, it is time I went home." One of the more responsible elflings said at last.

The game had long finished, and the chasing and tagging had resulted into a tickling match and rough and tumble that had filled the woodlands with shrieks and shrill giggles. Exhausted at last, the children had sprawled on the ground and flicked balls of grass or dead leaves at each other while chattering about all and sundry.

The sun was low in the sky by now, and the clouds in the west were becoming tinged with pink. Calling their goodbyes and joining up with their brothers and neighbours the elflings began to form groups to walk home.

It was then that Elladan found that he could not see his brother anywhere, and could not remember seeing him since they had run off in different directions at the start of the game.

He began by searching calmly, asking his friends whether they had seen his brother, but as everyone began to drift away he began to feel more and more panicky. Eventually he was left standing alone in the clearing, his shadow cast long by the fading evening light.

"'Ro?" Elladan called out uncertainly, turning around to look through the trees for any sign of his brother. "'Ro?"

There was no reply from his brother, and his voice seemed almost immediately muffled by the trees.

"Elrohir!" Elladan shouted at the top of his voice, the last note drifting like a birdcall across the valley. "'Ro!"

There was still no reply. Puzzled, Elladan sat down on the grass and hugged his knees. Elrohir would not have gone home without him, and if he had wished to stop playing he would have told somebody. Perhaps he had fallen somewhere, or got hurt. Or maybe he had got stuck. The thought of his brother lying injured somewhere made him feel quite sick. He could imagine being in the same situation himself, frightened and in pain, waiting for somebody to come and help him.

Elladan got to his feet and began running in the direction he had last seen Elrohir heading. He could not have gone far.

~*~

The last golden beams of the afternoon sun edged up the east of valley, leaving grey-blue dusky shadow behind it. The narrow stretch of shingle on the edge of the stream was in shadow by now, but the rich soil of the bank behind it was still illuminated with the orange-gold light.

The breeze in the valley was growing colder now, and the leaves in the trees were rustling uneasily. The air felt damp and muggy, and clouds were gathering in the sky.

The sun crept further up valley, and soon shadow was edging up the raw soil of the bank. The fading beams also lightly touched the face of a elfling as they passed, highlighting the sleep flushed cheeks, the half-closed lids with their long lashes, and the small pointed ear half covered with strands of dark hair.

Undisturbed, the boy slept on, and soon he was lying in shadow.

~*~

Elladan skipped and jumped through the woodlands, stopping occasionally to look around and to call for his brother. The woods were in shadow by now, the fresh colours dimmed into shades of blues and greys. As he looked around Elladan began to feel as if the trees were beginning to close in as him as the forest darkened. He could no longer see as far through the trees, and the faint lighting cast dark shadows of strange shapes.

"Elrohir!" Elladan shouted desperately, trying to fill the all too quiet woodlands with noise. "Elrohir, where are you?"

There was no answer, but the sudden gust of wind that rippled through the leaves suddenly left Elladan feeling cold, and he folded his bare arms together for warmth. He considered for a moment running back home, to the light and warmth, and getting his Ada to come and look for Elrohir with him. But Elrohir had always become frightened much more easily than him, and since he was feeling a tiny bit uneasy, Elrohir was bound to be terrified. He could not leave him in these woods alone.

With one last look back the way he had came, Elladan strode firmly into the woods.

"Do not worry, Elrohir." He shouted as loudly as he could to bolster his courage. "I am coming."

~*~

Elrohir woke as the first early spots of rain hit his cheek.

"Go away." He muttered, reaching out to pull an invisible blanket over his head. It was only as his cold hands failed to grip anything that he opened his eyes.

It was dark and starless, the deep blue of the sky obscured by thick black clouds. The trees loomed above him in solid midnight shadow, and even the stream had become little more than a noise in the darkness.

Sitting up rapidly and scrambling to his feet, Elrohir looked around him. He could see more than he had thought at first, enough to make out the stones he could use for footholds in the bank, and he could just see the white of the river as it rushed over the stones. Silently he turned his back on the river and concentrated on getting up the bank safely.

~*~

"Elrond, have you seen the boys?" Celebrian walked into the study, her brow furrowed slightly in worry. "I cannot find them and they did not come home for their dinner."

"They did not?" Elrond paused, his pen motionless above the paper. "Are they with Glorfindel?"

Celebrian shook her head and bit her lip. "He would have sent a message, surely."

Elrond quietly agreed with her, but it was wise to check.

"Why do you not go and find Glorfindel, and I will go and speak to some of their friends." Elrond got to his feet and gave his wife a hug and a kiss before reaching for his cloak and departing.

Celebrian nodded and swallowed. There was no point worrying as yet. The boys had probably got carried away in some game again.

Although they usually got hungry by this time. And they had never been overly fond of playing in the dark or rain.

~*~

The rain had started properly now, the thick clouds were black over the valley, and large raindrops pelted down through the leaves. The woods were filled with the drumming of rain on leaves and grass, and the air had the curious smell of rain on dry earth. Little was visible now apart from grey tree trunks through the darkness, and Elladan had to navigate mainly through the sounds of the distant river and the faint noise of his footsteps over the different terrain.

The rain quickly soaked through the rough weave of his tunic, leaving it clinging damply to his body. His dark braids had come undone, and wet hair clung untidily to his face. Even his moccasins were sodden.

"Elrohir?" Elladan called questioningly, hoping that his voice was loud enough to be heard over the noise of the wind and rain.

As much as he tried to ignore it, a treacherous little voice in his head was growing louder. His brother would not have gone home without him, would he? He would not be playing a cruel trick?

"Of course he would not!" Elladan spoke aloud in an effort to banish the voice. "He would never do that! Never!"

"No?" said the voice, "But I know someone who would."

~*~

Elrond shrugged off his soaked cloak and strode into the sitting room, where Celebrian had gathered with her parents, Glorfindel and Erestor. Celebrian immediately got to her feet, her face asking the question that she did not need to voice.

"No." Elrond shook his head and looked at the floor as he spoke, not wanting to see the reaction on his wife's face. "They have not seen them since they were playing hide and seek in the woods, and they all went home before sundown. I was told however that Elladan lingered there after the rest."

Celebrian sighed. Who knew what trouble Elladan had led his brother into this time.

"So they are still in the woods somewhere." She walked to the door, clearly meaning to get her cape, but Elrond caught her.

"Stay here, Cel." He looked down into her face. "It is wild outside."

Celebrian withdrew from his grasp. "My sons are out there."

"We will find them." Elrond reassured her, bending his head to kiss her. "They will not have gone far."

Celebrian looked as if she was about to object with a force inherited from her mother, but Celeborn intervened.

"You will stay here, Celebrian." He placed an arm around her waist and guided her back to the bench where Galadriel was sitting. "Someone must be here for the boys should they return early. I will go."

Glorfindel's lips down turned slightly, but since Celebrian had become quiet at the suggestion made not further comment. He too had no intention of allowing the Lady of Imladris out in such weather.

"I will come too." Erestor said eagerly and stood up, making for the door.

"Thank you, Erestor." Elrond smiled briefly, then turned to business. "Glor, shall you and I take the northern section?"

~*~

Elrohir stood in the middle of the forest, biting his lip as he fought back tears. It was dark, it was raining and he was going to be in so much trouble.

Worse than that, he was not even sure where he was any more. The woods looked completely different in the dark, and he did not recognise this place at all. When he had scrambled up the bank he had been a bit disorientated, but had set off swiftly in what he had thought was the correct direction, eager to get home before his Ammë got worried. But somewhere he must have taken a wrong turning, for he had neither reached the path back to the house nor any other sign of life.

The wind was whipping through the leaves of the trees in the canopy and drove sheets of icy rain against him. The woods were altogether too dark, and sometimes, out of the corner of his eye he thought that he saw a shadow move.

Shivering, he wrapped his arms tightly around his body, wishing that he had his cape with him. It would be hanging on the carved wooden pegs outside the sitting room right now, side by side with his brother's identical one, and flanked by his father's dark cloak and the light red of his mother's cape. The hallway would be warm and dry, lit by the golden glow of candles, and with long shadows cast up the pale walls. The candlelight would be streaming out of the windows - not much, but enough to see the paving of the terrace outside if you pressed your face right up against the window. And if he was home right now, he could be standing there, looking out into the night as he listened to the laughter and voices from the sitting room.

He would give anything to see the lights of Imladris now.

~*~

The eerie howl of the wind as it rushed through trees made Elladan jump and peer nervously into the trees around him. He knew that there could be no real danger here, for the Guard made sure that the woods inside the valley were free from dangerous animals or fouler creatures, but it was hard to remember that at times like this.

Unclenching his hands and wiping his sweaty palms on his tunic, Elladan concentrated on taking deep steady breaths, hoping to banish the lurking terrors from his mind. There was nobody in this woods except for he and his brother, and no animals more terrible than rabbits and foxes. He was just imagining things.

Another gust of wind whipped through the leaves above him, and Elladan imagined for a few foolish seconds that he could hear the calls and laughter of children from some long forgotten time.

"Elrohir?" He called, not really expecting an answer. "Are you there?"

There was no reply, but there was a rustle in the leaves somewhere in the dark to his left.

"Elrohir?" Elladan asked, panic making his voice high and shrill.

Heart beating wildly, he searched blindly on the floor for a stick or a stone. After a few endless seconds he grabbed at a large stick, the cold roughness of its bark digging painfully into his hot palms.

"Keep back!" He shouted, swishing his branch threateningly through the air. "I am not afraid!"

He stood in silence for a few minutes, listening for any other sound, but whatever it was had gone had it ever been there. Lowering his stick, Elladan set off again, marching through the woods.

"I imagined it." He told himself firmly, trying to whistle a tune to show any watcher just how not scared he was. "It was just the wind."

And then he came across the bush, its branches swinging parallel to the gusting of the wind.

~*~

Stumbling uphill, Elrohir reached up to wipe the water off his face with an equally wet hand. He no longer even pretended to himself that he knew where he was going, but as long as he headed up the slope then he would not be getting further from home. As he continued his face soon became wet again, more due to warm progress of tears than the icy raindrops.

He was sure that Ammë and Ada would have noticed that he was gone by now, it must be almost his bedtime. Elladan would be splashing around in the bathtub alone, warm and safe. And he, Elrohir, was lost in the woods alone.

His Ada would be searching for him, he was sure of that. He would never leave him to stumble about in the woods alone. Glorfindel would be with him too, and perhaps even his grandfather. His grandfather would never search for Elladan, Elrohir thought, with a malicious satisfaction which surprised him. But Celeborn was his, and anyway Elladan had gone home and left him. If he had found him and chased him back to the den, none of this would have ever happened.

~*~

Elrond and Glorfindel walked side by side as they methodically searched the woodlands. So many elflings had played here that any sort of tracking was worthless, and it was too dark under the trees to search by eye. Instead they wandered up and down the hillside, periodically stopping to call the children by name, but as yet they had had no response.

Eventually, on the fifth trip down the valley, Glorfindel broke the mutual silence. He had noticed his friends motions becoming more jumpy, and that the half-elf now spun round at every faint sound.

"We will find them, Elrond." Glorfindel placed a hand on Elrond's arm and squeezed. "They will not have left the valley, and they will be quite safe here."

As if to prove him wrong there was suddenly an ear-splitting rumble, almost simultaneous with a blinding flash which lit up the trees in shades of white and grey.

Elrond said nothing, and quickened his pace.

"They are not afraid of storms, Peredhil." Glorfindel commented, casting back his hood and turning up his face to the rain for a few moments. "They will be wet and cold and hungry, but they will not be scared."

Elrond stopped and scowled at the blond elf.

"But they could be hurt, or lost or in danger." Elrond kicked at the leaves on the ground moodily. "My sons are out here alone Glor, that is enough for me."

Glorfindel said nothing, and they wandered on in silence. It was true he was not a father. But that did not stop his anxiety about the pair. All he had wanted was to ease his friend's worry.

"I fear for Elladan." Elrond said at last. "He is so. . ."

Elrond trailed off, and licked his lips, trying to think of a way to phrase his thoughts.

"He is so young?" Glorfindel offered helpfully, with a slight hint of chastisement. "He will grow, Elrond. He is but a boy."

Elrond drew in his breath in a sharp annoyed hiss, "He may be but a boy, but so is Elrohir. And it is Elladan who will lead my people one day."

"And he will do it well." Glorfindel said blandly. "He takes after his father."

Elrond sighed and gave Glorfindel a slightly peeved look.

"It is not myself I see in Elladan."

So this was where the problem lay. Glorfindel brushed aside his prepared thoughts of similarity between father and son - from the scowl of displeasure to the steadfast loyalty - and tried to think of a suitable reply.

"It will be his choice, Elrond. And if you worried from now until he makes that choice, it will make no difference. It his choice, not yours."

Elrond glanced at Glorfindel and shut his eyes.

"I know."

~*~

Elladan fled down the valley, away from the bush and whatever had lurked there. He did not think that he could hear it following him, but it was hard to tell above the pounding of his heart and his gasping breaths.

He darted between the pale blurred columns of tree trunks, slipping and sliding on the wet leaves. A sudden boom of thunder his concentration from his footing, and he stumbled on an outcrop of rock above a hollow.

As he fell the sky lit up with a sudden flash of lightening, and on the top of the hollow he saw a dark figure watching him.

~*~

Elrohir paused beside a small hollow, catching his breath before continuing the climb up the hillside. Normally he would have run and jumped his way up the slope quite happily, but he was so tired by now that it was all that he could do to keep on walking.

Then, out of the silence, he heard running footsteps, and as a line of white light split the sky, he saw some black creature flying towards him from the top of the boulders.

~*~

"Aaargh!" Both twins screamed at one, two voices identical in their terror. Elsewhere in the woods four elves turned towards the source of the noise and began running. There was a petrified silence, and then a quavering voice spoke.

"Elladan?"

"'Ro?"

The twins spoke together and then, recognising each other's voices, ran towards each other and clutched at each other's bodies.

"I thought you would never come." Elrohir sniffed, his previous anger at his brother forgotten.

"Well I was not going to leave you, was I?" Elladan said with unqualified assurance. "Stupid."

"It was frightening in the dark." Elrohir shivered, and inched closer still to his brother. "I thought that I heard things."

Elladan huffed scornfully, "There is nothing here. Glorfindel and Ada would never allow that."

Elrohir shrugged with a happy little smile. "I was still scared. Let's go home."

Elladan picked up his stick, and together they began scrambling up the slope, talking about the food they hoped to eat when they got home. As they passed each tree, Elladan gave it a hearty thunk with his stick, the usual cheerful grin back on his face.

~*~

Celeborn tore through the trees, Erestor left puffing somewhere behind him. If anyone had harmed those children. . . or even dared to think of harming them. . . they would regret it before the night was through. To his surprise he was feeling this just as keenly as if it was his own child in those woods; and when he had heard that scream the hair on the back of his neck had stood up.

Finally he made out children's voices, and a sudden flash of lightening illuminated the woods, allowing him to see two small shadowed figures helping each other up the slope.

Sighing with the relief that had flooded his body at finding his grandsons safe and unharmed, Celeborn strode silently towards the boys, and plucked the nearest child off the ground. The elfling was cold and wet, and immediately began wriggling and squealing like a frightened piglet.

~*~

Gasping painfully deeply, Elladan leapt instinctively away from his attacker, stumbling onto the ground amidst the wet leaves. He could hear his brother squealing, too frightened to even take a breath deep enough to scream.

He wanted to get up and run, but his elbows and knees had become wobbly and useless and in any case, he could not leave his brother here with this monster. Tightening his grip on his stick, he struggled to a kneeling position.

"Go away!" He screeched, aware of how thin and young his voice sounded in the darkness. "Let him go!"

~*~

"No, no! It is me." Celeborn said soothingly, rocking the child up and down in his arms. This seemed to calm the elfling he held, but apparently had no effect on the one which scuffled on the ground, for the next second a stick thumped heavily across his knees with all the force that a nine-year-old elfling could muster.

Shouting something that would get Elladan banished to his room for a week when he repeated it at the next Midsummer feast, Celeborn stumbled forwards, nearly dropping Elrohir.

"Eru, child!" He groaned, holding out a hand to the little boy. "It is Celeborn. Your grandfather."

Elladan said nothing, still too shaken by the sudden attack to do more than flinch away from his grandfather. He had no desire to be carried by him.

"I can walk!" He managed to whisper.

Celeborn paid him no attention, shifted Elrohir onto his hip, and forcibly picked up his elder grandson. Left with no choice and realising the futility of struggling, Elladan wrapped his arms around his grandfather's neck and since he was being carried anyway wriggled into the warmth and dryness of the cloak.

Ignoring the complaints from his bruised knees, Celeborn began making his way back to Imladris. He did not have the heart to make further comments to his assailant - Elladan was quivering like a leaf in a storm, and he could feel the small heart pounding desperately as the boy leant against his chest.

"You found them!" Elrond burst into the clearing, the relief resonating in his voice. "Here, let me take one."

He gently shifted Elrohir into his arms and wrapped the small boy in his cloak. Elrohir immediately began crying.

"Hush now, I have you." Elrond buried his face into his son's wet hair. "You are quite safe now."

"You have them?" Glorfindel strode towards them, and seeing the two little figures clasped to the adults' chests, looked West and mouthed a silent prayer.

"We have them." Elrond confirmed, the smile audible in his voice.

"Good." Glorfindel walked over to ruffle Elrohir's hair, raising his eyebrows at Elrond as he felt the child jump nervously at the contact.

"Was it frightening in the woods?" Elrond put his arm securely around his son's back, and smiled at Glorfindel when the dark head nodded up and down against his chest.

"You know Elrohir, I was scared too!" Glorfindel teased, eyeing Elrond mischievously. "Whenever your Ada made one of those snorting noises of his, I was afraid that Asafloth had escaped from his stable and followed me all the way through the woods."

Elrohir was too tired to respond beyond a small smile, turning his face back into his father's cloak and when he was sure that nobody was looking, edging his thumb up to his mouth.

"Have you found them?" Erestor huffed through the last few trees, breathing deeply.

"Aye!" Glorfindel called cheerfully. "Safe and sound!"

"Praise to the Valar." Erestor said with a mixture of relief, and envy that it had not been he who had found them.

"My Elladan." Elrond walked over to Celeborn and rubbed Elladan's quivering back with a large hand. Moving his hand to Celeborn's arm, he squeezed slightly. "Thank you."

Somewhat surprised to find his half-elven son-in-law standing so close, Celeborn debated moving away, then wrapped his free arm around the half- elf's shoulders.

"They are welcome."

~*~

Walking back up the path to the house, Elladan shifted incessantly in Celeborn's arms, trying to find a position in which his constant trembling would be less noticeable. Eventually the older elf grew tired of this and in one smooth motion gathered up his cloak and wrapped the twin in the fabric, drawing his arms closely around the shaking body.

There was silence for a while - presumably while Elladan decided what to make of this strange turn of events - then he looked up at his grandfather.

"I am shivering because I am cold, you know." He said arrogantly, the dark eyes daring Celeborn to suggest otherwise.

Celeborn looked down into the little face, eyebrows raised. Suddenly he could remember Celebrian, blonde curls tangled from sleep and cheeks tearstained, insisting that she wanted to climb into his bed because she was cold, or thirsty, or both.

"That I know." Celeborn said at last. "Why else would I hold you?"