In the library, on the bottom two shelves of one of the bookcases by the doors to the terrace, Elrond kept several very old volumes. These were rare books indeed, and mostly came, or were copied from texts from the first age. He was not entirely sure why he kept them hidden away like this, out of most researchers' view. Had they been on any other topic, they would have been proudly displayed on the most frequently visited shelves in the centre of the library.

But maybe he did not want everyone to find these books. He would rather forget the memories than see reminders of them every day. Even so, it had not stopped his sons seeking them out, and there was still a small handprint on the brown leather of one of the covers.

~*~

Celebrian peeped in through the crack of the schoolroom door, on a detour from her path to her husband's study. To her relief both boys seemed to be quiet and were working hard, dark heads bent over the papers on the desk. Even Elladan was behaving - his feet hanging peacefully, and the grey feather of his quill in his hand - and he was listening to Glorfindel with a suitably interested expression. He was taking his resolution to show everyone that he was responsible enough to go hunting seriously.

Celebrian paused for a second, watching the blond elf's animated face as he spoke of the Valar and Maiar, before carrying on down the passageway to meet with Elrond. At times like this, when they were behaving and being polite and engaging, one might almost believe that the twins were themselves Maiar. But luckily, despite the rosy cheeks, long lashes and disarming smiles, most of those they had come across had soon learnt better.

"Now, do you remember who Eönwë is?" Glorfindel asked, unprepared for the immediate response. He was still getting used to the new, studious Elladan.

"He was. . ." Elrohir began calmly, only to be interrupted by Elladan's yell. The older twin's competitiveness on the practice fields had carried over to lessons, and the children now raced each other to learn lists of spelling words or give the correct answer.

"The banner-bearer and herald of Manwë." Elladan gabbled earnestly, then looked eagerly at Glorfindel for confirmation that his response was correct.

"That is correct, Elladan." Glorfindel smiled at both boys. "But you must remember not to cut across your brother."

Elrohir smirked at his twin. He had known that answer. It was not fair!

"Elrohir." Glorfindel warned.

Elrohir blushed and looked down at his paper again.

"Good." Glorfindel smiled at the child's head. Elrohir was finding it rather strange now that his brother was finally taking an interest in lessons, and the blond elf suspected that it hurt him that he was no longer special in that respect. Both twins felt the need to have things that were their own and nobody else's. He dreaded even imagining the fuss if he should suggest that Elrohir joined Elladan in practising archery with him. "Now what about Uinen?"

~*~

Glorfindel gathered the papers into a pile and shuffled them into some sort of order, knocking the edge against the surface of the table to bring the individual pages in line.

"You did well today." He smiled at the two little elves and nodded towards the door. "It is past midday already, hurry."

Elladan sprang to his feet, grinning in relief. He might be working hard and enthusiastically now, but he would never truly enjoy sitting still for long periods of time. He would probably sprint his way back home, jumping down any flight of steps, to make up for the long period of inactivity. The only reason he lingered in the room was to wait for his brother, who was still seated, apparently in suspended motion.

The younger twin sat in silence for a few seconds longer, ignoring Glorfindel's enquiring look and Elladan's impatient one.

"If the Valar really cared, would they not help us when we needed them?" Elrohir looked up at the pale arches of the ceiling, sucking the tip of his right index finger as he thought.

"They do help us." Glorfindel said absently. "Did they not create this beautiful valley and all the creatures and plants that live in it?"

"Mmm." Elrohir sucked his lower lip in slightly. "They made things, but they do not help the things that they have made. There are evil things, and plants and animals get ill and die."

"Well," Glorfindel sighed and ran one hand over his hair, "They have come to help us. Do you not remember me telling you of the War of Wrath?"

"Yes. . ." Elrohir paused, obviously uncertain of himself. "But they only sometimes come. When you and Ada went with Gil-galad to fight Sauron, they were not with you then."

"Not in body, no. . ." Glorfindel began only to be interrupted by Elladan.

"Perhaps they did not come because they were too busy arguing about what they should do, that by the time they had decided the battle was over?" The older elfling suggested, thinking of the times he had waited in vain for his father to come out of a council before sundown.

"Do not be silly." Elrohir said scornfully. "Nobody could talk for that long, not even Erestor."

"Well," Elladan said hotly, "Maybe the Valar did not come to help because they did not know."

Elrohir looked at his brother and sighed, rolling his eyes, "Stupid! The Valar know everything. They watch over us all the time. I bet Manwë is watching now and thinking how stupid you are."

Elladan flushed angrily and was only prevented from leaping at his brother by Glorfindel reaching over his shoulder, and pressing a large hand against his chest.

"Well. . . Manwë would not even bother to think about you! You are far too insifig. . . insifan. . . unimportant!" Elladan took a deep breath and continued before Elrohir could protest. "Maybe they did not know that people wanted them to help. If I wanted the Valar to help me, then I would go and ask them to!"

Elrohir shut his mouth, thinking over this before attempting a response. Seeing that Elladan was satisfied enough at having temporarily silenced his brother to forget the previous insult, Glorfindel took advantage of the silence to pick up the papers and bottle of ink.

"Aye," Glorfindel smiled and ruffled the elfling's hair as he walked out of the room, "That is what your grandfather did."

With the blond elf gone, the twins looked thoughtfully at each other for a while, the room silent except for the distant sound of the wind in the leaves outside. They had heard little about their paternal grandfather, and thought about him even less. Now he had been elevated considerably in their interest.

At last Elladan broke the silence and darted out of the door, signalling the start of the race with a joyful yell.

"See! I take after Ada's Ada!"

~*~

"Ada!" Elrohir asked at last, causing his father to look up with a smile. Both twins had been fidgeting impatiently since the start of the meal, showing little interest in the plates that had been set before them, and he had been waiting to hear the reason.

"Yes, Elrohir." Elrond smiled, hoping that whatever it was that they were excited about would not take up the whole afternoon - the valley was busy at present and he had much to think about.

"Am I like your Ada?" Elrohir asked hopefully, and watched him earnestly for a response.

Elrond froze, swallowing a large lump of potato in his surprise, and began coughing. Celebrian calmly began patting him on his back while handing her youngest son his napkin, which had been forgotten on the sideboard in his hurry to get to his meal.

"Am I?" Elladan asked loudly, leaning forwards over the table to reach for the tomato preserve, which he heaped liberally onto his plate.

"Not too much, Elladan." Celebrian warned, removing the small glass dish from his hand and placing it out of reach. "And make sure that you eat all that now."

"I will Ammë." Elladan smiled at his mother and carefully layered a slice of meat over the tomato preserve. "Am I, Ada?"

Elrond was looking troubled, toying with a piece of carrot as he thought. He had not expected these questions so soon. Not so unexpectedly. He had been planning to bring up the topic for a while now, a few years in fact, but somehow something else had always got in the way.

Truth be known he could not remember enough of his father to tell what traits had been passed on to his sons.

"Well," Elrond ventured, bringing his hand up to touch his forehead, "You are both boys."

The twins looked disappointed at this hardly scintillating piece of information, and he began to feel even more awkward. He should be able to remember something. He could name half a dozen things that either twin did that would remind him of Maglor or Gil-galad, after all.

Seeing her husband's distress, Celebrian broke in brightly, "You both remind me much of my Adar."

The twins turned to her, half interested and half frustrated that if was not their father speaking.

"You, Elrohir." Celebrian nodded at her younger son. "When you get cross you have always looked exactly like Adar; and you Elladan, when you are concentrating hard you bite your lip just like my Adar."

Elladan made a mental note never to concentrate hard again, and stabbed his knife through his meat, letting the sticky redness ooze from the gash.

Elrohir acknowledged his mother with a smile, before turning back to his father.

"But what about your Ada, Ada? Am I like him?"

Elrond sighed and looked down at the untouched food on his plate, mashing down on a piece of potato with his fork. He did not want to admit it, but he would have to.

"I do not know."

~*~

Elladan drew his sword carefully from the sheath at his side and held it out in front of him, twisting it so that the sunlight glinted from the blade. He should be overjoyed today, considering that they were returning to sword drills after three days with the bow, but strangely he almost missed the concentration and rhythm of archery. But he would get to practice archery tomorrow with Glorfindel anyway.

One of the larger boys passed him with a nudge that almost knocked him from his feet, and Elladan was startled out of his daydreaming. His attacker was standing with a group of others a small distance away, looking at him and laughing.

Flushing slightly, Elladan turned his back on them and walked away to hide in the shade of one of the tall ash trees that bordered the glade used for training. He could hear whispers behind him, but he had no intentions of taking on Culrómen again, so he pressed his lips together to prevent them wobbling and held his head as high as he could manage.

~*~

"Partners?" Andúnë, Elrohir's friend from the riverbanks turned to him with a smile.

"Partners." Elrohir grinned back and they clapped their left hands together to show their bond, a trick that Andúnë had read about in some tales of bravery and battle.

When the training master called out for them to commence they fell into their usual routine, and Andúnë raced to occupy their favourite training spot under the shade of the largest of the trees, while Elrohir queued to claim and set up their target. This method worked extremely well, and they had been able to keep 'their' place for the whole of the summer.

The lesson soon got underway, and after watching the training master demonstrate a move, the elflings lined up in pairs and began shooting.

"Shall you go first, or shall I?" Elrohir asked, stepping back to allow Andúnë to come to the front if he wished.

"Mmm." Andúnë screwed his face up in thought. If he went second then he would look bad after Elrohir's attempt, but if he went first then Elrohir would look all the better for going after him. "I shall go first today, and you go first tomorrow."

"All right!" Elrohir smiled and sat down cross-legged on the warm grass and picked a few blades to weave them together into a plait. It was pleasant sitting here, watching Andúnë while listening to the birds singing in the branches above him. Soon his turn would come as well, and he would be able to demonstrate his improvement over the past few weeks. His Ada had been very pleased with him lately, and he was sure that the training master would be too.

~*~

Elrohir lowered his bow, and looked at the position of the arrows on the target, his lips curving into a delighted smile. All had hit within the inner three circles and two had even reached the centre. He loved archery.

"That was well done," the training master came over to his side and smiled down at the eager face. The younger son of the Lord of Imladris had undoubted talent with the bow, and he could not help feeling triumph for the child. He had known the twins since they had been small bouncy elflings hardly able to stand in line for long enough to participate in the youngest training group, and he had always felt sympathy for little Elrohir.

He could remember dozens of times when the child would summon up enough courage for his first dive, or would run as fast as his chubby legs could manage, or climb as far as he dared - beating all the other elflings - only to be overshadowed by his braver, quicker and noisier brother.

Occasionally he wondered what the future held for the child. He held the potential to be a great warrior, one of the most formidable that he had yet seen, but somehow he doubted whether that would be the path that the boy would choose to follow.

Elrohir was more fond of chasing butterflies than hunting orcs and dragons.

~*~

Elladan was sitting alone on a log, resting his head in his hands as he watched the patterns he had traced in the dirt with his foot. His shoulders were slumped miserably, and his fingers were spread across his face and forehead, hiding his face from any prying eyes. Although most of the other boys were gathered around a large rock quite some distance away, talking and laughing as they munched apples and biscuits during the break, he made no effort to join them.

"Hello."

Elladan looked up at cheerful voice, wondering how he had missed hearing the light footsteps approach. Iorwë was standing in front of him, bending his head to try at look at him. He was holding a large oatmeal biscuit and was smiling eagerly, one hand playing nervously with the edge of his tunic.

"Would you like to share my biscuit?" Iorwë smiled again and broke the biscuit in two, offering Elladan the bigger half. "It is very nice. Nana made it."

The older elfling sat up properly, and looked at the smaller child again. As far as he remembered Iorwë usually played and snacked alone, sitting cross-legged under the birch tree and digging a stick in the dirt. He had always assumed that the younger child had liked the shade, and nobody had made any effort to get him to join them.

"All right." Elladan said suspiciously, taking the smaller half. He was glad to have a snack, for someone had taken his apple from where he had left it beside his towel, and he was hungry. "Thank you."

Iorwë beamed and scrambled onto the mossy surface of the log to sit down beside Elladan. His legs were still too short to be able to rest them comfortably on the ground, so instead he kicked them against the dark moist underside of the log.

"It is nice, isn't it?" Iorwë said happily, nibbling the edge of his half of the biscuit away, unaware of the crumbs that he was dropping down his front.

Deciding that Iorwë meant no harm, and pleased to have a friend again, Elladan smiled. "It is very tasty."

Iorwë flushed with pleasure, and kicked the log extra hard, before smiling hopefully.

"I think that we should be friends."

~*~

It was a sweltering afternoon, far too warm for the elflings to even wish to think of much running around, and the attempts to stir up enough enthusiasm to play 'Fish Nets' were doomed to failure. The children sat on the riverbanks, dangling their feet in the water and occasionally splashing each other with the cool water.

Clothing dried fast on a day such as this, and some of the more daring boys stripped off their tunics and immersed themselves in the water, bemoaning the fact that the river was not deep enough to swim in. As yet, they were too young to be allowed to the bathing pools without adult supervision, and all the boys' parents were feeling far too warm and lazy to oblige their son's whims.

Elladan and Elrohir, however, were far away from the river and meadows. They had a favoured hiding spot for days such as this, and the moment that they were released from training they had headed towards it, walking slowly due to the heat of the day.

Being sons of Elrond had certain advantages, especially when it came to accessing areas where they would not normally be allowed. While they were not technically permitted to swim in the plunge pool of the waterfall, if they perched on the rocks close to the torrent of water and sat quietly, most elves would turn a blind eye to their presence.

It was gloriously cool here, and the spray and splashes from the torrent of water soon drenched their tunics and soothed their hot and sticky skin. Leaving their moccasins on the shingle, they scrambled up over the rocks to perch on a narrow ledge, almost behind the flow of water. They could make blurry shapes out through the sheet of water, and they could whisper secret plans without risking anyone else overhearing.

As usual the twins settled quickly on their ledge, and after reaching cupped hands into the torrent to capture and drink some of the icy water, they curled up together to talk.

"I wish we knew what Ada's Ada looked like." Elrohir lay on his back, watching the water gush down above him.

"Well, even Ada does not know." Elladan picked up a small pebble and threw it through the screen of water. "We look like Ada, so Ada probably looks like him."

"Mmm." Elrohir did not look convinced. "We do not look like Ammë. Not much anyway."

"Well, we would not, would we? I am not a girl." Elladan said matter-of- factly, and was not surprised when his younger brother ignored him.

"Perhaps we could look in the library?" Elrohir suggested thoughtfully.

Elladan sighed and rolled his eyes at his brother, "I know that Ada has lots of really old things in there, but I do not think he has his Ada locked up inside."

Elrohir gave his twin a filthy look and rolled onto his hands and knees to begin the scramble down to the shingle.

"Books. There will be a picture of him somewhere."

~*~

Elladan pelted down the hallways, arms pumping rhythmically and hair flying out behind him as he ducked under arms and leapt over obstacles. People hurriedly stepped out of his way, giving him looks ranging from sheer annoyance to tolerant amusement.

Elrohir followed at a slightly slower pace, giving apologetic looks to those who had had to move aside, and pausing to help pick up some spilt potatoes.

"Hurry up, 'Ro!" Elladan called in an exasperated voice, pausing at the top of a flight of stairs and looking back to watch his brother's slow progress. To his extreme frustration Elrohir had stopped and was holding a door open for a mother with a baby. "Slow as a snail!"

Elrohir gave his brother a scornful look, and allowed the elf to pass through before chasing after his twin who had long disappeared along one of the passageways.

~*~

When Elrohir at last came across his brother again, he was waiting impatiently by the door to the library, hopping from foot to foot as he awaited his twin.

"You took your time!" The older twin elbowed himself up from where he had been leaning against the wall, and stepped forwards to meet his brother.

Elrohir ignored this potentially threatening gesture and ducked to the side, walking into the large room. "You could have always come in here first."

Elladan shrugged and followed his brother in. He had never felt truly comfortable in the library as Elrohir did, it was too quiet, and he disliked the musty smell of books and papers.

"I was waiting," he whispered with a smile.

Elrohir returned the smile, and then wandered among the shelves to some of the oldest volumes.

"We are looking for anything about Eärendil." The child pinched the bridge of his nose in an expression much like his father's, and turned back to peruse the books. "Oh and Mariner. I heard someone call him Mariner."

The twins sat on the floor at the base of the bookcases, reading and flipping through pages with fervent haste. They did not escape surprised or strange looks from the other users of the library, but they were so absorbed in their task that they barely noticed the exaggerated sighs and irritated huffs as people stepped over or around them.

"Here!" Elrohir looked up at last from where he was hunched over his book, "There it says here that he sailed to Valinor with Elwing, Ada's Ammë."

Elladan dropped his book and crawled over to Elrohir's side, looking with as much interest as he could muster at the old text - his research had quickly come to involve only flicking from picture to picture, rather than attempting to decipher the old and faded text.

"It does not show what he looked like." The disappointment was palpable in Elladan's voice.

Elrohir huffed and turned back to the pages, "It might be here somewhere. . ."

His voice trailed off as he got side-tracked in a long passage describing his grandfather's bravery and valour. Sadly it did not look like he took after his grandfather at all. He would never have had the courage to sail off into the unknown and address the Valar. He would never have been unselfish enough to forsake his own people for the good of all those in Middle Earth.

Getting bored of waiting for his brother, Elladan returned to his own book, slamming it shut and then opening it at random pages, figuring that this should work equally well as proper research. Since the illustrations were painted on parchment slightly thicker than the normal pages, this worked remarkably well, but being Elladan he would probably have continued even if the trial had proved fruitless.

"Look!" Elladan crowed in delight, earning him several evil stares from hard working counsellors. Continuing in a quieter tone he wriggled over to show the book to his brother. "It is us!"

"It is not a very good picture of us. We never wore tunics like that." Elrohir said dismissively, and peered at the two identical boys in the picture, his eyes travelling down quickly to the caption at the bottom. "It is not us, it is Ada."

"Oh." Elladan elbowed his brother out of the way to peer again at the book. Two pairs of painted grey eyes looked back at him from the page, one face smiling hesitantly and the other beaming proudly. "Why are there two of him?"

"Well, you're not letting me see!" Elrohir snapped, trying to tug the book from his brother's hands. "It will say somewhere."

"I cannot find it." Elladan wrinkled his nose and let his brother have the book with only the faintest attempt at perusing the cramped page of text for information. Elrohir would find it - he liked doing such things.

"There!" Elrohir said excitedly, pressing his index finger against the page and beaming at his brother. "Ada was not just Ada. Ada had a twin brother just like you, his name is Elros."

Elladan frowned and muttered, "Just like you."

He would much rather be like his Ada than the elusive Uncle Elros.

"Mmm." Elrohir barely responded as he eagerly read the pages. "It says that Elros was younger than Ada."

"See, he is more like you." Elladan persisted, bending over the picture once again. "See, Ada is smiling like me, but Elros is being all shy like you."

Elrohir smirked at his brother and tapped his finger triumphantly on the parchment, "Actually, Elros is the one who is smiling. I am more like Ada."

Elladan looked crushed and fiddled miserably with the narrow drawstring of his right moccasin. Feeling sorry for his twin once he saw how much his face had fallen at this news, Elrohir patted his shoulder gently.

"I bet that really we are both like Uncle Elros in some ways, and like Ada in others. We can be north and south, and Ada and Uncle Elros can be east and west."

"All right!" Elladan smiled suddenly and pushed the book over so as to allow his brother to have his full half. "Race you to find more about him!"

~*~

Elrond and Glorfindel wandered into the library, smiling at the site of the elflings crouched on the floor surrounded by books. The hour had grown late, and they had been concerned when the children had not scampered home to demand food, but somehow they doubted that the twins would have managed to lose themselves so soon after the last frightening episode.

It was more likely that the twins were the cause for Erestor's soft grumbling.

The sky was getting dark by now, and the lamps in the library had been lit, filling the room with golden light. Elladan was obviously growing tired of research by now, for he had snuggled up to lean against his brother, and his dark hair had fallen across his face and he had made no effort to brush it away. As they watched he yawned widely and let his open book slip off his lap.

"There you are." Elrond smiled as he walked towards them, secretly proud and pleased to see how intently Elrohir was absorbed in his book. It was a difficult text but his son appeared to be reading it with ease and enjoyment. "Do you not want your supper?"

"Supper!" Elladan beamed and sprang to his feet, hastily shoving his book back into the closest empty spot on the shelves. "I am starving!"

"Ada!" Elrohir put his book back in its place and ran across the room, his arms open wide for a hug. "We were reading."

"Indeed?" Elrond easily picked up his younger son and strode across the room to look at those books that still lay open on the ground. "What were you reading?"

"About your Ada." Elladan said proudly, skipping up to his father and hugging him tightly around the waist, which was as high as he could reach. Elrond ruffled the child's hair, holding his son's head against his body for a moment.

"My Ada?" Elrond raised his eyebrows slightly. The twins were apparently far more curious about this than he had counted on.

"Yes." Elrohir wrapped his arms around his father's neck and burrowed his face into his father's hair. "And you. . ."

"Me?" Elrond interrupted in his surprise. "Could you not have asked?"

He had always answered his sons' questions fully and honestly, at least he thought he had, and he could find no reason that Elladan, certainly, if not both of the twins, would turn to books to find answers.

Elladan tugged urgently on his father's sleeve and the moment the Lord of Imladris looked down, piped up eagerly, "When can we meet Uncle Elros?"

Glorfindel slipped quietly from the room.

~*~

Elrond tidied the discarded books, carefully rearranging the volumes into the correct order, before answering Elladan's question.

Eventually he pushed open the glass paned doors to the terrace and led his boys out into the dusk.

The night was warm and the air smelt of the roses blooming in the gardens below. The sky was a rich deep blue - he had once marched under banners of that same colour - and a lone star glimmered above the dark silhouettes of the Misty Mountains.

Kneeling down and putting an arm around each child's back, Elrond nodded towards the far off light.

"Let me tell you a tale of my father. . ."

"And Uncle Elros?" Elladan persisted, backed up by Elrohir's vigorous nodding.

Elrond gave them a bittersweet smile, ". . . and my little brother."