This is a look at the challenges faced by the Finwion elves as their relations return from Mandos.
Also posted on AO3.
Amme's Little Boy
Mornel felt it was her responsibility to her family to accompany her aunt by marriage to Lorien. True, this would not be first of the royal Noldor house to return but still… Finrod had been released well before he was fully healed, so Master Olorin said. His healing was only completed outside Mandos, and after an extremely trying time for his family. Aunt Earwen did her best to reassure Anaire but she was unable to make the journey due to her royal duties as the current queen.
"What if he were to be as consumed with despair and sorrow as Findarato was?"
"Don't worry, Aunt. Just look at Cousin Glorfindel."
Glorfindel winked at Mornel as he flicked a fly off the ear of their patient carthorse with his riding crop. A covered wagon would convey them to Lorien, and if Arakano wished, back home to Tirion where Anaire hoped to nurse her youngest back to health. They feared Arakano might be too weak to ride and Anaire could not bear the thought of her son at Lorien, away from the familiar comforts of the house she had taken great pains to keep as it was when her family left the city.
"Laurefindil is so insufferably cheerful, Lord Namo probably sent him off to keep the peace in the Halls," Anaire huffed.
"Well, I did persuade the youngsters from Gondolin to have a bit of a sing-along to cheer Grandpa Finwe up," Glorfindel replied. "They did have a nice fire in his room. Lord Namo said that's Uncle Feanor." Too many elflings had perished when the city was overrun and more during the perilous trek to safety afterwards.
"Wait, you used my Atto's fea for a campfire?"
"No wonder Grandpa was not too happy… Oh, here we are!" Glorfindel announced as they stopped before a willow-mud hut. Lady Anaire could not help wrinkling her nose at the hovel. It was a far cry from what she had imagined her son would wake up in.
"He could have woken up in a forest clearing. I know I did, under the stars with a bit of a lean-to in case of rain," Glorfindel added. "Arakano!" he bellowed as a shadow slid across the hut's only window.
There was a flash of white as the door flew open and a dark-haired elf made a mad dash for the woods. In a trice, Glorfindel had overtaken him. There were some things long overdue in saying. Arakano had kept himself hidden from his older cousin in the depths of the Halls.
"You moron! What were you thinking charging headlong into those orcs? That was not the plan! Were you trying to get yourself killed? Wait, you did," Glorfindel cussed in Quenya, and then Sindarin.
"I'm sorry, okay?" Arakano bleated from the headlock Glorfindel had caught him in. Laughing, the blond relinquished his hold.
"I missed out a lot being dead you know. I didn't get to fight a dragon or build some fancy city like my brothers…" Arakano pouted as his mother fussed over him. He was as tall as Glorfindel, and had soft features which betrayed his relative youth when he entered Mandos.
Mornel ran over to join the pair. Glorfindel gave a brief introduction. Handshakes were exchanged, both newly-introduced cousins being too shy for anything more intimate.
"Let's get you home," Anaire sighed as she enveloped her son in a hug and kissed him on the cheek.
"Amme!" Arakano protested. "I'm a grown ner already…"
"I brought your favourite cheesy chicken pie, from your favourite bakery in Tirion…"
"Really?" Arakano's eyes lit up and he smacked his lips eagerly.
"I would advise you to go easy on the pie," Glorfindel coughed. "Your hroa will not be able to digest such rich food…" he paused as his younger cousin dug greedily into the large pie his mother had produced from a picnic hamper. "Don't say I didn't warn you…" he rolled his eyes.
Rather belatedly, Anaire offered a slice of pie to Glorfindel and Mornel. Glorfindel did not bat an eyelid when halfway through his pie, Arakano let out a groan, clutched his belly, and dashed for the privy located behind the hovel. A worried Anaire abandoned her luncheon and went after her son.
"You did warn him," Mornel shrugged as she reached into her pack to take out some medicinal herbs for upset stomachs. She would prescribe a gruel over the next few days to allow Arakano to recover. Afterwards, a light diet for a month or so, as Aunt Findis had advised. Cheese, milk, and rich foods might be slowly re-introduced afterwards.
There was more than sufficient time on the journey back for Arakano to endear himself to Mornel. Although he was elder than her by birth, Arakano acted like a young ner. He was impatient at times, pushing his new hroa to its limits, and trying everyone else's patience. A mis-timed leap from a bough caused a badly-sprained ankle and Anaire's wagon proved its worth in conveying their patient home to Tirion.
Author's Notes:
Not sure how this series will turn out as a semi-companion fic to The Numenor Letters. I am using the Quenya version of Argon's name for now. I have made some changes to his height so he is no longer the shortest of his siblings, and taller than Mornel.