#1 - Fire.

Glorfindel couldn't decide whether he loved or hated fire. He had…an interesting relationship with it.

Sometimes he would sit for hours, staring into the writhing myriad of colors, almost so close that he would be singed; other times he couldn't even bear being near the crackling flames.

After all, he couldn't forget his past with it.

It had saved many lives during the crossing of the Helcaraxë, including his own. He would have died many times over during the trek if not for the fiery torches that kept the ice from numbing his very bones. It was his friend and savior, the one thing between himself and a frozen death.

But then, in a peaceful haven where life was calm and Glorfindel had been happy since the speaking of the Oath, it had betrayed him. Roaring fiercely through the body of a fallen Maia, it had challenged him…and won. The last memories of that life had been the snapping of fire, the red and orange tinting his vision, and the smell of burning flesh and hair.

So it had helped him once, then wrapped him in its fiery embrace as he fell to his death.

Glorfindel sometimes wondered if fire was sentient. Maybe it was all a joke.

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#4 - Plants.

"Nana, what are you doing?"

Celebrían looked down at her doe-eyed, tousled-haired daughter, and smiled. "I'm picking the dead leaves off the rose bushes, Arwen. Would you like to help?"

Arwen stared. "But why are you taking the leaves off the bush? Aren't they supposed to stay on there?"

"Actually," Celebrían said gently, "we always need to pick the dead pieces off, so there will be room for fresh flowers to grow. See?" She carefully pulled a lifeless rosebud away to reveal a very small, green bud that trembled slightly. "This is going to grow into a strong flower because I took off what would strangle it and weigh it down."

"Ohh," said Arwen, nodding her little head. "I undershtand. Can I help you?"

"Of course!" Celebrían agreed, smiling. "Here, you get the bottom part down here. Remember, just the dry ones that look brown and crumbly, okay?"

"Okay." Arwen plucked a few off before she looked up at her Nana. "Does this mean we're saving lives?"

Celebrían thought about that for a moment, then she nodded. "Indeed it does, penneth. Good observation!"

Arwen beamed.

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#23 - Run and Run and Run.

"On your mark…" Elrohir paused and glanced over at his twin brother, who was grinning widely and holding back his mount.

"Get set…"

Elrohir loosened the reins on his own horse, readying himself for the leap that his stallion would make to get them in the lead. "And…go!"

The horses bounded forward, haunches pumping and hooves churning into the ground. The twins laughed wildly, urging their mounts on with shouted words and a leaning-forward stance.

"I'm going to beat you, little brother!" Elladan proclaimed over his shoulder as his horse pulled ahead slightly.

"Oh, that's what you think!" said Elrohir, and gave his horse free rein to let him move at his own pace. The stallion took the bit in his mouth eagerly and thundered forward, whipping past Elladan's horse as though the other was standing completely still, and then roared around the last obstruction. He skidded to a stop, Elrohir rocking in the saddle and throwing his head back to laugh triumphantly.

Elladan galloped up only a moment later, his face wreathed in a grin. "Good trick!" he exclaimed. "I should like to learn that one!"

"Of course," Elrohir agreed, and swung from his horse gracefully to pat his brother's knee. "Just do as I do."

"I'm feeling suspicious," said Elladan, but he was still beaming.

"Oh, you silly thing. Do you want to learn how to do this, or not?"

Elladan stuck his tongue out childishly, and they both laughed again.

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#32 - Painting.

"Hello, my little princess," Elrond cooed, then laughed when Arwen giggled and flailed her arms happily. He reached with one hand to tickle her stomach, and she squirmed, shrieking in delight.

A few moments later, silver-eyed Celebrían entered the bedchambers, instantly smiling at the sight her husband and young daughter made. Arwen was lying on the bed, her legs and arms pumping; Elrond sat beside her on a chair, with an easel in front of him and paints and brushes on the plate. He held a paintbrush in one hand, while poking her with the other, and was drawing her image on the flat white sheet before him.

"Making an image of our Evenstar?" Celebrían asked, sidling up behind him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, broad because of his edain heritage.

"Mm-hmm," he agreed, turning his head to give her a kiss, then turning back to his painting and the elfling wiggling cheerfully on the bed next to him. "She seems to like the attention."

"Oh, we girls love being spoiled by you," Celebrían said, and winked. Elrond grinned and continued stroking the canvas with one hand while reaching behind him and squeezing the nearest available body part. Celebrían yelped, then laughed, and lowered her head to nip at her husband's neck for punishment. He seemed to like it, as she meant him to.

"You think we can foist Arwen off on the boys after lunchtime?" Elrond asked, his voice a purr. She gasped in mock affront. "You want to trust Elladan and Elrohir with our precious little baby?"

"Oh, yes," he approved. "I'm sure they can take care of her for an hour. Isn't that right, princess?"

Arwen gurgled in agreement.

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#37 - Clouds.

"I think that one's a horsie," said Elladan, pointing up at the sky. Fluffy white clouds floated past, providing the perfect game for the twins to play.

"And that one looks like some kind of múmakil," Elrohir laughed, and his twin nodded in agreement. "Yeah, with only two legs but a super big, ugly head."

They giggled, then returned to spotting animals or creatures in the clouds. A few minutes later, a rustle of silk was heard, then their mother sat down next to them.

"What are you two up to?" she said, ruffling the elflings' dark hair fondly. They wiggled away, mock-insulted.

"We're looking at the pictures in the clouds," Elrohir informed her seriously. "Will you help?"

"Certainly," Celebrían agreed, abandoning her state as regal Lady of Imladris and lying on her back between them. They both cuddled up next to her while poking their fingers at the sky.

"See, Nana?" Elladan said. "That one is a flower with a bee sitting on it. Can you tell?"

"Oh, yes," she agreed amiably. "And there! That one looks a dead bird!"

Both of her sons giggled wildly at that.

"No, silly," they chorused when they had caught their breath. "That's Ada!"

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#42 - Anatomy.

"Ohh…that is disgusting, little brother!" Elladan groaned, covering his eyes with one hand and making a disgusted face.

"Speak for yourself," replied Elrohir primly. His jaw was streaked with blood somehow, but that was nothing compared to his arms and torso, which were splattered with a thick crimson liquid. "I just saved a life, while you moaned and wailed in the background." He dipped his hands in a basin of water and began scrubbing them clean, which didn't really help.

"Aiding Ada with a human's birth is not saving a life," Elladan said, taking a step back when Elrohir rolled his eyes and flicked a drop of bloody water at him. "It's completely unnecessary and –"

"Well, you didn't have to watch," said Elrohir sarcastically, smothering a laugh when he recalled Elladan's horrified face as he realized what he had just volunteered to do. "That's all you did, anyway. It's not like you helped out any. I swear, if you were any more human, you would have passed out on the spot when the baby first appeared."

"How can the edain women stand that?" Elladan gasped, the very memory making him want to gag.

"You are such a wimp," Elrohir remarked. "You can stand my blood, your blood, orc blood, and even animal blood, but not human blood?"

"Women aren't supposed to bleed like that," Elladan retorted. "Never again, little brother. Never again."

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#52 - Learning.

"Excuse me, Lord Elrond," Lindir said, ever politely.

The Lord of Imladris looked up at his Head Minstrel and raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.

Lindir hesitated, then plowed ahead. "Glorfindel said something the other day that I've been thinking on. It still doesn't make sense."

"What's that?" Elrond asked, somewhat amused that Lindir had come to ask him instead of Erestor.

"Well…" Lindir's forehead crinkled, but he was spared from speaking by the door bouncing open and a golden head popping in.

"Good day!" said Glorfindel cheerfully. "What I said was, 'If a pig loses its voice, would it be disgruntled?' It's a very intriguing question, actually." With that, he vanished back outside.

Lindir looked at Elrond helplessly. "I just…don't know the answer! Could you – could you possibly help?"

Elrond wondered about that for a long moment, then he smiled – a very strange smile, which looked as though he had just been stabbed in the finger with a sharp quill. "Why don't you go ask Erestor?"

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#74 - Hidden.

"Elrond? What is it?" Glorfindel looked over at his friend, who was staring out across the landscape of Imladris.

"I don't know," Elrond murmured, his eyes seeming to search for something and his fingers curling tightly around the balcony railing. "I sense that something is going to happen – something...wrong, but I cannot see it. It is hidden from me."

"What is hidden from you?" Glorfindel prompted, and suddenly Elrond's head jerked up in realization. "Celebrían!"

"Yes, we just received word that she's on her way back from Lothlórien," said Glorfindel, seeing that his Lord was understanding something that he was not.

"The Redhorn pass," Elrond breathed, then spun to Glorfindel. "I may just be acting overly cautious," he said, the words tumbling over themselves, "but I want you to send up a company up to greet Celebrían on her way back. Make it fast!"

"Yes, my lord, immediately," said Glorfindel, and bowed before rushing away, golden hair streaming behind him.

Elrond turned back to view the land again, his brow furrowed in anxiety. Something wasn't right, he could feel that in his very bones, but he didn't know what. It was just a cloud of black worry pressing upon him from all sides, telling to take action and move! He couldn't though – he was needed here. The next best thing was to send a regiment of warriors to meet Celebrían's party, just to make sure nothing happened.

Only a few minutes later, Elrond saw activity at the stables. Elves were rushing here and there, readying their horses and slinging armor and weapons on. Within another five minutes, they were all mounted and ready to ride out. Then he saw the familiar and identical forms of his sons, their horses abreast and they were laughing.

The concern he felt hadn't affected them, then. They were going to ride up to meet their mother and escort her back. Though that should have reassured Elrond, he didn't feel any better. Instead he felt a coil of tension writhing in his stomach, building like the heaviness in the air before a storm.

And he felt absolutely terrified for the first time in centuries.