Title: Nighttime wanderings
Author: marbienl
Summary: Pre-LOTR. Just back from a patrol, Elrohir cannot find any sleep, but it seems that there is someone else in the Last Homely House who cannot find any rest this night.
Disclaimer: don't own them. They belong to J.R.R Tolkien…
A/N: Slightly AU again as I pretend Gilraen had died as well in the orc attack. This is just a little bunny that popped into my head while I was working on something else, so I decided to write and post it. You know I'm not Tolkien, so if the characters or anything seems off to you, forgive me for taking the liberty with them. A hint if you have trouble understanding what Estel is saying, speak the words aloud – that should help. Enjoy!
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No matter how hard he tried, Elrohir couldn't sleep. It wasn't that he wasn't tired – he was tired to the bone! Elladan and he had only just returned from patrol and after a hot bath the bed had beckoned him. So he had lain down in its softness, but after many twists and turns the young elf had found out that no position he tried would allow him to lie comfortably and let him drift off to sleep. Frustrated, the younger twin grabbed his pillow from the floor where he had discarded it only moments earlier and punched it several times before placing it back at the head of the bed. He would give it one more try and if it didn't work this time he would go to the kitchen for some hot milk – it had always worked to put his little brother fast asleep after one of his nightmares, so it could do wonders for him as well!
This is folly, he angrily thought, the only thing I want is to get some sleep this night! The elf forced himself to relax, visualizing the tension moving out of his body; first leaving his neck, then his shoulders and all the way down to his toes until his body was quite relaxed. Like this, Elrohir waited… and waited… He tried to clear his mind of all thoughts and had nearly succeeded when they came back to him with a vengeance. Giving up after several minutes, he nearly jumped off the bed and frustrated, walked towards his balcony. The twin looked at the stars twinkling merrily in the sky and for a moment it seemed as if they were playing a song he couldn't hear. Cool night air blew gently in his face, feeling soothing to his tired mind. Hot milk it is! he decided.
Just as he had made his decision, Elrohir heard the sound of small footsteps in the corridor just passing his room. Now what is Estel doing out of bed at this hour? Silently walking to his door, he opened it and quickly looked to the left where he could still hear the small patter of little feet. He could see the tiny figure turning around the corner, unaware that he had attracted someone's attention.
Deciding he had nothing better to do and to make sure his little brother was all right, Elrohir started following him. Whenever he had a nightmare, Estel would always go to either of the twins or his father, but this time he had passed their rooms and was walking towards the kitchen.
Elrohir hurriedly ran up to his little brother, cringing as he was just in time to stabilise an ancient vase that the small human had nearly knocked off its stand. It was much too dark for the boy to figure out where or what the obstacles were. "Estel!" he hissed – hopefully soft enough not to wake any sleeping elves, yet loud enough for the child.
Estel, however, gave no sign that he had heard anything and kept on walking, hugging his favourite pillow close to his chest. It had been the first thing the child had seen when he had entered Elrond's study a little more than two years ago. Tired from the long journey and still crying, the youngster had fallen asleep on the couch with the pillow clutched tightly to his chest. It had hardly left his side after that – not even a stuffed animal had been able to take its place. Raising one questioning eyebrow, the twin moved next to his brother and studied him closely. The boy's eyes were staring dully ahead, not seeming to notice the elf next to him. It wasn't that dark! "Estel? What you are doing here this time of night?"
Still no response… Slowly, Elrohir moved one hand in front of Estel's face, but the boy gave no indication that he had seen it and kept on walking. "Estel, stop ignoring me!" the twin now angrily hissed, shaking the child slightly.
Estel stopped moving and slowly, his face turned towards him. Blurry eyes were peering back at him, but no recognition was in them. Is he ill perhaps? Elrohir gently felt the boy's forehead, but upon detecting no heat decided this wasn't the case. "What are you doing out of bed, young man?" he softly scolded, bending down so he was more eye level to the child.
"Suwchin'…" Estel replied, his gaze wandering all around, yet it was too dark for human eyes to make out anything more than a yard away.
"Searching for what?" Elrohir questioned further.
Unexpectedly, two small arms wrapped themselves around his neck, the pillow still clutched tightly in one hand and a curly head nestled into his shoulder. "You see dada?" a frightened voice asked, seemingly much younger than Estel's four years.
Not knowing what to think of this situation, Elrohir carefully pulled Estel up with him and continued walking in the direction of the kitchen. "Ada's asleep now, little one, so I'm afraid you'll have to do with me now unless you want me to go and wake him?" Feeling his little brother vigorously shaking his head, he continued, "Did you have another nightmare?"
Elrohir could feel a small nod against his shoulder and he started stroking the child's hair. "Why didn't you come to one of us then?" he asked, meaning Elladan and himself, "You know we're always there for you…"
A shiver ran through the body in his arms and the small arms tightened even further around his neck as if afraid to let go. "Coud'n fine you," a tiny, trembling voice whispered.
Elrohir continued to soothe the distraught child, wondering how that was possible since Estel never had this problem before. "Do you wish to tell me what it was about, your nightmare?" The young elf had to strain his ears to be able to hear Estel's reply and when he did his heart clenched in anguish.
"Dey huwt you 'n dada… big monsuws…" Estel replied between small sniffles, "'N I waked 'n you gone! I did'n see you so I looked fow dada!"
Clearly hearing now that Estel said 'dada' instead of 'Ada', Elrohir was puzzled even more. His little brother had never used that term with their father, having immediately called him such with the elven equivalent. The twin soothed, "I'm here now, little one. It was just a dream. What do you think of some warm milk to fill your tummy and help you sleep?"
Huge, pleading eyes looked up at him – still bleary from what Elrohir perceived to be the aftermath of the nightmare. "Stay wit you? I sweaw I be good!"
Squeezing the boy tighter to him, the twin assured him, "Of course you can stay with me, Estel!"
All of a sudden, small arms pushed against his shoulders so that Estel could look into the other's eyes, cocking his head in an uncomprehending manner. "S-tel?"
Seeing no recognition in the boy's eyes at the name, Elrohir exclaimed, "Ai, Estel! Are you all right? You're acting, well… strange. Are you sure it's only a nightmare bothering you?"
The boy started struggling in Elrohir's grasp until the elf was forced to set him on his own two feet again. "'M not S-tel!" the child nearly yelled, clutching the pillow with a vice like grasp in front of his chest as if it was a shield protecting him from harm, backing away slightly from the taller figure. "'M Aw-gone! Why you call me dat? Is me mommy, is me! Don' you see?"
Elrohir stood there for a moment, confused. "Mommy?" he whispered to himself, eyebrows rising to impossible heights. He thinks I'm his mother Sure, he had long, dark hair and it was night, but that was NO reason for the small human to mistake him for a female! If Elladan ever heard about this he would never hear the end of it! Then again, if I look like a female, then he does as well… That made him feel a lot better.
Elrohir would have nearly called the child 'Estel' again before he remembered: that would only upset him more now. "Aragorn?" Elrohir felt uncomfortable calling him that; if the wrong ears overheard Estel's true name… Shaking his head, the elf was determined not to think about it.
Hearing the familiar name, Estel slowly shuffled closer and looked up at the other with huge pleading eyes. Children trusted so easily and his little brother was looking to him to make it all better – even though he thought he was someone else. "It's all right, little one. You're safe…" Kneeling down, he held out his arms and waited until the other moved in them again. "How about we're going to see Ada anyway, huh?"
Estel moved over into his brother's arms and allowed himself to be lifted once more. "Dada?" he whispered hopefully. His father would make everything all right again!
Elrohir was thinking the same…
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Elrohir quickly walked to his father's room, making sure not to wake any sleeping elves. Estel had surprisingly been quiet enough on his wanderings not to wake anyone – if he himself hadn't been awake already he would have missed the soft patter as well. Elrohir was glad that when Estel had yelled he hadn't woken anyone – they must have been too far away from the other rooms… The younger twin shuddered slightly as he thought of all the things that could have happened to his little brother – for one thing he could have been hurt if that vase had fallen or because of another obstacle… What if he had reached the kitchen and opened the knife drawer?
Soothingly stroking through Estel's soft curls Elrohir soon reached their father's bedroom. Deciding that knocking would awaken not only his father, but Elladan as well, Elrohir just opened the door – quickly shutting it behind him. He was fairly sure that his twin had managed to find sleep almost immediately after he had settled onto his mattress. Lucky him… Though worried for his little brother, Elrohir had a hard time keeping his eyes from glazing over in sleep. After all of his trying earlier, his body chose this moment to allow him to sleep!
Estel was blearily looking around. It was too dark to really make out his surroundings and the closed curtains blocked most of the moon and starlight, but this room looked somewhat familiar. "Dada hewe?" he whispered.
Soft rustling of the bedcovers could be heard as undoubtedly Elrond had woken.
"Dada?" Estel asked again, hearing someone moving in the darkness.
Before Elrond had a chance to say anything, Elrohir spoke up, "Aragorn had a nightmare, Ada." Though there wasn't sufficient light to see the surroundings with human eyes, their elven ones hardly had a problem piercing the darkness. Elrohir minutely shook his head as Elrond was about to scold him for using Estel's birth name, urging his father to understand the situation.
The elven lord didn't understand the reason behind it, but he agreed to Elrohir's silent plea. "Aragorn…" he quietly spoke, hurriedly lighting a candle before walking over to his sons. Estel looked at him in the dim light; silver tears were running down his face and his lip was quivering slightly. Elrond's heart clenched at the pitiful sight.
"Dada…" the boy said again before struggling out of Elrohir's arms, dropping his pillow in the process. "Make dem go, dada…" Estel pleaded.
Elrohir was glad that the small human had accepted their Ada to be his father and wondered at this for a short moment. Apparently appearances didn't matter, for he was not a female!
As soon as Estel was transferred into his Ada's arms, he looked around hurriedly – worried. Seeing this, Elrohir quickly bent down to pick up the decorative pillow. The twin was worried, still seeing no recognition lighting up the bleary grey eyes…
"Mommy? Pillow pwease…" Estel begged, holding out one hand.
Waiting for his youngest son to grab a tight hold of his favourite pillow, Elrond walked over to a huge comfortable chair and sat down in it with Estel clutched to his chest. One eyebrow rose at hearing Estel address Elrohir as 'mommy' and he looked at a slightly blushing Elrohir, but wisely played along. Knowing that the child was still seeing orcs in his dreams and battlefields he started speaking soothing words to him. "The monsters can't hurt you, little one," he muttered, soothingly stroking through Estel's curls, "It was just a nightmare…"
"Was so weal!" Estel objected, "Monsuws huwt you 'n mommy 'n when I waked 'n youw not thewe 'n I coud'n fine you!"
Obviously Estel was speaking about his real parents, but why he was acting like they were them was a mystery to the ancient elf. Tilting Estel's head up, he studied his son's eyes and released a breath that was both relieved and pained. "Hush hush… I'm here now… They didn't hurt us… You're safe… Go back to sleep, little one… The morrow will create happy memories for you. Sleep…" Elrond's hypnotic voice soon caused Estel to turn limp in his arms and, careful not to wake the child, the elf lord indicated for the younger twin to follow him. They moved to Estel's room and gently, Elrond laid his son in his bed. The ancient elf, having caught his son walking through the halls one time himself, was sure that Estel would be fine for the rest of the night.
Then Elrond turned to his other son, who had been looking at the two in concern and the youngster was about to ask his father what was wrong with Estel, when he saw the other elf shake his head. Silently he followed his father out of the room.
"He was wandering the halls, not knowing where he was and thinking I was Gilraen. He remembers…" Elrohir said concerned because of what all this meant.
"His subconscious may remember still, but I can assure you that when he will wake Estel will not remember th-" Elrond started to assure.
Elrohir's eyes turned disbelieving. "When I called him Estel just now he insisted that that was not his name, that his name was Aragorn. How can you be sure that he will not remember?"
Elrond laid one slender hand on his son's shoulder, calming him. "He was still asleep, Elrohir. I've caught him walking the halls one night as well and the next day he couldn't remember being out of bed or speaking to me. It will be the same this time, I'm sure."
The twin frowned, not understanding, "But he spoke, he walked…"
One corner of the elf lord's lips quirked up in a slight smile, "It's called sleepwalking, young one. It sometimes happens with humans."
"But Ada! He could have hurt himself! He nearly knocked a vase off its stand. What if it happens again?"
"It might," Elrond admitted, "but not this night. I suspect something is troubling him – something he's seen or heard… we won't know unless we ask him."
Seeing the thoughtful look, Elrond studied his son closely, "What are your thoughts?"
"Elladan and I returned from patrol tonight and we were covered in orc blood. Estel was standing on his balcony, peering between the bars…"
Elrond closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. "I don't think he realized it was blood – he's seen you return from patrols before, even though I try to keep him away from you two until you have cleaned yourselves up, but it might have been the cause. Perhaps there is an entirely different reason, or perhaps there is no reason at all. It's frustrating we don't know what it is for certain!" Gently clapping his son on the shoulder, Elrond was prepared to enter Estel's bedroom again, "Don't worry about it, Elrohir. I will speak with him in the morning – figure out what he remembers and whether something is troubling him, but for now I think it'd be wise for you to return to your bed as well, you're nearly asleep on your feet!"
Elrohir nodded, pleased to know his father would stay with Estel. "Yes, Ada. Sleep well…"
Elrond nodded as well before moving inside and sitting down in one of the chairs in the room. He would watch his youngest son – make sure that Estel stayed in his bed for the rest of the night and that his dreams would not be haunted by monsters.
Elrohir returned to his own room and lay down once more onto his soft bed. There had been a reason for his restlessness after all! He'd liked to think that the Valar had guided this night – making sure that no harm would come to his little brother… This time his eyes instantly glazed over – sleep had finally reached him.
The end (!!)
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A/N2: (!!) well, it was supposed to be, but I received many requests for another chapter, so be sure to check out chapter 2/ the sequel!
Please review? It would really bring a smile to my face! : )
