The New Meets the Old
By Jo March
Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of the Lord of the Rings, Tolkien owns it all. But the plot belongs to me.
Summary: One sleepless night Elrond takes a walk around Rivendell. What he finds is not what he expected. A younger version of.... To say more would ruin the story.
A/N: This is the second time around. Thank you to all of you who reviewed this very quickly. Sorry I gave it away in the begging. This time I won't. For a long time I did not feel capable of writing a story like this. Well, after a long debate with myself I have finally done it.
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Lord Elrond lay awake abed; staring at his ornately decorated ceiling. Again, tonight, sleep alluded him. It had been sometime since the Lord of Imladris had been gifted with a full night of sleep, tonight was no different. Elrond quietly climbed out of bed, he shivered as his feet hit the bare stone of the floor. He quickly pulled on his dressing gown, and headed for his study to find a book.
As he entered the library, many familiar smells assaulted his senses. Elrond closed his eyes and let his mind wander, taking him where it pleased. It seemed to wish to relive his younger days, the wonderful days of youth. But Elrond's had not been wonderful, they were ones of immense sorrow and longing. Longing for the love a mother who wanted him and a father to share things with. Elrond sat down in a chair and folded his hands in his lap, looking straight ahead, not really focusing on anything. Childhood memories should be ones that one enjoys looking back on, wishing that you would not have dreamed them away, wishing you were older. He had been forced to grow up before his time; taking care of Elros had not been an easy job.
As Elrond sat, a single tear slipped down his face. A broken heart, one that would never fully mend. How he wished that he might somehow fill the void by taking a wife, having three beautiful children, and being the Lord of Imladris, but there are something's that will never be forgotten or fulfilled. Completely forgetting his mission to find a book Elrond looked up though the crystalline window above him. Stars, the thing the elves loved the most. His gaze drifted over the skies, and came to rest on the brightest stare in the night sky, Eärendil, his father.
Long ago in the first age Eärendil had set sail from Middle Earth for the last time, leaving his two small children, Elrond and Elros, and wife Elwing behind. A few years later the silmaril had taken over Elwing's mind, she no longer cared for her children. It was assumed she died when she jumped from the tower window, but she turned into a seagull and few away to Eärendil to plead with the Valar for the sake of Middle Earth. The Valar agreed to intercede for the sake of Middle Earth, but Eärendil was sentenced to exile for eternity. He now sails the night skies with silmaril shining brightly on his brow.
Elrond stepped out on to the balcony overlooking the fair valley of Imladris, and gave the valley a sad smile. He was happy here, yet he could never feel true happiness ever again. He looked up at the stares again, his sharp elvish eyes picked up the delicate drops of dew descending, making everything look like it was covered in diamonds. More tears ran down his face as his thoughts turned to his brother, Elros. He had never known their real father, and therefore chose the path of mortality. As he thought about his younger days he felt a sharp pang in his heart, it told him he was getting old. Not that he looked it, but in his heart of hearts he could feel the longing to settle permanently in the havens rising every passing moment.
He turned to go back to his chambers he heard a slight sound. It sounded like a child crying, but the only problem was that there were no children in Imladris at this time. Elrond cocked his head to one side, listening for the sound to come again; he waited for several minutes, but nothing happened. Just as he turned the lock on his door the sound came again. This time he was definitely sure that this was a child he was hearing. The wise Lord of Rivendell could not fathom how a child had come to be in his realm with out him knowing of it.
He silently walked towards the sound, not wishing to scare the child as he approached though. As Elrond approached the spot where he supposed the child to be, it jumped out, ready to fight. The boy, as the appearance obviously gave away, held his sword in the defensive position. But the boy was wear, his arms were about to give way. Elrond, noticing this right away, gently approached the boy, palms up; not wanting him to run.
"D-d-didn't come any closer. I'll kill you, I promise." Fear was betrayed in the boy's voice. Elrond had to do a double take. The voice matched Elladan's and Elrohir's while they were growing up, not unlike his while he was young. These thoughts surprised Elrond.
"It's all right, son, I won't hurt you," said Elrond, taking a small step closer.
"Stay where you are, I don't want to kill you." The sword was shaking in his hand, giving away the fact that he was begging to fade. Elrond gently approached the boy. "Stay where you are, I..." He was cut off by the strong hand of Elrond gently, but firmly taking his sword away. The boy looked up in fear, what was this elf going to do to him for trespassing? His legs trembled, threatening to give out from under him. All of the sudden he found himself being gently picked up and carried off down the corridor.
"Let me down, I can walk!" Demanded the boy, scowling at Elrond.
"As you wish, little master." With that Elrond promptly dropped him where he was, and started to walk on. He blinked several times before realizing what the older elf had done. The boy tried to stand up, but his legs would not do what his brain was telling them to do. He made a small groaning noise, hoping the other elf, Elrond, would come back to help him. As he looked down the hall he could see no one. Would he just be left here till someone else found him in the morn? While he pondered on these thoughts, Elrond snuck around behind him, and then picked him up again.
This time he didn't protest as he was carried down the long, dark passageway. They made many twist and turns, and passed many dark doorways until they reached their final destination, Elrond's bedchamber. Elrond gently set the child upon his bed, and covered him up.
On the way to there Elrond had purposely made many detours to throw the boy off so he would not be able to run away, quickly that is. As Elrond had been carrying the boy he noticed a familiar smell about him, but he couldn't quiet place it. Something that brought back a memory hidden deep with in the caverns of his mind, just waiting to be unearthed. As soon as the boy's head had hit the soft pillows of the Elf Lord's bed, he had fallen asleep. His eyes wide open in traditional elvish sleep. Lord Elrond sat down upon his couch and watched the boy sleep in silence.
Elrond watched the boy as he slept, there was definitely something familiar about this young elf, he just couldn't place it. It had been a long time since there had been a child around Imladris, even taking care of Estel seemed like years ago. Elrond felt emotions flooding him that he had not felt in a long time. They were strictly fatherly feelings, but more like a brotherly feeling. Somehow this young boy had brought meaning back into Elrond's life. As the elf slept he stirred in his slumber he mumbled something incoherent. To the quick and keen Elvish hearing of Elrond it sounded as if he had said something about finding his little brother.... No, it just wasn't possible. How could this little elf know about Elros?
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A/N: Wow! I can't believe I wrote that. You know writing is kind of like reading a story for the first time, except you are the only one who has read it so far. As I said before this was the second time I have written this. I hope that most of the spelling errors are fixed. It is a thrill when the characters to something total unexpected, yet you knew they were going to do it all along, just not the exact time or place. I thought this would be a little to complicated, yet so far all has run smoothly. Please read and review.