Part 107 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.

A/N: Where is 106, you may ask? Well…stalled, for the moment. Tracey asked me some tough questions in order to spur creativity, but I'm in a bit of a mental drought just now. I think I may finally be coming up with some ideas for how to address her issues (which were all valid) and progress the story. So, eventually, it will show up. In the meantime, I was feeling the need for some fluff, and perhaps this will also help spur me writing on the other one.

On an unrelated matter, does anyone with a good knowledge of Tolkien know whatever became of the Orcs after the Ring War? I couldn't find anything that said much about them past that point. Did they eventually get killed off and become extinct or what? I can't imagine they were able to procreate, and with Sauron and Saruman no longer around to create more, it seems likely the best they could hope to do was hide out until natural death took them, however long that was. I'm just trying to determine how long they might have been an issue in the lives of the Fourth Agers.

And, also, does anyone know if Tolkien wrote much in the way of specifics about what Legolas and Gimli did after the War? I know they visited the Glittering Caves and Fangorn together, but that seems to have happened in the last year or so of the Third Age/first year or two of the Fourth Age. Legolas eventually seemed to end up in Ithilien with a colony of elves until he left ME for Valinor in 120 F.A., possibly with Gimli going with him. Gimli seems to have spent that time between their early travels and 120 F.A. living in a dwarf colony in the Glittering Caves. Is there more detail about them somewhere that I haven't found, or is that the sum of "canon" and I can improvise what I want beyond that?

Dawning

(March, 15 IV)

Eomer stared out over Lothiriel's garden, and to the mountains and plains beyond. His hands cupped appreciatively around the mug of hot tea that he held, sipping from it occasionally. Though the temperature of dawning spring in the Riddermark was still chill, and the warmth felt good in his hands, he was not truly bothered by the cold. He had lived his entire life here, and grown used to the often brisk air. In truth, he suffered far more when the temperature rose during the summer months, and he always dreaded any visits that led him to Gondor then, since Minas Tirith's stone walls seemed to make him feel it even more acutely.

The sun was just beginning to creep past the horizon, and the valley was shading pink for as far as his eye could see. He had rather thought that once he became king, and gave up leading an eored, that his sleep patterns would shift and he would tend to start rising later. Indeed, with such a desirable wife beside him, there was much inducement to remain abed longer in the mornings, but he had never been able to entirely shake the habit. With few exceptions, he was awake at the first dawning of the sun, even though he sometimes languished in his bed chamber, enjoying quiet moments with his wife and indulging in their traditional early morning ritual of his kissing her awake.

He wasn't quite sure what had begun that tradition. Certainly Lothiriel herself could inspire a man to such an activity, but after the first time he had done it, they both had enjoyed it so much that no day seemed quite complete if they had not begun it in that fashion.

A slow grin slid over his face at the thought. Lothiriel had brought many such simple pleasures to his life, and for that he would be eternally grateful to her. He could not possibly have found a better wife or queen. Most of the kings of Rohan had not begun to rule until they were far older than he. Unless someone died unexpectedly, the longevity of his people usually meant a new king took the throne in their sixties or later, upon the death of the man's father. At not quite thirty, he had been one of the youngest kings Rohan had ever known, and it was a wearing job for any man. Had he not had Lothiriel's strength and humor to support him, he was not at all certain he could go the distance.

A sound behind him drew his attention, and he turned to see his eldest son coming to join him. Elfwine was maturing well, largely due to the influence of his mother, Eomer was convinced, and he was extremely proud of the boy. At almost fourteen years, he was turning out much like Eomer. Elfwine's love for horses, and prowess both at riding and physical sport, were similar if not greater than his sire's. Despite all the credit Eomer gave his wife for the way the boy was developing, at least he could see there was some part of him in there as well. Indeed, Lothiriel claimed the two were almost identical. Well, almost. Elfwine was a more sober lad than he had been, and sometimes took things too seriously, but Eomer would concede that in essentials they were much alike.

Elfwine took a seat beside him on Lothiriel's garden bench, sipping at his own mug of tea. For quite some time, the two sat in companionable silence. After a while, though, it was evident that Elfwine had something on his mind to discuss.

"Papa..." He broke off uncertainly, not sure quite how to phrase his question, and a small grin tweaked Eomer's mouth. For all the boy's increasing maturity, when he needed reassurance about something or fatherly counsel, he invariably switched from the formal address of 'Father' to the boyish 'Papa'.

Eomer waited patiently, and finally Elfwine continued. "I…. Have..." He sighed in frustration that he couldn't quite seem to organize his thoughts and words as he wished. At length, he just plunged in. "When did you first kiss a girl?" The boy's face flushed red at the question, and he hastily took a swallow of tea so as to keep his eyes fixed elsewhere than on his father.

Eomer's eyebrows lifted slightly, though he was not altogether surprised by the inquiry. The boy was good-looking, and it had been inevitable that between that, a pleasing personality and being the heir to the throne, sooner or later Elfwine was going to garner feminine attention. In fact, it had somewhat begun a few years back, though his son had not particularly appreciated it at the time.

"Hmmm, I suppose I was about your age, the first time," Eomer mused, trying to remember.

Before he could say more, Elfwine stammered, "Did…did you kiss her or did she kiss you?" Again his face flushed and he looked away.

This was a more startling question, though Eomer could guess the reason for it. "I believe I kissed her. But I get the impression that perhaps you have had your first kiss, and you were not the one to initiate it." He offered the comment to hopefully spur further discussion, and Elfwine responded to the prompting.

Nodding, he confessed, "We had been talking and wandered toward the lower gate to Mother's garden. I was just going to say goodbye to her and come inside, when suddenly she leaned forward and kissed me." He hesitantly looked to his father for a reaction to his words.

Eomer grinned inwardly, but tried to keep his expression neutral. He well knew that such things were not easy for a boy to talk about with someone. "Did you not want to kiss her, or did you not enjoy it when it happened?" Eomer queried, for the moment setting aside discussion of how the boy felt about girls in general.

"I…I do not think I would ever have kissed her if she had not done that," Elfwine admitted sheepishly. "It…it was all right, I suppose, though not really what I expected."

He seemed to be struggling to figure out how he felt about the whole matter in general, but before Eomer could ask anything more, Elfwine looked up and said, "I know kissing must be a nice thing for I have seen you and Mother do it, and..." His voice trailed off, unsure how to explain his reaction to seeing his parents express their love for one another. Then softly he asked, "How do you know when to kiss a girl so you and she will enjoy it?"

Eomer leaned back and raised his eyebrows. Suddenly this conversation had gotten much deeper than he had anticipated. At length, he tried to explain something that wasn't entirely predictable or describable. "Knowing when to kiss a girl mostly goes to how you feel about her, Elfwine. If you like her a great deal, and she seems to feel the same about you, at some point you will likely desire to kiss her. Usually you will get a sense of whether or not she is receptive to it and, if she is, then likely the two of you will enjoy it." He paused, thinking, then added, "If you kiss someone who has only ever acted like a friend with you, and given no indication they might like to be closer friends, then it is possible you will feel as you did when this girl kissed you. You had not considered her as more than a friend, so the kiss had no true meaning for you. It is easy enough to kiss someone, but unless you care for the person I do not think it will be all that pleasant. It may feel good and be pleasurable, but I do not think you can enjoy it as you do when you care for the person you are kissing. That is what you see with Mother and me."

Relaxed by his father's calm acceptance of his questions, Elfwine persisted, asking, "Have you kissed a lot of girls?"

Eomer smiled at the question, but shook his head. "No, not that many. At first, I was curious about it, and wondered why the older boys seemed so eager to do it. And after the first time or two, I discovered that it could be pleasurable, but I remembered seeing my parents kiss. I remembered the love they shared, and somehow the kissing seemed very much tied to the love. I came to believe that the love was an essential part of kissing, and I did not wish to kiss girls if I had no feelings for them. Then, with the War and all, there was not much opportunity to get to know maidens enough to develop the kind of feelings I wanted before I kissed them. Once or twice I did think someone was special, and took occasion to kiss her, but for whatever reason it never developed into anything more. Not until your mother came along did I fully begin to appreciate kissing!" His eyes twinkled at this final comment and Elfwine blushed again, though he was not displeased with his father's admission.

For several more long moments, Elfwine made no further comment as he digested Eomer's words. Finally, he asked, "Then…it is all right if I do not kiss a lot of girls? The other boys make it seem like I should kiss every girl who will let me..."

"They have learned to enjoy the pleasure of the act, but without understanding its true purpose. Personally, I see no reason to kiss someone for whom I have no feelings. I do not think there is anything wrong with waiting until you care for someone before you demonstrate your feelings to them with a kiss. I think, perhaps, you are showing much greater maturity than these other boys in wanting to be selective." He brought a hand up to rest on his son's back, and Elfwine gave him a relieved grin.

After a moment, he murmured, "Thank you, Papa. I…I want what you and Mama have. I will wait for someone special to kiss, as you did."

The two lapsed once more into silence, turning their gazes back out to watch the sunrise, which was now progressing nicely. After several moments, Eomer felt his son shift position so that he was leaning slightly against Eomer's shoulder, and the gesture brought a smile to his lips. One thing was certain – while he was sure there would be many girls desiring to kiss his son, it would be a very lucky young lady, indeed, who won his heart.

THE END

11/10/06

End note: It is best that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order (#15 came after #17, I think), but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content.