Title: Shell
Disclaimer: All Tolkien's
Word count: 1062
Pairing: Ecthelion/Erestor
Rating: PG-13
Warning: None
Summary: Ecthelion finds a reason to overcome his fears
AN: Fourth age, Valinor

------------

Ecthelion noticed the shell when he was walking along the beach.

Or more precisely, when he was walking a few metres away from the beach. He just couldn't dare to get that close to the water. Water had proofed to be his doom once already, there was no reason why this shouldn't happen a second time.

The shell was beautiful; nearly as big as his palm and it glistened in the light of the sun in all colours imaginable, from silver to pink to emerald. It was magnificent. He could perfectly see this shell sitting in his beloved's raven hair, made into a clip, or hanging from his beautiful throat as a necklace. Yes, this shell was perfect for Erestor and a perfect gift.

There was just one problem: The shell was lying in the sand, just a few inches away from the ocean and now and then a wave would come up and flow over the shell. How should he get it, there in the water?

The best thing was to just leave it there, Ecthelion tried to convince himself. It was just a shell, after all, and he could probably buy a thing like this somewhere on the market. He should just go on. But something kept him there.

For some time he paced in front of the shell, studying it thoughtfully. Finally he sat down just above the first grains of sand, head resting on his knees, staring at the shell.

It was perfect.

Images kept coming to his mind of what he could make out of this shell, how Erestor would look like and what he would say if he gave this to him.

But it was in the water.

He wanted it.

Panic crept up his spine and Ecthelion wrapped his arms around himself, protectively, shivering. He had died in the water back then. Water had been his death. How could he possibly go into it now?

He hardly noticed as he slowly, very slowly, made a tiny, tiny step towards the shell, in his crouching position.

As always, when he was so close to water, images kept coming back to his mind; images of the glistening surface just a few feet above him, but still he couldn't reach it, his body was broken and didn't want to cooperate and even if it did, his armour was far too heavy to rise to the surface with it and he couldn't pull it off, his vision was starting to blur...

He suddenly noticed that he had moved a few feet towards the shell in the water and quickly chased those dark thoughts away. It wouldn't do him any good if he lost himself in such dark thoughts and panicked.

Quickly he rose to his feet. He had gone so far now; he could also cross the remaining distance. He could do this. He was Ecthelion of the Fountains, after all, renowned warrior and slayer of three balrogs. He wouldn't be beaten by a shell and a few drops of water.

He started to run and with a few steps of his long legs he had reached the sea. He bent down to pick up the shell. A tiny wave crawled over his hand and Ecthelion leapt back onto the dry sand as if he had been bitten by a snake. Shell in hand he raced away from the shore, away from the beach, just far, far away. Finally he halted, gasping for breath, his whole body shaking with fear.

He stood like that for a moment, and then his gaze fell upon the shimmering shell in his hand. A broad grin spread over his face. He had done it.

"Erestor?" Ecthelion slowly moved through the small house he shared with Erestor, looking for his beloved. "Erestor, where are you?"

"I am here!" he heard the reply from the combined library and living room. Ecthelion quickly walked into the chamber and saw Erestor lounging on the sofa, a book in front of him, clad in nothing more than a simply pair of brown leggings. He smiled when his mate entered the room. "Hello, my love!"

"Hey!" Ecthelion walked up to him and bent down to give him a kiss, sinking to the floor in front of him. "I have something for you, Erestor," he started quietly, looking up to see how the other elf would react.

"You have?" Erestor closed his book and sat up, looking at Ecthelion curiously.

"Yes." Slowly Ecthelion revealed the package he had been hiding behind his back, holding his breath in expectation. "This."

Erestor leaned forward to take it from Ecthelion's hands, looking curiously at it. "What is it?"

Ecthelion smiled mysteriously, feeling excited like a child. "Just open it and you'll see."

Erestor did and his breath caught as his gaze fell upon the beautiful shell Ecthelion had bought him. "Oh!" He turned it around in his hands and noticed that it had been made into a hair clip. "Thank you, Ecthelion. It is beautiful."

"I… um…" Ecthelion started, a bit embarrassed, though he wasn't quite sure why. Perhaps because Erestor seemed to think at once that he had bought it. "I found it on the beach yesterday, when I was going for a walk."

Erestor stared at him, eyes wide in amazement. "You… you found this?"

Ecthelion nodded. "Yes. In the sea."

For a moment the two elves just sat there, staring at each other, then Erestor slipped from the sofa with a bright smile on his face, hugging his beloved tightly. "You went into the sea to get this for me? Oh Ecthelion, that is so… I don't even know what to call it. Thank you!"

He pressed a kiss to Ecthelion's lips and for some minutes the two elves just sat there, holding each other, kissing. "Thank you," Erestor whispered again. "That was very brave of you."

Ecthelion smiled happily, reaching for the shell. "Do you want me to put it in your hair?"

"Yes, please," Erestor answered, turning around so that Ecthelion could fasten the clip.

Ecthelion proudly looked at the shimmering shell holding his beloved's hair together. As he had thought it fit perfectly to the pitch black hair, giving it a nice touch.

When he looked at this beautiful image and Erestor's happy smile, he knew that his battle against the water had been worth it.

---------