#6 – Water

Erestor sighed in blessed relief as he eased his heaviest customary black robe over his shoulders. He had come down to the Bruinen for a small break – Elrond had literally ordered him out of his study for "at least an hour" – but of course, this was a pretty abandoned area. It used to be a popular picnic place for Elrond, his wife, and their children, but once Celebrían had sailed, none of the Peredhil had come back.

It was a very nice place though, with a gorgeous waterfall cascading down a short drop, then running into a shallow pool about fifty feet wide and running down much further to join a stronger current. The bank Erestor was standing on was covered in lush grass, with overhanging trees surrounding the small clearing. A barely-visible path led back to the Last Homely House, but Erestor wasn't planning on using it for quite a while.

Well, he had been ordered to rest. And he was going to do it! He took off his outermost robe and laid it on the grass beside him before dropping down to join it. He still wore another robe over his tunic and leggings, but, thinking about it, Erestor decided to pull his soft suede boots off and toss them to join the first article of clothing he had abandoned. Then he lay back and crossed his arms underneath his head, staring up at the particles of sky that showed through the treetops.

It took only five minutes of the water crashing into rocks at the base of the fall, the gentle rustling of leaves, and the slight foaming sound of liquid washing against the bank for Erestor to nod off. His dark eyes glazed over and he drifted off into reverie.

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#27 – Connecting the Dots

"Nana, can you help me?"

"Certainly, Elladan. What do you need?" Celebrían looked expectantly at her older son, who was staring up at her with tearful grey eyes.

Elladan pointed to the paper he held in his hand. It was covered with perfectly round ink dots, seeming to be in a pattern. "'Restor made connecty-dot papers for me and Elrohir, but I can't figure out how it goes! Elrohir already finished his, and now he gets to go and play outside. Can you help me and show me where the lines to go between the dots go?"

Celebrían glanced around and saw no sight of her elflings' tutor – also known as the Chief Counselor of Imladris. No one knew how he could manage to find a few hours out of his already-busy day to teach Elladan and Elrohir with their school, but he did it. And he was a very stern adviser as well, tolerating no cheating. But…this wouldn't be cheating, would it? Just helping.

Her mind made up, Celebrían drew Elladan closer and smiled secretly. "Of course, penneth. Where's your quill?"

Elladan handed it up to her, and she began to study the paper. "So…you say that Erestor will let you outside after this is done?"

He nodded eagerly, and she grinned widely. "I see." She passed the feather-tipped quill back to her son and pointed at the parchment. "Okay, this is where it goes. It starts here, then goes in a circle like this. See the little dots on the outside arranged in a jagged pattern? That makes little rays, like the sun! Ah, yes, there you are! Mm…good job."

"My Lady?"

Celebrían looked up guiltily, and immediately a sweet and innocent smile broke across her face. "Hello, Erestor! How may I help you?"

The adviser flicked his gaze from the elfling nervously drawing on his paper to his mother, who was giving him the most guileless silver-eyed smile she could. "…Never mind. Elladan, come tell me when you are done."

"Yes, 'Restor," the elfling said obediently. As soon as Erestor was gone, Celebrían and Elladan broke into giggles.

"That was close, wasn't it?" the Lady laughed, ruffling her son's dark hair. Elladan nodded eagerly, his face creased with laughter.

Outside the room, Erestor sighed and shook his head, then headed back to the library, where Elladan was supposed to go after he was finished.

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#38 – Sunset

Elrond had just finished putting his night clothes on when his lovely silver-eyed wife burst into their chambers, her blonde tresses flying behind her.

"Oh!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Elrond, you must see this!"

"See what?" he asked futilely as she grabbed his hand and yanked him toward the balcony. "Cel, dear, I've seen the sky plenty of times," he said when she pointed at the horizon.

"Yes, but not like this!" Celebrían cried, grabbing his jaw and literally forcing him to look at the sky. Elrond drew in a sharp breath when he saw the sunset, liberally painted with all colors of the rainbow. Purple, gold, pink, red, and green mixed in a stunning combination, casting gorgeous arrays across the clouds.

"It's beautiful," Elrond whispered in awe. Celebrían nodded, smiling, and he wrapped an arm around her waist. She let her head fall sideways on his shoulder, and there they stood, watching the sun leave their vision.

It was a picturesque sight.

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#68 – Oaths

Elladan and Elrohir, the twin Peredhil brothers, sat on a tree. It was nearly dead, and was bent so far it almost touched the ground, but not quite. Neither of the elves were talking, but sat back to back, swinging their legs on either sides of the tree.

Then Elrohir broke the silence. "Elladan…do you remember our oaths?"

"Of course I do." Elladan leant back and tilted his head up to the sky, soaking in the warm rays.

"Do you think…?" Elrohir shrugged, then continued, "that possibly Nana would not have agreed with us risking our lives to avenge her?"

"She probably wouldn't," Elladan said, glancing over his shoulder at his brother. "What sparked this question?"

Elrohir shrugged, the movement bumping Elladan. "I don't know. It just popped into my head."

Elladan hummed, and they both fell back to silence, swinging their legs.

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#78 – Spies

"Good day, Glorfindel," Erestor said for the third time in the past five minutes. Typically, the golden-haired warrior ignored him.

"– but then he said that he had put the training swords in the spear rack!" Glorfindel rambled on, apparently talking about the events in his day before he had come to bother Erestor. The adviser had no idea why Glorfindel came to annoy him, but it wasn't like Erestor listened anyway.

Erestor sighed. He had been trying to get out of his study for a while, but was still too polite to shove Glorfindel out of the way and just walk by. The Elda was literally standing in the middle of the doorway, taking up the whole space. Finally, Erestor was tired of hearing Glorfindel blabbing about the weapons being put in the wrong place.

"Spies, all of them!" Glorfindel said, and then Erestor interrupted him, finally growing too impatient.

"EXCUSE ME, GLORFINDEL."

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow and stepped aside. "Well, you didn't have to yell."

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#84 – Threads

"Goodness, Elladan, how did you do this?" Arwen exclaimed, holding up the tattered shirt and waving it at her oldest brother.

He had the good grace to look sheepish. "Um…I challenged Glorfindel to a sword duel – he won, of course – and then Elrohir and I went on a short patrol, then I chased –"

"Never mind!" Arwen interrupted. "I don't want to know!" She picked at the only thread that seemed to be holding the mess together. "Oh…" she sighed, "I think this will be very hard to fix."

"Sorry, Arwen," Elladan offered. "I could get you something to make up for it?"

"You'd have to get me a horse to make up for this," Arwen grumbled good-naturedly. When a mischievous gleam entered his eyes, she hastily added, "No, just get me a slice of pie or something. After all, what are sisters for but to mend their annoying brothers' clothes?" She stuck her tongue out as he hurried to fetch the food she requested.

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#89 – Mixed Feelings

Erestor sat quietly in the dark and stillness of his room, a fire flickering across from him. He was pondering his position as Chief Counselor in Imladris. Well – he was considering more his friends here.

There was Lord Elrond, the first person who came to mind. He had known the Peredhel for centuries, maybe for millennia. He couldn't even remember when he first met him. Lord Elrond was a wise ruler of the valley, though incredibly and annoyingly disorganized. Erestor absolutely despised going into his study, since the desk was a terrible mess and it drove him crazy. Once, Erestor had made the mistake of organizing it like his own office, and Lord Elrond hadn't been able to find anything for weeks.

Then there were Lord Elrond's children, the twins and Arwen, though he found it hard to think of them as anything other than his former students. After all, he had tutored each personally in the basic subjects as a favor to Lord Elrond, who only wanted the best for his young sons and daughter.

Elrond's wife, too, had been a good friend before she sailed; wise and thoughtful as her mother; generous and kind as her father; and with a wide mischievous streak he knew she got from both parents and was passed on to her children.

And of course, Glorfindel. Erestor had mixed feelings on the Balrog-slayer – he could never make up his mind whether the warrior was his sworn enemy and nemesis, or his best friend in the whole of Imladris. Glorfindel was annoying, bright and cheerful, talked too much, had a roguish tendency a mile wide, tended to resort to violence too often, and never wore anything that could be even faintly considered dull or dark. On the other hand; he was happy – even though Erestor hated it sometimes, Glorfindel could cheer him up – he usually turned his patrol reports in on time; and he was a wonderful Captain. Oh, and good with elflings, unlike Erestor. When Elladan and Elrohir had been young, but no less mischievous, Glorfindel was their official hero. He was also their trainer in weaponry and hand-to-hand combat. Without his training, they would have died a hundred times over when on their orc hunts avenging their mother.

Enough about Glorfindel, though. Who else was there?

Erestor came to realize after a moment's thought that he really didn't have many friends. And then he stared into the wavering flames of the fire and pulled the edges of his robes closer to himself.

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#94 – I Know You, But Where?

"Next!"

A female elf with wavy dark brown hair stepped up in front of Erestor, who had just scribbled something on his list of elves moving to Imladris. He glanced up at her. "Name?"

"Lisondrë," she said simply.

Erestor raised an eyebrow at the lack of last name, but wrote it down in the next empty space. "Abilities or occupation desire?"

"I was a scribe," the elf-maiden said. "In Lindon."

Erestor's head came up sharply and he stared at her for a long moment. "I know you," he mused slowly. "But where…?"

She chuckled. "I helped one of the librarians. I saw you in the library almost every day, chewing on the tip of your quill as you looked for some book on a list – like you're doing right now."

Erestor reddened faintly and jerked the tip of the feather out of his mouth. "Well," he said, scanning his paper once more and regaining his composure. "Would you like to be placed as one of the librarians here? We have one space left."

"That would be wonderful, my lord," she said, and as soon as Erestor made the notation, he called for the next person, and she continued on.