A/N "They came at unawares in the middle of winter, and fought with Dior in the Thousand Caves; and so befell the second slaying of Elf by Elf. There fell Celegorm by Dior's hand, and there fell Curufin, and dark Caranthir; but Dior was slain also, and Nimloth his wife, and the cruel servants of Celegorm seized his young sons and left them to starve in the forest. Of this Maedhros indeed repented, and sought for them long in the woods of Doriath; but his search was unavailing, and of the fate of Eluréd and Elurín no tale tells." - J. R. R. Tolkien "The Silmarillion"

The work was originally published on AO3 - 2015-03-05

o0oo0oo0o

We were always calling her Aunt Lal. She is not our real aunt, but that doesn't matter. She came to us when the Noldorin elves who caught us during the attack left us in the forest and rode away. She wrapped us in her mantle and hugged us saying that she will take care of us. At first we thought she's Melian, the mom of grandma Lúthien, especially because of the barriers she could make to protect our small house hidden up on a tree. She was protecting us and teaching us how to survive in the wild. She taught us the history of Beleriand and Eldamar; thanks to her we know how to fight with a sword and use a bow and arrows. When we wanted to leave what remained from Doriath and join the others on the shore she didn't let us go.

Aunt Lal is a daughter of a high House of the Noldor and was blessed with the sight. She was one of the closest advisors of the High King Fingolfin before Dagor Bragollach and after his death she decided to separate from everyone until she had a vision of us two left in the forest. So she came to us to help us and change our futute. She said that if we'd go to the shore to join our sister we'd be killed and cause her death too. So we stayed with her.

And now we are standing beside her under the white banner, looking at the tall blonde Noldo who just a second ago called her "sister" and pulled her into an embrace.

"I present you Eluréd and Elurin of Doriath," she says, her voice full of joy. "I protected them from the fate of darkness and death."

I and my twin grew to be tall and strong, our dark hair and bright eyes make us similar to grandmother (at least aunt Lal always says that) and we are good hunters. Aunt Lal saved us and gave us the time to grow. A red-haired elf she calls Nelyafinwë looks at us with wide eyes. Aunt Lal told us once he was searching for us in the woods after Doriath's destruction. Elurin gives him a small smile.

"You found us at last, lord Meadhros," he says. "We survived."