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Orophin sprinted through Imladris as fast as his long slim legs would carry him, heading for Faelwen's room. When he reached it, he threw the door open frantically and gaped hurriedly around the room until his eyes fell upon what he was looking for. There was only one book visible in the room – a large, ancient-looking tome bound in worn brown leather. Instantly, Orophin seized it under his arm and took off at top speed for the medical wing once more.
As he skidded to a halt in the doorway, he was dimly aware that hurried footsteps were approaching from behind him. That thought was driven completely from his mind, however, when he stepped back into the room from which he had so hurriedly departed a few moments before.
"Elbereth Gilthoniel!" The expression burst from his lips of its own accord, followed by some slightly more colourful expressions, as the book he was holding fell to the ground at his feet.
"Orophin?" The footsteps behind him were now shown to belong to Elrond and Erestor. Elrond's face went absolutely grey when he saw what had caused Orophin's exclamation.
Haldir still lay pale and lifeless, his chest barely moving, upon the bed; but now Faelwen was slumped unconscious at his side. She was upon her knees on the floor, her head resting on the bed, her hand clutching his tightly.
Blood stained the coverlet below their hands.
"She...she has cut her wrists!" Orophin choked unsteadily, swaying as his legs momentarily threatened to give way beneath him. Erestor hurriedly caught the younger elf's shoulders and steadied him.
"No, Orophin," Elrond corrected him, his own voice a little shaky as he hurried over to examine his daughter. "She has not. Thank the Valar, she has not gone that far!"
"What? I...I do not understand," Orophin said dazedly, sinking down onto the bed opposite the one occupied by Haldir.
"Faelwen," Elrond explained quietly. "Has tied her life to Haldir's."
Erestor's head snapped up in shock. "You cannot mean..." he gasped.
Elrond nodded. "It was a technique used in the First Age to save the lives of friends or lovers who were close to death. The elf in question pledges their life force to that of the wounded elf and mixes their blood; thus allowing the fea of the living elf to supplement and support that of the wounded one. It was a very dangerous one, however, and could often result in the death of both parties. Because of this risk, it was a technique which became virtually extinct."
"I...I do not...what does this mean?" Orophin stammered confusedly. "Faelwen's life energy is keeping Haldir alive?"
"Yes," Elrond nodded again. "Her body will continue to support his until he is sufficiently recovered to do it for himself, or until..." He broke off gravely.
"So that means..." Orophin's stomach lurched as he looked at the deathly hue of Haldir's face.
"It means," said Elrond sadly. "That if your brother dies, Orophin, Faelwen dies with him."
Once those present in the room had far enough recovered from their shock to be practical, Faelwen was picked up from her position on the healing room floor and, as no one could prise their hands even slightly apart, laid down on the bed beside Haldir. A vigil was immediately taken up in the healing ward, with Elrond, Erestor, a very shaken Orophin and a tearful Arwen taking it in turns to monitor the lifeless pair for any sign of change.
Five days passed and neither one opened their eyes. Faelwen grew paler and paler until her complexion was the same deathly pale as Haldir's, while her breathing likewise became quieter and quieter. It looked as though she was slowly fading away.
Erestor privately worried that this might strain his lord's household to breaking point. Only once before in all the time he had dwelt in Imladris – during that dreadful period following Celebrian's attack – could he remember seeing Elrond looked so strained. The half-elf had had plenty to worry him before this latest blow – both his sons were out in the wilderness, constantly surrounded by danger; Arwen had announced her decision to forsake an elven life; his foster son was walking straight into Sauron's domain, while darkness was spreading across Middle Earth like a foul disease.
It was unsurprising then, that the vigil over Haldir and Faelwen was a tense one. Orophin paced the room like a caged animal, unwilling to leave even to eat and sleep. Arwen wept every time she sat with them; reproaching her father and her grandparents for not allowing the couple in the bed to marry when they had first requested it.
"They might have had children by now!" she wept. "And they would have given them something to hope for – something else to fight to stay alive for!"
"Arwen, your father was trying to protect them," Erestor pointed out gently, but Arwen shook away his statement angrily.
"Then he has failed!" she said tearfully. "Erestor, look upon her! She is dying! How can any living being on Arda be protected when darkness s looms greater every waking moment! My brothers are out there risking their lives, my kin in Lorien face invasion and slaughter, and Aragorn..." She broke off as her throat grew too tight for speech.
"We have seen days as dark as these before, my dear," Erestor said, his mind darting back to the Battle of Dagorlad. "And the light was able to overcome the darkness. I continue to hope and pray that it will do so once again."
"But how many must die before then?" Arwen asked mournfully. "How many friends and loved ones must we part with?"
To this, Erestor had no answer.
On the sixth day of the vigil in the healing rooms, just as their loved ones begun to truly believe that Faelwen and Haldir were indeed lost to them, Haldir regained consciousness.
Orophin was sitting by the side of the bed, trying mournfully to work out how on earth he was going to explain to Rumil and his foster parents that Haldir had been called to Mandos, and that Faelwen had followed, when his sharp ears picked up the soft sounds of a faint hitch of breath.
His heart-rate tripling in speed, Orophin leapt to his feet and scrutinised the faces of the bed's occupants. Faelwen's complexion remained pallid and grey, but Haldir's...Orophin's heart nearly exploded out of his chest when he realised that there was a hint of colour in Haldir's cheeks.
Staring so hard that his eyes began to sting, Orophin did not even blink for fear of missing something. A few seconds later, he was overjoyed to see Haldir to take a hitching, shuddering gasp, before breathing in deeply; his chest beginning to steadily rise and fall as normal.
Orophin was not sure if the noise that burst from his lips was a laugh, a sob, or some combination of the two, so incapable of thought was he at that moment. He drew his chair closer to the bed and took his brother's hand, squeezing it tightly; suddenly full of soaring hope.
Ten minutes later, Haldir opened his eyes.
"You...you are alive!" Orophin blurted out rather obviously, while Haldir blinked owlishly at him, clearly confused by his surroundings. Orophin leapt to his feet in absolute delight. "You are alive! You're not dead! And you are awake... Do not move! Do not do anything! I will fetch Lord Elrond!" And so he hurried out of the room, calling frantically for Elrond, leaving Haldir staring confusedly after him.
Haldir lay there for a moment, vaguely trying to piece things together. He knew he was in Imladris, but what in Elbereth's name was he doing here? The last thing he remembered was battle; the roars of orcs and that battle cries of his fellow Galadhrim. Had he been wounded? Was that why he was here?
The Marchwarden struggled weakly into a sitting position, wincing a little at the dull pain in his abdomen. His movements caused his legs to brush against something and he realised with a start that there was someone lying beside him. He jumped like a startled animal when he realised that it was Faelwen who lay there, chalk white and still.
"Faelwen?" He shook her gently. "Faelwen!" He shook her a little more urgently, but she did not even stir. He was momentarily distracted by Orophin bursting back into the room as sharply as he'd left it.
"Orophin," began Haldir tensely, before his brother could say a word. "What happened? Why am I in Imladris? Why am I in bed with Faelwen? And why are her eyes closed?"
"It is a...complex story, brother," Orophin said, sitting down on the edge of the bed and embracing Haldir with sheer relief. "And I do not believe I even understand half of it. Lord Elrond is on his way here. He will make things more clear than I could."
Elrond's relief at finding Haldir awake might well be imagined. His future son-in-law, besides being a little weakened and still rather bruised, showed every sign of being in good health once more. It was clear that the danger had passed, and thus, with it, the danger to Faelwen's life.
"My Lord, why does she not wake?" Haldir demanded worriedly, the moment Elrond had entered the door. "What is wrong with her?"
Elrond smiled for what felt to him like the first time in months. "She is fine," he assured Haldir, as he checked Faelwen's pulse. "Her body requires more rest, that is all. Her body and energy have been supporting yours this past week – it is little wonder that she is exhausted. Leave her to sleep, and she will wake when she is ready."
"Supported me? I do not remember much – only snatches of dreams, " said Haldir, a little dazedly. "What happened?"
Just as Elrond opened his mouth to begin speaking, the sound of hurried footsteps was heard outside the door, and suddenly Arwen burst into the room. She took one look at Haldir before her eyes filled with tears of delight. "He is alive!" she declared joyfully, her face even more radiant in its happiness. "Oh, Ada, this means that Faelwen will live too, does it not?"
"Was Faelwen's life in danger? Was she going to die?" asked Haldir bemusedly, looking from one elf to another. "Will one of you please explain what has happened?"
Orophin began the tale, describing the battle on the borders of Lorien and explaining how he had watched his brother be felled by an orc sword. "You were too far away...I knew I could not reach you in time. But then Alyan threw himself in front of you." Orophin's voice shook a little as he described the death of Faelwen's eldest brother and repeated his last words.
"Does she know?" Haldir asked gravely, looking worriedly down at Faelwen's still form.
Orophin shook his head. "There was no time to tell her," he answered. "When I brought you here, you were starting to slip away. The minute she saw you, she told me to bring you to the healing rooms and then sent me to fetch a book from her room. By the time I returned... she had done it."
"Done what?" Haldir asked again, beginning to lose patience.
Here, Elrond took over the story, explaining to Haldir how Faelwen had bonded their souls in order to keep his from being called to Mandos; describing how her soul and her strength had supplemented his and had given his body the chance to fight his wounds and to begin recovering.
"You are tied now together for the rest of your days," Elrond concluded, with something akin to a smile. "You will share each other's happiness, each other's pain, everything."
"This I do not object to," said Haldir softly, stroking Faelwen's hair. "I have wanted this since the day I asked her to marry me."
"You will have to let them wed now, Ada!" Arwen said slyly, grinning. "After all, they are bound together in all but name. You must let them make it official."
"It seems I must, iel-nin ," Elrond returned good-humouredly. "It seems I must."
Faelwen remained in slumber for another two days.
Haldir sat by her besides almost ceaselessly from the moment he was allowed to rise. Indeed, not until Elrond shooed him out towards the end of the second day did the young elf even bother to rest or to eat, despite being in severe need of both after his own extended sleep. Thus, as it happened, by sheer mischance – Orophin had taken Haldir's placed but had left only momentarily to take some air on the balcony – Faelwen woke alone.
For the first few moments, she felt groggy, weak and disorientated; wondering why the roof she was staring at was not that of her own bedroom. Then it came flying into her mind with the force of an arrow – Haldir's almost fatal wounds, her choice to bond with him, the struggle she had gone through to keep him alive. She sat up abruptly and cast her eyes about the room in a panic.
Haldir was not there.
Her throat tightened, her eyes flooded with tears and her heart seemed to stop beating as Faelwen hurriedly leapt out of bed, her weakened legs wobbling underneath her. Sure she would have felt it if he had died! Surely she would have known! He could not have slipped away when she had been fighting so hard for him!
Desperately, barefoot and clad in only the nightgown Arwen had changed her into the day before, Faelwen sped dizzily out into the corridors, looking for someone, anyone, to tell her what had happened to Haldir.
She made it down one flight of stairs before running into her sister. For a moment, Arwen's fair face lit up with delight upon seeing her, but upon registering Faelwen's frenzied expression, it changed to a look of concern.
"Faelwen, you must come back to bed," she said firmly. "You are in no condition to be up yet. Ada will want you to rest."
"Where is he?" Faelwen asked feverishly. "I need to know! Where is he?"
She tried to run past Arwen, but the older elleth caught her arms and held her back. Faelwen was shorter and slighter than Arwen and so the dark haired elleth had no difficulty in restraining her sister, despite the fact that she was struggling like a made orc.
"Let me go, Arwen!" she shrieked, beginning to sob. "I would have known if he had died! Where is he?"
Suddenly, Arwen understood. She pulled Faelwen closer and half-embraced her, half-held her upright. "Haldir lives, Faelwen," she said gently. "He lives and he is well. He left your side only because Ada ordered him to eat and rest. You have not lost him. He is alive."
"Truly?" Eyes glassy with tears, Faelwen met Arwen's gaze. "Arwen, promise me that it is so."
"It is so," Arwen reassured her kindly. "But for Elbereth's sake Faelwen, come back to bed before you collapse. I will bring Haldir to see you. Come on now."
Faelwen allowed herself to be led back to bed, while Arwen sent for both Elrond and Haldir; knowing that her sister would not be calm until she had seen the Marchwarden with her own eyes.
Luckily Elrond preceded Haldir by five minutes, which meant he was able to reassure himself that his daughter was indeed in no danger now. However, the minute Haldir walked through the door, any chance of further examinations were gone, because the two younger elves were stuck together like limpets, squeezing the very air out of each other.
"I thought I had lost you! I thought I had lost you!" Faelwen said over and over again into Haldir's neck, while Haldir pressed kiss after kiss onto the crown of her head.
"Never," he whispered. "I will never leave your side again. Not now, not ever."
This led to another embrace so fierce that Elrond cried out in alarm. "Easy there! You have both been seriously weakened by this! I do not want you doing yourselves another injury so soon! Faelwen, you are still much in need of rest. You must be calm."
"How long has it been since Orophin brought you here?" Faelwen asked Haldir frantically. " Where is Orophin? Have your wounds healed? Are you still in pain?"
"Ai, do I speak for my own amusement?" cried Elrond wryly. "Faelwen, calm down! Suffice it to say for now that Haldir is alive and well, and that he is completely out of danger. You may discuss further details and hear the rest of the tale when you have recovered a little. For now, I want you to go back to sleep. Your body is weakened and I can see that your nerves are frayed. Please, child, rest now."
"I will stay with you," Haldir promised, stroking her hair. "I will be right by your side."
And though she protested and argued, trying desperately to remain awake, Faelwen had succumbed to sleep again within moments of her laying back against the pillows; her sleep all the more sound for the knowledge that her Marchwarden was not in Mandos's arms, but in hers.
That night, Elladan and Elrohir returned to Imladris, bearing grave tidings which battered away all of the relief Elrond had felt since Faelwen's waking, and returning him once more to anxiety.
The time had now come for the light to fight the darkness.
