A/N: Just a quick infomercial I'm sure you've all heard before-I don't own Tolkien or his stuff. You know what's his and what's mine.
Chapter 1

Strange dreams had tormented Elrond for weeks. As an elf he did not need an exorbitant amount of sleep, but he was not getting even the minimal amount. His children had noticed, as he had been perhaps shorter with them than was usual; even Estel had decided it was better to leave the Elf Lord to himself than to risk his shortened temper. The others had noticed, too, especially Glorfindel. When Gildor had arrived two weeks again, Elrond had not even come to greet him, but rather sent feeble welcome by way of Glorfindel. It was Glorfindel, now, that took care of the twins and Estel for the most part, tucking them in and making sure they washed before their dinners.

The usual rambunctious nature of the twins mellowed whenever their father was around, be it to watch them play or being, by happenstance, walking down one of the long hallways where the boys often wrestled or played tag. On this particular day, however, they either did not see him or did not care, but both barreled into his legs like six year old cannonballs, knocking the Eldar over like a sac of potatoes. Elrond, before he even managed to get to his feet, was shouting at the twins, who were staring at him in remorseful terror, with wide grey eyes and trembling lower lips. Glorfindel had heard the shouting, and ran to discover its cause; he was met in the doorway by quaking and sobbing Elladan and Elrohir that clung to his legs and buried their faces in them. Raising his eyes he saw the deep purple of Elrond's robe disappear around the corner.

Glorfindel scowled. This has gone on too long, he thought fiercely to himself. Smoothing his mouth into a soft smile, he knelt before the two twins and put his hand against their small backs. "What troubles you?" he asked quietly, though he very well knew the cause already.

"Father," Elladan sobbed as he buried his face in Glorfindel's shoulder.

"He was so angry at us!" Elrohir's right arm snaked between Glorfindel's arm and chest and his left absently reached over and felt for his twin. Elladan's hand grabbed Elrohir's and mimicked his brother's movement with his left to hold fast to Glorfindel. "We were..were only.p-playing." The younger twin's sobs made his speech nearly incoherent.

"Your father knows," Glorfindel said soothingly. "I am certain he did not mean to snap at you. He has not been sleeping well of late."

"He hates us!" Elladan wailed.

"Say no such things," Glorfindel said sternly, then softened his tone as the two boys looked up at him with huge, tear-filled eyes and tear-stained faces. "Your father loves you more than anything, you both know that."

"Really?" Elladan sniffled, wiping his runny nose on Glorfindel's sleeve.

Glorfindel blanched inwardly, but smiled. "Of course," he said, lifting the twins simultaneously as he stood. Balancing one boy on each hip, the Elf Lord made his way down the hall towards the boys' room. "It is far past time for you boys to be in bed, anyway. You get into bed and I will go speak to your father. How does that sound?"

Elrohir sniffled, and wiped his nose of Glorfindel's shoulder. Again, Glorfindel sighed inwardly, but listened to the tiny voice as he spoke. "Will he be mad if you go see him for us?"

"If he is, then he will just have to be angry," Glorfindel said, voicing his thoughts before he meant to. But to cover his slip, he smiled widely. "You know your father and I used to wrestle like you and Elladan do now."

"Do you still?" Elladan seemed in awe. "You're both big!"

Glorfindel laughed. "No, we do not anymore," he said. Our time of innocence is gone, he thought sadly to himself. Both Elf Lords had seen much in their time; war, famine, death. Glorfindel had died once, only to be sent back; Elrond had seen the elimination of Sauron but also the fall of one of the mightiest of NĂºmenor, Isildur, his own nephew of sorts. Both of the elves had seen more than they would ever tell to the small boys. Not until they were older. "Perhaps one day we might again," he ended. "But I would not let your father win like I used to do!"

The twins held onto Glorfindel's neck as he stepped into their rooms and lay them on the huge feather bed then covered them. "Will you fetch Estel to us?" Elrohir pleaded, holding tight to Glorfindel's hand as he tried to lean up.

"We want him to sleep over!" Elladan piped up, the same pleading tone in his voice.

"Very well," Glorfindel said. "I will get him, then I will go and talk to your father."

The lights in the eyes of the little boys made his heart nearly melt, and he left quickly before he did some embarrassing parental display in front of them-embarrassing because he was not their parents.

He thought of Celebrian, Elrond's wife, and Arwen his daughter. They would be able to calm him, to ease whatever suffering he held in his heart and mind. But they are not here, he thought. Both were in Lothlorien, having been gone but recently, having been summoned by Celebrian's mother, Galadriel. Ah, Galadriel, Glorfindel thought with a slight smile. She is a fireball. Celeborn is a brave man.

Estel was sitting on his bed, drawing. He looked up when Glorfindel entered, and clumsily tried to hide the paper and pens he was drawing with. The Elf Lord strode forward with a quirk in his eyebrows, his silvery hair flowing around his shoulders as he knelt beside the bed. "Estel," he said.

Estel's face colored. "Yes, Glorfindel?"

"What were you doing?"

"Nothing, sir."

"Then what did you just shove under your bed?"

Guiltily, Estel reached back under him and withdrew the paper and pens. "I wanted a picture of my horse."

"Where did you get that?"

"The library."

"And what about the paper in the library?"

"'It is not for drawing'," Estel said, hanging his head.

"Hm," Glorfindel said, picking up the piece of paper and examining it. The picture was rather good, and after a moment, he nodded. "It is a very good drawing," he said finally. "I won't tell if you won't."

Estel's eyes lit up and before Glorfindel knew what had happened, the little mortal boy was in his arms and squeezing him in a tight hug. Glorfindel returned it, easier, and pulled back. "Elladan and Elrohir, I believe, wish to have a sleepover. Your presence, my Lord, is requested." He changed his tone to one of coquettish propriety, and Estel giggled, covering his little mouth with his hand.

"Of course," Estel said, puffing out his chest and raising up his chin.

Glorfindel lifted the child onto his shoulders and trotted from the room. After he deposited the boy with the twins, he strode toward the study where he knew Elrond would be sitting before the fire, attempting to pass the night again without sleep. As he suspected, Elrond was there, leaning against the hearth with one hand and rubbing the back of his neck with the other.

"We have had enough," Glorfindel said flatly, his footfall silent as he entered the room.

Elrond started, and spun around. "I did not hear you enter."

"Because you are troubled and allow no one to help you," Glorfindel shot at him. "This evening you frightened your own children into believing you hate them. You have done nothing but shout at everyone and stay awake in a half-alive stupor-"

"You know nothing of what you speak," Elrond snapped, taking a step closer to the other elf. They were now mere inches apart, and each could see the anger and threatening aggression in the eyes of the other. "Do not try and chide me, Glorfindel. I appreciate everything you do here, especially with the twins and Estel, but leave me be when I desire to be alone."

There was a taut silence, and then Glorfindel shook his head. "What has happened to you, my friend?" he whispered. "When did you begin to distrust me with your emotions?"

Elrond's eyes descended from rage to a grey blanket of sadness. "I dream strange things," he said. "Whispers come to me in the night and tell me of things to be.but they are not things that shall affect the things to come, Glorfindel, it is just one instance in time." he shook his head. "Never have I foreseen the events of one individual's life, but rather it is always of a group, a culture.I do not understand."

"Yet is it so disturbing you cannot sleep?" Glorfindel honestly did not find the dreams too disconcerting, yet Elrond's intuitive sense of prophecy along with his staggering intellect seemed to think otherwise, and he was rarely wrong.

"I see a face," he said. "A haunted, lost, hopeless face. One so familiar yet I cannot place it, except as an emotion somewhere in the depths of my soul. She cries out to me, Glorfindel, she calls to me for help, for guidance, and yet her soul.I can feel it, I can hear and smell and taste the pain and the hurt, the utter." he shook his head again. "It is broken, Glorfindel. How does one mend a broken soul?"

"Is this what troubles you, Elrond?" Glorfindel put his hand on Elrond's arm comfortingly. "If you do not yet see the intention of Manwe yet, fear not; for in the right time these things you will see clearly and understanding will come to you like the sun after the storm."

Elrond shifted his eyes from the floor to his friends face. "You do speak words true," he said after a moment. "Tell me, my friend, why you have not come to me before and demanded an explaination for my obviously atrocious behavior."

Glorfindel shrugged. "I thought you would grow out of it."

Elrond looked at him indignantly. "I would have you know I have outgrown all childish pursuits," he said, lightly smacking Glorfindel's hand from his shoulder.

"Really?" Glorfindel playfully reached up and smacked the back of Elrond's head.

"Yes, really." Elrond caught Glorfindel in a loose headlock and rubbed his knuckles over Glorfindel's head.

This elicited a rather un-Lordly squeal from Glorfindel, who promptly shifted and kicked Elrond's feet from under him. Both landed on the stone floor, twisting and pinning one another down with almost boyish glee, until both were sweating and laughing and still trying to best one another. A high pitched ahem caught the Elf Lords' attention, and they looked up to see Elladan, Elrohir, and Estel staring at them, their bare feet tapping on the floor and their little arms crossed over their chests. They looked somewhat disapproving, but underneath their stern exterior the corners of their mouths were trembling as they fought the urge to smile. Finally it was Estel who finally burst out and all three boys piled at once onto Glorfindel, who was, unfortunately, still laying on top of Elrond. Elrond grunted under the increased weight, but said no word of complaint.

"Glorfindel said you didn't wrestle anymore," Elladan said matter of factly.

"So what exactly is the meaning of this?" Elrohir demanded, his face becoming stormy.

"You both are to go to your rooms," Estel put in, bouncing slightly on top of the pile.

"After we have some more dessert left over from dinner." Elladan seemed pleased with his sudden idea, one which lit the faces all three children.

"Then dessert it is," Elrond said tightly, trying to avoid having his ribs crushed by the six year olds. Loud cheers rang out as they quickly abandoned their siege of the Elf Lords and stood in a semi-circle and hopped impatiently.

Elrohir's small voice rang out in a challenge. "First one there gets first seconds!" Instantly the three boys were scrambling to get out of the study and down the hall towards the kitchen. Glorfindel and Elrond looked at each other then got to their feet. Unspoken words passed between them and both turned and sprinted out of the study. Their longer legs almost immediately chewed up the distance between them and the boys, and as they ran, Elrond scooped up the twins, one in each arm, and Glorfindel caught Estel in mid-stride, sweeping him from the floor onto his back without slowing his pace. Elrond beat Glorfindel by a hair's breadth, and Elladan and Elrohir cheered that they would be the ones that received seconds first.

Glorfindel glanced over at Elrond and the wide smile on his face as he balanced Elladan and Estel on one knee and Elrohir on the other. Elrond met his gaze and nodded, and Glorfindel smiled in return. It was good to see Elrond back to normal, he thought as he retrieved the tray from the kitchen that still held the pastries from dinner. He brought them out with much ceremony, and the five of them finished the desserts with little effort. Elrond and Glorfindel carried them back to the twin's room and laid all three down on the bed, covering them with a thin woven coverlet.

For a long time Elrond stood in the doorway alone and watched them sleep, then turned and started down the hall. As he came to the study he saw Glorfindel sitting before the fire, lost in thought; and he passed him by and entered his own room, sighing as he removed his clothes and slid into his soft silken nightshirt, then into bed. Dreams flitted around his sub- conscious mind and he sighed, but felt not the dread he had felt before.