ALRIGHT!!! The chapter you've all been waiting (and waiting and waiting) for! The family reunion! I'm nervous, I hope it lives up to all your guys' expectations. I actually rewrote part of it to make it longer, and Lindë said it was good so I'll take her word for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

            Faramir was not able to see Lord Elrond or the twins until the next evening. Work kept him busy, and he might not have even seen them that day, if Aragorn had not stopped him in the halls. "Faramir, will you come here for a moment? I wish for you to meet my family." Hiding a smile, Faramir followed him into the room. Elrond, Elladan, and Elrohir were already there. Faramir shot his father a quick smile before putting on the façade of 'impersonal Steward'. //This should be fun.// "Faramir, this is my foster father, Lord Elrond Halfelven, and his sons, Elladan and Elrohir. Father, this is my Steward, Faramir son of Denethor."

            Elrond hid a smile at the oblivious looks on all three of his sons' faces. None of them had recognized Tir yet. Faramir gave Elrond a small wink before bowing cordially. As he rose, he opened his mouth as if to say a polite word of greeting. Instead, Faramir let a grin spread across his face and embraced Elrond, who happily returned his son's hug. ^Ada!^ he cried out in Sindarin. ^How are you? I have missed you so much! How is everything in Imladris? How are Glorfindel and Eluial and all the others?^

            Aragorn's jaw dropped open. "Ada? What? Huh?" Elladan and Elrohir, on the other hand, realized instantly who Faramir was. The Steward nearly suffocated as the two elves intently began squeezing the air out of their brother. 

            "Tir! I can't believe it!" Elladan turned and punched Aragorn's shoulder. "Estel, why didn't you tell us that Tir was your Steward?"

            "Tir? Huh? What? Who?" By then Faramir was trying so hard not to laugh that his stomach hurt. Elrond also grinned, pleased to finally see Aragorn speechless.

            Finally, Faramir took pity on his bewildered brother. "I was wondering if you would ever realize who I was since I know that you thought I looked familiar. You would think a Ranger would figure it out easily, wouldn't you Ada?"

            "Yes, although I have to admit, you have changed these past few years. If I hadn't already known who you were, I myself would have a hard time identifying you without a hint."

            Aragorn managed to regain his voice. "Tir? Is it really you?" Faramir nodded. "That is what was so familiar about that move you used on General Lokir! I can't believe I didn't remember that!"

            "Well, it has been a few years."

            Elrond stood next to Faramir. "Indeed, it has been long. I have missed you, son."

            The Steward smiled. "I have missed you too Ada."

Elrond returned Tir's smile. The smile turned into a frown when the elf lord's sharp eyes saw the nasty gash on Faramir's wrist. "I see you have had a recent unpleasant encounter. And I do not believe you had this looked at, I think it might be infected."

            Faramir winced slightly at his father's examination. "It is nothing, just a little trouble with assassins."

            "Assassins!" exclaimed all three elves.

            "Don't worry, no one was hurt. Well, the assassin was, but I don't think you care about him."

Before his family's overprotectiveness could get too bad, Aragorn changed the subject. "Everything is fine now, there is nothing to worry about. Elladan, Elrohir, perhaps Faramir would like to hear news from Rivendell." The twins quickly obliged, telling Faramir everything down to the last minute detail. Elrond and Aragorn stood by and watched the three brothers amusedly.

            As the others were embroiled in the latest elven gossip, Aragorn spoke to his father. "I see now why you wouldn't tell me who his father was."

            "I couldn't have you marching into Minas Tirith and murdering the Ruling Steward. That would not have gone over well with the people of Gondor."

            "I never liked Denethor. He always rubbed me the wrong way, even when I was in his father's service. And now that I know that he... Now I hate him. I want him to die again, even more painfully."

            "I know how you feel, son. Even now I can tell that Tir still suffers. Mithrandir tells me that he refuses to speak about what happened, to anyone. It is not wise, Estel, to hold your emotions inside like he has."

            "I can understand that he doesn't want the whole city to know of it, but I see that you are right, father. I will see if he will talk to me."

            "As will I."

            Soon Elladan and Elrohir left to find Legolas and Aragorn wandered off in search of his wife. Faramir would have gone too, for he still had work to do, but Elrond would not let him. "You look exhausted Tir. How much rest did you get last night?"

            "I had seven hours of sleep, but I did not get much rest at all."

            Elrond frowned, concerned. "You have been having nightmares."

            Faramir laughed, but you didn't need to be far-sighted to know it was forced. "Of course. Anyone would have nightmares after dealing with a nervous groom and frantic servants all day." It was the closest to lying to his father that he had ever come.

            Elrond looked at him disapprovingly. "Tir... "

            "I do not wish to talk about it," stated Faramir firmly.

            "You need to." Faramir lifted his chin resolutely. Elrond sighed. "I have forgotten how stubborn you are, Tir." The Steward faked a wounded look, staring at his father with big gray puppy-dog eyes, the ones that had always gotten him what he wanted as a child. The elf lord laughed. "I have missed you so much, son. Rivendell is boring without you or Estel running around, getting in trouble.

            Faramir smiled. "I wish I could have visited, but my duties have kept me busy since my return to Minas Tirith. I have missed the House, the waterfalls, the twins, my friends."

            Elrond raised an eyebrow. "What about me?"

            "Especially you, Ada." The elf lord pulled his son into a hug. The tender moment was interrupted by a loud crash and a yell, followed by laughter.

            Elrond rolled his eyes. "Let us see. That was Elladan's who-did-that-I'm-going-to-hurt-them yell, the laughter of an elf and a dwarf, which means Legolas and Gimli, and I heard Elrohir's I-didn't-do-it-but-I-wish-I-had-thought-of-that laugh. I believe I should go mend any trouble they have caused. Hopefully it wasn't too expensive."

            "And how likely is that?"

            The elf lord sighed and rubbed his head. "I knew I should have made them stay at home."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hope you liked it!