Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places, ideas or anything else from Lord of the Rings. I do however lay claim on Elrond's twin daughters as Tolkien never wrote about any twin elven girls anywhere in his books. Everything else though, as much as I wish it, is not mine and belongs to the Estate of J.R.R. Tolkien (a wonderful, wonderful man). Except for a 2-year-old toddler by the name of Estel (forever called tithen min by his siblings) who needs looking after.

~~~~OOOOO~~~~

"Legolas!" The Prince of Mirkwood nearly lost his balance as his betrothed all but plowed into him in her excitement.

Arómenë hid a smile behind a polite hand. She could not blame her sister for such a display of affection in the middle of the courtyard. She knew how hard Dúnë had taken Thranduil's decision all those years before when the Greenwood had first been threatened. Her sister had understood the King's reasons for wanting to keep Legolas at home, but that had not eased the pain she felt at their enforced parting. Three hundred years was too long even among the elves, and Rómë was gladdened her sister did not have to wait any longer.

Legolas was holding the she-elf tightly in his arms and planting soft kissed on her lips. Arómenë sighed in sadness at what she did not have.

A soft hand fell upon her shoulder and she turned to see her father beside her. "Never fear, Rómë, your time will come. And it will be all the greater for the wait."

"As you say Adar. You have more experiences in these matters than I. I only wish…." She sighed heavily.

"Iston, iell nin. Iston." He drew her back towards him and hugged her tightly while Legolas and Dúnë finished their greetings.

"Greetings, Prince Legolas. We are gladdened by your presence here; Imladris has been positively dull without you," Elrond's eyes told his humor as he welcomed his future son-in-law.

"I thank you Lord Elrond, for being so kind. However I know this family far too well for that to be the truth. You would be gladdened had I been permanently confined to the Wood."

Elladan coughed in a vain attempt to cover a moment of laughter. "Ah, that is the friend I have missed; even if my father has not. We welcome you, Legolas. And the valley has been rather dreary without your affinity for trouble. Why, Elladan and I haven't been in the Healing Halls for neigh on a century!"

The courtyard resounded with laughter, and one long suffering sigh from Elrond. Rómë caught his eyes for only a moment, but it was long enough for her to see a spark of something there; and sparks usually bred disaster for certain half-elves and their prince friends. The last three centuries might have been less interesting than was normal, but things were definitely looking up.

"Come," Elrond was beckoning them inside. "We shall feast tonight, and tell tales of old in the Hall to hail the renewal of the friendship of Greenwood and Imladris!"

Rómë smiled as she watched her people disperse into the house and surrounding land. This was the way it should be; this peaceful celebration of life.

Even gifted with foresight as she was, the she-elf could not see the danger that was about to change everything she had ever known.

~~~~OOOOO~~~~

The room was silent, even full though it was. A messenger had ridden into the valley only an hour beforehand; a Dúnedain messenger.

The news had spread like wildfire throughout the house; and by the time Elrond had called his advisors and family to his study, everyone was certain Sauron himself must have been leading an army towards them.

"I fear I have sad tidings for all of you. Long we have known that evil was brewing once more in the free lands, but now it has taken shape."

The silence was so deafening Dúnë believed even a mortal might have heard a pin drop in the center of the room. She feared the look on her father's face, for it was one she had never seen before. He was afraid, she realized.

"You are all aware that of the Nine Nazgûl, there was one greater than the others. A being made of pure darkness, second only to Sauron himself during the Alliance. The Nine were bound to Sauron as Sauron was and is to the Ring. And so they survived as well, although there has been no rumor of them these long years. But that has ended." He paused to take a steadying breath, well aware that every elf in the room was hanging on his every word.

"King Arveleg is slain and Fornost and Tyrn Gorthad are under attack. The great watchtower along the West Road to the Havens is destroyed. The Witch-King of Angmar has invaded the kingdom of Arnor. It has begun."

Three chilling words that sent shivers down Andúnë's spine. Beside her she felt more than heard her sister's sharp intake of breath. Most everyone else was reacting in a similar way. And although the girls were not seasoned warriors like Glorfindel, and had not lived during the great fear of the Last Alliance; they did know the tales of old and understood as much as any could what such a thing meant.

"My children," their father's voice brought them back to the present. "Please, would you leave us? I wished you to hear such things from my own mouth and not as rumors from the kitchens, but we have much to discuss, and I would not have you present." It was not debatable, and they all knew it.

Dúnë and her sisters left easily enough, but Elladan and Elrohir were over a thousand years old and not nearly so easily accepting of their father's orders anymore.

Elrond's daughters waited in the hall for them; a short wait.

"Didn't convince him otherwise, toro? I was certain he would allow you to stay; after all, you are so very old now."

But the jibe went unnoticed by either brother, besides a half-hearted glare sent in Dúnë's direction. They disappeared down the hall in quiet whispers.

"That was strange. I have never seen them so subdued before. And the look in Ada's eyes…did you see it?"

Arwen nodded silently. "Yes," Rómë said. "I saw. If Ada is afraid and the twins worried, this is graver even than I thought. The Witch-king is powerful; the most powerful enemy at present. The Dúnedain cannot fight such as him without help. But so long as Sauron still exists, even fighting him shall do no good. He cannot be destroyed. Adar is not afraid of the Nazgûl, or of their leader invading the north: he fears this is only the beginning of something far greater. He fears another war."

Elrond's youngest had been staring far off across the valley as she spoke, but suddenly she seemed to come back to herself, as if from a great distance and regarded her sisters warily. "Ai, tis some time since I have had a seeing, even so small as that. That in itself is not well. But I say what is true, nonetheless. As Ada did: 'This is only the beginning.'"