Author's Note: Yes, yes, I know I will get people telling me that I'm writing crap and should have stopped a long time ago. But this is the story- so deal with it, people! Oh, and we finally find out what Bronwe's destiny is.

"Ada, wake up."

Elrond woke from one of the most broken sleeps he had had for a long time to see a pair of solemn blue eyes peering at him. A quick blink and then he sat up, stretching slightly to throw off the last of the clinging unconsciousness in order to concentrate on the little elfling currently sitting beside him. He could only give thanks that Legolas had not succeeded in his earlier task; else this would have been an extremely tricky situation.

"Bronwe, what is wrong?" he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders and holding her close, "Did you have a bad dream?"

"No," she answered carefully, "But I will."

"Pardon?" It was far too dark, the Elf Lord decided, and he couldn't really tell why the tone of her soft voice was sending chills down his back.

"I woke up," she informed him, barely whispering in the still room.

Elrond stroked the soft, dark hair and thought about that. Something was worrying about this; it nagged at his mind with a vague warning. "Was there a reason or did it just seem a good idea at the time?" he finally questioned dryly.

This time there was silence.

He looked down to see Bronwe curled against him, dark hair tumbled and tossed from her nightly traipse through the house to find him.

Elrond smiled and shook his head, carefully pushing the dark hair back behind a pointed little ear. "So soon asleep, iel nin?" he murmured, "Then sleep, pen-neth, sleep."

Bronwe gave no sign of having heard her father's voice. Her eyes were open but Elrond could not see them. Holding his little girl close, the Lord of Imladris stared out the nearest window to watch the stars traverse the night sky as all around him slept in peace and honest exhaustion.

But there was something wrong. Vilya was sending a deep throb up his arm, power and warning pulsing over his nerve endings with alarming frequency. Startled, he opened his mind to the valley, sweeping through hidden corners and glades; but nothing felt out of place. He took inner stock and felt his heart beat with a slightly accelerated but normal pace. It was not his health at risk, but then...

A thought occurred, so small that it froze him in place and chilled him to the bone. He gasped as realization finally spurred him to action.

"Bronwe! Browne, look to me."

The terrified half-elf hauled his little daughter into his lap, shaking her slightly to rouse her. But her face remained reposed and expressionless, cold to the touch. And then he saw them- a sight that took his throat in a tight fist and squeezed until he fought for breath- the bright blue eyes that he loved so much were now bright silver, glowing in the darkness with an other worldly glow.

"Ada?" The word was so small; the breath drawing it out to a tiny mewl.

He shook her again, desperate to break her out of her trance, but she fought! Bronwe tore her arms from his grasp and shook her dark head; something seemed to bother her for her eyes began to glance around and she wrinkled her little nose in confusion.

"Bronwe?"

There was no answer.

Praying to the Valar with every fibre of his being, Elrond pulled his daughter gently to his chest and tilted her head to lay a perfect ear over his heart. And he rocked them both soothingly and waited.

It was long moments in time before he felt movement. Not daring to hope without confirmation, Elrond held on. He knew now what that trance was. The space of a few minutes' thought told him he had only passed on to Bronwe what he himself had- an ability to envision things. Elros had once told him that his eyes glowed slightly silver when he had a waking vision.

"Ada?"

"Bronwe? Pen- dithen, what happened?" He let her sit up and crooked his knees so that she could lean back against them to look up at him. He almost let out an audible sigh of relief as blue eyes blinked up at him.

"I saw you," Bronwe said simply, "And Ada. Both of you I saw."

Legolas and himself? Elrond was momentarily distracted from his daughter's possible needs by that thought. Or at least, he was until the next statement was made-

"Why do big elves kiss with their tongues?"

The Elf Lord sat bolt upright and stared. Bronwe simply looked curious. "Why do you kiss with your tongue, Ada?"

"I... do not know what you mean," he settled on.

"You were kissing Ada and then you told him to open his mouth," she reminisced, "Then you put your tongue in his mouth. It looked fun."

"I forbid you to try," Elrond said instantly. He knew the way his daughter's mind worked! "What else did you see?"

"Ada and you were in bed," she sighed, wrinkling her nose in thought, "This bed. Yes. And he said something that scared you. Why were you scared, Ada?"

"I am not sure yet, pen-neth. But tell me more."

"I want to sleep," she whined, knuckling her eyes piteously and yawning.

He stroked her cheek reassuringly, keeping his grimness to himself. Oh yes, he knew how tiring such a thing could be; he was only thankful that his own visions were rare and happened now mostly while he slept. "A little more," he promised, "Then you shall sleep. Come, iel nin; be brave for me."

Like the true daughter of an elven warrior, she nodded determinedly and blinked the sleep from her eyes. "You kissed Ada," she began again, "Many times. You liked that; I felt it. But when Ada asked for something, you became scared. But you said yes. Then you both took off your clothes."

Elrond gulped. This did not sound good. "How well could you see, Bronwe?"

"Not very well," she admitted innocently, "It was night and there was a storm. I do not like storms." She raised an eyebrow as her father visibly relaxed. "Then Ada lay on top of you and started kissing you again. He kissed you there..."

Elrond stared down to see the little finger point to the pulse hammering at the base of his throat.

"And there..."

Eyes followed the finger to the spot just above his left nipple.

"And there..."

Then the right one.

"And then there..."

The middle of his chest.

"And then he kissed all the way down to..."

"I understand," Elrond interrupted, catching her wrist before the finger went to places that were entirely inappropriate for even the most innocent of touches.

"Why did Ada hurt you?" Bronwe asked, breaking the silence with the saddest, most vulnerable voice he had ever heard from her. "After you finished your game, Ada fell asleep. He was smiling, but you cried. Why did you cry? Did he hurt you?"

Cry? In the future? Elrond had a nasty suspicion that he knew what the tired, drained, upset little elfling had seen. And it was certainly not the future.

"Im-mel-lle," she whispered, eyes beginning to flutter in sleep like Aragorn's used to, "You said that. Ada never heard you."

"Pen-neth, I am so sorry," Elrond sighed, "So very sorry that you have this burden. I wish I could help you but there is nothing... your burden..."

She was struggling to stay wakeful now, frightened by his words and the sorrow in his eyes. "Ada, I do not understand," she whimpered, "Are you angry? Is it something bad?"

"No," her Ada soothed, quick to catch his unguarded tongue before it caused her any more pain, "I am not angry. Everything will be fine, iel nin. Sleep, now. All is well."

"Promise?"

"I swear it."

Bronwe. Faith. There was so much faith in her! And the half-elf had a strong suspicion that he had been mistaken about her role in all of this. Her time was not come yet. In a way, he could breathe thankfully, safe in the knowledge that she had no need to be placed in danger at such a young age. There would be time enough for her to grow and if all went well, the threat of Sauron would be eliminated before that day came.

He stared out of the window once more, noticing the red haze of coming dawn into the inky darkness of night. Moving softly so as not to wake anyone else, he picked Bronwe up and carried her back to her rooms, pausing only to dress respectably before that.

He gave a grim smile at the sight that met him in the next corridor. "Follow me," he whispered softly, a finger at his lips, "She is asleep and I will explain later."

Legolas nodded, the scare of finding his daughter missing from her room momentarily assuaged by the sight of her safe and sound. But why did Elrond look so resigned and angry? Not to mention a little awkward! He followed on silent feet and waited at the door as his former lover put their child to bed and covered her securely.

Leaving, he dared not say a word until he found himself ushered into the study and the door shut. A curiously wild look of humour lit the grey eyes, a look he had not ever seen before.

"Tell me, Prince of Mirkwood," Elrond asked casually, "How do you explain to an elfling the mechanics of sex?"