AN: Hi all! I hope everyone's doing alright and are having a good start of summer. I had my big dance performance thing yesterday and I'm happy to say everything went well. No one in my classes fell and only one person, a teacher no less, messed up big time during one of the dances. Anyway, glad to see reviews as usual. It's always a surprise when I get them and I appreciate everything in them! All of you are the best!
sunni07: Sorry about the sci-fi in the story. My Physics and Biochemistry class called me "skiffy" for the end of the semester because I'm a sci-fi person. I'm glad you liked the chapter and the way the sci-fi fit into it.
LadyJadePerendhil: I actually have an entire story written about Hope/Starsheen. I just have to get it typed up. In that story you get her full family history, including who her parents are. I'm glad you liked the character, though. I was unsure about how that particular character was going to go off. You'll see who had shown up and just why Niphredil was kept away. You were right though. Emma was sent up there to keep her company.
PixiePea000: Got to love Girl Scouts, right? Especially certain people who shall remain nameless for now! I'm glad you liked the use of everyone's favorite mutants. Thank your operator for getting me an exit. Mine was detained with a certain dress wearing rebel. By the way, Gollum and watch out for Agent Elrond Smith (the dynamic duo are trying to find him but are having no luck).
LalaithoftheBruinen: Elrond's cool for a variety of reasons. My sister, for whatever reason she has because she's not a Lord of the Rings fan, walks around sometimes repeating anything and everything Elrond says with the occasional "Mr. Anderson" thrown in for good measure. The identity of the visitors will be revealed very soon!
Ada--- elven word for "father"
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
"Ada, I am very pleased to see you," Arwen said, embracing the tall, stern figure that appeared in the entrance way to the garden.
The tall, stern figure returned the embrace but regarded the female with careful eyes. Her invitation to come to Gondor was highly unexpected to say the least, catching the elven lord off guard. Despite his reservations, he had come into the city with his twin sons.
From the start, she appeared to be in good health and her spirits seemed to be high. Almost as high as they were on the day she had married Aragorn.
"As am I, my daughter," Elrond stated, breaking the embrace and running a healer's eyes over his daughter.
Her heath seemed to be just as well as her spirits. The reasoning behind the unexpected summons to the city bothered the elven lord but he was not going to mention anything to his daughter about it. Perhaps the summons had something to do with her high spirits...
"Come, sit," Arwen offered, pointing to a set of chairs halfway hidden between wild looking trees, "the citadel has many ears at this time of day."
Away the pair walked, leaving the entrance of the garden behind them. Her comment about the building having ears was true- his home of Rivendell was the same way- but why this concerned her at the present moment was yet another mystery Elrond was left to ponder.
His eyes roved over the building, taking in the white marble and the windows. Looking out over the garden were the windows of the royal family's private quarters. The royal family Elrond knew consisted of just his daughter, Arwen, and her husband the high king, Aragorn.
"What is this about, Arwen?" he asked, as soon as he sat down.
"Do you recall the time you informed me of my future, should I stay and marry Aragorn?" Arwen pressed, answering her father's question with a question of her own.
Elrond recalled the time quite clearly, as all elves did when it came to their memories. Everything from what the weather was like to how they were dressed came back to him clear as day. Why she was bringing this up now was strange unless...
"I do recall that day, Arwen. I saw only death and, as you well recall, your son," Elrond began, preparing to ask what he deemed the correct question.
He was cut off, though, by Arwen who broached, "Was there nothing else you saw in that vision?"
The elven lord relaxed, mind drifting further and further back. It came upon the vision again, everything much the same as it was the last time. He was about to inform Arwen of that fact when a small something caught his attention. In his haste to deal with his daughter, this small something had been overlooked. Now, though, he had time to give it his full attention.
"There is another child. An older child," he said almost to himself.
As if he heard his own words, he stated, "What is this about an older child?"
For a moment, Arwen hesitated. She had suddenly become very unwilling to even look her father in the eye. The second child, the one her father had just discovered, was the reason behind his visit and the reason why Niphredil had spent a good part of her afternoon squirreled away with Emma for company.
"I have a daughter, Ada, an older one who has recently come back into my life. Her arrival is the reason behind your being called here," Arwen, slowly, admitted.
She knew that, no matter how tough this was going to be, she was going to have to admit the truth to her father. He was one of the reasons behind her hiding her daughter in the first place. For closure's sake, he was going to have to be told about her and she about him.
It was Elrond's turn to hesitate. This was not what he was expecting to hear...not in the least. What could he say or do when faced with something like this? His emotions ranged across the board from outright anger to a feeling of shame.
"Who is her sire?" he questioned, fighting to keep most of his more negative emotions out of his voice.
"Aragorn, of course!" Arwen exclaimed, sounding extremely hurt by her father's question.
For a handful of long moments, an uncomfortable silence grew between the pair. Each was wrestling with feelings long held in check that were mingling with new feelings. Out of all the people Arwen had to face, she knew her father was going to be the toughest of the lot. Even harder than admitting her actions to Aragorn for she could not predict her father's actions.
"Why did you not tell me about this child of yours sooner?" Elrond questioned, breaking the silence between the pair.
"I was afraid, Ada. Afraid of what you would do to her and to Aragorn," she admitted.
Elrond looked to his daughter with an incredulous expression. Her fears were not unfounded nor were they unexpected. If he was in her place, and was female like her, he might have the same fears and concerned.
"I would have done nothing to the child, Arwen. She did not ask to be brought into this situation. She had no choice in the matter," Elrond informed his daughter in a matter of fact voice, "I would have done what I could to help you with her."
"That I am glad to hear," Arwen retorted, sounding relieved, "but what would you have done to Aragorn or to me?"
"Forbidding you to ever see Aragorn or marrying him would be enough punishment for both of you," Elrond answered.
"Then you understand why I hid her from you," Arwen, simply, stated.
Another long silence fell between the pair. This conversation was trying both of them in many ways. What to say and how to react to each question and response was something both of them had to consider before speaking.
"You do know I am not angered with you on a whole," Elrond informed Arwen, his voice lacking its usual tone.
She looked at him, carefully, suspiciously, as if she was expecting him to announce that statement as nothing but a joke. She could not believe her ears.
"I am angry with you. Angry that you hid something this important from me for so long and that you could not ask for air when you, most obviously, needed it. Do not thing, for a moment that I am only angry with you. I am hurt and I am disappointed as well. You knew, as well as Aragorn, what you were and were not supposed to do," he continued.
Elrond's words did nothing to comfort Arwen. True, they were expected but she had figured they were not going to be so harsh. She was starting to rethink her asking him to come here to meet her daughter. Tears sprung to her eyes and she began to blink them back.
"But what is done is done and there is no going back to change it. I understand what you did and why you did it and I am just going to have to learn to live with it for I can not be angry with you forever," he ended.
The change in tone confused Arwen for a few moments. He had just gone from angry to almost placid in a short span of time. Part of her, though, was glad for the change. She had been afraid he was going to hold a long standing grudge with her based on her actions.
"Now, tell me of my granddaughter," Elrond broached, glancing at Arwen and giving her a genuine smile.
Arwen explained everything she had learned about Niphredil over the short time they had been together both in the past and in the present time. Elrond laughed as he noted the almost proud tone his daughter had adopted when speaking about her own child. Like any good mother, she was proud of her own daughter though he assumed she was unaware of the change in her tone.
"There is something very perplexing about Niphredil. Something that I believe only you can aid her in understanding," Arwen stated as she brought her story to a close.
"I will do what I can," Elrond informed Arwen.
"Niphredil was born half-elven. The choice between a mortal and an immortal life lies before her. As one of the lore masters of Middle Earth, and her grandfather, I was hoping you could explain that choice to her," Arwen requested of her father.
The word "grandfather" rang in Elrond's ears for a moment. It was a strange word, one he had not ever expected to hear from his daughter's children. He had planned on leaving Middle Earth, sailing west, at the end of the war but something compelled him to stay. What it was he could not say but, at the present moment, he was glad he did.
Two voices were heard coming down the garden path. One was familiar to the elven lord while the other was quite new to him.
"Come here," Arwen requested, gesturing for Elrond to follow her through the garden.
Curiously, he followed Arwen mind working on overdrive to figure out just where they were going. Their destination, oddly enough, was a small grove of wild looking trees. Between the tangles in the branches, there was a space wide enough to watch the path.
For a few moments, there was nothing on the path save for a few birds. Then, as the voices grew louder, Elrond spied two figures talking to one another. It seemed the smaller of the two had said something amusing, making the larger one laugh loudly.
The large figure was easily recognizable to Elrond. Dressed in his kingly best, Aragorn made his way down the garden path.
The smaller figure at his side was one the elven lord did not recognize. Her back was to Elrond, allowing him a view of ink colored hair hanging down the cloud gray clad back of the small figure. She wore boots on her feet though the boots were making no sound on the cobbled pathway and dark breeches on her legs.
"That small figure walking with Aragorn is my Niphredil," Arwen whispered to her father.
The young half-elven maiden turned her head quickly, almost catching site of the pair hiding along the path. Elrond caught a fleeting glance of two dark eyes and something sparking at the neck of the tunic. She shrugged and continued to walk with her father.
The elder father and daughter pair returned to their seats as soon as the other pair was out of ear and eye shot.
"Your daughter does display many of the markings of the elven race, Arwen," Elrond affirmed, "It would be my pleasure to explain what her half-elven nature entails to her."
In a more serious tone, he added, "How is Aragorn taking to her and she to him?"
"They are getting along very well, in actuality. I do believe he wishes nothing more than her to call him 'Ada," though she does not know that word. 'Father' would suffice just as well for him," Arwen told her father, "Earlier today; she called me 'nana,' something she had not done since we parted all those years ago."
Elrond nodded, understanding. He recalled hearing all of his children calling him "Ada" for the first time. True it had sent a thrill though him but it also reminded him of the responsibility that word carried. It had not hit home until he had heard the word from their own mouths.
"I am sure she will come around. If that display is any indication of the future," he stated.
Arwen laughed, lightly.
"I do hope you are right, Ada. I really do," she commented.
"I have foreseen it," Elrond retorted, with a smile.
(AN: Just an odd note about this chapter, I was typing it while watching the movie The Matrix. The guy who plays Elrond is in that movie, playing Agent Smith. Figured I'd point that out. I hope I did alright with Elrond. He's one tough character to write.)
sunni07: Sorry about the sci-fi in the story. My Physics and Biochemistry class called me "skiffy" for the end of the semester because I'm a sci-fi person. I'm glad you liked the chapter and the way the sci-fi fit into it.
LadyJadePerendhil: I actually have an entire story written about Hope/Starsheen. I just have to get it typed up. In that story you get her full family history, including who her parents are. I'm glad you liked the character, though. I was unsure about how that particular character was going to go off. You'll see who had shown up and just why Niphredil was kept away. You were right though. Emma was sent up there to keep her company.
PixiePea000: Got to love Girl Scouts, right? Especially certain people who shall remain nameless for now! I'm glad you liked the use of everyone's favorite mutants. Thank your operator for getting me an exit. Mine was detained with a certain dress wearing rebel. By the way, Gollum and watch out for Agent Elrond Smith (the dynamic duo are trying to find him but are having no luck).
LalaithoftheBruinen: Elrond's cool for a variety of reasons. My sister, for whatever reason she has because she's not a Lord of the Rings fan, walks around sometimes repeating anything and everything Elrond says with the occasional "Mr. Anderson" thrown in for good measure. The identity of the visitors will be revealed very soon!
Ada--- elven word for "father"
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
"Ada, I am very pleased to see you," Arwen said, embracing the tall, stern figure that appeared in the entrance way to the garden.
The tall, stern figure returned the embrace but regarded the female with careful eyes. Her invitation to come to Gondor was highly unexpected to say the least, catching the elven lord off guard. Despite his reservations, he had come into the city with his twin sons.
From the start, she appeared to be in good health and her spirits seemed to be high. Almost as high as they were on the day she had married Aragorn.
"As am I, my daughter," Elrond stated, breaking the embrace and running a healer's eyes over his daughter.
Her heath seemed to be just as well as her spirits. The reasoning behind the unexpected summons to the city bothered the elven lord but he was not going to mention anything to his daughter about it. Perhaps the summons had something to do with her high spirits...
"Come, sit," Arwen offered, pointing to a set of chairs halfway hidden between wild looking trees, "the citadel has many ears at this time of day."
Away the pair walked, leaving the entrance of the garden behind them. Her comment about the building having ears was true- his home of Rivendell was the same way- but why this concerned her at the present moment was yet another mystery Elrond was left to ponder.
His eyes roved over the building, taking in the white marble and the windows. Looking out over the garden were the windows of the royal family's private quarters. The royal family Elrond knew consisted of just his daughter, Arwen, and her husband the high king, Aragorn.
"What is this about, Arwen?" he asked, as soon as he sat down.
"Do you recall the time you informed me of my future, should I stay and marry Aragorn?" Arwen pressed, answering her father's question with a question of her own.
Elrond recalled the time quite clearly, as all elves did when it came to their memories. Everything from what the weather was like to how they were dressed came back to him clear as day. Why she was bringing this up now was strange unless...
"I do recall that day, Arwen. I saw only death and, as you well recall, your son," Elrond began, preparing to ask what he deemed the correct question.
He was cut off, though, by Arwen who broached, "Was there nothing else you saw in that vision?"
The elven lord relaxed, mind drifting further and further back. It came upon the vision again, everything much the same as it was the last time. He was about to inform Arwen of that fact when a small something caught his attention. In his haste to deal with his daughter, this small something had been overlooked. Now, though, he had time to give it his full attention.
"There is another child. An older child," he said almost to himself.
As if he heard his own words, he stated, "What is this about an older child?"
For a moment, Arwen hesitated. She had suddenly become very unwilling to even look her father in the eye. The second child, the one her father had just discovered, was the reason behind his visit and the reason why Niphredil had spent a good part of her afternoon squirreled away with Emma for company.
"I have a daughter, Ada, an older one who has recently come back into my life. Her arrival is the reason behind your being called here," Arwen, slowly, admitted.
She knew that, no matter how tough this was going to be, she was going to have to admit the truth to her father. He was one of the reasons behind her hiding her daughter in the first place. For closure's sake, he was going to have to be told about her and she about him.
It was Elrond's turn to hesitate. This was not what he was expecting to hear...not in the least. What could he say or do when faced with something like this? His emotions ranged across the board from outright anger to a feeling of shame.
"Who is her sire?" he questioned, fighting to keep most of his more negative emotions out of his voice.
"Aragorn, of course!" Arwen exclaimed, sounding extremely hurt by her father's question.
For a handful of long moments, an uncomfortable silence grew between the pair. Each was wrestling with feelings long held in check that were mingling with new feelings. Out of all the people Arwen had to face, she knew her father was going to be the toughest of the lot. Even harder than admitting her actions to Aragorn for she could not predict her father's actions.
"Why did you not tell me about this child of yours sooner?" Elrond questioned, breaking the silence between the pair.
"I was afraid, Ada. Afraid of what you would do to her and to Aragorn," she admitted.
Elrond looked to his daughter with an incredulous expression. Her fears were not unfounded nor were they unexpected. If he was in her place, and was female like her, he might have the same fears and concerned.
"I would have done nothing to the child, Arwen. She did not ask to be brought into this situation. She had no choice in the matter," Elrond informed his daughter in a matter of fact voice, "I would have done what I could to help you with her."
"That I am glad to hear," Arwen retorted, sounding relieved, "but what would you have done to Aragorn or to me?"
"Forbidding you to ever see Aragorn or marrying him would be enough punishment for both of you," Elrond answered.
"Then you understand why I hid her from you," Arwen, simply, stated.
Another long silence fell between the pair. This conversation was trying both of them in many ways. What to say and how to react to each question and response was something both of them had to consider before speaking.
"You do know I am not angered with you on a whole," Elrond informed Arwen, his voice lacking its usual tone.
She looked at him, carefully, suspiciously, as if she was expecting him to announce that statement as nothing but a joke. She could not believe her ears.
"I am angry with you. Angry that you hid something this important from me for so long and that you could not ask for air when you, most obviously, needed it. Do not thing, for a moment that I am only angry with you. I am hurt and I am disappointed as well. You knew, as well as Aragorn, what you were and were not supposed to do," he continued.
Elrond's words did nothing to comfort Arwen. True, they were expected but she had figured they were not going to be so harsh. She was starting to rethink her asking him to come here to meet her daughter. Tears sprung to her eyes and she began to blink them back.
"But what is done is done and there is no going back to change it. I understand what you did and why you did it and I am just going to have to learn to live with it for I can not be angry with you forever," he ended.
The change in tone confused Arwen for a few moments. He had just gone from angry to almost placid in a short span of time. Part of her, though, was glad for the change. She had been afraid he was going to hold a long standing grudge with her based on her actions.
"Now, tell me of my granddaughter," Elrond broached, glancing at Arwen and giving her a genuine smile.
Arwen explained everything she had learned about Niphredil over the short time they had been together both in the past and in the present time. Elrond laughed as he noted the almost proud tone his daughter had adopted when speaking about her own child. Like any good mother, she was proud of her own daughter though he assumed she was unaware of the change in her tone.
"There is something very perplexing about Niphredil. Something that I believe only you can aid her in understanding," Arwen stated as she brought her story to a close.
"I will do what I can," Elrond informed Arwen.
"Niphredil was born half-elven. The choice between a mortal and an immortal life lies before her. As one of the lore masters of Middle Earth, and her grandfather, I was hoping you could explain that choice to her," Arwen requested of her father.
The word "grandfather" rang in Elrond's ears for a moment. It was a strange word, one he had not ever expected to hear from his daughter's children. He had planned on leaving Middle Earth, sailing west, at the end of the war but something compelled him to stay. What it was he could not say but, at the present moment, he was glad he did.
Two voices were heard coming down the garden path. One was familiar to the elven lord while the other was quite new to him.
"Come here," Arwen requested, gesturing for Elrond to follow her through the garden.
Curiously, he followed Arwen mind working on overdrive to figure out just where they were going. Their destination, oddly enough, was a small grove of wild looking trees. Between the tangles in the branches, there was a space wide enough to watch the path.
For a few moments, there was nothing on the path save for a few birds. Then, as the voices grew louder, Elrond spied two figures talking to one another. It seemed the smaller of the two had said something amusing, making the larger one laugh loudly.
The large figure was easily recognizable to Elrond. Dressed in his kingly best, Aragorn made his way down the garden path.
The smaller figure at his side was one the elven lord did not recognize. Her back was to Elrond, allowing him a view of ink colored hair hanging down the cloud gray clad back of the small figure. She wore boots on her feet though the boots were making no sound on the cobbled pathway and dark breeches on her legs.
"That small figure walking with Aragorn is my Niphredil," Arwen whispered to her father.
The young half-elven maiden turned her head quickly, almost catching site of the pair hiding along the path. Elrond caught a fleeting glance of two dark eyes and something sparking at the neck of the tunic. She shrugged and continued to walk with her father.
The elder father and daughter pair returned to their seats as soon as the other pair was out of ear and eye shot.
"Your daughter does display many of the markings of the elven race, Arwen," Elrond affirmed, "It would be my pleasure to explain what her half-elven nature entails to her."
In a more serious tone, he added, "How is Aragorn taking to her and she to him?"
"They are getting along very well, in actuality. I do believe he wishes nothing more than her to call him 'Ada," though she does not know that word. 'Father' would suffice just as well for him," Arwen told her father, "Earlier today; she called me 'nana,' something she had not done since we parted all those years ago."
Elrond nodded, understanding. He recalled hearing all of his children calling him "Ada" for the first time. True it had sent a thrill though him but it also reminded him of the responsibility that word carried. It had not hit home until he had heard the word from their own mouths.
"I am sure she will come around. If that display is any indication of the future," he stated.
Arwen laughed, lightly.
"I do hope you are right, Ada. I really do," she commented.
"I have foreseen it," Elrond retorted, with a smile.
(AN: Just an odd note about this chapter, I was typing it while watching the movie The Matrix. The guy who plays Elrond is in that movie, playing Agent Smith. Figured I'd point that out. I hope I did alright with Elrond. He's one tough character to write.)