A note to all: Not forgetting to study… While taking breaks, writing some of this stuff helps to ease my mind. I know it seems contradictory, because one's mind is usually mush when they finally need to take a break from studying, but I am an odd person. Writing helps me to relax and focus again.

Thank you reviewers! Now onto writing the epilogue.

Chapter 25- Gondor: Memories

Silaerín sat at the high table for the unplanned feast Aragorn and Arwen had called for the arrival of the her family, and more specifically herself. Except now it was turned into a marriage feast as well, and a rather joyous one at that. And for some reason, she still found herself parted from Elladan. Arwen had taken her about, introducing her to many people, including the Halflings whom Silaerín found particularly wonderful, despite the things they had to endure for the past year. Then they went on to the new Steward of Gondor, and his betrothed Éowyn of Rohan. Both were very warm and welcoming, despite what she had heard about Éowyn from Arwen earlier, who had said that she could have been a man if she wanted to. This happy couple was then followed by Mithrandir, whom she had not seen since his arrival at the docks of Mithlond.

Legolas came around then, and pulled her from Arwen, taking her to meet the surly dwarf Gimli. He was unlike anything she had ever expected from a dwarf. Of course she had heard tell of what kind of people they were, hiding in their mountains and awaking all manner of things in the depths of their mines, but Gimli was truly a cheerful, though brusque, dwarf which she thought mostly endearing. She then moved about the room, speaking with the princes from Dol Amroth before Glorfindel made sure to interrupt her and take her to the dance floor.

When the dance was finished, she had just enough time to see her father and Elladan speaking together, though it appeared to be in hushed tones between each other, and not necessarily in the most civil of moods. Elrohir sidled up to her side then, and bowed to her, "May I have this dance, my lady?"

"I suppose, though I would like to know why you are here and Elladan is not," she said quietly.

Elrohir chuckled, "He had some things to see to, so it is up to everyone else to entertain you until then."

Silaerín glanced back at her father and Elladan, who were now chuckling lightly at something, "What are they speaking of?"

"I have not a clue, Silaerín," Elrohir replied, sweeping her into the dance already started. "it is best to not think about it. We both know Elladan can talk his way out of anything."

She sighed, nodding her head. Then she let out a short laugh, "He can talk himself out of anything, or into anything, can he not?"

Elrohir smiled, "He has certainly gotten himself into some predicaments because of his mouth."

"You both have, but he is the champion," she said.

They danced some more, listening to music as they moved about the floor with the other couples. Elrohir glanced down at her and sighed, "I am glad you came, Silaerín. I could not bear to see my brother go through the pain he has since you both ended your betrothal. He would not admit it, but at nights I could swear I heard him speaking to you. He could have been asleep, and been dreaming of you, but some of the things he spoke of were quite… heartbreaking."

She met his eyes, "Heartbreaking?"

"I cannot repeat them to you, Silaerín. It is Elladan's own right to repeat them to you if he remembers what he said," Elrohir said.

"Why do you do this to me?" she questioned. "You know I cannot stand it when you give me a piece of something very important and will not finish, making me find it out myself."

Elrohir rolled his eyes, "I tell you because it is something important that both of you need to discuss, and I do not know if he will or not."

Silaerín pursed her lips together, and frowned slightly, "I cannot bring it up then, if he does not wish to speak of it."

"Have you not figured out yet that Elladan worships everything about you, Silaerín? He will answer you if you ask," Elrohir said. "He will not be like he was last in Mithlond. He has… we both have… learned a great amount since then."

"I will ask him at one point in the future," she said. Again they were caught up in the dance, until she glanced at him, "What of your love life, Elrohir? Have you found anyone?"

He laughed at her, "Are you kidding me? The most beautiful thing I have seen in a long while are you and my sister. The foul creatures I have fought and Dúnedain Men I have traveled with are not necessarily the best for kindling romances with."

Silaerín laughed, "Fine then, we will have to see to finding you an elleth or a woman when we return to Imladris."

Elrohir paused for a quick moment, looked curiously into her eyes and smiled softly, "That is odd to hear you say, Silaerín. That we will be returning to Imladris. I cannot imagine what it is to Elladan to know that the 'we' you speak of with him is as husband and wife."

"It is very odd for me, so I am sure it is the same for him," she replied.

"And you will officially be a sister of mine," he said, and let out a chuckle. "I have not thought of what all this means until now."

"You will adjust, I am sure," she giggled as the dance ended and they parted to a bow and curtsy.

Elrohir took her hand and placed it in his arm to lead her away from the dancers. He quickly looked at her, "I will not like it that Elladan and you will form an alliance against me."

Silaerín gave him a look of incredulity, "Oh please, Elrohir. A marriage is one thing, but a bond between twins is another and one I do not intend to be placed between."

"I knew there was a reason why I like you so much," Elrohir laughed and took her back to the high table.

Elladan stood from his seat and joined them. He did not need to say anything in his intentions for now coming to her, it very clearly written in his eyes. Earlier, both of their families had taken them aside and their parents had joined their hands together in solemn vow, to make sure only Elven ears would hear the blessings. It was said that hearing the name of Eru was far too great for the ears of a mortal to hear spoken in the way it was in Elven marriage ceremonies, much less the mention of Manwë and Varda. They had exchanged their rings in front of the others, though, and there was only one thing left to do to complete this ritual, and that was to share in the joining of their bodies.

Silaerín smiled at him as he bowed to her, "My lady, may I request this next dance?"

"That depends," she said softly and lifted on her toes to reach his cheek with her lips.

Elrohir grumbled, "I am leaving now… I can see when I am not wanted."

She watched as Elrohir walked away to join Aragorn, Arwen and Elrond and let out a soft chuckle. Turning back to Elladan, Silaerín smiled, "We must find him someone, Elladan."

Elladan pulled her against his body and whispered into her ear, "Let us first concentrate on achieving this union…"

"I do not think it will be so hard to achieve, my lord," Silaerín replied and backed away. She took his hand and led him to floor of dancers for the next dance.

He stopped her though and tugged her back into his chest, "I would not be too heartbroken if we were to skip the dance and retire directly to the bed chamber."

Silaerín giggled, "You made me wait for an age and almost lose you; you can live through one dance with your wife. I should think it quite an easy recompense for such a thing you have put an elleth through."

Elladan nodded his head, "I suppose it could be much worse."

"I could arrange that for you," she smiled wickedly, and led him again to the dance floor. The previous song was ending as they joined the foray of revelers. A few moments passed and the next song began, the slow, lilting melody of it a rather heady one to dance to with a lover- it being the one they had danced to at their betrothal. Many of the residents of the dance floor vacated their spots, which left only a few married and unmarried couples upon the floor. However, when Aragorn and Arwen descended to prepare for the dance, then followed by Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel, the couples quickly left the floor to watch the proceedings of their new King and Queen, and the old and new high-born Elven couples.

And so the dance began and the brief exchange of dance partners in the beginning allowed her a moment to speak with Aragorn, and then Celeborn on a few things, that were mostly of best wishes. When she was finally back in Elladan's arms, and moved thoughtlessly to the music, the dance steps so well ingrained in her mind. She smiled to herself, recalling the fond memory of the evening Elladan taught her how dance.

"What are you thinking of, melethril?" he questioned, as the dance called for a movement bringing their bodies close together.

"A fond memory," she smiled, "of a shy young elleth being taught to dance by a cocky young ellon. That innocent night sealed their fate before they even knew what their lives would bring."

Elladan smiled, and it was truly the first she could recall this evening. It was lovely to see him smile again. "You see, I have the same memory, but it was very different for me. As I see it, I recall a respectable, humble young ellon teaching a shy, young elleth not to dance to dance."

Silaerín sighed, "So it will be told both ways to our children, though we know my version is the correct one."

"But we do agree on something," Elladan replied. "It was the evening that sealed our fate the instant I took you into my arms, even though we were young and knew not what was happening."

She nodded her head, suddenly feeling a warm wave of a happiness flood over her. "You swore to be my keeper."

"I never dreamed it would come to this, that I would be dancing here with you after all of the pain suffering this world has seen," he replied. "I shall forever be your keeper, meleth. The question I pose to you is if you will still be a partner in misdeeds."

Silaerín laughed lightly, "That depends entirely on the manner of the misdeed."

"Helping me to sneak away from boring meetings with Erestor and Ada, so that I may attend to your needs and desires?" he questioned.

"That I may help you with," she smiled, and felt her face grow warm, though she knew not if it was from the exertion of the dance or if she was really bashful about what he had said. "As long as this takes place in privacy."

"Your wish is my command, my lady," he chuckled at her, the last strains of the music ending. Instead of letting her back away from him to curtsy, he held her close and leaned down to kiss her deeply. Now she was embarrassed to have that done to her in front of all these people, but as the majority of them had a good amount of ale and wine in their system, they only laughed and applauded the dancers.

The subsequent transition to the next dance with the others now joining in on it, and Elladan pulling her through the crowd, caused a great blur for her. She only regained a semblance of knowing where she was as they walked down a dimly lit hallway toward the direction of their chambers. Silaerín laughed at him, "Have you been planning that exit the entire evening?"

"In between conversation with your father," he replied as they came upon his door.

"Which reminds me, did that go well?" she asked.

"As well as it could go," he said, pushing her back against the door. He leaned down over her, supporting his weight upon his hand on the door, and planted a languorous kiss upon her lips. With a sigh into her mouth, he parted from her for only a moment, "I would much rather talk about this in the morning, meleth."

She giggled as he playfully kissed and nipped at her neck, her hands finding his head and entwining her fingers in his hair in an effort to grip onto something to hold her upright. She had forgotten the simple pleasures his kisses could create. His lips now upon her exposed collar bone brought those familiar exhilarating sensations, and ones she had nearly forgotten could come from an ellon doing such things as he was.

The door began to give way behind her, and she thought for a moment that perhaps she was so defenseless that he had reduced her to that of a puddle of liquid, and she struggled to stay on her feet. That was, of course, until she felt an arm encircle her waist, and realized that he was maneuvering himself to pick her up from the ground, as he had already opened the door while kissing her. When inside the room, he kicked the door shut and took her to the bed, dropping her more than setting her upon the soft mattress. She laughed at him as he smiled evilly down at her, quickly removing his boots, and then did away with their respective circlets by placing them on a table beside the bed.

Silaerín sat up and flickered her own shoes off as he did this, and then again before she knew what was going on, he was pushing her back against the bed with the weight of his body as he kissed her deeply. However, once he was resting easily over her, he carefully rolled to the side so that he was on his back, brought her with him. She laughed at him, leaning over to kiss him, "You enjoy females controlling what goes on?"

Elladan chuckled, and placed his hands on her waist, moving them around her back and began untying the satin ribbons of her gown. "Perhaps I like to give you a false sense of control. I often give my opposition that before I strike."

She chided, "I am no more than prey?"

"In my bed, possibly," he said.

"It is our bed," she replied as his hands gathered the skirts of her gown and pulled it and her shift over her head, tossing it to the side. It landed on the floor with a unceremonious swoosh, and she turned back to him. His warm hands found her legs and traveled up, around her hips and up the sides of her torso to her breasts. She could feel him beneath her growing ever more excited through his leggings, if that was at all possible.

The palms of his hands brushed across her breasts and he sighed, sitting up slightly to reach her lips, "I have missed you so much, Silaerín."

"That is very evident, my lord," she said, letting her fingers work deftly at undoing the fastenings of his tunic. Delighted that it grew easier each time she was with him, she quickly was rid of the obstruction of his tunic, and placed her hands upon his chest. She glanced down as he traced her fingers along his muscles, and noticed that he had many different shaped and colored marks in no specific pattern in various places on his torso. At closer inspection, she knew exactly what they were.

"Scars," he said quietly. "They are more visible than they might be on an edhel. But with the Edain in mine, they are more visible. I know it is not the most pleasing to the eyes."

Silaerín met his eyes, "I do not mind it… I do not love you because you are a fine specimen of Elf and Man. Though I must admit that is a lovely combination added to everything else I love about you."

Elladan laughed and placed a hand in her hair, slowly pulling her back down with him as he kissed her deeply. With one fluid movement, he shifted gradually to his side, taking her with him. He caressed her skin, working his was up again toward her breasts. "Silaerín, I make my choice this night to remain with my Elven kin. Whether the Valar have recognized it or not yet, I do not know."

Silaerín smiled, "I had hoped you would choose that."

He grinned brightly, and kissed her again. She sighed as his thumb ran lightly across her nipple, moaning softly when his lips moved in that direction. And once more she found her place with him, and the comfort of being in his arms. Except, this time, it was permanent. They would forever be bound together, and for once she felt peace in her life.

melethril- female lover

meleth- love