A/N: I would like to apologize over the sloppiness in the last chapter in my grammar/ spelling areas. I have the original, unchanged copy saved to my hard drive, and then the beta-ed, pretty one. I accidentally hit the wrong button when uploading and failed to recognize it before it posted.

Oh, and thank you reviewers!

Chapter 13- Two Drunken Brothers

It could not have happened. It just could not have. Not this quickly after her return. Not after the way he had acted only the day before on the practice field with his reluctance in a romance with Laereth. Did she call them her brothers? Sure, she often did that, but there was something different about the way she had said it then. But he had to stop, because with the combination of the alcohol and this intense thinking, his mind was whirling about and making him woozy.

"I must be extremely inebriated," Rúmil said, glancing at his older brother, who still had wide eyes.

Orophin turned to him, "Why is that?"

"Because I thought I just saw Laereth, with her arm about Haldir, and shutting the door in our faces," he replied.

"So did I," Orophin said.

Rúmil paused, desperately trying to connect this all in his muddled head, but it was not working sufficiently enough. "They way she called us brothers…"

"He would not bind with her, Rúmil. Are you really that intoxicated?" Orophin questioned. "Haldir would never give into any vow he ever made to himself, even if he truly was in love."

"I know, but we just saw it," Rúmil motioned toward the door.

Orophin sighed, "Maybe they were just jesting with us? They did that often when we were little, and have done it a few times since she has come back. She probably only did that because of what we were saying to Haldir."

Rúmil felt the blood drain from his face at that moment, and gulped down air, "Orophin… do you realize what that means? She know about the notes…"

"Rhach!" Orophin replied. "Haldir will give us a year on the borders for sure."

"Do not be overly dramatic," Rúmil said, though he knew it was no use. They were both too tipsy to think straight and act normally. That was when he decided that perhaps alcohol was not the best thing to have in your body when one wanted to think with a clear mind.

"He will, Rúmil," Orophin said, beginning a slightly staggering walk to the stairs away from Haldir's talan.

He sighed, "What if they really are doing what we want them to do?"

Orophin shook his head, "Haldir would have spoken to us first if he had planned on that. After all, this is a rather large step for them."

"But…" Rúmil began, but paused. He stopped in his walk beside Orophin, and looked around them, smiling evilly to himself. Hopping onto the branch beside him, he teetered precariously for a few seconds, trying to maintain his balance.

"Where are you going?" Orophin questioned. "You cannot climb trees in your state, Brother."

"Watch me," he remarked, jumping into another high branch. He walked across this, long thick branch, back in the direction of Haldir's talan.

Orophin quickly followed after him, "Rúmil, he will give us a years duty if we do this."

Rúmil turned to him, "Then do not follow me. I will go by myself."

"He will give me border duty for a year, even then! He will say, 'And why did you not stop your younger brother from doing that?'. Really, Rúmil, you know him," Orophin replied, loosing a bit of his footing on the tree.

"We chose the wrong night to drink," Rúmil chuckled, and did not stop laughing. Clenching his stomach, he turned away from Orophin in an attempt to calm himself. Of course it did not work, until he felt a hard slap on the back of his head. That sobered him to a point.

"Be quiet, you good for nothing orc," Orophin hissed. "Or he will come out and find us."

The younger brother chuckled again and shook his head. He had absolutely no worries that Orophin would not follow him. Since they were so close in age, it always leant to their closeness as brothers, and some could even mistake them as a tightly bonded pair of twins if they did not know them. What one did, so did the other, but it was usually Orophin trying to talk sense into him from doing anything too horribly crazy or wrong.

Slowly, but surely, the two brothers made a wide berth around the talan, hopping from tree to tree. Finally at a good vantage point of the master's chambers, Orophin stopped and slumped against the bole of the tree. Rúmil glanced around, making sure they were as invisible as they could manage up here in the trees, just in case some Elf were to come walking by. With a final sigh, Rúmil sat beside his brother looked toward the talan.

"He had to close the drapes," Rúmil grumbled to himself.

Orophin scoffed, "I am glad he did, if they are doing what you think they are. While there may be some delight in seeing Laereth's bared flesh, I know I would not like to see Haldir's in that capacity. Swimming about or bathing in the bathing pool is one thing, but watching him do that…"

The image flooded Rúmil's mind, and he felt a strange sort of shiver run up his back. "That would truly be a disturbing sight."

The younger brother closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the tree, listening to the night around them. And sure enough, from the open doorway that led out onto the balcony of the talan, the sound of heavy breathing and moaning could be heard. He glanced at Orophin, "Now, do you believe it?"

"They could still be jesting us," Orophin replied.

"I do not think so," Rúmil said.

"Nay, neither do I," Orophin said. "But even if they are, I do not think they would be doing it to bind. It is too soon for Haldir to come to that decision."

"Or perhaps it has been far too long a wait?" Rúmil questioned, gazing back toward the talan. Just faintly, by the light of the silvery moon, could he make out the shape of two coupling bodies through the thin drapes. He smiled to himself. Finally. Though it was a sobering thought to think that in the morning, their brother would be bound to another for eternity. They would have children… their own life and family together. What room would there be left for him and Orophin? Would Haldir still want his sometimes obnoxious brothers around?

Orophin sighed, "What has made you so dour all of a sudden?"

Rúmil glanced at Orophin, and sighed, shaking his head, "It is nothing."

"We will find some maidens eventually, Rúmil," Orophin said and chuckled.

Deciding not to confirm or deny what Orophin thought had made him so serious all of a sudden, Rúmil looked away. They listened for a bit more, the vocalizations of passion growing slightly louder, but still they had to strain to hear it. And then they heard the words uttered that they did not think would be uttered for the longest of times. Those were the names of Eru and the Valier Manwë and Varda. They were speaking lowly of promises of love to each other, committing themselves to each other, becoming one fëa, instead two fear, as two hroa became one hroa.

He wanted to jump up and dance in happiness in one part of his heart, but in the other part reminded him of his insecurities with this binding. The completely unforeseen ones that he had not thought would come with a joyous occasion such as this one. It was not worth thinking about now… not when he was still a great deal inebriated, so he sighed and turned to Orophin. "I think we should leave them to it."

Orophin nodded a reply, standing up after Rúmil. And again, they made their ways through the trees to a walkway. Though, instead of going trolling like they had planned, each brother went to their separate telain to prepare for the next morning and welcoming their sister.

He woke to the fading moonlight and the feeling of a delicate hand brushing lightly across his chest. The hand to match the other rested upon his shoulder, supporting the head of the hands' owner. Haldir turned his head to gaze at her, finding her awake and watching him. He smiled. Had they really just bound one to the other this night? Were they really husband and wife? Had he experienced the pleasure beyond pleasures, taking her maidenhood, and as their fear intermingled with each other? It did not seem remotely possible to him, but he had lived long enough in the world to know that often times the most outrageous things were often true.

"Good morning," she said quietly, leaning over to kiss him.

Her bare breasts brushed against his equally bare chest, and he struggled to keep control of himself. He had already taken his fill of her… multiple times no less with an elleth who was not used to such activities. He could not subject her to more without a bit of a reprieve. "Meleth nín," he said, cupping her cheek and kissing her again deeply. There was a connection now between them that he had never felt before, their bond was so deep- like one of marriage should be- that he could feel her very presence in his mind, and he was sure she felt the same. Perhaps that was what had woken him to begin with.

As he looked at her now, and realized that he held this connection, Haldir understood why an Elf could fade after losing their love to death. Being so bound together would do that; having the prominent warm, comforting feeling of your significant other there in your mind and suddenly not having it at all would be devastating. But he had promised her he would not regret his decision, and he did not. He only knew now what a brave woman his mother was to send her husband to war and to the borders all of those times. And even the greater courage she would need to know that her son wished to do this as well.

The funny thing was, he had not come out of this experience with the revelations he thought he should. But then, he had always known he loved Laereth. He knew their bond would be great after such an act as this. What he did come out of it with was a deeper respect, no necessarily for his mother, but for all women and ellyth who lived in this world with the courage to see their husbands go to war, or to protect them at home on the borders. It took a special person to do that, and he did not know if even he could do that, being so connected with another. Even with the wardens he sent to the borders as his duty, he had trouble, and worried about them. How could he expect to do that with his wife?

He understood why his father never wanted to leave their talan when the patrols left. Why they would sit quietly around the table in the mornings… why his father would spend extra minutes with his mother cooing over Rúmil. Perhaps his mother deserved to travel to Aman, to live her life in a land of complete paradise where she need not worry or toil about anything.

He had a profound respect now for Laereth, since she was willing to bear this weight each time he left, with the knowledge that he may not come back. She bore it because she loved him so much, she did not want to live without him. And yet, at the very same moment, knew that he could be lost, and she would be in an even worse place than she was before. It truly must have been better to love, if only for a short while, instead of not at all.

"What are you thinking about?" she questioned softly.

"What a remarkable thing a female is," he replied.

Laereth chuckled, placing her lips to his chest where her head lay. "I am quite remarkable."

"And you call me arrogant," he laughed, circling his arm around her shoulder more tightly, and using the other one to wrap around her waist as he maneuvered himself quite sufficiently to pin her back against the bed.

"Oh, March Warden, you are arrogant all of the time," she said, moving her eyes from his to follow the path of her finger, as a it traced down his chin, and neck, chest, and lower yet.

But he stopped her hand, and placed both of her hands above her head again, like he had done the evening before. "As much as I would like to pursue this with you, hervess, we will have company soon enough."

"Will Rúmil and Orophin even remember what happened last eve?" she questioned, moving her hips slightly, and teasing his now permanent excitement.

"You are a minx, you know that," he said quietly, leaning down to kiss her deeply. Laereth smiled and nodded her head, accepting his lips against hers, and then his tongue dueling with hers. But it was quickly growing out of control, and he did not wish it to go that far and pushed back from her, "Are you not sore, elleth?"

Laereth shook her head, "Not terribly… we fit well together, so it is not too horrible and intrusion."

Haldir smiled, "I was worried that I hurt you."

"I told you it was not bad," she replied. "After so many years walking Arda, and all of the leisurely pursuits I have, like horseback riding, lessened the actual blockage. Perhaps it was a good thing to wait then, so that I could enjoy this fully with you from the very get go."

"But that does not change anything, we still have company coming over. If they do not remember, then I am eager to place you on my arm and show you off to all of the ellyn of Lórien. We will visit the Lord and Lady as well. They would like to know about this, if the Lady has not already seen it," Haldir said.

"And I will be the envy of every maiden in Caras Galadhon," she smiled wickedly.

Haldir smiled, "So as you can see, we have a busy day ahead of us."

She pouted slightly, "It does not take that long to find release."

"I promise I will make it worth your wait for this evening, Laereth," he said, moving away from her. He left the bed and found his crumpled leggings to the side of the bed. Pulling them on quickly, he leant back over her and kissed her. "Rest some more. I shall take care of the morning meal."

Laereth laughed as he exited the room, "You expect me to rest? How foolish you are."

Haldir chuckled and closed the door to the chamber. He did not hear any movement from the room for a long while as he collected the dishes from the previous evening and saw to washing them. Except, he noticed a package placed just inside the door of the talan. Wondering how it had gotten there without him not hearing anyone enter in the night, he walked over to it and picked it up. A piece of parchment fell our of the cloth wrapping, and he bent down to retrieve it.

To my faithful March Warden-

We have spoken often about your life and what had happened in it to make you the way you are. And you have confided in me many times that you feel as though something in your life is missing, even though you had everything you wished for. The one thing you always forgot was love, and I tried to steer you toward that realization. That was until I realized you would actually need her here to change your mind, and that is why I persuaded your brothers to send for Laereth. Whether you may believe it or not, without love, there in nothing worth living for, or dying for, unless you love someone and that someone loves you..

Give this package to Laereth and come visit Celeborn and me later with her. We have much to discuss, including a proper celebration for the March Warden and his new wife.

I hope that you have finally found your completion.

Fondly,

Galadriel

Haldir sighed and shook his head. He knew that she would now on some level what was going on, but had not expected her to bring a package to them, in the middle of the night no less, but he felt especially honored that she would go to that much trouble. Walking back to the bed chambers, he found Laereth sitting in front of mirror at the dressing table, combing her hair dressed in her shift.

She turned to glance at him, "What is that?"

"It would appear that Galadriel knew of what we were going to do," he replied, handing her the package. "She left this for you."

Laereth blushed slightly, taking the package from him and opening it to find a gown inside. She smiled, "It will take some getting used to… having the Lady knowing things like this."

Haldir laughed, "She is not as bad as you might think. She only chooses which lives she wishes to meddle in."

"Very well," she said. "Now, I shall finished getting ready for this day."

Rhach- curses

Meleth nin- my love

Hervess- wife