Disclaimer - I don't own these characters. They all belong to J. R. R. Tolkien.

While Outside the Storm Raged

The chill wind that blew heavily through the valley was as cold and unforgiving as he felt. The branches of the trees were close to snapping and sent rains of dull green to the ground as leaves were ripped from their places on tree limbs.

By some miracle the flowers he had come out to see, the bed of Elanor planted so long ago, did not seem to be bothered by the weather. Bending almost happily in the wind, the flowers seemed the only bright thing in the Gardens.

With a heavy sigh, he took himself to a nearby bench and collapsed onto it. Here he was hidden, but it did not stop his view of those flowers, nor did it temper his foul mood.

A slight movement caught his eye and he noted that one of the twins, Elrohir he soon spotted, was moving with a determination rarely seen any longer towards the objects that held his fascination. He saw dried tears on the lads face, a sight common for both he and his brother nowadays.

Slowly rising from his seat, he went to make his way over to Elrohir to try and calm the younger of the twins down. He was too late to stop Elrohir from his goal as one after the other, he ripped the flowers out of the ground.

"No!" he screamed as he ran to stop the total destruction of the garden bed. Any other he would not mind, but the Elanor...it was too much.

Fury beat down upon him in waves as he lashed out at the male who seemed to wreck the only thing he had left. One of his fists caught Elrohir's nose, breaking it.

"Adar!" came a terrified voice behind him. A few seconds later, he found himself thrown bodily to the ground, his breathing harsh and laboured. Without much thought, he did the one thing that seemed natural, he struggled back to his feet and ran.

He didn't know where he was headed, all he knew was that he had to get away. He made it into the halls of the main house, rushing down corridors looking for a likely place to...to what? He couldn't wrap his mind around even the simplest of problems. How unlike him!

He saw a door up ahead and lunged for it, closing it loudly behind him as he hurried inside. It was then, as he brought up his hands to move wild strands of hair away from his eyes, that he noticed the blood on his right hand.

Elrohir's blood. A sharp sting in both his knees was the only clue he got that his legs had given out on him. He began to shake, though why he didn't know. He couldn't think. He couldn't move. He couldn't get back to his feet even if he tried to. He was hopeless, helpless, alone.

"Elrond?" someone said, but to whether the voice was aimed at him or merely just talking about him he could not tell.

Outside at that moment, a fork of lightning hit one of the older trees, sending the ancient being toppling to the ground. A clap of thunder followed, so loud it made him shake all the harder. It then began to rain.

Almost as if the weather was playing solely on his emotions he didn't know, but later he would note that everything happened so well, and at the exact right time.

As the lightning hit the tree, an almost audible click sounded in his brain as his emotions shifted. As the tree fell, so did the wall of anger that he had built around himself to keep out the grief he would otherwise feel. The first of many angry sobs forced its way out of his mouth just as that first clap of thunder sounded. Two pairs of arms wrapped their way around him as tears finally began to fall.

While outside the storm raged, another one inside, just as intense played itself out.

His cleaner hand, flecked only in bits of dirt, wrapped itself in raven locks, his bloodied hand found its way to golden tresses. Erestor and Glorfindel. He was no longer alone.

It took a lot of long minutes before he calmed down. He went limp in the arms of his most trusted advisors, his two closest friends, his head resting comfortably in a nook left by their heads and shoulders.

"I miss her," he stated, as he felt one hand go to his head, another to his back.

"Take heart, Elrond. She is still alive, something only possible by the help you gave her to get past her injuries. You will meet with her again," was said by Glorfindel, as the voice came from his right where the head of golden hair was.

"I couldn't stop her pain. The emotional scarring went too deep. I failed her as a Healer."

"You did not fail her. The only one here who expected you to fully succeed was yourself. As you said, the emotional trauma was too much for you to heal," Erestor stated, a hand rubbing gentle circles over his back. Erestor was always the rational one, the logical thinker.

"I hit Elrohir. I think I may have broken his nose..."

"Well, that explains the blood that is drying in my hair," Glorfindel stated dryly, before continuing. "He will forgive you. He is feeling more pain than his brother and is trying to find a way to deal with it."

"I wish Arwen had not left."

"She will be back when she is ready, Elrond. She did not go too far, only to Lorien to stay with her Grandparents." Erestor calmly said.

"Her Elanor is gone..."

"I am sorry. I did not think," came a new voice from the doorway. Turning his head, he saw it to be Elrohir, Elladan standing silently beside him, the voice of his youngest son coming out in a way that reminded him of the nose he had recently broke.

"I did not mean to hurt you, Elrohir."

Elrohir smiled sadly, before joining him, Erestor and Glorfindel on the floor. Elladan disappeared somewhere out of sight. "I didn't mean to hurt you," his present son stated.

Soon he was led to his bedroom by his two friends and one son, and was put into the giant bed that felt cavernous without Celebrían in it beside him.

He was only aware that he was not alone in the room as sleep finally claimed him.

Outside the storm passed, the wind died down and the first bright star shone its light down upon the quiet valley.

The End

A/N - I have no idea where this story came from. I was finishing my last assignment for my Animal Care course when it suddenly struck me with such force, I had to write it down. As I was stuck without my pocket PC, I wrote it on paper with my trusty black pen and then rewrote it again until it looked like this!

I hope you all like it as much as I do, the sap in me who loves angst loves this you see, and that you leave nice comments on it. Especially about timelines...as I am not good at all with them and cannot find my books.