As Faramir began to rise after quietly enjoying his own private breakfast there was a gentle rap at the door. Erestor entered first, carrying a few items, followed by Aragorn. "How are you feeling," Aragorn asked, trying to keep the concern from his voice.

Faramir smiled. "Like new, father."

"Good," Aragorn said with a sigh. "I woke up in the hall this morning and at breakfast adar told me i could find you here. I was a little worried."

"All Faramir needs is what he has always needed, Estel, his father and some peace," Erestor interjected. "I should have seen how tense you were, Faramir, i apologize that i did not. I could have eased that for you long ago, i do not know why i did not -"

Faramir grinned. "No apology is necessary, mellon-nín. You know what they say, all who love are blind."

"All who love reborn Balrog-slayers certainly are likely to be blinded. Has Gondor a need for an extra beacon, perchance?"

"I heard that," came a pair of voices from an adjoining room and Faramir had to smile.

Erestor just shook his head. "I trust this ensemble will be suitable for you today?" he said offering Faramir a neatly folded stack of clothes.

Faramir laughed. "I thought i once called you my adjutant, and now you seem to have been demoted to squire."

"There are no such ranks here, only friends that offer service to their guests," Glorfindel said, emerging with Gandalf. "There is a bath drawn for you. I used these," he held out three small vials. "These will help you stay relaxed. When you leave in a couple months come to me and i will give you a supply of these to use at home and instruct you on their uses."

"If i shall receive this manner of treatment every time i overtax myself i will do it more often," Faramir said, earning a sharp glance from Gandalf.

"I will not be upon these shores yet in the next 37 years. If i were, however, i would see to it you never overwork again, regardless of what i might have to... conjure up!" the White Wizard said, barely containing the twinkle in his eye.

The two Elves and Wizard left the room, leaving father and son alone. "I really should have brought you here in the beginning, Faramir," Aragorn said sadly. "I had no notion that your days would be so -"

Faramir took his father's hand understandingly. "Father, Elrond said something to me last night that i am going to do my best to hold to, but i shall need your help. He said that there are certain aspects of the past that i need to make peace with and let go of. None can now allow the past to hinder the future, and that is especially true for you and i. Last night, a lot of the past caught up to me at once, but i am fine and i will be fine. I understand things a lot better now. At the moment though, that bath sounds inviting and i should take it before it grows cold," Faramir said with a reassuring smile.

Aragorn nodded and said that he would meet Faramir in the garden afterward. When Faramir emerged he found his father reclining on a low bench on a veranda in the garden, his pipe in hand. Low really did not describe this particular piece of furniture and in fact it looked rather out of place, Aragorn's long legs stretched out in front of him, the only way a man his height could sit there. As he walked closer, Faramir could see that his father was sitting with someone and chatting quietly.

"Ah, Faramir," Aragorn said, waving his son over. "I'd like you to meet a friend of mine. It is my honor to introduce you to Master Bilbo Baggins. Bilbo, this is my son, Faramir."

Faramir stood wide-eyed, of all the living legends he'd ever met, Bilbo was probably the most remarkable, aside from Sam and Frodo themselves. After all, great things were practically to be expected from Elves and Wizards. "Mae govannen," Faramir said respectfully to the finally agéd Hobbit, adding a bow out of habit.

"Bilbo Baggins, at your service," said the little, white haired fellow in a thin voice with little bow of his own.

For a while the three chatted amiably, Faramir duly impressed with everything Bilbo spoke of. Faramir and Aragorn shared a light elevensies with Bilbo, not long after which the Hobbit nodded off as he often did in these days. Aragorn chuckled lightly, whispering "vanya este, mellon." He then looked up at his son and said, "let us have some lunch."

At lunch Elrond asked Faramir if he would mind sparing some time after supper, to which Faramir agreed, though he did not know what the Elf-lord had in mind. It seemed that Aragorn also had something in mind for the rest of the afternoon, though through lunch he was mostly catching up with his newly-arrived brothers, who said that they would love to join their brother and his son but had some work of their to catch up on.

Such were words that Aragorn never guessed to hear from those two, but when he saw Erestor come to breakfast that morning supported by Glorfindel and looking whiter than even an Elf should he had a feeling that the twins had something to do with it. Erestor kept muttering over his tea "my study..." and Aragorn could only guess, but didn't really want to; it was more than enough to have learned that Elrond delegated his eldest two to attempt to take over Erestor's tasks while he was in Gondor. It was amazing really that Erestor had made such a swift recovery, but then there was a lot about Erestor that was only just beginning to come to light.

As lunch was wrapping up Elrohir voiced the inevitable question, saying, "What brings you home, brother... did Wennie finally throw you out?"

Aragorn raised a brow at just the same moment that Elrond did. It was wasted on the twin miscreants though. "I will have you know that my wife and soon-to-be mother of my child bid me a very pleasant farewell before this journey."

"Ai Elbereth! Our sister!" Elladan cried. "I see why you have come. How far along is she?"

"She is due at the end of the year," Aragorn replied rather proudly.

"Half-term," Elrohir muttered ominously. "You have our deepest sympathies. Adar? You have checked him for any contusions?"

Elrond glanced apologetically at Aragorn. "The two of you should not say such things. Always frightening your little brother..."

"Adar," Elladan said, "you know how much we love naneth, but you remember how she was with 'Wen."

"Your left eye was swollen shut for a week!" Elrohir said.

Elrond cringed at the memory, then thinking quickly he suggested the twins head back to Erestor's study so that they might make some progress before supper. Aragorn and Faramir took the opportunity to depart also, Aragorn leading the way to the back of the house and pausing at the door.

"I am certain that what is in this room you shall love more than all else i have introduced you to," Aragorn said. "I am surprised you have yet to ask me of it."

Faramir tilted his head in question, but as Aragorn opened the door his curiosity was replaced by the ever-present awe he felt here. Father and son spent the rest of the day relaxing in the library of Imladris, and Aragorn had a feeling that he would find his son there quite often from then on.

Together, father and son spent the entire afternoon in the library. It was just as Aragorn had expected, he had never seen his son so entirely in his element before. It seemed to Faramir that it was nearly unachievable that so much knowledge could possibly be kept in one place, but here it was. Aragorn immediately picked up his favorite tome and began reading, whereas Faramir spent most of the day just marveling at everything there; it was impossible for him to chose any one subject, let alone any one book, to read. Aragorn guessed that Faramir might decide on one book by about the first month into their stay.

-

That evening after supper Aragorn and his brothers went outside to watch the summer stars fill the skies and to catch up on old times. Elladan and Elrohir wanted every last detail on what happened between Erestor and Glorfindel after they all left for Edoras and then back home. Even they were impressed with themselves that their conspiracy to get those two together actually worked.

Faramir went with Elrond out to the gardens where they walked quietly for a while, as every now and again Elrond would pull off a past-peak flower head or pull a stray weed. As the light grew fainter and fainter and the evening stars began to appear Elrond sat by a fountain niche and invited Faramir to relax. Elrond pointed to the brightest star in the sky, Faramir knew it well.

"That star is my father," Elrond said in a poignant tone. "I never really knew him. I never had anyone to confide in or look up to. Not as you do." Elrond sighed and turned to Faramir. "Why do you fear fire?" he asked, taking the young Man off guard.

For a moment Faramir was stuck for any way to explain his fear. "I did not always," he said finally. "Fire was once as an ally to me, as it is to any Ranger. But then i... Just before we made this journey i had a dream. I'd been having similar dreams now and then for maybe a couple of months, only each time i dreamed there was more detail. A week before we left everything in my dream and what it meant became clear to me. On the day that Minas Tirith's gate was breeched, Denethor tried to... set fire to me."

Elrond had no difficulty seeing that this was very difficult for Faramir to speak of, understandably, but he also knew that it was a part of the healing process that could not be passed over. He opened his arms to the man he considered his grandson and offered him comfort and a sense of protection.

"I had a terrible fever," Faramir continued softly. "My company was sent back out to Osgiliath after i pulled them back. The orcs were too many and already so many had been lost. I thought i'd done right in sparing them, but... i was the only one who made it back the second time. It was a suicide mission i was sent on, only...," Faramir's voice dropped to a whisper, "i could not even die right for him and so Denethor had to take the matter into his own hands."

For a while neither said anything, though the silence bore no trace of tension. When Faramir seemed to realize that confiding in someone else eased the pain of the memory, Elrond rose and asked Faramir to join him.

Together they walked out of the gardens and around the house. Crossing the broad green lawn, Elrond had seemingly change the topic of their discussion from Faramir's fear to the shards of Narsil which were once kept in Imladris. Faramir listened so attentively that he hadn't realized to where they were going until the were there. Faramir felt again a feeling of constriction overtake him and he wanted to run but felt frozen in fear. Elrond stood right behind him lightly massaging a tincture of lavender and peppermint onto Faramir's temples, the fragrance taking it's effect over the fear of the fire.

"Come, Faramir, these fires are very carefully contained. When the sword Andúril was reforged, it was done so here in Imladris, by these smiths. These men work with flame each day as they once did in Eregion. They have been doing this for many, many years without so much as a spark going astray and from their fire prophecies were fulfilled. In this way, fire is used to the advantage of Men, and their craft is second to none i have ever seen."

Faramir seemed to take this under consideration, but still seemed very little at ease. Again Elrond walked with Faramir back toward the house, talking lightly. "The lamps in the windows," Elrond pointed out. "You do not mind them, do you?"

Faramir shook his head. To have these things pointed out was mildly confusing. "No... the lamps seem comforting," he said slowly.

"As they are meant to. Come with to the healing chambers again, if you will," Elrond said, leading the way back inside. Elrond went to a board table on which sat many small, intricately carved chests. Opening one, Elrond took out a delicate scalpel, causing Faramir to flinch involuntarily. Elrond laughed. "I have no intention of using this, i merely want to illustrate a further point. I rarely have use of these around here, but every so often i have had to lance the occasional wound, lest contagion worsen. When i do so, this blade absolutely must be perfectly sterile. To ensure this, i hold the cutting edge in the flame of a candle. The fire burns off any impurities," Elrond explained. "And i know i have no need to explain to you just how important the warmth of a fire is to a traveler. Faramir, when used wisely and correctly, fire poses no real threat to us, and as you said, it can be our ally. It is wise of you to be cautious and alert, of course, but you need not fear flame. And furthermore, can you ever really think that i or your father or any one of us here would ever be so careless as to allow any harm to come to you? You are more loved than you know, Faramir."

For a while Faramir was quite, taking time to absorb the fact that he could allow someone else to help him get over his fear, and the very fact that someone as great as Elrond was so willing and wanting to help him. He was starting to see the real meaning to a phrase his brother often used, "a burden shared is a burden lessened." Faramir looked to Elrond, who seemed to just be waiting for Faramir as though he had all the time in the world, and he wondered how it was possible that someone was powerful as the wisest of Elves could seem so utterly untroubled by his responsibilities.

"I didn't want to speak of this to my father because i did not want to burden him," Faramir said at last. "He has so much to worry about already and i did not want to add to his concerns. I felt that this was something which was affecting me alone, and thus it was my duty to try my best to deal with it on my own."

Elrond held Faramir close. "You shall never be on your own when you need help, Faramir, not for all the rest of your days. Eighty-four years ago, i held in my arms a child who was utterly terrified that Sauron himself had come to our valley. It was a stormy night, and two Elf-twins had been telling stories again. After i showed him on a map just how far Imladris is from Mordor, i held him and told him of Manwë and Ulmo and how they are the Masters of Wind and Rain, respectively. Of course, you know all of that, and you likely know that Gandalf has borne Narya for many years and is adept at fire-craft. Well, you have seen the fireworks he so delights in producing."

At that Faramir did raise a genuine smile. The old Wizard was never quite as happy as when he was lighting colorful and imaginative rockets for everyone's entertainment.

Elrond, too, smiled genuinely at his grandson, knowing that, though it would take time for Faramir to be truly au fait with fire again, they had won the battle together. That night a fair number of Elves had gone to the Hall of Fire again when clouds rolled in and veiled the stars. This time both Aragorn and Faramir joined them. Faramir, knowing that his father and grandfather were near at hand, let himself for the first time in his life become blissfully lost in the magic of Elven songs.

-

I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the delay in getting it up. I was otherwise occupied for most of Saturday, and then Sunday i was doing some updates and maintainence on my computer instead of writing (foolish me - downloading Windows Service Pack 2 ended up messing up my whole system for some reason and i couldn't even get into my control panel to uninstall it. I was on the phone waiting for tech support and listening to the absolute worst elevator music for two hours - no exaggeration whatsoever - and while i was waiting i rebooted in safe mode and fixed it myself.) All is back to normal now, though i may now have to make a trip to Imladris myself to be healed from those horrible sounds i had to bear with.

Elenhin: Taking a sauna before jumping into cold water makes a lot more sense than standing around in a swimsuit and wrap skirt for a half an hour before running into a lake that was iced over the night before on New Year's Day, but who ever said the Polar Bear's are a sensible group of people :) Anyway, there will be more about palantiri in the next chapter i believe. Though it will be real palantiri that are used. Mine just makes my desk look... mysterious. There are also frogs, a wizard, a centaur, candles, and way too many books. So maybe it isnt so much mysterious as it is a mess.

AM: Long time, no see. Glad you are enjoying.

frodo: You are absolutely correct in your assessment of the "too close" situation. It's a matter of not being able to see the forest for the trees. Then you have the problem of Faramir not wanting to 'burden' Aragorn.

linda: You don't usually like Elrond? Why not? At least he isn't Denethor. He does love Faramir a lot. This whole Rivendell section has me really wanting to write that "what-if" of Faramir being raised there instead of Minas Tirith. I think that would really soften your impression of Elrond, we never really get to see his soft side.

flowerbee: The longer the better you say? Excellent! I really have made a point of trying to make this all flow smoothly and believably.

Since no one seems to mind that this story has already reached 50 chapters and is on track to hit (i think) at least 70, i'm not going to worry about the number of chapters and just write and let it flow in its time.