Epilogue

It had been nearly a month since Gondor had been introduced to the heir to the Kingdoms, to much jubilation. Aragorn could not help but wonder what it would be like for his second-born to grow up with so much attention focused on him, but he was absolutely determined that Eldarion should grow up as a normal child. He wanted him to have the sort of childhood he himself had in Imladris.

The Steward's son, Elboron, was growing to be an extraordinarily happy child. He was beginning to spend much of his day in his father's study, giving his nurse a much needed rest. The child had become quite mobile indeed and had even begun to navigate the stairs, scaring his nurse Berethil out of years of her life.

Faramir had learned quickly to keep his door closed whenever his son was "working" with him. On more than one occasion had the curious little Gondorian been sitting there playing quietly as his father reviewed petitions and penned documents, then moments later Aragorn would enter his son's study, grandson in his arms with Faramir completely unaware that his son had moved at all.

The young Faramir, namesake of the Steward, was progressing rapidly in his studies with the help of Belthil. It made the elder Faramir intensely proud of his nephew and the irony that his own big brother's son had come to rather adopt little Faramir again was not in the least lost on him. It was interesting enough that they had come to be close companions in the military, but now here in the Citadel where Faramir saw it first-hand, it served to remind him of the closeness that had defined Boromir and Faramir. It was in that time that he came to realize that the grief of losing his adored brother had slowly been replaced by the memories they had together. Now when Faramir was reminded of Boromir it no longer rent his heart, but rather it made his heart feel whole again.

Faramir the younger was also a valuable ally in his station as squire. He was able to run messages about the city and also keep an eye out for the twins at the same time without looking conspicuous. If he saw them heading toward a place where were gathered several of those who were "in" on the revenge Faramir the elder had devised, he would rush ahead of the twins with the pretext of an important missive.

At once, those gathered would crowd together and make like they were discussing something extremely secretive, replete with furtive glances and the occasional snigger. When the twins came into view someone would stare up at them for a moment, whisper something which seemed to alarm the others and then they would all carry on as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

With their own sister on the in as well, this plan was going along perfectly. Arwen had told the twins during a visit to see her and Eldarion just after the birth that a faction in the Citadel who had grown tired of enduring their pranks had decided to exact revenge. She said that from what she could tell, it is unimaginably more devious than their worst prank. But she would tell them nothing more, claiming that no one would let her in on it, even though she all but begged to help bring about their retribution, for she was too close to the brothers and was deemed a risk.

By the end of the month, the twins were covering one another's backs at all times. They did not open any door without extreme caution; they ate nothing without giving it a thorough inspection and sometimes even insisting that one of those they had identified as suspects try a bit of their food and wine; walks in the garden, especially at night, had become as vigilant as their patrols at home had been; any time they had gone to sit down to supper, they carefully checked over the legs to be sure they hadn't been sawed through or some such thing. It had gotten to the point that every simple action that they had ever taken for granted was examined with a fine-tooth comb. They had become paranoid and nervous about everything, much to the amusement of those who were secretly aware that utterly nothing was going to befall them.

For a solid month, the Terrible Two were left squirming with disquiet that at any moment they were going to find themselves on the receiving end of some incredibly complicated and diabolical plot to make them look like absolute fools... and not in the way they appreciated. Consequently, the twins had taken to spending a lot of time with both Elboron and Eldarion, confident in the fact that no one would dare do anything to them when either of those two dear, defenseless (well, not quite defenseless in Elboron's case) little ones were around.

The culmination of the retribution of Elladan and Elrohir came the night of the celebration held in honor of Eldarion's birth. A rumor just somehow managed to reach the Elf-ears of the two that whatever was being plotted was going to be revealed that night at the party. In these new days, parties held in the Citadel had a notoriety for carrying on through all hours. The twins were terrified of attending this party for the nephew, but they had little choice. So much could befall them and so publicly.

Aragorn was not exactly in the habit of giving parties like these very often, in fact it usually took much prodding to get him to do anything of the sort. This occasion was different though, this time the party was less about the celebration than it was for him and his friends (and mastermind son) to really enjoy watching the twins at their least comfortable before they came clean and let them off the proverbial hook.

For the entire night as the revelry wore on, Elladan and Elrohir grew increasingly more nervous and suspicious. They would not talk to anyone and if they weren't standing firmly backed against a wall, they were back-to-back. This party was more like a wooded battleground to them, and yet with their prime suspects, including Aragorn, Legolas, Faramir, Gimli, and Belthil, in mind, they knew that even their Elf-eyes would likely not see the "strike" as it was about to fall.

As the party began to wear down in the wee hours guests departed bit by bit, eventually leaving only the prime suspects. Yet Arwen was still there and so were a few others, several Citadel guards who seemed to know Faramir rather well, and even the younger Faramir, who had received a special dispensation to be permitted to stay up late at this celebration.

Aragorn waved the twins over to where they all were gathered there in Merethrond. They glanced at one another, very hesitant to move any closer to that particular group.

"Well, 'Ro, at least they waited until it was mostly just them," Elladan said, sounding resigned to their fate.

"We might as well take whatever they can dish out and do it bravely, what say you brother?" Elrohir said, still sounding nervous as they approached. Aragorn and Arwen rose and insisted that the twins be seated and make themselves comfortable, as if that was at all possible for them at the moment.

Wine was poured all around, from the same bottle, and Faramir rose to make a toast. "To Lords Elladan and Elrohir, for having endured our little ruse as much as we have had to endure theirs, some of us for decades and centuries on end. May they never forgot just how it feels to be at the mercy of the imminent practical joke."

"Here, here!" was heard all around as glasses were raised. The twins just looked entirely perplexed.

"Drink up, my brothers," Aragorn encouraged with a huge grin. "There is nothing in the wine, honestly."

They just stared at him as though they highly doubted that. It was more likely to them that everyone present had spent the last few months building up an immunity to whatever they tainted the wine with. Whatever the case, they staunchly refused to drink, especially considering that they did not even really understand what Faramir's toast was all about. By that time the whole table was in tears with laughter, every last one of them, with the exception of two highly annoyed Elven twins.

When it was (finally) explained to them that the entire joke was that there was no joke, they looked either extremely impressed or extremely round the bend. Faramir explained that he had the idea to use their own skill against them, to make it look like something incredible was about to befall them at any moment and just sit back and watch them writhe.

In the end, the twins had to admit that it was a brilliant plan and that the conspirators probably got more entertainment out of that one, extended prank than that they out of all the little ones they had pulled over the years. They wished they'd have thought of it, but no one really thought that they could make a joke play out that long without giving in and doing some absurd anyway.

As they made their way back to their chambers, Elladan and Elrohir vowed revenge no matter what it took. Aragorn, putting an arm around his elder son's shoulders, replied with a proud (and yet rather disconcertingly devious) smile, "You may do your worst, but with Gondor's finest tactician on our side, whatever we retaliate with will most assuredly make you regret your revenge."

"Then let the war begin!" the twins said in unison, rushing off to plot their next mischief.

Aragorn and Faramir knew they could sleep soundly for a while though, it was take them quite a while to overdo nothing.

ooo

Now it's The End. I needed to add this because there was just no way i could see working this into the rest of the story, especially as i was getting closer and closer to the end.

Look for a third in the Chaos series, The Return of Chaos, coming soon. Also, watch for updates to A Separate Chaos, as well as some little one-shots here and there, plot-bunnies who have been turning into dust-bunnies.

Elenhin: I think i was going to do the run-through of Elboron and Eldarion as they grow up in the first chapter(s) of Return of Chaos. That looks like its going to be pretty fun to write. I think that Eldarion and Elboron (here technically uncle and nephew) are going to end up being the best of friends. And yes, i most definitely agree, writers are a damaged species. There is a Masocistic tendency in all of us, which complements the Sadistic tendencies we impose on our poor characters rather well.

linda: I hope to start working on that Denethor fic soon. My only query is: should that be set as a Chaos spin-off as well? I think that would add an extra dimension of intrigue. Perhaps i shall do that. Thanks for the bunny!