I am so sorry I took this long to update. The only excuses I can offer are that I didn't have a chance to write in Japan and that my aunt came to visit the day after I got back and stayed for the better part of a week. But I'm finally back at my computer, typing away.
Thanks again for all those comments! I feel loved. A couple replies:
Voldie: I'm not sure if that was directed at this story, but I actually was intending this Sue to be human… Or a wannabe Elf, maybe… In any case, I'm not following canon rules where the Sues are involved. It drives me crazy too when people are trying to write "real" stories with "adult" Elves who are 20 or so. But I'm not trying to be realistic.
SchizoAndroid: Hmmm… I'm sorry the character's name is that annoying… But not really, since that's the effect I was going for. Heh… That's why I gave her a nickname. I couldn't remember, let alone type, her full name all the time!
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Elrohir collapsed onto a couch in relief. "Praise the Valar," he breathed. Everyone could just feel the tension dying down, although Elrond still appeared to be in shock.
After their father had opened and closed his mouth several times without anything coming out, Elladan took pity and began explaining the situation. He explained how Lianora had appeared out of nowhere with her ridiculous story and her intense desire to meet her "father." "Not that we believed her," Elladan hastened to add, "but it was so… unsettling. She is altogether creepy, ada. She is just… unnatural."
Elrond remained silent for a moment, his features slowly settling back down into a more dignified expression for an Elven lord. Finally, he spoke.
"This is not another of your pranks?" It sounded more like a wishful thought than a question, but the brothers all shook their heads anyway. "Well. I do not know… What in the world are we to do with her? I don't think staying here would be exactly beneficial to anyone." Elrond sighed and stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Valar help us," he murmured.
"Perhaps she is merely insane… Maybe she escaped from her family? Or watchers? Or… whatever? We could send messages to surrounding villages asking if someone matching her description has been missed," Aragorn suggested.
"That she is insane I have no doubt," muttered Elrohir. Elladan sighed and shook his head.
"I don't know. She is just so… We could send out messages, but I doubt it will help." He paused. "Although I hope it will. As I do not fancy either throwing her out into the wilderness or giving her a home here."
Elrond rose to his feet. "We shall try, at least. In the mean time, we must at least be civil. I suppose I shall have to meet with her soon…" He looked as though he would rather fight off a horde of orcs and a balrog, and no one blamed him.
A knock sounded at the door, and Glorfindel entered the room. "What," he said, staring at Elladan, Elrohir, and Aragorn in turn, "is that… person?"
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After a full explanation to Glorfindel (and another, to Celboril) and a suitable waiting period to allow their guest to relax from her journey (although whether or not it was really to give Elrond and his sons a chance to prepare themselves for the confrontation had better not be discussed), Elrond slowly made his way towards Tialendalianora's room. Aragorn, Elladan, and Elrohir had most definitely not wanted to accompany their father, but after being faced with being grounded for the next century, they had consented. To everyone's delight, however, Lianora was not in her room.
A sort of half-hearted search began and ended, all too quickly, when Elladan was informed by one of the residents of the Last Homely House that Lianora was currently wandering through their gardens, exclaiming at rose bushes and being subtly watched by half of Rivendell. By now, all of Rivendell had heard of this strange woman who had come to the Elven City, claiming to be the long-lost daughter of their Lord. Elves can be insatiably curious, and everyone was looking forward to seeing how this mystery would play itself out.
Entering the gardens, Lianora was easily heard before she was seen. "Oh!" they could hear her exclaim, "what charming lilies are planted here! It is such a pity my mother could never have seen them; she loved lilies. Oh, how privileged am I to see such wonders!" Elrohir made gagging motions until he received a warning glance from Elrond. Then, visibly bracing himself, the Elven lord rounded a large bush, coming into Lianora's sight. His sons followed, half resignation and half curiosity to see how their father would handle this one.
Lianora gave a small gasp. "Oh! My! You startled me, goodsir. I fear I am not used to Elven ways as of yet. But let me introduce myself. I am Tialendalianora, but please call me Lianora, as that is how all of my closest companions hail me." She paused, recognising the three brothers she had met earlier. "Ah! You are the kind ones who so generously led me here! You have my unending gratefulness. But I fear I have forgotten your names?" She looked eagerly at the twins and Aragorn.
"These are my sons," Elrond said when became apparent that none of his sons were about to reply to Lianora's question. "The twins are Elladan and Elrohir," and here he gave them a warning glance until they bowed to Lianora, "and this is Estel." Aragorn also bowed. "And I," continued Elrond, with resignation, "am Lord Elrond." He waited for the inevitable reply. It came.
"Father!" cried Lianora in a piercing voice. "Oh, Father!" She flung herself at him, burying her head in the front of his robes. "I have found you at last!" Elrond closed his eyes briefly, then delicately tried to detach the girl from his clothes without seeming rude. He was entirely unsuccessful. Elladan was entirely shocked, but Elrohir and Aragorn were watching their father's face and were having difficulties in refraining from bursting into laughter.
Lianora looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears for the second time that day. "Oh, my father, you cannot comprehend the joy that fills every corner of my being in this happiest of moments!" Oblivious to her "father's" increasingly firmer attempts to dislodge her, she turned her tear-stained, beaming face to Elladan, Elrohir, and Aragorn. "And you, my brothers!" Elrohir and Aragorn immediately stopped their half-laughter. "To have concealed your identity from me so cleverly – oh, it is a most ingenuous trick! I know that we shall be closer than imaginable."
Elrond gave up being polite and gently, but quite firmly, pushed Lianora out in front of him. "I fear there has been some mistake," he said, clearly unnerved by the strange young woman standing before him, looking up at him with shining eyes. "I mean no disrespect to you, my lady, but… I have only one daughter, Arwen. Perhaps you have the wrong person?" He spoke as though he were clinging to one last hope.
Lianora stared in shock. "You do not… you do not know me? There is no mistake, of that I am quite certain! I would not make an error in so grave a matter as this! My own father! Cannot you see my mother's face in mine? Everyone has said that we could have been twins, had we been the same age." She opened her eyes as wide as possible and stared intently into Elrond's face.
Elrond's voice became several degrees cooler. "My wife, Celebrian, left these shores some time ago. I am afraid you bear no resemblance to her."
Lianora did not seem to register the tone of her "father's" voice, but even she could not totally dismiss his words and their immediate implication… Or so Elrond and his sons had assumed, anyway.
"Celebrian? No, my mother's name was Astraelindara. Here, let me show you her picture." And, totally disregarding the dark look creeping across the faces of all her companions, she removed her locket from around her neck and opened it. She held it out to Elrond, who, regretfully, took it. He looked at it and blinked. Quickly, so quickly that any non-Elf would scarely have noticed, a look of horror flashed across his face. He stared for a moment, then passed it to Elladan and Elrohir, who were bursting with a mixture of fear and curiosity. Peering over their shoulders, Aragorn saw it too: two pictures…
"I have never seen such a woman before in my life," said Elrond, a slight tremor in his voice, "although you do bear a remarkably close resemblance to her. But I cannot deny that the other picture is of me."
And neither could the three brothers: there was a perfect likeness of their father, along with the likeness of a woman who could have been a slightly (but only very slightly) older Lianora. The only difference was the eye colour: this woman's eyes were blue instead of green.
"I know that this is you," cried Lianora. "Apart from the picture, one of my mother's dear friends spoke often of you. She told me everything my mother would have told me, had she not… passed away… when I was but an infant. I know how you met my mother, how you tried to save her from her fate, how you were forced to return to Rivendell, your home… Oh, how can this be? I do not understand at all…" She accepted the locket that Elrohir grimly returned to her. She shook her head, looking distressed.
It was only millennia of diplomatic training that prevented Elrond from saying something he would later regret. So, rejecting several more interesting sarcastic and/or rude replies he could have made, only shook his head and continued in a rather flat tone of voice.
"I do not understand it any more than you do, my lady. My sons inform me that you are seventeen, and I can assure you that I can account for my whereabouts of about eighteen years previous to this year. They do not include my meeting with any women in such a way as you suggest." Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, for Lianora, she remained oblivious to the growing hostility in Elrond's voice. She also remained oblivious to the fact that most people don't appreciate being accused of infidelity to a beloved wife.
"With no offense intended, my lady," Elrohir offered, his voice as even as he could keep it, "there must be some mistake. Perhaps if you told us the name of the village where you were born, we could…" But here, Lianora cut him off with a wail.
"No, no, you do not understand, you cannot comprehend the horror, the tragedy that has befallen me there! I have sworn by the stars themselves never to speak its name, so long as I might live. I have been mistreated in such a way as you could never believe!" She sank to the ground, weeping. Elrond and his sons looked at each other, unsure what to do. Elrond took several steps backwards.
Lianora moaned. "Oh, how sad my life has become! Through some cruel spell, my own father and my own brothers do not know me! Alas, how cruel is fate!" Suddenly, her weeping ceased, and she looked up, tears gracefully lining her cheeks. "That is it!" she cried. "That must be the answer. A cruel spell! A wizard has cast a spell upon you, my father, that you have no memory of my mother, and thus no understanding of my plight! Oh, but this must be the answer! Your memory has been stolen away!"
Elrond closed his eyes and counted to ten. Then to twenty. Then to thirty. This was proving to be an extremely trying day. "I do not think that one of the Istari would do such a thing," he pointed out, attempting to remain calm and reasonable in the face of the madness confronting him. "They have sworn to help, not hurt, the free races of Middle Earth. It is impossible."
"But what other explanation could there be?" questioned Lianora, rising to her feet again. "I must be right. I know that I am. I feel certain of it. I sometimes have this… feeling, this sixth sense that tells me things that no one else knows. It is a strange talent of mine. I think that it comes from the sufferings I encountered in my childhood." She looked proudly at the shocked family. "But do not fear, it cannot harm you. It can be used only for good!"
Elrond rubbed his forehead, feeling more and more as though he had wandered into someone's dream. Or nightmare. He searched for something suitable to say in reply, and discovered that he was absolutely speechless. An awkward silence ensued.
"Well," said Aragorn at last. "It is getting late. I think that it is nearly time for supper." He paused, wondering if he dared invite the dangerous Lianora to dine with them. Or if he dared to leave her out, as that would be extremely rude. But Lianora soon settled the matter by inviting herself.
"Oh! You should have informed me sooner. I must change into something suitable for the occasion! We must continue to bond later, I am afraid, I must fly!" With that, she curtsied to all of them and began to delicately run up towards the house.
"It's only a supper… Nothing fancy…" Elrohir said helplessly to her retreating form. "You don't…" He trailed off.
Elrond was simply standing and staring in complete shock at the spot where Lianora had stood only moments before. "Um… adar?" said Aragorn hesitantly.
Elrond closed his eyes for a long moment. When he opened them, he sighed and looked at each of his sons in turn. "I think," he said carefully, "that I am about to come down with the first case of an Elven disease and will therefore be rendered incapable of seeing anyone outside of my immediate real family and friends for as long as that… creature remains here."
"But have you considered what she might do if she feared that her father were ill?" asked Elladan mischievously. "She would undoubtedly be very distressed and she would probably beg permission to attend on you night and day." Elrond paled.
Just then, Arwen entered the glen where they stood. "Ada! I've been looking for you. Glorfindel said you had a guest that I simply had to meet. He was rather mysterious…" She paused, taking in the scene around her. "And what are you laughing at?" she asked her brothers, who were sniggering at her, suspiciously.
"It is no laughing matter, I will vouch for that," said Elrond darkly. "I fear that Imladris is in grave danger. As to the… guest… you will see her at supper. I suggest you prepare yourself to be horrified. And if you don't stop laughing," he said pointedly to his twin sons, "I will have you two seated next to her!"
That, as he had expected, cut the laughter short immediately.
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I apologise again for being so slow with this update, but I hope you liked it. I will try to be extra quick with the next one to make up for this. Um… Review and/or flame, just let me know you're out there. (Reviews are generally more appreciated then flames, though.)