TITLE: The Messenger
AUTHOR: Carrie (CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur)
RATING: PG
CHARACTERS: Haldir/Lindariel (OFC). Mostly told from Haldir's POV with a small portion told from Lindariel's POV.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything other than the computer that I typed this vignette with. Oh, I do own Dúrvain, my wonderful Elven muse. He keeps begging me to include him in a story, but as I tried explaining to him, until he is more "fleshed" out it would be pointless to include him.
DEDICATION: I am dedicating this to Lurien (check out Elanor's Revenge by Juliediane for knowledge of Lurien), who inspired me to write this with his own JFAChallenge entry…
BETAS: None, yet…
NOTES: Please be kind to me. I am still not sure that I got anything right.
The Messenger
"Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go."
--Hermann Hesse
Just as Lindariel and I reached the city, I felt Galadriel calling us to her. "Come, she is waiting." I said as I led Lindariel up the stairs to where the Lady was awaiting us.
"I do not know if I will ever get used to all of this." Lindariel commented as we neared the top of the stairs.
"Get used to all of what, Lin?" I inquired.
"Being here with you." She answered simply, but I could see that she was becoming rather nervous.
"There is no need to be nervous over this meeting." I said as I leaned forward and placed a light kiss on her cheek. "Galadriel just wants to see if your trip was fine, and that nothing went wrong."
A short time later, Haldir was escorting me back down the stairs and towards his talan. I could not believe that I was actually here with him! I kept on feeling like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I just knew for sure that my Adar was going to chase me down here in Lórien, and drag me back home to Imladris kicking and screaming.
I soon found myself falling into a pattern of occupying my days. I would wake early in the morning, and spend my day exploring the city and its surrounding areas with Haldir, Rúmil, or Orophin, whichever one was off duty that day. If none of the three were available, one of the many off duty Wardens or Sentinels would be my escort for the day. Every one of Haldir's friends seemed to genuinely accept me, and I soon felt completely at home in Lórien.
One day when Haldir and his brothers were all on border duty, I ran into one of my favourite elves in Lórien. "Lurien! I am so happy to find you this morning."
"Lindariel, I am very glad to be of any help to you. Do you know when Haldir will be coming back from border duty?" Lurien asked me.
"Yes, he should be back in the next couple of days." I answered. "Would you like to go on a picnic with me?"
"Certainly, I would enjoy that very much. It will also give me ample time to tell you many embarrassing stories about Haldir's elfling days." Lurien replied. "Shall we stop by the kitchens on our way to the Gardens?"
"You read my mind, Lurien." I smiled as I took hold of his arm that he offered me as we made our way towards the kitchens and then on towards the Gardens.
About an hour later, I was laughing so hard my sides hurt. "Oh, Lurien, you must tell me another story. I need something to hold over his head in case we ever argue. I need a way to win."
"Well, the only other story that I can remember, that would be even remotely funny, happened when Haldir was only about six years old. I am not even sure I am remembering this correctly, because I am the same age as he is. At any rate, one summer, when he was about six, there was this big festival being held here. All the Elven Realms were celebrating, and the city was filled to the brim." Lurien paused in his story.
"Well, what happened next?" I asked.
"You must understand; this was before Rúmil and Orophin were even a gleam in their parents' eyes." He paused, and then continued when I nodded. "At the time Haldir, was a very spoiled child, he and I were, in fact, the first elflings to be born in a long time in Lórien, so we were both rather spoiled with attention. And on this day, we were both being ignored for the first time in our young lives. Okay, so this is a rather embarrassing story for the both of us." Lurien smiled at me.
"That is alright. I will not count it against you. But please, continue." I promised.
"Well, Haldir and I were both getting rather hungry, and neither one of us managed to gain the attention of our parents. We heard some elves talking about the fruit bushes near the edge of the forest, so we made our way there. We only had one thought on our minds, to find the fruit bush so we could eat. Eventually we made it to the bush, and there were the biggest blackberries we had ever saw. We started picking and eating the berries until our little tummies had completely filled up." He again paused, but only to take a drink this time.
"We did not realize that we had been there all day, but at some point, we had fallen asleep. Apparently, several hours had passed and all of the adults were out searching for us, while we slept our day away contentedly beside the blackberry bush. It was not until near suppertime that Elrond finally came upon our sleeping forms. He 'called' to Galadriel so as not to awake us, and she sent our parents in the correct direction. They soon found us, and woke us up. But do you know how they woke us up?" Lurien asked me sounding truly upset.
"No, how did they wake the two of you younglings up?" I queried.
"They laughed at us!" Lurien exclaimed, and I could not help laughing at his indignant look.
"I am sorry, I am not laughing at you, but with you." I tried claiming, but Lurien knew that was a thinly veiled lie.
"At any rate, after Haldir and I were so rudely woken up, our parents made it their mission to point out our berry stained faces to every elf we passed on our way home. The worst part was when they paraded us in front of the Lord and Lady. The two of us truly thought we would never get over the embarrassment of it all." Lurien finished as we started to pack up the remainder of our picnic. When everything was packed away, we headed back to the heart of the city where our talans are.
Just as we got to the steps leading to Haldir's and my talan, a messenger met me with a package that I took up the stairs with me.
Lurien walked me up to the door, where he hugged me and bid me farewell. "I had a lot of fun today, but if you ever tell anyone what I told you today, I will deny everything." He smiled as he turned and left.
I was curious what the package was, so I took it to the balcony to open.
Several weeks after Lindariel's arrival in Lórien, a rider from Imladris arrived in the Golden Woods. I started to worry about the messenger when I heard Galadriel's voice echo in my head.
"There is nothing you need to fear about this missive. No one will part you from your óre nîn. It is just a message from her naneth." Galadriel said.
"Thank you," I answered as I made my way back home from a week's worth of border duty.
Walking into our talan, I realized that Lindariel was out on the balcony. "Are you okay?" I asked when I noticed that she was softly crying over something written in the letter.
"I am fine. I was just getting sentimental over some things my naneth sent me along with her letter." Lindariel answered.
"What did your naneth have to say?" I questioned.
"She said that she realized she had to let me go if she had any hope of ever seeing me happy again, and that by letting me go she was making herself stronger and more able to withstand the separation when they finally sail to the West. She also said that Ada has more or less calmed down, but she still has to keep him distracted enough so he will not come after me. She did say that Lord Elrond has been helping with that. She also sent me several mementos from home." Lindariel replied.
"Like what?" I fished for an answer.
"Some paintings from home, some of my clothes, my only baby doll I have left, and a few other things from her alone." She barely whispered the last couple of items, as if still having one of her dolls embarrassed her.
"So what did you do today to occupy your time?" I asked her as I leaned forward and pulled her into a kiss.
"Lurien and I went on a picnic since no one else was around. And he told me some of the most delightful stories about the two of you from when you were very young elflings." She laughed.
"Oh please tell me I do not have to kill him because he told about the berry incident?" I cringed not really wanting to know the answer to that question.
"Yes, he did, but you do not have to worry. The only people I would ever tell that story to would be our own elflings." She answered.
That caught my attention. "You want to have elflings with me?"
"Someday, when we are truly ready to be parents, then I will definitely want to have elflings with you. You will make an excellent Ada." Lindariel whispered as she leaned in to kiss me back.
Of course, that kiss led to another and then another, until we were both heavily panting, and I picked her up to carry her inside to the bedroom.
