Disclaimer: I don't own this, and if you sue, you won't get much.

A/N: Sorry its taken so long for me to update. Life's been crazy lately. Thanks to all of my reviewers, ya'll are the ones who inspire me to write.

Children of Men

Chapter 5

Elwing hesitated slightly at the door of her father's study. He was very busy and she didn't really want to bother him. But she couldn't just shrug off her concern for her sister. Fortunately, she was saved from her indecision when Aragorn called out to her.

"Come in, Elwing."

She stepped into the room in chagrin. "How did you know it was me, Ada?"

Aragorn smiled at his eldest daughter. "Now if I told you that, what kind of father would I be? Now what is bothering you, child?"

"Elenwë," Elwing admitted as she sat down with a sigh. "Surely you noticed her behavior at Lauriel's birthday celebration last night. I've never seen her so withdrawn."

Aragorn nodded seriously. He knew that the incident of the other night would be hard for her to overcome. Valor knew it would haunt his dreams for nights to come. However, she was strong, with a vibrant and resilient soul. She would come out of this alright.

"Elenwë needs to know that she is safe. She's just a little insecure right now," Aragorn assured her. "Why don't you and Lauriel take her on an outing on the Pelennor? That may help her out of her shell a little."

"Oh yeah, the guards you and Lord Faramir will surround us with will really make her more secure with herself," Elwing said sarcastically. "Unless, you're going to allow us to go without the guards?"

Aragorn honestly hadn't thought about that. He certainly couldn't let his daughters and the daughter of one of his best friends to go off unprotected. "Well…"

OoooOoooOoooOoooO

"How did you get King Elessar to allow us to leave the outer wall of the city without an escort?" Lauriel asked, amazed and skeptical at the same time. "You did tell him what we were doing, right?"

"It was his idea," Elwing said defensively. "Besides, you misunderstood me. I said we were going without guards, I didn't say we were going unescorted."

"So who is our 'escort' then if Ada isn't making us take guards?" Elenwë asked, puzzled.

"Well…"
However, Elwing was spared from answering as they exited the building and saw Eldarion, Turgon, and Elfwine waiting with the horses near the gate.

Elenwë turned toward her sister. "Elwing," she whispered fiercely. "I can't face Turgon! He was there! He knows what happened!"
"You have to move past this, Elenwë. You can't let it rule your life! You are stronger than that!" Elwing whispered back.

"I don't feel strong."

"You have the blood of Númenor and the Eldar following through your veins! Are you going to let some pig bring you down like this?"

Elenwë's eyes suddenly burned like silver flames. "No. You are right, Elwing. I will overcome this."

"Good," her sister said.

"Now, come you two," Lauriel said, jumping in between the two and linking their arms together. "Let's not leave our 'bodyguards' waiting."

OoooOoooOoooOoooO

"So how did I get roped into babysitting your little sisters with you?" Elfwine asked.

"What? You got something better to do?" Eldarion teased.

"Someone, maybe, quite a few someones," Elfwine said smugly.

"Don't you believe him, Eldarion. He's all talk," Turgon stated mater-of-factly. "Actually, I've never even seen him spare too much of a glance at a maiden. The few someones he speaks of could very well be a few lads."

"That is slander against the future king of Rohan, cousin," Elfwine said in mock outrage. "I'd watch you back if I were you."

"Aye, I'll watch my back," Turgon said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "And I'll advise my lord Eldarion to do the same. The prince of Rohan may have taken a fancy to a certain member of Gondor's royal family."

"Well, it is a rather attractive family," Elfwine commented.

"I don't know upsets me more, the fact that you could be talking about my sister or the fact that you could be talking about me," Eldarion said giving Elfwine a strange look.

"What about you?" Elwing asked.

"Your brothers, my ladies, are questioning my masculinity," Elfwine said in faked indignation.

"I can't imagine would question there would be," Lauriel said with a smirk. "I would think that it was obvious that you had none. I don't remember you ever courting a lady."

"Well," Elfwine said flustered. "Maybe I'm setting my sights on a lady that is currently unavailable."

Only Turgon saw his slight glance at Elwing. 'So, cousin, you advised me from true experience. This is going to be an interesting day.'

OoooOoooOoooOoooO

None of the group noticed being followed by two figures as they left the safety of the city walls.

"Why are we stuck watching these children dance around each other all day?"

"Now, there are still dangers in this time of peace. You wouldn't want any rogue orcs to get to them before we could, now would you?"

The shorter of the two grinned. "Of course not. I could use a little fun these days."

OoooOoooOoooOoooO

Aragorn, Faramir, and Éomer walked cautiously into the room where their wives were waiting for them. They were going to have lunch together, and the men, although they'd never admit it, were somewhat wary of what the three beautiful women were laughing about. Suddenly, they overheard Lothiriel mention a wedding, and each released a sigh of relief. They were just discussing some courtier's wedding.

The three bravely entered the room and bowed to the ladies before taking their seats. The ladies graciously nodded their heads and then turned to continue their conversation.

"I just can't wait until they are married," Éowyn stated enthusiastically.

"Until who's married, sister?" Éomer asked politely.

The three ladies looked at him like he had grown a second head. Arwen finally answered him. "Our children, of course."

The reaction was immediate. Faramir nearly choked on the water he was drinking, Éomer looked gob smacked, and Aragorn looked both shocked and furious. To see the three strongest men in Middle Earth react so bad to the prospect of their children getting married was laughable.

"To whom?" Éomer asked.

"Each other, naturally," Éowyn replied.

"Naturally!" Aragorn roared, and then turned on the men at his side. "Your sons are corrupting my baby girls!"

"And your son is coercing with my little girl!" Faramir shot back.

"And my niece," Éomer added.

"Calm down, you three," Lothiriel ordered. "They aren't even together yet."

"What?" all three of them said at once.

"Why'd you get us so worked up over nothing then?" Éomer asked, exasperated.

"For Valar sake, what is so bad about them falling in love anyway?" Arwen asked. "Do you know of three more honorable young men?"
"You are right, my lady," Aragorn admitted with a smile. "As always."

"See now, that wasn't so bad," Éowyn stated.

"Do you have start planning the weddings so soon though?" Faramir asked resigned.

Tbc…