Time Transcended

With Baited Breath

Disclaimer: If it is Tolkien's it is his. If it is mine, it is mine.

Elladan and Elrohir were speaking about his honeymoon with Rebecca, when suddenly Liz appeared before them.

"Liz!" Elladan cried as he jumped up and reached her in two hurried steps. He gave her a warm hug and a kiss.

"Elladan, I thought long and hard about what would happen if I married you, then what would happen if I didn't, and in the end I came to a very hard decision," she said.

His heart began cracking and falling to pieces, he didn't like her tone… it was unsettling.

"I had to decide between seeing my father again, and marrying you. You know how much I loved my father, and you know how much I love you, and I couldn't decide so I sought council from your father and your mother, and I still couldn't decide. So, Mandos was so kind as to let me see my father, who was apparently still in Mandos' halls, and I spoke with him about it. You know what he told me?"

"I do not have the slightest clue," Elladan said, trying not to sound utterly distressed.

"He told me that he would rather see me happily married off to a great guy, or elf, than to see me miserable and have me for ever. So I chose you," Liz said at last with a grin.

Elladan picked her up, spun her about, and then kissed her repeatedly. He had never been so happy in his life.

Elrohir, seeing they obviously wanted to be alone, left them and gave the news to Rebecca. She was so ecstatic about it, that she kissed Elrohir and immediately began dancing around the house.

Glorfindel watched Rebecca twirl and jump about the living room until she tripped on the edge of the couch and fell to the ground. Her elven senses were not quite up to elven standards as yet. Upon the ground she began laughing hysterically at her own foolishness, much to the amusement of Glorfindel and Elrohir, who then picked her up and set her upright.

"We should make them a celebratory mid-night dessert Elrohir!" she suggested the minute the room stopped spinning.

"Do you really think they are going to join us? I think they might be locked away long past that," Glorfindel said.

"What do you mean? Elladan isn't like him you know," Rebecca said, glancing over at her husband.

"Ha! That's what you think! Ever since you two have gone, those two have been very romantic. I actually saw Elladan kiss her good-night, then put her hand on the small of her back as he escorted her to her car," Glorfindel reported. "Apparently you have been to busy with Elrohir to notice how much they are together."

"I guess so. I didn't think Elladan had a romantic bone in his body."

"Oh, believe me, he does. He just denies it," Elrohir said with a smile. "He always has. I caught him writing songs for different elven ladies he fancied at different times. None of them ever saw them, but they were written all the same. He's more of a romantic than you might want to credit him."

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"Liz, you scared me! I would have sworn you were going to say you would leave me," he confessed, staring her straight in the eyes.

She grinned wickedly. "I knew you would. That's why I did it. Hey, how long was I gone. I counted two weeks."

"I counted two hours."

She thought a moment, then shrugged it off.

"When would you like the wedding to be?" he asked.

"As soon as possible. I don't see a reason for waiting."

"What about your family? Shouldn't they know?"

"Well of course. And we'll tell them everything," she said flippantly.

"Aren't you worried what they'll think when they learn I'm an elf and you are going to sail away forever?"

"Actually, I have no idea what'll think, and I really want to find out. Let's call them and find out!" she grinned as she ran over to his telephone.

After two and a half rings, her mother picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi mom! It's me, Liz!"

"Oh Liz! How good to hear from you again."

"Mom, remember that Dan guy I was telling you about?"

"Yes."

"Well, we got engaged today."

"You what?"

"We got engaged. You said you thought he seemed a great guy."

"I did, I do, but I haven't met him Lizzy. Isn't this a little fast?"

"Not really… but Dad approved, I mean, would approve of him, but there is something you ought to know. And you might want to sit down to hear it."

"If you are pregnant so help me…"

"Mother! I should think not! You raised me better than that! No, it's about Elladan. And no, he's not a father of some other kid, he doesn't have a criminal record, or anything like that. It's about his race."

"Honey, you know I don't care whether he's African-American or…"

"No, no, not that kind of race, what I mean to say is, he's not quite human."

"Liz, is this a joke? April Fool's Day is a few weeks off yet."

"No… okay, would you rather I ease you into the news or just blurt it out?"

"At this point, blurt."

"He's an elf."

"Don't you mean a dwarf?"

Upon hearing that his eyes widened with ancient prejudices' renewed.

"No, he's six feet tall. I mean an elf, like the kind in Middle-earth."

There was silence on the other end. "Liz, are you okay?"

"Never better Mom!"

"Then why are you lying to me? You can't marry an elf dear, they don't exist."

"Yes, they do. Santa's don't, but Tolkien's do. I'm staring at him right now, he has pointed ears."

"Maybe he had surgery."

"He's several thousand years old."

"Maybe he's lying, or crazy."

"Mom! No! I'm telling the truth! He's an elf."

"Liz, I have a really hard time… Wait a second, Richard wants to speak to me. I'll call you right back."

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"Sue, I wouldn't be so certain about elves not existing," Richard said, both hands on his wife's shoulders.

"What do you mean Richard?"

"When I was in the army I was buddies with a guy named George Treeleaf. Everyone thought he was a little eccentric, because when we would do training for a couple days outside, at night he would sing to the stars, quietly, but to them. And he would hear things none of us could hear, and see things we couldn't see because they were too far away. He could tell a sparrow from a finch quarter of a league away, and when he slept, his eyes were wide open."

"Well what's so strange about that. My uncle Bert slept the same way."

"But ten to one your uncle's eyes moved when he went into REM. George's never did, and he was always sound asleep. Anyway, I started keeping track of all his oddities, and soon I noticed other things, like he could climb trees with limbs no lower than twenty feet from the ground, with no effort. We never saw him climb them, but we saw him in them, then he'd jump down with out so much as a falter. Now, he had pointed ears, which, we all figured was a weird birth defect, at least, that's what his file said. We became really close buddies, and after we did, I asked him about some of his oddities. At first he would smile and not say anything, but then I coaxed it out of him, and he told me he was an elf. I didn't want to believe him at first, but I had to trust him with my life on the field, so I figured I better trust him off of it. He proved it to me after we were both discharged and I visited him. He had three friends, each of them were elves, two of them were dark haired, identical twins. If I saw them again, I'd know them in an instant. I'll bet she is engaged to one of the twins."

Sue was taken aback by this revelation, but she knew Richard wasn't crazy, so she believed him. She called Liz back.

"I believe you. Richard met him. When's the wedding?"

"I don't know yet, but I'll call when I do."

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After the phone conversation she hung up.

"I didn't have the heart to tell her about the sailing," she said.

"You've got time to work up the nerve. Don't worry about it right now. Let's just relax."

"Okay Elladan," she said, wrapping her arms around him and laying her head on his shoulder. "You know, in Imladris it was far easier to forget your troubles. It is always easier in an elven home, even Mirkwood. I wish you could have seen Imladris mel nin, you would have loved it there."

Liz smiled into his shoulder. "I'm sure I would have."

His arms were wrapped around her, and she was loosely holding him. Slowly, but surely, she gave in to his embrace, finding her will to stand surrender to him. He felt it, and thus laid her on a chaise lounge, and then rested on one elbow next to her.

"April fourth. Let's get married April fourth," Liz suddenly whispered. She was half asleep, and her voice was lazy and quiet.

"Why that date in particular?"

"It was my father's birthday."

Elladan just smiled then said, "So be it."

Liz gave a small, whole-hearted grin, and snuggled up closer to his reclined form. He in turn wrapped his arms around her, and quietly sang in her ear.

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The clock struck twelve, and Glorfindel was asleep in an arm chair, looking like a corpse.

"Should we wake him?" Rebecca asked.

"No. He likes to sleep sitting up, on occasion. If he grows weary of sitting there, he will surely go to bed or lie on the couch," Elrohir replied. "Let us go up to bed now, ourselves."

Rebecca followed him and commented that he was speaking more and more like the lordling he was. He only smiled.

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He was lying on his side, and she was on her back. One arm was under her head, and the other caressing her face.

"What would you prefer Mirë, living by the Sea, or in the middle of Valinor?" he asked.

"I would think I would enjoy living in the middle. The rolling hills and the mountains were beyond beautiful. But should you wish to be by the Sea, I have no objection. The coast is stunning. Don't you have a house there?"

"I was living with Father and mother. They were with in hearing of the Sea."

"An elf your age, living with your parents? How embarrassing!"

Elrohir gave her an annoyed look, then broke into a wide grin. "I think we should be by the Sea, but in a small, secluded house. That way, when we wish to go for a midnight swim…"

"It doesn't matter, because we shall practically be alone."

"Exactly."

Rebecca gave a contented sigh, then Elrohir leaned down and kissed her. "The Children of Tinuviel are finally getting the happy end they deserve. After all these thousands of years, we are getting it all, with out cataclysmic repercussions."

"Wouldn't it be funny, if by some crazy accident, someone figured out all this and started hunting for Valinor, then actually found it? It would be the modern tale of Earendil."

"That would be strange, but I wouldn't count on anyone ever discovering Valinor again. I have a feeling, after we leave, that Valinor shall be forever sundered from this world. We shall be the last."

"That's actually a bit of a sad thought. I mean, it will be like Middle-earth finally died."

"Middle-earth has faded Mirë, but it shall never die. As long as elves remember it, it shall live on. I see what you mean though."

Rebecca gave a sad smile. "You are right, I am certain." She gave a small sigh.

"Do not be saddened by the fading of Middle-earth. You saw it in it's autumn, but I saw the last remnants after a bitter winter. I saw it in the spring of this world. That was truly sad. Smile and look forward to Valinor. Sweet Valinor! All of our fears and sorrows shall be washed away there."

"I know, I know. I'm just sentimental I guess."

He smiled. "You are more elven than you know. You always have been. Later I shall teach you the songs the elves sung as they left Middle-earth. You shall learn them, weep, and become one of Arda's greatest mourners," he teased.

"You are terrible!" she teased back.

"And that is why you love me so!" he smiled as he bent down to kiss her.

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Downstairs, Glorfindel awoke and saw he was in the dark and was alone. He decided he had been sitting asleep long enough and should go to bed. As he crept past each room, he heard noises. In Rebecca's old room he heard the happy song of a woman in love. In Elladan's room, he heard the lordling singing part of an old lay about love. Inside of Elrohir and Rebecca's room, he thought he heard Elrohir chanting something. He recognized part of it, but thought not on it long and kept going.

Glorfindel flung off his mortal garb then laid down in his bed. He sang to himself a particular song until it gave the desired effect. After a time, a choir of birds came to rest on his porch railing and sing an elven song back to him that he had taught them when he first got there. It was almost like being in Imladris again. For a finishing touch to his whim, he sang a song to the cloud that covered the moon, and it dissipated, so the moon could shine into his room. With a contented sigh and a grin he fell asleep. Soon enough he would be back in Valinor. Soon enough he would be back in a truly elven home. He was glad to be finally getting close to leaving.

Authors note: So, how do you like it? That's great! Alas! I am not a psychic. Therefore, you must send me a review so I can read what you think. Thank you much! Oh, next chapter is being a brat, so it may be a little while ere I get it up. As it is, I have a dress I must complete by Friday, and then a merciless load of end of the school year/graduation junk... Bah! Patience would be appreciated and hopefully rewarded!