Falling

Eleniel: 9

Elrond had known from the very first moment his rambunctious elfling asked him if she could climb a tree that it was a horrible idea.

He had made terrible decisions in the past, but this was by far the worst.

She had come to him one morning, saying her brothers were busy training and 'Fin' and ''Restor' were somewhere signing important papers, and complained that she was bored.

Elrond had turned to her and asked what she wanted to do, and the first words which came out of her mouth in response to that had been "climb a tree!"

His instincts had told him that he was the father and was allowed to say no, but even he couldn't resist the pitiful face of his young daughter.

And so, he'd taken her outside and showed her how to climb a tree, keeping a firm hold on the back of her tunic the whole time.

But then she had demanded she climb it by herself, to which Elrond had – again – been unable to refuse to.

So, he had watched from the ground, heart beating against his ribs like a lion trying to escape his cage as his little girl – the equivalent to a human no more than nine years of age – clumsily clambered up a tree. Perhaps it would have been wiser to choose a small tree. Or not let her climb one at all.

"Stop there!" Elrond called as Eleniel reached a branch a reasonable height up. The elfling didn't seem to mind, listening to her father and sitting along the thick and – hopefully – sturdy wood.

"Look at me, Ada!" she shouted down excitedly, swinging her legs as a huge grin graced her face. "Look how high I am!"

"Yes, very high," Elrond said, trying to remain calm. "What do you see?"

"Um… I see trees, and flowers, and the stables! And… Ada! I see Dan and Ro and Estel!"

"You do?" the elf lord asked. He felt his heart flutter anxiously as his daughter moved around on the branch and he heard a loud creaking noise. "I want you to come down now, little bird. Come on. Slowly, now."

Eleniel's grin suddenly widened. "I'm not a bird yet, Ada! Birds fly! Watch me fly!"

That lion almost escaped its cage as the young Peredhel suddenly leaped off the branch, falling down through the green leaves off the tree.

"By the Valar!" he hissed, adding a few Elvish curses as he quickly ran forward, reached up and caught the happily squealing girl safely in his arms. He held onto her for dear life, grey eyes wide as his heart pumped with adrenaline and he tried to take in what had happened.

"That was fun!" Eleniel said. "Again!" She started struggling in her father's arms, to which he firmly responded to by placing her on her feet, grabbing hold of her shoulders and kneeling down so he was eye-level with her.

"Never again will you do anything like that, do you hear me?"

The girl nodded quickly, not entirely understanding her father's sudden change of mood. "Why?" she asked innocently.

"Why?" Elrond replied, astonished. "Because you could have killed yourself, Eleniel, that is why! What if I had not caught you?"

She tilted her head slightly to the side with a small smile. "I knew you would catch me, Ada," she said, jumping into his arms and hugging him around his neck. "But I'm sorry for scaring you, and I won't ever do it again."

"No, you will not," Elrond said, standing to his feet with his daughter in his arms, "and if you ever do-"

"What?" Eleniel asked daringly, a twinkle in her blue eyes.

Elrond chuckled. "You will not find out, because you will never do it again!"

No, Eleniel thought as the two walked back to the house, she would not ever jump out of a tree into her father's arms again…

… she'd do it with Glorfindel instead.