Chapter Six: Always There for You
It was a cool, peaceful night. The moon shone brightly through the window, creating shadows all around the medium sized bedroom. Toys were scattered all over the floor, dirty clothes thrown in a heap in one of the corners, and on the bed was a small shaking form, looking around the room with wide, fearful eyes, his knees hugged tightly to his chest. His name was Elrond. In one hand, he was gripping his toy fox, Faeron, and his worn, green blanket in the other. He was frightened, but not of the monster under his bed, even though the monster was scary. To his frightened mind, the shadows hid the monsters from him. They were waiting to pounce on him, but the darkness didn't want him to see that. But he wasn't clueless. He knew that the monsters were there, waiting for the right moment to strike.
Elrond looked up in alarm when the doorknob suddenly turned. He watched with wide eyes, preparing for the worse, as the door quietly swung open. Elrond relaxed visibly when he saw it was just Elros, his twin.
"Gwador-nin, you scared me." Elrond whispered. Elros closed the door and hurried over to his brother he jumped onto the bed and huddled close to his twin. Elrond put an arm around Elros's shoulder, his senses telling him something was wrong.
"Are you okay?" Elrond asked. Elros shrugged and twisted his blue, threadbare blanket in his hands. Elrond draped his own blanket over his brother's shoulders and pushed Faeron onto Elros's lap.
"Come on, tell me." He pressed. Elros shrugged again and hugged his knees to his chest. Elrond pulled his brother closer to him so that Elros was leaning against him.
"I had a nightmare." Elros muttered.
"Me too." Elrond replied. "Do you want to talk about it?" Elros shook his head.
"Not really." He whispered. "I just want to forget it and pretend it never happened."
"Easier said than done, right?" Elrond asked. Elros nodded and rested his head on his brother's shoulder. Elrond tightened his grip on Elros's shoulders, wishing that he could make Elros's nightmare disappear so that it would seem like it really didn't happen.
"But it doesn't have to be, gwador-nin." Elros looked at his brother, curiosity gleaming in his dark eyes.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"Well, you can think about good things. That'll make the nightmare go away. You see, nightmares are like shadows, and happy thoughts are like sunlight. In order to make the shadows disappear, you need to have sunlight, or any type of light." Elrond replied. Elros nodded, a small smile on his young face.
"I see. Apply light and the shadows disappear." He whispered. He wrapped his skinny arms around his brother's neck. "Thank you, El. Thank you for being there for me." Elrond smiled and wrapped his brother in a hug.
"Here's one thing you must not forget, Elros, no matter what happens. I will always be there for you, rain or shine, shadows or no shadows, day or night, nightmares or no nightmares. You are my brother, and I will always be there for you." Elros nodded. He understood, and he would never forget his brother's words. He swore to himself that he would always hold them in his heart, tuck them back in a safe place in his mind so he could hear them when Elrond was too far away and couldn't reassure him that the nightmares would disappear with a little light. Elrond did not know it, but to Elros his brother was the light. And for him, that would always be true.
"Now," Elrond began "what do you say to getting some sleep?" Elros stiffened. The nightmare suddenly flew to the front of his mind and Elros whimpered. Elrond tightened his hold on his brother.
"It's all right, gwador-nin. You can sleep with me tonight. I will protect you, never you fear." Elros nodded and crawled under the blankets next to his brother. He snuggled close to Elrond as Elrond wrapped a protective arm around his shoulders. And Elros knew then that everything was going to be okay. He buried his face in his brother's chest and fell asleep almost immediately.
Epilogue, anyone?