Disclaimer: I do NOT own any of the characters in here except for the ones that you do not recognize such as Lalaith, her parents, random elves or humans and the ranger in the next chapter. I am making NO money off of this…sadly…and I especially do NOT own Legolas, Aragorn, or the twins…-cries- I would love to own any of the four…however I do not…which may be a good thing. Based on the books/movies Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson

A/N: So it took a while, however I'm baaaack. Just to warn you, this chapter has not been beta read! You have been warned! I just wanted to get it up to show I was back!

Perhaps There is Hope

Freca glanced beside him at the two cloak figures which road with him and his companions. They were the same two, which often rode when them over the past years...and many before they were even born. Although the two figures wore cloaks in a dark mossy green, they were unlike the dark cloaks the rangers wore. Their cloaks were more elegant and seemed to stay in better shape than the others cloaks. Their horses too were different, much stronger and valiant. The air around the horses and riders seemed stronger, this being that both horses and riders were that of elven kind. The riders were the twins of Lord Elrond of Rivendell, Lords Elladan and Elrohir. As far as any rider knew, or remembered, the elven twins had been riding with their company for thousands of years, ever since the horrifying incident with their mother, Celebrian.

The Lady of Rivendell had been taken by a group of orcs, beaten and tortured. The twins had been able to save their mother from death and hurry her back to their father, however not even the magnificent healer could heal his wife's spirit. She no longer found life fulfilling and was quickly fading. Her family sent her to live in the Undying Lands, or the Grey Havens. A place where she could be at peace and fully heal.

Driven by their anger and hatred of the monsters that had ruined their mother, the twins had set out with the Rangers, killing any orc that came across their path. The eldest, Elrohir would follow his younger brother anywhere. He had promised his mother that he would look out for Elladan, and he would never go back on his promise. However, the twins were as close as could be, and it was no burden to follow his brother around.

The spring afternoon sun shone brightly in the sky above them, a gentle breeze cooling the air.

The only sound was that of the horse's hooves hitting the ground and the whisper of the breeze.

Elladan and Elrohir had been traveling with the Rangers for three days short of two months, it was time for them to journey back home to see their father. Pulling the hood of his cloak down, Elladan revealed his head full of dark hair and soft pale facial features. Doing as his brother had, Elrohir pulled his hood down as well, his ever watchful grey eyes scouting the area before them. The turn off for them to take would appear soon.

Freca nodded to them, "Thank you for your help once again My Lords."

Both twins nodded, but neither said a word. They never did. As one, they turned and led their horses down the opposite path, almost completely hidden by trees and bushes. The Rangers rode on to continue on their journey, none knowing when they would see the two elves again. Perhaps it would be in only a few years, or perhaps never again in their life time, for elves were strange beings with no sense of actual time, they lived forever.

Down the path, Elrohir chanced a glance at his brother. Although their mother had been taken and then sent to the Undying Lands many years ago, it still greatly affected both of them. But, sometimes Elrohir worried about his brother, he had taken it harder than any of them. Since that day, Elladan swore revenge against the orcs, killing all of them in his path. Elrohir followed his brother to help keep his rage down and to keep an eye on him…and perhaps he too enjoyed killing the monsters.

It was not long before the twins came across a fork in the road, one path led to a human village, one to nothing but open fields, and the last would eventually led to the turn off to take them back to Rivendell.

Just as they were turning to take the path that would lead them home, their sensitive elven ears picked up a strange sound.

"Do you hear…?" Began Elladan.

"Screaming?" Elrohir finished, nodding his head. "Do you smell…?"

"The smoke?" Elladan finished, quickly turning his horse around to take the first path.

Elrohir quickly followed, and soon the twins had their horses in a full gallop, hurrying towards the village. They only hoped that they would not be too late.

A cloud of black and gray smoke filled the air before them as they grew closer. A foul odder filled the air as well; making it a little more difficult to breathe the closer they grew to the village. By the time they reached the village, it was almost in ruins from the fires being set to the huts. Orcs ran around, catching those who were trying to escape.

Their anger soon returned as they saw the horrid creatures before them. Bringing out their weapons, Elladan with a sword and Elrohir with a bow and arrow, they crept forward, hoping to save as many people as possible. The orcs who had not heard of the elven twins skills, laughed at the two of them, but the older ones began to back away slowly, trying to regroup. With war like cries, the twins began fighting, thankful for the mortal men who also began fighting back. Perhaps there was now hope for their village and their people to make it through this.

Soon all the orcs lay dead, spread out over the village grounds. The humans watched the elven twins began helping them with the wounded. The monsters had killed many, only a handful had survived the attack. The men carried the bodies of the orcs to make a pile to be burned, while the few women helped the elves with the wounded. By the time the count was finished, fifteen had died, leaving seven alive.

Houses were searched for more survivors, however none were found until they came to the last hut. Elrohir's keen elven ears picked up the sound of a muffled cry coming from nearby.

"Elladan!" He called out the door, waving his brother over. "I have found someone. " He said, stepping aside so his brother could enter.

Together the two began searching for the crying child. Before long, Elladan came to a pile of blankets in a back room. The pile was squirming as though something lay beneath them. It seemed as though only the top blanket had been lightly burned, for as he picked them up carefully, the rest were unharmed. Lifting the last one, he found a young mortal child staring back at him with dark blue eyes. The child was a little girl, looking to be around three or four in mortal years. She wore a dark brown nightgown, covered with filth and dirt.

He gently picked her up and tried to calm her cries, glaring over her head at his twin who was chuckling at him.

"If you think that it is so easy dear brother, why do you not try to calm her?" Elladan wondered, holding out the child to his brother.

Without a word to his brother, Elrohir took the child and began to rock her gently, whispering soothing elvish words to calm her. It was not long until the child quieted, staring at the two strangers with curiosity.

Looking up at his brother, Elrohir smiled at the shocked look on his face.

"By the grace of the Valar! How do you do that? How do you always manager to do that? You helped Naneth with Arwen and you even helped Ada with Estel!" He groaned with frustration.

Elrohir chuckled once more as he looked back down at the child. "I watched Naneth care for Arwen, then since neither of them were around to help Ada when Estel arrived, I simply did as I remember Naneth doing. 'Tis not that hard brother, even Estel could now do it."

"Shall we take her to the others and see if she belongs to any of them?" Elladan wondered, walking towards the door.

Meeting the humans outside the hut, the twins showed the girl to them and questioned who she belonged to. They were told the child belonged to a strange couple that never allowed the girl outside. Apparently both the mother and father could often be found passed out from too much ale, leaving the small girl to clean up after them. No one knew the child's name, nor did they wish to keep her unless they had to.

Elladan's anger flared, but he kept his face free of emotions. Were these humans so selfish that they would leave a small child to defend for herself?

Placing a calming hand on his brother's shoulder, Elrohir nodded his thanks, "We shall think of something, thank you."

The humans nodded and went back to fixing their village. Walking away from them towards their horses, which stood quietly to the side, they began speaking in hushed voices.

"Tis no wonder most elves cannot stand to be around edians!" Elladan said with a shake of his head.

"Not all edians are as such brother, as the Rangers have proven to us time and time again." Elrohir reminded him, although he agreed with his brother.

Sighing, Elladan nodded and took the reins down from the saddle of his horse, "Shall we take her to Ada? He will know where to place her."

"Do you realize that you were the one to suggest that with Estel as well?" He chuckled, "Yes, we shall take her to Adar. Though you know as well as I do what he shall say." He gracefully jumped onto his own horse, being careful of the child still in his arms.

Elladan did the same and led the way down the path, "Nay brother dear, Adar has had enough raising children. He shall find her a good family to stay with."

However, both brothers knew that this was most likely untrue. Their father had a soft spot for mortal children, especially after Estel had lived with them for so many years.

"I say that within a day of arriving home we have a new sister. Let us make a bet. The loser must a dinner for our home coming."

Elladan thought for a moment before nodding, "Alright, tis a bet. I say no new sister and you say new sister." He glanced at the child who had now moved to have one hand griping Elrohir's tunic while two fingers on her other hand were placed in her mouth.

She was watching the twins with interest; no fear came from her. She trusted these new strangers; they seemed nice, a lot nicer than her mommy and daddy.

"I believe she has calmed down enough to tell us her name."

Elrohir nodded and looked down at the child to see her now looking up at him.

"What is your name little one?" He asked her softly, switching back to common tongue.

She was quiet for a moment, looking at them as if she did not understand what they were asking her. Finally she tilted her head to one side, "Girl?" She wondered.

Elladan's eyes widened as he glanced over at his brother. How did the child not know her own name? Had her parents never taught the child her true name? What kind of parents would do such a thing? So many questions were running through his mind.

Elrohir, seeing the child's fear that she had done something wrong, gave her a smile, "My name is Elrohir…though you my little one, maybe call me Ro." He knew his name, as well as his brothers, was a handful for a child to pronounce. Estel had had trouble with it until he was at least five or six, though perhaps he had just grown accustomed to their nicknames. "And that over there," he pointed to his brother, "is my brother Elladan; however you may call him Dan."

"Hello little one." Elladan greeted, coming out of his thoughts.

The child nodded her head, making her blonde curls bounce around her face. "Ro and Dan funny people!" She scrunched her face up as though she were thinking very hard. "No tiny people, nope, nope, nope. Tall…ears like…" She made a point with her fingers, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth. Suddenly her eyes widened, "El…elvf…elves!" She clapped her hands together; glad she had remembered that. She had often heard her parents talking about them, though usually it was nothing good. It was always about how they thought themselves better than others…but Dan and Ro did not seem mean at all.

The twins glanced at one another, how did the mortal child know about their kind?

"Child?" Elrohir wondered, bringing her attention back to him, "Do you know about elves?"

She nodded, "Momma and daddy told me. They say if I really good, I meet them! Lookie! Me a good girl!" Her smile warmed their hearts. The girl was not sure what she had finally done to be a good girl, and she wished she knew so that she could continue to do it.

"Yes, yes you are." Elladan told her, his eyes searching the area around them to keep them safe.

"What I do? Momma said I a bad girl." She said, hanging her head. "Momma angry with me." She whispered, sniffing a little.

Elrohir rubbed her back, "Shhh." He whispered, trying to calm her once more.

There are lots of elves there you can meet." He smiled as a smile came from the mortal once again.

She nodded eagerly, "Yes pwease!"

The twins smiled and began to tell her all about their home in Rivendell. That evening, they stopped earlier than they normally would, knowing that the mortal had to be tired from all the riding. Finding a safe area they began to set up camp. The child willingly helped them gather some branches for the fire and watched as Elladan began to place the branches in order to make a fire.

"Why do you not lie down? I promise that Dan and I will let no harm come to you." A dinner of berries and special elvish bread had been eaten not long ago, and now the young mortal sat between the brothers, her head nodding as she tried to fall asleep.

Rubbing her eyes she nodded with a large yawn. Standing up, Elrohir scooped her up into his arms and laid her down in the bedding Elladan had laid out for her. Covering her up, he brushed a hand over her face as he whispered, "Quel kaima," (Good night)

Elladan watched from his place next to the fire, he and Elrohir would take turns keeping watch that night, neither one needing much sleep. They stayed awake talking about their journey home until the moon was high in the sky. They then bid one another good night and Elrohir drifted off to sleep. It was not long until Elladan's eyes glazed over en elvish sleep as well, knowing they were safe for the time being.

The younger mortal began to dream, as she often did, dark dreams of monsters. Awaking shaking and sweaty, afraid to move, she slowly glanced around, trying to remember where she was. Finally gathering her courage, she scrambled to her feet and made her way over towards the twins. Would they be angry with her for waking them? Hearing her footsteps, Elladan woke up as she was leaning over him. If she had been looking at him, she would have realized he slept with his eyes opened. As the clouds of sleep left his eyes, he sat up quietly, hearing her whisper his brother's name. "No child, tis Dan. Are you alright?" He wondered, noticing the fear in her voice and eyes.

"I had a bad dream." She told him, looking around once again as though the monsters in her dreams were watching her and ready to jump out to take her.

"Ah, let me wake Ro." His brother was always better at comforting Estel after nightmares than he had been.

"I'm up." Came Elrohir's voice as he too sat up. Holding out his arms to the young mortal, she quickly jumped into his arms. "What haunted your dreams so?"

She closed her eyes, only to open them back up again. Both twins could see the fear in them. "There was a bad man…he…he sent monsters after people…they…they hurts them! Then a big…big…red eye! It's scary, it looked at me!" She began sobbing into Elrohir's shirt.

He rubbed soothing circles on her back a she cried, glancing up as his brother got to his feet. Elladan came back moments later with a canteen full of water, holding it out towards them. "Here child, drink this." He said softly, smiling when she looked at him.

"See Dan," Elrohir said, "Tis easy to comfort a child. "

She watched the two brothers, drying her tears with her tiny fists. Once most of her tears were gone, she placed her middle and ring fingers in her mouth, sucking on them gently. "What you say?" She asked, though her fingers muffled it.

"I told him that comforting you was not hard."

Nodding as though she understood, she yawned and cuddling against Elrohir.

"Sleep, no monsters shall haunt your dreams again."

The young mortal soon fell into a dreamless sleep, waking up refreshed in the morning. After a breakfast of berries, they were back on the horses, riding towards Rivendell. The day wore on and the twins learned that the child was a very obedient and a polite child who rarely fussed. Although they were happy for this, they also wondered why a child so young acted so old. She would talk quietly, answering their questions and asking some of her own. Once she asked about her parents and the twins had no choice but to tell them of their deaths, meaning that they would never come back. She cried to Elladan who was carrying her on his horse that afternoon and he comforted her easily. It was then that Elrohir told her of their own mother's passing. That she had been hurt and although her father had been able to heal her wounds, she was not as happy as she once had been. Thus she had sailed to an Elven Haven to be at peace. The twins were not sure if the mortal child had understood them, but she did understand that they too no longer had their mother.

To cheer her up, they spoke about their adventures and their sister Arwen as well as their younger brother Estel who she was sure to meet.

By nightfall, they had found that she was also a very open minded child and easy to please. She was unlike any other mortal child that they had met, including Estel. As they were getting closer to their home, a howl of wolves came, startling them. What was a pack doing so close to the gates?

"Wolves" The twins cried together, their eyes searching for the animals. They quietly took out their swords as they leaped from their horses.

Elladan glanced at the frightened mortal child still on his horse. Although she said no words, her eyes were filled with tears, her fingers back in her mouth. Surprised by her bravery he tried giving her a comforting smile. "We shall protect you, you need not to worry."

Turning to his twin, he muttered quickly, "Ro, we must send her on with the horses. She could die if she stays."

Elrohir nodded and leaned over to his horse, whispering elven words in the horse's ear. Many elves believe that their horses understood their language, for they always did as they were told and seemed to know when to obey. "Make haste to Rivendell, protect the child." His horse stomped a foot and nodded his head as if he understood what he was to do.

"Me scared." The young mortal finally whispered, looking at Elrohir.

"I know, however you must stay brave for me. Can you do that?" Once she nodded he continued, "Good girl, now you must journey on to Rivendell for me. The horses know their home and shall watch over you. Now you must do something for me, can you do that?" Again she nodded. "When you arrive in Rivendell, find an elf named Lord Elrond. Tell him Dan and I am safe, though we need help. He will know what to do. Can you remember this?"

"Yes." She whispered, nodding her head. "I help you Ro." She said, sniffing to keep her tears back.

Elrohir smiled, though it was tight as another howl sounded. "Be brave." He told her as Elladan patted his horse and quickly muttered a few words. The two watched as the horse began galloping off, the mortal child holding on tightly, and Elrohir's horse following close behind.

Turning around, their weapons before them, they slowly began backing up, waiting for the wolves to arrive.