Beta: Fabulous Anarithilen. Thank you as always.

Thanks to Spiced Wine for lending me Tindómion.

As this is now merged with More Dangerous, Less Wise, this chapter also runs into chapter 31. In More Dangerous, the scene between Tindómion and Legolas is from Legolas' pov so I thought it would be good to have the same scene from Tindómion's.

Chapter 15: Farewells part a

Arwen opened the door very quietly to the ward in which her brothers were. Elrohir sat with his brother, head bent and poured his love into Elladan. She stood next to him and rested her hand against his shoulder, her heart heavy with worry for her gentle, kind brother who lay so still and silent. Elladan's long black hair had been twisted into a thick braid to keep the hair out of his eyes, mouth. And his eyes were sealed shut, like he would never open them again.

It hurt to see him like this.

Elrohir glanced up at her briefly and a smile flickered briefly over his face.' Go and spend your time with Estel,' he murmured, returning his watchful gaze to Elladan. 'He needs you now. Fill his head with memories to sustain him. Give him what he needs to resist the Ring.'

She smiled ruefully. 'I would, except he will not have it,' she said and Elrohir looked up at her puzzled for a moment.

Then he saw what she meant and he blinked at her in astonishment.

'Oh don't look so shocked,' she said. 'Why is it different for women than men?' she asked.

'It is not,' he replied honestly. He pulled her down into the chair with him which was generous and wide enough for the two if they squashed together. 'But you are my little sister and I held your chubby hand in mine when you dipped your toes in the Bruinen.' He kissed the top of her head. 'I wish you all the happiness in the world, but I wish I could make things easier for you. And for Estel.'

Arwen sighed, her head on his chest. She listened to it beat, so strongly. It was not often that she got to sit with Elrohir like this and, in spite of the reason he was still and quiet, she treasured it.

'You have always been a support for us, Morók.'

He smiled at her pet name for him and she leaned against him; though it was Elladan she told first of her love for Aragorn, it was Elrohir who defended them when Elrond had railed against the betrayer that he had accused Aragorn of being. And it had been Elrohir who had petitioned Elrond against the condition he had set for Arwen's hand, and told them both they should elope and live as Dunédain in the Angle. She loved Elladan for his gentleness with her, his kindness- he would always fix a toy and she ran to him if she had grazed a knee, but it was Elrohir who had spun her round like a top, thrown her high and caught her screeching for more….

Until he had returned that dreadful day with the bundle of rags and fragile bones. He had changed then and all his mirth and joy fled.

'I will look after Elladan when you have gone with Glorfindel on the Greenway,' she told him. 'And when you come back, he will be so cross you went without him. He hates it when you go out and ride alone.' She spoke without thinking and then cut herself short. No one spoke to Elrohir about those times. But he did not seem to notice, drawn in on himself and she saw how intently he gazed at Elladan.

She leaned against Elrohir more closely, to lend him comfort and felt his beating heart but beneath it, his silent grief.

When she was small, she used to think how strange it must be for the twins to have another person so alike you, the other side of your soul. But now she had found the other side of her own soul, she envied them that they had known that completeness for the whole of their lives, and she had only the briefest span of her life. But I will make that count all the more, she thought. She did not mourn the loss of her father, her mother. She had made her Choice in full knowledge. But she was sad that her own children would never know her parents and that she would not share the joy of motherhood with her own.

She rested her head on her brother's shoulder and his hand stroked her hair absently.

'He will recover,' she told him firmly. 'I have seen him…'

Elrohir pressed his lips on top of her head. 'So have I,' he murmured. 'But it does not help. I have seen myself standing on a quay and watching a ship sail away. Elladan is beside me.'

Arwen stared at him. He did not know? 'I have seen that too. But I did not see you there,' she said with sudden anxiety. 'A ship's sail was fading over the sea. It was not Mother's ship, but another.'

They were silent, both watching Elladan as his breath rose and fell.

'Were you on the quay?' he asked softly and she paused. She did not know. Only that Elladan had been there, watching and it was not Celebrián's ship that he watched, and knew that those they loved were departing. But she knew without doubt too, that the ship was the last to leave the Havens.

'Do not speak of this to Adar,' Elrohir said quietly.

'Does this mean that you and Elladan have chosen?' she asked but she did not really want to hear the answer. There was comfort in both paths, she believed.

'No. It does not…' but the hesitation in his voice made her wonder if that were not quite true.

'There are those who will not sail,' he added. 'And there is much to do still in Middle Earth. If Aragorn comes into his own, I would not abandon him, or you. And I would seek to guide your children. For a while at least.'

She hugged her big, strong brother then and he pulled her against him so she felt the hard leaness of him, the strength in him. But she felt too the edges of his raw hurt and pain and wished she could help him as he had always helped her. She wished he could find someone he could love and to love him in return as she loved Aragorn. To not have that in her life would be unbearable, she thought and buried her head in his shoulder. But she knew as well the fury in him, the rage that took him and made him hard to bear.

It would have to be a woman of great strength, she thought, to bear that. And she wondered as well how anyone could share Elrohir's life if she had not also shared the hurt and anger in some way. So this woman would have to be a warrior too. She sighed, thinking that perhaps there was no one after all.

'Why do you sigh?' he asked kindly, looking down at her.

'I wish all this was done with and the world was safe,' she said and lay her head again on his shoulder, and together they watched silently the rise and fall of their brother's chest as he breathed.

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