"Fae! Fae! Wake up! It is Midwinter Morning!"
"Ugh..." Faelwen groaned sleepily, peering blearily up at the excited little human as her glazed eyes became focused. She had only had a couple of hours sleep - ordinarily that would have been enough for an elf, but after such a late night, she really was tired. It had taken a while for her to go to sleep when she eventually retired to bed -her thoughts being dominated as they were by a certain blond Marchwarden. "It is too early to get up yet, little one," she said weakly, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him into bed beside her, "sleep a little while longer."
"Everyone wants to sleep longer!" complained Estel, who was clutching Diel the rabbit against his chest. "We should go and open our presents now."
"No, Estel," said Faelwen dreamily, starting to drift towards slumber again, "it would be very mean if we did not wait for Ada and the twins so we could all open them together."
"Oh." Estel nodded in resignation and snuggled closer into Faelwen's embrace.
"Was the dance good last night?" he asked cheerily, determined not to go back to sleep.
"It was wonderful..." murmured Faelwen, eyes sliding out of focus.
"Fae, did you get drunk?"
"What?" Faelwen jerked back to alertness in shock. "Of course not! What gave you that idea?"
"Elrohir did!" said Estel, and the look of wry reproach on his young face was almost hilarious. "When I tried to wake him up, he was really grumpy. Elladan said it was because he drank far too much wine! And then Elrohir told Elladan to..."
"I see. I would not repeat those words in front of Ada or Erestor if I were you," said Faelwen dryly, as Estel recounted exactly what Elrohir had told his twin to do. "Elrohir's backside will be in mortal danger otherwise!"
Estel giggled and began to toy with the ends of Faelwen's hair. "Guess what I saw when I woke up last night?" he asked gleefully.
"What did you see?" replied Faelwen warily, hoping that the little one had not been spying in the direction of the big oak tree.
"Melpomaen and Irianna!" declared Estel in a hushed voice, as though he was revealing the most important of secrets. "And guess what? They were kissing!"
"Were they?" Faelwen pretended to be shocked. She smiled in relief, but also in happiness for the young scribe -so Melpomaen had won his heart's desire after all.
"Who did you dance with, Fae?" Estel asked curiously.
Faelwen sighed; resigned now to the fact that she would be getting no more sleep that morning. "Haldir mostly," she replied. "He was my partner for the night. But I danced with Legolas, Glorfindel and Thranduil as well."
"Is Glorfindel a good dancer?"
"Oh Valar, Estel, was there ever such a child for questions?" groaned Faelwen. "Yes, he is a very good dancer. Why?"
"I just wondered."
"..."
"Fae!"
"What, Estel?" Faelwen tried valiantly to keep the weariness out of her voice.
"You went back to sleep!" Estel's tone was accusing.
"That was my intention."
When the rest of Imladris finally arose - after what seemed like ages to little Estel - Elrond's family, Glorfindel, Erestor, Thranduil, Legolas, Celeborn and his foster sons all gathered in the hall of fire to exchange gifts, as was the tradition. Elrohir sat there, white-faced and bleary-eyed as he was reprimanded for drinking so much until Faelwen, taking pity on him, healed him with a brief touch to his head while Elrond's back was turned. Meeting Haldir's eyes from across the room, she felt her cheeks colour as she saw the intensity and happiness there when he looked back at her. That look let her know that what had happened the night before had not been meaningless. She hoped that he could see the same message in hers. Hopefully they would be able to steal some time alone together that day.
They all watched fondly as Estel tore through his pile of presents first, smiling at his delighted exclamations and radiant expression before each of them turned to their own little piles. Faelwen felt quite awestruck when she opened hers. There was an ornate leather-bound book from Elrond, filled with the most beautiful illustrations of illustrious elves from the past; a set of silver leaf-shaped hair ornaments from the twins; a necklace from Thranduil and Legolas that matched the design of her circlet; a velvet-lined riding cloak from Celeborn and Galadriel and a pair of satin slippers from Arwen that she had sent in the care of her grandparents. Imladris still held too many painful memories for Arwen, so she had stayed behind with Galadriel. She felt tears of happiness begin to sting at her eyes for a moment. Even after all these centuries in Imladris, she still found it overwhelming that she was surrounded by loving hearts in an environment in which everyone cared so deeply about each other. The caring warmth in the room was almost palpable that morning. She was abruptly pulled out of her thoughts by the twins' trademark double hug, which, as usual, left her a little short on air. She tried to frown at them as the ruffled her hair gleefully and sat down at either side of her. But as usual, all she could do was laugh along with them.
"Thank you for these, gwaleth," said Elladan sincerely, indicating the two sets of vambraces which Faelwen had had the armourer design for the twins. They were of sturdy leather, inlaid with mithril patterns of stars and trees, symbolising the bond between the descendants of Earendil and the woodelf they had adopted into their family. Faelwen grinned and hugged them back. She was exceptionally close to the twins; more close to them than to anyone else in Imladris, and it meant a lot that she had chosen something that would help keep them safe on patrol, and which showed how much she cared about them.
Once the presents had been opened and thank-yous exchanged, the merry company parted for the morning until the traditional midwinter meal was to be served in the early afternoon. The adults all retired to Elrond's study to enjoy a glass or two of wine, while Elladan, Haldir and Legolas -at Estel's fervent pleas -agreed to play with his new soldiers with him. Orophin, Rumil and Elrohir, on the other hand, had agreed to go and help Mithrandir sort through the collection of fireworks he was planning on setting off at the close of the day.
"What about you, Faelwen?" asked Elladan, as the hall of fire emptied.
"It is a nice morning and I need something to wake me up. Estel made sure that I did not sleep much this morning," Faelwen answered with a smile. "I think I shall go to the archery field for an hour or so. I will join you when I come back."
The twins nodded and Haldir met Faelwen's eyes once more, exchanging silent messages. She would not be alone on the archery field for long!
The brisk wind ruffled Faelwen's blond hair as she emptied her quiver onto one of the targets. Most them landed in the centre area; it had seemed she had retained a woodelf's talent with a bow, despite being raised in a realm where most of the elves preferred to use swords and spears. She jumped suddenly as an arrow flew past her right side and struck the very centre of the target; splitting the arrow that she had already lodged there in two. Startled, but smiling broadly, she turned to find Haldir behind her, lowering his bow. "Show off!" she teased, her heart speeding up a little at the sight of him. "That is incredible! Will you teach me how to do that?"
Haldir smiled, his eyes shining. "Of course." He stood directly behind Faelwen and, with a nervous swallow, put a gentle arm around her waist and pulled her close so that her back was against his chest. Faelwen's heart began to race at the touch -at this rate she wouldn't even be able to hold a bow! Haldir, gaining confidence, placed his left hand over hers; the one that held the bow and guided it upwards slowly until her arm was parallel to the ground. Once she had drawn an arrow, he then wrapped his free arm around her so that he could hold and guide her right hand as the arrow was set to the string. Keeping both his hands over hers, his powerful frame tense as he focused, Haldir helped her draw back the arrow, his chest pressing against her back as he took careful note of the target. Looking away from the target, he gently pressed his lips against the back of her neck, feeling her tremble.
"Exhale as you fire," he whispered, the low voice in her ear making Faelwen tremble all the more. The arrow was released and sped towards the target, splitting Haldir's previous arrow into two splintered shafts.
"We did it!" cried Faelwen happily, turning to face Haldir. Further words died away the moment she met his eyes. Very conscious that both strong arms were now wrapped around her waist, she let her hands come to rest on his broad shoulders. And when his head bowed towards hers, Faelwen met his lips with fervour. The kisses were different to those of the night before. Not so nervous. Not so unsure. This time they were passionate, confident and full of meaning.
"Faelwen, you have no idea how much last night meant to me," Haldir said softly, when the eventually drew apart once more.
Faelwen smiled, her eyes glowing. "I think I do," she said, tucking a strand of silver hair behind his ear.
"I thought...I thought if it was anyone, you would choose Legolas...he's...well he's every elleth's ideal match...but when you said you'd go with me...I...could not believe it! I could barely believe that..."
"Hush," said Faelwen gently, her tone so full of warmth that Haldir could barely refrain from kissing her as he let her finish speaking. "Believe me, my Marchwarden, I would not have chosen anyone but you."
"You're so beautiful," said Haldir in a tone of wonder, caressing her face, and was suddenly unable to refrain from blurting out his feelings any longer; feelings which had burned in his heart for almost two years now. "I love you, Faelwen."
Faelwen's eyes filled with tears of utter joy. She couldn't understand how she had fallen so headlong in love so quickly, though she'd known since that summer, when she'd watched Haldir train with the twins, that she had feelings for Lothlorien's youngest Marchwarden. She had never expected things to turn out so perfectly. "I love you too," she said, her voice a little shaky with emotion, and the kiss they exchanged at that moment said more than a million words could ever do.
Returning to the Midwinter's day dinner felt like a chore, but of course, they had had no choice. However, it meant that they could not be as openly affectionate with each other as they would have liked, as they had decided that their blossoming relationship would remain a secret until they decided exactly how to explain it to their families -a prospect that neither of the young elves, both being shy, was looking forward too. As they took their seats at the long table, Haldir was shocked to see Estel shoot him the most viscous scowl he had ever seen on the child's face. He wondered if the young one resented the fact that he had left in the middle of the game of soldiers and had never returned, and resolved to make it up to him that afternoon. He was not the only one who noticed the child's sudden hostile attitude. Every time the Marchwarden spoke to the child, he either ignored him or replied with a cheeky comment, something Estel was never usually guilty of.
It got to the stage of being so blatantly rude that Elladan chided him for his behaviour. "Estel, mind your manners, young man!" he said, unusually stern. "What on earth has got into you, that you are being so rude to Haldir?"
"I do not like Haldir any more!" said Estel sullenly, continuing to glare at Haldir, while everyone looked at the child in surprise.
"Was he being bossy this morning?" asked Orophin with a mischievous grin. "Worry not, penneth, simply ignore him! Rumil and I always do!"
"Very helpful, Orophin. Thank you," muttered Haldir sarcastically as Rumil laughed.
"No, that is not why!" said Estel, his voice full of genuine anger. "I do not like him any more because he is going to take Fae away!"
"What do you mean, little one?" asked Elrohir kindly, a little confused. "Of course he won't be taking Faelwen away."
"Yes he will! Me and Leg'las went looking for him this morning, when he didn't come back to finish playing soldiers. He was on the archery field with Fae and he was kissing her! And not goodnight kissing!" The child referred to the peck on the cheek he always exchanged with his family before going to bed. "Proper kissing! That means they will get married like Tiernen and Lillina! And I will not like him anymore if he is going to take my sister away!"
Glorfindel burst into laughter. "Valar, Elrond, and you call the twins overprotective!"
Faelwen felt her face burst into flame as everyone else turned to look at her and Haldir. So much for keeping it a secret! Really, she loved Estel with all her heart, but she was going to have to have a word with him about spying on people at inopportune times! She looked helplessly up at Thranduil, who was sitting next to her, and saw to her relief that he was smiling encouragingly. Across the table, Haldir's face was in a similar rosy condition and he could not bear to meet anyone's eyes, especially those of the twins, who were watching him with curious expressions on their identical faces. Legolas, on the other hand, was smiling broadly, glad that Haldir had finally plucked up the courage to tell Faelwen how he felt about her.
Finally taking pity on the mortified pair, Celeborn cleared his throat.
"Er...is there something you want to share with us, you two?" he asked.