Two updates today, to make up for the long delay. Thanks for all the reviews that the first one has already! :D
Betad by Wendwriter
Faelwen and Haldir blanched simultaneously and simply gaped at Celeborn, stricken.
"Now, do not mistake me," Celeborn said gently, seeing the disappointment in both their faces and noticing that Faelwen was blinking back tears. "I am not refusing you permission all together. All I am asking that you defer becoming betrothed for a few years yet."
"But...why Ada?" asked Haldir hesitantly, squeezing Faelwen's hand supportively. He looked genuinely confused – he just could not understand why he and Faelwen could not plight their troth there and then.
"Sit down," said Celeborn kindly, gesturing for the pair to take a seat on the chairs opposite his desk. "Haldir, Faelwen, although you have both reached your majorities, you are both still very young. I have no doubt that you will make each other happy, but I think you will do better to wait until you are a little older before marrying." He walked around his desk and perched on the front, so that he could reach out to gently cup both their chins. "There are dark times ahead of us, pen-nyth," he said solemnly. "Very dark times. And you each have a separate part to play in them. When they have come to pass, I promise you, you can marry that very hour if you choose."
"These dark times, Ada," said Haldir quietly, trying in vain to swallow his disappointment. "Are they...very far in the future?"
"Alas, ion-nin," said Celeborn gravely. "I fear that they will be upon us all too soon. Then you will understand why I have asked you to wait. Your father is of a like mind, Faelwen."
"I see," said Faelwen bleakly, not at all sure that she did see.
"You will wed one day, I promise," said Celeborn, encouragingly. "Trust in the future, and in your love for each other, and you shall see that all will be well." Despondent, the two young elves nodded and left the room which served as Celeborn's study. The Lord of the Golden Wood watched the pair solemnly from his window as they left the house and wandered out onto the talan outside. They spoke together for a moment, distress plain on both their faces, before Haldir drew Faelwen into a comforting embrace. He stroked her hair for a moment, whispering something into her ear.
The gentle creaking of his study door signalled the arrival of Galadriel. She crossed the room to stand at the window beside him; threading her arm through his, as her eyes sought out the two young elves on the talan. "I know it could not have been easy," she said softly, her clear eyes full of sympathy. "Especially when they had their hearts so set on marriage. But it is for the best."
"I know," replied Celeborn, his face still very solemn. "But I hated being the one that had to shatter their hopes. They looked so crestfallen!"
"Darkness looms in both their futures, as it does in ours," Galadriel said. "And there will be much grief to contend with before it is over. May the Valar give them strength to see it through."
It was two very disappointed elves who climbed back down the great tree of Caras Galadhon that afternoon. Neither Faelwen nor Haldir spoke a word until they came to the bottom of the tree itself and, hand-in-hand, went off in search of a little privacy.
"It changes nothing, you know," said Faelwen, her voice thick with unshed tears. "You are still the only elf I want to spend my life with. If I have to wait one hundred years to marry you, then I shall wait."
"I feel the same," said Haldir quietly, suddenly stopping in his tracks and pulling Faelwen tightly to him. "I love you Faelwen. All the time in the world will not change that. If both our fathers are determined we must wait to wed, then, dreadful as the prospect might seem, we must wait." Faelwen buried her face in his shoulder, losing her composure. "Sssh, it will be all right. We shall have to continue as we are now. I will come to Imladris as often as I can."
"I am not afraid to travel anymore," said Faelwen. "I can come here to visit you too. I know we can go on as we can...I know we can get through it. What frightens me is the darkness that they say is looming."
"It makes me uneasy too," Haldir confessed. "And if it is worrying Ada and Nana, then it is certainly no trivial matter. But Ada did say we would wed someday. We are going to face whatever comes our way, Faelwen, and we are going to beat it." And, holding her close, he began to sing softly.
"Although storms may descend,
Mountains and valleys may quake.
For the days that remain,
This is the promise I make.
Though shadow falls across this land,
Before the wind and fire I'll stand,
And you, my heart, will know no harm,
Enfolded in my arms."
Faelwen took a deep breath, breathing in the scent of the elf she had come to love more than any other on Middle Earth. As she exhaled, she felt a little calmer, and stood back so that she could meet Haldir's intense blue eyes. Tension suddenly flared between them, and suddenly he was kissing her more fiercely than he ever had before, his arms tightly about her waist. Heart pounding, Faelwen kissed back as though there were no tomorrow, until they were both flushed and breathless.
"It will be all right," Haldir whispered. "I am sure of it."
"Well, when am I to help you sew your wedding gown?" called Arwen merrily, as she heard Faelwen's footsteps approach her room that evening. When she had seen Faelwen and Haldir standing together outside her grandfather's study earlier that afternoon, she had known exactly what they were there for! Her smile faltered when her sister appeared in the doorway; pale-faced and red-eyed. "Faelwen? Whatever is the matter?"
"We cannot marry. Not yet," said Faelwen bleakly, sitting down on Arwen's bed. "Daerada says we must wait."
"Wait? Why?" asked Arwen, bewilderedly. She had been certain that Celeborn and Galadriel would agree straight away! She knelt in front of Faelwen and held her hands.
"Daerada says that we are too young," Faelwen said unsteadily, feeling tears threatening to spill again. "He wants us to wait."
"For how long?" asked Arwen, squeezing her hands comfortingly.
"He did not say," Faelwen replied unhappily. "A while anyway." She deliberately avoided mentioning the approaching 'darkness', whatever that should prove to be.
"I am sorry, my dear," Arwen sat down next to her and put her arm around the younger elleth's shoulders. "How did Haldir take it?"
"He is as disappointed as I am," said Faelwen, rubbing at her eyes with the edge of her sleeve. "We so wanted to wed, Arwen! What we have just now is wonderful, but sometimes it is not enough! I want more, and so does Haldir. And now we must wait..."
"He will not stop loving you, Faelwen," Arwen told her; at a loss for something more comforting to say.
"I know," Faelwen shook herself and cleared her throat. "And I shall never stop loving him either. We will get married one day, even if it is a hundred years from now. We will just have to go on as we are."
"Time passes quickly," Arwen said kindly. "I am sure it will not be too long before Daerada changes his mind. We can all see how you care for each other. The next century will be past before you know it, Faelwen. Come along now, we shall be late for dinner."
"I think I shall go to bed early," said Faelwen with the hint of a rueful smile, as she got up again and made for the room next door. "I find I do not have much of an appetite tonight, and I did not get much sleep last night. I think the rest will do me good."
"All right then, if you are certain," said Arwen, not wishing to argue. Faelwen did look exhausted. "Sleep well."
But sleep was not to come to Faelwen that night. For hours she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, turning Celeborn's words of the early afternoon over and over again in her mind.
There are dark times ahead of us...
Dark times? What did that mean? Were some of the people that she and Haldir loved going to be in danger? Would something happen to the twins? Estel? Ada? Arwen? And what were the parts that she and Haldir would have to play? Dozens of unwelcome thoughts spun through her head; making her stomach twist into a tight, nervous knot.
Eventually despairing of getting any sleep at all, Faelwen rose in the middle of the night and went in search of some fresh air. The talan outside Celeborn and Galadriel's home was deserted – though she knew there would still be guards at the bottom of the ladder. Sitting at the very edge of the talan, letting her legs hang over the side – a move that would have made Elladan ill, she gazed up at the night sky above her. Like all elves, Faelwen loved the stars, and tonight she found their presence particularly comforting. No matter what was happening in Middle Earth, the stars would always been there....and they always would be. They returned, night after night, and were always the same. The future could change a lot of things, but it could not change the stars.
"Can you not sleep either?" The soft voice of Haldir startled her out of her reverie. He too had wandered out onto the talan, dressed only in a pair of leggings. Both faces flooded with heat as their eyes met.
"I think sleep is destined not to visit me this night," said Faelwen with a small laugh. "There is too much to think about."
"True," said Haldir, sitting down beside her and brushing her tousled hair back from her face. "My imagination was been running riot ever since we spoke with Ada. Are you all right?"
"I think my head is a little clearer now," she admitted. "Earlier, I felt like the world had ended, but now I feel a little calmer."
"I meant what I said earlier, you know," Haldir was able to smile as he threaded his fingers through Faelwen's. "I will love you as much in a hundred years as I do right now. Nothing will ever change how I feel about you."
"I know," Faelwen smiled back; not as brightly as usual, but it was a smile none the less. "And I will never cease to love you either. I have resigned myself to the fact that we cannot marry right now. I suppose it will just make it all the more special when we do wed."
Haldir raised the hand he was holding to his lips, so that he could kiss the back of it. "Nothing is going to part us," he said determinedly. "Let us make a promise tonight. No matter what the future throws at us, no matter what happens, we will face it together...and we will beat it."
"That is a promise I will make gladly," said Faelwen, and they duly sealed it with the proverbial kiss.
"I spoke to Ada at dinner," Haldir told her, as they parted. "He is happy for me to continue bringing the despatches to Imladris. I will still be able to spend a week with you at least once a month; that will not change at least."
"We have managed this way for ten years," said Faelwen; forcing herself to be positive. "We can keep managing."
Faelwen and Haldir were virtually inseparable for the rest of her time in Lorien. When Haldir was not with the other wardens, the rest of his time was spent in her company. After a few days had passed, the pair were resigned to Celeborn's decision. After much talking, they had come to the conclusion that there was no knowing what the future was going to bring, so there was no sense in worrying constantly over what might happen. They would just have to take what fate brought them. And Celeborn had said that they would get married one day – they both had enough trust in the Lord of the Golden Wood to find a scrap of comfort in that.
All too soon, it seemed, the time for departure arrived once again; and the twins and Faelwen prepared to journey back to Imladris once more. It had been an eventful month for Faelwen, and an emotional one, but definitely a worthwhile one.
"I would ride back with you," Haldir said, as she and the twins saddled their horses on the morning of their leaving. "But I am due to lead one of the northern border patrols next week, and I cannot very well refuse."
"Do not worry, Haldir, you will not miss much," said Elrohir, making an effort to be jovial, as he sensed the melancholic air about his sister and the Marchwarden. "The first week back will be entirely spent in having to relate the details to Estel. You know how he was sulking about having to stay behind when we left. He will be worried that he has missed out on something important."
"Ada will want to know all that has happened too," said Faelwen, tying up a small parcel of lembas. "And I will have to write to Feredir."
"By the time you arrive next time, we will have told everyone all the news, so you and Faelwen will be able to spend most of your time together, as you usually do." Haldir could not help but smile at the twins' obvious attempts to cheer them up. For all they tormented them, the twins did not want to see Haldir or Faelwen unhappy. Arwen had told them what had passed in their grandfather's study, and they both felt a good deal of sympathy for their sister and her beloved Marchwarden; to the extent that they had even vowed to give them some privacy the next time Haldir visited Imladris!
Celeborn, Galadriel, Orophin, Rumil, Arwen and, naturally, Haldir assembled at the gates of Caras Galadhon to see their three visitors off again. Faelwen tried to persuade Arwen to come to Imladris with Haldir when he next visited, but it was to no avail.
"Give Ada my love though," she said, hugging each of her siblings in turn. "And Glorfindel...and Erestor...and Lindir...and, oh, everyone!"
"We shall do," said Elladan with a laugh, kissing Arwen's forehead. "Right down to the mice in the stables! I am sure they miss you terribly!"
Faelwen made her farewells with tolerably good cheer, receiving a further boost to her spirits when, after embracing her, Celeborn said gently: "Do not despair, young one. You will not be apart from him forever. Your time will come."
Faelwen and Haldir, who was standing nearby and had heard his foster-father's words, were glad of such encouragement. They exchanged a last kiss, before the Marchwarden helped his beloved onto her horse and watched as she and the twins rode out of the high city gates.
Their plans for the future had been put on hold for the moment, but that did not mean that they could not yet be achieved. As they had said to each other that night under the stars, they would just need to wait and see what the future would bring.
The future would be becoming eventful far sooner than they thought...for one inhabitant of Imladris was soon to discover that he was no ordinary orphan!
A/N: Got the outline for Haldir's song from the LOTR musical