Just enough time to post this for all of you patient readers - thank you so much for all of your review, favorites, and follows! This is officially the last chapter of the last story in the Revenge series! You are all wonderful people, and I look forward to seeing you in other stories!

Erestor woke the next morning to the sound of someone pounding on his door. He buried his head under a pillow, but it didn't stop and he finally lost patience. Pulling the comfortable pillow off his head, he blinked at the morning light streaming into his rooms. "Who is it?!"

The loud knocking stopped and he heard a suspicious chuckling from outside his door, then whoever it was banged twice more and dashed away – he could hear their feet pattering down the hallway. Erestor groaned and slammed the pillow over his face again, but he had a feeling that it might have been a rude courtier who had been ordered by Lord Elrond to wake him up.

Finally, grumpily, Erestor threw his sheets off and slid out of bed. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he tugged the door to his wardrobe open and grabbed the first robe he saw. They were mostly the same anyway – black and colorless, but the occasional one had silver tassels or threads like the one he had worn yesterday. He got dressed, stumbling a few times, and managed to get his hair tied back and his shoes on without making a mess of anything. He could use the tips of his fingers on his right hand now, though he couldn't actually hold anything yet, so that helped.

He threw water from the basin in his bathing chambers onto his face to fully wake himself up, then frowned briefly at his pale reflection in the mirror before heading toward the door. Stopping before exiting, he allowed himself a small smile as he remembered last night, the somewhat awkward conversation before he had explained everything, and then he and Glorfindel had apparently become friends again. After finishing their game, Glorfindel had produced an extra bottle of wine from somewhere, and they had sat in front of the fireplace and argued the best climate for a mortal to live in. It had just been another strange conversation that ended nowhere in particular until Glorfindel had bid him a grinning farewell and they went to their rooms to sleep.

An odd noise outside his door broke Erestor from his thoughts of last night, and he shook his head, straightened his robes, and opened the door. He was about to stride down the corridor when the soft tip of his boot struck something hard and he stumbled, nearly falling over it. He backpedaled immediately, barely saving himself, and took a few deep breaths before he calmed. Tugging on his robes, he glared down and saw the thing he had almost tripped over. It was a wooden box about a foot wide, elegantly carved sides and a lid with holes punched into the top.

Scowling, Erestor made to kick the thing aside, but then the noise he had heard earlier came from the box. He stopped and a curious expression overcame his face. He crouched, seeing a latch on the lid, and opened it to find a tiny animal with huge blue eyes staring up at him. Startled, Erestor glanced up and down the hallway, realizing that the knock that had come earlier was from whoever left this here. There was no one in sight, and no indication of the person he had heard a few minutes ago.

Erestor reached hesitantly into the box, and the little creature whimpered as he picked it up. Holding it out in front of him with some amount of distaste – he was always suspicious of the beasts and the horrible creatures that crawled in their fur – and surveyed it. "Where did you come from?" he asked.

The kitten mewed pitifully in answer, which was rather unhelpful.

He examined the velvety fur, the bright blinking eyes, the well-formed limbs, and he decided that this was a healthy animal, though he wouldn't call himself an expert. There was, of course, absolutely no possible way he could leave it in his rooms while he found who it belonged to, so he decided that he needed to take it with him and get Lisondrë to do…something with it.

He put it back in the box, and he could have sworn that it was sulking as he re-latched the lid. The box was relatively small and light, but he still fumbled with it for a moment before he tucked it under his left arm, glad that the usual pain wasn't bothering his bandaged wrist.

Ignoring the quiet mews that occasionally came from the box, Erestor hurried toward his office. He received a few strange looks from the elves that were up and about, but had not yet gone to the breakfast meal. He ignored them and made it to his office quickly, finding as he entered that Lisondrë was apparently there – her writing supplies were scattered all over her desk, but she was nowhere in sight.

"Lisondrë?" he called, setting the box on his own desk and looking around the large room.

"In here," came a faint reply from the supply closet. There was a banging noise, and then Lisondrë made her way out, kicking the door shut behind her, and had a pile of papers stacked in her arms. She plopped them all down on the writing desk, which was half the size of the other two desks, and sighed, brushing her hands off. "You needed me?"

"Ah…yes." Erestor frowned at the box, then jumped involuntarily when the kitten yowled loudly. He waved his hand at it. "There's something that needs dealt with."

Lisondrë raised her eyebrows, hurrying toward it, and stopped next to him. She gave the box, and then him, a questioning look. "What is it?"

"You'll see," he said, pulling the latch out and opening the lid. A furball leapt out and stood on his desk, legs quivering and fur bristling angrily.

"Oh, what a darling!" cried Lisondrë, scooping up the kitten immediately. She beamed, and the kitten calmed almost immediately when she nestled it against her shoulder and rubbed its tiny head.

Erestor sighed and tugged his sleeve to cover the bandage on his right wrist more properly. "It's yours, then?"

"Well, no, but she is adorable," his assistant crooned, petting its fur in delight. "I've never seen her before, though I think I heard someone telling Lord Elrond about her."

"It's a female?"

"This is the only cat around, since all the tomcats were chased off by the little Lords – or the terror twins, as you called them." Lisondrë's face scrunched up and then she sneezed fiercely. "Excuse me! She came with that patrol the other day – the only survivor of the attack on the small settlement, apparently."

Erestor wondered how it was that she knew this, but he didn't. He supposed it was from actually listening when someone came into to tell him something that he didn't find important, but she paid attention to anyway.

"She's homeless, then?" Erestor surmised.

"Ah…yes." Lisondrë wrinkled her nose and wiped at it with one hand. "Pardon me. I haven't heard of anyone taking her in. The poor dear." She rubbed under the kitten's chin and it purred happily, a significant change from just a few moments ago.

Erestor frowned and thought for only a moment before he found a solution to the displaced creature. "You seem to like it well enough, could you take it?"

"Well…" His assistant hesitated. "I would love to do so, but there's a reason I haven't any animals to take care of. Their fur tickles my nose and it – achoo!" She sniffed and rubbed her nose again. "Excuse me; it makes me sneeze. I don't know why, but it's especially bad with smaller animals. I'm usually fine with horses, luckily."

"Oh." Erestor considered that. "Is there anyone you know that would want a cat?"

Lisondrë squinted thoughtfully, but finally she shook her head. "No…I don't think so."

"We need to find someone to take it," Erestor decided, snatching the kitten just as Lisondrë sneezed fiercely. He set it back into the box and latched the lid again, and, ignoring the sad look that Lisondrë gave him, headed for the door.

Fortunately, Lord Elrond was in his office, sipping out of a steaming cup as he read the letters that had just been delivered last night. Erestor nudged the door open with his elbow, not wanting to jar his wrist, and paused just inside the entrance.

Elrond glanced up, smothering a yawn. His morning tea didn't help much when he had been kept awake all night by two mischievous elflings who thought it would be fun if they stayed up all night. "Good morn, Erestor," he greeted his Chief Counselor, who was standing with a…box in his hands?

The box meowed.

"Ah…" said Elrond. "What is that?"

Erestor shifted it under his left arm. "It's a cat," he said. "I was hoping you might know whose it is. I found it outside my chambers when I got up."

"A cat outside your rooms," Elrond mused. "Hmm…what does it look like?"

Erestor had wondered about the cat's fur; it seemed very odd. "It's white, but when the light shines just so off its coat, it looks like it has cream-colored stripes."

"Oh, yes, of course," Elrond said with a smile.

"You know who it belongs to?" Erestor asked with relief evident in his voice. Surely someone had to have brought her back with the patrol.

Elrond's brow furrowed and he looked at his desk for a long moment, then he shook his head and stood up. "No indeed," he said, and with that glint in his eyes, Erestor didn't believe him. "Here, let me see it."

Erestor handed the box over, and Elrond picked the small kitten out of it, setting the wooden box aside. He chuckled as he held her with one hand and ran his fingers over her coat. "It seems to be a white-colored cat, but probably has suppressed stripe genes, so the tabby stripes barely show. Ah, it's a female."

Erestor just stared for a moment, then his eyes lit up. "Would you like to take her, my lord? You seem to like her."

"Oh, no, there is no way that's going to happen," Elrond said with a small measure of disappointment. "Not with Elladan and Elrohir terrorizing any of the tomcats that dare to come near them. Elladan bit the last one, and it tried to claw him."

"I'm sure she's very sweet," Erestor tried, but Elrond shook his head firmly and set the kitten back in his hand.

"No, I'm sorry – and Celebrían wouldn't let me accept her, anyway."

"Very well." Erestor reached for the box to put the kitten back. "I suppose I'll find someone else who will take her."

"That's a good…idea…" Elrond trailed off slowly and he appraised Erestor carefully. After a moment, a smile stretched his face. "Would you –"

"I actually can't take her," Erestor interrupted quickly. "I have so much to do, she might get left in my rooms for a few days if I don't go there, I don't have time to take care of an animal, and I actually know almost nothing about cats."

"Well, that can all be easily remedied," Elrond said, eyes gleaming. "She doesn't have to stay in your rooms unless you want her to do so, you can have the maids feed her, and you can read some books about cats or just ask someone. I think it's a very good idea for you to watch over something besides yourself, however."

"I don't –" Erestor started, but Elrond was smiling and nodding as he continued.

"Yes, I think that will work. You'll subsequently take better care of yourself because you have something else to help. This is an ingenious idea; I'm so glad I thought of it." Elrond beamed and clapped his hands together. "There! You have a pet now."

Erestor tried to refrain from glaring, slamming the lid on the box shut and latching it. "I don't need a pet. I have a library."

Elrond laughed. "That's quite amusing, Erestor, but I really do think you should keep her. Why don't you go ahead and get everything set up in your rooms for her to live there – Lisondrë can take care of everything for you while you get it done. Go along now!"

Erestor scowled and left, feeling like an elfling who had just been told what was and what was not good for him. He passed Lisondrë on the way to his chambers, and told her to draw up the schedule for the next day's meeting – since that was one thing that was almost impossible for her to mess up – and when he got to his rooms, he just set the box on the bed while he stared at it.

"I have no idea what to do with a cat," he said, and wished that he had never brought the box into Lord Elrond's office. Maybe he should have just left the box at someone else's door, or passed her off to someone who would like her. Glorfindel, for example.

Glorfindel! Erestor realized that he hadn't seen the Elda at all this morning, and resolved to talk to him as soon as possible. There was no way, once Erestor had just regained his friendship – or was it the other way around? – that he was going to ignore him again. He would find him, then, after he dealt with this…animal.

What was he to do with it anyway? There were things it needed – food! It needed food, and something it could drink from. And a box, with sand, so it could stay in his rooms without needing to go outside and do its business. He would collect those items, it would be easy, but what to do with the cat in the meantime?

He gave the box an apprehensive look. "If I let you out while I'm gone, are you going to shred anything?" He had heard tales of cats inside that liked to sharpen their claws on all and sundry, including furniture and bedposts.

The kitten wailed pitifully, but it was rather muffled inside the box. Erestor wondered briefly if it was actually miserable inside that thing, and if he should get it out or not. Maybe he would get it out and take it with him while he found food and everything else for it. Yes, he would do that, since he really couldn't just leave it here.

His mind made up, Erestor opened the box and scooped up the kitten before it could jump out. He used the edge of his right hand to help get it out, but then just folded the fingers of his left hand over its tiny back to hold it. His hands weren't particularly large, but the small cat seemed almost dwarfed by his left hand. He rubbed its head comfortingly before he thought about it, and it purred, switching a pale tail around his fingers.

"I can't just call you 'it,'" Erestor disapproved. "You need a name."

It squirmed happily in his grip and pressed its head into his hand, demanding to be rubbed some more. He complied, thinking absently what to name it – and then shook his head. He couldn't name this thing, he would grow too attached, and that was never a good idea with mortal beings.

A knock came at his door before he could think any more about it, and the kitten lost interest suddenly, wiggling fiercely and trying to get free. He tightened his grip, but was careful not to crush it, and winced as tiny claws hooked into the skin between thumb and forefingers.

"Just a moment!" he called in the general direction of the door, tucking the kitten to his chest so it couldn't struggle anymore. It rumbled a tiny growl that actually sounded quite hilarious and clawed at his hand once more. A moment later, it lost interest and settled into his hand, chewing comfortably on his forefinger.

Erestor allowed it, knocking the box shut with his other hand, and was pleased when it didn't hurt his wrist. He went out of his bedroom into the front room and paused to adjust a lopsided pillow on the small couch before heading over to the door.

Then he stopped, considering, and frowned as he looked between the kitten in his only usable hand and the unopened door. Finally, he took a few steps back. "Come in," he said, glad that he hadn't locked the door.

The knob turned and the door swung open, and Glorfindel stepped into the room. He smiled when he saw Erestor. "Good morn!" he said rather cheerfully. "I was just by Lord Elrond's office, and he told me that you are to have the day off to…prepare."

"Well…" said Erestor. He hadn't expected to see Glorfindel, but was actually a bit glad that he wouldn't have to go look for him later. "That's good, I suppose."

"Yes, it is," Glorfindel agreed, and there was an awkward silence before Glorfindel caught sight of the small kitten nestled against Erestor's robes, held securely there by his hand.

"Oh look, you have a cat," he said, not sounding at all surprised. "She's adorable."

Erestor gave him a considering look, then he smiled suddenly. "She is, isn't she? You like cats, don't you?"

"Ah…yes," said Glorfindel, hoping this wasn't going where he thought it was.

"I have a solution for her, then, because I don't really know what to do with a pet." Erestor detached the kitten from his robe – it has sunk its claws into the thick material – and thrust her toward Glorfindel. "You like cats, you can take her!"

"Actually…" Glorfindel said hastily, taking a step back. "I…yes, I like them, I just don't have the time to keep one – you know, going on patrols and all; but anyway, I think Lord Elrond said you were to keep her, yes?"

Erestor stared suspiciously at Glorfindel stammering his explanation, but sighed when he stopped. The kitten, dangling over his palm, mewled happily up at Glorfindel, and the Balrog-slayer rubbed her head before smiling convincingly at Erestor.

"Don't you like cats, Erestor?"

"No, not really," said the adviser, which wasn't exactly what Glorfindel had wanted to hear. "From what I hear, they're general nuisances."

Glorfindel laughed. "They're really not – they catch any rodents you might have hanging around, they keep you on your toes, and they provide lovely companionship when they're not shedding on your chairs or bed. Besides…" He scratched under the kitten's chin and she purred. "This one's still little, you can train her."

Erestor just shook his head. "Well, it's not like I have any choice. Lord Elrond practically ordered me to keep her."

"Oh, good," Glorfindel said in an undertone, and Erestor barely made it out.

"Excuse me?" he said with a quirk of an eyebrow.

"Nothing, nothing," the Captain said hastily, smiling cheerfully. "Hey, even if I can't keep her, I can help you take care of her…get things for her, couldn't I?"

"I don't see why not," Erestor said. He finally pulled the kitten back from Glorfindel's rubbing and cushioned her up against his robes again. "I need to get her food first, I suppose. Do you have any idea what these things eat?"

"No, first she needs a name," Glorfindel disagreed. "But we can decide that while we go to the kitchens."

Erestor raised an eyebrow again at Glorfindel's presumptuousness, but decided against reprimanding him for it. He slipped past Glorfindel into the hallway, and waited until the Elda had followed him out before kicking the door shut; there really was no other way to do it.

"To the kitchens we go, then!" Glorfindel said cheerily as he followed Erestor down the corridor. "We need to get…hmm, milk and soft meats for her to eat. Maybe some bread too, but not much. We can just get the maids to bring her food and drink in the morning if you have to leave her there, and the box with sand that she'll need I can appropriate from the woodcarver shop later, and have it filled with sand…"

His words were mostly tuned out by Erestor, though he was listening with one ear. He was thinking about something, just a small issue that needed to be addressed…

"Glorfindel," he interrupted suddenly, cutting off the other's discussion about the best type of sand to use. When Glorfindel looked at him with a smile stretching his face and blue eyes twinkling, he hesitated.

"Ah…never mind." He ran his finger along the kitten absent-mindedly, glancing down at her to see that she was resting her tiny furry chin on his thumb, blinking sleepily and adoringly up at him. He couldn't help the small smile that broke across his lips, but Glorfindel knew he had meant to say something important.

"What is it?" the Captain asked, a measure of seriousness creeping into his tone. They were still walking, but hadn't encountered anyone yet, and were still quite far from the kitchens.

"It's…" Erestor frowned, yet willed the expression to go away as he looked back at Glorfindel. "We are friends again, yes? All of…that...that happened, it doesn't matter now?"

"Of course it matters," said Glorfindel quietly, understanding what he meant. "But it's nothing that will affect our companionship in a negative way, I hope. What I learned recently, about you, about true friendship, is nothing that I would want to forget."

"So…" Erestor said gradually, his steps slow and even, "we are…fine, then?"

"We are fine," Glorfindel agreed with a smile. "And yes, friends still. I never truly thought that it had ended, though we had a bitter argument. It's better now, more solid, I think, since we know more."

"Ah." Erestor was silent for a long while, and when he finally spoke, it was to change the subject. "Are you ever going to give that letter back?"

"Indeed not," Glorfindel said firmly. When he said no more than that, Erestor asked another question.

"What about…what happened on your patrol? I have told you what my thoughts were…somewhat…while you were gone. What happened while you were away?"

"I will tell you next chess night," Glorfindel told him, smiling again.

"Chess, truly? Not checkers?"

"No checkers," Glorfindel granted, grinning. "But I want to do another drinking contest; last time was completely unfair."

"As long as I don't have to drag you back to your rooms like last time," Erestor said, hiding a smile at Glorfindel's affronted gasp.

"What?" exclaimed Glorfindel, pretending to be completely oblivious. "I have no idea what you're talking about – and you can't prove it anyway," he finished smugly.

They both fell silent when someone, walking the opposite direction, neared them. The person nodded and went past, and Glorfindel smiled suddenly. "Can I hold her?"

Erestor felt a sudden, strange reluctance to part with the white and cream-striped kitten that was nosing sleepily into his robe, but he snuffed the feeling and delivered her unceremoniously to Glorfindel's outstretched hands. If he had thought the kitten looked small in his hand, it look practically miniscule in Glorfindel's sword-callused palms.

The mighty Balrog-slayer, upon receiving the kitten, lifted her even with his eyes and cooed. "Aw, she's so cute!"

Erestor rolled his eyes.

There was an odd twinkle in the kitten's eyes, though, as if Glorfindel was familiar to her. She yawned prettily and stretched, gazing at him with a little cat grin. She batted briefly at a strand of golden hair before leaping straight out of Glorfindel's hands.

Erestor let out a surprised gasp and grabbed for her, but she twisted in mid-air and landed lightly on her feet. With a catch-me mrowl, she darted away down the hallway, her tiny feet slipping on the polished floor.

"Oops," said Glorfindel, not moving after seeing that she was moving only a little faster than he could walk, and the stretch of corridor had no open doors along it.

Erestor glowered at him. "You're supposed to hold her so she doesn't fall."

"Oops," Glorfindel said again, smiling apologetically. "I'll catch her." He rolled his shoulders determinedly and started down the hall. The image of a great golden Balrog-slayer stalking the tiny bouncing white kitten was an utterly hilarious image, and Erestor committed it to memory before following them.

All would be well again.

Again, thank you, everyone, for reading and all you've done! There are so many people who've kept me going while I do this that it's just impossible to name them all - but you people, you know who you are!

And this is not the end of this journey! This long series may be resolved, but the road ahead is still rough, and no friendships are perfect. Look for Glorfindel and Erestor in my upcoming drabbles and more multi-chapter stories! Hannon le, mellyn nin!

*bows out*