Saruman's Revenge

by SkyFire

rabid_plotbunny@HotPOP.com

Summary: Like the title says. Saruman gets a bit of revenge for events in TTT. *g* To say more would give away the story!

Disclaimer: Not mine, wish they were. Really. Clones welcome, esp. chocolate-covered Elf-lords! ;)

A/N: 1)This is just a little something that popped into my head one day. The way it will go is this: The first chapter is sort of an intro, then the rest will be a series of snippets. I have 3 such snippets just waiting to be posted. The more reviews I get, the sooner I post. I have no ideas for an end this. *shrugs* Can't have everything, I guess. Let's just have fun in the meantime, hmm? *g*
2)Thoughts are in / /. Emphasis is in * *.
3)Takes place after Saruman gets kicked out of Isengard.

Please review! ;)

URL: http://www.fanfiction.net/profile.php?userid=151717

Saruman's Revenge
by SkyFire

Saruman walked along the road, heading northwest, the miserable excuse for a man, Grima Wormtongue, slinking along at his feet.

The once-great wizard muttered angrily to himself as he went, ignoring his traveling companion unless it was to snap at him or kick him out from underfoot.

"Ruined my tower, my home, will they? Break my staff, will they? Cast me from my place at the head of the Istari Council, will they? Fools! They are fools to do these things and think me beaten. I am not as stupid as they would have me appear." He grinned evilly. "Do they really think that one so wise as I would concentrate my forces so badly? Do they really think that I would not have forseen the possibility of this happening and had contingency plans? Fools!"

For hours, the two walked; fallen wizard and groveling lackey. They stopped when they got to a smallish stone obelisk at the side of the road; a weather-worn road marker. There, Saruman turned from the road and walked into the trees to the right of it, looking for a specific tree.

"Where is it?" he muttered, looking around as he walked. "That's not it. No, that's not it, either. No. No. No. Aha! There it is!"

Saruman hurried over to the tree. It was cracked vertically for perhaps the first ten feet of its trunk, the crack wide enough to slip an hand inside... or other things. Pushing up the sleeve of his worse-for-wear robes, Saruman stuck his hand into the crack in the tree and pulled out... an elaborately tooled leather scroll-case.

He frowned at it, dropped it to the ground and reached back in.

Two more scroll-cases, a bit of carved bone, a stringless bow and three books of Elvish love poetry later, the wizard was becoming annoyed.

/People who stick things in other peoples' secret hiding spots should be turned into something tasty and eaten,/ he thought to himself, frowning. /Preferably alive./ His fingers touched slick, polished wood. He grabbed the thing, pulled it from the tree. /Finally!/ he thought in satisfaction, grinning.

/Fools they were to think that I had only *one* staff! Now for some revenge! But against who? Those friends of Gandalf's? No. Gandalf himself?/ The very thought sent a shudder through him. /The hobbits! But I've already got revenge-plans for their horrid little land. Who was ultimately responsible for sending those... people... out against me?/ Saruman's face grew dark with anger. /Elves, of course. They always stick their noses into everybody else's business. Those... people... left Rivendell after that council held by Elrond. And the original group was aided by that twit, Glorfindel./ He smiled, a vicious smile full of a dark and twisted humor. /Elrond and Glorfindel. *They* shall be the ones to suffer my revenge. They look out over the affairs of Middle-Earth as if they were parents watching over wayward children./ The smile widened. /Now let those roles be reversed! And to add to the confusion, let that be only for a certain part of the day!/

Saruman gripped his staff tightly, began the incantation even as evening's darkness grew thicker about him.

*

Elrond and Glorfindel, along with many other Elves, were in the Hall of Fire that evening, listening to the tales and songs being told or sung.

It was a pleasant evening; the skies were clear, the stars beginning to come out against the darkening blue of the sky. A warm summer breeze blew gently throughout the valley of Rivendell, and most windows were open to allow for its refreshing passing.

It was during the middle of the singing of the epic ballad of Beren and Luthien that both Elrond and Glorfindel were stricken.

Rising abruptly from his high seat even as Glorfindel doubled over with a barely-choked-off cry, Elrond clutched at his abdomen and the flaming pain that had suddenly awakened therein. He stood hunched over an his dais, unable to straighten up.

"Father?" a voice asked in concern.

Full of spreading pain, it was all he could do to recognise the voice as that of his son Elladan.

"Father, what is it? What's wrong?" Elladan asked. He grabbed hold of his father's arm, guided him down to sit on the cool floor.

The hall was silent save for the crackling of flame and the occasional hushed murmur among the gathered people.

Elrond could not answer his son's query; at that moment it was all he could do to simply keep back the pained scream that was building in him. If Glorfindel's soft moans were any indication, he was feeling the same thing.

The pain spread from his abdomen all through him, into every limb and appendage until it felt like he was on fire.

Then, as abruptly as it had come, the pain was gone.

Elrond took a deep, shuddering breath, then abother. He raised a trembling hand and wiped chill sweat from his forehead. Slowly, he stood, straightened his robes.

"I am well," he said clearly, strongly.

"As am I," Glorfindel said, coming up beside him with Elrohir close behind him.

Elrond looked over those assembled, then once again sat on his ornately carved chair. "Continue," he said to the Elf whose song had been interrupted.

With that, the conversations in the Hall resumed, the balladeer began to sing once more, starting over from the begining.

Part 2

Elrond and Glorfindel were walking in the moonligt garden in the chill of the fading night, followed closely by a concerned Elladan and Elrohir.

For the sixth time that night, Elrond sighed in frustration and stopped walking, then turned to face his sons.

"For the last time," he said in exasperation. "I am quite all right, as is Glorfindel. There is no reason for you to continue to follow us like this."

"But, Father, we are concerned for you," Elladan said. "You were the only two so stricken."

"Perhaps so," Elrond conceded. "But we are well now."

"For how long? Father, you told us yourself that you didn't know what had happened. How can you be so certain that it will not happen again, worse than before?" Elrohir said. "If something were to happen-"

"Nothing is going to happen, Elrohir," Elrond said. "I am happy that you are so concerned for me, but I assure you that I am now quite well."

"But for how long?" Elladan asked as grey false-dawn light spread across the land, though much of Rivendell remained in shadow.

"Enough!" Glorfindel said. "As my Lord said, we are both quite well."

Just then, the Sun peeked her firey edge over the mountains on the horizon.

Elrond and Glorfindel both stiffened abruptly in shocked pain, brief, quickly choked-off cries of pain escaping them.

Even as the twins hurried forward, the two great Elven lords fell limp to the dew-wet grass.

Then Elladan and Elrohir arrived at the side of the collapsed Elf-lords, who were just beginning to stir from their positions on the ground. Their clothes seemed to have grown many sizes in the past moments. Then the twins gasped in shock as the truth of the matter revealed itself... or rather, *themselves*.

Sitting up slowly in the great puddles of loose clothing, yawning widely as if just now coming awake, were two young Elves. Two *very* young Elves. Rather, one Elf and one Half-Elf.

As the twins stood there staring at the two, disbelieving shock running through them, the two young ones looked to them with bright eyes and giggled.

The Elflings then stood, the overlarge clothing falling effortlessly from the small bodies. They giggled at the twins one last time, then turned and ran away deeper into Rivendell, nude as the day they were born.

"F-Father?" Elladan managed to stutter, staring absently after them in shock. "G-Glorfindel?"

Elrohir shook himself, rose quickly to his feet. "Come, brother!" he said, shaking his twin slightly, enough to shake him from his dazed state. "We have to catch them! They're getting away!"

"Wha-? Oh. Oh!"

Together, the twins ran off into the light of the new day, following the trail in the drying dew on the grass and the sound of those carefree giggles.

Part 3

Elladan and Elrohir followed the sound of high-pitched giggles. They could not believe how *fast* those two skinny younglings could run! They'd been chasing the two for nearly a quarter-hour and still hadn't caught up.

The twins paused at the sudden stop of the giggles, looked at each other in alarm. They'd *never* catch their father-child and little Glorfindel if the two were quiet!

But then, just as the twins were beginning to get truly worried, they heard two heavy-sounding splashes, then the giggles began again, this time accompanied by small yips and yells, as well as yet more splashes.

The twins started running again, gaining quickly on the giggles and yelps as the boys seemed to have quit running. They burst into a small clearing, took in the sight before them and groaned in distress.

They had found the boys. Unfortunately, the *boys* had found something as well: a mud puddle. And not just a *normal* mud puddle. *This* had to be the mother of all mud puddles; full of thick black mud, perhaps six inches deep, wider in all directions than the twins were tall.

Elrond and Glorfindel were wrestling in the mud, rolling over and over in the black stuff, mud clinging to them until it was impossible to tell the slimy figures apart at any distance. They were having a great time, trying to shove each other down in the puddle, trying to force each other to eat handfulls of mud. They were covered in black mud from head to foot, their long hair matted with it, the color of the strands hidden.

"Father... Glorfindel," Elladan moaned.

Elrohir whimpered slightly; the boys must have been wearing *at least* ten pounds of mud each. Then he straightened, a determined light growing in his dark eyes.

"Fa-Elrond!" he called. "Glorfindel!"

The boys paused in their playing, looked over with twin expressions of innocence, which was quite astonishing considering that one was lying full-length on his back in the mud and the other was sitting on his chest with a handful of mud slowly oozing from one hand to plop to the puddle, hand poised close to the other's face.

"Get out of the mud!" Elrohir said harshly, voice firm and unyielding.

Wearing expressions of muddy annoyance, the boys climbed out of the mud, the thick stuff letting them go with obscene smacking, slurping noises somewhat reminiscent of some indelicate bodily noises. The sounds made the two mud-covered young ones laugh.

"You do *not* play in mud puddles," Elladan said firmly, at last getting over his distress enough to help his brother.

"But it's *fun*," one of the boys said, tone both pouting and whining.

"That doesn't matter. No playing in mud puddles."

The boys didn't seem too happy about that. Then one leaned over, whispered something in the other's dirty ear. The second nodded. Then, before the dark-haired twins could even react, the two were off and running again.

"Not again," Elrohir groaned. Then he paled. "Elladan."

"What?"

"They're heading toward Father's house."

"So?" Then Elladan's eyes widened. "Oh! Oh, no!"

The twin sons of Imladris' lord ran as fast as they could toward their home, each imagining the sheer *damage* the two Elflings could cause simply by tracking all that mud in.

They *had* to catch those two younglings!

Part 4

"No!" the child shrieked, loud enough to make Elrohir wince. Slender arms thrashed, long skinny legs kicked and the thin body squirmed in an effort to get away.

Elrohir hung on stubbornly, even as he knew his legs would be black and blue come morning. He held the child-Elrond firmly about the middle, trying without much success to get the boy into the bath.

Elladan, standing not far to his right, was being similarly assaulted by a shrieking Glorfindel.

The twins had so far been unsuccessful in getting their charges to put so much as a muddy toe into the bath, the children seemingly terrified of water.

"Get in the bath," Elrohir hissed from between clenched teeth. He tried once again to press the child into the pool, again failed as Elrond clung to him with hands and feet. "Elrond, if you didn't want to take a bath, you shouldn't have been playing in that mud puddle with Glorfindel."

"He started it!" the mud-covered Elrond-child protested loudly.

"Did not!" came the response from the equally-muddy Glorfindel-child.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Too, too, too!"

"Not, not, not!"

"Enough!" yelled Elladan. The boys stopped yelling at each other, glared muddily at him. Elladan sighed, silently asked the Valar for the patience to deal with these two. Then inspiration struck. "Whoever gets clean first-"

"Gets to shove a handful of mud down the loser's throat?" Elrond asked gleefully, a mischievous gleam in his dark eyes as he eyed the other boy, who glared and stuck out his tongue.

"No," Elladan said. "Whoever gets clean first *doesn't* have to help clean up the mud you two tracked all over the house."

He looked to his twin as Glorfindel's struggles changed, saw that Elrond, like Glorfindel, was now struggling with all his might to get to the bath. Neither boy doubted in the least that the nasty Elladan *would* make one of them clean the mess.

The twins shared a look, then both released the boys at the same time.

It was impossible to see which of the two hit the water first. Soon, both were covered with soap.

Elladan and Elrohir stood back, well pleased, with sighs of relief. Surely, things would go better from here on out!

Then, the water-fight started.

*

Ten minutes later, a soaked and dripping Elrohir looked to his equally drenched twin, a lock of dark, dripping hair hanging limply down between his dark eyes.

"How did this happen?" he asked in disbelief, staring around the disaster area that was the bathhouse. Puddles were everywhere. Elrond and Glorfindel, newly scrubbed clean, dry and wrapped in huge towels, stood with innocent expressions near the doorway out.

"I don't know," Elladan said. "All I know is that *they* started it!"

Elrond took that moment to speak. "I finished getting clean first," he said.

Elrohir nodded. "Yes, you did," he said. "And that means that you, Glorfindel, have to- hey! Get back here! Glorfindel!"

But the boy was gone, running away quickly, clad only in the large towel. He did *not* want to clean up an icky mess *that* big!

"Come, brother," Elladan said, resigned. "Let's get Fa- Elrond to bed for a nap. We'll send some servants out after Glorfindel."

"Nap?" Elrond yelped, his dark eyes narrowed. "No! I don't want to go to sleep! No!" He stubbornly set his jaw, crossed his skinny arms over his small chest and glared. Those two big meanies were tricky. He'd have to remember that.

The twins sighed, seeing another battle ahead of them.

Part 5

Elladan and Elrohir walked slowly through the halls of their father's house. They were slowed by the squirming, towel-clad Elrond that they held between them, each twin holding fast to one thin arm. Elrond was leaning back in their grip, his bare feet set against the slick floor ahead of him, trying to stop his forward movement... with little success.

"Stop dragging your feet," Elrohir said, teeth gritted together in annoyance.

"No!" Elrond cried. "I don't want a nap! I want to play, not sleep! No!"

"You can't play now," Elladan said, as annoyed with the child as his twin. "You can after your rest. Now stop this."

But the child-Elrond refused to comply; kept dragging his feet and struggling constantly to get free of their firm grip. "Let me go!" he screeched.

Elladan and Elrohir scowled at the looks some of Imladris' inhabitants were giving them upon seeing them hauling the small child around like they were. One Elf even stopped them to berate the twins over their lack of manners and threaten to tell their father on them. He was left staring after them in bewilderment when they simply laughed grimly and continued on past him.

At last, the three reached Elrond's suite of rooms.

Upon entering the bedroom, Elrohir lifted Elrond off his feet with his arms around the boy's waist, wincing as the boy's kicking feet connected with his already-bruised shins. Elladan went around and locked all the doors and windows, locking them in the room. Only once all the exits were locked did Elrohir release the boy.

Child-Elrond hurried away from the twins, staring at them distrustfully. Then, keeping an eye on them at all times, he wandered around the room, peeking into everything.

Elladan looked to his twin. "We have to get him some clothes," he said. "He can't go around in a towel all the time."

Elrohir nodded. "I know where our old outgrown clothes are stored. I'll go and bring a chest of them here."

Elladan and Elrond watched as Elrohir left, his twin locking the door behind him.

Left alone, the two stared at each other. Then Elrond's attention was distracted from the staring match by something that was, to him, *much* more important. His dark eyes widened as he stared at the huge bed, then a sneaky smile snuck across his face. With a whoop of delight, he ran at the piece of furniture, climbed up on it and proceded to jump all over it, up and down, up and down, giggling like a maniac all the while.

"Fa- Elrond!" Elladan said, scowling at the boy. "No jumping on the bed!"

/I can't believe I just told that to my own father!/ he thought in disbelief. /It was usually *him* telling Elrohir and I!/

Elrond just paused long enough to stick out his tongue and stare at him cross-eyed for a moment before beginning again, the towel slipping slightly with each bounce.

"Stop," Elladan said, somewhat helplessly. /How did Father get us to stop?/ he wondered. /Oh, yes./ "Stop that right now unless you want a good spanking!"

Elrond just bounced to the center of the bed, out of Elladan's reach from all sides of the bed. He giggled at the twin's expression.

/How does he manage to get that much bounce out of a feather bed?/ Elladan wondered as he watched. Then he shook himself. /Well, if he won't get off of the bed, I guess I'll have to get *on*./

Elrond's bright eyes narrowed when the other climbed onto the bed. He let out a small yelp when the twin reached out to grab him, then he retaliated. Grabbing up one of the feather pillows at the head of the bed, he began to beat Elladan over the head with it, showing no mercy.

Buffeted from every direction with the pillow by the quick and agile youngling, Elladan was quickly overwhelmed, reduced to kneeling on the bed, arms up to cover his face as the pillow beat at him from everywhere at once. "Elr-" he began, cut off by a pillow blow to the face.

That was how Elrohir found them when he returned. He had knocked on the door for his twin to let him in, but when the door didn't open, he pressed his ear to it to find out what delayed him. He heard what was obviously the sound of a struggle, decided Elladan needed his help. Quickly, he ran down to his father's library, where he kept a spare key to the room, the ran back and unlocked the door. A small smile twitched upon his face when he saw his brother, who could hold off a dozen frenzied orcs without even breaking a sweat, completely at the mercy of a pillow-wielding half-Elf child.

"Need help, Elladan?" he asked casually as he locked the door behind him after bringing in the chest of clothes he had gone to seek.

A muffled sound came from the beleagered figure on the bed, which Elrohir took to be a plea for help. Taking a moment, he stood back and studied the scene, trying to figure out the best way to tackle both this situation and their previous problem. Finally deciding that the child was more likely to comply with them about taking a nap if he were exhausted, Elrohir went to the bed, grabbed up a pillow, climbed up and smacked the child with it, joining in the fight.

"Don't worry, Elladan!" he called laughingly. "I'll rescue you!"

Elrond, his initial shock at the pillow-blow fading quickly, laughed. It was apparent that he had no problems with Elrohir joining in his game. He began to hit at the second twin as well as the first.

/What is Elrohir doing, playing with him like this?/ Elladan wondered. Then he saw the child yawn slightly between blows. He smiled as well. /If we can just get him tired enough that he actually *wants* to sleep.../

And so Elladan also grabbed up a pillow, struck back at his tormentor, laughing at the small squeak of surprise from the young one, the deeper one from his twin as he struck out at *him* as well.

Then it was everyone for themselves as the pillow-fight began in earnest.

***

It was perhaps a half-hour later before the three collapsed, panting, to the bed, tired smiles on all three faces. Elrond's towel had fallen off completely sometime during the fight and he lay curled up at Elrohir's side, still hanging onto a corner of the pillow with one small hand, even as he started to shiver as the warmth of exertion began to wear off.

The twins felt the shivers start, sat up with small sighs. They hadn't had that much fun for quite a while. But now they had to get the child dressed and back to bed for a nap.

"Come on, Elrond," Elrohir said as he climbed out of the bed. He walked over to the chest, opened it. "Come and put on some clothes."

Chilled, the naked boy let the pillow go and went over, followed closely by Elladan.

Pulling out a nightshirt that used to belong to Elladan, Elrohir pulled it over Elrond's head, dressing him. Once the boy was clothed, he was sat down on a stool by the fireplace while Elladan ran a comb throught the tangled strands of dark hair. While his twin did that, Elrohir put the bed back to rights; most of the blankets had migrated to the floor during the fight, and those that remained were skewed. The pillows were scattered. As he worked, Elrohir could hear the boy's small yelps when Elladan caught the comb on a tangle and pulled hair. Then he heard a louder yelp from Elladan. Looking over, he saw that Elrond was now in posession of the comb and had tangled it up in Elladan's hair and was yanking on it in retaliation for every time his own hair had been pulled.

Then a huge yawn broke free from the boy, who blinked sleepily.

"Elrond," Elrohir called from the newly-made bed. "Come over here. Aren't you tired after that pillow-fight? Why don't you lay down and rest for a little while?"

Elrond saw through the ruse. He frowned, the effect a little lessened by the huge yawn that escaped him. "I'm not sleepy." He yawned again. "I'm not."

The twins smiled. He was just about done in, they could tell. If they could just get him to lie down for a moment, they were sure that he would be asleep in no time.

Elladan carefully untangled the comb from his hair, then walked over to the bed, lay down on it on his back. "Well if you're not tired, I am," he said. "I need to lie down, just for a little. I'm not sleeping, though."

Elrond wandered slowly over. "You're not sleeping?" he asked.

"No."

"If I lay down too, I don't have to sleep either, do I?"

"No. You could just lie there for a while, until you don't feel tired anymore."

Elrond considered this carefully for a long moment before nodding. He climbed onto the bed, then over Elladan to lay beside the twin. He looked to Elrohir. "You lying down too?"

Elrohir climbed onto the bed on Elrond's other side. "Yes."

The three lay down on the bed, stared up at the high ceiling. The twins pulled the blankets up over the three of them, then they simply lay there, waiting. Waiting....

Ten minutes later, Elladan looked across the small sleeping form to meet his twin's dark gaze. With matching smiles, the two climbed out of bed, careful not to wake the boy who slept there. They stretched widely and yawned. That day had been one of the most exhausting that they'd ever had, and it wasn't even over yet!

Elrond lay in his bed, hair spread around his head on the pillow. His small child-body was nearly swallowed up by the huge, luxurious bed, the small lump of him in the middle of the bed nearly invisible in the thick blankets and soft feather-mattresses.

Asleep, the child looked innocent, completely unlike the little troublemaking brat the twins had discovered him to be. Who would have thought that their always-calm, rational, responsible father would have turned out to be such a little demon as a child?

Elladan looked with exhaustion-tinged eyes to his twin, who stood beside him looking every bit as tired as *he* felt. Even their *hair* drooped with exhaustion. "Elrohir?" he asked.

Elrohir turned his face to his brother. "Yes, Elladan?" came the tired voice.

"If I ever even *think* of having children after this, I want you to *hit* me," Elladan said. He looked to the child, then back to his brother. "Hard," he added.

Elrohir chuckled tiredly. "Only if you promise to do the same for me," he said. Then he shook his head, straightening slightly. He sighed. "You stay here with Fa- Elrond," he said. "I'll go see if the servants managed to catch Glorfindel yet."

Elladan nodded. "Good luck, brother," he said as the other left.

A tired sigh was his only reply.

Part 6

Elven servants of Elrond's household were moving through the Lord of Imladris' private gardens, having been ordered by Elrohir to find a small golden-haired Elf-child. All they knew about the child was his physical description and the fact that he was hiding *somewhere* in the valley. They didn't know his name or why he was hiding from them, or even why Elrohir wanted him found and brought in. Why weren't the child's parents tending to this?

Having determined that the child was not in the gardens, the servants continued with their search, as they had been ordered to do up until the child was found, no matter how long it took. They left the gardens, closing the gate behind them. Perhaps the child would head for the pools for swimming?

Perhaps five minutes after the servants had left the garden, a bush rustled, some of its branches parting to reveal the somewhat scratched- though clean- face of the child Glorfindel. Bright eyes scanned the gardens for stragglers. Seeing none, the face sank back into the concealing foliage. The bush rustled wildly before regurgitating the towel-clad boy onto the grassy pathway.

Glorfindel landed facefirst on the ground, his legs following quickly after, rolling him in a somersault to end up lying flat on his back. His towel had gotten caught on one of the branches and come undone. Naked, Glorfindel sat up. He shivered in the slight breeze, yanked his towel back from the clinging bush and wrapped it haphazardly about himself.

A small giggle escaped him. Those people had been looking for him, he was sure of it. But he was Glorfindel, the *best* when it came to playing hide-and-seek. They'd be looking for a long time, but they wouldn't find him until he wanted to be found. And since Elladan had said that he had to clean up the mud-mess in the house, he didn't want to be found *at least* until that was already cleaned up.

He giggled again at another thought: The other boy, who had said his name was Elrond, hadn't taken the chance to run when Glorfindel had. He'd heard Elladan's pronouncement of naptime and the other boy's response. Glorfindel smiled; Elrond should have known better than to stay with the grown-ups who had threatened them with chores. They obviously* weren't to be trusted.

He cast a bright-eyed glance up at the Sun. It was still quite a way from the horizon. Now that the seekers were gone and wouldn't be back for a while, what should he do?

His stomach rumbled, answering *that* question; he had to find something to eat. But where? He *could* try sneaking into the kitchens, but they were sure to be full of Elves that knew to catch him. Even *he* couldn't stay hidden there.

Then he smacked himself upside the head. /Silly,/ he thought. /You're in a *garden*. There *has* to be food in here *somewhere*./

And so Glorfindel wandered around the garden, keeping a sharp ear out for the sound of anyone approaching.

/Flowers. Flowers. Flowers. Bushy plant thing. Flowers. Whoever planted this garden has a thing for flowers,/ he thought, a frown on his small face. /Flowers. More flowers. Aha! Food-plants!/

Glorfindel sank to his knees in the dirt of the small vegetable patch and started putting together a small feast. Carrots were pulled up, the small ones being jabbed back into the ground. A few mostly-ripe tomatoes were yanked off their vines. Leaves from salad-plants were ripped off their plants. Then the boy spotted the berry-patch.

Abandoning the vegetables, he ran to the berries, plopped down in the patch and started plucking the ripe fruits, his hands moving swiftly between the plants and his mouth. Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, currants... all made the quick one-way trip into Glorfindel.

He ate and ate the berries until he was nearly sick, then walked slowly back to his bushy hiding place, clutching at his full stomach. He stared at it for a moment, remembering the way he'd had to hold on to the branches to keep himself hidden. He knew that in his full and sleepy condition he would probably fall asleep and end up on the ground, in plain sight. That meant that he'd have to find another hiding place.

Sharp eyes scanned the gardens, ended up on a thickly-leaved rosebush thicket. That was it. That was the perfect place to hide.

Glorfindel went over to the thicket, saw the long thorns of the roses. Ignoring them, he wormed his way into the center of the thicket, finding a small clear space in there. Ignoring the fresh scratches on his skin, he wrapped his towel closely about him, curled up and fell asleep in the leafy green-dark.

Part 7

Elladan looked up from his silent vigil as Elrohir came quietly back into their Father's room. After a last look at the sleeping half-Elf child, Elladan rose and went over to his twin.

"Any luck?" he asked softly, careful not to awaken the sleeping one.

Elrohir shook his head. "No. They're still looking. Apparently, Glorfindel is both fast *and* good at hiding." He looked to Elrond. "He hasn't awakened yet?"

"No. There were a few times I thought he might, but then his sleep deepened again. Even so, he will probably wake soon." He looked to his twin. "Stay here with him. I'll go get him something to eat from the kitchens."

Elrohir went over and sat in the chair that his brother had occupied. He heard the door close softly behind the other, then looked to the small one in the bed. He smiled. /Fa-Elrond is cute when he's asleep,/ he mused. /I wonder if he looked like this when he really *was* this young? And was he such a brat?/

***

Elladan returned to the room, a covered tray of food in his hands. He chuckled at the sight that greeted him as he closed the door behind him, then set the tray down on the small table nearby.

Elrond had apparently awakened while he'd been away on his errand, and Elrohir was playing with him in an effort to keep him out of trouble until Elladan returned. His twin was down on the floor on all fours, crawling around. Elrond was astride his back, hands tangled in the other's dark hair, kicking Elrohir's sides with his small feet, giggling all the while.

Elladan winced, his own bruises aching in sympathetic pain upon seeing Elrond once again kick Elrohir in the sides, pulling at the dark hair.

"Go faster, horsie!" Elrond giggled. Kick. "Faster!" Kick, kick. "When I'm big, I'm going to have a horse of my own, you know," he said confidentially. "He's going to be white with black spots. He's going to be very fast, faster than the wind." Another kick. "Go faster!"

"Food," Elladan called. He bit back a laugh at the obvious relief on Elrohir's face when Elrond slid off his back.

The small one ran over to the table, lifted the silver up from over the food. He studied the food on the plate, then dropped the dome back down. He stuck out his tongue with a grimace of disgust. "Yuck. That's not food, it's *vegetables*!"

"Vegetables *are* food, Elrond" Elladan said.

"No, they're not," came the reply. The thin arms crossed stubbornly over the small chest. "Go get *real* food."

"Real food?" asked Elrohir.

The small head nodded. "Yes. Real food. You know, cookies and cake and candy and berries."

"That's for *after* you eat, Elrond," Elrohir said. "First, you have to eat your vegetables."

"No."

The twins shared a look and sigh. Their father ate his vegetables, *liked* them. How were they to get this small version of him to eat them? Another sigh. This was going to be messy.

"Come here, Elrond," Elladan said. "Let's get the nightshirt off."

"Why?" came the question as the boy stared at them in suspicion.

"Because you *are* going to eat that food, and we don't want you to get the clothes all messy. It's easier to clean bare skin." He grabbed hold of the nightshirt, pulled it off the small one. "Now you sit at the table, and don't leave it until you've eaten all your food."

"No."

"Elrond."

"No."

The twins shared another Look.

Yes, this was definitely going to be messy.

***

A half-hour passed. The Sun was perhaps five minutes from the horizon.

The twins sat on either side of the child, who squirmed unhappily as he sat on the very edge of the chair, naked. A plate of food sat on the table in front of him, still mostly full.

Both of the twins, as well as Elrond, were liberally splattered with the food they were trying to get the child to eat. They *knew* that the boy was old enough to feed himself, but the problem was that he *wouldn't*. Apparently he'd developed his like for vegetables after he'd grown.

Elladan closed his eyes in frustration as the spoonful of shredded greens he'd just fed Elrond was spit forcefully onto his face. He already had mashed carrot on his forehead and in his hair, as did Elrohir. As he felt the green mess slowly sliding down his face, his patience finally wore out.

"Elrohir," he snapped, "hold him."

Just as frustrated as his twin, Elrohir smiled grimly. He slipped behind Elrond, slipping his arms around the child, pinning the small arms with their sticky, food-flinging hands firmly against the thin sides.

Child-Elrond let loose a shriek of outrage, kicked his feet, hitting nothing, squirmed in the other's hold, trying and failing at trying to get away.

The Sun sank below the horizon even as the shriek was cut off abruptly as Elladan stuck a spoonful of greens into the child's mouth...

...and found himself holding a spoon in his newly-grown father's mouth. Elrond swallowed the cold greens with a grimace of disgust as Elladan, shocked, withdrew the spoon.

Elrond looked around, seeing the plate on the table, the food-mess that was spread all around him, saw a rather food-splattered Elladan staring at him in shock. Elrohir stood behind him, pinning his arms to his sides. Then Elrond noticed that he was both naked and covered with spilled food.

"*What* do you think you're *doing*?" he half-yelled at his sons.

Elrohir let go with a small yelp, backed away, eyes wide. "F-father!" he croaked. "It's you!"

"Who else would I be?" Elrond asked. He stood, walked over to his washbasin, scrubbed the sticky, drying food off of him, then pulled on a robe, belting it firmly at his waist. Then he turned back to his sons, who still stood in the disaster area near the table, staring at him. "What? What is the meaning of... of..." he gestured to the table, "this?"

"Father? You.... You don't remember?" Elladan asked.

"Remember what?"

"Remember today," Elrohir said. "You remember that sudden-hitting pain you felt last night?"

"Of course I remember that.... Last night?" Elrond looked sharply to the twins, frowning. "That was *last* night?"

"Yes." Elladan. "What is the last thing you remember?"

Elrond sat down on the edge of his bed. "I... We were walking, before dawn. The sky lightened... then we were here and you two were forcefeeding me disgusting, cold greens." He looked to the twins. "What happened?"

"Father, you and Glorfindel-" Elrohir started.

"Glorfindel!" Elladan exclaimed, eyes wide as he looked to his brother. "We forgot about Glorfindel-"

Then the door of Elrond's chambers burst open and Glorfindel, leaves in his golden hair, fair skin scratched, hands stained blue from berry-juice, came into the room wearing only a towel. The expression on his face was stormy. "*What* is going on here and *why* was I lying on the ground in a rosebush thicket wearing only a *towel*?"

Elladan and Elrohir, exhausted by the long day, finally came to the end of their endurance. Both burst into near-hysterical laughter.

Part 8

While waiting for the laughter to die down, the Elf-lords raided Elrond's wardrobe for something for Glorfindel to wear. Clothed at last in one of Elrond's robes, Glorfindel looked into the full-length mirror near one wall and began picking leaves out of his hair. Elrond helped, picking off those the golden-haired Elf missed. In the mirror, they could see the reflection of Elladan and Elrohir, still laughing, leaning against one another for support.

Once their task was done, they turned and looked to the twins, saw them now sitting back-to-back on the floor in all their food-splattered glory, an occasional chuckle escaping them.

"Elladan? Elrohir?" Elrond asked, walking over. The twins looked up at him with weary, streaming eyes. "Answer Glorfindel's question, then go to your rest. You look exhausted."

The twins hesitated, looked away. They wiped the tears from their faces with their sleeves.

"Elladan?" Elrond asked again. Nothing. "Elrohir? Speak."

Elrohir sighed heavily, looked to the two standing ones. "Are you sure you want to know that, Father?"

"Of course. Now, what happened to Glorfindel?"

"Well," Elrohir said at last. "It's a long story."

"No, it isn't, brother," Elladan said. "Father, you and Glorfindel turned into skinny children at dawn. All of your clothes were too big and fell off. Then you both ran away from us. It took Elrohir and I maybe fifteen minutes to catch up. We found you wrestling together in the mud. You were so filthy we couldn't tell who was who. Then you ran away again, into the house. We caught you, brought you to the bathhouse and you got washed up. *Glorfindel* ran away from there, and we got *you* to sleep after we sent servants out looking for *him*. You slept most of the afternoon, then woke up in time to refuse to eat. You know the rest." He sighed. "Both Elrohir and I are black and blue from trying to hang on to you two this morning."

Elrond and Glorfindel had turned redder and redder with the telling, embarrassment running through them in flaming waves.

"We... ran around... naked, through Rivendell?" Glorfindel managed to croak.

"We ran around naked... covered in mud?" came Elrond's mortified query.

"Yes," Elrohir confirmed. "And you wouldn't *believe* the mess the two of you made of the bathhouse, as well as *this* house." He looked to his brother. "Let's go to bed, brother. We have to be up before dawn, ready to catch Father and Glorfindel if it happens again."

Elladan nodded with a groan. The twins stood, bid the mortified Elf-lords goodnight, then limped off to bed, closing the door softly behind them.

Elrond and Glorfindel stared wordlessly at each other for a long time. Then Elrond shook himself and looked away.

"My Lord?" Glorfindel asked in a subdued voice. "Tell me you know why this happened. Tell me you know how to stop it from happening again."

"I wish I could," the Lord of Imladris said. Then he looked back to the Elf beside him. "Gandalf's last letter said he was to remain in Mirkwood until Fall, didn't it?"

"Mithrandir? Yes."

Nodding, Elrond hurried over to his table, found a spot unsplattered by food, then wrote a quick message on parchment, sealed it. He called for a messenger, ordered him to take the letter to Gandalf in Mirkwood as quickly as possible.

"My Lord?" Glorfindel asked, confused.

"I have written to Gandalf, asking him to come to Rivendell as soon as possible," came the reply. Elrond turned, looked to the golden-haired Elf-lord. "He is Gandalf the White now, and head of the Wizards' Council. Surely he shall know how to cure us of this... this... curse."

"You can do nothing, then?"

"My strength lies in healing magics, Glorfindel. This is beyond my power to cure."

Glorfindel nodded in acknowldegement, then frowned. "Taking the most direct route, straight East over the mountains, then along the Old Forest Road into Thranduil's realm, it shall take the messenger nearly a full week to reach Gandalf in Mirkwood, and the same time to return. What are we to do until then?"

Elrond sighed, looked out the glass balcony-doors at the stars. He looked back to Glorfindel, face grim. "We hope that Elladan and Elrohir learn quickly how to mind two somewhat wayward children." He sighed again. "I must work now, Glorfindel. Imladris does not run itself, and I must write down my orders before dawn finds us children."

"*If* we become children again."

"I have no cause to think it shall happen otherwise," Elrond said. "Do you?"

"No, but-"

"Do you truly want to risk it, Glorfindel?" he asked. "Imagine it, if you would: It is nearing dawn and, as we do so often, we are in the Hall of Fire along with several dozen Elves. The Sun rises and instantly, we are children again. Our... our clothes fall off and we run naked around Rivendell until Elladan and Elrohir manage to catch us again. Only now, all of Rivendell will know within hours that those young ones are *us*. Can you imagine the panic being leaderless would cause these Elves? I cannot allow that."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"Return here before dawn," came the suggestion. "My sons shall be here. The doors and windows will be locked. That way we shall be delayed in our escape, giving them time enough to catch us."

Glorfindel nodded. "Also, we should think back to when we were children in truth, and write down a list of things we liked or disliked. Then we should give the lists to the twins. Perhaps it will help them to manage us."

Elrond nodded in agreement. "I agree. Go now and work on your list. I will write down my orders for the day, then work on mine. Be back here before dawn, though."

The golden-haired Elf nodded. "I shall."

***

It was perhaps a half-hour before dawn.

Elrond finished writing the last of his letters, signed and sealed it, put it aside with the others. He was just putting his writing implements aside when the door to his rooms opened after a quiet knock. He looked up to see Glorfindel come into the room, a sheet of parchment in hand.

"Come in, Glorfindel," he greeted. "Elladan and Elrohir should be here shortly."

Glorfindel came further into the room, looking around. The rooms had been neatened, he saw. The food-mess was gone, and all breakables were either gone, or in places high enough to be inaccessible to children. The clothes chest Elladan and Elrohir had brought in the day before had been opened, its contents aired out. He went over to the clothes, pulled up a small pair of pants. No matter how many times they had been washed, they still bore the faint purple of berry-juice stains on the knees. He smiled. He remembered that summer; how the twins had both eaten so many berries as to be nearly sick with it, though very happy. He looked then to the stains on his own hands, chuckled. That must have been where those stains had come from. There *was* a berry-patch in the garden he'd awakened in, after all....

"All done your list, Glorfindel?" came Elrond's voice.

"Yes," he said. He put the pants down, walked over to the table where Elrond sat. He put the list down on the polished wooden surface. "All that I could think of. I'll add to it as I remember more. And you? Did you write your list?"

"Yes."

Silence fell in the room as the two thought about the approaching dawn and the transformation that would likely overtake them again.

Then the door to Elrond's rooms opened again and the twins came in. They were moving slowly, stiff and sore from their ill-use the day before.

Elladan looked at the two lords. A smirk twitched upon his face. He drew breath to speak.

"Don't even say it, brother," Elrohir warned quietly, a small smirk upon his own face.

Elladan considered. His brother was probably right. The two looked tense enough to do him serious harm should he poke fun at their situation.

Elrond stood, gathered up both his list and Glorfindel's. He waved the lists at his sons. "These are lists, written by Glorfindel and I, of what we could recall of our likes and dislikes as children. We thought perhaps this could help you." He pulled the lists back behind him when Elladan made to take them. "They will be on the table until after the transformation occurs." He carefully placed the lists facedown on the table behind him.

"But why not give them to us now, Father?" Elladan asked.

Elrohir chuckled. "Brother, think about it. They probably don't want us to see them because they probably have something embarrassing in them." He looked to the two lords. "Am I right?"

The two in question were faintly pink. They said nothing.

Their silence alone answered the Elrohir's question.

"And they don't want us to see the lists of embarrassing things in case they don't turn into children this morning after all," Elladan said, continuing his brother's train of thought. He grinned, looked to his twin. "El, even if they don't turn into children, we *have* to get that list."

Elrond and Glorfindel looked to each other, still pink with embarrassment. Already, they regretted writing the lists, though they knew the writing had been necessary.

Then an awkward silence fell once again in the room. All four stared out the window at the eastern horizon. When it started to lighten with false-dawn, the twins went swiftly around, locking every door and window as the two lords watched silently.

Then the Sun peeked her edge over the horizon and like the day before, Elrond and Glorfindel were stricken with cramping pain, sent crashing to the floor.

Elladan and Elrohir watched quietly as it happened, waited for the small ones to get up and try to run away.

When minutes passed and nothing at all happened, they went over to the collapsed figures on the floor, concerned. They saw that the two were definitely smaller; clothes naught but big puddles of bulky fabric around the small bodies.

They still didn't get up.

Truly worried now, Elladan and Elrohir brushed the long silky hair from the small faces, then looked to each other with a sigh of relief.

Nothing was wrong with the two. They were fast asleep.

"Father and Glorfindel were up all night," Elladan whispered as he gently lifted Elrond, then carried him over to their father's bed, lay him down on it. "Do you think-?"

Elrohir nodded as he lay Glorfindel down beside Elrond on the bed. "That that was what tired them out so? Perhaps."

The twins went quietly over to the chest of clothes, brought out a pair of nightclothes. Gently, they dressed the two children, careful not to wake them, then covered them up with the blankets. Asleep, the two curled up together.

Smirking at the cute sight, the twins retreated further into the room so as not to disturb the sleeping ones. The longer they slept, the better. The twins still ached from their bruising the day before.

Then the thought popped into their heads at the same time and they looked to each other, smiling evilly. As one, they turned and hurried over to the table and the lists.

Part 9

He woke to the sound of soft laughter coming from further in the room. Quietly, he stretched and yawned, shifting in the bed, only then realizing that he was both cuddled up with his new friend and dressed in a set of nightclothes that were unfamiliar to him.

He lifted a sleep-tousled head, looked in the direction of the soft words and laughter. Sleepy eyes narrowed upon seeing Elladan and Elrohir sitting at a table, staring down at pages of parchment, speaking quietly together, eyes sparkling with laughter.

/How did I get here from the garden?/ he wondered. A small hand brushed mussed golden hair from his face, rubbed at his eyes. /And what did *they* have to do with it?/

He sat up in bed, the covers sliding down, then got out of bed, carefully covering the still-sleeping Elrond once more. Then he looked again to the twins.

/What's on the papers that's got them laughing like that?/ he wondered. They were speaking too quietly for him to make out the words they said. He would have to get closer. He grinned slightly; he *was* the *best* at hiding, and sneaking around a room with no one seeing him was nearly exactly the same thing, to his mind. /It had better not be a list of chores! If it is, I'm going to hide again and *this* time, they won't find me to bring me here./

He slid to the floor, then snaked his way under the bed and over to the side nearest to the next bit of concealment he needed-- a hanging wall-tapestry. He looked to the twins, waited until he was certain that neither was looking his way, then ran silently over to the tapestry and slid behind it.

/This is easy!/ he thought to himself as he edged his way along the wall, careful not to shift the heavy fabric. He crept along until he was concealed nearly directly behind Elladan, then stopped to listen.

"-think that's funny, listen to this one, from Glorfindel's list: 'When I was small, I had a small doll. It had buttons for eyes and an embroidered mouth. It had orange yarn for hair and a set of wings stiffened around the edges with wire. Its name was Fluffy the Balrog-'"

"Fluffy!" Elrohir laughed, joining his brother. They just barely managed to keep the volume low enough not to wake the sleeping ones.

Behind the tapestry, Glorfindel frowned in confusion. /My list? I wrote a list? And why are they laughing at Fluffy? When did I write a list? And why do *they* have it?/ Then another thought popped into his head. /*How* did I write a list? I can't even write yet!/

"That was good, brother," Elrohir said, still chuckling. "We have to remember that one so we can tease him about it tonight."

They looked more through the lists, looking for something embarrassing to tease their father with.

Then Elladan, senses sharpened after many orc-hunts, grew aware that someone was hiding in the tapestry behind him. He cast a quick look to the bed, saw only Elrond's dark hair on the pillows. So Glorfindel was missing, which meant-- he grinned. At Elrohir's curious look, he motioned him closer, then whispered into his brother's ear. Soon, Elrohir was grinning too.

Glorfindel didn't know how it happened. One second he was hiding behind the tapestry, the next, he was caught up by Elladan, wrestled to the rug on the floor and tickled mercilessly by the twins. His shrieks and giggled laughter pierced the air.

Awakened by the sounds, Elrond sat up in bed and looked to the source, blinking the sleep from his eyes. He saw his friend Glorfindel on the floor at the far side of the room, getting tickled by the twins, laughing and calling for help, breathless from laughing so hard, face red. Silently, Elrond grabbed up his weapon of choice, a pillow, and crept over to the three.

Elrohir's first warning that Elrond was awake was the pillow blow to the head. With a shout of laughter, he turned, wrestled the small one to the floor and set to work tickling *him*. The pillow itself was soon captured by Elladan and tossed aside.

At last, nearly ten minutes later, all four lay breathless on the floor.

Elladan rolled over onto his side, looked to Glorfindel. "Why were you hiding behind the tapestry?" he asked.

Glorfindel sat up, fidgeting. "I wanted to know what was on the papers. I wanted to know if it was chores or not." The word 'chores' was said with a grimace that showed quite plainly what the golden-haired Elfling thought of the whole concept. The grimace was, to the twins' amusement, mirrored nearly exactly on Elrond's small face.

Elladan and Elrohir exchanged a look. So far, the lists had been right; both had had 'chores' written under the 'dislikes' column, as well as 'vegetables'. Glorfindel also had hide-and-seek under the 'likes' column, even as Elrond had 'pillow-fights'.

Then the twins looked to the young ones. "How about we get you dressed, then go down to eat?" Elladan asked.

The small ones looked to each other, then to the twins. "All right," Elrond said simply.

Then, before the twins even rose, the two were at the clothes-chest, digging through the clothes, tossing aside those they didn't want, making a huge clothing-mess on the floor around them.

Elladan and Elrohir stared, somewhat startled, at the mass of flying clothing, then sighed. The day might have started out better, but they had a growing suspicion that it was going to be even *more*... interesting... than the day before. They looked to each other and wondered *how* they were going to survive, with sanity intact, having to take care of the small ones for the two weeks until Gandalf arrived, then however long after that it took for him to find a cure.

Then the younglings were there, dressed in their chosen clothes, and were tugging at the arms and legs of the twins, trying to get them moving so that they could go eat.

"Get up!" Glorfindel said, tugging at Elladan's arm. "I'm hungry!"

"Me, too!" said Elrond as he pushed at Elrohir's back, trying to get him to stand up. "I want to eat. Then we can go play! Can we play in the mud puddle again today, can we?"

"Yes! We *have* to visit the mud puddle!" Glorfindel exclaimed. "And go swimming, and berry-picking, and-"

"Berry-picking! Berry-picking!" Elrond crowed, eyes sparkling. "We *have* to do that!"

"-hide-and-seek, and caterpillar-hunting, and-"

"We *have* to play leapfrog, and pin-the-tail-on-the-Balrog," Elrond said enthusiastically. "Oh! Can we go looking for tadpoles or frogs? Can I keep one? I'll take good care of it, I promise!"

With a last heavy sigh, Elladan and Elrohir got up off the floor and went to face the beginning of the day with the children. Their bruises were already throbbing and already they felt headaches coming on.

Part 10

Breakfast was a relatively calm affair. The twins sat one on either side of the table, each sitting beside one of the small ones. Elrond and Glorfindel sat opposite each other and sat there, fidgeting and having a horrible-face-making competition as they waited for their food to be brought out to them. Elladan and Elrohir just stared, bemused, at the two, eyes glinting with barely suppressed laughter. Though Elrond was able to make some faces that the twins had not before thought physically possible, Glorfindel was still, in their opinion, coming out ahead by the time the servants brought out the food.

"Your father and Glorfindel are not joining you for breakfast this morning, my Lords?" one of the serving-Elves asked, staring curiously at the small ones.

Elladan clapped a firm but gentle hand over Glorfindel's mouth even as the boy opened his mouth to speak, effectively muffling the boy's words. The small one started prying at the dark-haired Elf's hand, angry mumblings coming from him, eyes glaring.

"No," Elrohir said, drawing the servant's gaze to him, away from the spectacle of Elladan and Glorfindel. "They aren't. They... they went..."

"To Mirkwood," Elladan suggested with a slight smile. He grimaced with pain when the boy bit into his palm, but didn't let go.

"Yes!" Elrohir said. "They went to Mirkwood." Then he shook his head, glared at his twin. Mirkwood?! That was too far to explain away the Lords' reappearance at sunset! "No, they didn't. They went out of Rivendell for a while. It's been so long since they had any time off, you know. They'll be back by tonight."

The servant looked somewhat dubious at the explanation, then shrugged his concerns away. These were Elrond's sons; surely if anything had happened to him, they wouldn't try to conceal it! He saw the blond child squirm in Elladan's hold. Curiosity prompted him to ask. "And who are these two? Shall they be staying in Rivendell for some time?"

"Yes, they shall be staying with us. Speaking of which, they have a tendancy to run off. Please put out word that if anyone sees one of them out unaccompanied that he is to be caught and brought to one of us," Elrohir said, completely ignoring the question of just who the small ones were.

The servant, sensing that there was something strange about the children, and that it was a thing he wasn't meant to know, took his leave of them, leaving the four to their breakfast.

Once he was sure that the servant was gone, and out of earshot, Elladan released Glorfindel. Then he rubbed at his palm and the two red crescents left in his skin by Glorfindel's teeth.

The boy glared at him. "Why did you do that? He was asking why I wasn't here! He was just playing."

"You can't tell anyone your name is Glorfindel," Elladan said. He looked to Elrond. "And you can't tell anyone your name, either."

"But why not?" Elrond asked. "It's my name!"

"I know," Elrohir said. He hugged the dark-haired child gently. "And I don't know how to explain why so that you would understand."

"But I'm smart!" Elrond said.

"Me, too!" Glorfindel chimed in.

The twins smiled softly. "Yes, you are," Elladan said. "But *we* don't even really understand how this happened. How then could we explain? Just promise us that you won't tell anyone your real names."

The two younglings looked unhappy for a time, then nodded reluctantly. "We promise," Elrond mumbled.

"Good!" Elrohir said, spirits lightening. He smiled. "Let's eat. Then we can decide what we're going to do for the rest of the morning."

The four then turned to their plates and started eating. Quiet fell in the room and breakfast proceded smoothly.

Then Glorfindel and Elrond discovered nearly simultaneously that porridge and fruit could fly quite well when propelled by a spoon.

***

It was nearly five minutes later when the twins finally managed to get the two to stop flinging porridge about. They had just relieved the culprits of their spoons when a group of servant-Elves came into the room. The servants stopped dead in their tracks, staring around at the porridge-splattered disaster area the room had become, then at the only two Elves in the room with spoons in hand.

Elladan and Elrohir both looked to each other, at the spoons in their hands, at the two young ones, around the room, then at the servants. They blushed as they realized what the others must be thinking. They looked to each other, then back to the servants.

"We didn't do it," Elrohir said weakly.

The only reply to *that* was a frown from every member of the servant-group.

Short minutes later found the twins on their hands and knees, cloths and brushes in hand as they scrubbed the floor under the stern and watchful eyes of the servants. Elrond and Glorfindel, acting innocent as new snow, were sitting near the fireplace, eyes wide as they listened to a story that one of the others was telling them.

The two looked briefly to the twins, who looked miserable as they knelt in the soapy water that they were using to clean the floor, the liquid soaking into the legs of their pants. Then they looked to each other. The glint in their eyes was the same. They had just discovered a new game: get the nasty chore-giving twins in trouble.

Evil smiles found their way onto the small faces. This game was promising to be *very* fun.

***

By the time they were done cleaning up the room's mess, Elladan and Elrohir were in no mood to indulge the two troublemaking brats. Elrond and Glorfindel whined loudly when the twins grabbed them firmly by the wrist, then pulled them from the room. Complaining all the way, the two were brought back to Elrond's bedroom by the grimly silent twins.

"I don't want to be in here again!" Glorfindel whined as the door was locked behind the four. "I want to go out and play!"

"Me, too!" Elrond said.

"Be. Quiet." Elrohir said through gritted teeth, eyes snapping angrily. "I don't think we're *going* to be playing today."

"But you said!"

"*That* was *before* you made that big mess in the breakfast hall," Elladan said, easily as upset as his brother. "I don't think you deserve it anymore."

"But-" Elrond said.

"In fact, I think you deserve to be punished."

"But-"

Glorfindel didn't need to hear the rest of the words to know what was going to happen. He already knew. He and Elrond were going to be in trouble, and punished, and that was no fun at all. His sharp eyes scanned the room, searching for an escape. He saw, through the opened door into Elrond's study, that a servant had opened a window, probably to air out the room while the Lord of Rivendell was away. Not wanting to give away his escape route, Glorfindel didn't let his eyes linger on the window for any longer than he stared at anything else. He looked to the twins, saw by the looks on their faces that they were about to pronounce their chosen punishment.

Without giving any prior warning, Glorfindel reached out, grabbed Elrond's wrist and took off, hauling his startled friend behind him. The two children ran into the study.

Elladan and Elrohir, knowing that they had closed and locked the windows that morning before dawn, were somewhat slow to follow. Then they cursed upon seeing the open window and sped up.

Too late. By the time they had seen it, Glorfindel was already outside, with Elrond close behind.

The twins reached the window of their father's study, stared out of it. The only sign of the passing of the Elflings was the crushed flowers under the window and the soft giggles floating in on the wind.

Shoulders slumped with something approaching defeat, the brothers looked to each other with tired eyes. Then, with matching sighs, they straightened, slipped out of the window and went out into Rivendell, chasing after the two.

Again.

Part 11

Hours passed as the twins, as well as all the servants they could recruit, searched the whole of Rivendell for the children. Fruitlessly.

They were just about to give up and let the grown Lords find their own way back come sunset a few hours from then when they heard it.

It started low, then rose into an unearthly shriek, coupled with a sobbing wail. Elven heads turned, focusing on the sound, even as the Elves themselves ran quickly in the direction of the noise.

Elladan and Elrohir arrived shortly after a small group of Elves. They looked to the others for the cause of the shrieking they had heard, but then, after its brief pause, the noise started again.

Above them.

Looking up, the twins spotted the two missing children perched up at the very *top* of the tree the Elves stood beside, hanging on to the trunk for dear life, standing on branches no bigger around than an Elf's smallest finger.

The wailing intensified as the wind that blew through the valley that day picked up slightly, sending the treetop with its extra weight swaying violently from side to side.

Elrond, up in the tree with Glorfindel, clinging tightly to the trunk with white-knuckled fingers, looked down. Through the blurring of his tears, he managed to spot Elladan and Elrohir there below them, along with many other Elves he didn't recognise. "Help!" he yelled. "'Adan! 'Rohir! Help!"

"They're stuck," one of the Elves observed. "They went too high."

The Elves watched, eyes wide, trying to think of a way to get the small ones down. All the Elves there were too big to climb up onto those delicate branches. They watched, barely daring to breathe, as the wind tossed the treetop about once again.

Then Elrond yelled again, for a different reason this time.

"Watch out!" he yelled. "Glorfindel's throwing up!"

The Elves hurried back from the tree even as the golden-haired Elf-child convulsed, then threw up. The mess splattered the ground right where the first group of Elves had been standing. They heard sobs starting again from above.

"We can't just leave them up there!"

"Of course not! But how do we get them down?"

Elladan was staring up at the two, then down at the gound, then back again. He looked to his twin. "We can't get anywhere near them. They're going to have to come down."

Elrohir snorted. "What a wonderful grasp of the obvious. Now, how do you think that is going to happen?"

"They're going to jump."

Elrohir stared at him incredulously. "Are you out of your mind?" he hissed at last.

"No. We'll spread out a blanket and hold it tight, all of us, and they'll jump down and land on it."

"There has to be a better way!" He thought for a while. "We need a ladder!" he said, loud enough for the others to hear him.

The word passed along quickly, was discussed quickly among the Elves present. It was widely agreed that a ladder was the best idea. Then one of the gardeners burst their bubble by telling them that none of the ladders were anywhere *near* tall enough.

That left them with Elladan's blanket idea.

"Back off!" Elrond yelled. "Glorfindel's being sick again!"

A blanket was quickly brought, and as soon as the latest mess had hit ground, the Elves each grabbed hold of the blanket and spread it, holding it taut between them.

"Jump!" Elladan yelled up at the two treed Elflings.

"Are you *crazy*?!" came Elrond's incredulous reply. "We're *not* jumping from here!" He looked to Glorfindel, saw his friend standing there, stiff as a board, hardly daring to breathe, eyes clenched tightly shut, tears streaming down his face. His face was very pale and his knuckles were white. "It'll be all right," he murmured to his friend. "They'll get us down."

"But what if they can't?" Glorfindel said from between clenched teeth. "We'll be stuck up here forever!"

Elrond was about to reply when another gust of wind whipped them around again.

The tree was not used to bearing such a weight on its highest branches, especially in the wind. There was a sound that caused every heart there to skip a beat and breath to catch in throats.

A cracking sound.

Eyes wide, truly terrified now, Elrond looked down the trunk. He saw the spreading crack in the wood. "Glorfindel," he said urgently. "We have to get down *now*!"

"I can't move," came the whispered reply. "I can't move."

"Jump!" the Elves down below yelled up. "Jump!"

Elrond had just opened his mouth to speak when another gust of wind shook the tree.

A loud *crack!* was heard and the top of the tree from just below the two broke off, sending the small ones plummeting, screaming, toward the ground. Hearts in their throats, the Elves quickly positioned themselves to catch the falling treetop with the blanket. The two small ones and the piece of tree fell onto the taut cloth. The Elves managed to hold against the sudden weight of impact, then lowered the two gently to the ground.

Instantly, Elladan and Elrohir were there, tossing aside the treetop and checking over the two who were lying on the blanket on the ground, cuddled up together, crying their eyes out.

"It's all right," Elladan said as he gently rubbed Elrond's small back. "You're safe now."

Elrohir was doing the same for Glorfindel.

The twins shared a look. They doubted the two would feel up to doing anything more that day. That feeling was proven when first Glorfindel, then Elrond got off the blanket, walked a few steps and was sick. Once they were done, they just sat there, tears running down their small, pale faces, shaking.

The twins went over to the two, picked them up gently. They smiled sadly when their charges clung tightly to them, still crying.

"Let's get them home, cleaned up, and to bed," Elladan suggested. Elrohir nodded silently, and the two left the other Elves behind. Their previous anger at the two had vanished under the weight of their concern.

The other gathered Elves were just leaving the clearing when it struck them. The small, dark-haired child had called the golden-haired one *Glorfindel*.

***

Elladan and Elrohir gently pulled the blankets up over the bodies of the still-crying Elflings. The two had not stopped crying for any meaningful length of time since their fall from the tree. They had been sobbing and subdued all through their baths and dressing in nightclothes, not even complaining once even though it was still hours until sunset. The twins had found that, no matter how troublesome the younglings usually were, it was impossible not to feel sorry for them upon seeing them cry so. At least they weren't wailing anymore.

The twins sat one on either side of the bed, each trying to comfort one of the small ones.

Elrohir wiped the streaming tears from Glorfindel's face with a soft cloth. "Is there anything you want, that could make you feel better?" he asked quietly.

"Mother?" Glorfindel managed to ask around sobs, his small, tear-choked voice pathetically hopeful.

Elrohir felt near-physical pain in his heart, knowing that he had no choice but to disappoint. "She is not here, little one," he said softly. "Is there anything else that you would want?"

"Fluffy?" asked the golden-haired one, looking up at Elrohir through tear-swollen eyes.

Elrohir smiled sadly, brushed some of the fine hair from the young one's face. "I'll see what I can do."

On the other side of the bed, Elladan was having a similar conversation with Elrond.

"I want my brother!" Elrond said, his whole body shuddering behind the weight of his hiccoughing sobs.

"He is not here right now," Elladan said. "Is there anything else?"

"Wake me up when it gets dark out?" came the trembling answer.

"Why?"

"So I can see my father, up in the sky." Elrond sniffled, wiped at his nose with the back of his small hand. "He's a star, you know." Sniffle. "His light always makes me feel better."

"All right," Elladan said. He knew that come darkness, the two would be grown again. It was sad that the small Elrond wouldn't be able to get his wish. "Is there anything else you would want, right now?"

Elrond thought only briefly before shaking his head.

Elladan looked to his brother, saw the nearly-unconsolable Glorfindel. He looked again to Elrond. "Will you do something for us, then?" he asked softly.

Curious, Elrond asked, "What?"

The twin spoke as if confiding a great secret. "Glorfindel is very sad. He is alone, he has no brothers or sisters here, nor are his parents in the stars. Could you take care of him, try to cheer him up a little?"

Elrond looked to his sobbing friend, the tears in his own eyes drying up slightly. He looked back to Elladan and nodded. "All right," he said. "I'll try."

"Thank you," came the reply. He could see that, like when he was fully grown, the concern for another were pushing away Elrond's own sadness. "I'm sure you'll do a good job."

Elrond nodded again, scooted over in the bed to take Glofindel into his arms, hugging the other boy tightly. "It's all right, Glorfindel," he said softly into the other's ear. "I'm here."

Elrohir looked to his twin, who rose as he did, then back to the small ones, who lay there, cuddling on the bed. "Will you two be all right for a time, while Elladan and I go look for Fluffy?"

The two nodded. "We'll be all right," Elrond said. "I promise."

"And you two won't try to sneak away? You'll stay right here in bed and try to get some sleep?"

"We won't go away," came the reply, from Glorfindel this time. "Please find Fluffy."

The twins nodded. They waited until the small ones were settled comfortably in bed, then slipped out of the room, closing the door softly behind them.

Then Elladan turned to Elrohir. "Brother, Glorfindel had Fluffy a *long* time ago! Where do you think we're going to *find* it?"

Elrohir smiled at his brother. "We both read the description Glorfindel wrote. We'll manage," he said. He started walking, heading for their rooms. "Come on, brother! I'll cut the fabric, you sew. You always manage to make neater stitches than I do."

"Sew?" Elladan said softly, brow creasing in confusion as he paused, staring at his brother's retreating back. Then the realization of Elrohir's intention passed through him. "Hey! I want to cut! *You* sew!"

Elrohir looked back over his shoulder with a sly grin. "Last one to our rooms has to sew!" he called softly, then took off down the hall as if Fluffy the Balrog himself was chasing him.

With a startled oath, Elladan took off down the hallways after his twin.

Part 12

It was perhaps a half-hour before the twins came back into their father's room. They looked to the bed, saw the two still there. Two pairs of bright eyes stared at them from the pillows. Elrond still held Glorfindel comfortingly. The twins could see that while Elrond's eyes were now dry, though still red and puffy, Glorfindel's were still full of tears, though they no longer poured down his face.

"Fluffy?" Glorfindel croaked hopefully, voice hoarse from crying so hard.

With a small smile, Elrohir brought his hand out from behind his back as he walked over to the bedside. In his hand was the doll he and his brother had made.

Glorfindel sat up with a small squeal of delight. "Fluffy!" he said as he grabbed the toy out of Elrohir's hand. He cuddled the toy tightly to him, looked up at the two as if they were the Valar themselves. "You found him!" He turned and showed Fluffy to Elrond. "See? This is Fluffy. They found him for me! Fluffy, this is Elrond. Elrond, meet Fluffy." He waved one of Fluffy's hands at his friend.

"Hi, Fluffy," Elrond said, humoring his friend.

Elladan looked to the two. "Now you two should try to sleep now, all right?"

The small ones nodded. "All right," Glorfindel said. He lay back down, still cuddled up to Elrond, holding Fluffy tightly up under his chin as he lay his head down on the pillows.

The small dark-haired half-Elf lay down as well. "Don't forget to wake me up later, right, 'Adan?"

"Right," Elladan said. He pulled the blankets up the small bodies to their chins. "Sleep now."

The twins watched silently as the two drifted off to sleep, then they moved to the far side of the room to sit once more at the table where the two lists lay.

Elladan sat across from his brother, stared down at his hands. He'd lost the race back to their room and had been the one to sew Fluffy together. As a result of that, his hands were covered by countless minor punctures from the needle. He looked up at his brother. "Next time, *you* get to sew!"

Elrohir smirked. "Whatever you say, brother."

***

Elrond woke promptly at sunset and sat up in bed.

Elladan and Elrohir, having just removed the small nightclothes from the children, were folding them neatly not too far away.

"Good evening, Father," they greeted quietly, offering a robe.

Elrond nodded to them, took the robe. He got up, wrapped it around himself, tying the sash at his waist. Looking back to the bed, he saw Glorfindel lying there on his side, facing away from him, apparently holding... something... close to him. He looked to his sons, saw them smirking at the still sleeping Elf-Lord. Truly curious now, Elrond walked around to Glorfindel's side of the bed and looked down at his friend. A smirk found its way onto his own face when he saw the doll the other clutched so tightly.

/Why does he have that?/ he wondered. He blinked, rubbed at his eyes. /And why do I feel as if there's a handful of grit in my eyes?/

"If you're hungry, Father, there's some food on the table," Elrohir said, careful not to wake the sleeping Elf.

At the mere mention of food, Elrond's stomach made its wants *very* clear with an extremely loud growl. For the first time in a while, Elrond blushed beet red, much to his sons' amusement. As he walked over to the table where the food waited, he asked his sons, "Didn't you feed me at all today?" He sat down and began to eat.

That phrase brought back to the twins the memory of breakfast, and the mess *they* had had to clean up. Then they realized that it was not long after that that the two had escaped them. Had they had anything at all to eat when they were away? But still, the memory of the mess....

"You had breakfast," Elrohir said. "And you were very well-behaved."

"Until you and Glorfindel found out porridge could fly." Elladan said. He glowered, remembering. "Very well."

Elrond winced. "Fly?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"Yes, fly," Elrohir said. "The two of you had a great food-fight. Porridge and fruit went *everywhere*."

"We just got your spoons away when the servants came in and saw the mess."

"So 'Adan and I spent the next while on our hands and knees, scrubbing up *your* mess."

"It wasn't very fun, Father."

"Then you both escaped again and we only found you a couple of hours ago."

"Then you caught us and did something? Why do my eyes feel so scratchy?" Elrond asked. He would understand if the twins *had* punished both he and Glorfindel; from the sound of it they had truly given the twins a *very* bad day.

"We found you both up a tree, so high you couldn't get down," Elrohir said. "On branches too thin for any of us to climb on."

"Then the treetop broke," Elladan added. "And you fell. But we caught you before you hit the ground."

"Both of you were very upset and were crying ever since."

"And the toy Glorfindel is hugging so tightly?" Elrond asked.

"That's Fluffy," Elladan said. "Glorfindel wanted him."

The three paused in their conversation as the golden-haired Elf on the bed stirred, then sat up, still cultching the toy. Frowning, he looked down at the object in his hands and blushed. Then he looked up and saw the tree staring at him. The blush deepened. He looked to the twins. "Why?"

"You wanted Fluffy."

Glorfindel only moaned. He flopped back down on the bed, covered his head with a pillow, still unconsciously holding tight to Fluffy with one hand. His prayer to the Valar that the bed should open up and swallow him whole went unanswered.

***

Over the rest of the sunset hour, the two Elf-Lords were told of everything they had done that day, as well as what the twins had told the others to account for their absence during the day.

More letters and orders were written by the two in preparation for the next day, then they went and spent some time trying to relax in the Hall of Fire, listening to tales and songs.

All too soon, as far as any of the four were concerned, the dawn came for them.

Part 13

Morning came all too soon, and with it came the re-transformation of Elrond and Glorfindel. The two small ones looked up with bright eyes as the twins came over, clothing in hand.

"'Adan?" Elrond asked, frowning, voice partially muffled by the shirt Elladan was hauling down over his head. "Did you wake me up?"

Elladan hesitated, then said, "You saw Earendil's light last night, yes."

Elrond frowned some more. "Oh," he said, voice subdued. "But why don't I remember that?"

Elladan was about to answer that, his thought whirling as they searched for a plausible explanation, when the room was filled with the shriek of an outraged Elfling.

"WHERE'S FLUFFY?!" Glorfindel demanded, looking around.

Elladan and Elrond looked over to see Elrohir trying uselessly to calm the small, golden-haired child, without success. Glorfindel, meanwhile, had hopped up on the bed, ripped off every single blanket and cover in his search for Fluffy, pillows flying everywhere. The bed was stripped down to the bare mattress, but Fluffy was not found on it.

"I want Fluffy!" came the ear-piercing shriek.

Elrond winced in pain, rubbed at his ears. He looked to Elladan, expression curiously adult. "We should help him look for it. He won't be quiet until he gets it."

Elladan nodded, and the two went over to the bed-area, joining in the search.

Perhaps five minutes had passed when the twins and Glorfindel heard Elrond's triumphant, though muffled, call. They looked around, trying to find him, finally coming to see two skinny legs sticking out from under the low bed, feet wiggling about.

"Elrond?" Elladan asked, peering under the bed from the side opposide the legs. He saw Elrond there, lying on the floor amidst the small dustbunnies, Fluffy in hand. "Elrond, come out from there."

Glorfindel plopped down on the floor beside Elladan, looked under the bed also. "You found him!"

With a flick of his hand, Elrond sent the toy skittering across the floor to Glorfindel, who grabbed up the somewhat-dust-covered toy and hugged it to him tightly before starting to sneeze violently from the rising dust.

Elladan looked again to Elrond as Elrohir went over to the golden-haired little one and tried to get Fluffy away to brush off some of the dust. "Elrond? Come out, now."

He saw Elrond squirm slightly in place, then look over at him, eyes starting to glisten. "I can't. I'm stuck. The bed has me by the shirt and won't let go." He gave the twin a pleading look. "Help me," he said. "I don't want to be stuck down here forever!"

Elladan nodded, then went around to the other side of the bed. He gripped the small ankles, then pulled.

The loud OW!! that erupted from under the bed caught the attention of the others.

"What is it?" Elrohir asked.

"Elrond's shirt is stuck. He can't get out."

Elrohir knelt down, peered under the bed from the foot of it. He saw the problem, reached for the splinter of wood that gripped the child's shirt, but couldn't reach it. "I can't reach. I'm too big."

Hearing that, Glorfindel lay down on the floor and pulled himself halfway under the bed, found where Elrond was stuck and freed his friend. Then he took the opportunity to whisper his latest plan in his friend's ear. The two children climbed out from under the bed, then Glorfindel snatched up Fluffy. With a shared grin, the two took off into Elrond's study, slammed the door behind them and locked it.

The twins went over, found the door locked. Quickly, Elrohir raced to the balcony, looked over to the study window. To his relief, the children hadn't gone out of it, as it was still closed. Just in case, he took up watch from where he stood, keeping a sharp eye on the other window.

Elladan knocked on the door. "Elrond? Glorfindel? Open the door." He paused a moment, waiting. He didn't even notice the servant that had come in, bringing the children a surprise tray of cookies. "Open this door or I'm going to give you a spanking you won't soon forget!"

The strangled gasp that came from the servant was hear by both twins. Wide-eyed, they looked to the servant, saw the growing knowledge in his eyes.

He looked up at them, his eyes gone wide. "The little ones? They're Elrond and Glorfindel? *Our* Elrond and Glorfindel? The Lords of Imladris?" His eyes darted between the twins and the shut door. "But how did this happen? What are we going to do? Our leaders are mere children!"

"Calmness," Elladan said softly, as he would speak to a frightened horse.

Then the attention of the three was drawn to the study door as a sound of something falling was heard from inside.

Elladan turned back to the door. "What are you two doing in there?" he demanded. There was no answer. "Open the door now and nothing bad will happen."

Still the door remained closed and locked.

The servant was still staring in horrified shock at the closed study door.

Then Elrohir saw what he had hoped he wouldn't. "Elladan," he called. "They just opened the window."

Elladan was too involved with trying to calm the near-hysterical servant to pay his brother's words any attention.

Elrohir kept staring at the study's now-opened window. Then he saw something he never thought he would ever see. He blinked, rubbed at his eyes, shook his head to clear it of the vision, to no avail. "Elladan," he called, looking over briefly. "Glorfindel and Fluffy just *flew* out the window."

Still, his twin didn't seem to hear.

Elrohir turned back to his watch just in time to see Elrond fly out the window to join Glorfindel and Fluffy. He saw Elrond's hand seeming to glow blue.

/Vilya,/ he thought with a groan. /They just *had* to find Vilya. Now we'll *never* catch them./

He looked to his brother, saw him just as preoccupied as before. Looking back to the two flying Elflings, he watched with a small smile and a feeling of dread as first they flapped their arms, then noticed that they didn't *need* to do that to stay up. He saw Glorfindel smile at Elrond, even as he held Fluffy tightly by one leg in one small hand.

"See?" little Glorfindel said. "I *told* you Fluffy was magic! Now we can fly!"

Then the small ones turned in midair, saw Elrohir staring at them with a confusing array of emotions playing across his face. They waved happily at him, then flew away, laughing.

"Elladan!" Elrohir yelled as he readied himself to make the not-so-far jump to the ground. He saw his brother's head snap around to look at him. "Elrond and Glorfindel are flying away!"

Then Elrohir jumped to the ground and raced off after the quickly-escaping small ones.

Inside the room, Elladan and the servant stared at the empty balcony in surprise.

"Did he just say they were *flying*?" Elladan croaked. Without waiting for a reply, he ran and jumped over the edge of the balcony, joining his twin in the chase.

Left alone in Elrond's bedroom, the servant blinked in amazement, then turned and hurried back to the kitchen. In his mind was a single thought. /Just *wait* until everyone hears about *this*!/

Part 14

"Where are you, you little-" called a very frustrated Elrohir. His temper was worn quite thin after the past two weeks of constantly chasing after the two little brats.

To the Twins' dismay, though they had stripped the two Elflings to the skin on several occasions-- mostly for the dreaded-by-all baths --Elladan and Elrohir had yet to find Vilya. What was even more confounding, come evening, Elrond himself, the grown one, couldn't find it.

"Come back he- Mithrandir!" Elladan's inelegant squeak of surprise brought a slight grin to his brother's face, the grin widening as he followed his brother into one of Rivendell's many clearings.

Elladan sat on the ground in front of the wizard, slightly dishevelled, leaves and twigs tangled in his hair and a dark blush spreading across his face, as he had run face-first into the wizard, bounced off, and landed seat-first on the ground.

Elrohir watched the spectacle before him, chuckling quietly at his brother's confused stammering in the face of the white-clad wizard. Then his attention was seized abruptly as senses honed to razor sharpness after weeks of taking care of the younglings sounded a small warning in his head.

Even as he scanned the glade to find the source of his unease, sharp hearing caught the faint hint of soft giggles coming from Gandalf's direction.

Frowning in concentration, Elrohir sidestepped silently, focusing on his hearing, trying to pinpoint where the giggles were coming from. He thought at first that surely the small ones must be hiding somewhere in the bushes beyond the wizard, but after he moved he heard the giggles again-- once more from Gandalf's direction.

Elladan was no help. He had since stopped his stammering, but was as yet still too distracted-- apparently by trying to see how darkly he could blush before the rush of blood to his face caused him to lose consciousness --to notice anything beyond his embarrassment.

With a sigh, Elrohir cast a glance to the horizon where the sun was just beginning to disappear, one growing edge already sunk below the mountains. He sighed again. He *knew* the two were hiding somewhere nearby, and that he had to find them soon. It would not be the first time that he and his brother had been unable to recapture the little monsters on time, only to have the full-grown, mortally embarrassed Elves have to sneak back into the House wearing nothing but the ragged remains of the too-small clothing they *had* been wearing.

This time, he knew, it was different. If his father and Glorfindel were, say, hiding in a tree at the clearing's edge, and the sudden change caused them to lose their balance and fall facefirst to the clearing at the wizard's feet.... Elrohir winced. That wouldn't be very good. Though it *would* save time on an explanation of *why* Elrond had written to Gandalf and summoned him so abruptly.

He scanned the shrubs at the clearing's edge, as well as the branches of the trees, with no luck.

More giggles came from Gandalf's direction.

Elrohir saw the mirthful sparkle in Gandalf's eyes even as Elladan once again began stammering a confused explanation mostly consisting of the words 'chasing' and 'Elflings' as he got to his feet.

He saw the wizard's robe ripple even as the muffled giggle was heard again.

He saw the Sun sink below the horizon just as the realization of where exactly the two were hiding settled into his consciousness.

He flung out a helpless hand in the wizard's direction, his strangled shout echoing across the clearing even as he hurled himself across the space between himself and the white-clad Istari. "No!"

Too late.

The look on Gandalf's face was one Elrohir knew he would never forget.

First, the kindly eyes narrowed as a frown of confusion formed on his face at Elrohir's shout. Then they widened with surprise as he found himself borne abruptly skyward with no warning but the yell and sudden sound of ripping cloth from beneath his robe. A yelp born of shock escaped lips more accustomed to giving wise counsel and blowing smoke rings.

The Twins watched helplessly as Gandalf flew upward, his thin legs and arms flailing in the air, his robe flying up as he did to reveal the suddenly-grown Elf-lords that stood, pressed tightly together where they had been hiding for the past few minutes. They were naked except for what scraps of torn, too-small clothing remained on them. They blinked at the staring Twins in shocked confusion.

Both Elrond and Glorfindel had acquired a certain resignation about the fact that no matter how hard the Twins tried, there would be times when they could not be caught in time. But it was still a shock every time it happened, even more so when there was someone there to witness the sudden transformation. Luckily, the only witnesses so far had been the Twins and the occasional servant.

Gandalf thumped down rear-first on the ground behind the lords, causing them to jump slightly in shock and embarrassment. A quick glance behind had them blushing easily as deeply as Elladan had been scant minutes before. To have Middle-earth's most powerful wizard see them in such a state...!

Elrohir was the first to move. He unclasped his cloak and offered it to his father, who took it gratefully, wrapping it tightly about himself. Glorfindel did the same scant moments later with Elladan's cloak. Then the two cloak-clad Elves turned to face the stunned wizard.

Gandalf did not speak for a long moment. Then he stirred and smiled gently. He looked to Elrond. "I take it *this* is the problem you requested my urgent assistance on?" His eyes sparkled with humor, chuckles began to escape his lips.

Elrond nodded. "Yes. I-" he broke off abruptly, stared to the ground and the small doll that lay abandoned there. "Glorfindel, is that Fluffy?"

Glorfindel protectively picked up the toy. He had grown rather fond of it in the weeks since the twins had 'found' it for him. "Yes."

"And is that Vilya it's wearing as an armband?" Without bothering to wait his answer, Elrond took back his Ring from the toy and slipped it back onto his finger where it belonged... at least until he could find a child-proof hiding spot for it.

"Elrond?" Gandalf asked, one eyebrow arched in question.

"It is a long story, my friend, and I for one would prefer to speak it both indoors and clothed."

The wizard chuckled again, then followed as the two Elf-lords led the way back to Elrond's house, the Twins taking up the rear.

Part 15

Gandalf, tired after the long night of trying to think up a 'cure' for Elrond and Glorfindel, fell asleep shortly before dawn in the guest-room he had been given.

Come the dawn, the wizard lay on the bed in his chambers, fast asleep, the occasional light snore escaping him. His white robe was rumpled, his pointy hat sat on a small table at the bedside. His eyes were closed, his breathing deep and even.

Slowly, the door's latch turned, then the solid oak door cracked open an inch. In the crack between door and jamb, a pair of eyes was seen; one grey eye and one green eye. Both eyes quickly scanned the room, focused on the sleeping wizard.

The eyes disappeared for a brief moment, then the door swung open silently on oiled hinges. The two small Elflings slipped quietly into the room, closed the door behind them with a soft click.

They froze when Gandalf snorted at the sound, only moving once again after he settled back down into sleep.

Large eyes wide, the two younglings climbed up onto the bed-- Elrond on the wizard's left, Glorfindel on the right.

Curious, Elrond reached out one small hand and gently pet the wizard's long beard. He giggled; it tickled his palm.

Glorfindel copied his friend's motion, reaching out and petting the strange beard, scrunching up his nose at the feel of it on his hand.

Neither Elfling could remember ever having seen anyone with such a thing on their face.

"It tickles my hand," Glorfindel said quietly.

"It can't be comfortable," Elrond said in return, equally quietly. "It has to be hot and scratchy. He can't *really* want that on his face!"

Glorfindel was quiet for a long moment, then smiled widely when his friend looked over questioningly. Eyes sparkling with well-intentioned mischief, Glorfindel produced a pair of small items that had been forbidden the young ones by the Twins. "Maybe we can help?" he suggested.

Elrond grinned back at his friend, nodding. He took the thing Glorfindel offered him, then both quietly went to work.

***

Gandalf awoke perhaps an hour before sunset.

The first thing that registered was pain. Small pains- three or four- on his face.

The next was a strange feeling of weightlessness.

He raised a hand to stroke his beard as he pondered those two things. His hand landed on his robe-covered chest.

The wizard's eyes opened wide.

His hand felt around. Left. Right. Up. Down.

Nothing.

Shaking, Gandalf sat up in bed and looked to the mirror on the wall opposite the bed.

The wizard's high-pitched scream echoed throughout the House of Elrond.

When Elladan and Elrohir arrived at the wizard's room scant minutes later, it was to find the powerful Istari nearly in tears. They saw at once his clean-shaven face, the few cuts there. It was very strange to look at him; never before had they seen him with a beard shorter than waist-length, and now he had none at all.

"Gandalf?" Elladan dared to ask.

The wizard turned to face the Twins, was about to speak when the younglings came running into the room. Both grinned proudly upon seeing the wizard and rushed over to hug him about the waist.

"Do you like it?" Elrond asked after the hug finished. "Now you won't be hot and itchy."

"Sorry about the little cuts," Glorfindel added, "the scissors slipped."

Little-Elrond looked over to his friend, poked him in the ribs with a finger. "Remember the present?" he said quietly.

Glorfindel's eyes widened, then he grinned. He hurried across the room and crawled halfway under the bed, to emerge with something in one hand-

Oh.

Elladan and Elrohir were hard put to keep their snickers from breaking free as the small golden-haired child went back to the wizard and proudly presented him with the beard that had just the night before been firmly attached to his face. Now, it was held together by a trio of brightly-colored ribbons, clumsily tied in a big floppy bow.

Gandalf took the item from the beaming Elfling with trembling hands, his mouth opening and closing like a beached fish, a strange faint hissing noise escaping him.

Glorfindel looked to Elrond, still smiling. "He likes it," he said in a loud whisper. "Just look."

Elrond looked. And, with a hint of the insight that he had when grown, saw a bit more into Gandalf's expression- or lack thereof -than Glorfindel had. He gulped. "Glorfindel?" he said as he crept over near his friend. He spoke so quietly that even the Twins with their sharp ears had trouble hearing him. "Remember when we had the porridge-fight, then the servants came in and got mad at 'Rohir and 'Adan?"

"Yes," Glorfindel said, equally quietly. "Why?"

"Remember what they looked like? And the sounds they made right before they exploded?"

The small golden head nodded, then paused. The small body tensed noticeably. Ever so slowly, the eyes turned to stare at the wizard. Wide eyes turned back to Elrond. "Uh-oh," was all he said.

The two turned and bolted for the door, neatly avoiding the startled grabs of the Twins. The door slammed shut on its own just before the two reached them, and the small ones careened into it, unable to stop quickly enough. They slid down to sit on the floor, cluching at one another and their new bruises. Both looked up fearfully as a shadow fell over them, whimpered as they looked up into the red face of the wizard.

***

An hour later, Elladan poked his head into the wizard's room to check up on the small ones.

Elrond and Glorfindel were on all fours on the floor, scrubbing away. Their pants were soaked to the knee, their arms nearly to the shoulder with soapy water from floor and bucket. Both were at opposite ends of the room, slowly working their way towards each other. All the while, they muttered under their breath about nasty old wizards who didn't appreciate all the trouble they had gone to for his benefit....

As punishment for their act of destruction, Gandalf had set them the task of cleaning the room. *All* of it: floor, walls, ceiling, furniture, bed.... And to make sure the small ones wouldn't leave before their work was done, he had sealed the exits with a thin wall of energy that would let all pass except them. They were stuck.

Elrond sensed the twin's presence at the door, glared over at him, in the worst show of bad temper Elladan had yet seen from the youngling, a glare that spoke clearly without needing words: Go away!!

The small dark-haired half-Elf sighed as he saw Elladan leave. Pausing for a moment, he brushed a strand of hair back from his face with a soapy-wet hand. He glared around the room. He and Glorfindel would finish the floor in perhaps another half-hour, then they would have to move on to the walls. How could they do the parts beyond their reach? And how could they do the ceiling?? Surely the wizard had been kidding about that...?

A remembered image of the irate Istari presented itself in his memories.

No, he had looked *very* serious, and *very* upset.

Elrond sighed, transferred some of his angry frustration into scrubbing.

***

Late that afternoon, perhaps an hour before sunset, Gandalf and the Twins went back to the wizard's guestroom to release the small ones from their punishment.

When they got there, they saw that the floor was spotless. So were the walls- the lower half anyway, to just about the height a small Elfling would be when he stood on his friend's shoulders. The ceiling was... hardly touched. All three wondered briefly how the small ones had managed to get that much of the high ceiling done, until they caught sight of one of the boys' cleaning rags dangling from one of the rafters. Obviously, the boys had tried to clean it by throwing the rags up as high as they could, which probably stopped when their rags failed to come back down to them.

The bed was partially made. The huge sheets apparently had given the small ones quite a bit of difficulty, though they'd done their best. Unfortunately, it appeared that in the battle of Elfling against bedding, the bedding won. Both small ones were tangled up in the sheets so tightly that the three adults knew there was no way the younglings could get free without help. Both were sound asleep.

The trio smiled indulgently down at the two before gently freeing them, being careful not to wake them. Each twin carrying a sleeping Elfling, they took them back to their father's bedroom to lay them down the small time remaining until sunset.

Gandalf stayed in his room, his thoughts circling problem for which he had been called. He sighed, looked out the balcony windows at the fading sky. Soon, the firey orb of the Sun would sink below the horizon, and then he would be able to consult once more with the adult Elrond and Glorfindel.

This was not a problem that could be allowed to continue for much longer, as it might for someone of lesser importance. The half-Elf and his golden-haired friend were esential to the running of the Elven realm of Rivendell. They could not afford to be absent half of the time.

In their father's room, Elladan and Elrohir carefully stripped the young ones and tucked them into bed, covering them up gently and laying Fluffy against Glorfindel. Asleep, the two cuddled up together, faces smooth and innocent.

And the Sun kept on sinking

Part 16

That evening, Elrond and Glorfindel emerged from the half-Elf's bedroom and went down to supper. As the meal progressed, Elrond noticed that Gandalf was conspicuously absent. He looked to his sons, noting in concern how pale and worn they both looked. He hoped the wizard would be able to solve the problem soon, even if only for the health of the Twins.

"Elladan?" he asked the twin nearest him.

Dark eyes looked up wearily. "Yes?"

"Where is Gandalf?"

The Twins shared a Look, then Elladan spoke, eyes sparkling with amusement. "In the library."

Elrohir nodded. "He said he did not wish to be disturbed."

"He was up to his eyebrows in dusty obscure texts when last we looked in."

Elrond nodded, smiled softly. "He should be content, then. Nothing makes him happier than book-dust..." he trailed off at the Twins' muffled choking. "What?"

This time it was Elrohir that spoke first. "He was not very happy."

"He was rather upset." Elladan.

"Seething."

Glorfindel frowned, looked to Elrond, then back to the Twins. "Why? Perhaps we should go see what is wrong, and offer our aid in research-"

"No!" Elladan yelped.

Elrohir shook his head, eyes wide at the thought. "No!" his yelp came in swift echo of Elladan's. "You do not want to do that!"

"He will come to you when he is ready," Elladan added.

Now Elrond frowned. "Elladan," he said calmly. "Elrohir. Do you know why Gandalf is so upset?"

The Twins hesitated, then nodded silently.

"Is it something to do with Glorfindel and I?"

Once again matched dark heads nodded yes.

"And you are now going to tell us why he is upset, are you not?"

The Twins shared a glance, then looked to where Elrond and Glorfindel sat awaiting the answer.

Elrohir spoke. "It is rather amusing in a way, really," he said. "Though I know to Gandalf it doesn't seem so."

Elladan nodded, eyes sparkling with barely suppressed mirth. "Father, Glorfindel, if only you could remember the look on his face when the two of you handed him his beard, tied with those ribbons-"

Elrond stared. "Handed... him... his... beard?" he gulped, paling.

Elrohir nodded. "Yes. The two of you cut it off while he was asleep, then took the knife to his face. His face is now completely smooth-shaven. You did a fine job, for children. You left behind only a few minor cuts."

Glorfindel moaned and buried his face under his arms on the table. Then he looked to Elrond. "Let us not go seeking Gandalf," he said tactfully as the empty plates on the table were taken away.

"I agree," Elrond said, equally tactful, much to the amusement of the Twins.

***

It was perhaps two hours before dawn when Elrond and Glorfindel looked up at a knock at the study door.

"Come," Elrond called.

The door swung silently open and Gandalf entered the room, accompanied by a newly-awakened Elladan and Elrohir, closing the door firmly behind him. He glared when he noticed the Elf-lords staring at his naked face. "Elrond," he growled. "Glorfindel."

"Gandalf!" Elrond squeaked. He cleared his throat, stood. He walked over to a serving table. "Miruvor?" he offered, pouring himself a generous amount. He had the feeling he was going to need it. At Gandalf's negative response, he looked to Glorfindel. The blond nodded vigorously, obviously in as much need of the brew as Elrond himself. After pouring a second generous glass, Elrond went back to his desk and sat down.

"May I begin now?" the wizard asked, voice still harsher than either Elf-lord was used to hearing it directed at them. Without even waiting for Elrond's nod, he spoke. "I believe I may have found a way of reversing the spell that binds you." The he launched into a speech detailing his search through the library, obscure jumps of logic and accidental finds that had all eventually led him to what he thought was a cure for their condition. By the end of his recital, the glasses of both lords were empty and they were feeling rather mellow, their earlier trepidation all but forgotten.

"And so," Gandalf was saying, "with your consent, I will attempt to cure you now."

It took a moment for that to sink into Elrond's somewhat sluggish consciousness. "Now?" he asked, startled, when it did.

"Now," Gandalf repeated. "Are you ready?"

The lords shared a glance, then looked back to the wizard. "Yes?" came the weak question in
reply.

The wizard nodded. He pointed to an empty expanse of floor. "Stand there," he said simply, watched as Elrond and Glorfindel walked over to the indicated spot. Then he looked to the Twins. "Be ready to catch them," he said.

Elrond only had time to voice a concerned "Catch?" before Gandalf spoke a short string of quiet yet commanding words in the language of magic and he and Glorfindel were surrounded by bright, overwhelming light.

As had happened that first evening in the Hall of Fire, vicious cramping pain seized them and they doubled over. Then the pain intensified, pulling choked cries from them. The pain grew again and in the middle of the light, darkness claimed their consciousness and they collapsed, unconscious, to the floor.

Elladan and Elrohir looked over as the blinding light faded away to nothing. They saw their father and Glorfindel collapsed facedown upon the floor, their hair having swung forward to cover their faces.

"I told you to be ready to catch them," Gandalf said. He waved away the twins' protests. "The light was blinding for you, I realize that. Go now and see to them. Put them to bed. I doubt they will wake soon."

With that, the wizard turned and left the twins alone with the two unconscious lords.

Elladan and Elrohir stood unmoving for a long moment, looking at the two lying on the floor.

Then Elladan spoke. "They look to be still grown," he said, a faint hopeful note in a voice otherwise full of trepidation.

Elrohir nodded shakily.

Together they walked slowly, cautiously, over to the side of the puddle of Elf-lords. From that distance they could see that the two were definitely the size they were supposed to be. Breathing slightly easier, they knelt.

It was Elrohir who first reached out a hand and brushed the silky hair back from their father's face.

They stared, eyes wide. Then they brushed back Glorfindel's hair and their eyes widened even more.

Both lords were still grown, but it appeared that millennia had been taken off their appearance; they now looked like they were no more than a twelve-year older than the Twins.

"Elladan?" came Elrohir's small voice.

Elladan merely shook his head mutely. Then he shook himself and reached out his hands for Glorfindel. "Let's put them to bed," he said.

***

In their father's bedroom, the Twins sat watching the bed as the false-dawn brightened with the approach of true-dawn.

Lying there on the bed were Elrond and Glorfindel, dressed in a set of their sleeping-clothes. Fluffy was tucked in neatly beside Glorfindel, button eyes staring blankly out the window at the approaching dawn.

The Sun's edge peeked over the mountains, sending a ray of golden light splashing over the bed where the lords lay.

The Twins held their breath as they watched, unsure if the wizard's spell would work or if they would shortly be chasing wild Elflings once again.

Many long moments passed and there was no change in the lords.

Then Elrond's face squinched up before he puled the covers up over his face, blocking out the light, muttering unintelligibly in his sleep. Glorfindel turned onto his side, Fluffy momentarily cutting off his breathing before he too ducked beneath the covers to avoid the light.

Then the Glorfindel-lump beneath the covers grunted and the head reappeared, hair gone wild, and blinked at the Twins in the light of the dawn. "It is dawn," he said, voice raised in question.

"Yes," Elrohir said, grinning. It was strange to hear Glorfindel's voice coming from this younger version.

"It is dawn," Glorfindel repeated. "We are cured." A huge grin spread across his face. "We are cured!" He turned to face the Elrond-lump beside him, began shaking it vigorously. "Elrond! Elrond, wake up! We are cured! Elrond!"

The covers on the other side of the bed were pulled down to show the somewhat sleep-dazed face of Elrond, his hair as mussed as Glorfindel's. Sleepily blinking in the light, it took a moment for Glorfindel's continuing words to sink in. Then his eyes widened and a grin to match Glorfindel's spread across his face. "Cured!"

The two Elf-lords were still sitting in bed, rejoicing in their recovery, when there came a knock at the door.

Elladan went over and opened the door to show a concerned Erestor. "My lord Elladan," he greeted. "I was just in your father's study looking for the day's instructions, but they seem to be incomplete. Perhaps you could-" he broke off as he caught sight of Elrond sitting there with Glorfindel. His eyes widened. "My lord Elrond!" he exclaimed. "You are cured! And you look... you look... younger. And well." Then he shook himself, remembering what had brought him there in the first place. "About today's instructions...?"

Elrond nodded. "I finished them on a separate sheet," he said. He cast a significant glance at Glorfindel, then looked back at Erestor. "Glorfindel and I shall go retrieve them." He got up out of bed, grabbed two sets of clothes from his wardrobe. "Come, Glorfindel."

The two went into the study, closing the door behind them. Those left behind in the bedroom guessed that it was to allow privacy for them to change. But as time passed and no sounds were heard from within, they grew suspicious.

It was Elladan who went out onto the balcony and looked over. His groan told the story even before he voiced it. "The study window is open," he said, shoulder slumping. "And there are footprints in the newly-turned earth beneath it." He sighed. "I guess Father and Glorfindel decided that they weren't quite ready to return to their duties."

***

Newly dressed, Elrond and Glorfindel snuck over to the stables, purloined their horses and rode off before anyone noticed they were even there. They stopped briefly on their way to pluck a few apples from one of the trees along the path, then they were off.

Feeling younger and more energetic than they had for many years, they were determined to spend that day outside as they hadn't in so long. They knew that they would soon have to return to their responsibilities as lords of Imladris, but that day they took as their own.

In the days and years that followed, though the two never neglected their duties, they were also more carefree than they had been, more closely resembling the Twins in demeanor- both serious and playful at once.

It was a few short weeks after they had been cured when one of the Wandering Companies of Elves passed through Rivendell with the news of Saruman's death in the Shire. Though they would not show it to anyone else, both Lords breathed easier knowing that they would not be spelled again by the treacherous wizard.

Not *that* one, at least.

Gandalf still hadn't been able to grow out his beard yet and leveled more than one dark glare the Elf-lords' way.

For their part, Elrond and Glorfindel were content to hide whenever they saw him coming and *not* tempt fate.

END
Okay, that was it. The End. I *might* be encouraged/inspired to write some missing-scene type snippets based on this, if there is interest in it... Let me know if there are any requests! ;o)