The Present Circumstance by LadyBrooke

Chapter 1

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It had started, not as the children supposed, in the fields of Valinor but in the dark forests of Middle-earth.

And in the earliest days, it had been Míriel and Indis, not Finwë and either of them. How could it have been Finwë? He was already an adult when Indis was born and gone to Valinor when Míriel was born. Huddled together in the dark, trying to keep secret and hidden from whatever lurked in the woods, the two girls had comforted and held one another to keep the shadows away.

Then Ingwë, Finwë, and Elwë returned with news of Valinor.

Míriel darted up to the returning trio and slapped Ingwë for what she termed abandoning Indis. Ingwë stood still from the shock of it all, but Finwë had laughed and asked who she was.

For a time, the three of them existed together as friends. Then Indis had chosen to go with her brother to Valinor, instead of waiting with those two. At times, she wondered if things would have been different if she waited.

Finwë and Míriel arrived in Valinor on the same ship, obviously in love.

Míriel understood, though Finwë never did, why Indis refused most of their invitations to dinner. She still didn’t accept the refusal, of course, showing up in the middle of the night to drag Indis out to the forest in memory of the old times.

Then Míriel was gone. Indis fell back into friendship with Finwë, and it was easier to admit her love this time.

Of course, things were never the fairytale that Finwë had tried to lead her into. Indis was born in the dark of Middle-earth, however, and refused to bow to circumstance, even when she found herself once more without either Míriel nor Finwë.

Then Finwë was dead, and Míriel was back. This time it was Indis who sought out Míriel, first in the city and then weaving with Vairë.

It was easy to let herself fall back into friendship and love with Míriel as well. Finarfin had kept his silence when Indis had dragged Míriel into the palace, as had Eärwen. Each returning grandchild did as well.

Finally, Indis grew tired of this.

“Why is it, Míriel, that we accept the fact that our husband is still in the Halls, as well as various grandchildren and our two oldest sons? It is not as though anyone in this city - or indeed the entire island - actually believes that you and I are just friends.”

That had been the catalyst. With the help of Turgon, who in spite of being somewhat unsure of how proper all this was was more than sure that the present circumstances of half the family being in the Halls was simply unbearable, plans were quickly made and implemented.

Of course, Manwë tried to oppose releasing Finwë from the Halls to join them in Valinor.

That quickly stopped when Varda slapped him on the back of the head and made it clear that she quite agreed with Míriel and Indis.

Finally, Finwë was released from the Halls, along with their two oldest sons and remaining assorted family members. It was a joyous family reunion, even if Fingolfin and Fëanor seemed more than slightly confused by how close their mothers were.

Finarfin just shook his head when asked what was going on, after the three disappeared down the hallway.