"Because my Land is Fair" and other drabbles by Himring

Under the Stars, in Sunlight

Another conversation between Annael and his foster son Tuor:
Of the sun and of elves and men.

‘There was no moon yet, no sun,’ said Annael, ‘no seasons, not as they are now. I saw the first blossom of Spring, felt the first frost of Autumn.'

‘I cannot imagine it!’ said Tuor.

‘It seems quite the way of things now! I did not welcome the sun when she rose; so much had changed for the worse—quickly, without warning—that anything unexpected came as a threat. But soon we learned that she threatened Morgoth's creatures more than us, thought of Arien as an ally and recognized her beauty. Yet some still mourn the gloaming under the stars.’

‘But you, my Tuor,’ said Annael, ‘could not live without the sun. When you were a babe, I carried you in my arms out of the caves up to the hilltop to catch the morning sunlight...’

They walked on, through new-fallen leaves crisped by an early frost. Annael’s steps were silent, Tuor’s, despite his best efforts, occasionally crackled.

‘I honour my parents,’ said Tuor, ‘but sometimes I cannot help wishing I were not so different from you all.’

‘I have, sometimes, wished that you were truly mine,’ admitted Annael, ‘but yet I would not have you other than you are.’

Chapter End Notes

I once read a fic somewhere that had Annael discovering that Tuor was sickening in the caves of Androth without sufficient exposure to sunlight. Unfortunately, I've forgotten who the author was and on which site I found it.
The suggestion that many or most Sindar would have found the first rising of the sun frightening at first and that Eol was just the most stubborn of them in rejecting the sunlight outright has been made by several fic authors, I think, for example, Elleth.
Arien is the name of the Maia who guides the Sun.

The prompt was: First Frost.