Some Futile Hope by Luxa

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Part Two: Chapter Four

Elrond begins to settle in Rivendell while a war rages.

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Second Age, May 23rd, 1697. 11:03 A.M.

"This place is amazing," murmured Elrond, running his fingers along the bark of a tree, its leaves already completely green despite the earliness of the season. "Untouched by the Enemy's malice, despite everything."

"You sound ready to wax poetic about this place," said Glorfindel, his back against a tree as he watched Elrond marvel.

"I have always been a scholar in heart," said Elrond, sighing. "And I do love it, Glorfindel, even under the circumstances by which we came here."

"It is a wonderful place," said Glorfindel. "Although I maintain that Lindon compares. You must be too used to its beauty."

Elrond laughed. "Too caught up in my duties, more like. Ironic, I suppose, that it is here that I find repose."

"Maybe," suggested Glorfindel, a sly smile on his face. "You are too preoccupied with a particular beauty of Lindon's to pay your surroundings much attention."

Elrond almost made a face at Glorfindel but remembered himself just in time. "I am afraid we must cut our fun short, as we have troops to oversee and strategies to plan."

Their situation, in truth, was more difficult than their peaceful surroundings would suggest. Elrond had spent the past two days sending his troops down to the valley, along with the many Eregion refugees that had escaped. They'd blocked up the entrance, only removing it to send out scouts, who reported that the orcs were camped half a mile away, looking for them. Elrond was sure the orcs would find them soon, and then they'd be at a stalemate, for there was no way the orcs could penetrate Imladris's (as Elrond had taken to calling it) natural defenses, for they had not found another way in.

But they still had need for worry; Elrond did not know how long this valley could sustain them, nor how long Sauron was willing to wait. He was thinking about the possibility of building a larger entrance, although keeping it invisible to orcs would be a problem. They couldn't fight from their current one, as the narrow entrance only allowed for two warriors to exit at once.

They returned to their hastily set-up camp, where Elrond's troops were busy trying to get everything in order while the refugees were coping with the loss of their homes and, in most cases, their families.

They passed a group of orphaned children and their last remaining guardian.

"Elrond," said Glorfindel as they approached. "These children are the last of the Eregion court. You might want to talk to their caretaker."

The nursemaid was exhausted; Elrond could see it in her eyes. He wished they had the time to rest so many of these people needed. Even Glorfindel was beginning to look haggard.

After the perfunctory greetings, Elrond launched into the questions. He no longer had time for tact or charm, for he still had much to attend to and never enough time to do it.

"How did you escape Eregion?"

The nursemaid had steeled herself for this and answered the question without flinching. "Lord Celebrimbor had a secret entrance to the palace built not long ago, after the Deceiver left our lands. He sent us and the children through it when the gates were breached, hoping we would find safety in your troops, for we have heard that you have many of our people in your ranks now."

"I do," said Elrond. "Not for the purpose of fighting, but for rebuilding, when this war is over."

She smiled slightly. "You sound like Lord Celebrimbor. I like that. I will miss him much in the coming days."

He sighed. "You are not the only one. What did you do once you were out of the city?"

"We ran," she said, shuddering. "We ran from the orcs, and all but myself died fighting them. Because of their bravery, I stand here with all the children that I started with. Even more, for we ran into other orphans on the way and I could not refuse them."

One of the less shy children took this as his cue to run up to Elrond and pull on his cloak, giggling when Elrond smiled. He ran back to hide behind his guardian, who laughed. "This is one of those children," she said. "We found him in the burning streets as we left, his parents lying dead around him. It was awful."

Glorfindel, who had been nodding and smiling and generally being his pleasant self, was suddenly gone from his side.

"What is his name?" asked Elrond.

"Tell him," pressed the nursemaid, pulling the out in front of her. "Tell him your name, love."

"Lindir," said the boy.

"Hello, Lindir," said Elrond, bending to meet Lindir's eyes. "I'm Lord Elrond. You can call me Elrond, thought, just don't tell the council. They don't stand for that, do they?"

Lindir shook his head and pulled at one of Elrond's warrior braids. "Pretty."

"No," said Elrond. "Not pretty, but necessary. Hopefully you'll understand someday."

Lindir nodded seriously before running back to his friends.

He stood up to see the nursemaid smiling. "He is a pleasant child, but not usually to strangers," she said. "Have you ever thought about becoming a father, Lord Elrond?"

Elrond laughed awkwardly. "I don't see that happening anytime soon."

She raised her eyebrows; apparently Lindon's gossip did not reach as far as Eregion, or perhaps she simply did not care.

"I'm in an relationship that, uh, does not allow for children," said Elrond, blushing. Again, Glorfindel's disappearance disturbed him; usually he would be chortling behind Elrond right then. "If you understand my meaning."

"Ah," she said, grinning. "I see. My sister is in one of those relationships; they are hopefully safe, waiting for a ship at the Havens. However, Lord Elrond, I do think that you would be a good father."

He smiled, troubled. He had never thought about it before, not in depth, but the idea wasn't as horrible as he'd always told himself. He supposed he'd just never dwelt on it, as he knew it would never happen.

"I must take my leave," he said. "It is time-consuming, this leading an army thing."

"Wait," she said suddenly, her voice serious. "I have a message for you."

"You do?" asked Elrond. "Why wait until now?"

She looked down. "Because it will grieve you to hear, I think, although it may bring you some peace. It is from Lord Celebrimbor."

Elrond's chest constricted and he found it difficult to speak. He nodded.

"Before I left, he said that if I saw you, to tell you...thank you. Thank you for the family you have been to him for many long years, for you understand him more than any other could. He said..."

She broke off, her voice thick with tears. "He said...he loves you, and you have been a brother to him. He is sorry he has to leave you alone again, and that, when you can, you must find comfort in the one you love most. Until then, please, fight on to remedy the mistakes that he made. He said goodbye."

"Thank you," he said to her, turning away so he could wipe his face. "May Elbereth bless you for what you have given me."

Second Age, May 23rd, 12:13 P.M.

"There you are."

Elrond held his cloak out of the way as he sat, wishing he didn't need to stay in his armor all day, every day. It wasn't so much in case of attack, just that Elrond liked his men to see that he was always prepared and ready in case something did happen. His armor felt loud and heavy; he missed his scholar's robes, which hung on him like a second skin.

Glorfindel glanced over at him. "Don't you have duties to attend to?"

"Yes," said Elrond. "My duties as a friend. What happened back there? Why did you go?"

Glorfindel looked back down at his hands, gloved in thick, worn leather. "Those children...all of this...it brings me back to the fall of Gondolin. hen that woman spoke of the burning streets, I could see my friends fall in my mind's eye. Time passes differently in the Hall of Mandos. To me, it does not seem that long ago, and I feel that no matter how long it has been, I will never forget the horror of it."

"I am sorry, Glorfindel," said Elrond, who, for all his posturing as a good friend, had few, and knew not what to do.

Glorfindel met his eyes, and there was anguish in them. "I thought we would be able to stop them, Elrond. Stop them before they destroyed Eregion. I thought my purpose in Middle-earth was the save Celebrimbor and his people and stop Sauron, but I had not been useful. It would have been better had I never come."

"You cannot believe that," said Elrond, his heart, already full with sorrow at Celebrimbor's message, cracking. "You can't. Without you, I would never have made it this far. It is my own failures that stopped Eregion from being saved. It is my fault Celebrimbor is dead."

"Not true," argued Glorfindel. "That is not true. We got here as soon as we could."

"I should have attacked Eregion," said Elrond, his voice cracking. "I should have found a way to beat the orcs, we did nothing for so long..."

"We could not have taken on a force of that size, Elrond," said Glorfindel reasonably, his natural talent for comforting shining through his pain. "We only escaped with the help of Amroth and the Dwarves."

Elrond laughed bitterly. "You blame yourself, but not me? It is I who led you into battle; maybe it is my fault you have not fulfilled your purpose."

"No," said Glorfindel softly. "It is not. I am only moping, I am sure it will come. Elrond..."

"Yes?"

"There was a time, back in Lindon, when I thought I loved you. I never told you, for I feared for what it would do to our friendship."

"Why are you telling me now?"

"Because I think you deserve to know," said Glorfindel. "You are a fine leader, Elrond, and I am proud to serve by your side."

Glorfindel stood then, clapping Elrond on the shoulder. "Come, my lord. We don't have time to mope."

"You are right," said Elrond, who felt as though his emotions had been through a wringer. "We do. And, please, Glorfindel..."

"Yes?"

"Believe me when I tell you that I couldn't do this without you."

"Oh, Lord Elrond. The same holds for you."