Come Together, Broken Things, and Grow by UnicornsInSpace

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Fanwork Notes

These are the first two chapters of my Meet and Greet Matryoshka challenge fic.

Prompts I Used: A fresh start, New kid on the block, It could have been worse, An unexpected visitor, A minor catastrophe, You’re better than this, The road goes ever on

Warnings: There is canonical character death in this fic, but they die in slightly different ways than in canon (not Finduilas, Niënor, or Mablung), and at least one human character dies of old age. Also, there are scenes that take place during the Fall of Nargothrond and the Third Kinslaying, and there are a few off-screen run-ins with Glaurung. Also, the Fall of Doriath is very quickly mentioned in the opening paragraph, so there is violence, but it is not explained graphically.

That said, a big thanks to Grundy for letting me only post the first chapter for a stamp (this story ended up being way longer than I anticipated) and also to Ettelenë from the discord for beta-reading my first chapter! Also to everyone from the Guild of Scribes discord and the people in the SWG discord who helped me with my writing!

Lastly, Meleth is my OC who is a Halenthir baby and looks like Nerdanel, but was raised by Haleth and Aredhel. She is from my TRSB fic Ladies Love a Huntress on AO3.

Hope everyone enjoys. Without further ado, the fic!

Fanwork Information

Summary:

Idril and Meleth (my OC) welcome Finduilas, Niënor, and other refugees into Havens after the Fall of Doriath, hoping they can start anew there. Finduilas's daughter is distraught about the situation. Also, how did Finduilas and Niënor make it to the Havens after the Fall of Doriath?

Major Characters: Original Female Character(s), Finduilas, Idril, Mablung, Nienor

Major Relationships: Mablung/Nienor, Oropher/Unnamed Canon Character, Finduilas & Original Character, Idril & Original Character, Finduilas/Nienor, Finduilas/Túrin, Beleg/Túrin

Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe, Drama, Family, General, Het, Poly, Romance, Slash, Slash/Femslash

Challenges: Meet & Greet

Rating: Teens

Warnings: Check Notes for Warnings, Sexual Content (Mild), Violence (Moderate)

Chapters: 4 Word Count: 3, 993
Posted on 12 March 2024 Updated on 10 January 2025

This fanwork is a work in progress.

Chapter 1

Thanks Spurious Dipthong and Nienna Wept on discord for the advice on "just throwing people in and slowly worldbuilding"! Really helped me get out of a "too many ideas" writing paralysis and start this chapter.

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506 of the First Age – The Havens of Sirion

 

         All of the Havens were a bustle with the arrival of all of the refugees from Doriath. Apparently, the Fëanorians had come and sacked it after the flight of Melian, killing Dior and Nimloth, and attempting to murder Elwing and the two young princes as well. Meleth tried to walk around to help, but it made it twice as hard to have to explain to everyone that she was not a Fëanorian, despite her looks. Idril must have seen her struggling because she came up to her and asked if she wanted to take a break.

“There are some people I think you should meet,” Idril said to Meleth. “Nobles from King Dior’s court. There are multiple Peredhil among them.”

         “How lovely. It will be nice to have other Peredhil around.”

         “It will indeed. It will be nice for Eärendil, I think, to see you and him are not the only Peredhil around.”

         “I certainly agree.”

         They walked up the pathway to the hall where Idril held her court. It was paved with hewn stones fitted together in the fashion of the courtyard of Gondolin, although it was not with the same type of white marble that their city had been made of. It was a fine building, considering their circumstances, made with timber from Nimbrethil. There were carvings and reliefs along the walls, and columns of Elves and Humans surviving together. A flag with Idril’s sigil was hung along the top, with Tuor, Meleth, Galdor, and Egalmoth’s sigils hung on flags below it. Inside the building, there were many people - none of whom Meleth recognized, but some whom she could make good guesses about.

         A young Peredhel girl being attended by multiple nobles was one such person. She was no older than three or four, and had brown skin and black hair that sparkled as if with starlight. Her eyes were grey and deep, filled to the brim with as many stars as the night sky. She could be none other than Princess Elwing, King Dior’s daughter. Idril introduced her as such.

         “Tuor and I are adopting her and her brothers, if they can be found,” Idril continued. “If anyone living knows how to raise a Peredhel, it would be us.”

Of the nobles attending to her, there was an Elven lord with tan skin and silver hair who wore a forest green robe embellished with tree embroidery. Next to him was an Elven woman with olive skin and brown hair. She held a small boy, who had her coloring, against her hips. Idril introduced them.

         “This is Lord Oropher, his wife, Lady Celeblassil, who is also the sister of Queen Nimloth, and their son, Thranduil.”

         Oropher bowed, and Celeblassil curtsied as much as she could holding her child.

         “A pleasure to meet you,” Meleth curtsied at both of them as Idril introduced her.

“And this is Lady Meleth, my dear cousin who is only Fëanorian by blood, and was raised in Brethil by my Aunt Aredhel and Lady Haleth of the Haladin.”

         “Good to meet you,” Oropher said.

         “Glad to make your acquaintance,” Celeblassil told her. “The Haladin are good warriors and a fine people.”

         “Thank you,” Meleth responded.

         “My cousin here is the best fighter of the Gondolindrim,” Idril bragged.

         “You know I would disagree with that.” Meleth pulled playfully on Idril’s sleeve.

         “But I will say it anyway.” Idril smiled at her.

         With that, they moved on to the next person.

         “Lady Niënor of the House of Hador, and her son, Mabelen,” Idril introduced her.

Niënor was a tall, human woman with golden hair braided in an Elvish fashion that Meleth had seen Galadriel wear before. She wore an elaborate Doriathrin robe of deep red wool with silver embroidery along the hems and cuffs. Her son was young, no older than seven or maybe eight, with brown skin, raven black hair, and Peredhel ears that pointed slightly out from his hair. He clung to the side of his mother’s robe with his small hands.

         “Glad to meet you, Lady Niënor.”

         “The pleasure is all ours.” Niënor curtsied to her, then turning to Idril, she said: “We thank you very much for the opportunity of a fresh start here in the Havens.”

         “Of course. I would do nothing less for my husband’s kin,” Idril replied.

         “My mother and husband have come as well, but she was too exhausted from the journey and needed rest. My husband went with her to help.”

“That is no problem at all - I know how elderly she is.”

         Next, Idril turned to an Elven woman standing next to Niënor. She had tan skin, and a golden circlet on a shimmering blonde head of hair, braided in a fashion somewhat similar to the Haladin. Her dress was highly embroidered blue satin with lace peeking out from under her sleeves and along the neckline.

         “This is Princess Finduilas of Nargothrond, one of our Arafinwëan relations, and Lady Niënor’s wife,” Idril said, turning to Meleth, and introducing her the same way she introduced Meleth to the others.

         “Pleased to make your acquaintance, Princess.” Meleth curtsied towards her.

         “The same to you, Lady Meleth.” Finduilas curtsied in return. “You grew up in Brethil? I lived there for a short time with my husband. It was a lovely forest, and the people were very welcoming.”

         “Yes, the people are very kind,” Meleth was about to ask about the husband Finduilas had mentioned when Idril broke in with another question.

         “Speaking of family, Finduilas, where is your daughter?”

         Finduilas’s eyes went wide and she looked around quickly, before placing a hand on her face and exhaling deeply.

         “She ran away again.” Finduilas sighed. “She always does that when she is upset. And she has been very upset since we left Doriath.”

         “Oh dear! And after we told her not to! She is too headstrong,” Niënor said. “Do not let Mama know. She will go into a fit and try to find her, and she shouldn’t do that at her age. Especially after all the commotion of the past few days.”

         “Very true. We must find Radariel before your mother finds out,” Finduilas added.

         “I can help,” Meleth offered her hand, “What does she look like?”


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Chapter 2

Finally posting chapter 2 of this fic! Using Arafinwëan Week to do it!! Very excited! This is for Day 5! I will try and keep posting more in the coming days, but we shall see. There are seven chapters and an epilogue! Also a big thanks to Maglor My Beloved for beta reading!! I really appreciated it! And also everyone else who helped!!

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          Meleth found the little girl curled up in an alcove. Her small head was resting on her knees, her dark hair once done in an intricate braid, now spilled over her knees in controlled chaos. She was hugging her knees tight to her chest, the sides of her mouth turned down in the midst of some unhappy thought. She raised her head slightly when she saw Meleth, and her eyes widened in horror.

          “I’m not a Fëanorian,” Meleth said, knowing the girl was probably scared by her Fëanorian looks, “I was raised by Lady Aredhel.”

          “Your father was a human?” the girl’s frightened look was gone, and was suddenly interested.

          “No, my mother was a human. My father was an elf. But he did not raise me- Lady Aredhel adopted me when she married my mother.”

          What little enthusiasm the girl had died at Meleth’s answer. Her head fell back to her knees and she looked away and stared solemnly in the distance.

          “So you’re a peredhel, too?” Meleth tried to reignite the conversation.

          “Yes,” the girl responded. She did not even look up at Meleth as she answered.

          “What’s your name?” Meleth tried again.

          “Radariel. Yours?”

          “Mae govannen, Radariel. My name is Meleth.” Meleth curtsied towards the girl. She was about to ask about Radariel’s father when she felt Idril’s voice pour gently into her mind.

          Have any luck, cousin? Idril asked.

          Yes, I found her. Meleth thought back. In an alcove near the smithy on the Southern side.

          Good. I will let Finduilas know at once. Idril’s presence drained out of her mind after the quick response.

          Not long after, a Doriathrin elf with brown skin and black hair walked around the corner to them. He wore metal armor emblazoned with Dior’s sigil and had a sword at his side.

          “There you are, i mhell nín,” He said warmly, “We have been looking all over for you.”

          “Uncle Mablung!” Radariel said. She got up onto her feet to greet him.

          “Your mother was very worried.”

          “I’m sorry, uncle. I didn’t mean to make her worry, I just didn’t want to…” her voice trailed off and she paused, looking off into the distance again.

          “Want to what?” He kindly prodded for a response. She looked back at him for a moment and then down at the ground.

          “I didn’t want to cause any more trouble. Hurt anyone. I thought it was my fault Doriath fell… because… you know.”

          “That was no fault of yours, i mhell nín,” Mablung walked over to her and kneeled down, rubbing her shoulder, “That was the fault of the Fëanorians. You had no part in it.”

          “Okay, if you say so,” she replied, but she did not sound convinced.

          Then he turned to Meleth.

          “Thank you very much, Lady Meleth, for finding her, it was very much appreciated.” He told her.

          “It was no problem at all,” Meleth said, “I was glad to help. I know what it feels like to be the new person in town. How did you know I had found her?”

          “My wife Niënor told me. Said Finduilas told her through ósanwe.”

          “That makes sense.”

          He turned back to Radariel.

          “Now let’s get you home before your Anneth finds out you left.”

          “Yes, uncle.”

 

---

 

          Meleth and Mablung brought Radariel back to the group, and Finduilas’s face lit up to see her daughter safe again. Morwen was also glad to see Radariel. She took her on her knee and kissed her forehead. Not long after, another peredhel arrived in the havens. She had dark, curly hair and wore a green cloak with the sigil of Finarfin as a clasp. She was carrying one child, and the other was holding onto her cloak. She placed the one child on the ground. There was a great celebration. Elwing ran forth and hugged them.

          “Thank Varda, I knew you could do it!” Finduilas ran up to her and embraced her tightly.

          “Of course, dear cousin, of course.”

          Morwen walked up to them.

          “Aelind, this is my mother-in-law, Morwen Eledhwen,” Finduilas said, turning to Morwen. “This is my cousin Aelind, my uncle Aegnor’s daughter. We lived together at Rivil’s Well for a while.”

          “Thank you, dear, we are already acquainted,” Morwen said.

          “Morwen, Lord Baragund’s daughter?” Aelind asked.

          “The very same,” Morwen nodded.

          “Dear cousin, it’s so great to see you again!” Aelind was filled with delight and her face lit up with joy. “You were such a cute little thing, always running around outside, stealing berries from the garden. And look at you now! So lovely, and a grandmother as well!”

          “Thank you,” Morwen said.

          “You never told me you knew my cousin, Finduilas!” Aelind joked with her. “How did you meet?”

          “She came to us one day from Brethil, heavily pregnant and grief stricken, but resolute,” Niënor supplied.

          “My husband had just died, and of course this was after the Fall of Nargothrond…” Finduilas paused for a second in her telling before continuing, “But I was determined to live for my daughter.”

          “We took her in, of course, we could do nothing less,” was Morwen’s statement, plain and matter-of-fact. “Niënor knew her and knew she had good character.”

          “And my husband, Mablung, gave his blessing for her to marry me as well,” Niënor smiled as she turned her eyes towards Finduilas.

          “How did you meet your husband, Niënor?” Aelind asked.

          “Well, I had gone with Mama, Mablung, and some others to find my brother, who had run away from Doriath. I was separated from the group, and… well, when I returned to Doriath, I found Mablung had been searching high and low for me.” Niënor beamed, “He visited me every day at the Healing Houses and we fell in love.” 

          “How lovely.” Aelind’s heart warmed at this.

          “Queen Melian told him to always put his family first, and that is what he has always done. When we heard the dwarves were coming, I told him Finduilas and I could hide the house with our magic, and he could go protect the treasury. But he was set on staying to protect us, because of what Queen Melian had told him.”

          “He sounds like a wonderful husband.”

          “He is.”

          “And what of your brother?” Aelind asked, she was going to continue with, “Did you find him?” but she saw Morwen’s expression grow sorrowful and Finduilas’s eyes went wide for a moment.

          “Oh, he died.” Niënor spoke as if she was explaining the weather or some other mundane, everyday thing, instead of what must have been a tragic loss. “The Haladin found his body covered in blood next to Glaurung’s severed head. His husband, Beleg Cúthalion, was holding him and died shortly after of grief.”

          “But that is enough of that,” Morwen interrupted, “There are children present. Aelind, catch us up on your life? How are you and your surviving brother faring?”

          “Nengelion? Yes, he is still with my aunt and uncle,” Aelind said, “We are living with the Nandor, the people of my Uncle Celeborn’s mother, on the other side of the Misty Mountains. Nen will be very excited to hear I ran into you all.”

          “He was such a dear boy. How long will you be staying?” Finduilas asked.

          “Not very long. I must be going soon, since my job here is done.” Aelind gestured towards Eluréd and Elurín, who were now playing with Elwing.

          “Well, you must give your brother our love when you return,” Morwen patted her shoulder.

          “I most definitely will.”


Chapter End Notes

There is no official word for grandmother in Sindarin, but I saw Saelind in the SWG discord use the word “anadar” for grandfather, so I made “ananeth” for grandmother, and then shortened it to “anneth” because I feel that kind of shortening would happen, especially with a little kid saying it a lot.


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Chapter 3

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506 of the First Age – The Havens of Sirion

 

The celebration for the return of Eluréd and Elurín was immense. There was no fine wine or honeyed bread, but the people made up for it with their high spirits. The melodious sound of elven singing filled the air, along with the rhythmic sound of human feet as they danced along the wooden floors.

        “So, how did you two meet?” Finduilas asked Idril, “I thought Gondolin was closed off to everyone but the Gondolindrim?”

        “Long story short, Tuor was chosen by Ulmo to be his messenger to my father, and this is why he was let into Gondolin,” Idril said, “We met in Atar’s court, as he was a special guest.”

        “A lovely story,” Finduilas said.

        “That is not dissimilar to how Mablung and I met,” Niënor said, “My mother and I were special guests of King Thingol. However, Mablung and I never interacted before our minor catastrophe.”

        “Minor catastrophe?” Idril said, “How intriguing. Would you mind explaining further?”

        “Not at all. Mama had gone with a few elves, Mablung included, to find my brother. I had snuck in, disguised, but they found me out and left me. Then who should come up to me, but Glaurung the dragon! I closed my mind from ósanwe at once, just like Queen Melian had taught me, and shot him in the eye with my bow. Beleg Cúthalion had taught me archery, of course. Glaurung started wailing and blowing out fire, so I jumped into the Teiglin. I broke my arm and hurt my leg, unfortunately, but I managed to get onto dry land somewhere downstream and scramble under some brambles for cover. And who should find me, but my own brother! It was strangely lucky.”

        “May I tell the next part of it?” Mablung asked.

        “Go ahead,” Niënor said.

        “Meanwhile,” Mablung said, “We get back to the hill where we left her, and she is gone. The place is scorched, too, it was a whole mess. So, we go around like crazy looking for her- and no one can find her anywhere. We thought she was dead for sure. But then we get word from Brethil a few days later that she was found, and that Beleg should come to Ephel Brandir to find her. Now, this was very odd. Queen Melian told him he would like the journey, though, so he obliged. Kind Beleg, heeds more to his heart than to his wisdom, but luckily he listened to Queen Melian. You know he almost went to rescue Túrin from Morgoth with Eöl’s cursed sword Anglachel? That could’ve been bad. Luckily, Queen Melian was able to talk him out of it… anyway, we receive word later that Beleg is staying in Brethil.”

        “Beleg was so flustered to see Túrin again,” Finduilas said, “It grew awkward very quickly when he found out Túrin and I were married, but I told Beleg we could share.”

        “And when you came to us in Doriath after… you know… it was so bittersweet.” Niënor said, “I was sad to hear of my brother and Beleg’s passing, but you and Radariel brought us so much joy.”

        “She is a dear. Quite a handful, too.” Finduilas smiled. “Looks like she is getting along with Lady Meleth, though. How wonderful.”

 

---

       

        As Meleth was taking a break from dancing, and went to get some juice for herself, she noticed Radariel sitting off to the side with a morose look on her face.

        “Radariel, is something wrong?” Meleth asked.

        Radariel made no response. Meleth followed Radariel’s line of sight and saw that she was watching as Elwing and her brothers danced together.

        “Would you like to dance with them? I am sure they would not mind if you asked.” Meleth tried again.

        “No.” Radariel said, looking away from the siblings dancing. She sighed and buried her head in her knees for a moment. When Meleth did not leave, she looked up at her, and then looked away again.

        “I… I’m afraid they’ll be hurt because of me.” Radariel’s voice was sullen. “Because of what Ada did.”

        “What did your Ada do?” Meleth could not help but asking, the words fell out of her mouth before she knew it.

        Radariel looked at her again, and her dark eyes were somehow even more filled with sorrow.


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Chapter 4

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495 of the First Age – Forest of Brethil

 

         The forest was uneasy. Finduilas could feel it deep in her bones- there were no birds singing, no small creatures scurrying, and the trees whispered dark words of orcs and elves lying dead along the Teiglin.

         “Danger, danger,” they said, “The creature with fire comes, the elf kingdom has fallen, dead bodies lie scattered along the river, beware, beware…”

         Her anger and sorrow threatened to overcome her, and she took in a sharp breath.

         “Where is Túrin?” She asked them, “Is he alive? I must know.”

         A chilling breeze blew through the forest, cutting straight through her silk dresses, making the leaves rustle and branches sway. After a moment, the trees spoke to her.

         “He wanders far. Walks away from the orcs and fire creature… careful, careful…”

         Her anger burned hot within her.

         “Please, I must find him. I must know.”

         Another moment of perfect silence, and then,

         “Very well. Protect yourself, be wary, wary…” and then the trees were guiding her to the spot he was last seen. She treaded silently through the forest as it led her along a path, over fallen branches and dead leaves. At last, a tree bid her to look to her right. She saw a glimmer of sunlight on something metal, and looking closer recognized it as the Dragon Helm of Dor-lómin. Túrin. She thanked the trees profusely, and they responded with another warning.

         She stormed angrily towards him, meaning to berate him for letting the orcs drag her away while she screamed for his help, but he did not respond at all when she called his name.

Maybe it was too far away for him to hear her with his human ears. She got closer, and called his name again. No answer. She noticed then that he was plodding along as if dazed, not his normal, confident gait. She took his hand in hers. He stopped immediately, but did nothing else. Turning him toward her, she looked up into his gorgeous, dark eyes and saw they were glassy. Covered by some fog, he stared far away, and did not respond to anything she said. Glaurung had put a spell on him. No wonder he did not answer her calls of anguish, he had been put under a spell by one of Morgoth’s dragons. Her anger dissipated and she focused on lifting the spell from her beloved.

         She took the dragon helm from his head, placing it on the ground beside them. Closing his eyes gently, she took a deep breath, and kept her hand hovering over his face.

She spoke of things hidden being found, of fog lifting, of glass clearing. A deep gasp broke through her chanting and Túrin grabbed her by the arms suddenly. She lowered her hand from his face and his grip on her softened. His eyes were no longer cloudy, but clear- clear, bright, and very confused.

         “Finduilas?” he asked.

         “Yes,” she responded.

         “What happened? The last thing I remember was… was…”

         “Glaurung? He put a spell on you.”

         “Of course he did.”

         “You just stood there while I was carried away by orcs, screaming for your help.”

         “Finduilas, I am so sorry, please forgive me. I didn’t know what was happening-”

         “I forgive you. Are you okay?”

         “Am I okay? Are you okay?! You just said you got dragged away by orcs! How did you escape?”

         “I used magic I learned from my aunt. Aunt Galadriel always told me I have to know how to protect myself in case the men in my life fail me. So she taught me all sorts of magic that she learned from Queen Melian. After the orcs captured me, I waited until they were distracted and I used my magic to escape. I freed the other prisoners, and we destroyed them.”

         “I really underestimated you.”

         “Yes, yes you did.”

         “How did you find me?”

         “The trees led me to you. And before you ask, I lifted the spell with magic from my aunt.”

         “Gwindor was right about you.”

         Finduilas laughed fondly.

         “What did dear Gwindor say about me?”

         “He said only you could save me from Morgoth’s curse.”

         “Well, I don’t know about that, but Glaurung’s spell was sure easy to lift. Now let’s get going to Doriath.”

         She turned towards the east, but he stood still and did not move with her.

         “Are you coming?” She asked him.

         “I do not wish to return to Doriath.” He told her.

         “Why not? King Thingol is your foster father.”

         “I accidentally chased this guy Saeros to his death because he taunted me for being human and insulted my people…”

         “King Thingol would surely forgive you if he knew the circumstances.”

         “I… I still do not wish to return.”

         “Very well, then. How about we join the Haladin of Brethil?”

         “I would be amenable to that.” He said, “But you can go to Doriath if you want. You don’t need to stay with me.”

         “Yes, I do.” She took his hand, “If you are okay with that.”

         “After what you did today, of course.” He squeezed her hand. “It could have been worse.”

         He picked up the dragon helm with his free hand, and they walked through Brethil together towards the Haladin’s settlement of Ephel Brandir.


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Oh my! This really is a Who's Who of the Havens! I just love that so many survived and have arrived here, and hope that little Eluréd and Elutín do too! And oooh! Mablung with Nienor!! Wonderful so many little Peredhil, yet so much future heartbreak too. And I adore your description of Elwing! Lovely!