Lullaby by Zhie
Summary: Thunder and lightning scare two little elflings into finding someone who will protect them through the night.
Categories: Stories of Arda > Bunniverse (PPB-AU) > Fourth Age Characters: Celebrian, Elodien, Galadriel, Haldir, Mitzi, Nenniach, Orophin, Rumil, Tallasinde, Valarda, Vilya
Awards: None
Challenge: None
Genre: Comedic, Romantic
Special Collection: None
Challenges:
Series: None
Chapters: 1 Completed: Yes Word count: 3503 Read: 3502 Published: November 27 2007 Updated: November 27 2007

1. Complete by Zhie

Complete by Zhie
"Must we sleep? I do not think I can," Tallasinde whined. "The noise is too loud!"

"It will not bother you when the lights are put out," Galadriel assured her youngest, tucking the covers around the little blonde elfling. Across the room, Vilya sat up in her own bed, expectantly awaiting her Grandmother to tuck her in as well. "You will both be asleep in no time." Galadriel crossed the room and kissed Vilya atop her head before the dark-haired elfling snuggled under her covers.

A crack of thunder overhead did not so much bother Vilya, but sent Tallasinde whimpering. Rain was common in Valinor, but storms were highly unheard of. For whatever reason, the Valar had deemed it necessary, and it was Tallasinde who suffered through it. Even with Mitzi protectively perched at the end of her bed, the elfling did not feel the least bit comforted.

"Nana, I think the windows may blow in!" cried Tallasinde, pointing to the rain beating against the glass. Galadriel frowned and went to the window, shutting the shades.

"You are safe, little one. Now I will have no arguments from you." Galadriel was stern, and Tallasinde drew up her covers, her bottom lip quivering slightly, but Galadriel did not falter as she blew out the remaining candles in the room. Everyone in the house had been overly protective of Tallasinde, and the poor elfling now cowered at the slightest sign of discomfort. "I promise you shall sleep well tonight and be well in the morning." Galadriel offered her daughter one final kiss before leaving the room, the door left ajar slightly to allow a sliver of light in from the hallway.

One by one, the other elves in the house made their way to the their rooms until the house had quieted and only the rain and thunder kept Tallasinde awake. After some time she wriggled her way out of bed without waking Mitzi and padded over to Vilya's bed. Although the younger elf was her niece, she thought of her more as a sister and playmate. Vilya had rolled over, her face buried in her pillow, and Tallasinde tugged on the top blanket. "Villy?"

"Go to bed, 'Sin, I'm sleeping."

"Nuh-uh." Thunder crashed overhead and Tallasinde winced, covering her head with her hands. Vilya rolled over and regarded her aunt with a funny look.

"Whatever is the matter with you?"

"Re-remember what Rumil said about thunder?" asked Tallasinde.

"He said that thunder was what happens when the Valar race their horses across the sky," recalled Vilya.

"But what happens if one of the Vala fall off of their horses?" Tallasinde whispered, afraid the Valar might hear. "What if they fell through the roof?"

Vilya considered this for a moment. "I don't think the Valar fall off of their horses, Talli."

"What if they accidentally ride too low?" asked Tallasinde, trying another tactic. "They might run right into the house and knock it over!"

"Ada did build it very tall," agreed Vilya, looking up at the ceiling with concern.

"I think we should go to Rumil and see if he shall let us sleep in his rooms tonight," suggested Tallasinde.

Vilya nodded, climbing out of her own bed. "That is a good idea since he is on the first floor."

The girls crept out of their room, down the stairs and across the hall, then down another flight until they reached the first floor. Vilya made the bold move of knocking on the door as Tallasinde wrung her hands.

Rumil opened the door after a brief time, looking out straight ahead. He was given a tug on his pants leg, and squatted down to the level of the elflings with a smile. "Good evening, ladies. What brings you here at such a late hour?"

"We can not sleep," Tallasinde blurted, although this originally hadn't been a problem for Vilya. "We are worried that if the Valar drive their horses too fast, they may lose track of where they ride and crash into the house."

Behind Rumil came light laughter from Nenniach, still hidden within the room. Rumil put a hand on Tallasinde's shoulder and looked into her huge liquid eyes. "The Valar ride over the stars, and because the stars are over the house, you have no fear that they will crash into us."

"What if one of them were to fall off of their horse?" asked Tallasinde. "What if they were right over the house when they did?"

"The horses of the Valar are so swift, they will catch their rider before they pass the clouds," Rumil told her.

"What if the horse misses?" Tallasinde began to envision the scenario in her mind and was upon the verge of tears thinking of the catastrophe that would result in one of the Vala falling through the roof.

"The horses will not miss," Rumil assured her, "because, the Valar would will them not to."

"Oh." Tallasinde looked over her shoulder. Vilya appeared to accept this explanation, so she would, too. "If you are sure, Rumil."

"I am sure, bumblebee," he said, making her smile at the sound of the pet name he had for her. "Shall we get you to bed, then?"

Tallasinde nodded and lifted her arms up to Rumil, who picked her up with a smile and settled her on one arm. "And you, Vilya?" he asked, offering his other arm. Vilya hesitated, but stepped forward and reached her arms around her uncle's neck.

Once back in their room, Rumil tucked each of the girls in, giving them a hug and a kiss and a final promise that no Vala would crash through the roof. This appeased the elflings until another bout of thunder began, this one louder than the previous.

"'Sin, Rumil said it will be fine." Vilya whispered across the room. Tallasinde shook in her bed with her blankets pulled completely over her form. "Do not worry, 'Sin, go to sleep."

"I do not think they will come through the house, but the noise is so loud, what if it shakes the walls apart? There will be nothing left of the house!" cried Tallasinde into her pillow. Vilya had no reasonable response for this, so the pair was soon making their way down the stairs once again, deciding to try Orophin instead, for Rumil had already been called upon.

Vilya convinced Tallasinde to knock on the door this time, and her timid first attempt was followed by a second and third until Vilya finally stepped to the door and banged on it, a little louder than she had intended to. Orophin had wrenched the door open in a flash, holding a long single-edged sword in one hand. Tallasinde flung herself against Vilya, clinging to her niece in fright. Vilya's eyes were wide, but she did not jump in the manner Tallasinde had.

"Ah, good evening." Orophin quickly hid the blade behind his back while Valarda, who was approaching the door, scolded him.

"You ask, 'Why don't we have elflings?', and this is reason number fifty-six." Valarda ripped the sword from Orophin's hand and tossed it into a pile in the room. Although the rest of the house was tidy, the room shared by Valarda and Orophin was quite cluttered. No one really knew what color the rugs were, or even if there were rugs under the inches and inches of stuff that spread from one wall to the next. Vilya and Tallasinde had never been invited to the rooms, and now they knew why.

"They could have been orcs," reasoned Orophin and he was playfully kicked in the rear.

"The only orc in Valinor is YOU, Orophin Celebornion. Scaring poor little elflings into thinking…well, I can't imagine what I'd think if I were barely two feet tall and facing the blade of that sword." Valarda swept past her husband and looked down at the elflings. "What is the matter, or rather, what was the matter before you came here and found HIM." She waved over her shoulder at Orophin, who grumbled and headed back into the room.

"The noise outside from the Valar is so loud, we are afraid the walls will tumble down!" Tallasinde cowered as another snap of thunder sounded in the heavens.

Valarda shook her head and smiled. "Little one, there is nothing to fear. This house is sturdy, I was here when some of it was built. Nothing will knock it down."

"But, Rumil said that the Valar will their horses to be fast, so they do not miss, and the Valar could will the house to crumble if they wanted!" Again, Tallasinde's mind quickly worked on the possibilities that existed.

"If the Valar really, really wanted to make this house fall down, they would. They would not have to do it during a storm." Valarda gently separated Tallasinde from Vilya, and taking each of them by a hand, started to walk them back to their room. "I think you will be safe, though, for the Valar want us to be here. Valinor is meant for them, and for the elves - all elves." Valarda was not about to begin to tell them which elves Valinor was not for, because she intended the discussion to be over by the time the pair was tucked back into bed.

After a glass of water for Vilya and a lullaby for Tallasinde, Valarda carefully left the room, sure to keep the door open slightly. Vilya was nearly asleep even with the continuing thunder when she heard Tallasinde call from across the room once more. "Vilya! I had a terrible thought!"

Not wanting to open her eyes, Vilya gave a half-hearted "Mmm?", but this was apparently not enough for Tallasinde, who was on top of the younger elfling's bed sheets in a flash.

"Villy, what if the Valar don't know you're an elf? You're only part, and they might not know. If the house fell down on accident, but you were inside, they might not know to save you!"

Vilya wiped at her eyes and blinked at Tallasinde. Although it seemed quite impossible that the Valar would make such a mistake, Vilya was well aware that she once had a sister who had made the choice to live a mortal life. Not wanting to have to worry over some sort of confusion, Vilya climbed out of bed. "Let's ask Ada. He is a peredhel, too, he will know what to do."

- - -

Celebrian heard the abrupt knock on the door and knew at once that her daughter was out of bed, but for what reason she had not a clue. It took some time to explain the entire story, but when Tallasinde had finished, she had come to the conclusion that the only way for the Valar to keep from accidentally letting the house fall down on Vilya was if someone who was a full elf was in the bed with her.

"Since you are already awake, Clebri, you can come and sleep in our room in Vilya's bed with her," said Tallasinde. In a whisper, she added, "It makes the most sense, 'cause you're her nana."

Celebrian shut her eyes. Truly, neither she nor her siblings had been like this at Tallasinde's age. She made a note to speak with her mother about the elfling's behavior first thing in the morning. "Tallasinde, I think you will be just fine. There is nothing to worry about."

"We would feel so much better if you came and slept in our room with us, Nana." Vilya told her. In all truth, Vilya just wanted to go to sleep, and felt that anything that would calm Tallasinde into reverie was worth the effort.

"Oh, no," Celebrian said, shaking her head. "You will fall asleep just fine on your own. Besides, I can't be in two places at once, and I also need rest."

"Why can't you come with us and sleep in our room?" asked Vilya.

Celebrian sighed and answered, "Because I have to sleep with your father."

"Oh," Vilya answered with her own sigh. "Well, I suppose if Ada needs someone to sleep with him so that he is not afraid of the thunder, that is acceptable."

Celebrian lifted a brow at the conclusion her young one had drawn, but decided Vilya was better off with her own explanation of the situation. "I am glad you permit it. Now, you will go straight to your room and to bed," Celebrian paused as thunder sounded once again overhead, "or I will not allow you to stay up late and listen to stories until you are both fifty."

This threat appeared to be more frightening than the thunder, and both elflings headed back to the stairs after a kiss on the brow from Celebrian. However, elflings are clever little things, and they waited on the stoop of the stairs until Celebrian had closed the door before creeping back up the steps and down the hall.

"We can't knock. Nana will hear," Vilya cautioned. Tallasinde nodded, keeping close to her niece. Shadows played upon the walls of the dark hallway and the thunder had yet to cease. "I think he still leaves his door unlocked at night." The dark-haired elfling found the door not only unlocked, but left open slightly. Perhaps the thunder scared him, too, and he left it open to let the light from the hallway in. She pushed the door gently with the flat of her hand and motioned for Tallasinde to follow her.

Haldir had not been having an easy night. The storm unnerved him, even in slumber. Twice he awoke from nightmares of the terrible battle he had last fought in, well over a century ago. His back pained him greatly, though he told himself it was imagined. Although he had made his promise to Elrond to wait awhile before marrying Elodien, there were nights when he wished he was not alone in his bed.

But, he wasn't alone, and he pulled Nibbles tighter to his chest. Sleep was not an option, he decided, as another peel of thunder shook the house. He stretched and groped at the chair, where he had thrown his sleeping shirt after waking the first time to find it sweat-soaked. It was dry now, and he planned to wander downstairs to the parlor and perhaps a snack or glass of wine. Instead, he sat up to find a pair of elflings sneaking through his door.

"Lo, and what is this?" he asked softly, smiling at Tallasinde's attempt to step over any floorboards that looked as if they would creak.

Tallasinde stiffened suddenly and hid herself partly behind Vilya. "We woke him!" she hissed in a most disappointed manner.

"We would have to have woken him anyway," Vilya reminded the older elfling. No longer needing to hide in the shadows, the pair scampered to the bed.

Haldir pulled the shirt over his head and propped himself up with one arm, meeting the eye-level of the elflings. He could not imagine something was terribly wrong, for they would have gone to their parents and he would not heard of the incident until morning, but he was not going to make light of things, either. "What is the matter, Silanor?" he asked his young sister, and she shivered.

"It is the thunder." On cue, the sky rumbled and cracked, and Tallasinde clung to Vilya with both arms. "It is frightening!"

"It is," agreed Haldir. Then, he repeated something he had learned in his youth to them in Westron. "Thunder is a wonder, but lightning is frightening."

Two elflings blinked at him in confusion.

"Thunder is just sound. It is the shadow lightening leaves behind. Lightening is where the real danger lies. Hot, white bolts that slice between the ground and the sky. I have seen lightening split age-old trees in two, kill all of the fish in small ponds, and start houses on fire." Haldir realized too late that his last example was not the best and Tallasinde nearly burst into tears.

"I don't want our house to catch fire!" she whimpered, and Haldir threw back the covers and reached down to pull her up onto the bed next to him.

"Hush, hush, Silanor," he said, gently rocking her after placing her in his lap. "The house will not catch fire. The Valar do not let the lightening cause trouble here."

"But…the thunder," Tallasinde sniffled. "The thunder is the horses they ride, and the horses might knock the house over." Haldir gave a quizzical look to Vilya, who climbed up onto the bed herself and relayed the entire evening's tale to him, leaning against his side as he continued to hold and calm Tallasinde.

"Thunder is NOT the horses of the Valar racing across the sky, nor do you need to worry about anything happening to this house. You are both safe here. Your Nana," he said, kissing Tallasinde on the nose, "and your Adar," he added, freeing and arm and putting it around Vilya to hug her, "would give any Vala quite a challenge if ever one of them thought to come here to cause trouble. And if that happened, I guarantee you Glorfindel and Erestor would be here quicker than a flash of lightening to help. By then, the rest of us would have had something to say about it as well. So Eru help the Vala who ever gives thought to such a thing."

The three of them were silent for a while, the elflings just happy not to have been shooed back to their room once again. Finally, Tallasinde whispered, "The thunder still scares me."

Haldir kissed the top of her head. "The thunder scares me, too." He felt Vilya wrap her arms around his waist, or as far as she could, to hug him.

"We can stay with you so that you won't be scared," offered Vilya, and Tallasinde nodded her head in agreement.

"If you sing us a song," added Tallasinde. Before Haldir could protest, Tallasinde had crawled into the bed and was pulling the covers up to her chin.

Vilya slid under the sheets on the other side of Haldir. "A soft song, because otherwise, Nana will send us back to our own room."

"And a short one," requested Tallasinde. "I'm tired."

Haldir settled back and put his rabbit on the pillow above his head. One arm went around the shoulders of each of the elflings, who cuddled up to their own side of the elf. His singing was little more than a soft whisper, the words made up as he went along.




The stars of the night sky twinkle
Hear the sounds of the wind and the sea
The day is no more
Rest now, sweet Silanor
Let my voice grant you reverie

Across the beach and the waters
See the moon shine from far overhead
The lights are all dim
Sleep well, Ithilim
Close your eyes, it is time now for bed




"Thank you, Nantor," mumbled Vilya, her eyes clouding over and her head resting on Haldir's right shoulder.

"Thank you, Muindor." Tallasinde had the same distant gaze Vilya did, and Haldir tried to reach the edge of the covers, but found both of her arms too occupied to manage.

"Perhaps I can offer assistance." Haldir peered down the bed to the door to see that Elodien was leaning against the doorway.

"You aren't supposed to be here," Haldir reminded her as she approached the bed and tucked the covers around all three occupants.

Elodien gave her lover a sly grin. "I'm not supposed to be alone with you in your room at night, and you are hardly alone."

"They were afraid of the storm," whispered Haldir after Tallasinde shifted a little.

Nodding, Elodien stroked Haldir's cheek. "So I heard. You're a very good brother. And a very good uncle." She leaned down, carefully minding where Tallasinde and Vilya were, and kissed Haldir. "Perhaps sometime in the not so distant future, you will be a very good father as well."

Haldir felt a tingle in his stomach upon hearing these words, but it was a delightful one. One that made him forget the storm and ignore the thunder. Smiling up at Elodien, he returned the kiss well as he could with an elfling sleeping on either side of him, but not as well as he would have liked. He made a note to correct this as soon as he could the next morning. "I would like that, my love."

Returning his smile, Elodien kissed him once more on the forehead. "Sleep well, dear one. I will see you in the morning." She stood back up, and looked at the purple rabbit on its side, on the verge of slipping from the bed. Taking it from the pillow, she tucked the stuffed rabbit under one arm. "I think you have your hands full for the evening." She winked and left the room, pulling the door half-closed behind her.
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