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“Come here. Closer. Just a little closer. Closer. Yes, good.” Orophin was silent for a moment before suddenly whacking Haldir on the head with something small but solid. “Don’t do that again or I’ll kill you!”

“Ow, dammit, give me that.” Haldir grabbed a few times at his flute before successfully pulling it away from Orophin.

Orophin fumed, crossing his arms over his chest. “We worried that you were washed out to sea or something. Do you know how nerve-wracking that was? You dolt! Why didn’t you tell anyone you were leaving? It wasn’t until Adar noticed the horse was gone that we realized you must have been alright, but really, Haldir!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know where I was going,” he apologized, leading Fool of a Took into the stable. The horse snorted distastefully as he was shut back in his stall, kicking at the straw there.

“You still could have said you were going somewhere. Rumil’s in there thinking you ran away, you’d better go and let him know you’re fine. Everyone else is in there as well,” added Orophin. “That’s how we knew you couldn’t have gone far, because they’d not seen you on the road last night when they came in.”

Haldir stopped short of the door to the outside. “Why were you out here?”

Shifting his weight and leaning on the side of the stall, he shrugged. “Because I love you, you dolt, and I would have been terribly upset had anything happened to you. Now give me a hug and then go inside so everyone can see that you are alive and well and just a moron sometimes.”

With a smile, Haldir spread his arms open and Orophin jumped over and nearly knocked him to the ground. “No more stupid things, right? At least no more for today.”

“What a noble compromise. Unfortunately, I still have to sing this evening, don’t I?” Haldir held up a black sack he had found at the cottage as they began to walk to the house. “I have a song, I have a gift, I am ready. Where is the celebration?”

Orophin opened the door to the house, and the noise, light, smells, and warmth drew them both in. On the stairs was Lindir, playing his lute, and he gave a nod to them as they entered. Gildor was sitting on the top of the hallway desk speaking rather cheerfully with Samwise, who was on a bench in the hall smoking his pipe. They waved as Haldir made his way down the hall to the closet, depositing the red cloak trimmed with white fur that he had luckily found at the cottage. The sack he kept with him, and found his father and Thranduil speaking in the kitchen while Nenniach tended to something that smelled good in a large pot.

“Haldir, there you are! Thranduil was asking for you.” Nenniach waved a towel in the direction of the pair speaking at the window seat.

Haldir bowed in greeting to the seated elves, and then said, “Excuse me, but I have a favor to ask of you, Adar.”

“How appropriate,” said Celeborn. “Thranduil has a favor to ask of you.”

- - -

“Alright, quiet down everyone, Mr. Baggins is going to explain how this works,” announced Elrond. “He will choose the first person who will give their gift, and they will do so, and then that person gives their gift, and so on.”

Bilbo chuckled from the seat that had been fixed for him near to the fire. “I think you just explained it rather well, Elrond.”

“Will you be wanting some fresh coffee to help keep you from resting yer eyes, Mr. Bilbo?” asked Samwise, sitting attentively to Bilbo’s left. The old hobbit smiled and shook his head.

“I’ve been promised good, old-fashioned Hobbiton cheer in the form of a song, and I’m looking forward to it.” After a moment, he added, “But I’ll take a mug of coffee for the taste. As for a leader to start,” Bilbo said, peering around over his glasses, “I think I shall choose my old friend Thranduil.”

The feasting had been long over, and now there was only the presents before the merriment could take place. Everyone had been instructed to bring a gift for Bilbo, being the guest of honor, and the rest had their packages near to them for whomever they had chosen. Thranduil stood up and took the wrapped bundle from the floor, surveying the room as if he didn’t quite know where he was going to, but after the second time looking around, his smile betrayed him, and he held out the package to Galadriel.

Cautiously, she handed Tallasinde to Rumil who was sitting beside her and unwrapped the hand-dyed paper from it carefully. Within she found a large cloth bag, and within, two more packages. The bag was dark blue, but on the outside, there were prints from two little hands and two little feet in some sort of thick paint that had been soaked into the bag. Tallasinde’s name was beneath it.

“When did you do this?” she asked, tracing her fingers around the tiny impressions.

“Your husband was a great help to me with that. I sent him with the cloth and he managed to get it back to me after he stamped the images,” explained Thranduil as Galadriel pulled the wrapping from the smaller item inside. She held it up and observed it from a number of angles. “This is... a, ah, very nice...”

“That’s from Avisiel, and I’ll be damned if I know what to call is, either,” he laughed. “It’s obviously for the baby, when she starts crawling, you just put her into it and fasten the back of it, and then she won’t be able to get anything on her hands and feet to stick into her mouth. We had one for Legolas,” he added of the armless and legless garment. “That elfling tried to get into everything and once stuck both feet in his mouth at once.”

“Adar,” came a rather dry and embarrassed voice, “I’m right here.”

“Well, good that you should be reminded of it, it’s likely a family trait you’ll pass on to your children,” he answered as the third package was opened and a cascade of wooden blocks tumbled to the floor. “Sorry, I should have warned you,” he apologized, gathering up the blocks. “I just... you probably don’t remember, but-“

“This was our favorite toy, you and I and Thel,” she smiled, thinking back. “You used to knock down everything I built.”

“Only when you didn’t first,” he reminded her. He coughed and then said in a low voice, “Turn the bag over.” Galadriel gasped when she did and tears came to her eyes. “I know this little one is going to be taking up a lot of your time,” he said, stacking the blocks next to her chair, “but I wanted you to have a way to remember your other four babies.”

Swallowing back her emotion and wiping her eyes with one hand, she held up the bag. There were four other handprints on it, each of them with a name beneath and in a different color. “You were all set on getting your mother to cry, weren’t you?” she said, and gave a little laugh when everyone smiled. “Oh, you were all in on this, you wonderful, naughty children.” She looked up at Thranduil and took hold of his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He bent down to hug her and said, “We can go back to hating each other tomorrow, alright?” She nodded against his shoulder with a smile before she gave him a chaste kiss. Thranduil patted her hand and then went back to his seat beside his still brooding son.

Galadriel placed the bag beside her chair along with the other presents and then picked up a package and walked with it to the doorway. She looked up at the cluster of leaves and berries above, positioning herself just so before looking back into the room at the group. “Gimli?”

“Yes, m’lady?” When he saw that she didn’t move, but instead only smiled, he blushed and stood up out of his seat and walked to the doorway. “Aye.”

Leaning gracefully over, she held out the gift as she kissed the dwarf softly on the lips. “Happy Yuletide,” she said as she stood back up.

Gimli flushed furiously, and it was a few moments before he remembered the package and opened it. Inside was a knitted blanket, with Dwarven runes proclaiming some sort of verse along one side.

“I had hoped to make it bigger, but I ran out of time,” Galadriel said.

“Ah, but it’s a fine size for me, m’lady,” he assured her. “I cannot thank you enough for such a wonderful gift. I shall treasure it always,” he promised. He stood admiring his present for a minute more, until he realized that Galadriel had gone back to her seat and that he was being waited on. “Well, I should set about continuing, then, shouldn’t I,” he mumbled to himself, and walked back to pick up a small wooden box.

He took a deep breath and walked to Haldir. “I won’t ask you to stand where I just was,” he assured the elf, causing everyone to laugh. “I hope it’s not something you already have, but I never saw you with one, and I know your brothers had them.”

Haldir took the box and untied the ribbon wrapped around it. Orophin and Rumil were both peering over with great interest, while Celebrian seemed to know what was within, and sat back with a smug smile. He lifted the cover, and the firelight shined off of what was in the box. “You know why I never had one, don’t you?” he asked, lifting the item with great care from the box.

“Some silly thing about you giving up your rights to the title in Lothlorien,” Gimli said. “But when I asked your sister for ideas, she told me about your hero, and when I saw a picture, I got to work.”

“What is it?” questioned Celebdreth, trying to see it from across the room.

Taking a deep breath, Haldir lifted it from the box. “It’s a crown like Gil-Galad’s.” He looked with caution to Elrond, who nodded upon seeing it held up.

“I found the pattern for it. I was honestly surprised that it was still around all these years later.”

“You should put it on,” insisted Legolas, who stood up and went to Haldir, taking the crown from his hands. Legolas slid it on over the back of Haldir’s head, resting on his ears. “Perfect fit,” he said, perching on the arm of Haldir’s chair.

“Fit for a king,” remarked Thranduil with a smirk.

Haldir smiled. “Thank you, Gimli,” he said. Out from under his chair he pulled the sack. “I regret that my wrapping was done a bit hastily.” The song was no longer in it, given to Lindir so that he might think of musical accompaniment for it, and the sack was handed to Elrond. “Happy Yuletide.”

Elrond was more than thrilled with the book, going so far as to stand up to hug Haldir after he had paged through it. The rest of the gifts were all just as lovely, and Bilbo unexpectedly stayed away for the entire exchange. As another log was put on the fire, Haldir looked over to his father and Lindir hesitantly, and received nods from them as he stood up.

“Family... friends... Mitzi...” he said, regarding the pink flamingo resting on the back of the couch, “A song for your enjoyment this evening, before, I am told, Master Samwise will lead us in carols of old.”

“I shall try,” spoke Sam.

Haldir and Celeborn stood at the fire with Lindir who waited for their cue to start. Haldir took a deep breath and gave a nod. He had only given his father the introduction and chorus lyrics, and hoped he did not think the song silly.

While in the cottage, he had the time to clear his thoughts, and think back to a time far in the past when he was young and when they had the time to do things as a family. The memories he had reminded him of the Yuletide they had planned now, and he did his best to incorporate his memories into a song. Together, as Lindir strummed his chords lightly, the pair sang:


The bells on the sleigh bring me back to the days
When life was so simple and so fair
Everyone on the street greeted everyone they would meet
Children played in the snow without care

Oh, how I long for those days
I hold on for those days
I belong to those days of old

In my mind it all stays
You will find it all stays
Left behind it all stays in tales told


And now, after a short interlude by Lindir, it was Haldir who sang alone. His voice was nervous at first, but somehow the fact that he was surrounded by friends and family, and that they were all listening intently with smiles on their faces brought him relief as he continued:


I was a lad, just an itty bitty boy
When I sat upon my father’s knee
And he told me tales until dark
About life, and love, and history

That very same year with my mother
As I stood upon a kitchen chair
We made cookies, told secrets and laughed
At jokes – I got frosting in my hair

Up the stairs was older sis
Wrapping gifts and tying each with a bow
She was dreaming like me about winter fun
But her dreams included mistletoe


There was laughter and many of the couples were snuggling against each other as they listened to the heartwarming song. Galadriel was shaking her head, reminiscing on just how one removes frosting from an energetic four-year-old elflings curls, and Celeborn was no longer looking at the crowded room, but at his son as they sang the chorus:


Oh, how I long, how I long for those days
I belong to those days of old

In my mind, oh, in my mind it all stays
Left behind it all stays in stories told


Haldir wandered over to Orophin as Lindir played. Orophin gave him his signature 'can I.. help you?' look as Haldir sat down on the arm of the couch and put his arm around his younger brother, and sang:


That next year my little brother came along
I waited patiently for him to grow
So I could build a giant fort with him
And teach him all the wonders of snow

We would chase each other until we fell
Then spread our arms like wings
Stay outside until half past dark
Listening to the wind whistle as it sings

Nana brought us in for warm apple cider
Dad would take us out on the sled
He’d pull us through the trees 'til we fell asleep
Then he’d carry us up the stairs to bed


"You're going to make me cry, you idiot," whispered Orophin, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. "And then, I'll have to hit you with that flute again."

Haldir simply smiled and kissed Orophin's head before joining his father at the fire again for the chorus. Then, he went to the youngest brother, leaning over the other sofa to sing to him:


Once a year, we’d all bundle up
Mittens, coats, scarves, boots, and gloves
Dad would help us into the four-horse sleigh
And it’s something I know he still loves

But that year, another blessing came along
It was out little brother number three
Ma was tired, so Pa took the baby
And then he handed the reigns to me

The biggest thrill I ever did get
Was getting to drive that sleigh
Even now when I hear those ringing bells
My mind wanders back,

All the way back,

Back to those wonderful winter days


"That was lovely, Haldir," spoke Galadriel after Lindir ended the song. Celeborn walked over to Haldir and put an arm around his shoulder.

"It is very well-written, ion-nin."

Haldir smiled at the compliment and embraced his father, and then went to his mother and hugged her, and looking down at Tallasinde said, "Some day, I shall have another verse about you, as well." Then he went to Celebrian. "Sorry, I would have started by you, but I was.. practically scared to death!" The whole room burst into laughter and clapping, and at the front of the room Bilbo laughed the loudest.

"Oh, Gandalf, you ask me why I like them all so much, compared to all the other elves," he said to the wizard who was in the corner, a half-smirk on his face. "Well, I know for a fact now why it is. All of them look like elves, and move like them, but I'd wager there's a hobbit soul trapped in every single one of them!"

"Well, Eru bless us all for that!" exclaimed Celebdreth, and the laughter rose up once more.

As Celebrian sat back down, Haldir leaned over to Elrond and said, "There is something else I have for you. May I have a moment with you in the hall?"

Elrond gave a nod and followed Haldir into the hallway, near to the front door, leaving the others far off in the parlor. After looking to be sure they weren't followed, Haldir pulled a folded piece of bright white cloth from his tunic. "This isn't really from me," he said. "It's from... someone, well, two someones who love you very much. I wanted to have them here for you, but Mitzi- do you know where Mitzi comes from?" he asked. Elrond, looking confused, shook his head. "Well, I wanted to have them here for you, but all she was able to bring back was this." He handed the cloth to Elrond.

Carefully, Elrond unfolded the thick cloth. "What is this? This isn't any fabric I am familiar with."

"It's a piece of sail," Haldir informed him.

"From what?" Elrond wondered, finding a white feather at the center.

Hesitating for a moment, when Elrond's eyes met his, Haldir replied, "From the Vingelot."

"Oh my." Elrond looked down and lifted the feather in one shaky hand, tears in his eyes quickly forming and hanging on the edge of spilling over. "And this? This is..."

"They wanted to be here, I am certain of it. But..." Haldir hung his head. "I am sorry. This might sound strange, but I almost know what it is like to, well, to have parents but not have them. It's not the same now, but, I understand how painful it is."

Wrapping the feather back in the white cloth, Elrond clutched the gift to his breast with one hand and with the other embraced Haldir. "I know you do. Thank you."

"I didn't do the hard part, that was poor Mitzi, flying back and forth over the storm last night. I just spent the evening with a spoiled horse," admitted Haldir ruefully.

Elrond laughed as he pulled away, both hands on the sail wrapped feather. "My thanks to you regardless. I should put this somewhere safe," he said suddenly, "for to me it is dearer than the three rings, the silmarils, and all of the palantiri combined." He turned and walked up the stairs swiftly. Haldir smiled as Elrond disappeared out of sight.

"You know," came a gruff voice, "I think sometimes that the two of you just disagree for the sake of it, and not because you really want to. In fact," continued Gimli as he came closer to where Haldir stood, "I might even wager that you don't think he's half bad."

"Eh." Haldir tried to look indifferent, but he was still smiling. "He's my brother, what else can I do but tolerate him?" He continued to watch the stairs for a few seconds before something dawned on him. "Oh! Wait right here," he directed, and headed up the steps.

In his room, right where he had left it, was the package that the twins had presented him with, and Haldir raced back down to the first floor, finding Gimli right where he had left him. "I didn't make it," he explained. "Elladan and Elrohir did, but you can be sore with me if you don't like it, because the idea was all mine."

Gimli held the package for a short while, first feeling it, and then shaking it for a clue to what it contained. Finally, he tore just a little corner open, and then a little more, and a bit more, until-

"Rocks!" shouted the Dwarf as Rumil came from the parlor.

"Haldir! Did you give him coal? That is just not nice," scolded the elf.

Gimli chuckled and lifted up the stuffed reindeer by the back of his neck. "I'll have to tell you the story," he said when Rumil looked from the plush toy, to Gimli, and back to the toy, scratching his head. To Haldir, he said, "Thank you, your highness." Haldir nodded and adjusted the crown that was still on his head. "Now, I will admit, kissing your mother was the highlight of my evening, but this certainly will be a gift to treasure." Gimli went back to the parlor to show off the stuffed toy to Legolas and anyone else who would look, and to thank the twins for their work, while Rumil and Haldir tried not to shudder at the images that began to creep into their minds.

From nowhere, Orophin suddenly showed up, leaning over them from behind, and he said, "Samwise knows some excellent songs, some of them are interchangeable with other words, such as 'I saw momma kissing Yuletide Da' - which, is this strange character that they believe in who fills the socks of good little halflings with candy and toys- can easily be changed to 'I saw Nana kissing Gim-mi-li, underneath the mistletoe tonight'." When Orophin found that he was getting the desired reaction, he continued, " 'I know it might sound weird, but I think she likes his beard, It's fairly nearly everything that Ada always feared!' "

Cringing, Haldir looked to Rumil. "Fresh snow."

"Outside," nodded Rumil.

"Two to one." Haldir nodded. "Good odds."

"Oh, damn." Orophin took one step toward the stairs before he was tackled by Rumil as Haldir opened the door, and the three of them tumbled out into the chilly air, laughing and frolicking, and making future Yuletide memories.
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