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The next day kept Gilraen busy from the moment she opened her eyes.

Estel was difficult to wash and nigh impossible to dress, restless with excitement. "Will they be at breakfast?" he had asked a number of times. He found it insufficient that Gilraen assured him the twins would be found eventually, though she knew not their own schedule.

"I get to meet their horses today, Elrohir promised! Nana, I have never sat a stallion before, may I sit one of theirs? --oh, not that itchy pair-- Will they be at breakfast?"

"My child, you shall find, eat, meet, or sit nothing without pants on. Now be still!" He did so, with visible effort, and without silencing.

Gilraen did not wonder at his enthusiasm. Often Elladan and Elrohir were spoken of in their father's house. Tales of their exploits across Middle-earth, combined with their fair portraits and the forbidden allure of their closed rooms, had long captivated her son. Even at that, he knew less than he might. 'Adventuring' was called their endless hunt and execution of orcs, at Gilraen's insistence. Regardless of how necessary or valuable the undertaking, she would not abide admiration for such achievements with Estel not yet old enough to respect how unglamorous the deed.

When they arrived at the dining hall, Estel was plainly disappointment that only Elrond and few others were present. Upon hearing that the twins were still abed, his mood lifted. "But the sun is up already!" he said laughing, and showed no interest in the food placed before him. "Really, nana, I should go and wake them, lest they sleep the day away."

"You should have breakfast and respect the privacy of others."

He quieted at this familiar reminder, and did not voice his usual defense, that he should not be faulted if some Elves were less receptive than others, since it was impossible to remember which ones do not appreciate what kinds of play.

After breakfast, Gilraen found herself reluctant to leave Estel in anyone else's care, for he seemed thoughtful, which was not unknown to precede mischief. She felt little comforted when Elrond said, "I thought we might forsake studies today, and dwell out of doors. Elrohir spoke last night of tack in poor repair; perhaps we may learn something of leathercraft, if we keep an audience with him."

Before he finished, Estel had already agreed thrice. Despite her reservations, Gilraen could not but consent. She left for her usual chores, taking longer since she made the time to happen across her son's location periodically -- every hour on the hour, in fact.

She discovered him well-behaved and in good company each time: first in the stables, watching beside Elrond as Elrohir shaped a horseshoe; next helping in the kitchens, unrecognizable but for his smile under a coating of flour; and later she heard many voices along with her son's, all male, echoing from the civic bathing chamber, but could not bring herself to look inside. By the last calculated chance visit --Estel slept in a chair while Elrond and Elrohir sat talking nearby-- she felt guilty for checking.

On that final walk returning to her tasks, Elladan came upon her path all too conveniently. He alone had marked her comings and goings throughout the day, while others paid no heed. She recognized the ambush as such, and would have allowed herself to be annoyed, had she not personally been stalking another likewise.

He gave a bow, and spoke as formally, "My brother was good enough to inform me that I owe you an apology, lady. Doubtless he spoke sooth, being in such ways the wiser of us two. For my part, I was not at my best last night, being fatigued and preoccupied; but troubling you was not my intent, and I am sorry."

Gilraen nodded as if interested, her mood such that she sought the fastest resolution without conflict. "Accepted then," she said, smiling as an afterthought, and saw that Elladan looked as unconvinced as her voice sounded unconvincing. Yet he said nothing more, not including the raised brow, and did not leave.

Suddenly uncomfortable, and at a loss for what else to do, she managed a farewell, only halting some steps away. This would be no easier after a day or a year, and no harder to confront now than to forever avoid. She turned back to face him.

"If you had not expected to return and find that another now thinks of your father as his own, know that I understand. Yet Master Elrond has forgotten you no more than Estel has replaced you, by will or accident. If you would but give him a chance, my son I mean, I think you could love him no less."

"You only think that, lady, while I know it is so. Mind you that your son is one of many, and just as his forefathers before him--" he looked away briefly. "It is easier, to love."

"What reason is that for--"

"Because it is shortsighted also," he snapped, sighing to continue, "Understand that soon, as I reckon it, Estel will die. Would you have me turn next to his heirs and begin breaking my heart anew? Well, I have seen that road, and it never ends." He brought himself up straighter, looking a little further down his nose at her thereby. "No, for me it must not be so. I am not as some others to spend my days enduring such torment, nor indeed contriving it. My energy is committed elsewhere."

"Was it always?" His look, however intense, did not surpass that of his father, and Gilraen withstood it. "You were friends with my husband, he spoke to me of you. He spent his childhood here too. And you mistook my son that night, calling him Arahad--" Elrond had never looked at her quite as Elladan did now, and she succumbed to the urge instilled in her to be silent.

He said plainly, "Less apparent though it may be given the short span of mortal years, nonetheless believe me when I say that even in Rivendell, some things do change."

"Yes. Yes of course. Then I-- I would ask nothing of you. Just, perhaps, that you not begrudge my son the love given him. It is not undeserved."

Shifting, he said, "I do not. Pray you not begrudge me, lady, that I cannot forget who will stand over his grave, and yours, beside Elrond grieving yet again for the bitterness of mortality."

To that, she had no reply. The notion of Elrond, or any of these most noble of people, burying Estel seemed wrong beyond reason, even more so than any looking to the next Heir of Isildur. She could not put it to words.

"Gilraen." He had spoken while her thoughts consumed her. She blinked and found his expression softened. "I said that certain things need not be asked for, that there be no confusion in the future. True it is no secret that Elrond and I do not agree in all ways at all times; yet I am a loyal son, and ever at the service of my lord father in his endeavors, many of which we share in common. Do you understand?"

Excluding the aspect entirely unknown to her, that Elrond and either of his sons were ever at odds for any reason, she thought to. "I believe so."

"That is well then." He bowed again with a smile that revealed nothing, gave a courteous farewell, and turned to go.

"Ah--" he stopped. "My son, besides that he-- I mean, do you disagree about Estel? If I may ask."

Elladan hesitated, but sounded sincere to say, "No." He glanced over his shoulder. "You do know what it means, Estel? If I may ask."

"Hope? I should-- hope so."

To her surprise, he smiled honest and nigh full, an Elrohir-smile in the making. "Well, I might have chosen something more... subtle, to relate the same sentiment. Beren, mayhap. But no, we do not disagree about Estel."

"I suggested Elessar," she ventured given the lighter mood, yet not so comfortable that she felt like sharing that the name had indeed been foreseen for him at his birth.

"Elfstone." Elladan faced forward. "What did Elrond say?"

She smiled remembering his smile. "Not yet."

"...Good day, Gilraen."

Well, there had been worse days.

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Notes:
*From ROTK Appendix A: 'But [Aragorn] was called Estel, that is "Hope"...'.
*From LOTR, Farewell to Lorien: 'In this hour take the name that was foretold for you, Elessar, the Elfstone of the house of Elendil!' And from ROTK, The Houses of Healing: 'And they named him Elfstone, because of the green stone that he wore, and so the name which it was foretold at his birth that he should bear was chosen for him by his own people.' So who foretold the name at his birth? Canonically, it was Ivorwen mother of Gilraen. From HOME, The Peoples of Middle-earth: '...and his father gave him the name Aragorn, a name used in the House of the Chieftains. But Ivorwen at his naming stood by, and said "Kingly Valour" (for so that name is interpreted): "that he shall have, but I see on his breast a green stone, and from that his true name shall come and his chief renown: for he shall be a healer and a renewer."'

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