Disclaimers: I don't own any of Tolkien's characters, settings, or plots. I just like to play in his sandbox. I also make no money off of any of this.

A/N: There is a slight deviation from canon in this story. Rather than having Arathorn slain when he was 'riding against the orcs with the sons of Elrond', I have assumed that Aragorn and Gilraen were with him and they were heading to Imladris to live for a time. In the Silmarillion it says 'In that house [the house of Elrond] were harboured the Heirs of Isildur, in childhood and old age, because of the kinship of their blood with Elrond himself…'. The quote continues, but this made me think that Aragorn would have been taken to Imladris for his own protection at some point, so why not when he was two? The twins are still there, acting as escort, but they were not out specifically to hunt orcs. I know that is not Tolkien's version, but I need things to happen a bit differently for this story to work. Therefore, this story can be considered slightly AU. I am also using a history created for Elladan and Elrohir by Cassia and Sio. I do have their permission to use Dehlfalhen and Glamferaen, which were their creations.

Please read and review. If you have any ideas for changes to the history of Middle-earth that you would like to suggest as the story progresses, please feel free to e-mail me at mistycracraft at yahoo.com and let me know what they are. If they fit well with other plot elements I have planned, I may use them.

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Chapter One

Elladan sat up abruptly in his bed, his heart racing and his mind whirling. What had just happened? He closed his eyes and concentrated on calming his breathing. What an odd dream! Getting control over his breathing and heart rate, he opened his eyes and looked around in surprise. What was going on? He was in his bedroom in Imladris, when he well knew that he had fallen asleep in a sitting room in Minas Tirith. How had he gotten all the way back to Imladris? The words of the bodiless voice echoed in his mind and his eyes widened. Had he been sent back to the past? That was a preposterous thought, but it was the only one that might explain how he had gotten to Imladris. Throwing aside the covers, he jumped out of bed and ran out of his bedroom, barging into Elrohir's room without knocking. His brother was still sleeping, his features still and calm.

"El!" Elladan sat down on the side of his brother's bed and shook him awake none too gently.

Elrohir flung a hand out toward Elladan to swat him away as if he were an annoying insect. Elladan saw the hand coming this time and caught it before it could connect with his face. "Not this time, muindor. I probably already have a bruise from the last time you hit me."

That comment brought Elrohir suddenly awake. He sat up and stared at his brother in shock. Looking at Elladan, he could see the faint outline of a bruise under his brother's eye. "That was real?" Glancing around, he saw that they were back in Imladris. "How did we get here?"

Elladan shook his head in confusion. "I don't know. I remember falling asleep in Minas Tirith and waking up in my bed down the hall. My only thought is that we have indeed been sent back into the past to take the place of our younger selves."

Elrohir looked around the room, looking for anything different about his room. He noticed immediately that the small carvings made for him by a young Estel were missing from their places of honor on a shelf across the room. "El," he pointed to the shelf, which now held some of his own childhood treasures as it had not for nearly a century. Elladan followed his finger to look at the shelf. He understood the ramifications of that small detail as well as Elrohir did.

"So it is true, then. We are back in the past." Elladan's voice was soft as he tried to figure out what to do next.

"It would seem so," Elrohir mused. He turned his eyes back to catch Elladan's. "But when are we?"

"There seems to be but one way to find out." Elladan said. "We will have to get dressed and go downstairs. We will have to be very careful, though, not to let anyone know that there is anything odd. We cannot raise suspicions until we find out what is going on here."

Elrohir nodded in agreement. "Very well. You should go and get dressed. I will meet you in your room and we can head down to breakfast together. I do not know what we will be facing, but we will do it together."

With a nod, Elladan rose from the side of Elrohir's bed and left to go to his own room. By the time Elrohir got to Elladan's room, his brother was ready to go. Taking a fortifying deep breath and exchanging a look of trepidation, they headed downstairs to the dining room. Even knowing what they might be facing, they still stopped dead in their tracks and stared in shock when they saw Celebrían sitting between Arwen and Elrond at the table.

Elrohir could feel his heart racing in his chest as he tried to catch his breath. Though he had thought this might be a possibility, nothing could have prepared him to see his mother sitting there at the table as if nothing had ever happened. Looking at her eyes, he realized that nothing had happened to her yet. Her eyes were clear and filled with joy and love, not shadowed by pain and despair as they had been the last time he had seen her. Confusion and shock whirled through his mind, and he found himself unable to move, unable to even think.

Elladan was also shocked into stunned silence at the sight of their mother. Seeing the concerned look that his mother was giving them, Elladan nudged his brother and moved toward the table, trying to convince the others that nothing was wrong. Elrohir followed his lead and forced himself to move casually toward the table.

Celebrían looked intently at the faces of her sons as they sat down, apparently sensing that something was wrong. "Elladan, why is there a bruise on your face?"

Elladan forced himself to chuckle. "I made the mistake of trying to wake El up this morning when he was not yet ready to wake."

Arwen chuckled along with Elladan. She had been on the receiving end of unexpected wake up visits from Elladan and Elrohir both. They did not always come out on the winning end of those encounters. "Have you not learned better yet, Elladan?"

"Apparently not," Elladan said, frowning. "I must come up with a better strategy next time."

Elrohir rolled his eyes, falling easily into their long-standing banter. "Or, you could leave me to sleep and not wake me out of some quite lovely dreams."

"Where is the fun in that?" Elladan asked with a straight face.

"Children," Elrond's softly chiding voice brought their attention back to their father. "Would you care to eat, or would you prefer to continue this routine of yours?"

"I would prefer to eat, Ada," Elrohir said sweetly, "but I was not the one who started this."

Elladan glared at him, but held his tongue as a plate of food was placed in front of him. Taking that as a hint that there was a temporary peace in place, the others began to eat as plates were placed on the table.

Elrond was the next to break the silence. He looked over to Celebrían. "All the arrangements are in place. Your escort is prepared to leave whenever you are ready, all the supplies are loaded, and all that now awaits is your presence."

"Thank you," Celebrían said, smiling at her husband. "I will miss all of you greatly, but it will be good to see my naneth and adar again. It has been too long since I have had a chance to visit them."

"Are you sure you would not rather take the twins with you?" Elrond asked with a slight smile at his sons. "This place would be much more peaceful without them for a short while."

"And have them torment the Galadrim? Nana loves them both, but you do remember what she threatened to do to them the last time we visited?" Celebrían's voice was light and musical with a hint of laughter hiding beneath the surface. Her expression sobered abruptly as she saw the looks of horror on the faces of both twins. "What is it?" she asked in concern. "You do know that Nana would not truly follow through on her threat."

Elrohir was shaking his head in denial. "No," he said softly, then louder. "No, you can't go!"

"El!" Elladan said sharply.

Elrohir whipped his head around to stare at his twin. "Elladan, she can't go on this trip!"

"Not another word, Elrohir," Elladan's voice held a fierce warning.

"What is going on?" Elrond asked. This was certainly not normal behavior, and an odd feeling was creeping up on Elrond as he watched his sons. Elladan shot a glance at his father that sent a chill down Elrond's spine. A world of pain and anger was held in that glance, and a hardness that he had never seen in his son's eyes. The look quickly vanished as if it had never been there, making Elrond wonder if he had seen it at all.

"Forgive us, Ada," Elladan apologized. He looked at his twin. "I need to talk to you a moment." Looking at his parents, he nodded his head slightly. "If you will excuse us, we'll be back momentarily." He stood up and grabbed Elrohir's arm, then practically dragged him from the room. Once they were well out of earshot, he gestured to Elrohir to precede him into the library. Almost pushing his brother into the room, he closed the door behind them and waited for Elrohir to speak.

"What are you doing?" Elrohir asked angrily, pulling away from his brother and glaring at him. "You know we can't let her leave for that trip!" He stared at his brother as if at a monster. "You cannot possibly be thinking of standing aside and letting this all happen again! I will not see her taken by orcs if I can help it!"

"Calm yourself," Elladan said softly, leaning against the door. "I have no more desire to see her captured than you do. We will stop this from repeating. But we have to think about what we want to say. What reasoning will you give them to keep her from going to visit her parents? Are you going to simply approach them and say we were sent here from the future to prevent this?"

"Why not?" Elrohir asked, calming slightly. He still did not appreciate the way Elladan had treated him and spoken to him, but he was feeling a bit better knowing that his brother did not have any intention of standing aside and letting history repeat itself.

"Do you think they'd believe us? And would you truly want to explain all that we know?" Elladan answered the question with a question. Elrohir paused in thought for a moment, and Elladan asked another question. "And what if they happen to ask where the Elladan and Elrohir from this time are?"

Elrohir looked at his brother in horror. "I never even considered that. What did happen to them?"

Elladan looked down at his feet. "I've actually been trying to avoid thinking about that. We were told we would be replacing our earlier selves. The voice never mentioned what would happen to those we replaced."

Elrohir looked sick at the thought and sank slowly down into a nearby chair. "El, what did that…being do to us?"

"I do not know, El. But I know this. We have to be very careful about what we say, and to whom we say it. Neither of us will allow any harm to come to Naneth, not again, but we must be careful about what other changes we make. We were warned about the consequences of changing the past, were we not?" Elladan pushed away from the door and took a seat near his twin.

"What are we going to tell them, then?" Elrohir asked in a small voice. "I can't lie to them, El. I had a hard enough time this morning acting like there was nothing out of the ordinary. How are we supposed to do this?"

"Unfortunately, I don't think either of us were successful at acting like there was nothing wrong, El. You know as well as I do that we are not the same elves we were then…now…before Naneth was taken." Elladan shook his head in confusion as he tried to figure out how to say what he wanted to say.

Elrohir sighed. "That is all too true. How can we just pretend we haven't seen and experienced what we have?"

Elladan shook his head once more. "I don't know, but we had better come up with a story. I doubt Ada will be able to wait much longer before he chases us down to find out what caused our earlier behavior."

"He is persistent that way," Elrohir agreed. "I just wish I knew what to tell him." Silence fell for a brief moment while they thought.

"You could start by telling the truth," a cold dangerous voice sounded from behind them as the cold steel of a blade was laid across Elrohir's neck.

Elrohir closed his eyes in dismay as he recognized the voice. He opened his eyes again and shifted his glance toward his brother. "I don't suppose you checked to be sure the room was empty before you pushed me in here?"

Elladan's expression was a bit sheepish. "I didn't think to check. If you'll remember, we were both a bit preoccupied." He looked back to the tall blonde warrior holding a sword to his twin's throat. "Sorry, Glorfindel. We forgot one of the earliest lessons you taught us. 'Always be aware of your surroundings.' Now, that sword makes your point quite well, but could you please lower it? Elrohir is looking just a bit uncomfortable."

Glorfindel glared at the elder twin. "Do not attempt to play act with me. I heard what the two of you said when you entered the room. Now, who are you?"

Elladan tried everything he could think of to salvage the situation. "It is I, Elladan. That is Elrohir at the end of your sword. We are the same elves you have known since we were born. Do you not recognize us?"

Glorfindel brought the edge of the sword closer to Elrohir's throat. Elrohir sucked in a breath in response to the feel of the metal kissing his skin. The look he shot toward his twin begged him to find a way out of this.

"You said you were from the future," Glorfindel prompted when neither of the twins responded.

"We were planning a prank, Glorfindel, that is all," Elladan said smoothly, thinking as quickly as he could. "If we could get others to believe that, it would be a worthy prank, indeed." He grinned up at Glorfindel. "And you have just shown how very easy this will be."

Glorfindel growled at the elder twin. "The two of you were speaking of Celebrían being taken by orcs. Not for any prank would you make such a claim. Now, I repeat my question. Who are you?"

Elladan looked back at Elrohir. Without a word being exchanged, Elrohir urged Elladan to tell Glorfindel the truth. He had heard just enough for him to distrust them. Perhaps if he heard the full story, he would help them in their task. In any case, it was quite evident by now that his suspicions had been raised toward them and would not be quelled easily. Elladan sighed and dropped his jovial demeanor. He was far too off balance right now to be able to keep up the façade for long. His face was serious when he looked back at Glorfindel. "Very well. You wish the truth? Please, sit and we will tell you. But please lower your sword. We truly are Elladan and Elrohir; we have no desire to harm anyone in this house. They are our family…you are our family. That has not and will never change."

Studying the face of the elf before him, Glorfindel saw the sincerity in those familiar eyes. But there was something more there, a sadness, a seriousness that he rarely saw in the mischievous twins. While he did not trust the situation, he did at least feel that they were the same elves he knew, and yet…there was something else, something foreign in those eyes as well. Glorfindel walked back around to stand in front of Elrohir so that he could look in his eyes, not taking his sword from his throat. As it was with his brother, Glorfindel saw a mix of familiar and foreign in those eyes, but there was nothing there to hint that they meant anyone any harm. Glorfindel slowly lowered his sword and moved back to take a seat across from the two younger elves, laying his unsheathed sword across his knees in a clear message that it could be raised again if he did not like what he heard.

Elrohir gave a sigh of relief and slouched down in his chair as Elladan nodded to Glorfindel. "Thank you."

"You have yet to answer any of my questions," Glorfindel answered, his voice still far colder and more reserved than it ever was when he was speaking to them.

Elrohir shuddered at the sound, then sat up straight in his chair once more. "And we will. You may be in the best situation to understand and help us, though this is not how I would have chosen to tell you." Elrohir gestured to the sword on Glorfindel's lap. "We may not have much time, so I will tell you only the most important details for now. Elladan and I did come from the future. We are not truly sure why we are here or who sent us. When we went to sleep last night, we were in another place in the future. When we woke up, we were here, in our beds, in what is to us, the past."

"You cannot expect me to believe that you simply woke up in the past with no idea why!" Glorfindel exclaimed.

"We do have more to tell, if you would allow us to tell it," Elladan said pointedly. When Glorfindel merely glared at him, Elladan nodded for Elrohir to continue.

"I did not say we had no idea," Elrohir commented. "Before we went to sleep last night, we were conversing with…a friend," he continued carefully. "Somehow, we found ourselves discussing past regrets, things we would change if it had been in our power. What you heard us discussing is the one event that we would have given anything to change. As we slept, we found ourselves in a place of darkness. A voice spoke to us out of the darkness saying that we were being given the chance to go back and change the past. He did not say who he was, or why we were to be given this chance. After the voice explained a bit about what was to happen, we fell into an endless void and woke up here this morning." Elrohir gave a helpless shrug. "Beyond that, we really know very little."

When Elrohir did not seem inclined to explain further, Glorfindel's eyes narrowed. "That is all you intend to explain?"

Elladan waved his hand in frustration. "We do not have time to sit here and convince you to trust us! Our naneth will be leaving this valley very soon and traveling to Lothlórien to visit our grandparents, but it is a journey she will not complete. A large band of orcs will attack her party, killing all but a few elves. She will be taken captive and tortured, tormented endlessly by those foul creatures until we arrive to rescue her. But by then," Elladan's voice broke, "it was too late."

Glorfindel's face paled as he listened to Elladan. The shift in tenses from future to past helped to convince him that this event had already happened for the twins. That, and the look on their faces. There was such depth of pain, despair, and a raging anger reflected in both of their faces that he had never seen on the twins he knew. "She dies?" he asked softly.

"NO!" Elrohir burst out. He took a breath and repeated himself in a calmer tone. "No, they did not kill her, though it was a near thing. We destroyed every orc in the place and retrieved her from the cave they had kept her in. By the time we found her…" He closed his eyes and looked down, remembering the scene that was always ready to swim up from the depths of his memory to form in great detail before his eyes. Shaking his head to clear the image, he glanced up again and met Glorfindel's eyes. Elrohir's eyes were haunted, but he kept his voice steady as he finished the tale. "Her body survived, but she had been poisoned, her fëa so badly damaged that she was close to fading when we found her. She almost did not recognize us, her own sons, and she shrank back from our touch when we worked to heal what injuries we could before carrying her out of the cave and back to Imladris. Adar was able to heal her physical injuries, but he could not completely counter the poison in her veins, and he was unable to heal the injuries to her fëa. He nearly destroyed himself trying, but in the end, he was helpless to save her. Rather than fading, she sailed to Valinor. We escorted her to the Grey Havens and saw her sail from these shores. She still awaits us there."

Elrohir sighed and stopped speaking, being drained by having to keep a check on his emotions as he related their experiences. Elladan reached over and placed a supportive hand on his twin's shoulder and took up the tale to spare him having to speak more of this. "Our family was devastated by her departure," Elladan said in an emotionless voice. "Elrohir and I … did not handle her departure well. We declared war on every orc to walk the face of Arda and did everything in our powers to purge this land of those foul creatures." Elladan's eyes narrowed as he remembered those years.

Glorfindel shuddered inwardly as he saw the unbridled rage and hatred in the eyes of the elf in front of him.

Elladan continued, lost in a past that Glorfindel had not experienced and now hoped he never would. "For several centuries, El and I rode with the Dúnedain, with as many elven patrols as we could, and many times, took off on our own to hunt down and eradicate the orcs. The things we did, I cannot now condone. We relished in the kill, in the blood. For centuries, we were feared by all creatures of the darkness as their worst nightmares. They called us Dehlfalhen (Orc Slayer) and Glamferaen (Goblin Bane). We came far closer to losing ourselves than either of us like to admit."

"Where was Elrond in all of this?" Glorfindel asked in horror. While the twins were seasoned warriors, they had also been trained as healers. They were far too compassionate and gentle to enjoy killing like Elladan described. This then, was the difference he had sensed in the twins. "Where was I during this? Why did no one stop you, show you how destructive that behavior was?"

"Ada was lost in his own grief," Elrohir explained. "He could not see what we were doing until it was far too late to pull us out of it. You and Erestor and others tried numerous times to talk sense into us, but we would hear none of it. Arwen could not stand to see what we were doing to ourselves, and left to live with Daernana in Lothlórien. Naneth's capture and subsequent sailing almost destroyed all of us, Glorfindel. Now that we have been sent back, we intend to do anything necessary to prevent this from happening again. We must come up with a way to prevent her taking this trip until we can take out a full patrol and eradicate that band of orcs."

"You have a choice now," Elladan said calmly. "You can join us and help us to accomplish this, or you can try to stop us. Though I do not know why you would do such a thing, I can assure you that you will not succeed. We have crossed centuries to keep Naneth safe. No one will stand in our way at this point."

"Was that a threat?" Glorfindel asked just as calmly. He never thought he would see the day that he was threatened by one of the elves he had sworn to protect. "Would you truly harm someone you called family such a short time ago?"

"To save Nana?" Elladan asked with an impassive expression. "We will do anything it takes."

Glorfindel stared at Elladan's closed expression for several long minutes. The Elladan he knew could never have threatened him like that, but then, based on what they had just said, he realized that in many ways, they were not the twins he knew. He did not know what to expect from the two elves in front of him. His hand tightened automatically on the sword he held in his lap.

Elrohir saw the small movement and sighed. This was not the approach to take. He leaned over and swatted the back of Elladan's head. "What are you doing?"

Elladan looked over at him in surprise. "I'm trying to save Nana."

Rolling his eyes, Elrohir gestured at Glorfindel. "By making Glorfindel think we'd actually hurt him? We need his help, El. And you know very well that we would never dream of hurting him."

Turning to glare at his twin, Elladan retorted, "Well, he didn’t know that. Until you had to go and open your mouth."

"You're taking the wrong approach, El, and you know it. Now, we need to get his cooperation and decide what to tell Adar and Naneth to convince them to delay the trip. And we'd better come up with something fast, I don’t think we have much time. I'm actually rather surprised that Ada hasn't tracked us down after the way we left the dining room."

"And if he doesn't agree to cooperate?" Elladan asked.

"Then we knock him out, tie him up and deal with him when we get back." Elrohir shrugged.

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow at that. Did they really think he'd just let them get the jump on him like that?

"But I doubt it will be necessary," Elrohir remarked. "Do you think that Glorfindel would stand by and let Naneth be taken by orcs any more than we would?"

"Would you stop discussing me like I am not in the room?" Glorfindel complained. That was one familiar aspect about the twins, anyway. When they got into a discussion with each other, they sometimes forgot there was anyone else in the room.

They turned to him in surprise, and Glorfindel just stared at them until Elrohir spoke again. "Forgive us, Glorfindel. What is your decision? We are running out of time."

"To save Celebrían, I will do whatever it takes," Glorfindel vowed. "However, when this is resolved, you will sit down and tell me everything."

"Everything that we can, agreed." Elrohir said readily. "But I would ask that you not tell anyone else about this. I would not inflict the pain of knowing what we know on Adar, Naneth, or Arwen. They suffered enough the first time around, I would not have them know about it now."

"On that, I will reserve judgment until after you tell me the full story. If I am convinced that there is no need for the others to know, I will keep your secret. If not…" Glorfindel's voice trailed off.

Elrohir nodded. "Very well." He looked over at Elladan. "Now, what do we tell Adar?"

Glorfindel shook his head. They were ignoring a very plausible explanation for how they could know the future. "I feel I must point out that foreknowledge of events and visions do happen to run in your family."

The twins looked at him in surprise, not having thought of that. "But we have never had visions," Elladan said. "Adar knows that."

"There is a first time for everything," Glorfindel retorted.

Elrohir was nodding. "That would work, El."

"I think we should say it was your vision," Elladan agreed. "You did react the strongest at breakfast to Naneth's trip being mentioned."

Before they could say anything more, there came a knock at the door. "Elladan, Elrohir, are you in there?"

"Adar," Elrohir said, glancing over at the other two. Glorfindel stood and placed the sword against the wall, out of sight. Elladan stood and opened the door for his father. Elrohir stood as well as the door was opened.

Looking into the room, Elrond was surprised to see Glorfindel in the room with the twins. "Would the two of you care to explain your behavior at breakfast this morning?" He raised an eyebrow at the twins.

Elrohir sighed and sat back down in one of the chairs. "I do not feel that Naneth should take this trip, Ada. There will be trouble."

Elrond crossed the room to sit in the chair across from him. "What do you mean? What trouble? I have sensed nothing."

"Orcs, Ada. I saw many orcs coming from the trees and attacking her party. We cannot let Naneth travel until the path has been cleared." Elrohir stared earnestly into his father's eyes, letting him see the fear in his own.

"You saw this?" Elrond asked in surprise. "When?"

"Last night," Elrohir said. "In my dreams. Elladan heard me and came into my room to awaken me, and that is when I accidentally hit him. He was not convinced that my dreams were a real vision, so he tried to keep me from concerning you over them. We have discussed them with Glorfindel, and he now believes they show what could come to pass. Please Ada, whether you believe me or not, have Naneth delay her trip for a few days. Just until we can clear the path and ensure that it is safe."

Elrond saw the fear and pain in his son's eyes and knew that this was not some simple nightmare. Whether it was a true vision or not, they could not take a chance with Celebrían's life. "Have you had any other visions, ion-nin? Either of you?"

Elrohir shook his head. "No, this was the first. Right now, all I am concerned with is that we keep this vision from coming true. We can discuss anything else later."

Elrond nodded when he saw how seriously both his sons were taking this matter. While he knew that not all visions were clear cut and actually predicted the future, he knew better than to dismiss this. "Very well. Let us go speak with your naneth and then arrange for a patrol to go clear the path."

"We must be members of that patrol," Elladan spoke up. "We will get no rest otherwise."

Elrond looked over to Glorfindel, who nodded his head. "I will lead the patrol myself, hîr nin, and I would gladly have your sons join me." Glorfindel did not intend to let the twins out of his sight until he had the full story from them.

Looking back to his sons, Elrond spoke again. "Then, when you get back, we shall all sit down and discuss the fact that you now seem to be having visions. I had hoped that neither of you would be thus burdened, but it seems that those hopes will not come to pass."

Not knowing what else to say, Elrohir nodded his head. "Of course, Adar." Glancing sideways at his twin as Elrond turned to walk out the door, Elrohir muttered under his breath just loud enough for Elladan and Glorfindel to hear him. "It seems we will be doing a great deal of talking as soon as we return from this trip. Perhaps we should have Erestor draft a schedule."

Glorfindel could not help a small inward smile at the comment and Elladan's muffled snort of amusement. Perhaps these twins were not so different from the ones he knew, after all.

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After all their concern and worry, it was ridiculously easy to postpone the trip and thus save their naneth.

Celebrían had always known that there was a chance that her children would begin having visions. The ability ran in both sides of the family, from Elrond and her own mother, Galadriel. It was odd that it chose to show up only now, but perhaps the ability had needed something as drastic as an attack on their mother to manifest. After hearing Elrohir's vision, Celebrían agreed to stay home until the path could be proven safe. The relief on Elladan and Elrohir's faces was clear to all. Within a few hours, plans were made and the elves involved in the patrol were ready to head out.

Elladan and Elrohir joined their family on the steps as it was time to leave. Celebrían hugged each of them. "Be safe, my sons," she whispered to them.

Elladan smiled at her. "Do not worry, Naneth. It will take more than a few orcs to keep us from returning home to you and Adar."

Elrohir kissed her cheek and they took their leave of their family.

Glorfindel watched as the twins easily mounted their horses and fell into formation out of the protected valley. There was nothing overt in their movements or behavior at this point to set them apart from the elves everyone knew. They had braided their hair into their usual warrior styles and moved with the same ease they always did, handling their horses as easily as ever. Rather than take the lead, Glorfindel dropped back behind the twins to keep an eye on them. Though he tried to be unobtrusive about it, he watched their every move as the patrol rode through the forest. What he was watching for, he was uncertain, but he would not take his eyes from them.

The first few days passed easily, with nothing seeming out of the ordinary. As they approached the Misty Mountains, however, Glorfindel noticed a subtle tension building in the twins. Glorfindel was not able to speak freely with them about their being from the future, or about what they would soon be facing, not with the others around. When he did speak with the twins about the enemies they would soon encounter, they had to speak in vague terms, keeping up the charade that they knew about the attack due to a vision.

On the fifth day of travel, as they neared the Redhorn Pass, the twins suddenly tensed, their bantering ceased and they began looking carefully around. Glorfindel's own senses went on high alert as he glanced around. They were obviously nearing the location of the ambush. The other members of the patrol noticed their behavior and went on alert as well. All sounds ceased for a long moment, then Elladan uttered one word; "Yrch!" (orcs)

Both twins reached for their bows simultaneously, and began firing into the mass of orcs now spilling from the trees. Glorfindel grabbed his own bow and began firing as well, before the orcs got too close for bows and all of the elves reached for their swords instead. Glorfindel lost sight of the twins for most of the battle, concentrating on the orcs that seemed determined to remove his head from his body. He was surprised there were so many of them so close to Imladris. They had all thought this a fairly safe route, or they would never have planned to send Celebrían without a much larger guard patrol.

Glorfindel lost track of the time as they fought, blocking, parrying and thrusting with his sword, dodging and twirling away from blows, only to return the favor and decapitate or incapacitate his current opponent. If he took any injuries in battle, he did not know it. The pile of orc bodies grew around them as time passed. There came a lull in the fighting near Glorfindel, and he glanced around to see how the others fared. His breath caught in his throat as he caught sight of the twins. They stood back to back and moved as if they were one being, each knowing where the other was and exactly what move he would make. They were a glorious, and yet horrible sight to see. Their faces were fearsome to behold, as they cut down every orc who ventured too close. The rage and pain in their faces and movements stood out clearly to distinguish them from the elves he knew. Glorfindel had trained them as young elves, and he had seen them in battle on numerous patrols, but he had never seen them like this. Their story of Dehlfalhen and Glamferaen rang true in his head at this moment.

Another orc raced toward Glorfindel, and he raised his sword to meet this latest attack, being pulled back into the midst of the battle. After what could have been hours, the orc numbers seemed to be dwindling rapidly. Glorfindel watched the other members of his patrol cutting down the last of the orcs and looked around for the twins. His heart began pounding in his chest as he realized that they could not be seen anywhere. Where had they vanished to? Had they been cut down in battle? They had seemed to throw themselves into the battle with such abandon that he feared they may have been too careless and been killed by the orcs. How could he return to Imladris bearing such news?

He ran toward where he had last seen them, and from off to his right, he heard the faint clash of metal on metal. Leaving the other elves to finish cleaning up, he raced in the direction of the ongoing battle. The sounds emanated from a dark cave opening, and he remembered the twins telling him that they had found Celebrían in a cave. Holding his sword at the ready, he edged into the cave and saw the twins in the middle of a cluster of twenty orcs. Being outnumbered ten to one did not seem to be slowing them in the least. They fought as he had seen them earlier, back to back, moving as one, fighting one orc, then twisting and decapitating an orc that got too close to the other twin. At this point, Glorfindel could not tell the twins apart. They were both covered in orc blood and wore the same expression of rage.

Glorfindel decided to help even the odds and entered the fray, starting at the cave entrance and working toward the twins. After many more minutes, Glorfindel had nearly reached them. He stabbed an orc through the heart that seemed about to skewer one of the twins. After one of the twins killed the last orc standing, Glorfindel suddenly found himself facing an elven sword. He ducked under the sword and brought up his own to block the following blow. This was not something he had expected. Looking into the eyes of the twin facing him, he saw a blank rage in those dark depths. There was no recognition at all in those battle-clouded eyes.

"El?!" he yelled, using the common nickname, hoping it would reach whichever twin he faced. "It is I, Glorfindel, do you not recognize me?"

A hand reached out and grasped the wrist of the twin attacking Glorfindel. "Elladan, stop!" Glorfindel shifted his eyes toward Elrohir, then quickly looked back at Elladan in case he needed to defend himself again. "The battle is over, El. They are destroyed. They can never hurt Naneth again. Stop for a moment and see who is before you."

Glorfindel watched warily as the cloud slowly lifted from the eyes staring at him in anger. He saw the moment when Elladan became aware of his surroundings once more and horrified recognition spread through his eyes.

Elladan dropped his sword from suddenly nerveless hands. "What am I doing?" he asked with an agonized expression before he turned away from them and staggered to the back of the cave to lean against the wall with his back to them.

Exchanging a concerned glance with Glorfindel, Elrohir moved to his brother's side and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. "It's all right, El. It's over. You didn't hurt Glorfindel. Being here again is bringing back too many memories for both of us." He glanced around and shuddered as his mind replayed images from their past and he saw his mother huddled against a far wall. Blinking the image away, he turned his attention back to his brother.

"It nearly happened again, El," Elladan whispered. "I could feel it just beneath the surface. I almost gave into it again." He shook his head slowly, refusing to look at his brother.

"But you didn't," Elrohir said encouragingly. "We won this battle, and we will never come so close to losing ourselves again. It was only facing the orcs who once hurt Naneth that brought us so close to the edge this time. It has no more power over us. All will be well, Elladan. Dehlfalhen and Glamferaen need never exist."

Elladan turned to face his brother. "We will have to make sure they never exist, El. I do not think I would be strong enough to turn from that path a second time."

Elrohir reached out and placed both of his hands on his brother's shoulders. "We did it, Elladan. The foul creatures that hurt Naneth are gone, destroyed. We have succeeded in our quest." For a long moment, they simply stared at each other as that fact sank home for both of them. Then a smile spread across Elladan's face.

Glorfindel sighed in relief, sensing that things would be well now. He saw how close Elladan and Elrohir both had come to the edge, but the danger of them falling seemed to have passed. He relaxed his stance and wiped his sword down briefly before re-sheathing it and walking over to join the twins just as Elladan spoke.

"We did, didn't we? Naneth is safe, unhurt and whole. She will not sail now. Our family is still whole." Elladan relaxed suddenly, the tension leaving his body in a rush and his legs gave out beneath him, dropping him abruptly to the ground.

"Elladan!" Elrohir knelt down beside his twin, fearing what might be wrong.

Elladan shook his head. "It is nothing, just a scratch."

"Oh, really?" Elrohir asked in disbelief. "Like Legolas and …" he glanced over at Glorfindel, who now knelt beside them before continuing carefully "someone else we know? They could be bleeding to death and it would always be 'just a scratch'. Where are you injured? I will be the judge of how serious the injury is."

"It is my left leg," Elladan answered. "And it truly is just a scratch. I am not as stubborn as the two of them." He winced as Elrohir found the long cut in his leg and began cleaning away the blood as best he could.

Once Elrohir wiped away most of the mix of orc and elven blood, he found a cut that ran halfway down the length of Elladan's leg. "How were you even standing?" Elrohir asked him.

Elladan shrugged. "You know very well that I never even felt it." He looked his brother over and found traces of elven blood mixed in with the orc blood as well. "Just as I imagine you never felt your own injury."

"What injury?" Elrohir asked.

Elladan reached forward and gently touched the long cut in the sleeve of Elrohir's shirt. A bloody gash in his arm was evident through the tear. "That injury."

Elrohir looked down at his arm. "Oh." Elrohir shrugged and went back to tending Elladan's leg, ignoring his own injury.

Rolling his eyes, Elladan looked over at Glorfindel. Sobering as he remembered what he had almost done, he glanced down at the ground before looking back up at Glorfindel. "I realize that you have no reason to trust us, and I am sure my recent actions have done nothing to help in that regard. But I do hope you can accept my apology. At the time, I truly did not realize that it was friend I faced and not another orc. I truly am sorry, Glorfindel. Please forgive my actions."

Glorfindel sighed as he looked at the expression of guilt on Elladan's face. "I do believe your story. We found the orcs just as you said, and when I saw the two of you fighting, I realized that I have never seen the sons of Elrond fight as you did here. I will hear the rest of your story before I decide on whether or not to tell anyone else about you, but I do also believe that you truly meant me no harm. I cannot blame you for doing whatever you had to do to save your mother. For this," he waved his hand around the cave to indicate Elladan's attack on him, "there is nothing to forgive."

Elladan nodded in relief. Though he heard the reserved note in Glorfindel's voice that indicated he was not truly sure they could be trusted, at least his recent actions had not irrevocably destroyed the possibility that they could convince Glorfindel to trust them. "Thank you," Elladan said. "Then would you mind treating my stubborn twin while he treats my leg?"

Glorfindel allowed a small smile to cross his lips. Elladan was calling Elrohir stubborn? "Of course," he said, moving over to Elrohir and beginning to treat his arm.

Elrohir allowed Glorfindel to tear his sleeve away and do his best to clean the wound so that he could see how bad it was. While trying not to move his arm too much, he examined the gash in Elladan's leg. "I hate to say this, Elladan, but this goes rather deep. It will need stitches."

"This will also need stitches," Glorfindel said as he examined Elrohir's arm. "Come, we should leave this cave. All our healing supplies are with the horses outside." He and Elrohir helped Elladan to his feet. Elrohir supported his brother as Elladan limped out of the cave to join the rest of the patrol.

When they left the cave, they found their way to the clearing where the others were gathering the horses, the wounded and the dead. Elladan and Elrohir gazed painfully at the four dead bodies lying on the ground. Glorfindel could tell by watching their faces that they blamed themselves for the warrior's deaths. He placed a hand on each of their shoulders and drew their attention to him. "This was not your doing. You know that. Each of us knows what we might face when we ride out on patrol. We all face the possibility of our deaths when we fight to protect our land and our people. It was the orcs who slew them, not you."

Elrohir nodded as he helped Elladan to sit on the ground near where others were having their injuries seen to before sitting beside him. "While my head knows that, Glorfindel, my heart is another matter. We led them out here, we knew what we would be facing, and we endangered their lives."

Glorfindel shook his head and spoke again. "All who command others in battle must face the fact that they will lose warriors under their command. You know all too well that in battle, not all will survive." He sighed as he glanced over at the warriors on the ground. "No matter how skilled they are." He crouched down beside the twins. "How many elves died in your…vision?"

Elrohir closed his eyes as he remembered how many elves had died in the patrol that had accompanied his mother, and those that had died in the battle they had fought to rescue her. "Twelve," he said softly. Looking at the four elves again, he swallowed abruptly. "Including all four of them."

Glorfindel's eyebrows rose, then the surprised expression faded from his face as he thought it through. It was not all that surprising after all that the four elves died in both versions of events. They had been part of Celebrían's planned escort, and would have willingly given their lives to protect her. "Then you saved lives by warning us of this attack," he reassured them. He gestured for one of the other warriors to bring over healing herbs and bandages, then handed the supplies over to the twins so they could treat each other's injuries. Standing, he left to go help the uninjured members of the patrol gather the bodies of their enemies into a pile to burn to avoid unwanted scavengers.

Once the injured were seen to and the fire had been set, the patrol set up camp for the night. It was too late to be heading back now, and the fire could not be left unattended. Watches were set for the night, with the injured being exempt from the responsibilities. Elrohir insisted that he was well enough to stand watch, but Glorfindel over-rode him, saying that he would need his rest. The implication that he would be doing a lot of explaining upon their return to Imladris was quite clear.

As they settled down for the night, Elladan and Elrohir were left wondering what would happen now. But even with the uncertainty of their situation, they at least knew that they had succeeded and their mother was safe.

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