Chapter Five

Elladan looked sideways at Elrohir as they neared Lothlorien. "Tell me again why we decided to journey with Nana? We're going to have to face Daernana, and you know that we can't hide 500 years of experience from Galadriel."

Elrohir chuckled. "If I remember correctly, it was your idea to make this journey. You should have thought of that earlier. Besides, we do have the ability to keep parts of our minds secret. I don't think she'd push us to reveal everything we wish to hide."

"She cannot help but notice how we have changed," Elladan pointed out. "Do you not think that she will ask?"

Elrohir shrugged slightly. "Perhaps we can tell her part of the story and ask her not to pry into the rest, much as we did with Glorfindel."

"We may have to do something like that," Elladan agreed. "But only if she asks."

"Agreed," Elrohir said, nodding his agreement.

Celebrían glanced back at her sons from her position on the trail ahead of them. "What are you two whispering about back there?"

"Nothing, Nana," they answered simultaneously, giving her identical innocent looks.

Her eyes narrowed as she stared at them. "Please tell me you are not concocting some new prank to pull on Haldir."

"Of course we are not doing anything of the sort," Elrohir said with a mock hurt tone in his voice.

"How could you think such a thing of us?" Elladan asked with the most innocent expression he had ever worn on his face.

Celebrían turned back around to face the front of the trail, shaking her head and muttering something about 'all inhabitants of Lothlorien beware'. The twins just turned and gave each other matching grins that would have made all who knew them shudder in worried anticipation.

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Glorfindel groaned inwardly as he saw the grins on the faces of the twins. That did not bode well for anyone. Though he had not originally intended to journey with Celebrían to Lothlorien, he had decided that it would be best if he were with the twins for a while more. They would be facing Galadriel on this trip, and he knew that she would notice a change in her grandsons. He would be surprised, actually, if she did not already know that something odd had happened. Her sight was far-reaching, and may have already told her about the twins. Feeling that Galadriel might react better to the news if he were along and could testify to what the twins had told him and that he trusted them, he had made the decision to join the patrol traveling to Lothlorien. That and the fact that he, like the twins, had been shaken by the near miss and wanted to make sure that Celebrían reached Lothlorien safely.

During the journey, though, he had begun to regret his decision. The twins had been annoying everyone on this trip. Their mood was…giddy. That was the only word that came to mind for Glorfindel. He knew, as the others did not, that it came from a great feeling of relief that they had succeeded in saving their mother from such a dreadful fate, but it was beginning to wear on all those around them. Though they had remained alert and almost hyper-aware of their surroundings in an effort to keep their mother safe, they had teased each other and the other members of the patrol relentlessly. Glorfindel would be quite glad when they reached their destination and he could get away from the twins for a bit.

"Halt!" a commanding voice sounded from above their heads. "None may pass without the consent of the Lord and Lady of the Realm."

"Haldir!" Celebrían exclaimed in joy as she recognized the voice. "Will you not come down and greet us?"

Haldir dropped from the trees to land easily in front of their horses. "Lady Celebrían, you are quite welcome. It is good to see you again." He voice cooled considerably as he glanced over at the twins. "You did not say that you were bringing your sons this trip."

Elladan grinned at Haldir's tone of voice. "You are not still mad, are you Haldir? It has been…" a thoughtful look crossed his face as he tried to remember how long it would have been since their last visit. "…long since our last visit," he finished smoothly.

"Perhaps," Haldir said cooly. "A century may seem long to you, but for me, it is far too soon."

"Was that the reason for your so warm welcome? We know very well that you were aware of our approach long before now." Elrohir grinned over at the elf who was more like a favorite uncle of theirs, and that being the case, a frequent victim of their pranks as well.

"I had hopes that you would leave your mother here in our care and return to go torment your father and those of his household," Haldir retorted.

Elladan rolled his eyes. "Come now, Haldir. We have sworn to never again touch one of your weapons. Is that not enough? Are we truly no longer welcome in the home of our own family?"

Haldir paused a moment as if in thought, before a slow smile broke out on his face. "I suppose your grandparents would not be happy if I turned you away at this point. As long as you do not cause chaos on this visit, you are both welcome here."

"Thank you," Elrohir said dryly, returning Haldir's smile.

"You do know that if you did not give the twins the reactions they hope for, they may be less likely to torment you," Glorfindel said, drawing the March warden's gaze.

"Lord Glorfindel!" Haldir dropped his gaze as he gave a respectful bow to the Elf-lord from Gondolin. "We are honored by your presence, but we were not expecting you to journey with Lady Celebrían." His gaze darted thoughtfully from the twins, to Glorfindel, to the larger than normal patrol. "Has something happened?"

"Do not worry," Glorfindel soothed his concerns. "We are all well, but there were circumstances that led to our presence on this journey. I would prefer to report directly to the Lord and Lady of the Wood, however."

"Of course, Lord Glorfindel," Haldir said, bowing once more. He stepped up to walk beside Celebrían, who had dismounted from her horse so that she could greet Haldir with a hug, as they had been friends ever since they were elflings in Lindon. Haldir spoke quickly to the rest of the members of his patrol, then turned back to the Imladris party and began to lead them through the woods of Lothlorien.

Glorfindel watched the twins with some amusement as they seemed to be growing more and more nervous the closer they came to the heart of Lothlorien. He knew they were worried about facing their grandparents with the knowledge they now held. Galadriel could not help but know that the twins were quite different than the last time she had seen them, and he knew the twins must be thinking furiously about what, exactly, to tell her.

It was not long before they reached the clearing where Galadriel and Celeborn were waiting to greet their daughter and her patrol. The entire party dismounted and waited as Galadriel and Celeborn welcomed them to the Golden Wood and indicated where they could take their rest. Elves of the realm came to take their horses and lead them to where they would be staying for their visit. Once the rest of the patrol was taken care of, Galadriel and Celeborn hugged their daughter and grandsons.

"I am so happy to see you, my daughter. Your journey went well, I trust?" Galadriel looked at Celebrían with her knowing gaze.

Celebrían lowered her eyes for a brief moment before raising them again to meet her mother's gaze. "My journey was fine, but it nearly ended in disaster. We have much to tell you, Naneth."

Galadriel looked at Celebrían, the twins and Glorfindel, then nodded and gestured for them to follow her. "Come, we will go somewhere more private to talk." Galadriel and Celeborn led the way to a private sitting room. Once they were all seated, Galadriel gazed back and forth among the elves sitting in front of her. "Who would like to start?" she asked.

Celebrían decided to spare her sons the anxiety and began reporting the recent events. "Before I left to come here, Elrohir had a vision."

"A vision?" Galadriel asked, looking aside at her grandson. A flash of trepidation emanated from Elrohir before he quashed the emotion and stared back blandly at her.

"Yes," Celebrían continued to tell her parents everything that had happened.

Throughout the tale, Galadriel kept getting flashes of strong emotions from the twins before they were able to suppress them and block her. The emotions that she read from them worried her, as they were feelings of anger, guilt, and pain such as she had never felt from them before. When Celebrían finished the tale of the orc ambush, the burial of the elves who were killed and then their uneventful journey here, Galadriel reached forward and held her daughter's hand. "I will be forever grateful for Elrohir's vision, Celebrían. I cannot bear the thought of you in the hands of orcs." She glanced back at Elrohir and Elladan. She reached toward them and tried to gently probe their minds, but they were blocking her as strongly as they could. Though she could force the issue, she would never do such a thing to her grandsons. She could, however, speak privately with the twins and try to get them to tell her whatever it was that they were hiding.

Galadriel looked at her husband and mentally asked him to take Celebrían for a walk. A smile crossed his face as he replied back to her that he would be glad to spend some time with his daughter, but he would wish to know whatever she found out later. She smiled back and reassured him that she would inform him of whatever she found out from their grandsons.

Celeborn stood and reached out a hand to his daughter. "I, too, am eminently thankful that you are well and that you were able to arrive here safely. Would you like to take a walk with me?"

Celebrían looked back and forth between her parents, feeling that they had had one of their silent conversations and decided to have her leave the room. That had always irritated her when she was younger, that her parents could have entire conversations without speaking a word aloud. It was especially irritating when she knew they had been talking about her, just like the feeling she was now getting from them. She raised an eyebrow as she gazed back at her mother. "Was this your idea?"

"Can I not simply wish to speak with my daughter?" Celeborn asked her with a faint hint of amusement in his eyes. "Come, Celebrían. It has been long since we had the chance to simply talk with each other. And, from what you have said, we almost did not get this chance. I would like to spend some time with you. Will you allow me that?"

Celebrían still felt she was being manipulated, but could not deny that she also wished to spend time with her father. "I will allow that," she said with a smile as she stood and took his hand. She turned back to her mother before they left. "I would like my sons returned to me in one piece, Naneth."

Galadriel laughed as she looked back at her daughter. Celebrían knew all too well what she was doing, though not the reasons behind it. "I will be gentle with them, I promise."

Celebrían gave her mother a cheeky grin before leaving the room with her arm draped through her father's.

Galadriel turned back to look at her grandsons, who seemed extremely nervous. She gazed at Glorfindel for a moment. "Would you excuse us, Glorfindel? I would like to speak with my grandsons in private for a moment."

Glorfindel saw the pleading looks the twins shot him and looked back to Galadriel. "I believe I should stay for this."

She was taken by surprise, and glanced over at the twins. They nodded, and she tilted her head to Glorfindel. "Very well." Looking back over to her grandsons, she began questioning them. "Now, perhaps you can tell me why I have been sensing such odd emotions from you and why you have been expending so much effort to block me? There is something in the both of you that I do not recognize. Please tell me why I feel I no longer know my own grandsons."

Elladan looked over at Elrohir and raised an eyebrow. Elrohir nodded. Elladan looked back to Galadriel, then closed his eyes and dropped the barriers he had erected around his mind. Looking up, he met her eyes and invited her to look into his mind. "We were blocking you because we were afraid you would see this."

Galadriel gasped as she looked into the mind of her grandson. He had certain things that he intended to show her, and she watched the images play through his mind. They were horrible images, of Celebrían's patrol being waylaid by orcs, of he and Elrohir leading out a second patrol and finding Celebrían in a cave surrounded by orcs. She watched in horror as she saw Elrond trying desperately to heal Celebrían, and the despair in her daughter's eyes as she sailed from these shores. The years and centuries that followed went by in a blur as she lived them through Elladan's eyes; endless battles of fighting orcs wherever they could be found, glorying in the blood and the kill. Arwen leaving Imladris and Elrond losing himself in his grief for a time, not being able to stop the twins from their destructive behavior; they all flashed before her eyes. The rush of images came to an abrupt halt as Elladan reached the end of what he wanted to show her and he brought his barriers back up.

Galadriel swayed in her seat as the onslaught of images ceased. Glorfindel reached out to touch her shoulder in support. "Are you well?"

Galadriel just stared at Glorfindel in shock for a moment as she struggled to regain her equilibrium. "Well?" she repeated his question, looking back at the twins. "After the images I just saw?" She ran a hand over her face then looked back up to her grandsons. "What did you just show me? What time are you from and why are you here?"

Glorfindel sat back in his seat and waited for the twins to speak.

"We do not truly know why we were sent back," Elladan started the explanation. "The only thing we do know is that we were given a chance to save Naneth, and that is what we have done." He and Elrohir took turns telling Galadriel about the darkness and the bodiless voice, and only briefly about what happened after Celebrían sailed. They told her nothing of Estel, or other important future events.

When they finished their recitation, Galadriel was silent for a time. She stood from her chair and walked over to a window, staring out over the forest. When she showed no signs of speaking after several moments, the twins began shifting uncomfortably in their chairs. Glorfindel was about to speak and ask her what she was thinking when her voice drifted across the room.

"I have seen many things in my life," she said softly. "I have seen the rise and fall of evil and darkness, more than once. I have seen the deaths of many of my kin and friends. I have even seen the return of one after death." At that, she turned and looked briefly at Glorfindel before turning her gaze back to her grandsons. "But never have I seen the Valar send anyone back to the past for any reason, great or small. And I cannot help but think that if one were to be sent back to put right a wrong, it would be on a greater scale than saving the life of one elleth." She shook her head as she stared at the twins. "I mistrust this."

Elladan kept his face impassive, but Elrohir was unable to hide his emotions so effectively. His face fell as he looked back at his grandmother.

Galadriel hardened her heart as she felt the waves of dismay coming from Elrohir. She forced herself to say what she felt she must. "I do not believe that whomever sent you here had the best interests of Middle-earth in mind."

"What do you mean?" Elladan asked her. He thought he knew what Galadriel might say, since he had also been wondering about the motives of the being that had sent them into the past.

"I do not wish to know any details of your time, as I believe it may be dangerous for any of us who have not yet lived it to know what comes to pass. But, may I assume that there are events in your past that should not be tampered with, should not be altered?" Galadriel's gaze was knowing as she gazed at the twins.

Elladan nodded as he thought of the destruction of the Ring, the defeat of Sauron, and Aragorn taking his rightful place as king of Gondor and Arnor. There definitely were certain events that should not be altered in any way.

"Then I cannot see the reason for sending you back here," Galadriel said. "You cannot change one thing without affecting others, many of which none of us can foresee. I fear that you were sent here to disrupt the timeline, to irrevocably change events for the worse."

"You cannot truly think that we would act as agents of darkness!" Elrohir burst out incredulously, rising to his feet, followed swiftly by Elladan. "Do you not trust us?" His voice turned plaintive as he asked the last question. Having his own grandmother distrust him was more than he could bear to think about.

Galadriel's expression softened. "Elrohir, of course I do not believe that you would knowingly do anything to harm Middle-earth, or those around you. I think that you and your brother would attempt to make things better, to protect or prevent harm to those you love. But in changing those events, you change so many more that can have unexpected consequences. You have already changed one thing that we know of. None of us, even those gifted with foresight, can know what repercussions that act will have."

"Would you have had us simply stand aside and allow Naneth to be taken by orcs?" Elladan's voice was hard and cold as he stared at Galadriel.

A pained expression crossed Galadriel's face, and she looked down for a moment before once again meeting his eyes. It worried her to see the cold look in those eyes. "No, Elladan. I know very well that neither of you could willingly allow harm to come to your mother. Had I known about it, I would have been able to do no differently. But the fact that neither Elrond nor I foresaw this event tells me that perhaps we were not supposed to prevent it."

Elladan flinched and looked away, while Elrohir just stared at her aghast.

"I cannot regret saving Naneth, no matter what may happen because of it," Elladan's voice was soft as he spoke. "It would have destroyed us completely to live through that twice. You cannot truly know what it was like for us, Daernana. Not unless you had lived it."

Galadriel sighed at the broken note in Elladan's voice. The brief glimpse she had seen of their past in Elladan's mind would haunt her for a long time to come. But that glimpse was nothing compared to what her grandsons had lived through. Even speaking of those events had brought them enormous amounts of pain. She could see their anguish clearly in the tense lines of their bodies, and feel it radiating off of them, filling the room. Wanting to ease that pain, she stepped forward and placed a hand on each of their shoulders, turning them to face her.

Seeing the compassionate look on her face, Elrohir stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her, burying his face in her shoulder. Elladan held out only a moment longer, until Galadriel held her other arm open, inviting him into her embrace as well. Holding them both close, Galadriel closed her eyes and tried to send them both soothing thoughts, attempting to calm the raging sea of their emotions. "Oh, my little ones, you have been through so much pain. If it were in my power, I would take this burden from you." She knew that the twins had been scarred by their experiences. Even being back in this time and saving their mother would never take the memories of those horrible events from them. Though the rest of their family would never know of those events, her grandsons would still carry the scars the rest of their days.

It was several more moments before Galadriel felt the twins begin to calm, and they stepped back, out of her embrace. Galadriel looked over to Glorfindel as the twins returned to their earlier seats.

"How did you come to know of this?" she asked him, crossing back to her chair and gracefully sitting once more. She was sure that the twins would not lightly tell anyone that they had traveled back in time.

Glorfindel glanced over at the twins with a slight smile on his face. "I overheard them speaking the first morning they…arrived here. They came into the library where I was reading and did not see me, as my chair faced away from the door. It was hard not to listen, as they were speaking quite freely. What I heard intrigued me."

"Intrigued you?" Elladan asked incredulously. "I don't know if that is the word I would use. You may remember that you were suspicious enough of us to hold a sword to Elrohir's throat!"

Glorfindel looked over at Elladan with an impassive expression. "I would not have hurt him. While it is true that I did not truly know whether I could trust you, you are still the sons of Elrond. If I harmed you, I would have to face your father's wrath. I would almost rather face another balrog than that."

The dubious looks on the faces of both twins made it readily apparent that they had thought Glorfindel quite capable of carrying through with his implied threat. A wry smile crossed Glorfindel's face. "If you will remember, I was not the only one making threats that I would not have carried out."

Galadriel stared at her grandson as Elladan flushed slightly. "You threatened Glorfindel?" Her tone was one of shock and no small amount of amusement. She well knew how much the twins had always idolized Glorfindel. Though they did occasionally play pranks on Glorfindel, they were usually of the milder variety.

"I would not have allowed anyone or anything to stop me from saving Nana," Elladan explained defensively. "We would not truly have hurt him, but if he had tried to stop us, he might have seen a demonstration of a few moves we have picked up in the last few centuries."

The resolute tone of his voice convinced Galadriel that he was absolutely serious. They would have even fought Glorfindel to save their mother. That brought her thoughts back to the main topic at hand. "While I cannot condone changing the past to suit yourself, as Celebrían's mother, I am very relieved that you acted as you did. That said, you cannot simply go around blithely changing history. I would assume that others you care about have died in the intervening centuries?"

As the twins nodded soberly, Galadriel gazed very seriously at them. "You do not know all the consequences of your actions when you meddle with time. I would strongly advise you not to try changing anything more. We cannot know all the effects of the changes you have already made. If you knowingly change things in an attempt to make things better or protect those you love, the shape of the future may change beyond all recognition. Whether the changes are for good or evil, we will not know until the end. I obviously cannot force you to stand aside and let history unfold as it will. If you choose to change history, it is likely that none will know, as we do not know what has happened in your time, and will not know what has changed. I can only warn you as strongly as I may that dabbling in the flow of time may lead to consequences that you do not intend. As much as you may want to change things, it would be much better if you let things happen on their own from now on. I would also advise that you tell no one beyond those who already know." At that, she looked at the twins and Glorfindel. "Glorfindel is the only one who knows the truth, is he not?" The twins nodded, and Galadriel nodded in response. "Good, please see that it stays that way. The more who know this secret, the more chance there is that history will be drastically altered."

"Do you intend to tell Celeborn?" Glorfindel asked curiously. He knew that the Lord and Lady of the Golden Wood kept no secrets from each other.

"I will have to tell him something," Galadriel admitted. "I cannot hide things from him anymore than the twins could hide this from me. However, he has ever been extremely protective of Celebrían. It would not do him any good to know what could have happened to her. I will tell him that the gift of foresight has been awakened in you both, and that your knowledge of the possibilities of the future is quite extensive. He will know that I am not telling him everything, of course, but I will tell him that I am only hiding the content of your visions. He knows how difficult it can be to cope with visions and decide whether anything should be done about what has appeared in those visions. Celeborn will not ask for further details."

Elrohir shook his head slightly. He did not want Galadriel to lie to Celeborn for them. Before he could open his mouth to say that, though, Galadriel spoke again, cutting him off, knowing what he was about to say.

"Elladan, Elrohir, it is best if no others find out about this, not even Celeborn. As difficult as it will be for you, you must appear to be the same ellyn that you were before any of this happened, before your mother was taken. I know that what I ask will not be easy, but it must be done. I will ask that you not speak of any future events where you can be overheard. It would be best if you do not speak of them at all, but there may be some things that you need to discuss with each other. When you do speak of any of this, be absolutely sure you are alone and no others are nearby. You cannot take the chance of being overheard again. Even when you speak to Glorfindel and I, please do not tell us too much about the future. We cannot take the risk of even us finding out too much. Please promise me that you will be careful in this matter."

"Of course we will," Elladan said, as Elrohir said at the same time, "We promise."

"Good." Galadriel sat back in her chair and stared at her grandsons. Though she knew that they would not make such a promise lightly, she could not help but wonder if the damage was already done. It pained her greatly to even think that, maybe, for the sake of history, Celebrían should have been allowed to be captured. She was shaken out of her dark thoughts as Elladan spoke again, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

"If you want us to behave as normal, are you giving us permission to tease Haldir? It has been over a century since we played a prank on him, after all. I think he is long overdue for another."

Galadriel's eyes narrowed as she stared at Elladan. A smirk was fixed firmly to his face, and an answering one was spreading across Elrohir's. "I thought we had settled this on your last visit here. Do I need to remind you of the lecture you received last time?"

"No," Elrohir said quickly. "We have not forgotten that. But we only swore to never again touch Haldir's weapons. There are a good many pranks that have nothing to do with weapons."

Galadriel could not help a long-suffering sigh at the mischievous looks on the faces of both of her grandsons. At least that had not changed, she thought to herself. It gave her hope that the twins had healed in the intervening centuries, and that their anger and despair did not hold sway over their lives. Though she and their parents often complained about their mischievous natures, she would not truly have them any other way.

A/N: Since I'm absolutely horrible at coming up with pranks, if anyone has any great pranks that the twins could play on Haldir that they would be willing to share, please e-mail your suggestions to me at mistycracraft@yahoo.com and they may be included in a later chapter.