Title: Healing

Rating: G

Summary: Hope comes to live in Imladris.

A/N: This was written for the Middle-earth Express challenge prompt #30: Rest. It was inspired by Terri, so I thank her for the idea. I seem to be stuck on young Estel stories right now. *shrugs* But I like writing them and the idea was there, so...

Disclaimer: I don't own any of them, sadly enough.

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An elf with hair as black as the surrounding night stood on the balcony gazing out into the darkness. His back was stiff and his posture was one of defeat. His mirror image sat in a chair before the fire, a book open in his lap, but his gaze was distant, unfocused. The tension and grief in the room was palpable, but it was a feeling they were well acquainted with. They had failed once again. Their mother had been the first victim of their ineptitude, and now a friend was gone. Arathorn had fallen while fighting by their side, and they had failed to protect him. It had been their sad duty to escort Arathorn's wife and child here for protection.

The woman and child now slept in a room nearby, Gilraen sleeping only with the aid of one of Elrond's teas. She had been in a state of shock since receiving the news, and unable to find rest. Aragorn, who was now the only remaining heir of Elendil, slept beside her, exhausted from his tears. Though he did not understand what was happening, he understood that his mother was upset and that things had changed.

As Elladan stared out into the night, he hoped the child would be able to rest, as there would be none for him this night. Looking inside at his brother, he saw the grief in the set of his shoulders. Though he wanted to comfort him, he knew his words would sound false. Elladan had failed, and did not have it in him to bring comfort to another. He lowered his head as he turned back to gaze unseeing into the distance.

A loud cry broke the stillness of the night, shattering the tension in the room and making both of the twins jump. It was the cry of a child, a cry they had come to recognize. Aragorn had awoken from his restless sleep. Knowing that Gilraen would not wake from the drugged slumber she resided in, Elladan crossed the room in long strides and entered the bedroom Gilraen shared with her son. The child was sitting up in bed, shaking his mother's shoulder, trying to wake her.

"Nana!" The word could barely be heard through the sound of his cries.

Sitting down on the bed beside the boy, Elladan reached out a hand to him. "Your naneth is sleeping right now, penneth. Will you allow me to help you?"

Aragorn's cries stopped as he stared at the elf he had known such a short time. He crawled over to the elf and reached up to tug gently at his hair as he stared at him, then held his hands up. His breath hitched as the elf lifted him, and he cuddled into the warmth the elf offered.

Standing, Elladan walked back toward the sitting room he shared with Elrohir, and found his brother waiting in the doorway. As Elladan entered the room and chose a rocking chair in which to rock the distraught child, Elrohir sat on a nearby couch. Upon leaving the room his mother slept in, Aragorn had begun crying again, though softer than before. While Elladan rocked the child and attempted to soothe him, Elrohir reached out and laid a gentle hand upon the child's back.

"Sleep, penneth," Elrohir whispered. "You are safe here. All will be well." Elrohir offered the comfort to the child that they could not offer each other. The younger twin began to softly sing a lullaby their mother had sung to them, so long ago. Slowly, the child's cries tapered off, and he drifted off to sleep, finally feeling safe in the comforting presence of the two elves.

A small smile graced Elrohir's face as he watched the sleeping child. He stretched out on the couch and laid his head down on the pillow, keeping his hand on Aragorn's back as he hummed the lullaby. The melody faded as he, too, drifted off to sleep.

Shifting slightly to get more comfortable in his chair, Elladan relaxed and held the small warm bundle securely against him. Glancing over at his sleeping brother, he felt a sense of amazement. It had been quite some time since either of the twins could fall asleep so easily. "Perhaps you are just what we need, penneth," Elladan whispered softly. "Do not worry. I will do all in my power to keep you from harm." Though he had failed the father, he did not intend to fail the son. Lost in his thoughts, he did not even notice when sleep crept up on him as well.

Elrond stopped by a few hours later to check on Gilraen, and was panicked when he did not see Aragorn anywhere. The flicker of firelight in his sons' sitting room caught his attention, and he stepped across the threshold, intending to ask them if they had seen the child. He knew they would find no rest this night. The guilt that consumed them both would keep them from sleep.

However, the sight that met his eyes stopped him in his tracks and brought a soft smile to his face. His sons were both asleep, Elladan holding the child, and Elrohir keeping a comforting hand upon Aragorn's back, even in his sleep. There was a sense of calm, of peace in the scene that he had not expected to see. Though he knew it would take time, he began to have hope that his sons could find their way back to him, back to who they had once been. In this child, Elrond began to hope that his sons would find rest and healing.