The End

~Eloril~

I was able to remain oblivious to the commotion for a little while. After finally getting the opportunity to raise two of my own children, who could be very delightful, zoning in an out at the appropriate moments had been a skill I had quickly picked up. Letting my mind wander was even easier to accomplish considering the fact that I was also rather tired. I lazily flipped to the next page in my book. The words were barely sinking in, but the half-hearted skimming I was doing was a much needed distraction. If only it had been a strong enough distraction. The commotion got so much louder that I couldn't ignore it any longer.

I glanced up at the right moment to see Calithon stamping his foot for the thousandth time already. He did it with more vigor than before, so poor Galuiel was forced to retreat backwards a bit from his childish tantrum.

     "I am not unreasonable!" he cried in response to my daughter's reprimands as he pouted.

Despite my wearied state, I burst out laughing from that. Calithon not unreasonable? I had never heard such a bigger fallacy before in my life. My youngest nephew glared at me, but I smiled a cheeky grin because we both knew he wouldn't dare challenge me. I always took away his sword fighting lessons when he became too unruly, which was one of the few punishments that really kept him in line.

     "Would you just sit down, Cal?" Tirilonn asked his cousin with as much patience as he could muster.

     "No. I want to see what's going on!"

     "The rest of us are just as curious as you, but trust me when I say that it's within none of our rights to barge in before we're allowed. Your poor naneth has had a rough enough time as it is."

     "She won't mind!"

Tirilonn sighed. Galuiel glanced over at him.

     "It's probably best to just let him make a fuss by himself. The last thing he wants to hear at this point is anything that speaks sense." she said with a shrug.

     "Hey!" Calithon complained.

     "A fair point," Tirilonn agreed as he went ahead with ignoring our family's little rascal, "I must say though, I am beginning to miss the years when it was only you and me."

I glanced to my right as motion caught my eye. Ranimir, who was reading as well, looked up from his book to join in the conversation.

     "Come again?" he said with a hint of a sarcastic smile on his face.

     "My apologies, Ran," Tirilonn laughed, "The years where it was only me, Galu, and you were definitely the best."

     "Stop being mean!" Calithon whined as he stomped his foot yet again.

Ranimir gave his younger brother a look.

    "Perhaps if you stopped your puerile behavior and acted with half the decency you are capable of then such tauntings wouldn't be requisite." he chastised.

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing again. Calithon was the family's rascal. Ranimir was the family's intellectual. Ellothiel's two sons couldn't have been born with more opposite personalities. The same could be said even for their physical appearances. Ranimir had taken strongly after one parent- that parent being Laril.

Calithon had then been a surprising mix. He had Ellothiel's hair, Laril's darker skin, and his great-grandmother Rynania's purple eyes. His attitude changed at his brother's rebuke. Calithon was a puppy around Ellothiel and Laril compared to how he was with the rest of us. It was only Ranimir who came close to enacting the same kind of docile behavior. For as often as the two fought and for as often as Calithon went out his way to annoy his brother, everyone could see the truth that he admired Ranimir intensely. Despite Ranimir being an intellectual first and foremost, the fact that he barely lost to Calithon, who was a prodigy fighter, when they trained in combat proved how apt he was at being a fighter himself. Him having the best of both worlds drove Calithon crazy just as it inspired him to work harder.

Calithon turned to me, most likely to try and convince me to give him some support, but before he could open his mouth all of our attention instantly snapped to the person who had just then walked into the room. Nana smiled cheerfully. I mentally sighed a loud sigh of relief. We had heard the crying before which was the signal that the ultimate moment had come, but nana's presence was the indicator then that the moment we were all waiting for could finally be granted to us.

     "It took a little while, but we're ready for you to come over." she announced.

I would have leapt to my feet in eagerness had Calithon not rushed in front of me to get to the archway first. Thankfully, nana was intuitive enough to grab his hand and gently force him to walk with her so that he did not overburden Ellothiel too quickly.

Erien and Abrien were already in Ellothiel and Laril's room as they had been helping nana with Ellothiel's labor. Ada had taken to pacing outside both their room and mine as he was still too embarrassed to watch Ellothiel give birth and Calithon's long tantrum had been irritating him. He trailed behind nana and Calithon, and the rest of us followed. My heart soared when I saw the newborn infant my sister was holding, but I couldn't be quite as excited when I saw her face. The labor she had with Calithon had been tricky. However, the labor she had just been through topped it by leaps and bounds. It had been a painful and complicated one that had lasted all night. It was no wonder then why she was hardly able to turn her head when we entered. Us older ones hung back slightly after Laril motioned for Ranimir and Calithon to greet their new sibling first.

I had to think amusedly to myself about how those two nephews of mine did have another sibling. Ellothiel had been so unsure when she had been pregnant with Ranimir. So much of her energy went into battling the terror that having another child would remind her too much of the others she had lost. Well, now here she was having given birth to her third entirely elven baby.

    "She's a girl." Ranimir noted brightly, giving the rest of us the answer to the question that was on our minds.

Ellothiel nodded as she gave him an exhausted smile.

     "She's so cute." he continued with a wide smile as he reached out to softly touch her hand.

     "Yeah." Calithon added.

His attitude had already switched to match the calmness of his brother's demeanor.

     "Here. Move a bit closer so you can touch her." Laril instructed gently as he tried to prod him towards his sister.

     "I'm fine. She's really so tiny." Calithon mumbled uncertainly.

     "You won't hurt her." Laril chuckled.

Ada turned to smile at me as Laril still had to convince Calithon a bit further to make that first connection. I had had the exact same reaction with Ellothiel when she was brought home after having been born in surprise out in that flower patch.

     "What are you going to name her?" Ranimir asked.

I think all of our expressions changed to ones of slight confusion when Ellothiel glanced up to give nana a truly peculiar stare. She then grinned and answered in weak whisper that signified the frail state of her body but with the confidence that showed the conviction and confidence of her choice.

     "Her name is Rynan."

The expression that suddenly spread across nana's face was priceless. She was so stunned that even when ada wrapped his arm around her she couldn't do anything more than shift her eyes around in unbelieving amazement. Abrien, Erien, Tirilonn, Galuiel, Ranimir, and Calithon had rather interesting expressions on their faces as well. They knew they didn't understand the importance of Rynan's naming. Only ada, Ellothiel, myself, and Laril, because Ellothiel had told him, knew the full truth of nana and Ellothiel's original struggle. We knew of nana's own connection to her mother and how naming her daughter after my grandmother had been her greatest desire until the heartbreak of Rynania's death made such a thing too painful. However, nana's reaction made it all too clear that the decision was much appreciated.

I figured my niece being named Rynan was a fine way to bring all of our childbearing to its conclusion. Ellothiel had now named a child after both sets of our grandparents, ada, nana, myself, and herself. As I watched ada lead nana over to hold her mother's namesake I couldn't help but to wish, with a hint of desperation and longing, that fate could have been different so that Rynan could have been surrounded by all of her siblings...

_________________________________________________________________________________

~Ellothiel~

I sneakily crawled over to the playpen as softly as I could. I tried not to allow her to notice this, but of course she did notice. Rynan stopped her practice and stared at me. I laughed in exasperation.

    "Oh, come on. You're always babbling so much when you think no one is around. Say 'nana' for me, baby. Naaanaaa." I encouraged.

Rynan just kept on looking at me. I scooted over and leaned closer to her.

     "Naanaa." I tried again, hoping my daughter would finally talk to something other than the mirror.

I was about to give up when she took to glancing around and seemingly paying no attention. It was only when I sighed that she returned her gaze to me.

     "Na!"

I let out a cry of happiness. Of course, it was not the first time Rynan had made a sound before one of us. It was, however, the first time she had directly imitated something I was attempting to make her say.

     "Good job," I clapped, "Can you make that noise again, and do it twice this time? 'Nana.' Naaanaaa."

My daughter's expression merely shifted into one of confusion.

     "Oh well," I shrugged, "At least we made a little progress. You keep practicing with that mirror of yours. I have to go make sure your brothers are getting ready anyway."

It took no time at all for me to cross the house to reach Ranimir and Calithon's room. They were in the exact same position they had been in when I last checked on them.

     "Five minute warning." I told them.

     "I thought we had half an hour." Ranimir, who suddenly looked very perplexed, answered.

     "Well, that was twenty-five minutes ago."

     "I guess I got lost in my reading again."

     "I guess so. Cal?"

     "Yeah, yeah. I'm ready."

     "If you say so. Just make sure you save and quit within these next five minutes. Otherwise, I will pull the plug because you are not holding us up like last time."

     "I got it." Calithon responded in irritation.

I smiled for several reasons- the most important one being that I could not possibly count how many times I had had nearly identical conversation to that one with Calithon and the vast majority of his older siblings. Only in a few instances had my children ever actually listened to my warning. Cal had experienced losing his progress a few times due to me forcing the power off because he took too long, so I hoped this time around he would keep his word.

Ranimir was so engrossed in his book and Calithon was so engrossed in his game that neither noticed me lingering in the room. I placed my hand against the wall. Coming back to this house always felt like a dream. Our family had taken many trips to Appaloosa Plains over the years just like how we visited the rest of the towns I had lived in. My old homes had been up for sale in each at various points, but my very first one was the lone one I had bothered to buy. Mostly I simply didn't need another seven homes in the human lands, but the reason I had bought this one to keep permanently was because of its significance. It had been where it had all started after all. I had very nearly changed the garage back into a replica of the room it had once been, for one of the previous owners had remodeled the garage back into an actual garage. However, I had convinced myself against it. That I was already living in the shadows of the life I once lived was strange enough to cope with. Having everything be identical surely would have confused me.

My favorite change was the fact that I could say I was going to "our room" instead of "my room." Laril being the other occupant made me forget entirely that my first time with a man in that room had been one of the worst experiences in my life. All the negatives slipped away and the positive enlarged with my dear, sweet husband around. Yes. My dear, sweet husband who had never lost that mischievous nature that living amongst the humans had given him. I walked into our room wondering where he had gotten to only to find myself being spun around without warning. Instead of falling to the ground like I expected, Laril caught me and planted a kiss on my lips because that was apparently the right thing to do at that point.

     "If you wanted a kiss, you merely had to ask." I told him when he freed my lips.

     "There is no fun in that."

     "This isn't a moment to be having 'fun.' It is a moment where we need to get ready. I told the boys five minutes."

     "They won't mind." Laril said before planting another kiss on me.

I let him have his way for a second longer.

     "It is not good parenting to say one thing and then be too lenient with the integrity of your words."

     "That's where their ability to get lost in their interests comes into play though. We could have half an hour to ourselves, you could then go to their room to tell them their five minutes is up, and they would be none the wiser."

     "Perhaps," I spoke before Laril interrupted me for one more quick peck, "But that won't be happening now. Not on this day."

Laril's snarky smile faded to something more serious.

     "You're right. I know you want to get going more than anything."

He gave me another kiss- one that was much sweeter and more loving than before.

Ranimir closed his book as soon as I walked in the room and Calithon exited his game just quickly enough to prevent me from having to follow through with my warning. They did have to take care of several things they should have used their five minutes for, but I had long ago learned that such a situation was the best one I could hope for when it came to young children, well any child at any age, getting ready when left to their own devices. Rynan made a fuss when Laril took her out of her precious playpen, so we ended up not losing any time at all anyway.

It was a nice stroll that we then took, but I became melancholy the closer we got to the cemetery. I had already warned Laril that I would need some time to myself first. He took the children to look at the graves on the other side of the lot while I sat down in front of the one we had come to visit. I had spent almost every hour since we had arrived in Appaloosa Plain thinking of what I might say. Unfortunately, I choked up when I went to say any of my prepared sentiments. I could only instead force what thoughts came to my mind.

     "Hey, Elrun."

My voice was so quiet. It wavered and cracked. I shook my head in desperation. More than my desire to visit my son, I had wanted this day to be a cheerful one.

    "Happy birthday," I continued with slightly more confidence, "It's strange, you know? Today you would be 1,694 years old. I hadn't given birth to Ranimir yet when I was that age. That I had you when I was barely a decade or so into my fourth century...well, it still stuns and amazes me."

The only noises that filled in the pause I took in a foolish hope that I would get an answer was the sound of Ranimir and Calithon darting about as they looked at the various graves.

     "I hope you don't mind them," I continued, "You always said you wanted to meet all of your siblings. The rest of you have had all this time to get to know each other up there, so I thought it would be nice to bring the ones staying down here with me for a visit."

I laughed softly.

    "Something else I hope you don't mind- we're going to have a little celebration for your birthday. It's nothing extravagant. We're just going to have a nice picnic lunch here with you. That alright?"

A warm wind floated past. I knew it was silly to believe the cliched idea that the wind was Elrunamir answering me from the beyond, but I still believed it for a moment.

I didn't get the chance to say anything more. Ranimir and Calithon were too curious about seeing their oldest brother's grave. However, I didn't mind. It was sweet to see them talk to him and tell him so much about themselves as if he was actually there. Even sweeter was the moment when Rynan suddenly wrapped her arms around the tombstone as if she was giving it a hug. Laril was able to give me my own hug of encouragement while the children were distracted. We then set up the picnic. It was eating lunch with my family that cheered me up. I knew this was the type of outing that Elrunamir loved the most. This was how he would want me to spend his birthday- not curled up in my bed crying like I had in so many years past.

I managed to sneak a little more alone time with Elrunamir after lunch was over. As much of a bookworm as Ranimir was, he was just as energetic as Calithon was once his brother got him riled up. They were chasing each other around while Laril did his best to make sure they didn't get too out of control while keeping Rynan content as well. I blocked them all out as some of the words I had wanted to say before came back to me.

     "I think it has finally sunk in...that I won't see you again. I've stopped believing. I've stopped hoping. Part of me wishes I still could, but it does seem to be better this way. It's always going to hurt of course, but now I can focus on being happy. And I am. You've probably known that for a while, but I figured I should tell you directly."

I found myself leaning over to give Elrunamir's tombstone a light kiss.

    "We'll come visit again soon, okay? I'll make sure Ran and Cal get into all sorts of mischief so they can have even more to tell you. Perhaps by then Rynan will have decided to start talking to someone else other than herself too."

The wind blew again. I wondered for a brief second if it really wasn't just coincidence.

Our stay in Appaloosa Plains had to end the next day. I had agreed to lead one of the connection classes, which was what we called the lessons we gave to the humans to help them understand our culture better, in a city two days later. I would have brought the whole family along had we not had Rynan with us. Laril and I knew she would have gotten too fussy at some point, and that would have made the trip difficult. I dropped Laril off with the children back home before I set out to the human lands again. After that, it felt as if I didn't see them again for a while. Abrien had chosen to participate in a program that was incredibly similar to the traditional study-abroad programs found in many human schools. With her gone for several months, I had to retake the work that she had picked up from me. I was incredibly happy to see how far the idea I had pushed into motion had grown. However, I was even happier when Abrien returned and I could spend more time at home.

The days when everyone was together were my favorite ones. Tirilonn and Galuiel liked to pretend they were so much more mature than their cousins, but it never took much effort to convince them to join in with my sons' playing. Laril and Abrien, on the other hand, never tried to put up any front. They were down to play at any moment. Erien and I were more prone to watching, talking, laughing, and cuddling with Rynan.

There were two main reasons why I never took my eyes off my children. Making sure they were safe and not getting into trouble were the other smaller reasons. However, the first big one was that I simply liked watching the dynamics that appeared when the three of them interacted.

Ranimir and Calithon's relationship was the most interesting. Ranimir had a tendency to come off as snobbish every now and again. Calithon was always riling him up. They quarreled often enough to the point where Laril and I barely batted an eye when they started. Then there was the opposite side of it. Laril and I could then turn back around to find Ran helping Cal with his studies or Cal assisting Ran with bettering his fighting stances. Even more impressive and amusing was the fact that Cal, despite how vehemently he denied doing so, followed his brother around everywhere like a gosling follows its mother. Ran would actually then become confused as to where Cal would be if he did go off on his own and go searching for him. Thus, the two were rarely apart. Rynan would stick to both of them like glue whenever she wasn't with Laril or I. She had her brothers wrapped around her finger even at her young age.

The second main reason why I never stopped watching them- I knew all too well how fast the days of their youth would fly by. Even with the extra years given to them because of their elven inheritance they would still grow up before it seemed like they should.

And that is exactly what happened.

It felt as if it was when Rynan learned it was more fun to talk to other people that everything sped up. I was able to have conversations with her, and the next thing I knew she was a dear little girl instead of a toddler. Ranimir and Calithon had then left the years of their childhoods behind. Ran dived deeper into his studies and Cal became so proficient at fighting that he could beat both ada and Eloril with ease. Them growing older was bittersweet just like it had always been bittersweet in the past.

I didn't wish for my babies to become babies again, but I did wish I could have another little infant to hold and cuddle. Laril and I briefly talked about having another child. However, we knew that would be pushing things too far. Having three children really was the limit for elven families. I had resigned myself to waiting for some more grandchildren to come along- even though I knew that would take millennia.

But...that thinking happened before I was shown more of the path my fate would take me down. When the reality of what I was in for broke out, it took me months to accept it despite the evidence being right there in my arms almost every hour because I was too afraid to let go. It was sudden, unnatural, and maybe a bit cruel. I had stopped believing. I had stopped hoping. Then to be given that gift, which was so much more precious than my wedding dress could ever be, after spending centuries breaking my heart to stop having faith- to know that I could have been spared the initial pain of not allowing myself to wish was frustrating.

Laril and I had absolutely no idea what we were in for. The sun had barely begun to rise over the horizon when a messenger came to the house. Even he had no clue as to why we were needed so desperately. The two of us had simply been told that our presence was indeed needed. We grumbled a bit as we got dressed, but were in for a nice surprise when we ran into ada as we reached the entrance arch.

     "It's good to have you home. We were starting to get concerned since you were due back yesterday morning." I said.

     "The flight was delayed. A lot. There was a terrible storm that refused to let up." ada explained.

     "That's too bad. I hope everything else went well though with your meetings with the government leaders."

Ada been making frequent trips to the humans lands to meet with those in charge of running the country.

     "What I was told more than made up for my problems with the weather." ada revealed as he smiled widely.

     "Do tell." Laril joined in eagerly.

     "I don't want you to get your hopes up just yet as nothing has been absolutely confirmed yet, but the human government has been working for a while to find a way to give us more of our land back."

Laril and I glanced at each other. We were too shocked to register the news.

     "What exactly do you mean?" Laril asked after several seconds of silence passed.

     "Well, the original idea they had was to give us space to push the wall further east. The goal was 100 miles all the way down the length of the border. That plan did fail though seeing as how it would displace too many human towns and cities. Some places were willing to go along with it if the land became shared, but even they were few in number."

     "So how else are we supposed to get more land if we can't move the wall?" I asked.

     "The both of you know that some old remnants of our civilization survived the wars. You also know that the humans have kept large amounts of land untouched around those remnants to protect them. Essentially, the new idea is that we are given those areas to create settlements- pockets of our land scattered about in the human lands. Each are could easily fit a decent sized community with room for several thousand to live in. We could be given our history back while easing some of our burden of having to constrain our population."

Ada paused suspiciously.

     "Which I hope you two won't be doing anything more to further."

     "Ada!" I laughed, "We've told you a thousand times! We're done with having children!"

     "I do not want to have to add more rooms to this house again."

     "Am I speaking elvish, Laril? I don't think he's understands me."

     "What did you say?"

     "Oh, shut up!" I laughed again.

     "I want to believe you," ada continued, "Yet I have this feeling of anticipation that I can't explain."

     "Maybe you might want to go check with Eloril and Erien then. You might want to check with nana too. You two already made one surprise happen. It is entirely possible you could have another one." I teased.

     "Point taken," ada caved with a slight bit of embarrassment before giving us a curious stare, "Are you two going out at this early hour?"

     "A messenger came saying we had to go visit Calenduil and Sararia right away, although he could give us no reason as to why it is so crucial that we go now." Laril explained.

     "Peculiar. I hope it is nothing serious."

     "I suppose we'll find out soon enough. It is good to have you back ada, especially with that news to bear- even if nothing is set in stone like you said." I said.

     "It is more promising to happen than not, but we can discuss it when you return. I'll let you two get on your way." ada nodded.

Laril and I were mostly silent on the long walk over to Calenduil and Sararia's house. I only had light acquaintances with both of them. In my youth, I had only talked to Sararia when her group of friends joined up with mine. Calenduil had been a brief suitor of mine before he discovered that he had feelings for Sararia instead. In current times we talked pleasantly whenever we ran into each other, but we never went out of our way to meet up. Our barely-there relationship was why them needing to see both Laril and I so urgently on short notice only made the matter more perplexing. I went through a thousand ideas in my head as to why we had been called. None seemed a likely explanation.

When we arrived, Calenduil wasn't incredibly helpful in clearing anything up. He appeared to be in a state of shock. He stumbled over his words and glanced about with uncertainty.

     "Can you just give us a better answer as to why we're here?" I asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

     "That's what I've been saying. I can't...explain, I-we don't...understand. There were the dreams, but..." he mumbled.

     "Is there anything we can help you with to sort this out?" Laril asked.

     "No. We...just need to give..."

     "Calenduil." I said more sternly in annoyance.

     "I'm sorry," he apologized, "I can't think straight right now. I will go wake Sararia up. She's been resting."

     "Resting? Oh, she is pregnant, right? Or should I say she was pregnant?"

     "She gave birth a few hours ago."

     "Does that have something to do with all of this then?" Laril wondered.

     "Uh...yes. Just let me..."

He gave us a look of sympathy. He at least he knew how unproductive he was being in giving us an answer. I forced myself to give him a smile before he rapidly departed into the bedroom. I was annoyed because I had been woken up so early. However, Calenduil had clearly had a rougher night.

Laril and I took a seat on one of the couches when it became clear that Calenduil waking up Sararia would take a while. I had been out of it for half the day after I gave birth to Rynan. If Sararia's labor had been anything like the one I had with my daughter, I could understand very well why we had to wait for a time. Still, I couldn't push away my sleepiness. I went right ahead and placed myself on Laril's lap after a minute or so.

     "What are you doing?" he asked in amusement as I shifted against him.

     "I'm so tired. It's too early for this."

     "You know, that should be my line. I was anticipating heading to bed at a proper hour. You were the one whose sudden burst of energy kept us awake."

     "How was I supposed to know someone was going to wake us up at the crack of dawn? This really had better be something groundbreaking and important."

     "I'm sure they do have a very good reason for bringing us out here." Laril comforted before kissing the top of my head.

He let me cuddle and rest fully against him. We only hurriedly stood up when we heard the sounds of two sets of footsteps heading our way.

Sararia appeared much better than I had expected she would. She was even wearing her normal day clothes. I held back a laugh. That was just like her though. She placed so much importance on being presentable in fronts of others at all times. Being level-headed and calm were others traits of hers that I admired at that moment. Despite her words leading up to a reveal that sent my mind spinning, she did a much better job at providing Laril and I with information.

     "How are you feeling?" I asked to start things off.

     "Considering what has happened, rather well actually. I think the shock might be having something to do with that though." she answered.

     "So what exactly has happened? It is clear you gave birth, but I fail to see why that has anything to do with us."

     "It all starts off with the fact that I had twins. Well, I don't know if I can call them twins. All I can say is that I gave birth to two children."

     "Alright?" I said with confusion.

Sararia sighed heavily.

     "Did Calenduil mention the dreams we've been having?" she queried.

     "He mentioned having dreams. That was all." Laril answered.

     "I'm sorry," Calenduil apologized again, "My mind has been doing flips and twists since the birth."

     "It's fine." I reassured him.

     "It is partly our fault we are so shook up. We've been having the exact same dream ever since I conceived. However, it was so outrageous we never spoke about it to the other. We only learned after I gave birth that the same message had been sent to us each night without fail for months."

     "Message?" Laril questioned.

     "You have done a great service to our people," Sararia spoke to me after taking a deep breath, "It is a service so great that we can never understand it because we will never experience what you saved us from. That is what the dream always begins with. You have suffered much for the sake of the people, many of whom still do not appreciate your actions and judge you for choices you made. However, the dream told us that our people are going to repay you no matter what. Those who would have suffered the most had you not done the order have been the ones chosen to repay you, more specifically."

     "How, exactly?" I asked with a quiet voice.

     "By giving you back what you lost. By way of the Goddess' intervention and the gift of immortality that those repaying you possess, the combining of both will allow you to keep what should have been yours to keep. In the order and time span in which they came to you before, they will come to you again."

     "Sararia...what you're saying..." I whispered.

I wanted to run away. I had worked out what she meant by her words, but I couldn't believe them. I had struggled so hard to accept this was not possible. The last thing I wanted was to hope again only to find out this was an impossible dream.

    "I know this will be hard to take in. The unbelievable nature of what has happened early in the hours of this morning is the reason why Calenduil and I, though I am managing to somehow keep my thoughts steady, are so at a loss. However, there can be no denying what is reality. Ellothiel," she stared at me with a confidence I didn't want to see, "I gave birth to two children. The girl that came first- she belongs to Calenduil and me. The boy that came next- he belongs to you."

There was a massive silence that followed those words. They were too much. Even when Sararia did begin speaking again I couldn't hear anything. Her words became whispers which did nothing to intrude the nothingness that had rapidly invaded my thoughts. I moved not an inch when Calenduil and Sararia departed to their room to bring out the two infants.

My mind was lost when I saw the boy. His face was one that was forever etched within my memory, but I stared at him as if he was entirely foreign. I would have taken a step back when Sararia moved closer with him had her table not been in the way.

     "That is our daughter, Hiewen. This is your son, although I do not know his name."

I couldn't answer.

     "It's Elrunamir." Laril responded into the silence for me.

     "You named him after your adar then?"

I couldn't nod either.

    "I can see from the expression on your face that this still is difficult to accept," Sararia continued, "However, look at Calenduil and I. Look at this dark-skinned infant. Do you really think we could have created him on our own? Me carrying him might have given him immortality, but there's no connection other than that."

I could feel Laril's concerned gaze on me as I kept my silence. My expression was as blank as my mind continued to be.

Unexpected even to me, I abruptly turned away from everyone else.

     "Ellothiel?"

Laril's call didn't register. I was too focused on desperately trying to contain my shaking just as I was desperately trying to not lose control. This had to be a dream. It was ridiculously impossible. I didn't want all my efforts to be meaningless. I didn't want to believe!

Laril came over to me right after the tears started streaming down my face. There wasn't enough strength in me to glance up, but I figured he was still wearing that concerned expression. He rubbed my back gently.

     "So," he started softly as he addressed Sararia, "You said all of them would be coming back?"

     "Yes. All of the children Ellothiel called her children. Even the ones who weren't born for the order or those not related to her by blood."

     "And they'll come back in the same time-span in which they were originally born?"

     "Well, I did say that, but that's not exactly correct. The length between each child will be converted to match the extended lifespan of our people."

     "And will they simply be in immortal forms of their humans bodies, or will they be..."

     "They'll be elves." Sararia clarified.

     "That's amazing, isn't it?" Laril said to me.

I sniffled.

     "Is she alright?" Calenduil asked.

It took a moment before Laril could answer. He pushed me away from him a bit to examine me. I dared to open my eyes right as a smile spread across his face.

     "Yeah. She's fine. She just doesn't want to have this all be an illusion, but..." Laril paused to laugh, "These are her happy tears."

     "If you say so." Calenduil said in disbelief.

Laril placed a finger under my chin to lift my head up.

     "Ellothiel, this is real. I promise it is. I know that this is what you've wanted for millennia. So turn around. Elrun is right there waiting for you."

He prompted me to spin around, which I slowly did. The vision before me didn't disappear like I feared it would. Calenduil and Sararia were still there. That little boy of mine still lay there contentedly in his surrogate mother's arms. With a lot of will, I was able to let out the breath I had been holding. Sararia smiled encouragingly as I shook harder when I reached out to take Elrunamir.

Elrunamir came alive once he was in my grasp. He squirmed and cooed cheerfully.

     "See? He knows you already." Laril whispered.

In his own stunned amazement, with a wistful smile he wrapped his arm around me while leaning closer to take his first look at my first baby.

     "That's actually true," Sararia confirmed, "He doesn't remember anything at this point, but he will recall his past life once he grows. However, he is aware that you are his naneth. Laril, he will know that you will be his adar."

     "The dream mentioned that as well?"

     "Yes."

     "It really covered all the bases, didn't it?" Laril laughed.

     "We should have paid attention to it sooner instead of brushing it off as the crazy workings of our minds. We could have warned you beforehand and given you time to prepare." Calenduil added.

     "It's fine." I whispered.

Laril proceeded to ask Calenduil and Sararia more questions. I tried to listen, but I couldn't. I was far too distracted at staring at my reborn Elrunamir. Then...another impossible thing happened. For a moment, I thought I was fainting. The world warped and time seemed to slow. Bright sparkles of blue flashed in the corner of my eye until they flashed brighter to bring together that mysterious figure of my dear Cirabel. She stood confidently and spoke with a smile.

     "You never should have stopped hoping. He said it when you and vede came to visit us, didn't he? That he didn't believe we would be apart forever? I guess you forgot that Elrun never lies." she giggled.

My voice was lost once more.

     "It'll be boring without him around, but I suppose I can let you borrow him until its my turn."

I laughed softly. Cirabel smiled wider.

     "I'll see you then, nana, and I promise I won't go swimming without permission again. I've learned my lesson."

Cirabel giggled a final time, and then she was gone.

Time returned to normal. Laril talked to Calenduil and Sararia as if nothing had happened. To them, nothing had happened. I took a deep breath as my shaking calmed. That attracted Laril's attention back to me.

     "Geez. What a way to come full circle, huh?"

     "Yeah." I laughed.

     "This made getting up early worth it too."

     "Indeed."

Laril reached out to stroke Elrunamir's hand. Elrun wrapped his fingers around Laril's and refused to let go. Laril stared at him with eyes full of love until another laugh of his shook the room. His eyes were bursting with extreme amusement.

     "I guess this explains it." he said.

     "What do you mean?"

     "Remember how ada said he felt that feeling of anticipation?"

     "Oh, right. It looks like we're going to have to expand the house more after all."

     "And by a lot! Do you know how many rooms were going to need? Ellothiel," Laril's eyes locked with mine, "You're getting them all back. All of them. That's over 100 children! We're going to be changing diapers for thousands of years."

     "Yes."

That soft sound was all I could manage. Laril's words had caused reality to start getting a grasp on me. I stopped being afraid that Elrunamir was going to disappear and instead started imagining what life would be like having him around again. I wondered how Ranimir, Calithon, and Rynan would react. Rynan had craved a younger sibling of her own. Now she would be getting far more than she would most likely want.

I bounced my son gently and he cooed merrily again. Those blue eyes of his stared up at me with the same kind of wonder that they held the first time I called him mine. His memories might have been temporarily blocked, but my Elrun definitely remained my Elrun. My children would remain my children. Never again would my heart have to bleed.

The waiting would be atrocious, but I couldn't be upset because...

That day would come. The sudden ending for my story that I never could have anticipated would be my fate. I would hold Lemerion like I was holding Elrunamir. I would be surrounded by all of those who I loved the most.

And we would be together forever.