Nelyo finished tying the cloth belt around his waist before looking around his room. It was neat for the most part, except the abundance of toys laying on the floor. An entire army of little wooden elves were scattered across the floor in a trail and where the trail ended a little boy sat, playing with the commander the the wooden army. 

The little boy looked up with giant grey eyes and offered the wooden commander to Neylo. "Níra ldë tyal ohtars as ni?"(Will you play warriors with me?) It was a rather plain toy that their father, Feanaro, had made many years ago. When Neylo brought the little boy, Elrond, home, Curufinwe and Kanafinwe pulled the wooden toys out of storage and gave them a fresh coat of paint. They had been scattered across Neylo's floor ever since.

He looked down to the floor at the four year old Pheredhil offering him his favorite toy and smiled. "I mendë onya." (I will my child) Elrond grinned as Nelyo sat down next to him, trying to avoid sitting on the warriors. He had done that once before and it was not something he wanted to do again. Nelyo grabbed one of the taller figurines. It had red hair, freckles, blue eyes. His brothers had modeled the toy after him, going so far to scratch 'Commander Nelyafinwe' into the bottom of his boots. It was unreadable, but  Nelyo knew due to them telling him of the replica they had made.

Elrond was holding onto another commander figure with black hair and silver armor. The toy had a shield of blue with a silver star. Nolofinwe. He was sure his name was scratched on the bottom of his boots as well but Nelyo just decided to rely upon his sight and common sense. There was a little castle that Feanaro had made as well. Tirion, it could only be Tirion. Nelyo's brothers had made Formenos as well, but it was a stronghold, not a city. Due to that, Tirion was used more. There was a dragon with wings of fire that his brothers had made, claiming that any army needed a foe. 

"Who are you fighting, little one?" Nelyo looked at the small field that Elrond appeared to be playing on. There was not a single enemy there. 

"I was waiting for someone to fight." He looked at Nelyo with bright eyes. The red head chuckled and set his commander down, pushing towards Elrond. He got on his hands and looked around, he knew what he wanted to be if he was going to be the enemy. Nelyo's eyes finally landed upon the firy winged dragon on the floor, near the box that he had told Elrond was for the wooden toys.

"Then you shall have an enemy!" Nelyo snatched the dragon from the floor and  faced Elrond and his expansive elven army. "For I am Urulócë!* The Elf eating dragon!" Nelyo growled swung the dragon around. "Run little Elves!" He growled again and made the dragon dive into a small group of warriors. "Rawr!" Nelyo made the red dragon thrash around, sending wooden warriors flying.

Elrond squealed and gathered as many of the warriors as he could, putting Nelyafinwe and Nolofinwe in the front of course. "Be gone Urulócë! For we have the strongest army in all of Valinor!" The little Elven Commanders rode around on little Elven horses with an entire army behind them. 

Nelyo brushed some of his hair behind his ears before turning to Elrond and growling again. "All these lovely elves for me to eat! Urulócë will never leave!"  Nelyo had the dragon flying through the air again, making some kind of wind sound before growling again. "I will eat every last one of you pesky Elves!" He did a dive bomb and landed in the middle of the army.

"Attack!" Elrond grabbed both of his commanders and began attacking the large 'Elf eating' dragon that plagued his lands. After a few minutes of them laughing and growling, Elrond had his commander hit the dragon in the neck with his sword, and that was the end. 

"He got me! He got me!" Nelyo put his hand to his forehead and fell backwards until he was laying flat. He sat the dragon down and looked over to see the little elfling celebrating his victory against the terrible dragon.

"We did it! We beat the dragon!" Nelyo grinned and watched Elrond out of the corner of his eye.

"But the dragon came back!" Nelyo growled and grabbed Elrond around the stomach and pulled him over to his side. "And the Elf eating dragon got his kill!" Elrond squealed and squirmed while Nelyo nuzzled his neck, still making growling sounds. 

"Ah! Hannos tullimbe! The dragon got our brother's son!" (Brothers come quick!) Nelyo looked up to see Curu in the doorway with a wide grin. Nelyo looked up with an evil smile and a teasing sparkle in his eyes. 

"Aye! I got him! And now he is my dinner!"  He growled Elrond's neck again, causing the little boy to break out into high pitched giggles. Curu stood in the doorway and laughed, watching his brother play with his son. 

"Before you eat the elfling, oh great dragon, Father wishes to speak with us all. I'm sure he would be rather unamused if his dragon son came down with blood dripping from his maw. please great Urulócë, let our little elfling flee!" Curu was laughing even as he spoke. 

Nelyo let go of the little elfling, who squirmed away on the floor, and gave his attention to Curu. "Father? He wishes to speak with us?"

"I thought you would already know why Nelyo! It is one of your favourite things." 

"The lamp lighting? Tonight? Already?" Curu shrugged and leaned up on the doorframe.

according to Father, yes. I haven't been keen on timekeeping Nelyo, so I'm afraid it snuck up on me as well." He looked over to Elrond, who was now sitting up with Nolofinwe and Nelyafinwe in his hands. "And it will be quite exciting for you, little one. The lighting of the Feanorian Lamps is not something to miss." He winked.

Curufinwe was one of the other brothers that was very close with Elrond. He would make him little trinkets and toys, he would play with him, he taught him many things, and Curu had a son of his own. Celebrimbor hadn't been home for long time but Nelyo knew that if there was one person in this house that was good with children, it was Curu.

Nelyo pushed himself off of the floor and brushed off his breaches. "Come on little one, let us go see what Feanaro has to say to us all." Elrond sat both of the commanders down and scampered to his feet. 

"Aye! Us three will be the last of the group." Nelyo watched as Elrond trotted through the doorway and waited by Curu's side. Nelyo closed the door, he didn't want Huan getting into his room again, and joined the other two. 

They went from one of the rooms on the top level down to the main room on the ground. It was across from a room that lead to one of their father's many supposed forges. Compared to the other floors the main floor was hot and it got hotter the lower you went.

The main room was the largest room in Formenos. It hall long banners that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. There was a long table with eleven chairs, two of them were almost always empty. Around the end of the table four men stood, one of them sat. They chattered in Quenyan and looked between one another, but Fëanáro was no where to be found. 

"Telellë elen!" (Little Star Elf!)** The two red heads swung around and spoke in complete sync, laughing and smiling as they bent down and opened their arms. Pitya and Tela, the twins. Elrond laughed and ran into their arms. Turca looked over from his chair where he was playing with Huan.

"If it isn't the fathers of the group." He gave them both a devilish grin and Huan barked in agreement. Curu only laughed, shaking his head as if the others would never learn, and went to play with Huan.

"You've been rather quiet, Morifinwë." The dark haired man, leaning on the wall, looked over at Nelyo with sharp eyes. 

"Aren't I always?" The younger brother growled and looked back down to the floor, brooding.  Nelyo shrugged and went over to Kanafinwe who was now kneeling on the floor with the twins,

"Amarië ae Kanafinwe." (Good Day Maglor) Nelyo sat down on the floor by his brother's side, pulling him into a hug.

"As to you, my brother."  Nelyo looked around, letting go of his younger brother.

"Is Father ever coming?"

"All the parents seem to be late." Mori left his place on the wall and joined the rest of his family around the table. "Besides, sometimes I wonder if Father just says he going to have a meeting and then have us stand here until we realise that he tricked us. Making us walk away like gullible fools."

"Ah, always the voice paranoia Morifinwë." Curu looked over from playing with Huan as Mori sat down on the floor, crossing his legs and arms. Making another growling sound and looking down to the ground. The group of brothers looked up when they heard the sound of glass smacking glass along with the deep voice of their father.

"Now now boys," There were more 'clanks' as their father, Fëanáro, walked into the room carrying a large box. "Today, or tonight I should say, is a night of celebration!" He dropped the box into the table and stood back as to admire his handy work. Nelyo stood and peered into the box to find it filed with Feanorian Lamps. "I assumed that you all wished to celebrate, so I brought you the decorations."

Mori stood again and pulled one of the lamps out of the box by the handle. He spun it around and narrowed his eyes. "It's your choice of you want to decorate it not, but I have work to finish in the forge." Fëanáro waved his hands before leaving the same way he had appeared.

Tela held Elrond in his arms and Peta looked over the lamps. "Once again, Father find more in his forge than he does in his own children." Peta shook his head in a mixture of disappointment, anger, and sorrow.

"Well, what's the point in decorating if even Father doesn't want to?" Mori dropped the lamp into the box and looked towards the stairs. 

"But, Mori, it's a family tradition. Our family tradition. Aren't we family?" The brothers looked between each other before looking back to Nelyo. "Why do we need Father to celebrate?"

"Nelyo's right!" Tela and Peta spoke once again in sync. "We are all the family we need!" 

"They are Feanorian Lamps." Nelyo grabbed one of the lamps and held it up in front of his eyes. "Are we not Feanorians?" Huan let out a loud bark and sprang from his master's hand to Nelyo's side. He rubbed his face in the red head's leg. Nelyo dropped the lap down so it was in front of his chest.  "Am I celebrating with Huan, or with everyone?"

Turca got out of his chair and ran over to his brother's side. "I'll join you Nelyafinwe!"

"Us too!" The twins piped up.

"I think you already know what we're going to say." Curufinwe and Kanafinwe each laid a hand on their elder brother's shoulder.

Morifinwe sighed. "I am part of this family as well, so I'll join you." The twins both had giant smiles that Nelyo was more than happy to see. He wanted his brothers to be happy.

"Well!? What are we waiting for!?" The two red haired twins grabbed some of the lamps and ran down the hall. Laughing and giggling to one a another, Nelyo missed that. The other brothers watched as the twins ran outside, and quickly joined them in their festive mood.

"I guess we'll fill in the gaps." Elrond reached up on his tippy toes and tried to reach the box, sadly he was too short to reach it. Nelyo laughed, shaking his head. "Let's go and help the others." He lifted the box off of the table with ease and set off to the walls outside. checking behind himself every so often to make sure that Elrond was keeping up.

Outside of the fortress the sun showed midday. The grass and the trees waved in the light wind. His brothers had already disappeared to places all over the grounds. Hanging lanterns upon the stone walls of their home. Preparing to light the night sky with something akin to a castle made of stars.

"Shall we start here little one?" Nelyo looked down, shifting his weight to carry the box of glass and iron. Elrond nodded and have his father a shy grin. Nelyo chucked and dropped the box down next to the wall and looked around for nice place to hang the lanterns. A little further up the wall was a small peg from which he could hang a lantern. The redhead turned around when he heard the sound of moving glass. Elrond held one of the lanterns in his arms and looked at Nelyo expectantly. "Do you want to hang that one?"

"Yeah!" He pointed up at the peg in the wall.

"Alright," Nelyo scooped up the elfling and held him up so he could reach the peg in the stone wall. Elrond hooked the glass lamp on the wall, it swung back and forth for a moment before Nelyo steadied it. He lowered the little Pheredhil onto the ground and looked up to the lamp.

"Well, that's one down." He looked over to the box and Elrond was studying. "Only an entire box to go." Nelyo grabbed the box again and began to walk farther away from the entrance. "The others have there's though, so I'm sure it's less than what it looks like."

The two went around and at every peg in the wall, Nelyo would pick the little Elfling up and then another lantern would be hung. some walls had two or three pegs and other walls had already been decorated by the other sons. They each ate one of the apples around the fortress as they walked, remembering that there was going to be dinner when the lighting began.

As they reached the back of the fortress, Nelyo put the box down and put his hands on his hips. "I haven't seen any of them, I wonder where they could be." He looked around, finding that the only other person there was Elrond. "Are they all in front already? I suppose it could be possible."

Elrond grabbed another one of the lantern and ran over to Nelyo's side. Pointing up at a peg that one of the brothers must have missed.

"Oh! We don't want to leave one of the pegs without a lantern now, would we?" Elrond shook his head, sending black hair everywhere. "That's what I thought." He grabbed the Pheredhil around the waist and lifted him up again to place the lantern that his brothers had missed.

Setting Elrond down they moved on, both keeping an eyes out for pegs. Or, Elrond did when he wasn't staring into the lantern he had grabbed from the box before Nelyo grabbed it.

The sun gradually began to set in the sky, giving everything a large shadow that danced upon the ground.

"Atto?"(Daddy?)

"Yes little one?"

"Why don't you light the lamps now while you're hanging them up?"

"Well, then there wouldn't be the excitement of seeing them as they light at night. There wouldn't be any surprise, they would already be lit." Elrond padded behind and held up the lantern, looking at the inside. Confused on how it was going to light itself.

"It lights itself!?"

Nelyo chuckled. "I'm afraid not, I suppose it's just tradition to do it that way. The twins and Turcafinwe usually do the lighting since they're the fastest."

They wandered around Formenos as the sun sank behind the mountains. They would have to go to the entrance soon. They filled in the pegs that were missed along the way. Making sure that every single peg on the wall had a lantern. Soon, the sky above them was bleeding purple, pink , red, blue, every color that a sunset normally was. The stars began to creep out as well, showing the people below their hiding places.

As the entrance came into view, the two could see a large fire. Flickering tongues of green, red, blue, and white tried to reach up to the bleeding sky above.

The brothers all sat at the table that had been set out a white before. They looked up with grins when the other two joined them at their table.

"Now that you two are back I'm thinking that we should go out and light everything?"

"If you are all ready, go ahead! We put everything up, it just needs to be brought to life." Nelyo dropped the box near the table, taking the one left out. He took a stick, put in the fire, and then lit the inside of the lamp ablaze. He set it in the middle of the table, watching as the flames licked the glass like walls of the lamp.

"Then let's get started!" The twins jumped to their feet, as did their brother with Huan by his side. They did the same as Nelyo, carrying lit sticks and praying that they wouldn't blow out before they reached the first lantern.

Elrond crawled up into Nelyo's lap and clung to the collar of his shirt, nuzzling into his shoulder. Nelyo brushed his back and watched with an excited feeling as the lanterns came to life like they did every year. Bright blue flames, beautiful and breathtaking. Hotter than normal fire and brighter than the stars in the sky.

"Look little one," Elrond looked up with wide silver eyes.

"It's so pretty Atto!" The sparkling lantern light was reflected in the Pheredhil's big silver eyes. All the bright lights, it looks like fallen stars!"

"Doesn't it? I love looking at the lamps."

"Don't we all." Curufinwe came out of the fortress with a large silver platter. He more or less slammed the dish on the table. "We had to eat at some point, or maybe that was just me."

"I don't think that's dinner Curufinwe." Most of the fruits were drizzled in chocolate, making them even sweeter than they were before.

"We already missed dinner Nelyo!" He grabbed one of the fruits and sat behind the red head. "No point in going back to that!"

Nelyo shook his head. "Whatever you say Curu." The three brothers threw their lighted sticks in the air, catching them of course, before running back to the others.

"Doesn't that look perfect." Turcafinwe watched as the flames danced in the lanterns, lighting the area. "Looks like a castle of legend."

"Doesn't it always?" The brothers laughed, for once it was like nothing had ever happened. It was like before their father had stopped joining them. They were their own family.

"Always? Looks more like an ancient villain's fortress on a normal basis."Pita laughed.

"Oh well, whatever it is, it's home." The brothers nodded and spoke in agreement. Nelyo looked to the child in his lap who had fallen asleep watching the lanterns flicker. But it wasn't the only thing that flickered that night,

Their family flickered back to life.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dawwwwww. sorry, um, was that only me. Yeah....

So, for all of you out there who might think that I hate Maedhros, I don't. I guess when I wrote Dragon Fire I had some beef with him or something. I love him now. <3 I mean, I even dressed up as him for Halloween! XD

I know this has nothing to do with mothers, but I hope you still like it. I guess it's just a cute story (AKA Megan tried to make it cute).

Tell me if you like the Elvish translations like that, or if you don't. I'll change the format if you don't like it.

*Fire-Dragon. It was a name so I didn't translate it there, but now you know what it means :3

* *It means "Little-Elf star* Technically. I changed it a bit :3

~Megan