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Gratitude to  Jazzight, Girl_Perfume, and AnalsAlmedilla for adding this story to their reading lists! I am so excited to see this story spread so far! 

"You have stopped using a crib," Elrond remarked as he saw Arwen asleep on the bed beside her mother.

"Yes," Celebrian said. She removed a leather-bound book from under her pillow as Elrond changed into his nightclothes and came to join her.

"This is the book that inspired much of my thinking on what we had done to our sons," Celebrian said, turning to look at him. "It is the shared sketchbook of the twins. I asked Elladan if I might borrow it for tonight and he agreed."

Elrond sat back against the pillows and opened the book over his knees. Celebrian snuggled against him and rested her head on his shoulder, her braid of hair pulled down to her waist.

"The pictures are not the most joy-inspiring drawings," Celebrian warned as Elrond flipped to the first used page. "And I do want to show you some of the ones I connected with more then the rest."

Elrond looked at the harsh lines of the drawing on the page and bit his lip. Shaded lines encased the sharp image of Elladan turned over his knee. A small puddle of shimmering tears had collected underneath the elfling's dripping face.

Celebrian showed him an image of the twins' room before they moved to a bed. Two cribs were set along opposite walls and through the bars Elladan and Elrohir reached for one another with desperate faces, unable to touch the hands of their doubles.

"I caged them," Celebrian said with a shiver. She pointed to a haiku reading:

This is how I felt

When you put me down to sleep

I was never free.

"Even when we let them sleep together, the bars of the crib might as well be the doors of dungeon cell. I do not want Arwen to feel imprisoned or alone." She glanced at her daughter and warned Elrond, "She has slept with me the entire time you were gone. If you roll onto her at night, you will sleep elsewhere."

Elrond chucked her under the chin. "Vessë nin, I would not crush our daughter beneath me. I promise."

"I take your word seriously," Celebrian assured him. She watched him as Elrond flipped to another page and read the inscription:

Remember the pain.

Remember your elfling years.

Remember spanking?

"Ah, Thranduil and Harune both encouraged me to sit and remember," Elrond said, touching the page. "I tried to think about it, and I remember hating it. I felt angry and tense inside."

Celebrian nodded. "Yes. I remembered as well. But I—I have found the courage to confront my parents. I do not want to turn them away. But I was afraid they would be insulted or offended if I told them I do not like the way they raised me yet I am willing to still be family."

"It is difficult," Elrond agreed, taking a last look at a dark drawing, done with vicious strokes of a pencil. Elrond stood with the strap in his hand over a weeping Elrohir, as he lay helpless on a war torn battlefield. Elladan stood in armor between his father and twin, sword in hand. In the right corner of the page, a haiku floated.

I wish I could be

Your protector, dear brother,

And save you from pain.

Elrond put the book on the bedside table as Arwen blinked and groped for her mother. He reached for the candle.

"I want to burn it when we return home," Celebrian said as she lifted Arwen to her breast and settled back against the plumped pillows behind her.

Elrond blew out the candle and put an arm around her shoulders.

"If we are done spanking them, leaving the strap on the bookcase is without reason and will only serve as a temptation," Celebrian continued. "I want to make a ritual out of it and do it as a family. I hope Elladan and Elrohir will understand."

"They will," Elrond murmured. "But we will not return to Rivendell without their consent. And we have to prove to our sons we can give them real love."

"I will do anything to prove I love them. I will do anything to show them I do not want to lay a hand on them again," Celebrian said, her voice soft. "Is Elrohir alright?"

"Yes; I tucked him in beside Elladan after he ate his dinner and left him. He was a little confused over the incident with Arwen since he remembered too clearly the punishments from his youth."

Celebrian sighed. "Poor elfling. He heard me give Arwen the opening warnings to stop and when I rose to pick her up . . ."

"Yes," Elrond said.

Outside the door of their room, four feet tiptoed past it and up the hall. Elladan and Elrohir rubbed their bleary eyes before opening the door to Thranduil's room and feeling their way through the dark to the elf King's big bed. Elladan pushed gently on Thranduil's shoulder. In his sleep, Thranduil responded to the signal and moved over, rolling onto his back as Elladan and Elrohir burrowed under the blankets and cuddled against him.

No words were spoken. None were needed.

Half asleep, Legolas also left his room in search of his father. He yawned as he walked, almost tripping over his feet. His fingers trailed over the doorknobs of the doors, counting until he reached the right one. His tired mind skipped several numbers but he failed to notice.

Legolas stumbled into the room, vaguely wondering why ada had moved everything in his room and why it seemed so small as he bumped sharp corners and felt for the bed. A sliver of dim moonlight fell on golden hair on the pillow.

Legolas pushed at the figure in the bed and clambered in next to it as the elf shifted with a groan. Ada seemed different tonight . . . his shirt was not the same . . . his hair felt . . . wrong . . .

Legolas let himself drift back to sleep; letting his tired thoughts float away into dreams.

When Glorfindel awoke at dawn, he found Legolas pressed against him, his breaths deep and even. As he stared at the Prince of Mirkwood in amazement, Legolas rolled onto his back and stretched, his elbow poking into Glorfindel.

"Ow!" Glorfindel said.

Legolas sat up with a jerk and gazed at him in bewilderment. A frown crossed his face as he glanced around the room in confusion. "W-what am I doing here?"

"I would very much like to know the same thing," Glorfindel said drily, throwing back the blankets. "What are you doing here?"

"I-I do not know . . . I suppose I must have come into the wrong room last night. I was looking for ada and I felt rather disjointed," Legolas confessed.

Glorfindel grinned. "It would take a lot of muddle-headedness to make you think I was Thranduil."

"I had a feeling you were not ada," Legolas admitted. "But I was too tired to care."

"Legolas!" Thranduil called from the hallway.

Legolas jumped out of bed to answer him. He waved to Glorfindel before he plowed out of the room. Glorfindel smiled again as he heard Thranduil grunt with the impact of Legolas's early morning hug.

OoOoO

Nightwing was laughing. Erestor looked down at his son as he finished working on the documents before him. The baby lay in nestle of blankets to his left, his toothless lips parted and grinning. He smiled at his son as he rolled up the papers and docketed them.

Ariel came into the room with a hot plate of fried meat and bread in her hands. She put it down on the table to her husband's right. Erestor's desk faced the window, looking out down the hill outside their house. She sat down next to Nightwing and kissed his nose. "Hello, little night. Happy, are you?"

Nightwing waved his arms and his small fist bumped Ariel's nose.

Celebrian and Elrond will finally be together to help their children learn to love and forgive! Seeing their parents with Arwen will be a great help to show the twins their parents' resolve. What do you think?

Thank you all so much for reading. I love hearing from you!

Next Chapter: Galadriel witnesses Elrohir break a picture . . .