"Dear Eru," Erestor whispered as they opened the door of the cabin and looked inside. "Whose idea was this?"

"Both of us," Glorfindel answered, stepping inside with Erestor. "I think." He sneezed as dust billowed out beneath their feet.

The Elves stood in the center of the wooden floor and looked around. It was hard to believe that this was the same cabin that had sheltered them from the snowstorm and led to their binding ten years previously. The room looked as if it hadn't been seen by living eye since the day Elrond and his sons had dug them out. The wooden furniture was covered with a thick layer of dust, the curtains and bed linens were scraggy and moth-eaten, and the fireplace was cold and full of nothing but grey ash. A cupboard door hung lose on one hinge; whatever supplies that had once been stored there were long gone. The mattress on the small bed looked like a family of mice had at one time made it their home.

"Dear Eru," Erestor repeated. "Did we really sleep in that bed and think it was comfortable?"

"We did, but there were other things on our minds I suppose," Glorfindel answered. "It was cozy, which it decidedly no longer is." The trip to the cabin was a leisurely three day ride, so luckily they had brought a packhorse with things like blankets, cooking pots, a kettle, utensils and a few plates and cups. Where winter ten years before had come early, this year it was late, and in the midst of a soft Imladris fall, they had hatched the plan of revisiting the cabin.

"What shall we do?" Erestor asked. "We can't just go back home. Elrond will never let us forget it. He tried to tell us it wouldn't be the same."

"And we wouldn't listen," Glorfindel said. He slowly turned around, scanning the entire room. "Well, we brought our bedrolls and blankets. We could do some hunting for food and clean up the place a little. Spend a couple of days here."

"The horses have to rest before we can return anyway," Erestor agreed. "It won't be as comfortable as we remembered, but we can manage for a day or two. We'll still be here for our edinor." (1)

Glorfindel retrieved a couple of straws from the sagging mattress, broke one in half, and hid the ends within his curled fist. "Short straw cleans," he said, holding his hand out to Erestor. "Long straw gets our dinner."

The counselor pulled out one of the straws, and when Glorfindel opened his hand, both could see that Erestor had drawn the long one. "Happy cleaning," he said, grinning. "What would you like for dinner?"

Glorfindel gave his mate a fake scowl. He really didn't mind staying and cleaning. He had enjoyed making the cabin cozy for them and doing all of the cooking when they had been there the first time. "A couple of rabbits or fowl, which you are cleaning, will do nicely. Maybe some roots, if you can find any. Did you see the water source when we rode up?" he asked.

Erestor shook his head. "It has to be close or this site wouldn't have been chosen to build the cabin. A well, perhaps? At the least, a stream?"

"You know, if it's gone dry, that could account for the state of the cabin. It would have had to be abandoned," Glorfindel said. During their previous stay when they had been snowed in, there had been no need for a fresh water source.

"And if it has dried up, there's no staying here," Erestor said. "We'll have to go back home."

"So the first order is find water," Glorfindel said. "Then we worry about the rest."

Fifteen minutes later, the Elves stood at the bottom of a hill on the edge of a nearly dried out creek bed. All the water that remained was a slow-moving trickle.

"At least it is enough for the horses," Erestor said.

Glorfindel nodded. "It's too late to head back tonight. Go ahead and see if you can find us some dinner. We have our water skins and the skins of wine to drink with whatever you can hunt. I'll bring the horses down to drink, see if I can clean up the dust in the cabin a bit, and at least make us a bed."

"And we will still be together," Erestor said with a soft smile. With a wistful look in his eyes, he kissed Glorfindel softly, and then headed back up the hill to get his weapons.

When Erestor left, Glorfindel unpacked the horses and left them to drink from the trickle of water in the creek while he returned to the cabin and tried to sort out the mess. The long disused stable gave up an old broom, which lay hidden in a corner. It was far from sturdy, but was good enough to send most of the dust on the floor flying out the cabin door. One of the raggedly blankets from the bed, torn into pieces and dipped into the shallow water in the creek bed, made short work of the dirt on the tables and chairs.

Trusting the horses to graze around the cabin and not wander off, Glorfindel explored the surrounding woodlands and returned with armfuls of fragrant grasses and evergreens. He pulled the old mattress outside and carefully removed the dried straw and other material of dubious nature from in between what thin fabric remained. Restuffed with the grasses and pine and wrapped in one of their blankets, it would make a sweet-smelling and nearly comfortable bed for the night.

It was several hours later when two exhausted Elves finally curled up together on the narrow bed.

"Maybe we're bigger than we were back then," Glorfindel said as he tried to find a comfortable spot on the lumpy, makeshift mattress.

Erestor chuckled. "I don't think so. I think the bed shrunk." He flipped over, his back to Glorfindel, trying to get comfortable. A cold foot landed on his backside. "Omph! Move your foot!" he said.

"Sorry, love," Glorfindel said with a sigh. "This damned bed."

Five minutes passed with the Elves moving uncomfortably. Erestor whacked Glorfindel in the eye with an elbow, and Glorfindel's toenails accidentally scratched Erestor's leg. With a grumbling sigh, they both rolled out of the bed.

"Floor?" a cranky Glorfindel asked.

"Floor," Erestor answered irritably.

---

It was a little past dawn when the two Elves were awakened by a voice calling from outside the cabin.

"Hail, the house!" someone called. "Who trespasses onto the property of Imladris?"

Glorfindel sighed and stiffly rose from the cold floor. Checking to make sure he was sufficiently covered by his leggings and shirt, he opened the door and recognized the Elf standing in the clearing in front of the cabin at once. ""Tis I, Caladon. Are you aiming to wake the dead with your shouts?"

"Lord Glorfindel!" the head of the patrol currently guarding the region exclaimed. "Smoke from the chimney told us someone was here. We were not expecting you."

Erestor peeked over Glorfindel's shoulder. "We thought to spend our edinor in the cabin that brought us together, Caladon. We hadn't planned on alerting any of our patrols."

"Oh, I see!" Caladon replied with a grin. "So that is why you didn't go to the new cabin."

"New cabin?" Glorfindel queried.

"On the other side of the hill," the patrol leader responded. "The one Lord Elrond ordered built after you were snowed in. It's more protected from heavy snowfall. We diverted the creek to supply it with fresh water."

"Ah, that cabin," Glorfindel said to his subordinate. So softly that only his mate could hear, he whispered, "You didn't tell me about a new cabin, Erestor."

"Elrond doesn't tell me everything, you know," Erestor muttered back. "We were...busy...when we returned home that winter."

"That cabin is not this cabin," Glorfindel said to Caladon, "and it wouldn't have been the same if Erestor and I had gone straight there."

Erestor made a sound of quiet exasperation behind him. "Of course that cabin is not this cabin, or we wouldn't have had to sleep on the hard floor last night," he whispered.

"Tell me, Caladon," Glorfindel asked, "now that Erestor and I have spent a night here and done all the reminiscing we desire, are you and your guards occupying the new cabin? If I recall the rosters, you should be out checking the northern borders."

"We are leaving now, my Lord," Caladon answered with a smile. "We will be gone north for three or four weeks, restocking the other guard houses along the border before the first snowfall. The new cabin is stocked with all you will need. If you wish to continue your holiday there, you would have it all to yourselves."

Glorfindel nodded. "Thank you. I believe we will spend a few days in the new cabin since we came all the way out here. Safe patrol, Caladon," he said, bidding the Elf farewell.

Caladon gave his captain a knowing smile, and with a salute and small bow, left to join his patrol.

---

Erestor sighed happily and laid back to rest against Glorfindel, a cup of wine in his hand. Warm furs and pillows were spread in front of the hearth where a fire blazed, providing a comfortable nest for the two Elves. They had spent a wonderful five days in the new cabin with all its amenities, not the least of which was a large, comfortable bed, and were reluctantly thinking about the need to return home. "Maybe we could stay just a couple more days," the counselor said wistfully.

"Somehow I don't think Elrond will come after us," Glorfindel said quietly, perfectly content to stay as long as Erestor wanted. He pressed his lips to Erestor's temple and held him closer. His eyes strayed to one of the windows and he chuckled softly. "Look, love," he whispered. "It's snowing."

Erestor smiled and tilted his head up to press his lips to Glorfindel's in a tender kiss. "So it is," he said.