Title: Full Circle
Author: Larien Elengasse
Type:	FPS
Characters: Glorfindel/Erestor, Lindir/Gildor
Rating:	 R
Beta: Alex
Archive:  Rhovanion, OEAM, Mirrormere, Melethryn, Library of Moria.  All others please
ask.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, they are the property of JRR Tolkien and his
estate, and I am sure he would be horrified if he read this… 
Feedback: Yes please, larienelengasse@yahoo.com

Author's Notes: Glorfindel and Erestor just won't leave me alone. Sequel to "Reunion".
This is a companion piece in the "Love in a Time of War" arc.  The stories in order are:
"The Wager", "The Dawning", "Run", "Coming Home", "Reunion", "Full Circle".  

Summary: All is right with the lovers.  Two marriages and a party.

Years of heated arguments and indiscretions melted away into nothingness when Glorfindel
pressed his mouth to Erestor's.  He wanted to say he was sorry, sorry for running away,
sorry for doubting and accusing, but words were so inadequate.  He held his beloved in
his arms, his hands moving into the heavy mass of raven silk that crowned the advisor's
head as he consumed Erestor's mouth with desperate want.  He plunged into the warm, wet
nirvana that was Erestor's kiss.  It was where he belonged after all; he knew that now.
He belonged in Erestor's arms, in his bed, in his life, and nothing could make him run
again.

They broke their kiss, each gasping for breath, the cold, winter air filling their
lungs, their breath fogging in the air around them.  

"I love you, Erestor," he murmured against the advisor's neck, his lips following
Erestor's strong jaw.  "I need you..."

Erestor's fingers tangled in Glorfindel's wild golden mane.  He had always found the
warrior's hair to be a source of endless fascination.  It shined like the sunrise,
cascading in wild, loose waves over his shoulders and down his back.  Hair such as
Glorfindel's was unusual for an elf, the only other he had ever seen with hair like that
had been Galadriel, and even it was not so untamed.  

Finally, after long years of wanting and waiting, of treading cautiously and swallowing
words that he longed to speak, he had what he wanted.  He had Glorfindel's love. 

"So long I have waited to hear those words," Erestor whispered into Glorfindel's ear.
"I feared I never would…"

"I will say them to you everyday for the rest of our lives together, my love,"
Glorfindel murmured.  

Erestor caressed Glorfindel's face with his hands.  "You are cold, my lion," he said
softly.

Glorfindel reached for Erestor with his mouth.  "Warm me, my raven," he murmured against
Erestor's lips before taking them again in a kiss.

"Take me to bed," Erestor answered in a breathless whisper as Glorfindel released his
mouth.  "Make love to me…"

Glorfindel took him by the hand and led him up the steps to the Last Homely House.
There, he made love to Erestor, and it was unlike anything he had felt before.  They
were no longer just lovers; their bodies and souls joined as one, their hearts were now
bound to one another.  Glorfindel did not deny being afraid that he might yet disappoint
his beloved, but he would no longer leave things unsaid, and his fear was met with
loving reassurance.

*     *     *     *

The following spring, Erestor and Glorfindel, and Gildor and Lindir were bound to one
another in a joint bonding ceremony.  All of Imladris turned out to celebrate the joyous
occasion.  The day was spent with friends, all singing and dancing, eating and drinking;
The Last Homely House was a place of revelry.  Glorfindel and Erestor discreetly left
the celebration after the appropriate amount of time had passed, leaving the attention
focused on Gildor and Lindir.

Walking slowly up the stairs to the main wing, Erestor allowed Glorfindel to lead him by
the hand.  He gazed up at his beloved, who had never been more beautiful than he was in
that moment.  Dressed in a robe of pale cream and gold, his golden mane bedecked with
spring flowers, his azure eyes sparkling with happiness, his sensuous lips curved into a
resplendent smile, Glorfindel was the very image of a Vala to him.  The fact that he was
the luckiest elf in all of Arda did not escape Erestor for one moment.  What once was a
sad activity, looking back on the past, was now one of joy.  His beloved friend and soul
mate had heard his call, had been returned to him, and now was his bonded mate.

Erestor laughed and Glorfindel raised an elegant golden eyebrow.

"What could possibly be cause for laughter right now?" he asked in his silky, deep
voice, as he opened the door to their bedchamber.

"When I think of all the years I spent being infuriated by you, I feel I must laugh."

The look on Glorfindel's face was plainly one of amusement.  He teased, "How romantic a
thought, my raven…"

"I was infuriated because I was afraid, just as afraid as you ever were.  We have the
wager to blame for this; you realize that.  Do you ever wonder where we would be had you
won and I lost?"

Glorfindel smiled mischievously.  "I know exactly where we would be.  Right here,
because this is where we are meant to be.  One cannot escape their fate, Erestor.
Besides, I let you win on purpose."  He closed the door behind them.

"You did not!" Erestor barked with a smile.

"I most certainly did.  Come now, my love, you did not really think that you bested me,
did you?"

"You oaf," Erestor said with a mocking scowl.

"One little librarian defeating the great Balrog slayer?  Come now… you are smarter than
that, Erestor."

"Little librarian?  Little Librarian?  Oh, you are practically begging to incur my
wrath…"  He reached out and swatted Glorfindel's firm backside.

His lover laughed and jumped as Erestor's hand came down firmly upon his bottom.  "That
is quite a swat you have there, my raven."

"Yes? There is more where that came from, you impudent elf," Erestor answered with a
wicked grin.

"Promise?"  Glorfindel asked with a wink.  Erestor reached out to swat him again, but
Glorfindel caught his wrist and pulled him forward, pinning Erestor against his chest.
"That is one of the things I love most about you, Erestor," he murmured against his
mate's neck.

"What?"  Erestor asked in a breathy whisper.

"Your fire.  Such fire contained in so controlled an exterior.  Only I know what burns
beneath the surface, only I know how dangerous you really are…"  His hands roamed over
Erestor's back and shoulders as his lips began to explore his lover's ear.

"You inflame me, do you know that?" Erestor asked huskily as his hands slid into
Glorfindel's hair.  "Your wildness, your carnality, your sensuality…  Only one as strong
as you, as powerful as you could bring this out in me."

"I hope I never fail in that.  I am happier than I have ever been when I am in your
arms, Erestor.  I am happy to be your lion…"  He latched on to Erestor's ear with his
lips, suckling and nibbling the point as his mate shuddered in his arms.  "I love how
you burn for me, Erestor," he whispered.  "I love that you want me as badly as I want
you."

Erestor's hands found their way into Glorfindel's robe, his long fingers sliding over
the sculpted muscles of his mate's torso.  He moaned as his own robe slid from his
shoulders, the afternoon breeze blowing into their room and across his exposed skin.

"I love you, Glorfindel," he whispered sultrily, as his love's lips made their way from
his ear to his mouth.

"And I love you, Erestor.  I always have and I always will…" Glorfindel murmured against
Erestor's lips.  He took his beloved's mouth in a possessive kiss, drinking deep as
Erestor's fingers clutched at his body.  The soft moans emanating from his lover caused
a tear to slip from his eye.  Nothing was more beautiful than the sound of Erestor lost
in passion.

Breaking their kiss, Erestor took Glorfindel's face in his hands and kissed the tear
from his cheek.  There was no need to comfort his beloved, for these were not tears of
sorrow or pain.  Indeed, his own spilled unbidden down his cheeks, so great was the joy
that filled his heart.  He slid Glorfindel's robe off his golden body, his fingers then
sliding the silken loincloth over his beloved's hips.  He caressed Glorfindel's
shoulders and hair as his mate removed his own garments, then allowed Glorfindel to
carry him to the bed.

Arching beneath his mate, he closed his eyes, sensations and memories flooding his mind.
Bright laughter of elflings playing in the surf, visions of his best friend, now his
bonded mate, lying beside him naked and unashamed, twirling a lock of his dark hair
between his fingers.  Lying side-by-side, Glorfindel's hand covering his own and lifting
it, drawing shapes of animals they spied in the clouds above.  Chasing each other
through the forest, swinging wooden swords and pretending they were great lords.  Riding
tandem upon Glorfindel's huge gelding, the beast's hooves kicking up the spray of the
surf and splattering their legs, his arms wound tightly around Glorfindel's waist, his
chin upon his friend's shoulder.  Sitting together upon the bench of the schoolhouse,
whispering secrets and trying not to laugh.  Stealing a fresh pumpkin pie from the
windowsill of his home and hiding in the forest to eat it together.  He remembered the
first time he saw Glorfindel in uniform, how proud and noble he looked.  

The wager, the look of surprise upon Glorfindel's face when he found himself upon his
back.  That first night together, how wonderful it was, how fulfilling, how right it
felt.  All the long years in between their childhoods and the wager was not forgotten,
for it was a step in the journey that had brought them to where they were.  However,
Erestor would no longer dwell on those sad days, on the guilt that had consumed them
both and nearly driven a wedge between them.  What mattered was what they had now, they
had been reunited, and the innocent love of their youth was brought to its full
potential in their bonding.

As his lover entered his body and became one with him, he smiled.  Cradling Glorfindel's
golden head in his hands, he allowed his mate to worship his body, and he in turn gave
of himself fully.  "I love you," kept spilling from his lips in a soft whisper, his
declaration answered with words of love and devotion so beautiful that he wept freely.  

It no longer mattered what happened from that day forth.  War may come, death may
follow, but he and Glorfindel would never be sundered again.  Whether it was there in
Middle-earth, in Aman, or in Mandos' Halls, he and Glorfindel would be together.  They
would no longer be afraid.

*    *    *    *

Lindir sat upon Gildor's lap as the musicians and dancers of Imladris entertained them.
Arwen performed a lovely reenactment of the meeting of Lúthien and Beren with Elladan as
her partner.  Elrohir showed off his new stallion's training as the young horse bowed
and he presented them with a bouquet of fresh spring flowers.

Lindir smiled as he leaned forward and accepted them, bowing his head in thanks.  Gildor
bowed his head as well and took the opportunity to press a kiss to his beloved's
shoulder as Elrohir lead his horse away.  The day had been full of games and revelry;
many of the warriors that had served under Gildor made their captain proud as they
demonstrated their skill in archery and precision in hand to hand combat.

As Anor began to make her descent into the western sky, Lindir sank into Gildor's arms,
tilting his head as his mate caressed his neck with his lips. 

"Erestor and Glorfindel left long ago," he whispered.

"Aye," Gildor answered.  

"Have we waited a respectable and sufficient amount of time?" Lindir asked with a sigh.

"I do believe we have," Gildor returned.  "I doubt anyone would fault us for being eager
to take to our marriage bed."

Lindir smiled.  "Eager is one way of putting it…"

Gildor chuckled huskily against the curve of Lindir's ear, causing his beloved to
tremble slightly.  "Well then, shall we go?"

"Please."

Gildor stood, lifting Lindir into his arms as he began to walk toward the Last Homely
House.  His warriors shouted good wishes and hopes for much love to the couple, causing
Lindir to blush and hide his face in Gildor's dark mane.  Gildor smiled and nodded at
Lord Elrond as he passed the dais, and offered a wink to the twins and Arwen.  Soon,
they were inside and Gildor sat his mate down at the foot of the stairs.  Before Lindir
could speak, Gildor claimed his mouth in a searing kiss, earning a whimper from his mate
as Lindir arched against him.  Outside, they could still hear the sounds of revelry and
Gildor released Lindir's mouth as he took him by the hand.  

"Come, my love," he said softly as he began to climb the stairs toward their quarters.

Lindir followed, admiring his mate and thanking the Valar for his fortunate fate.
Gildor was dressed in velvet and silk in hues of deep green and silver, colors befitting
one who loved Yavanna's creations as much as he did.  Lindir admired the way the brocade
draped over his mate's powerful chest and back, how the velvet panels molded to the
curves of Gildor's upper body like a second skin before falling to the floor past his
hips.  ‘I must remember to thank Lady Arwen,' he thought to himself.  ‘She has outdone
herself this time.'  Gildor's dark mane was adorned with tiny baby red rose buds, woven
into the intricate braids that Arwen had placed in his hair.  Indeed, Arwen had attended
to Gildor in every detail, all the way down to the manicure and pedicure he had received
that morning.  Arwen had taken what was already remarkable in its natural state and
embellished it to create a living, breathing work of art.  How Lindir wished he could
freeze that moment in time, that he could somehow preserve it so that he may show it to
his family and share it with those he loved who could not be there to share the
momentous day with him.  

"I cannot wait until you meet my family," Lindir said, as they climbed the final flight
of stairs.  "They will surely love you as much as I do."

Gildor smiled over his shoulder.  "And I am sure to love them, for they are part of you
and I love all of you, Lindir."

Lindir smiled and felt his eyes begin to well with tears.

"My own family will adore you, particularly my sister who has a special place in her
heart for music.  She is a dancer, you know; she will insist you play for her so she can
dance."

"It will be my honor," Lindir answered.

They reached the door to their chambers and Gildor paused.  He stepped behind Lindir and
covered his eyes.  

"What?"

"Patience, my love," Gildor answered.  "I have a surprise for you…"

Lindir allowed Gildor to guide him into their chambers and waited for Gildor to remove
his hand.  He felt it slide away and he opened his eyes, gasping at the sight that
greeted them.

What had been his cozy one room chamber had been transformed.  Somehow, without his
knowledge, the skilled craftsmen of Imladris had removed a wall and increased the size
of their living chambers by three-fold.  What had been one room was now three.  

They entered into the main living area.  His harp remained where it was before; his
practice area was undisturbed.  Where his bed had been was a sitting area to entertain
guests, complete with velvet covered overstuffed chairs and two chaise lounges.  The
simple mantle had been replaced with one carved of beech, inlaid with lutes and harps
and dancers.  His plain draperies were replaced with beautiful woven silk that danced
and glided upon the breeze that came in through the windows.  The wall that had held his
dressing area and bathing area was now a small kitchen, discretely set off from the rest
of the living space by a willow screen.  A round dining table with four chairs sat near
the windows, and a chandelier made from wrought iron hung above it and held candles for
illumination.

His eyes were wide as he took in the scene before him, staring in disbelief at the
transformation.  While much had changed, there were still many touches of his own that
remained, including the rocking chair, rug, and music stand that his parents had given
him.  He looked at Gildor with a wide smile.

"How… when?"

"All day," Gildor answered.  "While we have been celebrating, the entire staff of
craftsmen has been performing this work.  It is my gift to you in return for all that
you have given me."

He threw his arms around Gildor's neck and shook his head, unable to find words that
were adequate for what he felt.  "Thank you," he breathed, and began showering Gildor
with kisses.

Gildor laughed and smiled.  "Ah, but you haven't seen the best of it yet.  Come…"  He
guided Lindir through a curved doorway that was covered by a curtain.

They entered what was now the bedchamber, and Lindir could hardly believe his eyes.  His
bed stood against the far wall and was flanked by two newly made tables, above each hung
lanterns.  The bed itself was bedecked with linens of silk and velvet and fresh flowers
were strewn over the top.  A canopy of the finest silk hung above it and draped over the
sides creating a sensual haven.  To the right of the bed were two doors with beveled
glass that opened to a balcony that overlooked the mountains and the meadows below.  His
armoire plus an additional one stood on each side of the doorway, and to the left of the
bed was another door.

Lindir pointed.  "Where does that lead?"

Gildor smiled.  "Perhaps you should find out…"

Lindir released Gildor's hand and walked across the room, peering inside the doorway.
"Sweet Elbereth!" he exclaimed, and turned to look back at Gildor with wide eyes.  "Oh…
oh my… I have never…"

"Go inside," Gildor answered with a smile.

Lindir entered their private bath, the only one he had ever had in his life.  The floor
was made of granite, expertly beveled and mortared together forming an almost seamless
covering.  Copper pipes came out of one wall splitting off in two directions.  To the
right they lead to a sink made of marble, set upon a pedestal, complete with copper
faucet and separate controls for hot and cold water.  Above the sink was a small cabinet
set into the thick wall, on the door of the cabinet was a framed mirror, and on each
side of the cabinet were two small lanterns to provide light.  To the left of the sink
was a large tub, made of solid marble, complete with a drain that was closed using a
lever.  The tub also had a faucet and controls for hot and cold water.  A shelf made of
glass was mounted on the wall above the tub, and held various jars with oils and soaps
for bathing; candles set around the tub provided illumination.  Bars mounted on the
walls held towels and two hooks on the back of the door held their bathing robes.
Lindir was speechless; never had he seen so opulent a bath.

"The tub…"

Gildor smiled.  "They began work on that months ago.  A large piece of marble broke off
from the cliffs around the Bruinen.  I saw it on patrol and had it hauled back here;
they carved the tub out of it."

Lindir knelt and ran his hand along the edge.  "It is so smooth…"

"Gil-galad had one just like it in Lindon; I always liked that tub…"

Lindir stood and smiled, raising an eyebrow.  "You were closely acquainted with Gil-
galad's tub?"

Gildor winked.  "Closely enough…"

Lindir stepped forward and placed his arms around Gildor's neck.  "A tub fit for a king…
How will I ever thank you, my love?"

Gildor murmured, "Oh, I am sure you will find a way…"  He smiled as Lindir took his
mouth in a loving kiss, opening to him and letting his lithe mate drink his fill.

Lindir guided him back through the doorway and into their new bedchamber as he began
working the clasps on the front of Gildor's wedding robe.  His long fingers caressed the
body he had grown to love and crave more than anything before, and he hung the garment
over the back of a chair sitting in the corner.  He pressed kisses to Gildor's face as
his mate removed his own robe, releasing him and climbing upon the bed as Gildor hung
the garment next to his own.  He welcomed his beloved into his arms as Gildor mounted
the bed, and they made love among the flowers until Ithil rose high in the night sky.

~Finis