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*** Note I – Welcome, welcome to the rewrite of my first fanfic, To Be Willing~ \(*0*)/ I decided to undergo this rewrite because, due to multiple reasons and intense pondering, I felt like it just really needed one. I'm not going into more detail 'cause I've already posted an in-depth, long-ass Author's Note to the very end of the original story; so, it's over there if you're curious. ***

*** Note II – Disclaimer: All canonical work is under the ownership of their respective creators. All fanworks posted are intended for personal, entertainment and non-commercial use. No copyright infringement is intended. *** I only own the following: My OCs, non-canon places; ideas, events, storylines and plots that are my own and not in the original canon; and, my imagination~ :3 ***

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~ 000 – Of Reminiscing, Fountains And A Birth ~

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"The past beats inside me like a second heart."

~ John Banville, The Sea

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"Ada, calm yourself."

Nearly akin to a hurricane, wind howled and whipped about outside, and heavy rain smashed against the roofs and outer walls of the elven lord's grand abode. Thunder sounded menacingly; it felt as though the manor was being besieged by vengeful elementals that were eager to consume the life forces of all living creatures.

With a couple of beads of sweat forming along both sides of his temple, Oropher spared a quick, unimpressed gander towards his just-arrived daughter with deep, sapphire blue eyes. He ran a hand through his straight, platinum blond tresses. Leaning against the smooth white walls in front of a closed door (he had been pacing furiously), his arms were rigidly folded across his chest, and the sole of his left boot impatiently and obnoxiously tapped against the finely-polished floors. He huffed. "I do not like this, Thranéal."

Water dripped from her hooded, dark turquoise cloak. Her clear irises were of a bright turquoise colour and her hip-length platinum blonde hair was wavy and a little damp. If anything, the young elleth seemed amused. "Nana will be alright! She has already done this before, with me."

Screaming exploded through the closed doors, soon then followed by other slightly muffled voices that were both panicky yet encouraging. Upon the initial scream, Oropher's face shot up and his eyes widened. "Laa–" He stopped himself from calling out his wife's name. "No . . . No, she will be alright. She– no, I still do not like this! I hate having to stand idle here whilst knowing that she's in such great pain."

"Nana's in good hands." Gifting her father with an encouraging smile, Thranéal placed a firm yet gentle hand over his slightly shaking one, which was tightly gripping at his bicep. "Please try to calm down. Surely you were not like this when she was birthing me, were you?"

"I was not."

"Then why –?"

"I was worse."

A sudden titter escaped from her mouth. "Did the healer and maids kick you out again for being in the way?"

The audacity of this child of mine, the elf-lord thought with faux betrayed eyes; although, he had to admit that the more he spoke with her, the more he felt as though his being was being slowly soothed into a more composed and tranquil state. He held a vague little pout, and that had her entertained. "To be fair, I do understand why –"

"Say, tell me the story of how you two met." Thranéal's face suddenly morphed into an intrigued one, to which her father procured a strange stare.

"What?"

Her cheeks barely puffed out in slight stubbornness. "Ai, I am trying to keep your mind off of worrying too much! Besides you never did tell me; and every time that I ask Nana, she just laughs."

Of course she would . . . Arms loosening with a humoured eye-roll, Oropher held a small, nostalgic half-smile. "Alright."

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Two young adult ellyn sauntered through the markets of Doriath. It was rather sunny, albeit the numerous trees provided lovely blankets of shade and calming breezes. The sunlight that had managed to peer through the various green trees was of a blinding yellow-golden and white-gold, and it radiated its' surroundings in warm, golden orange hues and highlights. Doriath was very peaceful and tranquil, and many of its' elvish inhabitants found that they could just simply wander and explore the vast forest; speaking with all manner of its' nature and fauna.

The Sindar ellyn were related, although distantly so; and they chatted ever so enthusiastically down the bustling streets that were filled with such life. One was a young lord, and he was the son to a lord of a well-respected family. The other was a prince and the son of Elmo, the youngest brother to Elu Thingol, the King of Doriath.

". . . and every time that I do something he deems unbefitting, he lashes out at me!" the prince exclaimed in exasperation; his shining grey eyes matching his tone of irritancy. "Even if it's something as small as arriving to a council meeting three minutes late, he colourfully lists my faults and degrades them!"

"This mutual hatred between the two of you seems to be dragging on for a while," the lord observed, and his eyelids flickered for a brief second.

The young prince ran his left hand through his waist-length, silken silvery hair and huffed. "A long while, indeed –!"

"And," the young elf-lord smoothly interrupted, emphasizing the 'and,' "this one-on-one feud between the two of you really needs to come to an end, Galadhon." He flicked a couple of platinum blond strands away from his face, and they fell into line with the majority of his waist-length hair, trailing perfectly down his toned back.

The sapphire-eyed ellon continued. "I understand how you feel; I do not particularly like Daeron myself – he's too haughty and condescending for me –" At that, Galadhon snorted in amusement. "– however, such an intense hatred for each other is not quite healthy! If this keeps up, I'll be worrying over your sanity!"

"Trust me, Oropher, I loathe it; I want it to come to a standstill," the other responded, and then he sighed quietly whilst closing his eyes. Opening them after a few seconds, he spared his companion a brief gander. "That loremaster simply does not like me . . ."

"'Tis a shame, though," Oropher piped up, "that such a haughty, grumpy elf could perform some of the most beautiful and wondrous of music."

"That fact alone will forever confuse me."

They chuckled a bit; still lackadaisically walking down the even busier streets. Oropher spoke up first. "You know, I have noticed a certain glow about you recently, up until we talked of Daeron . . . Did anything lovely happen to you recently; something that even I don't know about?"

Immediately, Galadhon flashed his friend a joyful smile. "I will be getting married next year!"

Doing an absentminded double-take, Oropher's mouth opened into a wide 'O' shape. His lips then morphed into a stunning smile. "Oh, that is wonderful! When was this? And who is the unlucky elleth?"

"Last night, and– excuse me!" Galadhon feigned hurt, although he did not hesitate to smack Oropher's shoulder.

Said ellon rose his hands in mock-surrender. "I jest! You know I jest!"

Galadhon gave him a suspiciously calm smile, yet mischief danced in his rather stunning grey eyes. "I know," he said as he lightly tugged Oropher's hair.

"Ai! Alright!" The other pouted and shook his head out of the other's light grasp. "So? Who is the elleth?"

The young prince smiled. "Calathiel."

Oropher returned said smile. "I knew it! My point being that the two of were only friends; however, those secret gazes of longing and affection you two made towards each other could have never escaped my keen eyes."

The other gaped a little and he rose an eyebrow, albeit amusement fired into his irises. "And I thought no one would have noticed . . . Are you a stalker to have been observing us like that?"

The young lord almost tripped. "I am not a stalker. I just merely saw things for a few moments at a time and deduced my suspicions."

Galadhon deadpanned. "You are a stalker."

"It was painfully obvious. Even Amdír came to a realization."

"Amdír is also a stalker."

Oropher laughed. "Your father realized this, as well . . ."

At that, Galadhon blushed a very light shade of pink. "My father . . . Is a stalker . . ." he drawled rather quietly. He then, oh, so suddenly, turned to stand directly in front of Oropher, and he clasped his hands on either of the latter's shoulders. "Do not tell him that I said that."

Sniggering, the ellon closed his eyes; and as he reopened them, his lips slowly curled into an amused smirk. "Alright," he replied in a singsong.

Galadhon mentally decided to ignore the smirk in which was displayed upon the ellon before him; and he spun around to his original position beside said ellon, his silvery hair swirling a bit from the movement and the slight breeze around them.

The ellyn's feet travelled a little further until they reached a large and quite pretty fountain. The masonry was quite interesting; as the fountain displayed a gorgeous and quite realistic statue of the Valie, Yavanna, accompanied with designs of flowers, leaves, trees, and a certain number of animals. Oropher, gladly giving into his inner elfling, hopped up onto the fountain's thin ledge and strolled along it.

"Step off of that," Galadhon's voice rang into his ears. "You could fall."

"Fall? No, I –"

Some colourful language flew out of Oropher's mouth as he suddenly plopped into the fountain with a loud and large splash. Oh, for the love of Eru! As he resurfaced – sitting in the fountain with the crystal-clear water coming directly below his broad shoulders – the young lord noted the quiet snickering of a few of the nearby elves. Some of them rolled their eyes and continued towards their own destinations.

Oropher flushed in embarrassment, and Galadhon's rather blaring laughter was not helping in the slightest.

"Oh no! I am so sorry!"

Oropher's head immediately darted to his front and towards the other side of the fountain ledge. His eyes vaguely widened as he gazed at a young elleth who looked to have some albinism. She donned a considerably panicky expression.

Said young elleth continued, uneasy and in hysterics. "I didn't mean to! I am to be somewhere – I ran – And then I tripped. Oh, I should not have ran when the streets are packed! How are you faring? Please forgive me; I did not mean to –"

"It is alright," Oropher smoothly interrupted whilst rising to his feet; trying to ignore the discomfort of his wet everything. He kept an unreadably neutral expression as he wondered why he had just simply forgave her, despite his agonizing embarrassment. It's not as though she had shoved me in on purpose . . .

As Oropher climbed over the fountain ledge, accompanied with whatever dignity he had left, the elleth spoke up again in a slightly less of a panic as before. "Are you sure? Are you hurt? I truly am sorry; is there anything I can –"

"Please calm down; I am not hurt," Oropher replied rather calmly, before mentally adding: Only my pride and dignity.

"Oh, thank goodness!" the Sindar elleth exclaimed in relief; clutching at her chest as some form of effort to quell her rapidly-beating heart. "I should be taking my leave, now; I'm probably late . . ." Her hip-length wavy hair flowed about her as she spun on her heal; however, she spun right around again to face the tall and extremely handsome, wet ellon before her. His eyes were glued to her and her movements.

"Oh, where are my manners?" she mumbled quietly before then delving into a curtsy. She rose shortly, and spoke in a louder, more collective and respectable tone. "Once again, I apologize for my clumsiness. I bid you farewell, Lord Oropher."

He watched her turn a take a few hurried strides away before he spoke. "Wait!"

Pivoting around for the umpteenth time, she gazed at him with slightly widened eyes. "Yes?"

"What is your name?" he inquired curiously.

She continued to stare at him. "Why do you want it?"

"It is only fair since you know mine." The sapphire-eyed ellon gave her just a tiny bit of a smug smirk.

The young elleth blushed lightly, looked away, and then re-met her pupils with his scrutinizing ones. "Laarëlas."

She hurried away, and Oropher continued to stare into the direction she ran off to – even though she was now long-gone from his vision.

He repeated her name in a low tone, satisfied with the lovely elleth's name rolling off of his tongue. His musings ceased when an arm snaked around his shoulders absent any warning. "Well, that was interesting," floated a familiar voice.

Oropher turned his head to look at Galadhon, and he glared in annoyance at him. "Quiet, you."

Said ellon shook his fair head twice, slowly. He smirked in merriment. "Come to think of it, you do not usually ask for the names of others."

"Quiet, you," Oropher grumbled as he took a step back. He ran his hands through his wet hair, releasing it from developing tangles. "Ah, I need to change . . ."

Galadhon tittered. "Yes, you do. In the meantime, I have this urge to pay dear Amdír a visit. You come and join us after changing into some dry attire."

"Why?" Oropher rose an eyebrow in inkling. "So the two of you can gossip as though you were little elflings about my embarrassment, right in front of my person?"

"Perhaps," the young prince replied in a mischievous singsong, soon flashing Oropher a seemingly innocent grin.

And as they strolled away, the young lord's subconscious pondered about that elleth from a few moments ago . . .

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Thranéal's laughter was boisterous. "No wonder she keeps laughing! And what about the second time you had met?"

Rather than being even a teeny bit irritated, Oropher, now almost completely calmed down, smiled from his reminiscing. "Ah, see, she was reading by the river; and she was so enraptured by the book that when I had made myself known, she was startled. Her surprise shocked me so much that I had lost my footing, tripped, and tumbled into the river."

The elleth experienced such comical joy at her father's expense. "Haha, and how long did this go on for?"

Oropher smirked smugly. "You may be disappointed to know that those two were the only two times wherein resulted with my fate in water." He playfully tapped her nose.

She scrutinized him. "Really?"

Absent any warning, a high-pitched cry resonated within the room beyond the doors, and the duo shared excited glances. Waiting felt like an eternity; and after a considerable amount of time, the maids – who carried bloody water and cloths and such – filed out of the room with innocently gleeful expressions donning their countenances. The final ellith to have left said room were the midwife and the healer. Giving their seal of approval, so to speak, Oropher and Thranéal then wasted no time in walking through those doors.

Two pairs of expectant blue eyes instantly met proud and overbearingly delighted rich, amethyst purple irises belonging to a beautiful yet exhausted elleth with half-messy wavy hair that was as white as fresh snow. Relaxing upon a freshly-changed bed with a new white gown, the noblewoman was slightly propped up with various fluffed pillows, and in her arms was a small and silent slumbering baby bundled in soft, creamy green touched with gold thread.

Feeling as though she was consumed with pure serenity and euphoria, Laarëlas smiled ethereally. "Come my love, my lovely daughter. Come and see our Thranduil born within this vigorous spring day."

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Ada/Adar – Dad/Father – (Sindarin)

Nana/Naneth – Mom/Mother – (Sindarin)

Ellon/Ellyn – Male Elf/Elves – (Sindarin)

Elleth/Ellith (can also be Ellyth) – Female Elf/Elves – (Sindarin)

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*** After Note I – Feel free to drop a review and let me know what you think~! :D Future chapters will be longer as this one is only a prologue. And just a quick heads up: Galadhon is Celeborn's father that Tolkien barely talked about. ***

*** After Note II – Even though this story will take place in Doriath/Beleriand within the first few chapters, I didn't place it in The Silmarillion category because the majority of this fanfiction will go through the Second and Third Ages. I will only place a story in The Silmarillion archive when most of it takes place within the First Age or prior that. :3 ***

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