#Arafinwë will always be on the side of his nephews and nieces.

[carmisse]

Of Ñolofinwë and Arafinwë.

Ñolofinwë : I'm just saying that they could have fallen in love with other people. Turukáno did it.

Ñolofinwë : it doesn't bother me in particular, I just find it curious.

Arafinwë : If I remember correctly, Tyelkormo and Irissë were only together for a span of six years.

Ñolofinwë : but Maitamo and Findekáno are married, Aracáno and Telufinwë are on their way to do the same.

Arafinwë : Oh Nolo, they are really adorable!

Arafinwë : although I have a theory.

Arafinwë : remember when you were a teenager and confessed after a couple of glasses of sweet wine that you had feelings for our brother?

Ñolofinwë : For the last time, I was drunk, I was young and that feeling was completely platonic!

Arafinwë, smiling : I think your children inherited it from you.

[sunflowersupremes]

I think I've made like, two sarcastic comments about how I'm glad the Finarfin you've mentioned isn't the Finarfin from my stories (or at least in the splinters like jewel shards verse) but I don't think I've asked, do you have any headcanons on Finarfin? I'm interested if you'd like to share any!

-@outofangband

@outofangband

Yes!!! I remember that comment. I also hope he’s a bit nicer than the Finarfin from Return in Chains, one of my fics (although that Finarfin isn’t evil… just… makes questionable decisions out of desperation, which is basically the Finwean Family Pastime).

I LOVE FINARFIN.

He thinks “Finarfin” (aka Finwe-Ara-Finwe) is a terrible name and can’t believe his brother would have done such a stupid thing. (He also thinks “Fingolfin” is a terrible translation).

After all his relatives took off and left them, he got put in charge of not only the country, but also literally everyone’s CRAP. Meaning, as the only remaining member of the house of Finwë, he had to figure out what to do with all the houses and possessions they left behind. He ended up boarding them up and leaving them, in the hopes that they would come back one day (elven possessions don’t rot or decay, after all).

The only time he used one of his relatives homes after they left was gifting Maglor’s house to Celebrían when she arrived. By that time he had accepted that Maglor would never return, and he figured she had the best claim to it (and it had the largest garden, which he knew she would like, and it was in the artist’s district which she loved). When Elrond actually managed to drag Maglor back with him, Arafinwë was SHOCKED. Thankfully, Maglor was fine with him gifting it to her and just moved in with them.

He just generally seems like he wants the best for everyone. I don’t think he’s a coward, I think he’s just very cautious (and he has a bit of foresight, which means he probably saw that the future would be WORSE if he went as well). I also like the idea that part of his reason for staying was ‘get on the Valar’s good side so I can eventually convince them to help’ not realizing that by the time they helped his entire family would be dead.

He has a great sense of humor and is generally a fun guy to be around. His assorted relatives know they’re always welcome at either of his homes (he has one in Tirion and one in Aqualonde) even if he’s not there himself. Half the time he gets back from vacation to find at least two random nieces/nephews chilling in his house.

He and Maglor both have a similar grasp of emotions and Osanwe. Maglor uses his gifts to fuck with people; Finarfin tries to use his to help people. He spends a lot of time going around fixing all the people Maglor has screwed with.

Arafinwë annoys Maglor precisely because he can see through Maglor’s attempts at manipulation. Maglor tried to trick him into doing something once and Finarfin calmly said ‘if you wanted attention you only had to ask’ (that, of course, was HIGHLY OFFENSIVE as far as Maglor was concerned).

Arafinwë does not want the crown. It is a running joke in Tirion that whenever someone from the line of Finwë is reborn or sails, he tries to give them the crown (it is true, actually, but no one else wants the thing either). He even tries to give it to Maglor once he turns up.

His attempt at inventing democracy backfired when he was elected.

Nerdanel becomes very close to him during the First Age while they bond over missing their children.

He keeps a memorial in the palace garden, with markers - made by Nerdanel - for every fallen member of the house of Finwë. They even add a marker for Gil-Galad after the Last Alliance even though no one has any idea who the fuck he is or if he’s related. The memorials are kept even after the dead are re-embodied, as a reminded of ‘that dumb thing you did that one time’

He makes annual trips to the Halls of Mandos just to ‘chat’ with Namo (and subtly inquire as to when he’s going to be getting his relatives back). Finrod’s release was, in part, to try to appease Arafinwë, but all it did was make him more determined that he COULD get the rest of his family back.

He informs Namo that no, no you will NOT be keeping my brother and his children until the Second Music, thank you very much. (Namo points out that their Fëar are very badly damaged, Arafinwë asks why the fuck Namo thinks that he - as a Vala - is best equipped to heal people who hate his guts)

Fëanor gave him a pet swan when he was five because Fëanor thinks swans are assholes and expected it to terrorize his younger brother. Instead Arafinwë befriended the swan and trained it to bite Fëanor on command.

Arafinwë typically doesn’t eat meat, the only exception is fish.

He can’t figure out why the Valar put Eönwë in charge of the host. I mean, he’s a great guy and a terrifying fighter, but he seems to have a few screws loose.

Elrond and Elros’ return to Gil-Galad was only because of Arafinwë. Maedhros and Maglor didn’t trust the host of the Valar, but Arafinwë sent them a letter promising to personally watch over the twins and arguing that they would be safer with the Host. Because of this, Elrond and Elros resented him for a long time, blaming him for taking them away from their adopted family.

Arafinwë spent a good chunk of the War of the Wrath keeping Eönwë from accidentally causing Diplomatic Incidents or Other Minor Catastrophes. The rest of the War was spent trying to work how the the fuck he’s related to Gil-Galad. He still isn’t sure, he’s pretty sure Fingon might have just picked up a random kid somewhere. Or he might be a Fëanorian, but he kind of hopes NOT. He loves his half-brother, but holy fuck.

It was his idea to turn Morgoth’s crown into a collar, because he was fucking pissed off by that point. It was mostly a joke, but Eönwë, being a himbo, went with it.

He was attempting to negotiate either the return of the Silmarils OR a different way to end the Oath when Maedhros and Maglor stole the Silmarils from Eönwë’s camp. One of the guards they killed was a childhood friend of Arafinwë. Arafinwë already had rooms waiting for Maedhros and Maglor back in Tirion, because as soon as he got them on a boat he was planning to take them straight home, whether that was the Valar’s plan or not.

Arafinwë had managed to arrange a pardon for Galadriel, but she was still angry and proud and announced that she didn’t want it, thus resulting in her getting a personal ban.

He knew Galdalf before he went to Middle Earth and gave him a very long list of things to tell Galadriel, most of which amounted to ‘get over yourself and apologize to the Valar so you can come home you fucking idiot (and please tell Elrond hello, he’s a lovely child, really)’

He adores the Hobbits and can’t believe Elrond managed to bring them. Gandalf who? He gives his grandson-in-law all the credit, thank you very much.

[yellow-faerie]

I would very much like to hear about your head canons for Findis and co! (if you're not busy, no pressure!) have a great day :)

Oh yes! Would love to! Sorry it took so long - I have exams and I had to go back through all my many, many notes I have accumulated over the last six months of headcanons and things and the post kept getting bigger!

OK, so, while I sometimes go by other people as Findis’ wife/husband, my personal favourite is Rilyanixë and together they have four children: two daughters and two sons. Of these children, they have six grandchildren (3 granddaughters and 3 grandsons) and (as far as I know so far) no great-grandchildren.

(I’ll put the full post under the cut)

So Findis is the eldest daughter of Finwë and Indis called Laurinalma by her mother (meaning Golden Flower) and Lintafinwë by her father (meaning Soothing Finwë) (and maybe Finwë is a male name but I believe -wë is a gender neutral name ending and I like the idea of different families keeping a naming tradition of sorts). The name Findis is actually her Cilmessë.

She dislikes Tirion immensely because of their general attitude to remarriage and everything really.

I have this headcanon that the children of Finwë were all very close until they really got into society and rumours and other people’s opinions really tore them apart - Fëanor to Formenos or Aulë’s halls; Lalwen to the wilds where she spends most of her time with her Maia girlfriend/wife (they aren’t sure which); Fingolfin to the isolation of court; and Finarfin to Alqualondë.

And Findis goes to Valmar and the Vanyar.

She takes on a healers apprenticeship there, returning only a few times a year to her family home where tensions are rising between Fëanor and literally everyone else - not yet about anything important, more about really insignificant things. (I think this post sums up my thoughts on Fëanor and the way I see his relationships with his half-family quite well)

And for her graduation, she goes to the Tirion library before returning to Valmar (this is as much to cool down after arguing with Fëanor over something inconsequential as it is to find resources for her theory exam/essay/things) and meets Rilyanixë.

Rilyanixë (a name meaning Sparkling Ice) is the quiet, middle child of the chief archivist of Tirion Archive. His father is a Vanya hunter (because, really, Findis isn’t going to marry someone who isn’t at least a little Vanya) and his older sister takes after him. His younger sister went down to Alqualondë to learn sailing because she refuses to take after either of her parents, but that’s another story.

They meet because he too is looking to get away because his mother - a staunch supporter of the crown and it’s ability to make sound decisions (thus trusting Indis) - threw someone from the archive for making snide comments about the royal family and Rilyanixë rather disliked the raised voices. It is technically his day off but he came here to put books away because that’s what calms him.

So they meet and get on well: Rilyanixë quite likes this slightly scatter-brained healer and Findis likes the quiet librarian with a small smile and brown hair that shines gold when the light hits it just right.

She agrees to meet him again when she returns the books in a month or two when she comes back to town.

And they go out for coffee and learn that they are both half-Ñoldo, half-Vanya. And they sort-of fall into each other, meeting up in Valmar and in Tirion and eventually they are courting and then betrothed and then they are married, three years after first meeting.

(The marriage does cause tensions to rise between Rilyanixë and his Vanya family who see Findis as too Ñoldor and have issues with that so they don’t end up spending much time with them - there’s a reason Rilyanixë’s parents don’t live together anymore)

Now, Rilyanixë married into this family so he is as veritably crazy as all of they are - except no-one notices until he tells Fëanor that his latest creation was ‘passable, he supposes’ because Fëanor insulted Findis and you just don’t do that. Basically, Rilyanixë is very uncrazy unless provoked at which point he will just provoke whoever’s closest, however ill-advised that is (if that makes any sense).

Anyway, they get a house halfway between Tirion and Valmar (because they can’t be completely separate from politics but...they don’t want to be anywhere near it at the same time) and live fairly peacefully, with occasional siblings just appearing or nephews and nieces and the like (from Rilyanixë’s side too it should be noted).

Everyone is beginning to think that they are not going to have children as Arafinwë is already married and with a baby when Findis declares that she is pregnant. A year(ish) later, she gives birth to a girl that Findis calls Findecurë (Tress of Skill - weird name, but I was trying to come up with a translation for Finvain) and Rilyanixë calls Nofernë (Under Beech Tree). Of the two of them, Rilyanixë’s naming is actually a bit more prophetic than his wife’s (because I find it odd that only women have prophetic visions and while I still think that women are almost always the parent (if either parent does have prophetic name-giving), I thought that men must even just a little).

Before Fëanor pulls the sword and everything finally collapses in on itself, they have three more children. A boy who she calls Findelaurë (I’m using this variation on Glorfindel’s Quenya name for the sake of familial consistency) and who Rilyanixë calls Indiltur (Lily Lord). Another girl that Findis calls Fanyanel (Daughter of the Clouds) and Rilyanixë calls Iþilmolótë (Flower of Starlight - and apparently the Vanyar still used the letter thorn? I might be wrong). And finally another son that Findis calls Finróna (Hair of the East) and Rilyanixë calls Aþumolor (Good Companion in Dreams). In order of birth, their Sindarin names (and the names I shall be referring to them by) are Glorfindel, Finvain, Faniel and Finrun.

At the darkening, Glorfindel follows Turgon (with whom he is close), Faniel follows Glorfindel (with whom she is close), Finrun follows his elder siblings and the other Finwean babies (Galadriel, Argon and Ambarussa), and Finvain follows her siblings.

When her children and family leave, Findis disappears into the wilds (very good fic about this here) and Rilyanixë, with no family, returns to his mother’s house in Tirion.

So Glorfindel we all know goes to Gondolin and dies and gets re-embodied, etc. I would like to add a bit to his story to say I am a big Glorestor shipper and they definitely end up married and they adopt Lindir and his sister Lindis (because no-one can stop me).

As of Erestor, he’s an Avar in my mind who ends up with Gondolin because the Avari keep being pushed from their homes and he knows he would be safe there. (He does initially say he’s a Sindar to try and avoid the general distaste everyone seems to have for the Avari and only tells those he really trusts). Also, he would get on so well with Rilyanixë and it’s such a pity that they don’t meet until the fourth age.

Finvain leaves ME because her brothers and sisters are going, not from any particualr desire of hers to go. She is protective at heart - even if she seems very cold - and loves her brothers and sisters a lot. She does a lot of what she does only grudgingly and eventually swears off killing even orcs as her actions at Alqualondë haunt her that much (she acts as a behind the lines medical assistant due to her knowledge of plants and herbs and is killed because of her oath when the camp is overrun).

She loves gardening. If she’s sitting in a patch of flowers, she’s happy (she would really love hobbits if she had lived). She had a garden in her family home between Valmar and Tirion but when she left it got overgrown, despite Finrun’s best attempts to keep it cared for (he’s busy and the garden reminds him too painfully of his absent sister). She can’t keep a garden in ME (she’s a messenger for Fingolfin, moving around a lot) but she does have a habit of planting flowers in odd places wherever she travels.

She does fall in love, if that is what you would call it. She and Morwen (and I have this headcanon that Morwen and Húrin were really good friends who were both hella gay and both really wanted children so got married for that while agreeing that they could see other people) spend time together and it would have developed further if Finvain wasn’t always being called away and she hadn’t died at Nirnaeth.

Finvain holds guilt over her brother’s death as Finrun died at Alqualondë and Finvain saw him die, still confused as to what was actually going on; and Lalaith’s death (who she thought she could save with her medicine but who died anyway).

When she is re-embodied - before her sister but after both her brothers, she returns to her family home - left abandoned by her mother who had vanished soon after the Darkening; her father, who had returned to his mother in Tirion; and her brother, who was now living almost permanently on the outskirts of Alqualondë. She fixes it up the best she can and tends to her garden as slowly, one by one, her family returns.

Faniel is the sort of person who has everyone wrapped around her little finger but doesn’t seem to know. Hella strong, hella kind, hella oblivious - a summary of Faniel’s character.

Faniel and Ecthelion are both bi (when Ecthelion was younger, there was a time he and Glorfindel were courting before they decided they were better as friends). She and Ecthelion have three children: a son, Elemmakil; a daughter, Meleth; and a child, Enerdhil. Meleth ends up as Eärendil’s nurse and marries Elwing’s nurse Evranin which is all I really have for her and I have next to nothing for the other two. But they exist.

Anyway, Faniel fights with a spear and actually lives to escape to the havens but she dies in the Third Kinslaying.

She is the last of her siblings to be reborn and ends up being the one to initiate the search for their mother.

And finally, Finrun. He dies at Alqualondë when he and a few others go into the city to see what the confusion is all about and gets caught up in the crossfire before he can really tell what’s going on. With no blood on his hands and practically no trauma, he gets re-embodied within a few years but everything is really different: all his family has either gone to ME, gone and secluded themselves somewhere, are exceptionally busy or Finrun thinks they hate him. As someone who thrived off of the familial love of his family (being Aro/Ace, this is one of the main forms of love that he experiences), it’s a jarring experience to say the least and ends up with him being really, really lonely.

He decides to deal with this crippling loneliness by throwing himself into his work. The only family who really talks to him is Finarfin but they mainly talk about work and he’s like, if it makes him happy then it’ll make me happy. (It is making neither of them happy, they’re just avoiding the problem). So he ends up in Alqualondë working towards restoring relations. No-one here particularly likes him (Maglor’s wife, Cantasië, does occasionally come and keep him company to be honest to her).

He is here he meets Elwing, singing and miserable who he promptly adopts. (It is not only the Fëanorians with adopting people on the spot issues). The rest of the Teleri are a bit sceptical of this girl however much they like her and she’s uncomfortable in palace having lived nearly her whole life in near poverty despite being a princess. And Eärendil, when he appears, reminds him of his cousins due to being Turgon’s grandson. There’s a bit more nuance to it, I guess, but basically he sees these two children with no family anymore and as he knows how they feel, he decides to give them that family.

It’s at the end of the First Age that Finrun realises that the Valar intend to keep the Ñoldor in Mandos and he basically becomes the advocate for their release. In his house by the sea, he is slowly collecting war orphans who lost parents far too young and came to these shores to try to heal hurts of their souls and Finrun houses them and loves them and tries to get the Valar to release the families they have lost (not realising that in the process he has become part of that family and the loneliness he has been feeling is lessened somewhat - not gone completely because his family is a different entity entirely but lessened).

Eventually, he convinces them and one-by-one, his family and the others trapped in Mandos are released upon their healing, rather than being kept there forever.

(When Glorfindel is reborn, Finrun is not told and meets him on the docks by pure chance before he must go to Middle Earth. And before he can really get over the shock and bundle of emotions, Glorfindel is gone again. Finrun genuinely thinks that this was a hallucination for a long time.)

It is one sunny day soon after Glorfindel has returned to Valinor that Faniel gets them together to go after their mother, who, despite everyone coming back and a tentative happiness and peace beginning, has not returned from wherever she ran to. During their search, they get to catch up for the first time really since they were all reborn.

Findis has just sort of made camp in a cave, not hiding but decided that society sucked and she didn’t want to go back. Her children convince her otherwise and they return and everything is good and happy.

Umm, so yep, these are my vague thoughts on this family. I hope you liked it!

[arofili]

Fingolfin or Gil-galad. Russingon or Silvergifting. Modern AU or Space AU.

Fingolfin or Gil-galad? Russingon or Silvergifting? Modern AU or Space AU?

(set in the same Star Wars AU as this fic; right before Fingolfin’s final confrontation with Melkor; idk if you wanted all the prompts combined but i had an idea and i went with iit!)

READ IT ON AO3!

Gil-galad breathed out a sigh of relief as he heard the footsteps disappear deeper into the ship. Confident that Fingolfin and the others were gone, he snuck out of his hiding place and turned toward the soldier’s quarters.

“Artanáro,” said a sharp voice. Gil froze.

Damnit. Damnit. He was in no end of trouble now.

His shoulders slumped. “Hello, your Majesty.”

“You can address me by name,” Fingolfin said tiredly. “I’m your grandfather.”

Are you? Gil snapped back in his mind, but he didn’t dare let that accusation slip.

Fingolfin sighed.“Turn around, lad.”

Gil turned to face his father’s father. Even dressed in combat gear, Fingolfin looked more regal than anyone in the room. Not that it was a challenge to look more regal than Gil. For all he was supposedly the “Scion of Kings,” he’d never felt very royal.

“What are you doing here?” Fingolfin demanded. “I thought you were supposed to be on Sirion.”

“I wanted to fight, your M...I mean, Ñolofinwë.” Gil hung his head. “It’s not fair that I’m stuck planetside while everyone else gets to face off against Morgoth.”

“You are but a child,” Fingolfin dismissed.

Gil bristled. He was nearly a hundred years old, an adult by anyone’s measure! Anyone but his family, that was. He didn’t bother to fight that point; he knew it would get him nowhere.

“I can fly a ship,” he pointed out. “I get that from your side of the family.”

“Yes, and what does your father think of this?” Fingolfin shot back.

Gil jutted his chin out. “He would be proud of me.”

“Findekáno told me he wanted you safe—”

“I didn’t say Fingon.”

Fingolfin stared.

Valar fucking damnit! Why had he said that?!

“You mean...Russandol,” Fingolfin murmured.

“He’s just as much my father as Fingon,” Gil said, hoping his voice wasn’t trembling as much as his hands. “They raised me. Together. Fingon sent me to Sirion, but Maedhros—he wants me to be safe, too, but he gets it. He knows why I have to do this. He did the same thing. And Fingon will come around. He loves me almost as much as he loves Maedhros.”

Fingolfin’s face was ashy. “They...I knew they were close...”

Seeing the High King so off-balance was so unsettling that Gil couldn’t keep his damn mouth shut, not once it was opened. “Maybe you should talk to your son about this, not me, his foster kid. I know he’s not my real father. He doesn’t have a wife. You gave me to him as a baby—whose kid am I, Ñolofinwë? Am I—” His voice caught. “Am I yours?”

In response, Fingolfin unsheathed his lightsaber. Gil thought for sure that he’d fucked up beyond repair, that he was dead or disowned or doomed—but instead of attacking, Fingolfin offered him the blade.

Shocked, Gil took it. “Wh...huh?”

“This blade belonged to your grandfather,” Fingolfin said.

“But...your lightsaber was...Finwë’s,” Gil-galad said weakly. Oh, by the Valar. He was right, wasn’t he? Fingon wasn’t his father��he’d known that for years, but—Fingon was his brother?

“Come, Artanáro. Sit down.” Fingolfin took the blade and guided him to a small, private room deeper in the ship.

“You’re my father.” Gil stared up at him, unable to process what he was saying. “You...No wonder you call me by my Quenya name. My father-name.”

“No,” Fingolfin said, staring into his eyes. “Artanáro is not your ataressë.”

“But...”

“It is your amilessë.”

Gil opened his mouth. “I don’t understand. My...my mother is a Sinda. I have Sindar features, and they can’t come from your side...”

“Your father is a Sinda,” Fingolfin explained. “He gave you the name Gil-galad. Your mother is the Noldo, and yes, your grandfather is Finwë. Your mother is—”

“Lalwen,” Gil breathed. Lalwen. He’d never imagined she was his claim to royalty. She lived—she lived on Sirion. Fingon hadn’t just been sending him away to keep him safe, he’d been sending him to his mother.

“Yes.” Fingolfin laid a gentle hand on Gil’s arm. “I am your uncle, not your father, not your grandfather. You are the third generation of the Finwëans, cousin to my sons. Cousin to Fëanáro’s sons.”

“Why...” Gil’s voice broke. Ever since he’d figured out that Fingon and Maedhros weren’t his blood fathers, he’d battled between the two possibilities: that he had not been wanted, or that his parents were dead. “Why did she not raise me?”

“Lalwendë is...” Fingolfin pinched the bridge of his nose. “It is complicated. Lalwendë, my dear sister, is not married.”

Gil frowned. He knew such situations existed; his own fathers were not married for a variety of reasons. But...he was an accident? He was a mistake?

“She loved you, very much, but she could not keep you,” Fingolfin said. “She and your father are—well, they are together, but they must hide their relationship. It is a secret to all but family.”

“Like Fingon and...” Gil trailed off as he saw that haunted look behind Fingolfin’s eyes reappear. “Well. I guess that’s a secret to some family, too. Just like I am.”

“It is not politically wise for a child of Finwë to wed a prominent Sindar leader, no matter the peace Lalwendë and Círdan have found together,” Fingolfin said. “It is bad enough to Thingol that Arafinwë married his niece! He would cut off his alliance with Sirion if he knew Círdan loved Lalwendë.”

“Círdan?” Gil burst into tears. He had a father! He had a mother! Maedhros and Fingon would always be his fathers, but knowing who created him meant so much.

“You were—not an accident,” Fingolfin continued. “You were...a surprise. Lalwendë did not want to part with you, but I convinced her that Findekáno could care for you well. I would have raised you myself, were it not too obvious you weren’t mine. I have a wife in Aman; Findekáno did not. It is better for there to be a rumor that a Noldo prince has taken some anonymous Sinda as his mistress than that the High King has broken his marriage vows. If I could have sent you to Turukáno’s secret city...but I have not heard from he or Írissë since they left.”

“I am—Gil-galad Lalwenion,” Gil wept. “Gil-galad Círdanion. I really am the scion of kings.”

“Oh, Artanáro,” Fingolfin murmured, embracing his nephew. “I am sorry you ever doubted your place among our family. But you understand now why Findekáno sent you to Sirion, yes? He and—and your other father...they must battle the Enemy. He will not fall in this battle or the next; you will join us in your time. For now you must go to Sirion, and meet your parents.”

“I’m sorry,” Gil said, wiping away his tears. “For—being so rash and rude.”

“You are forgiven,” Fingolfin assured.

Gil stood. “Can you spare a small ship for me to take back to Sirion? I...I want to meet my mother and father.”

“Of course,” Fingolfin agreed. “I hope the next time we meet will be on a better occasion. A victory feast in Dor-lómin, perhaps, with the whole family present.”

“Even Maedhros?” Gil challenged.

Fingolfin went still, his expression pained. “I...”

“Don’t be hard on Fingon,” Gil pleaded. “You understand why your sister has to keep her love a secret. It’s not much different for your son.”

Fingolfin bowed his head. “I love my son,” he said. “I even love my nephew—Russandol, I mean, not you. Though I do love you, Artanáro. I will speak with them both, after this battle is over. Now go—may your journey be safe.”

“And yours as well,” Gil-galad replied. He paused before leaving. “Ñolofinwë?”

“Yes?”

“If—and I hope it will not be so—but if I were ever to be a, a king, I hope I could be a king like you.”

Fingolfin smiled. “That means more than you know, Gil-galad. Thank you.”

Gil gave Fingolfin a quick, fierce embrace, then left.

He never saw his uncle again.