Requested by the admirable@KasuoMikori! (https://truyen2u.pro/tac-gia/KasuoMikori ; the profile-linking feature is bugging out on me rn)

Type: One-shot

Pairing: Elrond x Female (Elf!) Reader

Hope you like!

Sunny days in Imladris always seemed to bring trouble.

Take, for instance, the day the news arrived that Lady Celebrían had been accosted by orcs and slain on a journey to visit her parents, the sky was clear and azure, with not a cloud hovering in it. The morning on which a terrible fire spread through the lower city dawned bright and warm. The four times on which Sarah had tried and failed to confess her affections to her long-time crush all happened on days when the sun was cheerfully bright and innocent all the way up in its skyward roost. Just as well, on this morning, the sky was grey and drab, the rumblings of thunder distant but drawing near. A storm was on the horizon, and not just literally, for that day in the palace of Imladris had been a messy one, to say the least.

The morning had begun simply enough, with Lindir waking Sarah after she'd slept in a little late and, as a result, they arrived a few minutes late to their daily briefing with Lord Elrond. The pair of advisers went over the day's projected schedule with their king to see that everything panned out properly, Sarah trying to subtly smooth down her dress and pull knots out of her hair so she wouldn't seem so unprepared. Elrond, embarrassingly enough, had offered her a comb from his armoire once he noticed her fidgeting, and she had awkwardly had the sense to graciously accept the gesture and brush her hair while Lindir continued the discussion.

Once the pair had left, Sarah heading down to the riverside to check on the day's shipments from Ered Luin, the kingdom with which Imladris had a flourishing sea trade, and Lindir making his way to the library for some book or whatnot, Arwen appeared almost immediately in her father's room. "Why is it you still have not said a word of your affections for Sarah to her?" Elrond sighed, resting his elbow upon his desk and his head upon the hand of that same arm. "It is not so simple as you would think, my daughter, these things are difficult-" "It has been nearly a hundred years since I first deciphered your feelings for her! Even for us elves, that is absurd!" Elrond winced and politely shooed her out of his room, a feeling of foreboding coming over him as he noticed the glimmer appearing in her eye as she left.

Arwen was frustrated. She knew that Elrond loved Sarah and she loved him in return, but for some reason, it seemed like they would never tell each other so. It was time for her to take action, so down to the docks she went, finding Sarah after a few minutes of searching in the bustling crowd. The noble elleth pulled her father's adviser aside into a quieter place in the area and told her this: "I am sick and tired of watching you moon over my father and vice-versa! Today will be the day you announce your love to each other, whether you like it or not!" Sarah's face went pale. "Arwen, my lady, please, I do not think you should do this-" "Too bad! Any ideas?" Despite how much Arwen then pressured her, Sarah was unwilling to offer up any ideas for her plot, standing stubborn in her fear-driven belief that Elrond would ultimately reject her no matter how she confessed.

Driven to a state of irritation by Sarah's refusal to help not even a little, Arwen sped back up to the palace, determining that if one half of the OTP wouldn't participate, surely the other would. And if he refused, she could always play the father card. She swept into the throne room, graceful as ever but today emanating a striking power, and approached her father as she beckoned for all others in the room to exit immediately. "Sarah is in love with another elf and is courting him," she blurted out, completely winging it, and to her delight, those words had the exact effect on Elrond she'd hoped they would. He gasped, but then pretended not to have as his cheeks fell void of color. "Truly? You know this?" "Yes." Arwen's tone was breezy, as if she was blasé of the whole situation, when in truth, she cared just as much as her father.

Elrond leaned back on his throne, his head hitting the backboard with a sharp thunk, but he didn't even flinch, and that's when Arwen could see she'd gotten through to him. Her spontaneous plan seemed to be going well- until she realized he wasn't about to leap up with a new determination to confess to Sarah, as she'd expected, he was just sitting there, looking completely despondent and sharply blinking away tears. Arwen backed away and fled the throne room, unsure if she'd made a terrible mistake or succeeded in her ploy in a backwards sort of way, leaving Elrond to his troubled thoughts.

Arwen's first instinct was to find someone and confess her doings this morning, and just as she rounded a corner, she spotted someone familiar exiting the library. She pulled Lindir aside and told him of the thing she'd done, asking if it was a good or bad idea. From the way he dropped his head into his hands and groaned, she gathered that she'd made a serious error in her well-meaning escapades, and so resolved that she'd make it all right the very same day. For the second time that morning, she made her way down to the docks- but Sarah was no longer there. None of the dockhands had seen which way she'd gone, all they knew was that she wasn't with them anymore.

So the princess of the realm then embarked on a quest around her own kingdom to find the adviser of her father's who just seemed to escape her at every turn (not Lindir, she bumped into him at least twelve times during the whole thing). Most of the day passed before she was finally able to track down Sarah, who was then managing a small team on the patio of the palace to string up lights for a festival being held the next day. As soon as she saw Arwen, however, she blushed and tried to slip away, but Lindir, who was coincidentally passing by, stopped her in her retreat. "I... messed up," Arwen began, and Sarah gave a biting huff of air.

"Really? I hadn't noticed. It's not as if Elrond called me in an hour ago to discuss something, and that 'something' just so happened to be about how you told him I was courting someone, someone who I was in love with, and there certainly was no awkward moment when I, utterly confused, asked him why you would say such a thing as I was not seeing anyone at all and he then immediately left, literally shaking with emotions I couldn't decipher!" Arwen's jaw dropped and she blushed a deep crimson. "I- I am so sorry." Sarah sighed, the motion shaky, and replied softly, "I know you are. Just- next time you're trying to pull something like this, perhaps you should take a step back and think twice." Arwen nodded fervently. "I will, I will, but now, would you come with me? I think I have an idea to fix this."

Despite her terrible reluctance, the rain that began to fall drove everyone on the patio inside also led Sarah into the halls of the palace, and so she agreed to go with Arwen. Her heart beat heavy in her chest, her hands, clasped behind her back, trembled. She knew not a thing of what was about to happen, and that unknown frightened her badly. A few times, as they drew closer to Elrond's chambers (where they assumed he would be), she tried to back out and turn around, but Arwen always convinced her to proceed. His door was open a sliver when they arrived before it, and so Arwen pushed it open, calling for her father to speak with her. Elrond appeared out of a side chamber and froze when he saw it was not just his daughter who had come.

"Arwen... why would you tell me such lies?" He asked stiffly, trying to remain neutral in expression. His eyes betrayed him, tinged red and lids drooped. He was tired, clearly, almost emotionally spent, and Sarah felt a strong urge to step forward and hug him, to take some of the weight he was feeling off his shoulders- and so she did, despite her pounding heart and shaking hands. He immediately wrapped his arms around her in return and rested his head on her shoulder, as if on instinct, but after just a moment, he stepped back. "Arwen." His daughter sighed and admitted, "I assumed my dishonesty would push you to speak to Sarah of your feelings-" Elrond blanched, not making eye contact with the elleth his daughter spoke of, but let her go on. "-but I was terribly wrong in my expectations. I am truly sorry."

Sarah stared at Elrond, confused by Arwen's words. "Wait- what did you expect him to do?" she asked, her emotions a jumble of hope, fear, and bafflement, but she received no answer other than: "I believe you heard me correctly the first time, Sarah." Arwen then retreated from the room, leaving the lord of the realm and his dear adviser in a tense silence, which was only broken when Sarah spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "Your feelings?" Elrond swallowed. "Yes." "Of?" "I think you already know what of." A pause as she took in this important information. Elrond closed his eyes, fearing the rejection he suspected was just about to come, but instead of hearing words of apologetic refusal, he felt a soft pressure on his lips.

His eyes snapped open to see Sarah, her hands still clasped behind her back, tenderly kissing him for a fleeting moment. She stepped back, opened her own eyes as her cheeks flushed pink, and admitted, "You'd be surprised how long I've wanted to do that." A smile appeared on both of their faces as they laughed nervously at the words that were barely a joke, then Elrond stepped forward, gently laying his hand on her cheek, and pulled her in for another kiss. She wrapped her arms around him and he did the same with his free hand, and they stood there for a long few minutes, just kissing as if there would be no tomorrow, making up for those long, long years romantically-apart.

A crash of thunder made both of them jump, and they broke apart but kept their arms around each other. The wind howled once, then twice, as they smiled in awe at each other. The rain crashed against the roof and as Sarah leaned her head on Elrond's shoulder, she murmured absentmindedly, "The lights will be dead by tomorrow with this weather." He chuckled into her hair and she blushed, liking the feeling of it, as he replied, "Our light will not." She gave a soft laugh and poked his side, making him flinch from her teasing. "That is unbelievably saccharine." He nuzzled a kiss on her forehead. "Yes, yes it is."