Disclaimer: Neither Lord of the Rings, nor anything associated with it, belongs to me. No copyright infringement intended! All rights reserved to whoever owns them.

Rating/Warnings: Teen. Rated Teen because I'm paranoid, and perhaps for further chapters. Who knows? Warnings: Fluff alert!

Category: Romance

(Chapter) Time frame: Late fall/early winter of a year before the twins were born.

A/N: Well...okay, honestly, I just wanted to write some fluff today. So I sat down and wrote this in all of about...thirty minutes. I have about a million other vignettes in mind for this couple, that will all be too short to be stand-alone fics. So I decided to simply compile them all as a series, with each vignette being a new chapter. It will forever be marked as complete, although I am almost positive that there will be further chapters. I just have to write them out!

Many thanks to Mirnava who read through this really quickly before I posted it. I wouldn't go as far as to say that it's really been beta'd though, so any and all mistakes lie solely with me.

I'm still really new to the whole 'Romance' genre, so any advice, or tips, or pointers, or nitpicks would be much appreciated! Thank you, and enjoy!

Translations:

Meleth: Love

~Winter's Kiss~

Celebrían sat on one of the library's window seats, her feet tucked beneath her and a blanket draped haphazardly over her legs. A book rested forgotten on her lap, for her gaze drifted beyond the warm confines of the room and out into the untamed world beyond.

It was a dreary, blustery day, with the promise of an imminent storm heavy in the air. Thick banks of dark clouds blanketed the early evening sky, covering the world with an enclosing gray light. The wind howled through the valley, keening as it parted around the eaves of the house, and sending the fire-red and dusk-orange leafed trees whipping to and fro in a frenzied parody of the waltz.

The sound of light feet on the rug alerted Celebrían to his presence. She turned her head slightly, just far enough so that she could see who it was that disturbed her.

"I thought that I might find you here," Elrond said as he drew nigh, a mug of steaming liquid in each hand. "Are you enjoying the weather?" he asked teasingly.

"You know that I am," Celebrían replied coyly, her smile growing.

"I still cannot understand your penchant for clouds," Elrond said as he paused beside a small table pushed against the wall to the side of the window alcove and placed the mugs atop the mahogany surface.

"They make me feel alive," Celebrían replied simply, all of the teasing going out of her voice, although her smile did not dissipate.

"Hmmm," Elrond murmured as he crossed the intervening distance to the window seat. He sat down on the edge of the cushion and looked over Celebrían's shoulder, the better to see the wind-swept sky. "All I can say is that I am glad to have a roof over my head and a warm fire in a hearth on this day," Elrond said, and his eyes darted to his wife's.

Celebrían's smile softened, and she leaned forward to kiss his cheek. To her surprise, his skin was chilled.

"Elrond, you are cold," she exclaimed, and reached out to take his hands in hers. His fingers, too, were cold, and she clasped them between her own warm palms.

"Aye, it is quite cold out today, and the wind is biting. I spent the last hour out of doors with Glorfindel, inspecting the final snow fences around the northern pastures. As I said," he added with a small laugh, "I am glad for a warm fire. And you of course, meleth," he added, and kissed her own cheek in return.

Celebrían released Elrond's hands and scooted away from the wall, lifting the rumpled blanket away from her legs. She looked at Elrond with eyebrows raised, and after half a second, he smiled and did as she silently bade.

Elrond settled himself more firmly on the window seat, his back against the wall, his legs stretched out to either side of Celebrían. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he pulled her against his chest, so that she was sitting between his legs, safely held in his embrace. Celebrían spread the blanket out over both of their legs, then settled back against his chest, covering his chilled hands with hers once more.

A single lazy snowflake drifted past the window, before landing on the sill and melting. A second flake joined the first, then a third. Soon enough, the world beyond the window was a-flurry with snow, the wind catching the tiny flecks of ice and sending them cavorting through the air.

"I brought tea," Elrond murmured after a few moments of silence, in which the two had simply sat and watched the falling snow.

"Ah, so that is what is in the mugs?"

"Mmhmm," Elrond affirmed.

"Are you not going to get them then?" Celebrían asked, when she realized he had made no move to retrieve the mugs.

"I'm quite content here, and not particularly inclined to moving just yet," Elrond replied, and tightened his embrace just a little. Celebrían laughed lightly.

"Well if you are not going to get them, then I shall," she said. "You know how I despise cold tea," she added.

Grudgingly, Elrond released her, allowing her to slide out from beneath the blankets and off of the window seat. She disappeared out of Elrond's line of sight for a second, then returned, bearing the mugs.

"Here you are, my lord," Celebrían teased, and handed one of the mugs to Elrond. He took it with a half-mocking incline of his head, a slight smirk dancing over his lips.

Her long fingers wrapped through the stem of the mug, soaking in the warmth of the steaming liquid through the pewter, and she took a small sip. The rich tang of hazelnut washed over her tongue, accented by the barest hint of vanilla, and it filled her mouth with the deep taste of the earth. Warmth spread through her as the hot tea trickled down her throat.

With a small sigh of contentment, Celebrían settled against Elrond's chest. His arms encircled her waist again, pulling her into his warm, stolid embrace. As his scent washed over her, covered her, she could not help but feel safe and at peace. A soft kiss was planted on the top of her head. Turning around, Celebrían just managed to catch Elrond's chin with her lips, and she returned the gesture.

Elrond smiled down at his wife, his silver eyes unreadable in the depth of their emotion. Yet Celebrían knew what it was that she read there, and she knew that her own gaze echoed his own.

Wordlessly, Celebrían turned back around, her head falling back and coming to rest just beneath Elrond's chin. Elrond tightened his embrace a little more, pulling Celebrían more snugly against him, soaking in her warmth and her presence.

Glorfindel found them sitting like that an hour later, their mugs of tea long gone cold, watching the falling snow, safe and warm in the other's embrace. Without a word, he turned and left, a small smile of his own hovering on his lips.