Four-year-old Legolas cried as he stood with his father at the funeral of his mother. No sooner had they gotten back to the king's bedroom, and out of sight of any onlookers, then Thranduil turned to his young son with a scowl. "Enough of that noise!" He scolded harshly. "You have been spoiled by your mother, but I expect you to grow out of such infantile behavior immediately. You shall not cry again. I am thoroughly ashamed of your behavior." He raised his hand to slap Legolas, who cringed and tried to stop his flow of tears.

That was the last time the elf ever showed an emotion. He schooled himself harshly to hide any vestige of feeling, never again to weep or laugh. His face became a mask that hid all pain and joy. In fact, he did not find any joy anymore.

The centuries passed as he grew to adulthood, and he learned much over the years, how to shoot a bow accurately and swiftly, and how to fight with knives. His life passed by without any change. He fought spiders and orcs at irregular intervals, but there was no meaning in his life, for as he had arranged his face into a mask so long ago, the same mask had grown into his heart. His life before age four was a buried memory that he did not allow himself to think of. Then one day, his father sent him on a mission outside of the forest to take a message to Elrond.

A young man stood in the courtyard of the Last Homely Home, laughing his head off. He was twenty-one years old, and had just returned from archery practice. Not that he was not a good shot, but having returned from the Wilds a week earlier, he was not about to allow himself to get out of practice. Now he was watching his foster brothers run around the yard with Glorfindel in hot pursuit. The twins had oiled the Balrog slayer's bow for him, oiled it so well, that he could not get a good grasp on it to shoot.

"Aragorn," someone called, "come on in and get some food. Otherwise it will go to waste since certain other people don't appear to be interested," the voice ended pointedly.

"Coming, Ada." Aragorn called back. He jogged toward the door with the elves running after him.

It was a merry meal, full of laughter and joking as the people at the table reminisced about old tricks played by various people, particularly the sons of Elrond, Aragorn included. He had always been getting into trouble of one kind or another as a child having had the bad influence of the twins to inspire him.

Just then, there were hoofbeats outside the window to the courtyard. No one was expected, so everyone looked up in surprise to see whom the visitor might be. An elf got up to answer the door and brought in the elf that stood outside. He was tall and blonde, very unlike the elves Aragorn had grown up among, who all had dark hair. The main difference, though, was in his facial expression, which was completely void. The elf could have almost been a statue for all the feeling he showed.

He stepped inside and bowed to Elrond. "My Lord," he said emotionlessly, "I bear a message from King Thranduil." He held out a leather cylinder, which Elrond accepted.

"Thank you, Prince Legolas. Would you dine with us?" Elrond asked politely. He had only met the prince a few times over the centuries, and had not liked what he had seen. Not that the elf was unfriendly, but he was un-anything. He never seemed to react to anything, and that worried the older elf. Legolas was around the age of his own sons, and Elrond feared what may have turned this Silvan elf into such a void presence. He had only see the prince before in Mirkwood, though, and had hoped that he was different out from under his father's influence.

Legolas nodded acceptance to the question and took the indicated seat across from Aragorn, who smiled at him. Legolas stared blankly back. He had never seen an adult smile, or at least not since the death of his mother. Looking more closely, he saw that it was a young man in front of him, rather than an elf. That was a cause for curiosity to him, since men were not welcome in Thranduil's halls, especially not to dine among elves as equals. He thought perhaps that there was something strange about Elrond, who would permit someone to smile. As Legolas looked around him, he saw that others were smiling as well, including Lord Elrond. Deciding that custom ruled, he forced his lips to turn upward as well, though the smile did not touch his eyes. He began to eat quietly as conversation around him resumed.

Elrond watched hopefully as Legolas smiled around him. Hope died, though, when he saw that prince's eyes were as dead as ever. The meal progressed with increased silence, as the prince's mood was contagious. Everyone was relieved when they could leave the table. Elrond brought his sons and Legolas into his office. The message was unimportant, but the prince's attitude was an unhealthy one, and he hoped to remedy it.

Elladan, Elrohir, and Aragorn entered with unusual silence. Though they normally had a joke for every occasion, it just somehow didn't seem possible in the face of Legolas's indifference.

"Legolas, if you would like, you may stay for awhile and go hunting with my sons."

Legolas stared at him with empty eyes, "I would be delighted, my lord." He turned to the twins, completely ignoring the man. "When shall we go?"

The twins were appalled. "At your leisure, of course. Aragorn, do you think you can stay that long? I know you were thinking of returning north soon."

The man nodded quickly, "Stay longer? Of course. Could you send a messenger north, Adar? Otherwise they will likely worry about me."

Elrond smiled. "Who doesn't worry about you, ion nin? But I will send someone this afternoon with some extra supplies for you men since I'm sure they are getting tired of having to eat their own cooking all the time."

Under his mask, Legolas watched and listened in amazement. This man was considered a son of Elrond? "Excuse me, my lord, I believe I shall go on a walk if you don't mind."

"Of course, your highness, you are welcome to go anywhere as you please." Elrond watched the elf leave and waited for several minutes until Legolas should be out of earshot. To his relief, he saw the prince step outside and head away from the house. Then he said, "He worries me. There is something wrong there, but I'm not sure what. He obviously did not expect Aragorn, either. I am hoping to keep him here long enough to discover what is wrong. Thranduil and I don't always get along but how can he have missed his son's problem…unless perhaps he caused it. Don't go repeating that though." They nodded in unison.

"Ada, I believe I shall go on a walk myself." Aragorn said, troubled.

"Don't take his behavior wrongly, Aragorn. He is as he was raised, and Thranduil has never been a friend to man. Legolas will learn soon enough."

Aragorn nodded again and left. It was a fine summer day so he didn't bother with a cloak but made sure he had his bow, quiver full of arrows, and blades. These last he always carried, a sword strapped on his hip, two daggers in wrist sheathes and one in his belt. Sometimes if he wasn't carrying his bow, he wore the sword strapped to his back instead. Now well armed, he set off into the trees to work of his confused feelings. He knew objectively that some elves didn't like men, but Legolas's attitude hurt.

To distract himself, he set off at a run, keeping his eyes and ears open for danger. He knew these trees well since he had grown up among them, but there was always a chance of orc invasions. He heard the trees whisper as he ran. He did not know their language but it was easy enough to decipher their tones, which varied according to dangers. Right now, they sounded confused by having a wood elf among them that was seemingly oblivious to them. He had walled them out of his mind as he walled himself in.

As he went further, the tone changed. Something was coming that was dangerous. They were not talking to him though, he realized, but to Legolas. The trees became more and more unhappy until they were speaking of orcs near the lone elf. Aragorn put on a burst of speed and slung his bow around so that he could shoot as soon as he saw one.

He was almost too late. Legolas was surrounded by the hideous creatures, fighting them off with a pair of daggers since they were too close for him to shoot. Aragorn shot three in the back before they noticed him. Then he slung his bow back away and drew his sword. The two were outnumbered about seven to one now and the orcs were angry. The man threw himself forward to even the odds by killing another one.

Legolas was as taken off guard as the orcs were. That moment of confusion was almost his undoing. As he was distracted, the orcs attacked at once. He managed to kill one but the others were weighing him down. He had many injuries now, though he didn't make a sound. One of the orcs had a bow and drew it to shoot the elf while he was immobilized. His movement caught Aragorn's attention and in a moment's decision, threw himself into the arrow's path, taking it in his lower left shoulder.

Legolas was completely shocked and undone by the gesture. In all of his sixteen yen, he had never seen such a selfless move, particularly not by someone he had shunned. As the man collapsed, the elf pulled himself free and set out to slaughter any creature that moved. He screamed in rage as he did so, the tears that he had long ago dammed falling freely so that he couldn't even see his targets clearly anymore.

And so he didn't realize when his targets changed. For Elladan and Elrohir heard the screaming prince and came to help. Unfortunately for them, Legolas was not comprehending anything at the moment. He was just killing anything that moved, which fortunately did not include Aragorn but did include the twins. They were shocked, to say the least, and tried to immobilize him, since the orcs were all dead, gruesomely slaughter by the mad elf.

Approaching from either side, the two half-elves grabbed his arms. Legolas threw them off without effort. Finally, lacking any other idea, Elrohir grabbed a long stick and swung it at Legolas's back. The pain snapped him momentarily out of his insanity and collapsed to his knees beside Aragorn, whom they only now noticed. Snapping out of their own shock, they approached the two princes. Elladan lifted the human into his strong arms and set out for his home. Elrohir followed carrying the elven prince since his legs no longer seemed to be supporting him.

Elrond was very surprised when he looked out the window of his study. He had thought he heard screaming earlier but was too immersed in his work to react except to look out and see his sons setting out to see what the problem was. Now he looked out again to the sound of his name and saw his twin sons carrying two badly injured people who had been perfectly healthy a half-hour earlier.

Shaking out of his shock, he hurried to the infirmary to prepare for his patients. Within minutes, Aragorn and Legolas were laid out on neighboring beds. There was no doubt that the man was more badly off, so the elf lord turn his attention to his foster son, leaving the visiting prince to the care of his biological sons whom he had given much training in the healing arts.

Elrond carefully pulled the arrow out with one hand while in the other he held a premade remedy to morgul poisoning that he poured into the gaping hole. He followed this with the common antidote to orc poisons before examining the wound more closely. To his relief, the arrow had just missed the heart but had thrown the young man into shock, compounded by bloodloss. Now he got out thread and needle and sewed the layers back together with as much accuracy as he could manage several inches in. As soon as he finished, his hands began to shake as he realized how close a brush with death his son had had.

Forcing his hands to still, he went to the pitcher and basin sitting nearby and washed off the blood. He then went to see how the other patient was doing. Legolas lay perfectly still, his eyes open but unseeing, though Elrond could see that he still breathed.

"What happened?" he asked now.

Elladan looked at him grimly. "As far as I can tell, they were attacked by orcs and Legolas went mad when Aragorn fell. All I know is that he was killing everything in sight with a look of sheer agony on his face such as I have never seen and a waterfall of tears obscuring his eyes."

Elrond gaped. "What can that mean? First he is passively hostile to Aragorn and now he is grief-stricken when the man falls? There is more to this than we can see." He looked down at the unblinking elf and saw that all of his wounds had been sewn or bandaged.

"Ada," Elrohir spoke up for the first time, "can we move them to Aragorn's room? Both of them? I know Aragorn will be more comfortable there and Legolas seems like he would just fall apart if he couldn't see Aragorn is alive."

Elrond agreed and his sons picked the two up again, with him leading the way to open doors for them. Aragorn's room was spacious and airy with a wide luxurious bed that had enough room for five. Aragorn was a restless sleeper, though, as they well knew so that bed kept him from rolling onto the floor. The rest of the family also each had a bed as wide, for it was inevitable that someone would at sometime have a nightmare. Elladan and Elrohir had gone between their beds frequently over the years and before that had gone to their parents. Arwen too had sought comfort from any one of them when she was young.

Now the two were laid on either side of the bed as gently as could be managed. Aragorn moaned in response, though, and Elrond immediately sat on the edge of the mattress, putting a hand on his son's forehead. "How do you feel, ion nin?" he asked softly.

"Like I've been trampled by a herd of mumaskil." He groaned.

"What happened out there?" Elrond asked. "Your brothers found you and Legolas and a bunch of dead orcs but couldn't tell us much."

"The trees spoke of invasion of the woods near Legolas so I went to help him. He was surrounded by orcs so I helped kill some of the and then saw one of them about to shoot him so I tried to protect him. Is he okay?"

"Well enough, for having a few minor injuries but he appears to be in shock."

"He was crying when we found him and he almost killed us." Elladan broke in. "He isn't reacting to anything now but he killed all the orcs before we could arrive and then collapsed."

Aragorn tried to push himself up. "Where is he?" Elrond tried to hold him down but he was having none of that. "I have to see him. Please, Ada." Elrond sighed and complied, supporting his son's back. Aragorn flinched a bit but refused to desist. Elrond pointed to where Legolas now lay, his eyes now closed but the mask still gone. The man was amazed at how different he looked now that he was not trying to shield all emotions in and out. He scooted across the bed carefully and took Legolas's hand. "Your highness? Prince Legolas?" The prince's eyelids fluttered and then his face rearranged itself back into its old mask. When he saw Aragorn sitting beside him, though, a bit of relief he couldn't hide shone out.

"You're alive." He whispered.

"Thanks to you," Aragorn replied.

"Well you saved me first after I was so rude to you." Legolas protested. "By rights, I would have thought you would abandon me, not throw yourself into an arrow meant for me."

"Aragorn!" exclaimed Elrohir, "you did what!"

The man sighed. "There was an arrow aimed at Legolas who was held down so I got in front of him. Not that it seems it was necessary since I fell and I presume he killed them."

"I went crazy," admitted Legolas. "I lost control of myself and killed all of them. I think I also almost killed those two if my memory isn't mistaken. It won't happen again.

Elrond had been listening with interest. "Legolas, why have you been so controlled? Have you been through some trauma that you would hide yourself so well?" He asked carefully.

"Emotions are weakness." Legolas replied as if it was a rote answer. "Father says I must not cry. I have failed him."

The family exchanged looks over his head. "When did your father tell you that?" Aragorn asked curiously.

"When Mother died, he told me I must not be a baby anymore."

Elrond became quietly upset. "Your mother died when you were still a baby didn't she? You were just a toddler?"

Legolas nodded. Elrond excused himself to go out in the hall and let out a stream of curses in many languages. Aragorn listened intently to see if there were any new ones he could pick up. When the Peredhil returned, he seemed almost calm except in the rage in his eyes that was not directed toward anyone present.

"Your father is wrong, Legolas. Tears are not a sign of weakness but of strength. Tears have healing power that release tension and can go a long way toward bringing someone to health. As a healer, I prescribe bed rest and plenty of laughter and tears."

His sons laughed and Legolas tried a weak chuckle since he was sorely out of practice. Aragorn squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "I expect you are going to give me the same prescription, are you not, Ada?" Elrond laughed. "Of course. Your duty is to stay in bed and tell jokes until Legolas learns to laugh. Your punishment will be to be tickled to death by your brothers if you fail." With a last smile, he got to his feet and left the room, followed by the healing laughter of his family, two sons, a foster son, and someone who was likely to become as close as a son if Aragorn had any say in the matter.