Bard had been meaning to get Tilda a new pair of shoes for weeks now, but life had been one crazy thing after another. She was growing so fast he sometimes found it hard to keep up with her. He finally found the time to stop off at the mall, just the two of them. Bain was at track practice, Sigrid had been dropped off at a friend's house to work on a school project and they now had two hours to find her a good pair of everyday shoes.
"Da." Bard was pulled out of his thoughts by Tilda tugging on his arm. "Da, what's wrong with that little boy?" she asked, pointing to a small boy maybe a year or two younger than herself. He was sitting almost hidden from view, on the floor, next to one of the large foliage plants that broke up the mall's white, straight lines.
The boy was curled up in a tight ball, arms wrapped around his legs. His tear-streaked face was buried against his knees. Shoulder length, gold hair was pulled back in a smooth half pony with tiny braids highlighting delicate pointed ears. Red-rimmed eyes peeked out occasionally, searching for someone. Casting around, Bard didn't see a parent or caregiver nearby.
"I'm not sure, let's ask him."
Bard walked over to the boy and crouched down. Tilda positioned herself behind her Da, looking over his shoulder as Bard engaged the child.
"Hello" he said, using the calm, reassuring voice that usually found its way through his own children's tears. "Do you need some help?" Big, blue, wary eyes glanced up at his face, evaluating him. The boy sniffed, rubbing his face against his knees, drawing in a long hitching breath.
"I can't find my Ada." He hiccupped, before bursting into tears again.
"Da, is he lost?" Tilda asked.
"Yes, I think he is, darling."
"Oh, no." she whispered, coming out from behind her Da and walking over to sit next to the boy. "Don't cry, my Da is great at finding things. Last week I just learned how to make these cool friendship bracelets," she said, showing off her bracelet. "Me and my Da were at the park. I had climbed all the way to the top of the jungle gym when I noticed it was gone." The little boy's sobs eased as he listened to Tilda. "That high up I could see the whole play area and my bracelet wasn't anywhere." Tilda shivered in remembrance. His daughter really was great storyteller, Bard reflected. "I called Da over to tell him and on the way he flipped over this woodchip and there was my bracelet, like magic!" By the end of the story, the boy had uncurled, to sitting cross-legged next to Tilda.
"Can you really find things like magic?" the boy asked, tilting his head to one side, staring at Bard seriously.
"Well, I don't know about any magic, but if you would like, I'm sure we can find your Ada." Bard assured him, fishing a tissue out of his pocket. "My name's Bard and this is my daughter Tilda. What's you name?"
"Legolas." he said, taking the tissue, rubbing his eyes and blowing his noise with it.
"Alright, Legolas," Bard said "Let's go find him." Taking a shaky breath, Legolas shoved the tissue into his own pocket and nodded, looking determined.
Bard held out his hands, helping the boy and Tilda up.
"What does your Ada look like?"
"Ada is tall. He has long hair, a black coat and a scarf." Scanning the area, Bard couldn't see anyone fitting that description.
"Do you remember where you saw him last?" Bard questioned as they moved away from Legolas' hiding spot.
"Yes, at the outdoor sports shop, I stopped to look at the bows in the window and when I turned around, he was gone." That store was halfway down the mall, Legolas must had wandered a long time before giving up.
"Well, I don't see him here, so let's go to mall security and have them make an announcement over the loudspeaker." Bard said, looking down at the little boy. "May I hold your hand so we don't get separated?" Nodding, Legolas slipped his hand into Bard's, Tilda grabbing his other one. "Alright you two, let's keep our eyes peeled on the way." Tilda leaned around her Da and grinned encouragingly at Legolas, receiving a shy smile in return.
"Attention, will Mr. Oropherion please come to the security desk? Your son is waiting for you." Bard sat down to wait after the announcement was made, Tilda and Legolas played together on the carpeting.
A tall, blonde man dressed completely in black walked quickly into the waiting area a couple minutes later. He exuded a desperate, wild feeling, though all of his movements were precisely controlled as he scanned the room.
Bard thought he may have been handsome if not for the dark circles under his eyes and his overall paleness. He almost looked whitewashed, with no color in his cheeks or lips, and for some reason light seemed to pass through him rather than reflect back.
"Ada!" Legolas yelled, jumping up and running to the man.
"Legolas!" a relieved smile graced the man's face as he lifted Legolas up into his arms. Hugging his son tightly, a dusting of color bloomed on his cheeks. Legolas buried his face in his Ada's hair, relaxing into his embrace.
Bard and Tilda leaned into each other contentedly as soft reassurances were whispered between the reunited father and son. Bending down, Bard kissed the top of his daughter's head, proud of her for helping the boy. Tilda grinned up at him happily.
"What happened?" the tall blonde asked, sweeping Legolas' hair away from his face.
"I got lost." Legolas said as his Ada looked him over, making sure he was alright. "But Bard helped me."
The second that Legolas' father looked at Bard everything that was comforting and happy about him dispersed. The change was startling, very unexpected, but Bard was determined to make a good impression.
"Hello, I'm Bard" he said greeting the man and extending his hand. A frosty calculating look pinned him in place for a beat before the man answered.
"Thranduil." He stated, taking Bard's hand. Thranduil's palm was smooth and cool to the touch.
"Thank you for helping my son," his said pulling away. "You will of course want payment for finding him." readjusting Legolas on his hip he reached into a pocket.
"No, I don't." Bard said putting his hand up to stop him, confused and slightly offended. "I wasn't the one to find him anyway, my daughter Tilda did." Tilda looking all the way up at Thranduil, holding tight onto her Da's arm.
"Hello" she said giving a small uncertain wave.
"Ada, Tilda tells great stories and she's teaching me how to make a friendship bracelet like hers." Legolas chimed in. "Can we stay for a bit? I want to finish making mine." He wiggled down from his father's arms. Bard could tell Thranduil didn't want to let him go, but seemed too surprised by his son's enthusiasm to object. Legolas grabbed Tilda's hand and they sat down on the floor, picking up where they had left off making the bracelets, leaving their dads to watch and wait.
"I haven't seen him this happy in a long while." Thranduil commented sinking down onto a chair. The small smile his son's happiness had created slipped off his face rather quickly, like he didn't have the energy to sustain it. Watching him from the corner of his eye Bard could have sworn Thranduil was losing the little color he had regained at finding Legolas safe and happy. His platinum hair was almost translucent under the mall's florescent lights. He looked utterly drained and Bard wavered for a moment before mentioning it.
"I'm sorry if I'm overstepping my bounds here, but are you okay? You don't look well."
"No, I suppose I don't," Thranduil sighed. "Not being able to sleep will do that." Crystal blue eyes looked away from his son to settle tiredly on Bard "My wife passed away a few months ago and I am afraid I'm fading."
Fading? Bard thought, but fading only happened to elves. Then he remembered Legolas' pointed ears and yes, Thranduil had them too. Bard had heard of fading before, but he never understood what it meant until he saw Thranduil. It really did seem like Thranduil was giving up little pieces of himself as the light leached through his body, washing away all color.
"I hold on for him," he continued, body tense, eyes glassy. "but it's hard."
"Then today with Legolas disappearing and I had no idea if he was lost or taken." Thranduil's fist clenched, shaking against his leg. "Today has not been a good day."
Taking a steadying breath Thranduil reined in his turbulent emotions, composing himself.
"I apologize, clearly we are keeping you from something. I don't know why you're listening to my troubles."
"It's no problem, we have time and I remember how hard it was at the beginning."
Thranduil stopped, not believing what Bard had just implied, but there was a sadness that matched his own in Bard. A resigned smile that said he knew. A slant to his shoulders that said he also carried a burden. Surprised, Thranduil found himself held in a gaze of someone who understood.
"It will be seven years in June." Bard stated.
"I'm sorry."
"Me too." He said, eyes falling back to where their children played.
"It doesn't seemed to have consumed you. Does all this…," Thranduil gestured aimlessly, looking lost "does it get easier?"
"Yes, in certain ways it does," Bard stated, thinking back over life since his wife's death "Like you, I try hard for my children."
Their conversation was interrupted by Tilda and Legolas, bounding over to them with newly made bracelets for their Da and Ada. Tilda neatly tied Bard's black, orange and red bracelet on his wrist with a bow as Legolas double knotted Thranduil's black, green and blue one so tightly that Bard was sure Thranduil would never be able to get it off with only one hand.
Studying the colorful patterns Bard realized that their bracelet designs matched. Wearing them now side by side, he and Thranduil looked like they were friends. Thranduil ran his fingers across the bumpy surface of the bracelet before pulling Legolas in for another hug, kissing the top of his head. Maybe it was a sign.
"Thank you very much" Bard said, beaming at Tilda. She giggled and nodded. "But we should get going."
"No!" both Legolas and Tilda said, clinging to each other and looking stubborn. Thranduil sagged a bit, seeing a conflict brewing; he didn't want to have an argument with his son.
"How's this?" Bard said, breaking the tension by reaching into his pocket and grabbed a piece of scratch paper. "We are at Laketown Park most every weekend. Call me and we can set up a play date." He quickly wrote his cell number down.
"Thank you" Thranduil said appreciatively, as their matching bracelets peeked out from under coat cuffs. Bard held on to the note as their gazes met, "Call about anything else too."
His comment elicited raised eyebrows and a searching maybe even hopeful look from Thranduil before he nodded, tucking the number away.
Thranduil and Legolas left holding hands, as Tilda and Legolas called their goodbyes enthusiastically, promising to see each other soon. Bard was looking forward to hearing from them as well, because perhaps there was a little more pink in Thranduil's complexion and his hair glinted gold, instead of appearing translucent. As he walked away with his son, the bright spring light caught the green and blue of his new bracelet making the design shine vibrantly.