Knives

Still awed by the finery of his long knives after all this time, Legolas was reexamining them when Frodo tentatively asked, "Legolas, where did you get those ?"

Short, unconscious laughter left his lips as he looked up, grinning at the black-haired hobbit. It seemed rather like Ada for Father, he had taken a liking of blue eyes and, like Father for Ada, a fondness for raven hair. Well, it certainly helped that Frodo's eyes had nearly enough fea that if one were to only see his eyes one could almost mistake him for an elf. There was in them too a light as of a multitude of stars.

Hardly anyone ever asked him that question so he took the opportunity to try explaining about his family and how he'd gotten his knives. "My adopted ada, Loki, had these forged for me in time for my thirteenth birthday."

Frodo frowned briefly, "Loki ? Forgive me Legolas if I am wrong, but that doesn't strike me as an Elvish name."

A breeze blew through Imladris as he laid down his long knives and gestured Frodo to join him on the bench. "That is because it is not, among the Eldar it is knowledge to those like my father whom learned it from his father that there are far more worlds than just Arda. Loki is an Asgardian name, there are a few interpretations of its meaning, but the two my father favours are 'Close.' and 'Air'. These are Asgardian blades forged in the likeness of my grandfather's Elvish long knives, which were lost during the Battle of Dagorlad. I remember when Loki presented them to me, I was nearly too awed to speak and, though he tried to hide it, Father was near to tears. Few times have I seen my father in so emotional a state and that was one."

The hobbit glanced down at the beige cobblestones under their feet, ivory-skinned hands knotting together. "It sounds as if Loki cares for you like Bilbo does for me. Huh, I wish that I could have known my father, you are lucky Legolas that you have two."

"Sometimes it does not feel that lucky. Sometimes when I get angry at them, I tell them that I wish my mother was still alive and so that they had never met. I know that it hurts them and at the time it feels good, but then the guilt sets in and I can't believe I said it because I could never wish for a better pair of fathers."

Very softly Frodo muttered, "All these years and yet I have never thought of it like that. All I ever thought of were the things that would've made me happy and not what the reality would've been."

He reached out to lift Frodo's chin gently then asked his own hesitant question. "Perhaps sometime you might visit Mirkwood with me ?"

"I would love to see your home, Legolas ! Ah, that is, what I mean is that Bilbo has told me much of Mirkwood, but hardly anything of the halls themselves."

Well, when they got to it, he was sure that they'd have plenty of time for a tour after Frodo had met Father and Ada.