A/N: One-Shot for the prompt:

"How about Legolas getting injured on a patrol and Thranduil being there when he woke up? Oh, or Legolas taking an injury to protect Thranduil?! "

by Anon on tumblr. So basically, I don't know if I'm defying Tolkien rules here, but Legolas is about 970 something years old here. I imagine that he will have just matured, so he's not too grown up. Keep that in mind, it makes this cuter ;D

(I'm guessing this would have been his age during The Hobbit?)

Enjoy!

"You're joining the patrol?" Legolas asked, disbelief evident in his voice. He smirked, raising an eyebrow. "No, really? Adar, you haven't been on a patrol since... Well.. A very long time ago! At least five hundred summers, and I'm barely a thousand summers old myself." He mused. "Why the change of mind?"

Thranduil was getting irritated; he had told Legolas he would join him for the patrol about an hour ago, and Legolas still refused to believe it. Why was his son so stubborn?

Oh, yes. Probably because he was the son of the great, stubborn Thranduil himself.

Thranduil moved away gracefully. "Is the party prepared? I suppose they have been waiting for us for about an hour now, since you would not stop your questioning. Must I reconsider sending you to patrols again? You appear to waste much time." He said, not too kindly.

"Sorry, Adar." Legolas muttered. But he was so excited, and he could not hide it. Going on a patrol with his father? He had never seen Thranduil in battle; not that he hoped to fight today, but seeing his slice a spider or two down would surely satisfy him.

His father's voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "Dozing off, Legolas? That is never a good sign. I will definitely reconsider sending you on patrols from now on." He snapped lightly, walking out of the room as his child scurried after him.

As they strolled through the woods, Thranduil exhaled impatiently. "The woods are very quiet and peaceful. Of course, they are dark, and danger lingers around, but I see no monsters jumping around or spiders dragging our guards off as my soldiers make it seem."

"You should be happy about that, Adar." Legolas noted. "You know, I do a very good job of keeping danger as far from our home as possible. There used to be many spiders here when I first began hunting and going on patrols. To see the evident change makes me feel very proud."

Of course, Legolas was longing for a praise from his dear father, who either noticed the longing in his son's voice but decided to ignore it, or did not realise it at all, for he simply nodded and moved forward, guiding his moose.

Legolas' face fell when his father moved onwards; not the praise he had been waiting for, that was for sure. However, he had grown accustomed to it. He was always a very smart, strong and talented elf, but his father never acknowledged anything he did. Legolas could not entirely blame him, either, for after darkness took over Mirkwood, it also took his beloved wife away from him.

He shook his head, trying to focus on something else before the loss of his mother filled his heart again. He could barely remember Mirkwood being merry, and neither could he remember himself being a happy child. He bit on his lip, and nudged his horse forward, trying to make more conversation with his bored king.

"Adar," he began, not knowing what to speak about. Thranduil raised an eyebrow, not bothering to turn his head around to look at his son. "What did you decide to name your... Moose." He asked, feeling silly immediately.

However, to his immense surprise, Thranduil burst out laughing. Legolas stared in awe, for he could barely remember his father laughing like this when he was sober. Perhaps his attempt at a conversation had not failed too badly, after all. "Sam. The name flows, and fits a moose."

"Sounds like a much too simple name to be an elf, dwarf or even human. Good choice." Legolas noted, nodding. He giggled when he looked at the moose. "Hey, Sam."

"My lord, should we turn back? We have ventured very far, and all appears to be clear." A guard accompanying them asked.

Thranduil looked thoughtful for a moment before he nodded. "Yes, I suppose we should. Everyone, turn around! We are returning to the palace." Then, in a lower voice, he said to his son, "and this was a very boring patrol. You are allowed to doze off and blabber on in patrols like those."

But Legolas did not know if his father was joking or being serious, because Thranduil showed no hint of a smile or even a smirk. And yet, Legolas smiled sheepishly and nodded.

With a surprised yelp, one of the guards immediately lunged in front of his king, trying to protect him. Sam began losing control, but a few words from Thranduil managed to calm him down once more. Ah, moose were not too good with ten feet tall spiders.

"Adar, are you alright?" Legolas called out, grinning. Yes! Finally, some action! He would get to show his father how good of a warrior he had become, both with his how and arrow and his twin knives.

Thranduil glanced at his son for a brief moment, sending a nod. "Stay away, Legolas. Wait here." He jumped down from Sam, pulling out his elven sword. With his graceful moves, he began to kill the spiders, which were swarming down on them by now.

Apparently, they had sensed their presence, and had prepared to attack when the elves came back. Smart, those spiders.

Legolas rolled his eyes. Since when was Thranduil protective? If anything, he's the one who has been fighting off all those spiders. In fact, he's fought more of them than his own father had; or so he thought.

He climbed up a tree, carefully aiming with his bow and shooting the spiders in the head. Thranduil was about to stab one when it fell dead, an arrow sticking into its temple. He looked up to where Legolas was, and, for a very small moment, smirked. Legolas felt relief flooding him and he began fighting with much more enthusiasm; his father believed in him!

When he began climbing down the tree, he noticed a spider creeping up behind his father, who was fighting off two spiders at once. Legolas thought about calling out to his father, but decided that it would only distract him and allow the other spiders to attack him from front. He inhaled slowly and made his way to the spider, pulling out his twin knives.

Just as he managed to stab the spider, he saw a giant leg of hers (or his?) come his way, and before he could move, he felt a giant pain erupting in his head as his world blacked out.

"Ion-nin, answer me."

Legolas groaned. He opened his eyes, furrowing his eyebrows, and looked at the ceiling. "Naneth?" He whispered. Then he closed his eyes again, and tried to bring up a hand to rub at his temples. He had a massive headache, and he was fighting dizziness.

"No, it is I." Someone answered sadly. "Legolas, can you open your eyes?" Thranduil prodded. "I need to check for a concussion. Please, ion-nin. Try to open your eyes for me. We're back at the palace, you're safe now."

Legolas could have sworn that he had never heard his father worry for him so much. "Adar?" He pried one eye open, squinting from the light. "When did we leave the palace? Where is naneth?" He questioned.

"You don't remember?" Thranduil asked slowly. "What is your age, Legolas? What do you remember?"

Legolas closed his eyes, trying to remember. "I... I think I should turn four hundred and... Thirty two? Thirty four. Four hundred and thirty four, this summer."

And he could not understand why his father's eyes suddenly watered.

A/N no happy ending, sorry :/ and yes, Legolas lost his memory T_T

Please drop me some reviews! I was kind of happy about how this turned out, I hope you liked it as well!

And for all those Supernatual fans out there, yes, I'm referring to Sam Winchester as the moose ;D