Hi! It's Kurafoxgirl coming back from the dead! I've had a severe case of writers block and even though this is actually a song fic I think I can pull it into a story...I think. I wrote this around Simple Plan's Perfect song and now that I think of it I could have written this on Faramir instead of Legolas but I like Legolas better (sorry all you Faramir fans).

Perfect

By: Kurafoxgirl

It was a beautiful day in Mirkwood and all Legolas wanted to do was sit on a branch of a huge oak tree. He wanted to listen to what it had to say. He wanted to sit in its shade and hear its tale of life. He wanted to dangle his legs off the side of it mighty branch and sing to it. He wanted to listen to the birds that nested in the tree. He wanted to watch them as they taught their young how to fly. He wanted to watch the squirrels chatter to each other and play.

But he couldn't. His father would disapprove. His father called it a waste of time and told him that he would be better off spending his time inside signing papers. Legolas despised his father. Their relationship had become strained since Legolas' mother died. He often wondered if Thranduil loved him.

They used to be inseparable, him and his dad. They used to do everything together. But when his mother died everything changed. When Legolas would want some one to talk to Thranduil pushed him aside and told him he had no time for foolishness. How could he make his father notice him again like he did when Legolas was young? Perhaps if he spent all his time inside studying instead of spending so much time with the trees and his people it would please his father?

Hey dad look at me

Think back and talk to me

Did I grow up according to plan?

Do you think I'm wasting my time doing things I wanna do?

But it hurts when you disapprove all along

Perhaps if he became a warrior? That would surely make his father proud. Instead of doing what he wanted to do he would spend all his time in the practice fields with a bow, arrows, and two half knives. Yes, that's it. He would spend three days straight in the fields and sharpen his skills. He'd join the Mirkwood scouting party and help protect Mirkwood. And when he became the best archer and warrior in all of Mirkwood he wouldn't stop there. He'd keep pushing until he became the best warrior in all of Middle Earth! That surely would make his father notice him.

Legolas picked up his best bow and a bodkin of arrows and placed them on his back. He picked up his half knives and put them on each side of his bodkin. He thought of writing his father a note to let him know where he was but then thought better of it. His father wouldn't care where he was. He didn't even care if he was alive. Making sure his weapons were sharpened, he left for the practice field.

And now I try hard to make it

I just want to make you proud

I'm never gonna be good enough for you

I can't pretend that I'm all right

And you can't change me

Thranduil watched Legolas as he went, fully armed, to the practice field. Thranduil watched as Legolas loaded an arrow onto his bow and let it go. The arrow landed right above the target and Thranduil cursed. Why could his son do nothing right? He couldn't even control his desires to sit in a tree. That stupid son of his was always found sitting in a tree. He had even killed his own mother!

Yes, Thranduil blamed his wife's death on his one and only son. She had died protecting Legolas when he was too "scared" to fight for himself. Thranduil had always wanted his son to grow up to become a fierce warrior and the fact that Legolas had been scared to fight was above him. In his cowardice he allowed his mother to sacrifice herself for him. He was ashamed of his son.

Legolas knew his father was watching him. He even heard him curse him for missing the target. He would not let that discourage him. Only a weakling would do that. To be a warrior, he had to make himself realize what he could and couldn't do. He couldn't cry, couldn't show weakness, and couldn't show the pain his father's words caused him. He would make his father proud of him no matter what it costs.

Legolas loaded his bow again and took aim at the center of the target and let the arrow fly. This time the arrow landed in one of the inner rings of the target. He loaded his bow again and let the arrow fly. It split his other arrow in two. He let another arrow fly and it hit only a few inches from the very center of the target. He was getting good very fast and he knew why. Even though his target was a simple piece of wood, he imagined it was his father. His hatred toward his father was why his aim was improving so fast. He imagined each arrow piercing his father's flesh. 'Cuz we lost it all

Nothing lasts forever

I'm sorry

I can't be perfect

Now its just too late and

We can't go back

I'm sorry

I can't be perfect

He let another arrow fly and started to let another one fly but stopped. How could he feel that way about his own father? Why did he wish for his own father's death by his own hands? His mind flashed back on a memory and his practice was forgotten for a moment.

Legolas and Thranduil were play fighting with each other amongst the trees. Suddenly, a venomous spider came out of the woods and tried to pounce the young elfling. Thranduil knocked the spider out of the air and slashed it across the eyes. The spider let out a shriek of pain and retreated back deep into the forest. Thranduil scooped Legolas up in his arms and checked him for wounds.

"Ada I is fine," Legolas had told his father.

"Yes it seems you are. I was so scared for you Legolas," said Thranduil holding his son close to him.

"Ada you're my hewo," Legolas said and hugged his father tight.

Legolas snapped out of his memory and let the arrow fly. Those four words he spoke so long ago didn't mean anything to his father anymore. Being his hero wasn't enough for his father. Thranduil wanted more than that. Legolas notched another arrow and let it fly. It hit the center of the target but he wasn't satisfied. He loaded his bow again and let the arrow fly. It split the dead center arrow in two. He let another fly and watched as it split another center arrow in two.

He lowered his bow and looked to a window of the palace where his father had been standing. He looked his father straight in the eye with a disgusted look on his face and pointed to the three center arrows and waited for his father's reaction. Thranduil merely snorted and turned away from the window. Legolas couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness and rejection in his heart. But even though he felt it he didn't let it show. And so his mask came to be.

I try not to think

About the pain I feel inside

Did you know you used to be my hero?

All the days you spent with me

Now seem so far away

And it feels like you don't care anymore

A few days later he was on his first scouting when ten spiders attacked the company of elves he was with, half of which he brought down single handedly. He cut off the heads of those he had killed and brought them before his father hoping to make his father proud.

"This is all? This is all that you have slain? I'm highly disappointed in you. There were only ten of them all together and you were only able to bring down five?!" Thranduil shouted.

"Ada, you must understand! The others slew the rest before I could get to them!" Legolas shouted back.

"I'll have none of your excuses! You failed to bring all ten down, that is evident and all that matters," said Thranduil.

Legolas was about to say more but his father would not allow it.

"Leave me! You have failed and are not worthy of my presence! You disgrace me," said Thranduil as he turned his back. And now I try hard to make it

I just want to make you proud

I'm never gonna be good enough for you

I can't stand another fight

And nothing's all right

Legolas turned his heel and walked out of the palace and onto the practice field. There he furiously trained in yet another attempt to make his father proud of him. He loathed his father at this point and really didn't care about anything any more.

'Cuz we lost it all

Nothing lasts forever

I'm sorry

I can't be perfect

Now its just to late and

We can't go back

I'm sorry

I can't be perfect

The next day Legolas came back from a scouting party with a report on an ambush of Orcs that had attempted to enter the city. He had returned to the palace with a number of grievous wounds and headed for the throne room where his father would be to tell him of the losses they had experienced during the ambush. He practically drug himself into the throne room. He was in immense pain due to a broken wrist and arrow wounds in his side, arm, and leg. Blood covered his tunic, staining the green a rusty color.

"Legolas, what do you want now?" asked Thranduil as he rolled his eyes.

"Ada, my company was ambushed by about fifty Orcs trying to cross the border. All the Orcs lay slain but so does half of the scouting party. Their funerals are being arranged as we speak," said Legolas ignoring the wave of pain that hit his weakened body.

"Half?! And what were you dong at this point? Sitting in a tree?! Where were you?!" asked Thranduil in an outrage.

"I was fighting valiantly by their side!" shouted Legolas.

"Fighting valiantly were you? Are you sure you weren't hiding somewhere too scared to fight? Did you let anyone sacrifice themselves just because you were afraid to fight just like you did with your mother?!" shouted Thranduil.

That hit harder than any Orc sword that he had ever been stabbed with.

"You are the worst son I could have ever imagined! You killed your mother and now half of your own scouting party! You are a failure and a poor excuse for a prince of Mirkwood! Leave me! Go wither and die in a cold dark cave somewhere but do not take the title of Mirkwood with you!" Thranduil continued.

"At least I will not have to dwell in your foul hall!" Legolas spat and left his father's presence.

Nothing's gonna change the things that you said

Nothing' s gonna make this right again

Please don't turn your back

I can't believe it's hard

Just to talk to you

But you don't understand

Legolas was fed up with trying to prove his worth to his father. He headed to his room and began to pack. Where he was going he didn't know. Anywhere but Mirkwood would satisfy him. He grabbed several traveling and hunting tunics and a few pieces of lembas bread he had been saving up all this time for a quick get away. He grabbed another bow off the wall (his had been lost during the ambush) and a full bodkin of arrows. He fastened them to his back and grabbed another pair of twin blades. He then climbed out the window without any thought of leaving any sort of message. He landed silently on the ground and went into the stables to find his steed. He put his burdens on his horse and led it out of the barn. Only the thoughts of having a better life in Rivendell went through his mind as his horse galloped out of Mirkwood.

'Cuz we lost it all

Nothing lasts forever

I'm sorry

I can't be perfect

Now it's just too late

We can't go back

I'm sorry

I can't be perfect

Thranduil watched as his only heir to Mirkwood galloped out of his realm. He had never felt so happy in all his long years.

'Cuz we lost it all

Nothing lasts forever

I'm sorry I can't be perfect

Now it's just too late

We can't go back

I'm sorry

I can't be perfect

So tell me what you think. Should I try to make it an ongoing story?

-kurafoxgirl