The day of King Elessar's coronation was such a happy day for all; all except one.
One lone figure stood apart from the rest of the celebrators, hidden in a dark corner of the party room as the rest of Gondor and the fellowship enjoyed themselves.
He leaned back against the cold stone wall, his arms subconsciously resting against his still flat stomach as he allowed his mind to wander back to when the whole mess first started.
It was two years before the business with the ring had even come up, and he, Legolas of Mirkwood, had arrived in Rivendell on behalf of his father.
There had been some petty matter that was quickly dealt with and he found himself with two weeks spare to wander the large city.
It was during these two weeks that he first met the human known as Estel.
Legolas suddenly snapped out of that particular memory and his blond head shook softly, chiding himself still for what had occurred during those two weeks. It had been so unlike him; taking to a stranger that quickly, and a human no less!
But he could never go as far as saying he regretted those two weeks, the short affair had seen him returning to Mirkwood unknowingly carrying the eldest of his two children.
Legolas smiled sadly to himself as he thought of his little girl; Daetria. She'd be two now and he couldn't wait to see her again. She'd only been a year old when he was forced to set off for Rivendell, leaving the baby girl in the care of her grandfather Thranduil.
He pushed himself away from the cold wall and headed outside, resting lightly on a bench located next to a beautiful patch of flowers.
"Must you leave so soon?" Legolas' heart froze as he heard the voice he had been both dreading and missing.
"I miss my home." He forced the simple statement through clenched teeth, his emotionless blue eyes staring straight in front of him stubbornly as he refused to face the one beside him.
This reaction doesn't go unnoticed by Aragorn as he settled himself down next to his old friend, his brow wrinkled up in concern and confusion.
"Legolas? What is wrong?" The new king leant forward slightly to better view the face firmly turned away from his.
"Nothing is wrong!" The elf spat out, before leaping up and storming towards the garden.
Aragorn merely sighed tiredly and shook his head at the prince's sudden disappearance. He spied another elf making their way toward him, and the concern in his eyes was replaced by a grin.
"Ah, my beautiful Arwen!" As Aragorn sung out, Legolas paused in his step; he hadn't journeyed far enough into the garden for the words to escape him. On hearing the human's delighted cry his face scrunched up in heartbreak, his thin body shaking with suppressed sobs as his arms once again wrapped around the barely noticeable bump in his stomach.
Eight years later
"Ada. Ada! Look what Rylie did!"
Legolas was pulled from his thoughts as he turned towards the voice; his face lit up in a fond smile as his sparkling blue eyes took in the sight before him.
The bright face of a young child was turned towards him in indignation, the ten year old girl was known as Princess Daetria Legolasiel, and she was set to rule Mirkwood after her daddy and her granddaddy.
Legolas found himself holding back the gasp that always followed whenever he turned to his eldest daughter; the face of his former lover stared back at him through the half elven child. She even had the same stormy grey eyes, though the long golden locks were definitely inherited from her elven father.
He then looked to the younger of his girls, the one he had just begun to carry when the quest was ended. She was seven now and the messy brown hair common to the human that had sired both her and her sister framed the face and eyes passed down from her elven ada.
This very face was now half covered in strawberry jelly, along with her sister and the rest of the room, and was smiling up at him innocently.
"Now Rylianna," Legolas leant down to the elfling's height as he attempted to chastise his little darling "how did you manage to get everything, including yourself, covered in strawberry jelly in such a short time?"
"It was Rhubarb!" The young girl announced cheerfully, the disbelieving sigh from her ada seeming to have no affect on her.
Legolas nodded slowly at this answer. "Yes, I'm sure it was." He ushered the two girls towards the bathroom as he recalled Rhubarb; the imaginary friend that had first been thought up by Rylie when the girl was only two.
"Now you two behave and get cleaned up quickly, do not forget we are to leave for Rivendell before too long!"
At this reminder both girls squealed excitedly and ran ahead of their father, eager to be ready as fast as possible.
Legolas had always made it a point for the two girls to get to know Elrond and the twins, although the reason behind this was only known by Legolas, his father and the Rivendell Lord himself; Legolas had always taken care not to make it too obvious that he wished for the girls to know their uncles and other grandfather.
As he returned to the dining room he found himself wondering, as he had many times before, what might have happened had he handled things differently.
"Why did I not just tell him from the start?" He mumbled to himself sadly, so caught up in this depressing question that he didn't hear the footsteps approaching from behind.
"And what then, my son?" A familiar voice interrupted. "Would you and the girls have lived with him in the human city?" Legolas stiffened at the unexpected response from his father, remaining silent as he fought to keep the tears from spilling over.
"He is a human and you shall one day lose him, and your daughters as well if they grow too fond of the human way!"
Legolas gasped, this last statement stabbing through him like ice.
"I...no. I cannot lose them, they are all I have!" His voice sounded broken and low as he lost the battle against his emotions, tears streaming freely down his pale cheeks.
"Then this is how things must be, if you do not wish to lose the girls."
With this Thranduil turned and left his son alone; he hated to be this harsh, but he was familiar with the pain of losing a child.
Legolas slid down into a nearby chair, managing to get the sobs under control before the door opened again and a servant informed him everything was ready for departure.