Picture Perfect
A/N: This story is dedicated to a new friend of mine, Elinde, who doesn't like reading about any of her favourite characters being hateful to one another. This is just a short fic to make up for the next story in my series where Oropher will be quite the tyrant and a bit mean.
So Elinde, this one is for you, hope you like it .
Warning: Lots of fluffiness and it will possibly be A.U. since I do not know exactly when Legolas was born.
Rating: K, this is capable for all ages.
Disclaimer: I do not own Oropher, Thranduil or Legolas, they all belong to Tolkien.
Summary: A picture perfect moment in the lives of Oropher, Thranduil and Legolas.
Picture Perfect
Everything was quiet in the early hours of the summer's morning, until..."Gwandpa, gwandpa!!" A small child was dashing through the palace's hallways in search of his grandfather. He came to the study-door and tentatively knocked.
A voice came from the inside, "Come in, penneth."
Legolas slowly crept inside and found the king of Greenwood sitting behind his desk, writing something down on a scroll. He looked up with a smile on his face once the little one entered, "Come over here and tell me what it is you are wanting."
Legolas quickly went towards his grandfather and sat on his lap, "Daewada, how did you know it wath me?" He had a little lisp due to the fact that one of his front teeth was missing and he still had trouble pronouncing the 'r' sound.
Oropher chuckled a bit, "I think all of arda know by now that a certain elfling was calling for his 'grandpa' so I figured you would come knocking in a short while." With that said, he began tickling the elfling's tummy.
"Thtop, gwandpa, Thtop, pleathe." Legolas pleaded through tears of mirth while trying to catch his breath.
The king decided that his grandchild had enough for the time being, "Now, tell me, what the reason is for this unexpected, yet pleasant visit?"
"Gwandpa, you pwomithed you would take uth out for a picnic if I wath good. You did not fowget, did you?"
Oropher decided to tease Legolas a bit, "Picnic? I do not recall saying anything about arranging a picnic."
Just then a knock was heard, "Enter, ion."
Thranduil stepped into the room, with his usual breeches and tunic; he wanted to look as little like a prince as possible, "Legolas, you are not disturbing your grandfather again, are you?" He gently chided.
Legolas was still amazed at how his grandfather could tell who was at the door, "Gwandpa, how did you know it wath ada?"
Oropher smiled at Legolas, "Penneth, you will soon learn that each person has a distinct knock, yours is still soft, barely audible, your father's is a little louder and your mother's is the loudest, I am still trying to teach her to knock softly, but I think her years in the wild have made it difficult for her to learn; your grandmother's is a little softer than your father's and I was also expecting him to come by." Turning to his son, he sighed and shook his head; he did not blame his son for not wanting to be a royal, but the least he could do was try for the sake of the people. He was grateful, though, that he did not shun his duties and was, in fact, very thorough in doing them, "It is alright, son, he was not disturbing me at all. He was actually telling me about some picnic, but I cannot think when I told him we were having one, do you remember anything about a picnic?" He winked subtly to Thranduil, who quickly caught on.
"Why, no, adar, I do not believe you did. Legolas, are you sure you heard correctly?"
Legolas looked so disappointed and his blue eyes so sad, "Yeth, ada, I am thure."
Thranduil could not take the sad expression on his son's beautiful face much longer and so he picked him up while laughing, "My son, my silly Legolas, did you really think we would have forgotten? Your grandfather was merely teasing you. We dropped most of our duties for the picnic and that is why I am here; to make sure that both you and your daeradar are ready." He lightly kissed his son's soft cheek.
Legolas' beautiful sapphire eyes lit up, "Ith nana and daewnana coming ath well?"
Oropher shook his head and was the one to answer, "I am afraid not; they have to make sure that everything stays in order while we are away." His eyes sparkled, "Who wants to help pack the picnic basket?"
"Me!" Legolas was wriggling and squirming in his father's arms. Thranduil had no choice but to put him down again. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Legolas dashed to the door and towards the kitchen-chambers.
The two elder elves followed at a more sedate pace, "Do you remember when you were Legolas' age?"
Thranduil slowly nodded, "Every time I look at him it is like looking at myself in the mirror many years back."
"And when I see both of you I see your mother, he takes a lot after you, in both looks and character; he has the same spirit as you."
Thranduil stared into his father's eyes which were a lighter colour than Thranduil's and was not quite as vivid but could still make anyone too nervous to look into them for long; except, maybe, his family. Thranduil knew that, even though his father seemed neutral, his eyes would always give away his emotions and Thranduil could easily tell when Oropeher was not happy with him just by looking into his eyes.
They finally made it to the kitchen where they saw Legolas bouncing with excitement and impatience in the doorway, "Come on, come on! Huwwy!"
Thranduil shook his head while Oropher chuckled. They walked into the kitchen and Oropher took out a basket that was situated in one of the higher cabinets. In it they packed wine for the adults, juice for Legolas, sandwiches, fruit, an apple-pie and some whipped cream to go with it. Legolas could already feel his mouth water at the decadent sight and smells.
The guards guarding the palace-gate immediately saluted the royals and allowed them to pass through. Thranduil allowed Legolas to ride in front of him on Barasath, the horse was tolerant of anyone riding on him as long as his master was riding as well, otherwise no one could come near him, not even Legolas. Oropher rode his own dapple-grey mare, her nature was fiery but not as much as Barasath's, she was still tolerant to whoever handled her and she was also magnificent even though she was smaller than Barasath. They were mother and son; Barasath was said to have gotten his colour from his grandfather.
They rode through the forest, which was peaceful. The trees were all happy to see them and stretched out their branches as far as possible towards the riders as they passed by. Thranduil brushed some of the ones he could reach and sent his greetings to all of them.
Oropher watched his son and marvelled at Thranduil's ability to commune with nature and everything around it. The whole royal family was blessed with the ability to speak to trees and communicate to other living creatures, more so than the average elf, but Thranduil's ability was unique and never seen before. He then turned his sights on Legolas and watched the child take in everything with awe written all over his features.
Barasath snorted when the child would not sit still, but there was nothing else he could do otherwise his master will be truly angry and he did not want that to happen, but he was hoping that his master would notice his distress and come to his aid.
Thranduil did, indeed, notice that his horse was becoming agitated. He had heard the snort and he also felt it in his steps and spotted it in the twitching ears, "Ion." Thranduil lightly touched Legolas' shoulder. When he got his child's attention, he continued, "Do you mind sitting still for a little while longer?" He inquired gently. Legolas looked at him inquisitively so he continued, "Barasath is a very grumpy horse at times and he has forgotten what it is like to be a child. See his ears twitching like that?" Legolas turned his head and nodded. Barasath was snorting in indignation, master or not, if he continued with that line of thought; both royal posteriors will meet the ground in a most undignified way. Thranduil ignored the horse and continued, "That is his way of telling me that he is not happy with something and I have a feeling that he would like you to sit still. If you asked me, I think that he has grown old far sooner than he should have."
Legolas giggled and tried his best to sit still. All of a sudden they both felt the horse 'trip' but Thranduil could tell that it was not a trip, since his horse seldom lost his footing, not to mention it was rather exaggerated. He held on tighter to Legolas, "Daro, Barasath!!" He commanded, "You will behave or I will send you back without sugar-cubes for the next two millennia!" He said sternly.
Barasath turned his head and glared at Thranduil. Thranduil returned the glare with one of his famous ones and the horse backed down and carried on walking.
Legolas sat still but that did not stop his eyes from wandering all around, "Ada, look at the biwds and buttewfwieth, awe they not pwetty?"
Thranduil looked around, "Aye, they are. Look at that one in the nest feeding her babies."
Legolas followed his father's finger and spotted them, "YETH! I THEE THEM, I THEE THEM, ADA!!" He squealed with delight.
The bird looked down from her nest and sang as though greeting them.
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The horses came to a halt once they reached a gorgeous, private glade where a pool of water was and the sun shining through, lighting everything inside the surrounding trees.
Legolas gasped in awe as Thranduil helped him off his horse, "It ith tho bwootiful." His golden hair shone even brighter under the rays of the sun, he looked to his grandfather and laughed while running up to him and giving him a hug around his legs, "Hannon lle, daewada."
Oropher was taken aback at how beautiful Legolas was, with his golden hair capturing the light of the sun and his big, blue eyes sparkling – he was just as beautiful as Thranduil was. He smiled down at Legolas, "It is my pleasure, penneth."
Legolas then ran up to his father and hugged him barely around the waist. Again, Thranduil was reminded of how short he was and muttered to himself. He caught the soft 'thank you' from the elfling and knelt down to gave Legolas a proper hug, "I am only too glad to be out of the palace and to spend some time with part of my family." He gracefully stood and assisted his father in spreading the cloth for which to sit on.
Legolas eagerly took out all the different foods and drinks. His father helped him pour some grape-juice into small mug.
They were now all seated on the cloth, enjoying their drinks. In no time, Legolas had swallowed the last of his juice and was dying to try the water out, "Ada, can I pweathe go thwim?"
Thranduil looked into his son's pleading eyes and smiled, "Of course, ion. Just make sure that you stick to the shallow end. I will join you as soon as I am finished with this glass." Thranduil put the glass down and helped his son out of his short-sleeved tunic and showed him which end of the pool was shallowest.
Legolas was plashing around in delight and tried to swim the way his father taught him to, but he had a hard time keeping his head above the water. Soon he resigned himself to splashing around once again, while doing this, a gleeful smile spread across his sweet face.
Thranduil was almost done drinking his glass when he felt drops of water strike him, he looked up and saw his son smiling innocently at him, "I do know that it could not have been my Legolas who just splashed me; he is too well-behaved for that." He teased
Legolas laughed at Thranduil's seeming 'ignorance', "No, ada, it wath not me but a naughty fith, I jutht thaw him now."
"A fish, you say? Then I must teach this fish a lesson." He downed the last of his wine and shed his own tunic and undershirt. He dived gracefully into the water, "Do you know where this fish got to?" He asked after surfacing.
Legolas pointed in Thranduil's general direction, "I fink he went fat way." He tried to stifle his laughter when his father started looking in the water for the 'fish'. His laughter just bubbled out when Thranduil started calling for the fish.
"Here fishy, fishy. Where are you? My well-behaved son told me what you did. Now, I must find you and teach you a lesson in not splashing the most highly-esteemed prince."
A combination of choking, spluttering and laughing could be heard from the picnic area. Both Thranduil and Legolas turned to Oropher; neither of them could tell whether he was laughing at the fact that Thranduil was calling out for a 'fish' or that he just proclaimed that he was the 'most highly-esteemed prince.
They soon got their answer, "M..most." Oropher was now laughing so hard, "H...h." He had trouble getting the words out, "Highly-esteemed." Oropher was fighting for breath, "pr...prince...you." Now Oropher was laughing uncontrollably.
Thranduil was mock-glaring at his father while Legolas had a look of slight-concern on his face for his grandfather.
Thranduil bent down to Legolas' ear and began whispering. Legolas clapped both his hands over his mouth to silence the giggles that were ensuing because of what Thranduil said.
Thranduil silently crept over to Oropher, who was still laughing too hard to notice him. It was only when he was kneeling did he notice the soaking elf before him, "Thranduil, stay away from me, I do not want my clothes getting wet."
Thranduil tried to hide his smirk and put on his best pout, "But daddy, I want a hug."
Oropher's eyes widened. He quickly rose from the ground and backed away from Thranduil, "Thranduil, my son, you best stay away from me with your wet hair and everything else."
Even while he was slowly advancing on his father with a look of malice on his face, Thranduil's eyes still glowed with merriment
Abandoning all royal-dignity, Oropher took off his robes, leaving him only in a simple shirt and a brown pair of breeches and sprinted away from Thranduil while laughing all the way.
Thranduil joined in the laughter and purposely kept Oropher ahead the entire time.
Legolas watched the spectacle around him with amazement. Sure, he had seen Thranduil let loose plenty of times and just play around like a small child, but his grandfather was always so serious and would not let loose more than a chuckle and normally he would chide Thranduil for not being as dignified. But not today, today he was just another elf having a good time. He burst out laughing when Thranduil tripped his father, causing him to tumble into the water.
It was Thranduil's turn to laugh at the king's expense as Oropher came out spluttering and trying to wipe his hair out of his face, "THRANDUIL!! PREPARE TO FEEL MY WRATH!!" Thranduil quickly backed away from his father while still laughing, "Now, adar, it was only fair that I get back at you for laughing at me." He let out an undignified squeal and ran when Oropher clambered out of the water, even more drenched than Thranduil was before.
"Remember, I carried you before, I can do it again!" He increased his speed and managed to catch up to Thranduil, because he was laughing too hard to run any faster. He picked him up and hauled him over his shoulder, "Arg, you are a lot heavier than before." Oropher grunted while Thranduil was protesting at being man-handled in such a way.
Legolas had not stopped laughing when the whole incident started, and was now laughing even harder at the way his grandfather was carrying his father, never had he seen anything like it before. He clutched at his stomach even harder and was bent over it, the tears just kept rolling down his cheeks and even his face was beginning to ache.
Thranduil felt himself falling head-first into the water. He was finding it very hard to sound serious when he could not stop laughing, "Adar, you do realize that I will now have to exact my revenge." When he was trying to get out, Oropher pushed him back in, but not without tumbling in himself because Thranduil managed to grab a hold of his shirt.
Very soon, a splash-fight ensued between the two of them. When things quietened a bit, they each heard childlike-laughter.
Legolas was still clutching his stomach, "You...you both acting tho funny." Laughter took over his speech.
Thranduil gave Oropher a wink of his own and spoke loud enough for his elfling to hear, "Why, adar, I forgot that there is still a certain little fish that I must teach a lesson to. No one gets away with splashing the most highly-esteemed prince."
Oropher snorted in the most un-elflike way and muttered to himself, "Most highly-esteemed prince, if that was true then I am a frog."
"I heard that."
Oropher merely looked innocently at Thranduil.
Thranduil continued to address Legolas, "You have not told me what this fish looks like."
Legolas finally managed to get his laughter under control, "He got blue eyeth."
"Blue eyes, hmmm." Thranduil pretended to think, "Must be a trout, then. What else?"
Legolas thought a bit and came up with another description, "It hath yellow haiw wike yourth and mine – he wath a weally thmall fith."
Thranduil pretended to think some more, "Blue eyes and yellow hair; definitely a rare specie of the Salogel trout."
Legolas nodded vigorously, "Yeth, ada, it mutht have been the Thal-thomething twout."
"What do you think I should do with the trout once I catch it?"
"I think that you mutht not do anyfing to it. I think it ith vewy thowwy fow thplathing the motht highly-eth...eth...thomething pwinth."
"No, I think I will do this to it." Without warning, he lifted Legolas onto his shoulder just like his father had done with him earlier, except in a much gentler way and carried him to the deeper side of the pool.
"No, ada, put me down, put me down!" Legolas screamed between his giggles.
Thranduil did as he was told, but still held the elfling under his armpits, "Do you think the fish has learnt its lesson?"
Legolas nodded again with all seriousness, "Yeth, I think he hath."
Thranduil smiled and threw Legolas into the air and caught him again – earning himself musical giggles of delight from his small son.
Oropher went over to them. He gently took the child into his own strong arms and carried him around the pool, telling him stories and singing songs to him.
Legolas' eyes soon became heavy as the sun was sinking.
They all climbed out the pool and got themselves as dry as possible, which made it difficult for Oropher, whose clothes were soaked. But he knew the ride home would dry them a bit.
They had forgotten about the food so they decided on eating before they left. Legolas barely touched his food, he was too exhausted from the day's events but he had quite a bit of the apple-pie.
Once everyone had eaten, Oropher tied the basket to his horse and climbed on. Thranduil helped Legolas back onto Barasath, once he made sure he was secure, he gracefully leapt up behind Legolas.
They were on their way home once again and Legolas was nodding off to sleep. He had a very eventful day and he loved every minute of it.
Oropher looked fondly at the pair; all the love and pride in the world could be seen in his eyes. In that moment, he felt so blessed that his heart was bursting and unshed tears came to his eyes. They were his pride and joy and he would never forget the picture perfect moments he shared with them.
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The end
Translations:
Penneth: Little one
Daerada: Granddad or granddaddy
Ion: Son
Ada: Dad or daddy
Adar: Father
Nana: Mom or mommy
Daernana: Grandmom
Daro: Stop
Hannon lle: Thank you
God bless and ride free, citizens.