Disclaimer: All characters are property of the Tolkien estate.

It was quiet in this room; none of the strange Elves were here. The little creature sneaking in assumed the room was simply an extra bedroom and crawled under the bed. It seemed like a good place to hide from the boring people who were trying to keep up with him: why would anyone have such a beautiful valley and only spend time inside? He needed a way to get outdoors.

The door swung open without warning and he heard laughing. From under the edge of the bed all that he could see were feet and water dripping onto the carpet. He could tell by the voices that they were all girls. He buried his face in the carpet in embarrassment. This was a girl's room.

"My lady, do you need any of us to stay?"

"No, thank you."

If she was called 'lady', she was important. The little boy's curiosity overcame his fear of being caught and he peeked out from under the bed. The Elf-maiden's dark hair was dripping wet and fell framing her pale face, and her smile made her eyes shine. She was the most beautiful person the young Elf had ever seen. When she vanished around the corner to change out of her soaked clothes, he decided it was a good chance to get away. He snuck towards the door, but it swung open again and he had to jump behind it.

"Lady Arwen?"

So the pretty girl's name was Arwen. He repeated it silently. It was a nice name. The conversation ended and jerked his attention back to his escape plan. When the door closed he reached for the knob, standing on tip-toes.

"What on Arda?"

He froze and bit his lip. There was the beautiful Lady, drying her hair, looking right at him.

"Who are you?"

There wasn't anywhere to hide, so he just stood there, head down, pinned under her gaze. She knelt down in front of him.

"Don't you talk, little one?"

He shook his head. He hadn't said a word to anyone but his Ada since they entered the valley; these other Elves were strange and made him nervous. He didn't really want to be here at all. This girl was pretty and seemed nice, but he didn't plan on talking to her either. She smiled at him.

"I bet you're hiding, aren't you?"

He nodded sheepishly and she laughed like before; in a pretty, happy way, not in a mean or teasing way.

"And you truly won't talk to me?"

It was tempting, but he knew he sounded different and he was still nervous.

"You're the Elvenking's son, aren't you?"

The way he lit up at the mention of the visiting Sinda ruler told her that he was.

"Then your name is Legolas."

The little boy nodded; Arwen decided he was cute, even if he was quiet, and his big blue eyes were working their way into her heart. She smiled again.

"I bet you're hungry. Here." She rose and took a honey cake from a plate that had been on a shelf higher than he would have been able to see and he took it happily. Arwen giggled to herself; she wished there were more elflings in Rivendell.

"So what were you planning on doing when you got away?"

He just kept blushing and looking down. She wondered if he could speak at all, but she wasn't sure it was even possible for an Elf to be mute. He pointed out the window suddenly, glancing up at her, and she looked. The woods rose up by the river. His meaning was clear enough.

"I see, you wanted to go to the forest. Aren't you scared of being alone in there though?"

He rolled his eyes at her and she bit her tongue so that she didn't laugh. "I suppose they are safer than what you're used to."

It was surprisingly upsetting, the sudden realisation that the child clamouring up on her windowsill and patting the space beside him lived in a place with more danger in a day than she had ever seen. She sat by him with a different sense of what it meant to be from Mirkwood. It made more sense now why the king of that forest would bring his son to Rivendell when he came.

"Are these trees smaller than the ones in Mirkwood?"

Legolas nodded.

"It's going to be hard to talk to you if you don't say anything."

That seemed to make him sad, and as an apology he laid his head on her shoulder and scooted closer; she smiled at him until something occurred to her.

"Oh! Won't someone be looking for you? They have to be worried." She didn't get an answer. The elfling yawned and snuggled closer to her. He drifted off to sleep before she realised it and she ended up trapped, unable to move without waking him up.

Legolas yawned and blinked awake, fully in the waking world and suddenly aware that he had fallen asleep on the pretty girl he had met.

"Good afternoon." Her voice was soft and didn't have any anger in it, so he stopped worrying that she was mad. He smiled at her and decided that she wasn't really a grown-up at all.

Excited at the idea of having someone to play with, he dug out something he'd brought with him: wooden figures of a doe and a deer. They were his favourite toys, carved from trees in Mirkwood. He was almost certain they were magic and blinked; he watched them sometimes, but never quite caught them.

"These are very beautiful. What will you do with them?"

He passed her the doe and half-dropped half-hopped down off the windowsill onto the rug. It was soft and woven with images of an old story that he hadn't been told yet. One part of the soft, thick carpet was green like trees, perfect for burrowing toes into and he stood his deer up on it, motioning for her to do the same. She did, and he made the deer gallop around. As best she could, she tried to follow the wordless story that seemed to involve getting to the blue river.

The door burst open and the Elfling jumped behind her.

"Arwen." The interrupter pulled up short, "How long have you been in here?"

A glance out the window at the sum told her it had been about two hours.

"Then we can tell you first."

"Erestor has just about gone mad."

"He's looking for King Thranduil's son."

"Apparently he snuck off somewhere."

"He's been missing."

Elladan and Elrohir blinked in unison when their younger sister responded by laughing. It was clear she'd never seen the king of Mirkwood when he was angry.

"Well, I'm sure he's safe."

"Except for the fact that a few wolves were released in the woods recently."

"He could get hurt."

"No, I'm really very certain he's safe and in good hands." They seemed to understand her at the same moment and looked behind her. They groaned in unison.

"The whole time?"

"You should have told me first."

"And you," Elrohir knelt down to be eye-level with the Elfling, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

Arwen moved between them to spare the little boy, "He won't talk, you waste your breath."

Elladan frowned, "He talked when we were in Mirkwood."

"Not to us, but he did talk."

"So what's changed?"

"I think he's just nervous." Arwen was a little annoyed that her brothers had gotten to see the Elf prince before and hadn't bothered to tell her about it, but she stood beside him with her hand on his head and took a little pride in the fact that he was holding her dress like she was safe.

"No, not this bold little one." Elladan grinned, "He has more fight than mountain cat, I know."

"At least he's as light-footed as one. We would love to be able to escape as easily as you can." Elrohir changed tactics, standing up and addressing his sister, "And you should hear him when he sings. He has a voice like a songbird."

"He didn't know we could hear him."

Legolas hid his face, blushing.

"What was it? It was an old Sindar song…"

"It was the one about the bluebird."

"It was, but I don't remember it. Arwen?"

She shook her head, "I don't remember one about a bluebird."

There was a quiet voice from Arwen's skirt, "My ada taught it to me."

"There's his voice!"

Legolas giggled, "I didn't know you heard me!"

"Only a little."

"But you weren't there," The Elfling pointed at Lady Arwen. She hadn't laughed at him, maybe because her brothers didn't sound like her either. He did remember them, and the noise and swords and Men they brought into his home once. His father had said they were called Rangers.

"No, but maybe I will come when I go to see my mother's kin in Lorien."

"Where's Lorien?"

"South of Mirkwood."

He looked down at the rug and the black area on it, "The south is bad. It's where the spiders are, and bad things."

One of the older two Elves whispered something to his brother.

"We're going to go tell Erestor we found you, alright?"

"Do you want to come with us?"

He looked back at the pretty lady and felt bad for leaving her, but she nodded at him, "I'll see you again."

One of the warriors offered his hand and he took it. "Want to go outside?"

He nodded eagerly. It was getting late, and the stars would be out soon. He liked the stars; they were something you couldn't always see from within the forest, and certainly not from inside the caverns. He pointed to one.

"What's that star?"

"That bright one?" Elladan grinned at the Elfling holding his hand.

"That's not actually a star," His twin leaned in to make the child feel like they were sharing a secret.

"But it what else could it be!"

"A ship."

"Ships don't fly!"

They laughed. "This one does."

"It's very special. You'll have to ask our Adar about the story."

"He tells it better; part of the story is his."

"I want to hear it!"

"You're so enthusiastic."

The little blonde elf nodded happily. The twins exchanged a smile over his head.

"Where's Ada?"

"Probably still talking."

"People have been talking a long time. He should be done."

"I think he is." The Elf prince looked up, ecstatic, and ran towards the figure that had appeared ahead. Thranduil knelt down to pick his son up.

"Ada, I made friends." He was wasting no time snuggling up to his father, wrapping his hands in his hair, burying his face in his robes.

"So I see." The king raised pale blue eyes to the twins. They saluted in unison and stepped away.

"I missed you. I ran away from the people and I hid and I met a pretty lady. Is she the prettiest lady ever?"

"Lady Arwen?"

"Uh-huh."

"They say she is second only to Luthien of old."

He sounded dubious, "Is she really prettier than Naneth was?"

"You sound tired, Leggy."

"I am!" He yawned and snuggled up more closely in his Ada's arms, not catching the avoidance of his question.. His eyes felt heavy and the hand stroking his hair was familiar and gentle. A soft kiss brushed against his hair and he laid his head down on his father's shoulder.

A/N: Baby Legolas and Arwen. Look how shy he is. Isn't he precious?