Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognisable characters in this story and make no money from them. This story is purely a work of fanfiction and written for fun. However, I do own the OC's.
Thanks goes to CoffeeRanger, Hawaiichick and wswpub for reviewing!
Unbeta-ed, so if you find any spelling mistakes please politely point them out in a review, or send me a PM, and I will endeavour to fix them.
This chapter is deleted. Therefore, the events described in it take place within the timeline of the main story, during 'The Elfling Days'.
Chapter 2: Deleted scenes from 'The Elfling Days'.
Legolas is quite young in the first part of this chapter, probably equivalent to a human four-year-old. He is probably about ten or eleven years old in human years in the latter part.
#1 Of braided hair and soft toys
"Hold still my little leaf. We are almost finished."
Legolas sighed heavily but obeyed as Thranduil continued his careful braiding of his small son's hair. The prince did not understand why it had to take so long to get ready. It was much easier and quicker to just tie his hair back and forget about it. But Thranduil had put his foot down early on regarding the prince's hair. The Elvenking took great pride in his personal appearance, and was determined that his son would look presentable at all times. Even when wearing simple clothes, his hair would be braided and neat. Or at least braided. Keeping it neat was an entirely different matter.
Even though actually doing his hair was a task easier said than done. Legolas's hair was very long, especially for an elf his age, reaching three-quarters of the way down his back. Although long hair meant more work, the elfling refused to have it cut. He liked his hair. It was the time spent braiding it that he found tedious.
Thranduil also liked the prince's hair. It was silky and soft, though almost impossible to tame. While its colour was similar to Thranduil's, it was much finer then the king's hair, and had a very different texture. It was very obviously wood elf hair; the king had quickly decided the first time he'd been confronted with taming it.
Thanks to Tathardis, Thranduil was very aware of the differences that existed between the hair textures of Silvan and Sindar elves. Though Tathardis had had quite thick hair for a wood elf, it had still been much finer in texture than Thranduil's. The king knew because he'd spent hours carefully combing it out for her, especially during her last few months of pregnancy when she hadn't felt like doing a lot.
Swiftly steering his thoughts away from that subject, Thranduil finished tying off the last braid and stepped back to admire his work. The style he'd chosen was simple, yet elegant and practical. The prince's hair was braided back from his face and tied behind his head, leaving the bottom part to hang freely yet still stay out of the way.
As soon as Thranduil stepped back, the prince quickly turned around to look at him.
"Are we finished now?"
Thranduil laughed as he scooped his son up and kissed him on the cheek before he settled the little elfling on his hip.
"Yes, we are finished; but why the big hurry, ion nîn?"
Legolas gave the king a scandalous expression.
"Don't tell me you have forgotten! Faemes is going to help me make a mate for Mellon today, as he sometimes gets lonely when I can't be with him. Can we go there now Ada?"
Thranduil smiled at his son's enthusiasm and nodded.
"Yes, we can. Have you thought of a name for Mellon's mate yet?"
Legolas shook his head as they left his chambers.
"Not yet. I think that I will wait until I see her before naming her. Nothing I've thought of so far seems to fit."
Thranduil smiled again as they headed towards the sewing rooms.
"I'm sure a suitable name will come to you soon. I am looking forward to meeting Mellon's mate once she is made."
And, almost four days later, the king was introduced to Lassel. The stuffed toy was slightly shapeless, made of a soft felt-like gold material, though there were obvious legs and a head. But it only looked like an elk if you had a good imagination, though Thranduil admired it nonetheless. Even if it had looked hideous, he would have admired it. One look at how happy Legolas was with what he'd made was enough to stop anyone in the palace from saying anything negative about it.
Legolas's happiness and excitement was infectious. Before long, he had everyone in the palace smiling at him and his new friend as the prince proudly carted Lassel and Mellon around with him. As he'd been indoors for the last four days making the toy, he was also looking very neat and tidy. There was not even a hair out of place, a very rare occurrence. Before long though, the prince went outside and came back with his hair a tangled mess. It needing all Thranduil's patience and skill to tease out the knots that Legolas had somehow managed to put in his hair, and when that happened the king internally sighed.
It had been nice while it lasted. Thranduil knew the prince was very young, but he still hoped that one day he would learn to be more careful with his hair.
Lassel – Leaf
For those who don't know, Faemes is Lagoron's wife who appears as a background character in my main story. Mellon is the toy elk that also appears in The Elfling Days chapters.
#2 many years later…
Thranduil was sitting in his chambers in front of a roaring fire. He was lost in thought, wearing his nightclothes and enjoying a final cup of wine before he went to bed. Therefore, when the soft knock in a very specific pattern came from the hidden door that connected his room with Legolas's, he started slightly. As soon as he'd know Tathardis was pregnant, Thranduil had had a passage made connecting their rooms with the ones that were to be his son's. Some might call it paranoid, but it gave Thranduil security knowing that when he was locked in his rooms his son could still get straight to him if needed.
It might be seen by some as a security risk, but less than a hand-full of elves knew about it. And Thranduil kept it that way. It was far from the only secret passage in the palace after all, and just as practical as the four different escape routes that existed for the royal family to leave the palace in case of an emergency. Never let it be said that Oropher did not cover every angle.
Thranduil got up and opened the door, admitting Legolas into his room. The prince was barefoot, wearing his nightclothes as well, and his hair was released from the unusual braids. His hair. Thranduil just stood there for a moment, looking with horror at his son's hair.
Valar have mercy on them.
What on earth had happened to Legolas's hair?
Seeing his father stare at him in horror, Legolas shifted his feet and blushed bright red before finally looking up at his father with a pleading look.
"Ada, I need your help. My hair refuses to cooperate, no matter what I try to do with it."
Well, that would explain why it currently looked like a family of birds had decided they were going to make a nest in it. Thranduil shuddered as he directed Legolas to sit down in front of the fire before hurrying to find a comb, conditioning oil, and whatever other supplies he thought he would need to make his son look presentable again.
It wasn't long before he was back with what he needed. Standing behind his son, Thranduil began carefully massaging the conditioning oil into his hair to try and tease the knots out before he brushed it. It was a very challenging task, and Thranduil cursed as he worked on untangling the golden strands.
"What on earth did you do to your hair, ion nîn? Have you been rubbing tree sap into it or something?"
Legolas sighed and tried to shake his head, but Thranduil immediately stopped him.
"Stay still! I don't want to accidently hurt you because you pulled away unexpectedly. Tell me what happened."
"Do you promise you won't be mad at me?"
Thranduil blinked.
"I seriously doubt you have done something bad enough to make me mad. If you had, I would likely already have heard of it. I just want to know how your hair got into such a mess. When was the last time you brushed it?"
Legolas fiddled with a button on his nightgown before he responded.
"A few days ago I brushed out the ends of it. Gelessil brushed it out for me about a week ago, but she is currently away and I don't know who else to go to. I was afraid of being laughed at, or worse."
Thranduil's eyes were sad.
"Why would you be laughed at, my Little Leaf?"
"Because I am the only elf of my age in the whole forest who can't do at least simple braids in their own hair."
Thranduil stopped what he was doing, and stared down at the top of his son's head. Legolas swallowed nervously.
"Ada? Have I made you angry?"
Thranduil sighed as he came around to kneel in front of his son. Gently taking Legolas's hands in his own, Thranduil spoke softly.
"Why didn't you come to me about this earlier?"
Legolas dropped his gaze and hunched his shoulders in embarrassment as he hesitantly replied.
"You have been so busy lately, that I didn't want to disturb you for something that I thought I could handle myself. I did the wrong thing, didn't I?"
Thranduil sighed as he kissed his son's hands before standing up to return to detangling his hair.
"Yes, I would say you did. No matter what I was doing, you should have come to me. I am never too busy to not help you with a problem, ion nîn. No matter how big or small it may seem to you, I want you to never be worried about bringing it to me. And for the record, matters of appearance are very important to me."
Thranduil had finally untangled Legolas's hair enough to start to combing it out. He went slowly and carefully, as there were still quite a few knots that had to be gently brushed out so as not to potentially damage the hair. Especially as Legolas's hair was so fine in texture.
After fighting for some time with a particularly large and stubborn knot, Thranduil could not help the growl of frustration that escaped him.
"So, how did your hair get into such a state? I don't believe that you ever actually told me."
Legolas visibly drooped.
"I didn't take out the braids Gelessil put in almost a week ago until tonight."
Thranduil blinked, and his hands momentarily stilled their actions.
"You had the same braids in for almost a week?"
Legolas nodded wordlessly as his father asked another question, still slightly in shock.
"How did you keep them neat for that long?"
"I was very careful with what I did at first. Then I stayed away from people as much as I could over the last few days so they would not see me."
Thranduil frowned thoughtfully as he remembered something that Legolas had said earlier, even as he continued to smooth out his son's hair.
"Has no one ever taught you to braid your own hair?"
Legolas went to shake his head, before remembering that he wasn't supposed to be moving it, and so answered verbally instead.
"No."
Thranduil wondered how on earth this had been allowed to happen, and made a mental note to have a talk with Gelessil when she got back and find out why Legolas hadn't been taught this important life skill.
In the meantime, he would just have to remedy the situation by teaching Legolas himself. While the king might wear his hair loose, that didn't mean he did not know how to braid. He'd been braiding for several millennia now, and had picked up a thing or two over the years.
"Would you like me to teach you how to properly braid and look after your hair so this doesn't happen again, ion nîn?"
Legolas's head shot up and he swung around to look at his father with excitement. Fortunately, Thranduil had anticipated something like this happening, and so had let go of the golden tresses so as not to accidently pull on the fine hairs and potentially hurt his son.
"Yes! Please Ada! I want to be able to braid my own hair!"
Legolas was so excited that he jumped up and embraced his father, excitement shining in his bright blue eyes. Thranduil hugged his son back before gently instructing him to sit down again, while he explained the best way to get knots out of hair. Legolas listened avidly, and then attempted to try the technique Thranduil had been using himself. Before long, under Thranduil's careful guidance, all the knots in the prince's hair were gone. Thranduil then explained to Legolas the finer techniques of braiding. He demonstrated these techniques on his own long hair, and then supervised the prince's attempts. Which weren't that bad. Especially considering he'd never braided his own hair before tonight.
It was going to be a very long night, Thranduil thought as he patiently instructed Legolas on what to do, but he did not mind. Appearances were very important to him. The fact that Legolas finally wanted to know how to properly look after his hair made the king very happy, and banished any trace of weariness Thranduil had previous had. He was more than willing to teach Legolas everything he knew about looking after hair. What was even better was that his son was finally willing to learn.
They were making progress.
Now, they just had to do something about the prince's habit of turning up in clothes that were either torn or covered in mud or both…
Poor Thranduil just cannot win.
NOTES: Also, apparently in wood elf tradition (according to Plot Bunnies [yes, they now start with capital letters]), a parent teaches their child to braid their hair, whether it be the mother or the father. Thranduil was unaware of this ancient Silvan custom, hence why he hadn't done anything about it before.
Gelessil is a supporting character and nanny to Legolas in my main story. She has featured briefly in a couple of early chapters, but will have a much more prominent role in an upcoming chapter.
However, I do not know when that chapter will be posted. I am still stuck on trying to get Legolas home from Lothlórien…
Reviews are loved and treasured, and may help me to bring Legolas home so we can continue the main story.
