A/N: So apparently, I forgot we had class today. Yay. Although it means I have to catch up when I go to class tomorrow, I get to post an update today. Happy day. ::snickers::


3: Yester-eve

When one had eternity to be alive, Time moved ever so slowly. Childhood spanned from one year to decades and centuries. Majority and adulthood were longer. Even at three thousand years, one would be considered young for it took more than three millennia to be august and aptly experienced. But there were certain situations where despite being immortal, time flew swiftly. The sons of Elrond were masters of tracking, partly from having been trained by Glorfindel, Lord of the Golden Flower who was reborn, and partly by hunting with the Dunedain, Men from the North. They had tracked the trail of blood into the forest nearby many hours ago, and it was dark when they reluctantly decided to set up camp.

The trees spoke to them of men who travelled in haste, cutting and slashing vines and shrubs that blocked their path. They cried with pain at remembering how so much wood was burned, but not a seedling planted to replace it. For many years the forest was left on its own, and with the intrusion of this band of men, it left behind so much destruction than the forest had ever witnessed. In spite of this, the information was not enough. Not nearly enough to assist them in their pursuit, Elladan deemed as he struggled with what they have gathered.

A band of men. Was there an elf with them?

Perhaps. It was a lead that they ought to follow. But Elladan's conclusion could not stop the needless pacing Elrohir has started, and he did not need a bond, so common among twins, to know the direction his brother's thoughts were spiralling at.

"I told him not to come!"

"He is stubborn," Elladan conceded. He remembered it fondly, the eve of their departure. Legolas had blocked the doorway, his features marred with stern determination. It was always the butt of their jests and fascination in the past. At that time, it made Elladan look at him.

"You shall not go without me," Legolas declared. Elrohir would not listen, though. He was too busy packing, and trying his best to ignore their golden-haired friend.

"This is dangerous. You might get hurt." Legolas glared at Elladan, who raised two hands placating. "You can come with us on our next mission, I promise. But not this one."

"You insist on treating me like a child, which I assure you I am not. And you intend to ambush them with just the both of you. Are you insane? You need to bring someone else!"

"Nay, Legolas. We will not ask this of you. We have been doing this for years now, we know the risks," Elrohir interjected calmly. The implication was clear and for a moment, Legolas was silent. But he was stubborn, and he was not to be swayed. He shut the door and blocked it from the twins.

"Like I said, you shall not go without me. Don't you understand? I have as much right to be concerned and prohibit you from pursuing this mad task alone. So, it's either you let me come with you, or you're not going. At all," Legolas decided. He eyed them and dared them wordlessly, until Elrohir shook his head and stopped packing. His grey eyes were downcast and he looked all the more lost in thought. It was as if he was consulting within himself. At last, he glanced at his twin, asking for his support, and sighed.

"I do not wholeheartedly agree with this idea of yours, but you must promise me that you will never leave my side," the Elf-knight warned. Legolas was too overjoyed that he was willing to do just about everything. So he hastily agreed, and pulled both elves to a tight embrace.

"Thank you," he whispered and ran towards his quarters.

"You spoil him," Elladan commented, observing his brother. Elrohir sighed and met his gaze.

"How do you resist him?"

"I do not. I simply do not decide quickly, like you did."

Elrohir nodded. His brother was right.

"If he is harmed, I cannot forgive myself," Elrohir breathed, his worry-stricken face paling at the idea. He met his twin's gaze and sighed. "I should never have let him come."

"And risk being locked in our chambers for the duration of the ambush? Nay, Elrohir, do not take this personally. You did not know. Trust that he will be safe," Elladan assured him, yet in his heart he dared not quell the fear that somewhere Legolas was lying wounded and vulnerable to his captors. His twin flopped himself on the log beside him and proceeded to poke the fire they had started instead. If he were asked, he would rather that Elrohir was pacing like mad than brooding as he was doing right now.

"He will be safe," Elladan promised.

Nodding, Elrohir kept quiet. Any other option, he thought, was not acceptable.


4: Doubt

Legolas Greenleaf was born two millennia after his grandsire Oropher's death. He was the second son of Thranduil, King of Greenwood the Great, and he was his mother's pride for among all three sons, it was he who resembled her most in physical attributes and temperament. But he was still his sire's son, and from him Legolas inherited his quick temper and stubborn streak.

He had already reached half of millennia when he met the sons of Elrond, who were born more than one millennia earlier. With them, a bond was quickly formed. Elladan was the older brother, who watched and made sure they were safe. But it was to Elrohir that Legolas shared most of his thoughts and secrets with. They were kin in heart, so to speak, for they fought for the same ideals and were similar in many noticeable ways. Despite the age gap, the three were good friends; and despite the distance between the two kingdoms, they remained loyal in sending correspondences.

Such closeness between him and the younger son of Elrond eventually led to his admiration towards Elrohir. It was clear as day. He appreciated the Peredhel's comely looks and his poet heart. Although in with his hands, Elrohir could easily eliminate his enemies well enough, it was with the same hands that he wrote the most beautiful poems that Legolas cherished secretly. Once the twins reached their majority, however, Legolas found that the Elf-knight was well beyond his reach for just as people thought it to be, the sons of Elrond were just as masters-to-be in the art of lovemaking as they were in lore. Many were those invited to their beds, and Legolas knew that never would he receive the same affection from his friend. Not only did the brethren rule never to bed any of their closest friends, Elrohir took himself a lover to whom he was faithful to, an elf from the Golden Woods.

It seemed that Legolas was destined to have the twin slip from him, and for a while he considered himself merely to have a fleeting fancy towards Elrohir. A form of hero-worshipping, even. But thoughts of Elrohir were constant in his mind for years, to the point that he took no lover even as he reached his majority when so many offered.

He took to training as one of his father's soldiers. Not only was it expected of him and a part of his education, it distracted him from unbidden thoughts. Hardly had the twins visited in the duration of his training, and only once did they meet afterwards. By chance, the twins were sent by their father to deliver a message to Greenwood. Legolas was on patrol then, and it was he who greeted them at the borders. It was not difficult to note the changes in his friends. No longer did he look at them with such familiarity, for it was clear that he was already looking at elves that have experienced much heartache in a brief span of years. Thranduil, during dinner, spoke of the Lady Celebrian's fate, and Legolas' heart cried for his friends. Yet his efforts of comfort were unwanted; for even though he was not rejected, they had not welcomed him either and it was this that distressed him the most.

It was with a heavy heart that Legolas set out for patrol after. If solitude was what they preferred, then he was going to respect that. Unfortunately, they left for the Last Homely House while he was away, and it was a palace that was devoid of their much-looked forward to presence that he came back to.

Legolas never forgot the disappointment and the hurt. And even in captivity, he wondered if the reasons for their vehement refusal to let him join their planned ambush were purely security in nature, and not of personal ones.

In the end, though, it did not matter. He promised to be there for them, and he was going to fulfil it.