Chapter 3: ...so better get used to it

It did not take Elrond and his companions longer than a few minutes to take the orcs down, since they had had the advantage on their side. When Elladan and Legolas saw that it was safe to get down, Elladan went first, pushing burning branches aside with his feet and helping Legolas.

Elrohir, sobbing and only half aware of what was happening on the ground, was still trying to get over to Estel, whom he could not even see anymore due to the dense smoke; the elf was already coughing violently and finally had to retreat to avoid passing out on the lack of oxygene. It was only now that he saw his father, who was just re-sheathing his sword, and the orcs that lay slain. Without thinking, Elrohir swiftly jumped down and ran over to the other tree: "Estel!"

Elrond paled. He had seen Elrohir come down off the tree, but his son had not even looked at him and headed directly on to the next burning tree, and just as he was crying out the little human´s name, Elladan and Legolas came running, too. All three of them were calling the boy now.

To their utter relief, after a few seconds they finally heard a small, frightened voice answer: "Here!"

Elrond, who had gotten off his horse and over there quickly, could make out the little boy´s faint outline and called up as loud as he could: "Estel, we cannot come up and get you because of the fire. So listen to me: I need you to be very brave, little one! Can you do that for me?"

"Yes..."

"Well; now, close your eyes. I want you to turn to the direction of my voice, just like you did when we were swimming and you had the water in your eyes, alright? Can you do that?"

The few following seconds seemed like ages, but finally Estel said "Yes, I can", his voice shaking, and he was coughing from the smoke.

"Very good, my little one; and now, do you think you are facing me?"

"Yes."

"Then I need you to be very brave right now, and jump down. I will catch you, I promise!"

Estel swallowed hard; he was more afraid than ever in his life, even if the fire seemed to be worse than jumping down. But what if Elrond could not catch him, like he said? Paralyzed, he remained where he was until he heard another voice down there: "Estel, do not be afraid." That was Legolas´ voice, and he sounded as kind as ever: "If your father does not manage to catch you, I will!" "And me!", he heard Elrohir, followed by Elladan: "And me, too!"

All of a sudden, Estel felt a lot more confident than before, knowing there were enough people down there he could trust; he took a deep breath and jumped, eyes closed.

He felt strong arms stopping his fall and the breath being knocked out of him as they collapsed under the impact; when he opened his eyes, he saw that he was in the middle of a big heap consisting of Elrond, the twins and Legolas, all of whom had tried to catch him.

"Thank you for trusting my abilities", Elrond muttered dryly. "Are you alright, Estel?", he asked then. Estel nodded exhaustedly, so Elrond just pulled him closer and held him tight.

Soon afterwards, the little boy fell asleep.

When Estel woke up late the following day, it took him some time to remember what had happened; he quickly got out of bed then, wondering how he had gotten there in the first place, and left his room. He found Elrond in his study; the elf lord was sitting at his desk reading but looked up when he heard Estel´s naked feet tapping on the floor, and without a word spread his arms. Estel, who had been afraid Elrond might be angry because of what he had done, scrambled onto his father´s lap and nestled down in his embrace.

Elrond laid his cheek against the boy´s hair: "How do you feel, little one?" he asked.

"I am very sorry", Estel said quietly, stroking Elrond´s big hand. The elf smiled: "I am glad to hear that, but it is not what I meant. Do you feel well?" "Yes. Only my throat is a bit sore." "That will be an effect of the smoke", Elrond said, "It will stop soon. But you do not have any headaches or bruises?" "No, I am fine", Estel reassured him quickly. "Are you going to punish me?", he asked in a small voice.

Elrond turned him around so that he could face him: "You know that what you did was not right, first of all because I had not allowed you to go at all and secondly because you simply disappeared and caused us a lot of worry and trouble; but if had not done so, you would not have been able to save your brothers´ and Legolas´ life."

Estel´s eyes went round: "I did not- it was you, Ada..." "I came to help, yes, but only because we were looking for you. And if you had not been there to warn them, they might have been attacked by the orcs."

Estel was speechless. He had expected to be severely told off, but not this.

"But- what I did was bad..." "Yes, and I am glad that you are aware of that. Even though it was very brave to ride through the woods alone in the dark. But Estel, I trust you to know that you should not have done it and will not do it again, not ever." "I will not, Ada, I promise", Estel looked very solemn.

Elrond hugged him tightly: "That is my boy", he said fondly, and Estel comfortably snuggled against him, feeling relieved.

"Now, would you like to go and see Legolas?", Elrond asked after a while. Estel looked up: "Legolas?" He had completely forgotten about him, since he had been so worried about his father´s reaction to the previous day´s events.

Elrond nodded: "He is in the healing warden, complaining about having to stay in bed." "Is it bad?" "His wound? Not as bad as it could have been; fortunately, the arrow has not been poisoned. You can visit him, if you like." Estel´s face brightened: "Yes I do... only I do not know if Legolas is still angry with me", he added, hanging his head.

"I hardly think so, but if you do not talk to him, you will not find out anyway.", Elrond smiled. "Come on, I will walk you there." He took Estel´s hand and led him to Legolas´room.

The wounded elf was lying back against his pillows, looking slightly annoyed.

Elrond let go of his son´s hand: "Go on, maybe you can cheer him up?"

Shyly, Estel advanced the bed. Without even looking, Legolas said: "NO, Elrohir, I STILL do NOT want to play I Spy !" At this, Elrond slightly cleared his throat, which made Legolas turn his head in surprise: "Estel! I am sorry, I thought it was your brother- again."

Estel avoided the elf´s eyes but looked at the white bandages instead: "Does it hurt?" "Not too badly", Legolas replied; an awkward silence followed.

"Estel", Legolas finally said, "I am sorry about yesterday. I did not mean to hurt you, I do hope you know that."

Estel nodded, looking at his feet. He still felt a bit ashamed of what had happened.

"Estel", Legolas said quietly. "Please, look at me." Reluctantly, Estel did so, but Legolas´expression was so kind that he immediately felt stupid.

"You saved my life", the elf continued, "and I am very grateful for that. And I hope you can forgive me about scolding you, because otherwise I do not know whom I should teach archery and play with in the future."

He extended his hand, smiling, and when Estel took it, he pulled the boy close: "Are we still friends?", he whispered.

"Yes", Estel said gladly, suddenly grinning: "you offered to catch me, after all." He climbed onto the bed and huddled himself against the elf, being very careful not to touch the wounded shoulder.

Legolas smiled, much appreciating the little boy´s company. It did not take Estel long to fall asleep again, as he was still quite tired; Legolas, who had been telling him a story about two little elven twins who got lost in the woods, fell silent and listened to the child´s breathing.

In the afternoon, Elrohir came in to see if Legolas wanted to play I Spy, and the following if whispered argument woke Estel up. Elrohir took him up in his arms and held him as if he would never want to let him go again, at least until Estel complained of not being able to breathe. "You are the bravest little boy I have ever known", Elrohir said and hugged him right again; the fear that had filled him when he thought he was losing his little brother was still very vivid in his mind.

Estel suddenly sat up straight: "Elrohir, I need to go to the stables and see if Turin is alright!" Elrohir laughed: "Do not worry, he is. And I personally made sure that he was treated to an extra large share of breakfast this morning." Estel sighed in relief: "You know, without him I could not have reached you in time, and he was only a little afraid", he added. His brother avoided Legolas´ gaze, otherwise he would have burst into loud laughter: "Oh, I am sure he was nearly as brave as you were, little one." Estel nodded: "Can we go and get him some carrots, please?" Elrohir got to his feet: "Alright; I am sure he wants to see you, too, especially if you have got carrots."

At dinner this evening, Elladan gently nudged his twin, who was sitting next to him, and nodded towards Elrond. Their father could not take his eyes off Estel, who was sipping herbal tea for his throat and pulling faces at the taste of it. When Elrond noticed he was being watched, he smiled apologetically: "I am sorry for my lack of conversation today. I cannot but think about how extraordinary a boy he is, considering his age -which does not mean that you were ...er...are...not..." he added quickly, looking confused.

Elrohir grinned widely: "I think this is the first time I have seen you lost for words, Ada."

Elladan sniggered, adding: "Ever!"

When Estel had finished his tea, he got up and snuck up to Elrond: "Ada, can I go and say Legolas good night, please?" "Yes, you may." "Thank you", the boy wanted to take off, but Elrohir called him back: "Estel!" "Yes?" "Ask him if he wants to play I Spy tomorrow..."

The End