I know, that was absolutely EVIL of me to leave it there for so long! Mwahaha... read on! Thanks to JaydeRayne and Leo-firefly for reviewing.

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Dreams Are More Precious

by Caelhir

Chapter Four

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"Who are you?"

Elrond froze as he heard the question. Twinges of panic flowed into him as he realized that Legolas was in no state to joke around. The injured elf was serious. Turning back to Legolas, Elrond put on a reassuring smile and made to speak, but Legolas beat him to it.

"Where am I? What happened to me? What have you– Ai!"

He had made to sit up, but fell back with a cry at the blazing pain in his head. Elrond made to move forward to help, but Legolas shouted at him.

"Stay back! Get away from me!"

Elrond froze in place, and slowly backed away. Legolas kept one eye on the elven lord as he slowly propped himself up in his bed. He closed his eyes, seemingly to steady himself, then opened them and surveyed the Healing HAlls without so much as a trace of recognition.

"Where am I?" he demanded. Elrond sighed.

"You are in Imladris, Legolas. Do you remember nothing that has happened to you?"

Legolas faced him with a suspicious look on his face.

"What do you mean, 'what has happened to me?' Why does my head hurt so terribly? And why would I remember anything that's happened? I haven't been doing anything!"

"What have you been doing recently?" Elrond asked, hoping to gain insight as to how far back Legolas' memory loss went. Legolas narrowed his eyes.

"The affairs of Greenwood are no business of yours, and I will not tell you anything!"

Elrond realized that Legolas thought he was being held prisoner in some unknown location. He decided to go get Erestor and Glorfindel. Perhaps Legolas would recognize them. He turned to leave. Legolas called after him.

"Where are you going!"

Elrond turned back to the slightly panicky elf on the bed. "I am going to get two of my friends, Glorfindel and Erestor. I will be back momentarily."

Legolas nodded suspiciously. "Go then," he said arrogantly, "but I will not tell them anything about Greenwood's defense either, Noldor."

Elrond was surprised by Legolas' attitude, but left nonetheless. He felt confident that Legolas was in no condition to go anywhere, and with that, he set off to find Erestor and Glorfindel to help him convince the prince that he was no being held prisoner.

/\/\/\/\

Legolas slumped back against the pillows, holding his head in his hands, when the other elf left. He didn't know how on earth he had gotten into this predicament, but he was determined to escape.

Or at least, he would be, but for the raging headache he was fighting. Had the strange elf drugged him? Was that how he had been captured? He growled in frustration as his memory failed him. He settled down and thought back to the last thing he remembered.

Slowly, the memory of riding through Greenwood with his patrol mates came to him. They had been heading to the northern part of the forest, a routine path to check on the borders and their kinsmen at the rafts. He remembered getting there, and then turning to go go home, but after that, his memories halted abruptly. He received no more time to ponder the mystery of his capture as he heard thumping footsteps outside his door. He sat up, looking around for something to use as a weapon. He grabbed an empty pitcher standing on the table next to his prison bed and readied himself for the fight.

The door burst open and three elves came thundering through. Two looked identical, their brown hair whipping behind them and their blue eyes regarding him in what he thought was relief. The third had silvery blond hair and soft hazel eyes, and seemed to see the hostile look that Legolas gave the new arrivals to the room.

The identical elves gave cries of surprise when Legolas whipped the pitcher at them and darted away from them towards the window at the end of the room. The third elf gave no cry but followed Legolas, much to his chagrin. He threw open the window, his head pounding fiercely, and surveyed the drop to the ground. It was only two floors, about twenty five feet. No problem.

He crawled onto the ledge and turned to face the third elf, the one with silvery hair. He had raised his hands in a neutral way, and was slowly advancing.

"Legolas," he said, "don't jump, please. What's wrong?"

Legolas gave a derisive snort, his head throbbing fit to burst.

"What's wrong? Oh nothing, unless you count my captivity!"

The other elf looked utterly bemused, but had no opportunity to make a reply as the door opened for a second time.

Three more elves walked in as Legolas made ready to jump. The first one he had spoken to was there, along with a tall, strong-looking elf with bright golden hair. The other looking stern and scholarly, dressed in a long deep blue robe. The first elf (whom Legolas had figured out was the chief behind his capture) looked up, saw him on the window sill preparing to jump, and gave a shout of alarm. The golden-haired elf saw Legolas on the sill as well and raced forwards.

Legolas jumped.

He heard the others' cries of "No!" as he did, and as he plummeted to the ground, he gleefully thought one thing:

Freedom!

He hit the ground and felt a sharp pain in his leg. Crumpling into a heap, he lay on his side for a moment gathering his strength, willing his head to cease its infernal pounding.

After a moment more, he pushed himself to his hands and knees and shook his head slightly as a wave of pain and dizziness assailed him. He used a tree to pull himself up the rest of the way, but nearly fell down again almost immediately as his head pounded furiously. He took a deep breath, and to his horror, heard running footsteps. Looking up, he saw the six elves from his prison room heading his way across a grassy lawn. He sucked in a breath, and stood again. He made to run away, but crumpled with a cry of pain as his leg shocked him in pain and folded beneath him.

As the six elves surrounded him, he closed his eyes in defeat.

I'm sorry, Father, he thought miserably as they lifted him onto a stretcher. I'm sorry. I'll hold out as long as I can, I swear. They won't get Greenwood's secrets from me!

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Glorfindel helped Elrohir lift Legolas onto the stretcher they had brought with them form the Healing Halls. A thousand questions buzzed in his head, each more pressing than the last.

What was Legolas up to? What was going on? Why had he jumped from the window? Glorfindel picked up one end of the stretcher and Elladan took the other, and together they carried Legolas back up two flights of stairs to the Healing halls. Legolas was silent the entire time, staring at the ceiling, pain filled eyes fixed in a defiant way.

Once Legolas was settled in the bed, wrists bound to the bars of the frame of the bed to prevent him from running again (though Glorfindel thought that was unlikely, as Elrond had taken one look at the prince's leg and pronounced it broken), Glorfindel pulled Elrond to the side as soon as the healer was finished tending to Legolas' broken leg.

"What in the name of Ulmo's underpants is going on around here?"

Elrond raised an eyebrow at Glorfindel's unusual choice of words, but answered him nonetheless.

"Legolas woke a while ago. He doesn't know where he his, who we are, or what happened to him. His condition is worse than I thought. Oh," he added, as though remembering something, "and he also thinks I've taken him prisoner and that I intend to question him regarding Greenwood's defense system."

Glorfindel stood in stunned silence for a moment, not entirely sure if Elrond was having him on or not.

"He– he doesn't remember anything?"

"Not a thing, but I can't determine how far back the memory loss goes. I'm hesitant to question him, because he thinks he's a prisoner, as I said."

Glorfindel shook his head in disbelief.

"What do we do with him?"

Elrond sighed.

"I'm not entirely sure. I had to drug him rather more heavily than I'd have liked to, given the condition of his head, but I had to set his leg; he's broken it quite badly. I'm simply a little concerned, to be honest. The dosage I gave him sent him straight to sleep. It shouldn't have, though; it wasn't particularly powerful, but I will need to thoroughly examine his head at some point. We can see how he is when he wakes." Elrond ran a weary hand over his eyes. "I've never seen anything like this, not even when Lindir fell off the roof last year when he was– What exactly was he doing?"

"I believe the twins moved the entire contents of his bedroom up there," said Glorfindel, recalling the strange sight of a bed and various other pieces of furniture just lounging around on the roof of Imladris.

"Ah yes," said Elrond, smiling at the memory. "And do you remember what Elrohir and Elladan did to him even after he fell and finally woke up after nine hours of you, Erestor and I thinking we were going to lose him?"

Glorfindel chuckled. "I do. The twins used his memory loss to their advantage, did they not?"

Elrond smirked as well. "They certainly did. They convinced him that he was actually a trained monkey escaped from a Haradrim circus."

Glorfindel laughed. "That was not amusing at the time, as I recall, trying to convince the poor thing that he wasn't a monkey, and that he couldn't actually hang from chandeliers by his tail!–"

"–Or that he couldn't actually do backflips off of the balcony! Valar, I remember coming in the room and he was standing there by the window with the twins, who were clearly egging him on–"

"Speak of the devil, Elrond," said Glorfindel. Lindir had stood from Legolas' side and made his way over to Glorfindel and Elrond. He looked suspiciously from one to the other as if he suspected that they were talking about him.

"Lord Elrond, Lord Glorfindel," he said formally, shooting them both suspicious looks. "I believe that Legolas is close to waking."

The two lords exchanged a final laugh, causing Lindir to look positively faint with trepidation ("What have I done this time?"), and headed over to Legolas' side.

Lindir was right; Legolas was stirring slightly. Elrond pulled his sons away and asked Glorfindel to make sure that all but Elrond stood back a distance. Elrond was not sure that Legolas would be able to remember anything else, even his own failed "escape" from the window.

Legolas cracked open his eyes, then shut them again very fast. Elrond leaned closer to Legolas.

"Legolas?" he asked quietly. "How are you feeling, penneth?"

Legolas opened his eyes again, looking around himself vacantly, and tried to move away, but the bindings on his wrists gave him pause. He stared at the bonds in a blank way, as if he didn't quite understand them. He looked back at Elrond.

"Why am I tied down?" The question was not innocent; Legolas was clearly upset. Elrond tried to calm him.

"Do you remember anything now?"

"What do you mean, 'now?' What happened? Why am I here, and who are you?" His eyes were wide and frightened. "Am I a prisoner?"

It was as Elrond had feared. Legolas remembered nothing at all. He felt he should ask again, just to make sure.

"Are you sure you can't remember anything? What are your last memories?"

Legolas pulled frantically at the bonds holding him. "Please," he begged, "let me go, I've done nothing wrong!"

Behind Elrond, Elrohir's heart was twisting with pain for his friend. Legolas didn't recognize anything! He didn't know any of them! Next to him, Elladan picked up on his brother's feelings, for he shared them. The brothers put their arms around the other's shoulders and stayed that way as Elrond assessed Legolas' condition.

Elrond turned to Glorfindel.

"Will you give us a moment?" Glorfindel nodded and nodded to the other three elves. Elrond stopped Lindir and called him back.

"I'd like you to stay here a moment, Lindir, if you please."

Lindir looked apprehensive. "Of course, my lord."

The others left, and Elrond turned back to Legolas, who was still half heartedly tugging at his bonds. Elrond placed a hand over Legolas', causing the other to jump slightly and turn away, bewildered confusion still in his eyes. Elrond turned back to Lindir.

"Will you make a calming tea, please? You remember how?"

Lindir nodded. Elrond had taught him how to make the special tea when Lindir had injured his own head last spring falling off the roof of the house. He wondered if that was why Elrond had wanted him to stay.

Elrond was questioning Legolas quietly now.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

Legolas glanced at him. "Six."

Elrond frowned. "Penneth, I don't have six fingers on one hand.

"Oh," was all Legolas said.

Elrond sighed. If Legolas was seeing double, Elrond would have to give him a thorough examination. For now, he decided to move past the fingers question. He hoped dearly that Legolas would be able to remember his next question. If not, there were more serious problems to confront that having six fingers on one hand. "What's your name?"

Legolas looked at him, a hint of indignation crossed his face. "Why do you need to know that?"

Elrond smiled in relief. That was the Legolas he remembered. "I am trying to find out how badly you've injured your head."

Legolas frowned. "My head? What's wrong with my– ouch!"

He had tried to sit up, but fell back as his head throbbed painfully. He looked at Elrond with a piteous expression. "What happened? And who are you?"

Lindir returned at that moment with the tea, and Elrond gratefully accepted it. "Here," he said kindly, "drink this. I think you'll feel better. I'll help you," he added, as Legolas tried to pull at the bindings holding him fast.

Legolas drank the teat quietly and laid back against the pillow, closing his eyes. He was weary, weary beyond belief, and simply wanted to rest for just a moment, and figure out how he had gotten here and why he was here. He wanted to know why he couldn't remember anything that had happened, for he knew that something had happened to him. He just didn't know what. Yet.

Elrond saw his patient slipping into slumber, and leaned forward to gently shake the elf's shoulder.

"I'm sorry, penneth," he said quietly, "but I can't let you sleep yet."

Legolas opened his eyes, sighing heavily. "Why not?" he asked dully, weariness etched in his voice. Elrond smiled sadly.

"You have a nasty concussion," he said, "and if you fall asleep, you might not wake up for a very long time, if at all."

Legolas felt as though that would not be all together unpleasant. Sleep, he thought happily, and closed his eyes again.

"No, penneth," said Elrond more firmly, shaking Legolas again. The younger elf hissed in frustration and turned his head away from Elrond, who sighed. Leaning to the side, he undid the bindings on Legolas' arms, freeing him from the bed. With Lindir's help, he sat Legolas up and watched as he opened his eyes, a mutinous expression on his face. Elrond smiled gently.

"I'm sorry penneth," he said yet again. He knew he had to do an assessment of Legolas, and decided that it couldn't wait anymore. Facing the younger elf, he began to ask simple questions.

"Do you know what today's date is?"

Legolas frowned, then said, "January, isn't it?"

Elrond raised his eyebrows. It was mid-July. He shook his head but continued asking the questions.

"What happened to you?"

"I've already said: I don't know!"

"All right, all right, calm down. What is your name?"

"That's ridiculous. I'm Legolas!"

"Very good. Now, are you feeling all right?"

"My head hurts and I want to know what's going on here!"

Elrond nodded. Legolas had answered two of the four questions. He had no memories of the accident, and nothing of the date.

Turning to Lindir, he said quietly, "Keep him awake. I'm going to get the twins and they can help you. But," he paused, looking sad for a moment, "you might have to re-introduce each other to him. I truly believe he doesn't remember any of us."

Lindir nodded and turned back to Legolas. Elrond sighed and stood, heading to the door.

Once there he turned back to the two elves. This was going to be quite an interesting recovery.

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Yes, it most certainly is. Mwa ha ha.