The Return

by TheRavenEvermore

After almost a year since the end of his journey of the ring, Legolas is finally on his way back home hoping for his fathers forgiveness after a fight they had right before he left to Imladris. He hopes to be welcomed by his father the king, but finds he is not home, the woods are still holding a darkness,and that darkness is out for the royal family. (Rating it M just in case)

12. Chapter 12: Patience II

Disclaimer: I do not own LOTR or The Hobbit. I'm only doing this for personal pleasure. Thank you for reading and any reviews, comments, or criticism are helpful! Enjoy~

Chapter 12 : Patience II

The sea… all elves were bound to set sail sooner or later; the woodland realm was no exception. However it was extremely rare to find a woodland elf to be called to it. Most of the Mirkwood elves either passed on to Mandos halls before the call or just haven't received it yet. There have been very few cases of wood elves leaving due to the seas calling, so the fact that the king was fading due to the call was quite shocking for the prince. He took a moment to just blankly stare at the raven-haired lord and have his words sink in and register. "…My lord…that…it…it can not be… Woodland elves almost never receive the call. How is it that ada has?" his heart began to pound lightly in fear.

Did this mean that even if Thranduil does survive, he would only end up sailing away? Leave him behind to run a kingdom alone? He had only just returned. The young blond sighed hopelessly and dropped his head into his hands while shaking it. Why the sea?! It was meant to be a good thing to be called to return to their rightful homes and land across the ocean blue, but he did not want to be left alone.

Elrond sighed as he began to explain "Legolas. You must understand something. We have no knowledge onto why or how elves receive the call when they do, but there have been a few reasons that have been very common in the woodland. Most of the elves that have left from the wood have battled with great sorrow or loss in their lifetime, and Thranduil has experienced a lot of both. It is only natural at this point to assume that is the reason why. The king is not very open with his feelings and masks them with other emotions, which causes those hidden feelings to eat at him inside." Legolas never knew Thranduil had fought with these inner demons all these millennia, and it pained him to know that he should have been the closest person to Thranduil and yet he never noticed the suffering. "How long?...How long has adar been suffering from the call?" He dared not look into the eyes of his pierce and kept his face hidden into the palms of his hands.

Elrond turned to look at his two other companions to see if they wanted to explain, but they both just continued to stay silent and let the healer do the talking. "He had started to show signs a couple of months after you left on your quest to the north to find Estel. There was improvement, and when you came back from that journey he seemed to have gained a stronger will to fight it back and was successful, however it returned right before you left for Rivendell…" the eldar trailed off not wanting to mention more. He knew the prince was already holding himself responsible for a lot and he didn't want o burden him any more than he already was. That was another reason why he had hoped that Legolas would forget about this subject.

Legolas felt his chest tighten at what Elrond was saying and he suddenly felt like a weight was added to his shoulders when the Lord trailed off. He knew that there was something involving himself, which is why Elrond stopped speaking. The blond prince glanced up at the Lord healer and urged him to continue "Please Lord Elrond… what happened after I left.." The Peredhil sighed deeply and glanced at Tathar and Galion again for support that he once again did not receive. "His condition worsened throughout the months that you did not contact him in… once I had started giving him information on your condition and your whereabouts, he progressed in healing and was getting better… And then you know the rest from there." In other words the kidnapping came after that event.

Legolas looked at his father watching him sleep as he contemplated at what he just heard. His Ada was dealing with so much and he just added to his problems. "I wish to be alone with the king… please?" He asked as he looked up at the three ellon in front of him. The three looked at each other and then they all focused on Elrond since he was the healer and the only one who could give the final word. The elf lord simply nodded his head without hesitation and left the ward with the adviser and captain following behind.

The elfling rose from his seat and sat on the bedside by his adar. He watched the king as he slept for a good long while, studying his features, reminiscing, and dreading the fact that he hadn't noticed how sick his ada was. He caressed the sickly pale cheek of the king who wore a calm and surprisingly peaceful expression. How could a face of such beauty and serenity twist into a storm of emotions? Or a once strong built and prideful being fall into despair and weakness?

Legolas leant into Thranduil and laid his head against his chest. A little habit he had since childhood. When ever he was troubled or sad he would lay his head against his fathers broad sturdy chest and listen to his heart beating and enjoy the comfort and warmth of his chest and arms that used to wrap around him like the wings of birds covering their young. As he got older and bigger he had used his fathers knee as a substitute whenever they sat together. His father in is chair while the prince sat on the floor with his head against his father's knee reveling in the sensation of his fathers' gentle hand petting his head and smoothening out his hair. Sadly over the last hundred years he had stopped indulging himself in spending time with his ada, too hard headed and blind from desiderata for adventure, and the supposed dire need to get away from his parent.

He closed his eyes focusing, listening for that fait sound that used to be so strong and used to lull him to sleep. He was thankful to the Iluvatar that at least that sign of life was still there no matter how light and weak. He breathed in deeply taking in the scent of autumn leaves and lavender with a mix of cinnamon from his ada's clothing. Silent tears shed down his cheeks as he wished he could just be in the usual strong and tight embrace that he always received with the occasional peck on the head. When was the last time he had kissed Thranduil's head? He didn't even try to recall something so regrettably long ago. He sat up and pressed his lips to his fathers temple and placed a soft loving kiss there "Ada I'm waiting for you…look at me!…please…wake up" He dropped his head back down silently weeping into his adar's chest feeling lost and alone, but at the same time reassured and somewhat calm from the familiar scent coming from the elf below him.

~Alright. So. It's late, not much happening but more strife for Las…aaand…it's late. Promise next chapter will have more action! I just had to get the third story out and done with. Thanks for being so patient and for still reading, and for the new follows and favs I received! I reaaly extremely appreciate it! Hope you all enjoy.

TheRavenEvermore