Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings. I do not make any money from this story.
Rivendell:
"...and he's opening up, every day, my lord," said Gellyth.
"Good, very good. He may want to talk. I hope they do, someday. It shows his mind is healing, not just the body. We must get Aethelred to as well. I fear that should anything happen to Aethelred, Legolas will follow. I do not have foresight as the Lady Galadriel does, but I know this: Legolas will change the fate of the elves, if not every living creature on earth. I know not whether for better or worse, but it will change everything," said Elrond.
"How long do you think it would take for him to heal, my lord?" asked Gellyth.
Elrond looked at him keenly, "Completely? Not until he sails or goes to Mandos. Mental wounds never leave us, not truly. They are always there, aching and straining, reopening. You know that too well, Gellyth. Of anyone, you would probably have the best guess."
Gellyth nodded, slowly, "I do. I had hoped they might be spared the misery, though. They do not know how other creatures should be treated. They were trained from birth how to act. That they were inferior and that their masters could do anything to them I had hoped that would lessen the pain of the treatment."
"It will, of course, help some, but they were trained and treated so for about a millennia. These wounds will not close over a span of a few years or decades," said Elrond.
Gellyth sighed, "Yes, of course. I know that, but I do not want that. I want them free and happy, but yes, I do know they won't heal anytime soon. It took me decades to heal and what I experienced was barely a drop in a bucket compared to theirs. For them, they could take a millennia or more for them to heal and even then, who knows if they will heal correctly?"
"Exactly, but unfortunately, I do not believe we have that long," said Elrond. Seeing Gellyth's confusion, he added, "As elves, we have an eternity, but this darkness, I fear will grow again. It has not been killed, it has just lost its footing. I do not think we have a millennia before it regains its balance."
"I-" a knock cut off what Gellyth was going to say.
"Come in," called Elrond.
Glorfindel opened the door, but did not enter when he saw Gellyth, "Forgive me, I did not know you were in the middle of a report. I'll come back later."
"No, Glorfindel, come in. We were speaking of Legolas," said Elrond.
Glorfindel came to stand beside Gellyth while Elrond spoke, "I came here to ask when we should expect the twins. It has been long since they left to visit Arwen and Lady Celebrían in Lorien."
Elrond looked mildly surprised, "I forgot they were coming back. They are going to have to meet Legolas and Aethelred."
"Is that wise, my lord?" asked Gellyth, cautiously.
"Why wouldn't it be?" asked Elrond.
"The lords are very… exuberant, shall I say. I have only introduced the elves to the more circumspect elves. The ones that work diligently and only make conversations every now and then. To introduce them to elves as social as the lords might scare them," Gellyth explained.
Elrond groaned in frustration, "Yes, I see your point. They will be here by noon at the lates. I would expect them here sooner, though. That gives us less than an hour to prepare. The twins will go to meet them as soon as they learn there are new elves in Rivendell, especially ones younger than themselves. They always hated being the youngest elves in Middle Earth save Arwen. I will speak to them of this before they meet."
"Yes, they always did hate being so young. Gellyth, why don't you go speak to them be-" another knock cut off Glorfindel's words.
"Come in," called Elrond.
At his words, two elves walked in. It was the twins, Elladan and Elrohir. They had grey eyes and black hair like their father, but the structure and features of their faces belonged to Celebrian. Elrohir had inherited their mother's temperament: gentle and kind with a love for other living things. Elladan had inherited their father's solemn and proud manner. He was slightly slower to laugh than his brother. Yet for all this, very few could tell one from the other.
"Father," they greeted. Both walked up to him and embraced him.
"Mother and Arwen send their love-" said Elladan.
"How she expects to do that, I don't know," interjected Elrohir.
"-and Grandmother says to tell you that he lives still, but she cannot see him and that you must be patient, that things will come clear eventually," continued Elladan as if Elrohir hadn't said anything. It was clear from their expressions that neither he nor Elrohir understood any of it.
Elrond mulled over the words briefly before saying, "It is good to see in one piece, my sons, but I am sure you want to clean off. After that, you can tell me how Celebrían and Arwen is while we make sure you're as we eat."
The twins took the tacit dismissal and, nodding to Gellyth and Glorfindel, turned and left.
"As I was saying, Gellyth, perhaps you could warn them about the twins before they have to meet them," said Glorfindel.
Gellyth nodded and left, Glorfindel following a few minutes later.