Legolas came back to join his friends. Upon seeing his distraught expression, Christine frowned.

"What's the matter?" she asked.

Legolas sighed and relayed the conversation to the two of them.

Christine gave Legolas a look of sympathy, knowing exactly what he was feeling. "But still," she countered, "Is being King as bad as you make it out to be?"

"It is. It's dull and boring and I wish to have no part in it. Sometimes I wish I wasn't a prince, but a normal Elf."

"I know how you feel. I cannot count how many times I wished in my heart that I was not the Ring-bearer and that I could just have stayed in the Shire." Frodo said, hoping that would make the Elf feel better at least a little bit.

Legolas gave Frodo a small smile. "Thank you, my friend. That certainly helps."

Frodo smiled back. "I am glad to know that."

But despite that, here he was still going to have to face the path that had been laid out in front of him since his birth. Legolas sent a silent wish to anyone who was listening that he could escape his future and just be free anyway.

And someone was listening, namely Powers that Be who were about to grant the Elf's wish.
Christine and Frodo spent the night in Mirkwood, enjoying the hospitality of Legolas's family. For this, Legolas was grateful. It meant that he had his friends at his side and he wouldn't have to face his burden alone. With any luck, Christine would decide to have her baby in the Palace. That way, Legolas could get a two full months of catching up with her and Frodo.

The next day, Legolas woke up and yawned. The sun shone in through his window and warmed his room. He grinned and set to get out of bed. That's when he noticed that something wasn't quite right. Legolas turned his head to his bedroom mirror and nearly fell over in shock at what he saw.

The Elf saw none other than a sleek, golden-haired cat staring back at him. Legolas tried to call for help, but all that came out was a loud meow. Scared now more than ever, he jumped off the bed in search of his friends.

'What has happened to me!' he thought desperately.

'We granted your wish.' A voice told him.

'Who is there?' Legolas demanded, looking all around him.

'This is the voice of the Powers that Be. You wished that you could escape your future. We heard your plea and answered it.'

'I'm a cat! That is not what I had meant!'

'We just grant wishes as we see fit.' The voice said simply.

'Turn me back!' There was no answer. 'Turn me back!' again, no answer. Well, The Elf Prince was on his own. With a cat-huff he stalked off. Meanwhile, Christine and Frodo were sitting at a large Elven table eating breakfast with the Royal Family.

"Where is Legolas this morning?" Christine said, noting his absence.

Thandruil chuckled. "The Prince never likes to be up early. He must prefers to linger in bed."

Frodo and Christine both chuckled at this.

"Frodo doesn't like rising early either." Christine said, grinning at her husband.

Frodo grinned back at her shamelessly in a classic Hobbit fashion. Christine tenderly kissed his mouth. She found that she couldn't resist doing it whenever he did that.

Frodo kissed her back for a moment before realizing that they were not alone. Both of them blushed furiously while everyone just laughed.

Just then, they all heard a soft meow.

'Christine! Frodo!' Legolas called to them then mentally smacked himself when he remembered that they wouldn't be able to understand him.

Frodo smiled at the cat. "One of yours?" he asked Thandruil.

The King frowned. "No, I am afraid not. Although, we have been getting a lot of stray cats around the palace lately. This must be one of them."

'Stray indeed.' Legolas grumbled. Well, until Thandruil reached over to pet him. Then he just purred like a motorboat.

Christine studied the cat for a moment and realized that it's eyes were blue, which she knew was unusual for a cat. A sense of familiarity came over her, as though she had known it from somewhere. Mentally, she shook the sensation off as nonsense.

Legolas noticed her look of recognition. 'If only I could tell you.' He said sorrowfully.

Soon, everyone was growing worried at the Prince's unusual tardiness. It was now mid afternoon and he was usually down by that time.

"Perhaps we should check on him." Thandruil said.

"Indeed." Frodo agreed, and he, Christine and Thandruil went to Legolas's room to see if he was still there. When they go there, the room was empty. The funny thing was, all of Legolas's clothes were in his closet. The only thing that was disturbed were the bed sheets, clearly showing that someone had been sleeping in the bed.

'I'm right here!' Legolas couldn't resist shouting. To everyone else, it just sounded like a loud meow.

"We'll be right back." Christine promised him, thinking he was just lonely.

Legolas sighed and decided to follow them, hoping that maybe there would be something to clue them in on his identity.

'Oh, real likely.' He thought bitterly. But, he had a small hope nonetheless.

When they got there, nothing was out of place, except for the bed which had obviously been slept in. Legolas bounded onto his bed and watched everyone as they hopelessly looked around for him.

"He doesn't seem to be in here." Frodo said after a moment.

"No," Christine agreed. "He doesn't."

"This is very odd. He would never take off like this without telling anyone." Thandruil said, stroking his chin.

"Well," Frodo said after a long moment, "He was feeling a bit angry after your conversation with him the other day. Perhaps he just took some time in forest maybe to think it all over."

Thandruil considered what the Hobbit had just said. "Perhaps. But still, there is a warning in my heart. Something is not right."

"I've got that feeling too." Christine admitted. "Oh, I hope he hasn't hurt himself or anything." She added worriedly.

"I will have all our Royal Guards out to look for him immediately." And with that, he left the room and did just that.

'Oh, but your task is folly.' Legolas thought, still sitting on the bed.