Legolas woke up feeling groggy, something which was completely atypical for elves. His shoulder stung as he rolled onto his side trying to place his surroundings. Then he started as he noticed a dark-haired elf watching him.

"What do you remember, young prince?" The elf asked.

Legolas squinted, trying to think through his pounding head. "Umm, there was a horse I was riding. I don't know where to or from though. How did I get here, what happened to me?" Concentrating hard, he was able to recall the elf's name. "Lord Elrond?"

Elrond smiled. "You had a bit of an accident a couple of weeks or so ago but you have a bit of catching up to do. First, I'd like to introduce you to my adopted son, Aragorn."

A burst of memory flashed into his mind as the man walked in. "Haven't I seen you before?" He frowned. "Something about a horse but also there were orcs." He tried to process the information that was awakening within him. "I…thought you were a thief and stabbed you. But I had known you before that, I think. I don't remember."

Aragorn took a seat on the edge of the bed. "That's because of the blackwater. It made you forget a lot of things. I don't blame you, though you'd better be on guard around Elladan and Elrohir. They are out for your head."

Try as he might, though, Legolas could not remember anything more. He slumped back flat in defeat. "If you don't mind, I think I am going to sleep." He slurred out, his eyes shutting. He had been sleeping with his eyes shut since being giving the antidote.

~+~

Weeks passed, with Legolas gradually regaining strength and memory. Unfortunately, he was still hostile when his father was mentioned and did not even bother trying to regain any of those memories.

Aragorn was very depressed over the whole matter. He was happy that Legolas remembered him as a friend again, but he wished he could somehow remind him of the good things about Thranduil without the elf pretending he needed more sleep.

Finally he hit on a solution. One afternoon when Legolas had again taken to his bed, Aragorn stood under his balcony and began to sing softly a song he had overheard Thranduil singing to his son. His voice was not as good as an elf's but he was credible singer and could do justice to elven songs.

~+~

Legolas tossed and turned, trying to avoid the voice he heard in his dreams—his father's voice. But then he realized that something had changed about the nightmare he had been having about his father. It was no longer a nightmare. And his father was not staring coldly at him but hugging him close and singing. As he relaxed, the dream grew clearer, Aragorn telling Thranduil something and Thranduil holding Legolas tight and whispering something that caused his dream-self to cuddle closer to his father.

"I love you." He said out loud, waking himself up. He sat up and tried to recapture the dream, speaking it out loud. Then he heard a thump on his balcony and the rest of is flooded back. "He told me he loved me. I know he did. It wasn't a dream. And you were there and he said what you had said didn't matter or it did but he didn't care, he was going to help me."

Aragorn grinned at him. "So you remember at last? Your father has been very worried about you but didn't dare come visit himself for fear of your rejection."

Legolas gaped at him. "He feared my rejection…and I feared his?"

The man laughed. "Yes, I know how ironic that sounds. But he has been worried sick about you. We've sent daily updates, but he has feared that you would never remember him."

His face full of determination, Legolas said, "Then I must go to him."

"Exactly. But first you must regain your strength. I know you have not been eating." Aragorn stared firmly at him.

"Oh alright, but I must go soon. And please don't tell him. I want it to be a surprise." Legolas knew he sounded like a child but didn't care. He felt like one, and still deferred to Aragorn's demands out of guilt. He felt absolutely terrible about trying to kill Aragorn, especially since the man was being so nice to him as if he had already forgotten what had happened. But Legolas couldn't forget now that his memories had been returned to him. Each time he slept, he regained some part of the time he lost, and so remembered running and then finding Aragorn asleep. There were a few hours of time he could not account for, those being the ones between walking through the forest and then running across the plain, but his entire time in Aragorn's camp he did recall, though he hated the memory and himself.

Forgetting that Aragorn was still in the room, he lay down on his stomach and buried his face into the pillow. "Why is he being so nice to me?" He whispered in barely audible tones. "Why doesn't he yell at me or accuse me or something? I don't deserve his kindness. And Elrond has been kind to me as well even though I almost killed his son." He thought back over a conversation he had overheard, Aragorn scolding his father for not taking better care of himself since he almost died to save him. Legolas was not clear on that story yet, but he still felt guilty.

Two hands were placed on his back, soothing him. One felt rough and callused, the other smooth. He knew exactly who owned each. Rolling away, he tried to drive off the unwanted comforters. Why were they doing this? Didn't they know how guilty he was? Didn't they care that they were supposed to be blaming him?

Elrond was the first to break the silence. "Why should I bother to blame you? You were unaware of your actions."

"But…"

"None of us blames you," Aragorn put in. "You blame yourself more than enough. You were poisoned, lost your memories, how could any of us lay blame on you when we could have been the one in your position."

Legolas rolled over to look in their eyes and see if they were being truthful. Elrond's were deep and mysterious but also held sympathy. Aragorn's silver eyes held some mirth as well, though.

"Don't forget what I said about the twins, mind you." The man whispered.

Then a new voice came from the doorway. "What about us, brother dear? Surely you do not imply that we are dangerous or would hurt anybody. Besides, we did that already."

Legolas raised an eyebrow. "What did you do?"

"Nothing lasting, obviously. Merely that sore on your back is where I shot you."

Legolas blinked. "Uhhh…"

"Well you would not have let us near you otherwise would you? So we took Aragorn's suggestion to heart and used a small arrow dipped in something to knock you out."

The prince transferred his gaze to Aragorn, who tried unsuccessfully to look like he felt guilty.

"We ran into someone you might remember on the way." The twins said. A short figure leant around the tall elves.

"Umm, hello there, you might not remember me but I'm Bilbo. I met your father about a decade ago. Don't know if you were there at the time. You know, at the lonely mountain? I also ran around that cave that you call a home and got to know it pretty well. Nice place you know but a bit big for me."

Bilbo had clung to Ara's back for some time before the twins remembered him. At first Elrohir had just switched horses with him since Lon had a saddle, but after awhile, they had given up on having him cling to the horse alone. Since they were to be going faster, the twin had told Ara in elvish to follow them home at his own pace and then got behind Bilbo and fed Lon and Mel each a piece of soaked bread. Then they had gotten to Imladris in a much shorter time than Bilbo had thought possible for anyone, even an elf on a horse.

~+~

It was another week before Legolas was strong enough to travel. True to his word, Aragorn had not told Thranduil any of it, and Legolas had fulfilled his promise to eat better. Now he rode a horse borrowed from Elrond's stables as he headed back across the Misty Mountains with Aragorn.

That was another week's ride to Mirkwood, though he wished he could go faster. As they approached the trees, Aragorn rode ahead to tell the scouts to pass the word not to pass the word that Legolas was coming. Then he fell behind the returning prince so that he could have a small modicum of privacy.

~+~

Thranduil stared out the window ignoring his councilors. He continued to get daily reports from Elrond, but he felt something different in his heart. Suddenly he stopped breathing. There was rider in the trees. The familiar face…Without any thought of decorum, Thranduil yanked off the formal robe he wore over his casual tunic and leggings and jumped out the window, leaving the droning elf staring after him in shock.

The king dashed across the courtyard but stopped several feet away from the young elf sitting on horseback, worried that he might be wrong in throwing himself on his son. Then he stared into the blue eyes of the returning prince and hurled himself forward again, pulling his son down to him and just holding him tight.

"Then one day I see you appear

Though I haven't see you in years

I run and take you up in my arms

Covering you with my tears

Welcome home to the house of your father

I've been watching the road

I've been praying that you would return

For I have missed you so

There's so much I've been wanting to tell you

So much I have to give you

I've been waiting for you to come home

To let you know I love you."

Legolas reciprocated strongly, much to his relief. His son was home, and whole. Another set of hoofbeats rang out slowly, and he did not bother to look up, for he knew it was Aragorn. So without raising his head, he said, "Thank you for returning my son to me."

There was no answer but two horses started walking again as Aragorn led Legolas's mount to the stable, leaving the two in peace.