Hey everyone! I wanted to address something before the chapter begins. A review was left regarding something that wasn't exactly accurate—through no fault of the reviewer, as I can see why the person thought what she thought, lol—I wanted to address it here in case other people got confused:

There's a story in the 'Book of Lost Tales' that says that 'Legolas led elves out of the burning city of Gondolin' when Elrond's father was a child, thereby making Legolas older than Elrond! BUT, the Legolas in that story wasn't our Legolas Greenleaf. That Legolas was a Noldor elf, and Tolkien said that he reused the name because he couldn't think of one for our Legolas, LOL! I just wanted to mention this in case anyone got confused.

Now, on to chapter 15! Oh, by the way, in chap 16 you'll FINALLY find out about the orcs! lol ;)

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The next day, Legolas felt better. He'd always despised being an invalid, and begged to be set free from his bed. Elrond refused, of course, telling him that he needed more rest. Elladan and Elrohir agreed with him, telling their father that they would keep an eye on Legolas so that he wouldn't have a chance to sneak away.

However, Aragorn was more lenient, feeling sorry for his friend. He knew how Legolas felt; he hated to be confined to bed, himself. He looked at the elf when he heard him sigh.

Legolas was half-sitting up, staring out the window. He didn't need as much sleep today, proof that his strength was starting to return.

"Have you already grown bored?" Aragorn asked.

Legolas sighed, glancing at the book that he'd laid on the bed. "Your father has an impressive library, but I cannot seem to get myself engrossed in the tale."

"You'd rather be engrossed in the outdoors," said Aragorn.

Legolas nodded, again looking towards the window.

Standing from his chair, Aragorn approached the door to the balcony and pulled it wide open, before going to his friend's bed and taking his arm. "Come."

Legolas looked up at him, as if not trusting his ears.

Aragorn smiled, pulling the covers back.

Legolas returned the smile, letting Aragorn help him sit up and scoot to the side of the bed.

"Take it slow," Aragorn told him.

Legolas nodded, taking a deep breath. The sitting position caused more pain to his wound, and he knew that an episode of dizziness was waiting for him to stand up so that it could launch an attack.

Aragorn waited until his friend was ready before carefully helping him stand.

The expected dizzy spell slammed into Legolas, and he closed his eyes as his knees buckled.

Aragorn had expected it, and pulled Legolas' arm over his shoulders and wrapped his own arm around the elf's waist, not letting him fall.

Legolas leaned against Aragorn, fighting against the dizziness and forcing it back. He was breathless when it finally receded, and opened his eyes to find Aragorn watching him worriedly.

"Are you all right?" the human asked.

Legolas nodded, still catching his breath.

Aragorn gave his friend another minute to recover, before carefully helping him towards the balcony.

The trip seemed to take longer than it should have, and Legolas was relieved when they reached it.

Aragorn carefully sat his friend on the chair near the balcony's rail, before suddenly noticing the weather's chill. "Will you be all right alone for a minute?"

Legolas nodded, his eyes drinking in the scenery.

Dashing back into the room, Aragorn grabbed a pillow, a blanket, and a stool, quickly running back out to find Legolas with his arms on the balcony rail, hands dangling off with his chin on his arms.

"Comfortable?" Aragorn asked, with a smirk.

"No," Legolas admitted, mirroring his friend's expression.

Aragorn smiled and helped his friend sit back, with the pillow behind his head. Placing the stool before the chair, he gently lifted his friend's legs and pushed the stool under his feet. "Is that better?"

Legolas nodded as Aragorn laid the blanket over him, tucking it around him securely. "You would make a wonderful mother, Estel."

Aragorn laughed at that, sitting in the chair beside the elf.

Legolas smiled, but noticed that his friend's laughter stopped all too soon. "Estel?"

Aragorn looked at him, and the elf could see his conflicting emotions.

Legolas closed his eyes with a sigh, not realizing that such an action would alarm his friend.

Aragorn stood, grabbing Legolas' arm through the blanket. "Are you all right?"

The elf reopened his eyes, giving his friend an apologetic look. "I am fine, Estel. Sit."

Aragorn obeyed, still watching him worriedly.

"Listen to me, mellon-nin," Legolas started. "You must stop blaming yourself for my situation—"

"Wait, Legolas," Aragorn interrupted, shaking his head. "Can you not see the reason why I blame myself? It was I who caused your injury! My hand inflicted your wound! My hand!"

Legolas pulled an arm out from beneath the blanket and reached forward, ignoring the stab of pain that it caused his body. "Stop this!" he exclaimed, grabbing his friend's arm. "Whether your hand inflicted it or not, it was not intentional! It was an accident, Estel!"

"I almost killed you," Aragorn whispered, closing his eyes as he remembered twisting the knife in his friend's stomach.

Legolas sighed, understanding the human's feelings. "You will kill me if you do not cease thinking of what could have been…it did not happen, Estel. I am still here."

Aragorn sighed, looking at his friend. He saw the pain in Legolas' eyes that he was trying to hide, and realized that his body's position was hurting his wound.

Taking his friend's hand off his arm, Aragorn gave it a squeeze as he stood and gently pushed the elf to sit back again.

Legolas shifted his position slightly, looking out over the gardens. "Hannon le for bringing me out here. If your father could see me now—"

"He'd be very upset."

Startled by the sudden voice, Legolas and Aragorn whipped their heads around, to see Elrond standing in the balcony's doorway.

The elder elf had his arms crossed, and was shaking his head. "I do not know what to do with the two of you. It shocks me to see that years of countless injuries has taught you nothing!" His arms dropped, and he walked onto the balcony. "Legolas…I do believe that in the thousands of years that I've known you, you've been injured more often than healthy! You know that you should not be out of bed, and yet, here you are, sitting on the balcony as if it were a normal day!"

Legolas gave a lopsided smile. "I am feeling better—"

"'Feeling better' and 'fully recovered' are not the same," said Elrond. "You will not be 'feeling better' for much longer if you continue to exert yourself."

"But Ada," said Aragorn. "He is not exerting himself, he's merely sitting in a chair."

Elrond turned to his son. "Did he exert himself to get from his bed to said chair? Will he exert himself to get from the chair back to his bed? You know better than this, Estel."

"He only wanted some sun!" said Aragorn, growing upset at his father's words. "Surely, as an elf, you can understand this!"

The angry look on Elrond's face diminished. "Aye, I can indeed. That is why I will let you remain."

Legolas and Aragorn both blinked, surprised at Elrond's change of heart.

"But," said Elrond, shooting a stern look at Aragorn. "Do not do this again without my permission."

Aragorn nodded.

Elrond looked at Legolas again, appraising his condition. "Do not stay out here too long. No doubt you will feel the cold, in your weakened state."

Legolas said nothing, hating the word 'weakened' in association with himself. He nodded, however, before the older elf could change his mind.

With that, Elrond left the balcony, but not before giving them a small smile.

After he was gone, Legolas gave Aragorn a puzzled look. "I think that we have finally done it, Estel."

"Done what?"

"Driven your father to madness."