To Mirkwood
Chapter 15: For the Love of a Son
Don't own.
Reviewers:
Kisstheraingirlsister: -hides in hopes of not getting punched- Hopefully you get to read this before you leave! If not it will be here when you get back.
Jedi Gollum: Thanks for the link. I'll have to check it out!
Haldir's Heart and Soul: I didn't think an elf could sink that low either. I was surprised when I found out that it was Tylen… oh wait… uh… hehe-- -- -- --
Upon reaching Elrond's study, they found it locked. Elladan and Elrohir pounded on the door until finally the door was opened. A weary Elrond looked down at them. There was a hint of annoyance in his eyes at whoever was disturbing him, but when he saw his children and Thranduil's children, his expressions softened and he allowed them into his study.
Once inside, Elrond closed the door again and locked it. "What do you keep it locked, Ada?" Elrohir asked. Elrond glanced at his son.
"Because the servants keep bothering me so I told them to make their own decisions and leave me alone." Elrond said, throwing himself into his chair and picking up the large book that lay on his desk. He looked up again, but this time, he was looking at Legolas and E'thane. "You're here because your father…" He started in a low whisper. Legolas stepped forward.
"Please tell me if he will be alright." Legolas pleaded. Elrond made no move to answer, because at the moment, he himself did not know what was wrong with the great Elf King. E'thane sighed and stepped up with his brother, but he said nothing, just leaned against his older brother for both physical support and emotional support. Suddenly, there was a loud pounding on the door. Elrond looked up at it and growled. Elladan moved to the door and unlocked it, but before he could even open it, a servant came flying into the room, nearly knocking over Elladan.
"Lord Elrond! Lord Elrond!" He cried, almost throwing himself onto the desk. "King Thranduil! He is acting strange! You must come quickly!" Elrond got up so quickly that his chair fell backwards. He hurried out of the room with Legolas and E'thane close behind, and the twins close behind them.
When they finally reached the room, the door was open and there was a crying sound coming from inside. Elrond slowed to a fast walk and went into the room. Legolas started to go in, but Elrond stopped him. "It's best if you wait here." He said, and closed the door.
Legolas slumped against the wall and E'thane came down beside him. The twins looked sadly at their friends. Knowing there was nothing they could do or say to cheer up the two princes, they sat on either side of them and simply spoke in low voices, telling them everything would be ok, as a friend should.
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As Legolas sat against the wall, a flood of memories came crashing back to him. He remembered times when he was a young elfling playing games with his father… he remembered when Thranduil took him on his first hunting trip… and then, he remembered what happened in the dungeons with Tylen. Legolas closed his eyes tighter and tried to block of his face, but it was burned into his mind and would never go away. The face kept repeating the words, "I killed your mother. I killed her, Legolas! And there's nothing you can do!" Then laughter. The fight between Legolas and Tylen replayed in his mind again, only this time, Tylen had him pinned to the wall, and then, he left Legolas against the wall, his hands and feet bound to the cold stone, and Tylen brought in Legolas's mother, and killed her right in front of him. Legolas screamed, cried, kicked and battled against the chains that held him, trying to help his mother. But it was no use. The chains were too strong. Then Tylen advanced on him, the knife held high, still dripping Legolas's mother's blood. Tylen smiled. "Farewell, Legolas." He said, and brought down the knife…
-- -- -- --
"Legolas!!!" Legolas's eyes shot open and he sat up, sweat pouring down his face. When his eyes cleared, he saw the twins and his brother sitting around him.
"What… I…" He couldn't make out what happened. It was then that he touched his cheeks, and realized that he had been crying for real.
"Leoglas… are you alright? We thought you were ok until you started crying in your sleep. That's when we noticed that your eyes were closed. What happened?" E'thane asked.
"I… I was dreaming…" He said quietly in realization.
"Yes… what were you dreaming about, mellon-nin?" Elrohir asked.
"Tylen, and how he killed my mother…" Legolas whispered. He looked into his brother's face and saw the tears form in his eyes. Legolas reached out for his little brother and hugged him.
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"Thranduil! I must ask you to calm down!" Elrond said, rather roughly. He was trying to pin down Thranduil's arm but he couldn't. The Elf King was thrashing about too much. Elrond was about to give up when Thranduil's foot made contact with his stomach. Elrond stepped backward, trying to quickly regain his breath. He looked at his friend again, but to his surprise, he stopped moving. He became very still, and his chest hardly rose. His face was set, not really in any expression. He looked like he was sleeping without the sickness, except for the sweat that was pouring down his face. "Thranduil?" Elrond whispered. He didn't move. "Please don't let him pass." Elrond prayed quietly, then moved closer to the bed. He put his finger against Thranduil's neck and felt for a pulse. He got a little worried at first, but finally, he felt the gentle pounding of his heart. It was slower than it should have been. Elrond finally decided to allow Thranduil's sons into the room. Elrond went to the door and opened it and found the four elves sitting beside the door. They looked up at him when he opened it. "Legolas, E'thane, come in." He said. The two elves nodded and followed Elrond into the room.
It was the first time Legolas had been Thranduil in a while. He sat down beside the bed and took his father's hand in his. E'thane sat beside Legolas. "Ada…" Legolas whispered. Thranduil didn't move. Legolas bit his lower lip.
They sat in silence for a while; Elrond was flipping through the pages of a large book trying to find some mention of the symptoms that Thranduil was expressing.
-- -- -- --
Thranduil sat leaning against a large tree in the middle of a beautiful green forest. The sun was filtering through the leaves above him and leaving little splashes of light all along the forest floor. He guessed it to be about midday since it wasn't too hot yet and the sun was directly overhead, as far as he could tell.
As he sat against the tree, letting his mind wander about different things, he heard a voice. "Ada…" He looked around, but there wasn't anyone near him. The voice didn't come again. The forest became silent again, so Thranduil just continued to sit against his tree and let his mind wander.
-- -- -- --
The sun faded from view and Rivendell grew dark. Elrond looked at the three sleeping elves. Legolas and E'thane had fallen asleep with their heads on Thranduil's bed, and Thranduil hadn't woken up since he'd fallen asleep earlier in the day. He smiled, and decided to leave them there for the night.
He went to the door and opened it, and saw his sons lying on the ground, asleep. He'd figured they would have gone off somewhere else to find something to do, or at least gone to their own room to sleep. He couldn't help but smile more as he looked at his sons. They had grown up a lot in the past years. It made him almost miss the days when they were elflings, terrorizing the elves of Rivendell with their pranks and jokes. He remembered one night he told the little elflings he would play with them when he finished working on something. So they waited. Elrond had lost track of time and it grew dark. When he finally decided to go to bed, he opened the door to find his twin sons sleeping on the stone floor outside his study. They had waited for him all day but he had forgotten. The next day, he spent the whole day with his sons to make up for the day before.
Elrond kneeled down and gently shook Elladan's shoulder. His eyes cleared slowly and he blinked several times, then looked up at his father. "Why don't you and Elrohir head to your bedroom." He said. Elladan smiled and shook his brother's shoulder to get him to wake. When both of them were awake enough to stand and walk, they were facing their father. Memories of when they were younger came back to them as well. They moved forward and both hugged Elrond at the same time. This made Elrond happy to know that his grown elf sons would still hug their old father…
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Oy… I don't know how I'm going to play out this story. I can't decide if I should be cruel and kill Thranduil, or be nice and let him live. Such hard decisions! Obviously you can't do both.
Anyway, I kinda thought this chapter was all sweet father-son love kinda things. AWWW Haha. Yup… review!
"Inspirational" Quote (actually this one is a song):
"You raise me up… so I can stand on mountains… you raise me… to walk on stormy seas…. I am strong… when I am on your shoulders…. You raise me up… to more than I can be…" –Josh Groban
Later all-
Banana Nut Muffin