Author's note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, and again a special thanks to Partheon for editing.

If you are reading but have not reviewed yet, well, it would be nice to know what you are thinking...

This is a repost - in the first version removed all my scene breakers, so I had to come up with another way of separating different sections.

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Days in Lothlorien – Chapter 6

In the early morning, Haldir and Legolas were enjoying some private time together when they were interrupted by a knock on the door. With a groan, Haldir moved away from Legolas and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He grabbed his leggings and could not quite suppress a wince as he pulled them up and tied the laces.

Haldir went to the door and opened. He was faced with a very travel-worn King Thranduil.

"King Thranduil, welcome! We have been waiting for you! Did your journey go smoothly?"

"Thank you, Haldir. Yes, it did. We had one horse that injured its leg, which slowed us down, otherwise we would have been here a day ago. I am sorry to disturb you at this early hour – I can see that my timing was not very good."

Haldir blushed deeply.

'There is a sight', thought Thranduil,' I am sure not many people have seen Haldir blushing.'

"It does not matter. Please come in."

At this moment Legolas appeared, who had heard his father's voice. He had quickly put on some leggings and a tunic to greet his father.

"Ada! It is good to see you!"

Thranduil hesitated for a brief moment and then pulled Legolas close into a tight embrace. "It is good to see you too, Legolas." He released Legolas but still held his shoulders. Holding him at arms' length and looking at his son closely, the king said: "Legolas, you look very well. I am glad you are happy."

Thranduil turned and then, much to Haldir's surprise, he pulled the Lorien warrior close and embraced him as well. Haldir hesitated at first - he was not used to such close physical contact except with Legolas - but then he also let his arms close around Thranduil. "Thank you, Haldir", Thranduil said very quietly. As they moved apart, their eyes locked for a moment and Haldir gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Legolas looked at both of them and said: "Father, would you like to refresh yourself? Once we are all ready when could go and break our fast."

"Thank you Legolas. I will come back here when I am ready."

-o-o-o-

Legolas, Thranduil and Haldir spent most of the day together. They had much catching up to do, news to be exchanged and the preparations for the bonding had to be discussed. At first, Haldir had wanted to leave Legolas and Thranduil to themselves, to enjoy each other's company undisturbed, but both father and son had protested at this notion. Haldir had enjoyed spending time with them. He liked Thranduil and they got on very well. There was much he admired in the wood-elven king and he felt that he was respected and liked in return.

Before lunch, Legolas approached a topic that he knew would be difficult. "Ada, I need to tell you that Elrond brought all his sons with him."

"All of them?" Thranduil frowned.

"Yes, Aragorn is here, and the twins."

Thranduil looked angry.

"Father, I offered to Elrond to bring all of them. And in many ways this has been a good thing. I needed to see Aragorn again to know that this part of my life is truly over, and has no longer a hold over me."

Thranduil looked at his son. "Just do not get hurt again on his behalf. This mortal has done quite enough damage, but I do not wish to mar your bonding with ill feelings."

After this conversation, they went together to the Common Hall for their midday meal. They were not surprised to find Elrond, the twins, Arwen and Aragorn there as well. Thranduil kept the greetings brief and cool and, if eyes were daggers, Aragorn and Arwen would have keeled over. But the elven king stood to his word and did not say anything further. The meal was consumed in relative silence and, soon after they had finished their meal, everyone went their separate ways.

-o-o-o-

Thranduil, Legolas and Haldir spent the afternoon and evening much like the morning, simply enjoying their time together. Haldir was yet again surprised how different Thranduil was when he was able to release some of the burden of kingship. Thranduil had a keen sense of humour and a talent for mimicking others. Haldir and Legolas spent much of the afternoon listening to stories that related some of the events at court, but Thranduil recounted these events in such as way that made Legolas especially almost fall over with laughter. His father was very good at portraying other people - speaking just like the stern advisor, a whining delegate or even an elf-maiden desperate for a good match at court.

It had been centuries that Legolas and his father had enjoyed such carefree time together, and none of the three wanted the day to end. But early next morning, Legolas and Haldir were due on patrol duty, this time only for three days and two nights,.. This was a time period elves could easily go without rest, but it would not do to start on duty less than fully alert, so with much regret, the three elves separated late in the evening to their respective talans.

-o-o-o-

Both Haldir and Legolas woke early. They got up quickly, got ready and packed their packs. It only took them moments, for both it was a well-known routine.

"Haldir, with my father arriving yesterday, I forgot to ask you about the rota. Who is coming with us?"

For longer patrols, the Lorien elves normally went out in groups of six, but for the shorter guard duties, the tended to go in threes. Haldir had originally avoided assigning Legolas and himself to the patrol unit, fearing that it might look like favouritism. But one day Galadriel had called him and told him that he should do what his heart demanded.

"You are both warriors. You do not know what the future holds. If you can gain happiness by spending your time on duty together, you should do so. I know that neither of you would fail in their duty or be inconsiderate to others," the Lady of Lorien had said.

Haldir had decided to bring the issue out in the open, so that there would be no misunderstandings and hidden grumbles. He called all the warriors together and told them Galadriel's words. And then he had added: "Of course, what holds true for Legolas and myself, should also hold true for others. If there is anyone else who would like to be paired up with another person regularly, please let me know and I will try to accommodate this when I compile the rota."

Consequently, there had been some changes in the rota. Several warriors had expressed preferences, some out of love, and some out of friendship. Haldir tried to keep these preferences in mind as much as he could. At first, he had feared that this would cause envy amongst those who had not asked for special consideration, but over the years the new system had proven its worth. The warriors were happier and even those without closer friends or lovers benefited from the greater contentment of those who had. Altogether, Galadriel's words had led to an improvement of morale amongst the guards.

Haldir tried to assign groups of friends together for the shorter duties and on this occasion he had chosen Tinarvel. The rota had been put together quite some time ago.

"Oh, no Haldir! Why him, by the Valar? He never leaves me alone these days!" Legolas was exasperated.

Haldir looked at his partner. "Legolas, I wrote this before he started picking on you. I really do not know what is wrong with him at the moment. He used to be a good friend to both of us."

Legolas shrugged his shoulders, and sighed.

Haldir put his arm around Legolas' shoulders. "I know this is less than ideal. He has been very unkind to you recently; do not think I have not noticed that. But if I change the rota now, it will draw attention to the issue. I think this would make things worse."

Legolas nodded, not convinced. Together, they went down to the tree, which held Tinarvel's flet. He was already waiting for them. They left immediately.

-o-o-o-

The first few hours were uneventful. The destination of the three warriors was the eastern border of Lorien, where they would scout and guard there for the next three days. It would take them about half a day of hard marching to get to the area of their duty.

As the day progressed, Legolas relaxed. They had all concentrated on walking, not wanting to waste breath on small talk. When the evening came, they called a halt. They were now very near to the border of Lorien, and stealth was needed – there had been repeated invasions of orcs from the mountains in this area. For the night, the three elves spread out, each choosing a vantage point in a tree sufficiently far away that they could still see each other but could also cover a large area.

The night passed, and most of the next day passed without any sign of something unusual. In the early evening, the three elves left their trees and met together. They set up a small camp. Since everything had remained quiet, Haldir had decided that they could leave their posts to have some tea before returning to their watch posts. They lit a small, smokeless fire to heat the water. Since they had left, Tinarvel seemed to have been his former self, rather than making pointed and at times hurtful comments.

As they drank their tea, Tinarvel said: "How does it feel to get bound?"

Legolas and Haldir looked at each other, and smiled. "Well, I am for one very nervous," admitted Haldir. Both Legolas and Tinarvel looked at him in surprise, it was very rare that Haldir admitted any weakness.

After a pause, Tinarvel looked at Haldir, his expression serious. "You should be nervous. You should ask yourself whether what you are doing is right!"

"What?" Haldir sat straight up with a start.

"You should not bind to someone who is a mere child and foreign. He is not even truly Sindarin! And he has been dirtied by a relationship to a mortal and he has even invited that mortal to your bonding! What do you want with him? You should be bound to one of our own!" All of this was said with increasing vehemence and Tinarvel stood up as he spoke. Tinarvel looked at Legolas with disdain and registered the look of utter hurt that his words had caused with satisfaction.

Tinarvel had known and served with Haldir for many centuries. Secretly, he had always admired the marchwarden but had considered him unapproachable. Then, a few short years ago after a visit to Mirkwood, Haldir had brought back this young princeling from Mirkwood, who for the first few years so obviously caused Haldir as much hurt as pleasure. Tinarvel had started disliking Legolas then but had never allowed these feelings to surface. He always thought that one day Haldir would come to his senses and take a more adult lover, one of his own and not so damaged by a previous relationship. And Tinarvel had hoped that perhaps there might be a chance that this person might be him.

Going out on patrol together, sometimes for months on end, led to all patrol members knowing each other intimately. Although young Legolas had been as close-mouthed as any, he had not been able to hide the fact that in the first few years after meeting Haldir, he had been far too thin for any elf. Being asked about this one time, he had only replied that he had gone through a difficult time, but gossip had filled in the gaps.

Haldir and Legolas were too shocked to react immediately to Tinarvel's accusations. Then, to everyone's surprise, it was Legolas who responded first. The young elf swiftly got up, the look of hurt replaced with well-controlled anger. It was at this moment that Haldir saw the prince in Legolas for the first time. The archer stood straight, his eyes blazing. He did not shout when he spoke, but there was such steel in his voice that Tinarvel unconsciously took a step backwards.

"How do you dare to speak of me in such way! I may be young still, but this 'mere child' you speak so disdainful of, has saved your and other's life on several occasions. What is between Haldir and me is entirely up to us. As far as your disregard for my parents is concerned, it is not the first time that I have been accused of being neither Sindar nor Silvan. But I am also the son of a king, and few can say that of themselves. I am well within my rights to challenge you to a fight for your words about my family."

Haldir had regarded Legolas with almost open-mouthed surprise. He was absolutely furious with Tinarvel, but he had never expected in his wildest dreams that the normally reserved and quiet Legolas would stand up like this for himself. But this was going too far.

"Tinarvel, what you said was completely out of order. You owe us, and especially Legolas, an apology. Beyond this, I will not allow to members of my patrol to fight each other." Haldir's voice and eyes reflected the anger he felt towards Tinarvel. But he was their patrol leader, after all, and duty had to come before injured feelings.

Tinarvel turned to him, his eyes blazing. "You are just protecting your lover! Let him show that he can fight for himself!"

Legolas took up the challenge. His eyes were still blazing with fury but his voice was cold and controlled. "I will fight you Tinarvel, hand to hand, and afterwards this issue will rest. I will not have you stirring mischief after this. Haldir is our witness to this."

Tinarvel smirked. "You will not win, child. When this ends, you will leave Lorien, and never return. That is my prize."

Haldir's voice now took an authoritative tone. "Enough of this nonsense. I will not let members of my patrol unit fight. When we return, Tinarvel, you can take your complaints to Lady Galadriel, you know that it is custom to raise any concerns with her before a bonding. If she considers them valid, she will not allow us to proceed with the bonding. If she does not consider them valid, I will not have you speak about this again and I will suggest that she should take you off guard duty to find another appropriate post for you."

"We will now all return to our duty."

TBC. Please review