Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

A/N: Hey there people. Okay, okay, I understand that you are all ready to kill me. I honestly thought that where I stopped it last time wasn't too bad but I've been made aware that it was. Don't look at me like that! It's not my fault that's where my muse told me to end it. Just remember, if you kill me, you don't get the rest of this story or my up and coming sequal to Coming Home called The Edge of a Knife. Remember that. (I'm looking at you leggylover03!). All right, now that that's out of the way, many many thank yous to all my reviewers! Three cheers goes to Rhys for being my 100th reviewer. thank you so much! Also, many many thanks to my awesome beta enb2004! Go read her HP story, it's fabulous! All right, enough of my ramblings. Here is Chapter 13 as promised. Have fun!

Elrond ran outside, completely oblivious of the snowstorm as his focus was solely on the two figures on the one horse. As he got closer he could see that it was the twins who appeared to have been injured.

"Elladan, what happened?" Glorfindel asked anxiously from behind him suddenly, making Elrond start for a moment. He had not heard Glorfindel following him although he shouldn't be surprised.

"Where are Estel and Legolas," Elrond asked, his face taught with concern as he took in Elrohir's injuries and the absence of his youngest and the Prince.

Elladan shook his head despairingly while carefully dismounting, Elrohir still in his arms. "I don't know Ada. We, we were attacked by orcs within our boundaries. They took us by surprise," he said softly.

Elrond and Glorfindel looked at each other in shock for a moment. Orcs had not dared to venture within Imladris for some time, a very long time. That they were doing so now did not bode well at all.

Taking another look at Elrohir and Elladan, Elrond quickly hustled all them inside. He would get the full story later, but there was one thing he had to ask first. "Elladan, what of Estel and Legolas?"

"I told Legolas to take Estel and make haste towards safety. We were surrounded and the only way to get away from the orcs was to go outside of our boundaries. I don't know where they are," Elladan said sounding very near tears.

"Shh, it is all right ion nin, you did the best you could under extreme circumstances. Come, let us go treat your brother and then we can talk more," Elrond said while making a mental note to check Elladan's condition once he had treated Elrohir.

"Glorfindel, go with Elladan and help him get cleaned up, and then go fetch Erestor. I may have need of his help later. I shall take care of Elrohir in the meantime," Elrond said while gently prying Elrohir from his twin's arms.

Elladan reluctantly let go of his twin and handed him over to his father. It was only once he had let go that he realized his legs wouldn't support him anymore now that he wasn't responsible for the safety of Elrohir.

His eyes rolled back in his head as his legs gave way under him, and would have fallen to the floor had not Glorfindel been standing right next to him.

Glorfindel panicked as he caught Elladan's limp form in his arms and quickly searched out a pulse. It was there but it was fast and thready. Only then did he realize that Elladan was bleeding from a profuse stab wound to his leg.

"It is as I thought, both of them are seriously wounded. It is a wonder that Elladan was able to care for Elrohir at all, given the state of his leg," Elrond said while walking quickly towards the healing wing.

"Somehow, that does not surprise me," Glorfindel said trying to lighten the situation a little bit.

"Aye, they always seem to do things in pairs. They are twins after all," Elrond said as they reached the healing wing.

The moment of light heartedness passed though once they got a good look at the twins respective injuries. While not life threatening, it was still quite bad. If the twins were this bad.... No, he refused to believe that Estel and Legolas were as bad off as the twins. He had to have hope that they were in one piece still. Even if they were though, they were still trapped outside somewhere, where the snowstorm was continuing to grow steadily worse.

As Elrond and Glorfindel once more patched up the twins, the snow storm continued to increase her fury upon the wilderlands and two poor lost souls who had no idea that they were walking farther and father away from Imladris.

Legolas cursed for what seemed to be the millionth time as the snow storm increased its ferociousness. In front of him, he could feel Estel shaking with the cold and he knew that neither of them would last much longer out in this weather. They had to find shelter and fast.

Legolas valiantly tried to peer through the curtain of white snow but he could see nothing. He hated to admit it, but he was completely lost. The snow storm was just to dense to see where he was going and he was completely turned around.

"Hang on Estel, we'll find shelter," Legolas murmured hugging the young child tightly, hoping that some of his body heat would help to warm Estel.

"It's.... so... cold Leggie," Estel whispered as he continued to shiver violently.

"I know tithen pen, I know. We'll find shelter soon, I promise," Legolas said as he draped his cloak around Estel hoping it would warm him somewhat.

"What.... about you?" Estel asked, his speech impaired from the cold.

"I'll be fine. I don't feel the cold as much as you do," Legolas said, quick to reassure Estel. What he had said wasn't a complete lie. Normally, it was true that elves did not feel the elements unless it was extreme. This snowstorm was extreme and Legolas was feeling the cold, but Estel needed the cloak far more than he did. If he felt cold, how in Arda did Estel feel?

Estel nodded and tightly clutched the cloth and pulled it around himself tightly. It didn't do much however for he still shivered violently, reaffirming Legolas's notion of having to reach shelter and soon.

"Soon Estel, soon," he muttered as his horse continued to trudge along the snow ridden lands.
Another hour went by in silence before Legolas finally saw a cave in the distance. Estel had stopped shivering some time ago, frightening Legolas to no end. Even with his limited knowledge about mortals and how they reacted to their surroundings, he knew that if a person stopped shivering while in the midst of extreme cold, it did not bode well.

Upon seeing the cave, Legolas knew that it was their only chance. A cave wasn't exactly his first choice but he was not foolish enough to continue on in this weather because of his personal dislike of caves.

Urging his horse to go even faster, they rapidly approached the cave. His horse went into the cave without any urging. It to wanted to get out of harsh, cold snow.

Once inside, Legolas carefully dismounted while holding Estel. To his dismay, Estel remained limp in his arms as he dismounted. Estel had passed out from the cold.

With a speed borne of urgency, Legolas quickly put Estel down quite far from the entrance and scanned the cave for any fire making materials. Finally, in the back corner of the cave he spotted some wood and stones.

Thanking the Valar repeatedly under his breathe, Legolas quickly got a fire going. Once the fire was blazing, he moved Estel over to it while removing his soaking wet clothing.

Estel was a terrifying blue color. His skin had lost nearly all its pallor and had taken on a blue tinge which indicated how far the hypothermia had gone. Just looking at Estel was making Legolas feel cold.

Once Estel's clothes were off and he was wrapped in Legolas's coat, Legolas quickly removed his own clothes save for the light tunic he always wore underneath his regular clothes. Once that was done, Legolas moved Estel to his lap and hugged him tightly. Hopefully by sharing body heat, he could warm Estel up faster.

As he sat by the fire with Estel in his lap, Legolas began to feel drowsy and had the immense desire to fall asleep but he knew he couldn't afford that. He had to keep Estel and himself warm. If he fell asleep, the two of them would more than likely freeze to death during the night. He had to stay awake and keep the fire going. Their lives depended upon it.

Settling Estel down into a more comfortable position, Legolas braced himself for a long night never knowing that this would one day become a very familiar scene.

The night passed by in agonizing slowness. Several times Legolas had thought that Estel would never become warm, but sometime in the very early hours of the morning, Estel had started to shiver once again, his body finally beginning to warm up.

It wasn't until around dawn however that Estel regained consciousness. "Leggie?" Estel croaked out suddenly, startling Legolas who had been lost in thought.

"Estel! Oh thank the Valar you're alive," Legolas said nearly in tears. Too many times had he thought that he had lost Estel during the night. Estel was made out of tough stuff though; he was an Elrondion after all.

"How do you feel tithen pen?" Legolas asked, putting his hand against Estel's brow and finding his brow a normal temperature.

"Okay, I'm still cold though," Estel said as he shivered.

"Well I would say so! I'll have you know that I am cold as well. Come, let's get these nice warm clothes on you. I've had them next to the fire the entire night so they should be nice and warm," Legolas said, handing Estel his clothes.

Legolas quickly dressed himself and then helped Estel dress. "Stay here by the fire Estel. I am going to go out and check what the weather is like, all right?"

Estel nodded and buried himself deeply into Legolas's cloak wanting to do nothing more than sleep.

Legolas was reluctant to leave Estel, but he really did need to see what the weather was like and if they could head back to Imladris today. Walking very quickly, Legolas headed for the edge of the cave and peeked his head out. What greeted him was a snow covered land with a clear blue sky overhead.

Legolas breathed a quick thanks to the Valar before taking in his surroundings to see where they had wound up. Upon looking at the tree's and shrubbery, he found it familiar, too familiar. He knew these woods like the back of his hand. Valar only knew how, sometime during the snowstorm, they had become completely turned around. Not only were they outside of Imladris's boundaries, they were far beyond it. In fact, they were actually closer to Mirkwood than Imladris.

"By the Valar," Legolas whispered softly to the air. They could not head back to Imladris, not with the snow as high as it was. Also, they had no supplies, they would never make it back to Imladris save with only a horse and what food they could forage. It wasn't practical, nor possible to do at this time. No, he had only one choice and that was to take Estel to Mirkwood. He only hoped that Elrond would forgive him and understand his reasoning once the ancient elf lord got a hold of him.

Translations:
Ada: Dad/Daddy
Ion nin: My son
Mellon nin: My friend
Tithen pen: Little one
Arda: Middle Earth