Legolas stood at the bottom of the tree, watching as his mother climbed up to the top. She had volunteered to go up and get the red leaf that he had wanted so much, but then he had changed his mind and asked for a different one, because it was like him: a green leaf. It looked as though he'd be getting both of them.

The child tensed suddenly as everything went silent and he lost sight of his mother. "Nana?" he called uncertainly. No answer. "Nana, are you still there?" Nothing.

Biting down on his lip, Legolas went forwards and began to climb the tree. He had been taught how to do this by his brothers, and although he was nowhere near as good as them yet, he was still good enough. The little Prince climbed higher and higher, and as he glanced back down at the ground, his head spun slightly. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"Nana!" he called again.

Suddenly there was a cry of horror from above. "Legolas, stay where you are! Don't move. I'm coming to get you!"

Findilan spun around and jumped from the branch she was on and over to the next one. She landed gracefully, but as she did so, her hair whipped around her face and in her eyes. She made a noise of despair and leaped onto another branch, a little further down. But her vision was slighted. She misjudged.

With a cry of terror she scrabbled desperately, trying to find something to grab onto, something which would hold her up. But it was too late. She could not save herself. She fell. Branches ripped at her clothing and at her face. She felt nothing. Nothing except the rushing wind. She saw nothing. Nothing except the ground flying up to meet her.

"Nana!" screamed Legolas. There was a sudden silence as his mother hit the ground. "Nana."

Taking a deep breath, the Prince moved down to a slightly lower branch and jumped down onto the forest floor. His ankle twisted beneath him, and although tears filled his eyes, he tried to ignore the pain as he crawled over to his motionless mother. Thorns stuck into his hands as he moved, and although he could see spots of blood, he did not care.

"Nana," he whispered. "Nana, wake up. Nana, please."

Legolas reached out and shook her gently. As he did so, her arm fell limply to the side, and her hand, which was fisted around something, opened up. Two leaves lay in her palm: one red, one green.

Thranduil blinked in surprise as Legolas sat up with a start. It was morning, and although the Prince had found sleep, none had come to the King. He had sat in his study all night with his son wrapped up in his arms. The many hours had not been uneventful, though.

Legolas had not woken up once, however, he had cried out whilst dreaming, and Thranduil had only been able to try and ignore the fact that his son was calling for his mother, and was muttering 'don't fall'. The Elfling, who was now wide awake, looked up at his father and smiled.

"Hello. Did I fall asleep in here?"

"Yes. Yes, you did. I...Legolas, do you...not remember what happened yesterday?" asked Thranduil carefully. "Do you remember anything?"

Legolas nodded in earnest, and shifted positions so that he could face the King. "Yes, we went into the forest. Nana came with us but she didn't come back. I know why, though."

"Do you?" Thranduil sighed.

"Yes. Ada, I saw her last night. I saw her lots of times actually, but one time when I saw her, she told me that I can't be with her yet. She is picking flowers, I think," said Legolas. "She was holding some in her hand, and there were lots on the ground and all around her."

Thranduil shook his head, and touched a hand to his son's cheek. "No, you did not see her."

"I did."

"Alright, maybe you did see her. But...she was not actually here. You saw her only in your head, in a dream," said Thranduil gently. "Seeing something or someone whilst asleep is very different to seeing them in reality."

Legolas nodded slowly. "Alright. But I still saw her."

The Elven-king sighed, but did not press the matter. "What are you doing now?" His son had just slid down to the ground, and was taking something over to the centre of the floor.

"Drawing."

"What are you drawing?"

"Pictures."

"Of course you are," said Thranduil quietly. "Silly me."

He sighed and got up from his chair, only to swear quite violently, realising too late that there was an Elfling in his presence. He couldn't help it though: sitting in the same position for a whole night had taken its toll on his body, and he was stiff all over.

"Ada, I said that word one time, and you told me off," said Legolas reprovingly, without taking his eyes off his drawing. "You told me not to say it, but you just did."

"How very hypocritical of me," said Thranduil dryly.

"Hypo-what?"

"It means that if you...never mind," replied the King, shaking his head. He moved around to lean back on the front of his desk, and watched Legolas carefully. "What are you drawing?"

"Wait...a...minute," replied the Prince. He drew a few more squiggles, then lifted his first piece of parchment into the air. "Here you are. It is you, Ada."

Thranduil took the drawing, and could not help but smile – though it was very sad. "Ah Greenleaf, you have given me blue hair. Thank you very much."

"That's alright," giggled Legolas. "Did you see that I also gave you green skin?"

"It did not escape my notice," replied Thranduil, placing this latest masterpiece on top of all the rest of Legolas' works-of-art, which lay on the more personal side of his desk.

"I can do Calaen now," the Elfling announced. "He can have red hair."

Thranduil was silent for a moment, before moving forwards to kneel on the floor beside his son. "Legolas, can I ask you something? Has Ameldir ever taught you anything about...death?"

"Yes," was the reply. "It doesn't sound very nice."

"No. No, it doesn't. What did he...? Legolas, stop drawing for a moment," said Thranduil. "Thank you. Now, what exactly have you been told about death? Do you understand it?"

"Yes."

"Tell me what it is, then."

Legolas tilted his head to one side, and looked up in surprise. "Why? Ada, do you not know what it is?"

"I know only too well what it is," replied Thranduil, and his eyes were cold. "Let me rephrase the request, then. I want you to tell me what you think death is. Can you do that for me?"

"I think so. Ameldir told me that when someone dies, it means that their life has ended and their soul goes somewhere else," said Legolas.

"The Halls of Mandos."

"Yes. It sounds a very nice place. And, he told also told me that Elves can only die in two ways: battle or if their heart is broken," the Prince continued. "We can't die any other way. It's impossible"

Thranduil closed his eyes briefly, in despair. "Legolas, that is not entirely correct. There are other ways for us to die. For example, poison could be slipped into an Elf's drink, and that Elf may not be able to survive the effects. Or...there is the possibility of falling from something."

"Like what?"

"You tell me."

Legolas shook his head slightly. What was the point of being told something, if the teller left it up to the listener to do the telling? "Well, an Elf could fall from a horse."

"What else?"

"Steps."

"And?"

"A bed."

Instead of replying, Thranduil stood up and went to glare out of the window. "This is ridiculous."

"Oh."

"No, I did not mean that you are ridiculous," the King sighed. He shook his head helplessly, and tried to work out all of the muddled thoughts in his mind. How could he possibly tell a naïve and innocent Elfling that he was never going to see his mother again?

"Ada, are you alright?"

Thranduil turned and gazed at the child for a moment, before slowly shaking his head. This was it. "No. No, I am not alright. I...I need to talk with you."

Legolas immediately leapt to his feet and backed away a little. It was a natural reaction for him. Whenever someone said in that tone of voice that they needed to talk with him, it normally turned out bad for him. This time though, he couldn't remember doing anything.

"Do not look so nervous," said Thranduil gently, kneeling down once more and holding out a hand. "Come here, Greenleaf."

"Alright," said Legolas quietly, entwining his small fingers with his father's.

The Elven-king pulled him closer, but did not break the physical contact. "You are young, ion-nin. And if there was any way for me to keep this from you, I would, for a while. But that would be wrong of me. What I am about to tell you is-

The door opened then and Thranduil broke off, feeling the frustration rising once more. Airëlus and Calaen came in, both of them looking as though they had slept very little, but they also wore brave faces. Legolas cried out in delight and pulled away from his father, only to turn and jump into his eldest brother's arms.

"Oh. I see he slept well," said Calaen quietly.

Thranduil nodded, and put a hand on his dark haired son's shoulder. "Yes, he slept very well. He did not wake once. What about you?"

"I have had better nights, but it wasn't too bad," Calaen shrugged.

"You slept for an hour," said Airëlus, "two at the most."

Thranduil glanced over at the Crown Prince, and arched an eyebrow. "Then, you also had very little sleep, if you know that. Neither of you should have spent the night alone. Why did you not come here, to me?"

"We were alright," replied Calaen. "Airëlus stayed in with me."

"I stayed with Ada," said Legolas proudly.

Airëlus smiled, and tickled the child, even though his heart was not truly in it. "What did Ada want with you? He is a braver Elf than I am. I would not look after you even if I was paid pieces of gold."

"Yes, you would," giggled Legolas.

Thranduil inclined his head and smiled weakly at Airëlus, as a subtle way of thanking him for looking after the Elfling. "How do you feel now?" He had directed the question towards his two elder sons, but it was not they who replied.

"Hungry," said Legolas promptly.

"You always want to eat." Thranduil shook his head slightly. "Go to your room and get changed, then when you come back here, I can have food brought up."

Calaen stepped out of the way as the little blonde tornado whirled from the room. "Ada, is he alright? He seems very...normal. Does he not understand that Naneth is....? Does he not understand what has happened?"

"There is a very big difference between understanding and knowing something," Thranduil sighed. "He understands the concept of death, though it is in a very...naïve way."

"Do you mean to say that he does not know of what has happened?" demanded Airëlus.

"Yes. I was just about to tell him when you two came in," replied Thranduil. "It is partly my fault that he is so ignorant of such matters. I have tried to shield him from anything that can hurt him, as I did with the both of you also."

"Why?" asked Airëlus quietly.

"You are my children. I only wish to protect you," said Thranduil. "It never once occurred to me that something like this would ever happen in our lives, let alone when one of you were still too young to comprehend it. Now, I must pay the price for my stupidity."

"Legolas has to be told," said Airëlus.

"Like I said, I was about to tell him when you two came in. We have to go and see her... her body," said Thranduil slowly, shuddering inwardly even as the words left his lips. "It will not be easy for any of you, I understand that. But it will give us time to say goodbye to her privately."

"Will we go today?" asked Airëlus.

"We will do nothing that you two feel uncomfortable with," replied Thranduil, his voice gentle. "If you wish for time, we will wait for a few days. If you would rather go today, then we will go. If we do, though, I will tell Legolas when he-

"Don't!"

Thranduil looked across at Calaen, and arched an eyebrow. "Why not? He needs to know, and he needs to be prepared for what he is going to see. He needs to... he does not understand. He needs to."

"Yes, but he will not believe you, Ada," said Calaen. "You know this. It will merely cause more problems, and he will refuse to go to the Houses of Mourning. Put yourself in his place. Would you accept something like that?"

Thranduil sighed, but did not answer the question. "What would you have me do, then?"

"Say nothing at the moment. When he sees her body, he will ask questions. Tell him then," replied Calaen. "Can you really see him believing you if you were to tell him when he comes back here? At least if he is told later, he will be able to....to look upon her, and she that she is...Tell him then, Ada."

The Elven-king thought silently for a moment, but nodded eventually. "Maybe...maybe you are right. Airëlus?"

"If you think that would be best."

"I suppose that-

There was a firm knocking on the door then, and at a nod from his father, Airëlus stepped forwards to open it. The person who walked into the study was expected by no-one. The two Princes stared in wonder, whilst Thranduil blinked, wondering if he was imagining things.

"This," said the newcomer, holding out a wriggling Elfling by the neck of his tunic, "belongs to you, I think."

............................................................................................................

Rachel13: Hey, don't worry about not getting me a Ferrari. A Porsche will do just fine! LOL

Pippin the hobbit-elf: Well, A is the highest grade you can get, and that is amazingly good. Then it goes A, B, C, D, E, F and G. There's also a U, and that basically means that your work is so bad, it's un-graded. A-C is pretty good, whilst D onwards isn't really that great. Our SAT's are different to yours. You take them at the age of around 6, 10, and 13. It's basically so the Government can see that you're learning enough for your age. They're pretty pointless, actually.

Jedi Gollum: Well, I haven't really planned to write anything else about what happened after 'A Brother's Jealousy', except the alternate ending, of course, so I doubt that there'll ever be anything about Aradan's mother. Sorry!

Legolas-gurl88: Yes, you were definitely close in guessing how he looks like! When I first saw the picture, I was like 'Wow, that is so Calaen!' I'm really looking forward to seeing more of your artwork. It is so good!

Lombadia Greenleaf: Yeah, most of Evanescence's music makes me sad, but that's mainly because the words of the songs mean a lot to me, and I used to and still can relate to a lot of them. Those socks sound cool. I want a pair!

Haldir's Heart and Soul: Oh, Berian definitely plays a big part later on! Calaen's change is also coming pretty soon, also!

Aranel of Mirkwood: Oh, you're going into Yr11? It's hard work, but definitely the best year for me, cos you get to have so many privileges, cos you're at the top of the school and everything.

Elensar32: Calaen will definitely be finding out in this story, though you'll have to wait a few chapters to read that. Sorry!

Kelsey: I didn't fail English. I got one A and one C. I didn't fail any of my exams. Where do you come from? America? Out here, anything from C upwards is considered good. I was happy to get an E in biology because I was predicted an even lower grade, the teacher hated me and I hated her, she lost my coursework for the exam three times and denied that I even gave it to her, and was, in general, a bad teacher. Don't worry, you haven't offended me. A lot of people who aren't from England don't understand the grading scale!

Hey, I bet you all know who this newcomer is? Whoever guesses can have...a box of cyber cookies. Or something. Or just the satisfaction of knowing that you got it right. Whatever. Anyway, London was great, amazing! I'll see you all on Wednesday! By the way, The Calcium Kid comes out today! Yay!!!