Hey everyone! A quicker update with this chapter! ;) Enjoy!

When Legolas later woke, he wondered why he was lying in bed in the middle of the day. The earlier events suddenly came back to him and he opened his eyes, shouting, "Aragorn!" without thinking.

The human had been standing at the window, and he was startled at his friend's sudden voice. Turning, he quickly rushed to the elf's side. "I am here, Legolas! What is it?"

Legolas stared at him, blinking his eyes. He simply breathed for a minute, thankful that he was having no difficulty.

Aragorn put a sympathetic hand on the elf's arm.

Legolas shook his head, giving his friend a confused look. "I could not understand what was happening," he said, referring to his frightening attack. "Nothing provoked it…"

Aragorn nodded his head. "Something did provoke it, mellon-nin; running up the stairs. A person with this condition cannot exert themselves to the degree that others can."

Legolas looked stricken at the news.

Aragorn knew how lively and active his friend was, and knew that the elf would consider this a major tragedy. "Fear not; as I said before, this condition can be controlled with the medicines that ada used on you."

Legolas nodded, staring at his hands in his lap. "This is not the life of an elf," he whispered. "Sickness…chronic disease…" He sighed, closing his eyes. "I am an elf no longer."

Aragorn frowned, grabbing his friend's shoulder. "No, Legolas! That is not true! You are just as much an elf as you've been for nearly three thousand years! Raenwe cannot change that. Do not let him win by accepting defeat! Legolas Thranduilion never accepts defeat!"

Legolas said nothing, his eyes still lowered.

Aragorn was about to speak again, but the door suddenly opened.

"Legolas!" Thranduil exclaimed, rushing to the bed. "You are awake! Are you all right? Can you breathe?"

Legolas nodded, giving his father a slight smile. "I am fine, ada. My breathing is untroubled."

Thranduil smiled, sitting on the bed. Taking his son's hand, he squeezed it tightly with a sigh. "I was so afraid for you, ion-nin…"

"Don't be," Legolas said, smiling reassuringly. "I am fine."

"If you ever lose your breath again, tell someone immediately," said Elrond. "Even if it is only slight. Do you understand? We will have none of your, 'I did not wish to cause worry' excuse, not with something so serious."

Legolas saw the sternness in Elrond's face, and nodded his acquiescence.

"Swear it, Legolas," said Thranduil, mirroring the healer's expression.

Legolas looked at him with a frown, upset that his father wasn't taking his word, but when he saw the fear in his father's face, his frown melted away. "I swear," he said. "If I lose my breath, I will seek out help."

Thranduil smiled, reaching forward to hug his son. "Good. I will not have you lose your life over your elven pride."

At the word 'elven', Legolas stiffened and opened his eyes, meeting Aragorn's gaze. Estel is right, he realized. I will not let Raenwe's drug damage my mind as it did my body.

Aragorn was surprised when Legolas suddenly smiled at him, and he knew that his friend had accepted his words.

When Thranduil pulled out of the hug, Legolas pushed the covers on his bed back. "What are you doing?" the king asked.

Legolas blinked. "Getting up."

"But—" Thranduil started to say.

"There is no need for him to stay in bed," Elrond said. "His lungs are functioning properly again thanks to the herbs. However," and now he fixed the prince with a stern look. "I still wish to examine your shoulder."

Legolas groaned.

"Strange it is," Aragorn shouted. "To find you at the bottom of a tree, and me in it."

Legolas chuckled from where he sat, comfortably leaning against the trunk of an old apple tree as Aragorn fetched some of the delicious fruits. "If your father had not provided me with this restriction," he yelled, pointing to the sling on his arm. "I would be up there with you."

Aragorn climbed down, crouching beside his friend and handing him an apple. "I'm not sure if that would be wise, sling or not."

Legolas bit into the apple, realizing that Aragorn referred to his lung condition. His heart sank at the notion.

Aragorn saw his friend's sadness. "Well…mayhap if you climbed slowly, rather than throwing yourself into it and racing to the very top as if an orc were chasing you…"

Legolas nodded, smiling slightly at his friend's words. "I shall need to test my body to see what limits I can reach without needed your father's medication."

"Do not do it alone," Aragorn scolded. "In case you accidentally push yourself too far."

Legolas sighed, but he nodded, lowering the apple.

Aragorn sat in front of him, lowering his own as he studied his friend. "I can't begin to understand how you feel, Legolas," he said, softly. "But know that my father and I are with you every step of the way."

Legolas smiled at that. "I know. Your father has saved my life more times that I can count, and you have always been there for me, no matter what the two of us have faced."

Aragorn returned the smile. "The thought that my father has known you for millennia more than I've been alive is nearly overwhelming. Would you care to regale me with an old tale?"

Legolas thought for a minute, knowing that the human was trying to take his mind off his troubles. "All right. I remember one time that ada and I had come to Rivendell. I was very young, and ada had put me to bed early one night after an active day."

Aragorn nodded, listening intently.

"I woke a few hours later, to a raging storm," Legolas told him. "I was so frightened that I left my bed in search of my father…"

Aragorn frowned when his friend's voice trailed off. He had a feeling that the story was about to turn tragic.

"I ran through the darkened halls in a panic," Legolas said. "I was terrified by the loudness of the thunder, and did not see the staircase that I was nearing."

Aragorn's jaw dropped. "You didn't?!"

Legolas nodded. "I did. I fell down the steps."

"How badly were you hurt?" Aragorn asked.

Legolas shook his head as he remembered. "Bad enough. Ada told me later that he'd heard me scream, but I do not recall it. The next thing I remember was waking up in my bed to full daylight. I'd hit my head, broken a wrist and an ankle, and acquired many bruises. The next few weeks were painful."

Aragorn said nothing for a minute, picturing a tiny Legolas with bandages all over his little body. "Legolas! That's terrible!"

Legolas nodded. "It was. Do you wish to hear another tale?"

Aragorn half-smiled. "Not if it includes a tiny elfling almost getting killed."

"No," said Legolas. "This time I was older…"

Thranduil sighed as he sat on a bench. He could hear Legolas and Aragorn talking somewhere nearby, but he stayed away to give the friends their privacy. He knew that Aragorn was a good friend to his son, but it frightened him how Legolas would likely react when the human eventually died someday.

If Legolas even lives that long.

Thranduil gasped as the horrible thought entered his head, and he lowered his face into his hands. A gentle hand on his shoulder slightly startled him, as his mind was clouded with his son's dilemma and he hadn't heard anyone coming.

"All will be well, mellon-nin," said the wise voice of Elrond.

Thranduil sighed, raising his head. "How can I know that for sure?" he said. "I know that you will do everything in your power, but what if the paper that we search for no longer exists? What then?"

Elrond sat beside his friend with a heavy sigh.

Thranduil mentally chided himself. He couldn't even imagine the stress that Elrond must feel, knowing that Legolas' life literally rested in his hands. "Forgive me…" he said.

Elrond shook his head. "You have no need to ask forgiveness. I myself have wondered the same thing."

"Three thousand years is a long time," Thranduil said. "Know this, Elrond, if we find that you no longer have the paper, I and Legolas would never blame you."

Elrond looked at his friend, almost unable to speak from the sudden lump in his throat. He closed his eyes in an effort to control his emotions. "I would blame myself," he whispered.

Thranduil placed a hand on his arm, squeezing it gently in comfort.

"Legolas is like a son to me," Elrond told him.

Thranduil nodded. "I know, and Legolas and Estel are as brothers, even though they do not share the same blood."

"Legolas may not be my child by birth," said Elrond. "But I've had enough of his blood on myself to make him mine."

Thranduil laughed, despite himself.

Elrond smiled, chuckling softly.

"A morbid statement," said the king. "But a true one nonetheless." He suddenly noticed that the voices of their sons could no longer be heard, so he stood from the bench.

Elrond followed, wondering where he was going.

Thranduil walked through a group of trees and around a corner, before spotting Legolas and Aragorn sitting in the grass.

Legolas rested against the trunk of a tree, his eyes shut and a half-eaten apple in his lap.

Aragorn looked up when the two elves neared, and gave them a smile. "He fell asleep," he whispered, gesturing to Legolas.

Thranduil returned the smile, though it was still a painful sight to see Legolas' eyes closed in slumber. "How has his breathing been?" he asked, keeping his voice soft.

"Fine," Aragorn told him.

"He will be all right for the most part," Elrond whispered. "Fits of breathlessness with this condition usually come in sudden attacks, or from overexertion." He left out the fact that illness could make it worse; Thranduil was already worried enough.

The king nodded, sighing.

The sudden sound startled Legolas out of his sleep, and he woke with a small jerk.

Thranduil realized what he'd done, and knelt before his son. "Forgive me, Legolas."

Legolas tiredly blinked his eyes, shaking his head. "I was not asleep."

Thranduil tried to hide a grin. "You were not? My mistake."

Aragorn smiled, choosing not to tell his friend that they'd just had a conversation in front of him.

Legolas opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again.

"Legolas?" said Elrond.

The young elf looked up at him. "Ah…I was wondering if…" he stopped, obviously not wanting to ask his question.

"What is it, ion-nin?" Thranduil said. "Is something wrong?"

Legolas quickly shook his head. "No." He sighed, looking sheepish. "I was just wondering if it was time for lunch yet."

Aragorn started laughing, reaching out a hand to pull his friend up.

Legolas' stomach suddenly growled and he blushed slightly, smiling at Elrond and Thranduil's amused expressions.

"Come," said Thranduil, wrapping an arm around his son. "We search out food! My son's stomach cannot wait!"