a/n: I'm back! Sorry it took me a little while to get here; I had to go out of town.

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Enjoy!

Romen

27. Reminiscing

"Up, princeling."

Legolas rubbed his eyes, disappointed to be woken during his healing sleep. "Can I not just stay outside?"

Dolenion shook his head, pulling the patient to his feet. "You have already wasted enough energy on coming down. You should use what little you have left on getting back inside."

The prince nodded knowingly, allowing the young healer to offer him the support that he needed. He glanced around.

The twins were reluctantly standing up, their conversation interrupted. Estel was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Estel?" Legolas heard himself ask. Dolenion paused, looking around hastily.

"I don't know, my lord. Perhaps he went back inside, just like you should have done."

Legolas chose to ignore this comment as his eyes wandered toward the gardens. Estel had been walking over to them while Legolas had been falling asleep. He now wished that he would have watched him a bit longer instead of succumbing to his exhaustion.

'Another one of the sad things that alerts you to your being an invalid,' he thought to himself dryly; 'When you begin to take a great interest in other people's lives because you cannot live out your own as you would like to.'

The sound of Elladan opening the door to the stairs drew him from his dismal thoughts. He groaned inwardly after taking in the distance. What in Arda had possessed him to leave his room? Why hadn't the others made more of an attempt to stop him?

As if sensing his thoughts, Elrohir smiled amiably. "We tried, Legolas; you were just too stubborn."

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied. "If you are referring to the stairwell, it looks even shorter in distance than it did before."

"Whatever you say." The youngest twin shrugged, going through after Elladan, leaving Dolenion and Legolas to follow behind.

'Who designed these buildings?' Legolas looked about warily. 'I should complain. This is simply ridiculous.'

He could hear the twins open the door at the top of the case, chuckling to themselves, probably planning some sort of prank or other to play on him. He scowled.

"We are almost there, my lord," Dolenion grunted, his knuckles white as he gripped the railing. "Do you need to rest before we continue?"

"Do I need to rest before we continue? Do I need to rest before we continue?" Legolas's eyes were wide with fury and degradation. "Of course I do NOT need to rest before we continue! What sort of a question is that anyhow? Do I need to rest...Of course not."

"Well, pardon my saying so, but you seemed tired."

"Where would we rest anyway?" Legolas continued, not listening to the healer. "It's not like there are any benches or seats in here. We're in a stairwell for the love of the Valar!"

"Forgive me, prince; I did not know that you were so wary of this subject."

"I am not 'wary' of anything," he retorted, stiffening. "I am just stating the obvious."

"Oh, look; the door!" Dolenion's voice was full of relief. "We are not very far now."

Legolas didn't say anything. He had already used most of the little energy that he had left on bantering with the healer. Why was he always assigned to Dolenion? It seemed that he was in the elf's charge every time that he came to Imladris.

"See, that is your door up ahead," Dolenion continued after they had walked through the hallway for a while. "It is close."

"I'm wounded, not blind," Legolas snapped, wincing as the sound of his echoing voice pounded past his eardrums. "I know which healing room it is. It's the same one every time!"

Choosing not to comment, the healer instead picked up his pace, eager to be relieved of his burden. The door was easily opened, and the moment he was close enough, Legolas let himself fall onto the bed, smiling as his face hit the pillows. He watched as Dolenion mopped his brow, going over to close the window.

"Leave the curtains open," Legolas commanded, pointing. The healer nodded and did as he was told.

"Do you need anything?"

"No." The elf buried his face in the pillow, listening to the sound of Dolenion opening and closing the door behind him as he left. As soon as he was gone, he propped himself up on his pillows and looked around the room, pitying himself for its emptiness.

Legolas had gotten used to Thranduil being there quickly. When he had informed him of his upcoming departure, Legolas had thought it both bitter and sweet; bitter for he would miss his father's watchful gaze and sweet for he knew that it meant that his returning sanity was apparent. He frowned, wishing that he didn't have to work so hard for it to be that way.

In truth, Legolas was not sure that he had officially 'changed back', if that was what it were to be called. How could he really know that he was the same again? What did it mean to be the same again? It was easier not to dwell on any of it and leave the questions unanswered as he went on through life.

Still, it was sometimes difficult to do that when he was alone, nothing and no one there to keep him busy. He could read, of course, but it didn't distract his mind from wandering over to the subjects that froze his heart. Even when he was among the company of his friends he felt detached and guilty.

He could understand their behavior around him. Elrohir did his best to act normally, but he would sometimes look uncomfortable and refuse to meet Legolas's gaze. Elladan rarely said anything in his presence, and Estel was over-protective, as if he thought Legolas would injure himself simply by lifting a finger. Things hadn't used to be this way.

They had all expected better of him. Even Legolas had expected better of himself. He had failed them all. He constantly prayed that he could find some way of redemption, some way to pay or make-up for the wrongs that he had committed. Nothing had shown itself yet, and he could only hope that something would soon.

He felt himself slump down. He didn't try to sit back up. It was pointless to stay awake at the moment; he was exhausted and in the company of no one. He smiled as he felt himself begin to fall asleep again, to rest...

"Good day, Prince; it is time to check your wounds."

Legolas rolled over and groaned. "You just left, Dolenion."

"The more agreeable you are, the faster this will be." When Legolas didn't respond, he continued. "Do you want me to coddle you like a spoiled princeling?"

Though full of reluctance, Legolas submitted, falling asleep even as the healer did his duty.

"What's going on?" Elladan and Elrohir walked through the door.

"I'm checking the prince's stitches," Dolenion replied as calmly as he could. If he wasn't as skilled of a healer as he was, he might have accidentally jerked and woken Legolas or caused his healing wounds pain. "If you have come to visit him, I must inform you that he is sleeping."

"That's fine, Len; we'll just talk to you."

"Oh, how lucky am I," the young healer grumbled sarcastically. "Why don't you speak with Estel? You three seem to keep each other entertained and out of my hands."

Elrohir frowned as he watched Dolenion work. "You know that's not true. The more time we spend with each other, the more dangerous things get. Besides, we can't find him."

"What do you mean, you can't find him...my lords?" he added as an after thought. If he wasn't careful, he would forget to speak formally. He knew all three of Elrond's sons very well since he had tended to their injuries quite frequently, and he had grown up with the twins as playmates.

"In other words, if this helps paint the picture, we don't know where he is." Elladan sat down, letting his hand hang down between his knees. "He's gone off somewhere...again."

"Again?"

Elrohir smiled wryly. "So we haven't told you about Estel's meeting with the mortal-woman who brought our prince back?"

"No, you haven't."

"Well, it was a little over a week ago; the day that it was raining so hard."

"Yes, continue."

Elladan cleared his throat importantly. "We had just left Legolas's room claiming that we were going to retire. However, by the time we had reached our quarters, neither of us was very tired. We tried to keep each other company, but we didn't have much to talk about...at least, nothing very upbeat, with Legolas's condition..."

"So we went to find Estel," Elrohir quipped, picking up Elladan's tale. "We knew that it was too late for him to still be with Legolas, so we went to our brother's room. He wasn't there."

"That wasn't very odd at first." The oldest twin leaned forward. "I mean, he could have been in the library or speaking with Adar, right? He could have been anywhere. We were about to go looking for him when Elrohir went to the window and saw him standing outside in the gardens, despite the storm, conversing with the Wild Woman. He waited until she went inside before he came back up to his room. What's more, he didn't seem eager to tell us what he had been doing."

"Hmm." Dolenion turned to look at them. "What are you trying to say?"

"We think that he fancies Klia!" they both cried at the same time.

"It is the only logical explanation," Elladan confirmed for both of them.

Dolenion shut his eyes, praying for patience. "You two and the mischief that follows shall be the death of me."

"Don't say things like that Len; you sound so pessimistic."

"Well, Legolas's wounds are healing as they should be," Dolenion concluded, purposefully changing the subject as he stood and pushed his chair back. "He seems to have his amiable disposition back that he usually has while under my care."

Elrohir smiled proudly. "I always knew that we would be a good influence on him."

"We have taught him well," the oldest twin agreed. "I never thought that he would be such a good pupil when it came to our ways."

"Ha!" Dolenion crossed his arms. "I remember what he was like as an elfling; studious, even at that young age, mature, quiet, obedient..."

"It was awful, was it not?" Ro's nose wrinkled in distaste. "I'm so glad that we came along when we did. What would have happened if he had been left to his own devices?"

"He probably wouldn't have fallen out of a tree and almost broken his neck!"

Elladan grimaced. "That wasn't our fault. We didn't tell him to do it, it was his own idea."

"Then why do I remember someone talking about it at dinner?"

"All right, we might have planted the seed that grew into the idea," Elrohir admitted. "But who thought that he would actually try to climb to the top of tree? I didn't think that he had the nerve. Still, over all, have we not been like the protective older brothers that he never had?"

"No," Dolenion snapped. "You have been the exact opposite. Do you not recall his birthday celebration that was held here?"

Elladan nodded. "How could we have forgotten? It was one of the best festivals of our lives."

Elrohir smiled, reminiscing. "Ah, yes, the music, the dancing. Quite a coming of age celebration!"

"He fell off of his horse and broke his arm!" the healer exclaimed. "How could you have let him ride in that condition?"

"Don't blame us," Elrohir protested. "We told him to take it easy, but he wouldn't listen. We even tried to get him to sleep it off, but he had to ride. What could we do? You know how persistent he is."

"Besides, he suffered the natural consequences the next day and a lecture from his father. He never drank like that again." Elladan paused. "Well, there was that one other time, but that's another story. Anyhow, he learned his lesson. I don't know what he would have done if we hadn't been there."

"He would have gone home!" Dolenion cried. "You speak as if it were all fun-and-games. I'm the one who had to tend to his arm the next day, and it is not one of my favorite experiences. He was not in a very pleasant mood, and he was quite ill."

The youngest twin frowned. "What was the other time, Dan? I can't remember."

"You challenged him to a contest," Elladan replied smoothly. "You know how competitive his is. There was no way that I could stop him from taking up the challenge."

"Who won?" Dolenion couldn't help but ask, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Elladan smiled sweetly. "I thought that was self explanatory. He fell down a flight of stairs while rushing to the latrine and broke his ankle. You tended to his wounds the next day, remember?"

Elrohir laughed. "Oh yeah, now I remember...Sorry, Len. Still, he isn't that bad of a patient, is he?"

"I wouldn't know would I? I'm so preoccupied with you four that I never get to see how anyone else behaves. When one of you finally heals, something happens to the other."

"Stop acting like you don't expect or want it." Elladan waved him away. "You know us all so well that we are almost like a family. How many other healers can say that?"

"I'm so fortunate." Dolenion rolled his eyes, his bemused smile betraying him. "Anyway, I'm going to leave. You two are welcome to stay as long as you don't cause any trouble."

"We'll be good; we promise."

After Dolenion had left, the twins sat in silence for some time, watching as Legolas slept. Elrohir finally broke the silence.

"What do you think he would have been like, Dan, if we had never come along?"

Elladan pursed his lips. "I'm not sure. After his naneth died, he changed greatly. If he hadn't already known us...I'm not very sure. He changed after he met Estel too."

"Yes, you are right." Elrohir grew silent for a moment. "His arm wasn't broken that badly, was it? And he didn't feel that bad the next morning."

"No, he was very ill. Dolenion spoke the truth. You just don't remember because you were out walking with Estel."

"Oh, yes. So rambunctious while I was so tired..."

"He was five, what else do you expect?" Elladan paused. "Or was he four, or six? Was he seven? I can't remember."

"Estel was luckier than Legolas," Elrohir continued. "With Legolas, we were inexperienced when it came to the guidance of little ones. We knew what we were doing for our tithen gwador the second time around."

At that moment, the door flew open. Estel stood in the frame, breathless.

"What is wrong?" Both of the twins stood.

Estel's eyes were wide. "I need to tell you something."

TBC...