Legolas walked through the street beside Gimli, leading his horse and a group of elves and dwarves. The two races had gradually begun to socialize with each other on the journey now from Lasgalen and the Lonely Mountain after witnessing the friendship of the two from the Fellowship.

Spring was in the air, and Legolas looked around with great interest at the signs of returning life. The most prominent and most welcome was the sound of laughter, both children and adult. Then he recognized one of the voices at the same moment as he recognized Roheryn standing beside a crudely repaired building. Holding up a hand to call a halt, he left Arod to peek into the building. There he beheld a most endearing sight: Aragorn surrounded by children.

The king caught sight of him and beckoned him in as if he had not been gone for months. "Legolas! Come meet the children of Gondor!"

Raising an eyebrow, the elf did so, followed closely by Gimli. Though he did not have a great deal of experience with children, these orphans were not very childlike, but were indeed interested in meeting two of the heroes of the War that Aragorn had told them about.

The children were all very excited and asked many questions of both the elf and dwarf. Legolas was completely bemused by the attention but responded readily to their questions. After a few minutes, though, Aragorn remembered that his friends had only just arrived in the city and had promised to bring some of their own people so he reluctantly interrupted. "Children, we have to go now, but I will come back soon. Say goodbye to Legolas and Gimli."

They did so sadly but the elf promised to return as well before leaving the building. As they set out toward the citadel, Legolas raised an eyebrow at the king wordlessly. Though the man did not seem to be looking at him, Aragorn immediately answered, "I have been setting up orphanages like that one over the winter. It is a slow process since the children are very untrusting at first for the most part. But I have made progress and hopefully with Gimli's help, the buildings can be better repaired."

Legolas smiled. "What other plans have you begun or carried out since we left, Elessar?"

"Actually, I am fostering six children that I found in the streets last fall, one of whom is a cousin of mine. I have guardsmen in disguise roam sporadically through the bad parts of the city to bring the worst off up to the Houses of Healing or to the smaller branches I have set up, though there are only two thus far and they are very small."

"Uh-huh. And how did you find those children?" Legolas couldn't resist the goad and was rewarded with a chuckle.

"I snuck out in disguise using the name Thorongil. Well a few people knew at the time but most didn't. Then I worked on tightening up security since it was so easy."

"Only you, mellon nin!" Legolas laughed and then answered Aragorn's own unasked questions. "I brought twenty elves at this time, though more may decide to come later after the colony is set up and Lasgalen is better mended. And amazingly enough, we traveled with the dwarves and both parties arrived with the same number at set out."

Aragorn burst out laughing. "It's a miracle! How did you manage that?"

Gimli, who had been listening quietly, scowled at the two tall folk and said, "I merely told them that they were welcome to insult Legolas as often as they desired but that they could expect it to be reciprocated. They seemed rather wary after that of what insults they might expect from an elf and were silent."

This time he joined in their laughter at the indignant sputters from behind them, though the elves and dwarves soon gave up and laughed as well. Now the elf and dwarf began telling stories about the first reactions when their people discovered they were friends. The walk seemed very short despite the actual distance and they were surprised when they came to the guards at the highest circles. It was now an open secret among the guards that Aragorn was wont to wander around the city in common clothes so there were no protests when he requested entrance.

As Aragorn led the way into the citadel, there could be heard whispers about the band following, for few had seen so many elves or dwarves before. All disregarded the attention, though, and walked stoically in to discover where they were to room. The horses they left standing in the courtyard untied, but if anyone dared approached, the steeds immediately went on the offensive, so none dared even lead them to the stables.

The king immediately ran into Faramir on entering and the steward took over the job of showing the strangers to their rooms, since with the prior warning, they were already made up. Meanwhile the three of the Fellowship waited in the entrance hall until the others were away and then burst out laughing. "So you have everyone well trained around here do you, Telcontar?" Legolas managed to get out in elvish.

"Indeed, I was very busy this winter." Aragorn turned away trying not to burst out his secret. It would come to light soon enough. "Shall we go rescue them from your horses then?"

They headed back outside, but the elf and dwarf exchanged a glance that said, "He's up to something."

This was immediately confirmed when Aragorn asked casually, "So, have you heard from my brothers lately? And my father?"

"Aye," Legolas said, "Elrond is making preparations for his sailing. The twins are not planning on leaving with him, though. They have been running around as usual, trying to kill off as many yrch as possible before they manage to take to the caves again. They are planning on heading this direction soon, however, and you should be able to expect them within the week, no doubt."

Aragorn nodded, arousing their suspicions. To test his theory, Legolas queried, "So you are waiting on their arrival to tell us are you?" He couldn't resist a bit of a goad. He really did have suspicions but did not dare quite state them blatantly. A slight smile played around Aragorn's lips, but he did not look in their direction or confirm the guess.

"What was your father's reaction to Gimli, Legolas? I can't imagine it was with open arms for some reason."

Legolas allowed the change of subject and said, "Well, he didn't quite throw a temper tantrum but he was a bit upset." He exchanged glances with Gimli. "It wasn't all that pretty, though. He is on mildly good relations with the dwarves of Erebor but could not imagine that his son would dare befriend one and actually bring it into the woods. When told that Gimli had been accepted by Galadriel, he was completely speechless."

The reunion had been a happy one at first, since Thranduil had dearly missed his son and had feared what might happen if Aragorn were killed on the journey. But when a few weeks later the dwarf had arrived in the forest requesting admittance in elvish, Thranduil had blown his top. It was completely beyond him that his son would actually teach some elvish to a dwarf. After some very fast talking, Legolas had convinced his father to take the guards off his friend and actually speak with him. Gimli had tactfully used the common tongue, however, so eventually the king was forced to concede that Legolas might not have completely lost his mind if he had managed to train some courtesy into a dwarf.

That had outraged the two friends, but they had kept their silence and by the time spring approached and Legolas was preparing for his journey back to Gondor, the Elven King had managed a few civil words for Gimli. There had been a great deal of tension between the two races when they were informed that they would be traveling together. Legolas and Gimli had desperately ignored this and told many jokes until the ice finally began to break and their kin relaxed, at first ignoring each other, but later getting into conversations about their part in the war.

Legolas did not detail any of this, though, but just took care of the horses with Aragorn's help, speaking soothingly in elvish. Then the great bells rang out, signaling the noon meal.