Toldur groaned as a sharp pain in his head jolted him out of unconscious. He tried to open his eyes but something was covering them. Thinking that he wasn't with his friends any more he began to struggle trying to move away from whatever had him.

"Na sal', mellon" be still, friend Ruviel said as Toldur struggled to get out of her arms. "Lle nae harw" you were wounded

Toldur calmed slightly hearing Ruviel's voice.

"Sut?" How Toldur whispered as he tried to clear his more than hazy mind.

"Amin n'tanak. Amin nae estel Tanya lle Irma nayr amin" I'm not sure. I was hoping that you would tell me Ruviel said as she gently urged her horse a little faster realizing that she was slightly behind the rest of the wounded party that was traveling back to the castle. She knew that going faster would only aggravate Toldur's head wound but he had already lost a lot of blood already, not to mention there was also three others, Ennyneth, Olwe, and Findarato who were hurt and needed more medical attention than Curfinwe could provide back at the cave. Enny wasn't hurt nearly as bad as the others but offered to go with Mircana and Ruviel to offer what protection she could with a broken arm and nose since she wasn't much use anywhere else.

"Amin uuma rin…" I don't remember Toldur rasped. He realized how dry his mouth suddenly was.

"Sinome, yulna" here, drink Ruviel said as she slowly poured a little water into Toldur's mouth. "Uuma dela en'rin, lle nauva rin ta telwan" don't worry about not remembering, you will remember it later

Toldur said nothing as the welcoming darkness of uncounis overtook him once more.

"Finally," Thranduil said under his breath as the castle gates came into his view. "Laya lye asca! Amin merna a'calen eska." Let us hurry. I wish to be home. He urged the horse into a run and didn't stop until they had reached the stables. Already there was a crowd of elves wishing to know the fate of the warriors and captives.

Thranduil quickly dismounted holding a sleeping Legolas against his chest like a small baby. He turned to the small crowd of elves "I do not know all of the details at this moment in time. I know that a few of our warriors have been badly wounded and were sent ahead of us. I don't believe that anyone is dead yet. My son, master Beraid, lord Elrond, lady Arwen, lord Glorfindel, Elladan, and Elrohir have a been found slightly unharmed. When I have more information I will tell you. Now if you excuse me, we all need some food, a warm bath, and a soft bed."

Thranduil walked through the parting crowd and quickly up the steps to the castle. He waited just inside the door for everyone else to catch up.

"Elrond, I would like to talk with you. Tomorrow morning." Thranduil said

"Of course. I need to talk with you also. As does Legolas." Elrond said as he took a sleepy Arwen from Elladan and cradled in his arms slowly rocking her back and forth.

Thranduil sighed. "I know. Tenna' tul're san'." Until tomorrow then.

"Uma, tenna' tul're san'." Yes, until tomorrow then Elrond said.

Elrond suddenly remembered that Glorfindel was still hurt and he turned to his twins "take Arwen and go back to my room. Try to get some sleep. I'm going to stay with Glorfindel tonight. I doubt that he will be ready to return to his room just yet."

"But Ada!" Elladan protested "you should take Arwen and go sleep. We haven't-"

"I will rest. Just with Glorfindel. I won't spend all night there. You three need to sleep. Especially Arwen and Elrohir. I need you to take care of them." Elrond said to Elladan as he handed the now asleep Arwen to him. "'Ro doesn't feel well, Arwen is asleep, saes?" Please

Elladan looked down at his sleeping sister and then at his twin who was leaning against the wall with his eyes half closed and looked like he was about to pass out at any moment. With a sigh he nodded his head and gave into his father. He didn't want to stay away from Glorfindel and his father but his brother was sick and Arwen had a death grip on his tunic making it impossible to say 'no'. Besides even if he did his father would find some way of forcing him to do it.

"Fine," Elladan said.

"Watch 'Ro closely, if he starts getting dizzy or throws up come and get me right away." Elrond said.

"I will Ada," sighed Elladan

"I'll come and check in on you later."

"All right, I'll see you later." Elladan said

"Come on, lets get you to bed" he said as he took his brother's arm and led him slowly up the stairs and to the room where Elrond and Arwen stayed.

Thranduil stood off to the side, watching as Elrond convinced his stubborn son to go to bed. Legolas stirred in his arms reminding him that he had to get the ill toddler to the healers before he awoke. Thranduil looked down and smiled softly, yes they were a real family. Remembering the tasks that had to be done tonight He turned to Valandil

"Will you be able to meet with me and Elrond tomorrow morning? Or will you be to busy?" Thranduil asked

"I will make time to meet with you." Valandil said "but tonight I doubt that I will be able to sit down unless I'm in a saddle. I have a feeling that there will be many trips back and forth. But before I do anything I need to check on the Elves that were hurt."

"And I thank you for all the help. I will do all that I can without leaving Legolas's side too much. Once again thank you. There were not many seriously wounded were there? " Thranduil said

Valandil shook his head. "Just three, the last time I checked."

Thranduil nodded, "keep me posted on their health."

"I will."

"Alright, are all three of us going to the healing ward?" Thranduil asked as he turned and headed up the stairs.

"Looks like it." Elrond said as he and Valandil followed.

Legolas whimpered as he was bumped.

"Amin sint ai taren. Amin sint" I know little prince, I know Thranduil murmured.

"How is his back?" Elrond asked

"It's all right, I guess. Doesn't look good, but it was actually pretty clean, like it had bandages on at some point." Thranduil said giving Elrond a side glance. "I suppose I have you to thank for that."

"When Vero came back with Legolas, he wouldn't come near us. Eventually he let me and Glorfindel bound it with Arwen's underskirt." Elrond explained

"Well, I thank you." Thranduil said "and tell Arwen that I will replace her lost underskirt"

"No, don't bother. It already enough of a fight to get her to wear the thing. Sometimes I wonder if it's even worth the fight." Elrond said with a faint smile on his lips.

Thranduil gave a small chuckle and thanked Eru that he hadn't been given a girl. The whole dress thing was a little beyond Thranduil.

The threesome walked in a silence that was only broken every few minutes by legolas's crying. He was slowly waking up. And his back burned from all the contact and the strong medicines that were on it. Thranduil sped up his pace and soon reached one of the doors that led to the healing ward. He turned around to Valandil and Elrond.

"I guess this is were we all part. Come and find me sometime late in the morning. I'll be either here with Legolas or in his room."

Elrond and Valandil nodded.

"Excuse me, but are you here for lord Glorfindel and those wounded warriors?" a young maid asked Valandil and Elrond as she opened a door and walked into the main hallway

"Yes we are. Could you show us were they are resting?" Valandil asked

"Of course, just follow me please," the maid said as she started to lead them down a hall.

"Tomorrow" Valandil called out to Thranduil.

"Yes, tomorrow" Elrond said also.

Thranduil nodded his head and set off a different hall way that led to the main part of the healing ward.

"Let's get you to a healer" he whispered to his son

Legolas stirred and opened his eyes wide at his father.

"Are you awake now?" Thranduil asked with the best smile he could muster.

Legolas put his head down on Thranduil's shoulders and fell back asleep with a shuddering sigh.

"I guess not" Thranduil whispered.

"Milord, in here" Curufinwe called out as he stuck his head out of the first examining room.

"I thought that you would be with the injured soldiers" Thranduil said as he walked into the room that Curufinwe and Elemmire occupied.

"I was, but I did all that I could. There are some other healers with them." Curufinwe said "here give me Legolas"

Curufinwe carefully took the young child out of the reluctant father's arms and gently laid him onto a padded exam table face down after he and Elemmire had taken his shirt off.

"Oh, you were right. He doesn't look good at all." Elemmire said as she shook her head.

"Do you think that he will have to sleep here tonight?" Thranduil asked

"Well, I'm not sure… I would feel better if he did in case anything else goes wrong, but he doesn't seem to be hurt so bad that he would need medical supervision." Elemmire said as she gently cleaned Legolas off with a warm washcloth.

Thranduil nodded his head "I would rather him sleep here in that case."

Legolas took in a sharp intake of breath shook his head a couple times. Whether to clear it or to respond to something Thranduil didn't know.

Thranduil quickly stepped over to his son and gently stroked his hair.

"Hush, soon we will leave you alone and you can go back to sleep." Thranduil said softly.

Once he was sure that Legolas was calm again Curufinwe spoke " I already gave him some calendula, comfrey, linden, and some ephedrine. All he really needs is a bath, clean clothes, some numbing lotion and a couple bandages here and there."

Elemmire nodded her head. "Sounds about right. I'll go get some warm water and soap."

She left and walked down the hall.

Thranduil and Curufinwe carefully took off legolas's clothes and bandages and laid a thin blanket over him while waiting for the other healer to return.

Curufinwe took a deep breath. "So, what do you think he saw?"

"What do you mean?" Thranduil said looking up sharply. "What did he see?"

"What all do you think he saw. Of the fight, while he was with Vero, that kind of stuff."

"Oh, um" Thranduil shrugged his shoulders "I'm not all that sure, I mean, he could have seen anything right? Anything at all. I know he saw a good bit of the fight but I don't know much of everything else."

"You need to be ready. You need to be able to care for him." Elemmire warned from the doorway where she had appeared holding two large bowls filled with water in her hands and a small bag ,that, held soap and wash clothes, hung off her right shoulder.

"How can I be ready? What can I do? We were already struggling. Now this?" Thranduil said sadly.

"Love him, care for him, and be there whenever he wants you to. And even when he doesn't. Listen to him. Always remember to listen to him. Children don't always tell you everything. But they leave hints all the time. Whether they realize it or not." Elemmire said as she handed Curufinwe a bowl of warm water.

Thranduil nodded as he stood to take a wash cloth from the she elf "I can do that."

"I know you can" Elemmire said.

Ruviel bit her lip. She knew that it was bad but not this bad.

"Come on guys. Pull through, you can't leave me here. Especially you, Toldur. You're so young. Or you Tathar, you're like my big brother. Even Findarato, you can't leave me either. After all, you have to look after me. Make sure I don't do too many stupid things in one day. Come on, get over this." Ruviel whispered tearfully. Curufinwe had left about twenty minutes ago saying that he couldn't do much more and that the fate of her friends where in Mandos's hands.

The room was dimly lit with two small candles at opposite ends of the room. Ruviel sat between Toldur's and Tathar's beds and Findarato lay on the other side of Toldur. All three were heavily bandaged. Toldur's head looked like a cotton ball, Tathar had been stabbed in the stomach a couple times and Findarato had been just about cut open. He had been surrounded with no one to help until Ruviel had been able to get out of her tree and over to him.

"Please, please…. Don't leave me. Mandos's halls can not be your future home. They just can't be." Ruviel sobbed into her hands

Valandil slowly opened the door and saw Ruviel crying into her hands. He quietly shut and walked over to her and kneeled down putting his arms around her as he too held back tears. These were his friends. He had known them for centuries. He sent a silent prayer to Eru and tightened his hold on Ruviel,

I'm Sorry this took soooooooooo long to get up. Life just likes to get in my way a lot. I had planned this as a much longer chapter but when I realized that it was taking much longer that I had wanted it to I decided to post some of it. Thank you for hanging in there with me. I already have most of the next chapter up, it souldnt to long now.