Present

Legolas had grown quickly. Too quickly, Thranduil thought sadly. He knew that humans would have scoffed at his idea of 'quickly' but to his immortal mind, his son seemed to achieve inches before his very eyes. The boy had always been into everything, and had a dangerous habit of slipping away from his parents quietly to investigate new things. Many were the times Thranduil would have the child with him while he was attending to some business, become engrossed for a few minutes and look up to find his son had gone missing.

The Elvenking's mouth curled as he remembered one time in particular…

---------------------Past

" 'da 'da 'da…"

Many were the elves that cast an amused smile at their king as he passed, carrying his chirping son. Prince Legolas chattered nonstop in his baby dialect, tugged at his father's braids, tried repeatedly to climb onto the fair king's shoulder, and struggled to be let down whenever Thranduil came to a halt.

" Galadh," Legolas pointed and squealed with glee at his own cleverness.

"Yes, Legolas," Thranduil winced and disentangled the prince's fingers from his hair for the umpteenth time. His mind was only half on his son at the moment. He had business to attend to with the master of the hunting hounds, and decided that Elenlor could use a break from watching the irrepressible bundle of blond energy.

"Aew!" the elfling nearly threw himself out of his father's arms as he sought to pursue a sparrow.

"Yes, Legolas," The fair king swiftly readjusted his son and sighed deeply. "It's a nice bird, isn't it?" Directly ahead lay the dog pens, and Thranduil could see Elae instructing a new helper in the care and feeding of the fierce hounds.

"Torog."

"What!" The Elvenking looked down at the blond elfling, startled. Legolas grinned, happy to have finally caught his father's attention. "Torog." He repeated gleefully, pointing a chubby finger.

Thranduil stifled a chuckle as he followed the infant's line of sight. "No, Legolas. Not quite. That is Master Elae." The fair king did not know how the prince had come by such a description. Though Elae was taller than almost anyone else (by about half a head) and heavily muscled, he still looked very much like an elf.

Legolas frowned at the correction, but did not refer to the master of the hounds as a troll again.

"Elae," Thranduil stepped forward, still grinning to himself. The hounds master turned, and seeing his king greeted him warmly. Quickly, the Elvenking brought up the matter he wished to discuss with the burly elf.

As his father became more and more involved in his conversation, Legolas became increasingly more agitated. He was bored. The precocious toddler began to struggle and squirm in an attempt to get down. "Nu!" he demanded, pushing against the arms that held him.

Thranduil absentmindedly complied, continuing his discussion with hardly a break. Upon touching the ground, the prince's eyes lit on the most interesting thing around. "Huan!"

"Yes, Legolas," The response came almost automatically, the king not really focusing on what his son was saying.

"Huan, huan, huan, huan…"

Caught up with his business, Thranduil did not notice that his son's chirping voice was swiftly moving further and further away.

Legolas crawled under the dog pen fence, his blue eyes glowing as he surveyed the creatures inside. They were all extremely large, hairy beasts, each one taller than the prince and weighing at least three times as much. They snapped and growled at each other as they fought over the last few bones from their feeding. One in particular caught Legolas' attention. He sat in the very center of the pen, gnawing at a meaty femur as his yellow eyes darted around. Undoubtedly, he was the largest of them all. Scars traced his frame beneath thick fur, and he snarled at anything that came within five feet of him.

As if carried by some unerring instinct for trouble, the blond prince gave a squeal of delight and toddled towards the ill tempered mutt. "Huan, huan, huan…"

0-0-0-0

Elae crossed his arms over his chest, a frown pulling at the corner of his mouth. "There was something else I needed to talk to you about, sire." The frown became slightly more pronounced, as though the subject was deeply unpleasant. "One of the dogs has become increasingly more vicious as of late. I didn't want to say anything, because he still does his job, but yesterday he tried to take a chunk out of one of my helpers. We may…we may have to destroy him."

Thranduil nodded, understanding how Elae had been reluctant to bring the subject up. The elf loved all the hounds under his care. The king knew that had it been himself that had been snapped at, Elae would never have brought the matter to his monarch. However, the dark haired master knew his duty, and he would not allow his helpers to be jepardized.

The Elvenking opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a very loud snarl, closely followed by a clear, childish voice. "Huan!"

For less than half a second, the father was paralyzed. "Legolas!" His body was in motion before his brain had truly registered the fact that his son had somehow managed to crawl into the dog pens. In one smooth leap, he had vaulted the fence, landing amidst the large canines. Green eyes darted back and forth frantically, trying to catch a hint of gold amidst the black and brown coats of the hounds. After what seemed like an eternity, (all of two seconds) he spotted him.

Legolas sat between the feet of an extremely large, shaggy dog. He crowed and giggled cheerfully, quite pleased at his own cleverness. In one hand, he held the bone the dog had been chewing on.

Thranduil leapt forwards, meaning to snatch his son away. Alarmed at his sudden movement, the shaggy creature rose with a snarl, baring long fangs. He stood over the blond princeling, growling intensely. The Elvenking froze. He was afraid that if he antagonized the dog, it would take out its' frustration on his son. Slowly, he reached toward the elfling…

Only to have his hand nearly taken off. The dog lunged forward, snapping. Thranduil drew back with a viscious curse

Elae had followed his king over the fence, and was approaching with a long, hefty stick. Another elf had also entered the pen, weilding a club of his own. They approached slowly, not wanting to upset the fierce mutt.

Unfortunately, he was quite upset already. His yellow eyes darted back and forth. Snarling even more loudly, he lowered his head towards the blond prince. Legolas seemed unconcerned. The elfling giggled and continued his play with the dog's bone.

0-0-0-0

Elenlor strode through the palace grounds, in search of her husband and son. The sunlight gleamed in her golden hair, and she relished the feeling of the cool wind. Lately, it seemed as though she was never able to step outside. Her son kept her very occupied. A rueful smile quirked the corner of her mouth. Much as she loved him, the queen would be the first to admit that Mirkwood's prince was a handful. He was in to everything! The other day she had been just in time to stop him from pitching head first out of an open window. She sighed softly. The blond elfling had also tipped over a container of sugar, eaten an arrangment of flowers, tried to cut his own hair with a dagger someone had left on a table (said person had been scolded within an inch of their lives) and hid from his mother for two hours along with Halynder's small son, Halden. All on the same day. All in all, it had been very kind of Thranduil to take their elfling along with him as he conducted his business.

Unfortunately, she knew from experience that her husband had a tendency to become…occupied, with whatever he happened to be doing at the moment, and let Legolas wander off. The last time he had offered to watch the blond prince, she had found Legolas outside, in the process of wading into one of the deeper garden ponds. Thranduil was inside, at his desk, and completely unaware that their son had left his study. She sighed again. Still, it was nice to have a break every once in a while.

The Queen of Mirkwood turned her steps toward the dog pens, remembering her husband mentioning business there earlier. She hoped that he if he were there, he would still have Legolas with him.

As she drew closer she began to hear a confused jumble of shouting and cursing. Desperately hoping that it did not have anything to do with her son, she broke into a run.

0-0-0-0

Elae and his helper were closing in from the sides, their clubs at the ready. Thranduil moved inched forward, hoping to snatch his son right before they attacked.

"Daro!"

The Elvenking started in surprise, turning to see his wife racing toward the pen, her long hair streaming behind her. He turned his attention back towards the hound…and received another shock.

At the sound of her voice, the dog had relaxed, his manner becoming friendly.

Elenlor leapt over the fence and swiftly positioned herself between the hound and husband. "Daro," she gasped again. "U-henilye, Thranduil." As if to prove her point, she turned, and before Thranduil could stop her, reached for their son.

To his astonishment, the dog allowed her to lift the elfling. Panting in satisfaction, the beast settled himself at the lady's feet, his tail wagging slightly.

"I have brought Legolas outside to see the dogs before," Elenlor explained, bouncing the prince on her hip. He giggled cheerfully and tried to catch her hair with his chubby fingers. Thranduil admired the practised way she kept the golden strands just out of his reach. "This one," she motioned to the creature at her feet, "took a liking to him." She smiled at her husband. "When he saw you running towards him like that, he probably thought you meant to harm Legolas."

"Huan," Legolas crowed, reaching down towards the hairy mutt. "Huan, huan, huan, huan…"

"Yes, Legolas," Thranduil sighed softly, reaching out to take his son. The moment his fingers made contact with the elfling's body, the dog rose to its' feet with startling swiftness, it's teeth bared. The Elvenking drew back, startled.

The blond prince smiled sweetly at the beast. "Huan nin."

Thranduil's green eyes widened in alarm. "Legolas, no."

A hurt expression passed across the toddler's face. "Huan nin," he said plaintively. Recognizing with some inborn instinct that his father would not give in, he turned his cherubic countenance toward his mother. "Nana, huan nin."

The fair king sensed he was losing the battle. "Elenlor…"

"Why not?" Elenlor asked curiously. "He's obviously willing to protect Legolas. I think it might be a very good idea." She reached down to stroke the dog's shaggy brown coat. "Besides, our son will be more likely to stay in one place if he has something to keep him occupied. I've watched him play out here, and he will sit for hours just petting this one." The dog in question leaned against Elenlor's legs in satisfaction. The lovely elf smiled sweetly at her husband. "Oh please, Thranduil."

The Elvenking groaned, but it ended with a sigh. "Fine." He glared at the dog. "But there must be one thing that is very firmly understood first." Reaching out, he almost snatched Legolas from his wife's arms.

It happened so fast, the dog was unable to prevent it. Seeing Legolas in what it perceived to be danger, it snarled angrily. Thranduil very nearly snarled back.

Startled, the dog ceased its' angry noise. It tilted its' head to the side, confused. Legolas seemed perfectly happy in the arms of the elf, indeed, he grinned as the blond king bounced him lightly. The hound sank back down at Elenlor's feet, watching warily for any sign of peril. Gradually, he relaxed, even to the point of allowing Thranduil to stroke his head.

Elenlor grinned and took her son back. "I think that you've watched him enough for today, meleth nin. Hannon le." The Queen of Mirkwood nearly laughed at the look of relief that spread across her husband's face, but quickly restrained herself. Giving him a quick kiss, she exited the pen, followed closely by the dog.

Thranduil smiled in admiration as he watched them leave. He did not know how his wife managed every day, but she deserved praise for keeping control of their son. He could hear her voice as she moved away.

"Man uva le esse i huan, ion nin?"

There was a brief silence as Legolas seemed to consider. Then… "Gwiwileth!"

Thranduil groaned…but could not help smiling at the same time.

0-0-0-0

Galadh-Tree

Aew- Bird

Torog- Troll

Nu-Down

Daro! U-henilye, Thranduil.-Stop! You don't understand, Thranduil.

Huan nin- My dog

Meleth nin- My love

Hannon le- Thank you

Man uva le esse i huan, ion nin?- What will you name the dog, my son?

Gwiwileth- Butterfly