A large shadow was sitting across from him holding a small familiar black haired child. At first, he didn't understand what was going on but his heart had stopped when he realized that his daughter was in danger. Her frightened eyes scanned her surroundings wildly looking for safety, looking for him.

"Give her back to me!" he shouted, but no sounds came from his mouth. His face twisted angry as he tried to grab for the frightened child but failed when his body refused to respond to his commands.

He watched helplessly as a dark shadow appeared behind Nìniel, gently placing his hand on her shoulder, sliding up around the throat gripping her soft flesh tightly in its hands. Nìniel started to struggle and Legolas shot up in his bed looking around in panic.

Legolas snapped awake with a start, bolting up into a sitting position, he sat there, supporting himself with his upper arms, and breathing hard as if he had been running, everything hurt, and his stomach was churning, he ran his hands over his face, wiping away the cool sweat that covered his skin.

The idea of Nìniel in physical pain deeply disturbed him and created dreams in his mind more horrible than any physical pain that could be inflicted on him.

It was the most horrifying experience in his life because sometimes he honestly thought she was going to die.

He snapped back into reality, away from the thoughts that flooded him, the shimmery tears were clouding his vision, he could feel her daughter's warm little body moving with each deep breath he took next to her.

Legolas closed his arms tighter around her, bringing her full into his arms cradling her against his chest.

His tiny child, he wanted to love her until his dying day. He wanted to let her know that he'd always be there for her; When she smiled, he smiled, even though the two of them were struggling from day to day with the pain they had. When she cried, he felt like his heart was tearing in two, When she was scared, he wanted to hold her, and show her that as long as he was there, she had no reason to be afraid, because he was going to protect her for as long as he lived.

Even though he had failed that faithful night to stop her from the harm, he was still the guider, the protector, the father.

The temptation to go back to sleep was great, but the sun streaming through the leaves of the trees around them told him that it was too late in the morning to do that.

He'd sit there all day worrying if he let himself, and he knew that this would make everyone preoccupied. so, he hauled himself out of bed.

Aragorn was sitting on the edge of the grassy cliff at the end of the path, watching over, with a pipe in his hand. He looked up when he heard Legolas's footsteps approaching him.

"Man erin" *Good Morning* he said playfully.

"Hey man" Legolas replied simply, dropping down next to him.

"You didn't sleep well, did you?" Aragorn guessed, only needing to look at the young elf for a second to realize that he looked pale, and his cheeks had a slight redness to them, even though his eyes looked void of anything except exhaustion.

"No" Legolas admitted.

Aragorn frowned, slightly confused.

"I had a dark dream." he confessed, "About Nìniel."

The elf looked at his friend, trying to shake off the worry. "Look, I'm fine, I'm only overthinking" he informed him "everything will be fine... it will" he repeated to convince himself.

Aragorn sighed, giving him a gentle smile. "Yes it will be, but you should take it easy." He suggested.

He smiled back at him to reassure him "I'm taking it easy." he pointed out.

"Good."

His apprehensions weren't important, he could keep everything inside him for the moment, he could pretend that everything was okay.

Legolas wanted to change the subject, worrying Aragon was the last thing he wanted to do, he wanted to give him peace too, his friend deserved it, he had the strength to lead them through pain without breaking and finally, he could rest.

He looked around the area, it was empty, piles of sheets and vestments were scattered around the floor, bags and pens rested were it shouldn't be and swords laid by the side of the great trunk were he slept that night.

"Where's everyone?" Legolas asked.

"Boromir took the hobbits around and Gimli is still sleeping," Aragorn informed.

"And still snoring, from what I heard when I walked past him." Legolas murmured, receiving Aragorn's amused eye.

"It's awfully quiet in here." his friend commented. "I take it the little one is still asleep?"

"She must be..." he muttered playfully under his breath.

He turned his head to eyeing Nìniel, still sleeping peacefully, with his elven sight he could see the gentle rising and falling of her chest, not too far from her, he could hear the awful loud snore of the dwarf sleeping on a root of the tree.

"I wonder how she can sleep with that noise," Legolas commented with a mischief tone in his voice. "I wonder how he can sleep himself," he continued with a grin in his face, Aragon laughed shaking his head, Legolas's always said his jokes in the most unexpected times ever.

He was genuine happy hearing the sound of Legolas's jokes again. It reminded him when he was his older self when he was the prince of Mirkwood with a playful personality.

Before Thranduil made him meet Cerylia and of course before parenthood hit him.

Aragon laugher deceased when he recalled their old selves "Brings me back to old times" he said with now a sweet smile.

Legolas looked at his friend curiously.

A chuckle came out from Aragorn's lips "Remember the time when we hid snakes in Elladan and Elrohir's bed?"

Legolas's lips extended over his cheeks, a warm feeling dominated his stomach. "You wanted revenge over the spiced tea they gave you" he continued.

Aragorn couldn't contain the laugh that spilled from his mouth. "And they caught us in the act, chasing and yelling at us!"

"We ran, we just ran" the elven prince continued in a laugh, while his mind remembered that day as if was weeks ago.

After a full burst of laughter, Aragorn commented "Its been merely 70 years..." their breath slowed to fondly remember that memory and realized how much their lives have changed since then.

Aragorn suddenly caught a presence behind them, "Nìniel?" He asked, his face covered with confusion. Legolas quickly turned around to see his daughter standing there behind the two old friends, the blanket she slept with in her hand and a tried dopey look on her face.

"Heui, lend, cin or!" *Hey, sweetie, you're up!* Legolas greeted her with a welcoming smile.

She looked confused and rubbed her eyes trying to gather her thoughts together, she quietly and lazily walked to Legolas with her arms reaching for him and bundled into his chest.

"Cin post eithel?" *did you sleep well?* Legolas felt a small nod in his neck.

Aragorn smiled at the little girl, he attempted to rub her back to lovably greeting her but she quickly snapped away from him, burying her face deeper into her father's neck to avoid the touch.

The two adults exchanged a worried and surprised look at each other, they weren't expecting her to react the same way she did the night before, they hoped the reason of her behavior was for exhaustion, but clearly, the problem was still there.

"Heui, ha na-Estel" *hey It's Aragorn* Legolas wanted Nìniel to understand she didn't need to be afraid of his friend, one of the few people she grew fond of from the beginning of the journey, considerating him close to family.

All the trust she gained on him was gone, their relationship was more extraneous.

She stayed stiff by his father's side and kept her face buried in his hair "Cin tur-haru na Estel" *you can answer to Aragorn* he whispered.

Nìniel refused to acknowledge the ranger, she once again, buried closer to him, shaking her head violently, some soft whimpers came out of her lips.

The whimpers weren't gone unnoticed by Legolas, her behavior was odd for her. He knew she had always been shy but never in those levels, and the fact that she didn't show trust to Aragorn, someone she really knew, worried him.

Once again Aragorn attempted to comfort her "Nìniel..."

He'd just barely brushed his fingers against her back when she whirled around, a defensive look painted across her child she yelled "NAY!" and she tried to push him away from her, but fast enough her push became an uncontrollable violent spread of hits, slaps, and kicks.

Legolas was in such a state of shock over the matter that he didn't even clue into the shrieking that was coming from her mouth. He had seen her throw tantrums before. but never in these levels of anger and frustration.

He didn't expect her instant reaction, he struggled with his arms to keep her from keep hitting his shocked friend.

"Nìniel dihena..." *Nìniel please..."

"Delu melin!" *I hate you!* She shouted, her voice raising more than several volume scales from her tired whispers they had heard a moment ago. Now, it seemed, she was very much awake, very much alert, and so was her voice. "Delu melin! Delu melin!" *I hate you! I hate you!*

Legolas froze and felt a pang in his heart. She had never said hated anything before, she 'didn't like things' but she never hated something, she had never used those words before. he knew she didn't mean it, she was just frustrated and needed a break. But it still hurt like hell. despite his feelings. he sat on the floor and hugged her, as she fought against his arms, the arms that meant to comfort her, her legs started to kick out furiously.

Aragorn felt guilty of what had happened but at the same time shocked, never he expected a reaction of these proportions.

The hate coming from her worried him deeply, he knew that she had experienced some awful situation, even he himself couldn't process them, he understood the confusion and the emotions she was going through.

Legolas knew that he had to say something to her, rather than just picking her up to stop her kicking out and hurting his friend.

She was awkward to hold when she was still kicking out furiously, yet he didn't have to worry about being hit, she was only small, and wouldn't hurt him anyway.

Holding her tightly, but not too tightly against him, as he hoped to calm her down. Eventually, she stopped kicking and restored in throwing her stressed body against Legolas's as he held her. Her head landed back on his shoulder, and one hand of his kept it rested there, but not forcefully. His other hand reached across her body almost protectively, and lay limply on her back, feeling the rising and falling of it as she took deep, stubborn breaths.

"Ha na- tríw" *It's alright* He said whispered quietly, her ear was about an inch away from his mouth.

"Im anír-Aduradar" *I want Grandpa* She sniffed furiously, even though she wasn't crying."Delu melin" *I hate you*

"Im ista" *I know* He told her, trying to keep the bitterness out of his voice, Nìniel lifted her head from his shoulder, She looked at him with curious and guilty eyes.

"Cin ceriú gar-na oiale mel" *You don't have to always be happy* he calmly said with a smile.

Nìniel frowned at him as she tried to figure him out. As she kept herself propped up with her hands sprawled on his chest as she stared at him.

Gently grabbing her hair away from her face he made sure she was looking at him."Ir cin hi, na ú-staui ennas i anand, cin anír-na ha, cin anír-na golodh ha a on ha glenn" *whenever you're feeling moods like this, is to not just stay there all the time, you want to accept it, you want to knowledge it and let it go.*

She frowned, even more, tilting her head to one side.

Sweeping back her hair he smiled softly "Ha n- man" *it will get better*

"Mani Ha ceri- ú?" *what if it doesn't?* She questioned worriedly for herself, in her mind she was a changed child, she was grown and she was never going to be herself again, she felt relieved that her father stopped her because she believed she was powerful and could really harm both men because she was smaller than them, and her rage could give her so much strength.

"Mín ech- ha glenn" *we will make it go away* he reassured her once more "Cin are mel a cin are beri- a cin're os- bui galad, ha's na hi waui" *you are still loved and you are still safe and you're surrounded by light, it's ok to feel this way*

He focused on Nìniel, stroking her hair to comfort her "Cin tur- n- haru, cin tur- n- haru at nin, cin tur- n- haru at estel, ben cin tur- n- mad at cin, ceri- ú- gling- bo na ha an an. na? Ha glenn- a trí ha" *you can be mad, you can be mad at me, you can be mad at Aragorn, or you can be mad at yourself, just don't hang on to it for too long, because that when it becomes a problem. alright? let it go and work through it*

She nodded. "'Hay." She whispered.

"Mín tur a padad, cin tur-nor i rúth if cin anír, cin baur na cerina get trí ha" *we can take a walk, you can run that anger off if you want, whatever you need to do to get through it*

She nodded wiping the tears out of her eyes with her sleeve. Legolas gently grabbed her face with both hands and rubbed the tears off her cheeks.

Legolas, followed by Aragorn, walked alongside Nìniel, he let her walk barefoot on the soft grass of Lòtlorien, hoping it would help her relax more after the hysterical panic of early before.

She felt confident moving further from her father, the call of nature was strong, it was in her blood to be in contact with it, and if felt natural to do it.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Aragorn's voice broke him out of his thoughts, he remembered that he was standing beside him, mimicking his position as they both stared at the running child.

He gave him a false smile "It's fine."

He looked at him for a moment, wondering whether to question his sarcasm "are you sure? because it worried me what I've seen there"

"I told my father I hated him all the time too." He pointed out to him, finding himself an excuse to hide his fears and worries.

Aragorn was silent for a moment, then he sighed. "but she never-"

"Look, Estel..." He interrupted "I don't really want to deal with this right now." His voice sounded angry and frustrated but his eyes were full of sorrow.

He looked at the young elf, seeing how desperately torn up he was inside. He saw tears in his eyes, but he had blinked them away rapidly. Legolas wasn't like this. Legolas used to be playful and full of joy. Now he had only a mask, it looked like happiness but reflected fear, anger, and sorrow and it was clearly affecting his child's emotional state. He needed to give positivity to his child, guide her in the light. especially now that she was scared and confused, she needed Legolas more than she might ever need him in her life, she needed his guidance.

"I'm worried of Nìniel." his friend confessed, looking in his eyes "She has seen too much"

"I'm worried about her too" He muttered.

"We should handle it now before it's too late" Aragorn added more quietly.

Legolas nodded in agreement "but I don't know what to do"

"We must remind her that she's not alone" he suggested him.

Legolas was silent for a moment "I didn't want this to happen." He added helplessly.

"I know..." his friend comforted him.

"But, I know you're not fine, you don't have to keep it all inside of you" He explained. "I'm your friend and I'm here for you" he assured him, with his hand on his arm comfortingly.

"She needs me to be strong and I'm just not!."

"You are the most strong elf I know." his friend reminded him.

The walls broke and Legolas once again fell in into the depths of his sorrow, he tried to be strong and hold it together but once again he failed, he was weak.

Fortunately, his friend Aragorn was there, he was the only friend he felt safe to express his emotions and thoughts, the ranger had helped him so much during the times they knew each other.

He had a unique bond with Aragorn, different from the one he had with Haldir, they known each other for almost 3.000 years, but with Aragorn was different, maybe because he was mortal and he knew that one day it will be gone and made the friendship with him more special.

In contrary to Aragorn, Haldir couldn't understand what death did to the beings around it, it wasn't part of his comprehension, he was an elf, elves were immortal.

Being mortal he often reminded Legolas that life was short, no matter what will happen in the future, bad or good, life was now.

Most of the things people fear never happens. Or if they do happen, they are rarely as bad as feared they will be. For most of people, fear was the worst thing that will happen to them. Reality wasn't as painful.

At the end of the day, what matters most are the people in our lives at the moment.

Haldir wanted to know Nìniel and have some kind of bond with her, she was his best friend's child, he saw her when she was just a newborn and the willingness to connect with her was strong, he knew it would take some time before she warmed up to him. He would have to just stay positive.

Haldir noticed the child playing on the ground not too far from where he was standing, he found himself running his hand over his forehead, he knew that it would take time for Nìniel to trust him. But what worried him was how long it would take.

He wanted to have to try one last time before they would leave for Isengard, It could be the last time he will ever see her again, and deep in his heart he hoped not, but the possibility of them to succeed with their plan was very limited.

Again, he looked at the child on the ground, he had to approach her, and knew exactly what he had to do, he hurried over a hut in the village and grabbed from a wooden bowl a sphere object and then innocently walking over the child.

Nìniel sat on the ground playing with some stick on the dirt, she crossed the floor with the wooden stick and marked it with soft lined she dug on it, From every other eye it would seem some randoms scribbling but Nìniel knew they were a work of art, clearly the smaller lines on the ground were some trees and the longer and curvier line was a beautiful shiny blue river.

She heard someone approaching her, she looked up to find Haldir.

The elf was very aware of the little princess presence, but acted otherwise, pretending to not see the girl, looking vaguely around the area they were, and went along with what he said "Im ennas's edhel plural edhil os- i tur... Inc ú-." *I wonder if there's anybody around that would play... I guess not...*

Nìniel's eyes lighten up, the excitement came in her body, she very wished to play, she hoped that she wasn't anymore invisible and that he could actually see her and play with her.

"Im gar- hi corn a im ceri- ú- gweg na." *I have this ball and I don't know with who play with...* He purposely made the ball slip off from his hands and made it roll near the child, it stopped its trek when it tapped her foot.

She wasn't anymore invisible, with eyes widen and panic she looked at him.

"Heui hén. Im did ú- hend cin" *Hey kid. I didn't saw you* He said, sitting down on the ground, he stretched his hand. "Tur- cin nor ha rinn- nin?" *can you roll it back to me?* he spoke calmly, hoping it would help her trust him.

Nìniel looked at him and hesitated for a second, doubt in the back of her mind flicked for just an instant, she feared that he would do awful things to her, things the creatures had done to the fellowship back into the mines on Moria. But she pushed the doubt away. That elf was her father's friend, he'd brought her food the night before, and he would probably do it again.

Nìniel reached out a hand, drawing her feet up to her chest, she took the ball and rolled it back to the blond.

Very soon they found themselves sitting in front of each other, rolling the ball back and forward at them.

Haldir grinned "Im'm eithel gar-gweg na nor" *I'm happy I finally found someone to play with* while trying to initiate eye contact that Nìniel was just as diligently trying to avoid.

They silently played for some minutes, not making any kind of sounds or acknowledging each other, Haldir didn't want her to feel watched or under pressure, she in the other hand often looked up from the game and study the elf.

And then finally a voice.

"Cin rue ada nin mellon? *Are you really my daddy's friend?* Nìniel shyly asked under her breath.

His eyes immediately connecting with the child's, he was very glad to finally hear the little girl's voice, he felt accomplished, that child had been through enough and she will experience more and worst, but it was fundamental for her to talk, he couldn't possibly know what was going on into her mind but she needed to stay true to herself.

He realized that his concerns were true, the child was capable of recover well without Legolas, he had created a safe environment around him that forced the child to be glued to him, and without his intentions made her unable to find confidence to leave him, he didn't like admitting, but, Legolas overprotectiveness was harming his daughter.

As long Legolas was there nothing bad could happen around her, and the fall of Gandalf confused her. Her father was intelligent, strong and powerful, and she could process why he had left Gandalf behind.

He rolled the ball back to her smiling"*lim limb, mín mellon mín dilthen telelle" *Very much, we are best friends since we were little elflings*

He got Nìniel to chuckle slightly, he quite didn't understand why.

She grabbed the ball and hold her much longer into her hands noticing something interesting in its surface, than without warring trowed lazily over the adult.

Grinning she informed him "Ada na- ú-dilthen Telelle" *Daddy is not a little elf*

Haldir chuckled grabbing the ball, gave a quick look on what could possibly have gotten the child interested on the surface, but as he thought there was nothing, so he swang it back to her.

"Im degil..." *I win…* she whispered, smiling down at the elf.

Slowly she had begun to open a little more to him, from small whispers, she got enough confidence to use her usual tone to him, she still didn't have the courage to speak more but for Haldir was enough to bond with the little girl.

Their conversation was primely him asking her questions, it was the only way to keep her talking to him, he found out her favorite dress she had in her kingdom, her favorite color, the name of the hobbit she liked the most and a description of Rivendell.

She described it with such enthusiasm that he didn't have the heart to tell her that he had already been there lots of times, but he couldn't blame her, all she knew from birth was her home and it was a cultural shock to see the rest of the world outside of the safe walls of her kingdom, she was so young and she had seen so much already and he knew she was going to see much more than he already seen.

Unknown to his Daughter, Legolas was just outside her reach, listening to every word the pair would say. His heart melting over them bonding, he feared for her but hearing her voice made him feel so proud of her, she had overcome her fear, he knew she didn't fully recover but he was sure it was a step on the right way.

"Nìn." he managed to say eventually, his senses coming back to him as he realized that he really wasn't dreaming from what he was witnessing. "Man cerig?" *What are you doing?*

"Ada!" His daughter bolted in his arms, she gave him a big hug. he picked her up from her feet and held her on his hip.

She rested her head on his neck, closing her eyes and smiling, inhaling the familiar and safe sent of her father.

Haldir turned to him, receiving a warm smile from the father, expressing true gratitude, but his eyes, they expressed something different, there were more shiny, puffy, and there was a darker tone around them and on his nose.

He had been crying.

"Mani manke cin orna?" *what are you up to?* the father asked them smiling.

"Gweg na mir." * We were playing* Nìniel told him smiling too, one hand crawled near his ear and grabbing a lock of his hair and with her thumb caressing it.

"Na cin?" *Were you?" Legolas asked giving a surprised look, his eyes returned over his friend who was getting up from the ground where he found him before, sending a grateful look.

The child nodded and hugged him lovable, she had missed him, even though he never left her and they only been apart for some minutes.

"Thank you for keeping an eye on her" Legolas told his friend.

He was really grateful of having him as a friend, Haldir was loyal, loving, generous and friendly, he believed in the truth in everything, sometimes he didn't know if he deserved him in his life.

"It was no problem, I enjoyed spending time with her" he confessed.

Then everything went quiet.

Legolas was staring him with such emotions he never seen on someone, his lips locked on a faint smile.

"Are you ok?" Haldir asked preoccupied.

The elven prince snapped back into reality "yes" he simply said.

He forced his eyes off from his Lorien friend but somehow they seemed to return on the elf, he knew he was getting his attention but he couldn't help but feel lucky to have him in his life.

Once again he snapped back, he needed to divert the attention on something else before he grew more suspicions.

He used his older tricks he had learned during parenthood, using Nìniel as a shield "Cin saig?" *are you hungry?* He asked her.

Her little head rose from his neck, looking at him with an exciting smile, nodding enthusiastically making her hair bounce.

"Lim eithel" *Very well* he announced, at the moment he just wished to escape Haldir's worried eyes "penia na glenn, Nìniel?" *Ready to go, Nìniel?* he asked.

She nodded just before she twisted her body to face Haldir. "Hannon lle an gweg nin" *Thank you for playing with me.* she waved him giving a warm smile.

Haldir's heart filled with joy at the sight of the little girl happiness toward him "Le lim nathlam" *You're very welcome.*

Everything seemed fine.

NEXT CHAPTER: Get The Child