Hello again and thanks for coming back!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter as much as the last two!

(For the few of you who have asked: Yes, this is loosely related to "Magic That Wilts")

….

Gandalf had to admit he was glad that moments after his arrival, the twins had whisked Legolas off into the wilderness for an additional week before returning him once more. To his surprise at the time, both Elrond and Glorfindel were just as confused with the secrecy between the three young elves, for even the twins would not tell their father anything before departing with all haste. They had gone without even saying goodbye to Estel.

Glorfindel had grown tired with everyone speculating weather or not they would finally explain themselves when they did finally return; he made this known when he glowered at Estel and Lindir over the top of his book one evening, "It does not matter what we think, and continuing to discuss it will not get anybody anywhere. They will tell us if they wish to tell us, or they will not. Some secrets are meant to be kept, and I suspect they have been keeping it for some time already."

Now, the wizard suspected he was about to find out what exactly the twins had told their father upon their return, for he had been called to the Lords study later the same day of their return. He had not suspected, however, that it would be Legolas alone waiting for him there.

He paused in the doorway, unsure if he was ready for another encounter with the young prince, but he stepped fully into the room anyways. If Legolas had more to say to him, he would hear it.

Legolas seemed considerably more relaxed and calm than the wizard has seen him in a century, "Mithrandir, I was hoping you might have a word with me. I feel like I owe you a explanation, greater than the one you already have."

It was also the first time he had seen him completely unarmed, and so Gandalf found himself cautiously agreeing. "Yes, of course."

The elf waited until he crossed the room ad sunk into the armchair across from the one Legolas was using, "Have you ever been bitten by one of the spiders in Greenwood?"

"I've never had the pleasure, no."

"And I hope you never do." Legolas paused in thought, and Gandalf considered this a good sign, true to Oropher's line the only time his tongue got away from him was when he was angry. "There are three saving graces when it comes to them: One, they like their food warm. Two, they don't like to share. Three, there is too much light in us for them to eat right away."

He wasn't sure if he wanted to know exactly that all of that added up to mean, but suspected Legolas was going to tell him anyways, "Generally that means that if you're lucky enough to be captured by a spider, and not an Orc, the others have about two days to find where they have stashed you away from Dul Guldur to let the poison set in, and retrieve you."

Gandalf was reminded of how volatilely Gollum reacted whenever he touched or even saw something that was obviously touched with Elvish light, he did not wish to ponder what pain darkness pierced into the immortal bodies would feel like. Darkness that was created with no other purpose than to burn out the light.

"Whoever thinks them unintelligent have obviously not spent any more than a minute in their eight legged company. They can speak, you know, and given enough time working with the Orcs they will learn their language too. At first they did not know that we also have a reasonable grasp of the Orcs languages."

Gandalf was reminded of one particularly dark part of Bilbo's tale in Mirkwood when he was forced to use his tiny blade. "It stings! It stings!"

"Sometimes, if we were lucky enough to find the cave in time, and get our people an antidote in time they have some interesting eavesdropped information. We began to hear whispers of a rising master beyond the borders of the forest, far away but growing stronger, somebody we knew. They mocked us for it."

He thought about asking the young prince why he or Thranduil had not brought up the information with the White Council, or even just to Elrond. But even before the desolation of Smaug the relations with everyone and Mirkwood had been strained; for many reasons not easily fixed..

Thranduil had held well known - and spoken about - suspicions that the great battle which took his father and crowned him King was only just the beginning. But the others had been wishing for peace for so long that they did not listen to him, blamed their vulnerability to such tragedies like the one that stole the Queen away on his lack of a Ring. With a rift like this, there are any number of grievances to be born.

Slowly, and quietly, the Woodland Realm had slipped into a wall of silence. First, Imladris no longer received visitors, even Legolas stretched the distance between his own visits longer and longer apart. Then the letters stopped coming, and not many were replied to. A few more years after that, most visitors were turned off the Elven road, told to come back the way they came, and none dared stray from it.

Even Elladan and Elrohir were turned away, supposedly on Legolas' orders. They would not speak of it though, not even to their father, so wounded their hearts had been.

They had all blamed Thranduil's temper, his resentment and grudges. It was easier.

"I was going to tell you the next time I came upon you, Ada did not want me to, but I was going to anyways. And then dwarves woke Smaug, under your guidance."

And Thranduil was injured.

Legolas grew silent for a moment, the wizard wasn't sure if it was to make a point or collect himself. Either way, he waited for him to continue, "I do regret some of the things I said to you that day, in the tent. But every time I thought of my father, or my warriors, or the people of Laketown all I could hear was that voice in my head taunting that it was someone I knew helping to construct this darkness."

He wasn't sure what to say, but he felt he ought to try and say something.

However, the elf continued before he could think of anything, "And there you stood, when so many could did not. When even my Ada could not open his eyes, nor recognize my voice. I have never been so scared in my life, Mithrandir. I had never been so angry, or felt so betrayed"

Unlike that night in the tent Legolas was restless, his hands were clasped together but Gandalf could still see where he tapped rhythms softly into his hands with his fingers, "What happened to Thranduil?"

Legolas shook his head softly, and broke eye contact for the first time since Gandalf had entered the room and it was only to blink tears from his eyes, "I don't know, I tried not to but I lost him in the battle, everything was so hectic. I thought he was dead when I found him, so still and cold he was. So much of his blood lost."

He paused and looked down at his hands, as if he half expected to find them coated in blood once more. "The healers took him away from me before I even knew what was happening, and nobody would let me go near. Galion had to wash his blood off of me, I couldn't… I just couldn't."

The young elf sighed and wiped one of his eyes, Gandalf pretended not to notice, "I did not intend to say everything I did that night, when I called for you. I just wanted to know why. But the longer I stood there, in my father's tent wondering about him, the worse it got. The worse I got."

"It took him months to recover enough strength to even be coherent for longer than ten minutes. When Lady Galadriel banished the Necromancer from Dul Guldur, she only banished him. She did not banish his army that had taken up residence, only angered them, and as a consequence the forest took more out of my father than ever before. He could not heal himself like he should. He still hasn't been able to, but he won't give less of himself to the forest. No matter how many times I beg him to, or beg him to allow me to share the burden, he won't."

Gandalf wished to say he was surprised, but he was not. He and Elrond had long ago realized that Thranduil was giving more and more of himself to the woods over the years, you could sense the King no matter where in the woods you wondered if you had the sense to look for him. Neither were quite sure how he did it, and Thranduil never explained. Gandalf and Elrond often discussed how thankful he had never taught Legolas, even if it pained the young prince.

"I did not know what to do, or who I could trust, and I did not think I could tell one of you without somebody else finding out. You and Elrond cannot keep things from Galadriel, nor can you from Saruman, try as you might. I was so lost and confused, and Ada could not help me. So if I did not know who I could welcome…"

"You made everyone unwelcome."

Legolas gave a small nod, "It was all I could think of. It became important that no one could know anything about our struggles or tactics for we did not know who might whisper it in the ears of those who could bring our ruin. Knowingly or not."

"So when we brought Gollum to you-"

"An act. Sort of."

A long silence stretched out between them, Legolas seemed to be satisfied with giving Gandalf the opportunity to excuse himself and leave if he wanted for the prince had said his peace. For a moment he thought about staying silent in hopes of forcing Legolas to say more to fill his silence, however, it seemed half the conversations one had with Thranduil was silene so he did not think it would have the same effect as it did on others.

But he did not wish for his only good conversation with the Prince in the last century to be over just yet, so Gandalf settled for what he hoped would be an innocent enough question to not get himself in trouble, "How did you know it was Aragorn that day?"

A small, good natured smile broke out across the elfs lips, "Elladan and Elrohir are filled with more determination than you and Elrond give them credit for. Try as we might, no matter how many times we threw them out of the woods they returned. Eventually we had no choice but to allow them in, and they would not leave until I told them everything and swore to write them in secret."

Gandalf couldn't help but give a surprised and delighted laugh, endlessly pleased with both the twins display of fierce loyalty and love, and the ability to keep such a secret from their father, "Truly?"

Legolas' smile grew, "Yes, I asked Yavanna to help us and a Hawk that knew well how to fly between Imladris and my home came to me. There was a spot in the woods he would leave the letters and come to retrieve them. They said they would try and find out who the master from beyond the woods could be, and let me know when Greenwood could return to the world."

There was another long pause before Legolas continued again, "I'm sorry about Saruman."

"Yes. So am I." Another pause, the fire crackling merrily in the hearth, "I am sorry about your father."

Legolas nodded and his eyes wandered over to the fire, he seemed tired, "I do not hate you, Mithrandir. In fact, I no longer hold any anger towards you at all, and wish to consider you a friend once more. But I still have not forgiven you, and I do not think I will be able to until Ada his healed and whole once more."

Considering everything he had just heard, he figured that was reasonable enough for the time being, "Fair enough, elfling."

Legolas smirked, a much happier one than he had seen in Thranduil's office, "Prince elfing, to you."

…

Okay so. This chapter was supposed to be the last one, buuuutttttttttt there going to be a Chapter Four.

Because I just can't leave it like this now.

Don't forget to leave me a review please!

megSUPERFAN - I was so delighted when you mentioned the spiders in your review of last chapter, because I had already written that part in this one. Also, I swear, I'm going to respond to you again soon! SORRY DEAR!