Legolas was glad of the map Mithrandir gave him and the advice to stop in Rivendell, for he was nearly to Rivendell and a fierce winter storm dogged his steps, the air around him carrying the scent of impending snow. His horse was as tired as he, but they didn't dare stop to rest.

The Prince spotted the sentry before the other Elf spotted him. A single rider was something he didn't imagine they saw very often in summer, and not at all this close to Winter. As he got closer, Legolas could make out two other Elves joining the first, these two on horseback.

They rode forward to meet him. "You have chosen a strange time to be traveling. This land will be ankle deep in snow in the next few hours."

Legolas nodded, "I can smell the promise of snow in the air. And the winds have changed direction three times since I came out from the shelter of the treeline and onto the plains. Mithrandir sends his regards. He asked me to deliver a letter to Lord Elrond."

The Elves took in his appearance, but most of him was covered in cloak and his hood was up. "Your boots and sleeves are covered in Orc blood. Are you injured?"

"I am not. You would do well to stay up wind of me, though. I can no longer stand the stench of myself; I find myself longing to burn every stitch of my clothing and these boots."

They found this quite amusing, grinning and chuckling, the initial tension draining away. "Come, mysterious traveler, and we will see what the Lord of Rivendell has to say about you."

The valley of Imladris was like stumbling upon a sparkling treasure, and his breath caught in his chest. Legolas let his guides take his horse away to be fed and watered and brushed. The three of them crossed over the river on a stone bridge which ended in a large circular courtyard. Four Eldar males stood at the bottom of a tall staircase, watching their progress, which was slowed by Legolas' wandering attention.

Lord Elrond separated himself from the group and approached Legolas. He did well not to wince when the smelly Prince got within ten paces of him. Legolas lowered the hood of his traveling cloak out of respect, and heard a gasp escape from one of the Elves behind him at his pale hair and paler eyes.

"Legolas Thranduillion, I presume. I was told to expect you, though I feared you would not arrive ahead of the storm. Mithrandir warned me you have never come this way before and he regretted not being in a position to act as your guide and make formal introductions himself. Mae g'ovannen. Gi nathlam hi." He took a step back and gestured with his arm, "I mâr nîn i mâr gîn."

The Prince was taken aback by such hospitality offered to a stranger. All he could think of to say was, "Le athae." A simple thanks sounded inadequate to his ears, but the Lord's lips quirked into a small smile.

The Lord of Rivendell led him to the others, whom he introduced quickly, "Erestor, Glorfindel and my assistant Lindir. Lindir will take you to the rooms we have prepared for you, a meal and bath await you."

Legolas nodded, offering them the Eldar gesture of respect. "Forgive me if I do not linger here to offend you with my filth and the old Orc blood staining my clothes."

"We have all seen battle, and know how you feel. We will have many questions for you in the morning. Rest well."

"Have you see him?" One of the servants outside Legolas' door asked, in a hushed whisper.

"Briefly," a male voice confirmed, his words making a smirk tug at the corners of Legolas' mouth.

The first servant's voice lowered, "A rumor is spreading and they say our visitor is the son of King Thranduil, come all the way from Mirkwood. Do you think it is possible?"

"Anything is possible. Is it likely? Now, that is another matter entirely."

Legolas' hearing was very good, even among the other Eldar in the Woodland Realm. Those who worked in the Elvenking's Halls learned long ago not to say anything in the corridors outside his rooms.

"We must not disturb him, whoever he is. Come back and collect the tray after he has gone to speak with our Lord."

Legolas opened the door. "You are not disturbing me. I just finished. I like to breakfast early." He handed the tray to the gaping servant, a pretty elleth with large dark doe eyes. "Le athae," he told them, adding a small smile for her.

Back home he could almost forget tongues wagged and wagers made on the things he did or did not do. Or how attractive others seemed to find him. The only one he ever wanted to find him attractive was Tauriel.

"Are you..." the ellon started to ask, and Legolas nodded, "Yes. I am the son of King Thranduil."

"Is the King as beautiful as you?"

Legolas' eyes widened, and then he laughed, "No. I am afraid the King is far more attractive."

"That cannot be."

"Impossible."

Legolas shrugged, smirking just a little, "I have had to learn to live in his shadow, and content myself with second best."

"Do you have a wife, my Lord?"

"No, but please do not think I came here to seek one. I am much too young for a wife." This seemed to placate the servants' unending curiosity.

"Are the two of you finished pestering our guest?" Lindir asked them, sweeping in from a side corridor and shooing them off in the direction of the kitchens. "Lord Elrond awaits the Prince in his office, and he will be very disappointed if you wag your tongues all day instead of doing your work."

"Forgive them, please, my Lord," Lindir sighed. "Guests are not usually subjected to interrogation by the staff in Lord Elrond's house."

"What can you tell us about the battle?" Lord Elrond asked Legolas.

Legolas took a deep breath, his eyes scanning the small group of Eldar in the Elf-lord's office. "I wasn't at the start of the battle. I was with a Captain of my father's Guard in Gundabad. We found war bats swarming and large force of Orcs marching on Erebor, but I learned later it was a secondary force, the first came from the Misty Mountains in tunnels dug by Were-Wyrms. We rode hard and arrived with barely enough time to warn Mithrandir and the Dwarves before the second wave was upon them at Ravenhill."

He didn't mention King Thranduil's desire to pull his Elves out of the battle, or how Tauriel stood up to the King and refused to accept the deaths of Thorin Oakenshield and his kin simply because they were mortals. He loved her and wanted to strangle her for it. What he was able to do was protect her from his father and tear a rift between himself and his sire he wasn't sure they would ever repair.

For Tauriel's life, it had been an acceptable trade.

"How did the army of King Thranduil come to be massed at the gates of Erebor?" This was Glorfindel, the famed Balrog-slayer. His expression was grim.

Legolas had to work hard not to wince. His father's obsession with what he felt the Dwarves of Erebor owed him was a poison on his soul. The treasure was toxic. Even Thorin Oakenshield himself came to that realization before he died, or so Mithrandir gathered from the Halfling, Bilbo Baggins.

Lord Elrond took Legolas' hesitation to mean he didn't want to speak of the main battle, and his tone gentled, "Was this your first bloodletting in a true battle?"

"It was. As I said, I was not with the King's army when it marched on Erebor, but I was told they numbered in the thousands when they set out from the Elvenking's Halls. They made camp outside of the ruins of Dale."

Elrond realized, then, why Legolas was reticent to speak of the Thranduil's army. "Your father sent thousands of archers against Erebor when it was held by thirteen Dwarfs and a Hobbit?"

This time, Legolas did wince. "It was not even that many Dwarves. Tauriel and I tracked a Gundabad Orc named Bolg, his warg pack and thirty Orcs to Esgaroth. They were after the Dwarves, but only five remained in Laketown. Thorin and the rest of the company entered Erebor with a key and a map. They woke Smaug from his sleep, enraged him, and chased him out of the mountain. He burned the town and was shot by Bard with a Black Arrow."

One of the sons of Elrond, he knew not which because they were ónoni, twins, and they shared the same face, frowned at him. "Why would two wood-elves chase thirty Gundabad Orcs and a Warg pack? Folly or madness?"

"Elrohir..." His father admonished him.

Legolas nodded, "It was both folly and madness."

"You were saving the Dwarves of Thorin's Company?"

With a sigh, Legolas said, "They were prisoners in the King's dungeons. The Halfling stole the keys and released them into empty wine barrels, then dumped the company into the river. It is a long story, but during their escape from our pursuit, and that of the Orcs, one of the Dwarves was shot with a Morgul shaft and would have died of the poison had Tauriel not followed them to Esgaroth and healed him."

The two sons of Elrond look at each other, and in unison, they said, "Kili."

Elrond frowned, reiterating what Legolas told them for further clarification. "The Captain disobeyed her King's command and went off on her own to save a poisoned Dwarf. You followed her to Esgaroth, why?"

"Because Tauriel is impulsive, but she didn't deserve to die. I caught up with her and confronted her. She refused to return home when she had the chance, but she was not wrong in her desire to help, only young and far too eager for a fight. Sealing our gates and ignoring the evil in Dul Guldur is no longer an acceptable option to either her or to me. "

"The King banished you both?"

"No. He banished Tauriel. I told my father I had no desire to go back behind the locked gates of the Elvenking's Halls without her." He didn't know these men, they were complete strangers to him, and that made it easier to confess his feelings, "Melinyes."

The other twin winced, "I would lay a wager this Captain you love is beautiful... and Silvan, making her a completely unacceptable wife or lover for a Sindarin Prince."

Legolas' jaw clenched, and he pinned the dark haired ellon with a glare.

The Balrog-slayer barked a laugh, "And that is exactly the type of elleth a Sindarin Prince, or an Elf-lord's son, would be destined to fall in love with. Because that which is the most difficult, and the most painful, is exactly the type of love made to endure for eternity."

"Ai. You've made Glorfindel wax poetic, and I did not imagine such a thing possible."

Legolas huffed, but held his tongue. He didn't want their compassion or pity.

"The Dwarf Princes died in the battle with Thorin Oakenshield did they not?" the one called Erestor asked. "Leaving Dain Ironfoot as King Under The Mountain for he was fourth in the line of succession."

Legolas nodded, "And Bard, the dragon-slayer and descendant of the last King of Dale, is the obvious choice to be the new King of Dale."

"How many of Thranduil's army of thousands died in the battle?" Lord Elrond asked him, expression full of compassion. The Prince paled and earned a pat on the arm from Elrond, "You don't know, do you? Mithrandir said the losses were terrible."

Legolas shook his head, eyes lowered to hide his pain from the others. "The bodies of Men, Elves and Dwarves were intermixed with legions of dead Orcs from the Misty Mountains and Gundabad, War bats, Goblins, Ogres." He looked at his hands strangely because they had begun to tremble, and he couldn't ever remember such a tremor in them before. Not when he fought Orcs or spiders in the forests of his home. "I fought at Ravenhill with the sons of Durin and Tauriel against Bolg and Azog."

"Did your Tauriel live?"

"She did."

"Why come North, my Lord?"

"My father suggested I seek out a young Dúnedain in the North. The King feels there is the potential for greatness in him."

Elrond raised an eyebrow, "Does this Ranger have a name?"

"My father did not give me a name. Only that some call him Strider."

One of the twins coughed loudly, and earned an elbow to the ribs from his brother.

Glorfindel smiled at Legolas, "We know many of the Rangers. They pass through Rivendell often, most visit in early Spring to take rest and resupply their packs for the warmer months."

Elrond nodded, "Yes, Glorfindel is absolutely right. Rivendell is a sanctuary of sorts for Elves and Men. Or any being who needs rest or wants a place to live their lives in freedom and peace. You are welcome to winter here and wait for the arrival of the Ranger you seek."

"You sound sure he will come here."

"He always does," Elrohir told him. "Strider grew up here with us, after his father died."

"Say you'll stay on," Elladan said. "We have never had a Wood-elf Prince as a guest before. I can only imagine all the trouble we could find to lead you into."

Erestor and Elrond exchanged eye-rolls, and Lord Elrond said, "In addition to trouble, Rivendell also has an extensive library and many maps. Hot, thermal springs. Plenty of archers looking for new blood to challenge their skills..."

Tauriel. The mention of archers hurt Legolas' heart. Telling his tale made him realize how hasty he'd been to ride off and leave Tauriel alone in her grief and without a home or his continued protection from his father. "I will consider your very kind and generous offer on one condition... I do not want to be addressed as Prince Legolas or as a Lord. I have left that person behind. I want only to be a Woodland ellon called Legolas."

Lord Elrond nodded his understanding. "I think Legolas has had enough of hard conversations for this day. And I believe he would welcome some wine, even though the hour is early. I know I could use a glass or two." The group went their separate ways, the twins vowing to meet up with him at the Midday meal and give him a proper tour. When he stood to follow, Elrond's hand on his arm stopped him. "You made a choice to leave, but you are still Thranduil's only child. I would ask something of you." He picked up a stack of parchment and an inkwell and quill. He put them in Legolas' hands. "Write to your father and let him know you are alive and well. You have met my sons, and as you can likely tell, I often depair for my children."

Legolas raise an eyebrow at him, and smiled, "I imagine you do."

"All fathers worry."

The Prince nodded. "I will write him."

"Excellent," Elrond nodded, then as an afterthought he said, "You should write Tauriel, as well. Tell the Captain she is as welcome here as you. I would never turn an exiled Elda away from my home. Not for wanting to save lives and fight against the Darkness. We welcome any and all who feel as she does, no matter where they are born."

Legolas couldn't speak past the lump in his throat, so he just nodded.

"Your Tauriel loved young Kili, didn't she?"

"She does. And his death hurts her heart."

"As her pain hurts yours."

"Yes."

"I think Glorfindel might be right about love, and I had no idea the Balrog-slayer had a heart."

"He can have mine. I would rather have it out of my chest, so the ache stops."

Lord Elrond patted his shoulder. "Who is to say it will not be useful again in the future?"