Once far enough away from the Lake town camp, Legolas collapsed against a tree, shutting his eyes against the pain. Although he had been helped by Radagasts magic for the better part of three days his wounds were by no means fully healed, only sore, itchy, pulling scabs. It hurt to draw his bow, not to mention get into a fist fight. Sliding down the tree to the ground he grimaced under the scarf and cowl.

Pulling off one of his gloves he studied the wound that snaked up and onto his draw hand. It was still closed which surprised him. He had assumed the violent fight he'd just been in would have torn it open….he couldn't speak of any of the other wounds covering the majority of his body though.

Sitting there and waiting for the pain to pass, Legolas ran the events of the past couple of days through his head. He and Fili had stayed in the tiny wooden shack for nearly three days until they were sure that his wounds were healed enough to move. The brown wizard's magic was truly extraordinary, yet Radagast was no miracle worker. It would still take time for everything to heal properly.

But by this morning Fili was getting antsy, worried, and ready to return to his brother. So around noon the wizard had given them a lift through the forest on his sleigh, dropping the two off just outside Mirkwood. It was during that ride that he had tried to decide what to do. His father hadn't come, Tauriel hadn't come. He was angry and felt betrayed, so he had made it his goal to find out the truth.

The truth….the unbiased truth was that BOTH of them HAD come. They had just been too late. Or Fili and Gandalf had been too quick. Either way he had not been as betrayed as he had thought he'd been.

Deep in thought and distracted by the pain from the fight he should never have gotten into, his elven senses picked up the sound of movement too late. Someone was near. But as he was about to jump to his feet he found the point of a drawn arrow very close to his face.

His eyes widened in shock and fear as he looked past the bow to the one wielding it. One of the elven archers he had defeated earlier. Frowning, the elf looked down his nose at the still masked Legolas. In a moment the other two appeared, one wielding knives since his bow string was still snapped.

"Set down your bow and remove your quiver." The soldier spoke, his voice solemn and icy. Moving slowly Legolas raised his hands palms up to show that he meant no harm before setting the bow slowly on the ground before him. Then, just as slow and deliberately he unbuckled his quiver and did the same.

Cautiously, one of the soldiers retrieved them before darting behind the bowman who still threatened the prince. "Get up. Slowly."

Thoughts racing, Legolas tried to decide what to do. He wanted to speak to his father like he had Tauriel, uncertain if Thanduil would speak the truth of what happened if he knew he was telling it to his son. He couldn't run; he would just be shot and possibly killed after the stunt he'd pulled back in the Lake Town camp. His only option was to do as they said. So, like they had ordered, Legolas slowly stood, hands raised in front of him.

"Who are you? Remove your mask." The next order caused Legolas to freeze and he knew that there was nothing he could say to dissuade them unmasking him. If he refused they would only restrain him and reveal his identity themselves.

Shutting his eyes in defeat he paused for a moment which only agitated the guards. "Let me repeat myself. Remove your mask." The archer standing before him spoke again, mocking the words that Legolas had used himself against them not an hour earlier.

Without a word Legolas pulled down the scarf and cowl, giving the guard who was threatening him a disapproving stare.

There was a moment of shocked stillness where not one of the soldiers took a breath. Finally each of them dropped to their knees, lowing their weapons, wide eyes staring up at him in disbelief and awe. "How can this be?" The archer who had been threatening him whispered his voice airy. "You are…."

Legolas irritated expression softened as he smiled slightly. "Rise, let me explain." He held out his hand to the archer who took it without question as his prince pulled him to his feet.

"Wh-why would you wait to reveal yourself until now?" The question was followed closely by another guard's inquiry. "Why did you halt our attack on the dwarves?"

Legolas expression turned grim, his brow furrowing as he shot a glance at each soldier. "It was not elf kind that saved my life in Dor Guldur. My escape was brought by the hands of one of Thorin Oakenshield's company and aided by a wizard."

This brought on new looks of disbelief from the elven party. A dwarf voluntarily risking his life to save an elf? Impossible. But they were not going to doubt the words of their prince.

"As for why I did not reveal myself to you. That business is my own." The archer who stood before him studied his face, the healing scar, the dishevelled and bloodstained hair, before nodding with a look of concern.

"My lord Thranduil….he does not know?" The archer asked worriedly.

"No." Legolas turned his gaze away. "I have…not been home yet. I was seeing that the dwarf that saved my life was returned safely to his kin."

The soldier's brows drew together. "My prince, the king is not well. There is no life in his eyes. We fear for him."

Legolas let out a small breath of pain. He hadn't thought….He hadn't thought his father would diminish with news of his death. He had assumed he would stand in vengeance, a storm of anger and hate at his sons murderers. He had to speak with him.

"Take me home."

Nodding with wide, urgent eyes, the elven party summoned their horses with mere whistles and in no time at all they were riding towards the woodland realm.

…
Once Legolas had slipped out of the light of the fire and gone, Tauriel sat heavily down on one of the crates. She was still in shock from the revelation. "Fili…" She breathed, finally looking up at him. "What happened?"

The young dwarfs smile quickly faded as memories of what he'd seen flooded his vision. "Well I followed the tracks like you'd asked me all the way to Dor Guldur, and since you still hadn't shown up I decided to try and get a better look. But when I entered the fortress there were a lot more orcs then I thought. I was just going to run back to the forest and wait when I found Gandalf."

"Gandalf!?" Bofur chimed in incredulously. "Gandalf was there? How?"

Fili only shook his head. "He said he was investigating some great evil. He wouldn't tell me anything for sure. But once I saved him the two of us got looking for Legolas. It took us a long time to get through the fortress unseen but we finally found him."

The dwarf stopped, brow furrowing at the memory. The look on his face caused Tauriels breath to hitch. "At first I thought he was dead, hanging by chains with more open wounds then unmarred skin. I haven't seen anything like it…..it was horrible."

Tauriel turned her gaze from Fili, staring into the fire with a pained expression. He had looked so well when he had just been here…

The dwarf continued his story. "Just when we were about to get him out there was what sounded like a battle outside the fortress. We escaped using the distraction."

"What battle?" Kili stared at his brother curiously.

Fili again shook his head. "We never found out. We hid in the forest until the sounds stopped. Then we ended up being saved by Radagast."

"Radagast? That old fool of a wizard?" Bofur raised a brow at the story and scoffed.

"He's the only reason Legolas survived." Fili assured the other dwarf. "His magic was amazing. Even Gandalf couldn't have healed those wounds so quickly."

"Where is Gandalf?" Kili spoke excitedly, wanting to see his friend.

"He left because Radagast couldn't carry us all on the sleigh. Said he had 'business' anyway."

Kili pouted in disappointment as Bofur crossed his arms mirroring the same expression. "He always had business."

All the rest of the conversation Tauriel thought quietly to herself. The news pained her greatly to hear. After what she had seen in the dungeon of Dor Guldur, she had thought the worst, yet immediately tried to keep in out of her mind. Now she couldn't stop imaging it, the pain….the fear…what he had endured. Her imagination played vivid images through her mind which nearly brought tears to her eyes.

It was her fault. She would give anything to have been there in his place. But it was already too late. There was no turning back time. The memories of what had happened would surely stay in Legolas' mind for as long as he lived.

Rising from her seat very suddenly, Tauriel quickly left, not answering the dwarves worried questions or returning Kili's concerned gaze. She had to be alone.

…
As Legolas entered the halls of the woodland realm he let out a sigh of relief, the tension he had not known was in his body leaving. He was home. He was safe. Escorted by the small party of guards, he pulled the cowl to further cover his eyes. He was in a hurry to speak with his father and surely any grand return from the dead would bring serious delays.

Passing the curious and suspicious gatekeepers, they quickly made their way towards the throne room. The small group paused before they rounded the corner to the throne. "This is as far as we dare go. We will leave this matter to you, my lord." Legolas nodded, watching them turn and hurry away, glancing back at him as they went.

Letting out a tiny breath and preparing for the worst, Legolas then rounded the corner and took the stairs up towards the throne. As his father came more into view, his heart dropped further in his chest.

It had been three days since the battle of Dor Guldur and the death of his son, yet Thranduil looked as if it had been the hour previous. He appeared to have sat down upon returning and had not gotten up since, which was actually very much true. He wore his armor still, dusty and bloodied from battle. His hair was dishevelled and dirty, and his face much the same way. In his hands he grasped a piece of fabric, bloody and torn and the only remnant of his son that he had left.

He didn't even look up when Legolas stepped off the stairs before him, only stared down at the fabric with blank and lifeless eyes.

The prince was speech less, his breath catching in his throat at the state his father was in. He had seen Thranduil in many states, cold like a winter's storm, fiery with anger, passionate in his rule and gentle as a breeze. But never had he seen him so defeated, so….empty.

"Adar." He whispered in shock, blue eyes wide, yet even the quiet word caused something to stir in the elf king. For the first time in three days Thranduil raised his gaze, glancing about as if disoriented. It took a moment but finally his dull eyes fell on the other person in the room.

In his shock at his father's appearance, Legolas had forgotten to remove the cowl and scarf. But his eyes still shone from behind the mask and that was all the king needed. He knew those eyes, but he did not believe it what he was seeing.

Moving as if he were in a trace, Thranduil stood, eyes wide with disbelief and shock. Slowly he took the steps down from the throne and approached the elf dressed in black. The ripped fabric fluttered from his grasp as he raised his hands to remove the cowl and scarf. His fingers hovered for a moment like they had over Legolas' sword when Tauriel had offered it to him, before gently pulling the scarf down to reveal the face of his son.

"This cannot be." He whispered, voice barely audible as he pulled down the cowl as well. Gently, he ran his hand through his son's hair, down his neck and then over his shoulder as if to make sure he was a live person rather than some illusion. Every breath he took shuddered as if he was having trouble breathing.

"It's me, Adar." Legolas raised his gloved hands to grasp his father's shoulders. "It's me." He had never seen such emotions from the elf king, never had he seen such love in those eyes. But what came next surprised him more than anything Thranduil had ever done. Abruptly, he pulled Legolas forward into an embrace.

Had he been not so filled with emotion, the pain from the pressure on his injuries would have brought him to his knees. But this was not the case. Instead he returned the embrace, laying his head on his father's still armored chest. And like he had when he was a child, he lost himself in the safety of the older elf's arms. Just barely he could hear Thranduil whispering. "You're alive, you're alive…" Over and over again as he buried his face in his sons hair.

After quite a while, the elf king finally pulled away, his hands never leaving Legolas' shoulders as if he feared his son would disappear if he let go. Studying Legolas' face, his expression turned for shocked disbelief to pained concern. Gently he lay his hand beside the wound that started just above the princes brow and travelled down the side of his face, ending just under his ear.

Knowing what his father was doing, Legolas tried to turn his head the other way. "Adar…" But Thranduil forced him still, gritting his teeth the more he studied the wound. "Please, you don't need to see."

"I do." The kings voice held anger now as his eyes travelled down to the scarf that hid his sons neck. "Show me."

Legolas stared at his father with wide eyes, worried that what he would see would only cause him pain. But he also knew that Thranduil would not quit until he had it his way. Sighing, the prince gave in, pulling the scarf entirely from his neck which displayed the ugly and still healing scars.

Thranduil watched with pained grief as Legolas then undid the clasps to the black tunic he wore. He paused for a moment before letting out a breath and fully pulling it off. Every inch of his skin was covered in a maze of different sized scars and still healing wounds.

Mouth parted and brows drawn together almost painfully, the elf king let out a tiny cry at the state of his son's health. Stepping around the prince he studied every injury that littered his body. The more he saw the hotter the anger that boiled within him until finally he stood before Legolas and spoke, fury in his voice. "If I was able, I would slaughter the ones who did this to you a thousand times over."

Legolas looked at his father sadly. From the looks of his armor and appearance, Thranduil HAD slaughtered the ones who did this to him.

After a moment, the moment the elf king spoke again, the anger faded leaving mostly regret. "How did you escape?"

"One of the dwarves from Thorin Oakenshield's party along with a wizard who called himself Mithrandir saved me." He watched his father carefully; curious as to how he'd take the news.

Thranduil only stared at him as if this did not compute. It was only when he remembered what Tauriel had told him that it made sense. The dwarf that she had said she'd sent.

Letting out a breath he spoke. "Then the dwarf has given to me the most precious treasure in the world." He knew at that moment he would not raise a hand to stop Oakenshield in whatever endeavor he had planned. He would not wage any war against him again.

Legolas let a smile slip onto his face at those words. He would not have to fear for the lives of Fili and his kin.

AUTHORS NOTES
This was by far the HARDEST chapter I've written. There was so much emotion here that it took me three tries to get right. Meaning that I literally wrote this chapter 3 times before I even liked it. But even now I don't feel like I've done the moment as much justice as I could have. There were some plot holes that I tried to fill but couldn't so ignore those.

Now is where it gets hard since I haven't thought up an ending. I had everything planned until that very moment. And then nothing. I got ziltch.
I know I've been updating daily, even more than once per day, but because I don't have an ending it might take me a little longer from here on out. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I wouldn't mind hearing them. Just write em in a review.

Urg. Characters are so hard to get right.

And here I am posting this at 4 in the morning when I have to work tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I do this to myself because I love you all, my dearest readers.