Trigger warning: suicide
Thranduil entered the Halls of Healing once more. He had not been here since he last saw the girl Tauriel, the one who thought he was her Ada. Sanewen had asked him to come. Apparently, the elfling was doing worse then when he had last seen her.
"Sanewen." Thranduil said.
"My lord." Sanewen replied.
"How is the elfling?" Thrnaduil asked.
"She...she is not well. Her wound still has not healed, in fact, it is getting worse despite my best efforts to close it, and...I fear she may succumb to her grief. She has become nearly apathetic. She rarely talks, but when she does, she sounds as though she is broken inside. She sometimes will simply refuse to eat. She can barely get out of bed. I fear—and I believe—that she longs for death. It seems that her fea is still attached strongly to this world and will not let her fade, but her mind has decided that she desires death so she can be with her family in Mandos." Sanewen said, tears forming in her eyes at the thought of losing the young elfling. She had become quite attached to the little girl.
"This is grave indeed. May I see her?" Thranduil asked. Thranduil did not want to lose an elfling, especially one so young. His youngest son was a few years older then Tauriel, and he was so full of life compared to how the elfling was described. The girl had not even come of age yet, and she was near death.
"Of course." Sanewen said, and led him once more to the children's ward.
"Hello again." Thranduil said, smiling at Tauriel, who was sitting upright in her bed. He was given only a blank stare in return.
"How are you feeling?" Thranduil asked.
"It hurts." Tauriel said sadly.
"What hurts?" Thranduil questioned.
"My heart." Tauriel said, tears beginning to form in her eyes. Thranduil swallowed the urge to hug the young elfling. Instead, he waited for her to continue. "I don't have a Nana anymore, or an Ada. My brother is dead too. I'm lonely, and I miss them, and I'm scared the orcs might come for me now. I want my Nana, but she's not here anymore, and neither is Ada, and I don't feel like anyone cares about me. I...I just want a friend. None of the other elflings will even talk to me, and it seems like I'm some kind of outcast. I just want my family, but every time I try to remember them, I just remember them dying. I almost want to die so I can be with them...it just hurts to be alone. I don't have anything to remind me of home, of my family. It feels like there is no one who loves me in the entire world." Tauriel didn't know why she was telling the ellon this. She didn't even know his name, but she felt like she could trust him.
Thranduil felt horrible for the elfling. His youngest was the complete opposite of the girl, full of life, energy, and laughter, but the elfing seemed to have given up on happiness. What she needed, Thranduil realized, was a family. Someone to care for her, not in a physical sense, but an emotional one. Someone to love her, and stay with her, even if she was asleep. He had to find her a family, but how? He didn't know of any families that wanted another child but could not have one. He suddenly heard his wife's voice in his head. "I've always wanted a little girl, but I don't think I can have another child." The words resonated in Thranduil's mind, and he started to wonder how his wife would feel about adopting Tauriel, and a slow smile spread across his face. That would be something to bring up at dinner tonight, but in the meantime, he could offer a friend.
"You don't have to be alone." Thranduil said softly. "I have a son, Legolas, who is a few years older then you. He is twenty five, and it is time for him to begin archery lessons. He would be honored if you would join him."
"Really?" Tauriel said. Her voice, Thranduil noted, sounded hopeful. Maybe she hadn't quite given up on life after all. It seemed that she was excited about the prospect of learning archery.
"Ada said that I had to be twenty five before he would teach me archery." She tried not to let the tears that pricked at her eyes fall at the memories of the many times she had tried to convince him to let her start early. She had always wanted to learn how to shoot, she had grown up watching her Ada be able to hit nearly any target.
"You can start now." Thranduil said with a smile.
"When?" Tauriel asked. She was most definitely interested in archery, and maybe she could make a friend. It could be as the ellon said—she didn't have to be alone.
"Well, first you need to heal. But as soon as you are well enough, you can start." Thranduil said.
"Oh." Tauriel said, seeming to deflate. She wanted to start now, but she couldn't. It made sense though. She was still weak and her wound bled more often then not.
"Don't worry, I think you will recover soon enough." Thranduil said. Tauriel had to agree with him. She now had something to look forward to, something other then a life of loneliness and grief.
"Ok." Tauriel said. She was still excited to start archery, and maybe she could make friends with the ellon's son, Legolas. It would be nice, to not be alone. Thranduil left the Halls of Healing. He would definitely have something to talk about at dinner tonight.
Legolas was worried. His father had explicitly told him not to be late to dinner tonight. That usually meant he had Something To Discuss. It wasn't often that everyone was told to be on time, usually no one particularly minded when they came, so long as they ate. This probably meant that Legolas was in Trouble, and big trouble. He couldn't remember doing anything wrong though. He had reluctantly stopped putting dye in the soap that was used to clean his father's elk. It had been very amusing to Legolas to see the elk turn pink, but his father was not pleased. Legolas had felt the extent of Thranduil's wrath the night they discovered it was him at dinner. Well, if Legolas hadn't messed up, then maybe Sadron did. Sadron was his older brother, and was also quite annoying. Sadron was always studying, and never wanted to do anything interesting. He always said he wanted to be a scholar or something boring like that. Legolas wanted to be a warrior. He was always bored when his tutor came to teach him his lessons, and couldn't wait to go and play with his friends, or play pranks on other people. It was always funny to see their reactions, except for the part when his father found out and yelled at him. That part wasn't so fun. Legolas looked at the clock. He realized he had less then five minutes to make it to dinner before he was late. He ran to the dining room, and paused at the door to straighten his tunic and catch his breath before walking into the room.
"Legolas." Thranduil said as the servants began to bring in the first course.
"Yes Ada?" Legolas asked. This was it. If he was in trouble, now he would find out what he did.
"We need to discuss your archery lessons." Thranduil stated. Legolas started. He had been looking forward to them for years! He had to have them!
"Someone will be joining you." Thranduil said, noting his son's sudden calmness. Legolas was relieved he would still have his lessons, but if it was Sadron that was joining him, he would teach himself. Then again, archery might be the one place where he could show up his older brother.
"Who?" Legolas asked, hoping that it wasn't Sadron.
"A girl called Tauriel." Thranduil said.
"Who?" Legolas asked, confused. He didn't know anyone called Tauriel.
"She is a few years younger then you. Her village was destroyed by orcs, and her family was killed. She shows an interest in archery, and will be joining you in your lessons." Thranduil said. If his family reacted well to this, he would bring up the possibility of her becoming a part of their family.
"The poor child." Galasriniel, Thranduil's wife, said. She immediately felt sympathy for the girl. Living without a family was hard. She herself knew that. Her father had been killed in battle, and she remembered what it felt like, and she had only lost one parent. It was a small thing, compared to what the girl had lost. She could only imagine how the poor thing must feel. Legolas was going to protest, and say that it was not fair that she could start when she was younger then him, but his mother's reaction told him that that might not be a good thing.
"When was the attack?" Sadron asked.
"About a month ago. She has been in the Halls of Healing ever since." Thranduil said.
"A whole month? Why?" Legolas asked, curious. She couldn't have taken that long to heal, even if she were near death it would only take a week for her to heal.
"She has lost her whole family, Legolas, and she is grieving. You should know that grief makes it hard for wounds to heal." Sadron said, in a tone that made it seem obvious. Legolas glared at his know-it-all brother.
"Exactly." Thranduil said, with an approving glance at his heir. "I think that what she needs to recover fully is a family. Our family." The Elvenking tensed, awaiting his family's reaction to his words.
"Oh!" Galasriniel gasped. She had always wanted a daughter, not that she didn't love her sons. "I...I think that would be wonderful!"
"Legolas?" Thranduil asked. Legolas thought it would be nice to have a sister, so long as she wasn't scared of frogs or anything like some of the elleths at court were.
"I think I'd like that." Legolas said.
"It would be nice to have a sibling who didn't constantly prank me." Sadron said, unable to resist a jibe at his younger brother, who sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"Then it is agreed. We will welcome her into our family. Shall we go see her tomorrow?" Thranduil asked.
"Yes!" Galasriniel said excitedly. She was already mentally listing the things that she would take to the visit tomorrow. She wondered if Tauriel liked dresses, or sewing, or if she was more bookish like Sadron or a little warrior like Leoglas. She couldn't wait to spend some time with the girl. She had grown up with all brothers, and had never really had a chance to do any of the girly things that she enjoyed so much.
"All right." Legolas said.
"Sure." Sadron agreed.
"Excellent. I will tell Sanewen that we will come tomorrow afternoon." Thranduil said.
"What does she look like?" Galasriniel asked.
"She had red hair that goes to her waist, and green eyes. I don't know her height, I haven't seen her out of bed yet." Thranduil said.
"She sounds pretty." Legolas said, not meaning to say it. Sadron would tease him for ages.
"You sound like you like her!" Sadron said, an impish tone in his voice. The rest of the dinner continued on like that, with Sadron teasing Legolas and Thranduil and Galasriniel discussing arrangements to have the elfling brought to live with them.
Tauriel was sad. Even though she would be able to start archery soon, and maybe make a friend, it would take too long for her to heal. She needed a friend, needed a family, needed to love, be loved, feel loved. It would take to long. Her situation was hopeless, really. No family. No friends. No one to care about her or take care of her. She wanted to be happy again, she truly did, but she couldn't be happy, not without her family. She so desperately wanted to see her Nana again, or her Ada, or Benion, just someone who reminded her of the days when she was happy! Sure, she saw them in dreams, but that was in the dream, the one of them dying, and that just made her feel worse. She tried to remember happy things but the bad things, the demons, kept chipping away at the happy things until there wasn't any left. Just sadness, loneliness, fear. Her constant companions. What wouldn't she give to take them away and make them her family again! She would give her life to have her family back together again, have them alive and well and with her. She would do anything to have them alive or her dead with them...anything.
Galasriniel was excited to meet Tauriel. So were Legolas, Sadron and Thranduil. Thranduil hoped that the girl's wound would not scare his sons, for they were young and not used to blood or battle. No matter, it would be well bandaged, and covered by a blanket, and his sons had managed to injure themselves before. It would not be the first time that they had seen blood, just not in large quantities. Legolas had sneaked off into the woods earlier, unknown to his parents, and had brought a frog, carefully concealed in a small box in his pocket. He wanted to find out if Tauriel was afraid of frogs. Most of the elleth in court were, even though they said they weren't. He had found that the best way to see if they were scared was to bring a frog. Sadron was curious to meet the elfling. He knew she was younger then Legolas, but she still might have a favorite book that they could talk about, and he could recommend a few, since she was stuck in bed.
The four elves of the royal family approached the Halls of Healing. Thranduil guided them to the children's ward, noting that Sanewen was not there to greet them, as she usually was. He went to the door that led to Tauriel's room, but he was stopped by a junior healer, Vanyafrom entering.
"My lord, I am sorry, but you cannot enter." Vanya said, worry in her voice.
"Why not? Never has entrance been denied to me in my own kingdom." Thranduil said, curious as to why he could not enter.
"It is the elfling. She is worse, much worse. I will explain, however, it is not suitable for children to hear." Vanya said, looking at the two princes.
"I see." Thranduil said hesitantly. He needed to know what was wrong with the elfling, but most everything could be said in front of his sons, except for a few things that no elfling should know.
"Sadron, Legolas, go to our rooms. We will meet you there." Galasriniel said, also worried for the fate of the elfling. Once Legolas and Sadron were out of sight, Thranduil asked Vanya what happened to the elfling.
"She is near death, and may perish at any moment. Somehow, during the night, she repoened her wound. It is worse, much worse now. Sanewen has not yet been able to control the bleeding, and if it does not stop, then the elleth will die."
Yes, it's dark. It may get darker, but probably not. We'll find out more next chapter. Remember to review, favorite, and follow! Starship T.A.R.D.I.S. out!