Legolas could not believe what he had heard. He was so stunned he had to sit. Dearon's eyes watered and Idril glared at them. Legolas never thought this would happen. He was speechless. Dearon was so upset he had to leave. What they didn't know was that Violet was just around the corner. She heard what the healer said. It was all her fault. She ran to her room and cried. Idril just stood there and glared. It was all her brothers' fault.

Thranduil woke up in a bright white room. This was not his room. He sat up and looked next to him. A woman with brown hair was lying next to him. That was not Dawn.

"Who are you?" he asked. The woman turned around and his bright blue eyes were met with familiar green ones. "Hiwen?" She smiled before leaning forward and kissed him. He moved away and stared at her. "Where am I?" He stood and moved away from the bed.

"Thranduil-"

"Where are my children?"

"Thranduil-"

"Where is Dawn?"

"Thranduil!" He stopped and looked at her.

"What?"

"You are no longer in the land of the living."

Dawn woke up confused. She looked around and found herself in a room made of stone. She sat up and slowly made her way to the door on the other side of the room. As she was about to open it, she saw a note on the ground. Open the door and you shall never return.

"What?" she said to herself. "Why would I want to come back here?"

"Excuse me?" Thranduil asked.

"You are in the land of the dead," Hiwen replied.

"I died?"

"Yes."

"I will never see my children again."

"No…" He turned and looked at her.

"Hiwen, what are you not telling me?" She sighed.

"Technically, you could."

"What? Then why did you never come back?"

"Because I could not, but you can." She frowned. "But you will not go back, right?"

"I do not know. How long do I have to decide?"

"Only a few hours. Time is quicker here though. So maybe a day." He sat next to her. "You do not want to stay with me, do you?" He looked at her and gave her a small smile.

"I do, but my children need me." He reached over and grabbed her hand. "But we will see." She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. He had time, right?

Dawn paced endlessly around the room. She could stay in here or leave into the unknown. What was so special about this place? It looked like a prison. Who would want to stay in a prison? It reminded her of her life. It was her prison and she had wanted to escape so badly it hurt. She sighed and sat again the wall.

"That is the answer." The prison represented her life. She could stay here or finally escape. Since the prison represented her life, the door must represent her escape. And the only escape was… She stared at the door. "I can stay here and live, or go through there and die."

Legolas looked down at his parents' dead bodies. Both were cold, lifeless, peaceful… He did not want to believe it. They weren't dead, at least not to him. Dearon had refused to leave his room, as did Violet. Cílion didn't really say much. Joy didn't seem to realize what was going on. Idril, on the other hand, blamed him for this. She knew Dawn could have been saved, but what she failed to realize how selfish she was being, or that father may have died either way. None the less, she still blamed her brothers.

"My lord," one of the advisers said. "We need to bury them soon."

"We will bury them when I say so!" Legolas snapped at him. The advisor nodded quickly before leaving. He sighed before looking back at his parents. "Come back. Please."

Thranduil had stayed with Hiwen for hours. They talked endlessly about their children. She was happy to hear that they were all alive and well, but sad that she could not be there with them.

"How are you?" she asked. "Or at least, how were you?" He shrugged.

"I was well." She was a little taken back by this.

"I thought you would be lonely."

"You cannot really be lonely with eight children."

"Eight? We only had three."

"I remarried. We have five children: Cílion, who is ten; Violet, who is five; Joy is one; and Elon and Jade were just born." She frowned.

"You remarried and had other children?"

"Yes... It was only to give a poor mortal man some peace before he died."

"She is a mortal?"

"She was. After she had Joy, she somehow became an elf. All of our children are elves."

"Do you miss her?" He shrugged. "Do you love her?" Did he love her? He thought he could answer that, but he just couldn't. And he was torn. Did he want to stay here with Hiwen, his first love and queen, or did he want to go back to his kingdom? Back to his crown? Back to his children? Back to Dawn?

"I need to get back to them."

"Then leave." She stood and walked to the door before looking back at him. "Goodbye Thranduil."

"Goodbye Hiwen." She turned and left. He laid back down and waited.

"Thranduil…" He knew that voice.

"Dawn. I am coming home."

Dawn was conflicted. Escaping had been her dream for so long, but her children needed her. She wanted to be free, but she couldn't leave her children in prison. She didn't want to be tied down, but… But what? She couldn't come up with a reason why she didn't want to be tied down. Did she want to go back to Thranduil? Did she want to be his queen for an eternity? She was so lost in thought she didn't hear the door open and someone come in.

"Hello." Dawn looked up to see a woman standing in front of her. She had light brown hair and hazel eyes. Hazel…

"Mama?" Hazel nodded and sat next to her daughter. "Why are you-"

"Shhh. We are not here to talk about me. We are here to talk you. Do you want to stay or go?"

"I cannot say."

"Is the confliction not between leaving just your children, but also between leaving the man you love as well?" Dawn looked at her mother, who gave her a knowing look.

"Why would I be conflicted about leaving a man I do not care for?"

"That is a good question." Hazel stood and looked at her Dawn. "The choice is yours, and only yours." She opened the door and disappeared. Dawn sighed and stared at the door. She knew what she was going to do. She stood and grabbed the door handle.

"No regrets."