In Imladris- Chapter 7

Last chapter here, and is slightly longer so I could end it nicely, and not have a really short chapter at the end.

Disclaimer: see Chapter 1

The sun slanted into the room, playing across the deep green covers of the bed. Legolas sat on the balcony, watching the leaves rustle in the morning breeze. He sighed.

It had been two weeks since he had arrived, and he was gradually healing. The scars that covered him were fading, and he once again found joy in things, like watching the sun rise. He smiled, leaning against the wall. His golden hair flicked across his face and he scraped it back, pushing it behind one pointed ear.

The wind shifted, now coming from the south, bringing with it new sounds and noises. Legolas shifted. He could hear Glorfindel's voice nearby, along with others. And then a new sound made him stiffen.

The sound of clashing swords drifted on the wind to him from the training grounds and Legolas began to shake. His gaze blurred as he slipped from the balcony and stumbled backwards. The sound of clashing swords brought back memories and his vision swam, the scene from his balcony blurring into a bloody battlefield.

Legolas shook as he struggled with himself. No, he thought. No, he was stronger than this. That was what Elladan and Elrohir believed. He was stronger than this. He could fight this. He would fight this.

The images froze. Slowly but surely they began to fade at the edges, until only vague images were left. Then they too faded, leaving Legolas gazing once again at the view from his balcony. He still heard the ringing of swords, but now they were just noises carried on the breeze.

Legolas smiled, clambering to his feet. He still shook slightly, but he stepped forwards until he was leaning right out over the balcony. Slowly at first, unsure of himself, he began to laugh.

He heard the sound of his door being flung back, and Elrohir and Elladan appeared on his balcony, their faces worried at first, then delighted as they saw Legolas standing at the balcony, his face lit with laughter. Both of them could hear the clash of swords from the field and in an instant the twins knew what had happened, and what Legolas had overcome.

Legolas grinned at them and pulled Elladan and Elrohir into an embrace. "Hannon le" he murmured. "Hannon le, mellyn-nin."

0-o-0-o-0

The knock came on Legolas' door early in the morning. The door creaked open and a raven-haired elf put their head around the door, looking into the room.

"Legolas?" whispered Elrohir sharply. "Legolas, are you awake?"

A groan came from the bed and the blond elf blinked, his eyes focusing on the figure by the door. "What is it?" he murmured, half sitting up on the large bed.

Elrohir grinned. "Still not quite awake, are we?"

Legolas glared at him. "Not when it is so early in the morning" he muttered. He slid out of bed and stood up. "What is it?"

"Glorfindel wants to put us all through our paces" said Elrohir.

"You don't mean…"

"Thankfully, no" said Elrohir. "At least, not with Glorfindel. We are to spar with each other."

Legolas groaned as he hunted for a fresh tunic. "That didn't exactly go very well last time, did it?" he asked.

"Aye, but you are better than then" said Elrohir, stepping fully into the room. "But if you do not feel…"

"Nay, I was jesting" said Legolas. "I am quite prepared to beat both of you. I just wish you hadn't woken me up so early."

Elrohir grimaced. "Sorry." Though Legolas had been sleeping better, the horrific images still plagued him every few nights. Luckily last night had been quiet, or Elrond would never have agreed to let them spar today.

Legolas found a clean tunic and pulled his sleeping tunic over his head. Slowly healing scars were covering his torso, pale lines standing out against his skin. Elrohir winced as he saw them.

"Are they…?"

"Getting better" replied Legolas, running his fingers down one scar running down his side. The puckered flesh was cool beneath his hands, and he knew that the wounds would eventually disappear, as it is with all elves. "They don't hurt anymore, they're just a bit stiff."

"Then I suppose you have no excuse for when I throw you in the dirt."

Legolas looked up as Elladan came through the door. "And what is your excuse?" he asked, getting dressed in his regular green and brown clothes.

Elladan raised one eyebrow. "My excuse for what?"

Legolas snorted. "You know all too well what I mean. Your excuse for when I leave you flat out on the ground."

"Hardly likely" said Elladan. "We all know Noldor elves are stronger, and don't have to resort to cheap tricks to win over their opponents."

"Just because I am far quicker than you, does not make it a cheap trick" retorted Legolas. He slipped his feet into soft boots and grabbed his quiver. "I'm assuming no archery?"

"No" said Elrohir. "Swords, or in your case knives, only."

Legolas grinned. "See, you are not too foolish" he said. "At least you don't try to say you are better at archery than I am."

Elrohir grinned. "Are you ready yet? Glorfindel will get impatient, and you know what he is like."

"Valar forbid we anger Glorfindel, the mighty Balrog Slayer" muttered Legolas as he pulled his knives out of his quiver. "Ready."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Elladan. "This is no time for your stubborn elvish pride."

"I am sure" said Legolas confidently. "I am a warrior, am I not? This is what I do. This is what I can do, isn't it?" He smiled. "All I know how to do. I can fight, mellyn-nin, and I want to be able to fight. After all, what am I if not a warrior?"

Elladan and Elrohir nodded, and together the three elves left Legolas' room to head to the training fields, where an ever-impatient Glorfindel was waiting for them.

The twice born Balrog Slayer was tapping his sword against his side as Legolas, Elladan and Elrohir approached him across the field. He smiled grimly as the three elves approached.

"All of you ready?" he asked. "Don't look so worried, you won't be sparring with me, only against each other. Elladan and Elrohir, you first."

He and Legolas moved to the edge of the field whilst Elladan and Elrohir unsheathed their swords and began a pattern of warming up, crossing blades repeatedly whilst moving in a slow circle. The real sparring match would not begin for a few minutes.

Glorfindel looked over at Legolas. "Who do you think will win?" he asked softly.

"It will be close" said Legolas. "They have very similar fighting styles, and besides, they know each other so well they can almost predict what the other is going to do. It leaves them parrying blow after blow, neither of them quite managing to get the upper hand."

"But eventually?" asked Glorfindel.

"Eventually?" Legolas studied Elladan and Elrohir, whose blows were getting faster and faster and they moved around each other, though they were still warming up.

"I would say…Elrohir" said Legolas cautiously. "He has a longer reach with his sword, and Elladan will have to be faster than him to get inside and lay his defences bare. As Elladan is unlikely to be significantly faster than Elrohir, Elrohir will probably be able to disarm him before Elladan can do the same."

Glorfindel nodded thoughtfully. "It makes sense" he said, "but you are forgetting that Elladan has the surer footing than Elrohir, meaning it will be easier for him to drive an offensive." He smiled slightly. "They are about to start. We shall see."

Glorfindel was right, for the twins stopped exchanging blows and bowed to each other, swords raised. In a flurry of motion, they began to spar, Elladan attacking at first whilst Elrohir defended against the swift blows.

Glorfindel nodded as he watched, occasionally shouting out to Elladan and Elrohir. Sometimes it was advice, sometimes it was insults, and sometimes it was hard to distinguish between the two. Legolas smiled as he watched the twins spar.

Glorfindel sighed, having just told Elrohir off for allowing Elladan to get behind him. Legolas was pretty sure Glorfindel had invented some new words just then, and not all in Sindarin. The blond elf knew how to swear fluently in Khuzdul and Westron as well.

Glorfindel looked over at Legolas. "Are you ready for this?"

"When people stop asking me that question" replied Legolas. "I am fine."

"I know" said Glorfindel quietly. "But I also know you are not wholly healed yet, penneth."

Legolas shrugged. "This is what I can do, my Lord. I know how to fight. I can't stop fighting, or else what do I become? What is a warrior without a weapon?"

Glorfindel paused. "And what of hope?" he asked slowly. "What do you believe in now?"

"I don't know" said Legolas quietly. "Honestly, I cannot see a way we will win this, but then I cannot see the future, or know what will come to pass. Either way, I expect I shall be dead before the end comes." He chuckled slightly. "After all, I have already had some close encounters. It doesn't really matter what happens to me, though. As long as I don't give in, as long as someone steps up to take my place, that is what I have to believe in now."

Glorfindel nodded. "I suppose that is right" he said. "For I too do not know how this will end. Yet you must have hope, Legolas. There will be an end to this, and it may not be the end you are expecting."

Legolas frowned and looked at Glorfindel. "Do you know something?"

"Me" asked Glorfindel innocently. "Nay, I know nothing. I just think the end may not be as dark as you see it to be."

Legolas raised one eyebrow, then let it drop. "I suppose you are right" he said. "I cannot know what will happen." He looked out at the twins sparring. "But" he said. "I do know that Elladan just let his guard down, and Elrohir will have him in a matter of seconds." He grinned. "I believe it is time I joined the fight, Lord Glorfindel."

And Legolas was right, as Elladan fell to the floor and rolled away as Elrohir's sword bit into the ground beside him. He glared up at his twin.

Elrohir laughed, and offered his hand, pulling Elladan to his feet. "Enjoyed that?" he asked with a grin as Elladan dusted himself off.

Legolas laughed as he reached Elrohir. "Don't be too confident" he warned. "I have been waiting for a long time to beat you, and I am not giving up the chance now."

Elrohir glared and Elladan laughed, picking up his sword and walking over to Glorfindel. Legolas swung his knives in his hand, the sunlight glinting off the blades.

"Do you want to warm up?" asked Elrohir, leaning on his sword. Legolas grinned.

"In Mirkwood, we don't let the novices warm up once they are advanced enough. In a real fight, you do not get a warm up or a practice run."

Elrohir's eyes narrowed. "There goes your last chance of me being easy on you."

"When are you ever easy on me?" asked Legolas with a laugh. "Now are we going to talk, or can we start? The quicker we start, the quicker you end up on the ground."

Elrohir chuckled and Legolas laughed, raising his knives to a ready position. He grinned. "Ready?"

And he was met with a blurred blade as Elrohir swung his sword. Legolas parried the blow easily and slipped around Elrohir, testing his defences again and again, trying to find a weak spot. The ground under their feet became churned up as the two elves fought back and forth. Sometimes Elrohir had the advantage, pressing Legolas back with his stronger, heavier blows and the longer reach of his sword. But then Legolas would move, and it would change, the lightning fast strikes of Legolas' knives pushing Elrohir back, rendering his longer reach useless as the blond elf tried to get inside his defences.

Legolas heard Glorfindel shouting, and a small part of his brain interpreted the words, telling him to land heavier blows, and telling Elrohir to speed up or…

He did not have time to laugh at those last words, though. What Glorfindel was doing was an old training trick that Legolas himself used often in Mirkwood. In a battle, a warrior has to be completely focused on the fight, but has to also be able to react to everything around him, including commands from captains or from the enemy. Hurling advice mingled with threats and nonsense talk at the novices made them listen whilst fighting.

A small smile began to spread across Legolas' face as he fought Elrohir, and he sped up, his long knives flashing again and again in the sunlight. Elrohir was forced back, and then, as he brought his sword around in a swing that would decapitate an orc, Legolas slipped in under his guard.

In a second it was all over. Elrohir was on his back, and Legolas had the dark haired elf's sword underneath his chin. He laughed.

"I told you" he said, pulling Elrohir to his feet and handing back the sword. "I said I would have you on the floor."

Elrohir chuckled. "I should have listened. Next time, though, I will have you."

"I'm sure you will" said Legolas with a laugh. He stuck his knives in his belt. "Not too sore?"

Elrohir grinned. "Not too bad" he said. He looked up as Glorfindel and Elladan joined them. "You? How are the scars?"

Legolas shrugged. "I can barely feel them." He saw the question on the twins' lips and sighed. "And before you ask, I am fine. I am alright." His hands flipped his knives over and over.

"This is what I can do. This is what I am meant to do, and this is what I will keep doing. I am a warrior. When we are knocked down, we get up and we keep fighting."

Glorfindel nodded. "Excellent. Now, how about some archery?"

Elladan and Elrohir exchanged horrified looks. "No!" they cried together.

Legolas laughed.

0-o-0-o-0

Legolas walked out into the courtyard, shielding his eyes against the brilliant sunshine. His bow and quiver were strapped onto his back, and his knives hung in their sheaths. Only a few days ago he had sparred against Elrohir and had won. He grinned at the memory, mainly at the surprise that had been on Elrohir's face when he had hit the ground.

Over the past weeks, he had started to heal. The scars had faded. Although the nightmares were still present, Legolas knew he was not alone. He smiled slightly. Elladan and Elrohir still checked in on him every night. More often than not, they sat with him after he had woken in a blind panic, keeping him company until he could drift off to sleep.

He turned as he heard the swish of robes behind him, and saw Elrond approaching, Glorfindel close behind. Legolas bowed his head in respect, and Elrond smiled.

"I am most grateful to you, Lord Elrond, for allowing me to stay here in Imladris. The Woodland Realm is in your debt."

Elrond smiled. "You are hardly in my debt, Legolas" he said. "I think I speak for all of us when I say we are glad we could help."

Glorfindel approached Legolas. Over the few weeks, they had become closer, Legolas often leaning on the old warrior as well as the twins. After all, it was not common to meet one who had fought in Beleriand and Gondolin.

Glorfindel clasped Legolas' shoulder. "Travel well, penneth" he said softly. "I do not know when you will next be able to return here, so keep the peace and light of Imladris with you. Have hope."

Legolas looked up and smiled at the warrior in front of him. "Hannon le" he said to both Glorfindel and Elrond. He looked around. "Where are the twins?"

A noise behind him made him turn. The twins approached, dressed in long travelling robes. Between them they led three horses, and Legolas frowned. "What are you two doing?" he asked.

Elladan laughed. "We are coming with you, of course!" he cried as he walked over. "You didn't think we would let you travel back without us?"

Elrohir nodded in agreement. "After all, this is you, mellon-nin. You can get injured even when there are no orcs around for leagues!"

Legolas laughed, the silver sound filling the air. The elves surrounding him exchanged relieved glances as they saw the light spill from his eyes. He finally stopped, and moved towards his horse. Mounting lightly, he turned and looked over his shoulder to the twins.

"Well?" he asked lightly. "Must I beat you again in a race?" Legolas made a face. "It does get tedious."

Elladan and Elrohir immediately sprang on board. Elrond strode forwards, stopping them leaving for the moment. His eyes twinkled as he looked up.

"Before you go, just one more piece of advice." The Lord of Imladris raised one eyebrow, and fixed the three elves with a piercing stare. They squirmed underneath his gaze, and Elrond relaxed.

"Whilst in Thranduil's halls" he said. "Stay away from the Dorwinion!"

Legolas laughed, and pushed his horse out of the courtyard, Elladan and Elrohir following close behind. Their laughter rang through the fair valleys of Imladris.

0-o-0-o-0

Thranduil sighed as he slumped elegantly in his chair. He was bored and worried. It had been over a month since he had sent Legolas to Imladris, in the hope of giving him some peace. He had had no news.

The King looked up as one of his advisors started to say something. He sighed again, realising that the elf was simply reporting on a patrol. It was not important.

His gaze flickered upwards as a young elf slipped through the doors at the end of the palace. He hurried to one of the guards and whispered something. The guard in turn approached the high table, bowing respectfully on one knee in front of it.

Thranduil gestured impatiently for him to speak. The guard looked up. "My Lord…" he began, but was cut off as the doors to the room were pushed open.

Thranduil watched carefully. Three elves, their clothes dusty from travelling, walked across the room. He recognised the sons of Elrond on either side, but it was not them who captured his attention. It was the blond elf in the middle, walking towards him purposefully, that drew his undivided attention.

Slowly he rose from his throne. He was vaguely aware of the gazes of his advisors, but he did not care. As if in a trance, he strode around the table, coming to a stand in front of the three elves. Immediately, they all dropped to their knees, bowing their heads out of respect.

Thranduil gazed down at his son, almost fearfully. Was this the same elf that he had sent away, in a desperate bid to give him back some hope? Had his last, desperate gamble worked?

Legolas raised his head, and Thranduil, seeing his eyes, rejoiced. A light spilled from his son's eyes. His son may have changed, and the light may not be as bright as it was before, but it was still there, unquenchable and fierce.

Legolas looked up at his father, overjoyed at seeing him again. He waited with baited breath, wondering what his father would do.

He did not have to wonder long. Elladan and Elrohir watched with brilliant smiles on their faces as Thranduil stepped forwards. In one swift movement, he pulled his son to his feet, and enveloped him in his arms.

Legolas sighed deeply, holding fiercely onto his father. Thranduil could hardly believe it. Finally, something had gone right. His son was alright. "You came back" he murmured. "Thank the Valar, you returned."

Legolas smiled. "Aye, Adar" he said. "I came back."

The End

Thank you to all of those who have read this, and especially to anyone who has taken the time to review. I shall be posting a more lighthearted oneshot tomorrow, whilst I finalise the next multi chapter story. Hopefully the next one will be a bit longer than previous stories, maybe reaching over 10 chapters.

I guess the point of this fanfic especially is that things can't be fixed with a wave of a magic wand. The bad things that happen in life will happen, and the effects won't magically go away. But there are always people there who can help, and sometimes the best thing that you can have is friends surrounding you. They don't necessarily have to try and fix anything, they just have to be there. That is what friends are for.