Reply to Anon reviews:

3 days drea.: All in due time... thank you for your review glad that you like it.

*Hugs & Kisses*

Have a great weekend and keep smiling.

LaureÏc: Sorry for the long time, RL, mostly and my old computer mainly, but now the story is back... evil grin.

Thank you for your review glad that you like it.

*Hugs & Kisses*

Have a great weekend and keep smiling.

--

Disclaimer and Summary could be found in chapter 1.

Beta: Aranel

--

13.

Later that day…

Imladris

The twins knew that Thranduil was in Imladris and they were afraid to meet him, or even see him at any meal that they had and even went to lengths to eat elsewhere.

Aragorn noticed it, and felt the need to let his brothers know that they should face the king sooner or later, preferably sooner; the twins should know that it was better.

Aragorn found them high in the trees as a rustle of leaves drifted down all of a sudden.

"Brothers, what are you doing up there?" Aragorn called, and getting the attention of the king, he gestured for him to come closer.

"We are hiding," Elrohir replied, whispering, not wishing that the king would know.

"Hiding from whom?" Thranduil asked the man as he came.

"From you, I suppose," Aragorn replied and then he whispered so only the king could hear, "I suppose now will be a good time to talk with the twins; ease the guilt from their hearts."

Thranduil watched as the man left, and he sighed heavily, knowing that the twins and he will have a long talk.

"Elladan and Elrohir, please come down from this tree; this tree has done nothing to you," Thranduil said in a firm tone.

"We do not want to," Elrohir told the king.

"I will not repeat myself," Thranduil warned them.

Elrond, coming by, watched with his adopted son as Thranduil spoke with his sons. Curious about the scene in front of him, he asked the man, "What is going on?"

"I thought that now will be an appropriate time for them to talk and clear the air," Aragorn told him grinning at the sight of Thranduil literally climbing up the tree and dragging his stubborn brothers down to the ground.

"Good thinking my son," Elrond told him with pride as he watched the three, hoping that they set things straight and together they will find out what happened to Thranduil's son.

Still, he kept watching the scene that played out between with his sons and Thranduil with a certain apprehension. Elrohir had started to climb down the tree despite the glares he received from his twin.

"Nice to see one of you climbing down," Thranduil grinned as he watched the younger twin on his way to the ground, and then he taunted the other twin, "Elladan, I am expecting to see you off the tree as well even if I have to climb up to get you down."

"We have to deal with this sooner or later, muindor…" Elrohir told his brother as he walked toward the king.

"Your brother is quite correct, Elladan, and you might as well make it now; the sooner it is, the better for you," Thranduil grinned at him and then he added, "Have you ever seen me getting mad?"

"Only in my nightmares." Elladan whispered.

"What did you say?" Thranduil taunted him though he could hear Elladan's words clearly.

"Nothing, my lord." Elladan replied quickly.

"Whatever you say, Elladan, remember this: I have quite a good hearing so I suggest you act with royal dignity toward me."

"I am no prince; I am the son of a lord," Elladan spoke quickly as he made his way down from the tree nonetheless.

"And this is the attitude that your adar taught you?" Thranduil asked him.

"I am not going to answer that," Elladan told him turning to get away.

"Where do you think that you are going?" Thranduil asked him.

"Away from you," Elladan replied and started to walk away but he was stopped.

"No, you will not, little one," Thranduil reminded him in a teasing fashion.

"I am not little," Elladan insisted and turned his head to face his twin who was grinning. "Tell him that I am older than you."

"Right now you are acting just like Aragorn when he was a boy," Elrohir grinned at his brother.

"Just you wait, little brother, your time will come," Elladan warned his twin.

"Is that a threat?" Elrohir taunted him.

"Of course, little brother," Elladan replied and then he continued, "Revenge is sweet."

"Are you two done?" Thranduil asked, looking between the elves.

"Are we done, Elrohir?" Elladan asked his brother while he took a step back.

"Aye, we are," Elrohir replied, smiling innocently at his brother who was nonetheless giving him a deadly glare.

"Good." Thranduil rubbed his hands before walking closer toward the twins and said, "I want to hear your side of the story. What happened when you found Aragorn - and I do not want to hear the short version, do you understand?"

The twins nodded.

--

"Where have you been?" Elrond asked his son as he felt his presence.

"To the kitchen, of course," Aragorn replied, and then with a smile on his face he asked, "Did I miss anything?"

"Have you ever seen Elladan acting like a child?" Elrond asked.

"He did?" Aragorn asked his father, and then he added, "I suppose Thranduil did not like the way that brother was acting. I did tell Elladan to change his attitude as he will achieve nothing with the way that he is."

"I think that I will talk with Elladan after Thranduil does," Elrond told his foster son.

"And I believe that would be a great idea, adar." Aragorn agreed with him.

--

On the next day…

Aragorn walked toward the kitchen, noticing that the twins, particular Elladan, was sitting as far from Thranduil as they could, and wondered what Elladan did this time to anger Thranduil.

"Good morning," Aragorn greeted him as he walked with grace, grinning like Cheshire cat as he turned to ask Thranduil, "Did you make peace with them?"

"I did, though I really want to speak alone with Elladan, after eating something." Thranduil replied and glanced toward Elladan who was clearly wishing that he could get away.

"Elladan will stay with you, have no worry," Aragorn assured him as he glared at his brother and then he added, "After all, adar and I should talk with Elrohir, anyway."

"What do you need to talk with Elrohir about? Why not with the both of us?" Elladan asked.

"Well, since you asked, my son," Elrond joined them and replied, smiling at him before he continued, "Elrohir is acting like a mature elf while you, Elladan, are still acting like an elfling."

"Me?" Elladan asked.

"Aye, of course you are," Thranduil assured him.

"I did not ask you," Elladan pointed at the king. Thranduil, though, only grinned at him.

"Is this how you treat a king in my homeland?" Elrond asked, giving him a very stern glare.

"But… but…" Elladan started to say but could get no further.

"There is nothing that you can do, Elladan," Thranduil told him, and then he added with a grin that lit up his face, "You will be under my supervision for a good while…"

"It is not fair," Elladan said, the sadness showing in his features.

"It will be all right, brother, you have nothing to fear from Thranduil," Aragorn assured him with a smile.

"Maybe only for you," Elladan told him.

"Should I assume that you are afraid of me, Elladan?" Thranduil asked as though surprised that the twin actually feared him.

Aragorn grinned, knowing that more would come between his brother and Thranduil.

--

The man enjoyed the day under a tree; watching the view in front of him, though his mind was elsewhere, thinking about his lost friend, remembering the past.

Elladan watched his brother in silence and could see by his features that Aragorn was in deep thought and also, there was the sorrow in his brother's eyes.

"Is it a private party or can I join in?" Elladan asked with a smile as he sat next to his brother.

"You can join, my brother," Aragorn replied as he tried to hide the sorrow and explained, "I was just wondering about something."

"Something that I should know about?" Elladan asked.

"Wondering how Legolas is, or where is he?" Aragorn said.

"What do you mean?" Elladan asked.

"His body was never found." Aragorn replied.

"Oh…" was the only answer to it.

Then his brother suddenly smacked himself in his forehead and muttered something.

"What is it, brother?" Elladan asked.

"How could I be so stupid?" Aragorn asked, raising his hand to give his head another good knock, only to have his arm restrained by Thranduil, who had heard his last comment.

"What do you think you are doing?" Thranduil asked as he released the man's hand.

"Hitting myself for not being good enough to find my friend," Aragorn replied frustratingly.

"We've already talked about it, and there was nothing that you could have done at that time," Thranduil reassured him.

"Then why do I feel that I could have done something?" Aragorn asked helplessly.

"Because that is what a real friend should feel," Thranduil told him.

Elrond and Elrohir, walking through the gardens, heard the conversation but decided not to comment about it.

"We have visitors," Elrohir announced, and then he added, "It seems that, after all, you are not going to be the only human here."

"And who is the other visitor?" Thranduil asked.

"Gandalf."

"Why would Gandalf come?" Aragorn asked.

"Why don't you ask him when he comes nearer?" Elrond suggested.

Aragorn nodded and stood, waiting for the visitors to come forward.

But the riders seemed to be enjoying their leisurely pace. Finally, Aragorn could see the gray hat of the wizard as the visitors emerged in the clearing. Beside Gandalf was a strange man that Aragorn had never seen before, nor know how he might have been connected to Gandalf.

When they finally arrived, Aragorn's heart was beating so hard that he thought the elves would have heard it.

"Gandalf, young man, welcome to Imladris," Lord Elrond greeted them, and then he asked with concern as he read the sorrow radiating from the wizard, "Is there something wrong?"

"I have good news and bad news," Gandalf only replied.

TBC…