Summary : Legolas' older brother is out roaming for vengeance. Legolas wants to tag along, of course, only to end up in a very big mess—like usual.

A/N : Hello, everyone! Yes, I'm back. Hard to believe, right? But, no, this is not a new story. Due to vast requests and blackmailed-clotted-demands, I've decided—finally!—to reinstate this story to the board. It was stripped down on 11/11/04, over five years ago now after quite a controversy. To tell you the truth, I can no longer remember how the entire controversy started! LOL!

Anyway, enjoy reading. And leave me a room to breath for I am writing another Legolas' fic as well as the original fic I posted on the FictionPress . net !

Read on, my fellow manyanian mania!

WARNING : You've been warned. He he…

It was still early morning when the sound of wailing infants sliced through the peaceful silence, pulling him away from his deep sleep.

Again.

Legolas, younger Prince of Mirkwood and Lord of Ithilien, blinked and groaned out loud.

"Please don't do this to me, my sons. Have pity on your poor father, will you?" he whimpered, almost sobbing, as he clumsily struggled out of bed towards the crib several yards way. He instantly froze when he saw that someone else had already beaten him to it.

Holding a baby in each arm, Prince Keldarion Thranduilion chuckled to see the dazed look on his younger brother's face.

"Good morning, brat. Your twin boys are upset. I could hear them yowling from my room. I believe they are hungry," Keldarion said as he expertly bounced his nephews to sooth them.

Sending his brother a weak smile, Legolas reached over for little Linden, the one whose hair was as dark as midnight. Lovingly cradled in his uncle's arms, the golden-haired little Hadrian yelled louder in protest at his twin's absence from his side. Legolas winced when Linden also increased the volume of his howling, his chubby small face turned almost red from the effort.

Keldarion laughed. "Such strong lungs these two have!"

"And I think I need a replacement for my impaired ears," Legolas replied ruefully as he dug through a small basket on the bedside table, looking for the two feeding bottles that his wife had placed there earlier before she headed downstairs at the crack of dawn to tend to her daily duties as the lady of the keep.

The bottles were wrapped in wool cloth to keep it warm and fresh. Legolas handed one of the bottles to his elder brother before he sat on the bed. Keldarion took a seat beside him, and the two sons of Thranduil started to feed the little elflings. Almost instantly, the crying stopped. For several minutes, the only sound in the room was the rhythmic suckling of the elven babies as they greedily took their fill from their bottles.

With a grateful sigh, Legolas leaned heavily against his brother's shoulder, his eyes closed. "Ah…peace, at last."

Keldarion grinned as he gazed deeply into his nephew's large green eyes, which were staring right back at him. "Can't sleep last night?"

Half groaning, half chuckling, Legolas replied, "Not a wink. These two midgets kept screaming their lungs out, demanding to be fed. Strangely though, the more we feed them, the more hungry they become. And they love to feed during my bedtime. I'm almost afraid that Nara and I have bred a new kind of species on Middle-earth."

At his uncle's throaty laughter, little Hadrian paused, blinked, and resumed feeding once more.

"All babies are like that, Legolas. You were no different when you were an infant yourself," Keldarion said. "But honestly, you sure look terrible, in contrast to your wife who glows brighter day by day."

"Oh, yes. My beautiful wife." Legolas smiled stupidly as he put down the now empty bottle and began to burp his son. "I don't know how, but she sure has the energy of ten persons! She wakes up at dawn, does all those things that females do, goes to sleep late at night, and wakes up the next day with a happy smile always on her face."

Legolas couldn't help grinning when he remembered how his wife had woken him up that morning, looking enviably bright and ever ready to face her busy day ahead.

"Good morning, my love," she had greeted, kissing her husband's lips.

"Leave me alone, my love," Legolas had mumbled in reply and continued to doze off, much to his wife's amusement.

"Motherhood seems to agree with her," Keldarion pointed out, as he also recalled how lovely Narasene looked in a pink muslin gown when they had bumped into each other on his way here. He had insisted that she headed back downstairs, saying that he would take care of her bawling sons. Smiling gratefully, Narasene had stood on her toes and kissed her brother-in-law's cheek before returning to the kitchen where she had been managing the breakfast preparation.

Keldarion had felt a slight pang then, knowing how lucky his younger brother was to have such a wonderful she-elf as a wife and soul mate. It was not envy he had for Legolas. He would never abhor his brother's happiness. Still, Keldarion had acute longing for the kind of relationship that Legolas and Narasene shared. The two were such a beautiful loving couple that Keldarion felt like a third wheel whenever he was around them.

He knew that everyone—especially his father, the great King Thranduil—expected him to find a wife for himself soon, but his heart had been hurt too much to simply forget his black painful past and continued on with his life. It was just too soon.

Besides, his one true love—the only lady who had managed to steal his heart—still had the ability to twist his innards into knots with her lovely smile. Unfortunately for him, she now belonged to someone else. Arwen Undomiel, daughter of Elrond, was now wife to his own friend, and a mother to four children. Whatever it was he had had for her could never be resurfaced. He would rather let bygones be bygones. He respected Aragorn and Arwen that much.

"Nara is a great mother, and a wonderful partner," said Legolas, unaware of his brother's inner turmoil. "I don't know what I've done to deserve her."

Keldarion sent his brother a sharp look. "Never say that again," he curtly said. "You two deserve each other and you know it. You have rights to be happy after all that you had gone through."

As he sat there, gently rocking Linden back to sleep, Legolas stared thoughtfully into Keldarion's cobalt blue eyes. "And what about you? Don't you think you deserve to be happy too?"

And that question kept playing at the back of Keldarion's mind all day long afterwards.

As Legolas disappeared into some parts of the keep as his responsibilities demanded of him, Keldarion settled himself in the solarium with his nephews, watching the two elflings sprawled all over the mat on the floor as they babbled baby noises at each other. Nobody knew what the six-month-old twins were talking about, but Keldarion bet they were busily plotting a 'Let's-wake-up-Ada-in-the-middle-of-the-night-again' plan.

The twins' nannies—the three young elven maidens doing some needlework in a corner of the sunny room—laughed softly to see the little boys' antics. Once in a while, they would glance coyly at the tall raven-haired warrior prince who sat alone on the window seat, trying unsuccessfully to catch his notice. The girls were deeply entranced by Keldarion's handsome features and powerful charisma, dark and brooding though he was. They secretly desired to be his wife, which would prove a waste of time because Keldarion paid the maidens no heed. His eyes and attention were solely on his nephews, his mind somewhere else.

Do I deserve to be happy? The question repeated itself in Keldarion's head, nearly causing him to tear at his own hair in frustration. Ai! Blast Legolas and his backfiring rejoinder!

He began to slightly regret coming home to his family, because they sometimes shoot him with such troubling and irritating questions!

Truthfully, he never regretted coming home. He had terribly missed his father and brother after many years of separation that he could no longer stay away. In fact, if not for him, his younger brother would still be trapped in the Easterlings village as a slave. Disguised as a Haradrim warrior then, Keldarion was the only one who had known Legolas' whereabouts. Armed only with a sword and his wit, Keldarion had wasted no time riding into the village to rescue his brother.

And imagine how shock his brother had been! All these years, everyone had believed that Keldarion had sailed to Valinor, never to be seen again. Legolas had had troubles to accept Keldarion's sudden appearance at first, but then he had gotten so elated he started to cry from it. Then his joy turned to horror and dismay when Keldarion told him the real reason he still lingered in Middle-earth, about the terrible fate that had befallen him, changing him into the hard and bitter person he was today. Instead of living happily in Valinor like everyone thought he was, Keldarion had been suffering a hellish life in the camp of the Corsairs. His ill-fated ship had been attacked, and he had been taken captive.

That happened over a decade ago. Keldarion had managed to escape his captors after spending five miserable years there as a slave. He had spent the next following years roaming the land in disguise, burning hot with vengeance. Nine men were now dead, while only one of his enemies remained. He was on the trail of that last man when he heard of Legolas' misfortune. He instantly dropped everything and rushed to his brother's aid, thinking of resuming his mission after he had taken Legolas home to safety.

Or so he had thought.

The moment he set foot in his brother's keep, Keldarion knew that his reclusive days were over. He was instantly surrounded by his immediate family and friends. They eagerly pulled him into their welcoming embrace, burying him deeper under their love and concern. His father had even dragged him along back to Mirkwood—known as Eryn Lasgalen now—to show to their people that Thranduil's long lost heir had returned.

Keldarion still loved his old home. After missing it for years, it now served as a soothing balm to his wounded soul. Yet, one particular thing would always haunt him for the rest of his life. And he would never rest easy until he got rid of the cause, once and for all.

Feeling highly on edge, Keldarion could not bear to linger in his father's realm. After four months of keeping close to the king's side, Keldarion had taken off for Ithilien in the pretense of seeing his beloved nephews. But his father knew better.

Thranduil could detect the restlessness in his eldest son. He saw Keldarion's need to strike back at the people who had hurt him. He didn't like what Keldarion was trying to accomplish because the father in him feared for his child's safety, but the king understood that the prince needed to do what he had to do if it meant bringing the old Keldarion back—the kind and loving Keldarion that devoid of bitterness and scorn in his veins.

And so, here was Keldarion, at his brother's home, trying to find brief solace before he resumed his bleak final mission. He had just been here for a week, and already the urge to flee began to stab at him. Thank the Valar for the twins! Somehow those two elflings kept his sanity in check.

With a rueful sigh, Keldarion got off the window seat and lay fully on the mat, completely ignoring the dreamy look on the maidens' faces. With gentle hands, he scooped his nephews and settled them on his chest, taking comfort from the little warm bodies near his heart. The twins' babbling started to dwindle as they drifted into a peaceful doze.

The twins' nannies gathered their needlework and quietly left the room, still sending longing glances towards the Mirkwood prince. Like before, Keldarion didn't acknowledge them. He had his eyes closed as he began to hum the longtime lullaby he used to sing to his infant brother. For a long time, nothing else bothered him. He was at peace, briefly though it was.

But that night, the horrendous nightmares came again.

Something had stirred him awake.

Legolas blinked to awareness and glanced at his wife. Narasene lay snuggled by his side, her hand slipping through the collar of his shirt to rest against his chest, right above his erratically beating heart. Looking so serene, she was fast asleep.

Gingerly, so as not to disturb her, Legolas scooted out of her reach and off the bed. Feeling highly troubled, he silently padded barefoot towards the twins' crib. A sigh of relief instantly burst from his lips when he found his two little boys deep in peaceful slumber, completely unharmed.

Linden, the elder of the two elflings, even had one arm wrapped around his twin. Legolas broke into a grin to see that. Linden was still a baby, but he had already become protective of his younger brother.

Just like Keldarion, Legolas thought with a smile as he bent to kiss both his sons' heads. He could never forget the way he had found the three of them in the solarium that afternoon. Keldarion had fallen asleep with the twins sprawled on top of him, his face looking so relaxed and contented.

Still, Legolas knew that his elder brother had lots of upsetting things on his mind, mainly his tormented past and his hazy future. He could see the hard glint in Keldarion's eyes now and then, his gaze always bleak and filled with fury.

Legolas fully understood what his brother was going through, because he had walked through the same painful path before. To be cruelly violated, body and soul, could rob someone off his spirit and extinguish his inner light. To continue on living after your dignity had been torn asunder was like swallowing a cup of bitter draught everyday, possible but terribly difficult to do. Legolas just hope Keldarion would find the way to heal, just like he had when he fell in love with Narasene.

Maybe a wife would do wonders to him, Legolas thought again as he settled the blankets more securely around his sons.

Then he suddenly jerked upright.

Valar! Keldarion!

Now completely certain of where his uneasy feelings had come from, Legolas bolted out the door and rushed towards his brother's chamber. He burst inside without knocking, and went to a stock still beside his brother's bed.

Keldarion was trashing beneath the sheet, moaning and whimpering sorrowfully against the nightmare that was plaguing him.

"No…" Keldarion sobbed, tears streaming down his closed eyelids. "Please…no more…"

Feeling his own throat constricted, Legolas stepped closer. He reached a trembling hand to grasp his brother's quaking shoulder. "Kel?"

But to Legolas' absolute surprise, Keldarion suddenly rose, yanked him down and rolled. In no time at all, Legolas found himself pinned hard under his brother's body, with the point of a very sharp blade hovering dangerously at his vulnerable neck.

TBC…