Crouching behind the tapestry, Legolas held his breath as he heard Elrond cross the room and towards the door. Had he been spotted? Every muscle in his body was tensed up, and he shrank further behind his hiding place and another loud thunderclap roared through the air.

Making use of the distraction, he turned around and fled, angry tears stinging his eyes. How dare he? How could he? Elrohir had lied. His Elrohir, whom he always thought he could trust, whom he wanted to trust, had broken his promise! He had given Legolas his word never to enquire about his family, never to pry, and now he was going to. He would find out all about Legolas's father, and the shame it would bring on Eryn Galen would be immense. Even Elrohir could not be trusted. He thought he meant something to Elrohir, he wanted to. But now, it was clear that he had been wrong. Only his Nana loved him, and he wanted her so badly. He was weak, he needed to go back to her -- and he would do so, now.

*

Elrohir charged down the corridors, Elladan close behind him. The storm had broken with a vehemence that was rare even in the open, unprotected vale of Imladris, and Legolas was out there in it.

"We will find him, Roh," Elladan said, as they pulled their cloaks over their heads and stepped out into the rain.

Fat pellets of rain hurled down at the twins with such a force that it hurt, but they ignored it and doubled their pace.

"He cannot have gone far," Elladan said, while Elrohir maintained his stoic silence, attempting to fight down his fear.

It was Elladan who had discovered Legolas's disappearance this time. Elrohir had grown very quiet upon hearing the news, and they had given the household a thorough check to make sure Legolas was not hiding with another trick up his sleeve. When that yielded a blank, it became clear that Legolas had fled again, and so the twins had left word with a servant to inform Elrond while they hurried out in search of him.

"We must tell him the truth," Elladan said as they reached Imladris's entrance, having ascertained that Legolas had not taken a steed again this time. "He cannot live without knowing the truth of his mother's death!"

"First we have to find him," Elrohir said, speaking for the first time. "We should split up."

"Yes Roh," Elladan said. "You will feel my relief should I to find him."

Elrohir turned and set off in a sprit without a word, fighting the storm, refusing to be beaten. Images of the little Elf being tormented by the elements kept coming to his foremost thoughts, but he swept them aside, trying to concentrate on locating him.

A sudden thought sprang to his head, and Elrohir took a sharp turn east. Legolas was intelligent enough to know that his disappearance would not have gone unnoticed for long and that the twins could travel a lot faster than him on foot were they to go in pursuit.

He was rewarded a good while later when a shadowy figure materialised in the distance which Elrohir knew to be Legolas straight away.

Hurrying up, he wrapped his arms around Legolas.

Legolas jumped, for he had not heard Elrohir approach. He struggled while Elrohir spun him around. A hood was pulled over his head, but it was not enough to keep the rain out, and his wet hair clung to his face.

Elrohir dropped to one knee so that they were on the same level, ignoring Legolas's distressed resistance.

"Let go of me!" Legolas cried, his child's angry voice almost drowned out by the heavy pounding of rain.

"You are coming back with me," Elrohir said, equally determined.

"I will not!"

"Lass, do not break your promise."

Anger flashed across Legolas's face, and he hit out at Elrohir with a fist, striking his chest.

"You broke yours! You lied!"

"This is a mistake, Lass! At least wait till the storm subsides before you decide to be angry with me. Will you not come back to Imladris? Will you not trust me?"

Legolas's gaze dropped and his bit his inside cheeks to keep from crying. "I wanted to, Roh."

Elrohir leaned forward, and placed a kiss on his forehead. He withdrew and held Legolas's tentative stare.

"You have no reason not to."

A nod answered his fears, and Elrohir almost collapsed with relief. He settled for taking Legolas into his arms and enfolded him in a warm grasp.

"Valar, Lass, you scared me so!"

"Did I?" Legolas said, unsure what to believe anymore. On the one hand, Elrohir had lied to him, but on the other, he seemed so relieved at having found him again. Could it all really be a misunderstanding?

"Yes, I feared something would happen to you!"

Legolas buried his face in Elrohir's wet neck, thankful for his comforting presence once again. "I did not want to leave, Roh, but I thought --"

"Hush. Let us return to Imladris, away from this storm!"

*

When Elrohir and Legolas reached Imladris, the clouds had broken and a thin mist of moisture hung in the air. Unsurprisingly, Legolas had insisted on walking himself when they neared Imladris, and Elrohir had released him from his arms accordingly and they had walked the last mile while clasping hands.

Legolas let go of his firm grasp on Elrohir's hand as they met the sentry.

"Has Elladan returned?" Elrohir said.

"No, Lord Elrohir," the sentry said, staring at Legolas, a veritable picture of misery with his rain-sodden appearance and downcast eyes.

"When he does, tell him that I have found Lass," Elrohir said, reaching for Legolas's hand again and resuming their pace without a second word.

Legolas hung back.

"Roh?"

"Yes, Lass?"

"Can you follow me? Please?"

"You need to change out of those clothes."

"They will dry. Please, Roh?"

Elrohir thought for a while, then acquiesced to his request with reluctance.

Legolas led them out of the city and took a deviation from the road into the trees, trying to speak, but finding that words failed him.

Five minutes later, he swung himself up onto a venerable oak and scaled it with ease, indicating for Elrohir to follow.

Despite his misgivings, Elrohir did as he was told.

Legolas scurried across a large branch, and leapt from it onto a ledge protruding off a cliff, which he started to scale, ignoring the eighty foot drop below him.

Following close behind, Elrohir was filled with questions. Elrohir had yet to see any proper evidence of Legolas's physical skills apart from the odd scramble from enraged victims -- until now, where he found himself being amazed by the effortless movement and confidence as Legolas worked his way up the steep cliff.

They reached the top, and Elrohir gasped to see that it was a grassy ledge on a vantage point overlooking his city. A waterfall tossed its contents crushing down into a large pool far below them, and Imladris's silver rooftops were glittering in the sun's sleepy rays.

"Valar," Elrohir breathed, and he found himself falling in love with the beauty of his home again. There was once when no matter how many times he looked upon Imladris, each time found a new shimmer in the roof to appreciate, a new shade of green to marvel at. It dulled with the passage of his mother, but seeing it from this new cliff, he found his heartstrings being tugged at once more.

"It is so beautiful," Legolas said, breathing hard from the exhausting climb.

Elrohir stared at the glistening image before him. It was a long time before he spoke.

"I had nigh forgotten to look at Imladris in this light. It is the first time I have seen it in this way for many years, Lass."

"Your Nana's departure made you this way. It is the way I felt when my Nana left too. Only here did I find beauty among the trees again."

Elrohir turned to Legolas.

"How did you find this place?"

"A wren told me of it. She had seen it during her flight."

"A wren? You speak with beasts?"

"I have not tried since Nana left, although she saw me wandering among your Ada's gardens and spoke to me. I think she sensed my sadness."

Elrohir stroked Legolas's head, at a loss for what to say.

"It took me a while to work out how to scale the cliff, for the first eighty feet are impossible to climb -- either too smooth or too weak! I have never seen a sight like this before. It is beautiful beyond words."

"'Tis so."

"Roh?"

"Hm?"

"You said we had to talk once we got back to Imladris."

"I did."

"Why did you break your word?" Legolas choked. His eyes were accusing in the way that only a child's could be. They threatened to cut Elrohir to shreds with their intensity.

"I did not."

"But I overheard you, Roh! I was going to seek you out for a game of chess to pass the storm when I heard Lord Elrond's voice. I heard him say that he was about to search for my family, and you did not object."

Elrohir grasped Legolas and took him into an embrace. "No, Lass, I did object. I convinced him not to look, but I fear you must tell us the reason why you do not wish to go back to your family."

Legolas drew in a deep breath and broke away, distressed.

"Lass," Elrohir said, taking his hand.

When Legolas still did not reply, Elrohir sat down and leaned against a small rock, pulling the young Elf to him.

After a while, Legolas said, "Because I have brought dishonour to my father."

Elrohir's chest tightened, but he stopped himself from speaking.

"I am not strong enough for them. I have brought dishonour to my family. All I wish to do is to go to Aman, where Nana is, waiting for me. She always told me I was her Little Leaf, and will stay that way forever."

The inevitable was obvious to Elrohir, but now that he had to tell Legolas to truth, he found it impossible to get the words out.

"I am sorry, Lass, but your Nana will not be waiting for you in Aman."

Legolas pushed hard at Elrohir, facing him directly, eyes flashing, brows knitted. Elrohir could see that his composure was breaking, that he was fighting to hold himself together. It would take only a nudge to send him crashing over the precipice, and would Elrohir have to do that in order to make him see the truth?

"Why do you say that?"

"Because your Nana did not sail West."

When Legolas continued to stare at him, Elrohir pressed on, "Sometimes, when a grievous hurt is inflicted on one of the first-born, their bodies cannot bear it. It is most unnatural, but the feä is made to leave the damaged body, and it arrives in the Halls of Waiting. There, they are made to wait until Námo decides that it is time for them to be released and reborn into our world.

"Your Nana did not wake when you tried to rouse her because her feä had long departed. Your people buried her body because it no longer housed her soul. Death is incomprehensible to immortal beings, yet darkness enforces its hold upon us through it."

Legolas swallowed hard, mind racing, struggling to understand what Elrohir was trying to tell him. "Does this mean that I cannot go to her, that she is no longer in this world?"

"Yes, Lass."

Staring at Elrohir, Legolas did not react. Then, as Elrohir watched, it seemed as if each muscle in his face gave in, one after another as the forced bravery departed. Legolas started trembling, then let out a choked sob. A last ditch attempt to gain control was made, before the resistance gave in, and Legolas found himself biting back his tears. He wiped them away with a furious motion, but Elrohir grabbed his arm.

"I am sorry," Legolas managed to gasp, still fighting the tears. "I tried -- I tried not to cry --"

All Elrohir's previous caution and guardedness fled, and he scooped Legolas into his arms and held him close to his chest. It was the breaking point for Legolas, to feel Elrohir's concern and comfort pouring into him, and he gave up trying to suppress his tears.

"Why must you hide your grief?" Elrohir said.

Legolas started to sob, weeks of pain, fear, pretence, all unleashed, and he cried freely -- the first time since his mother left him.

Faced with such a sight, Elrohir's last turrets of defence crashed down, and he squeezed Legolas to him tighter still as one tear, then another, came splashing down his face -- the first tears that escaped his iron hold in years.

"She deserves your grief, Lass. They both deserve us mourning," Elrohir said, before his own sobs took over.

The pair clung to each other, grieving over their losses together in a way they had never allowed themselves, and Elrohir rocked them both as they cried till their tears ran dry. Then, and only then, Elrohir brushed aside Legolas's damp hair from his face, and looked down into the trusting face, at the one who had taught him to rediscover beauty -- and pain.

Still shaking, Legolas tried to contain his gasping, and the corners of his mouth tried to twitch upwards when he saw Elrohir's wet face and swollen eyes too.

"Do all Elves die? I do not want you to die, Roh. I will not survive you leaving me too."

Faced with such a solemn pronunciation, Elrohir was speechless for a while.

"Do you not believe me?" Legolas said, his voice becoming desperate. "I do not lie, Roh, when I say I want to be with you forever and ever. Please do not leave me."

"I will never leave you, Lass."

A sudden ray of hope seemed to sweep over the little one. "Promise?"

"I do."

Legolas smiled then, his entire face lighting up with the motion, and Elrohir found his heart swelling at the sight.

Reaching out, Legolas gently brushed at a tear which remained half-fallen on Elrohir's face.

"You are not weak to cry," Elrohir said. "And neither am I."

"Why? Why did they have to leave us?"

"I do not know. I doubt even the Valar know, Lass."

"Will I ever see her again, Roh?"

"I do not know."

Legolas drew out an acorn from his pocket and examined it, frowning hard while he tried to compose his thoughts.

"I picked this from a tree that was wilting. It was growing near the place where Nana sleeps underground. Shall we plant it here? If it sprouts, I will see her again, and if it does not --"

"We will make sure that it grows tall and strong, then!" Elrohir said, finally smiling.

Legolas gave a resolute nod, and he pressed the acorn into Elrohir's hands, before digging in the soft earth.

"This will be a good place for it to grow, for it shall have plenty of sun and rain, and the cliff is strong enough to allow his roots to take hold. We might have to nurse it through the harsh winter months this year, but it will be strong enough to endure the next."

Watching him, Elrohir was hit by his knowledge and affinity with nature that spoke of woodland origins. Yet, his knowledge and lilting accent were too refined to make him one of the dark folk -- were they not?

He was jolted out of his thoughts by Legolas tugging at his sleeve.

"Roh? Shall we plant it together?"

"Yes, Lass, if you wish."

Legolas attempted a shaky smile as he and Elrohir pressed the small acorn into the soil, and covered it up together.

Staring at the fresh soil, Legolas breathed a prayer for his mother, before turning to Elrohir.

"There is nowhere for me to go."

"Imladris is always here for you, Lass."

"Really?"

"Its doors shall always welcome you."

*****
Sindarin Translations:
Nana -- mama/mummy
Feä -- spirit

A/N: That was a gem to write, even if I did get myself all upset for their sakes, and it was indeed difficult going on at times. I am, however, satisfied that both Legolas and Elrohir have provided each other with the required comfort that they need, and am glad they can do so in the most innocent of ways. Just a little bit more to go, and thank you for your patience again.