Summary: A father offers his opinion on whether his son deserves the title he has been given.

 Rhuvendir, they call him. Master of the East, East-victor, whatever its kenning. I look to the East, and I laugh to myself. No, the victory does not belong to him, though they would give him the glory. My people do not want to place the responsibility where it belongs.

 Where once was only darkness...especially on the Dawnless Day...there is now light, clarity and beauty. I look down into the gardens; they flourish under Elven hands. My people...his people, I correct myself, for this is not my realm, and my home is his no longer. Not by my choice; I would welcome my child home with open arms. But his heart is his own, and he chooses to dwell here among Mortals. Mortals and Elves alike, the latter of whom name him Rhuvendir when they think he cannot hear.

And for what? Of course, my son marched into the East alongside Estel and the Dwarf, his brothers-in-arms. Of course, they faced down the minions of the Nameless, leading Estel's people. But was it their victory; his victory? No. In the end, the title Rhuvendir should rest on small shoulders indeed; two pairs, in fact. I would say three, were not one dead. I had the...dubious pleasure of, shall we say, hosting that one.

 A disagreeable creature, that; moreso than any Dwarf! And yet, in his sacrifice the fate of Arda turned and the Black Lands were cleansed of their horror. Yes, the victory is theirs; the victory belongs to the Pheriannath, for Mithrandir told me that, yes, that...thing had once been one of them. My son is not Rhuvendir; rather, he is Taidir, the victor's support. He is content with that.

Yet, he is not quite content. I see it in his eyes; I hear it in his tone. Not yet, no; but one day...one day, Estel will breathe his last. When that day comes, my son, the Taidir, will leave these shores to seek the West. Taidir he may be...but to me, East or West, he will always be guren. My heart...my Legolas.

*** 

A/Ns: "Rhuvendir" is a title given to Legolas in this story by the young, hero-worshipping Elves who join him in Ithilien. It is constructed by me, from Rhuven = "of the east" and dir "master" based off Quenya "Romendacil" which canonically was the name of two Kings of Gondor, and means either "East-Master" or "East-Victor" (as it was usually translated). My Sindarin dictionary provided no word for "Victor" (Victory, yes, but not "victor").

"Taidir" is likewise constructed from "taid" which means "second" in the sense of "support, second-in-command" and "dir" "master". Neither of these constructed words, of course, were used for Legolas by Tolkien, but I thought they fit. Hope that helps, if anyone was confused :)