__King Thranduil's Point of View__

It was months before they talked me into coming home, and even then it was only because thirteen dwarves showed up on our doorstep. I wondered if they had anything to do with my son's disappearance, but after one session with Thorin Oakenshield, I didn't think that to be the case, though it could still have been possible.

After they escaped, I wondered if I should have questioned him on it. I worried they might stir up the dragon there. The memory of the dragon fire on Laketown still made me shiver as I sat before the fire.

That was two years priore and there has still been no word of Legolas.

The stronghold felt cold without him. Even though he had been gone most of the time anyway, knowing he might not come back made the icy wind's bite that much harder. I stared into the flames. Was he warm where he was? Winter was setting in again and I couldn't help but to think of him out in the cold alone, if he was still alive.

I stopped myself, dicarding the malaise thought. He had to be. No body had been found. I wouldn't belive him dead until they brought him back to me without a breath in his lungs.

A knock came at the door and I set my wine glass down. I opened the door and a page stood there. He bowed and then handed me a envelope. I dismisted him with a wave and retreated.

It was unusal to recive mail of this kind. Most reports and such went straight ot my desk, unless it was urgent, and in that case, Barahor would bring it to my attention. I sat back down, picked up the glass agian and looked at the handwritng. I froze and the glass dropped from my hand, shattering at my feet. I knew that handwrting. I knew it better than I knew my own.

Legolas.

My heart pounded and my hands shook as I tore the evelope, desprate to read it's contect. Could it be? Perhaps he made it to Imladris afterall. The papaer was brittle and the cresases tore slightly as I unforded it. I forced my breathing undercontrol.

Dear Adar,

I am sorry it has taken me so long to send you this. I am well, mostly. My illness has not gotten wose, nor has it gotten better. I just wanted to let you know I am alright and that I won't be comming home for a while. The attack on the inn made me reilze how hurt our forest is outisde of our borders. Someing needs to help them--I need to help them. But I have not forgotten my word and will not return until I am well.

I miss you, Adar, I hope you are well. Please do not worry over me. I will try to send word as often as I can. Until then, I am a soldier and I must continue to fight. They need someone out here, adar. They have no one. I have to help them. The forest is sick outside our borders. The fields beyond the treeline are dangourse, so dangrouse. Please don't send anyone after me. I have to fight for these people, please understand that. I'm alight, but I can't come home for a while yet. They need me. I will send word when I can.

Your soldier son,

Legolas.

I stared at it, turing it over and over. There has to be more. Where is he? Why does he think I care about his promise to not return until he was well? He is worse off out there. The way he repeated himself over and over in the letter made me sick. How bad off was he? Where has he been the past two year?

My mind spun as I stood. I needed to fine Thaladir. The search needed to be renewed. He hadn't stopped looking for him, but by this point it was only him and a volenter soldier named Dolenel. We had to place the others back on the front lines.

The halls blurred past me as I tried to find a servant or anyone who might be awake. Finally, a maid came into view and I called to her. "Find Captian Thaladir. Send him to my study immediately."

She nodded and ran at my command. I turned and headed for my study. I slipped inside and lit the candles, before pulling the letter out again and rereading it. There was nothing to tell where he might be other than in the darker parts of the forest. I paced the carpet. Where was he?

Finally a knock came at the door. "Come," I said turning and walking behind my desk. A moment later Thaladir entered. His hair ruffle, still dressed in sleepwear besides his sword and boots.

"You called, my lord?" he asked, bowing. Then he rose and his brow furrowed. "What is it? Is it Legolas? Has he been found?" I opened my mouth to explain, but no words came out so I handed him the letter. He took it and I began to pace once more.

His eyes scaned the paper as I ran my trembling hands through my hair. After what seemed to be an eternity, he looked up.

"I-- I don't understand," he said, looking back and forth between me and the leter. "Why does he think he can't come back?"

I let out a sigh. "When he left..." I cleared my throat. "When he left, he promised not to return until he was well. I didn't say differently because, knowing him, I needed his word to keep him in Imladris."

"And you were right to think so, if you don't mind me saying so," he said. "I love your son, but he pushes himself to the limit more often than not."

I rested my hand on my neck as I looked up with a slight smile. "In that, you are right. Still, I would like the search renewed. Take more soldiers with you. I don't care, just fine him and bring him home."

Thaladir nodded with a salute. "Yes, my lord, right away. And--" he stopped himself. "Presmision to speak freely?" I nodded and he continued. "I am not sure he will come back even if we do find him, not if he is still ill. His commitment to duty and keeping his word is too strong. May we, when we find him, take him to Imladirs?"

I stayed silent for a moment. I wanted to tell him no, that I wanted Legolas brought here the moment they found him, but part of me knew he was right. Legolas' commitment to duty was strong, and if he was as ill as his leter portrayed him to be, there was a chance his mind was set on not returning. The thought made a lump form in the back of my throat.

Finaly, I nodded. "Yes, when you find him, take him to Imladires and remain with him until he is able to return, but send word as qucikly as possible."

He bowed. "Yes my lord, thank you." And with that, he left the room, the door clicking shut behind him. I had no way of knowing how long it would end up being.

Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months which turned into years without any hope of finding him. He sent three more letters after the first one, each years apart, but they were always found by soldiers in one of the outposts and no one ever saw him.

Thaladir returned rarily, chosing to stay out for years at a time in an attempt to find him. He wasn't born when my wife and son were taken, but he has heard enough stories about my wife to know giving up on Legolas was not an option. Each time he returned, his fea would be dimmer and his body had sunken in on itself a little more. Part of me worried for him and I wondered if I should order him home for awhile. But the other part of me, the selfish part, wanted to ignore the signs of his declining health.

One winter night, I paced the floor of the living space of the royal wing, alone. The windows were open high above me and a cold draft encompassed the room. I didn't mind though, I was too caught up in my own mind, trying to figure out a way to keep the spiders back. Suddenly a knock came at the door. I stopped and walked over, cracking the door just slightly to see who it might be.

Before me was the bone-weary the sight of my former captain. Thaladir stood there. garbbed in his corroded armer still, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, ready to unsheath it at a moment's notice. He bowed and I quickly motioned him in. Bags had formed under his eyes and he swayed slightly as he stepped in and I shut the door.

"My lord," he started, his voice scratchy and rough. He cleared his throat but it didn't seem to help much. "I have come to report on the matter of the prince."

My heart leapt into my throat the same way it always did whenever he returned. I waited for him to continue, but his eyes had lost focuse and he swayed. I grabbed his elbow and lead him over to the couch before checking him for injuries. The action took me back to when Legolas or Calithilon would return so many times injured or simply exhauseted beyond their limits. I shook the thought away.

"Tell me what you know, soldier, then you may rest," I said, I tried to copy the tone my late wife would tell me to use with injured personal, but it still came out impatient.

Thaladir lifted his eyes, blinking, shaking his head to be rid of the wearyness. He cleared his throat. "Forgive me, my king. I have not slept much. Dolenel and I belived we had a trail, but it was a dead end. Most of the villages are gone and those who are still there are afraid to speak. We heard rumors of an elf as well as a bearlike man, but we could bring nothing of it. I am sorry." He hung his head, resting it in the palm of his hand, dejected. His shoulders slumped as he seemed to lose the strenth to keep up millitarty form even in my presence --something I had never seen of him. Something in me snapped at the sight.

As if he thinks he can simply tell me this news and then disrespt the crown more than he already has.

I stood, stepping back. "At attention, solder," I told him. He jumped up, standing straight, fingers to his forehead in salute. His eyes had gone wide, and his skin lost it's last remainding color, but he did as he was ordered, as he should.

I watched as his whole body trembled under the strain. I drew myself up. "I want him found. It's your falt he's missing! Any good captain knows better than to take a prince to stay where he is not safe, out there with humans and other creatures. But he is out there and he is alive. I want him found and I want him taken straight to Imladris. You will leave tomorrow. Don't come back until you can report his presence in Imladris with Lord Elrond's signature on it. Have I made myself clear, soldier?"

He nodded, the wild look still in his eye. Maybe it will give him the energy to fix what he messed up so horribly. I should have asked someone with a better work ethic to escort my son. But I now I couldn't afford to send anyone else without risking major damage to the defenses. "Dismissed."

He stood there for a moment, then he bowed and made his way to the door. I looked away, up at the open windows as a fresh breeze of bone chilling air struck my face. Again, like so many other nights, I wondered where he was. I wondered if he felt the same cold air I did. Did he have a fire to protect himself? Or did he brave the fridged cold nights alone. The other option was too painful to think about. The images of him curled up, avoiding the trechery of orcs or other foel creatures sent a bolt of pain through my chest that nearly brought me to my knees.

"Not him too," my fractured voice whisptered to the wind, tears leaked from my eyes. "Saes, Valar, not him too."

And there's another!! Just a quick word, my sister and I started a podcast called Chronicles of Fiction (link in my bio) where we read and talk about fanfiction. I would love it if you'd check it out if you haven't already! Thanks for reading!

-Sierra