I know that this story is going to slow down, and it's all I can ask of you not to give up on it and keep reading, commenting and voting the way you are! Thanks to:

ShockerGuardian1731 EstelElfstone dobblewolf New-Identity @Chrisch00 Definitely-Lost wolf_girl969 @makingitup66 Jaya-Avendel @Leggy_Legolas LusaCamalero  MeganCarter932 jijifiji @joellamariah TheLittleFerret @DragonFire0514 JoyroxieShantel

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But now, anyway, let's get on with the story...

Aragorn cradled the elfling in his arms. It felt right, somehow, to be together once again. The things they had both experienced in that camp would haunt Aragorn forever, waking him in the middle of the night screaming and drenched in sweat. But for now, he pushed it to the back of his mind. He had to focus on what was right in front of him, and right now, that was an elfling who he had promised to take care of, to look after, to protect with his life if necessary.

Right now, what mattered most was Legolas.

The horrors of Thranduil's camp drifted back into his thoughts as he held the now-sleeping elfling close. He realised now the true extent of the young elf's suffering for all those years he had been kept in a cell for a crime that Thranduil had simply invented, a crime he did not commit. It had been Aragorn's first taste of torture, but it had most certainly not been Legolas'.

The way the child had shut away his emotions and refused to speak, the way he had simply been able to handle the pain spoke of year after year of suffering and silent endurance. Years of hard-won survival, survival he had been made to believe he didn't deserve showed in his slim figure, hollow cheeks, saddened eyes and scarred body. The fact that he still had scars from days he most likely didn't remember showed Aragorn all he needed to know about his continual suffering.

Hopefully, Aragorn would be able to heal those scars. Allow them to fade, leaving the mind unmarked and fully healed. And once the mind was healed, those scars would eventually fade.

These thoughts filled his mind as he and his brothers moved away from the place they had found Legolas, Estel carrying the elfling, and found a place where they could make camp and finally relax.

It was cold. He knew it was cold, and yet he couldn't feel it. He could feel the rough touch of the stone against his fingers as they brushed against the damp wall. The wall was cold, too. He knew that. And yet he couldn't feel it.

The stone was cold, and the air was cold, but he was on fire. His body burned like a thousand snakes of fire were writhing over his back, and though he pressed it unmercifully against the cold, cold wall, the burning would not fade. It was dark too, but that didn't make sense. Surely the fire on his back would give off some light. It was dark, but he could see.

He could see the door creak open, the heavy bolt sliding softly back from years of daily use, and the soft golden torchlight framing the figure who now stood in the doorway.

The figure was tall, regal, cold. The cold in the room seemed to be emanating from him. And in his hand, he held a cruelly thin whip.

He couldn't take any more fire. The snakes of fiery pain would consume him if he let the figure add more. He pressed his back into the wall, despite the additional pain it caused, and fought at the hands that pushed him down, and tried to hold him still while they removed his tunic. He bit, scratched and kicked.

And then he woke. He woke to the face of Aragorn bending over him, muttering in elvish he did not care to listen to, and Aragorn's elven brothers, the sons of Elrond, gently holding him still as Aragorn tried to remove his tunic. The snakes of fire were still there, and Legolas realised that the pain came from the wounds he had been given in Thranduil's camp. He shoved his back deeper into the ground where he had been pressing it, stubbornly ignoring the sparks of pain the movement and pressure caused.

He frowned. The last thing he remembered was falling into Aragorn's arms, collapsing from hunger and thirst. Now he was lying on the forest floor far from where he - no, they, for they had all suffered at Thranduil's hand - had been imprisoned.

Hesitantly, he let them remove his tunic and tend to his wounds. They were red and angry, and clearly infected, which, in Legolas' current state, was a problem. Aragorn fumbled with herbs, grinding them into a quick poultice to reduce the pain and swelling, and hopefully to fight the infection.

Then he bandaged the wounds, as he had had no time to last night, and let the elfling sleep, free of the nightmares he knew he must have been having, by giving him a small amount of poppy.

Then he nodded to his brothers, and they packed away their camp and headed onward, to Rivendell.

It was a long journey. Legolas woke after a day or so, and walked clumsily with them, often tripping and stumbling from hunger and thirst, as their rations were depleted and he hadn't eaten in about two weeks, having drunk nothing for a week either. A human would be dead by now. In fact, Aragorn doubted that a human child would have survived past the age of five with Legolas' treatment.

The young elf was stronger than any of them knew, he supposed. His eyes followed Legolas' movements as he continued through the forest despite the pain, exhaustion, hunger and thirst he must be feeling and he allowed himself to smile slightly. Legolas was developing a sense of pride, of wanting to appear strong in front of the others. Aragorn hoped that meant he was healing.

They traveled for days, stopping only briefly to tend to Legolas' wounds as well as their own, and not to sleep, as with no rations, they needed to get to Rivendell, and quickly.

Stumbling down a rocky path one day amid fleeting showers and dark clouds sometimes slipping aside to reveal snatches of sunlight which dappled the earth in an ever-changing pattern, they turned a corner and there it was. Set high upon the cliff which stuck out into the river, with a tall waterfall spraying the front-most bricks with lively drops of water that bounced into the air and flecked the building's side, was Rivendell.

Home.

The sight lent them each strength to continue, and they quickened their pace, except Legolas. Legolas' pace slowed, and he became more and more hesitant to continue. As much as he wanted shelter and food, he had run from the Lord of Rivendell for a reason, and though he had been trying to convince himself that Elrond would be different from Thranduil, his father was still the only elf Lord he had ever met, and he dreaded meeting another.

Not to mention that Elrond believed him responsible for the near-death of Aragorn. What would the Lord of Rivendell do as revenge? He didn't want to consider it, so he slowed, avoiding the inevitable encounter with Aragorn's father.

A hand on his shoulder as they slowly crossed the bridge made him jump. Glancing up, he saw Elrohir looking kindly down at him.

"You need to know something - our father won't hurt you. He's a healer; he'll help you, and shelter you, and he will do anything to stop you from having to go back to Thranduil. And if he doesn't, I promise you that me, Elladan and Aragorn will do everything in our power to protect you. You will never have to go back to him again, so don't be afraid of Elrond. He is kind and he knows it isn't your fault, what happened. Go on. Don't be afraid."

Legolas took comfort from the kindness and sincerity of the words, and stepped hesitantly forward. Aragorn went first, followed by the elfling, and Elladan and Elrohir brought up the rear.

Emerging through the archway into the stone courtyard beyond, he stopped. There, on the steps in front of them, was Elrond. He was waiting for them to return, and once he had embraced Aragorn, Elladan and Elrohir, he turned to Legolas.

"You are safe here, son of Thranduil. You have nothing to fear from me, I promise you that. I know you have been through a lot, and you need my protection. You have it. Follow me."

Legolas glanced hesitantly at Aragorn, silently asking him to come with him. The human nodded at once, and walked beside the young elf as they followed Elrond through the stone passageways of Rivendell's halls.

He led Legolas to a room close to Aragorn's on a corridor on the first floor. The room was larger than any Legolas had ever really been able to look around, and contained a bed, a desk and chair, a wardrobe, an armchair and a large window.

"It's yours, Legolas, as long as you want to stay here. You will be close to Aragorn, and you can have your own space if you want it. We'll leave you to get settled."

Legolas barely heard any of it after the first sentence. His. The room was his. He had never owned anything before in his life, and now he had this... he had something, somewhere, that could be his home. His fingers trailed over the soft coverings of the bed and armchair, the smooth wood of the desk, the cool glass of the window. He opened it and smiled. It was by far large enough for him to sit comfortably on the windowsill outside the window, with one leg up against his chest and the other hanging down against the side of the building. He leant back on the wall behind him, as the window was set slightly into the stone, and smiled as the wind ruffled his hair and caressed his face. He could see the trees of the forest from here, and they waved kindly at him now, branches rippling in a cool breeze.

The sun shone warmly on his face, and he tilted his head back to feel the warmth on his face. Beside the window, within touching distance, a tall tree grew, white blossoms reaching out on thin branches, their honey-scented fragrance drifting through the air towards him.

He smiled for the first time in a long time. The world seemed right for once.

A sharp knock on the door jerked him from his thoughts and the door creaked open to reveal Aragorn. His face paled when he saw the elfling's precarious position on the windowsill, and he rushed inside.

"Legolas, get down from there! You need to bathe, change, drink, eat, and sleep!"

At the list of things to do, Legolas sighed and was reminded of the hunger, thirst and exhaustion that plagued him.

"Fine."

Slipping easily down into the room, he followed Aragorn to where he could bathe. He had never bathed in hot water before, and the warmth against his skin was beautiful.

Once he was clean and practically unrecognisable from the dirty, ragged elfling that had stepped into the tub of now-brown water, he changed into smarter, more comfortable, and more presentable clothing after his wounds were dressed and bandaged. The clothes were warm and clean, and the first clothes he had possessed that weren't ripped beyond measure and old, blood-stained and dirty.

His hair was brushed and braided, which took the best part of an hour, as it was the first time his hair had ever been brushed and it was in thousands of knots and tangles. Then food was brought, and for the first time in months, he could eat and drink.

It was the best food he'd ever tasted - salads and meats and bread with thick, creamy butter and sweet jam, cheeses and hams, biscuits and cakes. Once he couldn't eat any more, which was a surprisingly short time given how long it had been since he had last eaten, he drank for a long time and then collapsed into bed to sleep.

The weeks passed quickly in Rivendell. Each day was the same, and each day Legolas could do nothing but stay with Aragorn, as he was intimidated and afraid of the others. He spent much time on the windowsill, which Aragorn disapproved of, and could not trust anyone, flinching at sudden movements.

Two weeks since their arrival in Rivendell, Aragorn stood by the window of his own room, and thought. He wondered if, though Legolas' wounds were healing into scars, his mind would ever truly heal. He hoped so, and he decided to make it his responsibility to ensure the elfling's full recovery. Whatever the cost.

That chapter was longer than I expected, over 2000 words, so I hope you enjoyed it! Please comment and vote; your support means the world to me. I'm sorry about how long this chapter took, but I am very busy, and I hope this pandemic will at least give me the time to write more. Thank you to everyone for reading!

Oh, don't forget to vote :P