A huge thank you to everyone who voted and commented on the last chapter! An extra thank you for being so patient for the this update; I know it is a day late. I had a bad cold and stayed in bed. So, thank you @Elf_of_hogwarts, @nathalieAlice, @Avaloyuru, @lordThrandui, @Tiemna, @crystalily2003, @felly_belly, and @snakehoe_for_pizza!

Harune leaned back in his chair, resting his bare feet on the footstool. He flipped his hair over his shoulders, resting his head against the back of the chair with a small sigh.

The twins were seated on the sofa to his left, poring over a book with Elrond's eye upon them from across the room. Legolas lay on his stomach before the hearth, a book open before him and a carefully constructed tower of cookies on a plate before him.

"You are supposed to be sharing them with us," Elladan said.

"Come join me," Legolas said.

"We are not leaving the sofa," Elladan said.

"And I am not leaving the floor," Legolas replied.

"But I want a cookie," Elrohir complained.

"Legolas, split the cookies on to two plates immediately and give the twins one," Harune instructed. "Unless you missed it, I am trying to relax."

Legolas pursed his lips as he looked at Harune with a thoughtful expression. Landion stood behind the chair with a comb in hand, applying it to Harune's open hair. Thranduil sat by the footstool, the tin of oil beside him open as he rubbed it into Harune's feet. The elfling hopped to his feet and went to retrieve a second plate without another word.

Harune leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "I wonder if a mud mask is in order."

Thranduil shook his head. "Not in this weather. In the spring."

Harune said, "I suppose you are right . . ."

"Winter will be over soon," Legolas spoke up. "And I am eager to resume my archery lessons, and go swimming in the river!"

"I am not made for archery," Landion said, working through a tangle of knots with care.

"Regardless, it is good to have a wide range of skills open to you," Harune said.

"I prefer the sword," Landion said. "And I have no time to consider taking lessons with anyone when my mornings are filled with archery lessons after breakfast and book learning before lunch!"

"Do not worry," Harune said. "You will have your lessons in the use of a blade soon enough. But swords are more precise weapons, Landion, and involve being much closer to your opponent. It involves a lot of blood and bruises. I prefer for you to be older before I put a sword in your hand."

Legolas opened his mouth as he handed the twins their plate of cookies. Without turning Thranduil said, "And the same goes for you, little leaf."

"Bother!" said the elfling and retreated to his place by the fire with a plate filled not only with cookies but with cold filled pastries as well. At Thranduil's gaze he explained, "The cook gave them to be. Um, he did say I was to give one to everyone." He looked a little wistful as he eyed the pastries, his eyes saying he would prefer to eat them all himself.

"I cannot eat one right now," Thranduil said, holding up his oily hands. "Save it for me."

Legolas nodded. As he handed round the pastries and sat back down to eat his, Harune's eyes opened, distant with memory. He smiled, grimacing as Landion pulled the comb through a knot in his hair.

"The importance of sharing," he said.

"A crucial lesson," Elrond agreed. "One children learn early with good guidance." He glanced at the twins.

"Perhaps," said Harune. "It is good to share but refusing to share is not a bad thing, depending on the circumstances. But I found some of the punishments for refusing to share most disagreeable."

The twins closed their book and put the heavy tome on the empty space beside Elladan. They looked at Harune. "Disagreeable? Maybe for you; it was less disagreeable and crueler for us. When we refused to share our toys with each other as babies or with the elflings we played with, and we refused Elrond and Celebrian's nudging's, Elrond would take us out of the room and spank us."

Elrond dropped his head into his hands and groaned.

"You should think about why you feel the way you do," Harune said, directing the elf lord with a penetrating stare. "But, speaking of such things, reminds me of a story from my very young years, and one I have remembered to this day for its morals and because it had such a large impact on my life and the lives of my parents."

Legolas abandoned his book with interest. "I have heard so little about your early years. Tell us the story! Please?"

Harune smiled. "I was not about to tease you with snippets, Legolas. Listen, Elrond, I think it may have some bearing on your life in small ways, if you are willing to see them."

Elrond sat back with an expression saying he very much doubted anything coming from the lips of the elf he despised could have bearing on his life.

Harune began, "I was an only child, and my years as a baby went by without incident for I was, on the whole, a peaceful and quiet child. My father was a soldier in the royal guard and my mother possessed life-giving magic. She tended to and healed dying trees. Both of them were believers in physical punishment, having been raised by it but they were never tested until I was as mentally old as a six-year-old human child.

"One that fateful day so many years ago, I refused to share my toys with my playmate. And, like Elrond, my parents saw a need for the first time to punish me. They sent me out into the forest to find a switch for that exact purpose.

"I was confused and for the most part dazed. For the first time in my life I doubted the love of my parents and it was difficult for my young mind to grasp. I did not understand the concept of the punishment. But I did understand that for the first time the people who had kissed my bruises and comforted my hurts were about to hit me . . . and those bruises and hurts somehow would be all right and not kiss worthy.

"For a forest, finding a switch is as simple as walking out your back door, but I wandered dazed for several minutes and in the end dragged myself home with tears in my eyes to face my parents without a switch but instead a very heavy rock.

"I faced my parents and I met their displeased expressions with one simple line. I said, "I could not find a switch, but here is a rock you can throw at me instead."

"Did they throw it?" Legolas asked.

Harune shook his head. "No. They stared at me for the longest time before my father took the rock and I braced myself for the blow. It never came. My parents came to hug me, and we all sat on the kitchen floor and cried while the bread burned in the oven.

"We had all learned a very valuable lesson that day. I learned the love my parents had for me was stronger then their beliefs, and that they were willing to find other ways to administer punishment, and they kept the rock as a reminder never to use violence to punish a wrong."

"I would have had a different ada from the one I have now if it was not for that," Thranduil said thoughtfully.

Harune grinned, the solemn atmosphere breaking up as he leaned to ruffle Thranduil's hair. "Perhaps. And now I feel magnificently rejuvenated! I do, in fact, feel like completing a fantastic bout of cleaning!"

As Harune hopped to his feet and strode from the room, calling his thanks to his sons, he did not fail to notice the thoughtful expression on Elrond's face.

Thank you all for reading. Your comments and thoughts always mean so much to me.

Next chapter: Celebrian discovers a nightmare.