Thank you to joellamariah,  Avaloyuru,  fateclaws,  Tiemna,  crystalily2003,  and . nathalieAlice for voting and commenting on the previous chapter! An additional thank you to lol23228 and lordThrandui for adding this story to their reading lists and spreading the tale.

"I have a terrible temper," Thranduil growled, pacing the floor. "I blame myself, ada. It is my fault; all of it is my fault. Think of how different it would have been if I had remained calm. I could have listened to Legolas and evoked the consequences without anger. Without hitting. Because I failed, I hurt us both."

"Where is Legolas?" Elladan asked from on his stomach by the chessboard.

"He is still tired from last night," Thranduil answered. He sat down and buried his face in his hands. "I can control my anger, ada, you know I can. I failed yesterday."

"If you need help re-mastering your temper, you have only to ask," Harune advised.

Elrohir sat cross-legged, watching his twin and Landion at their chess match. He rocked back and forth idly but stopped to look up at Elrond.

"You would have spanked us," he said.

Glorfindel bit his lip as he heard Elrond breath out in frustration.

"I spanked you in a calm state of mind, never in anger," Elrond said.

"You hit us intentionally," Elladan said. "Thranduil hit Legolas in a moment he could not control but would have, if he could. You hit us because you want to."

"Because I have to," Elrond snapped.

"There is always a choice," Glorfindel corrected. "You choose your own path, Elrond."

Elrohir came to climb onto Thranduil's lap. "You made a mistake. But you learned from your mistake and you fixed it. Elrond never tried that. Elladan and I both know as long as you can put aside pride and learn, you will continue to grow into a better person."

Thranduil put his arms around the elfling and squeezed him. Elladan added, "And speaking of learning, Landion, I finally beat you. Checkmate."

Landion inspected the board before he sat up. "Here is your bar of chocolate. I will play you for it back."

Elladan grinned and unwrapped the chocolate to bite a chunk off. "I think I will quit while I am ahead. Have some?"

"I do not approve of gambling," Elrond said.

"It is not gambling," Elladan objected. "It is a tournament and this is the prize."

Harune stretched in his chair. "You have a strong resolve, Thranduil. I know you will befriend your anger again."

Elrohir tugged on Thranduil's sleeve. "How did you un-friend it?"

Thranduil's eyes grew distant. "Ailunai died. I neglected everything and sought to find happiness at the bottom of a bottle. When Legolas came I began to find myself piece by lost piece. But I have not befriended my anger again. Not yet."

Harune rose to his feet. "Now the sun is shining and we are wasting away in here. Come you lot, the river water is warm."

Elrond watched his sons and Landion run from the room. Harune followed and Thranduil departed on an errand. Glorfindel rose. "I think I will join the twins; they could use a good dunking."

Brooding, Elrond made his way to the balcony looking out over the stretch of river outside of the palace. He stood under the shade of a fabric canopy and watched Elladan and Elrohir plunge into the clear water after Landion. Their shrieks and screams seemed not to bother Legolas, sleeping in the room through the window to his far left.

"Tea?" Harune asked, brushing back the curtain hanging over the entrance. He held a silver tray in one hand. Ice clinked gently against the sides of the tall glasses on the tray.

"Yes, hannon le," Elrond answered, leaving the railing to sit at the table with Harune. He picked up a glass of sweet, cold liquid and sipped it in the heat of summer.

"You could join them," Harune said without blinking as he sprawled himself in a wicker chair.

Elrond shook his head and held the cold glass with both hands. He leaned his elbows on the table. "I sent a letter to my wife. I feel as if I should be with her and Arwen!"

Harune tilted his head. "There is nothing to stop you from returning to Rivendell."

"I will not leave my sons here," Elrond said. "Celebrian knows I will return with them or not at all. She mentioned Galadriel and Celeborn grow anxious to see the twins home."

"Oh, we have received several letters of warning from Lothlorien," Harune said with a smile. "Galadriel and Celeborn are indeed most upset we dare "hold the twins here against their will"."

"And what happened to the letters?"

"We tossed them out," Harune answered, drinking a draught of tea. "After the first one came, reading the following ones merely provided a laugh."

"I am not sure I approve of your careless attitude," Elrond said.

"Ah, but you leave your work for Erestor to fight and struggle through," Harune replied. "At least royal blood occupies our office."

"It creates difficulties between Thranduil and Legolas," Elrond remarked.

"Indeed," Harune agreed. "It does create several difficulties but those soon blow over. Life is full of ups and downs."

"This is the first time I have seen Thranduil so angry," Elrond said thoughtfully.

Harune shrugged. "He does have a temper. It took a lot for him in the beginning to learn to be patient with Legolas. Even now, when Legolas steps past the line without meaning to, it explodes. Rarely, of course."

Elrond rose and returned to the railing. "I cannot say I have mastered myself as well."

"Old habits die hard," Harune said, coming to lean on the railing with him. His dark hair fell over his shoulder and fluttered in the breeze. "Do you still wish to spank them?"

The bluntness of the question caught Elrond by surprise. "I . . . do now know. What do you mean? When the twins do wrong I do feel as if I would like to deliver justice but I know if I do, I will fall back down the cliff I have worked so hard to climb."

"We will have to work on that. Once you are back in Rivendell, Thranduil and I will not be here to make the cliff and you will lose nothing by spanking the twins."

"Nothing but their love," Elrond said softly.

"Ah, it depends on how much you value it," Harune replied. "How much do you value the light in their eyes? From your practices since their birth, I cannot say it means much to you at all."

"It means a lot more now it has been tested," Elrond answered.

"Elrond!" Elrohir called, turning his face upward from where he bobbed. "Throw me a cookie!"

"It will be wasted in the water. Come out and eat it," Elrond replied.

Elrohir held up his dripping hands. "I will catch it. Come on! Saes?"

"Galion is bringing you all a tray," Harune called. "Remember to share."

The elf appeared on time, the tray in his hands, and set it on the rock beside Glorfindel as the elf lay in the warm shade. As the three elflings made a run for the tray, Glorfindel held up his hands.

"You have to earn the cookies," he said. "If you complete the challenges I give you, one cookie each."

"One?" Landion said. "Ada would never be so mean!"

Glorfindel ate a cookie. "They really are very good. I dare say I could eat them all."

"We could all rush you," Elladan said.

"After fighting a balrog, I think I could fend you all off," Glorfindel replied, helping himself to another cookie.

The elflings exchanged glances before they shrugged. "What is the first challenge?"

"I suppose Legolas will be all right?" Elrond asked, turning his back on the twins.

Harune nodded and finished his tea. "The twins have not objected to you putting them to sleep."

Elrond looked at him sharply. "No, for which I am grateful. Do you know of something they have yet to tell me?"

"Several complaints have arisen," Harune said. "But I trust the twins will tell you in time. If I disclose the information, it will not give them a chance to grow. Bring the tray with you when you leave."

Elrond stared after Harune as the elf left the balcony, his step light. The cloth of the curtain swished behind him. Elladan yelling caught his attention and he peered down to contemplate his wrestling son, wondering what the elfling kept from him.

The day came to a close, seeing Thranduil and Legolas comfortable in the King's chambers with cold milk, cookies, and Legolas's storybook. The dinner table emptied as Harune and Galion cleared away the dishes. Elrond bid Glorfindel goodnight in the hallway and went to tuck the twins into bed.

He finished tucking down the blankets and leaned down to kiss the elflings goodnight. He sat down on the edge of the bed instead of leaving, and his sons both looked at him.

"Do you want something?" Elladan ventured to ask, squirming.

"I thought there might be something you wished to share with me," Elrond answered.

"There is," Elrohir said in a rush. "The way you tuck us in is awful!"

"I beg your pardon? I have tucked you in in this manner for as long as I can remember and you have never complained."

"We had no right to complain; we had to take what you gave us whether we wanted to or not," Elrohir said.

"What would you have me do differently?" Elrond asked after a moment's thought. "What can I do to make it so you like to have me tuck you in?"

Elrohir looked at the blankets tucked tight around him. "When you tuck us in, you imprison us literally in the sheets. We have to lie still or mess it up, which you seem to not like. Tucking us in does not mean you have to use the same method you use to make a bed and tuck the sheets down. We would like it if you snuggled the blankets around us so we could be comfortable rather then neat."

Elrond stood up. "All right, let me try again."

The twins looked at one another before they nodded to Elrond. The elf lord pulled back the blankets and shook some air into them. As Elladan and Elrohir lay back against their pillows, tucking the fluffy white under their arms, Elrond let the blankets fall. He resisted the urge to tuck it straight and neat down the length of the bed and instead let it fold and crumple as he pulled the coverings over his sons. "Better?"

"Yes, hannon le," Elrohir said with a sigh. He hesitated. "You—you may kiss me goodnight if you would like to."

Elrond made no move to throw away the invitation and leaned down to plant his lips on Elrohir's rosy cheek. Elladan rolled over to look at him and said, "Me to."

Feeling as though another step stood below him, Elrond left the room with exuberance. It would take time . . . and more patience then he thought he had but perhaps he could convince the twins to come home with him. Perhaps he could show them he still loved them in a way they could feel this time.

Elrond stopped outside the door to Legolas's chamber and gave vent to a little sigh as he looked in and saw Legolas writhing under his father's dancing fingers, screaming with laughter. Nothing he could do would ever measure up to Thranduil's love for his son. Thranduil had avoided the mistake he had. But Thranduil had Harune.

"It is not a question of what you do not have," Harune said from behind him. "It is a question of who you are and what you choose to be. If Thranduil had grown under Oropher's hand without me to help him limp his way through it, he may have still chosen not to spank Legolas. On the other hand, he might have kept Legolas as a baby and, in doing so, kept Legolas from being abused. The possibilities are endless."

He smiled and released Landion's hand as the elfling darted to hurl himself on Thranduil, begging, "Tickle me to!"

Elrond gazed at Landion, thinking Elladan and Elrohir had never asked him to tickle them. He had tickled them, and they had laughed together, but when it was over, it was done.

"Goodnight," Harune said, his hand brushing Elrond's shoulder. "Ion, send Landion to me when you are done leeching the last of his energy from him."

"Mff," Thranduil answered from under both son and brother.

Thanks for reading! Reading your comments and thoughts at the close of every chapter means so much to me!

I am having a lovely time in Australia with my aunt, seeing many new things and putting new thoughts and feels into my writing. ✍️ 

How has Elrond done with the twins this time? I think he did a good job tucking the twins into bed.