*Dedicated to Natascha van Gaal*

I woke up and turned over to realize I was in bed alone. I listened but the wing was empty. I lifted myself up on one elbow and brushed my hair out of my face. Stretching, I wondered where she was. As I looked around the bed chamber, I realized this was only the second time I had ever spent the night there. We had arrived in Rivendell late last night and everyone being worn out from celebrating and the battle had been given rooms and most immediately went to bed. Hedraliel mentioned that she had never seen Rivendell so full of people. It was as if most of Minas Tirith had emptied and everyone had come to Rivendell. The only one that stayed behind was Aragorn to make sure his new kingdom was secure until he returned. He was arriving today; Arwen had gone ahead with her father and the rest of us. Considering that after our wedding, she was leaving Rivendell for good to live with Aragorn and be the rightful Queen of Gondor, she wanted to spend as much time as possible with her Ada.

Today was the day before the wedding and I could hear that preparations were already well underway. I had gotten up; gotten dressed after a quick bath and exited the wing just as many different elven maidens rushed passed me bowing upon seeing me. I did not know Rivendell all that well so I walked toward the out of doors and saw elves hanging different garlands and lanterns all around. It was also pretty easy to see where exactly we would wed as it was on a bluff overlooking majestic waterfalls and trees. I heard my stomach grumble and wondered where I could find the dining hall. I asked a passing maiden and she pointed me in the direction of what was known as the main house. This is where Lord Elrond himself lived and they had the hall there. As I entered, I followed the directions the maiden had given me and entered the dining hall.

Lord Elrond was just finishing up his meal and to the right I saw many of my friends sitting down and enjoying theirs. Gimli saw me enter first:

"Oh ey there laddie, you are awake! Come grab some food, it is simply divine! And so is the ale!" He said with a wink and a belch that made the others laugh lightly as I myself smiled.

But before I partook in the meal, my eyes scanned the large room until I saw Arwen looking at me with a smile. She nodded her head toward a different room off the side. Moments later the love of my eternal existence and soon to be wife came through with Eowyn on her heels as they helped bring more food in. The two were laughing about something. Right before she saw me, Aragorn who I never knew arrived, patted me on the back and went over to hug his wife. How long was I asleep for? My thoughts were broken as a vision in silver appeared before me; she stroked my cheek as the others watched smiling trying not to stare. That got my attention back to the present as I looked her in the eyes and put my arms around her, holding her close to my chest. Her content sigh made my heart sing. When I let her go, I kissed her passionately, not caring who was watching. As we parted, she was blushing as usual and I brought her chin up just as my stomach grumbled again and she laughed, taking my hand and leading me to where the food was.

As she had already eaten, she just sat by me engaged in conversation with Arwen who was doing the same while Aragorn ate. He and I just looked at each other and at our respective women knowing full well just how lucky we both were. Everything had finally ended on a positive note. Lord Elrond was quiet sitting at the head of the table as he watched the noise and merriment with both pleasure and a mixture of sadness. Hedraliel and Arwen noticed it first; nodding at Arwen and whispering into my ear:

"I will be back in a bit."

Hedraliel got up and went to her uncle who asked to speak to her for a moment. She nodded and the two of them left the room. I had not a clue where they went but Arwen and Aragorn smiled at me as I joined their conversation as well as with Faramir, Eomer, and Gimli. The 4 hobbits were also in attendance. Mithrandir was the only one inconspicuously absent from the table. Knowing him, he always had some form of business to attend to or another.

When I was finished eating, I got up with the others and followed them back out. Eowyn was helping hang garlands and such and Arwen joined her. Meanwhile, the great Lady Galadriel herself was organizing and mediating jobs amongst both elven maidens and men. She smiled at me and then looked toward the main gate before smiling at me again. Just then, the horn of Rivendell blew marking the arrival of someone else. And here I thought everyone was here already. I did not see Hedraliel or Lord Elrond walk up behind me nor look at each other with satisfaction on their faces.

The gate was opened and to my complete and utter shock, my father rode in on a white steed wearing his silver gown and crown followed by a few of his guard. By the look in his eyes I could tell he was not sure if he should even be here. But then our eyes locked on each other and I could almost see tears forming in his. My father was here? I had to blink a few times to make sure it was not some form of an illusion. Then I heard Hedraliel speak up from behind me:

"Welcome to Rivendell, King Thranduil. We are pleased that you could make it." She and my father exchanged a knowing glance like they both knew something I did not and of course that was true but I did not find out about that until later.

"Thank you for having me. I am honored to be invited." My father said as he got off his steed and walked toward us as a lot of the others bowed to him.

Hedraliel then went around very quickly and made the introductions explaining who was who. The last person she introduced was Aragorn and explained to him that it was my father who originally sent me to find him half a century ago. Aragorn had forgotten about that but now he remembered and extended his hand; from one king to another. My father shook it with a tight smile; it seemed like he was holding a lot of different emotions in check. My lovely bride to be then stepped in again and said, primarily addressing my father:

"Why do you not both follow me and I will show you to your quarters so that you and your son can spend some time alone and in peace and quiet so you can speak as it will get a bit hectic here soon with all the preparations." We both smiled and nodded at her as she led the way not saying a word. She looked back once to glance at my father with a wise smile but that was all.

Finally she brought us upon a chamber near a really large waterfall. She had given my father a place fit for a king that he was and yet away from the craziness. The waterfall would soothe him to sleep and he could think and we could have our privacy. After she allowed us entrance, with a smile and a small bow she left us on our own. My father appeared restless at first, prowling around the chamber looking at everything. We did not say anything for a long time to each other and he had his back to me then finally turned around and I was amazed to see tears slowly sliding down his face. I opened my mouth to say something but words failed me. I have never seen my father cry; ever.

"Son, can you ever forgive me?" He said softly almost choking on his own words.

"Whatever for?" I mumbled out stunned.

"I have been a horrible father; ever since the death of your mother. It is like when she died, she took all the love and light I had within myself with her and what was left was an empty shell. Your future bride to be was right when she said that I needed to make things right and that I could not leave things the way they were before I left." He sat down briefly looking at the floor.

"What? When did you speak with Hedraliel and where are you going?" I asked; the surprises were not ending. He looked at me with a wry smile then that never reached his forlorn eyes.

"She is very enterprising. She sent me a letter via courier from Gondor right before Aragorn's coronation. She also invited Tauriel to the wedding but when I told her about it, she politely declined as it would have been too much for her but she does send her best wishes for eternal happiness for you both. She is preparing for our departure to Valinor. I must take her with me for I cannot let her continue to terry on here in Middle Earth. She is been through enough. I must do right by her that way. The princess made it clear that it was my choice to come or not but that the invitation was extended. I decided it was time to make things right with you once and for all. I cannot leave myself knowing how much damage I have caused without trying to set things right. Your mother would be very disappointed in me if I did. I have already let you down one too many times in your adult years."

I had no words to even respond to that, I just felt my body move forward and the next thing I knew I was hugging my father who got up just in time as I hurtled myself forward. At first the hug was awkward as he did not know how to respond. But then he went with instinct and put his arms around me like I had longed him to do since I was a young boy.

"I love you, Ada." I whispered.

No matter what he did or did not do, he had to know that he was still my father and I still loved him very much. It was my gift to him like him coming here and finally opening up was his gift to me. He did not or could not say anything for a long time and then he finally whispered back:

"I love you too, son. And I am so very sorry."

"Ada, what was Naneth's name?" I was nearly afraid to ask for fear he would close up like a shell again. But he looked at me with more sorrow as we still stood holding each other with my head buried in his chest.

"He-her name was Yuniel Curufiniel. She was beautiful. You have her temperament but I somehow assumed you already knew that."

I nodded and then we finally parted and sat down on two chairs next to each other as my father looked off into the distance and started to speak. He told me that they met by a river long ago and that she was a distant relation of Lord Celeborn. She was born in Lothlorien and had beautiful blonde hair and blue green eyes. She was very proficient with the bow and arrow which also explained why I was so good at it. Their wedding was the talk of Mirkwood and Lorien when it happened thousands of years ago. He also told me that my brothers Elros and Tilos were not really my blooded kin but orphans that my mother had taken in before she ever met my father. Both of their parents had died in battle and she fell in love with them so in a way my father had an already made family when he wed Yuniel.

However, both wanted children of their own and when I was born they named me Legolas because my mother always called me her little leaf. She did in fact die in Gundabad and my father could not bring her home so he had to bury her there in a secret place where the orcs would never secretly find her grave site. He was heartbroken first because she died in his arms after being ambushed by orcs with spears plus that he had gotten there too late to save her and secondly because he left her there and there was nothing he could do. His own men had to drag him away before he got killed. So when he returned home, he let his grief overwhelm him and he shut down to Elros and Tilos and though he still cared deeply for me eventually as I got older and was able to take care of myself, turned his back to me emotionally too because the older I got, the more I resembled my mother.

Ada told me that about half a century ago both of my brothers had packed up their families and without so much as a goodbye left for Valinor. They did speak at length with Tauriel but they had forsaken my father for abandoning them emotionally like their original parents and my mother had abandoned them physically. They wished they were skilled fighters as I was but they were just simple elves and though they still cared for me as their brother blooded kin or not, I had gone into the world to fight wars and they never knew when I would return. I was very saddened that I never got a chance to say goodbye.

"So you see my son, there are many things I have done and not done that I am not proud of. One of the main things and though the princess did say that no one holds it against me, I hold it against myself. I let you all fight this war without my help. I have an army. I could have stood side by side with you all and fought Sauron's armies. Instead, I hid because again I let myself believe it was not my war to fight. But this time I was wrong, very wrong. She said had you lost, Sauron would have destroyed Mirkwood and she was right. Alone, there was not a chance of facing against the dark lord. Yet I let you fight alone. Can you ever forgive me for leaving you to an unknown fate?"

Again his eyes were filled with tears and he seemed like a broken king facing his own mortality within his immortality. The great King Thranduil had become completely undone before his only blooded son. This time he let the tears stream down his face, he did not hide them from me. He was willing to risk it and be vulnerable in front of me just to show how repentant he was for everything; all the sorrow he caused to so many. I knew I had to set him free of his inner torment.

"Ada, thank you for telling me the truth finally. I have waited years for you to open up to me. Of course, I forgive you. And Hedraliel would not have invited you if she had not forgiven you either. Yes, I admit your help in the war would have been of much use but I understand why you did not. You must forgive yourself especially for Naneth's death. It was not your fault. I had to go through the same process with Hedraliel and her non blooded brother Haldir when he was killed in the Battle of Helm's Deep. She grieved so much for him that it tore my heart to shreds seeing her like that and that I could not do anything about it. And then when I nearly lost her myself in the last battle of the Great War, I knew a little about how you and Tauriel must have felt as I waited for her to wake up. I had never cried so hard, Ada in my whole life. She told me later that her sacrifice in that war landed her in the in between and she got to meet her mother for the first time and see Haldir one last time. I think it was while she was in the in between that she got the idea to write to you. Wanting to give us both the gift of closure and love for one another. It helps that she has the gift of foresight among other things." I smiled as I spoke of my bride to be.

Just as I finished speaking there was a knock on the door. I went to open it and it was Arwen. She smiled at both me and my father and she stepped aside as two servants brought in mine and my father's dinner. I looked outside and saw the moon had risen, I could not believe the whole day had passed with just my father and me speaking. Before leaving Arwen said to me:

"You and your father can spend the rest of the night here as you cannot see Hedraliel until the ceremony tomorrow." I looked at her wide eyed.

"Why not?" She rolled her eyes at me then.

"Because it is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding day. We have hidden her well here in Rivendell so do not get any ideas of trying to find her or see her, Legolas son of Thranduil. You will see her walk down the aisle to you tomorrow." She wagged her finger at me as my father smiled. After that she bid us both goodnight and hurried off after closing the door. I just shook my head and sighed; again I knew I would not win this one.

"Looks like it is just you and me Ada tonight." I looked at him with a pleased smile. He returned my smile. We looked out at the moon shining outside, sat down, and ate our respective meals in silence.

Afterwards, before heading to bed we went for a walk where I told him everything about the whole entire journey with the Fellowship, the battles, losses, wins, and so forth. I also asked my father the tough question of where exactly my mother was buried; because who knew what would happen in the future. Finally for the first time in maybe 1000 years or more, my father and I were on the same page. It was the best wedding gift anyone could have given me. Before we went to our respective sleeping chambers that night, we hugged each other and it looked like my father regained a lot of his youth again.

"I'm glad you are here Ada. Not just today and this talk but for tomorrow. It is so important for me that you are here."

"Me too, son. Thank you for allowing me to stay. I am glad we could speak about everything at last. I am also very proud of you; always was and always will be." We hugged again then and retreated to our quarters. I must say that I had never slept better in my life as I did that night.....especially knowing everything finally had come full circle and everyone that mattered was going to be there; for us both.

Tomorrow was our wedding day....