Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own any of J.R.R. Tolkien's creations. I just love to play with them for a while.

A/N: Obviously, the dates here are my own creation. I never thought Legolas was as old as a lot of people think he was, so I've made him an age that is more in keeping with what I believe his true age may have been.

TA 2344

A dejected Legolas sat silently on one of the benches that were scattered along the pathways throughout the lush palace garden. His little legs were tucked up under him, and his hands were gripping the front edge of the bench tightly, as he slowly rocked back and forth.

This was his nana’s garden. But he knew it would be hers no longer for she was no longer here to tend it. Such a thought was so foreign to the elfling that he could barely grasp it. Tears rolled down his cheeks and dripped onto his knees, as his body swung over them.

When he had been told of his mother’s death, he hadn’t understood, not really. When his father had explained, leaving out the details, saying only that it meant she had left the forest and would not be coming back, Legolas had run from the palace, grief-stricken and confused.

Thranduil, his own heart breaking, had gone to the garden looking for his little son in hopes of being able to explain, in age-appropriate terms, what had happened and offer the child some measure of solace.

It didn’t take the king long to spot Legolas, sitting forlornly on the bench and staring down at the dirt path.

Thranduil sat down next to the elfling but didn’t say anything. He wanted to wait until Legolas was ready to listen. He was so young. Thranduil wondered how he could possibly make this child understand why his mother wasn’t ever going to return to their home? With determination, Thranduil pushed his own pain aside in order to deal with his son.

"Where did Nana go?" Legolas asked softly between his sniffles.

"Your nana went to the Halls of Waiting."

A puzzled look settled on the elfling’s face. He had heard of the Halls before but never knew what they were. "If she needed to wait for something, could she not have waited here with us?"

Thranduil’s heart ached at the question. He missed his wife dreadfully and was still suffering from shock at her loss, but he, at least, understood what had happened. Legolas did not. He was not only hurting, but he didn’t truly grasp why.

With a deep sigh, Thranduil continued. "Your nana loved all of us very much. You know she always called you her treasure. She did not want to leave."

"Then why did she?" the child demanded angrily in a tearful but loud voice. To him, if you loved someone, you didn’t go away and leave them.

"She had no choice, Legolas. If one had been given to her, she would have chosen to stay." The king’s voice was soft and gentle. He wanted his son to know that he hadn’t been abandoned by his mother because she didn’t love him or want to be with him.

Wiping his nose on his sleeve, something both of his parents would normally correct him for doing but was ignored now, Legolas asked,
"Who made her go away?"

Legolas had always been a curious child, asking anyone and everyone for answers to his questions. His confusion made that trait even more acute now.

The older elf was prepared to explain whatever it was his son needed to know to help him accept the recent tragic events. "You know that there are bad things in the forest. We have explained that to you before."

"The spiders and the orcs and the wargs," Legolas said with a disgusted look on his face. A shudder ran through the small body.

"Yes, and unfortunately, sometimes those bad things do evil to those we love, and they must leave us to heal, even when they do not wish to go.

"Your brothers and the other warriors of the realm fight these bad things, but there are times the bad things hurt us." Almost to himself, he uttered, "By the Valar, it will not always be so."

The young elfling let those thoughts settle in his mind before asking, "Will we ever see Nana again?"

"I believe that we will." It was what he had always been told, and Thranduil clung to that idea as fiercely as he ever had before.

"Is that what she is waiting for?" There was a note of hope in the elfling’s voice. He was trying desperately to connect his mother’s absence with the waiting part and then seeing her again.

Thranduil knew he had to be careful how he answered that question. His son was adventuresome and might well go off to look for the Halls to try and find his mother, thus endangering himself. If he lost this child, as well...

With another sigh, the king grasped one of Legolas’s hands in both of his large, strong ones. "She will come to us when the time is right."

Latching on to the first part of the sentence, Legolas smiled. "She will come soon?" It was as much a declaration of fact as a question.

Thranduil cringed. He had to answer quickly before Legolas became so excited he didn’t listen to anything else he was told. "No, Legolas. It will not be soon. You must be patient, ion nin."

The brief joy that the king had seen in his son’s eyes had now dimmed and turned to sadness once again. The small lips were trying hard not to quiver.

As he watched his tormented son, whose heart should have been filled with light and boundless joy, Thranduil formed an idea. He didn’t know if it would work, but if it would ease his child’s aching heart, it was certainly worth a try.

"Legolas, you know how much your nana loved this garden and how much time she spent here among the flowers, and the trees."

The elfling, with lowered head, nodded. He knew how much his nana loved this place. She used to tell him that she came here to help the garden grow. He remembered the times he had come with her, and she had taught him not only about the plants but the small creatures that called the garden their home.

"Did you know that your nana was going to plant a new tree right here near where we are sitting?"

Legolas looked up into his father’s face. "She was?" Then a look of wonder came to the young face. "But, Ada, trees are so big. How could she do that?" He had never thought about the fact that people could actually plant a tree.

Thranduil couldn't help but smile at the innocence of a small child, even one as precocious as Legolas. He nodded. "Trees start out just like elves. They are very small and grow larger as they get older." He started to say that he had been Legolas’s size once but decided not to add that bit of information to the elfling’s knowledge just yet. He knew it would lead to a whole new set of questions. Time enough for that conversation at a much later date.

"The tree your nana was going to plant is an elm tree and right now it is only a little taller than you are."

This piece of news amazed the elfling. "Really?"

"Yes, it is this high." The king held his left hand a bit more than three feet above the ground. "Now it needs someone else to plant it, so it can grow big and strong.

"If you would like, I will help you to plant it, and you can take care of it the way your nana would have. Then the two of you can grow up together."

Thranduil’s heart clenched, as he said that last sentence. It was exactly what his wife had said when she told him that was what she intended. Only she had planned to be a witness to that growth. Now...

Again the king pushed his pain aside. Legolas needed him, and he needed his youngest son.

He looked down at the bright eyes that were staring up at him in anticipation. "Can we plant it now, Ada? Can we?"

"Yes, Legolas. Now would be the perfect time."

Later that day, both king and prince stood up from their knees. Both elves were covered in fresh dirt and water stains. Next to them lay a shovel, a large bucket and a small, child-sized spade.

Legolas had been given the choice of where to put the tree, and he had chosen the very spot his mother had had in mind. It was no more than five feet from the bench Legolas and Thranduil had sat on earlier.

Father and son looked at the sapling with a deep sense of satisfaction.

"We did good, Ada. Nana would like it," Legolas declared, certain of what he was saying.

"Indeed she would. Your nana would be proud of you, ion nin, as am I."

"How long will it take to get big like the other trees? I want to climb it before I get old like you."

For the first time since his wife had died, Thranduil laughed heartily, a genuine feeling of joy inching its way into his broken heart. "I will have you know, dear child, that I am still perfectly capable of climbing a tree." He glanced down at Legolas with his left eyebrow raised. "As for this one, it will take a few years."

Legolas frowned, as if trying to figure it out. "Is that a very long time?"

"Not for elves," his father reassured. "Time will pass quickly."

Picking up the bucket and the digging implements in one hand, Thranduil held out his free hand toward Legolas.

Before taking his father’s offered hand, Legolas leaned over and tenderly patted the sapling. "Nana’s Tree," he whispered. "I will see you again tomorrow."

Then father and son headed toward the elven palace, their hearts just the tiniest bit lighter.

TA 2356

The sadness that gripped the Silvan elves after the queen’s death ran deep and would always be held in the hearts of those that loved the queen. But, because they knew she would not wish for grief to rule their lives, the elves of the Woodland Realm carried on. It sometimes took a conscious effort to move on with normal life, but, with time, they looked to the future.

Legolas was still very young, but he had felt the loss keenly. It was hard growing up without a mother. His older siblings had at least been able to spend many years with her. He was well aware that he was loved and supported by all of his family, yet no one could take his mother’s place. Even though he had been very small, he remembered the times she had eased his fears, tended his scrapes, happily answered his endless questions and sung him to sleep. The intervening years had not dimmed those memories.

Now Nana’s Tree was showing all the signs that it would not be too many more years before it grew into a sturdy and stately representative of its kind. Already its branches stretched out over the bench near it.

On this day, Legolas walked out into the sunlit garden and headed straight for Nana’s Tree, as he so often did. It was the twelfth anniversary of his mother’s death, and he always spent this day here where he felt most connected to her.

Their spirits were linked, as all elven mother’s were to their children, but this tree was something physical that the young prince could see and touch. It reminded him more acutely of his nana.

As was his custom, Legolas approached the tree with a smile on his face. Reaching out, the elf rubbed the trunk almost reverently before sitting down beside it.

Other than knowing his mother had wanted the elm to plant, Legolas couldn’t explain why he felt such a connection to her through this tree. She had never actually seen it much less touched it. His father had obtained the sapling for her and was planning to present it to her for planting, as she had wished, the day after...

Legolas shook his head. No matter how many times he thought of what had happened, the details of which he had learned over the years, he never could actually say the words dead, death or died. His mind seemed to shut down each time a remark came down to one of those words. It was childish, he knew, but his mind just wouldn’t supply his mouth with them.

After thinking it through many times, he supposed he felt closest to her here, because he and his father had planted this tree together in her honor.

The young prince began to pour his heart out, telling the elm of the events of his life since last he had been there, though his visits were never very far apart.

Legolas knew he wasn’t really talking to his mother through the tree, but it gave him comfort to think she was still able to hear him while she waited in the Halls until she could be reunited with him and the rest of her family. His father had told him it would be a long time, but sometimes it was very hard to wait. He hated to think that his mother was suffering the same kind of anxiousness he was. Perhaps, since she was much older and had experienced more of life, she had found a peaceful way of waiting. He hoped so, anyway.

"I miss you, Nana," the young elf said softly. "I do not know how long I can wait to see you again. Ada says I must be patient, so I will try to be so."

TA 2364

It had been twenty years since Nana’s Tree had been planted in the palace garden. It had steadily grown tall and strong and was by far the most beautiful elm tree in all of the Woodland Realm, perhaps in all of Middle-earth.

Though raised in a cultivated garden, the elm tree, to Legolas’s way of thinking, was as wild as any rushing river or deer or rabbit that lived in the forest. It was for that reason that Legolas, who had been so anxious for it to grow large enough for him to climb, had never done so.

The elm still had some growing to do, as Legolas himself did, but it was large enough now to easily hold him in it’s branches. But for some reason the elf was never able to understand, he always felt that the only one who should ever know its branches was his beloved mother. Besides, he had told himself, he had spent so many hours sitting beside the tree through the years, as they both grew, that it felt more comfortable on the ground at its base.

Every event of any import and often many that were relatively insignificant were reported to Nana’s Tree. He even told it things he would never tell another living being. The elm itself always responded, sharing sorrow and joy in their turn but always offering comfort and encouragement to the young prince.

TA 2383

Nana’s Tree reached its full maturity not long before Legolas did. With the impatience of youth, the elven prince had sometimes wondered if he would ever reach his majority. Then, the day finally came when the young elf came of age.

His family held a feast among the trees near the palace, inviting all the people of the realm that wished to come. Silvan elves were not ones to pass on a celebration, especially one as important to the royal family, as the youngest prince coming of age.

There was feasting, dancing and singing, and Thranduil was pleased to see his people so happy, despite the encroachment of the Shadow through the forest. Everyone, it seemed, wanted to take a break from their daily struggles by wishing their prince well.

After many hours of joviality, the celebration wound down, as the elves who had attended began to drift away and return to their homes. Those that lived farther out in the forest left first and only those who called the palace and its surrounding cottages home remained, milling about but knowing they, too, must call it a day.

Thranduil looked around for Legolas but didn’t see his son anywhere among those that were left.

The king knew better than to think Legolas would have turned in for the night. Truth be told, he would probably not go to bed at all this night.

Then it came to the king where his son would likely be found. He headed for the garden.

Thranduil stopped when he saw Legolas sitting under Nana’s Tree, the palm of his right hand resting lightly on the bark. He didn’t want to interrupt his son‘s quiet moment of contemplation, so he turned to leave.

"Do not go, Ada. Come sit with me."

Pleased at the invitation, Thranduil moved closer and sat down on the very bench where he had found a grief-stricken elfling years ago. "I though perhaps you were out somewhere continuing the celebration with your friends."

"I will meet them later at the river."

Thranduil preferred not to think what mischief his son and his friends could find to get into. The king also preferred not to think about how he had spent his own special day.

Changing his train of thought, Thranduil said, "This tree means a great deal to you, does it not?" He knew the answer to the question but hoped that Legolas would share some of his feelings.

"It does, because it has always made me feel closer to Nana. I have told this tree many a tale of my life." Legolas paused, thinking back over the years and glad that his father hadn't found out about some of those adventures. "I remember when we planted it," Legolas said, recalling that day when he and the tree were both so small.

Thranduil looked up into the gently rustling canopy of the elm. "Your nana would be so proud to know that you have taken such good care of it."

"Do you really think so?"

The king stood up, then walked over and sat down on the ground beside his son. "I cam certain of it."

Smiling, the king said, "This tree has grown up to be the best of what it was meant to be, due in large part to you."

"I cannot take any credit for its growth," Legolas declared firmly. "It is what trees do, and this one would have grown quite well on its own."

"Ah, but I did not say it would not have grown without you. I said you helped make it the best it could be. You have nurtured it by sharing your heart with it. What tree could not be its best after such a gift?"

Legolas couldn’t help but blush slightly at the compliment. "Thank you, Ada." He was too choked up to say more.

Thranduil leaned over and hugged Legolas tightly. When he let go, he placed his hand on his son’s cheek. "Legolas, never ever doubt that your nana and I are both very proud of the strong, caring elf you have grown up to be. You are also the best of what you were meant to be."

"I have always strived to please you, Ada. It gladdens me to know that I have." The young prince smiled, as he and his father lapsed into a contemplative silence.

Each, unknown to the other, was thinking about how much they loved the elf next to him.

"I never told you this, Legolas," Thranduil finally spoke up, "but your nana looked forward to the day the three of us would climb this tree and sit together among its branches."

Hearing that statement, Legolas came to realize that it was time to change his mind about thinking that no one else but his mother should ever climb the elm, so he gently nudged the long-held notion aside. It was high time this tree got to know an elf intimately. Two elves, in fact. "Will you climb Nana’s Tree with me, Ada?" the younger elf asked, as he stood to his feet.

With a broad grin on his face, Thranduil also stood, and together he and Legolas made their way into the canopy of the elm. It was only the first of many times that father and son would spend in the welcoming embrace of Nana's Tree.