The Healing of Elves and Trees

Title: The Healing of Elves and Trees
Author: Eliza 422 (eliza_422@hotmail.com)
Pairing: Elrohir/Haldir, Elladan/Legolas, Others
Rating: NC-17
Summary: AU Story. Elrohir and Celebrian are captured by orcs. They survive the attack but Elrohir is changed. Will he ever recover from what he has experienced?
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to JRR Tolkien.

Author's note: Sorry about the way I worded the comment about Haldir in the last chapter - I meant he will show up *eventually*. Sorry about that! This chapter is a bit short, but I need to get to the next stage. I hope you enjoy it. I seem to like it when elves fight.

Chapter 10

Elrond and Thranduil approached the entrance to the healing tent. Elrond stopped.
"I can't go in there, Thranduil. I can't face it."
"You must. You have to help Elladan and Legolas - you can't let them fade." Thranduil gently stroked Elrond's cropped hair. "Please."
Anorion appeared from around the corner of the tent. "My Lord Elrond, I just heard! What are we going to do?"
"We have to help Elladan and Legolas - the young healer said they were unconscious. Can we prevent them from fading?" Thranduil said.
"Have you gone in there yet?"
"No, we were just going to."
"Let's do it, then. My Lord Elrond, are you ready?"
Elrond nodded, and grabbed Thranduil's hand. The three elves entered the tent.

Thranduil looked quickly around the tent. The dimly lit space smelled of illness and herbs. He saw Legolas sprawled on the ground, face down, and Elladan nearby. He felt a cold rush of fear course through his body at the sight of his golden leaf so limp. He let go of Elrond's hand and knelt down beside his son. He picked up Legolas and cradled him in his arms. He gasped at how pale Legolas' face was. He felt the young elf's neck, and let out a shuddering breath when he felt the faint pulse. He picked up his son and lay him on one of the extra beds.
Anorion hesitated a moment before approaching Elrohir. He wanted to defer to Elrond, but saw that he was standing still, staring in shock at the sight of his two sons. Anorion walked to the bed and looked at Elrohir's face. When he had left the tent several hours earlier, the elf's face was red with fever, but now his face was ghostly white. Anorion slowly reached down to feel for a pulse, but stopped when he felt a faint hint of breath on his hand.
"My Lord, Elrohir's alive!"
Anorion felt for a heartbeat; it was very faint, but definitely steady. He went into a healing trance, placing a hand on Elrohir's forehead, trying to determine what had happened.

Thranduil turned sharply when he heard Anorion. Elrohir's alive! He looked at Elrond, who was still motionless by the front of the tent. He hadn't moved to help Elladan or examine Elrohir. He was shaking a little, looking almost as if he would collapse. Thranduil got up to help.
"Elrond, did you hear? Elrohir is alive!" Thranduil put his hands on Elrond's shoulders, gently shaking him to break him out of this fugue state. "Elladan needs your help. You must help him."
Elrond snapped out of it, locking eyes with Thranduil. "He's alive?"
"Yes, Anorion just said so."
Elrond looked at Anorion, who was standing over Elrohir in healing mode. He didn't know what miracle had occurred, but he could barely contain his joy. "He's alive!"
Elrond finally saw Elladan slumped on the floor. "Elladan!" He bent over to pick up his son. He laid him in a bed next to Legolas. He sat down on the bed and placed his hands on Elladan's body.
Elrond tried to establish a link with Elladan, but Elladan was too deeply unconscious to respond. Elrond could feel how low Elladan's healing force and life force had dimmed. What had these young elves done? Elrond came out of the healing state and moved to sit next to Legolas. He felt the same drain on the life force. It was even more severe in Legolas because the elf had no healing powers. Elrond opened his eyes.
"Thranduil, I think I know what they did. They formed a three way link and somehow transferred their energy and life into Elrohir."
"Is that serious?"
"Serious? No elf has ever attempted that before. No healer can heal himself. But Elladan has never studied healing, so what really happened?"
Elrond turned back to the two young elves. He shook his head in amazement at what they risked for their brother and friend.
Thranduil sat on the other side of Legolas' bed and stroked the short blond curls. "Will they recover from this? I can't lose my golden leaf." Thranduil's voice hitched a little.
"I think they'll live. I'm not sure when they'll come out of this coma, though. They are both very drained, Legolas especially. It might be some days before they wake up."
"Isn't this something you can heal?"
"We can try to restore some life force, but I'm not sure how much we can accomplish."
"Healing isn't all it's cracked up to be, is it?" Thranduil pressed his lips together, afraid to say anymore.
"What do you mean?"
"You can't do much of anything, can you?" Thranduil yelled, his anger getting the better of him. "You said you couldn't heal Elrohir anymore, and now these silly elflings have nearly killed themselves doing the very thing you said you couldn't!"
"That's not fair, Thranduil."
"I don't care about fair! My Legolas has risked his life to save your son!"
"I didn't force him to do it!" Elrond stood up to stare down the Mirkwood king.
Thranduil leapt up. "Well one of your twins did, and I want to know who! You raised two of the most ill-behaved elves I've ever seen. They would risk the life of an innocent to save themselves. Typical Noldo self-centeredness!"
Elrond stilled at that remark. "You are making scurrilous accusations, elf. My sons would never do such a thing and you know it."
Thranduil crossed his arms and turned his back to Elrond. "All I know is my golden leaf is at death's door and it's all their fault."
Elrond was ready to pounce when he heard a faint voice.
"Father!"

Elrohir was basking in the surge of energy from the other two elves when he felt the connection suddenly break and heard them collapse. He panicked, thinking he had taken too much from them, but he did not feel them fading away. They would take a while to awaken, but they should be OK.
Elrohir tried to fight his way back to consciousness. He had sunk so deep into the healing trance that he was having a hard time surfacing. He felt the presence of three new elves in the tent, but couldn't make any kind of signal or gesture.
Elrohir stilled when he felt Anorion create a healing bond. The elf was surprised when Elrohir connected to him, but was pleased to see the progress.
*So, my lord, I see you have rid yourself of most of the infection.*
*Yes, I have. Legolas and El helped me. Are they OK?*
*I think so.*
*Please, can you help me emerge from this healing? I am stuck, I think.*
*Hold on.*
Elrohir let himself go as he was pulled up by Anorion. Unfortunately the first thing he heard was the fight between his father and Thranduil. It didn't sound good. He had to set them straight.
Elrohir gathered all his strength and opened his eyes. "Father!" He could hardly speak.
Anorion held up his head to give him some water, but he was almost knocked over by Elrond as he rushed over to his son.
"Ro, you're awake!" Tears spilled down Elrond's cheeks.
"Don't cry, Father, I'll live."
"Is that a promise? I know I'm being selfish, but I don't want to lose you."
"Yes, I promise." Elrohir turned to look at Thranduil, who stared at him with smoldering eyes.My LMy Lord Thranduil, it was Legolas who came up with the idea to help me."
"Legolas? But you are a trained healer!" Elrond couldn't believe a little ellian like Legolas could have thought of that!
Thranduil scoffed. "Trying to place the blame on him, elf?"
"No, not blame, credit! Father, I think it was our training that prevented us from seeing the obvious answer. Legolas had a fresh perspective."
Elrond snorted in disbelief. "Are you telling me that a healer like yourself, trained in the most ancient methods of the Noldor, had to get medical advice from a silly wood elf?"
Thranduil bristled. "Not so much ancient as fossilized! You arrogant elf, so you think you're better than us? I see where Elladan gets his insufferable pride in his infamous heritage!"
"Leave my son out of this! There is no shame in being proud of your heritage!"
"I should have the same talk with you as I had with Elladan, I think."
Elrond refused to answer, and turned back to Elrohir. He was about to establish a healing trance when Elrohir grabbed his wrist.
"Father, apologize to Lord Thranduil. I am serious when I say Legolas was the one who thought of the whole thing. He was not locked into the ancient ways of thinking and came up with a better idea. No elf is too old or too wise to learn something new, right?"
Elrond looked at his son's pale, drawn face. He was embarrassed to be chastened by his own son, but Elrohir was right. He sometimes did get caught up in the glories of his heritage - he was as bad as Elladan! But his ellian son, so wise beyond his years, even after the brutal torture he'd been through, still thinks of others. Elrond bowed his head.
"I'm sorry, Thranduil. Elrohir is right. This is an amazing discovery, really, and we have Legolas to thank for it."
"What do you mean?"
"One thing we always have said is that a healer can't heal himself. We never thought about using a bond with a spouse or loved one as the source of healing power. Of course, considering the bond the twins have I'm not sure if anyone else can do this." Elrond looked up to Thranduil. "I'm sorry I called Legolas silly. I love him dearly and I've just let these past days get to me. You deserved better treatment. We will take care of your son, I promise."
Thranduil consciously forced himself to relax. "Thank you, Elrond. I know you've gone through some trying times. I get a little too protective of my golden leaf - I didn't mean to impugn your healing abilities."
"Well, if the two of you are done apologizing, I think we should see what we can do for these young elves," said Anorion.
"Tactful as ever, Anorion," Elrond said, smiling at his friend.
"I learned it all..."
"From me, I know! Quit reminding me!"
The two healers moved to sit next to Legolas. They established a healing trance in an attempt to restore some of his life force.
Thranduil hovered anxiously at the foot of the bed, desperately praying to all the Valar to heal his son. He even sent up a few prayers for his son-in-law.
Elrond and Anorion finally came out of the healing. They both looked tired and drawn, but positive.
"Is he OK?" Thranduil asked.
"Yes. We have restored what we can of his life force. I think he'll stay unconscious for another day or two, but after he awakens he should recover relatively quickly. Do you agree with my assessment, Anorion?"
"Yes, my Lord. Sounds about right."
"Let's do Elladan, then."
The two healers repeated the process with Elladan.
"El should wake up by tomorrow, I think," said Elrond.
"Why would it be sooner than my Legolas?"
Elrond sighed. "Even though he doesn't use it, Elladan has a lot of healing power. It isn't the same as life force, and it replenishes pretty quickly. In turn, that will restore his life force more quickly."
"My lord, I think you should get some rest. You look completely knackered."
"Thanks, Anorion, I think I will. Thranduil?"
Thranduil turned back toward his son. "I think I'll stay here tonight, if that's OK."
"That would be fine, my friend. I'll have someone bring some food and water."
"Thank you. And thank you, Anorion. I know you've put up with a lot today."
"It's all in a day's work for a healer, my Lord. I'm just happy young Legolas will be OK - all of Imladris loves him."
"That's true, Thranduil - we all do love him. I couldn't ask for a better son-in-law."
"Nor I."
Elrond smiled. He stood up slowly, feeling more drained then he ever had before. He followed Anorion to Elrohir's bedside. He had fallen asleep while the others were working on El and Legolas. Elrond was pleased to see he didn't look so pale. When his eyes traveled down to the swollen legs, though, he sobered. The infection was gone, but his legs were still very damaged, and his sprit was tattered. His son had a long way to go before he was going to get better.