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…..

Five minutes.

I had been asleep for five minutes.

I had told them there was no point in me leaving to go rest, but everyone had ushered me away to my rooms anyways with promises to look after the king and his sweet little prince. I often wondered if they forgot that I did this for a living, everyday, for centuries. It was me who had taken care of the king through his coronation, and then the loss of his wife. Including every single trial and tribulations that entailed. There were very few things in life that I would consider himself an expert in, but looking after Thranduil was definitely one of them.

They had lasted five minutes without me.

As swiftly as I could manage I pulled myself out of bed, I hadn't even bother to change into sleeping clothes, and threw open the door. Judging by the look on the young messengers face, I didn't look very pleased to see him, "Yes?"

"Its the king, sir. And the prince."

Could he possibly have been any more vague?

"Meaning?"

"The little prince won't settle, he woke four hours ago and has been screaming since the very moment he opened his eyes. The king won't settle and the healers fear to give him any more sedatives to try and make him sleep."

Okay, so they had survived four hours without me. It was still an uninspiring amount of time, "Legolas is in his room?"

The messenger blinked for a moment as my casual use of the prince's name, "Yes."

With a sigh that was bordering dangerously upon a groan I closed the door behind me as I stepped back into the hall. Sensing his dismissal the little elf took the opportunity to excuse himself and scuttle away to his next task.

It didn't take me long to reach Thranduil's living chambers, with his son's room tucked inside with it. Knowing Thranduil was in the healing ward I didn't bother knocking, the elflings wailing nearly defend me as I stepped inside.

There were about seven elves all crammed into Legoals' room looking exasperated and worried, while the tiny prince continued to scream and cry.

Did they not realize he doesn't like strangers?

His eyes dart over to me the moment I step inside and I give him a bright smile, doing our secret knock on his door, the I do whenever I wake him up from in the morning or from a nap. "Good morning my little Prince!"

He stops his screaming, but not his tears. The elves around me look a little less exasperated, but no less worried. I shoo some of them out of my way as I walk over to the elfling stuck in his crib, "Look at this fuss you've caused, are you happy with yourself?"

He holds his arms out to me asking to be picked up, while he breaks out into his customary grin and one big nod. Easily I swing him up and into my arms, blowing a raspberry onto his cheek once he is there, "Of course you are. You are your father's son, after all."

Now that he's in my arms he looks at me with those massive watery blue eyes uncomfortably close up, obviously letting me know his problem was by no means solved, "Are they not listening to you?"

One of the elves in the room shifts as though he wishes to defend himself, but decided against him when the little elfling curled in my arms gives him an equally watery, but far more accusatory look.

"Alright let's go, shall we?" I make to head out the door but Legolas kicks his feet in protest, for a moment I'm puzzled as to why but then I realize, "Ah yes! We cannot forget blankey can we."

Nobody says anything as I whisk Legolas away from their care and out the door and back into the hallway. Nobody says anything when I enter Thranduil's healing ward room without knocking, either.

I can still see the bandage that covers the poisoned wound from an Orcs blade, his eyes flutter back and forth under his lids, but he looks better than he did earlier that day.

One of the healers gives me an exasperated look that is strikingly like the ones I got from those who had been with Legolas, "He won't stop fighting the sedatives."

Legolas and I exchange a look, then I turn back to the healer and he looks towards his sleeping father. It was a small miracle they had lasted four hours without me. "Obviously not."

I softly walk Legolas across the room and he begins to struggle in my arms in an attempt to break free, "Ada!"

"Shhh!" I warn him, placing him very softly on Thranduil's bed, "Ada's sleeping."

Legolas looks a bit disappointed, but considering it the middle of the night and he knows he ought to be sleeping too, he's not surprised. Carefully he crawls closer to his father, coming to sit by his head and gives him a very gently kiss goodnight.

Just like Thranduil does to him, every single night.

"Do you want to sleep here with Ada tonight?"

Legolas gives me another bright smile and huge nod, but the healer from before speaks again, "I do not think that's a wise decision -"

"Would you like him to sleep tonight or not?"

"He is but an elfling, he will tire-"

"I wasn't referring to Legolas"

I'm sure she was about to continue arguing with me, but Legolas interrupts us, "Ada!'

We both turn to find that Thranduil has indeed fought the sedatives enough to open his eyes, but they are resting on the very thing I knew he had been looking for. The thing he could not and would not let himself rest until he found.

"Hello my little leaf."

His voice is hoarse and rough but it doesn't matter to Legolas, and he gave another one of his delighted shrieks of laughter. The sound is very loud and I know from experience it hurts to have one's ears so close to it, but Thranduil just smiled. As much of a smile he can muster under all of the sedatives, that is.

"Good morning, Ada!"

Thranduil continued to smile his son, unable to resist after such a cheerful greeting, "Good Morning? No, no, it is good night. The sun is still asleep."

Legolas nods with grim understanding, and this time it is I who cannot help but smile, "Oh."

Somehow, even with all the bandages, Thranduil manages to shift enough to make room for Legolas between his arms and his chest, "Come lay down, little leaf. Ada is very tired."

Quickly Legolas snuggles into his spot, pulling the covers up to his father's chin, gives him another kiss goodnight, and then nestles down. Between Legolas' four hours of screaming and crying, and Thranduil's potentially dangerous amount of sleeping herbs, both are sleeping peacefully in seconds.

Problem solved.

I turn back to a a rather stunned looking healer, "I am going back to bed. Try to last more than four hours without me this time."

…

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