Disclaimer: all characters and places belong to JRR Tolkien and his estate, not to me.

A/N: Well I'm back... kind of. I have loads of story ideas but no idea how to write most of them down. This one is actually pretty recent. So yeah, if there's suddenly a large gap it's because I don't know how to word a scene/chapter. Fingers crossed that won't be the case.

Enjoy!

Five people waiting in the yard tensed as the sound of hooves finally reached them. Erestor and Celebrian remained passive, Elrond's stomach was filled with apprehension and the twins began standing on tiptoes, craning their necks as if this would enable them to see the visitors any sooner.

Elrond's apprehension was not surprising; he had not seen the Greenwood family for over a decade, not since his family, including his in-laws, and Amroth had travelled to the Woodland realm to see the very young prince. But it had been a very different Thranduil who had greeted them all, even Celeborn and Galadriel, with utmost grace and warmth; he had just become a father which was enough to make even an icicle of a person melt... and Míriel was still alive then. If something went wrong in their conversation it would end in yet another shouting match. Things were different for the others; if things came to an awkward silence between Eldu and Erestor, Erestor could always fall back on the profession they both shared; way-back-when in the Elder days both Elves had been scribes. The pair had shared many conversations about font sizes, line spacing and margins; conversations that drove Elrond to distraction. Celebrian and the twins had been to Greenwood far more recently and therefore knew what to expect... more or less.

Celebrian glanced across to her husband and saw his inner turmoil. She took his hand in hers and squeezed, reassuringly, "Just relax and be yourself."

Elrond snorted, "If I do that, we'll be screaming at each other before tomorrow."

"You know that's not true," Celebrian sighed, "you don't actually argue that much; you just remember all the occasions where you have. He's a civilised Elf and he's not going to bite you."

"If he does, I'll bite him back! He wasn't exactly sympathetic towards me when Elros died."

"Because you knocked him out before he could say anything," Erestor reminded his lord from where he stood on the steps behind them. Elrond closed his eyes and counted to ten; he could always count on Erestor standing up for Thranduil in the king's absence. He had been considering ordering Erestor to stop until he heard that Galion played a similar role in Thranduil's courts, reining in Thranduil when his accusations became venomous.

The twins did not share any of these worries, they enjoyed entertaining the princeling, mainly because it gave them an excuse to behave childishly but also because Legolas was sweet but not against a little mischief, and Thranduil, glad to have Legolas taken off his hands for a few hours, kept out of their way.

A clear whinny heralded Eryn's arrival. Seconds later, the elegant, silvery white mare trotted into the courtyard amid shouts of welcome from the twins. Legolas cheered back as Elrohir gathered up her reins and Elladan caught Legolas as Thranduil passed him down from his seat on Eryn's withers.

"Welcome to our stamping ground, penneth!" Elladan said as he put Legolas on the floor. Legolas started talking immediately,

"I couldn't see it. I couldn't see it until we were going down the slopes of the valley. Eryn walked funny; she was very bouncy. I didn't like it but I didn't fall off."

Thranduil snorted from behind them. He had dismounted now, too, and was removing all the paraphernalia required when travelling with a small child from his strange, stirrupless saddle. Elrohir and a stable hand were in a good natured 'discussion' as to who should lead Eryn to the stables.

"Tell you what; you do your job," Thranduil said to the stable hand, taking the reins from Elrohir and passing them to him. "And you, penneth, can help me carry this lot," he said, putting his satchel on his shoulder and passing his bow, quiver, cane and one of the two saddlebags to the younger twin. Elrohir accepted the compromise, ignoring Elrond's pursed lips at seeing his son being used as a porter. Thranduil straightened his hat before taking up the second saddlebag and a small bundle of blankets and nodding at Elrohir to lead the way.

"I hope you don't mind a delayed introduction," Thranduil said apologetically as he passed Elrond, Celebrian and Erestor, "only I don't like leaving my things with strangers."

"Of course not!" Celebrian answered before Elrond had the chance to.

"ADA! I don't have to go inside yet, do I?" Legolas called from where Elladan was showing him how to make it look like he'd severed his thumb. It was difficult to position all your fingers correctly but when done well it was very effective, as Elladan was demonstrating.

"Aren't you sleepy, my darling?" Thranduil asked, suddenly realising just how tired he was. Legolas looked at him from under his eyelids, wearing the expression that endeavoured to stave off an unwanted answer without being full blown 'cold-pathetic-puppy-on-your-doorstep',

"No, Ada, I slept on the way this morning."

Alright for some Thranduil thought. "Alright then, penneth, you can stay with Elladan. Stay here, mind. I'll be back in a bit," he added, the statement directed at the twins' parents.

"UNCLE! Hurry up!" Elrohir called from the end of the entrance hall – he hadn't stopped when Thranduil had. Elrond's fist clenched; the twins had an uncle, they didn't need to make Thranduil a substitute.

Celebrian smiled sympathetically at Thranduil, "You're in high demand." Thranduil raised his eyebrows tiredly: tell me about it. Changing his grip on the saddlebag and blanket bundle, he followed his guide, slightly slower than Elrohir would have liked. As soon as the Sinda had caught up with him, he began filling him in on all the news he'd missed over the past decade. Thranduil stopped listening early on in the proceedings, nodding every now and then when Elrohir stopped for breath to make out that he was paying attention.

Legolas, having almost mastered the severed thumb trick by now, trotted over to Celebrian and showed her. She watched with distain before glaring slightly at her son, "That is revolting. Why would anyone want to pretend they'd hurt themselves?"

"I'm going to show Ada when he comes back!" The young Elf announced.

"He'll probably love it," Elrond muttered, causing Celebrian to let out a long suffering sigh.

The conversation reached a natural lull then and the older Elves watched as the stable hand tried and failed to get the impish Eryn to move. She wanted to meet everyone too and had no intention of being put into a stable or even a paddock just yet. Erestor moved off the step and over to the horse, patting her neck first and then moving to scratch her ears when she put her head down. After a while, he removed his hand and leant against her shoulder,

"Go on, away with you, you head-strong creature!"

Now she had been fussed over, she moved easily. The stable hand made a mental note to warn the other hands about her tricksy behaviour. Erestor turned back to look at the others and shrugged, "Good manners are everything."

Elrond closed his eyes for the second time, "So you're telling me that even his horse demands manners?"

Erestor shrugged again, "Mae."

"Give me strength!" Elrond whispered, still with his eyes closed.

"What?" Erestor asked as he returned to his old place, humour in his voice, "She's older than you; she deserves a little respect."

Elrond was forming a response when events forced him to hide his annoyance. Two voices wafted to them through the open doors of Imladris; one intrigued, one fatigued.

"Can I have my stick back?"

"Oh, yes of course, but how can you call it your 'stick'? A staff needs more reverence than that!"

"This isn't my staff; it's a cane if you want to give it a fancy name."

"Not your staff?"

"No."

"Oh."

"You didn't seriously think it was, did you?"

"Well... it's staff shaped."

"Maaee, but it's also not make of oak, not carved, nowhere near thick or tall enough and has a metal pommel."

"Well I'm sorry," Elrohir said, laughing at the long list Thranduil had just given him, "But if it isn't to show your rule, what is it for?"

"To help me walk," Thranduil said as though this was obvious, "and I suppose it could be a weapon."

"Ah yes, that makes sense. You are limping after all."

"I always limp. But I suppose it is worse than usual at the moment. And no; I'm not elaborating."

The pair stepped outside onto the main steps. Thranduil stopped here but Elrohir carried on to rejoin his twin. Part of their conversation reached the adults' ears;

"You taught him the severed thumb trick? Genius!"

As if on cue, Legolas came running up to his father, arms outstretched. In one fluid, well practiced movement, Thranduil flipped his cane under his arm, picked his son up under the arms and span him round, spinning off the steps and into the courtyard as he did so, his green frockcoat fanning out behind him.

Thranduil appeared to be very finely dressed in his deep green coat with flared cuffs to accommodate lacy sleeves (these weren't being worn at the moment) and his lacy cravat filling in the gap between his throat and lapels. However the coat was worn – the cuffs were fraying and the colour had faded unevenly across the fabric – and the lace was grimy – yellowing in places and grey around the edges. When new, they had been part of a very grand outfit but they had been new thousands of years ago. Now they had been downgraded to travelling clothes. The only thing that still sparkled like new was the brooch that held the lace in place. It was shaped like a silver bird with very long wings and tail. Elrond had a very fine, burgundy robe in his wardrobe with a similar story. He had worn it with pride at Gil-Galad's functions but Gil-Galad had held many and they had quickly taken their toll on the fabric. After a rip in it had had to be repaired, Elrond had taken the hem up so it didn't brush along the floor and now wore it on normal days when he didn't have to dress up to the nines. The rumour among Men that Elven lords, ladies, queens and kings were always impeccably dressed was therefore unfounded. In fact, Thranduil used the fact that Celeborn and Galadriel might actually conform to this rumour as ammunition against them. "They aren't even rulers!" Thranduil would spit on the various occasions when the subject came up.

"Ada?" Legolas asked when Thranduil stopped spinning him and held him against his chest (along with a 'you're getting too big for this' comment), "Can I show you something?"

"That depends what the something is," Thranduil predictably replied. Legolas wriggled and his father set him down. The Elfling went though the severed thumb routine with the twins looking on eagerly. "Impressive!" The Sinda praised, looking beyond his son to the grinning twins, "Did you two teach him this? It's very well done, if worrying that you have nothing better to do." The smiles faded instantly.

Elrond threw his arms wide, "See! What do I keep telling the pair of you?"

"But you aren't Thranduil. When you say it we feel no obligation to comply," Elladan said, knowing that he was playing with fire. Elrond marched off the step, brushing Thranduil aside, and launched into a lecture. Legolas watched the proceedings, comparing it to similar episodes between him and his father. He was still absentmindedly severing his thumb.

Thranduil removed his cane from under his arm and moseyed over to stand beside Celebrian.

"While those three are busy," she said, "I think a formal welcome is in order." She turned to him and pecked him on each cheek in what she knew was the way of the Sindar of Neldoreth. (It was how her parents greeted others even though they weren't from Neldoreth.) Thranduil didn't pull away this time – when she and the twins had visited, he rebuked even these smallest and innocent of kisses as they reminded him of his wife – and even returned them as best he could. He then subjected Erestor to this greeting; the advisor wasn't best pleased. "Well come to Imladris, meldir-nín," Celebrian continued once Erestor's sour face had gone, "It has been too long since your last visit."

"Hannon-le," Thranduil replied, bowing slightly, "And thank you for accepting us into your home." Both turned to look at Legolas, who stood enthralled by Elrond's monologue. "I apologise in advance for all the damage that will be caused."

Gah, I keep forgetting the translations:

Ada – Dad

Mae – Yes

Penneth – Little one

Hannon-le – Thank you