Unusual Little One

Chapter five: The Past

It was no secret Little Awe, was no longer little, she would what humans considered to be a Teenager, and she had the attitude to match, though she was never disrespecting verbally to anyone, she did tend to ignore orders.  King Thranduil was at a loss with her.  he had tried many punishments, but nothing seems to deter her from breaking his rules.  A kings rules.  Lately, she had decided she would venture out into the surrounding forest, though never travelling far.  She knew it was out of bounds, it had become more and more frequent.  Awe would finish her chores and lessons then disappear until one of his guards found her and brought her back to him.  

today was no different.  Awe had vanished from the safety of the walls, this time King Thranduil himself decided that he would be the one to search for her.  Putting aside his royal duties, hoping to finally discover what had his daughters attention.  His search didn't last long.  Awe was close by as expected, in a little clearing though still shaded by the trees above.  Flowers bloomed around her as she sat in the middle.  In her hands was a leather-bound journal.  Awe was staring at the pages, having not noticed her father behind her.  

King Thranduil watched a moment, even from behind the elf could tell Awe wasn't happy.  

"Awe" King Thranduil called out sternly.  Awes flinched a little, she jumped up to her feet shutting the book closed, and without making eye contact began walking towards her father.  
"What is it that draws you here?" Thranduil asked.  His tone was much softer now.   Suddenly there was a determination in her eyes when she looked at him.
"You're not my real father" 

King Thranduil was so taken back by her words, He for the first time in a long time he was lost for words himself.  The last time he could recall was Legolas, before he left.   A feeling of fear washed over him.  for a moment he had expected Awe to leave him too.  
"That's why no one likes me, it's why you never talk about my mother, I'm not Elven at all, what happened to my......." Awe didn't know what to say next. 
"Your real parents?" Thranduil finished. 
"That's...." Awe began, but Thranduil stopped her.  

Thranduil motioned for her to follow him, as headed off towards the location Awe was found as a baby, it was near to where her parents had been burred.  Awe followed quietly behind him.  When he reached their destination King Thranduil turned to her and pointed to an area on the group, it was where he first saw her, so tiny and curious, the only thing that had changed about her was her height.  Awe had never lost her curious nature if anything it had only increased.  
"This is where I first saw you, you were just a young baby crawling around" Thranduil explained.  Awe looked over to the spot, then back to her father.
"Was I alone?"  she asked, more curious as to how a child made it there.
"Yes, I sent my guards to find those who had left you there" King Thranduil continued.   King Thranduil struggled expression his emotions and feelings, but he didn't want to make the same mistake twice, he didn't want to push Awe away as he did with Legolas. 
"You were so small, yet so brave and curious, you had come to me without encouragement, eventually against my better judgment I took you into my arms, you were so cold, you stared at me with such interest, until you fell into a slumber.  Before I even knew what had happened to your family, I had known I wanted to protect you"  Thranduil spoke calmly and truthfully. 

He then turned back around walking off with Awe in tow.  He was leading Awe to the location her family was buried now.  not wanting to take her to see where her family was found.  
"Where are we going now?" Awe asked.  
"My guards found your family, a sibling, a mother and...." he hesitated. "A father, as a sign of respect I had them buried nearby, that's where we are going" 

Awe never spoke after that.  She followed her king to a burial mound, wooden crosses marked the graves, but that was it.  Thranduil let Awe walk passed him.  She bent down in front of them, 
"How did they die?" she asked, 
"Orcs" 

Silence fell for a while, Thranduil couldn't do anything to ease her mind or help in any way, but he didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone, she might get lost, being to far from the walls of his kingdom.  
"We can stay as long as you like" Thranduil spoke almost nervously, part of him worried that she would want to learn more about her real family, perhaps she would want to travel to where they are from.  Lake Town was in ruins but humans had survived and were leaving peacefully once again.  
"Don't you have duties?" Awe asked.  looking up to him, 
"Has that ever stopped you?" 

More silence filled the air Before Awe finally stood up, 
"Can I come back here? I want to put up proper headstones" Awe asked as the two made their way back to the city.  
"If you wish, but not on your own"  Thranduil agreed.  

the rest of the walk was quiet.  Both had a lot on their mind now.  
Of course, Thranduil knew that this would happen eventually, but it didn't make it any easier, even when he had returned to his duties, his mind was clouded, but he knew he had to give her space and time to.  

So that was what he did.