Ok, I was just in a bit of a loopy moment when I came up with this idea, but I loved it so much... I've wanted to do an LOTR Xmas fic since I began in July... and this brings in my two fave characters, Aragorn and Legolas! Enjoy...
~* Chapter One *~
It was December 24th in Minas Tirith. The White City had flourished under the rule of its new King, Aragorn, son of Arathorn. Fragile white snowflakes floated down from the cotton-like grey clouds and mingled together on the ground, covering the pebbled streets.
Below the palace windows, the ordinary people mingled around, going about their daily lives. Tomorrow was quite a special occasion. Yuletide Day was a magical time, mostly for children, though for adults, it was still quite enjoyable. However, for them it caused mostly stress.
Most of the people thought that up in the Royal palace, things were a lot easier around Yuletide. If any of the civilians could see through the high picture windows however, they would realise things were very different...
A red faced Arwen barked orders like a general in the Gondorian Army, and the two that she was directing were complying to her every word.
"Aragorn, get that tree up now! Eldarion, help your father, the poor man looks like he's about to be flattened."
The eight year old heir to the throne smirked as he rose from his chair to help Aragorn to stand the collapsing tree upright. His father was currently nearly being crushed by a great fir tree and swiftly going red in the face.
"Thank you Eldarion," gasped Aragorn, slumping against a wall to catch his breath.
"That's alright Father," giggled Eldarion as he picked up a few needles strewn about the floor.
Arwen shook her head, laughing to herself. Her son had a few words to say though; "Mother, is Uncle Legolas alright?" The Queen turned to her friend... and her mouth dropped wide open.
"Legolas, what on Middle-Earth are you doing?!" she cried.
"Erm..." mumbled the Elf. The youngest Prince of Mirkwood had lengthy bits of shining ribbon tangled around his legs, arms, and torso. In one hand he balanced some boxes of various sizes wrapped in material, in the other some hand blown glass baubles clinked together lightly, threatening to smash. Legolas now bitterly regretted ever agreeing to stay in Minas Tirith over Yuletide. Gimli had agreed to as well, but the Dwarf had not yet arrived... lucky him...
Aragorn burst out laughing, not only at his best friend's predicament but also the scowl he received. If looks could kill, he'd have been more than dead...
~*~*~*~
Eldarion tried to get to sleep, but found he couldn't. He was far too excited! He was just milling over the possible things he might receive tomorrow when he heard a clanking noise above him.
"That's on the roof!" he realised. Feeling a little scared, he hopped out of bed. "I should tell someone... I wonder if Uncle Legolas is still awake?"
Silently, he opened the large wooden door and crept out into the dark quiet hallway. The young Prince tiptoed to his 'uncle's' room next-door. The door was slightly ajar. Sneaking in, he saw Legolas wrapped up tightly in the quilt. One leg hung loosely over the edge of the bed, and his left arm had fallen lazily over his head, which was also partially hidden by his pillow. The Elf, though his eyes were not fully closed, snored loudly, letting Eldarion know for certain that he was asleep.
"Uncle Legolas?" he whispered. There was no reaction. "Uncle Legolas?!" he hissed a little louder. Still no response.
Eldarion sighed and rolled his eyes heavenward. Taking in a deep breath, he crawled up the bed until he was level with Legolas' head. "UNCLE LEGOLAS!!!"
Legolas bolted upright in bed, his eyes regaining their focus abruptly. "Wha-?!?! Oh, Eldarion..." He paused and caught his breath. "Don't do that!" He smiled. "Now, what's the matter?"
Eldarion looked up as another scrambling noise was heard on the roof. "I keep hearing that noise! I'm scared Uncle Legolas..."
Legolas frowned. It sounded like someone was walking along the roof! "Don't worry," he said, pulling on a shirt and grabbing his bow and arrows. "Let's go onto the balcony and check it out, shall we?"
They stalked silently onto the balcony and looked up. Legolas' mouth dropped open as he caught sight of a fat man with a white beard in a red suit tiptoeing across the roof! He notched an arrow to the bow string and aimed.
"Hey! Hey, you! Get down from there!!!" he shouted loudly. The man turned in surprise, but as he did, he lost his already weak footing above them and tumbled down, crashing onto the balcony near them. Eldarion gasped, wide eyed when he saw the figure's face.
"You've killed Santa Claus!!!" he cried, tears pooling in his blue eyes. Legolas just stood, frozen, not believing what had just happened.
Had he really just killed Santa?! Oh dear... Panic set in. What was he going to do with the body?! How would he explain to Eldarion, too young to see death? "No, no, really, he's just... well..." he stammered, trying to calm the child down.
"Ooh!" A groan emitted from the red and white heap on the floor. Legolas stared, half relived, half shocked as Santa moved his head a little.
"...injured!" he finished. Thank Eru; he'd just been saved! "Come on!" He picked the man up and ran to the Houses of Healing...
~*~*~*~
Santa had already told Legolas to be quiet after the Elf had repeatedly apologised for what had happened. Santa really wasn't bothered; apparently it wasn't as bad as when a young Hobbit lad had left a net at the bottom of a chimney to prove to his older brother that he was real... right now, there was a more serious matter on his mind.
"The children... oh, they'll be so disappointed!"
Legolas felt terribly guilty. I t was kind of his fault... "Is there no other way to get the presents to the children?" Santa fell silent for a moment, placing his hand on his bearded chin in a L-shape, shutting his eyes and thinking. Legolas frowned. "Is there? If I can help out at all, I'm more than happy to!" he said quickly, without thinking.
Suddenly Santa's eyes shot open, bright and twinkling with Yuletide magic. "Now that you mention it..." he said with a sly grin. He looked at the Elf, scanning him up and down. "Yes... hmm... bit on the skinny side... better to get down though..." he mumbled to himself. He beamed widely, the smile almost cracking his face in half. "You can be my replacement for the night!"
Legolas was stunned silent for a moment before regaining his tongue. "WHAT?!" he hollered loudly.
Santa looked at him as though it was the most obvious concept to grasp in the world. "Just take the reindeer, put on the spare suit underneath the seat in the sleigh; you'll be fine!" He smiled at the Elf, whose mouth was flopping open and shut like a goldfish.
"But, but-"
Santa interrupted him. "No my boy, I'm sure you'll do a marvellous job..."
It was decided then. Legolas, for one night only, would pretend to be Santa Claus...
~*~*~*~
Legolas looked the reindeer in the eye. The animal had a bright shiny red nose that burned bright like a beacon in the dark.
"Look," he told the reindeer sharply. "I don't know what I'm doing, and I don't know where I'm going, so you're going to have to help me out, ok?"
The reindeer whinnied and nodded its antlered head abruptly. Legolas patted it on the side and hopped up into the sleigh. He rolled up the big baggy red sleeves that flopped over his hands. The bobbled hat was far too big for his blonde head and kept slipping over his eyes, and the trousers were being kept up by a convenient length of rope that was lying around. There was a particularly large bumpy present in the huge sack that sat lop-sided behind him which had a corner digging uncomfortably into his back. Oh this would be fun...
He was just about to attempt to take off when he heard it. "Uncle Legolas?"
The Elf turned in the seat to see Eldarion standing nearby, a quizzical look on his face. "Yes?" asked Legolas. Eldarion walked closer, and then jumped up into the seat next to his uncle.
"Can I come with you?" asked the boy. Legolas opened his mouth to say no, but then he saw the wide eyed pleading look on the child's face. The puppy dog look was something he had picked up from Aragorn... and in all the years he had known him, Legolas couldn't ever remember saying no to the former Ranger when he used it. Ah, it was a cursed thing...
"I guess," said the Elf reluctantly. Eldarion allowed a bright grin to grace his young features. Legolas took the reins in his hands and snapped them hard. The reindeer took off, bolting towards the edge of the roof. Legolas was suddenly getting worried- they were rapidly edging closer and closer to a very big drop.
"Woah!" he called out to the animals. They carried on heading for the plunge. "Woah!!!" he called out again. They ignored him again! They were barely a few feet from the edge! If it didn't work this time...!
"WOAH!!!" he shouted frantically... as they sailed over the drop.
Eldarion screamed loudly as they plummeted faster and faster towards the city streets. He grabbed onto Legolas and buried his face in his uncle's unfamiliar baggy clothing. The ground hurtled up to meet them at breakneck speed...
Without warning, the reindeer pulled up and they went sailing towards the stars, the snow falling down in sheets and turning Legolas' red clothes whiter. The Elf squinted as the combined speed, wind, and falling white flakes hurt his keen eyes. He held onto the floppy red hat as much as he could to stop it flying away.
They were off!
~*~*~*~
They had been through Gondor, Ithilien, the Glittering Caves, Rohan, Lothlorien, Rivendell, Mirkwood, Bree, and now, the last place on their list; The Shire...
Poor Legolas had lost count of the number of sooty shafts he had squeezed his way down. The previously bright red suit was now grubby and black, the white trim grey and faded. As he tumbled into yet another front room, he almost rolled straight into a Yuletide tree. As he finally rolled to a stop, he was able to sit up straight, coughing up lots of soot.
He shook his head. "Oh, I'll be glad when this is over..." This was his last stop according to the list.
"Are you Santa Claus?" said a little voice. Legolas looked around, seeing a little Hobbit girl with curly golden hair standing in a pale pink nightdress, a limp teddy bear in her arms. She sucked her thumb silently.
"Oh, hello!" said Legolas, trying to look cheerful, even though he didn't feel much like it. He was dirty, tired, and fed up of falling down chimneys.
"I asked if you were Santa Claus. Are you?" said the little girl. Legolas felt a little uneasy under her gaze... wait, what was he thinking?! This was a little girl for goodness sake...
"Well, I..."
"You don't look like Santa Claus," the child interrupted. Legolas was speechless. Those children actually were smarter than they looked...
"Yes, well..."
"Santa Claus is fat. And he has a beard. And he has white hair. You're skinny, blonde, and I don't think you have a beard, but it's hard to tell... you've got too much soot on your face!" she told him pointedly. Legolas thought quickly for a moment, before grinning, albeit rather falsely.
"Well, I thought I'd, erm, get into shape, have a shave, you know, what with the new Year, and you wouldn't believe the wonders of corn dye these days... " He fell silent, watching the girl's face contort as she thought about the new information.
She smiled sweetly. "Oh, alright then!"
Legolas smiled tiredly. Thank goodness... Turning, he pulled on the bottom of the sack of toys hard; the stupid thing had gotten stuck again. With a crash, the bag flew out of the chimney and both it and Santa's replacement fell on the floor in a heap. Grumbling incoherently to himself, he pulled out a neatly wrapped parcel in green wrapping paper and a bright red ribbon tied around it. He placed it under the tree, and turned back to the Hobbit girl. She was positively beaming. "Why don't you hop off to bed then?" he suggested.
"Ok Santa Claus," replied the Hobbit. She toddled quietly towards the large, blue, round door. As she reached up towards the knob that was placed in the exact centre, she turned back to 'Santa'. "Are you not going to eat your cookies and drink your milk?" Legolas looked at her, a little bewildered. He turned, and by the fireside was a plate on which sat a glass of milk and two delicious looking biscuits.
"Oh, thank you..." he said, picking up the glass. The girl smiled brightly and clicked the door softly as she shut it fast behind her.
"Perhaps this job isn't as bad as I thought..." Legolas smiled to himself. Then he remembered the next 'wonderful' treat he had. Sighing, he stooped low as he struggled to climb back up the stone walls of the flume, pushing up the now empty (and considerably lighter) bag above his head...
~*~*~*~
Aragorn had woken early to surprise Eldarion, but when he had quietly snuck into his son's room, he had received the fright of his life as he spied the empty bed. He'd run to Legolas' room to see if he was in there, but the Elf was gone too. Now he and Arwen were running around the palace in a panic, calling desperately.
"Eldarion?! Legolas?! Oh, where are they?" cried Arwen. Tears pooled in her eyes; what a Yuletide's day was this turning out to be!
Aragorn wandered outside onto the long courtyard. He could see the whole of Minas Tirith from up here. Contemplating this Christmas, he fell upon the decision that it wasn't a very merry one...
All of a sudden, he heard the tinkling of bells. Looking upwards, his jaw dropped as Eldarion and Legolas swooped out of the sky on a flying sleigh! They came down to a halt on the brown prickly grass behind the King. Eldarion was fast asleep, his head resting on his uncle's shoulder. Legolas moved slowly, tenderly placing the boy's head on the seat.
"Legolas!!! Where have you..." began Aragorn, before trailing away. He looked his friend up and down, taking in the baggy red suit, and the sooty Elf it was on. "Why are you wearing a Santa suit?!" he said suddenly, a look of utter confusion on his face.
Legolas blushed slightly, shrugging his shoulders. "Erm... Surprise?!" he said, grinning a little. The King was still agape.
Eldarion woke up to the sound of voices, and looked up to see his father and uncle conversing. He decided to join in. Pushing past Legolas slightly, he jumped down lightly from the sleigh and ran into his fathers open arms. "Uncle Legolas nearly shot Santa when he was on the roof last night, and Santa fell down. He's in the Houses of Healing now, he'll be fine. Legolas did Santa's job last night, and he was really good at it too!"
Aragorn listened to this intently. As Eldarion finished, he looked up. "Is this true?" he asked the Elf.
"As sure as I am standing here," he replied. Aragorn shook his head. Everything was spiralling around in his head. It was a bit much for one mind to take in. "Just forget it," a voice told him inside. "They're back, that's what matters." He agreed with the voice, and putting al the worry out of his head, he laughed lightly.
"Well... my best friend is Santa Claus... I never expected to hear that one before April's Jesting Day..."
~*~*~*~
Barely an hour later, under cover of the fading twilight, Santa said his farewells to the Elf and the King whose son had helped to do such a wonderful job. "Well Legolas, I hope you'll think twice before threatening to shoot anyone climbing on the roof from now on!" He chuckled heartily, and his belly wobbled slightly.
"Oh I will, don't you worry!" grinned Legolas. He certainly wasn't going to make that mistake again.
"I feel sorry for your window cleaner..." said Santa slyly. He was met with blank looks from the two friends.
"Window cleaner?" repeated Aragorn slowly. He'd never heard of one...
"Never mind lad, it's after your time. Well then... I'd best be off!" laughed Santa. He clambered into his sleigh. His cheery grin faded into the night like the moonlight that was being chased away by the dawn, but he called back one last phrase to the watching Elf and King as he disappeared away North; "Ho ho ho! Merry Yuletide!"
Merry Xmas everybody! Hope you're all having a great time! ^_^
~*~ Star-Stallion ~*~