The Seagulls Cry On
by facemygeneration
Authors note: I'm sorry about being gone this summer-there's no excuse. I will be getting back to my SPN fics on Friday. Again, sorry.
The gulls still called to him. Every day. It was painful. Not physically but it strained his heart in a way that he had never experienced until he heard their beautiful, mourning sound. They told him to go over the sea and to the White Land. He wanted to—sometimes it seemed that it was all he wanted.
But he couldn't.
He couldn't because he still had things to do. He had to go to the caves, to Fangorn. He had to stay for what seemed like so many reasons, but really it was just one. He stayed because he loved Gimli.
He loved him like a friend, a best friend—no, a brother. It was the only thing he stayed for. It was one thing, but at the same time it was everything to Legolas.
Maybe someday he would go over the sea to his ancestors, but that seemed unlikely. From what he had heard, all the boats were gone, along with the last of his kin. The time of men had come, so they said. He still felt that pang of sickness—for what, he wasn't quite sure—whenever he heard the cry of a seagull. But it didn't matter. He'd made his decision long ago.
Today, he sat next to the cause of all his anguish. He should have felt hate, resentment, remorse, but he felt only love. He smiled at his friend and took a bite of his meal. He didn't need any, as he had eaten some lembas just recently and would be sustained for hours. But Legolas drank anyway because he knew Gimli needed a rest and that his friend was too proud to admit it.
"Ready?" Gimli said in a tone somewhere between a grumble of complaint and a command.
Silently, Legolas put down his fork and nodded. He made it look as though he was reluctant to leave. That way Gimli wouldn't feel guilty about being tired. It was the least Legolas could do. It wasn't Gimli's fault that he didn't have the stamina of an elf, after all.
He looked up and saw the sparkle in his best friend's eyes. The dwarf was happier now than he had been for days. He knew that he was almost home.
Legolas forced a smile. He knew what almost being to Gimli's home meant: mines. But he could suffer through it. It was a small price to pay for the once-in-a-lifetime companion he had found. They had made a promise to each other, and he wasn't about to break that.
They walked out of the tavern side by side. They weren't holding hands, like some storybook couple, and they weren't brushing shoulders—most likely because of the height difference. No, they didn't need to have contact to feel happy and safe. They each knew the other was there for them, and they knew that wasn't changing—no matter what.