Title: Aftermath
Author: Surreysmum
Pairing: Legolas/Aragorn
Rating: K+
A/N: written for a drabble request including the words "smoke", "lush" and "indulgence".
Aftermath
Shoulder to shoulder they stood on the ramparts of Helm's Deep, Ranger and Elf, warrior comrades, surveying the devastation of their Pyrrhic victory strewn across the plain. The smoke of the explosion that had breached the walls still rose faintly into the grey dawn.
In the eerie silence, Aragorn took in the full ugliness of the scene. Brave Men, old and young; slender, dauntless Elves; Rohirrim and their noble horses; intermingled with Orcs and other foul creatures. Carrion all. At length, he could stomach it no more, and turned to his companion. The first rays of the sun had caught the gold of Legolas' hair, the sculpted lines of his face, the single tear upon his cheek.
Aragorn's thoughts waywardly transposed the beauty of that sight out of this unfitting horror and into a place of lush, warm comfort where he could worship without guilt. Seeming, as always, to read his mind, Legolas turned to him and said quietly, "Tonight."
Aragorn nodded, saying no more out of respect for the dead before them. For them, there would be honour, lamentation, memory. For those who lived, a brief moment of indulgence.
Until the war was won, soldiers could expect no more.
finis