Legolas was trying to hide it, and he was probably doing a good job as far as the rest of the Fellowship was concerned. Aragorn knew his best friend too well to be fooled, though. The prince was terrified.
He took the elf's elbow and led him away from their companions. Legolas' eyes never left the door to Moria.
"Legolas. Hey, look at me." He waited for his friend's eyes to meet his. "You have but to say the word, and we will brave the slopes of the mountain together while the others go through the mines."
"We can't. The mountains are impassable. Moria is the best option."
Aragorn nodded. He knew it was the best option for the Fellowship, but it wasn't the best option for Legolas. "Do not worry, mellon nin. I will help you."
"Thank you, Estel," he breathed.
All too soon, they were inside the mine. Worse, the door was collapsed, blocking their way out. As soon as Mithrandir lit his staff, Aragorn quickly went to Legolas' side. He exchanged a look with the wizard, who nodded and hurriedly chivvied the rest of the party on, leaving the human and elf to bring up the rear.
They hadn't gone more than a dozen steps when Legolas stopped. Aragorn lit a torch of his own, and he could see panic in his friend's eyes. "I can't, Estel, I can't! It's too dark in here. Please, I want to go back."
He would do anything to be able to do as the prince asked, but he couldn't. "The way back his closed, mellon nin. We can only go forward."
Legolas groaned, and would have fallen to his knees had Aragorn not been ready to catch him. At his touch, the prince cried out and pulled himself away, which also wasn't entirely unexpected.
"It is just me, gwador. It is Estel."
Legolas' wild eyes slowly met his. "Estel. I'm sorry. I just…"
"Remembered," Aragorn finished for him. Though it was many years since Legolas had been kidnapped and abused by those men, he'd been held against his will underground for months. The physical scars had healed, but the mental ones were slower to fade.
"Come, we shouldn't fall too far behind."
Legolas didn't seem able to move, and Aragorn cautiously came up to his side. "Let me help you," he murmured.
The prince nodded jerkily and allowed Aragorn to put an arm around his waist, half-carrying him as the elf stumbled and tried to keep his feet under him.
"Nothing in here will hurt you," he whispered. "I won't let it."
Legolas didn't speak, but his stride became a bit steadier. They made it through the rest of the day without incident, but when they stopped for the night, Legolas grabbed Aragorn's wrist and dragged him a short distance away, out of sight of the curious Fellowship.
"Mellon nin? What is it?"
Legolas clutched Aragorn's tunic. "I can't breathe, Estel."
The healer in him immediately took over. "Describe the feeling. Is it your chest, your throat?"
"It's the air." Legolas was becoming increasingly panicky, and his breath was coming in short gasps. "There's not enough air down here, Estel, I'm suffocating!"
Aragorn finally realized what was going on. "It's just a panic attack, gwador. There is plenty of air, I promise."
"No, Estel –" Legolas stumbled away, gasping painfully as he tried to draw in enough air.
"Legolas, stop, watch where you're going!" The prince didn't seem to see the ledge he was heading for; a cliff edge they had passed not long ago, that led to a drop so deep none of them had been able to make out the bottom.
"No – don't, please –" Legolas' eyes were far away as he fended off invisible assailants, wavering like a drunk person.
"MELLON NIN, WATCH OUT!" Aragorn leapt forward, trying to catch his friend.
Legolas didn't even seem to hear him. The elf stepped back into thin air and toppled. Aragorn was lunged for the prince, but he wasn't in time. Without hesitation, he leapt off the cliff. Moments later, he caught hold of Legolas with one arm, winding it firmly around his friend's waist. With the other, he frantically tried to find a way to slow their fall.
All the wind was knocked out of him as he hit something that felt like solid rock. Aragorn was just able to wedge his hand in a crack in the cliff face to stop them both from falling over the edge. It appeared they'd landed on a small ledge not far down the cliff.
Legolas was still flailing in panic, and Aragorn moved quickly to restrain him. As much as he hated doing it, the ledge was small and one unwise movement could send them tumbling off.
"Aragorn! Legolas!" Boromir was on his stomach, his head over the edge of the cliff top. "Are you alright?"
"We're fine, Boromir, just get us up."
He heard the man shouting for rope, and knew that help would come soon. Aragorn turned back to Legolas.
"Shh, relax, gwador. It is I, Estel. We are safe. You can breathe, I promise."
"The air – Estel – I can't –"
"You can, mellon nin, I swear you can. Just breathe slowly for me, that's right. In and out." He brushed tears off the prince's face. "You can do this."
He rubbed soothing circles on Legolas' temples as the prince gradually calmed. Tears still fell down his cheeks. "I'm sorry, Estel," he whispered.
"You have nothing to apologize for. I never should have agreed to bring you down here. I'm sorry."
Legolas just shook his head, burying his face in Aragorn's tunic. The prince seldom cried. He'd cried when he'd told Aragorn about what had happened to him in the caves he'd been held in, and when Thranduil had been injured and near death.
Now, he sobbed harshly, utterly inconsolable, and Aragorn could do nothing but hold him.
"I don't like it here," Legolas choked. "I want out."
"I know, I know. We will get out as soon as we can, I promise."
"I can't go on, Estel. I can't do it. Please, don't leave me in the dark…"
Aragorn tightened his hold on the distraught elf, who was shaking so violently he threatened to dislodge them from the ledge. "I will not leave you, mellon nin. This is not like before. You are surrounded by people who care for you. We will lead you back to the light, I promise." He turned his head upward, but saw no movement. "What's taking so long?" he yelled angrily at the cliff's edge above them.
Sam's voice drifted down. "We don't have a rope, Strider."
Legolas' breath hitched in panic, and Aragorn quickly pressed their foreheads together. "We will be fine. Trust me?"
"I trust you, Estel." The words were no more than a breath, but he heard.
"Do not worry, Aragorn, we are sorting something out." Mithrandir sounded calm, at least.
Legolas looked around, seemingly to realize where they were for the first time. "How did we get here?"
"You don't remember? You were panicking and walked off the edge of the cliff. I jumped after you and we landed on this ledge."
"You what?" Legolas hissed.
Too late, Aragorn realized he'd made a mistake. "Um. Nothing."
"You jumped off a cliff after me? Estel, are you insane? Why would you do that!"
"You know why," he said quietly. "You'd do the same for me."
That shut him up, because Legolas couldn't deny it. Fortunately, further tellings-off were postponed when the edge of a cloak dangled in front of their faces. It seemed the whole Fellowship had tied their cloaks together to form a rope. In short order, Aragorn and Legolas were up and well away from the cliff edge.
Legolas was still trembling, and Aragorn kept an arm around him.
"Legolas, are you alright?" Sam's innocent question caught everyone's attention, and the rest of the Fellowship looked on curiously. Reluctantly, it seemed, Legolas pulled out of Aragorn's grip.
"I am fine," he said, putting up a good show of composure. "I do not like caves, that is all."
"This isn't a cave!" Gimli protested. "It's a mine, there's a big –"
"Not now, Gimli," Aragorn snapped. The dwarf took one look at him and wisely fell silent.
The rest of the trip through Moria was spent with Legolas clinging to Aragorn's hand, letting go only when strictly necessary. Aragorn had almost thought they were going to make it out unscathed. Of course, it was not to be.
Stumbling into the sunlight wasn't the joyous thing it should have been, not when Mithrandir wasn't with them. Now, he and Legolas weren't the only ones clinging to each other. Everyone wandered off, lost in their grief. It went without saying that Aragorn and Legolas wandered off together.
"Is it wrong that I feel relieved?" Legolas' face was tilted up toward the sun. "I thought we'd never get out of that awful place. Feeling the fresh air, the sun on my face… I'm relieved, Estel. I'm a terrible friend."
"You are not," Aragorn hushed him. "We both cared greatly for Mithrandir." His voice broke on the last word and Legolas pulled him into a tight hug. Their tears mingled, and for several minutes, they stood unspeaking, drawing strength from each other.
Finally, Legolas pulled away. "We cannot stay here," he murmured.
Aragorn did his best to push aside his grief, for now. There would be time enough to grieve later, when they were safe. He took in the sight of Legolas, whose color was returning and whose eyes were losing their panicked set now that they were out in the open. As long as his best friend was ok, he could deal with all the rest.
"Let us leave, then," he said quietly. "We will sleep in the trees of Lothlorien and perhaps there we can find peace from our grief."
Legolas gave him a teary smile, a smile that made the world seem a much brighter place.
"Boromir," Aragorn called. "Get them up."