I think this redundant, but this is a slash story! Obviously, if you
do not like slash, the characters I'm slashing, or anything about slash, DO
NOT READ THIS STORY! There is A/L and L/H in it.
Now, if you haven't turned around and decided not to read it, I hope you enjoy!
Legolas stood tall and erect on the balcony of his room in the castle at Minas Tirith. The air was full of the smell of the sea, and Legolas leaned forward to catch a whiff of it. His heart beat to the remembered sound of the waves crashing against the water, of the calling of gulls on that clear beach.
"Someday I shall find Valinor beyond," he whispered as he placed his elbows on the railing. Tears sprung into his eyes as he said this though, and he hastily wiped them away. To leave for Valinor would be to leave Aragorn.
"But what has Aragorn ever meant to me?" he asked coldly. "What has Aragorn ever done for me?" He only brought hurt. Legolas felt the wind stir, and it toyed with his long hair as he leaned on the railing. The wind was like Aragorn those nights they enjoyed together. Why can't we remain as one? Why must he leave me so?
"Legolas?" a voice called from the bedroom door. Legolas turned around and called:
"Enter." Haldir let himself in room and crossed to the balcony.
"Legolas, Lady Galadriel sent word by messenger last night that we must make haste to reach the havens, for she does not know how long she can keep the last ship for us. She understands that Elrond must stay a few days longer for his daughter's wedding..." Legolas grimaced at the last word, "...but she wishes that as many elves as possible come now to the havens. I do not know if you wish to remain for Aragorn and Arwen's..."
"Is there any reason for me to stay?" Legolas spat viciously. Haldir recoiled from his long-time comrade's anger.
"You and Aragorn have long been friends..."
"And that friendship ended," Legolas said with finality. He turned and strode to the opposite end of the balcony, then returned, pacing the porch's length. Haldir watched his friend as he did his, sometimes banging a fist upon the hard metal. This was quite a display for the naturally impassive elf.
"Legolas, my friend, what troubles you so?" Haldir rested a hand on Legolas' shoulder, but Legolas shrugged him off.
"I need no condolences. It is not as if you could provide much assistance to me at such a time." There was a puzzled look on Haldir's face, and Legolas used this as an opportunity to alter the subject. "I will return with you to the havens when you leave. Will that be soon?"
"We were to depart in the morn," he informed Legolas. Legolas nodded, a final gesture, and turned from Haldir to look out over the city. Haldir took this as farewell and left his troubled friend.
***
Aragorn walked down the passageway to Legolas' chamber. Fear was even growing in him at the next confrontation. Haldir had warned him that Legolas was severely troubled, but Haldir could not hint at what.
"It would benefit him to have your company, despite his earlier remarks, I believe," Haldir had said.
"What remarks?" Aragorn questioned, worry growing deep inside him. Haldir did not reply.
"He is very troubled now, yes. Aragorn, I fear for him. He is severely saddened, even though he tries to hide it. I have seen many elves in this state..." He left his sentence unfinished.
Aragorn turned abruptly in front of the door to Legolas' chambers. He knocked on the sturdy wood, and he heard movement behind the door.
"Enter," a shaky voice called. Aragorn cracked open the door before opening it fully.
Inside he saw Legolas sitting on a chair by a window, which was open. The sunlight cast shadows across his fair colored hair, and as he turned, Aragorn discerned the glistening of tears on his cheeks.
Legolas stared at Aragorn a few moments before registering he was really in this room.
"What do you wish of me?" Legolas asked coldly.
"Haldir informed me..."
"Haldir, Haldir! What does Haldir know? He is a silly elf who cannot understand what it is that I feel. He merely takes this time to his advantage. He is very greedy, very selfish." Aragorn stood still at these words. "Of course, you could relate to this also. You are just as greedy, though even more foul. Do you desire another taste of me, even though it is only days before you wedding to the fair Lady Arwen?"
"Legolas..." Aragorn felt his throat constrict as realization hit him.
"What excuse will you offer me now?" He glared across the room, and Aragorn felt himself slowly collapsing beneath that gaze.
"Legolas," he started, but what could he tell his heartbroken once- lover? How do you comfort one hurt by you? He gulped; decided that he must tell Legolas the truth. "Only a few weeks before, I must say yes, you were my lover..."
"Plaything," Legolas corrected.
"I did not say that!" Aragorn's temper was flaring. "I was your lover, yet there was foreboding in my heart. Something was direly wrong. This was only confirmed by a message sent my Lady Galadriel to me. She, she had a vision of death, of the destruction of the earth, and she felt this to be very close to our current time. Legolas please hear me out. She warned against allowing you to be my lover. This was what she sensed in this message..."
"You would trust her visions?" Legolas roared. "You trust a silly vision? That is the reason you left me without turning to..."
"She does not see silly visions, and you know this!" Aragorn shouted just as loudly. "The Lady Galadriel has many visions, yes, but all are truthful in their own right. All show what can become if time does not follow the allotted course."
"She takes too much pride in her visions, stretching them and distorting the truth."
"You honestly think that she would lie only for the reason of an assured marriage to Lady Arwen? She would not do that! Her visions are to be trusted! She is one of the last high elves..."
"The Noldor? Ha, the Noldor brought nothing but death and dread to the world. Fëanor's folly was forever a curse upon all their kind, even those who did not take the horrid oath."
"Galadriel is different." By this time, his voice was almost a plea.
"She is no different. In fact, she is more prone to Noldor stupidity!" Legolas stood up sharply and shoved past Aragorn. "I wish no more to converse with you." He slammed the door behind Aragorn.
Aragorn stood motionless, his body trembling. His legs collapsed below him and he placed his head in his hands.
"Legolas, mela, mankoi?" he cried (Legolas, love, why). He rocked back and forth to the time of his tears. "Mela, mela, amin meleth lle, Legolas! Amin hiraetha. I wish you no harm, no harm at all!" Yet he could not shake the image of those eyes, eyes filled with un-cried tears. Legolas would not so easily forgive. "Amin khiluva lle a' gurtha ar' thar, yet will you do the same to me? My love, do not fall away. It is not that I do not love you! My love!" (I would follow you into death and beyond) He sobbed into his hands as memories floated in and out of his mind, precious times with his beloved, Legolas. Try as he might, none left him, and he felt himself slipping into the dream world of the past.
***
Legolas cantered across the star-lit plain, tears glistening in his eyes. He choked on another sob as he turned his horse once more to face the diminishing city behind him. There, he could see Minas-Tirith, shadows falling across its surface in the dim light. He saw in his mind riding upon it in bright sunlight from a friendly ride with Aragorn, the sun above it, shining down. I thought that my home.
He closed his eyes and his mind to any more visions of that poisonous man.
Three days of hard riding led him far away from the evil city, and now, as Legolas lay on the ground with the setting sun in front of him, he felt utterly alone. Even with the horse he stole, he felt pure emptiness in his heart.
He gazed out over the empty plain, every bone in his body aching with that emptiness. Was there any chance left? Was their search in vain? He placed his head in his hands, muttering to himself.
Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder. He turned, and there, standing beside him, was Aragorn, his long time friend and companion. With his sharp eyes, he could see clearly the lines of fatigue on the man's face.
"Why do you not rest? Now is a time to sleep," he whispered.
"I do not desire sleep nor do I need it, when the only comfort I desire stands beside me now." Aragorn cupped Legolas' face in his hands, caressing the perfect skin. "Mela," he breathed. Legolas could not contain a shiver. Aragorn pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around the lithe form.
His lips were warm, so warm and comforting. Legolas returned the kiss with just as much passion. He felt Aragorn's eyelashes, and he could feel moisture on them. The Ranger was crying. Legolas pulled away and put his hand up to Aragorn's cheek, wiping away the tear.
"Amin meleth lle." Aragorn pulled the elf in once more for a kiss.
"No!" Legolas cried, shaking with uncontrollable sobs. "Stop it! Stop this!" He hid his face in his hands, curling into a small ball on the ground. "Melamin," he sobbed, the word coming unbidden to his tongue. Aragorn, though, was not there, was not there to comfort the distraught elf. He would never be there again. He was long gone.
Still, a figure did come. He dismounted from his horse, hearing the sobbing, and ran to the form on the ground.
"Legolas?" he asked. Legolas turned around, his tears streaked face glittering in the night. Above him was a worried face, the face of Haldir. Legolas closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tears. His bottom lip trembled, and he bit at it. "Do not fear, my friend. It is alright." He cradled the elf in his arms, and Legolas buried his face in the older elf's chest. Haldir stroked the soft hair and rocked back and forth.
Legolas finally quieted down, and he looked up at Haldir with pleading eyes. He wanted something, but what?
"Aragorn, I suppose..."
"Shhh, do not worry over him. There will be no more trouble," Haldir whispered. Legolas closed his eyes and rested his head on Haldir's chest then, comforted by even those words. Haldir, though, was not. He looked down at his friend and saw how pale the elf was, how deathly pale. His eyes were red and puffy from crying. Suddenly, a familiar pang came to Haldir's heart.
Long had he treasured this elf. He was once Legolas' teacher and protector of sorts, when he was but young, for an elf, that is. He had taught Legolas' everything he knew, and slowly grew to love that strange elf.
Yet there was Aragorn. He came when Legolas was younger, and he left the elf speechless. Haldir knew that love struck gaze of his friend's eyes, for he expected that to be what he looked like as he watched Legolas from afar. The man and Legolas spent most days of that time together, inseparable. It was the fragmenting of Haldir's budding relationship.
When Legolas departed to Imladris by the summons of Elrond, Haldir knew he would never see that elf again as he once was. He could feel it in his heart, the pain that he felt as he watched Legolas ride away. He was leaving Haldir, for good.
Even after returning to Lothlorien though, Haldir did not shake that elf's face. His dreams were plagued by visions of Legolas, one of the bodies piled on a battle field, or lying dead alone in some unknown land. Now, he feared for the elf's life.
When Legolas and his companions came to Lothlorien, Haldir saw clearly the change in his friend. He was always by the side of Aragorn, always showing him the warmth and love, the warmth Haldir was denied. He was still friendly to Haldir, yes, but little did they speak, unlike those times long gone.
The next time he saw the elf was when he came with a large entourage of elves to the wedding of Lady Arwen and the King of Men, Aragorn. Legolas was not the same as he was long before. His heart was troubled; he did not speak much at all to anyone. He spent most days alone, riding far out, sometimes, Haldir believed, all the way to the sea. He would spend the day away and return late at night, always his eyes glittering with unshed tears. Haldir watched many a day as his companion wasted away into despair.
And he avoided Aragorn. Legolas would not talk to the man, not even acknowledge him when they passed. Instead, he sped up his pace and left the man. Haldir saw clearly the tension between them, crackling in the air. Sometimes though, he would watch as Aragorn turned around to gaze at the retreating back of Legolas with longing, such grief in his eyes.
Haldir had heard the fateful message of the Lady Galadriel, the night when her voice rose high above the noise of Caras Galadhon and soared into boughs far above, though it was only a whisper, a small breath:
"The fate of Middle-earth is decided, yet men still hang upon the fragility of a leaf, green now in the brightness of his glory, yet so quick to brown and wither that he would ruin the kingdom of men before it ever began to build its glory."
A messenger was sent that night to Minas Tirith to bear the message.
And to end the purest love between Legolas and Aragorn.
Haldir shifted slightly to lay the elf down upon the ground, for now, Legolas was fast asleep. He clung tightly to Haldir's tunic, yet he gingerly pried the delicate fingers from his clothing and carefully brought them to rest on the soft grass. Legolas moaned something to the sound of 'Aragorn' before drifting back into sleep.
I hoped you like it so far! Please review and tell me if you even think this story will work! I am skeptical right now myself.
Now, if you haven't turned around and decided not to read it, I hope you enjoy!
Legolas stood tall and erect on the balcony of his room in the castle at Minas Tirith. The air was full of the smell of the sea, and Legolas leaned forward to catch a whiff of it. His heart beat to the remembered sound of the waves crashing against the water, of the calling of gulls on that clear beach.
"Someday I shall find Valinor beyond," he whispered as he placed his elbows on the railing. Tears sprung into his eyes as he said this though, and he hastily wiped them away. To leave for Valinor would be to leave Aragorn.
"But what has Aragorn ever meant to me?" he asked coldly. "What has Aragorn ever done for me?" He only brought hurt. Legolas felt the wind stir, and it toyed with his long hair as he leaned on the railing. The wind was like Aragorn those nights they enjoyed together. Why can't we remain as one? Why must he leave me so?
"Legolas?" a voice called from the bedroom door. Legolas turned around and called:
"Enter." Haldir let himself in room and crossed to the balcony.
"Legolas, Lady Galadriel sent word by messenger last night that we must make haste to reach the havens, for she does not know how long she can keep the last ship for us. She understands that Elrond must stay a few days longer for his daughter's wedding..." Legolas grimaced at the last word, "...but she wishes that as many elves as possible come now to the havens. I do not know if you wish to remain for Aragorn and Arwen's..."
"Is there any reason for me to stay?" Legolas spat viciously. Haldir recoiled from his long-time comrade's anger.
"You and Aragorn have long been friends..."
"And that friendship ended," Legolas said with finality. He turned and strode to the opposite end of the balcony, then returned, pacing the porch's length. Haldir watched his friend as he did his, sometimes banging a fist upon the hard metal. This was quite a display for the naturally impassive elf.
"Legolas, my friend, what troubles you so?" Haldir rested a hand on Legolas' shoulder, but Legolas shrugged him off.
"I need no condolences. It is not as if you could provide much assistance to me at such a time." There was a puzzled look on Haldir's face, and Legolas used this as an opportunity to alter the subject. "I will return with you to the havens when you leave. Will that be soon?"
"We were to depart in the morn," he informed Legolas. Legolas nodded, a final gesture, and turned from Haldir to look out over the city. Haldir took this as farewell and left his troubled friend.
***
Aragorn walked down the passageway to Legolas' chamber. Fear was even growing in him at the next confrontation. Haldir had warned him that Legolas was severely troubled, but Haldir could not hint at what.
"It would benefit him to have your company, despite his earlier remarks, I believe," Haldir had said.
"What remarks?" Aragorn questioned, worry growing deep inside him. Haldir did not reply.
"He is very troubled now, yes. Aragorn, I fear for him. He is severely saddened, even though he tries to hide it. I have seen many elves in this state..." He left his sentence unfinished.
Aragorn turned abruptly in front of the door to Legolas' chambers. He knocked on the sturdy wood, and he heard movement behind the door.
"Enter," a shaky voice called. Aragorn cracked open the door before opening it fully.
Inside he saw Legolas sitting on a chair by a window, which was open. The sunlight cast shadows across his fair colored hair, and as he turned, Aragorn discerned the glistening of tears on his cheeks.
Legolas stared at Aragorn a few moments before registering he was really in this room.
"What do you wish of me?" Legolas asked coldly.
"Haldir informed me..."
"Haldir, Haldir! What does Haldir know? He is a silly elf who cannot understand what it is that I feel. He merely takes this time to his advantage. He is very greedy, very selfish." Aragorn stood still at these words. "Of course, you could relate to this also. You are just as greedy, though even more foul. Do you desire another taste of me, even though it is only days before you wedding to the fair Lady Arwen?"
"Legolas..." Aragorn felt his throat constrict as realization hit him.
"What excuse will you offer me now?" He glared across the room, and Aragorn felt himself slowly collapsing beneath that gaze.
"Legolas," he started, but what could he tell his heartbroken once- lover? How do you comfort one hurt by you? He gulped; decided that he must tell Legolas the truth. "Only a few weeks before, I must say yes, you were my lover..."
"Plaything," Legolas corrected.
"I did not say that!" Aragorn's temper was flaring. "I was your lover, yet there was foreboding in my heart. Something was direly wrong. This was only confirmed by a message sent my Lady Galadriel to me. She, she had a vision of death, of the destruction of the earth, and she felt this to be very close to our current time. Legolas please hear me out. She warned against allowing you to be my lover. This was what she sensed in this message..."
"You would trust her visions?" Legolas roared. "You trust a silly vision? That is the reason you left me without turning to..."
"She does not see silly visions, and you know this!" Aragorn shouted just as loudly. "The Lady Galadriel has many visions, yes, but all are truthful in their own right. All show what can become if time does not follow the allotted course."
"She takes too much pride in her visions, stretching them and distorting the truth."
"You honestly think that she would lie only for the reason of an assured marriage to Lady Arwen? She would not do that! Her visions are to be trusted! She is one of the last high elves..."
"The Noldor? Ha, the Noldor brought nothing but death and dread to the world. Fëanor's folly was forever a curse upon all their kind, even those who did not take the horrid oath."
"Galadriel is different." By this time, his voice was almost a plea.
"She is no different. In fact, she is more prone to Noldor stupidity!" Legolas stood up sharply and shoved past Aragorn. "I wish no more to converse with you." He slammed the door behind Aragorn.
Aragorn stood motionless, his body trembling. His legs collapsed below him and he placed his head in his hands.
"Legolas, mela, mankoi?" he cried (Legolas, love, why). He rocked back and forth to the time of his tears. "Mela, mela, amin meleth lle, Legolas! Amin hiraetha. I wish you no harm, no harm at all!" Yet he could not shake the image of those eyes, eyes filled with un-cried tears. Legolas would not so easily forgive. "Amin khiluva lle a' gurtha ar' thar, yet will you do the same to me? My love, do not fall away. It is not that I do not love you! My love!" (I would follow you into death and beyond) He sobbed into his hands as memories floated in and out of his mind, precious times with his beloved, Legolas. Try as he might, none left him, and he felt himself slipping into the dream world of the past.
***
Legolas cantered across the star-lit plain, tears glistening in his eyes. He choked on another sob as he turned his horse once more to face the diminishing city behind him. There, he could see Minas-Tirith, shadows falling across its surface in the dim light. He saw in his mind riding upon it in bright sunlight from a friendly ride with Aragorn, the sun above it, shining down. I thought that my home.
He closed his eyes and his mind to any more visions of that poisonous man.
Three days of hard riding led him far away from the evil city, and now, as Legolas lay on the ground with the setting sun in front of him, he felt utterly alone. Even with the horse he stole, he felt pure emptiness in his heart.
He gazed out over the empty plain, every bone in his body aching with that emptiness. Was there any chance left? Was their search in vain? He placed his head in his hands, muttering to himself.
Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder. He turned, and there, standing beside him, was Aragorn, his long time friend and companion. With his sharp eyes, he could see clearly the lines of fatigue on the man's face.
"Why do you not rest? Now is a time to sleep," he whispered.
"I do not desire sleep nor do I need it, when the only comfort I desire stands beside me now." Aragorn cupped Legolas' face in his hands, caressing the perfect skin. "Mela," he breathed. Legolas could not contain a shiver. Aragorn pulled him closer, wrapping his arms around the lithe form.
His lips were warm, so warm and comforting. Legolas returned the kiss with just as much passion. He felt Aragorn's eyelashes, and he could feel moisture on them. The Ranger was crying. Legolas pulled away and put his hand up to Aragorn's cheek, wiping away the tear.
"Amin meleth lle." Aragorn pulled the elf in once more for a kiss.
"No!" Legolas cried, shaking with uncontrollable sobs. "Stop it! Stop this!" He hid his face in his hands, curling into a small ball on the ground. "Melamin," he sobbed, the word coming unbidden to his tongue. Aragorn, though, was not there, was not there to comfort the distraught elf. He would never be there again. He was long gone.
Still, a figure did come. He dismounted from his horse, hearing the sobbing, and ran to the form on the ground.
"Legolas?" he asked. Legolas turned around, his tears streaked face glittering in the night. Above him was a worried face, the face of Haldir. Legolas closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tears. His bottom lip trembled, and he bit at it. "Do not fear, my friend. It is alright." He cradled the elf in his arms, and Legolas buried his face in the older elf's chest. Haldir stroked the soft hair and rocked back and forth.
Legolas finally quieted down, and he looked up at Haldir with pleading eyes. He wanted something, but what?
"Aragorn, I suppose..."
"Shhh, do not worry over him. There will be no more trouble," Haldir whispered. Legolas closed his eyes and rested his head on Haldir's chest then, comforted by even those words. Haldir, though, was not. He looked down at his friend and saw how pale the elf was, how deathly pale. His eyes were red and puffy from crying. Suddenly, a familiar pang came to Haldir's heart.
Long had he treasured this elf. He was once Legolas' teacher and protector of sorts, when he was but young, for an elf, that is. He had taught Legolas' everything he knew, and slowly grew to love that strange elf.
Yet there was Aragorn. He came when Legolas was younger, and he left the elf speechless. Haldir knew that love struck gaze of his friend's eyes, for he expected that to be what he looked like as he watched Legolas from afar. The man and Legolas spent most days of that time together, inseparable. It was the fragmenting of Haldir's budding relationship.
When Legolas departed to Imladris by the summons of Elrond, Haldir knew he would never see that elf again as he once was. He could feel it in his heart, the pain that he felt as he watched Legolas ride away. He was leaving Haldir, for good.
Even after returning to Lothlorien though, Haldir did not shake that elf's face. His dreams were plagued by visions of Legolas, one of the bodies piled on a battle field, or lying dead alone in some unknown land. Now, he feared for the elf's life.
When Legolas and his companions came to Lothlorien, Haldir saw clearly the change in his friend. He was always by the side of Aragorn, always showing him the warmth and love, the warmth Haldir was denied. He was still friendly to Haldir, yes, but little did they speak, unlike those times long gone.
The next time he saw the elf was when he came with a large entourage of elves to the wedding of Lady Arwen and the King of Men, Aragorn. Legolas was not the same as he was long before. His heart was troubled; he did not speak much at all to anyone. He spent most days alone, riding far out, sometimes, Haldir believed, all the way to the sea. He would spend the day away and return late at night, always his eyes glittering with unshed tears. Haldir watched many a day as his companion wasted away into despair.
And he avoided Aragorn. Legolas would not talk to the man, not even acknowledge him when they passed. Instead, he sped up his pace and left the man. Haldir saw clearly the tension between them, crackling in the air. Sometimes though, he would watch as Aragorn turned around to gaze at the retreating back of Legolas with longing, such grief in his eyes.
Haldir had heard the fateful message of the Lady Galadriel, the night when her voice rose high above the noise of Caras Galadhon and soared into boughs far above, though it was only a whisper, a small breath:
"The fate of Middle-earth is decided, yet men still hang upon the fragility of a leaf, green now in the brightness of his glory, yet so quick to brown and wither that he would ruin the kingdom of men before it ever began to build its glory."
A messenger was sent that night to Minas Tirith to bear the message.
And to end the purest love between Legolas and Aragorn.
Haldir shifted slightly to lay the elf down upon the ground, for now, Legolas was fast asleep. He clung tightly to Haldir's tunic, yet he gingerly pried the delicate fingers from his clothing and carefully brought them to rest on the soft grass. Legolas moaned something to the sound of 'Aragorn' before drifting back into sleep.
I hoped you like it so far! Please review and tell me if you even think this story will work! I am skeptical right now myself.
