Aragorn
"Estel, he's here."
Aragorn sighed relief. "Thank the Valar."
Elrohir rolled his eyes. "I don't know why you think Legolas can help you, little brother. You are a dead man."
"We'll see about that." Despite his words, Aragorn suspected his brother was right.
He hurried to the courtyard to meet the prince. He needed his friend's help, and needed it desperately. When Aragorn got outside, he was surprised by the sound of multiple horses.
He came to a halt and stared at what he saw. Legolas was there… along with twenty Greenwood warriors. The prince was dressed in formal wear and armed to the teeth. Elrond and Glorfindel exchanged a confused look. The twins glanced at Aragorn, apparently struggling not to laugh.
"Lord Elrond." Legolas dismounted and clasped the elf lord's arm. "I have brought twenty of my best warriors to fight in your name."
"Um, thank you, penneth, but I must ask what brought this on? Have you heard of trouble heading for Imladris?"
Legolas faltered, confusion flickering across his face. He glanced at Aragorn, who resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. He hurried forward, hoping to avoid a total disaster.
"Mellon nin?" Legolas turned to him. "Your letter said –"
"I think there's been some kind of misunderstanding," Aragorn said quickly. "Thank you for your support, Legolas, but we don't need warriors."
"Nonetheless, you are all welcome here." Elrond gave the wood elves a puzzled smile. "I will have someone show you to your quarters."
"I'll take Legolas to his."
Legolas knew very well where his quarters were, but Aragorn dragged him off before Elrond could question. The prince rounded on him the moment they were safely behind the closed door of his rooms.
"What was that, Estel? Your letter said your life was in grave danger! Do you have any idea what it took for me to get Ada to release twenty of his best warriors to come to Imladris' defense?"
"I'm sorry, mellon nin," Aragorn groaned, dropping into a chair. "I was exaggerating, I didn't expect you to take it so seriously!"
Legolas folded his arms. "So your life is in danger, but you do not need Greenwood's finest fighters to defend it?"
"No, I just need you. You see, it isn't an outside force threatening my life. Ada is going to kill me."
The prince's expression flickered in confusion. "Your father loves you, Estel. He would never hurt you."
"That's because he doesn't know what I've done."
"What have you done, mellon nin?"
"I've fallen in love with his daughter."
He looked up in time to see Legolas gaping at him. "You're… in love with Arwen?"
Aragorn nodded dismally.
"Oh mellon nin," Legolas laughed. "I am sorry, but you are right – he truly is going to kill you. You know how protective he is of Arwen. I am flattered you think me a match for Lord Elrond. I will fight to defend you, of course, but I fear we will both be slain by his eyebrow alone."
Aragorn groaned at the thought of The Eyebrow. "He's not going to kill us, because he's not going to find out. That's what I need your help with. You're going to help me keep it from him."
Legolas winced and muttered something under his breath about his best friend being crazy. "Estel, you do realize who you're talking about, don't you? Keep a secret from Elrond? You know better than that. He'll find out, he always finds out."
"He can't find out!" Aragorn squawked, somewhat hysterically. "He can't, Legolas, you have to help me…"
"Alright, Estel, alright, calm down. I will help you, you know that. What do you need?"
Aragorn dropped his head into his hands. "I don't know."
"Well, what do the twins say?"
"They say I'm an idiot, and I'm going to die."
Legolas rolled his eyes. "Ok, here's what we're going to do. Arwen is going to start spending time with us and your brothers. We do that for a few weeks, let Elrond get used to it, then once his guard is down, we'll start doing things out of his sight. You and Arwen can go off on your own, and the twins and I will cover for you."
"A few weeks?" How was he going to avoid being alone with her for a few weeks? Already, Aragorn felt like his heart was missing when she wasn't with him. When they were together, all he wanted was for the rest of the world to disappear around them.
"You're a big boy, Estel, you can keep it in your pants for a few more weeks."
Aragorn felt his face going red. "I didn't mean –"
Legolas wasn't listening. "I'd better send those warriors home, Ada will throw a fit if I keep them here when they're not needed. And I expect you to think of an excuse for your father about their appearance. While you're at it, you can consider how best to word your future letters so as not to give me a heart attack."
He supposed he deserved that. Aragorn stared after Legolas as he hurried off to see to his men. Despite the circumstances, he was glad to have his best friend with him.
Legolas
This was going to be harder than Legolas had thought. "Stop looking at each other like that!" he hissed under his breath.
Both Estel and Arwen turned to him. "Like what?" Estel demanded.
"Like she's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen and you want nothing more than to kiss her right now! And you, Arwen, you're no better, get that dreamy look out of your eyes."
Elladan and Elrohir were sniggering under their breath.
"Is this better?" Estel was gazing at Arwen with a look that was no less lovestruck than it had been a moment ago.
"No," Legolas snapped, kicking Elrohir as the noldor started giggling. "You know what? Just don't look at each other. Honestly, you'd think you want Elrond to kill you…"
The rest of their very visible picnic – strategically placed in the garden outside Elrond's office – went by without mishap, Estel and Arwen determinedly looking away from each other.
Estel had hardly been in Elrond's good graces ever since he told the elf lord that he'd sent Legolas a letter saying Imladris was surrounded by orcs as a prank. If Elrond found out now, things would not go well for Estel or Arwen. They had to be careful, which was difficult when the two fools could barely keep their feelings off their faces.
"Tomorrow, we go for a ride," Legolas decided. "We'll keep it close to Imladris' borders, make sure a number of guards see us together."
Estel grimaced, but didn't argue. He followed Legolas back to his chambers. "I need to be alone with her," he whined. "Even if it's just to talk to her in private. With everyone watching us…"
"I understand, Estel, I do. You are newly in love; of course you want only each other's company. We have to be safe, though. You need to trust me."
"I trust you," Estel said at once.
"I know. Don't worry, we'll figure this out."
It was three days later when Estel shook Legolas awake in the middle of the night, his eyes wide with panic. Legolas sat up at once. "Mellon nin? What is it?"
"I messed up."
"What did you do, Estel?"
Estel dropped his head into his hands, and his next words were muffled. "I wrote Arwen a love poem and left it for her to find. I thought it would be romantic."
"And?"
"She never got it. I thought it must have blown away – the window was open."
"And?"
"Well, it did blow away… right into the courtyard below Ada's office. I was going to get a glass of water when I saw him walking in the courtyard – you know how he likes to take walks under the stars. I saw him picking it up; I recognized Arwen's name signed off in my handwriting, it was definitely the letter I wrote to her."
Legolas closed his eyes in horror. "Did he read it?"
Estel nodded miserably.
"Ok, Estel, you need to tell me exactly what you said. Did you use your name? Arwen's?"
"I used her name, but not mine."
There was that, at least. "So all Elrond knows is that Arwen has a secret admirer. We can work with that."
"How? I'm not shifting my death sentence onto someone else!"
"We can get the twins to say they sent it, as a prank."
Even in the dim light, he could see Estel blushing. "That won't work."
"Why not?"
"I may have mentioned… her naked. And doing some things to her that weren't… brotherly. Not at all brotherly."
Legolas groaned. The twins would never speak of their sister that way, even in jest.
"He's going to murder me," Estel muttered, his voice panicky and his eyes wide.
Legolas frantically tried to think. "Alright, Estel, I have a plan. You just go back to bed – you look exhausted. I need to talk to the twins."
The next morning, Elladan and Elrohir came into the dining hall chuckling. That much wasn't an act; they found the whole situation hilarious. Elrond's expression resembled a thunder storm as he dished out his breakfast. Aragorn, Legolas and the twins were quiet, waiting. It didn't take long for the elf lord to say what was on his mind. "I need to talk to you all. I found a letter yesterday –"
At this, both twins burst out laughing. Their father shot them a suspicious glare. "What?" he snapped.
"You really thought the letter was to Arwen, Ada?" Elrohir let his head fall against the back of his chair as he laughed.
"Explain," the elf lord said shortly.
"We – we found that letter in Anuen's things when we were trying to locate some herbs she sent us to find," Elladan chuckled, naming one of the female healers who had a similar body type and shape to Arwen. "Turns out our little brother had quite the crush on her when he was younger."
On cue, Estel went bright red.
"We wondered how you'd react if we changed her name to Arwen's – though we never expected you to believe it."
Legolas didn't bother to listen to the stern reprimands that followed. Elrond had bought it; that was all that mattered.
"You couldn't have picked someone else to have sent the letter?" Estel hissed as he and Legolas headed out to the grounds.
"You don't think your Ada can recognize your handwriting?"
"Oh. I didn't think of that."
"Because you're a fool in love, Estel. If you want to live, you'd better be more careful! And no more love letters."
The next two weeks passed in relative calm. Estel and Arwen constantly bemoaned having to be accompanied everywhere, but their arguments tended to fizzle out when Legolas pointed out that at least they both still had their heads attached to their shoulders.
Finally, he judged it safe enough to start sneaking around. First, they went on another ride, though further this time, beyond the reach of the Imladris guards. Legolas and the twins separated from the other two, letting Estel and Arwen go off on their own.
"Be back in two hours!" Legolas yelled after them. "No more than that!"
Elladan chuckled. "Do you really think they'll come back in time?"
"No," Legolas admitted.
"Those two are going to get themselves killed." Elrohir rolled his eyes. "Shall we draw straws for who has to go fetch them when the time comes?"
Legolas lost, and was prepared for anything when he followed Estel's trail, but was relieved to find them both clothed. Estel was sitting with his back against a tree, and Arwen was between his legs, leaning against his chest. They seemed to be talking quietly. Legolas let out a small sigh.
"You two! Let's go, your father is expecting us back."
"Oh! I'm so sorry, Legolas, we lost track of time." Arwen leapt up and held out her hand for Estel.
"I know," Legolas grouched. "Come on, let's get going."
Elrond's gaze moved quizzically over them when they got back, and it took all of Legolas' willpower to meet the elf lord's eyes without cringing. He seemed to find everything in order, because he merely nodded to them before returning to his study. Legolas couldn't tell if he suspected anything, and shot a warning look at Arwen, who was inching her horse closer to Estel's.
Aragorn
"Estel? Why is this door locked?"
Aragorn froze at the sound of his father's voice. He stared into Arwen's wide eyes. Their clothes were on the other side of the room. If Ada walked in on them like this…
The adjoining door between his and Legolas' rooms opened quietly, and the prince hurried in, a finger to his lips. He saw them both frozen in horror and quickly broke the spell, chivvying Arwen through to his room where the twins were waiting.
"Estel? Is everything ok in there?"
Aragorn sent his friend a look of panic, and Legolas gestured for him to get the door. He didn't know what the prince had planned, but Aragorn trusted him. He pulled on a robe and unbolted the door.
"A-Ada?"
"Estel, what –"
"Estel, get back in here, I'm not done with you yet!"
He glanced back in surprise, and felt his eyes widening at what he saw. Legolas was lying naked in his bed, his hair mussed and his lips swollen.
Elrond had had enough, and pushed in past him. When he saw the prince, Legolas simply smiled at him. "Lord Elrond."
"Oh." Aragorn had never seen his father so wrong-footed. "Oh. I – well, I was just checking if – but it doesn't matter, I'll ask you later – I'll just be going, then…"
"Bye," Legolas said dreamily.
Elrond was turning to leave when his eyes zeroed in on something. Aragorn turned, and to his horror, saw Arwen's pile of clothes.
"Estel." The elf lord's voice was carefully controlled. "What are my daughter's clothes doing in your bedroom?"
Aragorn shot Legolas a desperate look, but the prince was already hurrying to grab the clothes. "Don't tell her, hir nin, please. I swear I'll return the clothes, I swear!" He hung his head in apparent shame.
"What are you talking about, penneth?"
How Legolas managed to force himself to blush on demand like that was beyond Aragorn, but the effect was good.
"I… sometimes I like dressing up in an elleth's clothes, when it's just me and Estel alone together."
Elrond opened his mouth, and shut it again. Without another word, he walked out.
Aragorn felt he could fry an egg on his face as he threw tossed Legolas's clothes back to the prince. "I never knew you were such a good actor."
"With my father? I had to be, or he'd have had me skinned alive a dozen times over for the pranks we've pulled while at Greenwood. Do you remember the time we dyed his best robes purple? He would have had our heads when he found out, but I managed to convince him that there had been an accident when washing them.
"And the toads under his council chair? He was set to execute someone when I persauded him that they escaped from some healers who were testing their skin secretions for healing properties."
That was news to Aragorn, and he reminded himself to be more careful about what pranks he suggested to Legolas with regard to Thranduil in future. He would like to keep his head, after all. "You know that now Ada thinks we're together?"
"Yes, which puts us in danger from my father, but not from Elrond. I'll just have to explain the situation to Ada – he'll think it's hilarious, once he's sure you're not secretly ravishing me when I come here to visit."
Legolas had dictated that they still do things as a visible group, so the next day, they were going to have another picnic on the grounds. Aragorn forgot to bring a blanket, and was just running up to his chambers to grab one when his Ada's voice stopped him.
The study door was ajar, and it seemed that Erestor and Glorfindel were with him.
"… don't understand." Elrond was pacing in agitation. "My vision was very clear. Estel and Arwen are to be married. It is her love that will see him through some of his toughest trials and see us all into the future Middle Earth needs. They've been spending time together for weeks, but I've never seen a hint of anything other than friendship between them! And now I find that Estel is with Legolas? Not only does that threaten a war with Greenwood when Thranduil finds out, but it threatens the future for all of us."
Aragorn didn't stay to hear Erestor's reply. Stuffing his fist in his mouth to stop himself from laughing, he ran back down to the grounds, completely forgetting about the blanket.
The first thing he did was take Arwen's face in his hands and kiss her.
"Estel, what are you doing?" Elladan hissed.
"Are you suicidal?" Legolas tried to tug them apart while Elrohir quickly got up, attempting to screen them from view.
"It seems I have an apology to make." Aragorn couldn't keep the wide grin off his face. "As it turns out, Ada isn't going to kill us. In fact, he'll be quite relieved. We've spent all these weeks thinking we were escaping Ada's wrath, but we were never in any danger to begin with."
The others listened in shocked silence as he explained. When he was done, Elrohir was the first to start laughing, and Elladan wasn't far behind. Then Legolas joined in, and finally, Arwen flung herself into Aragorn's arms, chuckling merrily even as she kissed him.
Lord Elrond found them that way, in no small way surprised to see Aragorn and Arwen suddenly entwined in each other's arms. Shaking his head in bemusement, he allowed a smile to grace his features. He had the feeling there was a story here, but that wasn't what mattered. Everything was as it should be.