Title: Friend and Foe
Chapter 2: Enter Legolas
Previously: Estel comes home on his 20th birthday, Elrond tells him how he is Aragorn son of Arathorn, he meets Arwen and falls in love with her, Elrond tells him that Legolas is going to arrive soon.
…
Legolas entered the hall with a mixture of pleasure and pain. Both his best and worst moments had been in this very hall. He stared around for a moment, struggling to remember and forget at the same time. Elrond unwittingly rescued him from his conflict by saying warmly,
"Welcome again to Rivendell, Legolas! You certainly have been making yourself scarce. I haven't seen you for- was it fifty years ago?"
"Fifty five, my lord," Legolas replied. His gaze fell on Aragorn, whose hair for some strange reason was looking as though it had gone a month without combing. The Man looked…not untidy, but extremely windswept. His eyes traveled to Aragorn's face, and in a moment the observant Elf took in the humble, noble, yet wild expression on his face. A feeling of admiration rose in him, but he pushed it down instinctively, without thinking why he was doing it.
The truth was that he had lost a great many people in his life, and his sorrows had taught him to be wary of making too many friends. He pushed even Elves away, and shunned with chilling certainty any friendship with Man.
Elrond once again interrupted his thoughts by saying,
"As I'm sure you gathered from our conversation, Estel, this is Prince Legolas of Mirkwood. And Legolas, this is Estel, my adoptive son."
Legolas looked in amazement at the Man. Evidently, a lot had changed since he had last been here.
"A Man with an Elven name? This is certainly something…new."
"Actually, his true identity is Aragorn son of Arathorn. He is the heir to the throne of Gondor. I have brought him up under the assumed name of Estel, for protection."
"Well, Lord Aragorn," Legolas said, very formal, "It is a pleasure to meet you." He held out his hand.
"Please call me Estel, Prince Legolas," Estel said, shaking the proffered hand heartily, "Ada only told me I was 'Aragorn son of Arathorn' two days ago. I'm not exactly used to the name yet."
"And please call me Legolas, Estel. I will not be 'Prince' anywhere but in Mirkwood."
There was an awkward silence. In direct contrast to Aragorn's warm manner, Legolas had appeared very cold and distant. It was partly the elf's intention, partly just habit. Because of his upbringing, he had learnt to act extremely regal when he was not at his own home, which was why he invariably appeared unfriendly.
But despite of this Aragorn had to admire him. He could not help being put off by Legolas's cold manner, but he admired the way the Elf was able to hide every emotion effectively, even surprise. He was supposed to be so broken by his mother's death that he was here for healing, yet he appeared completely normal. Anyone who saw him would have believed that he had come just to deliver a message.
After a few stunted attempts of conversation between the two Legolas took leave of them and went to find his room. The ease with which he walked showed his familiarity with the place.
Aragorn's questions increased. Who on earth was this Elf, anyway? He wasn't the occasional visitor from Mirkwood- so what was he?
…
That evening found Aragorn in Elrond's chamber.
"What did the message say?" he asked.
"Nothing much. Just some particulars about Legolas and why Thranduil wants him healed. It doesn't help much, because I cannot distinguish any change in his behavior. Cold, distant and regal- that's the idea you get of Legolas whenever he meets you."
"Are you sure he isn't really like that? I mean- couldn't there be a mistake? Maybe he doesn't really need to be healed, perhaps?"
"Perhaps, but I can't just not heal him because I think there's some mistake. If his ada says he needs to be healed, then he does."
"That Elf's more trouble than he's worth. He's been here before, hasn't he?"
"Yes…" Suddenly Elrond seemed uncomfortable, "But I can't tell you why because…"
"Why can't you tell me? If he's such a problem I can't see how you could have told him who I really was. You're supposed to be protecting me, aren't you?"
"No, it isn't like that. It's just…with Arwen here I don't want to dig up old bones. And he's not an enemy. It's perfectly safe to tell him things of this sort."
"What old bones, ada?"
"You can go, Aragorn. I just got an idea for healing him, and I need time to think."
Aragorn would have argued, but he realized it was completely fruitless. He turned and walked towards the door.
As he shut it, he saw Legolas standing a few feet away from it. He froze, wondering how much the Elf had heard.
"Is Arwen Evenstar truly in Rivendell?" Legolas said, trying to sound as though it was a throwaway question that had no real significance. But his deathly white face and his turbulent eyes gave him away.
A million questions poured into Aragorn's head.
Does he love her? He's been here before, and ada was saying that it was something to do with her…Oh Valar, does she feel anything for him? After all, he is good-looking …
"Yes," he answered very cautiously, "Why?"
But Legolas wasn't listening. He leaned heavily against the wall and shut his eyes, breathing heavily.
"Oh Valar…" he murmured almost in audibly.
"Legolas? Are you alright?"
Legolas didn't reply for an entire minute, then said in a voice of forced calm, "Yes, I'm fine. Does she…does she know I'm here?"
"I don't know," Aragorn said. "Why? Do you have feelings for her?"
He realized a split second too late that it was quite the wrong question to ask. If Legolas had been shaken by this news so much that he had actually lost his usual composure, it would have been better to let the matter rest as it was.
For a moment Legolas just stood there, struggling. Then suddenly he lunged for Aragorn, knocking him against the opposite wall. His face was pinched and white with anger. His eyes were blazing. At that moment Aragorn understood why Elrond had said this icy cold Elf was full of fire.
"How many times do I have to answer this question?" Legolas said jerkily, voice shaking with anger. His hands fisted around the material on Aragorn's shirt. "How often do I have to make this explanation? Why is it that every time someone falls in love with her, I'm asked this same ridiculous question again and again and again…"
Aragorn fought against the Elf's strong grip, but to no avail. Legolas was past insanity now; it was taking him extreme self-control not to hit Aragorn.
"I don't love her," Aragorn lied, anything to get the Elf off him.
Legolas snorted, "As if you'd say otherwise!"
"Look I'm sorry, okay!" Aragorn said, getting angry as well, "But if it was causing you so much unrest to come here I don't know why you even came. I'll bet you knew why your father sent you!"
"No, I didn't. I thought ada sent me to deliver a message of utmost importance. Otherwise I would never have come here."
"Don't give me that. Just because yourmother went anddied, you had to-"
"Don't you dare insult my mother!" The sound of a ringing slap echoed through the corridor, followed by a stunned silence.
Legolas turned on his heel and left the room.
…
The next day, Elrond came to Aragorn's quarters and showed him a letter written by the Elf. It said that he had important business to deal with in Mirkwood and had therefore had to leave in a hurry. He thanked Elrond cordially for his hospitality, and apologized for his sudden departure.
The letter said nothing of Aragorn. The Man was thankful for that. He did not need his ada to lecture him on this one.
And so another two years passed, with no trace of Legolas. But just as Aragorn was beginning to learn how to forget him, a letter arrived from Mirkwood, which forced him to remember.
…
TBC
And I will stop on that note. It's getting late, so I'll reply to your 5 reviews next time. All I wanna say is this:
That entire fight may have made Leggy seem out-of-character, but there are reasons for the entire thing. And Aragorn wasn't really insulting Leggy's mum.
This Chapter was really tough to write! This is my second attempt. I think I rewrote the fight three times, because I didn't want either of them to seem out-of –character. Okay, bedtime for me now. G'night!
