Chapter 4: Darkness

The water that trickled slowly down his back from his wet hair felt wonderfully cool on his hot skin, and Aragorn sighed blissfully. With his eyes closed and his cheek resting on Legolas's shoulder, his arms were encircling the elf's body. Only a few minutes ago he had groaned his pleasure into the elf's ear, shuddering uncontrollably while Legolas had gripped his hips tightly, finding his own release shortly after him. Now, sated, tired and relaxed, Aragorn had no inclination to move. At all.

With every breath Legolas took, his chest rose slightly, slowly but surely lulling Aragorn to sleep. The day had been long, and their love making had been slow and sensual, for they had taken all the time in the world, knowing that no one would bother them here.

By now, the light in the cave had completely vanished, and the flickering fire of the torches was the only source of light left. Not that it bothered any of them. Legolas elvish glow was still radiant enough to bath the water in light blue light, giving it the appearance of liquid ice. The elf was still holding Aragorn in his arm, kissing him gently now and then, like he used to do.

A few more minutes passed, and Aragorn just felt himself dose off, when Legolas moved his hand out of the water and up his back. Icy water trickled down his now cool skin, waking Aragorn instantly and making him jump slightly. Almost instantly, goose bumbs appeared on his skin. Instinctively, he snuggled closer to Legolas, seeking his warmth.

Fine, long fingers played with his hair for a moment, before Legolas's soft voice reached his ear, "Estel?"

"Hmm." He was tired and he really did not want to move. Legolas was soft and warm, and moving would cost too much energy right now.

"We should get out of the water, Estel. It is starting to get cold."

"Mh hm." Mumbling into Legolas's shoulder, Aragorn shook his head softly. His eyelids felt like lead and his limbs so heavy with the afterglow of their passion that he was not even sure if he could have moved had he wanted to.

"Estel?" Legolas gave him a kiss on the shoulder, but Aragorn did not move an inch. So, Legolas gave him a little push, then pushed a bit harder, but when that had no effect whatsoever, the elf sighed in defeat. "Alright then, have it your way."

He wound his arms tightly around Aragorn, and before the young man had realized what Legolas was up to, the elf got to his feet, and out of the water, carrying Aragorn with him easily. In but a few moments he had carried Aragorn to the place where they had placed their packs, setting him down onto his own two feet unceremoniously, but with care.

As soon as Aragorn's skin touched the cool air in the cave, he started to shiver. He wrapped his arms around his naked chest, rubbing them vigorously. With water dripping from his dark locks and goose bumps on his arms and legs, he looked at Legolas with those big grey eyes of his, a small pout forming on his lips.

It took all of Legolas self control to not walk up to Aragorn, take him in his arm, rush back to the lake and start all over again. But, he knew that the water of the lake must be cold for a human; too cold after spending so much energy as Aragorn must surely have during their activities.

With quick movements, Legolas picked up their discarded clothing and shrugged into his tunic, before he held out Aragorn's shirt and leggings to him. With a small pout the man took them and began to shrug into them, all the while trembling slightly. When they were fully clothed again, they rolled out their blankets and settled down side by side. One of the torched had extinguished by now, but they did not bother to light a new one. They had not brought enough to last them a whole night and the way back; they would have to sleep in the dark tonight once the other torch died, too.

Cuddling close to Legolas, who wrapped and arm around him, Aragorn felt himself warm up slowly. Truly, he had been cold, but he would not admit that to Legolas, now would he? He had been perfectly fine as long as they had been in the water, after all.

But with the warmth returning to his body, his tiredness returned as well. A huge yawn split his face, and a moment later his eyelids slid shut. Snuggling closer to Legolas, he rested his head on the elf's shoulder, feeling incredibly tired. A moment later, his breath evened out and became deeper, indicating sleep.

Smiling slightly at the sleeping man at his side, Legolas tucked a dark strand of hair behind Aragorn's ear. His elven glow slowly receded, and after but a few minutes, he too, wandered off to elvish dreams. Neither of them saw the orange glow of the candle sputter and then die, and neither did they hear the ominous rumble that echoed through the cave.

Late that night, Legolas was woken by Aragorn, who sifted restlessly beside him. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Legolas gazed at the young man, a frown marring his features. Aragorn's head turning from side to side, while his whole body seemed tensed and poised to either fight or flee. While Legolas watched, Aragorn turned onto his back, his face a mask of fear. Words bubbled from his mouth, to soft to understand at first, but a moment later the young man whimpered, shuddering, "No, don't…please don't!"

With a pang of dread Legolas realized that Aragorn must have another nightmare, a stronger one this time than yesterday. He did not know why his friend had to visit the past so many nights, why his mind was forcing so much pain onto him, but it hurt him to see the otherwise strong man helplessly caught in his own mind. And, Legolas reminded himself when Aragorn shook his head in his sleep, he had vowed that he would make the nightmares stop.

With a determined look on his face, Legolas sat up and reached out, shaking Aragorn's shoulder. Instead of waking, Aragorn merely whimpered again, trying to get away from the touch. Shaking harder, Legolas called Aragorn's name, and a moment later he felt the man tense under his fingers, before grey eyes opened to stare at him.

"No!" Aragorn yelled, pulling away from Legolas, stark fear in his eyes. He skittered away from Legolas on hands and feet, until his back hit the wall of the cave. "Please don't. I don't want to….please don't…." There was a pleading note to his voice, mixed with a small hick of fear.

Legolas was confused, and he did not understand why Aragorn was shying away from him. But then he looked at his friend again, and realization hit him like a troll's club. The torch had extinguished and it was pith black in the cave. His own elvish glow was giving up only minimal light, seeing that he had just woken from sleep. And Aragorn, waking from sleep, must have thought that he had woken up in his nightmare; that Legolas was the one who had done this to him…

Pity tugged at his heart, as well as anger at the one who had done this, but Legolas suppressed the latter feeling and concentrated instead on the first. He concentrated for a moment and let his own inner glow brighten his features. Then, he slowly moved towards the young man, who was cowering against the wall with his knees drawn up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them.

"Estel? It is I, Legolas. I will not hurt you."

Slowly, Aragorn's wide eyes locked on Legolas, and after a moment the fear vanished from them, to be replaced by relief. "L-Legolas? For a moment I thought you were…" Aragorn broke off, averting his gaze from Legolas. He bowed his head, clearly ashamed of his nightmare and subsequent actions.

After what had happened in spring, Legolas and Aragorn had talked a lot about their relationship and about trust, but they had not long dwelled on the things that had happened. Of course, Legolas had apologized for the fact that he had not listened to Aragorn, had not believed him, but they had not spoken about what had truly happened to the young man. About what might have happened.

Legolas knew that Aragorn had not yet come to terms with it, as his frequent nightmares showed, and he began to fear that he had waited too long to get the man to talk. He did not know whether right now was the right time and place, but one look at the distraught man in from of him was all it needed to convince the elf that now was as good a time as any.

Sitting down in front of Aragorn, Legolas placed a hand on his knee. "Estel? Are you alright now?"

A nod was the only reply he got, and so Legolas added softly, "Do you want to talk about it?"

As he had anticipated, Aragorn shook his head, avoiding eye contact.

"Maybe you should. You cannot go on like this, and you know it, Estel." Legolas squeezed the young man's knee gently. "You know you can tell me anything. I will not go away."

Legolas waited another few moments, and just when he thought that Aragorn would not talk to him, the young ranger's soft voice reached his ears.

"I dream about it almost every night. It always starts the same way. I'm back in my room at home, preparing to go down to dinner. A knock at the door, I bid the person to enter and then…then he comes and then…" Aragorn's voice broke and he shook his head miserably.

Having never been in a situation like this before, Legolas was not sure what to say or do, but he knew that Aragorn had to talk about his nightmares to come start the healing process. So, he encouraged softly, "And then, Estel?"

Without looking at Legolas, but rather talking to his knees, Aragorn said softly, "It varies. But it always ends the same way." His voice died down to a whisper, "He … he forces himself upon me and then he…Legolas please, don't make say it." Aragorn pleaded, trembling slightly.

It nearly broke Legolas's heart to say the next words, and he hoped that he was doing the right thing. "No, Estel, not this time. I want you to say it. Tell me." Softly he added, "It will help."

Aragorn tensed and swallowed convulsively. His breathing hitched and he buried his head deeper into his arms. Legolas began to doubt whether he was really doing the right, whether forcing his friend to relive these horrible dreams would help him heal. When Aragorn began to speak, slowly and in barely a whisper, Legolas felt his heart leap out to the young man.

"He kisses me and he touches me. He is strong and on top of me; I cannot run, cannot flee. I'm caught and he knows it, it spurs him on, I can see in his eyes that he likes it that way. He…he begins to open his pants and then…then mine and he…he touches me." Aragorn swallowed thickly, but he went on nevertheless, "And then he…he abuses me. And I can't do anything to stop him." Tears began to roll down his cheeks, and Aragorn did not even attempt to roll the away. "When he is finished he stands up, ties his pants and looks down on me, and still I can't move. He turns away to the door and I feel relief because he goes away. He reaches the door, but instead of leaving he turns the key and locks the door." Aragorn's voice hitches and a sob escaped his lips. His voice was so soft now that Legolas had to strain his ears to hear the next words. "And then he comes back and does it again…and again. And no one can stop him."

With those words, Aragorn buried his face in his hands, sobbing uncontrollably now. His whole body was trembling, rocking back and forth in the darkness of the cave.

There were so many things that Legolas wanted to say, so much he wanted Aragorn to know, but his lips simply would not find the words. So, he simply wrapped his arms around his lover's shoulders, hugged him and held him close while he wept.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………

Elrond gazed at the sky, a small line of worry marring his ageless features. It was almost unnoticeable, but the elves who knew him well could tell that something was bothering the elf Lord, something important enough to wake him from his sleep at the crack of dawn. Elrond's long fingered hands rested on the marble railing of the balcony in front of him, and his robes moved gently in the wind. A wind that seemed to get stronger with the hour.

Wise, grey eyes scanned the sky, taking in the patches of bright blue and the fluffy white clouds. But, when they came to rest on the thicker, grey clouds that had moved up from behind the cliff walls in the night and now covered most of the sky above the valley, the line of worry in his face deepened. The wind smelled of rain and, Elrond could feel the tension that was building in the air. A storm was brewing, and he knew that it would be a wild one.

Absentmindedly Elrond's finger began to play with the ring on his finger, swirling it slowly. So many years now he was carrier of this special ring, given to him from a true friend, a mighty elf of old. So far, Elrond had not used the powerful ring openly, instead hiding it from prying eyes and channeling its power. He knew, without it Imladris would long have fallen into shadow, but its power must be used is tiny dosages. If at all. Still, Elrond knew that he would not hesitate to use it should the valley and all its inhabitants be threatened. He only hoped that it would never get that far.

With another long look at the building clouds in the sky, the Lord of Imladris turned around and walked slowly inside. When a breeze made his robes billow around his ankles, he sighed. If only his son and Legolas were back already…

To be continued