Authors Note: I regret to inform you that I will not be posting tomorrow because I won't have the time to write another installment. Look for it on Monday though. I just wanted to say thanks for all the great reviews, please keep telling me what you like. I am also open to suggestions, if anyone has any. Just a note about this chapter, please remember that I am not writing slash, and though Legolas is interested (as in intrigued in a purely innocent manner) in this "man", Aragorn, please realize that "man" simply doesn't mean male, but the actual race of Man. Hope you enjoy!

PS…I read that story WaterPrincess, thanks for suggesting it to me!



Legolas had watched Arwen flee, concerned for her and confused at her choice. How could she have fallen in love with Aragorn? He did not know the Ranger, nor did he think it impossible for her to fall in love, it just seemed as if it should be forbidden. After all, how would the elves suffer the loss of their Evenstar to die of a mortal death? Legolas could not answer that question. He wandered back towards the great house that Elrond resided in. Usually Rivendell was a place of rest and calmness for him, but now Legolas felt nothing but apprehension. If Aragorn was truly the hope of men, he must live or all of free Middle Earth would suffer. Legolas had been well taught when it came to the prophesies and stories told by the ancient and wise elves. He supposed they did not lie.

Legolas was very concerned, but also knew that from this moment, it was out of his hands. Only Elrond could save Aragorn. In fact, for all it mattered, Legolas could return home. Surely his father was more than worried. The other elf scouts should have come across the scene of his abduction and would have reported back. It was many days journey to return to Mirkwood and it was something he felt he should do, but even as he considered it, he could not bring himself to leave. Something about Strider urged him to stay. He wanted to know the outcome of the Ranger's ill health. He wanted to talk with Aragorn and find out why he had engaged the riders. Most of all he wanted to know the man. He had never been so intrigued by a man in all of his life. After all, men were considered an almost inferior race, if not in stature, at least in the way they handled life. They were not considered overly wise, but rather hasty and greedy with very little regard for others. They were prideful and stubborn, and though they had fought beside elves in battle and had died just as valiantly, they were still considered less than equal. However, Legolas had long suspected this of being untrue. Surely the men had their faults, but they were a totally different species and the elves had much to learn from them.

Legolas wished to learn from Aragorn. Never had any elf done as the Rangers had. Of all the men, Rangers were considered the most distinguished among the elves, strange, for among the other men, Rangers were considered outsiders and strangers. The Rangers possessed many skills and traits that the elves did. Aragorn surely did, more than any of the others, for he had been raised as an elf. It was almost as if Aragorn were an elf, in all but his appearance.

"Something draws me to him. I wonder that we will not yet share other adventures together. I believe that the future holds something for us, as companions and maybe even friends," Legolas said aloud, to no one in particular.

"It could be very true my friend." Legolas turned to find which out which elf had taken the effort to approach him so that he did not hear. Elladan stood not to far behind him, holding a white flower.

"Elladan, I did not know you were here."

"Elrohir and I have just returned after receiving the news from Glorfindel. I came to thank you for saving my brother."

"Well, I take no credit. He in fact saved me and therefore may lose his life. For that I am sorry."

"He is strong and the destiny of our existence may rest somewhere in his future, so I will not give up on him yet. If you had known him as I have known him, you would know that for sure."

"For some reason I would like to get to know him. After all, what kind of man fights the Nazgul and survives? What kind of man has such great skills as an elf? What kind of man could steal away the Evenstar's heart?" Legolas watched Elladan stiffen at the last remark.

"Say not those words to Lord Elrond, for Arwen is his most precious reminder of our mother. It pains him to know that two of the creatures he loves most will be lost to him forever."

"So she has already given herself to him? Elrond has agreed?"

"I know that my sister loves Estel and that she has told him so and that he returns how she feels. However, my father had forbidden their marriage until a time comes that Estel is the King of Gondor, returned to the throne that seated his forefathers. I fear that before that Arwen will forsake her immortal life though, and promise herself to Estel no matter what," Elladan spoke the words in certainty and Legolas was taken aback. It was not like Arwen to disobey her father.

"Then Aragorn is more important in the scheme of things than I could ever have imagined."

"Legolas, I think you and Estel are destined to be friends," Elladan said slowly, changing the subject.

"Friends I do now know about, but I would like to watch him, especially at sword-play."

"He is impressive. Elrohir and I taught him the art of the sword, but I clearly remember the day when he surpassed both our skills. As you know, it is not easy to take on two elves with only the sword. However, he has many other talents beside the sword, the bow being one. The reason he was so eager to learn was because of you."

"Because of me? I do not understand."

"There were two occasions on which we traveled to Mirkwood. Elrohir and I always accompanied our father and Elrond could not leave Estel behind, short of tying him up and leaving him locked in his room, for as a boy, Estel was eager to know everything there was to know about the world. I think it was then that I realized how great a Ranger he might make. None the less, he traveled with us to your fair forest. You may not remember those times, but even as a boy, he had heard stories of your skill with the bow and longed to meet you. Elrond restrained him from acting rashly, but it was merely excitement, and you know how hard it is for our people to remember what it is like to actually be a child. He watched you from afar and asked many questions, but you could not answer them, for you stood with your men, and Estel stayed at Elrond's side, a small boy, covered in a cloak, so that none but your father, and perhaps those closest to him, knew that the small elf child was no elf at all, but the Heir of Isildur."

Legolas listened with interest. He did indeed remember those days. "I remember your visits. Who could not? To have Lord Elrond in our forest could not have gone unnoticed, and now that you mention it, I do remember the small child at Elrond's side. I gave no thought to it at the time, save to wonder why Elrond would bring an elf child with him, for there was no explanation. My father had informed me later of the real truth, but it had slipped from my mind. Had I known, I surely would have talked with him."

"Fate has much in store. I am both excited and afraid of the adventures I feel you will experience with Estel. Never forget he is the Heir of Isildur, no matter how he makes you feel. For he is good at reminding you that he is a mere human and he would take risks, such as fighting the Nazgul, that he should not. I believe that the day will come that this Heir of Isildur, Estel, will be the one to right the wrong of Isildur. Those are dark thought in and of themselves, but I believe that he will triumph."

"But he has chosen exile!"

"Exile may end at any time. He will need all the skills he has acquired as a Ranger to do what he must do. There is a reason for everything he does, whether he knows it or not. You must also never forget that he loves my sister truly, and that will rule him. But come, I long to know if there is any change in his condition," with those last words, Elladan turned back towards Elrond's house. Legolas followed, filled with wonder at the older elf's words. He too felt that he and Aragorn would meet again in the future, but these were strange tidings. Elladan believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that evil would arise again, within Aragorn's lifetime, and the Ranger would be called upon to destroy the great ring of power. It seemed even more strange, for the ring had been lost when it had betrayed Isildur to his death and never heard of again, except in the stories and prophecies. Legolas felt that Elladan might be right, and had the strange sense that wherever Aragorn went when that time came, he would be right by the man's side.