A/N: Almost had a heart attack when I saw the amount of reviews and alerts and favs this afternoon, so decided to write this early. See, reviewing does help!

I replied to everyone but tchb, who was anonymous. But thanks so much for reviewing!

Also, thanks to willabeth0906, who gave me this chapter title in a review. Haven't had enough sleep, couldn't think of a title, so went through my reviews! Sorry.

Again, a huge thank you to Peregrin Ionad, my beta who is trilingual (and then there's me, struggling to get through two French sentences…)

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Legolas trudged along the barren ground, trying to refrain from counting his steps. He had been walking for hours and he was sick of it. When was that forest going to appear?

He was confused. Part of him thought that Aragorn was crazy, wanting to go back. Adventure… it was a cheap excuse for getting himself killed.

But then, there was the other, small part of him that was curious. Curious as to why trees wanted to kill him, and the other elves. Curious as to what the mayor of this town had done for his father, so many years ago, to convince him to send his much-needed patrols out here. Legolas had been there. The Shadow had not advanced nearly so much as it had now, but it was still powerful enough to test the strength of the Mirkwood army. It must have been a very good deed of the mayor to warrant that kind of treatment. But above all, he was curious about himself. He felt… strange. There was no other word to describe it. He still remembered the voices in his head, telling him that it was Aragorn's fault that all those elves had disappeared. The voices were completely gone now, but he still remembered.

Reason said Aragorn couldn't possibly have killed all those elves. For one thing, he had been with Legolas for most of the time the patrols had been vanishing. For another, the man's battle skills may be good, but he was not nearly good enough to wipe out hundreds of agile elves without raising an alarm.

But Legolas had other reason to be unhappy with Aragorn. He had left him, left him alone in a town of humans, something Aragorn knew perfectly well Legolas wasn't comfortable with. He had blamed him for everything that had happened in the forest. He did not say it exactly like that, but the words the ranger had used were almost worse. They repeated themselves over and over in his head, a distant hum that gradually built up to a roaring crescendo.

Have you forgotten how I got hurt in the first place?

Have you forgotten?

Forgotten?

Legolas kicked a stray rock in frustration. Aragorn's words not only made him remember how it had been his knife to slice through his best friend's arm, they had also insulted his maturity and memory. Have you forgotten… it sounded patronizing. Legolas' scowl deepened.

X X X X

Aragorn continued staring at this great creature. He wanted to reach out to her, prove he was not a threat. But this being was thousands of years older than the oldest elf he had ever met, and he had no idea how to do it.

"Mae govannen," he said, a little awkwardly. "I am called Estel."

The tree continued looking at him. "Hope," she said. "Hope… if your name means hope, perhaps you can tell me where hope has fled in these dark times…" She broke off, muttering to herself.

Aragorn smiled slightly despite the situation. Ents were said to be very slow, but this one seemed unusually hurried and brisk. "Hope is here, even if you can't see it."

The Entwife looked at him sharply. "You do not look like an elf," she said.

"No," said Aragorn. He knew it was wrong, but he found this creature strangely endearing. "I'm a man."

"A man?" she said, her eyes widening. "That does change things. Is that why you wouldn't listen to me?"

Aragorn frowned in confusion. "I am listening to you."

"No," the Entwife said. "Listen to my message. Earlier. About how the elf prince destroyed his countrymen."

"But he didn't," said Aragorn. "And neither did I."

"No," she said. "But I am sure you have hurt somebody in the past."

Aragorn sighed, remembering Legolas' face when he said he was leaving without him. "I don't deny it."

The Entwife smiled, bark seeming to stretch over her form. "What was her name?"

"Her?" Aragorn questioned sharply. "No, I hurt my friend, the one who I'm assuming you told to kill me."

"So you have never felt love?" she asked. "You have never felt higher than the stars, never felt that unbreakable bond with another person's soul?"

"I have," said Aragorn, wondering where this was going.

"So you have hurt a woman."

"No!"

"You will."

"No, I won't," Aragorn was starting to get angry. "I love her, I would never do anything to harm her."

A small puddle of water slowly appeared at the feet of the Entwife. It took Aragorn a second to realize she was crying.

"Did somebody hurt you?" Aragorn asked, gently as possible.

X X X X

Legolas, at last, crossed under the eaves of the forest. He immediately felt a connection to the trees, but it was not that sinister urging that they greeted him with. If anything, they sounded confused. He decided it was due to the fact that there was no human for them to tell him to kill.

He had been walking all day and was exhausted. It was well into night by now, and the wound in his abdomen was giving him quite a bit of trouble. He ignored it for the most part, but was aware of the fact that he was bending over a little to try and stave of the pain.

He had not been walking long after when he sensed another presence in the woods. He was not sure of exactly what it was, but he kept on walking despite it. Maybe it was just another tree that had taken longer to take a liking to him than the others.

His suspicions were cast aside, though, when he heard a stick crack close by. He turned quickly, gazing past the tree trunks, but could not see anything beyond. He kept walking, but was more vigilant now, his gaze flitting around him carefully.

He heard a sudden voice behind him that was immediately stifled by another shushing it. Needing no more thinking time, Legolas spun around, bow already drawn and an arrow pointing where he had heard the voice.

A man suddenly burst forth from behind a tree, brandishing a sword. Legolas shot him down easily, but an entire group had followed him.

He continued shooting as long as possible. In the end, there were only about ten left. That was good, he thought as he pulled out his twin knives, he could handle ten easily.

He spun, dodging away from an attempt on his life by one of the men nearer to him, and lashed out with one of his knives in the same move. The man fell, dead. Only nine to go.

He stabbed one man on his left while slitting the throat of one on his right at the same time. Seven to go.

One man who had stayed back throughout most of the fight noticed the small amount of blood left on Legolas' tunic. He reached up and used all his force to punch him straight on his wound. Legolas let out a strangled gasp and dropped his knives, clutching the area desperately. He berated himself after he realized what he had done. He could still see his weapons instructor, speaking to the group of assembled elflings. 'Rule number one in a fight; never drop your weapon'.

That was his last thought before a sword hilt came smashing into the back of his head and he fell into darkness.

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A/N: That last bit was written at four in the morning... yep, still not sleeping. It was later than I had hoped but still earlier than Wednesday, unless you're from New Zealand (and well, it is Wednesday morning here in Australia).

Next update should be round Saturday, family dramas forbid (this was a LITTLE late because of a depressive episode of my sister, but she's all good now), but I promise you an early update if I get enough reviews. Shouldn't be buying them like that, but I am one of those people who gets super excited over a really small amount of reviews. So, review!