Chapter 29:
Another night, another dream. It always was the same – Aria was alive and in his arms. Sometimes Aria would be curled against his chest as she was running her fingers through his hair with a small smile on her face. He would lean close and gently kiss her lips before lying back as he began to twirl her hair around his fingers as well.
That was how most of the dreams were.
Just them.
Occasionally their son would be with them, but most of the time it was just the two of them.
Then there were the nightmares - Aria lying broken, bleeding from an orc attack leaving him helpless to save her or Aria suddenly disappearing from sight, only to be replaced by flames with orcs jumping out to attack him.
There had not been a single night since Aria's passing in which Legolas did not have a dream of some sort about her. Of course this night was no different. Nor had any night been for the last year.
Thankfully it had not been a nightmare about her death. No – he had already had several of those this past week. Instead it was one of them together…a dream of what could have been…
…what should have been.
Legolas lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling of his new quarters in Imladris. Lord Elrond had offered to allow him to stay in the quarters that he and Aria had shared; yet Legolas requested smaller quarters. He was never asked why, although Lord Elrond was not a fool – Legolas did not want to memories of Aria to surround him. Simply living was a hard enough task on it's own for Legolas.
With that being said, being in Imladris was awkward enough for him, though it was a far better cry than being in Mirkwood – yet both places would remind him every minute of every day of his beloved Aria who was taken from him all too soon. He swore that there were times that whatever part of his fëa remained with him, cried out for her. He could not explain it; it just felt that way to him. Perhaps his dreams were a sign of this.
Was there anywhere in Middle Earth that he could go and not be reminded of her? Doubtful. Even seeing a flower or looking at the evening stars reminded him of her.
Seeing that there was no point in going back to sleep, Legolas slowly got up and began to dress for the day. Another mundane day. His days in Imladris were nothing to write home about. He would train with Glorfindel if he felt like it.
Shoot arrows if he felt like it.
Or simply do nothing.
Yet most days he could be found in the stables, tending to the needs of Aria's horse, Argo. Typically once a week, Legolas would take Argo out for a ride, down to the river where Legolas and Aria had escaped to whenever they had wanted to be alone in the past. It was here that Legolas would weep as he sat against the tree where he and Aria shared many stolen afternoon kisses along with discussing the future that they had wanted together – to be married, have a family, watch that family grown before eventually departing Arda for the Undying Lands of Valinor. Yet none of what they had longed for together would ever happen.
'I will always fight to get back to you meleth nin,' was what Legolas had often told his wife when she grew weary of her visions – especially those where all she witnessed was death. And while he knew that she had tried her hardest to fight against death to get back to him shortly before her passing, it had been the pull of Mandos' Halls that had been too great.
It still was not fair.
He had waited over two millennia to find his match, only to have her taken from him after less than two decades together? How was any of this fair?
Once he was dressed, he quietly made his way through the hallways and out into the garden where he could watch the sunrise before he could make his way down to the stables to visit Argo before the morning meal.
"Ada, Legolas does nothing, says nothing and I doubt that he truly cares anymore." Elladan said as he and his brother stood in their father's study later that day.
"He grieves for your sister." Elrond answered, without looking up from the parchment that he was reading.
"We all grieve for Aria! But you were not like this when nana left." Elrohir added.
"That is entirely different. Your nana took a ship to the Undying Lands. She is still alive. Aria is not. If Legolas were to sail, he still would never see her." Elrond said as he continued to work.
"So you are just going to let him fade?" Elladan asked, appalled at the idea of one of his best friends simply fading into nothing. He had never seen an elf fade from a broken heart and he really did not want his brother-in-law to do so.
"Can you not stop it ada?" Elrohir begged.
"I have tried everything that I know of. The only thing left is to give Legolas more time to grieve and hopefully he will begin to live a little once again. Yet I am afraid that eventually he will fade since he still longs for Aria even though it has been over a year since her passing."
"Not if we have anything to do with it." Elladan said. Elrohir nodded in agreement.
The twins turned and left the study just as Elrond set down his quill. The elven lord sighed. He hoped that his sons were right – perhaps they could succeed where he had not.
Another day had come and gone.
This day had been a little better – he had done a bit of archery at the insistence of Glorfindel. Holding a bow felt good, yet it had been so long since he had done so that he would have stiff shoulders in the morning.
He sighed.
Aria had always given him a back and neck massage after a long day of archery practice. She had always known just where to apply the right amount of pressure to make all his soreness and tension disappear. And her soft kisses in between his shoulder blades and along his spine always helped.
"There you are!"
Startled by the appearance of the twins, Legolas was suddenly knocked from his daydream of Aria and back into the harsh reality of Arda without her. He stared at the twins, wondering what they wanted.
"Seeing that you are now living here full time, we have decided that you need to come and ride with the Northern Rangers." Elrohir said. "We need another rider since Aragorn has gone off on a mission of self-discovery around Middle Earth."
"Why would I want to do that?" Legolas asked.
"One it gives you something to do." Elladan said. "Then you would not have to be stuck here all the time. I am sure that Argo would love the adventure. Second, you get to hunt orcs."
Orcs - those vile creatures that took Aria from him. Perhaps the twins had a good idea. "Alright, count me in." Legolas said, trying to form a bit of a smile. "As long as I get to hunt orcs."
"All that we can find." Elrohir said with a smile as he turned to look at his twin. Hopefully this worked.
AN: Thanks for all the new loving as well as that of my old readers! I hope that ya'll keep it up! =)
Anyways, I hope that you enjoyed this short chapter. If you want to read an AWESOME story while waiting for updates on this one, then I suggest reading SleepyHollow5's story, "A Road Less Traveled." She has just come off a yearlong hiatus and I really don't want her to stop writing again!
Bye for now!
