Chapter 17

Aragorn immediately whirled around. That was not possible! He must have misunderstood! Without paying attention to the questioning and startled faces of the others, the ranger jumped up and ran to his friend. When he looked into his face, tears came to his eyes. Legolas' blue eyes were half open and looked at him a little disoriented. Aragorn immediately dropped beside him and took the elf's hand in his. His heart screamed for joy that the handsome prince was finally awake.

"Legolas ...", he breathed, unable to say more. The archer's confused eyes wandered to his friend.

"Estel ..." His voice was rough and brittle. "I'm here, Legolas." The elf smiled slightly. "I ... I heard your voice ..." Aragorn smiled at his friend, overjoyed to see his smile, no matter how small and weak. The ranger didn't care about the tears that filled his eyes and threatened to run down his cheeks.

"How are you feeling? Are you in pain?" The man already guessed what the answer would be, but he asked anyway.

"Good." Aragorn was about to roll his eyes. Legolas always said it, and each time it ended up the ranger having to end up fighting for his friend's life. "Would you like something for the pain?", Aragorn asked gently, lightly squeezing the prince's hand. The latter only shook his head weakly.

"... No ... I just want to sleep." The ranger gently stroked his friend's hair from his face. "Rest, mellon-nin. I'll be here if you need anything." And so it was. It was clear to the man that no matter what happened, he would not leave his friend's side. And at that moment Legolas also squeezed his hand. It was just a little pressure, but it was enough that a part of the load fell from the ranger's heart.

"Hannon-le," he breathed into a weak voice before closing his eyes again. Aragorn carefully covered the archer with a blanket and gave him a gentle kiss on the forehead. Finally, he let go of his friend's hand and turned away from the peacefully sleeping figure to return to the fire. Legolas was not yet out of danger, but waking up was a huge step in the right direction. The others looked at him questioningly and nervously as the ranger returned to the fire.

"Is he okay?", Sam asked a little scared. Aragorn couldn't stop the smile from spreading on his lips. "He woke up." Three incredulous looks met him. "Really?", Frodo asked relieved and Sam and Boromir were relieved at the news.

"Yes, he is still very weak, but it is a great relief that he has come to himself." Frodo smiled. "Maybe then he'll really get well again." Sam nodded hopefully and Aragorn could only smile. They could hope again! And this time they could too.

That night the man could finally relax after a long time. An incredible relief was in his heart. Aragorn knew Legolas wasn't over the mountain yet, all that mattered was the fact that the elf had woken up. Unfortunately, the fever still hadn't dropped, which worried the ranger. He knew it was from his friend's high blood loss, but he couldn't do more than give him herbs. Once again, they could only hope. Slowly it got on the human's nerves. He hated not being able to do anything, especially when a friend next to him was dying. Once again he was doomed to inactivity. Aragorn looked briefly at his friend. The handsome warrior was restless and moaned softly in his sleep. He was obviously in pain. The ranger's heart ached at the sight, but there was nothing he could do. So he carefully took the cloth from Legolas' hot forehead, wet it again and put it back on his place. The ranger hoped so much that his friend soon felt better.