Note: None of these characters belong to me, except for Aradia and the dark elves. All others are the creation of J.R.R. Tolkien. Elvish words are in ' '!

Return of the Fellowship

Part 2

A.J. Matthews

Aragorn traveled through the borders of Mirkwood, with his troops, as well as Lord Elrond and his elven archers. He thought it was a good sign that the battle he'd fought had ended quickly. Until he reached the clearing where Legolas, Arwen, and Aradia had been attacked.

Dead elves lay there, wearing entirely black outfits. Legolas's arrows had pierced each fallen rider. He saw Arwen's bow laying on the ground. A mare and a baby colt were limping towards Mirkwood.

Aragorn had a sinking feeling in his heart as he looked at Lord Elrond.

Lord Elrond had a tense expression on his face as well. "I have a bad omen about this," the ancient elf said to Aragorn.

"Me, too," Aragorn responded. He urged his horse to gallop faster. Elrond and the others did the same.

Less than fifteen minutes later, they reached the gate.

Elves had flocked around the castle, awaiting word of how Lady Arwen was faring.

'King Elessar,' Ullin said, fighting his way through the crowd. 'Please follow me,' the red-haired elf said. He looked at Lord Elrond. 'You'd better come, as well.'

The two looked at each other and nodded. They followed Ullin silently as he led the way into the castle, and to the door of the chamber.

Legolas stood there, pacing. Aradia was fast asleep on his shoulder, as he rubbed her back and whispered softly to her in Elvish. He tensed when he saw Aragorn and Lord Elrond. He lowered his gaze.

"What has happened, Legolas?" Lord Elrond asked. His eyes met Legolas's green ones.

"Lady Arwen-" Legolas grimaced and looked away in grief. "She's dying."

Aragorn gasped. "Where is my wife?"

"Right in there," Ullin said. He gestured to the door.

Aragorn opened it and ran over to the bed.

Arwen lay there, her skin as pale as moonlight. The arrows had been removed, but she knew she was dying. She'd lost too much blood, and internal damage had been done by the arrows. She opened her eyes slowly, as Aragorn whispered her name.

"Elstar?" she whispered.

"What happened, Arwen?" Aragorn's voice was distraught.

"They came so fast, Elstar. The dark elves," she murmured. She coughed hard. Arwen looked at him.

Aragorn cradled his dying wife against him. "God, Arwen. How did this happen?"

"Legolas and I- we took Aradia outside to play," Arwen softly whispered. At his gasp of outrage, she gently reached her hand up to touch his face. "Elstar, don't blame him. I asked him not to bring guards."

"Why, Arwen?" Tears ran down Aragorn's face. "Why take such a risk?"

"I wanted her to have a happy memory, no matter what the future held for us." Arwen looked at her beloved husband. "I didn't think it would turn out like this."

"Oh, Arwen." Aragorn held her against him tightly. "I loved you."

"I know," she whispered. "Take care of Aradia and Legolas. He isn't taking this too well."

Aragorn nodded slowly.

"And don't wait too long to make amends with him. All I ask is that you remember me, Elstar. Everything was worth it," she said softly.

"But if you hadn't given up your immortality, you wouldn't be dying!" Aragorn choked out. "And I could never forget you."

"It was worth it to me." Her voice trailed off as she looked at him. "Elstar, I need to speak with Aradia before I-" Arwen broke off, coughing harder.

"All right, sweetheart." Aragorn stood and walked to the door.

Lord Elrond held his now awake grand-daughter.

"Aradia, your mother wants to talk to you," he said gently. Aradia nodded and reached her hands out to him.

Aragorn carried his daughter inside, and sat her next to her mother.

"Mommy, are you better now?" Aradia asked, silvery tears running down her face.

"Oh, sweetheart," Arwen whispered. She weakly wrapped her arms around her only child. "Aradia, I need you to listen to me carefully."

"Ok." The little girl clung to her mother.

"I love you, my darling daughter, and I always will. But I have to leave you now," Arwen said, tears beginning to run down her face.

"No, mommy!" Aradia sobbed. "I want to with you!"

"Honey, you can't come with me. Your father and Legolas would be very sad if you did. But I will always be with you," the dying elf whispered gently.

"But I'll miss you so much!"

"I know, sweetheart. I will miss you as well." Arwen held her child tighter. "But Legolas and your father will always be there for you, when I go."

"Will I ever see you again?" Aradia whispered.

"Someday, perhaps. But that will be years from now, Aradia. Show me how brave you can be, my darling."

Aradia sniffled and wiped her tears away. "I love you, mommy."

"I know." Arwen held Aradia against her for a few moments, before she looked at her husband. "Elstar, would you please bring my father in?"

"Of course." Aragorn gently picked Aradia up and carried her outside of the room. He looked at Lord Elrond. "She wants to speak to you."

A female elf came forward and spoke to Aragorn. "King Elessar, if you wish, I could take your daughter to eat something. She hasn't eaten all day."

Aragorn nodded slowly and looked at his daughter. The most precious part of Arwen, which she was leaving behind. "Aradia, do you want to get something to eat?"

Aradia nodded and went into the female elf's arms quietly. She was carried away, as Aragorn looked after her. He then set off to find Legolas.

Legolas was in his room. He had his face in his hands, and tears dripped through them. I wish I had brought guards, gentle Arwen. Maybe then you wouldn't be-.

The door suddenly burst open and slammed shut again, after a figure stepped through.

It was Aragorn. Legolas had expected this.

"I trusted you to keep them safe," Aragorn hissed at him. "And now my wife is dying." He advanced on the elf, who stood there silently.

"I'm sorry, Aragorn," Legolas whispered. "It was stupid of me to believe the borders were safe, though my scouts had told me so."

Aragorn's right hand struck Legolas hard. The elf didn't even try to dodge. Beads of sweat were on his forehead. Good thing the Healer was coming to visit him in a few moments.

Legolas stood there and looked at Aragorn.

Aragorn grabbed the elf by the shoulders and shoved him against the wall. Hard. Legolas couldn't keep a wince from crossing his face. He'd gotten most of the arrow out earlier, when Aradia had dozed off for the first time. He'd done a sloppy job of bandaging it, but he hadn't wanted to leave the child alone too long.

"You can kill me if you like, Aragorn," Legolas whispered. "But it wouldn't save her life."

Aragorn looked at him. He saw the pain in Legolas's eyes. And in his heart, he knew Legolas was right. He softly whispered an apology.

Legolas just touched his face where he'd been slapped. "It's all right, Aragorn. I am so sorry. Arwen was a special person." He made no move to leave the wall, knowing his wound had opened up again.

The Healer and Lord Elrond both tapped on the door.

'Enter,' Legolas said.

Lord Elrond walked in first and looked at Aragorn. His eyes were shining with tears. "She's gone."

Aragorn nodded slowly. God, it hurt so bad. His gentle Arwen was gone. He looked for something, anything to distract him.

Aragorn was surprised to see the Healer enter Legolas's room.

'Your highness?' the Healer asked softly. He nearly had a fit when he saw that Legolas was pressed against the wall by Aragorn. The right side of the Legolas's face had a hand-print on it.

'Let go of me, Aragorn,' Legolas said quietly. 'Before the Healer calls the guards and throws you in prison.'

Aragorn did so. Legolas carefully stepped away from the wall.

'I would appreciate it if everyone except for the Healer would leave,' Legolas said firmly. "I have no wish to be struck again.'

Lord Elrond looked at Aragorn, with one of his eyebrows raised.

'Legolas, I won't hit you again,' Aragorn said.

Legolas reluctantly removed his shirt, as Lord Elrond and Aragorn talked to each other. The Healer whistled softly as he inspected the wound.

'You should have told me sooner, your highness. You'll be lucky if you don't get an infection,' the Healer scolded. Parts of the black arrow were embedded in the skin in Legolas's back. Blood was seeping out again. 'Lay down.'

Legolas lay down face first on his back. As the Healer began to remove the bits and pieces of the arrow, he flinched. He cast his mind back to the many times he and Aragorn had treated each other's wounds.

Elrond bid a farewell to Aragorn, and left the room to mourn in peace.

Aragorn walked over the bed and saw an red and raw wound on Legolas's mid- back.

'That hurts,' Legolas protested as he flinched. The Healer was not known for gentleness.

'Sorry, your highness, but it some of the arrow needs to be cut out.' The Healer drew his knife and began to make slits in the wound, so he could remove the shattered arrow.

Beads of sweat were running down Legolas's face now. Aragorn saw the agony of the elf, as the knife had to slice deeper and deeper to remove a particularly large splinter.

'Give me that,' Aragorn snapped when Legolas let out a muffled cry of pain. He took the knife and proceeded more gently.

The Healer looked insulted, but backed off when Legolas gave him a Look. Instead, he began preparing two hot poultices; one to soothe away the pain and the other prevent an infection.

Aragorn finished slicing, and used his nimble fingers to remove the splinters of the black wood. Legolas had relaxed more when Aragorn had taken over, so it didn't hurt as much. When Aragorn finished, he looked at the Healer.

"They're gone," he said.

The Healer stepped forward and spread the medicine over the inflamed wound. Legolas gritted his teeth as the medicine burned while it removed toxins and poisons that might have been in the arrow. To his credit, he did not scream in agony, though he looked like he wanted to. When the second poultice was applied, Legolas sighed in relief. The Healer bandaged the wound, bowed, and exited.

"Why didn't you tell me you had been wounded also, Legolas?" Aragorn asked quietly.

"Would it have made a difference?" Legolas asked, his voice bitter. "You needed to take your anger out on someone." Legolas stood, after carefully sitting up.

"Where are you going?" demanded Aragorn.

"To pay my respects to Lady Arwen, and her father," Legolas said. "She was brave and kind. And gentle."

"How did it happen, Legolas?" That was what had been bothering Aragorn the most.

"The black riders came out of nowhere. My scouts had told me it was safe, but-" Legolas's green eyes met Aragorn's dark ones. "Obviously, it wasn't. They shot at Aradia. Arwen saw it and stood between the arrows and her daughter."

'Your highness,' an Elven voice cried. 'The wizard Gandalf the White has come for a surprise visit!'

'Coming,' he called. Legolas looked at Aragorn. 'Are you coming as well?'

Aragorn nodded, and followed the Elven king out of his room.

Gandalf came racing towards them. "Finally," he exclaimed, as he nearly ran into them.

"Calm yourself, Gandalf," Legolas said. "What is the urgency?"

"What has happened?" Aragorn asked.

"I came to warn you- and I came too late, I fear." Gandalf bowed his head, looking at Aragorn. "I'm sorry about Lady Arwen," he said, before continuing.

He looked each in the eye. "I came to warn you that you are both in grave danger."

To be continued