Me again. I still don't own anything. By now, I think I should mention what I forgot to last chapter, there WILL be slash. Okay?

Italics are memories, writings, or the thoughts of gods. '~~' still means thoughts, while "~~" means speech.

Some things that Legolas writes about are taken from the book, some from the movie.

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Legolas' eyes closed for the last time as his body became limp. By now, all in the hall had stopped their celebration, and were waiting with baited breath to see if their prince was all right. In the silence, you could have heard a pin drop. Rohallie's whisper was much easier to hear, however.

"He's dead."

It took a moment of shocked silence for the elves to realize what Rohallie had said, but once they did, their voices were all raised into an unearthly wail, one both anguished, and frightened./i

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Aragorn sat up suddenly, breathing heavily. The elven wail still rang in his ears. Although his dreams always ended at that cry, he could still remember what had happened that fateful night as if it had only happened yesterday.

The hobbits cowered, covering their ears. Gimli, Aragorn, and Arwen stood dumbstruck. Legolas couldn't be dead. Gandalf hugged Boromir and Merribell into his cloak, trying to muffle the wails echoing about the room. King Thranduil tried to calm everyone down, shouting to be heard. He asked his people to be silent, and to calm down. Legolas may be dead, but there was no cause for panic. His health had been declining for a long time now; no one could refuse that. He asked the elves to return to their homes, there was nothing more that they could do for Legolas.

Aragorn's eyes wandered around the room he was in as he caught his breath. They fell upon a carved wooden desk. A book rested on top of it, some form of diary. He picked it up. Opening it, he found a slip of paper in the front. The handwriting was very familiar. Memories of a cheerful blonde elf threatened to overwhelm him, but he quashed them, sitting on the desk to read the paper.

"My name is Legolas. I am an elf. I live in the beautiful Mirkwood. I am often told I am one of the fairer of my kind. I am a prince. I am loved by my family and my people. I have helped save Middle Earth. I am in love. . .I am dying."

Aragorn traced the smooth elvish writing with his finger. This was something Legolas had written. He had known he was dying, but he never spoke of it. Why didn't he?

'Orome, he said I could have saved him.'

He remembered him well. The fiery elven god who came to him in a dream the night of Legolas' death. He had not been happy. Apparently, he had hand-picked Legolas to be his callon*, his champion. He had taken a liking to his beauty, innocence, and strength. Orome had taught Legolas all he knew. Legolas would fight for the elves when they began their fall from grace. Through him, Orome would attempt to save the elven race from extinction. Legolas' death was not anticipated, and ruined his chance of protecting the elves. There would not be enough time to train a new champion.

"I suppose you're very proud of yourself. It's all your fault you know. My callon* is dead, all because of you."

Aragorn wisely kept silent. He recognized this young man as Orome, the lord of forests, an elven god, from pictures the elves had painted. He was not a good god to have as an enemy. Aragorn did not know what he was talking about.

"I picked him out, I trained him, I taught him everything I knew, and you, you had to waltz into his life and ruin everything. You don't deserve to live for that, I should kill you right here, right now..."

"Please, Orome, I'm sorry. I do not know what crime I committed. How could I have killed Legolas? Why would I have killed Legolas? He was my friend, my very dear friend."

Aragorn was nervous around this god. Orome clearly despised him. Currently, he was talking to someone he could not see.

"I do not want him to be let off easily. He deserves some form of punishment for what he has done. I don't care what you say. Maybe I should kill his children, but let him live...oh all right, I won't harm the children...I know what I'll do. Yes, yes, if he does this he'll be forgiven. Aragorn, come here."

Aragorn swallowed nervously before stepping forth to stand before the foreboding god.

"You are very lucky, to have my callon as a friend. He wishes for me to forgive you, so I will, but first you must complete several tasks. Until they are all completed, you may not die. Is that understood?"

Orome waited for Aragorn's nod before continuing.

"Your first two tasks are to find information."

To find information. Aragorn sighed. He had thought that finding information would not be hard. How wrong he was. Orome wanted him to learn why Legolas had died, and what he could have done that would have saved his life. None of the elves he asked knew why Legolas had died, or at least they said they didn't. He suspected Thranduil knew, but refused to tell him. Now Thranduil was dead, they were all dead. The elves had fallen, just as Orome had feared. Without a callon, they had no chance to fight against their destiny.

No elf walked the earth anymore. Even Arwen, who had bound herself to him, had faded with the elves. Merribell and Boromir, his half-elven children grew old and died, while he never showed any sign of weariness. Rivendell had vanished, as had Lothlorien. It had been a sad day in Middle Earth, when Elrond, Galadriel, Celeborn, and Thranduil all died at the same time.

Casting his thoughts aside, Aragorn looked around the room again. He was now quite certain that this had been Legolas' room, maybe he could find some clues in here as to why his elven friend had died. Rifling through the desk, he found many papers and documents, some books, a handful of pencils, etc. etc. etc. After searching the entire desk and finding nothing, he turned to the bed, searching the covers and canopy. Nothing. Scowling, he turned back to the room. There wasn't really any other furniture, unless you counted the small forest of false trees and plants.

"Damn, Legolas, why couldn't you have left something in an obvious place that could help me?"

Wait, the trees! Some of the trees had gaps and holes, typical of trees in nature, and perfect for hiding something! He started searching the trees, but still found nothing. With a sigh, he stood before the last tree there was to be searched. Reaching his hand into the gap he found, he was surprised to find a roll, a canister of some sort. He quickly pulled it out, unrolling the paper found within. Aragorn was slightly disappointed, this was a picture, a mere painting, not anything of any use to him, but he had to smile at what the image showed.

The entire fellowship was resting by a river. Gandalf was no more then just a ghostly spectator, looking over Legolas' shoulder. The elf was bent over a book, paying no heed to anything around him. Boromir was fencing with Merry and Pippin, while Sam cooked something over a fire. Aragorn saw himself standing off to the side, crouching near Frodo. Both of them were watching the water in the river. Gimli was chopping a log into smaller pieces for the fire.

That picture was one of happier times. At least during the quest to destroy the ring, none of them were ever alone. Aragorn's fingers traced over each member of the fellowship, coming to rest upon Legolas.

"Oh Legolas, why did you die? Why can't you tell me why you died?"

Legolas didn't answer, he remained bent over his book. The book seemed very familiar...where did he see that book before? Studying the picture closely, it finally hit Aragorn. That book was the diary on the desk! But where did he put that diary? Another fruitless search of Legolas' room left Aragorn extremely frustrated. He threw his hands in the air, muttering various Elvish curses, when he realized that he had been holding the diary the entire time, having never put it down in the first place. Berating himself for his inattentiveness, he sat on the bed to read Legolas' diary. Every now and then, bits of information would jump out at him, things he carefully filed away in his memory to refer to later on.

"...Tomorrow I'm leaving for Rivendell. I don't know how bad it is that Gollum has escaped. I hope Elrond isn't as upset as father is. It reflects badly on the king if his guards can't guard one small...well, one small thing. I'm not sure what Gollum is. He's not an elf, that's for sure..."

Okay, maybe that wasn't so important.

"...Rivendell hasn't changed much since I was here last. The waterfalls are still beautiful, sending their music echoing throughout the valley. Arwen remains as always, beautiful and pure. She was the first to come greet me when I arrived. There is to be a secret council tomorrow, with representatives from all of the free people of Middle Earth, elves, men, hobbits, and dwarves. I'll actually get to see dwarves and hobbits! I cannot wait!..."

Aragorn smiled. Legolas was young, at least for an elf, and his innocence and wonder shone through in his writing. Even if it wasn't helpful in his quest, Aragorn would keep this diary close and treasure it for all time. Reading it was like listening to Legolas talking again, something he missed terribly.

"...The council was not boring like court. I told all there of Gollum's escape, Elrond didn't seem too happy, but he wasn't as upset as Father. There were some interesting people there. Only one hobbit was actually present at the meeting, but three others showed up. Frodo Baggins seemed like such a child. I was amazed to learn that he had carried the one ring from his home in the Shire to Rivendell. He seems weak, but he must hide some form of inner strength. I guess you could compare him to an elf. Our beauty and grace is often mistaken for weakness, but I know not of an elf who can be bested by a normal human in a fair fight. Mind you, normal and fair are the two words of importance there. Strider, or Aragorn, son of Arathorn, was also present at the council. He is not one of the normal humans I mentioned, at least not according to Elrond. Aragorn grew up in Rivendell, he is Isildur's heir. For all the bad things I had heard of Isildur, I must admit, I was not expecting someone so...fair. He has a ruggedness not found in elves, one that I find interesting. He is coming along on the quest to destroy the ring. I will go, to represent the elves. Maybe I will learn more of him on this journey..."

Aragorn paused in his reading. Legolas had thought of him as fair? He had a ruggedness that was interesting to Legolas? Legolas wished to get to know him better? Interesting...

"...We are in Moria. I have always dreaded darkness. Not the calm, friendly darkness of night, but the stifling, choking darkness of caverns. Ever since it was announced that we would be heading this way, I've been fearful. At least Aragorn is here. He grew up with elves, surely he should understand my fear of the darkness that surrounds us. Ever since the entrance collapsed when that, that monster tried to eat Frodo, I've been staying close to Gandalf. The light from his staff isn't enough to banish my fears entirely, but I do feel better near it. I must admit, when the cavern did collapse, I grabbed Aragorn, burying my face in his back; the darkness was just so stifling, so hostile. He never mentioned it, and I'm glad he didn't. I don't want to seem weak, not when I know my strength will be needed..."

Aragorn paused again. He had often wondered why Legolas had seemed so tense and frightened in the mines. He hid it well, but when you've lived with elves as long as Aragorn had, it was easy to tell how they felt. Legolas had simply been scared of the dark. Aragorn's fingers found their way to his back, tracing the place where Legolas had hidden his face from the dark those many years ago. He remembered the hope that that simple action had evoked; the hope that Legolas might have cared for him. However, this entry seemed to say that it was just chance and the silvan elf's fear of darkness that caused Legolas to seek what little comfort he could get from the person closest to him.

"You are confusing me Legolas."

Aragorn's voice, although whispered, still echoed through the trees softly. Legolas' earlier entry seemed to hint at some emotion, but maybe that was just his own emotions clouding his mind...wait, his own emotions?

"I thought I got over you, Legolas, when I married Arwen. Why must these old feelings be stirred up again? You're dead!"

A silent observer smiled softly, from his hidden perch in one of the carved trees. 'He's on the right track, at least. Soon, I shall be able to forgive him, I hope.'

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* callon = hero

Okay, here's a question for all you readers. Two endings, either Aragorn has 2 quests to satisfy Orome, or he has 4. Which should it be? Please answer in your review.

Please review!