A/N: Quite a short one, I know… sorry.

To all my readers: I have a question since English is not my first tongue, and I desperately need to know who Aragorn´s kind of trousers would be called. Please, please answer!!!

And by the way, do not forget to review!!

Disclaimer: All characters do not belong to me and I'm making no money from this story.

THANKS TO ALL WHO HAVE REVIEWED SO FAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope is leaving and shadow returns

All color drained from Gandalf's face and it became white as snow. A shiver ran down his spine, his hands began to tremble. "You do not say the truth, Legolas, do you? No, this cannot have happened! Aragorn was not captured!"

Legolas was silent for a few heartbeats. "I do not know," he said softly, "but I could not think of any other way for finding this." With these words the Elf got the leathern necklace out of his gear and lifted it into the light of the fire.

Gandalf immediately reached out for it and Legolas slowly put it into the wizard's hand. He looked small now, as if he had shrunk in the past few minutes, weary and older than he had been before. The silver 'A' sparkled when the light of the flames fell upon it, it looked like a star in a cloudy night. Appearing and disappearing, appearing and disappearing.

Legolas' heart hurt as he was watching his old friend. The wizard clutched the necklace with all of his strength, as if holding onto it. The Elf even thought that he had spotted a tear on the other's cheek but he was not sure about it.

"Where did you find it, Legolas? What makes you think that Aragorn lost it in battle?" Gandalf slowly asked after some minutes. In the first moment after he had beheld the necklace in Legolas' hand, he had believed that his heart would stop beating. 'It indeed looks like it was torn,' had been the first thought in his mind. 'Aragorn, Aragorn, what has happened to you, my friend?' The old wizard knew that the ranger surely had not just lost his necklace, to him it had more value than all the gold and mithril in Middle-earth, but nevertheless he just had to ask how Legolas had come to his conclusion. Maybe he himself as a man who had been sharing a long and deep friendship with Aragorn would be able to read some signs better. Maybe the man had left something behind that would indicate a completely different reason for leaving his necklace.

"In the grass beside Boromir's body I found it," Legolas replied to the wizard's question. "It was lying there like you can see it right now. The leather was torn and frayed, and I could not see any other things that made be think different. At first, although there had been doubts, I wanted to believe that Aragorn had just left for Minas Tirith since urgent news had arrived and that he had had to go at that very moment, but during our walk through Rohan my opinion was changed for I had enough time to think about the events."

Gandalf did not answer. He was just sitting there, clutching his friend's necklace in his fists, his head cast down, the shadows of his hood hiding his face. Legolas also sat in silence for there was nothing that he could say to ease the wizard's pain. The Elf knew about the friendship the two had shared, but he could only guess how great Gandalf's suffer had to be. Even he himself missed Aragorn a great deal and was deeply worried about his fate, although he had known the Man only since they had met in Rivendell ere setting out for their journey. Prior to that, he had only heard of the Ranger from his people when they had told him that he had come to Mirkwood once again. Gandalf, however, had been friends with him for already more than 64 years and they had endured a lot of ordeals on their travels and those had made them close.

The wizard's mind was confused completely, not a single clear thought could enter it. Everything was a mixture of pain, worry and great fear. Greater fear and worry than he had ever experienced before. He knew that if the Orcs had really captured Aragorn, that there would be no escape for him. 'They will watch him for all the time, they will not leave him alone for the tiniest bit of a second.' Even Aragorn, the experienced Ranger, would not be able to flee from a host of Orcs. If he tried and did not succeed he would be slain at once, or, if they could recapture him without having to kill him, they would torture him for sure.

'The most evil fate that anyone can imagine is awaiting him! And I will never see Aragorn alive again!'

The only reason Gandalf could think of why the Orcs had not slain his friend at once, was, that they had had orders from Sauron to bring the Man before his seat in the Barad-dûr. No other thing would have hindered the Orcs from killing Aragorn right on the battle field. They did not fear anyone, their master and his orders were the only thing they followed. And those orders merely could mean death for Aragorn! Otherwise Legolas had found the Man's body in the grass under the shadow of Tol Brandir, but never the Orcs had taken someone with them alive.

The Enemy had to know that Aragorn was the prophesied king of Gondor, the one who wielded the Sword that was Broken and would bring doom to Middle-earth. The Dark Lord had seen that Aragorn was truly capable of doing this, for he was a man of great will and strength, and thus he had ordered to capture him, to bring him before his seat in the Dark Tower. What would happen then, Gandalf could only guess. He, though, was sure that Sauron would not be just satisfied with having captured the future king, he would try to get answers from him – about the Ringbearer, about the Ring itself and their further plans. Aragorn, however, Gandalf hoped, would not tell anything. 'He is strong in mind and has a great willpower. He will not give in to Sauron´s urges!'

But his next thought almost made Gandalf's blood run cold. 'Few people have ever come back to tell of their imprisonment in the Barad-dûr and they all told of cruel tortures. And the Dark Lord has never had a more valuable prisoner than Aragorn. He will suffer greater than anyone before!'

Those people – Gandalf did not know whether he should call them 'lucky' or not – had told of being whipped until they bled, being beaten until bones had broken like dry sticks. They had gotten no food, no water for days, and often they told that they had seen others dying from the excruciating pain inflicted on them.

Aragorn would have to endure the cruelest tortures, his death would be slow and of great agony. The Enemy would take immense pleasure from watching his victim suffer and his struggle would last for days. There was no way Sauron would kill Aragorn soon, too great worries he had caused the Dark Lord, too many plans he had destroyed. And even if Sauron did know nothing about the Ringbearer and his quest – which, of course, he did, Aragorn still was the forecast King of Gondor and with him he would destroy the hope of all people of Middle Earth. 'A long way have we come, my friend, and its end should have been at the gates of Minas Tirith where things would finally be decided, but now, alas, your way ended much sooner and I have to continue on my own. What shall I do without you? You were our hope, now only Frodo will be able to destroy the Enemy! But what of his Orcs? I cannot defeat them without men! It would have been your task to lead them into battle! And after our victory you should have been the one leading Middle-earth into a new age! What shall I do without you? Our hope is gone and I lost a great friend!'

Suddenly Gandalf was ripped out of his thoughts by a tug on his cloak. "What is it?" he snapped at the one who had dared doing that.

"Naught," a small voice said, "I'm just happy to see you again, Gandalf. We thought that you were dead."

Only now the wizard noticed that the two Hobbits had woken. Legolas certainly had not spoken to them about his guesses or maybe even not about the necklace, therefore Gandalf tried to be friendly. After all, they had no fault in all this trouble.

"Yes, my little friends, I have returned from the shadow to continue our Quest. But do not be afraid," he added after he had spotted a hint of fear on their faces, "I am real and nothing about me is fake. Fate was lucky and that is the reason why I was allowed to join you again."

Merry smiled. "I've missed you, Gandalf! Especially after Frodo and Sam left us some days ago. Legolas told you about this, didn't he? And did he tell you that Aragorn had to go to Minas Tirith just as we were involved in a fight with some Orcs?"

At mentioning Aragorn's name Gandalf winced and a shadow of pain crossed his face but the Hobbits seemed to be completely oblivious of that. 

"Since then," Pippin continued, "we have only walked and walked and walked. I can tell you, that was boring! Every day our feet hurt like hell!"

"Not only your feet," a deep voice said from behind. Gandalf and the Hobbits were startled and the wizard immediately reached for his sword. But as the shadow drew nearer, they relaxed again. It was only Gimli who had returned from his walk. The Dwarf shortly glanced at Gandalf. 'Legolas told you, didn't he?' his look seemed to say and the wizard nodded curtly.

"Come on, Gandalf," Pippin interrupted their quiet conversation, "tell us your tale of how you have come to meet us again! It must be a long and interesting story." The two Hobbits were totally excited. They had thought Gandalf to be dead and now he lived again, never had happened something more strange since the day they had been born.

"It is indeed one that would need a lot of time to be told," the wizard answered, "but tomorrow we will have to set out early again and our march will be long, for still Minas Tirith is our aim. Tonight you have to get as much sleep as it is possible, so I will tell my tale on tomorrow's walk. Do not fear, you will not miss it."

Pippin just seemed to be about to object but then a warning glance from Merry caught him and he turned to lie down again. "We will sleep now," he announced yawning, "but do not forget your promise!" Merry also wrapped his cloak around himself and stretched out on the ground. He almost immediately went to sleep but still Gimli, Legolas and Gandalf could hear a softly whispered "I am happy that you are with us again, Gandalf" before his eyes closed.

A slow smile spread across the wizard's face. "They do not need to be troubled in their sleep," he said, "I did not want to tell them about my grief for I had reason to guess that you had not told them either. Merry said something about Aragorn having left for Minas Tirith. You did not mention this, Legolas."

The Elf first hesitated. "I have hidden my mind from them," he then explained, "and I did not show them Aragorn's necklace either, for they have been in great worry about Frodo and Sam and I did not want to add my fear to their own. Also, I indeed had cause to assume Aragorn's fate but I did not know about it for sure. There still may exist other solutions to the riddle of the torn necklace, although I do not think so. But, you may not blame me, I just wanted to protect the Hobbits from being consumed by their own fears and thus I only told Gimli who also preferred not to believe in Aragorn's capture first but now, I guess, he does."

The Dwarf nodded. "I do now think as you do, my friend. On our way from Tol Brandir to Fangorn I had a lot of time to consider the things you told me and for me there also was no other conclusion than the one that Aragorn had been taken away by the Orcs. Alas, I would like to have reasons to object you but I fear there are none."

Gimli shivered in the cold wind blowing through the trees. The fire gave warmth but it could not get through to his heart. Aragorn had become a close and good friend during their journey and although he had not gotten on as well with him as with Legolas, he deeply cared for the Man. On Caradhras the Ranger had given him another cloak, one of his own, although Aragorn had been as cold as he had been. 'I do not want you to freeze to death,' he had said, 'I will be able to bear the snow since I am better used to it.' Gimli had not forgotten this. Aragorn himself had been freezing terribly but as he had seen that another one needed his help, he had not hesitated and had shared his cloak. The man had always been there to protect the Fellowship and had cared for them. After Gandalf had fallen into the shadow in Moria, Aragorn's grief had surely been greater and deeper than the one of any other of his comrades. But still he had not let himself be overwhelmed by his sorrow and pain, and had found the way to the safety of Lothlórien, a land where Gimli had seen and experienced things he had not been able to imagine before, and if he did not know now that it really had been true, he still would think he had dreamed of the High Lady Galadriel and Lord Celeborn.

'Aragorn is a good and honest man,' the Dwarf thought, 'there just has to be a way to come to his aid. A warrior of his greatness shall not die in the hands of the Enemy.'

"What are the Orcs going to do with Aragorn?" Gimli suddenly asked aloud. Legolas and Gandalf looked up, they themselves had been in thoughts and now they shortly glanced at each other. Gandalf then only returned to staring into the fire. He was not going to say anything. 'No further worries shall enter their mind. It is enough what they know now, it would not do better if they were aware of the cruel fate Aragorn has to expect.'

The Elf tarried for a moment, then he only shook his head.

"I do not know what plans they have in their evil minds but I am sure, that it is nothing pleasant since it is unusual that they took Aragorn with them instead of slaying him in the moment of capture. Alas, I do fear that we will not see him alive again!"

With these words their conversation stopped. No one wanted to object since they all knew that it merely had been a lie to say otherwise, but also no one wanted to continue and confirm their worries further. Legolas' last sentence had sounded too final, too hopeless to go on talking the way they had before.

For some moments the three just remained sitting by the fire, the silence uncomfortable and thus Gimli stood up soon after. "Good night," he said, "I'll lie down to get a bit of sleep. Tomorrow will be a hard day."

Legolas nodded. "I will leave you, too, Gandalf, but if you still need me, just say it."

The wizard shrugged and made a slow gesture with his right hand. "You, my dear friend, deserve your rest as well as the Dwarf. I will keep watch for tonight, for I have many things to think through, but tomorrow I will wake you soon."

Legolas also wrapped his cloak around him and cast himself down. Rest, though, he was not able to find this night. Every time when he opened his eyes, he saw Gandalf sitting by the fire, his head bent down, a picture of misery.

A/N: Please do not forget to review! Pay heed to my question! It's truly important for me!