Disclaimers: See the Author's Notes! This is an AU! The R Rating is in effect now for good reason! Aragorn and Legolas' mental speech is in *. Elvish is in ''. Ok, Legolas is going to have twins; now what should he have- boy/boy or boy/girl? And I need some name ideas! You have up until the final chapter, before the epilogue where the twins are born, to cast your votes! Kshonna, wanya and Lietha guldur mean Magic Dispel *winces* Sorry that this chapter is so bad…

Reasons To Fight, Reasons To Wed

Part 31. Sacrifice

Rissan laughed when he saw the shocked expression on Haldir's face. A cold, cruel smile was given to the 'Lorien Elf, before the evil one stated, 'It's been a while, Haldir. I have not seen you for a very long time, my pet.'

'I am not your pet,' Haldir hissed, a rush of emotions flashing through his eyes. 'Don't you have anything better to do than look for me?' Fear, anger, and confusion flickered across his face.

Legolas was stunned at how tense the slightly older Elf was. 'You know him, Haldir? Who is he?' He felt concern for his friend, and didn't understand his reaction.

Aragorn was wondering the same thing, as he saw the angry expression on Glorfindel's face. 'Who is this… person?'

'Rissan,' Glorfindel answered. 'I should have known that it was you. Only you could be insane enough to work with Meron on his crazy plan to gain the Prince of Mirkwood.'

"You're boring me, Glorfindel," Rissan said dismissively. "We are here for… them." He extended one of his pale, white hands towards Legolas and Haldir.

"No!" Aragorn shouted. "You will not have Legolas!"

Glorfindel added, "And Haldir will not be tormented by you again, Rissan!"

Meron laughed, a cruel sound that echoed through the sounds of the water splashing over the stones that were set in the water. Perched on two of them, the Man sneered at the group. "Your defenses are pathetically few, or have you not noticed?" His gaze was fixed directly on Legolas. "The decision is yours. Either surrender… Or lose your friends." He focused on his magic, feeling Rissan's own dark power joining his.

The dark, massive wave headed towards the others, whose boats shifted slightly when the current did, moving them towards the waterfall that loomed ten feet ahead of them.

"Aragorn!" Legolas cried in horror. *Aragorn, what should I do? I don't want to lose you, not now, after everything that's happened!*

Haldir snapped, "Stop this!"

*Never surrender, Legolas! Promise me that you won't,* Aragorn fiercely said, directly in the mind of the one he loved. *No matter what happens, you cannot give in to him!*

*But… You'll get hurt, and I couldn't bear that!* Legolas felt a few tears on his face, which was nothing compared to the anguish inside of him, as he watched Aragorn's boat growing ever closer to the water that crashed over the side of the cliff.

Aragorn was stunned, when he had a sudden, seeming flashback in his mind, of something he didn't remember, brought on by those words. It was more like a vision, for Aragorn himself was in it, seeing it through someone else's eyes.

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Flashback, long, long ago

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'Elessar, where are you?' a familiar voice shouted, fear and desperation making his urgency even more pronounced, as he searched for his lover. 'Are you hurt?'

In the distance, the unmistakable sound of swords clashing and screaming could be heard, feeling all with a sense of dread at the madness that had taken over.

The single figure, with flowing hair like honey, turned towards Aragorn, who caught his breath in surprise.

Flawless, glowing blue eyes surrounded by pale skin, the color of ivory. Pointed ears stood out among the strands of gold that were tucked behind them, and the delicate-looking Elf ran over to the Man.

'You're all right! Praise the Valar, Elessar, I've found you. We have to get out of here, before it's too late.' The Elf took a firm grip on the Man's arm, pulling him towards a doorway quickly, in an effort to escape the madness. The soft silk of his green shirt brushed across Aragorn's hand as he was dragged out of the door.

'Legolas?' Aragorn questioned. He didn't understand what was going on and followed the Elf who led him.

'Nay, Elessar, that is not my name, dear one,' the Elf said, confusion in his voice, even as he sprinted faster, with the human right behind him. 'Tis Lasgalen.'

Aragorn frowned. 'Your name is Legolas, not Lasgalen.'

Lasgalen shook his head. 'I would know my own name, Elessar. But it matters not now. They've turned against the Elves and everyone, Elessar! What we feared would happen has come; Sauron and Saruman have joined forces and seek nothing less than our deaths.'

'Legolas, they already joined forces, when they arranged to have my birth parents killed,' Aragorn argued.

'Your parents are alive, Elessar, and living in Imladris. Are you feeling well? The stress of the past few days has been tense, after all,' Lasgalen replied. His soft, full lips were licked slightly, as he repeated, 'And my name is not Legolas.' The pleasant voice was piqued with puzzlement.

Aragorn finally realized what Legolas was calling him. 'Why are you calling me Elessar? My name is Aragorn.'

Lasgalen frowned and questioned, 'When did you start going by your middle name, Elessar?' The sounds of a baby crying drew their attention, and Lasgalen pulled Elessar even faster, as both sprinted to the hallways and found another Elf being attacked by Orcs. A baby was cradled in the Elf's left arm, while his other hand was using his sword to defend himself and the child.

Aragorn frowned and drew his own sword, before Lasgalen, no… Legolas- whoever he was- could. His blade prevented the other Elf from being stabbed through the heart, before it came up and slit the Orc's throat.

Lasgalen defended the baby as well, after he drew his sword. He parried well, his firm muscles aiding him to eventually disarm his opponents and kill them.

'Thank you, your majesties,' the other Elf said gratefully. He held the baby towards Lasgalen, who lovingly took the child. 'Your son is well, though it was hard to fight my way down here from the nursery. The foul creatures are trying to kill all of us!'

'Our son?' Aragorn stared at the baby in Lasgalen's arms. Wisps of light brown hair and tiny grey eyes focused directly on Aragorn, before the babe whimpered, hiccupping softly.

'Yes, Elessar,' Lasgalen said. 'I feared the worst when no one had seen you for hours, but you are alive. How did you get back from the battle in time?'

With a jolt, the vision collapsed.

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Aragorn was stunned by what he had seen, and overwhelmed by it. He didn't understand it, but he was really worried about what had happened to them- Lasgalen and the baby. His attention was redrawn to the current battle when he heard a new voice chime in with a sour note in it.

"Could you two not hurry up already?" Saruman questioned, appearing in a flash of a dark light. His white hair stood out with his different colored robes. The Istari looked directly at Meron and Rissan. "There are other things we should be doing… like destroying Rivendell, Mirkwood, Lothlorien, and the rest of Middle Earth."

Meron rolled his eyes. "Father… we were just getting to it. Right, Rissan?"

"Naturally," Rissan stated. "Make it easy, Legolas and Haldir. Surrender and spare your friends!"

Legolas stood and retorted, "Why would we want to make it easy for you? You are all evil, through and through. I pity you for that, for you will never know true love."

"Legolas…" Haldir protested, worried that Rissan might try to seek revenge for such a bold statement to him. If Rissan had not changed at all since he had last seen him, Haldir knew that the evil one would still be quick to anger and act, before thinking.

A bolt of black lightning shot out of Rissan's hand towards Legolas, but Meron quickly countered it with one of his own lightning blasts.

"I want him alive, not dead," Meron snapped.

"So sorry," Rissan drawled, smiling sweetly. That is, he attempted to smile sweetly, but it was more the look a cat would give a bird before eating it.

Haldir shuddered slightly and stood next to Legolas, wordlessly glaring up at Rissan. The Elven Prince next to him lifted his chin slightly, acting like he was not afraid, though he truly was. Three magic-using enemies against just two magic-users were bad odds for them, and his magic was useless.

Saruman shook his head and made a grand gesture with his hand. A dark light enveloped it, before the light wrapped around Legolas, immobilizing him. Haldir tried to break through it, but wound up being prevented from moving as well. His eyes burned with hatred towards Rissan for coming back, just when everything was finally getting better. His concern was more for Legolas, though he couldn't turn to look at his friend.

"Let them go!" Aragorn shouted, anger in his voice. Legolas was going to be taken away, and there was nothing he could do about it!!

Thranduil cast a spell of his own, but the combined power of Rissan and Meron easily blocked it, before they purposefully struck him unconscious with a single gesture.

Gimli tended to the fallen Elven king as best as he could, glowering at the evil magic users. The Dwarf didn't like this at all; this was very bad, and his Elf friend was in danger, but he couldn't help Legolas. He didn't know magic, but Gimli wished that he could do something- anything to help his friend, who was going to be taken prisoner and tortured by one who had already hurt him once before.

Glorfindel was furious, because he could do nothing. Haldir and Legolas were in grave danger and because he possessed no magic, he could not help them. And Rissan was back, no doubt to take Haldir for himself again, just as he had tried to over a millennia ago. The Elven lord's eyes were narrowed with anger, shocking Elena.

The young Hobbit had quickly decided that, from the angry glares being given to the three figures that were trying to get two of the Elves to surrender, they must be the bad ones who had ordered her home destroyed. A frown appeared on her young face, for Elena did not like bad people that threatened and hurt her friends, and she thought somebody ought to teach them a lesson.

Boromir hadn't understood most of what had been said in Elvish, but he recognized Meron, who had deceived him and tricked him. "I would have words with you, deceiver," Boromir stated, looking directly at Meron.

"I have no further use of you, human," Meron replied, barely glancing at Boromir, as he used his magic to levitate the Elf he wanted into the air, while Legolas was unable to move.

Haldir tried to gasp, to move… to do anything but be forced to just stand here as Legolas was being taken away. His efforts were in vain, as Rissan used the same spell to lift him into the air, directly above the boat and next to Legolas. Both young, golden-haired Elves were afraid now, when they saw the two similar looking figures approaching them, using their magic to come to them.

Aragorn told himself that he had to do something; he could not let Legolas be taken away by Meron. There had to be something… anything that he could do to stop this, before it was too late, though he was still distracted by the strange vision he had had. A familiar voice echoed inside of his mind.

'Don't repeat the tragedy…'

It was Legolas' voice, but it sounded more like the voice of the identical Elf that Aragorn had seen in the vision. The half Elf was severely confused now, and shook his head.

A tiny spark of him was getting brighter, as Aragorn desperately tried to think of something he could do!! There was no choice… there was no other way…

A strange energy filled Aragorn, which he had not felt before. It wrapped around him, promising to aid him and keep the one that he loved safe, if he would only allow it.

Aragorn silently answered, I'll do anything to keep Legolas safe…

An explosion of light began shining about Aragorn, drawing all eyes to him in shock. The silvery, luminescent glow around the half Elf showed off his brown hair and eyes, highlighting his strong profile and his strong, sturdy frame. A strange gleam appeared in his eyes, and Aragorn looked directly at Legolas, before he began speaking in Elvish.

''Kshonna, wanya…  Lietha guldur!' Though spoken softly, the words echoed with a power of their own, counteracting the two spells being worked on Legolas and Haldir both.

"Stop him!" Saruman shouted, struggling to regain control of his paralyzing spell.

Meron flung a sleep spell at Aragorn, who smiled before he was forced asleep, falling to the ground unconscious.

The shock of the icy water was the first thing Haldir and Legolas both noticed, as they plunged into the icy depths. The underwater current propelled them on towards the waterfall, because it had been reversed by Meron and Rissan.

"Where did they go?" Rissan shouted. He searched the water for them, but could not find them.

Saruman rolled his eyes and shook his head. "They will not abandon their friends! Bring the Elves, Man, Dwarf, and Hobbit, and the other two will come with an army to free them!" He began chanting again, joined by Rissan and Meron.

Sleep overtook all in the group, and neither of them knew when they were teleported directly into Mordor.

Back at the river, the current reversed as soon as Rissan and Meron left. Two gasping and coughing blond Elves popped up to the surface, one aiding the other as they carefully made their way to the shore they needed to reach to go to Mordor.

Both were so tired that they collapsed into sleep after dragging themselves far enough away to hide, not knowing or caring if anyone saw them right now.

To be continued