The day had faded into night. The snow was still falling endlessly and showed little mercy of lightening up. Night brought upon darkness and cold piercing wind that chilled to the bone. Legolas opened his eyes slowly and glanced around. He was lying by a fire that was nearly burnt out. The palace was still in sight but only barely. "Estel?" He called as he tried to sit up. But the pain came back to him before he could. He fell back on the cold ground and felt his head against the snow.
"You're awake." Aragorn said as he knelt next to him. He smiled as he wrapped his cloak around the elf.
"Thank you… for everything." Legolas whispered softly. He closed his eyes again. His soul felt somehow lifted yet his body felt as if he had fallen off a thousand cliffs.
"Are you hungry?"
"No," Legolas answered. "Not at the moment."
"Water?" Aragorn held up a flask. Legolas nodded as he reached out a trembling hand. He pressed the flask to his lips and swallowed. The cool icy taste danced down his throat and calmed him.
"I am sorry…." Legolas said softly, "You have been so good to me… you showed me more kindness than I have ever known. Just coming back here was… it was… nice of you. I should not have been so bitter."
"You need not apologize… I do not blame you for anything. And I am kind to you because I want to be, not for one reason or another. I care about you, and I want to be your friend." Aragorn replied warmly.
"I have no friends…" Legolas replied. He had gotten used to saying that, although he did not believe it as he used to.
"You have me." Aragorn cut him off. They were silent for a while, each lost in thoughts.
"What is it like?" Legolas spoke up as he looked up toward the sky, "In the outside world, where you come from." Aragorn looked to him in surprise. It was the first time that Legolas had attempted to make conversation with him. He answered with a growing smile on his face, happy that the icy elf was warming up to him. They spoke for a while with soft voices, each trying to keep the subject light.
"Help me up…I can get us in the palace. It is much too cold out here." Legolas said when the snowfall had grown into a storm.
Aragorn nodded and slipped his arms around Legolas. Legolas held on to him and stood up. His legs felt heavy, like iron and it seemed a chore to walk. He walked a few steps and nearly fell again.
Aragorn looked at him with concerned eyes. "Here, let me carry you…"
"No." Legolas shook his head and regained his balance. "I can walk." He was lying; he could not walk. He walked a few more steps before having to cling onto Aragorn for support. Aragorn looked at him with overwhelming love and sympathy. He knew now how stubborn the elf was.
'Let me help you…I love you' Aragorn tried to say but resisted. He noticed that Legolas pressed one hand over his mouth. The prince lowered his head and winced in pain. "Legolas…" Aragorn pulled his hand away and noticed blood dripping down.
"What's happening to you?" Aragorn said quietly. He felt for the first time, responsible for all this.
"I'm dying… dying from grief."
"This is all my fault…"Aragorn began, but Legolas pressed a finger against his lips and shook his head.
"No, no its not. Please don't say that." Legolas smiled for the first time. A sincere and warm smile that was never present before. He rested his head upon Aragorn's shoulder and closed his eyes.
"I'm not going to let you die…" Aragorn whispered softly and stroked Legolas's hair. He lifted the poor elf's body into his arms and walked toward the palace. Legolas struggled to keep awake and hold back his pain as they approached the door. The snow had covered up the keyhole but it did not matter. It was only there for decoration anyway. He reached out his hand and pressed it against the door. His fingers trembled as he muttered the few words that he has spoken a thousand times.
"Set me down…" He said quietly as the door slid open. Some of the strength was returning as his eyes fell upon the halls that he spent all his life in.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes." Legolas slowly limped toward the common room, where a fire was still burning. The harp leaned against the wall next to the rack. He sat down on the day bed and sighed heavily. It seemed that the few hours he was unconscious he understood everything. He no longer wanted to be alone. The period of isolation was finally over and he must find a way to accept it or die.
"… Why is this happening?" Aragorn spoke up after an awkward silence.
"When I started to learn the craft from my father, I vowed that I would never care for anyone. I vowed to let the powers sink into my body and become me. I could feel little things, like bits of joy and sadness, but that is all. I lived like this for as long as I could remember. But when I met you, got to know you… I began to feel." Legolas spoke amid his sadness, "When you left… I was… I was devastated. I let my grief get the better of me… and I could no longer control the powers inside me. Once I lose control of the powers they begin to overwhelm my body till I can't handle them anymore and I…" He looked down as his voice faltered.
"What kind of magic is this?" Aragorn muttered as he sat down and wrapped his arms around Legolas. "Why would they allow anyone to do this?"
"No, speak no evil of the craft." Legolas snapped sharply, "It is the art of rising above the human world. It is the art of becoming serene… I just wasn't ready for it." He looked down sadly and said nothing more.
"There is a way to stop it… isn't there?" Aragorn whispered as he brushed the hair from the fair elf's eyes/
Legolas said nothing. He knew that there was an answer. But it required something that he was always afraid of. "There is… the book. The one my father inscribed to me long ago. It has been too long since I looked at it…" He muttered, "There is something in it about dispossessing the powers…" 'That book was also the cause of my loneliness, and everything that has ever happened to me.' He added to himself.
"Where is the book?"
"In my bedroom." Legolas replied. He did not want to seem too optimistic because it was a long shot. But a glimmer of hope seemed to appear in his eyes. He stood up shakily and breathed deeply. "I will get it."
"Here, I'll help you…"
"No, I'm alright." He insisted. The prince made his way down the hall to his room and pushed open the door. He knelt next to the locked trunk held his hand over it. He still had enough of the strength inside him to do little things. As he picked up the book, he felt his heart drop dramatically. Even if he succeeded in saving himself, what was he going to do without the craft? It was his life, without it he is nothing. And no doubt, his father will come after him. He knew too much about the sacred palace. His thoughts fell upon Aragorn and he became more undecided.
'He does not love me… he can't. He only pities me.' Legolas thought as he set the book on the ground. 'He has the world in his hands, and anyone he wants, why would he care for me? He only came back because he felt that he owed me for helping him. Now he is only staying because he doesn't want to leave me to die.' The thought hit him hard. It hurt like nothing he's ever felt before. For a flash of a moment he wondered dearly if he even wished to go on living. The next few seconds, he knelt there in a daze.
"But I cannot stay like this…" He told himself, "I can't die like this. I have to live, for me or anyone else." The book flipped open by itself and stopped at a blurry torn page.
Legolas ran his fingers down the page and tore it from the book. "Forgive me father." He breathed, "Forgive me." His studies have taught him enough to understand the poem. He knew that if he gave up the craft and the powers he might survive. He understood what he had to do and sacrifice and that the chances of it working as the book stated were slim to none. The powers have too strong of a hold on him already.
He spoke nothing of it to Aragorn because he knew that it must be done in secret and on his own. "Trust in me… there is nothing more you can do." He whispered as he stretched out on the day bed. Aragorn held his hand and smiled. "Tell me about Lothlorien again…" Legolas whispered as he drifted off to dream.
The snow was building higher and higher. Legolas awoke in the middle of the night and looked toward the window. He knew that he had to go through with it that night. It was the coldest night of winter and another opportunity will not come till next year, and he will not last that long. The elven prince sat up from his bed and looked down. Aragorn was sleeping the carpet beside him.
"I'm sorry…" Legolas whispered as he knelt beside his lover. "You've shown me so much love and compassion that I have never known… but I won't ever be able to repay you. But I do love you… I love you more than anyone or anything that I have ever come to know." With those words he bent down and kissed Aragorn on the brow. His golden silk like hair brushed against the ranger's cheek. Aragorn stirred in his sleep and turned over. Legolas stood up and closed his eyes. With hot tears streaming down, he said "Farewell."
The fallowing day, Aragorn woke only to find the bed empty. The page of the book was gone, and there was no trace where the elven prince could have gone. The sunlight seeped into the windows of every room for the snowstorm was over. Out side it was white as far as the eye could see with shimmers of silver and gold from the light. He walked about the gardens and up and down the realm but found not even a footprint in the snow.
He waited by the fountains of the snow-covered gardens. The water of the fountains flowed effortlessly into the forest river and beyond. Now in the daylight it gleamed as if diamonds had spilled into the water. His worry and hope seemed to all melt together as he watched the water.
Noon hit and the sun was high in the skies. Some of the snow was starting to drip and melt. As if he was meant to all along, Aragorn walked over to the fountain and dipped his hand in it. The water was pleasantly warm and as he lifted it, it flowed through his fingers like silk. He smiled as he watched the drips of water make ripples.
Suddenly he felt an icy feeling pierce his heart. Legolas was gone. He feared all of sudden that his love was never coming back. It seemed that he stood there for a moment in distress and horror. He stood there in a daze for he did not know how long, before turning his eyes away.
The sun rose and set and days passed and gone. There was no shadow of the fair prince anywhere. Aragorn began to give up hope. When the sun had rose on the sixth day, he had given up completely. With tears strolling down his face, he bid farewell to the bittersweet realm.