A/n: Aw, last chapter! If you really want a sequel, please tell me
in a review!!!!
In response to reviews for chapter 11:
Starlit Hope: Why, thank you very much! And yes, I think it's sweet, too... lol!!! Fluffy bunnies to you for being a sweetie!
Loca: Don't worry, don't worry. As you can see, he... well... read the chapter!!!
shadowstar15: Yeah, I'm so mean. So cruel, so cruel, so cursed cruel... But I just can't stop giving out cliffhangers. It's a habit.
Nightbird*Songbird: Well, yes, I, Me has too many typos and should most definitely fix them soon. (?) (wai did i do this again?)
moonlightgodess: ... not quite sure what you mean, but I'm sure it made sense when you were writing it. :) Last chapter! Drinks all around! (opens sentimental champane bottle)
Anthem: Hi!!!!!!!!! I dedicated chapter 11 to you. :) And don't worry about Aragorn going straight on us... lol!!! :)
Princess Flame: Whoa! Pixi Stix!!!!! (gets very very hyper) Oh, sure, Sia, here, have this chapter, I hereby dedicate it to you!!!!!! tra la la la la.... the room's spinning! yipe! hyper!
Aiyh-Sa: Oh, of course the nice authoress will put them back together!!!! After all, her muses would have chopped her up and fed her to the fishies if she didn't...
Silvawen the Elf Crumpet: :) Conclusion you were waiting for, right here and packaged nicely.
Legolas19: Here we are, here we are!!!! Last chapter and doing fine. :) Thank you for reviewing!!!
MoroTheWolfGod: Well, actually, Elisabet would be the turd-weed here.
Gilraen3: No, he's not doing it for attention. Here, an update!!!!
:): Yes... PURE evil... I know... Thank you, magical review fairy!!!!!
val: Why, thank you!!!! Here's what's next...
In response to reviews for chapter 12:
Starlit Hope: Sorry, I'm a little weird... To tell you the truth, I had no idea she was an elf either until she thumped me with a rolled-up newspaper and told me I had better give her a good plot twist.
val: Yea, this is the last chapter. Sigh... so depressing... Well, if enough people pester me, I'll do a sequel. Fair.
Silvawen the Elf Crumpet: Aw! I know, isn't it so depressing that this is the last chapter? Though, if I am sufficiently pestered, I shall do a sequel. I can pull it off without ruining it, I swear! :) Oh, and sorry about leaving you hanging... again... Wahahahaha! I am EVIL!!!!
Gilraen3: Thank you for reviewing!!!! :) Mwah, air-kiss to you!
Megami-sama: Yea, I am quite fond of my ikkle chapter five... :) Gutter minds kick butt!!!!! Woohoo!!!
Roselyne: Oh, I know. She's a first-class bitch. Here's the answer to your question. And, aie!!! Stay away from the butcher knives!!! ... lol, jk.
Roselyne: This was your chappie 9 review. I actually named her Elisabet because it's my favorite name to use for girl OCs. And I don't know anyone named Elisabet. :( I WANT to, because it's a kewl name, but, sigh... Unlucky.
madkornfan: :) Here, more for you. Mwah!! Air kiss over the net. Last chapter!!!!!
moonlightgoddess: Thanx. And I don't do VIOLENTLegolas very well, so, ehehee... ya... :) Lyl!!!
MoroTheWolfGod: Boohoo, last chappie. No more unless I get around to a sequel. :)
Legolas19: Here ya go!!!!!
Aislynn Crowdaughter: So sorry, yes I know this is utterly non- canon. And I only used Christos because it has a certain meaning in Latin if you care to look it up. I'm a Wicce. And, yes, Aragorn was raised in Rivendell. So? I live with Christian parents. Thank you for giving constructive criticism anyway.
Anthem: No prob!!!! Luv ya anyway, hun. Thanks for reviewing all this time. *big smiley face*
And to the charming young lady who sent me an e-mail: Yay!!! You like my work!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! Mwah air-kiss!!!!!!!
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** **********************************************
And so, here we are. Serious again. Legolas is home; Aragorn is in the bar. Aragorn's PoV. The answers you've all been waiting here, contained in this tiny little gem, this little okay I'll get on with it now.
Chapter Thirteen: A Rose's Bloom
Nothing made sense anymore. The ale had gone straight to his head. He had forgotten how bad he was with alcohol.
Whispers. Voices. A head of golden hair.
"Legolas?"
No answer. Then, a slow nod.
Everything was spinning. The head of golden hair in front of him was spinning.
"Legolas, the room is spinning."
The voice was a whisper. "I'll make it stop..."
Warm lips against his. It felt strange, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.
He sat there for a while, trying to think, but the spinning wouldn't stop. The room was blurry. The strange Legolas was keeping his body away from him.
Finally something snapped, a dam broke.
The room stopped spinning, and a pair of horribly violet eyes were looking at him.
Laughing.
Aragorn could have killed her.
******************************************************************
Aragorn didn't pause to ask where Legolas was. He just ran, out of the Islet, out of the town that should have been called a city. The dry streets caused dust to rise and clog his nostrils, and he found it difficult to breathe. Dust, dust everywhere. //Legolas must have hated it here//
His calves began to ache as he stumbled along, and the alcohol made him clumsy. He fell, face-first, onto the filth below him, hitting his nose on a jutting stone.
Aragorn began to cry. He pounded his fist against the ground, in agony that everything was going wrong and that he had done something... //Hideous.//
The tears began to leave tracks down his face in the dust, mingling with the blood from his nose. // Valar help me valar help me someone? is anyone there where is Legolas oh valar what have I done?// Thoughts kept running together. He couldn't concentrate.
//why did i do this? how could this have happened oh god why did i kiss ... elisabet... HER.//
His body began to shake. //HER!!!!// A redness filled his vision, and it was a good thing that the poisonous girl wasn't there at the moment, or she would have suffered a variety of unpleasant tortures, not the least of which involved her neck snapping between Aragorn's hands like a stick.
The rage at least cleared Aragorn's mind, let him focus. He got up again, and forced himself to run. //Legolas will have gone to Mirkwood.//
So he turned his feet to Mirkwood, and ignored the fire in his legs and sides.
__________________________________________________________
Legolas watched Lirabeth disappear into the more thickly-wooded forest. It was obvious, now, to think of it. She smelled like an elf; she spoke like an elf; Valar, she even moved like an elf. Now that her own sweat had damped out the filthy odors of the town, no animal would fight her on the way to Mirkwood. They were at the boundaries of the border patrol- wargs wouldn't venture closer than this.
But now, she was gone. Alone, because now that they were this close to Eryn Lasgalen, she would be safe even if she managed to get lost. And even though Lirabeth was a friend, she didn't love him and he didn't love her. He couldn't ask her to stay. She needed to find someone who loved her.
//And now that I'm alone, I have all the time in the world to think about...//
//That. The numbness wore off after the first hour of running. I cried out everything I had as I ran. Now I'm just plain tired.// He leaned against the trunk of a giant beech, and began to think things over in his head.
//I love him. But I don't think he truly loves me. Or he wouldn't have done that. It used to hurt a lot to think he didn't love me. But it isn't so devastating anymore. He's not my whole world.//
//That relationship was unhealthy. I depended on him entirely for emotional support, for, well, everything! The meeting was a bad one. I had been alone too long to deal with love rationally. And the poor man made things worse by trying to help me.//
//I have someone else now, Lirabeth. I think she'll visit whenever she can. Aragorn and I are like one person; we get lonely with only each other, because we are, to some degree, a single person. I nearly cemented our minds together, and I think that I would have at least established a link anyway.//
He smiled to the darkness. //I still refer to us as being together in my head. Valar, I'm a lovesick fool.//
//Now, Valar willing, my traitor heart will get over him soon.//
He walked past the beech, and in a few minutes had found his way back into his own territory.
//But the pain still won't stop. I don't think it ever will.//
Legolas sighed, fighting to keep the tears away.
It was a losing battle. __________________________________________________________
Aragorn had slowed to a walk, about an hour after he had crossed the boundary of the forest. His face was wracked with pain, and he was breathing heavily. His rage had burned off as soon as he had entered Mirkwood's outskirts. Now there was only the sadness, the pain. //Why do things like this have to happen?//
His head bowed with the weight of grief, his body physically exhausted, and his one weapon lying forgotten in some godforsaken midtown barn, Aragorn didn't see the Warg in time to defend himself. All he could do was what he had been doing for far too long for his emaciated body-
Run.
Aragorn may have been exhausted, but it was either flee or die. He went crashing through the underbrush, blinded with terror and sweat that stung his eyes. The scent of the night and of broken vegetation rose with sharp, yet clean odor, hugely discordant with the vile smell of rottenness coming from the warg. The beasts ate only meat, and didn't care whether their meals had been freshly killed or dead for a week.
Aragorn's feet beat into the earth like it was a drum. The rhythm was a frightening one. Sweat began to drip from his body to the ground, a scentable trail for any beast, and he stumbled once or twice over raised roots.
Behind him, the face of the warg was split in a terrifying grin as it half-barked, half-shrieked.
Its eyes were red with battle frenzy.
__________________________________________________________
//Valar. I cannot do this.//
Legolas tried to get up, tried to think what he had been thinking only moments before. He had been calm and collected before; ready to face things, avoiding thoughts of Aragorn.
Then he had reached home, and for a few instants had seen Aragorn lying on the bed, ankle in a splint, absentmindedly fiddling with his hair. Legolas had cried out, and ran towards him... and then the vision had disappeared.
//I cannot do - what is that light, glinting from metal? It... I believe it is the dagger twins//
The daggers were of excellent make, but not elvish. They were of a sort Legolas had never seen before, now that he looked closely. The hilts were curved strangely, and gave him the best grip he had ever had. Originally Legolas planned to replace the mismatched hilts with the hilts of his old daggers, but now he believed they were the best for the task at hand.
The blades shone as brightly as Elbereth in the light of the moon. They were cold to the touch, yet strangely beautiful. Legolas couldn't take his eyes off of them.
//I wonder, how long would it take to die on a blade like this? Probably a very short while...//
His blood was pounding, rushing, twisting and gushing in a torrential flood within his veins, blue and bewitching, lying ever so close to the edge of his skin, almost bursting out... His heartbeat throbbed throughout his entire body. So much blood, so much blood... His eyes were white and glazed sickeningly, and his breathing was harsh and ragged. The sound of his heartbeat filled his ears like the pounding of a drum. Blood, blood, blood...
Legolas laid the first dagger on his wrists as if in a trance, and the edge of the blade dug into his skin, a small trickle of redness welling up beneath. Then he stopped, torn between admiration of the beauty of the blood that was seeping out from under the blade, and what the blade was doing.
They seemed to be whispering something, and he held them closer to his ears in bemused fascination.
{What are you?} he asked mentally, a few minutes later, shaken to the core. They seemed to ripple in the moonlight, and Legolas abstractly remembered that the moon was waning.
The script on the blades began to shimmer, and words in a long, spidery script began to appear on them.
We are the iron, the bone of which the mountains grow upon. You shall not with us perform evil; said one.
{This is not evil. It is a mercy killing.} Legolas's mental voice sounded dull and hollow even to himself.
Yet you are needed. You are needed, Elfling.
Legolas heard Aragorn from the trees' whispers before he heard him physically. It came; the warning and the vision through the eyes of the trees like whispers from someone standing just out of sight.
{Man, running, terror in his eyes, coming this way. Evil beast, snarling and spitting as it chases him. Raise alarm? Raise alarm?}
[No, don't. Aragorn, it's Aragorn! Remember? He was here, he walked among you.]
{Remember, we remember. See.}
Legolas saw, in the peculiar green light of millions of eyes from leaves that were in constant movement, every aspect of Aragorn and his hunter at once.
He was already on the way with his daggers when Aragorn began to cry out his name.
Legolas saw through two sets of eyes, and ran lightly to Aragorn as if in a trance, his eyes only half focused. No matter what Aragorn had done, he had come after Legolas and was looking for him. Outside his normal thought, his subconscious mind put two and two together... and came up with five.
//I know a bit about what Elisabet is like, and what I didn't know, Lirabeth told me. It's not only possible but probable that she arranged for me to see her kissing Aragorn deliberately! The snake! Aragorn loves me, after all. He never stopped for a minute// His mind came out of the trance it had been in as he was cutting himself with a jolt, and rationality once again ruled his thoughts.
No matter what Legolas had done, he still wouldn't have made it in time to stop what happened from happening. No matter how much the two loved each other, the power of love wasn't enough to prevent the accident.
Through the eyes of the trees, he watched in slow motion as Aragorn fell into a pit of briars, and watched the warg impale itself through the neck in its mad pursuit of its quarry. Legolas's heart stopped for a second; then, with a small cry, he began to run even faster.
He arrived on the scene mere minutes later, daggers extended, and began to cut away the thorns surrounding the one person he'd ever cared about. The roses beneath the treacherous brambles where Aragorn had fallen were shining red with blood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aragorn was moaning and whimpering in pain when Legolas finally pulled him out, his hands clutched to his eyes. There was blood seeping out from between his fingers, clotting and crusting on his hands. Legolas cried, then, and kissed his forehead softly. "You suffered this for me, love. I am so sorry, so, so sorry. I love you. I don't remember if I ever told you. Saes, love, please don't die."
The moonlight made Aragorn's blood and Legolas's wet tears shine with the luster of gems, but nothing could have shone brighter than Legolas's eyes.
Legolas offered a magical prayer to Manwe, and the wind, normally completely out of his range of control, relented and helped him carry Aragorn back home.
After much effort, Legolas managed to pry away Aragorn's hands and begin to clean his cuts. He had landed in the brambles face-first, and his eyes had been scratched away by the long, dangerous thorns.
He would be blinded for life.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas woke yet again to Aragorn's fitful mumbling. He staggered over to his charge's bedside, and gently cooled the Man's forehead with a wet cloth. Then he poured another dose of sleeping medicine down Aragorn's throat, hand resting over the coarse outer bandages over Aragorn's eyes.
Sighing, Legolas looked at the daggers on the wall above him. They had done nothing after that night, and he was inclined to believe something benevolent had possessed them to keep him alive. For even when he probed them with his mind, they were exactly what they appeared to be. Simply two iron blades. Either it was that, or a hallucination. He knew he hadn't been exactly rational at the time. The explaination was quite as simple as anything.
Simple.
He had stopped having the nightmares altogether. With Aragorn utterly incapacitated, yet still offering a presence, Legolas had finally adjusted to having Aragorn around without depending on him for emotional support. Inside, he knew with absolute certainty that he was ready. He was ready to have Aragorn in his life again, ready to deal responsibly with emotional problems, ready to think rationally about the things that upset him.
Which, all things considered, was a relief not only to Aragorn but to himself. It was hard for Aragorn when small things set Legolas off; it was harder for Legolas, whose rational mind all but disappeared for frightening intervals when he was set off. It was deeply disturbing to not remember things that happened when you were in a suicidal/homicidal mood. It was enough to drive someone over the edge.
It had nearly done so to him. Legolas shivered. He was incredibly relieved that this was over. //I was almost insane. I am thankful to the Valar that I didn't lose my mind completely.//
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
One morning, Legolas judged that Aragorn was ready to be taken off the sleep medicine, and didn't pour the drink down his throat. He simply kept a silent watch over Aragorn, watching and waiting. Aragorn woke slowly, shaking his head and wincing.
He wondered abstractly why he couldn't see.
"Legolas?" he asked in a fearful voice.
[Who else?]
Aragorn jumped. "I can hear you in my head," he announced, slightly less fearful but fearful nonetheless of what was going on.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, love."
"Legolas, I- I'm sorry... for everything..."
A wave of compassion, and understanding, washed over his mind via Legolas's mental speech, and drowned out what Aragorn was about to say. "Don't be. You didn't mean to hurt me, and for that I thank you."
"I can't see..." Tears leaked out of Aragorn's eyes, and he shut them again. But he couldn't find the difference between the two. "I won't ever be able to see you again... How can I be of any use to you at all if I can't see? I don't have a place anywhere, and I'll only be a burden to you-"
Legolas's voice was thick with tears. "Silly. Your place is right here, by me. I don't care if you can't see." There was a silence, and then Legolas spoke again.
[Look. We're connected mentally now, and you can see through my eyes. Can you see?]
Aragorn suddenly had the disturbing perspective of seeing himself from above. He winced, and saw himself wince.
"Oh, Valar... My eyes are disgusting to look at..."
The tears began to fall on Aragorn's face, warm and full of love. Pain. Forgiveness. "Why are you crying?" He could almost hear Legolas's smile.
"I'm strong now, Aragorn. I can stand and you'll be able to lean on me. I've been able to confront my memories without flinching, without running into a place where nothing can be felt. I'm all right now. I'm all right. We're going to be okay." Arms wrapped around Aragorn, and he held Legolas in return, slipping his arms about the Elf's waist, and burying his face in Legolas's shoulder.
"I love you, Legolas."
Aragorn could almost feel the flood of love drowning out whatever pain he felt, and knew it was from Legolas, and realized that it was all he had ever really needed after all. Legolas's voice was choked with tears.
"I know. And I'll always be your eyes." Soft lips touched his, and this time Aragorn knew exactly whose they were. He kissed back, thinking about how amazingly lucky he was that Legolas was the one he had fallen in love with, and what a godsend it was that he had managed to stay alive long enough to be pieced back together. Then he remembered that Legolas could hear his thoughts, and thought hard about that love and that relief.
Legolas gave a choked sob through their kiss, and they both knew he was crying because he was happy this time. Aragorn couldn't remember when he had last felt this... well, happy. He and Legolas also realized, nearly at the same time, that Legolas wouldn't ever cry with grief as long as Aragorn was there. Aragorn sent a thought along their connection.
//I will always be here for you.//
Legolas smiled.
[I'll always be your eyes.]
THE END*
*unless i am persuaded to write a sequel. i swear i can manage it without botching the ending of this one... promise! Oh, and the glitch: it only took Legolas two hours to run home. He was there at 7:00, if you will. It took Aragorn, the hardy man he is, nine hours. He started half an hour after Legolas left. Do the math. Yes, that is an unholy hour in the morning. They took so long to go there because they were taking their time, going ssssllllloooooowwwlllllyyyy. Lots of ooh look at the scenery, and looooooong nights. ^_~ Byex!!!!!!! Miss ya!!!!
In response to reviews for chapter 11:
Starlit Hope: Why, thank you very much! And yes, I think it's sweet, too... lol!!! Fluffy bunnies to you for being a sweetie!
Loca: Don't worry, don't worry. As you can see, he... well... read the chapter!!!
shadowstar15: Yeah, I'm so mean. So cruel, so cruel, so cursed cruel... But I just can't stop giving out cliffhangers. It's a habit.
Nightbird*Songbird: Well, yes, I, Me has too many typos and should most definitely fix them soon. (?) (wai did i do this again?)
moonlightgodess: ... not quite sure what you mean, but I'm sure it made sense when you were writing it. :) Last chapter! Drinks all around! (opens sentimental champane bottle)
Anthem: Hi!!!!!!!!! I dedicated chapter 11 to you. :) And don't worry about Aragorn going straight on us... lol!!! :)
Princess Flame: Whoa! Pixi Stix!!!!! (gets very very hyper) Oh, sure, Sia, here, have this chapter, I hereby dedicate it to you!!!!!! tra la la la la.... the room's spinning! yipe! hyper!
Aiyh-Sa: Oh, of course the nice authoress will put them back together!!!! After all, her muses would have chopped her up and fed her to the fishies if she didn't...
Silvawen the Elf Crumpet: :) Conclusion you were waiting for, right here and packaged nicely.
Legolas19: Here we are, here we are!!!! Last chapter and doing fine. :) Thank you for reviewing!!!
MoroTheWolfGod: Well, actually, Elisabet would be the turd-weed here.
Gilraen3: No, he's not doing it for attention. Here, an update!!!!
:): Yes... PURE evil... I know... Thank you, magical review fairy!!!!!
val: Why, thank you!!!! Here's what's next...
In response to reviews for chapter 12:
Starlit Hope: Sorry, I'm a little weird... To tell you the truth, I had no idea she was an elf either until she thumped me with a rolled-up newspaper and told me I had better give her a good plot twist.
val: Yea, this is the last chapter. Sigh... so depressing... Well, if enough people pester me, I'll do a sequel. Fair.
Silvawen the Elf Crumpet: Aw! I know, isn't it so depressing that this is the last chapter? Though, if I am sufficiently pestered, I shall do a sequel. I can pull it off without ruining it, I swear! :) Oh, and sorry about leaving you hanging... again... Wahahahaha! I am EVIL!!!!
Gilraen3: Thank you for reviewing!!!! :) Mwah, air-kiss to you!
Megami-sama: Yea, I am quite fond of my ikkle chapter five... :) Gutter minds kick butt!!!!! Woohoo!!!
Roselyne: Oh, I know. She's a first-class bitch. Here's the answer to your question. And, aie!!! Stay away from the butcher knives!!! ... lol, jk.
Roselyne: This was your chappie 9 review. I actually named her Elisabet because it's my favorite name to use for girl OCs. And I don't know anyone named Elisabet. :( I WANT to, because it's a kewl name, but, sigh... Unlucky.
madkornfan: :) Here, more for you. Mwah!! Air kiss over the net. Last chapter!!!!!
moonlightgoddess: Thanx. And I don't do VIOLENTLegolas very well, so, ehehee... ya... :) Lyl!!!
MoroTheWolfGod: Boohoo, last chappie. No more unless I get around to a sequel. :)
Legolas19: Here ya go!!!!!
Aislynn Crowdaughter: So sorry, yes I know this is utterly non- canon. And I only used Christos because it has a certain meaning in Latin if you care to look it up. I'm a Wicce. And, yes, Aragorn was raised in Rivendell. So? I live with Christian parents. Thank you for giving constructive criticism anyway.
Anthem: No prob!!!! Luv ya anyway, hun. Thanks for reviewing all this time. *big smiley face*
And to the charming young lady who sent me an e-mail: Yay!!! You like my work!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! Mwah air-kiss!!!!!!!
**************************************************************************** **************************************************************************** **********************************************
And so, here we are. Serious again. Legolas is home; Aragorn is in the bar. Aragorn's PoV. The answers you've all been waiting here, contained in this tiny little gem, this little okay I'll get on with it now.
Chapter Thirteen: A Rose's Bloom
Nothing made sense anymore. The ale had gone straight to his head. He had forgotten how bad he was with alcohol.
Whispers. Voices. A head of golden hair.
"Legolas?"
No answer. Then, a slow nod.
Everything was spinning. The head of golden hair in front of him was spinning.
"Legolas, the room is spinning."
The voice was a whisper. "I'll make it stop..."
Warm lips against his. It felt strange, and for the life of him he couldn't figure out why.
He sat there for a while, trying to think, but the spinning wouldn't stop. The room was blurry. The strange Legolas was keeping his body away from him.
Finally something snapped, a dam broke.
The room stopped spinning, and a pair of horribly violet eyes were looking at him.
Laughing.
Aragorn could have killed her.
******************************************************************
Aragorn didn't pause to ask where Legolas was. He just ran, out of the Islet, out of the town that should have been called a city. The dry streets caused dust to rise and clog his nostrils, and he found it difficult to breathe. Dust, dust everywhere. //Legolas must have hated it here//
His calves began to ache as he stumbled along, and the alcohol made him clumsy. He fell, face-first, onto the filth below him, hitting his nose on a jutting stone.
Aragorn began to cry. He pounded his fist against the ground, in agony that everything was going wrong and that he had done something... //Hideous.//
The tears began to leave tracks down his face in the dust, mingling with the blood from his nose. // Valar help me valar help me someone? is anyone there where is Legolas oh valar what have I done?// Thoughts kept running together. He couldn't concentrate.
//why did i do this? how could this have happened oh god why did i kiss ... elisabet... HER.//
His body began to shake. //HER!!!!// A redness filled his vision, and it was a good thing that the poisonous girl wasn't there at the moment, or she would have suffered a variety of unpleasant tortures, not the least of which involved her neck snapping between Aragorn's hands like a stick.
The rage at least cleared Aragorn's mind, let him focus. He got up again, and forced himself to run. //Legolas will have gone to Mirkwood.//
So he turned his feet to Mirkwood, and ignored the fire in his legs and sides.
__________________________________________________________
Legolas watched Lirabeth disappear into the more thickly-wooded forest. It was obvious, now, to think of it. She smelled like an elf; she spoke like an elf; Valar, she even moved like an elf. Now that her own sweat had damped out the filthy odors of the town, no animal would fight her on the way to Mirkwood. They were at the boundaries of the border patrol- wargs wouldn't venture closer than this.
But now, she was gone. Alone, because now that they were this close to Eryn Lasgalen, she would be safe even if she managed to get lost. And even though Lirabeth was a friend, she didn't love him and he didn't love her. He couldn't ask her to stay. She needed to find someone who loved her.
//And now that I'm alone, I have all the time in the world to think about...//
//That. The numbness wore off after the first hour of running. I cried out everything I had as I ran. Now I'm just plain tired.// He leaned against the trunk of a giant beech, and began to think things over in his head.
//I love him. But I don't think he truly loves me. Or he wouldn't have done that. It used to hurt a lot to think he didn't love me. But it isn't so devastating anymore. He's not my whole world.//
//That relationship was unhealthy. I depended on him entirely for emotional support, for, well, everything! The meeting was a bad one. I had been alone too long to deal with love rationally. And the poor man made things worse by trying to help me.//
//I have someone else now, Lirabeth. I think she'll visit whenever she can. Aragorn and I are like one person; we get lonely with only each other, because we are, to some degree, a single person. I nearly cemented our minds together, and I think that I would have at least established a link anyway.//
He smiled to the darkness. //I still refer to us as being together in my head. Valar, I'm a lovesick fool.//
//Now, Valar willing, my traitor heart will get over him soon.//
He walked past the beech, and in a few minutes had found his way back into his own territory.
//But the pain still won't stop. I don't think it ever will.//
Legolas sighed, fighting to keep the tears away.
It was a losing battle. __________________________________________________________
Aragorn had slowed to a walk, about an hour after he had crossed the boundary of the forest. His face was wracked with pain, and he was breathing heavily. His rage had burned off as soon as he had entered Mirkwood's outskirts. Now there was only the sadness, the pain. //Why do things like this have to happen?//
His head bowed with the weight of grief, his body physically exhausted, and his one weapon lying forgotten in some godforsaken midtown barn, Aragorn didn't see the Warg in time to defend himself. All he could do was what he had been doing for far too long for his emaciated body-
Run.
Aragorn may have been exhausted, but it was either flee or die. He went crashing through the underbrush, blinded with terror and sweat that stung his eyes. The scent of the night and of broken vegetation rose with sharp, yet clean odor, hugely discordant with the vile smell of rottenness coming from the warg. The beasts ate only meat, and didn't care whether their meals had been freshly killed or dead for a week.
Aragorn's feet beat into the earth like it was a drum. The rhythm was a frightening one. Sweat began to drip from his body to the ground, a scentable trail for any beast, and he stumbled once or twice over raised roots.
Behind him, the face of the warg was split in a terrifying grin as it half-barked, half-shrieked.
Its eyes were red with battle frenzy.
__________________________________________________________
//Valar. I cannot do this.//
Legolas tried to get up, tried to think what he had been thinking only moments before. He had been calm and collected before; ready to face things, avoiding thoughts of Aragorn.
Then he had reached home, and for a few instants had seen Aragorn lying on the bed, ankle in a splint, absentmindedly fiddling with his hair. Legolas had cried out, and ran towards him... and then the vision had disappeared.
//I cannot do - what is that light, glinting from metal? It... I believe it is the dagger twins//
The daggers were of excellent make, but not elvish. They were of a sort Legolas had never seen before, now that he looked closely. The hilts were curved strangely, and gave him the best grip he had ever had. Originally Legolas planned to replace the mismatched hilts with the hilts of his old daggers, but now he believed they were the best for the task at hand.
The blades shone as brightly as Elbereth in the light of the moon. They were cold to the touch, yet strangely beautiful. Legolas couldn't take his eyes off of them.
//I wonder, how long would it take to die on a blade like this? Probably a very short while...//
His blood was pounding, rushing, twisting and gushing in a torrential flood within his veins, blue and bewitching, lying ever so close to the edge of his skin, almost bursting out... His heartbeat throbbed throughout his entire body. So much blood, so much blood... His eyes were white and glazed sickeningly, and his breathing was harsh and ragged. The sound of his heartbeat filled his ears like the pounding of a drum. Blood, blood, blood...
Legolas laid the first dagger on his wrists as if in a trance, and the edge of the blade dug into his skin, a small trickle of redness welling up beneath. Then he stopped, torn between admiration of the beauty of the blood that was seeping out from under the blade, and what the blade was doing.
They seemed to be whispering something, and he held them closer to his ears in bemused fascination.
{What are you?} he asked mentally, a few minutes later, shaken to the core. They seemed to ripple in the moonlight, and Legolas abstractly remembered that the moon was waning.
The script on the blades began to shimmer, and words in a long, spidery script began to appear on them.
We are the iron, the bone of which the mountains grow upon. You shall not with us perform evil; said one.
{This is not evil. It is a mercy killing.} Legolas's mental voice sounded dull and hollow even to himself.
Yet you are needed. You are needed, Elfling.
Legolas heard Aragorn from the trees' whispers before he heard him physically. It came; the warning and the vision through the eyes of the trees like whispers from someone standing just out of sight.
{Man, running, terror in his eyes, coming this way. Evil beast, snarling and spitting as it chases him. Raise alarm? Raise alarm?}
[No, don't. Aragorn, it's Aragorn! Remember? He was here, he walked among you.]
{Remember, we remember. See.}
Legolas saw, in the peculiar green light of millions of eyes from leaves that were in constant movement, every aspect of Aragorn and his hunter at once.
He was already on the way with his daggers when Aragorn began to cry out his name.
Legolas saw through two sets of eyes, and ran lightly to Aragorn as if in a trance, his eyes only half focused. No matter what Aragorn had done, he had come after Legolas and was looking for him. Outside his normal thought, his subconscious mind put two and two together... and came up with five.
//I know a bit about what Elisabet is like, and what I didn't know, Lirabeth told me. It's not only possible but probable that she arranged for me to see her kissing Aragorn deliberately! The snake! Aragorn loves me, after all. He never stopped for a minute// His mind came out of the trance it had been in as he was cutting himself with a jolt, and rationality once again ruled his thoughts.
No matter what Legolas had done, he still wouldn't have made it in time to stop what happened from happening. No matter how much the two loved each other, the power of love wasn't enough to prevent the accident.
Through the eyes of the trees, he watched in slow motion as Aragorn fell into a pit of briars, and watched the warg impale itself through the neck in its mad pursuit of its quarry. Legolas's heart stopped for a second; then, with a small cry, he began to run even faster.
He arrived on the scene mere minutes later, daggers extended, and began to cut away the thorns surrounding the one person he'd ever cared about. The roses beneath the treacherous brambles where Aragorn had fallen were shining red with blood.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aragorn was moaning and whimpering in pain when Legolas finally pulled him out, his hands clutched to his eyes. There was blood seeping out from between his fingers, clotting and crusting on his hands. Legolas cried, then, and kissed his forehead softly. "You suffered this for me, love. I am so sorry, so, so sorry. I love you. I don't remember if I ever told you. Saes, love, please don't die."
The moonlight made Aragorn's blood and Legolas's wet tears shine with the luster of gems, but nothing could have shone brighter than Legolas's eyes.
Legolas offered a magical prayer to Manwe, and the wind, normally completely out of his range of control, relented and helped him carry Aragorn back home.
After much effort, Legolas managed to pry away Aragorn's hands and begin to clean his cuts. He had landed in the brambles face-first, and his eyes had been scratched away by the long, dangerous thorns.
He would be blinded for life.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas woke yet again to Aragorn's fitful mumbling. He staggered over to his charge's bedside, and gently cooled the Man's forehead with a wet cloth. Then he poured another dose of sleeping medicine down Aragorn's throat, hand resting over the coarse outer bandages over Aragorn's eyes.
Sighing, Legolas looked at the daggers on the wall above him. They had done nothing after that night, and he was inclined to believe something benevolent had possessed them to keep him alive. For even when he probed them with his mind, they were exactly what they appeared to be. Simply two iron blades. Either it was that, or a hallucination. He knew he hadn't been exactly rational at the time. The explaination was quite as simple as anything.
Simple.
He had stopped having the nightmares altogether. With Aragorn utterly incapacitated, yet still offering a presence, Legolas had finally adjusted to having Aragorn around without depending on him for emotional support. Inside, he knew with absolute certainty that he was ready. He was ready to have Aragorn in his life again, ready to deal responsibly with emotional problems, ready to think rationally about the things that upset him.
Which, all things considered, was a relief not only to Aragorn but to himself. It was hard for Aragorn when small things set Legolas off; it was harder for Legolas, whose rational mind all but disappeared for frightening intervals when he was set off. It was deeply disturbing to not remember things that happened when you were in a suicidal/homicidal mood. It was enough to drive someone over the edge.
It had nearly done so to him. Legolas shivered. He was incredibly relieved that this was over. //I was almost insane. I am thankful to the Valar that I didn't lose my mind completely.//
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
One morning, Legolas judged that Aragorn was ready to be taken off the sleep medicine, and didn't pour the drink down his throat. He simply kept a silent watch over Aragorn, watching and waiting. Aragorn woke slowly, shaking his head and wincing.
He wondered abstractly why he couldn't see.
"Legolas?" he asked in a fearful voice.
[Who else?]
Aragorn jumped. "I can hear you in my head," he announced, slightly less fearful but fearful nonetheless of what was going on.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you, love."
"Legolas, I- I'm sorry... for everything..."
A wave of compassion, and understanding, washed over his mind via Legolas's mental speech, and drowned out what Aragorn was about to say. "Don't be. You didn't mean to hurt me, and for that I thank you."
"I can't see..." Tears leaked out of Aragorn's eyes, and he shut them again. But he couldn't find the difference between the two. "I won't ever be able to see you again... How can I be of any use to you at all if I can't see? I don't have a place anywhere, and I'll only be a burden to you-"
Legolas's voice was thick with tears. "Silly. Your place is right here, by me. I don't care if you can't see." There was a silence, and then Legolas spoke again.
[Look. We're connected mentally now, and you can see through my eyes. Can you see?]
Aragorn suddenly had the disturbing perspective of seeing himself from above. He winced, and saw himself wince.
"Oh, Valar... My eyes are disgusting to look at..."
The tears began to fall on Aragorn's face, warm and full of love. Pain. Forgiveness. "Why are you crying?" He could almost hear Legolas's smile.
"I'm strong now, Aragorn. I can stand and you'll be able to lean on me. I've been able to confront my memories without flinching, without running into a place where nothing can be felt. I'm all right now. I'm all right. We're going to be okay." Arms wrapped around Aragorn, and he held Legolas in return, slipping his arms about the Elf's waist, and burying his face in Legolas's shoulder.
"I love you, Legolas."
Aragorn could almost feel the flood of love drowning out whatever pain he felt, and knew it was from Legolas, and realized that it was all he had ever really needed after all. Legolas's voice was choked with tears.
"I know. And I'll always be your eyes." Soft lips touched his, and this time Aragorn knew exactly whose they were. He kissed back, thinking about how amazingly lucky he was that Legolas was the one he had fallen in love with, and what a godsend it was that he had managed to stay alive long enough to be pieced back together. Then he remembered that Legolas could hear his thoughts, and thought hard about that love and that relief.
Legolas gave a choked sob through their kiss, and they both knew he was crying because he was happy this time. Aragorn couldn't remember when he had last felt this... well, happy. He and Legolas also realized, nearly at the same time, that Legolas wouldn't ever cry with grief as long as Aragorn was there. Aragorn sent a thought along their connection.
//I will always be here for you.//
Legolas smiled.
[I'll always be your eyes.]
THE END*
*unless i am persuaded to write a sequel. i swear i can manage it without botching the ending of this one... promise! Oh, and the glitch: it only took Legolas two hours to run home. He was there at 7:00, if you will. It took Aragorn, the hardy man he is, nine hours. He started half an hour after Legolas left. Do the math. Yes, that is an unholy hour in the morning. They took so long to go there because they were taking their time, going ssssllllloooooowwwlllllyyyy. Lots of ooh look at the scenery, and looooooong nights. ^_~ Byex!!!!!!! Miss ya!!!!