Aragorn felt terrible. He knew that he shouldn't have brought up the subject of Eleriel and Legolas in front of the whole Fellowship, but he was curious and he knew they were as well. His mischievous mood had just gotten the better of him. Aragorn knew Legolas almost as well as he knew Eleriel, and he had seen the pain in his friend's eyes during the conversation. Even if the rest of the Fellowship had seen sadness and regret only, Aragorn saw the deep pain and longing in the eyes of the elf. In the eyes of his foster sister, Aragorn had seen nothing. Even though he had known Eleriel since before he could remember, Aragorn could see no emotion in her, and he assumed that was the way she wanted it. However, no matter how well she concealed her pain and sadness, Eleriel still exuded the loss she felt, and Aragorn sensed that.
After dinner, the Fellowship was shown to a place where they might rest. They sat in silence for awhile, listening to the song of the elves. The voices rose and fell, weaving a tapestry of sound, lamenting the loss of the wizard. Finally one of the hobbits said quietly, reverently, "what are they saying?"
Aragorn only shook his head, and Legolas refused to tell them as well, saying that the grief was still too near to him for him to translate. The group sat in silence for a little while longer, when suddenly Legolas, who had been even more reserved and silent than normal, stood abruptly and left. Aragorn looked after him in concern until Pippin's voice broke the silence.
"What they told us in there... was it true?" the hobbit asked.
"Elves don't lie," Aragorn replied. "And I could feel the hidden pain in both of them."
The hobbit nodded, and Gimli asked, "do you think...do you think that they will ever reconcile their problems with each other?"
Aragorn sighed and shook his head wearily. "I don't know, Gimli, I don't know. They're both extremely stubborn and hard-headed, and if Eleriel is determined to leave that stage of her life behind, then Legolas will never get through, but he'll never stop trying. Her effort to keep him out and his effort to get through to her will kill them both, I fear." He paused. "I should go check on Legolas," Aragorn mumbled, and rose to follow the elf.
The Mirkwood prince had been walking slowly, and Aragorn easily caught up to him. Legolas was obviously deep in thought, and Aragorn silently shadowed the elf without the other being aware of it. Aragorn followed Legolas for several minutes until suddenly the trees ended on the edge of a small clearing. The nature of the clearing's location made it very hard to find, and unless Legolas had known it was there, Aragorn was sure he would have normally never looked upon this place. He had a feeling that most of the elves who lived in Lothlorien had never seen it themselves.
The clearing was small, but beautiful. The flowers that bloomed throughout the year were magnificent. A small stone bench was nestled amongst the plants and shrubs, and a quiet fountain bubbled nearby.
However, the most surprising thing about the clearing was the fact that Eleriel sat on the bench. Aragorn almost made a sound in his surprise, but managed to suppress it. Legolas was obviously just as surprised as he, and the elf did not bother to conceal it.
"I did not expect to see you here, Eleriel," he said stiffly when she looked up to see who the intruder was.
"I didn't expect to see you here, either, Legolas," she said, equally stiffly, "particularly since this garden is considered part of my own private apartments."
He shrugged. "After what you said at dinner tonight..." Legolas paused. "Well, I just didn't expect that you'd come to this particular place, since..."
Eleriel glared at him. "I usually don't, but I was sufficiently upset tonight that I decided a little more distress wouldn't hurt me."
"Eleriel..." Legolas began, but Eleriel interrupted him.
"Estel!" she called. "Estel, I know you're there, you've never been able to hide from me!"
Legolas looked around in surprise and embarassment as Aragorn guiltily came from the trees. Uncomfortably, Aragorn cast about for the right words to say, and finally mumbled, "I didn't mean to intrude, but I wanted to speak with you both and followed Legolas when he...he...left..." The man stuttered into silence when Eleriel and Legolas looked at him.
"You wanted to say something...?" Eleriel prompted.
Aragorn nodded hastily. "I... I wanted to tell you both how sorry I am that I brought up that topic tonight at supper."
Eleriel nodded. "I thought as much," she said softly. "I don't hold it against you, Aragorn. It would have come up eventually, I imagine."
Aragorn swallowed. "I know how much it probably hurts you to have it discussed..."
"Don't be silly," Eleriel said briskly.
"We're just fine, Aragorn," Legolas agreed. "It's all in the past, and... and we're both moving on."
Eleriel gave him a strange look but Legolas didn't notice. Finally Eleriel spoke again. "While we're on the subject of uncomfortable topics, Aragorn... I couldn't help but notice the other day that there's something you're not telling me."
Aragorn swallowed again. "Umm..."
"About Arwen...?" prompted Eleriel.
Legolas smiled wanly. "Just spit it out, Aragorn. She'll have to find out eventually."
Aragorn glared at Legolas before turning back to Eleriel. Hesitantly he put a hand in his tunic and pulled out the glass pendant which Arwen had entrusted to him for a time, until their reunion.
Eleriel looked at it for a moment. She made no move to touch it, nor did she speak for a long while. Legolas watched her carefully and Aragorn nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot.
Finally she slowly laughed and said, "well, I think I see now. I guess that it was all more than just a youthful admiration then, wasn't it?"
Aragorn firmly answered, "I might have been very young but I loved her then, and I love her now. Nothing... nothing will ever change that. I just want what's best for her."
"And is death what is best for her?"
"No. But I'm not a fool. She loves me as much as I love her, and I don't want to find out what would happen to her if I should leave her, break her heart. She's an elf, after all, and I know what that sort of thing does to elves..." Aragorn's voice faded away when he realized he was treading on dangerous ground again.
Eleriel laughed softly, bitterly. "I know, Aragorn. I know. You needn't worry about my reaction; I will support you both in this." Then she added softly to herself, "Eru knows that Arwen wouldn't live through heartbreak..." Then she said in a slightly louder voice, "and Eru knows that the Evenstar would hold the loyalty of anyone who fell in love with her... no matter what the circumstances. No, Aragorn, I don't condemn you for this, because I know you'll never hurt her if you can help it."
Now it was Legolas' turn to shift from foot to foot uncomfortably. Aragorn took this as his cue to leave. "Well," he said, "I'd best head back to the others... Legolas, I'll see you later." With that Aragorn disappeared into the trees.
Eleriel and Legolas were left alone in the garden. Finally Legolas cleared his voice to speak, but Eleriel beat him to it.
"Don't say it, Legolas," she whispered. "I don't want to hear it."
"But I think you do," he murmured. "I think this is something you need to hear from me."
"No, I don't," she said furiously, as if trying to convince herself as well as him. "I've survived for a millenium without you; I don't need anything from you anymore."
"But that won't stop me from saying it," Legolas said, just as furiously. "I'm sorry, Eleriel. You have no idea how sorry I am, how sorry I've been since the day I left. You don't know how much it hurt me, you don't know..."
"I do know, actually," she replied. "But you don't know how awful it was for me... you didn't even seem to be too upset about it... You just left and married that... that girl Lissiel." She quivered in rage. "For the love of Eru, Legolas, she was seven hundred years younger than you!"
"A fact that my father didn't worry about when he arranged the wedding," Legolas replied calmly. He'd been waiting for a thousand years to apologize to her, and he wasn't going to let his temper ruin it.
Eleriel shook her head. "If it makes you feel any better," Legolas continued, "I never once shared her bed." He flushed at the thought of sleeping with Lissiel; she was an impressively beautiful elf, stunning enough to rival Arwen herself. Compared to Lissiel, Eleriel was plain at best.
Eleriel's head snapped up at his admission. "You really think I believe that?" she asked in surprise. "I've seen Lissiel before, Legolas. I am sure that any elf would not hesitate to share her bed." Legolas belatedly remembered Eleriel's sensitivity regarding her plain appearance, although he had never once wished that she looked any different.
"Well I did hesitate," Legolas shouted, all resolve to keep his temper in check gone. "I hesitated until I realized how much I disliked her, and I broke our marriage apart."
"You're good at that, aren't you?"
He ignored that, and continued, "I never stopped loving you, Eleriel. Never. I might not have had the painful experience of the breaking of a bond like you had, but I still had to deal with my share of heartbreak. I married Lissiel, and didn't see her for several months after that. I came close to death, too, Eleriel, but I've found you again. Don't throw this away!"
"Like you did, you mean," Eleriel said scathingly. "No, don't touch me, Legolas," she said as he took a step towards her. "I don't want anything to do with you anymore. It isn't good for either of us."
He took a step back and blinked as the tears burned his eyes. "Do you remember what this garden is to me?" he asked suddenly.
She looked at him. "Of course I remember," she said. "This is where we made our bond. This is where we became married in spirit and soul."
"Let it be the place where we renew our bond, Eleriel," Legolas said quietly. "Please."
Eleriel looked at him sadly. "I'm sorry, Legolas." He watched in disbelief as she turned and walked away from him.