Summary: Another 'How Aragorn and Legolas meet' story. Not Slash.
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine… The story idea is not original… I just hope you like it
A/N 1) wow I can't believe I'm writing another chapter of this (in a good way)… thank you all so much for your lovely reviews… This chapter started off being a little shorter than normal- but then seemed to grow a lot when you all gave me such lovely reviews. :)
~*~
Chapter 6
Legolas waited until he could no longer hear Elrond or the twins nearby before answering the young edan's question. "You want to learn to shoot like me?" he asked. Estel didn't need to speak, Legolas could see the excitement in his eyes and knew the answer before it came. "Do you think you have the dedication to learn? Or the time? Or the patience?" he asked. The boy's grin dropped a little, and he looked away. Legolas was startled, he hadn't meant to sound harsh he had just wanted to know if this was only a passing fancy for the boy like many of his own whims when he had been the equivalent age.
He got up and moved to sit closer to Estel. Cautiously he stretched out an arm and placed it across the boy's shoulder. "I will teach you," he said simply and was rewarded with a brilliant smile. Legolas found he couldn't help but smile back. "You might never be able to best an elvish archer over a long distance, but I will teach you how to shoot well for a mortal, and maybe even a few tricks to show off to your brothers and ada. Would you like that?" Estel's reaction was to fling his arms around his new friend with a hug that seemed much to large to be coming form such a small child.
For a while they sat in silence. Legolas had been more than a little surprised to find himself enjoying the hug. Whilst he knew that Elrond and his family tended to be more demonstrative in their emotions than most other elves the intensity in this small child was something of a revelation to him. If all mortals are as open with their emotions is it any wonder the first-born are considered aloof and cold hearted, he found himself thinking.
Though it was quite he heard the soft sigh beside him and looked down to find that Estel had fallen asleep against him. He wondered if he should wake Estel so that they could make their way to the archery fields but seeing the boy resting peacefully decided against it.
His quiver was just a little to far away to be able to reach without waking the resting child, and he knew his arrows were perfect already. Looking around his eyes came to rest on the book sitting beside the bedside table. It looked rather large for one so young and Legolas supposed Elrond would probably read a little to the boy every night before Estel fell asleep, though if it was lore it probably made the boy sleep. Hoping it wasn't, Legolas picked up the untitled book and began to read.
…
Elrohir looked around the room his eyes pausing on each of the faces of the injured men before he looked across at his twin. Most of the injuries were not deadly in themselves although most had poison from the orc blades. He was grateful that the Dunedain were skilled fighters- few other mortals would have been so successful against such odds. Sensing the other had finished the twins went and sat down in the small alcove just inside the healing chambers.
"We should have been with them," said Elladan.
"We didn't know that there was any danger," counted his twin. "Besides two more would scarcely have made the odds any better."
"Perhaps not two more mortals, but we might have."
"Elladan," Elrohir struggled to hide his exasperation at his older twin, "We were not there. We cannot turn back time and be there to fight with them. It is the past and we must instead look to the future."
At Elrohir's words a silence fell between them. Not needing words to communicate the twins sat comfortable with the others silence as they thought about the events both of this afternoon, and others of a more distant time.
"You are right muindor nin," said Elladan. Elrohir looked up from the floor and rested his eyes on his brother's face waiting for him to continue. "Only I can't help but worry."
"They would not want you to worry for them," reminded Elrohir. Though he knew his brother was not talking about the Dunedain in general.
"They are not the ones I worry about the most," confessed Elladan almost immediately. "It seems little time has passed since we brought Estel here with us. How much more time do you think he will have here until Ada tells him of his heritage, or he works it out for himself."
"And when he does, no doubt he will join the rangers. And fight alongside them," continued Elrohir, his own thoughts unsurprisingly had been highly similar to that of his twins.
"Do you think Ada will let us keep Estel locked up in his room for the rest of his life," Elladan asked his twin, not entirely sure if he was joking or serious.
"I might, though I do not think that your youngest brother would stay there even should you be able to lock him in his rooms," said Elrond entering the healing rooms. Not bothering to ask him how much he had over heard the twins stood up and turned to their father. He held his arms open and they came and gave him a hug. The world seemed to fade to silence as they embraced and drew strength and comfort from each other.
"There was no knowing that this would happen," said Elrond after a while. "The Dunedain were just happy that you have been protecting Imladris' borders and keeping your little brother safe."
Elladan stiffened at his father's comments- he knew the words had been spoken for his benefit. It wasn't a very well kept secret amongst those who lived in Imladris that the elder twin was prone to guilt over situations where others were injured- even when he was in no way responsible. Elrohir knew of his twin's response almost before it was made and squeezed his brother's hand.
"You two should go clean up," said Elrond hoping to allow them some time alone together. He could still remember how he and his twin would cope with things much better if they were left to talk things over with each other and he knew his sons were the same. "Then when you are done, you can go and make sure that Estel has behaved himself around his new friend."
The twins nodded and left the healing rooms, heading back to their own chambers to clean up and continue their conversation where they were sure not even their father would over hear.
…
Opening the book Legolas found it was full of stories of one adventurous rabbit. The penmanship was the one of the twins though he wasn't quite sure which, and each page had a sketch of the scene described. But what was unusual about the book was that it was written in several languages.
There were only a few sentences per page but each was written several times. Legolas had no trouble with the elven script, and he recognised the Westron, and ancient language of the Dunedain though he couldn't read it. There were also dwarven runes and a couple of other scripts further down. He wondered that the twins had done this for their little brother, then settled down to read.
…
The twins later found Legolas and Estel asleep on Estel's bed. They woke Legolas though he asked that they pass on a message to Elrond that he would not be dining with the Imladris court. He asked instead that some food be brought up for Estel and himself to share when the boy awoke. The twins agreed and left the two friends behind, and Legolas fell asleep before the door closed behind them.
~*~
A/N 2) Elvish used in this chapter
Ada – daddy, dad
Muindor nin- my brother (brother as one who is related by blood)
A/N 3) Again my apologises that this took a little while to get done. I hope you have all enjoyed it despite the wait.
Disclaimer: The characters aren't mine… The story idea is not original… I just hope you like it
A/N 1) wow I can't believe I'm writing another chapter of this (in a good way)… thank you all so much for your lovely reviews… This chapter started off being a little shorter than normal- but then seemed to grow a lot when you all gave me such lovely reviews. :)
~*~
Chapter 6
Legolas waited until he could no longer hear Elrond or the twins nearby before answering the young edan's question. "You want to learn to shoot like me?" he asked. Estel didn't need to speak, Legolas could see the excitement in his eyes and knew the answer before it came. "Do you think you have the dedication to learn? Or the time? Or the patience?" he asked. The boy's grin dropped a little, and he looked away. Legolas was startled, he hadn't meant to sound harsh he had just wanted to know if this was only a passing fancy for the boy like many of his own whims when he had been the equivalent age.
He got up and moved to sit closer to Estel. Cautiously he stretched out an arm and placed it across the boy's shoulder. "I will teach you," he said simply and was rewarded with a brilliant smile. Legolas found he couldn't help but smile back. "You might never be able to best an elvish archer over a long distance, but I will teach you how to shoot well for a mortal, and maybe even a few tricks to show off to your brothers and ada. Would you like that?" Estel's reaction was to fling his arms around his new friend with a hug that seemed much to large to be coming form such a small child.
For a while they sat in silence. Legolas had been more than a little surprised to find himself enjoying the hug. Whilst he knew that Elrond and his family tended to be more demonstrative in their emotions than most other elves the intensity in this small child was something of a revelation to him. If all mortals are as open with their emotions is it any wonder the first-born are considered aloof and cold hearted, he found himself thinking.
Though it was quite he heard the soft sigh beside him and looked down to find that Estel had fallen asleep against him. He wondered if he should wake Estel so that they could make their way to the archery fields but seeing the boy resting peacefully decided against it.
His quiver was just a little to far away to be able to reach without waking the resting child, and he knew his arrows were perfect already. Looking around his eyes came to rest on the book sitting beside the bedside table. It looked rather large for one so young and Legolas supposed Elrond would probably read a little to the boy every night before Estel fell asleep, though if it was lore it probably made the boy sleep. Hoping it wasn't, Legolas picked up the untitled book and began to read.
…
Elrohir looked around the room his eyes pausing on each of the faces of the injured men before he looked across at his twin. Most of the injuries were not deadly in themselves although most had poison from the orc blades. He was grateful that the Dunedain were skilled fighters- few other mortals would have been so successful against such odds. Sensing the other had finished the twins went and sat down in the small alcove just inside the healing chambers.
"We should have been with them," said Elladan.
"We didn't know that there was any danger," counted his twin. "Besides two more would scarcely have made the odds any better."
"Perhaps not two more mortals, but we might have."
"Elladan," Elrohir struggled to hide his exasperation at his older twin, "We were not there. We cannot turn back time and be there to fight with them. It is the past and we must instead look to the future."
At Elrohir's words a silence fell between them. Not needing words to communicate the twins sat comfortable with the others silence as they thought about the events both of this afternoon, and others of a more distant time.
"You are right muindor nin," said Elladan. Elrohir looked up from the floor and rested his eyes on his brother's face waiting for him to continue. "Only I can't help but worry."
"They would not want you to worry for them," reminded Elrohir. Though he knew his brother was not talking about the Dunedain in general.
"They are not the ones I worry about the most," confessed Elladan almost immediately. "It seems little time has passed since we brought Estel here with us. How much more time do you think he will have here until Ada tells him of his heritage, or he works it out for himself."
"And when he does, no doubt he will join the rangers. And fight alongside them," continued Elrohir, his own thoughts unsurprisingly had been highly similar to that of his twins.
"Do you think Ada will let us keep Estel locked up in his room for the rest of his life," Elladan asked his twin, not entirely sure if he was joking or serious.
"I might, though I do not think that your youngest brother would stay there even should you be able to lock him in his rooms," said Elrond entering the healing rooms. Not bothering to ask him how much he had over heard the twins stood up and turned to their father. He held his arms open and they came and gave him a hug. The world seemed to fade to silence as they embraced and drew strength and comfort from each other.
"There was no knowing that this would happen," said Elrond after a while. "The Dunedain were just happy that you have been protecting Imladris' borders and keeping your little brother safe."
Elladan stiffened at his father's comments- he knew the words had been spoken for his benefit. It wasn't a very well kept secret amongst those who lived in Imladris that the elder twin was prone to guilt over situations where others were injured- even when he was in no way responsible. Elrohir knew of his twin's response almost before it was made and squeezed his brother's hand.
"You two should go clean up," said Elrond hoping to allow them some time alone together. He could still remember how he and his twin would cope with things much better if they were left to talk things over with each other and he knew his sons were the same. "Then when you are done, you can go and make sure that Estel has behaved himself around his new friend."
The twins nodded and left the healing rooms, heading back to their own chambers to clean up and continue their conversation where they were sure not even their father would over hear.
…
Opening the book Legolas found it was full of stories of one adventurous rabbit. The penmanship was the one of the twins though he wasn't quite sure which, and each page had a sketch of the scene described. But what was unusual about the book was that it was written in several languages.
There were only a few sentences per page but each was written several times. Legolas had no trouble with the elven script, and he recognised the Westron, and ancient language of the Dunedain though he couldn't read it. There were also dwarven runes and a couple of other scripts further down. He wondered that the twins had done this for their little brother, then settled down to read.
…
The twins later found Legolas and Estel asleep on Estel's bed. They woke Legolas though he asked that they pass on a message to Elrond that he would not be dining with the Imladris court. He asked instead that some food be brought up for Estel and himself to share when the boy awoke. The twins agreed and left the two friends behind, and Legolas fell asleep before the door closed behind them.
~*~
A/N 2) Elvish used in this chapter
Ada – daddy, dad
Muindor nin- my brother (brother as one who is related by blood)
A/N 3) Again my apologises that this took a little while to get done. I hope you have all enjoyed it despite the wait.