Chapter 6

Aragorn's gray eyes lifted open slowly as he woke from sleep. It was barely dawn, and the campsite was quiet, with only a few Uruks up on watch. He saw that all the other beasts were asleep, before checking on the rest of the Fellowship with the responsibility of their being their leader. The Hobbits were curled up together, Gimli snored soundly nearby, and Boromir was still, with his back to the ranger. Aragorn looked back down to Legolas, who was sleeping deeply and still clutching tightly to him. Neither the Man nor the Elf had loosened their arms around each other during the night. Aragorn sighed and lay his forehead to Legolas' closing his eyes for a moment against his best friend's own. He pecked his lips to the archer's forehead and sat up slowly, pulling Legolas up into his lap and cradling him like a baby. He was glad that Legolas' Elven healing abilities had worked much during the night so that his wounds were not nearly so severe anymore.

For a while, Aragorn quietly sat there holding Legolas and staring blankly ahead of him as he thought. So many things raced through his head now. What if the Uruks did kill them all off? Who would be next to endure torture? How long would this torture go on for? What if they were left alive and brought to Isengard? What kind of torment would they undergo there? Aragorn could only guess...His eyes stung with tears as he thought of what they would do to Legolas at Isengard. He would be mutilated into an Orc...Aragorn couldn't bear that, and he knew Legolas would kill himself before allowing that to happen. The ranger tightened his hold on the archer and buried his face in Legolas' shoulder. What would happen if Saruman took the Ring from Frodo? The fate of Middle Earth was too dark to dwell upon if such a thing happened.

" Aragorn." Legolas' soft whisper reached him as the Elf woke motionlessly. Aragorn straightened and looked down into the boundless, blue eyes of the prince. He offered a very faint smile.

" It's only twilight," he muttered. Legolas nodded wearily. " How do you feel? " Aragorn asked him seriously.

" I'm all right. It doesn't sting nearly as much as it did before," the Elf replied. This time, the ranger nodded. Legolas left his lap and sat up as well. He stared at his best friend with glimmering eyes for a moment, before wordlessly embracing him. Aragorn held onto him gladly for a while. Sometimes, people just need to be held, touched to feel loved, to feel safe and all right. Both of them needed that now. They held on tightly with eyes pressed shut for a good while, before letting go again. Fortunately, none of the Uruks on watch had noticed them stir.

Boromir had woken, finally. He sighed as he sat up and turned around to see that the ranger and Elf were already awake. He crawled carefully over to them,and they exchanged brief smiles. Boromir sat beside them, looking around cautiously to make sure they were not being watched too closely.

" How do you fare, Master Elf? " he queried unto Legolas.

" Better than last night. And you? " said the prince.

" Not too bad, " Boromir told him.

" Do not provoke them, Legolas," warned Aragorn to the Elf.

" Yes, please keep your sharp tongue restrained," Boromir agreed with a grin, yet it was indeed a serious matter.

" You should not take anymore beatings in your condition," added Aragorn.

Legolas smirked at him slyly. " You forget my Elven resilience," he reminded.

Aragorn gave him a dubious look but was not given a chance to reply because Ugluk arose at that time and yelled for everyone to awaken. The Hobbits snapped from sleep startled by the great noise, whilst Gimli groaned in annoyance as he came to as well. Boromir stood hastily and made his way over to the Hobbits, murmuring to them a warning and gathering them all close like a mother hen. Aragorn got on his feet and offered Legolas a hand, pulling the Elf up. Gimli followed closely behind them.

Yet before Aragorn allowed Legolas and himself to go along with the others, he stopped the Elf for a moment, taking his best friends by the wrists and keeping them between their bodies which stood so close. The Elf's hands opened up in the ranger's like blossoms in spring. His big, glassy eyes of blue looked wordlessly into Strider's with an intensity that was almost unnatural. The man sighed as he stared down into the archer's hands, before looking up to meet the Elf's eyes. They both remembered something else that happened long ago.....

~*~

" Legolas, " Aragorn beckoned quietly, ignored by the Elf who was in a frantic state.

" Legolas," he said again and took the Elf forcefully by the wrists, stopping his quick movements to move the jagged rocks that buried the bodies of his Elven comrades who had been so horrendously massacred by the enemy. Aragorn snapped him around and Legolas spun into his arms. The ranger held onto him as Legolas finally released his tears and wept freely into his best friend's shoulder. He rubbed the Elf's back soothingly and smoothed his hair as he grimaced. After a time, they parted as Legolas gathered himself back into composure. The two stood very close together, the Elf's head bowed as Aragorn took the archer's hands in his, looking at the tender palms that were bleeding with cuts from the rocks. Among the new wounds were the old, faint scars in the centers of the prince's palms, the ones that matched Aragorn's. The ranger had drawn a spare cloth from his pocket and began to cleanse Legolas' palms of the blood gently. Neither had said a word about any of it just then. Legolas simply allowed himself to be taken care of and Aragorn had done so without a word. The Elf did not miss the way the ranger ran over each slender finger and traced each line of his palm, dabbing tenderly at each cut, cradling his hand softly. Legolas had not even given him a look then. The understanding had passed between them in those moments without a word whilst they bonded.

~*~

" Take care of yourself, " he pleaded with Legolas, looking with his gray eyes into the brilliant blue of his best friend. The Elf barely nodded, yet his eyes shone. Their hands interlocked and clasped for a brief moment, before they broke away and Legolas followed the Man away to Ugluk's bidding.