A/N: All right, Here it is: the last chapter of Captive. I'm so sorry for the delay. Personally, I think this sux. I'll understand if you do to. The Muse abandoned me somewhere along the way and was clinging to it alone. Anyway, I really hope this isn't a crappy ending. Well, wait, what am I saying? Of course it's a crappy ending. But the point is, it's the end. Hopefully previous chapters in this story were good enough to make up for this one. Thank you to all my readers and reviewers! ^_^ Please review for this, even though it sux. Thanks. Oh, yes..and please forgive me for the shortness issue. _ Nur, this is so disappointing to me..*sigh*

Chapter 10

Aragorn groggily opened his eyes, disoriented and not quite sure where he was at first. He felt stiff and numb, still exhausted despite the sleep he'd been given. There was barely any light in the ward now, and he guessed it could not be anymore than the twilight before dawn. He moved his head a bit to look down at Legolas, who was still soundly sleeping with his fair head upon the ranger's shoulder. Aragorn smiled faintly with a stifled sigh, moving his cupped hand from the Elf's hip to stroke over the Legolas' side. His hand moved slowly beneath the blanket, back and forth, from the archer's hip up to just under his arm and back down again. The Elf looked too sweet for words with his blue eyes closed in slumber. He breathed easily, still holding onto his best friend's shoulder. Aragorn thought to himself in that long moment how a great part of him simply wanted to remain here forever, as his heart poured with love for the Elf and that familiar warmth filled his stomach.

The ranger turned his head casually away from Legolas and experienced one of the most startling moments in his entire life. His heart stopped for a moment, breath caught in his chest, and he froze. Gandalf the wizard sat in a chair near the bed, grinning smugly whilst puffing away on his pipe. His eyes twinkled as they had so many times before, yet there was something different about him. By the Valar, the very fact that he was alive was something different. Aragorn then tried to comfort himself by thinking he might be delusional with fever. Yet that hope was extinguished swiftly.

" It is indeed the 2nd of March and not quite daybreak," he remarked, before taking another puff. He spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world that he was sitting there, after having died, and informing Aragorn of the time and date.

" Gandalf," Aragorn involuntarily gasped. The wizard's smirk widened.

" Yes, 'tis I," he said, very pleased with himself.

" But, but you fell," Aragorn said in disbelief, half sitting up.

" Through shadow and fire," the wizard confirmed darkly. " Yet now is not the time for that tale. "

" You're alive," Aragorn said in dubious awe, trying to figure out how in Arda that could be.

Gandalf chuckled, " And so are you."

A pause of silence ensued, as Gandalf smoked and smirked while Aragorn's eyes fell away. The ranger then realized the wizard was clothed in white, instead of gray.

" You're clad in robes of white," he observed.

" Indeed, for I am Gandalf the White now," Gandalf replied. " As Saruman should have been."

Aragorn's head was spinning as he tried not to lose it. " Boromir," he breathed. " Where is Boromir? "

" Resting," said Gandalf. " And recovering as well. We almost lost him."

" They saved him? " Aragorn queried in further surprise. He had been sure that his friend was lost.

" Yes, they saved him," Gandalf said with a grin. " And I was here to help, thank goodness. Or else I'm not sure they would have been able to. Boromir was on the threshold of death." The scent of the smoke that rose from the wizard's pipe was pleasing to Aragorn and made him want some good pipeweed himself.

" May we see him? " Aragorn asked hopefully.

" When the time is right, yes. But he was still in tremendous need of recovery, as are you and Legolas. The lot of you are daft if you think for a moment you'll be let out of bed." Aragorn and the wizard exchanged smiles.

Gandalf shifted a bit, leaning back in his chair, puffed once more. " You were taken by the Uruk Hai," he said.

Aragorn nodded. " We were their captives for three days, I believe. Boromir tried to take the Ring from Frodo."

The ranger admitted this heavily. The wizard was the only to ever be told the secret by Aragorn, and Frodo never spoke of it. Gandalf grimaced.

" I suspected," he said. " He mumbled something in his fever about being sorry and the Ring while I tended to him. He is forgiven by those of us who know."

Aragorn nodded. " The Uruks arrived shortly after, and it was chaos from then on. We fought them for as long as we could, but were simply outnumbered. They caught each of us, one by one. They drove us onward, allowing Boromir little rest. I did the best I could for him, but I had not the proper things to heal him fully. They left the Hobbits untouched, by the grace of Elbereth."

He said this with tremendous relief as he remembered it all.

" They beat Legolas," he added painfully, sharply aware of the Elf sleeping in his embrace. " I took the last of it for him, yet he still suffered more than I. I thought I might lose him."

The ranger's voice quavered, as Gandalf watched him. " I tended to his wounds and my own to the best of my abilities. Eventually, a fight broke out and we killed as many as we could - Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, and I. We would've been killed if had not been for the Rohirrim. "

Gandalf was now more somber. " Well, it is fortunate that the Rohirrim came to your rescue."

Aragorn nodded as his head dropped and his untidy hair hung in his face. He was still for a moment, staring into his lap. He didn't close his eyes as he remembered the night they had beat Legolas. No, he kept them open.

// One. //

// By the Valar, beg, Legolas, beg. //

// Two. //

// " I WILL NOT BEG! " //

// Three. //

// Damn Elf pride. //

// Four. //

// The whip hissed and cracked and came down again. //

// Five. //

// The welts criss-crossed. //

//Six.//

// They throbbed, ugly and red on pale flesh, through the tatters of an Elven tunic. //

//Seven. //

// Blood surfaced. //

// Eight. //

// Hard and fast, without mercy. On the contrary. The blows were delivered with hatred, with contempt too deep to fathom. With envy. //

// Nine. //

// Turn your eyes away, turn your eyes away. //

// Ten. //

// No. I will not turn away from him. Not from a friend. Not from my brother. //

// Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. Over and over and over. //

// Eru, I've lost count. //

" Do not carry your burden any longer, Aragorn," said Gandalf soberly as he eyed the ranger. Aragorn looked up finally, pulled out of memory. " Legolas is a Elf prince. He is a warrior. He kept his pride and bore the wounds willingly. You must understand and not despair over it."

" I understand why he excepts suffering," Aragorn said. " I understand as a warrior. I don't understand as a friend."

Gandalf gave him a sympathetic look, a faint grin on his aged face.

~*~

It had been a full week since the night the Fellowship had escaped. Both Legolas and Aragorn had nearly gone mad confined to their beds for that long. Gimli and the Hobbits spent most of everyday with them, telling them what Edoras was like. None of them had seen Boromir. Not even once. Gandalf assured them all that the Steward's son was recovering, however. The wizard had insisted that the ranger and Elf stay bedridden for a week, but this morning neither warrior would give in to the Istar. Gandalf gave up finally, and the two happily got on their feet. Legolas' stitches had been removed, with the exception of those of the knife wound. Both had been given new tunics after the bandages had been disposed of.

Aragorn crept quietly into the dimly lit room, with the only light coming in from the slightly opened curtains at the window. He shut the door behind him as he looked to the bed, before stepping closer. Boromir, who was awake despite Aragorn's assumptions, smiled brightly as the ranger came into the light. Aragorn returned the gesture, and they shared a wordless of moment of gladness between comrades.

" You're well," Boromir said.

" As are you," Aragorn replied.

The sun was high in the sky that morning, and there was not a cloud to be seen for miles. The plains shone with a golden glimmer, swaying in the wind. And unbeknownst to anyone in Edoras, a certain Elf rode across those vast plains bestride his white stallion, soaking up the warmth of the sun with laughter. Aragorn stretched out to snatch back the curtains, revealing the window fully. Boromir groaned and laughed as he shielded his eyes from the light, and Aragorn smirked.

" Boromir," cried Pippin, who stood in the doorway. He bounded forward, past Aragorn and onto the bed, followed by Merry. Boromir welcomed his beloved friends with a hearty chuckle and outstretched arms. Frodo smiled warmly at him where Pippin had been standing in the doorway, Sam behind him. The Ringbearer's blue eyes held nothing but gladness, and Boromir knew he had been forgiven for his former trespasses.

" Well," Sam began once things had quieted down. " We escaped from the Uruk Hai, you're all on the mend, and Gandalf is back. All is right with the world, if you ask me."

He received smiles from the rest of them. It was still a long way to Mordor. The Ring still had to be destroyed, the fate of Middle Earth still hung in the balance, and they would face many hardships yet. But at that moment, Sam was absolutely right. All was right with the world. Aragorn just had one question.

" By the way, where is Legolas? "

-:FIN:-