Sacrifice
By Gozilla
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi there! It's me again! Yes, another update! I am so glad that some of you like the story! ^-^
Again, please accept my apologies for any discrepancies and OOCs as I have just watched the 3 movies and started reading the book! Also, my imagination may go a bit too wild (especially about the abilities of the elves and their history ^-^). Sorry, sorry and sorry about all these!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!
Please excuse my poor English. ^-^
Reviews are most welcomed!!
Enjoy!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*crap* – thoughts / tree talks
"crap" – conversation
(crap) – author's note
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 4: The Greenleaf and the Trees
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Two days later, midnight~
Arwen stood in front of the door of the room where her lover stayed for the past four days. She and Lord Elrond received the message from Gandalf with the heart-breaking news of Legolas' injury in the last battle with Sauron's army.
Along the way to Gondor, Arwen kept a concerned eye to her father. She knew that behind the emotionless mask of her father, Lord Elrond worried secretly for the serious injury of the prince of Mirkwood, who he always treated as his very own son.
Arwen, herself, also found it difficult to accept the news. Legolas was like a little brother to her. As Lord Thrandruil and Lord Elrond were very close friends, Legolas visited Rivendell frequently since he was an elfling. She watched him grow and taught him everything about Rivendell.
But she knew that it was not the time for her to mourn. Her lover, who became best friend with Legolas since he was six, was in deep grief over the possible loss of his friend. He needed her.
Arwen entered the room. The first thing she saw was the heavily wrapped body of Legolas. Her heart twisted in pain as she held the icy cold hand of the elf prince. Fighting back tears, she turned to her lover.
She was shocked to see Aragorn's thin dark face. She had never seen him in such depressed status.
Gently, she wrapped her arms around Aragorn's shoulders and whisper, "My love, you cannot go on like this. Legolas' heart would be broken to see you in such deep grief."
Aragorn did not turn, and said in a whisper, "Arwen, how can I not be? Legolas is my best friend. He sacrificed himself to save me from certain death. How am I going to repay him?" he said as he started to tremble.
Arwen tightened the embrace to Aragorn, trying to calm him, "Aragorn, friendship is not about paying or repaying. It is about giving. Legolas knew very well the consequence for saving you. He made the choice. Do you think this is what he wanted? To see you wasting your life away after he gave his life to save it? Please, Aragorn, wake up. The people of Gondor need you. They need a king to lead them to rebuild the country and their lives. Please, do not throw away the hope Legolas gave his life away for."
Arwen's soft words exploded like thunders in Aragorn's mind. A tear slid down his cheek, the first tear since the fall of Legolas. He started to cry and let all his pain released from his battered heart.
Arwen hugged Aragorn tightly, with her own tears sliding down her cheeks.
Moments later, Aragorn finally gave in to exhaustion and collapsed in Arwen's embrace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~The next day morning~
Aragorn woke up to the light of the morning sun. He felt like the whole incidence was a nightmare. How he wished so much that it was actually just a nightmare and that Legolas would walk into his room and say how lazy he was to have slept until the sun was up to the treetops.
Aragorn covered his face with his hands. He still felt exhausted after a half night's sleep. He looked at the window and saw birds singing on the trees.
"Legolas would love scenes like this..." he murmured.
He had finally accepted the reality. He and Legolas had always expected the human to be the one to leave this world first, as the elves are immortals.
Aragorn remembered once that they had actually discussed how himself wanted his funeral to be and where his burials place would be, expecting the elf to arrange all the procedures. But never once they had discussed the same thing for the elf.
"My dear friend, why didn't you ever tell me where you would like to rest in peace for eternity?" he whispered.
"He may not need the place. There is still one last hope for Legolas." came a soft voice from the door.
"Arwen." Aragorn said, jumping to his feet, "Please tell me. Please tell me what you mean by the last hope for Legolas."
"Father had inspected Legolas' injuries last night. They were too serious and he could not do anything about it. But I believe that there is still the last hope for Legolas." Arwen held Aragorn's hand, "Come. Before I tell you about the last hope for Legolas, we must now leave and bring Legolas to Rivendell. I shall tell you on our way a few stories about our beloved brother and the last hope for him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Flashback~
Ever since Arwen first met the prince of Mirkwood when he was only a few days old, she knew in her heart that she had another little brother to love, apart from the twins, Elladan and Elrohir, who were only a few centuries older than the little Greenleaf.
Lord Thrandruil brought his family to visit Rivendell almost every year. While the kings and queens spent time talking and enjoying themselves, the four children, Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen would be together, playing.
As the youngest among the four, Legolas got bullied by the twins occasionally. Arwen was always the one to comfort the upset elfling. She spent a lot of time teaching Legolas everything about Rivendell and telling him every story she knew.
The bond between Legolas and Arwen became so strong that not even the one between she and the twins could rival.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~One night during one of the Thrandruil's visits to Rivendell~
~Legolas was about 200 years old~ (A/N: Legolas was about the age of a toddler in human age.)
The sound of panicked footsteps echoed along the corridor of the Rivendell palace.
Arwen sensed the anxiety of the person running. Quickly, she got out of bed and went out of her bedroom. Arwen watched as a terrified elf maid rushed towards her. Arwen recognized that the maid was the one assigned to look after Legolas during the night. "What is happening?" she asked the maid gently.
The elf maid knelt in front of Arwen, her voice filled with panic, "My lady, please help me, I don't know what to do. Prince Legolas is missing. I just went out of his room for a few minutes to get some water and he was gone. I searched the whole palace but still found no trace of him."
Arwen comforted the maid, "Calm down my dear. I think I know where he is"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arwen went into the wood in front of the palace. As a wood elf, the wood was always Legolas' favorite place. Every time he got missing, they could always find him somewhere in the wood.
Arwen went into the wood without hesitation. She knew very well where the elfling's favorite tree was located. It was the most ancient and most gigantic tree in the land of Rivendell.
But when she got there, she could not see anyone under the tree.
Suddenly, a childish voice came from above, "Arwen."
Arwen looked up and found Legolas sitting on one of the lower branches of the ancient tree. She smiled as she watched the elfling swinging his legs happily, "My dear little Greenleaf, you are supposed to be on bed in this hour. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Legolas replied, with an innocent smile on his face, "I come because they called for me."
Arwen was confused, "Who called for you?"
Legolas' smile widened, excited, "The trees called for me, all of them. Especially this tree, for it is the loudest. They called for me to come out and celebrate this very special night. And then they told me that you were coming this way."
Arwen was amused. She knew, by nature, that the wood elves could hear the whispers of the trees. Elfing might be able to hear the whispers, but it was unusual that elfling as young as Legolas could understand the contents of the whispers.
Arwen gathered herself from the thoughts, she approached Legolas and carried him tenderly in her arms, "My little Greenleaf, what did the trees tell you? Why is tonight special?"
Legolas hugged Arwen around her neck and answered excitedly, "They said this night is special because it is the night for a very special elf to be awakened. For he has a special bond to every tree in this world and that he could, not only hear and understand their whispers, but to communicate directly with them."
Arwen was shocked at the child's words. In order to confirm her belief, she asked the elfling, "Then, did they tell you who that special one is?"
Legolas released his tiny arms around Arwen's neck. He looked at Arwen and titled his head innocently, "I asked the trees. But they just laughed and didn't tell me the name of the special one. They told me I will understand when I grow up. But I am already a grown up."
Arwen hugged Legolas tightly, for she was too happy for the elfling, "My dear little Greenleaf, you are the special one. You are the first one in the whole history of the elves who is gifted with the ability to communicate with the trees at will."
Legolas looked at Arwen, confused. Arwen smiled, "You will understand when you get older. Now, little one, you should be in bed by now." she said as she carried the elfling in her arms and started walking towards the palace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 4
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Please feel free to review and comment!
By Gozilla
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hi there! It's me again! Yes, another update! I am so glad that some of you like the story! ^-^
Again, please accept my apologies for any discrepancies and OOCs as I have just watched the 3 movies and started reading the book! Also, my imagination may go a bit too wild (especially about the abilities of the elves and their history ^-^). Sorry, sorry and sorry about all these!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!
Please excuse my poor English. ^-^
Reviews are most welcomed!!
Enjoy!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*crap* – thoughts / tree talks
"crap" – conversation
(crap) – author's note
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 4: The Greenleaf and the Trees
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Two days later, midnight~
Arwen stood in front of the door of the room where her lover stayed for the past four days. She and Lord Elrond received the message from Gandalf with the heart-breaking news of Legolas' injury in the last battle with Sauron's army.
Along the way to Gondor, Arwen kept a concerned eye to her father. She knew that behind the emotionless mask of her father, Lord Elrond worried secretly for the serious injury of the prince of Mirkwood, who he always treated as his very own son.
Arwen, herself, also found it difficult to accept the news. Legolas was like a little brother to her. As Lord Thrandruil and Lord Elrond were very close friends, Legolas visited Rivendell frequently since he was an elfling. She watched him grow and taught him everything about Rivendell.
But she knew that it was not the time for her to mourn. Her lover, who became best friend with Legolas since he was six, was in deep grief over the possible loss of his friend. He needed her.
Arwen entered the room. The first thing she saw was the heavily wrapped body of Legolas. Her heart twisted in pain as she held the icy cold hand of the elf prince. Fighting back tears, she turned to her lover.
She was shocked to see Aragorn's thin dark face. She had never seen him in such depressed status.
Gently, she wrapped her arms around Aragorn's shoulders and whisper, "My love, you cannot go on like this. Legolas' heart would be broken to see you in such deep grief."
Aragorn did not turn, and said in a whisper, "Arwen, how can I not be? Legolas is my best friend. He sacrificed himself to save me from certain death. How am I going to repay him?" he said as he started to tremble.
Arwen tightened the embrace to Aragorn, trying to calm him, "Aragorn, friendship is not about paying or repaying. It is about giving. Legolas knew very well the consequence for saving you. He made the choice. Do you think this is what he wanted? To see you wasting your life away after he gave his life to save it? Please, Aragorn, wake up. The people of Gondor need you. They need a king to lead them to rebuild the country and their lives. Please, do not throw away the hope Legolas gave his life away for."
Arwen's soft words exploded like thunders in Aragorn's mind. A tear slid down his cheek, the first tear since the fall of Legolas. He started to cry and let all his pain released from his battered heart.
Arwen hugged Aragorn tightly, with her own tears sliding down her cheeks.
Moments later, Aragorn finally gave in to exhaustion and collapsed in Arwen's embrace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~The next day morning~
Aragorn woke up to the light of the morning sun. He felt like the whole incidence was a nightmare. How he wished so much that it was actually just a nightmare and that Legolas would walk into his room and say how lazy he was to have slept until the sun was up to the treetops.
Aragorn covered his face with his hands. He still felt exhausted after a half night's sleep. He looked at the window and saw birds singing on the trees.
"Legolas would love scenes like this..." he murmured.
He had finally accepted the reality. He and Legolas had always expected the human to be the one to leave this world first, as the elves are immortals.
Aragorn remembered once that they had actually discussed how himself wanted his funeral to be and where his burials place would be, expecting the elf to arrange all the procedures. But never once they had discussed the same thing for the elf.
"My dear friend, why didn't you ever tell me where you would like to rest in peace for eternity?" he whispered.
"He may not need the place. There is still one last hope for Legolas." came a soft voice from the door.
"Arwen." Aragorn said, jumping to his feet, "Please tell me. Please tell me what you mean by the last hope for Legolas."
"Father had inspected Legolas' injuries last night. They were too serious and he could not do anything about it. But I believe that there is still the last hope for Legolas." Arwen held Aragorn's hand, "Come. Before I tell you about the last hope for Legolas, we must now leave and bring Legolas to Rivendell. I shall tell you on our way a few stories about our beloved brother and the last hope for him."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Flashback~
Ever since Arwen first met the prince of Mirkwood when he was only a few days old, she knew in her heart that she had another little brother to love, apart from the twins, Elladan and Elrohir, who were only a few centuries older than the little Greenleaf.
Lord Thrandruil brought his family to visit Rivendell almost every year. While the kings and queens spent time talking and enjoying themselves, the four children, Legolas, Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen would be together, playing.
As the youngest among the four, Legolas got bullied by the twins occasionally. Arwen was always the one to comfort the upset elfling. She spent a lot of time teaching Legolas everything about Rivendell and telling him every story she knew.
The bond between Legolas and Arwen became so strong that not even the one between she and the twins could rival.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~One night during one of the Thrandruil's visits to Rivendell~
~Legolas was about 200 years old~ (A/N: Legolas was about the age of a toddler in human age.)
The sound of panicked footsteps echoed along the corridor of the Rivendell palace.
Arwen sensed the anxiety of the person running. Quickly, she got out of bed and went out of her bedroom. Arwen watched as a terrified elf maid rushed towards her. Arwen recognized that the maid was the one assigned to look after Legolas during the night. "What is happening?" she asked the maid gently.
The elf maid knelt in front of Arwen, her voice filled with panic, "My lady, please help me, I don't know what to do. Prince Legolas is missing. I just went out of his room for a few minutes to get some water and he was gone. I searched the whole palace but still found no trace of him."
Arwen comforted the maid, "Calm down my dear. I think I know where he is"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arwen went into the wood in front of the palace. As a wood elf, the wood was always Legolas' favorite place. Every time he got missing, they could always find him somewhere in the wood.
Arwen went into the wood without hesitation. She knew very well where the elfling's favorite tree was located. It was the most ancient and most gigantic tree in the land of Rivendell.
But when she got there, she could not see anyone under the tree.
Suddenly, a childish voice came from above, "Arwen."
Arwen looked up and found Legolas sitting on one of the lower branches of the ancient tree. She smiled as she watched the elfling swinging his legs happily, "My dear little Greenleaf, you are supposed to be on bed in this hour. What are you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Legolas replied, with an innocent smile on his face, "I come because they called for me."
Arwen was confused, "Who called for you?"
Legolas' smile widened, excited, "The trees called for me, all of them. Especially this tree, for it is the loudest. They called for me to come out and celebrate this very special night. And then they told me that you were coming this way."
Arwen was amused. She knew, by nature, that the wood elves could hear the whispers of the trees. Elfing might be able to hear the whispers, but it was unusual that elfling as young as Legolas could understand the contents of the whispers.
Arwen gathered herself from the thoughts, she approached Legolas and carried him tenderly in her arms, "My little Greenleaf, what did the trees tell you? Why is tonight special?"
Legolas hugged Arwen around her neck and answered excitedly, "They said this night is special because it is the night for a very special elf to be awakened. For he has a special bond to every tree in this world and that he could, not only hear and understand their whispers, but to communicate directly with them."
Arwen was shocked at the child's words. In order to confirm her belief, she asked the elfling, "Then, did they tell you who that special one is?"
Legolas released his tiny arms around Arwen's neck. He looked at Arwen and titled his head innocently, "I asked the trees. But they just laughed and didn't tell me the name of the special one. They told me I will understand when I grow up. But I am already a grown up."
Arwen hugged Legolas tightly, for she was too happy for the elfling, "My dear little Greenleaf, you are the special one. You are the first one in the whole history of the elves who is gifted with the ability to communicate with the trees at will."
Legolas looked at Arwen, confused. Arwen smiled, "You will understand when you get older. Now, little one, you should be in bed by now." she said as she carried the elfling in her arms and started walking towards the palace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 4
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Please feel free to review and comment!