Chapter Nine
The first thing the two walking elves were aware of was that something like a little dot was running up the valley path towards them. The second was that 'the little dot' looked very much like their little brother.
"Watch out, Arwen." Elrohir chuckled as he led his horse down the path.
"Yes, Estel has been awful bored waiting for us." Elladan bobbed his head and strained his eyes to pick up every detail of his little brother. "He is quite overexcited when we return from our long hunting trips."
"Is he not old enough to join you now?" the she-elf asked quietly as her soft silver eyes sought out the form of her younger human brother.
"Well, he is. I suppose father has not told you of his blindness?" the younger elven twin looked back at his sister and raised both his dark eyebrows.
"No. I believe he forgot to mention that 'minute' detail."
What Elladan saw startled him a bit, but then he grinned. "Oh, Elrohir, it seems that the prince is here as well?"
He did not know anything of Legolas' problems, he only assumed that the young prince had come for a visit.
Arwen chuckled. "Well then, I will get to reunite with everyone I suppose."
"Elladan! Elrohir!" The cries were louder now and easier to sift from the loud roar of the falls.
"Oh, it has been long since I walked the paths of Imladris," the elven princess breathed, closing her eyes.
The older of the twins laughed. "Wait till you walk with Estel, bet he won't stop asking questions till you leave. Course, you could always block his way with a chair or desk."
Elrohir cuffed his older brother upside the head, an angry glare in his eyes. "Don't you say those things Elladan!" he hissed; he knew how well Aragorn could hear, and he was praying right now that his brother had not heard that remark. "You very well know it's happened before. And he was almost seriously injured the one time."
Elladan smiled reassuringly and wrapped an arm around his twin. "I know, I was just kidding. You know that."
"Well, sometimes I am not so sure."
"Come on you two," Arwen helped the conversation stop from going to any hurtful levels. "I'll race you to the courtyard!"
Kicking her white horse's sides, she yipped as the mare raced towards the beautifully decorated yard.
Elladan and Elrohir traded a look of surprise, and without another second's hesitation, jumped upon their elven horses' backs and dashed down the valley.
"'Dan! 'Ro!" The young human's voice rang out happily as he hugged his brothers tightly. "I missed you." he whispered.
The twins grinned and without his agreement, they picked their brother up and hugged him, always mindful of his broken arm.
"We missed you too." Elladan chuckled and rubbed the man's dark head once he had been placed on the ground again.
Elrohir moved away to welcome Legolas as Elladan continued to speak with his brother.
"How are you, dear prince?" Elrohir questioned, not at all knowing of Legolas' quiet tongue.
His keen ears heard this and Estel turned around, about to tell his older brother.
"Elrohir, Legolas will not answer you."
The younger twin looked up to see his father walking towards them; his eyes were filled with sorrow.
Elrohir quickly looked to the tall blonde elf striding beside his father. It was not Glorfindel.
"My lord?" he breathed, bowing his head in reverence to Thranduil, for while it was true he did not have to lower himself before the blonde elf king, he did it out of respect and love. There had been many nights when they were younger that Elladan and Elrohir had stayed in Mirkwood.
Thranduil had been there to chase the childhood monsters away when Lord Elrond had not, and now Elrohir bowed to him, in thanks for this.
"Rise, son of Elrond, for it would do me well to see your face once more. I am not sure which is which, it has been so long."
The older twin was drawn away from his conversation with his youngest brother and joined the circle of reunited elves.
"I, King of Mirkwood, am Elladan. The eldest of us all, not excluding the fair Lady Arwen-"
All turned as the elf maid slid from the beast's back with the help of a stable hand.
Elrond watched with a smile beginning to appear on his face. "Arwen, my little girl," he breathed, running forward and enveloping her in his strong embrace.
Her smile was a breath of air to Legolas' heart. He had before seen this beautiful elf, but he had never felt the way he did now.
He still held no true love for her, for she was quite a few hundred years younger than he, but her loveliness was nothing short of glory.
As Arwen entered the circle with Elrond at her side, she was greeted by many kind voices and she giggled.
"I am happy to be here." She wrapped a gentle arm around Aragorn, who stood on her right side. "And I finally get to meet my younger brother. Eru be praised, I am no longer the youngest in the house of my father." She giggled as Estel groaned.
Lord Elrond took a step before them both, surveying the brother and sister. He nodded. 'Yes, they will be fine siblings.'
"Well!" The elf lord clapped his hands in thanksgiving. "This is a time of celebration! My daughter has returned home! Lomcir! Tell the cook to start the meal, we will feast in honor of the return of Arwen Undomiel!"
Estel leaned back, his eyes closed and his frame pointed towards the roaring flames.
He blinked contentedly as Legolas sat above him on a couch. The prince was trying hard to braid strands of the man's hair along his rounded ears.
They had both considered themselves warriors after fighting the majority of the tyrant problem in Imladris and Legolas was wrestling with the man's hair to make the warrior braids like his own. They showed authority in his own realm and he wanted to share his culture with Aragorn as much as he could.
After a while of attempting, the elven prince gave up and whacked Aragorn's dark head to show his frustration.
"Alright, don't worry about it, mellon nin. Just relax." The man stretched, happy to get the blonde elf's hands out of his hair so he could finally elongate himself out more without pulling his own tresses.
Legolas looked up and saw Arwen sitting in a corner with her brothers and father. They were talking quietly and looking at the two friends.
The prince felt that the princess was asking questions about her new brother.
Thranduil had went to bed hours ago claiming that he was too tired to remain awake, which could be true, considering he had been horseback riding, sword fighting, and going on walks for the past weeks they had been in Imladris.
And he was liking it.
"Legolas?" The prince was drawn from his thoughts of his sleeping father to the man that sat below him.
The prince leapt a little at the sound, but recovered quickly and placed his hand to the man's sensitive ear and put another hand on his shoulder.
"What does Arwen look like?" the man asked, a little reluctant at first. "I mean, is she as beautiful as her voice?"
Legolas hesitated, not sure how to proceed.
After a moment, he carefully climbed down off the couch and sat in front of Estel. He grabbed a lock of dark hair from the man's head and pulled it away from the others, he ran pale fingers down the fragile strand.
Then, the blonde elf, careful of his eyes, brought two fingers down each side of Aragorn's long nose. He did this in a soothing gesture as if the man's skin was pale and soft.
After Legolas was finished 'showing' Aragorn of Arwen's fair complexion and hair, Estel smiled and rested his head against the sofa.
"Thank you, mellon nin," he chuckled. "You truly are a blessing, Legolas. You are sight to the blind and silence to those of strong hearing."
The elven prince smiled, patting his friend upon the shoulder. He added a little extra weight, his actions saying his words for his mouth
.
'And you are my confidence, my friend.'
Clambering back up onto the couch, the prince tried once more to braid his friend's dark tresses into an exquisite elven braid. He knew all the designs. It was royal protocol to learn them one by one, for he was the one who braided them into elves' hair when they earned the honor of being promoted to a higher level.
But he had never practiced on mortal's hair before and none so as dusty and muddy as Estel's.
With a thin smile he took a few droplets of water upon his finger from a glass and sprinkled them onto the human's still head.
As soon as the water touched his face, the man shook and frowned.
"Legolas?" He felt the elf's hands grab clumps of his dirty hair accusingly and shake it hard.
Aragorn chuckled and pulled away. "I don't need a bath 'mother'," he grinned, slapping the prince's fingers from his dark hair. "Goodness, I am going to bed. Ada?" he called across the room.
A moment later he continued. He pointed back at the prince. "'Mother' says I need a bath, so I am going to bed. Alright?"
Graceful steps caught his attention and he turned to his left and felt soft hands pull through his dark locks.
"I think Legolas is right," the female voice chided, laughing when the prince rolled his eyes and stuffed his face into a pillow. "Little brother does need a bath, oh! He smells-awful!"
Estel's eyes widened, but he could not make himself shake her hand from his scalp.
It felt wonderful, her delicate fingers sliding carefully down, through his raven hair and playing behind his sensitive ears.
Legolas watched as his friend stood stark still, he could see the body language Aragorn was displaying.
It was not love towards his sister; it was as if he was in love.
He had a dazzled look on his scruffy face and his emotionless eyes were half lidded.
Turning his eyes to Elrond, who was not watching this, but saying something to Elladan, he knew the elf lord would be furious if he saw this between his children. Especially considering Arwen's ancestors.
Shooting to his feet, the prince smiled and grabbed Aragorn away, patting him on the back and ushering off, out of the hall.
The Evenstar just watched, a little amazed at what had just happened. She was about to follow Legolas and Aragorn and ask what he was doing when Elrond turned back to her, he smiled.
"Yes, my dear?"
She inwardly noted that it might have been better this way. She would much rather Aragorn not get in trouble for her actions.
What had she been thinking, truly. It was as if she had been trapped in her own world. Just her and Estel.
"Oh, nothing Ada," she answered walking back to him, her mind pondering still on why she had just done that. 'Oh well,' she mused, sitting upon a cushion but not listening to her father's gentle speech. 'It was probably just a faze. I'll get over it.'
TBC
SO, the map is set, the pieces are in place and Aragorn and Arwen are madly falling in love. But only Aragorn seems to know that it will be a lasting affect.
And next chapter will probably jump months and months into the future I think. And we will see if our prince has improved any.
TA-TA! Don't kill me yet! PLEASE REVIEW! I love to hear from you!!! Oh yes, I really, REALLY do!!!!!!
P.S. This is still not slash! And it will never be slash! I promise you it will not!!!
REviews!!!! Yay!!!
I believe so, Alice-Elizabeth. You know when you wear black on an absolutely dreafully hot day, you feel more heat than other people. Well I believe hair is the same way, it would make sense. I think I have tried it before too, but I can not remember. Thanks for asking!!! :)
Thank you SOOOO much, Galadryal. I am glad you are enjoying it!!!! :)
WOW! Thanks, Linchi! I feel honored that you think my story is one of the best! Hehe! Well, then I should warn you, I LOVE to write cliffies!!!!!!
Thanks, snuffles2! Glad you liked that! A lot of other people did too, thankfully!!!!! :) And great! I am glad someone wants to help me!!! :) I look forward to getting to that 200 reviews mark!
Sorry you had to wait, Mornflower. I was on vacation. Again. Anyway, here was the next chapter!!! Hope you liked it!!!!
There you go, Gemini969!!!!
Hmmm, looks at Elvenkitten. Well, oh, never mind! Glad you liked it!!!! Hehe!
Oh, come now, Musicstarlover. That is not the MOST evil thing I could do. I am sure that I could do MUCH more. But I won't at the present. :) Glad you liked this chappie!!!!!!
Oh, yes, marbienl! I am sure being blind has it's perks! He could probably easily play pranks on the others. Thinks yes, I am SURE Glorfindel has done that before! Why would he pass it up. Him or the twins. Yes, well, could not make it all sad and blah. I can never do dark stories. They make me feel exceedinly evil, which is not good. So, yes, I had to make it somewhat light and happy, especially since there will be plenty of dark and drearyness later on. sheepish grin From the way Aragorn knew what was going on, I assume they have been doing it for quite some time. Proabably A VERY LONG time. Yep, Legolas needs all the self-confidence he can get at this point. "Here Legolas, let me see." Gosh, I did not even notice that! But that does work I suppose. Yes, but I would like to keep this as real as possible and technically, Estel and Gandalf do not meet till he goes out into the wild. To put Gandalf in this soon might throw things off for me. But yes, you are correct, a wizard proabably could help. The thing is, it has been so long, that I truly believe Elrond has done all that can be done for now. Maybe I could put another one in a little later. A headache I mean. Why? Do you enjoy them? shrugs Well goodness! I am not going to tell you! :) That would ruin things, though, by now you should guess what it is. shivers NO! NOT THE BUNNIES! NO!!!! THE HORROR! THE HORROR!!!!! Well, I hope you liked this chapter!!!!! :) Review again!!!!
Glad you like it, azla!!!!! Here is more!!!
It is already on here, sielge. It's called "A Heart Lost", I believe. Thanks!!!! :) Glad you like!!!
Haha! Yes, Lady Laswen!!! Down with the elvil elflings, indeed!!!
Well, Elysia of Corellia, It's a good thing you are my beta! That way you do not have to wait as long!!!! In fact, after this story, I already have a few chapters of the next storyu I am writing done. :) Glad you like this!!!!
Yes, they do, Knight Kenobi of Eryn Lasgalen!
I, acctually, don't have much patience either, Joee1. Here you go!
Thanks, Lindahoyland! I thought it was sweet too! And yes, it is a pity! Oh well. shrugs
No, it was not tooo terribly hot. Just right. And yes I did. It was fun! Thanks for asking, Jadesaber!!!!
Haha! Yes, they can, Silvertoekee!!! I am imptaient too. No fear, we all are.
Here you go, Deana! Hope you enjoyed it!!!
