Author's note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed, it is much appreciated. And special thanks go to Partheon, who beta-ed for me!

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Chapter 4 – Days in Lothlorien

At the same time, King Thranduil and his party were making their way towards Lothlorien. They had expected to arrive earlier but one of the horses had stumbled on a hidden root, damaging its leg. Though It could still walk, this had slowed down the entire party. Thranduil did not mind, there was still time and they were in no hurry.

As they slowly walked along, Thranduil thought about the upcoming bonding. He realised that his feelings were very mixed. Legolas - his little Legolas - would be wed. On the one hand, the king was happy for his son. After the separation from Aragorn, Thranduil had been worried about Legolas. There had been a time when the king had been uncertain whether his son would pull through the grief. He had done so but had seemed to have lost all sparkle and confidence.

Thranduil had been more than grateful when he realised that Haldir and Legolas were attracted to each other. His joy was dampened after a while when he realised that even after several years, Legolas did not truly commit himself to his lover. By that time, Thranduil had come to know the marchwarden from Lorien well and was able to tell how much this lack of commitment hurt Haldir. He had prayed to the Valar that Haldir would not give up on Legolas and that Legolas would find the courage to show his own feelings once more. Much to Thranduil's relief, Haldir did not give up, and eventually Legolas regained sufficient confidence to trust Haldir fully.

Thranduil still remembered the day when Haldir and Legolas returned from a walk, hand in hand, radiantly happy. The king immediately knew what had happened, and that evening he invited the two younger elves for a glass of wine to his private quarters. Thranduil wondered if Legolas had ever realised how worried his father had been about him. Haldir knew, Thranduil had no doubts about that.

And then, several years later and not unexpected, they had asked for permission to bond. At this point, Thranduil had hesitated. He had absolutely no objection against Haldir as a person, but Legolas was his only son and prince of Mirkwood. If he did not marry a female, their line would be broken.

But in the end, Thranduil admitted to himself, it had not taken much consideration for him to agree. To see his son happy again was worth more than notions of future heirs. Also, the king genuinely liked Haldir, the Lorien elf was everything that Thranduil could have wished for in a partner for Legolas. He came from an appropriate background and was a respected warrior at home and abroad. Although older and more experienced than Legolas, Haldir was more Legolas' generation than his own. Importantly for Thranduil, Haldir was well versed in dealing with strangers and travellers from abroad, although, Thranduil thought with a smile, sometimes Haldir's diplomatic skills were not all that they could be.

The king also acknowledged that Haldir was physically attractive, especially when he dropped the mask of arrogance and aloofness he often wore with strangers but rarely with friends. But most importantly of all, Haldir loved Legolas deeply and Thranduil did not doubt that the Lorien elf would give his life to protect his son. And to know that your only child was loved in that way was deeply was comforting.

Altogether, Thranduil was very happy with the upcoming bonding. He hoped they would arrive before nightfall but perhaps they would have to stop overnight one more time on the outskirts of Lorien.

- - - -

In Lorien, Aragorn had left his brothers to their archery practice and had begun to look for Arwen. They had seen each other briefly the previous day but there had been no opportunity to talk. After some searching, the young man found Arwen sitting with some elf-maidens. He sighed inwardly, there was no discrete way of getting her away from this group.

When Arwen saw Aragorn, her face lit up. She tried not to show to her companions how happy she was to see her foster brother again. She knew only too well that a relationship between a mortal and an elf would be frowned upon; all the more so since she was of high rank as well. But they did have a good excuse to spend time together, and she intended to use it to the fullest.

"I have not seen my foster brother Aragorn for many years. Please excuse me so that we can walk and catch up on each other's news."

Several heads nodded and without further ado, Arwen left her friends and joined Aragorn. The young man had had a hard time keeping a straight face, only his grey eyes twinkled and he could not suppress their sparkle.

As soon as they were out of sight and hearing of the other elves, Aragorn and Arwen embraced each other tightly. They did not kiss, for the moment the comfort of each other's arms was enough. They walked in silence for a long time.

"Arwen? How have you fared these last few years?"

Arwen turned to look at Aragorn. He was yet again surprised how blue her eyes were and how beautiful she was with her dark hair and creamy skin. They were still holding hands.

"I have missed you ... it has been difficult because I could not talk to anyone about us. I know that father knows but he disapproves, and so do my grandparents. It would have been easier if there had been someone whom I could have told how much I miss you. And that I want to share my life with you."

"Arwen, are you still sure you want to do that? You would give up so much for me – how can I accept this from you?"

"You were willing to accept this from Legolas."

Aragorn did not reply and looked down. This was true, many years ago he and Legolas had talked about bonding and for Legolas this would have meant to give up his immortal life. And he had accepted that at the time - and then had betrayed the person who had been willing so give so much.

Aragorn lifted his eyes and looked straight at Arwen. "I betrayed Legolas even though he wanted to give up his immortality for me. This is why I cannot accept this sacrifice from you. I do not trust myself."

Arwen smiled. "I trust you more than you trust yourself. I believe that you have matured a lot in the last few years and I also feel that you love me greatly. I have no fear that you would leave me."

Arwen leaned forward and kissed Aragorn lightly on the mouth. He looked at her in surprise but responded by cupping her face and returning the kiss. What started gently, soon turned passionate. However, some years ago, they had come to an unspoken agreement that their relationship would not progress beyond certain boundaries until they knew for certain that they had a future together.

Sometime later, they separated. Arwen returned to her friends to join them for the evening, and Aragorn decided to go for a brief walk before returning to the Hall for his own meal.

- - - -

In the meantime, Haldir, Legolas and their friends were returning from their afternoon at the river. Currently, Legolas was getting quite annoyed with one of the older warriors in the group. It was a long-standing custom that others would tease any betrothed elf before their bonding. Both Legolas and Haldir had to endure quite a lot of good-natured joking over time and neither had minded. It was a traditional part of the preparations for a bonding, and both elves had anticipated jokes at their expense. But Tinarvel, one of the warriors in their patrol unit, was teasing Legolas mercilessly. The prince was not only beginning to feel annoyed but also picked on by the older warrior.

They were passing the bathing pool when Tinarvel commented: "I bet our young prince here does not even know how to kiss yet ... although I would not mind him proving me wrong..."

At that comment, Legolas stopped, turned, and glared at Tinarvel. He grabbed Haldir's shoulders. "Let's prove him wrong", he whispered quietly into Haldir's ear. He leaned in and kissed Haldir deeply, closing his eyes and enjoying the moment. Haldir was surprised if not shocked – so far Legolas had always been very reluctant to openly display affection in public – but he did not object. He responded, and their kiss became sensuous and lingered.

Neither Legolas nor Haldir, nor anyone else from their party had noticed Aragorn, who, on his way back, had decided to take a quick bath before his meal. The young man was swimming at the far end of the pool, enjoying the cool evening and, as he admitted to himself, ridding himself of the tension that his meeting with Arwen had brought. He knew that he wanted more than she was willing to give at the moment, and he was quite prepared to wait, but this did not mean that he did not find the waiting frustrating. So he was quietly swimming at the back of the bathing pool when he heard several voices.

He saw several Lorien elves approaching, judging by their wet hair, they had come straight from the river. It took Aragorn a second glance to see that one of the elves was Legolas. Unusual for elves, the group was not quiet. There was laughter and banter back and forth, and then Aragorn heard Tinarvel's comment. When Legolas kissed Haldir, Aragorn thought: 'Oh no, I really do not want to see this. But it would even be worse if they saw me know. I just hope they do not turn.'

Seeing Legolas kissing Haldir brought a sharp stab of jealously that Aragorn had not expected. 'It is fifteen years ago that we parted, I am involved with Arwen now, how can I feel jealous?' Aragorn mentally shook his head at himself. If he was honest, he had found seeing Legolas with Haldir very difficult, which had also been the reason for not seeking out his friend again.

Whilst these thoughts went through Aragorn's mind, Legolas and Haldir had broken their kiss to catch their breath. There was much laughing amongst their friends.

"See, Tinarvel, Legolas is not as innocent as he looks", one of the other warriors remarked. The older warrior turned. He looked at Legolas and Haldir. "Why don't you bed each other right here in public?" and walked away.

There was a stunned silence. Most elves were courteous by nature, and to make such a crude comment, particularly to friends, was very unusual. Haldir laid his arm around Legolas shoulders. "Come, do not let him upset you. I do not know what is wrong with him." And he squeezed the younger elf's shoulders affectionately.

Slowly the other members of the group recovered from the unpleasant incident and resumed their talking. Together they made their way towards the Hall for their evening meal.

Aragorn had observed the entire incident partially hidden between some low hanging branches on the side of the pool but had prayed to the Valar that he would remain undiscovered. No one had paid any attention to the pool, and when the group of warriors left, a very pensive Aragorn got out of the pool, dried himself with his shirt and made his way to the talan where he was staying.

'I know what is wrong with that elf,' thought Aragorn. He was surprised that Haldir had missed what appeared so obvious to young man. The other warrior – what was he called? Tinarvel? – was jealous, and intensely so. The way he had looked at Haldir and scowled at Legolas said it all. There was one elf here who was very unhappy about the upcoming bonding. Aragorn wondered briefly if he should mention this to anyone, but then decided that this really was not his business.

- - - -

Arwen, too, had separated from her friends because she wanted to have a little time to herself before going for the evening meal. She was overjoyed at seeing Aragorn again. It had been such a long time!

And yet the reason for his coming made her uneasy. In the last fifteen years she had managed to more or less successfully avoid meeting Legolas by herself. Since he was a warrior and she an elf-maiden this had been comparatively easy. There had been some functions where both of them had to appear but this was always in the prescribed framework of ceremony; so that any personal involvement could be avoided. She had soon found out which times Legolas preferred for meals and avoided these. Otherwise they had no reason to meet and had rarely done so.

And yet, Arwen could not , even after all these years, free herself of a deep sense of guilt. She remembered only too well the first time Legolas had come to visit Haldir in Lothlorien, it must have been about five years after he and Aragorn had separated. Arwen had, of course, known Legolas when he was younger. As a close friend of all her brothers, she had seen him regularly during his adolescence and later. Although quiet, he had always had an irrepressible sparkle and mischievous sense of humour. When he had come to Lothlorien that first time after the end of his relationship with Aragorn, Arwen had been shocked. Gone was the sparkle and easy sense of fun, instead there were such emotional barriers that Legolas appeared cold and aloof.

And Arwen knew very well that she was at least partially responsible for the change. Even though five years had passed since the end of his relationship with Aragorn, Legolas had looked drawn and thin. She had mentioned this to her grandmother, who had said to her with a completely unreadable expression: "You know he has gone though a difficult time. An elven heart is not broken without consequences." Beyond this, Galadriel never commented on what had happened between her granddaughter, Aragorn and Legolas.

Arwen had watched from afar, but with considerable relief, how Legolas' relationship with Haldir developed, and how the young elf regained his full strength and health. She felt genuinely glad to see him bond to Haldir, they were good for each other. Haldir, also, needed a partner.

But Arwen also knew that for Aragorn the upcoming bonding would be very difficult. Even though she was certain that Aragorn did genuinely love her, she was not at all sure that he had ever stopped loving Legolas. Mortal's hearts were fickle and she knew deep down that emotionally Aragorn had never really closed his relationship with Legolas. But Aragorn had made a choice many years ago and they all had to live with the consequences.

TBC. Please review.