AN: This chapter was uncomfortable to write, partly because I don't know Arwen very well but knew I wanted to feature her. I hope it doesn't come across as badly as it went down on paper.
And to anyone who noticed, yes, I did say autumn in the last chapter, and before that it was spring, and now it's summer. My bad. I'll change it asap.
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The King and Queen of Gondor's arrival - early on the morning of June 6th - came with little warning. They rode in surrounded by the King's Guard - newly reformed with the return of the line of Kings - mounted upon gaily decorated horses. The banner of Gondor flew behind them, the young standard bearer proud of face, though he fought now and again with the banner as it tangled in the trees of its homeland, where Arwen had long worked on it before its unveiling. A large part of the host waited outside of the grand archway that constituted the main entryway into the grand home; as the pair, with their standard and a few guards rode up to their own home.
Elrond greeted them as they entered, stepping gracefully out to meet them just as they appeared; a soft smile of welcome on his face. He greeted his daughter as she dismounted, taking her in his arms and laying a kiss on each cheek. Aragorn offered him an elven bow as his horse was taken from him along with the others' - one fist on his chest, the other hand cast outwards as if taking in the whole of his surroundings. Elrond nodded seriously, but a smile quirked his lips upwards even as he did so, the warmth in his manner a more homely welcome. Drawing the two inside - and noting that their guard followed carefully, though they seemed taken in by the beauty and splendour of their surroundings - Elrond led them into the hall and offered them a seat as food was brought and laid on the tables between them.
Aragorn was quickly sprawled across the chair, completely at home in the house that had once kept him. Arwen - though she sat tall and proud beside him - looked more comfortable that Elrond had seen her for many ages; a soft smile gracing her lips at her Husband's behaviour, one eyebrow raised mockingly in an expression her father found disturbingly familiar.
"How goes life in Minas Tirith?" He asked, knowing that much work had been taking place to rejuvenate the city after its harsh treatment at the hands of Sauron's servants.
"The place was overrun with dwarves when we left - for Gimli has brought a veritable army to our gates, broken though they are - to work on the damage to the city. It was he that encouraged us to take a little time from the city, so that we could return to a land renewed."
"He has great plans for our home." Arwen's words were softer than Aragorn's, but no less affectionate. Elrond found himself strangely surprised by this, though he had never thought his daughter to be prejudiced. Perhaps it was the reassurance in her words, as though soothing some hurt in Aragorn - though it was not a role he had ever thought for her. Certainly, though he could not place the exact source, his daughter was changed by recent events. She had gained something more, in her posture and her words, than he had ever seen in her before. He silently regretted missing so much of her life since her mother had passed. She had received better care in Lothlórien than he could have given her, deep in mourning as he had been. He had hardly been civil company even for his sons; but though his sons only reminded him of himself, she had so much of her mother in her... So much beauty. He was happy that she had found love despite her isolation in her Grandmother's realm.
"Elladan and Elrohir have a matter of which they wish to talk to you with great urgency, or so it seems to them. But your journey cannot have been restful, so I would urge you to rest a while before you allow them to drag you away. What they desire to tell you can wait a little while longer." Elrond confided.
"Must we be rested for what the twins would find it so important to tell us?" Arwen asked, smiling softly at her brother's antics - though she knew how much it had hurt them to have their lover lost to them. They had locked themselves away when they had returned from the war, and all the visitors her father had sent to them hadn't been able to draw them out of themselves. They had refused her visitation completely, and Mithrandir had seemed to give up and disappear himself. She hadn't been surprised when Elrohir had become sickly through his broken heart, and had been terribly sad to leave them both when they were in such straits. But Aragorn had needed her presence, and for him at least there was something she could do.
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"We must reveal that we have been keeping something from you, and you may be angry at us, but the circumstances were forced upon us." The twins sat together on a small sofa in a common room adjoining the three rooms that had once been their's and Arwen's - when they had all been younger - and then they had returned to, millenia later, when they once again found the need for a third room. It had been rare - of course - that they used all three rooms at once, but they had found a need for their own space every so often. Aragorn found it strange that they would choose to address them here, in a place that held so many memories of the three of them together.
"'Tis regarding Legolas." Aragorn could not keep the pain or sadness from his eyes as he looked about the room, seeing sign of their cohabitation on every surface.
"Last time I saw you, Elrohir was deep in mourning; we are both glad to see you well again." Arwen offered quietly.
"That is part of the deception we must ask your forgiveness for. You see... Legolas is not dead." There was a shocked moment as the two absorbed this news.
"At the time we thought we might still loose him and Elrohir was close to succumbing to grief. We only sought to save you further pain in concealing this from you."
"But Ada succeeded in pulling him back from the edge, and this has allowed my recovery, and his."
"Which is not to say either of them are fully healed yet." Elladan clarified, with a meaningful glance at Elrohir.
"I am fine," He retorted. "But Legolas..." Elrohir stuttered into silence, movement in the corner of the room catching his attention.
"Stop now, and the poor man might allow you to survive this reunion."
Arwen had a pale hand over her mouth and silent tears streaking down her face as she turned to look at the wraith of their friend stood in the corner, leaning against the doorpost. Aragorn was on his feet and across the room before either twin could blink, enveloping Legolas in a huge bear-hug. Both twins got to their feet, expecting to have to separate their foster-brother from their lover quickly, but were waved back to their seats as Legolas accepted the embrace stiffly. Eventually he pulled away as he felt the heat of panic rising in his chest and stubbornly tried to soften his heavy limp as he moved across the room and squeezed into the seat between the twins.
"You know Ada will disapprove." Elladan nudged Legolas' knee with a grin.
"Let him. I got bored of waiting for you to stutter your way through an explanation." Aragorn had made his way back to his seat - perched on the edge - and was examining Legolas' face as though he expected never to see it again - which had once been the case.
"We thought you lost to us when you were captured in Fangorn. We dared not hope... How came you to be here?" Legolas hesitated and Elrohir gave him a pointed look.
"Now do you see why we asked you to wait?"
"It shouldn't be so hard for me to say." Legolas sighed.
"Would you like to go back to your room for a while longer?"
"No, you explain and I will listen."
"Are you sure?" Legolas glared, and Elladan rolled his eyes and turned to Aragorn, pausing as he found that he too was unsure how to explain, especially as Legolas was there in the room.
"Legolas was taken to Barad-dûr, where Sauron tried his very best to recreate his master's foulest work."
"Thankfully his strength is nowhere near that of the dark one, so with the help of Mithrandir it was possible to undo all that he had achieved." Elrohir added.
"We think he wanted to have some emotional weapon against you in that last battle. Seeing Legolas would have altered your sensibilities on the battle field." From their faces they could tell that, while Arwen understood their cryptic words and was horrified by the implication, Aragorn was lost.
"They tried to make an orc of me, Aragorn. I was to challenge you before the black gate in the last day before the downfall of the dark lord. A blow to your spirit if you were forced to strike me down, a blow to your self if you hesitated long enough for me to strike."
"But... I did not meet you in that battle." Confusion and hurt leant a stutter to his words.
"I wish I could say that was due to my own strength in resisting the darkness, but it was not."
"I came across him on the battlefield and recognised him for who he truly was. We took him from there in secret and brought him here."
"And you have waited so long to inform us?!"
"Aragorn, he only became sure that he had been taken from that place a short time ago."
"How could you think otherwise?" Confusion was evident in Aragorn's eyes.
"I did not want to acknowledge that I was alive, let alone have others know it."
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Legolas stumbled as he entered his own room again, but threw off Elrohir's supporting hand roughly and marched over to the bed, throwing himself down.
"He has nothing but distaste," He declared, his tone angry though sadness placed a weight thick and heavy over his lungs. "I could see it in his eyes. And he could not see... all of me." He slowly rolled up the cuffs of the shirt he had been wearing, the sleeves long and flared, covering his hands and hiding them from sight. He looked upon them for a moment, before flicking the sleeves back down and crossing his arms. Slowly the twins approached, taking seats at either end of his bed. Elladan gathered him up in his arms from behind, chin resting on his shoulder. Elrohir moved closer and eased him arms out of their tense position, until he held his hands in his own. Pushing the sleeves up Elrohir lay a gentle kiss on each stump, holding his hands tighter as Legolas tried to pull away. He looked up and met the fiery anger in deep blue eyes. He grinned, and Legolas looked away.
"Your fear distorts your eyes," Elladan whispered in his ear. "You misread him. He has guilt in his own heart, for giving up on you when you were taken from the fellowship. But never have I seen distaste in his eyes save when looking upon..." Elladan hesitated, biting his tongue as he realised what he was about to say.
"Say it. You know what words hesitate upon your tongue."
"You are not one of them. You were never truly one of them."
"How do you know? Do you see my mind? See the memories of that time... so clear. Do you know how an orc thinks? They have love, and laughter... it is not like our own - so different that you might not recognise it if you did not look close enough. They have wives who they love too much to allow out on the battlefield, they have warrior-brothers who they love just as much. They are silent before they go into war, for they take time to remember those who they love. And him. He was ou... was their god, their father. He gave them everything they needed." Grey eyes met with a flinch. Neither of them had missed the slip. What could they do with this revelation?
"You must let Aragorn see you. If you would only talk with him, you would see that you are wrong."
"But what if I don't want to see? I tried to kill him, Elladan. He is all but a brother to me. I was to be his weakness, to bring him to the ground one way or another."
"Do you blame us for being your weakness?" Elrohir asked quietly.
"No, of course not. But I knew it wasn't you."
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"Tell me truthfully, what is the damage to him?" Elrond looked up to find Aragorn stood in the doorway to his study. Gesturing for him to take a seat, Elrond frowned as he remained standing, only moved closer.
"He has become very good at hiding his injuries."
"He was limping heavily, though he tried to hide it."
"While captured, his legs were broken and allowed to heal in a way that would allow him to walk but only with great pain. I was forced to break the healed bone again to reset them in place. They are healing well now and the limp will fade, though I cannot say if it will ever be completely gone. He is still very easily tired, though most of the outward signs of his ordeal have healed." Elrond hesitated.
"You are hiding something from me. Do not."
"There is more, but it must come from him. He is... sensitive of the matter, and must be happy in himself before others are allowed to hear it."
"It has to do with his hands, I would say. For he kept them hidden and held them as though they pained him."
"It is enough to say that they knew that he was an archer, and have targeted his hands appropriately. It is unlikely he will touch a bow again." Aragorn paled.
"I can understand that would be... devastating. How is he..."
"Only my sons would know. Few of us have been privileged enough to speak with him on such sensitive matters." Elrond stood, taking Aragorn's hands in his. "Be patient with him. He is good at projecting normalcy, but there is still a great deal of pain in him. He fears rejection... he fears a great deal of things, but I think this is the most potent for him."
"He shall not find it in me."
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Lady Janelly : THANK YOU! :D Glad you liked it, it was fun to write.
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Jedi-Bant : Maybe. That would make me feel better... but you found it, so it doesn't matter! Thanks for the review.