Author's notes: - Thank you for the reviews. Sorry for the delay but I was away without my computer!!! Please review and tell me what you think...good?...bad...ugly?!!!!!!

** Aragorn sat quietly next to Legolas's bed waiting for the elf to wake. He had been there since the elf had been brought to Elrond's tent after the battle. Legolas had not rested peacefully. His eyes moved continuously beneath his closed lids, his hands clenched and unclenched and his head tossed as he moaned unintelligible words. Aragorn leaned forward to check the linen restraints that were tied securely around his wrists. No one knew exactly in what frame of mind Legolas would be in when he woke. Sighing softly he smoothed some stray hair off the elf's cool forehead and then settled back into the chair. His eyes watched Legolas's face contort as if he fought an internal enemy.

'Which is exactly what he is doing' Aragorn thought bitterly.

'How could this be resolved in a positive way?' he asked himself. Legolas was not of stable mind even before these events had passed, he had learned to mask it and only if you caught him unaware could you see the anguish that Legolas now permanently lived with. The fear that what had come to pass would indeed happen, had haunted the elf since the links to Sauron had first been severed.

Legolas had forgiven him but Aragorn knew that it was only surface deep. Deep down Legolas still hated him because of what he went through, still despised everyone who had left him and his home in its time of need. The torture his friend must have gone through made him weep; his nightmares featured his friend screaming, bloody, and begging for mercy. Pleading with Aragorn to make it stop. He often wondered whether Legolas could recover from it and it hit him hard to realise that Legolas was irreparably scarred. There would be no happy ending even if the darkness was defeated and Mirkwood was reclaimed. Legolas would need healing of both body and soul and Aragorn wondered if anyone would be able to do this. It needed trust and he felt that Legolas no longer trusted anyone enough except maybe Gimli. Gimli had come to the elves aid, had caused a huge uproar when he realised that no help was being sent and would defend Legolas until the bitter end. He wondered if Gimli would be right for the job.

'Stop' his mind commanded 'You are getting way ahead of yourself.'

Aragorn sighed again and rubbed his eyes tiredly. Opening them he was surprised to see blue eyes staring back at him.

"Legolas?" he questioned hopefully. The pale face contorted in a sneer.

"He is gone King of Gondor. You failed him...again. If I was your friend I would be very concerned for my immediate welfare around you."

Aragorn's face hardened. "Release him you vile demon!"

Legolas laughed. "You really need to accept the fact that the elf is mine. Plead and beg all you want but he is mine and this pathetic attempt at restraints will not hold this body for long."

"You underestimate him." Aragorn stated careful not to reveal his emotions.

"No I don't because I broke him. I watched as my orcs, my servants beat him. He was strong, stronger than any elf I have had the pleasure of destroying."

"Be quiet!" Aragorn snapped softly.

"He was waiting for you, kept saying someone will come for him. He was so determined to escape, kept trying and he killed so many orcs. Quite amusing." Legolas face twisted into a mocking smile and it took all of Aragorn's restraint to prevent himself from wiping it off. He stood up; moving away from the bed with his fists clenched.

"How I made him suffer. I broke his ankles when his escape attempts no longer amused me, although that didn't stop him. I chained him in a small cave till he was hysterical. I blinded him just to watch what happens when you blind an elf."

"Shut up!" Aragorn shouted.

"So he didn't tell you how he suffered, the humiliations I put him through and the agonising pain he endured. I guess he didn't tell you then that he hates you. He never forgave you."

"Be quiet!" Aragorn said anguished.

Legolas laughed, an evil sound that was out of place coming from the elf.

"Sorry to destroy the fantasy that you have concocted. How did you possibly expect forgiveness? Legolas trusted you."

"He still does." Aragorn insisted.

"How did such an ignorant fool become a King? He doesn't trust you, you betrayed him. You wounded him far deeper than I did. I may have tortured him but you destroyed him. The state he was in was your fault!"

Aragorn walked towards the tent exit.

"Running away again? If you can't handle the truth how do you think you can help him? You lost him King Elessar and there is no one to blame but yourself. I hope you can live with the fact that you destroyed your best friend."

Aragorn took one last look at Legolas's sneering and victorious face before leaving.

** Gimli looked up as Aragorn practically ran out of the tent. He brushed past the guards and headed for the river. For a few moments Gimli was torn as to where to go but he watched as Aeolian walked into tent and decided to go after Aragorn.

He caught up with the man quickly. Aragorn looked distraught, tears were running down his face and he looked like he wanted to scream.

"Legolas woke up." Gimli said, not a question but a statement. Aragorn whirled to face Gimli. He nodded not trusting his voice.

"Do not listen to him; he will say anything to get under your skin. Exactly what he has done it appears."

There was silence. Gimli decided a different tactic.

"Did he say anything you didn't already know and blame yourself for?"

Aragorn sighed. "No. Everything was true. I am a fool and I betrayed my best friend. He is lying there possessed by pure evil, barely recovered from unimaginable torture and pain and I did this to him."

Gimli did not protest or say anything, he merely listened letting Aragorn get out everything off his mind.

"Granted I did not hit him, beat him, brutalize him, but I am to blame. He trusted that I would come for him but I didn't till it was far too late. He hates me and I feel that even that is too good for me. He has done nothing to me, a few crossed words and one punch. I want him to scream and hit me till I hurt as much as he did. I wish I could take this away from him but I can't and it will destroy him. Elves are not meant to survive such darkness. He will fade." Aragorn trailed off and he slumped to the ground.

Gimli joined him.

"I will not let him fade. He is far too stubborn to do that, he will want to live just to spite Sauron."

"I wish that were true Gimli but he is no longer the Legolas we know. His mind is so tortured and destroyed that I fear nothing will save it."

"No." Gimli said firmly. "He is still there but he is afraid. You heard what Elrond said when we rescued Legolas, that the elf had created a haven within his own mind. A place where he has retreated, that he feels safe."

"Do you honesty think that Legolas has done that? He wishes to die Gimli why would he try to preserve his life; do you think he expects us to save him? We betrayed him again." Aragorn asked wiping his eyes harshly.

"We need to convince him otherwise." Gimli stated confidently even though he felt anything but.

"Stop." Aragorn said loudly making Gimli jump. "We should stop this! We are planning all this and he is still lying there."

There conversation was stopped by a guard bursting through the tree line and running over to them.

"My lords!" he cried "Lord Legolas has escaped."

Aragorn looked at Gimli and they both tiredly rose to their feet "I hope this plan works."

"So do I, because if it doesn't a certain elf lord and wizard will be feeling the sharp end of my axe." He said gruffly.

Aragorn didn't even crack a smile for he felt certain Gimli was not joking.

**