"Where is he?" cried Aragorn frantically as he burst into the corridor where the hobbits, Gimli, Eowyn, and little Findowyn were waiting. Faramir followed closely after. "What happened? Is he all right? Is he awake?"

"You need to calm yourself, my lord!" Faramir broke in, interrupting Aragorn's outburst. "You'll be ho help to Legolas in this state. And it would not be prudent to let the people see you like this; it will cause panic and worry about his condition."

Eowyn smiled sympathetically at the king. "You know he's right," she said soothingly. "Perhaps we should have the healers prepare a calming tea for you."

Aragorn looked at her sharply. "No healer should have the time to make me tea or anything else!" he snapped. "I want Legolas to have their undivided attention. He is their only charge as far as I'm concerned."

"They were all sent away," Sam informed him hesitantly.

Aragorn was positively outraged. "By who?!" he roared.

The others took a step back, but Eowyn held her ground. "By your brothers," she told him firmly, refusing to be cowed by his mood. The slayer of the Witch-king could more than handle a frantic Aragorn. "They said, and quite rightly so, that no healer in the city save themselves know enough about the elven body to be able to attend him properly."

'Elladan and Elrohir are with him,' Aragorn told himself, forcing down a deep, calming breath. 'Ada trained them in the arts of healing, just as he trained me. There is probably no one left in Middle-Earth that would be better to have in there with him right now. Oh, how I wish Ada was here, or Mithrandir, or Galadriel!'

"Sire?" asked Faramir tentatively, placing a hand on Aragorn's back.

"I'm better now," Aragorn assured him, shuddering as he exhaled. He turned his pleading eyes to the others. "Please, please tell me what happened. Everything; don't try to protect me."

Merry looked at him, still holding a sobbing Pippin in his arms. "There isn't much to tell," he reported sadly. "We weren't doing anything but walking around and talking. Gimli was explaining all of the different things that the dwarves did to repair the walls when we noticed that Legolas wasn't walking with us anymore. He was just staring off at nothing and before we could ask him what was wrong, he swayed and collapsed. Nobody knows why." At this Pippin let out a wail and Merry stroked his hair comfortingly.

"I can guess why," Gimli declared fiercely. "He was absolutely exhausted! I could tell from the second I saw him this afternoon. The trip was too much for him."

"That don't sound right," interjected Sam. "Elves aren't supposed to get all tired like that. And anyway, he went all that way with the fellowship and never did nothing like this."

"What else could it be?" argued Gimli. "I know his father noticed it too. Besides, that journey was different. We took turns with the watching back then, so he had the opportunity to get a little sleep at least. Did he get any while you were away?"

Elanor surprised everyone by speaking up. "Nope," she announced with authority. "'Least not at the pony inn."

"What makes you say that?" asked Aragorn.

"Because I heard you, silly," she told him. "Every night you and Legolas were always up for a long time, making all sorts of funny noises."

Findowyn looked at her curiously. "What kind of noises?"

"Findowyn!" Eowyn and Faramir scolded at the same time.

Rose clapped her hand over Elanor's mouth before she could answer or worse, give a demonstration. "Our rooms were fairly close together," she explained with obvious embarrassment.

Smoke was practically coming out of Gimli's ears as he moved threateningly toward Aragorn. "You fiend!" he accused, his face bright red with fury. His hand danced around the axe strapped to his side. "You drove that poor lad to exhaustion just to satisfy your lust."

Aragorn turned ever so slowly and stared at him. The hall was perfectly silent for a moment as everyone braced themselves for what would happen after the Man properly digested what the dwarf said.

"What's lust?" Elanor asked, figuring she'd take advantage of the grown-ups' quietness.

That snapped Aragorn out of his stupor. "How dare you?" he hissed angrily, his entire body tense as if preparing to spring in attack.

"I think now would be a good time for the children to leave," Rose suggested nervously to anyone who was listening.

Gimli wasn't about to back down or apologize. Somewhere deep down he knew he'd probably regret this later, but all he could focus on at the moment was his overwhelming concern for the elf that he loved as a son. "I dare because he collapsed in the streets of Minas Tirith and the blame is entirely yours!"

Eowyn nodded at Rose. "Take the girls and the baby and go," she advised forcefully. The hobbit woman didn't need to be told twice. With baby Frodo in one arm, Elanor's hand secured in her free hand, and Findowyn following at her mother's urging, she scurried out of the corridor.

Aragorn took no notice of their hasty exit. "I am so tired of this," he raged at Gimli. "Of his father's attitude, of your insinuations, of the both of you watching us all the time! He's my husband not a child, for Elbereth's sake! Yes, we made love every single night in Bree; so? You should be congratulating us for keeping the passion alive for so long in our relationship, not accusing me of hurting him. I would never do that! I'm sick of you two acting like I'm forcing myself on him every time we go into a bedroom!"

"If you're the one that's so sick of everything, then why is it Legolas that's in need of healers?" Gimli shot back nastily.

Pippin tore himself out of Merry's embrace and clamped his hands over his ears. "Stop it!" he screamed hysterically, tears poring down his cheeks. "Stop it, stop it, stop it, stop it!"

"I agree," said Elrohir hardly, coming out of a room and closing the door behind him. He fixed a very Elrond-like glare on Aragorn and Gimli. "What about this little exchange to do you think is helping Legolas?" he asked them pointedly.

"I –"

"Shut up," he told his younger brother abruptly. "I don't want to hear any more accusations and I definitely don't want to hear you defend your childish behavior. In fact, the only thing I do want to hear right now is anyone telling me anything that would help explain why Legolas fainted."

"He's been sick," blurted out Pippin in desperation and despair. He couldn't handle keeping Legolas' secret any longer! Besides, it wasn't really breaking his promise since he'd only promised not to tell Aragorn and this was one of the twins. "For a really long time now, too. He told me."

All eyes turned to the hobbit. "How –"Aragorn began.

"What did I just tell you?" interrupted Elrohir impatiently. "Go on, master hobbit. Did he tell you why he thought he was sick?"

"It wasn't just his thinking!" cried Pippin. "I caught him throwing up in the stables in Bree the morning that we left and I know he's done it again, more than once, on the trip. He said that his body was falling apart and he couldn't control it anymore, or his emotions either. It's been - been going on for a few months now and h-h-he's not getting any b-b-b-b-better."

"Why didn't he tell me about this?" Aragorn demanded, risking his brother's wrath yet again.

"He didn't want you to know," sobbed Pippin. "He thought it would make you too worried and sad."

The door behind Elrohir opened. "He's awake," Elladan informed them, relief evident in his voice. Aragorn stormed past him into the room without so much as a word or a glance. "Estel?"

Elrohir pulled his twin out of the doorway. "We need to talk," he said, his eyes widening as realization hit.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Legolas was just getting settled again after sitting up in bed when Aragorn charged in, his face practically purple. He could hear Gimli yelling from the corridor, but the Man slammed the door before he could enter. "My love?" the elf asked cautiously.

"Really? Your love?" spat out Aragorn petulantly. "If I'm your love, then why didn't you tell me that you're so ill?"

"I'm –"

"Why didn't you tell me?! Why could you tell Pippin and not me?!"

"Wait one moment!" shot back Legolas, not about to just sit back and tolerate being yelled at. "I only told Pippin because he caught me. It wasn't like I was counting the days until I could confide everything to him! I didn't want to tell anyone!"

"Why would you want to keep such a thing a secret?" Aragorn was determined to get some answers, good or ill, from his husband.

"I didn't want to worry you!" cried Legolas. "All I wanted was for us to spend our last good days together in bliss rather than in tears."

"Well, I can understand that," mocked Aragorn sarcastically. "Why tell me in private, breaking the news as gently as possible so we can face it together, the way a couple should? It was so much better to hear from Bergil in front of the advisors' council that you just collapsed all of the sudden. How could I not see that before?"

"I was trying to protect you," Legolas snapped.

"I am your husband!" roared Aragorn, pouring all of his anguish and frustration into that one word. "We are supposed to be partners. You're supposed to trust me with everything. But you never have, had you? Not with this; you kept your mortality a secret at first too. After all these years, you still see me as that ten-year-old boy in Rivendell who needs to be protected from difficult things because he can't handle it."

Legolas' body was trembling violently. "That's not true!" he shrieked, his voice cracking as his eyes filled with tears. He cursed himself for falling apart like this but couldn't hold it back. "I know you can handle this or anything else, but you shouldn't have to! I've been nothing but a trouble and a burden ever since the first time I told you I love you. First my father presents you with almost impossible challenges before letting us get married, then I become mortal without even knowing it. I can't bear any children and now I'm ill. You should be with someone who doesn't have all of these problems. You can be once I'm – I'm gone."

Aragorn's mouth was hanging open. Was that really how Legolas saw his part in their relationship? "No," he declared passionately, sitting on the edge of the bed and grabbing Legolas' face with both hands. "Why are you saying these things? I could never fall in love with anyone but you. I would've pulled the sun out of the sky if that's what it took to marry you, and not because I thought you'd be immortal forever, never get sick, or fill the citadel with children. It's because I love you, even when you make me furious. Don't you understand? I wouldn't be me without you in my life."

"Oh Aragorn," Legolas sobbed, falling into his open arms. "I love you too."

"I know," Aragorn whispered, pressing a kiss into his hair. "Let it out, my love. You don't always have to be the strong one in this relationship."

What little was left of Legolas' composure crumpled. "I'm scared," he admitted. "Ai Elbereth, I don't want to die and leave you!"

Aragorn tightened his arms around him. "We don't know anything for certain yet," he comforted. "Whatever it is, we'll face it together. Just let me be strong for you."

The door opened slowly. Elrohir and Elladan came into the room, but Gimli scurried around them with a scowl. "Blasted elves blocking the door!" he growled at the twins before making his way to the bedside. "What's going on? Are you all right?" He turned his glare on Aragorn. "What were you thinking yelling at him like that?"

"I'm fine," assured Legolas, wiping someone the tears from his face. "Don't start in on Aragorn."

The hobbits had entered cautiously as well, followed by Faramir and Eowyn. "I had to tell them, Legolas," confessed Pippin. "I'm sorry."

Legolas smiled as reassuringly as he could. "That's quite all right, Pip."

"Sorry to interrupt," Elrohir broke in, "but we really, really need to examine something."

Elladan batted Aragorn away. "Back off, little brother," he instructed. "Elrohir's got a theory that would explain everything. He just has to confirm it."

Sliding off the bed reluctantly, Aragorn stood back just enough to give Elrohir room. "Is everything well?" Faramir asked him.

Aragorn's eyes didn't leave his husband as Elrohir helped him lie flat on his back. "It will be if I have any say in the matter."

Elrohir lifted Legolas' tunic and felt his stomach for several minutes. "Elladan!" he called out, his eyes alight with wonder. "Get over here now!"

Elladan hurried over and repeated his twin's examination. "Ai Elbereth!" he gasped. "By the Valar, you were right!"

"What?" Aragorn felt like he was going to burst.

"You're not ill, Legolas," Elrohir told him, barely able to contain his excitement.

"I'm not?" asked Legolas, not understanding his mood but feeling the tiniest bit of hope for the first time in months.

"No," confirmed Elrohir. "You're pregnant."

To be continued...

A/N: Wow, over 100 reviews already! You all seriously rock; I'm overwhelmed and grateful by all the positive responses I've gotten for this story. Thank you!