When Friends Become Enemies

Disclaimer: Not much point in writing this, as I'm sure that if Tolkien were resurrected, it would be all over the news by now, and you would know that I, unfortunately, am not him.

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews, and look! I finally decided to update!

Aragorn made his way slowly up to the reception rooms (his leg still hurt slightly from the pin). As he walked thoughts rushed through his head. What does Lord Elrond want? What does it have to do with me? He was drawing closer to the doors of the room Elrond was waiting in, so he pushed the thoughts aside and made his way through the long halls and into the room.

"Aragorn!" Lord Elrond greeted him, "We were beginning to worry, what took you so long?"

Aragorn muttered something under his breath about Sauron rising again in the form of evil dressmakers, and took a seat. Elrond and Arwen exchanged puzzled looks.

"Aragorn…" Elrond seemed strangely hesitant.

"Go on," Aragorn encouraged him.

"It's Legolas, Aragorn." Aragorn blinked.

"What about him?"

"He's gone missing. His bow and quiver were found lying at the edge of the forest not an hour ago." Aragorn paled.

"No! But…but…that's impossible! We saw him two hours ago! We were with him!"

"I'm sorry Aragon." Elrond looked defeated, which only angered Aragorn further.

"But why are you here, then? You should be out looking for him! We all should!"

"Search parties have been sent out. Aragorn, you must swear to me that you will not go out looking for him! You must leave for Mirkwood immediately. If the elves were to find out that their prince was missing, that he'd been kidnapped! The results would be disastrous. You must pretend that you and Legolas are in Mirkwood, and that he is safe there. Can you do that for me, Aragorn? Can you do that for Legolas?"

Aragorn sank back into his chair, covering his face with his hands. When he removed them, his face was pale, and there was pain in his eyes.

"Yes." He swallowed. "Yes, I can."

xxx

The pain came again, ripping through Legolas like a knife. Once more he cried out in pain, hoping against hope that someone would rescue him, that someone would stop the pain. Once more he was ignored.

As he lay there, pain coursing through him, bleeding slowly, strings of thought floated through his head. In particular a song, the memory of which he thought he had lost as a child. His mother had sung it to him once, he remembered vaguely. In Elvin of course, but later he had learnt the translation into the common tongue.

Sleep my sweet one,
May the Valar protect your innocent soul,
Sleep my sweet one,
Sleep and dream.

Dream of peace,
My sweet one,
My sweet one,
Of days with green grasses and sunny shores,
Sleep my sweet one,
Sleep and dream.

Dream of happiness,
My sweet one,
My sweet one,
Of days when pain will be but a distant memory,
Sleep my sweet one,
And relish the dreams.

Soon you will be back,
Back to face the harsh realities of life,
But for now, my sweet one, my sweet one,
You sleep and dream.

The songs words echoed through Legolas's head. The words he had thought long forgotten, the words that had put him to sleep every night as a child, assuring him that he would live forever.

Pain does strange things to people. Those words too, echoed through his head, along with the song as he fell intounconsciousness.And with all the blood covering his face, all the dirt and grime, no one noticed a single tear slip from his eye, and fall to the ground.

Sleep my sweet one, my sweet one. Sleep and dream.

xxx

Thanks again for the reviews, and don't forget, the review button is just down there for any of you who have not reviewed yet, I appreciate every single one.