The Life You Left Behind
This pain is just too
real
There's just too much
that
Time cannot erase
- Evanescence, My
Immortal
Legolas sat beside the river, not seeing the scene before him through the thoughts that occupied his mind. He was dimly aware that the twins were trying to talk Haldir out of making them patrol the borders of the forest, when no one would set foot inside the borders of what had been Lothlorien. Dimly aware that Arwen had arrived from Minas Tirith, and lay in one of the rooms of the house they'd built around Galadriel and Celeborn's talon. But none of it seemed important, or real, at the moment.
All that was real was the pain lancing through his heart, that he struggled to ignore, or contain. He could not give into the grief of loosing his dear friend. There was still too much to do. And there were other friends. Gimli. Elledan and Elrohir. Haldir, if he'd ever let the arrogance he cloaked himself in drop for a moment. He couldn't leave them to pick up the pieces.
But they don't know. The secrets kept hidden at Minas Tirith, at Edoras, at Helm's Deep. The secrets those halls and towers will never release, not even to the passage of centuries. They can never know the secrets I promised to keep. For Arwen, for Eomer. For Aragorn, so many secrets kept.
He bowed his head, fighting the pain that threatened to overwhelm him. Shoving himself to his feet, he stalked away from the arguement that was steadily gaining volume, and into the house, where perhaps he'd find a moment of peace. Climbing the stairs, he paused at the one just at the top, his hand almost reaching to open it.
Legolas clenched his hand, turning on his heel to continue down the hall, closing the door to his own room with deceptive gentleness, before barring it. He wanted no one to disturb him; he wanted only to be left alone with his grief for the moment. I want only to forget. For a time, to forget.
FIN