Drabble Two: Fall Not for Me
"NO!"
The word tore from my throat as I saw you fall.
Stubborn, foolish elf.
My life is not worth yours.
You are an elf, I am merely a man.
You are destined to live forever while I will pass into shadow.
Why?
Why must you always throw yourself into danger for me?
The enemy presses their attack, but I refuse to yield an inch to them, fighting to defend myself and avenge you.
When they are at last destroyed, I turn to find you.
"Legolas?"
My voice is tight with fear.
You lie as though dead, golden hair tangled and bloody.
I kneel beside your body, praying to the Valar that you still live.
Your eyes snap open as I feel for your pulse, their pain-filled gaze brimming with something akin to triumph.
You have saved me, yet again.
The arrow is embedded in your shoulder…merely inches from piercing your heart.
Though mine would have shattered had you fallen.
"Legolas."
Now my voice is filled with reproach. Half-relieved, half-angered I cut away the bloodied scraps of your tunic.
"Estel?"
That infuriating quirk of your eyebrow…as though this were merely an everyday occurrence for you.
Which, despite my best efforts, it is.
"You should not have done that."
I am filled with remorse and guilt—why should you take an arrow meant for me?
You grab my arm, sudden ferocity in your gaze.
"I would die for you any day."
Your words are filled with conviction, your allegiance to me unshakable.
But I cannot allow what almost happened.
"Fall not for me, my friend."
My whisper can barely be heard above my turmoil, but it is your reply that shatters me.
"If not for you, then whom?"