A/N: I'm so sorry I didn't get around to responding to you all for the last chapter! You were all wonderful, and gave me a lot of encouragement, but I just couldn't find the time… You see, in addition to the normal Christmas insanity, I've discovered Bad Thing No. 5: I woke up Christmas morning to find I had just what I'd always wanted - a moat! Unfortunately, said moat took the form of an inch of water that covered half our basement floor, including my bedroom :-P Anyways, I do plan on responding this time, come hell or high water! –flinches- I probably shouldn't be saying things like that, or they just might come true… -g-

See chapter one for disclaimers.

Chapter 16: Reflections

Never had he felt so torn.

Acharndil slipped quietly into the shadows, away from the fight. All was lost now… He felt his drive and desire for revenge make a brief, half-hearted effort to surge up again, but it quickly drained away. In the end he was left feeling oddly relieved. It was inexplicable, he should be crushed, disappointed, angry beyond words. He should be already making plans to return, to strike back harder than ever, to succeed. But he wasn't. He was relieved.

The last of his men were surrendering now, the Peredhils and their elven friends taking away their weapons. He'd tried twice now to avenge his family, and twice he had failed. There was something about these three brothers… They stuck to each other through everything, and somehow managed to survive everything together.

He smiled slightly, remembering what is was like to have a family, to have a worshipping little brother and loving parents. To have people who cared whether he lived or died. But they were all gone now and, for the first time he could remember, he felt peaceful about it. The insatiable void was still there, but now he finally realized that splitting up another family would never bring them back. Killing would only bring more pain, and never relieve his own.

There would have been a point―there had been a point― earlier, when he had pushed aside such thoughts with a vengeance. Causing these elves to suffer was what he had set out to do. Showing them mercy was not on his agenda, but bit by bit, he felt the fire inside him dying. He didn't want to kill, and he was tired of seeking vengeance. He was weary of hating.

However, as that hate died, he felt increasingly empty. Perhaps it was only to be expected. After so many years of centering all his energy and thought solely on this one purpose, how could he expect to feel normal now? Now that all his carefully laid plans were collapsing around him how could he simply shrug it off? He'd accepted long ago that he'd never go back to being normal, but now he felt not only empty but lost. Purposeless. He had nobody to turn to.

Frankly, he didn't know what he was going to do with himself now.

In an overwhelming tide of world-weary hopelessness, he considered turning himself over to the elves. They'd probably kill him. No, they would kill him. But that wouldn't be the worst that could happen… Death was looking more and more attractive. Besides, there was the possibly he could bargain or plead with the elves for his men's lives. He considered the suicidal option dispassionately.

He was preparing to step from the shadows and reveal himself, but hesitated when his eye was caught by Aragorn. The young ranger was walking away from the clearing towards the fire. As he disappeared between two crates, he heard one of the elves call after him, "Hurry, Estel."

His curiosity now piqued, and beyond caring what happened to himself, Acharndil followed. The ranger was calling to his friend, searching frantically. Through the smoke he could just see him now, crouched down next to a fallen beam, and he could just make out the prince's golden hair and pale face, as he lay trapped beneath it. Predictably, the ranger began to push and strain desperately.

Watching the heart-wrenching scene in from of him, a sudden understanding flooded him, and he knew. He knew what he had to do.

With a calmness he had not felt in a long time, he stepped forward. "Stop."

Neither of them had noticed his approach. Even in his surprise, the ranger didn't pause from his task, but his head did turn sharply at the sound of his voice. Aragorn eyed him with a mixture of increasing horror and desperation. It was easy to see what he was thinking. From the ground, the elf watched apprehensively, his expressive blue eyes dilated by pain. A flicker of aching guilt passed over his face as he exchanged a glance with his friend, as if silently asking for forgiveness.

They both thought he was going to kill them. The thought brought a gentle inward smile to Acharndil. He held up his hand in a placating gesture "Wait." Not saying another word to still their fears, he merely stepped over to the beam, crouching next to Aragorn, and putting his own hands under it. "On the count of three we both lift," he said, in a commanding voice.

Aragorn's expression changed from horror to bewilderment as his enemy―the man responsible for their predicament... but he wasn't about to argue where Legolas' life was at stake. He nodded mutely. On the count of three, both men pulled with all their might. The beam rose slowly.

As soon as he felt the pressure lift, Legolas summoned his last reserves of strength and forced his arms to work, half-pulling, half-scrambling backwards until he was out of the way. The two men let go of the beam, and it crashed to the ground.

Aragorn rushed to his side. "Mellon-nin, can you walk?"

"Yes, I think so," Legolas said, forcing himself to sound confident, although he wasn't so certain himself. He proved his own words wrong moments later, his legs giving way before he was fully upright.

From the way Legolas' face turned from pale to grey, Aragorn knew the reality of his friend's condition. "Legolas, here…let me help you." In his distraction over Legolas, he completely forgot about Acharndil, standing behind them.

Gratefully, Legolas took the proffered shoulder, allowing Aragorn to loop his arm around his neck. Simultaneously, they both remembered Acharndil, and turned their heads to look.

Acharndil smiled at them, but said nothing. He hadn't been looking this far ahead when he'd first decided to come to their aid. Now he didn't have any idea what reason he could give them for his seemingly sudden change of heart. But he wasn't given a chance. There was a deafening crack from above as part of the roof collapsed, and he found himself crashing forward, sharp pain shooting up his spine.

Two worried sets of eyes lighted on him.

Aragorn hesitantly began lowering Legolas back to the ground, uncertainty and gratitude warring within him. "Acharndil…"

Acharndil cut him off. "No, don't wait for me, go! You must get out of here quickly! I'll be right behind you."

Pausing for only a second, Aragorn's eyes locked with his, and then he ran. After only a few steps, he was practically carrying Legolas. Coughing and choking, they waded through the dense smoke.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Elladan turned sharply to face the burning building. "Eru, no, they're both still in there… What have I done?" he whispered, the horror of how much his forgetfulness might cost stealing his breath away.

Obstinately, Elrohir refused to let his brother linger on the thought. "If they are, then we're just going in after them, that's all," he said, taking a firm step forward, his face indomitable. "We haven't come this far to lose them now."

"Let me go, my Lords."

Elladan and Elrohir were startled to hear the younger elf, usually so flamboyant and spontaneous, speak so quietly and formally.

Elrohir looked into the somber brown depths of Dinerion's usually smiling eyes. "Hannon le, mellon-nín, but I think this is something we must do ourselves…" He trailed off as his eyes were caught by movement between them and the warehouse. His eyes went wide. "El, they're cutting us off!"

Two men were hurrying to pull away the wooden walkways connecting the warehouse to the surrounding town. An excellent measure to prevent the further spread of the fire, but it had the unfortunate side-effect of trapping Estel and Legolas on the wrong side.

Even before Elrohir had cried out, Elladan was rushing forward, shouting to the men to stop. "Stop! Stop now! Don't pull that away!"

The men looked up in surprise at the elf running at them. "Is something wrong?" the eldest man asked, as Elladan, with Elrohir and Dinerion in tow, came to a halt next to them.

"You must put the planks back up! My brother's still in there—and Legolas!"

At mention of Legolas' name, the grizzled man's face paled visibly. "The Prince…" When Eathol had recruited them for this job, he hadn't told them much, and the little he had told them had been confusing. The only thing he knew with any clarity was that they were to bring Legolas, King Thranduil's son, back safely. "My Lords, forgive me," he stammered. "We thought that everyone was out…" The man was clearly frightened, if not personally for Legolas, than certainly out of sincere enough reasons.

There was the sound of breaking wood, and over on the other side, Aragorn came stumbling out of the smoke, supporting Legolas on one arm.

"Estel!" the twins called at once.

Elladan looked at the old man with something approaching a glare. "Get that board back in place—now."

The man was already shouting orders. Two more men scrambled forward to obey, helping to move the awkward plank back across the open space that stretched between them and the stranded building.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Kadrin watched the frantic proceedings to rescue Aragorn and Legolas. He shifted in his bonds, rotating his shoulders, andgrimacing at the way the ropes bit into his bloodied wrist. His arms were already beginning to ache from the rough way his guard had twisted them tightly behind his back.

The aforementioned guard shot him a dark look. Kadrin looked back coolly, and the man narrowed his eyes in a meaningful glare. Kadrin rolled his eyes disdainfully, seemingly resigned to his situation and obviously annoyed. After giving him one last suspicious glance, the other man's eyes were drawn once again to the fire.

Kadrin smirked. What was it about fire that was so entrancing? All around him, his captors were paying more and more attention to the flickering building, and less and less to their prisoners.

These people, they never looked beyond the obvious. Of course they'd searched for weapons, and they had found the knife in his boot, as he'd expected. The cleverly hidden onestrapped underhis sleeve had also been discovered, but that too had not been entirely unforeseen. It was of no consequence. Even if the weapons had remained undiscovered, he could have reached none of them without being noticed, tied as he was.

It was time to implement his backup plan.

Contrary to what most people might believe, the care he took with his clothes and appearance was more than mere vanity. Each article of clothing he wore had been carefully selected, and in some cases specially made, to fulfill some purpose. The belt he was wearing at the moment was no exception.

Made of black leather, it had small medal studs at regular intervals along its length. A rather ordinary belt, really, nothing to be taken notice of once the rope and daggers that usually hung from it had been removed. At least, that what anyone who searched him for weapons would think. And they would be right—if it weren't for the fact that the stud that currently rested at the center of his back was not just a piece of decorative metal.

After one more quick glance around to make sure no one was watching him too closely, he grasped the small piece of metal and began to pull it sideways. The small sharp blade, which had been sheathed between the two layers of leather that made up the belt, silently slid free. It took a few tedious moments of rubbing his wrists back and forth, but at last the rope gave way.

Now this was much better.

TBC…

Well, there it is! Things are drawing to a close now - only about two more chapters left, I think. Again, I'm terribly sorry for not responding to your incredible reviews! I appreciate them more than I can say - LOL, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to try saying it anyways. Thank you all so much!

Next chapter should be up Friday, as usual.

I hope everyone has a Happy New Year!