A/N;

I have taken the liberty of creating a time difference between Middle-Earth and Mandos. The inspiration came from Gandalf's line "and everyday was as long as a life age of the Earth" from The Two Towers. Also, the dead cannot physically talk to those in Limbo and a spirit's surroundings depend on their emotional state, hence the switch.

CHAPTER FIVE

Eldarion did nothing short of panic when his guardian collapsed. The nine-year-old turned to Elboron who looked equally panicked.

"Get Ada!" yelled the younger boy. Elboron nodded and sprinted away while Eldarion tried to rouse the silver-Elf.

"Haldir? Haldir wake up," muttered Eldarion, shaking Haldir's shoulder. "Haldir please, you're scaring me!" Haldir lay motionless on the ground, his face pale in the moonlight and his eyes closed. His breathing was shallow and when Eldarion brushed a lock of hair from his face, the boy winced at the chill of his skin. Wait a minute – cold? Elves only went cold when…

"Haldir!" cried the child.

"Eldarion!" called Aragorn as he came running with Elboron and Glorfindel. He paled at the sight of Haldir unconscious beside his son. He went straight to his knees and into healer mode, checking Haldir's vital signs.

"Haldir, don't you dare leave. You promised," muttered Aragorn when he felt his friend's skin. "She wouldn't want this!"

"What's wrong with him?" asked Glorfindel.

"He's fading," replied Aragorn, scooping up the Elf.

"NO!" cried Elboron and Eldarion.

"I will try and save him but most of this is up to him," stated Aragorn, before carrying the Elf back to the Citadel. Distraught, Eldarion and Elboron sprinted back to the Main Hall to find their mothers.

As soon as both women saw their sons, they knew something was the seriously wrong, especially considering Elboron had come tearing into the Hall minutes before hand to say that Haldir had collapsed.

"Mamma!" cried Eldarion, and literally flung himself at his mother. Arwen gathered her son to her and held him as he sobbed into her shoulder.

"What's happened?" asked Arwen, rubbing a hand along the boys spine in an attempt to calm him. Eldarion refused to speak but buried his face further into the fabric of Arwen's dress.

"Hush, my darling. Tell me what's happened. Why are you so upset?"

"Haldir," wept Elboron who was in an equally distressed state in Éowyn's arms. Not surprisingly, they were attracting attention from the other guests and not all of them were showing compassion for the youngsters.

"Family room," suggested Éowyn noticing this first. "Now." Together Queen and Lady led their distraught sons to the small adjoining room, while Faramir and Éomer took control of the events in the Hall.

Once the boys were seated by the fire, Arwen asked her question again.

"Haldir collapsed," replied Eldarion in a quiet voice, clinging to Elboron for support. Elboron in his turn was holding tightly to Eldarion. "Ada said he's fading." Arwen's eyes flashed with concern for the second time that evening. Éowyn, who was not familiar with all things Elven, looked confused.

"Fading?" she questioned.

"He's dying," murmured Arwen, not wanting to distress either boy any further. Both of them were huddled together as tightly as possible, Eldarion's face buried in Elboron's shoulder while Elboron's cheek was resting on the top of Eldarion's head.

"Are we intruding?" questioned Pippin, as he and Merry poked their heads around the door. Arwen motioned the young hobbits inside and the first thing they caught sight of was their two young friends curled so tightly it was almost impossible to tell where one started and the other finished.

"What's happened? And where's Strider?" asked Merry.

"Haldir has collapsed. Aragorn is tending to him," replied Arwen.

"Haldir collapsed? That's impossible, he's an Elf. He can't become ill!" protested Pippin.

"Yes he can," murmured Eldarion raising his head slightly. "He can die if he wants."

"Eldarion, he won't die," said Pippin, kneeling in front of the boys. "He promised Kalya that he would protect you. How is he supposed to do that if he is dead?" His only answer was a shrug.

"Can I pretend to be an adult?" asked Merry. Another shrug. "Kalya once told me that I was to hold on to the hope in my heart and let the Gods do the rest. You two have to believe that Haldir won't die. If you give up now, then there is nothing left for him to keep fighting for."

Pippin stared at his cousin; "Since when did you become so wise?"

"I didn't!" protested Merry. "I am just telling them what Kalya told me!"

Elboron smiled weakly at the two hobbits and glanced down at Eldarion's raven head. "He's right," he murmured, moving the younger boy's head so that their eyes met. "Haldir will have nothing fight for if we give him up for dead."

"I don't want to lose him too. Not this fast!" whispered Eldarion. Elboron re-embraced his friend.

"We won't lose him," muttered the tawny-haired boy and nuzzled his nose into the hair just above Eldarion's ear.

"I think what you two need is a bed," said Éowyn, standing up. The boys disentangled themselves and unsteadily got to their feet.

"Would you two like to stay together tonight?" asked Arwen, as they arrived at Elboron's bedchamber door. Both boys nodded, equally glad that it had been Arwen who had suggested the idea. The thought of one asking the other to stay with them that night was a little embarrassing.

"Go and wash your faces while I fetch your sleep clothes," said Arwen, disappearing into room two doors down the corridor.

Within fifteen minutes, both Gondorian heirs were ready for bed and curled together under the blue spread on Elboron's bed. Like before, they were laying close but not touching. However as Éowyn blew out the last candle in the room, both women noticed Elboron wrap an arm over Eldarion's shoulder and Eldarion move into the welcoming warmth. The Elven Queen smiled as she was reminded of Aragorn and Kalya when they had been children in Imladris.

"Garo bost vaer, pin dithin nîn," she whispered and clicked the door shut. Sleep well, my little ones

Aragorn had marched as fast as he could to Haldir's guest chamber, all the while muttering to Haldir that he better still be alive. Reaching the room, Aragorn began demanding hot water, Cayenne ointment, Athelas leaves and linen cloths.

Stripping out of his heavy robes so that he was dressed only in leggings and a loose shirt, Aragorn knelt beside the bed. "Haldir, please don't do this!" he whispered, taking hold of his friend's hand and rubbing the chilled skin. "Don't give in!"

The servant girls arrived back in the room, one carrying a copper basin of water, the other a bundle of Athelas leaves and a jar of ointment. Quickly Aragorn made the Athelas infusion and set the steaming basin on the table beside Haldir's head, before seeping a cloth in the water and opening Haldir's tunic laid it on to the pale chest. Opening the jar of Cayenne, Aragorn stripped Haldir's torso and began to massage the ointment into the skin, hoping to increasing the heat and anchoring the Elf to Middle-Earth, all the time murmuring to him in Elvish.

Haldir felt like he was floating. He was surrounded by a white fog which began to clear. As it did so, he found himself surrounded by trees in their autumn state, the brown, red and golden leaves rustling gently in a breeze which lifted his hair slightly, the occasional leaf fluttering to the ground. The air smelt of fresh fallen rain mingled with honeysuckle. For the first time in three years Haldir felt completely at peace.

Ahead of him two figures burst from the trees, one a male with deep chestnut brown hair, flying loose at his shoulders, weather-beaten skin and pewter eyes. The other was a female with raven hair which was pulled back on top of her head, bronzed skin and cobalt-blue eyes. Both were laughing and as Haldir watched, the male threw himself at his companion and tackled her to the ground. The female shrieked in surprise as the two landed on the ground among the fallen leaves where the male proceeded to tickled her torso. In that instant Haldir knew who he was seeing – Halbarad, former Commander of the Dúnedain Ranger and Kalya, his beloved charge.

"Halbarad! Kalya!" cried Haldir joyfully and began to move towards them. Suddenly he hit against something which prevented his movement forward. Both Dúnedain looked up at the approaching figure and Kalya's cheerful expression disappeared and the laughed died in her eyes. Kalya looked at the Elf sadly and shook her head. She began to retreat backwards when Haldir called out again.

"Kalya wait! I can't do it anymore!" his peaceful mood dissipating to be replaced with panic. He struggled against invisible barrier that was keeping them separated. "You don't know what it is like!"

Kalya cocked her head and images flashed in front of Haldir's eyes. They were faces. Faces of the people Kalya had lost and in most cases she had witnessed them die - Boromir, Halbarad, Orophin, Finduilas, Denethor, Théoden, Thengel, Arathorn, Gilraen, and they were only the ones who Haldir could name instantly.

"You don't know what it is like to lose a child!" exclaimed Haldir.

More images flashed in front of Haldir – Kalya holding Boromir as he swore his oath to Aragorn before falling silent and still. Of Théoden, pinned down by his grey steed, Snowmane, drawing his last breath.

A wave crashed around Haldir's feet and looking around he realised that the peaceful forest had chanced to a stormy beach. "I can't cope anymore Kalya! You were my last tie to Arda, when you left I began to fade. You knew that and still you made me promise to stay there! To protect your nephew who has everything he could ever want!"

From what Haldir could see of Kalya's face, she looked livid. Turning sharply, Kalya headed for a little cove that was not disturbed by the raging Sea. Haldir, unable to think of anything else to do followed her as far as he could. Kalya pointed to the water at his feet.

Haldir sighed and looked into the pool of clear water. The scene which played out in the water caused him to choke. Unlike the flashes of Kalya's memory he had seen in the forest, these images were what was actually happening. Without realising what he was doing Haldir sank to his knees.

Aragorn was holding vigil beside his unconscious body, murmuring something in Elvish but Haldir could not discern the words. Shimmering the pool next showed Eldarion being held and comforted by Arwen, tears streaming down the young boy's face as he sat curled at the end of Haldir's bed.

"He's grieving? They're grieving for me?" asked Haldir, glancing up at the face of his charge. Kalya nodded, her temper seeming to fade, the seascape remained but the sky clear and water calm. At the same time Haldir felt himself float once more. The seascape was fading, as was Kalya when he heard her speak.

"He is still a child Haldir yet he has suffered more loses than he should have. He still has much to still to see and to be and to do. He will be a great leader one day but he cannot do that without help. Unless you shut me out, I will always be in your heart."

Eldarion lay in a foetal position at Haldir's side. His head was resting on Haldir's chest, listening to the slow heartbeat. When he was younger, the steady drumming had calmed him into sleep but not this time. The Elf's heartbeat was too weak and his breathing could barely be registered. Eldarion was terrified that he was about to lose yet another family member. Kalya had been the first and then his grandfather, Lord Elrond, has sailed over the Sea never to be seen by Eldarion again. Now he was losing Haldir as well and he simply couldn't take it. Shifting his head, he pressed a hand over Haldir's heart.

"Please come back!" he pleaded. "You said that you would always be there for me when I needed you. Well I need you now! Please come back."

He continued to plead, with Haldir, to the Valar, even Kalya for the Elf to come back, until he suddenly gasped. He thought he had felt a hand brush his back, but the touch was so light and he was so desperate for comfort that he was convinced he had imagined it. Then the touch came again, stronger and it lasted longer. Eldarion lifted his head to look at Haldir.

And gasped again.

Response to reviewers;

IwishChan; No problem, your review was appreciated all the same. The gifts caused a bit of a problem, for a start I completely forgot about them until I was due to update! Then there was the problem of what do you give to a King? But I got there, eventually!

The Lady of Light; Glad to have you back. Haldir collapsing – I was emotional when I was writing it, I hate writing angst but there was no way that I was going to get around it in this part of the tale. Happier times to come!

Haldir's Heart and Soul; (evil cackle) Your reaction was the one that I was looking for!

CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur; (heaves sigh of relief) I'm not sure about Haldir having a partner. I do know that his brother has a family but Haldir…..I'm not promising either way.

Kamui Gaia 07; I agree and as such he is one hell of a character to write. Should become easier as I grow more comfortable doing so.