A/N: The title for this chapter comes from the song "The End of the Innocence" by Don Henley. I don't ususally do this, but here is the entire song and not just the relevant verses because it matches the tone of both this chapter and the next:

Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky
Didn't have a care in the world
With mommy and daddy standin' by
But "happily ever after" fails
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyer dwell on small details
Since daddy had to fly

But I know a place where we can go
That's still untouched by men
We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind
You can lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence

O'beautiful, for spacious skies
But now those skies are threatening
They're beating plowshares into swords
For this tired old man that we elected king
Armchair warriors often fail
And we've been poisoned by these fairy tales
The lawyers clean up all details
Since daddy had to lie

But I know a place where we can go
And wash away this sin
We'll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind
Just lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair spill all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocnece

Who knows how long this will last
Now we've come so far, so fast
But, somewhere back there in the dust
That same small town in each of us
I need to remember this
So baby give me just one kiss
And let me take a long last look
Before we say goodbye

Just lay your head back on the ground
And let your hair fall all around me
Offer up your best defense
But this is the end
This is the end of the innocence

Aragorn was old enough to know that time alters most memories. Sometimes it took mere hours, sometimes days or months, sometimes years, but in the end it stretches them, makes them fade, and changes them so much that the day comes when a person reminiscing can no longer be sure what is factual and what is simply the product of wishes and imagination. However, the Man also knew that there were a few memories that were just too cherished to allow time to ravage them. Those were meant to be played over and over again in the mind so that they never fade. One never got tired of them either, for those memories were more often than not of the best times in a person's life – times that could never happen again.

For Aragorn there was one such memory that he jealously guarded from any alteration no matter how much the outside world tried to make him forget it. Marriage to Arwen, the constant pressure of Elrond to let go of the past, and the former wanderer's stifling new responsibilities to the people of Gondor robbed him of most of the things that he held dear in his previous life but they could not have his memories. Nor did he ever try to improve it in any way even though there were some things that he would have done differently if he'd ever been offered the chance. No, he would risk no harm to the recollection, lest he lose the realism of it. Aragorn was certain that he would lose his mind if ever the day came when he couldn't remember the first time that he and Legolas made love in painstaking detail.

Flashback

The events of the previous night and following morning caused several emotions to jumble inside of Aragorn's mind: weariness from continuous battle without rest; soreness for the same reason; a crushing sort of grief over the Men, elves, and little boys that had died in the defense of Helm's Deep; and finally elation at their unexpected against-all-odds victory. Gandalf had come in the nick of time as he promised – as he usually tended to do – bringing Eomer and a host of Rohirrim to aid the refugees in their darkest hour. Now that the women and children were being led out of the caves, joyous reunions and painful searches through the corpses for loved ones were happening all around him. Aragorn didn't join in all of this, though; he was too busy searching the battle grounds for any sign of Legolas – his Legolas.

The Man shivered with delight just thinking about the gorgeous elf as his. Whatever else happened during the War Aragorn knew that all of his deeds were already worth it because they brought him and Legolas to the perfect point where they stopped masking their feelings for one another and declared their love. He could scarcely believe it: after decades of separation and almost making the biggest mistake of his life by committing to Arwen when he didn't love her, he and Legolas were reunited at last. Aragorn could still feel the elf prince's passionate kiss on his lips and hear him say that he loved him.

Thank Elbereth that his newly-recovered love hadn't fallen in battle along with the rest of the elves! There had been moments when Aragorn lost sight of Legolas and feared the worst but the elf always turned up again (often, Aragorn mused with chagrin, to save the Man's life). While they still needed to keep their love a secret out of respect for Arwen - it being unseemly to start a new relationship so quickly after another one had just ended - Aragorn felt like he was on top of the world. Now that they had lived through the night and emerged victorious it seemed as if there wasn't anything that he couldn't do.

Anything, apparently, except locate Legolas. Aragorn sent a silent thanks to the Valar that he knew for a fact that the elf still lived. Otherwise he would have been going insane searching through the bodies of the fallen and cursing himself for waiting to declare his true feelings until it was too late to share more than a few stolen moments together. No, the Man had seen Legolas slip away with Gimli when the women and children started pouring out of the fortress after whispering something about checking scores and not being in the way. Aragorn knew him well enough to realize that Legolas didn't want to witness the happiness and mourning that was about to happen as family members learned each other's fates, not so soon after watching so many of his own race perish.

'I should be with him,' thought Aragorn with a little annoyance. He'd actually started to follow the two away from the Rohirrim but Eowyn had chosen that moment to come out of the caves and immediately hurried to block his path. Overjoyed at the sight of the Man she believed she loved (though Aragorn couldn't see how that was possible – she barely knew him, after all) still alive, she'd gaped openmouthed before grabbing his face excitedly. For one horrible moment he'd feared that she was going to kiss him and therefore complicate matters by forcing him to reject her outright. Thankfully, though, she'd settled on giving him an uncomfortably long and overly familiar embrace before sprinting off to reunite with her older brother. That was perfectly all right with Aragorn – now that Eomer and Eowyn were occupying each other's attentions and Gandalf was in deep discussion with Theoden about what the next move should be he had the chance to slip off with Legolas unnoticed and unmissed.

There! Four Rohirrim obstructing his view picked up the corpse of an uruk-hai and moved it to one of the body piles, revealing Legolas talking to a seated Gimli not too far away. Aragorn watched and became unusually excited as the elf caressed his bow fondly. As Arwen had never awoken any passion within him, it had been a long time since he'd been aroused by anyone without feeling guilty about it. 'This is freedom,' Aragorn realized. 'This is love. Two people who can touch each other without it being seen as disrespectful. There is no one on a pedestal in this relationship; just Legolas, me, and the way that we feel about each other. Oh, he couldn't wait until they were finally alone!

Aragorn could tell by the shift in the prince's expression and the way that his eyes slid up to Gimli's face that his and Legolas' time alone together had better come soon. Obviously the dwarf had said something that had hit a nerve within the elf, stirring a stubborn and aggressive nature that was more often than not best left undisturbed. The Man started to make his way over to the bickering duo when Legolas readied an arrow in one fast, fluid motion and let it loose…at Gimli?

The ranger breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that the shot had landed just under him. Still, Gimli wouldn't be happy that Legolas had aimed so close to that particular part of his body, nor would he be pleased by the little act of aggression. In fact, if the way that he was yanking at his axe was any indication Aragorn would have to intervene quickly. It would be devastating if they ended up killing each other after all that they'd just been through.

He sprinted over to the pair as quickly as he could, just in time to hear Gimli yell: "…imbedded in his nervous system!" Carefully placing himself between them, Aragorn held out both hands in a peaceful and restraining gesture. "How now, my friends?" he asked in a soothing voice. "Has there not been enough war and bloodshed already? Why do you two find it necessary to turn your weapons on each other?"

"Aragorn," greeted Gimli with his usual gruffness as he looked over the Man's shoulder to give Legolas a disapproving, almost paternal, frown. "I'm glad you're finally here. Perhaps you can talk this stubborn elf into admitting that I bested him in our killing game? As it is he's shooting orcs that are already dead in a desperate attempt to match my number."

"One orc," stressed Legolas. "I shot one orc that was twitching so much that it was entirely plausible to believe that he was just about to jump up and kill you. Don't go making it sound as if you killed a whole legion more than me and I'm shooting the carcass piles in order to catch up."

"One orc, one hundred orcs – the number doesn't matter," said Gimli in a flippant tone. "I beat you; now act like a dwarf and admit it out loud."

Legolas' eyebrows shot up almost to his hairline. "Like a dwarf?" he asked incredulously. "Since when have dwarves been renowned for their ability to concede defeat?"

Gimli narrowed his eyes in response. "Well, I'd rather be a stubborn and victorious dwarf than a pointy-eared elvish princeling who's a sore loser."

"Peace, peace!" cried Aragorn as Legolas made a move forward as if he was about to pummel the dwarf. He was tempted to burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of two seasoned warriors squabbling like children but one look at Legolas' face told him that he would do better to keep his mouth shut. At least now he had an idea about what Gimli had said to infuriate his lover so. "Let's not debate this now, master dwarf. I desire to speak with Legolas for a time and I'm sure that you're very hungry. Why don't you find some food? By the time we meet up again I'm certain that you two will be able to resolve this matter as friends."

For a moment it looked as if Gimli was about to protest; then his stomach grumbled loudly and he settled for patting it comfortingly. "Sounds like a plan to me," he agreed reluctantly. "I deal with annoying princelings better on a full stomach anyway. Maybe you'll have better luck in getting that laddie under control."

Again Legolas' expression clouded over but Aragorn just nodded amiably and the dwarf took off. "So," said the Man with a bit of a smirk on his face when he was certain that Gimli was far enough away not to overhear them. "You're a 'pointy-eared elvish princeling', huh?"

"Of all the ways he could have described me he had to pick that one," complained Legolas as he rolled his eyes. "I can handle being called 'pointy-eared' – they do point – and there's no insult in calling me elvish no more than there is in me calling him a dwarf, but princeling?"

"He doesn't know," Aragorn tried to placate him.

"I must have told him at some point," Legolas continued to grouse. "Isn't it enough that my father has always referred to my title as 'princeling' even in formal settings without Gimli latching on to it as well? Never 'Prince Legolas' but always 'Legolas, Mirkwood's princeling' – do I look like a child to you?"

"No," answered Aragorn honestly. "You look like someone I need to squire off to some out-of-the-way place before I kiss you in front of everyone because, quite frankly, once I start I won't be stopping for a long time."

The look on the elf's face instantly changed from one of righteous annoyance to that of barely hindered desire. "There are many small rooms inside the fortress and everyone appears to be gathering out here," he pointed out eagerly, grabbing Aragorn's arm discreetly. "I suggest that we find one of these as quickly as we can, for I ache to feel your lips against mine once more."

They rushed inside as fast as they could without arousing suspicion or questions and set out immediately to find a room that would suit their needs. In the end it didn't take them that long to find an unoccupied one that was a corridor away from the main hallway, giving them even more privacy. It was on the small side – only big enough to hold one table without any chairs – but to the couple it looked absolutely perfect.

The door had barely closed and locked behind them before Aragorn seized Legolas in his arms, capturing his lips in a soul-bearing kiss. "We're finally alone," the Man murmured when the need for air forced them to part a little. "We haven't been alone since that summer in Mirkwood."

Legolas traced the ranger's chin with his fingertips. "Aragorn," he breathed, his lips brushing against Aragorn's as he whispered the name.

It was like Legolas was kissing him with his words. Aragorn found this too tantalizing for their mouths to be separated any longer and kissed him again. Gently urging Legolas' lips apart, he massaged the elf's tongue with his own and drank in the cries of pleasure that were coming from the back of his throat while using his hands to rub large circles up and down his back. It felt so good, better than anything that they'd done when they were still young and innocent in Mirkwood. Aragorn finally understood why people claimed that they could be driven mad with lust; he could feel himself losing control when…. "My love?" asked the Man, confused as his palm rested against a strange lump on the small of Legolas' back. "What is this?"

"That?" asked Legolas as if he were stalling for time, which of course Aragorn knew that he was. "It's nothing, really – just a little…well, just a little knife."

A knife? Questions swirled around in Aragorn's mind and he settled on asking the most obvious one. "Why are you carrying a knife around with you there?"

"Aragorn, you must never let anyone else know about this, but I've always carried it back there," the elf informed him. "Ada insisted upon it since the day he gave it to me."

"But I don't remember you taking anything out from the small of your back when Gandalf had us comply with Hama's order to surrender our weapons when we first arrived at Meduseld." Aragorn's perplexed expression gave way to a wicked grin when Legolas just blinked at him. "Gandalf doesn't know about it, does he?"

Legolas shook his head. "No one does," he replied, "except Ada and now you."

"Clever!" said Aragorn with a mixture of admiration and horror. "Dangerous also – what would the guards have done if they'd found out that you were still armed? – but still, it was clever nonetheless."

"I wasn't trying to endanger the four of us in any way," insisted Legolas. "Ada told me to keep it an absolute secret so that no matter what I would always have at least one advantage over my adversaries. Aragorn, please swear to me that you will tell no one."

Aragorn planted an almost ridiculously chaste peck on the tip of his nose. "I would never betray your confidence like that," he assured him while he explored the knife's handle through Legolas' tunic. "That's really something, Legolas. I marvel that you can manage to sit down with the blade right there."

"I haven't been," replied Legolas with a laugh. "Well, I can if I have to but I've found that I don't have to all that often. Except when I ride Arod of course, and the way one sits on a horse is different to the way that one sits when they're just relaxing. It's difficult to get comfortable with the knife in the position that it's in."

"Well, since you'll need to be comfortable here I'll just have to take care of it," reasoned the Man as he lifted Legolas' tunic and removed the knife, tossing it aside. In doing so, his fingers brushed against the elf's flesh. Aragorn felt a thrill course through him when he felt Legolas tremble. "I have never felt anything as smooth and perfect as your skin." He moved his fingers around just enough to tickle Legolas' flesh. "May I touch more of it, please?"

"Yes, oh yes," gasped Legolas. He leaned back into Aragorn's exciting caresses as the Man lightly traced lines and patterns into his back – teasing and never enough. "It feels like you're lighting fires in my skin wherever you touch me. I burn for you, my love."

Never before had he seen Legolas lose control of his emotions on such a high level. It made Aragorn feel drunk with giddiness and recklessness. He wondered what else he could do to further the prince's spiral into chaotic ecstasy. "Legolas –" he began but couldn't find the words. He would just let his touches do the talking and back off apologetically if his love objected to them.

With slightly shaking hands Aragorn ran his fingers across the elf's back and down to his sides. Pausing briefly to stroke them lovingly, he then drew his hand up Legolas' chest until he felt his nipples at his fingertips. Very slowly and cautiously to give Legolas time to tell him no, Aragorn started circling them and gazed with reverent awe at Legolas' reaction. The elf sucked in some air and fell back until he was perching on the edge of the table. No objections came forth so the Man began to gently tweak the responsive nipples into hard nubs.

His efforts were rewarded when Legolas let out a choked sob. "Aragorn," the prince whispered. He bit his lip, seemingly at war with himself for a minute before continuing. "I cannot bear this any longer."

"I'm sorry," Aragorn apologized immediately as he started pulling his hand away.

Legolas caught him by the wrist before the ranger could move. "You misunderstand," he said quietly. "I – I need for you to touch me."

"I am touching you," murmured Aragorn, leaning forward to rumble into his pointed ear.

"No, mela," said Legolas almost solemnly. "The fire has spread. I need for you to touch me. The ache is so powerful that I will surely lose my mind if you don't."

Aragorn had to pause for a moment to catch his breath and compose himself. He could feel the tension in Legolas' body, as if the elf was holding back a flood of emotions. Aragorn had to see them. Hesitantly pulling his hand out from under his tunic to give Legolas the time to change his mind if he needed to, he reached down and untied the elf's leggings. Legolas swallowed a gasp when Aragorn stuck one hand inside and started to worship the flesh there. "Is this all right?" the Man asked a little nervously.

"It's more than all right; it's the most glorious thing –" Legolas' voice cut off as he threw his head back with a cry.

How Aragorn felt before when Legolas brushed their lips together while whispering his name was nothing compared to the desire he felt watching the elf coming undone by his touch. He immediately attached his mouth to the exposed neck, kissing, sucking, and licking all while he continued his ministrations and relished in the prince's every broken cry. "Yes – Ai, Elbereth, yes – it's – it's so good – too good – my love – ai – you make me – feel – as I, I never have – before. So incre-incredible – my dearest – ai!"

Warmth covered Aragorn's hand at the last passionate cry. He tenderly removed it from the elf's leggings and took Legolas, sated and breathing heavily, into his arms. "I take you that you liked it?" he asked with affectionate teasing.

"So much," confirmed Legolas, moving away just enough so that he could smile up at him.

The way he looked, the sound of physical fulfillment in his voice, the way he made the Man feel – all of it was making Aragorn keenly aware of both the throbbing in his heart and also somewhere else. It wouldn't be…proper to ask for what he so desperately wanted and there were so many reasons not to bring it up at all. After all, he couldn't love Legolas more and he didn't want him thinking that the Man was only after his body. Yet after the miracle of winning the battle and in the face of the horrors that the future would surely bring, reason didn't seem to belong in that room "Legolas," said Aragorn uncertainly, wary of his love's reaction. "My love, may I – I wish to make love to you."

The content expression faded from Legolas face and he looked torn. "We don't have to," amended Aragorn hastily. "Oh, forgive me! I shouldn't have said anything; I just love you so much that I think sometimes that my heart will burst and I guess I lost my head for a moment. We have time; we can wait."

"What time?" mused Legolas in a soft voice. "I remember seeing you trapped outside the Keep with all of those uruks surrounding you. I could have lost you then and there; and there is no guarantee that we will both survive the War ahead. I can't stand the thought of looking back on this moment and regretting what could have been."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

Legolas gracefully kicked off his boots and shed his tunic. "Make love to me, Aragorn," he requested as he lifted his hips enough to slide off his unbound leggings. "Let's make this a moment that we'll always cherish."

Aragorn stared in wonder at his lithe, already responding, body. "You're beautiful," he managed to croak out. "There isn't a part of you that isn't perfect."

"In your eyes, perhaps," replied Legolas humbly. "But why am I the only one here who is disrobed? I want to see you, Aragorn."

The Man must have set a record ridding himself of his garments, letting them fly everywhere so haphazardly that his hunt for them later would prove to be a great source of amusement for his new lover. At the moment, however, Legolas was too busy staring at Aragorn's erection to think about anything beyond that point. "What – what now?" the elf asked, unconsciously licking his lips.

"You're going to relax," Aragorn told him as he picked up the coat that he'd dropped carelessly by his feet and rummaged through the pockets. "And I'm going to get some lotion."

"Why?" wondered Legolas, watching as Aragorn pulled out a small vial.

"Well, usually I use this to soften my hands before I heal someone. My skin there is quite rough," explained Aragorn though Legolas hardly needed it at that point. He walked deliberately forward until he was standing inches away from the elf and with a seductive smile he pushed Legolas down onto the table on his back. "But now it's going to ease our joining. This will hurt at first, my love, but it will get better. I swear that I'm going to make this good for you."

There were so many things that should have been different. He and Legolas should have been formally bonded. Their first time together should have been in a bed located in a proper bedchamber, not on a table in a little room at Helm's Deep. They should have had all the time in the world to explore each other's bodies. But none of that mattered to Aragorn then. All he could focus on was the unbelievable pleasure that rushed through his body as he thrust, the way that Legolas met every thrust with one of his own, and the sweet way that his lover cried his name as he once again reached his peak: "Aragorn!"

End flashback

"Aragorn!"

The memory shattered around him and Aragorn was forced once again to face reality: it was Arwen, not Legolas, who was beneath him and crying out his name as she climaxed. The Man used to feel guilty about thinking of Legolas while joining (he would never call what they did 'making love') with her but that didn't last long. He quickly found that if he didn't imagine his real love there would be no way that he could perform with her at all.

She snuggled up against him as soon as he rolled off; Aragorn fought the urge to shove her away. "That was wonderful," sighed Arwen contentedly. "How I wish that you weren't going away tomorrow! Then you could stay in bed with me all day."

'Not everything is about you,' thought Aragorn spitefully. Valar, was this how life was going to be from now on? He could see no signs of the friendship that he once felt for her returning; in fact his resentment about having to forsake Legolas to be with her made every second he spent in Arwen's presence more and more unbearably irritating. Aragorn was glad that he'd be rid of her soon, albeit temporarily.

"We need to speak to the Ents," he said aloud. "Treebeard at least will want news of how the War went. Besides, I have a feeling that this is the last time that all of the Fellowship will be together and it's important to me that I get in every moment that I can until we part ways."

"I won't impose on those bonds of friendship," said Arwen. "But do hurry back so that we can return to the city. The sooner we get home, the sooner we can start working on creating that child I saw in my vision."

Aragorn groaned inwardly. It sounded like he was going to need the memories of the only two times that he and Legolas made love a lot once they settled back in Minas Tirith. What if he had to use them so much that they did end up growing stale? He couldn't even stand the thought of it. 'Maybe I'll make up some lovely fantasies,' he decided, allowing himself to give a little secretive dreamy smile. Yes, his thoughts were still his own and no one, not Arwen or Elrond or anyone else, could rob him entirely of Legolas as long as he had that. 'I believe that Legolas would look utterly enticing swimming around naked in that huge bath in the citadel…"

To be continued…

A/N: This story now has over 100 reviews! Thank you to everyone who took the time to drop me a note; it means a lot to me.

A/N: In response to some of the comments that the reviews of the last chapter had:

I'm usually a pure Legolas/Aragorn fan as well. I have absolutely no idea where this story came from and I almost didn't write it. In the end I had to, though; it was blocking all of my other story ideas!

The order in which the couples were listed in the summary means nothing concerning the ending. It's just the couples in the order of their appearance as official couples. I know how the story's going to end but I would never give it away that soon.