Hi there! I wanted to post this chapter yesterday, but since it was my birthday, my friends took me out to celebrate! Yay! After all, you turn 26 only once in your life! Oh boy... I'm getting old:D hehehe Ok... enough of me! I wanna thank you all for the reviews you guys left me! Thanks SO much! I looove them! And thanks to all who are reading! I hope you find it any good:D

Now… this chapter is a bit smaller than the last one, but if I kept going it would end up being way too big! I hope you enjoy it! And remember to make a girl happy by leaving a review! Make it my birthday gift! Pleeeease! hahaha :D Thanks for stopping by! Now… here's the 4th chapter of my story! Have fun:)

Ps.: Forgive any grammar/spelling mistakes! Thanks:)

A BROTHER'S LOVE – Chapter 4

Aragorn woke to a pounding headache as consciousness started to reclaim his senses. Squeezing his eyes tighter, he brought a hand to his head as if the simple action would actually help the pain subside.

Slowly blinking his eyes open, he tried to make them focus on anything and was surprised to find out that all he could see was… the stars?

He rubbed his eyes, trying to rid them of the fog that insisted on clouding his sight and looked again.

No... it was no mistake. He was indeed outdoors.

"What am I doing here?" he thought dazedly, trying to determine where exactly he was.

He carefully sat up, the motion bringing an unwelcome dizziness. After steadying himself and waiting until the world stopped spinning, he looked around, trying to remember how he had ended up there... lying on the ground, in the middle of the night, and right outside the stables.

'The stables...' he thought as if that should mean something...

That's when his eyes rested on the doors that were open ajar, and it suddenly hit him.

Legolas!

It all came back to him at once. Coming out here to find Legolas and find him sneaking out... the elf acting strange, being cold and rude... finding out that Gloreloth had been taken captive... trying to convince Legolas to wait a moment so they could get Elrond and the twins and then...

"He hit me!" he exclaimed indignantly, as the memory of the hard punch returned. "That blasted elf hit me!"

He brought a hand up to touch the sore spot on his face, wincing as he did so. Now the headache made sense.

Aragorn could feel his heart pounding inside his chest as the realization of what all that meant started to down on him. Instinctively he looked up, wanting to know how long he'd been out. He was relieved to find that no more than an hour had passed, but he knew very well that it was enough time for anything and everything to happen.

But the thing that worried him greatly was that even though Legolas was a fierce warrior, objective and focused, very affective even under the most desperate situations, when it came to his family, the elf seemed to become almost irrational, not thinking before taking action, guided mostly by emotions... and he knew that if his friend found the ones responsible for all of this, he would do something foolish… again.

"Curse your stubbornness, Legolas..." he said punching the grass beside him, as he pushed himself up. The frustration for not being able to see what his friend had meant to do before it was too late welling up inside of him. "I should've known he would do something like that." he chastised himself. But there was no point in dueling on it now. Time was crucial, and he wasn't willing to waste a second more.

Knowing what he had to do, Aragorn rushed down the same path he had taken not long ago when looking for his friend, making back to the house as if a Nazgul were at his heels. With the fear for Legolas' life gripping at his heart, the peacefulness of the elven realm was broken as he called out from the top of his lungs.

"ADA".

After the conversation with his youngest son, Elrond had retreated to his private study. The night was indeed lovely and peaceful, just perfect for catching up with his reading. He had been so immerged in work the past few weeks that he actually missed being able to simply sit back and indulge himself in a book that didn't concern politics or medicine.

He was halfway through one of the volumes of old poems that was sent to him by Lady Galadriel when his attention was drawn to a voice coming from the outside of the house, desperately calling out his name… a voice that he knew all too well.

"Estel", he breathed as he dropped the book onto the desk, hurrying out of the room to find his son.

Elrond heard Aragorn's voice growing closer, and hurried his steps, the concern for what may have happened already mounting up. What could've been making him act like that?

He came to an abrupt stop, as the loud human almost trampled him over.

"Easy, Estel... slow down." he said holding his son at arms length "What is wrong, ion nîn? What happened?"

Aragorn was panting heavily, both from the sprint and the fear for his friend's life. He grabbed his father's shoulders, wide eyes filled with worry and fear, blurting between breaths.

"Ada... Legolas... he's gone"

Elrond was instantly alarmed by his son's words.

"What? What do you mean gone?"

Still fighting to catch his breath, Aragorn tried to explain as fast as he could. "He left... he punched me and left... by himself... I couldn't do anything…"

Firm and yet gentle, Elrond spoke to his son.

"Estel, calm down. You're making little sense. Tell me what happened… from the beginning."

Realizing the reason in the older elf's words, Aragorn inhaled deeply to order the running thoughts in his mind, and started to narrate the events of that day.

"Ada… I told you earlier that Legolas had lied to me… and I was right…" but before he could continue his explanation, a third voice cut in.

"What's going on here?"

They both turned to see Elrohir entering the hall followed closely by Elladan, who spoke next… the disheveled image of the youngest member of the family did not go unmissed.

"We heard Estel shouting... are you alright, brother?" he said, true concern in his voice.

Aragorn nodded, but then shook his head. "No... I'm not alright! Legolas left and we need to help him! Now listen!"

The twins were startled by the sudden outburst but said nothing, noticing how nervous he was.

Seeing that he had the three elves attention, Aragorn continued his tale.

"Earlier this morning I saw Legolas at the gardens… he found a note that made him upset. When I asked him about it he told me it was just a bad joke someone had pulled on him… I wasn't really convinced, but he assured me it was all fine! That was when you two got home from the hunt, remember?"

The twins nodded, remaining silent, anxious to hear the rest of the story.

"We spent the afternoon together... you saw that he was fine." he said looking pleadingly to the twins. "He assured me he was fine! Ai Legolas! I'll kill you. If those men don't, I will kill you for pulling this stunt on me!", but there was so much worry and guilt in his tone that it belied his own words.

"Wait, what men?" Elrond was now beyond alarmed. "Estel, is Legolas in danger?"

"Yes!" the young man exclaimed. "The note he found wasn't a bad joke. It was a ransom note. Someone kidnapped his sister, Gloreloth."

The revelation came as a shock to them, Elladan barely being able to exhale his astonishment.

"But why? Who would do such a thing?"

Aragorn answered sadly, angry for not having much information.

"He said it's the same ones responsible for his mother's death… but he didn't give me any names or a location".

At this Elrond paled. He couldn't believe it. This could not be happening again… it wasn't possible… Minuial's murderer was dead. At least that's what he believed… until now.

"And what did they ask as ransom? What do they want?" Elrohir asked, unaware of his father's thoughts.

Before Aragorn could tell them that he didn't actually know that for the blond elf hadn't allowed him to go that far into the conversation, Elrond answered. And his voice was somber and grave.

"They want him."

Three faces looked at the Lord of Imladris agape.

Elladan was the first one to find his voice.

"What? But… why, Ada? Why would they want Legolas?"

But the elf lord didn't answer; knowing very well that time was not on their side. So, instead of giving an explanation, he started giving orders, his tone brooking no argument.

"There is no time for that now. I'll explain it on the way.

Elrohir! Get the horses and supplies ready for a week's journey. Just the essentials... we travel light.

Estel, get Belethon. Tell him to summon his 5 most skilled warriors. They ride with us.

Elladan, find Thinhil and have him make arrangements to leave immediately. I want Naerfin with him. They'll take a message to Mirkwood. Thranduil must be informed of this."

He watched his sons for a brief moment as they waited for any further orders, and saw how, even under such emotional stress, they were ready to face anything and everything for their friend… and was proud of them.

"We meet at the front gates in 1 hour, no later." With this, Elrond dismissed them to fulfill his commands, turning to his study to write a letter that he didn't want to write. How would he tell Thranduil about all of this? That his kids' lives were being endangered by the same ones that had already caused him so much grief?

Less than an hour later the last of the assigned elves got to the front gates.

When seeing they were all there, Elrond spoke, making sure to pour into every single word the seriousness of the situation.

"The gravity of this matter is evident to all. And I count with each one of you for this mission's outcome to be good.

Thinhil, Naerfin! You will take this letter and deliver it to Thranduil in hands the moment you arrive. If any of his counselors should try to detain you, say it concerns Prince Legolas' and Princess Gloreloth's safety… they'll let you through. And be careful... Mirkwood is not a safe road."

They both nodded and mounted their horses; leaving without looking back, the urgency of their task clear to them.

"As for us, we ride to Emyn Duin". Elrond finished, mounting his own horse.

"The Dark Mountains? That place has been deserted for centuries, Elladan. And how does Adar know that this is where Legolas is going?" Elrohir asked his twin quietly.

"I don't know, brother. But he seems to know who we are dealing with more than any of us. It is the best chance we have".

Elrohir nodded, knowing very well that all their chances rested on their father's knowledge of the kidnapper's modus operandi.

In a few moments, the party of 10 elves was on its way to the Mountains of Mirkwood, praying that they wouldn't be too late.

TBC...

So… what did you think? Is it bad? Is it terrible? Or maybe… is it good:D Let me have a piece of your mind! Leave me a review! Till next time!

Ok… Legolas did not appear on this one, but don't worry! There'll be plenty of him on the next! hehehe

Ps. If you're wondering... I doubt it... but anyways... here's a little lesson on Geography of Middle-earth. Hahahaha Emyn Duin (Dark Mountains) is the old name of Emyn-nu-Fuin (the Mirkwood Mountains). Believe me when I tell you that I actually found myself calculating the distances between Rivendell and Mirkwood (Mountains and Thranduil Palace), not to mention how fast their horses can go, and with all that in hands, remembering my times in high school, in physics class, when I learned that space/velocity time. So I came to the conclusion that it would take about 50 hours on horse back to get from Rivendell to Emyn Duin or to Thranduil's palace! hahahah oh boy! That's what happens when you give The Atlas of Middle-earth to a girl like me!