For Disclaimer Please View Chapter 1.

Author's Note: Sorry for the wait! My brain froze for a couple of weeks...but it seems to be thawing out now, so I can keep writing, hooray! I hope you enjoy the chapter and thanks for all your reviews, they are very much appreciated! I've mixed the chronological order of where and when Aragorn meets his kindred (The Dunedain), I hope it doesn't confuse anyone; I just had to make it flow with this fic. This chappy is meant as a catch-up, so not so much intensity. Kersi

Chapter 27: Sharing Laughter

While embracing him she realized the she did not want to holdAragorn any longer and she pulled herself away. She felt as if a rift had been set between them, as she thought the he favoured his own Kin over the Elves who had taken care of him for so long. She looked at the man in front of her, his head was bowed forward and he looked as a child does when they have done something wrong.

"You will stop that sulking. You are a grown man, it will not work." said Aurel.

"I have spoken to Eowyn."

"It does not matter to me." She wanted to leave, but she stayed.

"She explained her actions to me."

Her eyes flared. "Explained? What was there to explain?" She pointed her finger at him, "Nay, she came only to justify her actions to you."

He sighed. "Yes, that too, please listen."

"Have you afforded me the same?"

"I do not forsake you."

"Your actions say otherwise Aragorn."

He looked almost hurt as he stared at her. "The name sounds foreign when you speak it."

"It is foreign! You wish for me to call you by an Elvish name now, do you? Why?"

"I know I have offended you Aurel, I apologize, please forgive me, I do not wish for you to shun me."

She tsked. "I have lived 25 of your life times. I wish you would grant me the confidence of knowing better than a child. You forget who I am..." She walked around him, inspecting his posture, looking him up and down. "Perhaps I have been too comfortable with you; you do not give me the respect you once did."

"It is difficult for me to see you as anything but a sister or a mother."

"And that vision you have of me is not wrong, but I am also other things, you have battled this before. I am your Elder. Do you not trust me?"

Aragorn turned to face her. "I trust you Aurel. But, now that I am grown, I feel as if I must protect you, as you have done for me."

She crossed her arms. "Curious then that your protection seems like lack of trust. I will have to think about this forgiveness you seek."

"Fair enough." He said turning to leave.

"Estel." She said, stopping Aragorn before he completely walked away, he did not turn to face her, but he smiled at the sound of his Elvish name, "I do not see the child any longer, only the man fit to be King, do not walk away with a heavy heart, all is not lost between you and I."

And though she had not spoken of her acceptance at his apology, he knew that in her heart she had forgiven him, and he did as she said, and walked away with a hope of understanding.


She sat straight on her horse as she prepared to follow the others out to gather for the battle in Gondor, she watched the anxious looks on the women's faces and the scared looks of the few children left. She could not catch one man that looked afraid and she found that curious given their recent disposition. There was much commotion around her and she did not notice the two little hands that went to touch her feet. Her horse neighed and she looked to see what had caused the disturbance. Her eyes softened in surprise and confusion at who she found there, she jumped off her horse to greet the two little hands. "Ethaen? What are you doing here? You should know better than standing so close to a horse." She squatted down beside him.

He only shook his head and began to shed tears, Aurel did not understand why he was crying and then noticed that Ene was standing near as well. She picked Ethaen up; he wrapped his small arms around her neck, squeezing himself close to her, and walked towards Ene. "Why does your brother cry?"

Ene did not respond.

She looked around to see if she could find the young woman who had been left to care for the children. "Your carer will be worried for you, I am sure she would not approve of your being here." Aurel had been cautious with the children she had rescued; many saw her involvement with them as unnatural and she feared causing any more trouble. She had wanted to see them more often, but found that their carer had a common dislike of her and was very protective of the children. As long as Aurel knew the children were being looked after she did not see the need to intervene, but she felt a connection to them and they often sneaked out to find her, so they had become quite close.

Ene looked up at Aurel, and was marvelled by the colour of her eyes. "He does not want you to leave...and neither do I."

Aurel's brows furrowed, "But I must. I have told you both this many times."

"Still. Do not go. Please. " replied Ene, she walked closer to Aurel and held onto her free hand.

Legolas, who had already mounted his horse, noticed Aurel speaking to the two children, he meant to go to her but instead decided to observe the way she seemed to act around them. He wondered if this tenderness she showed them was the same tenderness that Aragorn had been raised with, and if it had been, it explained many a great quality in him. He looked at her hand; they were made for healing, he could tell just by the way she touched things, the way she caressed things and held things. He had only met the children once and they seemed more scared and cautious of him than they were of Aurel who they had taken a natural liking to.

Legolas and Aurel had not spoken to one another since he had told her that he loved her, and he understood that there were more important things to be dealt with. They had had no opportunity to get another moment alone and both had not slept for a while.

"I will come back." said Aurel, releasing her hold on Ethaen, setting him gently down on the ground, but he would not unlatch his arms from around her neck.

"But what if you are hurt, what if you can't?" asked Ethaen.

She pulled him away from her and smiled at him, searching for some way to comfort the children in front of her. Suddenly she looked down to her hands and knew what she could do. She removed the ring that she had loathed for the past 500 years, looking at it as if it was the first time she truly understood its importance, and put it inside the hand of the little boy. She did not pass on that hate she felt for the ring, only the love and respect that she had once held for it

"As long as you hold this, you have my promise that I will return, not just for the ring, but for both of you as well." She reached to touch Ene's cheek, as reassurance.

"And you will take us to your home?" asked Ene.

Aurel nodded. "And I will take you to a beautiful place where you can be happy."

The little girl stayed motionless, but the boy, once more, wrapped his arms around her neck and shut his eyes. "Do not leave us here."

It was time for Aurel to go and she would have to be stern with them. "Child." She said without emotion, and she gently pulled him away. "I have made a promise to you, and I will keep to that. I must go. You will stay with your sister."

"Ethaen, Ene!" shouted a woman. It was Engel, the children's carer and the look on her face showed her anger at the sight of the children with the Elf-maiden.

Aurel looked her way and took a few steps backwards and away from the children. Engel walked briskly towards them and immediately snatched Ethaen up from where he stood, ignoring Aurel, she scolded Ene. "I told you, you are not to be out here."

Ene said nothing, and Engel turned to face Aurel. "It is not wise for you to speak to these children, they grow attached to you, and you are leaving…you must understand."

"I understand." said Aurel.

Engel quickly walked past her and took a hold of one of Ene's hands, pulling her along. Both children looked Aurel's way as they faded into the crowd. She dared to raise one hand to say a silent goodbye, but they had already gone and her heart ached at the thought of never seeing them again. Downhearted, she mounted her horse and rode over to Legolas. "Where do we go?"

"Dunharrow, we are to rally there." He looked at the sad expression on her face, "You are sad to leave them behind?"

"Yes. Very much so. They are so young and have seen such sorrow."

"Human life seems to be that way. The woman who cares for them seems to know what she is doing, you should not fear for their safety."

She looked at Legolas and smiled at his inexperience, "You have never cared for a child have you? It is not as simple as that."

Legolas did not have anything to say in return to that, it was true, he had never had to deal with any child, except for his brother, and even then it was not the same. "Do not be so melancholy, Melethril." He reached up to her and touched the base of her chin, raising her gaze to his, "When this is all done with, we can come back for them."

"We?"

He looked at her seriously, "If you do not wish for me to come with you…"

"No, no..." She grabbed a hold of the hand that still touched her chin and held it tightly, "I am just not accustomed to what is happening between us."

"And what is that?" His eyes seemed to light up with curiosity.

"For so long I avoided this type of connection to you, to be able to love you freely, without a care for anything else." She looked down at his hand; the one she had been holding on to so tightly and opened it to expose the palm, lifting it gently to meet her lips, and she kissed it with such tenderness that it made Legolas feel light-headed for a moment

"Stop that! You are making me ill!" cried out Gimli in jest, breaking the moment between the two elves. "Whom do I ride with? Surely you were not to leave me on my own were you!"

They turned their heads to look at him, both their eyes dark and veiled, Gimli was almost afraid at the sight.

"Strange creatures you Elves are." He cleared his throat and took a deep breath in. "Well? Whom do I ride with?"

With hesitation, Legolas looked at Aurel who had let go of his hand, she understood and smiled, he smiled lovingly back. He pulled his horse away from Aurel's and rode closer to where Gimli stood. "With me of course, Master Dwarf." He helped Gimli mount the horse behind him.

"This is more like it!" said Gimli.

"Are you ready?" asked Legolas.

"No laddie, the question is, are you?"

Legolas smirked as he nudged the horse to march forward and join the others.


"She rides with us? I am surprised." stated Aurel to Aragorn as she saw Eowyn ride past her in the trail of horses.

"Only to Dunharrow. She will not go to battle…."

Something made Aurel's skin crawl as she listened to Aragorn speak of Eowyn and Eomer, and after a while Aragorn noticed that she was not listening to him. "Aurel?"

"We are being followed; I feel a strange presence." She said quickly.

Aragorn looked behind him and only saw the men who accompanied them, along with Eomer, who had thought it best ride with the lower ranks. "I do not see anything."

"It is there, I feel it." She pulled the reigns on her horse to slow it down. "I will alert Eomer." She rode back towards him and Eomer was surprised to see her coming towards him. "There is something following us."

He nodded his head. "Yes I know. They have been following us for quite some time." He said calmly.

"You are allowing them to follow?"

"I do not have much choice. We have been waiting for the right time to confront them."

Aurel nodded. "I do not feel they are an ill presence."

"Nor I, enemies would have been more hasty in an attack, but I do not sense them ally either."

One of Eomer's men blew the horn to alert them, for now those who had been following them showed themselves. Men they were, clad in dark clothing, wearing cloaks that covered their faces. "Halt!" shouted Eomer. "I warn you, come no closer!"

Instantly the group of men stopped their horses. "We search for Aragorn." replied one of the men.

Aurel rode up next to Eomer, who had no bother having her at his side. She unsheathed her sword. "Then we ask who comes to greet him, be you a foe, beware!"

Eomer looked at his men, spears ready for the attack if need be, and then back at the group of ragged men. Although the ragged men seemed alarmed, two distinctive laughs from them could be heard. Eomer frowned. "This is no game! Tell us who you are or prepare to face us in battle!" He shouted.

"We come for Aragorn…but we find our sister amongst your ranks, how has this come to be?"

Eomer and his men were confused.

Aurel lowered her sword. "Elladan?"

Aragorn came galloping from behind and passed Eomer and Aurel to greet the ragged men. "Halbarad!" He rode to one of the men in front of the group and greeted him with an embrace. After a moment Aragorn turned around. "These are my kinsmen, please, lower your weapons!" He looked at Eomer who had already told their men to lower their guard. Two-caped figures arose from the back of the group of ragged men, still laughing, they rode straight for Aurel. Eomer placed his horse in front of hers in instinctive protection and laughs could be heard once more.

"Aurel, you have followed your charge for far too long." said one of the capped figures, the voice was one she knew.

Sure that the two cloaked figures were indeed her brothers, she spoke to Eomer. "Your concern is noted Lord Eomer, many thanks, but there is no need for it, these are my brothers."

Eomer turned his head sharply to try to catch what they looked like, but nothing could be seen behind their hoods. He pulled his horse away, but stayed nearby. Aurel smiled, and at last, they removed their hoods.

"Your voice has returned." said Elladan.

"By what grace was this gift bestowed?" asked Elrohir.

They all dismounted their horses. "No grace…" She said almost out of breath, "I am overjoyed to see you brothers." She fell into Elrohir's arms and embraced him.

"You have surely changed." He said kindly, holding her close.

Aragorn came to greet them.

"Estel." Said Elladan and they clasped each others arms in joy of seeing one another.

"I was fearful of your never coming." said Aragorn.

"We come with messages from Ada…and Arwen." said Elrohir who had his arm around Aurel's shoulders.

"We must move on." said Eomer, interrupting their reunion. "It gets late, and we have not time to waste."

The three elves just stared at Eomer for a moment before agreeing that there was no time for happy reunions, and they all mounted their horses, and rode along quietly to Dunharrow. Though Aurel could hardly contain her excitement and relief at having her brothers by her side. She tried to catch of glimpse of Legolas, and in her heart she knew he was up ahead, but she could not see him. Legolas could feel that something internal in Aurel had changed; he only wondered what it was, and did not wait for her as he rode on with Gimli.

"So you and the Lady are on good terms now I assume." Said Gimli, trying to find out about what had happened between the two elves.

"You can say that." He replied.

Gimli frowned at the lack of response, he wanted to know more, "And your memory?"

"Still in pieces Master Gimli, still very distant." He said sadly.

"But you seem…more lively." He said with hope.

Legolas thought for a moment, "What was I like before?"

"Well…I don't know…there is happiness in you now that seemed shadowed before...it is as if the shadow has been lifted from you."

"Perhaps it has."

They left the conversation at that as they reached the meeting place of Dunharrow.


"Is this all that have come?" asked Aragorn looking out amongst the men, there were too few to fight against the armies of Sauron.

"You are lucky to have this many." said Elladan. "Many cities and villages have been destroyed, too many have died, and not only Men search for the means to survive. Be grateful that there is still some strength left here."

"Not enough strength, not for what needs to be done." He replied.

"Remember the paths of the dead..." said Elrohir.

Aragorn almost shuddered.

"Why the Paths of the Dead?" asked Aurel.

A shout from afar could be heard. "Sons of Elrond!" exclaimed Legolas. His arms were raised in the air from afar, and he greeted them, as he tried to get to them as quickly as he could.

"Legolas remains with you still, we believed he had gone, for we had not seen him earlier." said Elrohir looking at Legolas coming from afar.

"He walks in a peculiar way, was he wounded?" asked Elladan, looking at Aurel. But naught more could be said, for Legolas had already reached them and a smile broke out from his usual emotionless face.

"Son of Thranduil." said Elladan, bowing his head in recognition of his status.

Legolas enveloped him in a hearty embrace and Elladan cringed in disgust. "Too much time spent around humans…I will never get used to their way of greeting, but it seems you are comfortable with it now Legolas."

Legolas laughed and let him go. "I only did it because I knew it would annoy you." He turned to greet Elrohir.

"It is good to see you." said Elrohir suspiciously.

"Why do you look at me that way?" asked Legolas.

"You are different, what has happened?"

"I am the same." replied Legolas.

"No…" Elrohir looked at Aurel who had been content to watch the greetings between her brothers and Legolas. "Aurel…what has happened?"

"It is clear to me, brother; I do not know why you cannot see it." said Elladan smiling to himself.

"Cannot or will not?" asked Aragorn in jest.

Elrohir cast him a deadly look. "I did not like it when I first found you both in the woods of Mirkwood all those years ago, and I do not like it now, you are too old for her Legolas!"

Legolas smirked, he did not remember what Elrohir was speaking about visually, but he did remember the feelings all at once at the mention of it, the very intense feelings of that day in the woods, where he first met Aurel.

Aragorn was the first to break the silence with his laughter, and the rest followed afterwards. Aurel let out a sigh of relief as she watched the people she loved share laughter with one another, all but Legolas, who was staring at Aurel with such intensity it almost made her want to look away. But she found herself mesmerized by the way he looked at her, and only stared back in return, hoping he would see that she too was feeling the bond between them grow stronger day by day.