Chapter Six.
Disclaimer: I do not own LOTR. But I own the original trilogy and the extended versions on DVD. Oh well.
Rating: T for Teen.
Author's note: Well this story is quickly coming to an end. Waaaaaaaaaah! I'm okay now. But I want to thank all my loyal fans who reviewed this story so far, your kind reviews are greatly appreciated
Lord Sesshomaru: (sarcastically) Blah, blah, blah, blah. Get on with the story will ya, I'm tired of waiting. That's what wrong with you humans, all talk and no action.
Jiden: How dare you talk to the author that way? He hits Sesshomaru over the head with his toy light saber and knocks him out.
Chapter Six: He Was Too Young.
Legolas slowly awoke with the warmth of sunshine on his face. Groggily he looked around his surroundings and discovered that he was in his own bedroom. Confused he was about to get up when a weary voice stopped him.
"You should not try to get up out of bed," said Glorfindel, "you still need some rest." Legolas sighed and reluctantly lay back down on the bed.
"I'm sorry. But pray tell me, you sound terribly weary, did you not get any sleep at all last night?"
"No I am afraid not, nor did anybody else in the household and I dare say this night will be the same also."
"Why is that?" asked the prince and to Legolas's alarm Glorfindel began to weep, great sobs wracking his shoulders.
"What happened? Is Lord Elrond all right?"
"He is fine, but not his son."
"Oh please tell me that something didn't happen to Dan and Ro." Glorfindel wearily shook his head.
"No it's not them either." Then Legolas suddenly realized who the Barlog slayer was talking about.
"No, not Estel!" but the grief-stricken look in Glorfindel's eyes told more than words could ever say.
"Elrond tried everything he could to heal Estel but to no avail. He was too far gone; he had used much of his strength trying to heal you. He died this morning." Legolas could not believe what Glorfindel had said. Estel couldn't be dead, he just couldn't. The great healer Elrond could always bring someone from the brink of death. Before Glorfindel could do anything Legolas jumped out of bed and rushed to the healing rooms, hoping to see a still alive and breathing Estel lying there.
But alas when he burst into the room it was not to be. He found Elrond sitting beside Estel's bedside crying like his very heart would break, Dan and Ro were no where to be found. Elrond slowly lifted his head when he felt the presence of Legolas in the room.
"Legolas," he asked in a shaky voice, "what are you doing out of bed?" Legolas hesitated before he answered the elf lord.
"Tell me it's not true, that Estel is still alive." The elf lord looked at Legolas, a helpless look of grief and loss across his face.
"Oh Legolas I wish it wasn't so, but it is. I tried everything I could possibly think off to bring him back but nothing worked. He died as I cradled him in my arms, much like I did when he was a child. I held him till he breathed his last breath, but there were no last words. No father I love you or tell my brothers that I love them. Just one last gasp of breath, and then he was gone." Legolas was grief-stricken. The person lying there on the bed couldn't be Estel. But alas it was, and the cold hard truth stuck the elf to the core.
Sinking to his knees he cried out, "Oh Valar he can't be dead. Oh please Estel wake up, speak to me, don't leave me this way." But no word came forth from the cold blue lips, or any sound of comfort for his pain.
"No, he was too young," the elf wept, "He was too young. He was supposed to grow into manhood and become king. It was not supposed to be this way; he was not supposed to be taken before his time." Elrond got up and kneeled beside Legolas, putting his arms around the elf and trying to comfort him, but the young prince refused to be comforted.
"No he's not dead." He chocked out as great sobs wracked his body. How could he go on without Estel, now that he was dead? How could anyone go on? Legolas knew without a doubt that Elrond and his sons would sail to the Undying Lands. But what of Arwen? She would possibly succumb to grief and die of a broken heart.
But oh how he longed for things to be different, that Estel was alive and that everything was fine. Then he suddenly remembered the cruel words he said to Estel just before he died, and the realization of the fact wounded his heart even more than the fact of the ranger's death.
"Oh Valar," he gasped out, "I'm sorry, so sorry."
"What do you mean?" asked Elrond, but Legolas did not hear him.
"It's my entire fault, all my fault." The elf lord, thinking that Legolas was blaming himself for Estel's death tried comfort him.
"No mellon-nin Estel's death was not your fault. You could not prevent him from dying or making the decisions that he made to save you. It was his time to leave."
"No, no, you don't understand. You weren't there when it happened. It was all my fault." Elrond put a comforting arm around the young prince.
"Legolas, you need some rest. Why don't you go back to your room and get some sleep. Valar knows we will all need some for the next few days." But Legolas slowly shook his head.
"No, leave me here alone with him for awhile please." Elrond sighed.
"All right, I understand." And so reluctantly got up and left Legolas alone with Aragorn in the healing room.
LOTRLOTRLOTRLOTRLOTRLOTRLOTRLOTR
It was when Elrond closed the door shut that Legolas fully realized how lonely he really was. There was no one to comfort him, no one to dry his tears, and it frightened him. It would have been Estel that would have comforted him. But now he was dead. No more would Legolas feel his comforting arms around him. No more would those rough yet gentle hands wipe the tears from his eyes. No more would he hear his boisterous laughter when he shared a joke.
And yet the ranger was too young. Oh Valar, he was only 16. And was it him that was close to death? Yes, and Estel traded his life so that he could live, and now he was gone. Taking the limp form of Estel off of the bed and cradled him in his arms, hoping to get some response from Estel. But there was nothing, no words from the still blue lips, no tears of compassion from those closed eyes.
Pure grief and loss struck Legolas to the core and he wept uncontrollably rocking his body back and forth with the pains of his grief. He wept well into the night until he could cry no longer. And then, with Estel still cradled in his arms like a newborn child, Legolas's eyes closed and the elf drifted into a restless grief-stricken sleep.
Well one more chapter left. Waaaaaaaaaah! Well all good stories must come to an end. Read and review this chapter please, no flames. If you do I'll give you an ice cream cone.
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