Legolas
Legolas killed a final warg with his arrow and glanced around the battlefield. It appeared that most of the enemy were dead, but the cost to King Theoden's army had been high. Glancing around for his closest friends, he saw Gimli but couldn't catch a glimpse of his best friend.
"Aragorn!" His voice was high with worry. "Aragorn!" He knew he sounded more frantic now.
Gimli looked up at the sound of his friend's worried call and also called for their friend. "Aragorn!"
Legolas hurried toward the edge of the cliff, looking for any sign of the ranger. He glanced back when he heard a dying orc give a sick laugh. Gilmi, a few steps behind Legolas, pointed his ax at the grotesque creature's throat. "Tell me what happened, and I will ease your passing," he snarled.
"He's dead!" the evil thing obviously enjoyed the horror that passed across their faces. "Took a little tumble off the cliff."
Kneeling, Legolas reached out and grabbed him by the collar. "You lie!" He hissed. The monster gave one last cackle and lay still.
Legolas saw something glittering in his claw, and prying it open, pulled the Evenstar away from him. A fresh wave of horror came over him, and he sprinted to the cliff's edge. He wouldn't believe that Aragorn was dead. He refused to. His heart's brother would be clinging to a branch or outcropping, waiting for rescue. The elf would heave him up and embrace him even as he gave him a severe scolding. But in his head, he knew it wasn't true. There wasn't even a shred of clothing to tell him where his friend was.
Gimli and King Theoden joined him on the edge as they looked down at the rushing water. Legolas clutched at the necklace and bit his lip, fighting tears.
The king turned to speak to one of the soldiers who had approached them. "Get the wounded on horses. The wolves of Isengard will return. Leave the dead"
Legolas snapped his head up and glared at him. He couldn't possibly be planning to leave Aragorn. Even a broken body was better than no body at all. He had to touch Aragorn one more time, even if he was dead. The king looked down for a moment before squeezing the elf's shoulder.
"Come!" His tone was gentle.
"It'll be alright, Lad!" Gimli spoke.
Legolas wanted to scream in frustration. Alright? How could they say it would be alright? Legolas's best friend had gone over the cliff, and with it, a part of his heart. But he didn't. Instead, he climbed woodenly onto his horse.
They reached Helm's deep a short time later. Sliding off his horse, he went about unsaddling his horse, desperate to finish so he could be alone. As soon as the task was done, he sprinted off toward one of the towers. He hated closed in places, and a tower was the closest thing to trees this place had. He collapsed onto the floor near one of the windows and finally let his tears flow. Sobs shook his lythe form as he buried his face in his knees.
Aragorn
Aragorn let out a moan as consciousness returned to him. Part of him wished he could go back into a blissful state of unawares. Not only was the pain crashing over him, but in his dream, he had seen Arwen. Felt her kisses. Now, instead of the sweet face of his love, he found himself staring up at his horse Brego. But now that he thought about it, that was also a precious gift. Who knew if he would ever really feel the embrace of Arwen again, but he could feel the touch of his elf brother. Mustering his strength, he managed to climb onto the horse's back. Laying across the saddle, he willed the distance to Helm's Deep to lass quickly. After an immeasurable amount of time of steady riding, he looked out toward the horizon. He saw something that made his already exhausted heart twinge. 10,000 orcs were marching out of the gates of Isengard. Heading straight toward Helm's Deep.
Desperation filled him, and he spurred his horse faster. Each lurch sent pain through his bruised body, but he ignored it. All he could think about was alerting the king of the coming attack and then finding his friends.
He barely heard the shocked cries of 'he's alive!' and 'how is it possible?' as he dismounted from his horse.
"Where is he?" He heard a familiar gruff voice. "Out of my way! I'm gonna kill him." Gimli approached him. "You are, without a doubt, the luckiest, the canniest, and the most reckless man I ever knew!" He flung his arms around Aragorn's waist, "bless you, laddie!"
Aragorn pushed back and squeezed his friend's shoulder. "Gimli, where is the king?"
The dwarf jerked his head to the left, and Aragorn staggered toward the massive set of doors.
Legolas
The elf couldn't believe it. He didn't know how long he had sat in the tower. His tears spent, replenished, and spent again. He had happened to glance out of the window and see a dark-clothed rider coming up the bridge. It wasn't possible. He had given up all hope. But his heart told him that it was. That his best friend and brother had returned. Hardly daring to believe it, he ran down the stairway, cautious joy, rather than desperate grief propelling him forward. He reached the courtyard just as Aragorn stumbled forward. He wanted to run ahead and embrace him, but his feet were frozen in place. The human had his head down but stopped a few feet short of running into him. Desperate to assure himself that his friend was alive, he reached out and took the man's chin in his hand, forcing him to look up. Vivid blue eyes locked onto dark ones. Legolas slid his hand down to Aragorn's chest, feeling the beat of his heart.
A smile touched his lips, "Le Abdollen" His eyes took in the torn sleeves, the bloody arms, and face. "You look terrible!"
That brought a smile to Aragorn's lips, and he reached out and squeezed the elf's shoulder, leaning against his chest for a moment. The elf smiled in return and, reaching into his pocket, slipped the Evenstar pendant into his friend's hand.
Aragorn
Aragorn squeezed his friend's fingers and glanced down at the necklace in his hand. "Hannon Le!" He spoke softly.
Then Legolas' face crumpled, "OH Aragorn!" He sobbed. Flinging his arms around him, pressing his head to his chest. Aragorn returned the squeeze, placing a gentle kiss on the elf's temple. The report to the king could wait a few minutes. His Gwadar needed him, and yes, he needed the elf too.
After several moments, he forced himself to pull away and started toward the doors. Legolas followed him, obviously not planning to let him out of his sight. And that was perfectly fine with Aragorn. He had no desire to be away from the elf right now either.
TBC