Nearly two days later, Aragorn groaned and stirred. Knowing it was probably a bad idea, he allowed his eyes to flutter open; noontime sunlight nearly blinded him for a moment, but then was abruptly cut off. After blinking several times he managed to make out Legolas kneeling over him frowning concernedly. He raised an eyebrow at the elf, and Legolas' frown deepened.

"Don't look at me like that, you could have died! You would have died had I not been paying attention the last time you were here; Father wanted to keep you in the caves."

"Well, then, I guess it's a very good thing you were listening so raptly to my complaints." Wincing, Aragorn sat up slowly as Legolas put a steadying hand on his shoulder. "Next time, at least make an effort to catch me," he grumbled.

"Oh, do you plan on swooning every time you have occasion to visit, then?" Aragorn did not quite manage to hide his amusement at the elf's exasperation, and Legolas began muttering curses under his breath in his own tongue (apparently forgetting that the Ranger could understand him perfectly) as he stalked away and began digging things out of a pack under a nearby tree. Smiling, Aragorn glanced around and met nearly two dozen pairs of eyes peeking out from the bushes and lower boughs of the trees nearest him--it appeared the local squirrels, rabbits, and birds had been concerned for his health. As soon as he saw them they scattered, disappearing as though they had never been there.

Legolas came back, still muttering and bearing a water skin, bread, and several apples. Suddenly aware that he was ravenously hungry, Aragorn turned carefully to ease back against a tree and accepted the food gratefully. "So, did I miss anything?"

The elf prince sighed and rolled his eyes. Rangers! "Well, you have been here two days so far. We had started to fear that you would never recover when Mithrandir arrived this morning. He came to see you, said you were a fool to do this to yourself, and pronounced that there was nothing coul be done though you would probably wake up sometime this afternoon, anyway."

"Good old Gandalf. I don't know what I would do without him." Aragorn muttered and sank his teeth into the second apple.

"Well, he's right. If you hadn't worn yourself so thin, you might not have collapsed in there the way you did. Anyway, then he went to speak with the creature you brought and he has been there ever since." The elf prince looked quizzically at Aragorn. "What does he want with Gollum, anyway?"

"Information."

"It must be important for him to have called on you and rushed here so quickly."

"If it is, I'm sure we will find out about it eventually when it poses a threat to our existence."

"Are you always this full of hope?" Legolas asked, smiling wryly at his friend.

"No. Uninterrupted rest and a full stomach tend to put me in a good mood."

"Oh, I see. Well, my father will probably be wanting to know that you're awake, and he will no doubt wish to hear all of the news from Imladris."

"It has been near seven years since I was last there."

"Yes, well, I believe it has been near 3000 years since he was last there."

Aragorn opened his mouth as if he wished to argue further, but then shut it again when he could not think of anything to say to that statement. Sighing reluctantly, he grasped the hand Legolas offered and allowed the elf to pull him to his feet.

o O o

"No, I will not."

Aragorn stood at the end of the bridge leading to the great doors of the caves and flatly refused to succumb to Legolas' pleading.

"But the king wants to see you!"

"If he wants to see me that badly then he can march right out here and do it."

Legolas appeared utterly horrified at this statement and stammered, "B-but, he's the king!"

"As I said the last time I was here, Thranduil is not my king. And I am not going back in there," he said, pointing an accusing finger at the great cave, "to make him happy!" Aragorn's tone left no room for argument, and even if it had, the glint in his silver eyes did not. He crossed his arms and looked at the elf prince as if daring him to keep trying. Miserably, Legolas turned and started across the bridge to inform his father of the Ranger's pronouncement.