--
Chapter 10: The Love of a Friend
--
When Aragorn awoke at dead of night, Erestor had gone.
He did not know what had disturbed his sleep, but was wide awake now.
After unsuccessfully trying to divert himself for some time, he gave up the attempt to not think of Legolas and sat up once more.
His head reacted as badly as before, but he gritted his teeth and proceeded to get out of bed.
Knowing full well that neither his father nor Erestor would approve of this, he slowly made his way to the door and out of his room.
--
Fortunately, Legolas´ quarters were not far from his own, but by the time he had gotten there, he felt like he had run for ten days straight while being jumped on continuously.
With an effort, he opened the door and staggered into the room.
.
Only a few candles were lit, and he found Findiel to be fast asleep in a chair next to the bed.
Utterly relieved to get off his feet, Aragorn unceremoniously slumped on the edge of the bed.
Once he had been able to subdue his body´s harsh protests of being treated like this, he concentrated on his friend.
For a moment, he sat motionless and just took in what he saw.
.
Legolas´ fair face was utterly pale, the skin looking nearly translucent. His eyes were closed, leaving him unusually lifeless.
The slightly amused look he normally wore had been replaced by a strained one, and Aragorn wholeheartedly wished he could help him.
His uninjured hand reached out and stroked the elf´s cheek, then it slowly wandered up to Legolas´ forehead, where it remained.
.
Aragorn pushed aside the nausea and sadness and concentrated on something different: in his mind, he conjured up images of summer, smells of flowers, and how it felt to lay his hands on the rough bark of a tree.
He tried to summon up things that he knew Legolas loved, including Alba. He could see the white mare, and he could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin...
.
He did not know for how long he had been sitting like this, but at one point, he felt himself sway and found he could not remain in that position any longer.
Shaking, he eased himself down on the bed next to Legolas.
--
When Findiel awoke with the first light of the morning, he was surprised to find Elrond´s foster son snuggled up with his patient.
Guiltily, because he had fallen asleep, he took a spare blanket and spread it out over Aragorn. The air was quite chilly now that autumn was about to arrive, and Aragorn only wore a nightshirt, after all.
The man did not respond to this, as he was thoroughly exhausted from his nocturnal endeavours and therefore fast asleep.
--
Two hours later, Elrond entered, nearly bursting in: "Findiel! Have you seen-" His gaze fell on the bed, and he broke off.
"When did Estel come here?", he asked then.
"It must have been sometime in the night, my lord. I- I had fallen asleep...", Findiel said nervously.
Elrond looked at him for a while, then nodded: "I am sorry, Findiel. You have barely had any break since we have come back, I should have relieved you..."
.
Relief displayed on Findiel´s face for not being told off. Elrond sent him to go and rest instead, and he gladly left.
Elrond turned to the bed again: "How did he get here in the first place?", he murmured. "Never ceases to astound me..."
--
It was not until another two hours had passed that Aragorn awoke. He did not immediately realize where he was and turned his head to find out, wincing at the movement and cursing quietly. He really hated being ill.
Unaware of Elrond´s presence, he then slowly turned to Legolas and assessed him. His face was still very pale, but to Aragorn it did not seem so lifeless anymore.
A small, hopeful smile appeared on the man´s face, and he extended his hand to touch the elf. Very gently, his fingers brushed over Legolas´ cheeks and and came to rest on his collarbone.
.
Elrond could not but watch this, deeply moved by Aragorn´s concern and affection for his best friend.
.
Legolas had been straying through dark realms for a quite some time now. He longed to return to light and warmth, but he did not feel strong enough to do so, he was ever so tired.
He could faintly remember that he had indeed opened his eyes a few times and someone had talked to him, but he had not been able to take in the light or the air, as his senses seemed dull and unreliable.
So he had not been able to concentrate on anything else except the voice in front of him.
Apart from that, he knew that someone was with him all the time, but he could hardly feel that person´s presence, and it therefore mattered not to him.
But something had changed now; the darkness had started to lift.
He felt as if someone had reached out to him, had given him new hope and had reminded him of the light, encouraged him to be strong...
--
Slowly, he opened his eyes. He blinked several times because it was so strange to have slept with his eyes closed, then he tried to focus to have a look around.
He turned his head and found his best friend lying next to him; Aragorn´s grey eyes rested on him, smiling warmly.
Legolas´ own eyes, though still a bit glazed over, lit up, and he returned the smile.
"You did not leave me alone", Aragorn whispered, and his hand crept up to Legolas´ face again.
The elf´s voice was barely audible: "Could not...", he replied, his eyes never leaving Aragorn´s. "You are...too dear to me...
Stubborn as you are...I can be even worse."
.
Aragorn chuckled lightly: "Rest now", he then said. "I will stay with you until my father comes to berate me because I snuck out of bed."
Legolas felt around until he had found his friend´s hand, which he took and kept in his own. "Good. Stay...", he murmured, drifting off to sleep again, his eyes remaining open this time.
.
Elrond approached the bed: "I am not going to berate you", he said quietly.
When Aragorn looked up at him in surprise, his father smiled benignly: "I should have known that nothing would keep you from looking after him", he said. "And it seems good that you came here. You may as well stay, if you promise not to get up and about frequently. Your head surely does not approve of it."
"No, it does not", Aragorn reluctantly agreed. "Have you been here all the time?"
Elrond nodded: "Yes, I have. I did not intend to eavesdrop, though. For that I apologize."
Aragorn smiled faintly: "You do not have to, it is alright. You know how much I love Legolas..."
Elrond laughed: "I do. You and him have been inseparable ever since you have met for the first time. I think Elladan and Elrohir have had reason to be jealous quite often."
"Maybe, but then they have always been twosome, and I was fortunate to get an ally whenever Legolas visited. Together, we were strong..."
At this, Aragorn felt a slight squeeze on his hand.
--
Aragorn stayed with Legolas, who fell asleep soon.
.
The elf was still far from being well, but when he awoke next, Elrond noticed that his eyes were a bit clearer, and therefore was confident that he was on the mend at last.
He was about to help Legolas drink some broth when suddenly the door flew open, and in burst Erestor in an imitation of Elrond´s earlier entrance: "My lord! I- Estel-"
He stopped when he saw Aragorn, who was asleep in the bed next to Legolas, gaped for a few seconds, then crossed his arms: "I should not have said anything", he said quite disgruntled.
Elrond looked at him enquiringly: "About what?"
Erestor uneasily shifted his weight: "Well... he wanted to come here yesterday and had already gotten up, but I caught him and sent him back to bed.
I said I would not tell...er...you, my lord, about it, if he promised to stay put..." He looked slightly embarassed now.
Elrond however seemed to have heard only the first part of the sentence: "Estel had already gotten up and you caught him?" he repeated incredulously, seeing Erestor chasing after Aragorn in front of his inner eye.
Erestor sighed indignantly: "He nearly collapsed", he pointed out. "He desperately wanted to see what we were hiding from him, so I told him."
.
Legolas looked from one to the other: "Told him what?", he asked.
Erestor looked at thim as if noticing that he was awake and obviously a little better for the first time.
He exchanged a glance with Elrond, who nodded.
"Told him how worried Lord Elrond was about you", Erestor thus continued. "So Estel cast aside his own condition and somehow managed to come here..."
.
At this, Legolas looked slightly alarmed: "Why... what do you mean by condition?", he demanded, even if his voice was very weak.
"He has a serious concussion", Elrond said calmly: "Thus he should not get up at all. As he is perfectly aware of!", he added.
Legolas looked at Aragorn: "Stubborn as a dwarf", he murmured. "I hope he is well..."
--
TBC
--