An eerie scratching sound filled one of the abnormally empty hallways of Rivendell one late afternoon as the sun began to set early. The source of the dreadful sound was a young boy walking down the hall with his shoulder slumped, sword dragging on the ground.
As he plodded down the hall, Aragorn heaved a sigh dejectedly. His head was bowed and he made an effort not to look at anything but the brown of the floor that he walked on; he even ignored Glorfindel, who had paused to ask him what was wrong, and normally he responded enthusiastically to anything Glorfindel said.
Finally Aragorn came to the end of the hall and continued straight, aiming for a spot hidden among the many high branches with green leaves and a variety of different coloured flowers that the trees surrounding Imladris provided.
Aragorn knew there was a small bench there, placed especially by him in an attempt to establish a haven to which he could escape, to leave behind the Elves around him and think.
He had not been there in a long time, not for a few years, at least. He brushed aside the few leaves that had fallen upon the bench, and dropped his sword to the ground. The heavy clang of the metal hitting earth was dully muted by the trees.
After taking a seat on the bench, Aragorn pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, pondering about the differences between Elves and Men. Closing his eyes slightly, he thought a moment before asking the trees aloud, 'Do your leaves never fall? Do your flowers never die?'
'Of course they do, Estel, all living things must perish.' Elrond said, pushing the branches aside to enter the troubled boy's haven, knowing he would find him there.
'Not all living things; Elves do not perish.' Aragorn replied almost bitterly. For a moment, Elrond was at a loss of what to say. He noticed a bruise forming on Aragorn's face, and the way he was holding one of his arms awkwardly as if it pained him.
Finally he decided to just sit beside Aragorn on the bench. Elrond reached down and picked up the fallen sword, then asked, 'Where did you get that beautifully blossoming bruise, Estel?'
'Elrohir,' was all that Aragorn said.
'Ah, battle practice, I see.' Elrond commented. He let the silence extend between him and Aragorn, knowing the boy would eventually confide in him. After a few moments, his patience was rewarded and Aragorn said quietly, 'Lord Elrond, why did Ilúvatar make Men so weak? Why are Elves superior to us in every way?'
'Aragorn, we are not in all ways superior.' Elrond answered sadly. He turned to look at Aragorn, who was gazing up at him with an expression of hopelessness. Elrond knew that raising Arathorn's son in an Elven home would be hard on the boy, a Man always being compared to the Elves surrounding him, but nothing else could have been done.
Aragorn continued to stare at the Elf Lord as he remained quiet, attempting to find words to explain how the Elves, who were so much stronger, more beautiful, more graceful, and cleverer, could possibly be inferior to Men.
'It cannot be explained,' Elrond finally said, 'how Elves are inferior to Men.'
'It is because you do not know, or because you are not at all flawed.' Aragorn spat, turning away from Elrond.
'Do you forget your history? All the blood spilled by the Elves over the First Age, was none of that caused by mistaken oaths and misguided hearts? Was it not because of Elves all that occurred?' Elrond asked.
'That is not what I meant. If once an Elf goes astray, for ever he has to fix it. If once a Man goes astray, death is the only release from evil.' Aragorn replied.
Elrond closed his eyes, willing himself to be patient with the boy. It all came back to the subject of mortality v. immortality. Men could work to strengthen their muscles to compete with the power of the Elves, but still they were not as strong, but that was not their worst grievance toward the Elves.
'You think that to live for ever will grant one perfection?' Elrond nearly whispered. When Aragorn did not reply, he continued, 'It is not a gift, living for ever. Hand it to a Man, and he will grow weary of it swiftly.'
Aragorn, still taken by the fanciful notion that living for ever would cure anything that ailed him, suddenly burst out, 'You get to see the flowers bloom anew every year if ever they fall in your lands. You see the green grass grow higher than any Man may witness. You never must watch your friends or family become plagued by sickness or old age. You never must watch them die.'
'But also we see the flowers that never whither and fade vanish from the world. We see the leaves that never change colour fall from the trees, and watch the green grasses turn brown and never grow back. And when you die, do you think that I will not mourn?' Elrond prompted gently. He got off the bench, and kneeled on the ground before Aragorn so that he could look the boy eye-to-eye. He held up the sword, tip pointed skyward, and said, 'To live for ever is to wield a double-edged sword, Estel.'
Still Aragorn glared at the Elf Lord disbelievingly. He refused to take his sword, knowing that the next time he used it against the twins in battle practice that he would only lose, no matter how many times he resolved to do better.
Elrond stood then and looked thru the tree branches, his gaze resting on the trees on the grassy field on the far side of Imladris; close enough for Men's weaker eyes to see.
'Come stand beside me, and gaze thru the branches and tell me what you see.' Elrond commanded. Aragorn obliged, his manners still remembered, even though he was resentful toward the Lord of Rivendell.
'I see…a field; a very green field, very lush.' Aragorn muttered.
'Do you think that it is greener there than the grass where we stand now?' Elrond asked.
'…No, I do not. The green is the same.' Aragorn answered truthfully, sounding confused.
'The grass is not always greener on the other side.' Elrond said calmly. He turned and held the sword out to Aragorn, who did not take it just yet. Instead the child looked up at the Elf Lord, wondering at his wisdom.
Elrond took the boy's hands and placed the sword's hilt in them and said, 'A Man may still beat an Elf when all the odds are against him. It is the way of the world. Even the weakest may find the strength to defeat the strongest. There is always hope.'
Aragorn closed his fists tightly around the hilt, taking comfort from the strong metal, but he did not take his eyes off of Elrond. His gaze was still questioning, and Elrond understood his confusion despite all that he had explained.
He and his brother had once faced the same turmoil when offered the ability to choose their destinies. Elros had chosen to become mortal, and Elrond searched now for a trace of his brother's face in the young boy's, knowing of their distant kinship. It was a stretch, but he hoped to see a similar feature, possibly an eye colour, or a curl in the hair.
Yet it was not in the physical features that Elrond saw his brother, but in the courage and hope that shone thru the confusion in Aragorn's eyes. Elrond nodded and said, 'Perhaps you are now ready to challenge Elrohir and Elladan again.'
Aragorn smiled and exclaimed, 'I am ready, and this time I shall win!' before running off. As he sprinted the down the hall, he ignored the painful bruises pulsing on his arms and legs, and thought hard about how he was going to beat the twins.
However, he paused a moment before he reached the opposite end of the hallway, and turned to look out the high, mirror-less window. He looked out in all directions; taking note that every where he looked the grass was green all over, from one field to another.
Aragorn nodded happily, understanding the metaphor. Men were not always weaker than Elves, and their undying wish was just another part of learning that the grass was most certainly not always greener on the other side.
::A/N:: Disclaimer? Why yes: The Lord of the Rings most certainly does not belong to me!
Mmmm, what to say about this, what to say? I guess I could explain Elrond's whole deal with leaves falling. You know Evergreens that NVR SHED? Well, Aragorn is making the point that in his lifetime, he'll never see those leaves fall, because they are *gasp* undying. Elrond, however, is saying that because he lives forever, when that tree dies or when those pines/leaves eventually do fall for whatever reason, he'll be around to see it. Y'know? And the flowers that never wither, he'll see them eventually destroyed/watch them fade and stop blooming and become extinct.
Yes plants can become extinct. They're living things, mmkay? Mmkay. That is your science lesson for the day.
Thought of the Day: I am really, really sleepy.