Disclaimer: again not mine

AN: I finished it. Complete. yay ) go down with a bang!

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He wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it. And the reality of it. Actually he did not feel like

laughing at all. He did not know what to feel at all.

"Fair Undomiel you see things that belong to the shadows. Elves belong to the light. Let us

head to the halls and enjoy the company of our beloved ones. My soul is heavy, may it lighten

a bit in the halls of music," he confessed and smiled for her.

There was something so terribly wrong with this smile, though, Arwen noticed. "I pray to the

Valar that you are right, mellon nin," she said seriously and hesistantly took his hand.

The closer they came to the halls, the louder the sounds of flutes could be heard. And a

beautiful melodic voice that certainly could belong to no other than Lindir, the talented

Minstrel of Imladris.

Yet the music rather seemed melancholic than as cheerful as it should. And when the doors

were opened for the Evenstar and Mirkwood's Prince the conversations were hushed and

everyone seemed to look at them in silent wonder of what was about to happen.

Legolas was filled with a sense of dread.

'They know," he thought. 'They know. And that's why they stare. Why do they have to stare?'

Arwen curtsied gracefully and nudged Legolas onward. "Do not let it get to you, Legolas. They

are just surprised at the news. They reacted the same way when I first told them that Aragorn..."

she caught herself and smiled embarrassed. "Anyway just be yourself," she then advised.

He knew that Elrond's daughter meant no accusation. She was just trying to cheer him up, but

that somehow made it worse. She was kind and sweet, despite everything.

"She walks with him," someone said quietly. Affirmative whispers. "She is very strong."

He felt his cheeks flush and looked at the ground. 'I should not have come. Why did I decide to

come?' he paniced. 'I am an outsider amongst my people."

"Do not listen to them," the Evenstar said lowly. "Be strong." She tightened her grip on his hand

in an encouranging gesture and then left him to go to her father's side.

It was the dwarf that called on him first."Elf-friend," he grunted. "Rumour is the Evenstar and

Aragorn parted for your sake?"

Legolas swallowed and turned around to face Gimli. He smiled warily.

"It... might seem that way," he answered carefully, not knowing how to approach the topic.

"Well that certainly is a surprise!" the Dwarf boomed. Then he grinned. "You have my support,

Elf, but I can see a hard time coming for you."

How can it be any harder that is already is, Legolas wanted to reply. How much more is there

to endure?

"Mind if I steal the Prince away for a second?" a second voice broke in.

Legolas breathed a sigh of relief. Aragorn. Finally he was at his side.

"Not at all, lad, not at all." A firm pat on his back and then Gimli mingled with the crowd again.

"You do not look well," the man stated, concerned. "Are you not well?"

"I do not know what to make of this situation. I am not comfotable. People are staring."

Aragorn laughed. "Of course they are staring. Legolas, wherever you go, people will stare at you.

It is just who you are." He smiled tenderly. "Come, let us give them something to really talk about.

Let us dance."

Before he knew it, Aragorn had pulling him to the dance floor. He looked around nervously when he

noticed that the dance floor began to empty and the people were looking at the pair in curiousity.

And then he saw it.

A glipse, nothing more. But he knew it was there. He had seen it. The blond hair. The iceblue eyes.

His panic began to rise. 'Everyone is watching us. Everyone. And also him. Me.'

Aragorn put his hands around Legolas and the dance began.

It was slow at first, the swaying of hips, the coordination of movement.

"They look beautiful together," someone said and Aragorn grinned at him as if to say: "See, didn't I

tell you."

The dance floor filled up again. More and more people joined, occasionally throwing a glance at the pair.

Dancing and laughing and every now and then a shocked glance.

"What happened to him? Why is he so pale? So thin?" Someone asked. A man with blond hair and

blue eyes.

Blurred emotions. Emotions? Was he still able to feel? The world moved in such a strange rhythm.

Fast and slow and always changing. Upside down.

Giggling and joking - and between it all - blackness. Sweet blackness. "Legolas?" A hushed scream.

He didnt't understand.

A sudden pressure around Legolas' arm that pulled him around. "Legolas?"

"Ada! Ada! It's Legolas! He is not reacting! I fear he is fading!" Silent panic in this voice. It sounded like

his own. But he wasn't sure. He wasn't sure of anything nowadays. It could have been Elladan's...

He looked up to see who was holding his hand. Iceblue eyes. Iceblue. With blond hair and a smile.

"I am you. Did you finally realize it? Did you finally accept it?"

'I am hallucinating!' he thought, but strangely it didn't seem so bad now.

He turned around. Everyone was laughing. And screaming. Why are they staring? Why are they still

staring?

He covered his face with his free hand and slid down on the floor.

'Please,' he thought, 'please free me.'

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"I am broken." He said. Both said. "I am broken."

He did not know what to answer. There was no answer to this simple statement. It was the truth.

He knew it. Both knew it.

"I am broken. Have been broken for such a long time. My existence is full of anguish and pain.

When will you free us? When will you finally unite us again? For we are heart and soul apart."

He remained silent.

"Whatever you will do will not change the outcome, my soul. You are doomed. It is time you

realize it. It is time to let go, Legolas."

: "Legolas? Legolas!"

"For so long we have been playing this game of hide and seek. You hid and I found you every time.

Do you not see that there is no place to hide anymore? I am not fiction. I am not an illusion. I am

you. I have always been you. We have been broken apart. Why do you still deny it? Why will you

not take my hand?"

: "He cannot hear you, Aragorn. I fear we have been ignorant too long. Elbereth, why did we

: not see what was right before our eyes?"

Oh, but he could hear them. The hushed voices, the quiet murmurs. He felt the warm hand that

embraced his own.

"This chaotic world, would you want to relive it again? The sorrowful moments, would you choose

to experience them again? Knowing you were not sane? Knowing your heart has been broken to

pieces? Knowing that only your soul remained, a soul that wished to be united with its counter-

part? A soul that wished to die? For I can promise you this: Should you choose to open your

eyes again, you will not be freed of me. I will follow you wherever you go as long as you live. I long

to be whole again. Why are you still hestitating? What is it that holds you here so firmly?"

: "He wanted to tell me about his secrets. He said it was his mind that haunted him. I did not

: understand what he meant back then."

A sharp sob. The grip on his hand tightened.

: "Do not leave me, Legolas. I love you. I love you."

"A hope," he answered. "Hope is what binds me to this shallow existence."

"A hope," he repeated, they repeated. "Yes, that is his name. The name they gave him. Such an

important meaning he has in our life, our soulmate. I can understand that he calls to the soul as

well. Of course I do. But I do not yearn for him anymore. The heart is beyond repair. You would

love him, yet you wouldn't."

"I will not lie to you anymore. The games have been played, I have been trying to coax you to finally

give up, I will admit this. You will give up eventually, my soul, my prince. But the longer it takes, the

more you will suffer, the more we will suffer.

For without me, you are not able to love him anymore."

"But with you I will not have the chance to ever love him."

"Why would you say that? You have loved him. Deeply. You experienced the joy of being close to

him. You experienced the smiles and the laughter you shared."

"I never experienced being loved back by him. That was all I ever hoped for," he whispered.

"You hoped in vain then. The time has passed when a love between the two of you could have been

possible. Open your eyes and he will love you. He will cherish you. But you will never be able to love

him back again. You would live a lie, every second, every day. Can you live with that?"

"From the lie that you are." Legolas recited. A pause. "Yes, I know now what you meant."

He smiled bitterly.

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I think I will leave the story at that. Many of you will certainly think now: wtf this is no endling!

But the thing is: I wanted no real ending. I wanted to let the possibilities open.

I don't think I would have updated this fast again if not for DustBunnies (thank you for your nice

review ) who finally showed me that there was someone who understood the core of this fiction:

That from the very start everything was all about Legolas fading and him himself not realizing

what was happening although the signs were so clear. I wanted to show a different side of the

meaning "fading", a sneaky insanity because the heart was divided from the soul. So yes to

those of you who thought Legolas was shizophrenic: in a sense he was. And yes to those who

thought he was going insane: because in a way he was.

Noone could see his counterpart because he was in Legolas' mind only. This image of himself

Legolas made up himself. That doesn't mean it was not real, because for Legolas it was.

I was just assuming that every Elf experienced fading in an own unique way and wanted to show

the way it could torture the mind of the one fading.

I hope you all enjoyed this fiction

I might consider doing a sequel where Legolas does indeed choose to live for Aragorn, but I doubt

that ending might be any happier than this one XD

If anyone would be interested in reading one, pls tell me, cause honestly I lack the motivation to

write if noone seems interested ..

Again thank you all for your nice reviews. I read every one of them and was glad about every single

one of them. Thank you for reading this story and taking some time to give me feedback, because

this feedback was, what made the story alive to me

:) Thank you.