Author: Sivan Shemesh
Beta:Erynlinia - Hannon le, sweetie
Rate and Warning: T for Character death, twist – Don't say I didn't warn you, and a bit of angst.
Summary: Friendship IS precious. Then you find you lose the one you did not expect to die.
Disclaimer: I am not J.R.R. Tolkien!
This is a pure and total AU.
Teitho June Theme – Friendship.
Italic – Flashback.XxOxX
Let your tears come. Let them water your soul.
Eileen Mayhew
IthilienThe guards stared over the horizon; the sky was growing darker as another day ended the sun ready to set.
Some birds flew up into the sky, their wings moving along with the wind, while others rested between the branches in the trees.
The guards noticed their lord as he sighed heavily as he stared too over the horizon. They walked over him but said nothing.
"What is it?" Lord Legolas asked, still looking over the horizon.
"A messenger came by and he is looking for you, my lord," the guard answered.
Lord Legolas turned around as he hoped in his heart that nothing wrong had happened to his friends.
"Show me," Legolas ordered.
The guards led their lord over to the trees, where they welcomed the guests and the messengers that came by.
"There he is, my lord." The guard pointed and then he left.
"What is it?" Legolas asked the messenger with fear in his voice. He truly hoped that nothing had happened as he prayed to the Valar.
"Before you read it, Lord Legolas, I was told by my King to tell you these words and I quote: 'Tell Lord Legolas what has befallen us… you must tell him before he opens and reads the message.'"
"Speak now!" Legolas ordered, he could not stand the tension.
"There was a civil war in Gondor," the messenger started to say only to be cut off by the impatient lord.
"How did that happen?" Legolas asked curiously.
"It is explained in the envelope, my lord. If you will allow me to finish it? It is of great importance." The messenger asked, and Legolas could see the pain and sadness in the messenger's eyes.
Now Legolas grew paler, as he sadly thought, 'Who was hurt?'
"Again, there was a civil war in Gondor, and one of the Royal family was hurt, badly… and a day later he died from the deepest wounds. The king asks for you to come. He needs you there." The messenger explained, and gazed over at the elf lord.
'You are not hurt, Aragorn, the king is alive, but who is it that died?' the thought occurred in his mind.
Lord Legolas did not moved from his place, he still was stunned by the words that were spoken, but finally he opened his mouth, only to ask the dreaded question, "W… who was hurt?"
"Princeling Eldarion."
The question hit Legolas very hard as thoughts raced wildly through his shocked mind.
He was there when the princeling was born he felt like a second father to the child.
"But he is only a boy." Legolas suddenly spoke.
The lord walked over to the guards and urgently ordered, "Ready my horse!"
"Yes, my lord."
Several minutes later the lord and his companion left for Gondor in all haste. The messenger still followed the elven lord, still holding the envelope from the king.
XxOxX
As the Legolas rode, he remembered the unique and precious friendship that he created with Eldarion; the heir of the king, his best friend.
He remembered the sweet memory as the baby poked his long ears, and then as the infant caught his fingers, as he played with him.
He was there when the boy spoke for the first time. Legolas had giggled as he heard him calling Elessar: 'Sar…', and then as he tried to call Legolas, but what left the boy's mouth was 'Las,'
When the boy reached his fifth birthday, Legolas was there, too, greeting the boy which reminded him of the past with the king, Elessar.
Legolas even gave him a special gift from Ithilien; it was a necklace of leaves and flowers. And Legolas placed it on the boy's neck.
"And what about me?" Elessar asked him.
"I expected your question, mellon-nin," Legolas grinned at him and then pulled another necklace from his pocket. He handed it over to his old friend and grinned, "Now remember Elessar, you must behave or… next year, you will not receive any of my gifts."
"No one will tell you even if I do misbehave, filthy elf." Elessar grinned back over at him.
"I think that you will be very surprised the number of those who will tell me." Legolas smirked at the king. Then he turned around and smiled at the boy who smiled back.
"Eldarion, not you too," Elessar sighed heavily before he went to catch the boy.
"Why not Ada?" the boy asked, and stared with pleading eyes over to the elf that guarded him from his father, as his father finally caught and tickled him.
The tickles were hard for him to handle. Every time Elessar would tickle him, Eldarion would roll around on the ground and call for Legolas to help him...
"Are you conspiring against me, my son?" Elessar smirked.
"It depends, Father, whether you stop tickling me," Eldarion grinned at his father, and turned to look at the elf.
"Here is the deal, Elessar, my old friend," Legolas immediately suggested, "You will not tickle him, and he will not need to tell me how you behave… deal?"
"Deal." The king agreed to the deal and stared at his old friend; the elf that guarded him when the twins picked on him.
'I am lucky to have such a loyal friend like him,' Elessar thought then kept wondering, 'Where is that dwarf? I will kill him if he misses Eldarion's birthday. Maybe I should send Legolas to take care of that brain-addled dwarf. Arwen's calling for me, I'll let Legolas take care of Eldarion while I find out what she wants.'
'They are too much alike,' the lord thought as he rode toward Gondor. Many sunsets and sunrises passed, the only breaks taken to rest the horses. His grief and fear for the king and queen drove him harder as each day dawned.
'But is this possible that I feel like I was his father, an elf like me?' Legolas sadly thought as a single tear trickled down his face.
He loved him dearly in his heart and kept asking himself, 'Why there was a civil war in Gondor in the first place?' Everything seemed to be doing fine when he left.
XxOxX
Two weeks later…Gondor
Minas Tirith
Lord Legolas and his companion arrived to Minas Tirith, tired and hungry from the long ride.
Lord Legolas dismissed his elves to take their rest and he himself went looking for the mourning Royal family.
He found them weeping around the white tree, crying Eldarion's name.
"Elessar, Arwen," he called softly. He wanted to comfort them, lend his strength as they mourned for their heir, their beloved son. He kept in his own tears, knowing this time was for the family to grieve…his time to cry would come later.
Legolas put his hands on Elessar's shoulders, gently turning him towards him. The grieving man collapsed into his friend's arms, his tears soaking the elves' tunic.
"H… how did this happen, Elessar?" Legolas found his voice as he swallowed back his tears, not wishing then to fall…he was not ready for them.
Elessar pulled away from Legolas's embrace and answered, "I wrote it in the letter, did you not read it?"
"Nay… I could not, I came right after the messenger gave me your words," Legolas replied.
"Please… I cannot tell you, it will bring more sorrow to my heart, remembering how Eldarion was killed… I cannot… please do not ask me to," Elessar beseeched his friend.
"Arwen… how are you doing?" Legolas asked her.
Arwen stared over her at her friend and noticed the stoic mask on his face, "The tears threaten to drown my soul every time that I think of him, or any reminder of him…no matter how small. How are you dealing with it, my friend?"
"I remembered all the fun and joy that we had, even the secrets that we shared. Why did he die, he was only a boy?" Legolas asked, trying to swallow back his tears, as he tried to be strong for his friends.
"Cry my friend, it will ease your grief a little. I can see how much you try to kept it hidden for us, cry," Arwen softly said to Legolas.
"He was not only a son to me, he was my friend, too... like Estel when he was a child," Legolas shivered and the tears fell like a heavy rain, his blue eyes turning stormy with emotion.
XxOxX
Gimli was hidden from the elf, as he was behind the other side of the white tree.
"Oh… Legolas you are here," Gimli teased his friend and then grinned, "It took you awhile to arrive, while I myself have been here for some days."
"Gimli!" Elessar warned the dwarf, as he wished to avoid another fight. It was enough that his son died, murdered by his kin!
"It is good to see you, my friend," Gimli greeted him.
"You too mellon-nin, but I wish it were under other circumstances." Legolas greeted him in turn.
"Yes, it is true," Gimli agreed with the elf, and then he turned to the man and asked, "Where should we bury him?"
"Near the white tree?" Legolas suggested.
"Do you know something that we do not know, mellon-nin?" Elessar asked him as he gave him a soft smile.
"I think you already know that," Legolas grinned.
"So it seems, my friend." Elessar kept smiling at him.
"It is going to be hard, not only for me, but to you as well, and Gimli, I hope, too." Arwen spoke to Legolas softly.
"Now wait a minute, I know that I was not on time to Eldarion's birthday, but I did came and give him a pony, didn't I?" Gimli exclaimed.
"You did? Forgive us." Elessar asked the dwarf.
"You gave him a pony?" Legolas asked the dwarf.
"Why? What did you give him?" Gimli asked the elf with curious.
"Necklace, a simple necklace of nature for him," Legolas answered.
Elessar stepped between his two friends and said, "He loved both of your gifts, my friends, as I loved them too."
The End
And this is where the story ends with heavy heart…