Summary: Aragorn is sick, very sick, and this time he won't recover. At his prompting, Legolas tells Aragorn something he has never told anyone before. Something he wished he could have said many years before. TWOSHOT

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"Legolas," King Thranduil stepped into the Prince's study, "This just came from Gondor." He handed Legolas the letter.

Legolas opened it quickly, a feeling of deep foreboding in his heart. His heart was pounding as he scanned the few short lines.

In some places the elegant writing wavered or was blurred by tear drops.

Legolas,

For many years, you have been my husband's dearest friend. Aragorn has fallen ill. It is not expected that he will recover. Please come with all haste.

Your Humble Servant,

Arwen

Legolas felt everything about him drop away into nothingness. He had known that this day would come, but he had hoped it would not be so soon.

"Ada," The Prince said, "I must go to Gondor, Aragorn has been taken ill."

The King saw the worry in his son's face and nodded, "Go then."

Legolas swept from the room to ready his horse and travel pack.

Two Days Later

Legolas was led into Aragorn's chamber by one of the palace's now somber servants.

The prince thought he had steeled himself for anything, but not this.

Aragorn lay thin and frail, propped up on large cushions. His pale wife sat beside him gripping his once strong hand.

"Ah, my old friend," Aragorn managed, "Come sit."

Arwen silently rose, offering her seat to Legolas.

The Elf took it with a nod of thanks.

"I will let you and Legolas catch up." Arwen said softly as she pressed a gently kiss on her husband's wrinkled brow before leaving the room.

For a moment, the two old friends sat silently, lost in memories.

"How is Gimli?" Aragorn asked, his mind wandering back to the days of the Fellowship.

"As stubborn and crotchety as ever." Legolas said with a small laugh. He thought of the old dwarf as he hobbled about the Glittering Caves, still giving orders to the younger dwarves. "How are you?" He asked, his voice growing serious with concern.

A shadow settled upon the King's face. "Ill, my friend, ill." He smiled grimly at his companion. "Legolas, my old friend, we have been through much together. Many years, in fact, but we have never simply sat and talked."

"Aye, that we haven't," Legolas replied, "Shall we now? Reminisce of the old days in our youth when we were young and foolish?"

The King smiled lightly at his Elven friend, "Nay, I have wondered about the one subject in your life you so carefully avoid. Love."

Legolas saw now the trap Aragorn had set down for him. "You wish to know of love in my life?" The prince was unsure as to how he should go about his tale.

"The love, Legolas, come now. Surely you have loved someone, some woman. Tell me of her. For as long as I have known you, you have avoided intimate relations with women like it were the plague." Aragorn opened his grey eyes and gave Legolas a piercing stare.

The Elf looked away, not meeting his friend's gaze. He gazed out of the window, fighting against the pain that reared up as he remembered her. Her being Arietha.

"There was a woman, once." Legolas began softly, "Her name was Arietha." The Elf closed his eyes, remembering every detail he could about her. And he began to tell his tale to Aragorn. "I met her one year before the Battle of the Five Armies."

Flashback:

Legolas Greenleaf rested against the trunk of a tree. He absorbed the sounds of the forest as they rolled over and about him.

The wind brought him its news, showing him the going-ons of the people. Then one particular sound caught his ears. A scream had entwined itself into the wind.

The Elf was on the ground and racing off towards the screaming. Legolas stopped at the edge of a giant spider web. He had stumbled into the lair of the Giant Spiders that inhabited Mirkwood's shadow realms.

A young woman screamed again and dove behind a tree trunk as one of the huge creatures hit the ground where she had once been. Another spider leapt at the woman, but was caught in mid-air by an arrow. The creature screeched and dropped lifelessly to the forest floor.

The spiders ceased their attacks for the moment to get a look at the intruder.

The young woman peered tentatively out from behind her tree. She stared in wonder at the bold Elf standing in the center of the spiders' den.

Legolas gave the young woman a reassuring smile as he raised his bow and fired and arrow with deadly accuracy into the nearest spider's head. The creature collapsed with a screech.

The sound awoke the others from their trance and they pounced upon the lone Elf.

Legolas stashed his bow behind a tree and whipped out his knives. He spun about in a blur, slashing at the spiders. Warm, sticky, black blood coated his upper body as it squirted from the dying beasts.

Then the den suddenly fell silent as the remaining spiders fled into the depths of Mirkwood's shadows.

Legolas dropped to his knees exhausted. He noted a sharp pain in his should where blood had begun to well up from a wound of his own.

The young woman crept from her hiding place and slowly approached an exhausted Legolas. "Thank you." She said softly.

The Elf looked up at her from his position on the ground and slowly got to his feet. He wiped a trickled of spider blood from his forehead and looked at in disgust.

"Here," The young woman told him, offering him a white handkerchief.

Legolas took it with a nod of thanks. He wiped a bit of the blood away from his mouth and eyes. "I'd give you this back, but I do believe it is positively filthy." He smiled at the human girl before him. "I should probably wash it before returning."

The girl laughed, "I think we both could use some washing as well."

"How right you are," Legolas paused, "May I inquire as to your name, my lady?" He inclined his head to the human.

"I am called Arietha."

"And I am Legolas." The Prince bowed slightly, kissing her hand. "I suppose we should get cleaned up before anyone should see us." He told Arietha as he straightened, "There is a pool not far from here."

"Of course, the Wanderer's Pool!" Arietha exclaimed, "Why did I not think to mention it before?"

Legolas laughed lightly, "Shall we go then?"

Arietha nodded and took Legolas' offered arm.

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Legolas shook the water from his eyes and mockingly glared at his new friend Arietha. "That was cheating." He told her.

Arietha smirked at him, "Actually, that was quite fair. You got my clothes wet."

The Prince raised an eyebrow at her. "How else did you expect to get them clean without removing them?"

The human wrinkled her nose and sent another wave of water at the Elf with her feet.

Legolas grabbed her ankles and yanked her off of the log where she had been perched.

Arietha tumbled into the pool with a splash and a small scream.

"And you say I cheat." The girl muttered as she resurfaced.

It was Legolas' turn to smirk.

The girl swam close to Legolas and wiped the remaining spider blood from his chest and began to examine the cut in his shoulder. It was clean and just a surface wound. "I want to thank you," Arietha said softly, "For saving my life today. If you hadn't heard me, I don't know what I would have done."

Legolas met her gaze. "You would have been all right. I'm sure of it." He gently took Arietha's hands in his.

The human girl blushed.

"Arietha! Arietha! Where are you?" A man's voice filtered through the trees.

Legolas and Arietha froze for a moment. Then Arietha clambered out of the river.

She flashed Legolas an apologetic smile, "I must go, it is my brother." Arietha waved to Legolas and ran towards her brother's voice.

The Elven prince leaned on the bank, watching her go. He smiled before climbing up from the water.

End Flashback

"That is how you met?" Aragorn said, more of a statement than a question.

"Aye, that is how we met." The Elf replied softly, hoping that his friend would be satisfied with the knowledge.

To his dismay, the Man would not let it rest until the subject was exhausted.

"Whatever happened to her? Why did you not wed her?"

Legolas sighed and continued on.

"We saw each other often afterwards, very often."

Flashback:

Legolas lay back on the grassy hill, gazing up at the velvet night sky. He loved the night. It was peaceful, blissfully so. A warm summer breeze drifted gently over his body, playing with the golden hair that lay splayed out upon the ground.

"Is this spot taken?" A soft voice queried from above him.

The Elf turned his head to see Arietha. Her silvered hair glistened in the moonlight that bathed her body. A soft dress fluttered down from her shoulders in gentle waves. A silver belt gathered it at her slim waist. Her beauty took his breath away.

"I was saving it for you." Legolas managed when he got his breath back.

Arietha knelt beside Legolas and gazed up at the stars shining brightly above her. "It is so beautiful tonight." She whispered upward.

Legolas propped himself up on one elbow so he could look at her. "The night is beautiful, but how could I ever see it when your beauty is blinding me?" He knew the line was a bit unoriginal, but it was truly how he felt at this moment.

Only a few short months had passed since his first accidental meeting with Arietha. Since then there had been numerous other "accidents." Each meeting's end had seen the pair bound closer together by an unseen force. At first the feelings was that only of friendship, but it had quickly become something so much more.

The young woman bestowed a shy smile upon her companion. "Thank you, but I am not worthy of such compliment." She moved as if to look away, but could not break her gaze away from Legolas'.

Slowly, as if any sudden movement might frighten her off, Legolas moved a bit closer to her. He sat just beside her and lay back upon the grass once more.

Arietha understood what he was doing and she too lay back. Her head rested lightly on Legolas' chest. His arms encircled her body, holding her tightly against his body. For several minutes she simply listened to the strong, steady beat of his heart beneath his smoothly muscled chest. She could feel his hand gently caressing her silken hair.

"You are quiet tonight." Legolas observed. He could sense something wasn't quite right with her.

"Legolas, I- I can't see you anymore." She whispered softly. Arietha lifted herself from Legolas' embrace and looked down at the Elf.

"Why? Have you suddenly gone blind?" Legolas tried weakly to make a joke, but he could feel the pain already welling up within him. He had seen on his human friend's faces this same pain many times before. They had been forced to watch as the one they loved was given to another, usually older, man in marriage. "To whom?" He asked after a moment.

"Bard."

The name hung the air. Bard was a Man Legolas had seen many times. He was a skilled hunter and archer. Any woman should have been thrilled to become the wife of Bard. Just not his Arietha. Not her. He wanted her to be his with every particle of his being. He had come alive since meeting her. Everyone in Mirkwood had noticed. For the first time since his sister's death he was smiling and laughing.

Legolas started to get to his feet. "I shall go and speak with your father. I will ask for your hand myself." He started to walk off, but felt Arietha's small hands grasp his hand and pull him back.

"Legolas," She whispered softly, "You can't."

"Why not? I love you. I don't want to lose you." He gently clasped his arms about her slender waist, "You have made me feel more these last few months than I've been able to feel in the ten years since my sister's death. I want you to be by my side always. To be my wife, my lover, my consort. Give it whatever name you please, but all I want, all I need, is you."

Arietha averted her gaze from Legolas' passionate expression. "Legolas, even if my father agreed to our marriage by some strange miracle, I could never be with you always. I am a daughter of Men and you- you are a prince among the Elves. Even should we wed, I would grow old and wither away as the leaves do when winter comes. While you would remain forever young."

Legolas knew that she spoke truth, but his heart could not accept it. "I don't care. I will love regardless of what will happen." He made as if to say more, but Arietha silenced him, pressing her fingertips gentle against the prince's lips.

"No. I cannot let you throw away everything for my sake. What would happen when I died? It is not likely that you would remain among your people or mine for very long after my death. If we were wed, there would be a bond between us stronger even than love. That bond would kill you when I die. Think of those you now care for. Your father, your people, and your land. Should you die, you would leave your people without a leader to look to should their king move into the West or be killed. To forsake your duty would be wrong. My people say that duty should come before all else. It is a saying we live by." Arietha stopped speaking for a moment.

Legolas could see her visibly trying to choke back the tears that threatened to overwhelm her. "Hush, my love." He whispered, cradling her head against his chest.

Arietha began to cry softly as Legolas rocked her gently. For a long time they stood there as Arietha sobbed into Legolas' tunic.

The Elven Prince felt his throat tightening as he tried to speak. He couldn't bear to give her up without a fight, but she was right. All too right. If she died, he knew that life would become meaningless and he, too, would die. "Arietha," Legolas sighed, "I wish that we could by some miracle be together. But, as usual, you are right. I will always love you, and nothing will ever change that." He could feel the tears pricking at the corners of his eyes and blinked rapidly to banish them. "I will never be able to tell how much I love you, but I can give you the chance to be with someone who could give you the things I could never give you."

Legolas gently lifted Arietha's chin so she stared up at him with watery eyes. He slowly lowered his face to hers and allowed his lips to brush gently over her lips. The kiss deepened and Legolas clung tightly to the woman he loved for a moment longer. Just as slowly as the kiss had started, it was broken. "I love you, and always will." Legolas whispered fiercely. He gave Arietha a weak smile before turning and disappearing into the forest.

Had he only looked back, he would have seen Arietha sink to her knees and bury her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs.

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I need to stop this first part here, because A) If I don't I'm probably going to dissolve into tears over something completely ridiculous because I am so overly emotional at the moment, B) I'm so tired it's not even funny, and C) I want to have a chance to regroup before starting on the next part. So please, read and review. Once again, I ask you to please send me ANY ideas you have for ANY of my stories. Mainly my LOTR and POTC stories though. Thanks a bunch!!!