Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or the places mentioned.

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"I'll come back Arwen, I promise."

Legolas hated not keeping promises, but this was something he could not control. He would be coming back, but he would not be able to see her beautiful face, or hold her in his arms. He would never be able to marry her and never again would he feel her warmth as they kissed. Now it was getting hard for Legolas to keep his eyes open but the stars were keeping him there and he used all his strength to keep their gaze. How had he gotten here?

"I'll come back Arwen, I promise." He reached down and kissed her before turning and gracefully leaping on to his horse. He turned and gave her one last look then trotted over to meet with Aragorn and the other men that were leaving out of city. They were going to fight off the orcs, for they had been getting far too close to the Elven Stronghold that was Rivendell.

Using the last of his energy, Legolas glanced over to his left, where he had heard movement. Someone came into his view and the prince strained his eyes trying to figure out who it was. After much concentration, he recognized the figure as Aragorn. It suddenly occurred to him that his friend had been talking to him, but Legolas had not the strength to reply.

"…make it, don't worry…Rivendell…Arwen…for you."

The sound of the others voice wavered in and out and it was hard for Legolas to understand anything. All at once, Legolas realized several things. One was that Aragorn was holding his hand, and Legolas tried as hard as he could but simply could not come up with the strength to squeeze it, to let Aragorn know he was at peace. All he could do was move his finger back and forth against the smooth skin of the hand that was holding his. Legolas also noticed that by the way Aragorn was speaking that he thought Legolas was going to live.

The elf shifted his head so he could better look into his friend's eyes. He had looked into them so many times before.

Legolas rode next to Aragorn until they could see any sign of orcs. That sign soon came in the form of an arrow. These orcs had better aim then most others, but had still missed the elf by several feet. Faster then his friend could follow Legolas had notched an arrow and felled the orc. Soon the forest in front of them had filled with the fowl beasts and all the elves had come forward and used their own bow and arrows and killed what seemed like hundreds of orcs. Most of the elves had jumped off their horses and were moving closer on foot. Legolas had pulled his knives and was killing another orc with every turn. Three at once had attacked him, but he had easily slain them all. After that the prince had noticed the glint of metal not far off from where he currently was. Recognizing these things as orcs, he dashed over and killed them all except for one that had remained silent. This orc had his own arrow notched and just as Legolas had killed the last orc he heard an arrow fly past his head, barely missing it. But the orc had planned on that.

~*~

Aragorn could do nothing but sit and helplessly watch his friend suffer. He couldn't admit to himself that the elf would soon be dead. He gently slipped one of his arms under Legolas' neck and the other under his knees. He would have lifted him and rode as fast as he could towards Rivendell, but stopped when he saw Legolas shaking his head. Aragorn leaned his head closer to Legolas' own as his friend spoke barely a whisper.

"No…Aragorn." The Ranger could see how much pain his friend was in, and that talking was becoming a huge effort.

"Don't speak Legolas, save your energy." Again, the elf simply shook his head.

"Please…just leave me…leave me here." With every word, the prince was becoming more and more pale. Tears were beginning to well up in the human's eyes, and one fell down and landed softly on his friends face. "Don't…don't cry please." The elf's voice was getting softer and softer, and it was becoming hard to hear him.

Aragorn could not think of anything to say. He leaned closer to his friend, "I will stay right here with you nin mellon." My friend

Legolas quickly turned around, falling right into the trap. The orc was right there waiting for him. Before Legolas could stop him the dark creature had planted his knife in the elf's heart, missing only slightly. But he had not missed by far enough, and it had only given the elf precious extra minutes to live. ~*~ Aragorn stood shocked as he watched his friend being stabbed, and then stumble, as he tried to stay standing.  Running over with all the speed he could find Aragorn used his sword and stabbed the orc in the heart. He did not miss and the beast fell dead. The ranger turned just in time to catch his friend and lay him gently onto the ground.

~*~

Darkness began to invade his sight, but Legolas would not give up so easy. He watched his friend, no, his brother sit next to him. Wanting to say more he pulled at the others collar with all his extra energy to let Aragorn know he had something to say. Although the tug had been weak, his friend bent down and Legolas could still see tears in the silver eyes. He wanted to smile, but he had not the strength to do that and talk at the same time. "Tell…" Darkness was trying to take him over once again, but this time Legolas could not fight it off. "…Arwen….I…love her." He could barely see his friend nod and he could barely hear him whisper back,

"I promise."

Aragorn was still close, so with one last effort Legolas whispered to him, "Namarie Estel." Farewell With that, Legolas turned his gaze upon the sky and the last thing he ever saw was the bright stars smiling down on him. His eyes closed, and he was gone.

~*~

Aragorn could do nothing but sit and watch his friend pass on. His eyelids closed, assuring Aragorn that the elf, his brother, the Prince of Mirkwood, was no longer living. Another tear escaped him, and gently fell down onto the peaceful face of his friend. "Namarie Legolas."

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