Sequel to Home and the Heartland
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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original characters and storylines, it is all Tolkien´s...
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Author´s note:
Writing Home and the Heartland, I found it very hard to have Aragorn undergo all the torment, but it had to be done, otherwise the Orcs would have complained.
Naturally, it was thus Aragorn´s turn to complain, so I had to promise him to at least write a sequel which deals with the aftermath and has his best friend in it to make up for it...
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Chapter 1: Distressing News
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A thin layer of snow covered the courtyard of the Last Homely House, as winter had finally arrived in Imladris.
Legolas Greenleaf dismounted his horse and looked around, marvelling at the pale light reflecting from the white.
A stable hand appeared, bade him welcome and asked to take care of his horse and packs.
Legolas gratefully accepted and went inside. Although he did not feel the cold so much that it actually bothered him, he preferred warmth to the constant chill.
In the hallway, he met Lord Elrond, who had come to greet him: "Welcome, dear friend", he beamed, seizing his hand with his own and one shoulder with the other.
"We have received the note that you intend to stay with us until next spring and most gladly invite you to do so. In fact, you could not have come at a better time."
Legolas briefly wondered what that was supposed to mean; he thought he had discerned a serious undertone in Elrond´s voice as well, betraying his apparently light mood.
But the prince did not have time to ponder about this, becausenow the twins appeared, welcoming Legolas as heartfelt as their father. Their usual merriness seemed a little subdued, though, making Legolas wonder again.
Elrond bade him into the Hall of Fire, where they settled down around the fire and had some afternoon tea.
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After Legolas had delivered greetings from his father and tidings from Mirkwood, Elrond exchanged a glance with the twins before he set to speak: "As you will be staying here for the next months, there is something you should know", he began. "We have been through a most dreadful time: the previous weeks have been a trial for our family, due to something that has happened to Estel."
Elladan´s gaze rested on Legolas, whose expression went from curious to worried while he listened to elf-lord; his stomach had indeed clenched in fear at the last sentence.
His eyes widened and he paled visibly when Elrond told him what had happened.
When he had finished, Legolas was too shocked to say anything; he felt like he would start to cry if he tried to speak, and it took him a while to regain his composure.
"Had I only known...", he whispered. "I would not have troubled you further with my visit..."
"No, no", Elrond said, "I meant what I said earlier, we are truly glad to have you here, dear Legolas! And I did not mean to sadden you by telling you this, but you need to know."
Legolas nodded slowly: "How is he, then?", he asked.
"His body is healing", Elladan replied, "but his mind is still troubled. You know that he is strong, but it will take time. At first we feared for him, once we knew he would live, because he was severely shaken..."
He fell silent.
Legolas instantly knew that he was thinking of Celebrían.
"He still has nightmares", Elrohir continued after a moment, "and although he does not say it and it goes against his usual habits, he does not like to be alone for long."
"So, is someone with him right now?"
"No", Elrohir replied. "When I left, he was sleeping."
"Is he still confined to the bed, then?"
"He is not", Elrond said, sighing. "But he often lies down, as if he felt safe there."
He sighed again: "But at least he has taken to getting up and about at all. At first, he did seem reluctant to leave his room."
This were indeed strange news to Legolas´ears. "Why?", he asked.
"I reckon he he did not trust his own body anymore. He denied his own strength."
They sat in silence for a while, until Elrond, in an attempt to lighten the mood, smiled at Legolas: "It will do him good to see you. We have not told him that you were coming, as we wished to surprise him."
Legolas forced himself to smile as well: "It will be an early Yule present then."
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Later, he went to Aragorn´s room. He felt severely shaken as well, but was determined not to let it show.
Before he entered, he hesitated nevertheless, debating wether he should have thought about what exactly to say first, not wanting to make his friend feel awkward. But then he dismissed this thought; it would make Aragorn feel all the more uncomfortable if Legolas sounded as if he had rehearsed.
So the elf drew a deep breath in order to calm himself and went inside.
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TBC
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