A Secret Revealed - Chapter 2

After Arwen left me in my chambers, after the darkness came...I could hear. And that scared me. I heard Aragorn's urgent voice talking to Arwen, and my elf-sister replying, speaking of a glimmer of life, a glimmer of hope. That's all it boiled down to, really. I had gone into that state of, for want of a better word, sleep; because I had lost faith in life, believed I had lost love. And the pain in my chest was terrible. And yet even when I gave up faith in life, I still held onto the tiniest spark of hope that Aragorn would forgive me. In all honesty, I really could not accept that he turned me away so easily. But if it wasn't for that hope, I am sure I would have died. As I heard Aragorn speak to me for the first time, talking in me in both common tongue and the language of my kin, my hope grew. And yet along with my hope, grew fear, for although I desperately wanted to answer him, to sit up and take him into my arms, I found I could not move a muscle, could not speak; I could not even blink. And still I saw nothing.

"Speak from your heart," I could hear Arwen say. Inside, I smiled at her words. I could understand why Aragorn was so enchanted by her once upon a time, as well as being pretty; she was almost as poetic as he was. I realised with that thought that I had not heard any of the man's poetry in a long time. I hoped I lived to hear some again, and reminded myself to ask it of him should I ever be able to. I realised I could also feel. I felt him take my hand, and I felt him stroking my hair, and before that I think I felt his hand on my cheek, but I am unsure as I remember little between the time Arwen left the room and the time I heard Aragorn's voice.

"Legolas, Er anwa melamin," I heard him say. Then my ears picked up the sound of weeping. I knew it could only be Aragorn, for I had heard Arwen leave the room. How I was despairing of this waking blackout I was stuck in! All I wished to do was sit up and hold him, kiss him, tell him I was all right. But I wasn't all right. I couldn't even shed a tear over the situation I was in.

I head sounds of more people, and heard Arwen ushering Aragorn away, his hand slipping from mine almost reluctantly. Then I heard someone else approaching, and a hand rest upon my wrist. I heard Elrond's voice, muttering old words that I could not distinguish. Then for a long time, the hand on my wrist and the muttering of the elf lord was all I could hear.

And later the tread of human footsteps, much heavier than those of an elf. And my heart leapt a little, for although I could not see him, I could hear my beloved Aragorn again. I listened to their conversation, feeling a little guilty for eaves dropping, but realising I was powerless to do anything.

"...you have forgiven him for what you fell out over?" Elrond. It sounded as if he still did not know the secret Aragorn and I shared.

"Forgiven and forgotten," that was Aragorn's voice. Then I heard the sounds of Lord Elrond leaving, and the sigh of Aragorn as he sat by me. Then there was silence, for a while, in which I supposed he must be thinking. I knew he was still there, for I could hear his breathing. I took this time to think myself, about the events of the past few days. How had Boromir known the secret knock Aragorn was to give when he reached me door, and the time of night he was to arrive? The only logical explanation I could think of was that the horrible man had somehow overheard our conversation, yet I had always kept an ear open for the sounds of anyone approaching, for fear of getting caught. Although maybe, if he crept carefully, and stayed still, barely breathing, he may have managed to escape my attention. Damn that infernal man! I was glad to know in my heart, that with his departure, my feelings for him had gone too.

Then my thoughts were interrupted as I felt something on my lips. I recognised the feeling as Aragorn's own lips. They lingered there for a moment, before losing their contact, and I felt them pull away. Then I heard him say the words I had been hoping to hear ever since that fateful night with Boromir.

"I forgive you," he said.

He felt silent for a short time, and then I felt his touch on my ear, which may sound strange but it is a *very* sensitive place for an elf to be touched. I felt a shiver course though my body, and hear Aragorn give a small, astonished cry, calling for Arwen. More conversation. His touch upon my ear again. Then another hand, more smooth in texture, causing me to guess at Arwen, began touching my other ear, right on the very tip of the point. If I could have spoken I would have found myself moaning in pleasure, for the feeling this was giving me was similar to that of having a really good massage. Then I felt her pinch my ear sharply, and sat up in reaction.

"Ouch that really hurt!" I thought, then, "Wait...I just sat up..." Then suddenly the blackness cleared away and I could see again, and I felt the arms of both Aragorn and Arwen wrapped around me. I wanted to say something, but could not find the words. Then finally, when they both pulled away from our embrace, I spoke, only quietly, and feeling a little embarrassed that I had to speak slowly, as I found speaking again difficult.

I looked at them both, raised a grateful smile at Arwen, and then I turned to Aragorn. Our eyes met, and he threw his arms around me once more in a tight embrace.

"I can see you two need to talk," Arwen said. "Talk." She confirmed, "I will be waiting outside to take message to my Father after you have *talked*." She put great emphasis on the talk part, and we both got the message. She did not, after all, wish to hear us do anything other than talk, and I respected that, for it was as much down to her as it was down to Aragorn that I was able to see, speak and move again.

After a long time in our tight embrace, Aragorn pulled away, and helped me to sit more comfortably on the bed.

"So...you heard me?" he asked, looking a little unsure.

"Yes," I replied, "And I wish to apologise to you too, for I should have known that you would not have words to say if you came to me, and I apologise for not leaving the candles burning. And I apologise, for that is my own fault." I placed my hand on his stomach, where the knife wound was. He looked down at my hand, and then took hold of it, placing it over his heart.

"You are here," he said "You will always be," and he placed his hand over mine.

"Tis in my heart in which I fondly hold your love, Estel," I whispered, using the name I used less often. Then I smiled a little, realising that language aside, when I was almost dying, I still held onto my hope in Hope. I told him that thought, my smile widening, and he returned the smile, kissing me briefly on the lips.

"We had better get you up and out of here, for undoubtedly Lord Elrond will insist you stay in bed to recover if you do not get up," he gave me a grin, and stood, holding out his hand.

It was true what he said; for although Lord Elrond was a very good and knowledgeable healer, he believed a little too firmly in bed as the best remedy.

Taking his hand, I pulled myself off the bed and we went to the door, greeting Arwen who was waiting outside. The smile on he face suggested she had overheard our conversation, but I did not care. I had regained the love of Aragorn, and I felt my bond of friendship with Arwen had grown stronger over the past days; I knew all too well that true friends are hard come by. As is true love. And as I gazed at Aragorn, taking in the sight of his slightly tousled black hair, I knew I had found it. I slipped my arm around his waist as he put his around my shoulders, and with my elf-'sister' following, we made our way along the hallway, meaning to find Lord Elrond and persuade him I was in perfect health.

As we rounded a corner, I felt a sudden weight of worry grow in my heart as Glorfindel approached, walking in the opposite direction to us.

"You two look comfortable," he commented, giving us a wink.

"Oh...Um...I was just...helping Legolas to walk!" Aragorn stuttered. I fought back a grin; it was funny to see Aragorn stuck for words. As if to prove his explanation, I allowed myself to go weak in the knees suddenly, and felt Arwen grab my arm as Aragorn grabbed firmer hold of me. She gave me a look that said "Very convincing."

"I only jest, my dear friends," the older elf grinned, and we all forced smiles.

"Please do not tell my Father of this, Glorfindel," Arwen said, putting on a pleading expression. "You know how he is, he thinks everyone should take rest after the smallest ordeal...assuming you heard about Legolas?"

"Yes, I heard," Glorfindel answered "I was on my way to see what was going on, actually; Lord Elrond asked me to look in and see if there had been any change. But I can see the change is great in our good friend," he looked at me. "Good to see you walking around my friend."

Glorfindel accompanied us the rest of the way to Lord Elrond's study; on the way to which I miraculously re-found my ability to walk unaided.

Thankfully he was convinced that I was well enough to be up and about, but only after Arwen had spoken to him in a little girly voice begging him to leave me be, causing Aragorn and I to stifle our laughter as Lord Elrond immediately relented, unable to say no to his 'little girl.'

After we left his study, she bade us a good evening and retired to her chambers, and Aragorn and I stepped out into the fresh night air to find a little privacy.

***

In the days that passed, I became happy again. The sun always shone, and Aragorn and I found more and more time to be alone together. We never spoke of 'that' night again once we had reconciled over it, and we both knew it would be a time before either of us could bring up the subject of making love. Both our hearts still held pains of things past, but whilst we were together, they would heal. Days turned into weeks, and each day we grew closer, until I truly believed I would burst with the amount of love I felt between us.

One afternoon, I was summoned to Lord Elrond's study. For moments I was terrified that he might ask me things that would reveal the truth, or that somehow the truth would come out...if he didn't already know it.
I knocked on the door softly, hoping he wouldn't hear, so I could creep away again. But he heard me.

"Come," came the command from the other side of the door, and I entered, standing uncomfortably in front of his desk.

"You wished to see me my Lord?" I asked, trying to ignore the fears I felt in my heart.

"A message came for you this morning," he said, holding it out. "From Mirkwood."

I took it from his hands, and saw that the seal bore the crest of my family. I quickly broke the seal and read the message, murmuring the words under my breath as I read them, wishing they were not true, and the message was all a hoax. But it wasn't.

"Thank you my Lord, I shall go now...No doubt you are busy," I said to Lord Elrond, and hurriedly left the room.

Aragorn was waiting outside, leaning against the wall. Not stopping, I strode past him and went outside, sitting on the steps of the house.

"Legolas, what is it?" Aragorn asked, sitting beside me.

"I am to return to Mirkwood," I replied in a whisper, handing him the letter to read. "I have to leave Rivendell...and you."

TBC...

A/N: Translation of 'Er anwa melamin': my one true love. For those who don't know, the point in Legolas's comment about having 'hope in Hope' is that Estel (one of Aragorn's many names) can be translated as 'Hope' (check the appendices in LOTR for the story of Aragorn's background, there is a mention of the name Estel there). However according to an online Elvish dictionary (to which I have now lost the link, doh) it can also be translated as 'trust.'