Here's my entry!
Forgiveness
A Lord of the Rings story by Deana Lisi
Disclaimer: I don't own Legolas, Aragorn, Elrond, or the twins.
"Smelly Ranger? I do
not smell!"
Legolas and the twins laughed as they and Aragorn walked through the woods.
"Perhaps you do not smell
today, brother, since you actually took a bath last night!" said Elrohir.
Aragorn laughed back, knowing that they were jesting. They knew that Rangers had a difficult time finding ponds and lakes in order to bathe in the wilderness.
"If he had a hot tub ready for him every night wherever he went, he would never smell again," said Legolas, in joking defense of his friend. He stopped walking and leaned against an old apple tree.
Elladan suddenly chuckled. "I seem to recall a certain human child's aversion to baths!"
Aragorn rolled his eyes. "
Every child hates baths!"
"Aye, including Legolas!" said Elrohir.
Aragorn turned shining eyes on the Mirkwood elf.
"That is not so," Legolas said. He smiled slightly. "I simply enjoyed torturing you whenever you
gave me one! That is normal for children."
"It is not normal when they run naked into important meetings!" said Elladan. "Elrohir, do you remember—"
"Yes!" said his twin, laughing. "Aragorn…Legolas was about equal to a three-year-old-human. He ran from his bath one day, making us chase him through the entire house!"
"Elrohir…" said Legolas, threateningly.
"And then," said Elladan, because his brother was laughing too hard to continue speaking. "He ran into ada's meeting—as naked as the day he was born—and we chased him around a table full of elves
three times before he ran back out the door!"
Legolas stood there, arms crossed, blushing as the sons of Elrond laughed hysterically.
"Come now, Legolas," said Aragorn, in between laughs. "You would be laughing if
I had done that!"
Legolas glared at him, but his eyes were twinkling.
Still laughing, Aragorn gave him a playful shove.
Legolas sidestepped to balance himself, but there was a thick root beside his foot that had grown above the ground. He was unable to catch himself, and fell heavily to the grass.
The twins laughed harder, and Aragorn made a contrite face, chuckling as he knelt beside his friend. "Forgive me, Legolas! Are you hurt?"
The elf gave no reply.
Aragorn chuckled again, thinking the elf to be faking, but his smile faded at the sight of Legolas' expressionless face. "Legolas?" he reached out to turn the elf's face completely towards him, and gave a shocked cry when his hand encountered blood.
The twins saw and threw themselves to the ground beside him.
"I
hurt him!" Aragorn shouted, staring at the blood on his hand.
Elladan pushed past the stunned human and checked their unconscious friend's pulse before pulling him into his lap. "Legolas?" he said, gently tapping his face. "Wake, mellon-nin!"
Legolas remained motionless, eyes closed and body limp.
Elrohir ripped a piece of cloth from his cloak and held it to their friend's temple. "Let's get him home."
Elladan nodded and stood, carrying the younger elf as if he were an infant.
Aragorn, still stunned over what he had done, seemed unable to move. As the twins began walking back, he scrambled to his feet and followed.
********************
Elrond had just left his library when he heard one of his sons calling his name. His heartbeat quickened as he wondered what trouble they'd gotten themselves into this time. "Here, Elrohir!" he called, hurrying in the direction of his son's voice.
The younger twin ran around a corner ahead of him. "We need you, ada!" he exclaimed, rushing towards him. "Legolas hit his head; he is unconscious!"
Giving a concerned gasp, Elrond quickened his steps as they ran towards the Prince's room. "What did he strike it on?"
Elrohir shook his head. "The ground…a rock, I assume, I am not sure. He fell."
Elrond's eyebrows shot up at that.
Legolas fell? That was not a common occurrence for an elf…though he'd learned that something did not need to be common in order to befall the Mirkwood Prince.
Bursting into the room, they found Legolas lying motionless on the bed and Aragorn sitting on the side of it, tightly holding his friend's hand. He looked up as his brother and father came in, and Elrond was shocked to see tears in the human's eyes. Thinking that it meant that Legolas' injury was very severe, Elrond's heart clenched in his chest as he ran forward.
Elladan came into the room then, having left to fetch the supplies that his father would need.
Elrond laid his fingers on the side of Legolas' neck, sighing with relief to feel the steady beat. He moved his human son's hand away from the wound, taking the bloody cloth and gently wiping blood from Legolas' temple. The cut was not very deep, but it still required stitches to stop the bleeding, as head injuries always bled more than necessary.
The twins brought a bowl of water and some herbs to the nightstand beside the bed, watching as their father cleaned their friend's wound.
Elrond glanced at Aragorn, frowning at the expression on his face. It looked like…guilt?
The human sniffed and Elladan wrapped an arm around his shoulder.
The action piqued Elrond's curiosity even more. "Is anyone going to tell me what happened? How did Legolas fall?"
Aragorn sighed. "I…pushed him."
Elrond looked at him, shocked. "You
pushed him?"
Aragorn nodded, sighing again as he stared at his injured friend. "We were telling stories," he said. "We were all laughing, and I gave him a shove…I don't know why he fell."
"There was a tree root," said Elladan. "He could not catch his balance because it was in his way."
At those words, Aragorn groaned, dropping his face into one hand.
Elrond began the first stitch, and everyone jumped when Legolas gave a pained sound.
"Legolas!" Aragorn exclaimed, sitting on the other side of the bed to keep out of his father's way. "Are you all right? How do you feel? Please forgive me, my friend!"
Legolas, eyes still closed, pulled his right arm up to touch his head. "What?" he said, sounding dazed.
"Not now, Aragorn," said Elrond, pushing Legolas' hand back down. "Be still, Legolas, you have hit your head and I need to stitch it."
Legolas opened his eyes, looking slightly confused.
Elrohir had a cup of painkilling herbs ready, and he handed it to Aragorn as Elrond helped Legolas sit up to drink it.
Aragorn carefully fed it to his friend, wishing that Legolas hadn't woken until after the stitches were done.
The temporary upright position renewed Legolas' bleeding, and Elrond gently wiped the blood away.
"Squeeze my hand, Legolas," said Aragorn, holding his friend's hand in both of his.
Legolas tried not to, but when the healer started stitching, his hand complied involuntarily.
Elrond tried to be fast but gentle at the same time, concentrating on his task rather than the wince on Legolas' face.
Aragorn could practically feel his friend's pain every time Elrond pushed the needle through the fair-elf's skin. Time seemed to drag on, and finally the healer finished, carefully cutting the thread with a sharp knife.
"He is finished, Legolas," said Aragorn. "Just rest."
Legolas opened his eyes, frowning. "What happened to me?"
Aragorn sighed, not wanting to
hear the words, nevermind say them again.
"Look at me, Legolas," Elrond interrupted. "Is your vision blurred? Are you dizzy?"
Legolas blinked his eyes. "A little."
That news felt like a knife in Aragorn's heart.
I gave him a concussion!Elrond leaned closer and studied the injured elf's eyes, finding them dilated, but thankfully not too much. "Aragorn is correct; rest, and you will be fine."
Legolas sighed, closing his eyes as Elrond wrapped a bandage around his head. When the healer finished, Legolas lifted his hand and prodded the wound through the cloth.
"Do not touch," Elrond said, smiling slightly as he pushed the elf's hand away again.
"How many?" Legolas asked.
"Eleven," Elrond answered, knowing that he was asking the number of stitches.
Aragorn stared at his friend, not taking his eyes off him for even a second.
Legolas looked at him, blinking blearily, wondering at the human's expression.
"It was my fault, Legolas," Aragorn told him. "Please forgive me!"
Legolas smiled slightly. "I am sure that it was not your fault, Estel. You need to stop blaming yourself for everything that happens to me."
Aragorn shook his head. "This time, it
is my fault, mellon-nin. Do you remember…we were telling stories?"
Legolas thought back, his sudden head injury having robbed him of the memory.
"Naked elflings running into ada's meetings?" Elrohir supplied.
A huge grin split Elrond's face, but he quickly tried to hide it. He remembered that day well, indeed; when little Legolas had barreled into the room as naked as the day he was born, Elrond had been understandably shocked. When Legolas proceeded to run around the table—with the twins in pursuit—he'd been mortified at the display to the foreign nobles who stared aghast at the sight.
After the three young elves had fled the room, Elrond hastened to apologize, but the entire table had erupted in laughter. They waved away the elf's apology and continued the meeting.
Later that night, after the nobles had left, anyone who walked by Elrond's bedchamber would have wondered what in Middle Earth the elf lord was laughing at.
Legolas closed his eyes, remembering now. "Ai, you should have
let me forget," he said.
The twins smiled, but Aragorn sighed. "I shoved you, Legolas, and you fell over a tree root. Please forgive me!"
Legolas' eyebrows shot up.
A tree root. Figures. "Of course I forgive you, Estel, it was an accident."
The human shook his head. "But it wasn't. I pushed you purposely."
"Did you know that I would fall?" Legolas asked.
Aragorn shook his head vehemently.
"Then it was an accident," Legolas said. He closed his eyes, all the talking hurting his head.
Aragorn closed his mouth, frowning at the pain that he could see on his friend's face.
When the injured elf didn't reopen his eyes, they realized that he'd fallen asleep.
"Worry not, Aragorn," Elrond whispered. "He forgives you, and will be fine."
The human nodded, though he was still upset at himself. He stayed in Legolas' room that night, waking him every so often to ensure that he didn't lose consciousness again. When the elf woke without mishap midway through the night, Aragorn fell asleep himself, in the chair beside the bed.
When Legolas woke the next day, it was late morning. He blinked his eyes open, wincing as the sunlight in his room hurt his head. He looked at Aragorn, to see that the human was waking too. Remembering what had happened the day before, Legolas tried to banish every trace of pain from showing on his face, and he smiled at his friend.
Aragorn smiled back, his spirits lifted by seeing his friend apparently well. "How do you feel?"
"Fine," Legolas lied. "You?"
"Me?" Aragorn said.
"You slept in a chair all night," said Legolas, smiling. "I know how
that feels."
Aragorn returned the smile and stood, stretching from head to toe. "Are you hungry? Does your stomach feel all right?"
"Aye," Legolas told him.
The human was grateful to hear that, and he left to bring back breakfast.
Elrond and the twins peeked their heads in a short time later, having come and gone a few times while the friends slept. They were glad to find out that Legolas' vision was back to normal, and though they didn't believe him that he was 'fine', they knew that he would be, in a few days.
The next day, Legolas got out of bed the instant that he was alone. He was only slightly dizzy for a minute, and he got dressed before leaving his room.
"Legolas!"
The blond elf stopped and turned around, seeing Elrond approaching from the opposite hall.
"Where are you going?" the healer asked.
Legolas didn't really have an answer for him. "Out?"
Elrond smiled, wrapping his arm around one of Legolas' and continuing to walk.
Legolas followed; surprised that he hadn't been ordered back into his room.
"My sons are fetching lunch," Elrond told him. "We should hurry if we wish to prevent them from bringing it up here."
Legolas smiled back, and they descended the stairs and walked to the kitchen.
"El!" they heard Aragorn exclaim. "We have not time for this, Legolas is waiting!"
Legolas and Elrond looked at each other with their eyebrows raised. The human's abbreviation of his brother's name made it impossible to tell which twin he'd shouted at.
Eyes twinkling, Elrond walked forward and pushed the door open hard, making his three sons jump. "What have we here?" he asked.
The twins and Aragorn stared at him, the human with a hand over his heart. His display of shock did nothing to hide the flour that covered his clothes…or the pot that sat on his head.
Legolas peeked from behind Elrond's back and burst out laughing at the sight.
Aragorn's shock turned into surprise, and he rushed forward, grabbing his friend's arm. "Why are you out of bed?"
Legolas looked at the pot still resting atop his friend, and continued laughing, unconsciously bringing a hand up to his still-aching head.
Aragorn pulled him over to the table, not even noticing when Elrond took the pot off his head. "How do you feel?"
"I am fine, Estel," Legolas said, still smiling. "You worry too much."
The twins cut off anything else that the human wanted to say by placing the food on the table. They ate, and though Aragorn thought that Legolas should still be resting, he was relieved to see him up and about again.
After they ate, Aragorn looked at his friend. "All right, back to your room!"
Legolas gave him a determined look. "I think not."
"We have known
that for centuries!" Elladan quipped.
Legolas made a face at him. "I shall
not return to my room," he said. "I need to speak to the tree."
"Tree?" Aragorn echoed.
Legolas nodded, carefully. "The one with the root. It has been extremely upset over my injury. Like you, it blames itself."
Aragorn's eyebrows were raised.
"I have heard it also," said Elrond. "It continues to pass apologies along to you through every tree between it and the house, despite I disagreeurances that you are fine."
"It wants to apologize to me directly," Legolas said, sounding sympathetic.
Aragorn couldn't argue with his friend's wish, knowing well the feeling of guilt. "After that, then, you will return to rest."
Legolas made an exasperated sound. "When will you believe that I am fine? The pain is not significant…I do not even need this bandage any longer," he said, reaching up to remove it.
"Greenleaf!" Elrond exclaimed.
Legolas lowered his arms. "It was worth a try," he said, looking sheepish.
Aragorn stood from the table. "Well, let us go, then."
Legolas stood with a smile, glad for Aragorn's understanding.
Elrond secretly found it amusing that Aragorn didn't think Legolas capable of going alone, but he said nothing, keeping his thoughts to himself.
The two friends went outside, and Legolas was bombarded with excitement and relief from the trees, who he heard begin passing along news to the sad apple tree. As they neared it, Legolas could feel the tree's nervousness. Its leaves quivered but it was silent, waiting for the elf to reach it.
Legolas approached the tree and placed his hands on the bark, closing his eyes.
Highness! Forgive me, please!There is no need, mellon-nin, said Legolas.
It was not your fault.If my root had not been there, you would not have fallen, argued the tree.
Can you control where your roots grow? Legolas asked.
The tree hesitated.
No.Then you have no blame, Legolas said.
The tree was quiet for a few seconds, but Legolas could feel its distress lessening.
Thank you, it said.
But please, say that you forgive me, so that I may have that knowledge.Legolas smiled.
You are too much like Aragorn.And yourself.True. All right, though it was not your fault, I forgive you.The tree swayed its branches happily.
Thank you.You are welcome.Legolas let go of the tree, reopening his eyes.
You still wear a bandage, the tree said.
Needlessly, said Legolas.
Elrond will not yet allow me to remove it.The tree laughed.
Perhaps he fears that your head needs protection from further mishap.Legolas nodded with a smile.
Undoubtedly. He looked at Aragorn, to see the human watching, wishing that he could hear the tree too.
"Ready to go back inside?" the human asked.
Legolas made a face. "No," he said, sitting against the tree.
Aragorn shook his head, not surprised. He started to sit, but Legolas said, "Stop."
The human halted and looked at him, and Legolas motioned with his finger. "Stand there."
Puzzled, Aragorn obeyed, standing to the elf's left.
"Move over a little more," Legolas said.
Aragorn obeyed.
"Good," said Legolas. "Catch."
Hearing a sudden rustle, Aragorn looked up just in time to catch two apples. He stared at them in shock, before looking back up at the tree.
Legolas laughed, and Aragorn joined him, sitting and handing one to the elf.
Sunset soon approached, and the two friends could be found still sitting there, enjoying nature's beautiful display and each other's company.
THE END
