Disclaimer: It’s simple. What you recognize is not mine. What you don’t recognize is.

Summary: After experiencing a dark vision of Legolas’s impending death, Aragorn tries desperately to save his friend. But can the future really be changed?

Chapter One

King Elessar of the reunited kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor stood on the balcony of the private apartment he shared with his queen in the Citadel high above the many levels of Minas Tirith. He had a pensive look on his face, as he looked past the Pelennor Fields to the horizon.

He hadn’t heard the approach of the love of his life but knew she had joined him. Her hand on his shoulder and a light kiss on his cheek confirmed it. So did her first words to him. “Good morning, my love.”

Aragorn smiled and reached up to pat Arwen’s hand. “It’s a far better one now that you have joined me.”

Standing next to her husband, the Queen of Gondor and Arnor slipped her arm under his and asked, “What occupies your mind so thoroughly?” When Aragorn turned to look at her questioningly, she explained. “You usually take great pleasure in greeting me before I reach you to let me know you heard my steps. Something has taken hold in you mind that has claimed your attention. Do you wish to share it?”

A somewhat cloudy expression crossed the king’s face. He gave a deep sigh before answering. “I often look out over the Fields, and usually only think of how lucky I am to have such beauty right beyond my door. I try not to think of the battle that took place here just three years ago, but it is still so vivid in my mind.”

Arwen frowned. “I was not here then, of course, but I have heard many stories of what horrors took place.”

“Those were two of the best and the worst of days. We won a great victory and saved this city, but we also lost many good men, including the King of Rohan.”

“Yes, but now Rohan has a new king, who is a good friend,” Arwen said, thinking of Éomer. “And Gondor has a new king, as well.” She laughed. “One I love very dearly.” Another kiss followed those words.

“So you love the king, do you?” Aragorn asked teasingly.

“With all my heart,” the now-mortal elf replied.

“I believe I’m jealous.”

“Estel, you have the most outlandish sense of humor.” Arwen leaned over and placed a third kiss on her husband’s cheek. “But I would not change it for anything in all of Arda. It brightens even the darkest of moods.”

The king pulled his wife closer to him. “No, my love, it is you who brightens not just a dark mood but my very life.” He then wrapped Arwen in his arms, and the resulting kiss was long and passionate.

Unfortunately, a knock on the door interrupted the moment.

Aragorn was tempted to ignore it but knew he could not. Whoever it was would just keep knocking. “I fear that duty may be calling.”

Parting from his wife in resigned disappointment, Aragorn crossed the bedchamber and then walked through the sitting room. He closed the inner door and made his way along the short hallway, stopping at the door that led into the main corridor. “Who is it?” he called out, trying not to sound annoyed.

“Toldon, my lord.”

With a sigh, Aragorn pulled back the bolt
on the heavy oak door, which swung inward, revealing a tall man of about fifty, with graying hair and a short, trim beard. He was dressed in the livery of the newly established House of Telcontar with a white tree stitched across the chest.

The man was pragmatic and all business but he was neither arrogant nor argumentative, so it was easy for Aragorn to depend on his loyalty to the crown. He just wished the man had a sense of humor.

Toldon stood at the entrance to the private office just inside the outer door. He dutifully waited for his king to enter first.

Aragorn walked around behind his desk and stood beside the chair, resting his left hand on its high back. He smiled benignly but said nothing.

Clearing his throat, Toldon said, “There is an emissary from Ithilien here to see you, my lord.”

For an instant Aragorn’s face reflected joy at the thought that Legolas may have come for a visit. Then he quickly realized that Legolas would not have been announced. He would have come to Aragorn’s apartment and knocked on the door himself, as he always did when the king was in his residence.

Even now that the man Legolas had known for years was the ruler of a great kingdom, the elf did not like to make a big deal of being a prince. He knew when and how to show and receive the proper respect, but short of a formal affair, they were still just Legolas and Estel.

“Is it one of the colony elves?”

“No, my lord. It is a man looking for Lord Faramir, but since he is on his way to Rohan, the man requested an audience with you.”

When Aragorn thought about all the merchants, craftsmen, and such with complaints or requests he had foisted off on Faramir in the past, he thought it was only fair to see the man.

Suddenly, before he could utter a word, a stab of fear entered the king’s heart. He knew not why such a feeling of foreboding would strike him, but strike him it did.

The room faded away, and the figure of Toldon went with it. In their place, Aragorn saw what he could only describe as a vision, as a forest began to materialize. Legolas, riding on his white stallion, Arod, moved into the idyllic picture.

The Mirkwood prince rode along a dirt path and all seemed at peace. The elf looked so happy. He was riding his beloved horse among his beloved trees. The scene made Aragorn smile. However, it didn’t last long before the man remembered the fear that had struck him just a moment ago. Something was not right, and in the scene, Legolas appeared to feel it, too.

The peace of the vision was shattered, when Legolas was suddenly beset by orcs, remnants of Sauron’s army who still roamed in small pockets across the southern lands. A band of the beasts surrounded the elf.

Arrows flew from several different directions, and to Aragorn’s horror, all found their mark.

Legolas fell forward over Arod’s neck. Orc claws grabbed for the prince, but Arod spun and kicked, trying desperately to protect his master and keep him from being pulled into the grasping arms of the foul creatures.

Hooves connected with flesh and the orcs that did not jump back out of the way were soon either lying on the ground or flying through the air. The rage in Arod’s screams left no room for doubt at the hatred the horse felt.

In short order, a gap appeared in the circle of orcs, and Arod , now with several arrows protruding from his white coat, bounded through it. The orcs were screaming their own rage at the fleeing horse and rider.

The last thing that Aragorn saw before the vision wavered was of a blood-drenched Legolas lying over Arod and disappearing into the dark forest.

The man staggered backward and would have fallen had he not bumped up against the book shelves behind his desk. As it was, he did slide down until he sat stunned on the office floor.

Toldon spared only a second to register shock before he rushed forward to see what had befallen his king. “My lord,” the man uttered in shock. “What has happened?” Was King Elessar having some kind of seizure? “Do you require a healer, my lord?”

Aragorn blinked several times before looking up into the confused and frantic eyes of Toldon.

The man’s words sank in, and Aragorn was able to shake his head in answer to the last question. He was not in the least able to answer the first one, because he didn’t have an answer.

Aragorn offered his arm to Toldon, who pulled the king to his feet and then over to the chair.

“Can I get you something, my lord?”

“My wife,” the king replied in a shaky voice.

Toldon hesitated a moment, torn between obeying the command of his sovereign and concern for him. Finally, he turned and reluctantly left King Elessar sitting in the office by himself.

Closing his eyes, Aragorn put his head in his hand and tried to make sense of what he had just seen.

Arwen’s worried voice drifted into the office, even before she had entered the room. “Are you all right, Estel? Toldon seemed shaken.”

The king’s troubled eyes met those of his wife, and she knew the answer even before he said a word. She pulled the chair that normally sat in front of the desk around to the side and lowered herself into it so that she was facing her husband. “Tell me what happened,” she said softly.

Aragorn began to relate all that had taken place both with Toldon and in the vision. By the time he had finished,, Arwen’s eyes were brimming with unshed tears.

“I cannot explain it, Arwen. I saw it so clearly, as if the scene were being played out right here in this very room. Legolas, Arod, the orcs - they all looked as if I could reach out and touch them.”

“So what do you believe it was.”

“A vision.” Aragorn shuddered. “I cannot forget the look of shock and pain on Legolas’s face, when he was shot. And all the blood,” he added. “I would give anything to believe it was some trick of the mind, but I know in my heart that it wasn’t.”

Arwen grasped Aragorn’s hand and brought it up to her lips, kissed it and then placed it in her lap. “I wish Ada was here to interpret what you saw.”

“What I saw was Legolas’s death!” Aragorn declared rather loudly. “He was attacked, and I wasn’t there. He’s lying somewhere in that forest. Why was I not there to help him?” The words were spoken with utter helplessness.

“You do not know for sure that this has happened,” the queen soothed, despite what Aragorn had said earlier.

Now taking both of Aragorn’s hands in hers, she continued. “You told me that Arod had an injured leg and could not be ridden for at least a month, did you not?”

“Yes, that’s what Faramir told me when he returned from seeing Legolas.”

“And that was two weeks ago,” Arwen said, trying to give her husband a mental nudge.

It didn’t take long for Aragorn to understand the point that Arwen was making. The bright smile from her husband told Arwen that he did indeed understand her point.

“What I saw hasn’t happened yet!” The change in Aragorn’s demeanor was dramatic, as new hope burst out of the man’s heart. “I still have time to save Legolas!”

“I will help you prepare for your journey to Ithilien,” was all the comment the queen made. It was all she needed to make.

*~*~*~*

Aragorn had been exceedingly impatient while waiting for the Royal Guard to get ready to ride with him to Ithilien. It seemed to him that they were taking forever. In truth, they were ready in almost record time, but to Aragorn, each second seemed to pass with all the speed of an Age.

He was tempted to leave without them, but he had tried that once before, and the resulting uproar, most of it coming from Arwen and Faramir, made him vow that he would never do that again.

Still, he knew just seeing Legolas, even standing whole and hardy in front of him, would not be enough. He had seen him in the vision and believed it to be real. No, he had to touch Legolas, to actually feel the elf’s solid form under his fingers. Then and only then would his pounding heart return to normal.

As soon as the Captain of the Guard told him the six soldiers that were to accompany him were ready, Aragorn mounted Brego and headed down the city streets at a fast trot, only slowing to avoid running down any of the citizens of Minas Tirith.

The Guard rushed off to catch up to King Elessar before he left the city.

Aragorn passed through the main gates and urged Brego into a gallop. If he hadn’t had so far to go, he would have been moving at a full run.

*~*~*~*

By traveling as fast as they dared and stopping to rest and eat only sparingly, Aragorn and his Guard finally reached the elven colony in Ithilien that Legolas now called home.

The king dismounted and looked around. The first elf he saw was Balliel, an old friend of Legolas’s, who had followed the prince from Mirkwood to settle here.

“Lord Elessar,” the elf called out in greeting, as the two approached each other. There was a broad smile on his face.

Ignoring the greeting and the smile, Aragorn said rather anxiously, “Where is Legolas?” He all but stopped breathing until he heard the elf reply.

“He took Arod out for a ride in the forest. The horse had a bad leg and...” He got no further, because the groan that escaped Aragorn’s lips was far more than just disappointment. When Aragorn grabbed Balliel’s arm, he felt the man trembling.

“Which way did he go?” Aragorn didn’t even try to hide the desperation he felt.

Balliel pointed in the direction he had seen Legolas riding earlier that day.

“How long has he been gone?”

“About two hours.”

Aragorn whirled around, mounted Brego and rode off without another word, followed closely by his still-mounted Guard.

Balliel was left staring with his mouth open. However, he didn’t stay that way for long. If the King of Gondor was worried enough about Legolas that he was displaying this very uncharacteristic behavior, then there was definitely something to be worried about. He ran to his horse, gathered two other elves nearby and headed after the contingent of men.

*~*~*~*

They found Legolas less than half an hour later. His blood-soaked body lay sprawled beside the dirt path. Lying beside the elf was Arod, his head resting on his master’s right hip. They were both dead.

Aragorn was distraught beyond consoling. He sat and held the elf’s body in his arms, as he rocked back and forth. The other elves were likewise in a shocked state that left them shaken and bereft.

The Guard, who had known Legolas from his many visits to the White City, were experiencing their own sorrow for the loss of the elven prince they had all come to admire and for their grief-stricken king.

It fell to the Captain to finally allow reason and practicality to take over. With a heavy heart, he approached Aragorn. “My lord, forgive me, but...” He paused and began again. “We must take the prince back to the colony.” When the king did not answer or show any sign that he was heard, the Captain began yet again. “We cannot remain here, my lord.”

It wasn’t until Balliel put his hand on Aragorn’s shoulder, that the man looked up from staring at Legolas’s pale, lifeless face.

Balliel’s voice was soft, and his eyes, still filled with tears, were beseeching. “Elessar, he is right. We must take Legolas home.”

Aragorn nodded, but he allowed no one else to take Legolas’s body from him. He knew that once they reached the colony, he would have to relinquish his best friend, and he intended to see to it that it didn’t happen a moment before he was ready. No, that was not right. He would never be ready to let Legolas go.

TBC

Chapter Two

The next weeks were a whirlwind of activity. Thranduil and his other sons had been notified of Legolas’s death. Aragorn was surprised and pleased that the elven king had agreed to hold the funeral in Ithilien. He was also grateful, since he knew that deep down Thranduil wanted his son returned to Eryn Lasgalen. It was an admission that Legolas had found a new home, and this was where he should stay.

A state funeral was held in Minas Tirith, attended by nearly every citizen of the White city, as well as members of most of the ruling families of Middle-earth.

After three days, it was a small procession of Legolas's family and close friends that traveled to the elven colony that he loved. It was this more intimate funeral that meant the most to those the renowned archer left behind.

Aragorn somehow found the strength to carry on with all that was expected of the King of Gondor. He didn’t know how he managed it. His heart and soul were so torn he was afraid that if he stopped, he would collapse.

Arwen never left his side.

When the goodbyes to Legolas were finally finished and the farewells to each other completed, as well, the members of the House of Oropher departed for Eryn Lasgalen. Éomer left for Rohan. Elrond's twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir, Lord Celeborn, Sam, Merry and Pippin all left together. It was planned that Lord Celeborn would turn off and go directly to Imladris, while the twins escorted the hobbits the remaining miles to the Shire before retuning home themselves.

Aragorn was finally alone with his grief, his memories and his guilt. Even Arwen, who had given him enormous support despite her own grief, had joined Éowyn and Faramir in their apartment for the evening. She hadn’t wanted to leave her husband alone, but he insisted he needed the time to himself, so she relented.

Aragorn took a deep breath, as he stood on the balcony outside his bedchamber and stared out into the gathering gloom of dusk.  It almost matched the gloom in his heart.

There had been so many people around him for so long that he had longed to be by himself. He was so full of sorrow that he couldn’t truly enjoy the company of those who had come so far to honor their fallen elven friend. Now that he was alone, however, Aragorn didn’t know if he could control his pent-up emotions, because now he would have to face the truth of what had happened and his part in it. He felt like screaming.

“I failed you, Legolas. You died, because I was supposed to use the vision I was gifted with to save your life, and I let you down.” He never even realized that he was speaking out loud or that tears were streaming down his face. He wouldn’t have cared, even if he had. “What am I going to do without you?” Aragorn closed his eyes.

The next thing he knew, someone was shaking his shoulder rather urgently.

“Estel, what is wrong?”

The king’s eyes flew open. Kneeling in front of him was Arwen, and she was obviously concerned. “Arwen? I thought you were staying with Éowyn and Faramir tonight.”

The queen looked at her husband with a puzzled expression. “Have you forgotten that Éowyn and Faramir left yesterday to visit Éomer in Rohan?”

Aragorn shook his head to clear the cobwebs that seemed to be clogging up his memory. Why would they go to Rohan when Éomer was just here? He sighed. Perhaps they needed to get away from all the sorrow permeating the White City, as well as Ithilien.

It was then Aragorn noticed that he was sitting on his office floor. He looked past his wife to see Toldon hovering behind her. ‘I don’t remember coming in from the balcony.’ He didn’t see Toldon frown.

Then everything hit him at once: the vision, Legolas’s death and everything that had happened afterward. Aragorn groaned in misery and renewed grief. “Legolas,” he whispered softly.

“What about Legolas?” Arwen asked.

“I tried so hard to save him, but I couldn’t.”

“Save him from what? Estel, what are you talking about?” Now the concern on Arwen’s face was in her voice.

Aragorn stared at Arwen in disbelief. “What do you think?“ he replied more harshly than he intended. “Legolas died, because I was given the vision to save him, and I didn’t” How many times was that thought going to assault him? ‘To my own dying day,’ he answered himself.

Arwen shook her head. “Why in Arda would you think Legolas is dead? And what is this about a vision?”

Aragorn looked at his wife, as if she had suddenly grown another head. “Arwen, how can you say that after what we’ve been through this last six weeks? I think grief has made your memory faulty.”

Arwen looked behind her and nodded to Toldon. “Help me get him up.” She feared that perhaps Aragorn had hit his head when he fell, and it was his memory that was faulty.

With the help of his wife and Toldon, Aragorn made it to his feet, though his legs felt weak and a little wobbly. He was eased down into his desk chair. “I will be all right,” he assured them.

“Toldon, what happened in here?” Arwen asked, deciding that Toldon would be able to give her a much better explanation than her obviously befuddled husband.

“I was waiting to see if King Elessar was going to see the emissary from Ithilien, when he seemed to go into a...” the man paused to search for the right word. “a trance of some sort. He fell back against the book shelves and then slid down to the floor. His face was a mask of both shock and despair.” It was the only words Todlon could think of to describe what had overtaken the king.

Continuing to try and get as much information as she could, Arwen then asked, “How long did all of this last?”

“Only a matter of moments, my lady. Not really long at all.”

“Thank you, Toldon.”

The man looked at his queen, and when she smiled and nodded at him, he bowed and stepped back out the door. Toldon thought he should probably leave the royal apartment altogether to give the king and queen some privacy, but he wanted to stay near enough to offer more help, if it was needed. He waited just out of earshot.

After Toldon backed away, Arwen sat down facing Aragorn and said, “Please tell me about this vision you mentioned.”

Aragorn began to explain what he had seen. He believed he had already done so weeks before, but he was so confused by Arwen’s words that he started to explain it all over again.

When he described Legolas’s death and then briefly touched on the aftermath, Arwen reached up and put her fingers over Aragorn’s lips.

“I do not know what is going on, Estel, but I can tell you that Legolas is not dead. We surely would have been notified of such a thing, and there certainly has not been a funeral for him.” There was obvious doubt and even more confusion in her husband’s gray eyes. “When was this supposed to have happened?”

“June 14th. I can never forget that horrible day.”

Arwen took a deep breath. “Estel, today is June 14th.”

“It can’t be. I’ve lived through the past month and a half from that day to this. We all did, all except...” Aragorn couldn’t bring himself to finish the thought.

With her palm resting gently on Aragorn’s cheek,, she said, “Estel, I assure you that today is June 14th. All that you think you went through did not happen. It was all a vision, not just the first part of it but everything after.”

Aragron was incredulous. "You are telling me that my going to Ithilien, finding Legolas dead, the two funerals were part of the vision?”

“It had to have been,” the queen assured him. “I did not experience any of it.”

Aragorn jumped to his feet, all signs of weakness gone. He paced to the far end of the room and then came back to stand in front of Arwen. “Do you know what this means? I’ve been given another chance to save him." His body began to shake. "But I cannot do it this time either. Legolas will die today, Arwen, today, but it’s two days’ ride from here to the colony in Ithilien. There is no time to warn him. It’s about to happen all over again, only this time for real, and I will fail him again.” The man was so distraught he could hardly breathe.

At the king’s raised voice, Toldon moved back into the room. He had heard what Aragorn had said, so he boldly spoke up. “The hawks, my lord.” When both Elessar and Arwen looked at him, he said, “Pardon, my lord, my lady. The thought just occurred to me. We can use one of the messenger hawks to send a warning to Prince Legolas.”

‘Yes!” the king all but shouted. In an instant, he was grabbing a pen and a piece of parchment. He didn’t even bother sitting down but bent over his desk and began writing almost frantically. The note was succinct and to the point.

There was no way to tell how much time remained before Legolas’s deadly encounter with the orcs, but Aragorn did not intend on delaying one extra second.

When he was finished writing, the king rolled the paper to resemble a tiny scroll. Retrieving a piece of string from one of the desk drawers, he tied it around the note.

“Shall I...?” Toldon asked but was waved off before he could say more.

Aragorn started for the door. “I will send it myself.” Not wanting to sound ungrateful to the man who had suggested the very thing that could save Legolas, Aragorn slowed just long enough to put his hand on the other man’s shoulder. “Thank you, Toldon.” Then the king ran out the door.

For the rest of the day, Aragorn paced. He paced around his office, around his apartment and up and down the balcony, waiting for news from Ithilien. He had wanted to wait by the aviary that held the hawks used to send and receive messages from the various lands. In fact, he had been insistent but finally relented when Arwen reminded him that he was the king and should not be seen just roaming restlessly all day at the aviary. So reluctantly, he had sent Toldon to wait, giving him explicit instructions to bring back word immediately when the hawk returned.

*~*~*~*

A knock on the door made Aragorn jump. “He’s here!”

A huge smile spread across the mans’ face, as he jumped to his feet. He kissed Arwen on the mouth, and ran out of the office and down the corridor.

By the time the king reached the end of the hall, Legolas was just stepping onto the landing. The elf suddenly found himself being engulfed in a bear hug the likes of which he hadn’t experienced in many a year.

Finally, Aragorn stepped back, but he kept his hands on the elf’s shoulders, not willing to lose contact with him.

“You are alive,” the king whispered. “You are truly alive.” The words were followed by a huge smile and another brief hug.

‘Of course, I am.” Legolas shook his head in complete confusion. “Your note frightened me, Estel, and I came as quickly as I could. Please tell me what this is all about.”

Aragorn nodded. “Yes. Yes. Come. I will tell you everything.”

On the way to the king's private study, Arwen appeared in the hallway. She greeted Legolas with a hug. Noting the still confused look on the younger elf's face, she said, "I will leave you two alone while Estel explains it all to you." By contrast, there was a knowing half smile on the queen's face, as she continued down the hallway.

An hour later, Legolas sat back in one of the chairs next to the fireplace, though being summertime, there was no need for a fire.

“That is incredible, Estel,” Legolas said, somewhat stunned.

“I know. I still find it hard to believe. I’m just so thankful it all worked out for the good. Tell me what happened in Ithilien.”

“Arod’s left foreleg was hurt when a barrel rolled off of a wagon right in front of him. I was told it would be a month before he could safely carry a rider, even an elf,” Legolas grinned at the last three words.

“He does not like to be inactive, so naturally he was getting as anxious as I was. Therefore, when the month was up, I was given the go ahead to ride him.

“I had not gone more than fifty yards when Balliel came running after me, shouting that a message had come from you. I cannot tell you how stunned I was to read your note.

Legolas,

Do not ride Arod into the forest NO MATTER WHAT! No one is hurt, but you must come to Minas Tirith quickly.

Estel

“The note said no one was hurt, but still I thought something terrible must have happened here for you to request my presence so urgently. I changed horses, since I did not wish to test Arod’s leg on so hard a journey.

“It was not until I was on my way here that the thought struck me: How could you possibly know I was going to ride Arod into the forest that day?

“I understand now - sort of.” The elf still looked a bit baffled. All the pieces of the mystery were not in place and maybe never would be.

“You are precious to me, Legolas. I could not fathom, then or now, a world without you in it,” Aragorn stated without any self-consciousness. He did not consider such an admission a weakness, but even if he had, this was Legolas he was confessing to. The only other person he was willing to be this open with was Arwen.

The elven prince gave his long-time friend a brilliant smile before saying, “I am sorry that you had to go through all of that, Estel. Even though it did not really happen, you felt as if it did.”

“It was worth it to save you.” Aragorn was studying the elf’s face, as if seeing something beautiful for the first time and afraid that if he didn’t memorize every inch of it, he might forget.

“I remember how much your father, and sometimes ever mine, said that our friendship would end up hurting you, because I am mortal and will one day die. I always thought the brotherly love we share was worth any pain, but I did not realize until the vision, just what you will suffer when Gimli and I leave you.” The very thought of Legolas suffering, not once but twice, as he had just done, was hard to take. He lowered his head.

Legolas raised the man’s head so they could look directly at each other. “Having known you and Gimli is worth far more than any hurt I could ever endure. And there will be the memories, Estel, the wonderful memories, that I will carry with me forever.”

The former ranger smiled, a joy he never thought to feel again surging through him. He did not know, and probably never would know, from whence the dark vision had come, but he would be eternally grateful to whoever was responsible.

Aragorn briefly closed his eyes, took a deep breath and silently said, ‘Thank you for helping me save my dearest friend.”

When he opened his eyes, Legolas was smiling at him.

The End