The Healer's Choice (LOTR General Fanfiction)

8/19

Beta: Manon, Shemar & Naomi, Phyllis, Carol, Niroveka, Dis & Aranel

Disclaimer: I own only the plot; Tolkien though was the one that created the great world of Middle Earth. I do not own the Lord of the Rings (and associated) book series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of the story.

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"Legolas, mellon-nin, please open your eyes," Haldir begged the prince.

Legolas did not respond; it no longer mattered to him.

In his heart Legolas was determined to ignore them; he knew he had failed them. There was nothing more to do, and he knew it.

Legolas opened his eyes and stared at the sky above him, then Gimli grabbed his arm, making the elf look at him. Gimli was waiting for Legolas to say something.

The elf tried to sit up, but Aragorn stopped him, helping him to lie back down again on the sand.

'Why are they doing this?' Legolas thought angrily. He was tired of it, tired of their behavior, and he was tired of his life.

Legolas decided to make his move when darkness came. It was hard for him, as it seemed they were watching him every minute. He closed his eyes, hoping they would think he was sleeping.

"Let us rest," Haldir suggested, and added: "Maybe tomorrow we will hear him talking and laughing."

Gimli and Aragorn took another look at Legolas. They did not realise that Legolas was pretending to be asleep.

Haldir did not see anything strange, as he was too tired to notice.

Legolas waited until he was sure the others were asleep. He rose slowly and walked to his horse, mounting quietly and quickly before riding into the darkness. He was aware his weapons were on Arod, but he did not want to do anything with them yet.

The trees spoke to him, trying to ease the pain that was eating away inside of him, but a shadow was there that seemed to cover his heart.

Legolas was determined to die.

Quiet and darkness surrounded the elf. Legolas was dozing in the saddle and ended up losing his balance, falling on a rock underneath the trees.

Legolas lay on the ground, feeling how the warm liquid spilled over his cheeks, and then over his clothes.

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He tried to pray again, to ask the Lord of Mandos to free him, to let him enter the Halls, but he was rejected time after time. No matter what he tried to say, the lord would not grant him his wish.

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In the meantime, by the Nimrodel River...

Haldir woke, thinking he had heard a strange noise. He was having nightmares where the orcs were coming, hunting and killing his friends but leaving him alive. The other elves were blaming him for not saving their lives.

He looked over to the dwarf, and heard him snoring. There was nothing wrong with the him, and he looked towards Aragorn, who was sleeping peacefully. Haldir then looked for Legolas...

'No!' Haldir shouted in his mind.

"Legolas, Legolas!" Haldir called, waking the others, who stared at him.

"What is it?" Aragorn asked.

"Legolas is gone!" Haldir stated.

"What?" Gimli asked, a frown appearing on his face. He could not believe that the elf could just get up and walk away from them, to leave them wondering about him.

"Where did he go?" Aragorn asked and blinked his eyes.

"I do not know, I wish I knew where he has gone." Haldir despaired, thinking that now they would blame him for losing the stubborn elf.

Aragorn came closer to Haldir and said: "No one is blaming you... dear friend..."

Gimli groaned. "I do believe Legolas IS blaming himself for something..." he said.

"Yes, I suppose you are right, master dwarf." Haldir felt a little cheered by their words, but he still could feel an ache in his heart, still feeling he had failed.

"We have to search for him!" Aragorn said. He had no intention on leaving the elf alone in his condition, and he did not want to think what could happen to Legolas. It made him shiver.

"We need a light to show a way through the darkness," Gimli suggested.

They made a torch using some branches and began walking with their horses, noticing that one of the horses was missing. All they could do was hope for the best.

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Legolas moved his hands over the saddle and removed his weapons. He took the daggers and looked at them very closely before taking one of them and slowly moving it to his throat.

Arod started to groan as he saw what his friend was doing, hoping that someone would hear him.

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Aragorn heard a groan and looked over to the dwarf, but the dwarf was only walking, and was not making any noise.

The man thought he needed to sleep, that he was only imagining the sound.

But the groans continued.

"Did you hear it?" Aragorn asked, trying to stay calm.

"What?" Gimli asked, his mind elsewhere.

"The groans, can't you hear the groans?" Aragorn cried in despair.

"No!" Gimli answered, and looked at Aragorn.

"Gimli?" Haldir called.

"What?" Gimli asked.

"Stop speaking so loud, that way you can hear it," Haldir suggested.

Gimli shut his mouth, and stood there waiting and listening. After a few minutes he heard the groans, and said: "Now I hear it. Who is it that groans?"

"It is possible that it is Legolas' horse, but we need to follow the sound, and we have to hope that whoever or whatever it is will continue to make a noise, so we need to walk quickly..." Haldir explained.

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Legolas heard a noise, and decided to act. He brought the dagger closer and closer to his throat.

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They saw him moving his dagger closer to his throat, determined to kill himself.

Haldir began to explain to them about Elven Respect.

"So that means if you felt you had failed your friends somehow, you would kill yourself?" Gimli asked.

"Yes,"

"Then why you did not kill yourself?" Gimli asked him.

"Because you gave me hope, and fought for me, supported me," Haldir replied.

"Then you will not try to kill yourself, will you?" Gimli asked.

"No, I will not." Haldir said at once.

Aragorn looked at them; he did not want to waste time if the elf wanted to kill himself. But he was not totally happy with the answers that had been given. "But why?" he asked.

"This is called respect," Haldir repeated.

"No! I will not let Legolas kill himself because he thought he failed," Aragorn stated.

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"NO!" Aragorn shouted, as blood came from Legolas' throat.