The way to Gondor (Aragorn and Legolas fanfic)

Tables turned

Aragorn POV

"Legolas, come back!", I shouted out to him in the corridor. But he was too angry to hear me. The emotions washed over me and I couldn't compose myself any longer. Taking all my efforts together, I pushed myself in an upright position and tried to stand up. Lady Éowyn gently wanted to push me back on the bed, but I shoved her away and made my wobbly legs move towards the door. Gandalf gave me a stern look, but he knew me well enough to know, that he wouldn't be able to stop me now. I knew the recent scene had looked terribly wrong in Legolas eyes, and if I didn't make it good again right now, I might've lost him. 

"Legolas!", I shouted again, now out in the hallways whilst rushing in the direction he must've left. But no answer came. "Legolas, please, let me explain!"

I rounded a corner, and the corridor here was not lit up by torches anymore. Some light reached it from the direction I had come from, but other than that, it lay in complete darkness. Apparently, this part of the palace wasn't in use. I slowed my step to find a way through the darkness. Something told me, that the elf wasn't far away. Suddenly I tripped and almost fell over something that lay on the floor. It was big and soft and felt a bit like a sack of flour. Slowly, my eyes adjusted to the darkness and I knelt down next to the object on the floor.

There was a hand. There was a lifeless body. And there was long blonde hair.

Third person POV

The wizard was wise enough to follow the desperate man on his way along the halls of Meduseld. Because otherwise he might not have found him sitting on the floor, holding a lifeless elf in his arms and dripping big tears on its hair. 

"Guards, we need some help! Where are the lights?", he shouted back to where he had come from, and almost immediately a cascade of the king's men stormed around the corner, torches in hand. 

"Help me carry this man to his room. And we need lady Éowyn, tell her to come at once!", he continued. The situation was too clear for him to not guess it right away. From the high lord Elrond of Imladris he had recently received word about his daughter, who suffered from the same condition like the elf on the floor. And what was even more ironic, the reason for both of their pain was one and the same man. 

Gandalf scooped Legolas up in his arms, and had to gently tear Aragorn's hands away from him. The latter looked like a ghost, face pale and eyes red and swollen. To save his honour, the wizard sent most of the guards away again, just Háma followed them to Legolas' room. There, the elf was put on his bed and draped with his blanket, and Aragorn fell on his knees next to him to take his hand. 

"He is unconscious, not dead", was all the wizard commented. He was just a little angry about what the man below him had caused, even without knowing he did. But he was also angry with himself, because he hadn't understood the situation sooner, and hadn't stopped it. If he had just believed Lord Elrond, he would've known better. That was, because the elf from Rivendell had told him exactly what was happening in his last letter. Apparently, he had suspected it for a long time, without being sure. His daughter was engaged with Aragorn, moreover (and for that, the high lord had said himself to be ashamed about it) when he had searched the man's mind for love, he had found a more powerful feeling than he had expected. But to the wrong person. And now Arwen suffered from a broken heart, and Legolas was about to do the same. 

"Why? He can't be ill! He can't!", the man on the floor cried. "He didn't get any wounds he possibly could suffer from, and what else could there be?"

"There are other wounds than the ones a man can see."

He looked up at the wizard with tears running down his cheeks. But he didn't understand. Luckily, in the same moment, the shieldmaiden from Rohan entered the room, and when she saw Legolas on the bed, she quickly unpacked a bunch of herbs from her skirt bags, and threw Gandalf a meaning look. She had, smart that she was, understood. With her skilled hands she prepared a compress with calming herbs, that she put on the elfs forehead. 

"He'll wake up soon", she told Aragorn, who was just watching her do her work. "And when he does, he'll be tired. But the best thing for him is, that he sees you when he wakes up. Stay here with him, Aragorn, and he'll be better."

They left the room, leaving just Aragorn behind, who was kneeling next to the sleeping elf. At first, he didn't feel the silent tears that ran down his cheeks. Then he let his head sink down to his chest and started sobbing. 

"What have I done?"