Fan Fiction ❯ Lord of the Rings: Stargaze ❯ Dreams in Caras Galadhon ( Chapter 14 )

Dreams in Caras Galadhon

"O Lórien! The Winter comes, the bare and leafless Day;

The leaves are falling in the stream, the River flows away.

O Lórien! Too long I have dwelt upon this Hither Shore

And in a fading crown have twined the golden elanor.

But if of ships I now should sing, what ship would come to me,

What ship would bear me ever back across so wide a Sea?"

The Fellowship was given a place to rest their weary bodies for the night, inside a large hollow tree back on the ground. The Hobbits settled down eagerly to sleep and relax. Faintly in the distance of the high trees, came the beautiful yet melancholy sound of Elvish singing.

"A Olorin i yaresse

Mentaner i Numeherui..."

Legolas approached the tree, carrying a pitcher of water. The Elves of Lothlórien had readily offered him a change of clothes, because he was the closest to their kin of the Company. He dressed in a tunic of purest white. Listening to the song, he murmured pensively, "A lament for Gandalf."

Aragorn slid a stone across the edge of his sword and stopped to listen.

"What do they say about him?" Merry asked quietly as Arora pulled up warm blankets for him and Pippin, making sure they were comfortable and warm. The Night Elf had been granted grudging freedom by the Lórien Elves, although Galadriel was most definitely involved.

"I have not the heart to tell you," Legolas replied softly, bowing his head. "For me the grief is still too near."

"Tirien i Romenori

Maiarion i Oiosaila...

Mana elye etevanne...

Norie i melanelye?"

"I bet they don't mention his fireworks," Sam muttered. He was making his own bed, and glanced rather jealously at Merry and Pippin, who were being pampered like children by Arora. "There should be a verse about them."

He paused for a moment, then stood up and began to recite:

"The finest rockets ever seen

They burst in stars of blue and green

Or after thunder, silver showers

Came falling like a rain of flowers…"

"Oh, that doesn't do them justice by a long road." Sam sat down gloomily.

Aragorn whacked Gimli to wake him up…and noticed that Arora wasn't there. He looked up and around, and saw her walking away into the trees. He also saw Boromir seated alone on a great tree root.

The Ranger stood up and left the tree hollow. He approached Legolas and touched the Elf's shoulder. When Legolas looked to him to see what the matter was, Aragorn whispered something in his ear and pointed in the direction Arora had gone. Legolas nodded and followed the path. Aragorn himself walked over to Boromir.

"Take some rest," he said reassuringly. "These borders are well protected."

"I will find no rest here," Boromir replied, and his voice was shaking. "I heard her voice inside my head. She spoke of my father and the fall of Gondor. She said to me, `Even now there is hope left.' But I cannot see it. It is long since we had any hope."

Aragorn listened quietly until Boromir went on.

"My father is a noble man, but his rule is failing. And now our…our people lose faith. He looks to me to make things right and I would do it. I would see the glory of Gondor restored."

He sighed, and seemed to become very far away.

"Have you ever seen it, Aragorn? The White Tower of Ecthelion…glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver, its banners caught high in the morning breeze. Have you ever been called home by the clear ringing of silver trumpets?

"I have seen the White City…" Aragorn replied quietly, "…long ago."

"One day, our paths will lead us there," Boromir said breathlessly. "And the tower guards shall take up the call: the Lords of Gondor have returned!"

~*~

Arora stopped behind a tall Lórien tree, out of view of the Fellowship. She pulled the necklace she was wearing out of her tunic, and absently started playing with the reds and greens…

She heard soft footsteps. Quickly she pushed the necklace back into her shirt.

"Arora?"

It was Legolas. He approached his friend slowly from around the tree, not sure of how she was feeling or how she would react to his presence.

All she did was faintly smile. "Hello, Legolas. Is there something you need me for?"

Legolas frowned a little. "I want you to rest, Arora."

"I am resting."

"No you're not. I can see it in your eyes. Ever since Moria you have been silent and downtrodden," Legolas insisted quietly. "Why? Is it because…you miss Gandalf?"

Arora didn't answer.

"You are my dearest friend, Arora. You know you can tell me anything."

"Am I a spoiled child?"

Legolas didn't know what he had expected, but it wasn't this. "What?"

"Am I a selfish little girl?" Arora asked him very softly.

"I…I don't understand."

She sighed. "When I joined this Fellowship, it was for my own personal reasons. I would benefit from it, and it mattered little to me whether the others did as well. I have treated them with much less respect than they deserve, and even you, my closest friend, have suffered by my words and actions."

Legolas didn't know what to say, so he just waited.

"Gandalf was the only one who tried to pull me outward, to go in to me and bring me into the real world. And even then I resisted what I knew he was inwardly trying to accomplish.

"But then…in Moria…he vanished. My teacher, my mentor, disappeared forever, and he did it to save us all, even if he knew little about any of us in turn.

And the blow hit me hard. I have never felt pain or sadness so strong as that before. For the first time I wondered if I would have committed that same sacrifice in the name of the Fellowship? Legolas…" Arora drew a shuddering breath. "I don't think I would have. I would have saved my own life, let you all die, just because I feared for myself. I used to think that there was little that mattered beyond my own pleasures. But now I see…that this world is so much bigger than my world…and it does not care for my petty problems at all."

She buried her face into her hands. Legolas understood. He could see the shame written all over her face, because it had finally gotten through to her that such differences as race and past disagreements were foolish to dwell on now. They could not stand in the way of their goal, to save all of Middle-earth from destruction.

It was as Galadriel said.

"We are all brothers and sisters in this one great quest. To fight amongst ourselves is to bring doom upon us all."

How true that was. They were united. They were together. And Legolas would never feel anything but deep affection for his lifelong friend.

Deep affection…

"I care," he whispered simply.

Arora turned to face him, and her blue-violet eyes were so filled with terrible sorrow that Legolas felt his heart ache. Not with pain…this was an emotion he could not remember feeling before.

He reached out his hand to her. "Arora…"

Arora hesitated one moment more…Then she fell into his arms and he held her tight. She clung to him, the way Merry and Pippin had clung to her after Gandalf fell into Shadow. "I qimari avaanieyeva, i uuvanimo lendeieva, ve i avathar no i tylpea silme," he heard her murmur, so soft he could barely percept it. "The phantoms will be vanished, the monster will be gone, like the shadows in the silver starlight."

He hadn't the slightest idea what she meant by that, but he could tell she wasn't expecting a reply.

Spring and the night air…

He leaned his cheek against her head and closed his eyes. "Ta naa seasamin, melda mellon nîn," he whispered. "It is my pleasure, my beloved friend."

~*~

They went back to the camp later, and settled down for the first real night of rest they had had since the beginning of the quest. Legolas curled up in a niche created by the great tree roots, while Arora settled between Merry and Pippin. She stroked her fingers through their hair while they slept, and they unconsciously snuggled up against her.

That night, Legolas had a rather unusual dream.

"Mama! Come, see what Legolas has made for me."

A female Elven youth pranced into a silvery golden circle under high arches with the air of one who has acquired something that they are extremely proud of. Her hair was long and silky black, and indigo eyes twinkled in a pale, lovely face. Of course it was Arora, only she was merely a girl, perhaps in her early teens by Elven standards. She was carrying something lovingly in her hands.

The woman in the pergola turned, her starry glow only adding to her earthen beauty. Sun-brown hair cascaded around a golden face, on a body slender and eternally young. The lips in the fairylike face smiled gently, and the eyes as blue as a tropical ocean shone with love upon the child.

"What makes you celebrate so, vanima yeldë?" Lorialae smiled.

"Look, Mama. Legolas made for me a necklace of roses," Arora said happily, holding up the necklace for her mother to see.

It was very beautiful. The red roses were in full bloom and spreading their velvety petals, scattered in just the right spots along the length of green vine. The twining creepers of the roses were barren of thorns, pulled off by careful Elven fingers. Arora held it at each end, spreading the entire expanse for her mother to admire.

As Lonny praised the beautiful necklace, another figure appeared. This one appeared to be the same age as Arora, but was male. The boy was rather tall and lean, fair of hair and face. His sky blue eyes were lively and dancing, but they stared at the white bandages on the boy's hands. Who could it be but Legolas?

The Mirkwood prince entered the arched circle to stand beside his best friend. Lonny smiled at him fondly and her eyes sparkled. Legolas blushed at being faced this way by such a beautiful and kind elder.

"You truly created this yourself, Legolas?" Lonny said softly. "This is magnificent work. You should be very proud of yourself."

Legolas wore a look that seemed to say, `aw, it was nothing'.

Suddenly, Lonny caught sight of his hands. "But what happened? Why do you wear bandages?" she asked with concern.

"Oh…" Legolas stared at his hands again. "The thorns pricked me when I pulled them off."

"You poor child," Lonny murmured caringly. "Let me see if I cannot help you."

She took his hands very gently in her own and began to carefully unwrapped the bandages that bound them. Underneath, the fair skin of Legolas's fingertips were scratched and painful, and some parts of his palm had been nicked up as well.

With Legolas's hands resting palms upwards in one of her own, Lonny touched her fingertips against his fair skin. Healing warmth began flowing through that tiny contact, giving Legolas the sensation that he was lying in the sun on a clear spring day…

When he looked down again, his hands were pure. There were no scratches or even scars. Lonny's mystical powers of healing had served her well once again. He looked up into those cerulean eyes and smiled.

"Hannon le, arwenamin Lorialae," he said graciously. "Thank you, my lady Lonny."

Lonny smiled. "You are most welcome, Legolas."

Arora laughed happily and hugged her friend.

"Now," Lonny said gently, her eyes glittering, "would you like me to make your beautiful necklace a bit less unwieldy?"

Arora gave her mother a curious look, but shrugged and handed her the length of vine spotted with large red roses. Lonny took it and held it spread very gently while Arora and Legolas watched and waited. And even as they watched-the vines began to glow-and little golden sparkles began dancing along from Lonny's fingertips-until they reached the very center of the length of vine-and every rose they touched began to shimmer-and then the magic really started to take over-and every rose began to shrink to the size of a charm on a bracelet-and the vines began to stiffen and then to curve until the ends overlapped in a hoop-and all the while, two pairs of different blue eyes grew wider and wider and wider…

Finally, the glow receded, and the sparkles disappeared, and Lonny handed the necklace back to her daughter. "There now," she said. "How is that?"

Arora and Legolas stared at the necklace, and at Lonny, and at the necklace again. Arora blinked. The ends of the now-coiled necklace could be pulled apart to fit around her neck. As soon as she did just that, the ends closed again and would not come undone unless she separated them again.

Arora turned to Legolas for his approval.

"It is truly striking on you, Arora," he said, only half-teasingly.

"Thank you for making it, Legolas! And thank you too, Mama!" Arora laughed, bestowing loving hugs upon them both.

Lonny laughed, a soft musical sound like chimes in the breeze.

Legolas blinked his tired eyes.

What a strange dream. It was very unusual for him to dream of something that happened in the past, but there it was, practically word for word what had happened the day he had made Arora's rose necklace.

The necklace she thought it was foolish to keep.

He sighed, and then looked around. Speaking of Arora, where was she? Merry and Pippin were sleeping soundly, but alone. Was Arora really brave enough to venture deeper into Lothlórien, away from the protection of the Fellowship?

On inspiration, Legolas got up and walked out of the hollow of the tree and looked up.

There she was, sitting in the topmost branches of the tall Lórien tree, gazing up at the starry sky. Night Elves were certainly not as adept at tree-climbing as Wood Elves, but they learned quickly and were naturally nimble and agile.

Stargazing. It was the one Night Elf ritual that could never be broken, any more than you could take a Wood Elf forever away from the trees. Legolas was glad that Arora still had something to lift her spirits in these dark times. And he knew that no matter how bad things got, you could never convince a Night Elf to give up on a quest he or she had started, or abandon any ones they had become fond of.

Legolas considered going up to her. But he didn't. He changed his mind just before he started.

Because Arora was just too far away.

He knew he'd never reach her.