𝐏𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒 | 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐟

𝐨𝐧𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬

"This is a slight problem," Aragorn said, staring at the gifts of the Elves.

They had been able to spare only four small boats - wonderfully lightweight and convenient, but not at all suited to more than two people.

"Just put three Hobbits into one boat, they're small enough," Boromir grumbled, eyeing your new gleaming swords with a calculated envy.

"That's not very safe - each Hobbit should be with a warrior," Aragorn responded immediately.

"I'll go with Y/N and Gimli," Legolas volunteered. "They're both small."

You and Gimli looked at each other and both silently vowed to kill him in his sleep.

"I guess that works, doesn't it?" Aragorn shrugged. You went to get into the boat, and he clapped his hand on your shoulder giving you a subtle wink. "In you get, princess."

Revising your earlier plan, you decided than Legolas was not going to be the only one to die. If it wasn't for the fact that Aragorn was King of two Kingdoms and you were Queen of one, and you also loved Aragorn more than anything, he would already be dead by now.

"I'm not a princess, you know," you smirked, getting into the boat and crossing your legs, waiting for Legolas to sit behind you before you continued, tilting your head towards the Elf. "He is."

"Y/N!" Legolas groaned, clear petulance in his voice with a hint of laughter. Gimli chuckled and proffered his hand for a high-five. "Let's just get on with it, yes?"

He handed you an oar and you pushed off.

"Where to from here?" Frodo asked. "Which way is Mordor?"

"Mordor?" Boromir scoffed. "The wizard sent us on a suicide mission we have no need of carrying out. Why destroy it, risking our lives for this quest? We should venture to Minas Tirith, where we are actually welcome."

"We have come this far!" Legolas responded, in a rare display of anger he seemed to reserve especially for the Gondorian and, occasionally, Gimli. "We must risk everything, for the sake of the entire world. Do no disrespect Gandalf, who gave his life to let us go on."

"Minas Tirith is on the wrong side of the river besides," you pointed out. "It's not on our way at all. Valar, Boromir, don't be so selfish. Did you not vow to give your life for this quest?"

"Please, let's keep peace," Samwise Gamgee broke in, his few words not shared amongst the Hobbits wise and agreeable. "Mister Strider said the rive doesn't split for a while, so let's not argue!"

"Mister Strider?" you raised an eyebrow, smirking at Aragorn, who's boat was now beside yours. "Really?"

"U-bedo, Y/N," he muttered. Shut up, Y/N.

Soon your oar was regaled to Gimli, and you yawned tiredly as the sun began to fall, sinking below the horizon in a wash of purples and pinks.

"I'm so t-tired," you stuttered through a yawn. After Moria, you'd learned to stop shunning the Fellowship and hiding 'weakness' (which was only seen as such in your eyes, definitely not anyone else's).

"We should try and get a little further downstream before we stop," Legolas reasoned. "Y/N, come here."

You leaned back as he asked, until your head was in his lap and your legs were curled around yourself like a cat. He was surprisingly comfortable, and your light Lothlorien cloak was warm, like a blanket now that you lay down.

"Shh, get some sleep," Legolas whispered, and you felt a gentle hand stroke your head.

"Okay," you murmured, your eyes closing before you fully finished the word.

- - -

You sat up with a start to the sound of cricket song, looking around at your unfamiliar surroundings. It took your eyes a second to adjust to the dark, but you realised that it was around midnight, and someone (probably Legolas) had carried you off the boat and onto the shore, wrapping your cloak around you securely and propping you up against a tree.

"You slept like the dead, Y/N/N, even when we dropped you into the water," someone across the clearing you were in said.

You jumped, but relaxed when the speaker moved closer and revealed themselves to be Aragorn, who just gave one of his annoying smiles at your startled glare.

"You did what?!"

"Just kidding."

"Of course you were."

"Wow, Y/N."

You gave a low laugh, folding your arms against your chest as you looked up, through a canopy of leaves and into a starry sky.

"Do you like Legolas, Y/N?"

The question was sudden and quick, and you could feel yourself going red as you thought about what the answer was.

"Don't lie to me," Aragorn said. "I can tell when you do."

You stayed silent. Then, finally, you truly thought about the question he had asked, and forced yourself to give him the right answer. "Yes."

"And you know how he feels about you."

Wait, what? You thought back to how saddened Legolas looked whenever you turned down his help because of your stubbornness, how he smiled every time you did, how frightened he was whenever you got yourself hurt in a fight.

"You didn't." Aragorn's words were more a statement than a question. "Valar, the two of you are blind."

You didn't need words to tell him to shut up (a few hand gestures conveyed the message quite effectively).

"Y/N, you know your happiness is something far more important to me than the crown I must inherit. But you need to think about what you might be going into if you decide to start a relationship."

"Like what?" you replied immediately, though you already knew the answers. They'd kept you awake at night, dismantling your fantasies and sucking the dream out of you.

"He will outlive you by thousands of years. You will grow old, and he will stay young. Y/N, if you go into this, you're going to leave it breaking everyone's heart."

"Kinda rich coming from you," you argued. "You and Arwen-"

"I'm one of the Dunedain!"

"So am I, genius!"

Aragorn just sighed tiredly, and in that moment he seemed exactly to embody his eighty-seven years. "I'm not trying to be the bad guy here, Y/N. You know exactly how much I care about you. I ... just want you to be happy."

"I know," you said, holding out your arms and and inviting him over for a hug, which he gladly did. "I know."

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